A/N: Felicity is now a member of the team and she has her first "scuffle" with Oliver and they finally have a talk they've been needing to have for a while now. Plus, Felicity gets her first field experience!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the sporadic update. I'm still without beta and this has been a crazy week. But here it is, warts and all. I hope the errors aren't too glaring!

Oliver watched Felicity disappear up the stairs, feeling a strange mixture of emotions. Had he done the right thing, bringing her into his crusade? Only hours ago, he'd been firm in his resolve to keep her out of his life, to keep her safe. Then, his mother had shot him and Oliver knew he didn't have many choices if he wanted to survive the night. It came down to a question of trust and in that instant there in the parking garage, he knew he trusted Felicity.

She'd saved his life just as much as Dig had.

Oliver met Dig's eye as they heard the door at the top of the stairs slam shut. "I'm not sure about this, man," he said.

"Don't you like her?" Oliver asked, remembering Dig's reaction to Helena.

"I like her a lot, Oliver. That's the problem. I don't want to put her life in danger."

"We can protect her," Oliver vowed, wishing he felt half as sure about that as he sounded.

Dig raised an eyebrow at him, clearly skeptical. "Did you know she wasn't the least big surprised about your secret identity?"

Oliver remembered her acknowledgement of him when she found him in her backseat. In the furor over everything, he'd forgotten all about that. "I noticed that when she found me. Did she say anything to you about it?"

"Just that she's not as blonde as she looks. She's a smart girl, Oliver. I think she had you figured out before."

Had she known the other night when she gave him the book with the list of names? That put a whole new perspective on their exchange. Oliver had begun to wonder if Felicity's opinion of him would change if she knew what he did in his spare time and if she would have even gone home with him from the club. But she'd brought him to her house that night, she'd wanted to give him pleasure. If she'd known already, that had to mean something, right?

"She is smart. A lot smarter than either of us. I think we need her," Oliver said.

Dig eyed him speculatively. "There's more to the two of you than you're letting on."

"What do you mean?"

"I asked you once if this was a girl that you were interested in something more with. You told me that she wasn't for you. I let it go but I've seen you with her. There's something more there, something you're not telling me."

Oliver sighed and ran a hand through the cropped hair at the back of his neck and reminded himself that it was better to be honest with his partner. "I slept with her, Dig."

"You what?!" Dig thundered. His eyes flashed, jaw set. "Are you kidding me? Why wouldn't you tell me this before? When did this happen?"

He expelled a breath. "Months ago. Before you came on board, actually. Remember when I said I brought Floyd Lawton's laptop to her? I ran into her at a club after that. We flirted and I ended up going home with her." Dig continued to glare so Oliver added, "I didn't think I'd be seeing her again."

"That doesn't make it any better, Oliver. Actually, that kind of makes it worse."

"I know it. I know. Believe me, I know."

"What about since then?" Dig crossed his massive arms over his chest.

Oliver bit the inside of his cheek. "I'm not going to go into details."

"So that's a yes."

"No, it's not. It means I'm not going to give you the details. But I did... meet with her the other night. She gave me a copy of the list that my mother had, remember?"

"And that was it?"

"Not exactly."

Dig continued to glare. "What about now? If she's on the team, are you going to be involved with her?"

"No." The pronouncement stuck in his gut.

"Have you talked about this with her?"

"No..."

"You need to. Because she's a smart girl, she's good and she doesn't deserve to be lead around by the nose by you. Make sure you're both on the same page and that no one is going to get their feelings hurt."

That was the last thing Oliver wanted, for either of them. He wasn't capable of real love, not the sort of love a girl like Felicity deserved. Sure, they'd had a fantastic night together, and Oliver could easily see himself indulging with her again and again. In new and different ways. She may look like an elementary school librarian but he was one of the few that knew how passionate and uninhibited she was underneath it all. But she deserved more than "fuck buddy" status. She deserved the passion and the commitment. Oliver could give her former, but the latter? No, his past with women had shown him quite clearly that he had no business being in a relationship with anyone.

"Dig, I promise you. It was just a one night stand. There's no feelings between us other than friendship."

"That sounds like famous last words to me."

Oliver didn't have a good chance to talk to Felicity until nearly a week later. That was what he told himself anyhow, and what he told Dig whenever the older man fixed him with a stare. It was just... he'd never been good at emotional confrontations. And he was scared to death he'd say something that would piss Felicity off and push her away.

