Author's note: So this was actually a bit of ground to cover, I may have fudged the timeline here just a little, but I'm not sure. Anyways as promised here's you go. Also, a special thanks to everyone who has read, liked, message, or reviewed. Just as a heads up. I'll do my best to be canon compliant but I don't always have control of my brain so we'll see how that goes if we get to far off in left field I'll add AU tags. As always I claim ownership of an overactive imagination and nothing else; these are not my characters.

Much to his dismay Walter had been unable to maneuver his schedule in order to be on hand to make the introductions between Oliver and Ms. Smoak, or Felicity as she insisted he call her. Once she'd been offered the position at QC Ms. Smoak's carefully cultivated professional facade had eroded dramatically in some ways.

She was a virtual kaleidoscope of color in the sea of neutrals that walked the halls of QC; still professional, not at all in violation of the rather strict company dress code. However, where others chose whites and beiges, grays and hues of blue she chose pinks and purples to match her rather bold lipstick and rather impressive not to mention unusual shoe collection, if he wasn't mistaken she'd had panda's on her shoes the last time he'd run into her in the elevator. She'd been speaking animatedly with one of her co-workers, the fact that she had developed a rather extensive and devoted fan following in all of QC's various IT departments had also not escaped Walter's notice.

Waiting for the elevator to open and the previous inhabitants to depart Walter had had a moment to observe the young women before she'd noticed his presence, it was a rather illuminating experience. Unguarded as she was she had been gesturing emphatically speaking with a rapidity that left him wondering when she inhaled. From what he was able to gather apparently the new vendor that the HR department was considering did not meet with her approval something to do with security of information and reporting capabilities that were "made entirely of suckage".

It was the last remark that had overrode his general sangfroid causing him to chuckle slightly. That had been enough to bring her attention to him; blushing scarlet she had begun what he assumed was meant to be an apology. Truth be told is was a bit hard to tell, when Ms. Smoak, Felicity, he mentally amended, was fluster she had a tendency to...shall we say drift conversationally. She called it a babble and he was even more amused to note that she was not unaware of this habit cutting herself off mid tirade and actually counting down before returning to her initial apology.

Assuring her that apologies were unnecessary and that he would ensure that any future vendors would be screened more carefully before they entered into negotiations he'd been pleased her a little dumbfounded at the exchange when he asked her to submit a list of recommended vendor's and share it with his assistant, which of course she had submitted within the hour. By unspoken mutual consent neither of them broached the topic of her cyber security efforts, and if she noticed that David Wolfe experienced systems issues that only she could address with a regularity that made no sense given his own expertise or that he just so happens to discuss security issues purely hypothetically and then issue changes accordingly she never mentioned it. Nor did she mention when QC made the somewhat surprising decision to utilize a relative unknown vendor for their HR systems, the same one that had been at the top of her list of recommendations.

Felicity had promised Walter that he would never regret hiring her and so far she had gone above and beyond any expectations he may have had. She was beyond a treasure, and professionally she was quite possibly the best investment he had ever made, but by referring her to Oliver they were once again entering into uncharted territory. Felicity was smart, almost disturbingly so, whatever cover Oliver planned on feeding her to cover his illicit activities wasn't going to work and yet somehow Walter knew she'd help anyways, as her past actions could well attest Felicity Smoak was well acquainted with gray areas. After all, surrounding your employer's network with a unauthorized security protocol wasn't exactly standard operating procedure and furthering said protocol to counter attacks to the detriment of the sender smacked slightly of.. well vigilantism.

Yes Oliver, was in good hands, the best. Confident that at least in this aspect of his ever increasingly complex existence there was nothing more he could do to assist his stepson at the moment, Walter turned his focus to other matter that had occupied his mind of late. There had been no leads on the mysterious book he had found among his wife's things, this coupled with Mr. Hudson's unexpected and sudden demise so closely after he'd asked him to look into had raised his suspicions to a fever pitch. Whatever Moira was up to, it was undoubtedly bad news.

With a heavy sigh, Walter contemplated how best to proceed, he needed to protect his family, but from what? and how? Mr. Hudson's death weighed heavily on his conscience. He'd had no idea that the seemingly innocuous volume would cost a man his life. Furthermore if this information was important enough that people would kill to protect it who could he ask to take such a risk? Oliver was the obvious choice but this was his Mother, not to mention that young man had more than enough on his plate attempting to rescue the whole of Starling single handedly, well almost single-handedly. Even with the sober nature of his current train of thought he couldn't help but pleased with his efforts on his stepson's behalf. That's when the thought struck him, consolidation at its, linking the two ideas. Who better to conduct a discreet investigation that someone who left virtually no trace, QC's best had been unable to find Felicity until they had known who to look for and even then it was unlikely that she'd been as careful as she could be. Even better by putting her in Oliver's sphere he'd not only ensured that Oliver had the very best IT help their he'd also assured that the young woman had access to the city's resident vigilante.

Unless Oliver was more unfeeling then Walter thought humanly possible he had no doubt that Felicity Smoak would worm her ways past his defenses as easily as she did a firewall. Felicity was the best and Oliver was certainly astute enough to recognize this he'd seek her out when he needed help, and hopefully Ms. Smoak would do the same. On the off chance that Felicity was too guarded to confide in Oliver he would most assuredly still be in proximity to Felicity, and he had no doubt that Oliver would keep her safe.