Oliver blinked at Caroline's admission. Vampire? Impossible. But...what if it wasn't? Slade and Shado had talked of people with superhuman abilities. How the Mirakuru was supposedly extracted somewhat from their blood.

Felicity was shocked. "V-Vampire? I've got a vampire staying in my guest room. Is Bonnie a vampire too?"

Caroline shook her head, resting a hand on her hip, the other picking up the bloody arrow and twirling it between her fingers. "Nope. She's a witch."

Felicity sighed. "Oh, that's a - wait, she's a witch?!"

Caroline nodded. "Yep."

Oliver interrupted. "But that's impossible. How are there vampires and witches and no one knows?"

Caroline shrugged. "The people who do know keep quiet. Or, they're dismissed as crazy. Still interested in working with me?" She raised an eyebrow challengingly.

Oliver straightened his shoulders, slipping into the Arrow in an instant. "It depends. Do you hurt people?"

"If you're asking, yeah, I drink blood. Except I get it from blood bags when I can, and when I get it from the vein, I don't hurt them. I heal them afterwards."

"What do you mean, heal?" Felicity asked curiously.

Caroline set the arrow down on the table again. "My blood heals. But don't die with it in your system; then you'd become a vampire too." She bit her wrist and offered it to Oliver. "You're hurt."

Oliver shook his head. "I'm fine."

Caroline shrugged. "Your choice." She wiped the blood off her already-healed wrist, then sat on the edge of the table. "Are you going to let him bleed out, or is he getting fixed up?"

That seemed to snap them back to reality. Felicity grabbed some bandages, and Oliver let her clean and bandage the wound. Caroline pulled out her cell and texted Bonnie, 'I'll be back in a bit.'

"My name's Oliver, by the way."

Caroline looked up to see the man wince in pain as Felicity disinfected his wounds. "Oliver Queen."

"Caroline Forbes. I wasn't always a vampire, you know. I was as human as they come, small-town girl who was bubbly and shallow."

Oliver seemed surprised at her admission. "What changed?"

Caroline smiled humorlessly. "My best friend's doppelganger, a vampire, killed me and made me a vampire. Actually, I became a better person. Then a bunch of bad stuff happened, and now I've finally got a break."

Felicity had finished cleaning Oliver up, so he went off to change back into normal clothes. Felicity crossed her arms nervously. "Will you - uh, please don't bite me while you stay with me."

Caroline laughed. "Don't worry, I won't. This city seems to have enough criminals to sustain me. Speaking of staying with you, are we leaving now?"

Felicity nodded. "Oliver's just going to put his things away and go home. Do you want a ride?"

Caroline nodded. "It beats running everywhere." She followed Felicity out to her car, but stopped when she heard a voice.

"Hey. Are we still good for tomorrow? You can come here with Felicity instead of meeting me at Kline and Maple."

Caroline smiled. "Yeah. I'll be here." She climbed into the car, putting on her seatbelt despite not needing it. Once the car started moving, she asked Felicity, "No mentioning this to Bonnie, right?"

"Right. Oliver doesn't like many people knowing his identity."

Caroline nodded in understanding. "Like the vampire thing," she said absently. "It's best if the least amount of people know."

They were quiet until they pulled up to Felicity's apartment. "Just so you know, Oliver isn't too trusting. He saw something in you that he trusted."

Caroline was touched by her statement. "Thanks, Felicity."

They walked back up to the apartment, where Bonnie waited. "Where have you been?"

Caroline lied smoothly, "Felicity had a friend-emergency. You know how it is. I managed to help, you know how I am, all nosy and stuff."

That seemed to satisfy her; she yawned. "I'm going to sleep. See you two in the morning."

" 'Night, Bonnie."

" 'Night, Care. 'Night, Felicity."

-123456789-

The next morning, Caroline pulled a blood bag out of her suitcase and drank it. Luckily, Damon and Elena had dropped off their luggage while Caroline and Felicity had been gone. She got dressed, then wandered to the kitchen for breakfast. "Yum, pancakes."

Bonnie and Felicity looked up at her entrance. "Here, Caroline." Bonnie handed her a plate.

Felicity looked at her questioningly when she took a bite. "So, Felicity, what are you doing today?"

Felicity shrugged. "Working. I'm Oliver Queen's secretary and IT assistant."

Bonnie piped up, "I'm going sightseeing today. You coming, Caroline?"

Caroline shook her head. "No. I have...business to take care of."

Bonnie nodded, though she didn't understand. "Okay. I should be back around six. Call me if anything comes up." She put her plate in the sink, grabbed her purse, and left.

As soon as the door closed, Felicity asked, "You can eat? I didn't really think you could, because if you're dead, well, how do you digest, and I'm babbling. I'll stop in three, two, one."

Caroline smiled. "I don't know. I can eat if I keep a healthy diet of blood."

Felicity then asked, "Do you really have plans today? Or do you want to come hang out at the QC office? Or, Roy could probably find you something to do at the Verdant."

Caroline shrugged. "I don't care."

Felicity put her plate in the sink. "Well, I'm leaving for the office. You can come if you want."

Caroline put her plate in the sink with the others and followed Felicity out the door.

-123456789-

When they arrived at the office, Caroline ignored the looks she got. Curiosity from all, and a few appreciative glances from the men.

Felicity noticed, though. "It shouldn't be much trouble convincing them to let you stay," she muttered.

Caroline nodded. "Yep. They seriously underestimate me."

When they got to Felicity's office, she found that she was swamped with work. "Can I help?" Caroline asked.

Felicity looked relieved. "Oh, thank you. These weekly reports need to go to Oliver, This folder goes to the third floor, Mr. Grant, and these papers go to Amanda Theller, fifth floor."

Caroline grabbed the papers. "Okay." She headed into Oliver's office, noting that he hadn't arrived yet. She put the reports on his desk, then took the elevator down to the third floor. She gave the folder to Mr. Grant, then returned to the elevator. She wasn't looking as she walked in, and smacked into someone. They grabbed her before she could fall, and she glanced up. "Thanks."

It was Oliver. He looked a bit startled to see her. "Caroline? Why are you here?"

"I'm helping Felicity. You're late, by the way."

Oliver smiled. "Only a by a few minutes."

The elevator stopped, and Caroline left to give Amanda the papers. She returned to Felicity's office to find Oliver busy in his own office. "Anything else?"

Felicity glanced up from her computer screen. "No. Unless you want to get Oliver coffee. I refuse to get him coffee. I'm mad that he gave me this job. I was fine in IT! I am so overqualified to be a secretary."

Caroline left her ranting to go find the coffee maker. Might as well be useful, she figured. After fixing it the way she took hers (she had no clue what he liked), she brought it to his office and set it on his desk. He looked up, and she smiled. "Felicity said you wanted coffee."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "I always want coffee. Doesn't mean she gets it for me." He took a sip. "It's good. Thank you."

Caroline shrugged. "It's nothing." Then she left to see if Felicity had anything else she could do.