It hadn't even been a week and she was already vital to the team.

His stress over the whole thing must be why he'd pushed back at her the way he had. What had begun as a simple conversation about that night's target, a shady businessman named Ken Williams, ended up in Felicity locking him into the lair via the new and improved security system she'd installed just after she'd joined the team. Her actions had pissed him off more than they would have otherwise and he'd stalked back to her, while she'd babbled on about Williams' ten-year old son and how that son shouldn't be orphaned over some sketchy dealings.

Admittedly, Oliver hadn't heard any of that. Instead, he'd leaned over Felicity's desk, doing his best to physically intimidate her. He purposefully made his posture seductive, the way he murmured, "You're not the only one who knows how to reboot my system," and caught her eye.

He was laying it on thick, and he knew that, but he had so much frustration coursing through him that he couldn't stop himself. Most of that frustration was aimed directly at her as well. Felicity met his eye and swallowed visibly, dropping her gaze. "I made a mistake," she said softly and he thought he had her. He thought he had won.

Oliver should have learned to never underestimate Felicity Smoak by now.

"Getting in my way?" Oliver sneered. "I don't disagree."

"No," she replied, her voice stronger. She shoved up from her chair, right into his face, forcing him to step back. Oliver was stunned as she twisted her glare on him. "Thinking you were a different man. You act just like the entitled rich boy you want everyone to think you are."

He gaped at her as she stalked towards the staircase, heading up the stairs. The sound of a soft chuckle had him swiveling his had back around to Diggle, who had been watching the entire exchange.

"Do you believe her?" Oliver cried, frustration still coursing through him.

"Yes, I do." Dig's dry reply had Oliver narrowing his eyes. "You were out of line, Oliver. I saw what you were doing with her. Not cool, man."

A shred of remorse forced its way through his annoyance, growing and expanding until he slumped his shoulders. "Dig, I don't..." he trailed off, not sure what he was trying to say.

Dig, ever the wise man, seemed to understand perfectly. "You need to go after her. Quick, before she leaves. Talk to the girl, Oliver. She deserves it."

Shit. He was right. It was time to quit dancing around the issue of their relationship, whatever it actually was. Grumbling, he headed up the stairs.

Felicity was out at her car, muttering to herself as she dug for her keys in her purse.

"Felicity, wait." Oliver called as he hurried towards her.

She swung her head and glared at him. "I'd rather not, thanks."

"I'm sorry for the way I acted. I did act like an entitled jerk."

"That's an understatement," she grumbled. "Oliver, if you think you can treat me that way just because we-"

Oliver cringed as he held up a hand, cutting her off. "I realize that. Listen, can we talk?"

"Oliver, I don't know. Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Felicity chewed her lip and eyed her car. "Maybe I should go home and we can forget any of this ever happened."

He had a feeling she was talking about more than just this tussle they were having. He felt a surge of panic. "Please, Felicity."

She stared at him for a long moment and then breathed out a heavy sigh. "Fine. I'm no match for your puppy dog eyes."

Oliver smiled then. "Wait just a minute, let me go change and we'll go grab a bite at Big Belly Burger. Deal?"

Felicity shrugged and made a shooing motion with her hand. "Go on. I'll be waiting here."

Oliver hurried back down to the basement to change. Dig was still there, practicing on the training dummy. He paused when he saw Oliver.

"No luck?"

"No, great luck. She's willing to talk, at least," Oliver said as he gathered his favorite cargo pants and grey t-shirt.

"Good luck, man. And please, don't screw this up. I kinda like her, which is saying something. Most of your girlfriends I can't stand."

Oliver shucked off the green hood and smirked. He knew Dig was referring specifically to Helena.

"She's not my girlfriend," Oliver pointed out as she peeled his leather trousers off and pulled on the cargos.

"Whatever you say, Romeo," Dig replied with a smirk before returned back to the training dummy. "I'm going to head out in a few, call if you need me tonight."

"Sure thing." Oliver finished dressing and hurried back out to Felicity's car. She leaned against the driver's side, tapping at her cell phone screen.

"Thanks for waiting," he told her. "I hope I didn't take too long."

Felicity shoved her phone in her purse and smiled tightly at him. "You caught me on a good night. Let's go."

Oliver crammed himself into the passenger seat of Felicity's Mini and she drove them to Big Belly Burger. Oliver stared out the window during the ride and Felicity, for once, didn't fill the silence with babble. He almost wished she would. He wasn't sure what to say quite yet and was afraid that he might say something to upset her before they even got to the burger joint.

