A/N: This chapter completes one section of the story, but I plan to keep adding to it. Really, I can't believe how much fun it is to write for these two characters.

Incentives

Chapter Three – Worth Saving

"Mr. Queen?"

Oliver blinked and tried to focus on the man in front of him. James Howell had a track record of brilliant investments and a keen interest in the Applied Sciences division. Oliver knew he really should care more about what the man was saying. Instead he found his minding wandering toward the Triad, and to be honest, the woman he could see through the glass over Mr. Howell's left shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Oliver said, sitting ups straight. "Could you repeat your question?"

Howell seemed amused by something, but he said, "I asked if you could tell me about how your division plans to truly enter a market so dominated by Wayne Enterprises. What sets your Applied Sciences division apart from his?"

Oliver resisted the urge to make a face. "We're greener, for a start," he said. "We've put a real emphasis on sustainability and clean energy and have had some promising results. And…" he said pointedly, "being the biggest doesn't always make you the best."

Howell nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer. "My people will get the ball rolling on Monday." He stood up and offered his hand to Oliver, "I've got reservations at what is supposed to be Starling's best steakhouse. Care to join me?"

Oliver shook the man's hand. "No thank you." His eyes drifted past Howell to land on a blond ponytail and a polka dot blouse. "I'm afraid I have other plans."

To his chagrin, Howell turned, following his gaze. "I don't blame you," the man said, his voice sincere.

"Excuse me?" Oliver said, feigning confusion.

Howell turned back to him with a smile. "I married mine you know."

Oliver felt his mouth go dry. "I don't…"

"Twenty-seven years ago," Howell continued. "Of course, they were called secretaries then."

Oliver let out a strangled laugh. "Nice to meet you Mr. Howell."

Howell gave Oliver a nod and grabbed his briefcase. Oliver watched as the man walked out of the office and stopped to say something to Felicity that made her smile. The moment he stepped out the doors, Felicity got up and walked into Oliver's office.

"I like him," she said, walking toward Oliver. "Is he giving you lots and lots of money?"

Oliver nodded. "Looks like it."

"You okay?" she asked, coming to stand just inches from him.

"Yeah, why?" he asked.

"You seem a little distracted." She put a hand on his arm. "If this is about last night, I don't think you should be annoyed with yourself that it's taking more than one evening to figure out this Triad thing, after all…"

"It's not that," he said, his eyes drifting to where her fingers rested on his sleeve. "It's just been an interesting day."

"Good interesting?" she asked. "Or gee-what's-that-growing-in-my-fridge interesting?"

He huffed out a laugh. "The first one, I think."

She smiled and stepped back. "So, are we off to our glamorous basement hideout?"

"Not yet," he said. "We've got something else to take care of first."

"What?" she asked. The fact that she had no clue what he was talking about made him smile.

He didn't answer, but grabbed his coat. "Get your stuff," he said.

He followed her out of his office and to her desk, putting his coat on as he walked. His fingers found the jewelers box still safely tucked in the pocket. He almost gave it to her right then, but part of him wanted to wait until they were out of the office. Most of the time, when they were in these rooms they were playing a part, wearing limited versions of themselves for the benefit of others.

When she went to put on her coat, he stepped forward to help her before realizing it was something he'd never done before. She froze for a moment, obviously surprised, but then slid her arms through the sleeves.

"You don't mind, do you?" he said, as his hands came to rest on her shoulders for the briefest moment.

"No," she said quickly, her voice a little breathy. "Nice to know chivalry isn't dead."

He stepped away and they walked toward the elevators, once they were inside Felicity turned to him. "So I've got a plan to help us with our little Triad issue. I've been thinking about this, and I think the clothing store was an odd place for storage. From what you said the store wasn't particularly large or anything, so there must be some other reason that they would have chosen that location. "

"Okay," Oliver said. To be honest, he'd gone an entire 15 minutes without actually thinking about the mission, and had to pull his brain back on point. "That makes sense."

"So," she said, her words speeding up. "I created a database with all of the locations I could find that were connected to the data on Bruce Kristin's hard drive, and I'm running that against mapping and satellite info to see if I can find other buildings that have similar characteristics – size, location, etc. I know it's a long shot, but I thought it might help narrow down a site we could focus on."

"You did all that this morning?" Oliver said raising an eyebrow.

"No," she said. Then she grinned, "I did all that while you were chatting with Mr. Howell. I did my laundry this morning."

He shook his head. "Good work."

"Thank you," she said. "Now, where are we going? I know Digg's not coming with us, he took off twenty-minutes ago to hang out with the nephew."

Oliver nodded. "Yeah, we're going to have to slum it and take a cab."

She grinned again. "If you really want to slum it we should take the bus."

"Fine," he said, calling her bluff.

"Are you kidding me?" she said. "I am not taking the bus in these." She pointed down at her feet, drawing attention to her strappy, bright red, very-high heels. In his mind heels like that seemed specifically designed to attract attention to the pair of legs above them – and it was working.

Clearing his throat he said, "Cab it is."

He stepped out on the street and was grateful that it took only a couple of minutes to flag one down. When they got in, Oliver leaned forward to the driver. "We need to go to the Waterfront," he said. "Near 50th."

