Felicity skipped into QC that morning-which wasn't easy, she was wearing heels after all. She was just very happy and decided it was worth the effort- Life was great. Life was more than great it was mind-boggling phenomenal. She had her plan prepared for weeks in advance. Since Mason had called her up and said that he and Cole would be heading out her way and wanted to visit with her while they were in town for the week.
"Come on Flinch! We never see you anymore!" Mason whined into the phone she could hear Cole talking in the background. The sound of tires hitting road and the blare of distant horns honking was also audible through her speakers. Those noises always seemed to accompany the pair when the drove. Party because they liked to press all the buttons in the car and partly because they were awful drivers.
"I told you to stop calling me that!" Felicity wailed, remember the hard fought battle behind the name.
"Flinch?" Mason's voice came out as a question but Felicity knew where this was going. Taking a deep breath she plunged head first into the waters that were a conversation with the most immature men on the planet earth. Scratch that, the most immature men in the galaxy, maybe even the universe.
"Yes, Flinch. I hate that name." She braced herself against her soft, red modern sofa she had been residing on when she had received the phone call.
"You want us to stop calling you Flinch?" Mason said into the cellular devise he surely had in his hand. He had stressed the word 'stop' and if she had been in the car with them she was sure that Cole and Mason would be exchanging glances and snickering into their hands.
"That would be my preference." She sighed recalling the awkward moment in the casino with Oliver. This must be how he feels. Only add an extra dash of embarrassment and a pinch of annoyance with one tablespoon of regret.
"Flinch…." It was starting "Flinch, flinch, flinch" Mason chanted into the phone soon to be joined by Cole "FLLLLIIIINNNNCH FLINCH, FLINCH, FLINCH, FLINCH, FLINCH, FLINCH."
"FINE! YOU CAN COME OVER!" Felicity sighed in exasperation.
With a little extra pep in her step she had picked up Cole and Mason from the airport where they had flown in from Denver. "Denver should not have an international airport…" Cole had complained all the way to QC where she still had to deliver some documents for Oliver.
"I'm going to the top floor to drop off some papers for my boss, you two," She motion to the over-sized children in her car. "STAY HERE!"
"You can't just lock us in the car! What if we get hot?"
"Fine, I'll crack the windows." She didn't. With that Felicity hopped out at into the building. She had left her key card in the car and she only realized it once she made it all the way to the executive elevator. Not wanting to turn around and face the teasing that was surely to ensue if they had known she was so forgetful she began to long walk up the stairs.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Cole punched a hole in his brother's arm attempting to get his full attention. "Flinch left her key card here!" Handing the key card to Mason he continued snooping through Felicity's car, digging through her glove box and uprooting her council. Mason inspected it and glanced at his brother. Without a word they both leaped out of the car and ran to the executive elevator trying to catch her.
They both reached the lift in five minutes as they had kept getting lost and had to ask for directions twice. Not counting on how rude big business workers could be they ended up downloading the blueprints onto their phones, illegally. "What Flinch doesn't know won't hurt her."
Felicity reached the top in about four minutes she had been training with Sara had had quite the workout plan. Compared to going to the local sports stadium and running up and down every step twice, this was nothing. She curled her fingers into a tight ball and began wrapping violently on the door. It was locked from the outside and she couldn't get in without her key, but if they heard her maybe they would open the door.
"Forget your key again?" Diggs voice greeted her as he swung the door open reviling the sleek and modern decor of the office.
"Always," Felicity giggled and walked into Oliver's Office to see him brooding at his desk that was devoid of paper at the moment.
"You're late," Oliver says his eyes scanning over her body checking for injuries. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"Oliver I'm fine just a little over-run." She set the papers on his desk a loud resounding thud from the force she dropped them, her arms where sore from carrying the white sheets all the way up the stairs.
"You forgot your key card." Oliver said. There was no question in his voice, just a smirk on his face. "Well on the bright side you don't have to leave the floor for a while because we have a few hundred meetings today with possible future investors." He smiled at her knowing how much she loathed those meetings.
"Oliver about that…." She dragged out the next part. 'Come on Felicity!' she chastises herself. 'You have had this plan laid out for three weeks now… Leave the weirdoes and their inevitable shenanigans in the car, get the papers to Oliver, ask for a personal day, (Which he can't refuse because she planed his schedule and he had no technical reason for her today. Also she worked so hard for him all the time she deserved a day off.) and then leave.' It was just that simple. "I was wondering…"
Digg looked amused seeing her struggle for words when she was normally over flowing with vocabulary. However, Oliver found the whole situation less so. "Are you sure everything is alright?" He took a step forward, a hand extending to give her a comforting, (Totally plutonic) shoulder pat.
