They had all had a really shitty year.
Slade. Sarah. Malcolm.
Dates that crashed and burned, literally.
Dying and then getting revived by tea.
Brick.
The league.
They had all been through Hell and back, but had always managed to survive come back together. They stayed a team.
Weeks turned into months and then something strange happened.
They started having fun together.
They aren't really sure when it started.
Well, yeah maybe they are.
It started when Oliver bought Felicity her very own 'Arrow' phone. Or at least that's what she called it. They all been given 'Arrow' phones, Felicity had laughed at first (for the first time in months) and asked if next they would get an 'Arrow' credit card next. When everyone else in the Foundry looked at her like she was nuts she realized the sad fact that she was the only person on a team of masked superheroes that had ever read a comic book or had seen a really bad movie adaption.
But that is when it started. They all started to relax and learn to be themselves again. It began when suddenly Felicity fell in love with snapping pictures with her new phone of their little crime fighting family. They had all complained at first.
-"I've got sweaty wig hair." Laurel had whined the first time Felicity shouldered up to her for a selfie. But that picture was the wallpaper on Laurels 'Arrow' phone.
-"Felicity, really, I am a grown damn man with a baby. I will not 'strike a pose'." Dig had insisted. Next thing he knew, a picture of him looking 'rather 007' was pinned to the cork board above the med table.
-"You know, we are kind of trying for secret identities here. Kind of the whole point of me giving you a burner cell." Oliver had groaned when she snapped a photo of him still in his arrow pants and greasepaint. But seeing himself wearing 'Sebastian Stan level eyeliner' made him crack a legitimate smile.
The picture that she snuck of him on the salmon ladder later that week was still the screen saver on her personal laptop.
The only person that had never really complained about the photos was Roy. Which is probably why their were dozens of photos of Roy and Felicity all of the 'Arrow Cave'. And a few at Felicity's town house. And one on her desk at Palmer Tech. To the casual observer, it would look like Roy and Felicity were an item. But really, it was just because Roy was pretty vain, and loved to have his picture taken almost as much as Felicity loved to take pictures.
And they had also kind of bonded over that whole 'being in love with a pain in the ass Queen' thing. They had even been talks of creating a club. But they couldn't decide who should get to be President and then it got kind of ugly and Felicity has started to use her loud voice so they just decided against it.
As time went on Roy and Felicity's pictures were joined by dozens of pictures of the rest of the team and it had became second nature to everyone at this point. There had been a few grumblings here and there, but of the span of the last few months everyone had grown used to it. They even smiled, or made funny faces on command. Even Thea had joined in, as she had become a regular fixture in the Foundry.
The next step was movie nights.
They had a slow couple of nights on patrol. No major baddies were in Starling and they were all getting a little bored. So early one Friday night they were sitting around and Felicity begged a giggling Thea to snap a picture of her sitting in Roy's lap after she caught him checking his Facebook on her computer. She grabbed the phone back from Thea and out of nowhere she got really excited.
"We have no social lives." She announced happily, jumping up from Roy's lap and walking over to the training mats where Oliver and Dig were half-heartedly sparring. They turned to look at her, the same look of confusion on both of their faces, and eyebrows.
Laurel scoffed as she came out of the bathroom, freshly changed back into her street clothes "Speak for yourself." She laughed and then checked her phone, frowning. "Yeah, okay so maybe not. What's your point?"
Felicity carried on like she hadn't been interrupted to begin with. "The perfect cure for a sad Friday night is sweatpants and Netflix. We should do a movie night at my house. Tonight." She bounced on the heels of her bare feet, her shoes had been kicked of hours before.
Everyone turned to look at each other and then back at her, but stayed quiet.
"I have wine." She said quietly, some of her brightness gone.
Half an hour later everyone was spread out in her living room, in pajamas and bathed in the bright glow of her flat screen.
It became a regular occurrence after that. As long as there wasn't pressing Arrow business, of course. They all met once a week at Felicity's house and relaxed on the couch or floor together, using her Doctor Who and Supernatural throw blankets and each other as pillows.
Whenever Barry and his team were in town they would crash a movie night and sometimes Lyla and Sarah joined in, until Sarah started to get fussy and hell even Ray would drop in on occasion, but he always left once Felicity and Oliver got a little too cuddly. It never escaped anyone's notice that Oliver was especially cuddly with her on the nights that Ray made an appearance.
It also never escaped their notice that they were all very lucky. In just a few months time they had gone from nearly ripping each other apart and near death experiences to snuggling together on the couch. Things weren't perfect. Laurel still walked on eggshells around her Dad, Dig and Lyla still had their doubts, Roy and Thea were still as confused as ever and Felicity and Oliver were back to dancing around the subject of 'what if?'. But they were happy and they were together. They were a team.
And Felicity never let them leave a movie night before they took a group photo.