Felicity's look of stunned disbelief was worth the entire trip. "You really are buying me ice cream."

"I am,"he said, keeping his face as serious as he could manage.

For two seconds she didn't respond, she just stared at him. "You don't have to, you know."

"Yes, I do," he said firmly.

"I mean," she shook her head a little and gave him an anxious look. "You don't have to do this just because I made some silly comment last night. It's not like a matter of honor or anything."

"We had a deal," he said, still trying to keep a straight face. "Unless you've changed your mind about the pony."

That finally got her to smile again. "No," she said. "Ice cream is good."

Even though it was Saturday, the cold winter weather ensured that the shops that lined Starling City's small area of downtown waterfront were fairly uncrowded. Oliver paid the driver of the cab and they walked inside. He'd been here a few times as a kid, and it hadn't changed much. It was relatively small, with less than a dozen tables and a bar with stools along the windows that overlooked the water. There were a few families in the shop and one group of teenagers, but Oliver was relieved to see that they were all more interested in what they were doing than in himself and Felicity.

They walked toward the counter and Oliver tilted his head. "You first."

Felicity ordered a hot fudge sundae, with sprinkles, of course, and he told the girl taking their order that he'd have the same thing. Her pierced eyebrow rose as she looked at his name, but thankfully she didn't say anything.

"Mind if we sit over there?" Oliver asked pointing to the stools by the window.

"Not at all," Felicity said, already taking a bite of her ice cream and making a little face of contentment. "I like looking at the water."

They sat down and for a few moments they ate in silence staring out over the water. The sun had come out, making little silver flecks dance across the top of the bay. "You know," she said, licking a drop of hot fudge from the tip of her spoon. "Sometimes I forget how beautiful this city can be."

"Worth saving," he said quietly, watching as she took another bite of ice cream.

She nodded and swallowed. "Absolutely." Then she turned to look at him. "This was nice of you, Oliver."

He shook his head. The statement got under his skin, and it took a minute for him to figure out why. Leaning his head toward her, he said quietly, "You help me rescue this city every night. Ice cream seems like a pretty small gesture in comparison."

"This hot fudge may be great, but it isn't the ice cream that makes this nice," she said looking over at him, her eyes warm with an emotion he wasn't quite ready to name.

"Oh yeah?" he said, unable to look away.

She swallowed and looked down. "It's nice spending time with you." Then she shook her head, "Which seems ridiculous since there are times when we're together 18 hours a day, but…"

"I know what you mean," he said, quietly.

She looked back up at him, and he could see a delicate, lovely hope in her face. "Do you?"

He knew that question held more meaning than their current conversation, and he took a deep breath. Still, at this moment he could not bear to crush that hope, whatever the consequences. "Yeah, I do. I like spending time with you too."

Her answering smile was a sight so stunning that it almost seemed unreal. "Now that's an incentive better than diamonds."

He couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head and looking up at the ceiling. Reaching in his pocket he said, "Good to know. But…" He placed the box in her hand. "I think you need some anyway."

She stared down at the box, and for several seconds she didn't move. Finally she whispered his name. "Oliver."

He reached out one hand and supported hers, using his other to flip open the box. "I told the woman…" he cleared his throat, "I told the woman at the store I wanted a gift that would let you know I appreciated you."

"Oh," she said, reaching up to run a finger over the pendant. "I shouldn't accept this."

"Why the hell not?" he whispered roughly, surprising even himself with the intensity of the question. He realized his hand had dropped from hers and was resting on her knee.

She let out a little laugh, and looked up at him. His hand tightened on her knee, almost involuntarily, when he saw that her eyes were wet. "It's too much," she said finally.

"It's really not," he said in a steely tone. Then feeling uncertain, he said. "You do like it, don't you?"

She gave him an exasperated look, and sputtered, "Are you serious? It's gorgeous."

"Good," he said, reaching to pull the necklace out of the box. "Turn around."

To his relief she spun so her back was toward him. He reached around her, and then fastened the clasp at the back of her neck, feeling the soft brush of her ponytail against his hand.

She moved to face him, and her hand came up to touch the small sparkling object that fell just above the neckline of her blouse. "How does it look?" she said, her voice a little shaky.

He looked up at her. "Beautiful."

Their eyes held for an extremely long moment, and Oliver wondered exactly what he would have done if they hadn't been in a room full of people. Maybe when this current crisis was over he could see if he finally had enough guts to find out.

Now that was an incentive.

At the moment he settled for putting a hand on the back of her chair and letting his thumb trace a pattern against the fabric of her coat. He pointed to her sundae. "You should finish that before it melts."

She gave a little nod and turned to the ice cream. When she was raising the last bite to her mouth she said. "I suppose we have to go back to saving the city now."

"Yeah," he said. "But I think I might have to keep finding ways to motivate you."

She choked a bit on the ice cream and her cheeks grew an even brighter shade of pink. "I'm looking forward to that," she said.

He gave her a teasing grin. "Just don't expect diamonds every time you do something brilliant, even I'm not that loaded."

She laughed, and that sound carried them out the door of the ice cream shop and back to the work they shared.