Oliver hoped to let her understand that he wasn't wanting a relationship without making it sound like he expected she that she was. Where had his old finesse gone? He'd had this conversation with multiple women back before the shipwreck and hadn't ever given it a second thought. Now he was sweating like a virgin on prom night. Was he, Oliver Queen, losing his touch?

Felicity pulled up outside BBB and wordlessly, they got out of the car. Oliver held the door for Felicity and she walked in ahead of him, her head held high. He fought a smile as he followed her into the restaurant. If he didn't know her better, he'd think with the glass-wearing, ponytailed, smart girl would be more awkward and unsure of herself. But Felicity knew exactly who she was and dammit, that was endearing.

She commandeered a booth next to the windows overlooking the sidewalk, taking off her coat and setting down her purse on the bench next to her.

"Shall I order us a couple Belly Busters?" Oliver asked her.

She shrugged a shoulder. "Sure. And a milkshake, please."

"Chocolate?"

"Of course."

Oliver was still struggling not to smile as he stepped up to the counter and ordered their food. He returned to the booth a moment later and slid onto the bench across from her. She was peering at something on her cell phone again, but set it aside as he settled into his seat.

"Okay," she began, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I need to convince you not to walk away."

"Why?"

"Because Dig would never forgive me," he said and that was certainly part of the truth. Felicity just raised an eyebrow at him and fixed him with an unamused expression. "Listen, you're smart. You're probably the smartest person I've ever met and I've met a lot of people. I need your expertise if I'm going to be doing what I'm doing. And what I said about Diggle isn't a line. He likes you, he'd be pretty pissed at me if something I did chased you off."

"And what about you?" she asked. "Do you like me?"

Oliver shifted in his seat. "Of course, I like you, Felicity. I wouldn't have come to you that night if I didn't."

Felicity pressed her lips into a line as she watched him. She was about reply, he could tell from the way her mouth popped open and she sucked in a breath, but was interrupted by Carly, delivering their order. She set a root beer float in front of Oliver, a strawberry milkshake in front of Felicity and the mouthwatering scent from the burgers reminding him how hungry he was.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Felicity pointed out as she chewed on a french fry. "But I'm hungry and you look like you could eat a horse so lets save it till after we eat, okay?"

Oliver could agree with that. They both dug into their meals, and Felicity chattered to him about her friend, Stacy, and how she was thinking of maybe flying out to Gotham sometime in the summer to visit her.

"Do you have any friends from... before?" she asked after washing down a bite of her burger with a sip of her milkshake.

"You don't keep up much on celebrity gossip, do you?" he asked her as he swirled a fry in ketchup.

"I guess not. I find the latest tech news to be so much more interesting." She picked up her burger and took a healthy bite, which made him grin. He couldn't think of the last time he'd gone on a date with a girl and had her actually eat.

Not that this was a date.

"Yes, I have friends. I've known Tommy Merlyn since we were kids."

"I bet he was happy to see you come home," Felicity remarked.

"I think he was surprised. Everyone was."

"Any girls?" She sipped at her milkshake and he found the sight of her lips wrapped around the straw to be a bit distracting. Oliver tore his eyes away and forced himself to meet her steady blue gaze.

"Laurel Lance and I were pretty serious before the island," he said. How much was he going to tell her? This story didn't paint him in the best light, after all, and he wanted to coax her to stay with him and Dig, not run screaming into the night.

"You broke up before you left?"

He shook his head. "No."

A wrinkle appeared between Felicity's eyebrows. "But I saw the news reports when you came back, they said you'd gone on the boat with your dad and your girlfriend. What was her name? Sara...? Feel free to tell me to shut up if I'm bringing up a terrible memory."

"Sara Lance," he supplied.

Felicity's eyes grew round. "Oh. So would that be... Laurel's sister, then?"

Oliver nodded. "Yeah." He kept his eyes on his plate, on his half eaten hamburger. "I'm not proud of it, Felicity."

"Is Laurel still... around?" she asked and he could tell she was trying to be delicate.

"Actually, she's dating Tommy."

A bubbling laugh escaped her before she caught herself. "I'm sorry, is it okay to laugh? It's just... that's too much. What is your life, Oliver?"

He had to chuckle too. "It's almost like a bad soap opera, right?"

