It had started because Felicity was tired of being the one person in the group to always be left behind. Every one was always so focused on keeping her safe, keeping her out of the way. She had been ordered to stay away from the action for so long. Well, unless she was strapped into a skinny dress and being paraded around and she was pretty much over it, thank you very much.
So once everything had gone down with the League and once Oliver was back to being Oliver and not a Merlyn puppet she had asked if she could start her training again. Well, asked was a loose term, more like she had told him in her loudest non-loud voice she could muster that she was over being weak and that she wanted to learn to hold her own. He had made several angsty Oliver faces and she knew that he had a list of reasons why she shouldn't be allowed to train, but things had been really awkward between them ever since he came back from his first battle with Ra's. And then there was that whole her sleeping with Ray thing, but they avoided that topic like they owed it money. So when they had the training conversation he babbled a little under his breath and adjusted the settings on his quiver a few times and then shrugged.
But they had both agreed that Thea should be the one to handle the actual training part, because they could barely be in the lair together without awkward stuttering and downward glances, let alone spar with each other in workout clothes. And then there would be touching and that wouldn't end well for either of their psyche's.
So Oliver had asked Thea and she had jumped at the chance to be Felicity's Obi-Wan. She didn't really have anyone to train with anymore since Malcolm was gone and she still couldn't get Oliver to come at her with a sword.
They started small, Thea first had to get Felicity into working out more than 5 situps in front of a Buffy rerun. They started jogging in the park every morning before Felicity had to be at work and before long they were racing each other and Felicity even won a few times. Once Thea got her into a daily habit of breaking a sweat over more than Roy watching Youtube on her Foundry setup, they started working on a little parkour.
The first time Felcity was able to flip off of a wall she wouldn't shut up about it for weeks. Every time someone questioned her on something she would flip her ponytail and look down her nose at them and say "Oh yeah? Can you do a sweet wall flip? Didn't think so."
She started to develop some muscle definition about 2 months into their workouts and Thea decided not to mention the fact that her workout clothes got even smaller. It didn't really matter anyhow, Oliver avoided the Foundry like the plague whenever he knew they would be training and Diggle and Roy were too busy laughing at how excited Felicity got when she nailed a new move.
They had been training for almost 3 months when Laurel asked if she could join in. Thea hadn't minded, but Felicity was a little intimated. She had always been jealous of 'Gorgeous Laurel' and she had seen her in the field. She wasn't as disciplined as Sarah by any means, but she was miles ahead of Felicity. Especially after she had started working with Nyssa, and she really didn't want to embarrass herself in front of the vigilante.
It was awkward at first, and Felicity started to take a backseat to the training and spent the first few sessions with Laurel there sitting off to the side. It took a few weeks, but eventually the three women had come up with a routine that worked for them and they were sparring together two or three times a week.
Over time Felicity went from being the student to matching her teachers. She started to feel comfortable no longer just playing defense and began initiating attacks and while new accomplishments still caused her to squeal, she became an accomplished opponent for the other women.
That was how it happened.
They had been training at least twice a week for over six months and in that time they had overcome the awkwardness that had surrounded them for all those weeks and they had become...friends. Weird friends who liked to beat on each other and run up walls, but friends nonetheless.
That was how it happened that on a Monday night, not their usual night, that the girls found themselves on the mats in the Foundry...dancing. They had all had a really busy weekend and hadn't had a chance to meet for their usual Saturday night session and had to reschedule. Felicity and Thea had missed their morning run and so when they all got to the club that night Felicity insisted they get in some cardio before sparring and had plugged her ipod up to the downstairs speaker system and hit shuffle while they all stretched to run laps.
Then...well, Felicity hadn't really thought it through when she had hit shuffle. Her iPod was kind of like her phone, it was her personal little world and she never left it open for judgment and well, she had forgotten what all was on it. So she had just put on her workout playlist expecting a lot of the usual EDM and then suddenly there was Taylor Swift (her secret spirit animal) singing loudly about shaking it off.
Thea and Laurel froze and Felicity stopped mid stretch, ass in the air, head in between her knees and she was thinking about just staying that way until it was over. But then Thea had burst out laughing and started to dance wildly, her arms above her head.
Felicity shot up and looked at her, and then at Laurel. Laurel seemed unsure about what to do but Felicity had to admit, this was kind of her jam and Thea looked like she was having fun, so she shrugged and started to flail right along with her. It took about 19 seconds for Laurel to pull the stick out her ass and join in.
They had been dancing for about 4 songs by the time they heard the quiver hit the floor. They all stopped, mid booty bump and turned to the bottom of the stairs to see Oliver standing there, hood off, mouth wide open and his bow on the floor by his feet.
"What the..." He started, his eyes wide and he was shaking his head. "This, this is the 'training' that you've been hogging my lair for the last six months?" He asked with a look that was way too judgmental for their liking and so they all rolled their eyes.
None too happy with his tone, Felicity gave the other women a look and walked over to the salmon ladder, wiping her hair off the hair that was sticking to her forehead. She looked directly at Oliver with a quirked eyebrow, grabbed onto the bar and started to make her way up the rungs, never looking away from him. She reached the top and considered doing the little flippy thing he liked to do, but she didn't want to press her luck that much...tonight, and then dismounted by dropping to her feet with a crouch. She stood tall (well as tall as she could in her sneakers) and 'dusted' off her hands and turned to Thea and Laurel who were looking at her like the sexy piece of meat she knew that she was and smiled.
"I'm kinda hungry, you ladies wanna grab some Big Belly Burger?"
That was the last night the ladies had the Foundry to themselves to train.