"Um yeah I was just wondering if I could have a day off… everything." Felicity mumbled the whole sentence.
"Felicity are you sure-" Before Oliver could finish his sentence the unmistakable ding from the elevator and the sound of a name being hollered made all three heads turn in surprise.
"No, no, no, nooooo." Felicity mumbled under her breath turning around slower than the other two had.
Diggle was already on guard his hand floating over his gun tucked into the back. Oliver's whole stance was stressed and he moved to stand in front of Felicity, "I don't have any meeting until after lunch. I didn't say anyone could come up!" Oliver stressed quietly trying to keep his voice down. The chit chat of two decidedly male figures was muffled but slowly approaching.
Mason was tall and thin. Closer to Oliver's height, but almost as skinny as Felicity. His dark brown shaggy hair came down across his eyes and half way down his long bridged nose. He wasn't very attractive with his hunched posture but and old gamer's hoodie, but that was Mason, and Felicity loved him anyways. Cole on the other hand was built up more like Diggle. His massive beefy arms sticking out from under his hipster T-shirt that clashed with his buffalo checked Bermuda shorts. He truly was a mix of terrifying and hysterical.
The boys sauntered into Oliver's office without a care in the world. "So this is where you work, Flinch?" Cole's query caught both of the crime-fighting professional's off guard.
"I told you to wait in the car!" Felicity hissed at Cole and a very stoic Mason. Before she could stop him Mason spoke up.
"Is this the guy you slept with to get out of IT? Not bad Felicity… Could have been better and now Cole is going to ripe his head off his shoulders if what he said last week rang any truth, Cole might cremate his remains and hide them in a dildo at Spencer's." Mason's reference to a local "Cool kids" store back home didn't go unnoticed.
"We got bored... And you left your key card in the car." Cole summed up for Felicity who was standing still as a statue waiting for volcanoes to erupt with menstrual blood and zombies forming Avril Lavigne's face in the sky as the awful singer serenaded the world during the apocalypse. None of which happened.
"Who the hell are you?!" Oliver growled at the men standing before him, he roughly grabbed Felicity's arm and pushed her further behind him attempting to separate her from the mad-men.
"Don't touch Felicity!" Cole roared right back. He was very protective over his Flinch, especially around other men. In his mind Felicity was he delicate little flower and not to be touched, and if you were dumb enough to go near her around him anyways he would mess you up. His protective nature with Felicity mixed with a very bad temper made him an extremely volatile person.
Cole began to advance on Oliver yelling threats and profanities, when Digg drew his gun taking control of the situation. "Everyone calm down!" The sound of the safty being turned off was enough to call her back to the present.
"NO! WAIT!" She finally snaps out of her stupor and pushes her way past a confused and angry Oliver to an even more worried Cole. "Cole it's okay, I'm okay!" She got up in Cole space slowly inching closer her hands out stretched in reassurance. "Look at me Cole, Oliver is a friend he won't hurt me!" She could hardly blame Cole for being the way he was. Cole was the younger of the two boys but was the protector. Because of Mason's Aspergers he had learned he needed to protect his brother from others as well as himself and his lack of ability to identify what was and wasn't appropriate or rude to say to people.
"Felicity who is he? Who are they?" Oliver begged for an answer but wasn't getting an immediate. "Fe-lic-ity!"
"Oliver, shush!" Felicity called back slowly wrapping her arms around Cole's torso calming him down. "It's okay Cole you're at my job in Starling City visiting for the week. You're safe, I'm safe."
Oliver recognized what she was doing. The man in front of her was having some sort of panic attack flash back. Something Oliver could relate to all too well. Cole wrapped his big beefy arms around Felicity's tiny body and buried his head in her head. Oliver fought a pang of jealousy that this complete stranger was able to hug her so intimately but they were limited to shoulder touches and guiding hands on backs. He was tired of the restrictions even though he himself put them up for her own safety. He wasn't in denile of how he felt. He loved her, and he was in love with her. He hadn't lied to her last year when he told her that in the mansion. But it was easier for her to think it was a lie, it was less painful and less dangerous.
Felicity stepped back cupping Cole's face "Are you okay?" She whispers to him. He nods his head yes but doesn't let go of her hand when she backs up. "Oliver, Digg, meet Cole and Mason. My brothers."