Disclaimer: Arrow and all its amazing characters etc. do not belong to me, I am simply the puppet master who moves them in another direction. ;)

A/N: This story takes place shortly after the season 2 finale.

A Love Like This

"So I placed my heart under lock and key
To take some time, and take care of me
But I turn around and you're standing here"
― Debra Cox

Chapter One

The sun was shining brightly in Starling city as Felicity Smoak hurried down the crowded sidewalks toward Lou's diner, finally arriving she pulled open the door and entered, once inside she paused, looking around the crowded diner she finally found who she was looking for. Heading for a table near the back of the diner, she smiled at Detective Lance, whom was now standing, having spotted her from his perfect vantage point, his back to the wall and facing the entrance. "Morning Miss Smoak," Said Lance as he pulled out a chair for Felicity and making sure she was seated comfortably before sitting back down in his own chair. "Detective," said Felicity, smiling in greeting, "and I thought we had agreed, no more of this Miss Smoak, please, call me Felicity."

"If you insist...Felicity, and please, Quentin or even Lance"

"Okay so...Quentin, how's your week been ?" asked Felicity as she settled her purse on the empty seat next to her and accepted a menu from the waitress who had appeared as soon as she was seated.

Quentin smiled, he had first asked Felicity out to coffee about a week after Slade had taken over the city and then been dealt with. Having been a witness of how selfless and brave Felicity had been during the whole ordeal and how the arrow seemed to overlook how much Felicity did, not only for the arrow but for all of those around her, Quentin had been worried about how Felicity was coping with everything that had been and was going on. Coffee on Saturday morning had initially been about making sure that Felicity knew she had someone to talk to about what was going on both in her life and her work with the arrow but somewhere along the way they found that they enjoyed talking to each other and discovered that they had many things in common, and so they bonded and their talks soon turned to the latest book they had read or a movie they wanted to watch, and Coffee had turned into Saturday brunch and an occasional phone call during the week, just to see how the other was doing. Quentin enjoyed having someone who genuinely cared about how he was doing and how his latest case at work was coming along. of course his daughters always inquired about his work and health but it was just not the same, his daughters had their own lives to live and while he was proud of them both he had missed having someone in his life to just talk and spend time with. similarly Felicity, whose heart was broken by Oliver, who professed his love for her in one instant and then turned and said it was all an elaborate act in the next, was happy to have someone outside of the close-knit arrow family to talk to, and found herself looking forward to their Saturday mornings together.

"It was a long week, you remember the Dodson case I was telling you about earlier in the week?"
"The guy who was kidnapping all those little kids?"

"Yeah, him, we finally caught him but not before he did some damage, it's the cases like those that just boggle the mind, I mean what drives people to do something like that."

Felicity's eyes watered a little before she pulled herself together, reaching across the table she gently placed her hand on Quentins arm, "I'm glad you caught him," she said softly before pulling her hand back to curl around her coffee mug.

Something else that Felicity had discovered while spending time with Quentin is that the babbling, that she had been cursed with her entire life, almost disappeared when she was around him, when they were together there were moments like now, when words were not needed, and they simply sat together in silence and then there were times when the word just poured out, usually after a particularly stressful day.

Quentin just smiled softly across the table to Felicity, before looking up at the waitress that had appeared at their table. "Are y'all ready to order?" she asked pulling out her order pad from her apron pocket and clicking her pen.

"Yes, we're ready." said Felicity, after looking at Quentin for confirmation and seeing his nod. "I'll have your Belgian waffles, extra cool whip and with a side of fruit please." she said handing the waitress her menu.

"And what about for you hun?" asked the waitress turning toward Quentin.

"I'll have the pancake breakfast plate."

"Do you want your eggs scrambled or over easy?"

"Scrambled."

"White or Wheat bread?"

"White." alright your order will be out shortly she said as she collected the last menu and headed back to the kitchen through the swinging doors.

"So how's you're week been?" asked Quentin settling back against his seat.

"Oh you know pretty much like the past few weeks, I've been on several interviews but no luck so far."

"Hey, don't look so sad," said Quentin, who always hated to see Felicity sad, "I know you are great at all that technical stuff you do I'm sure something will come up, you doing okay though? do you need anything?"

"Oh, no I'm good, I have my savings, should last until I'm able to find a job, too bad I can't put everything I do for the arrow on my résumé."

They shared a smile over that one.

"Yeah, that's a shame, although I'm sure half of that would land you in jail and not with a new job."

"True, guess I'll just keep looking."

"Oh look, here comes the food,"

"Awesome, I've been looking forward to these waffles all morning." said Felicity, with a smile on her face as the waitress placed the plate full of waffles and cool whip in front of her.

After that they dug into the food in front of them conversing quietly about their week and the plans they had for the following week. Standing up after polishing off their plates Quentin placed some bills on the table and they headed back into the crowded street.

"Care for walk through the park?" asked Quentin pointing to the park across the street and offering Felicity his arm."

"I'd love to." said Felicity, whom always disliked when their time together came to an end as it was so quickly prone to do. and so placing her arm in his they headed across the street and to the local park.