"Exactly." She munched on another fry before speaking again. "So are you okay with it? With your best friend dating your former girlfriend?"

Oliver shrugged. "At first I wasn't too sure. I spent a lot of time on that island, thinking about Laurel and wanting to come home and make things right with her. I wanted to get back to her so badly. But after I got here, I saw how mad she still was at me and I've been wondering if didn't want to get back to her so much as I wanted to get back to who I was before the island."

"But you're not that man anymore."

Oliver smirked at her. "You didn't even know me before, how do you know?"

"If it's online, I can find it. I know enough, Oliver. And I know enough about who you are now to know you're not that guy anymore." She picked up her burger and took another big bite while he considered what she'd said.

He hadn't thought about it that way before. He'd been so concerned with getting back to his life and hadn't stopped to consider that his old life just wasn't there anymore. Laurel wasn't there anymore; she'd moved on with her life and she'd moved on with Tommy. That was okay. She was better off with Tommy than with him anyhow.

"You're a smart woman, Felicity," he told her at last. He heaved a sigh. "And that's why I need you on the team."

She sighed too, stirring her straw around in the remains of her milkshake. "I didn't like how you treated me tonight, Oliver. It felt like you were using the fact that we've slept together to try to intimidate me."

"I know and I'm sorry. I was frustrated. I'm not used to people questioning my actions."

"Like a spoiled rich boy."

"Yes, like a spoiled rich boy. I reacted badly and you called me out on that. No one, besides Dig, has ever done that here. Off the island, that is."

"More people should."

"But they don't because they only see me as I was before the island."

"And you push people away." He leveled her with a bland look. "You do!" she insisted. "You've tried to push me away, and I'm not just talking about tonight."

"I can't... get involved with anyone, Felicity," he told her.

"Why not?"

Oliver grit his jaw. This was cutting a little close to the surface. "I have my reasons and they're my reasons. I don't want to talk about it."

A look passed over Felicity's face, shuttering her eyes. "Alright. That's fine. I assume you're also talking about us. About our relationship."

"We don't have a relationship, Felicity. And yes, I am."

He watched as she ripped apart one of the few fries left on her plate ruthlessly before tossing the pieces down and wiping her fingers on a napkin. "We do have a relationship, Oliver, even if it's just a working one. I'd like to be your friend too, if you'd let me. I'm not looking for anything more, I can assure you."

That was exactly what he wanted. So why he feel a surge of frustration at her declaration? Oliver rolled his shoulders, took a drink from his root beer float and then said, simply, "Good."

"Now that that's out of the way, are you going to stop acting like an ass when we're doing our... business?" Felicity glanced over her shoulder at the mostly empty restaurant.

"Are you going to keep working with us?"

"Depends on if you're going to stop acting like an ass or not."

"I'll try. Can you be patient with me?"

"I'll try."

They stared at each other for a moment and Oliver had a brief but very sincere regret that he wouldn't get to have another night with Felicity in her bed. But he was better off not having those thoughts about her now. Saving the city was far more important than his neglected libido.

"Sounds like we're on the same page then," he said, wishing he felt more conviction about it.

Two days into their new venture and Oliver as a knot of frustration. It wasn't that there wasn't enough distraction; a jewel thief known as "The Dodger" had hit Starling City and, at Felicity's urging, they were tracking him down and trying to draw him out. This was a situation where the Queen family wealth and assets came in very handy. A cancer society benefit and silent auction was the perfect venue to draw out the elusive thief so Oliver found a jewel in his family's vault that fit the Dodger's tastes and donated it to the auction. Felicity had placed a tiny tracking device on the jeweled piece so she could monitor it from her cell phone. Still, they would all need to be at the benefit for this to work.

The plan was for Oliver and Diggle to man the exists and keep an eye on the bait as well as any suspicious looking characters. Felicity needed to be there too, since her tracker worked better in proximity and she'd need to be near the bait item in order to get a read on its location. They all arranged to meet up there when the benefit began.

Oliver arrived first, dressed in one of his finest suits with an expensive white button down shirt and black silk tie. He found Dig relatively quickly, also dressed in a nice suit, and the two of them conferred quickly. Dig pointed out that the police were on site as well, probably also trying to track the Dodger and Oliver hoped their presence wouldn't deter the thief.

Right about then, he saw a figure appear through the crowd. She was petite, curvaceous and wearing a glittering golden dress that not only stopped mid-thigh, but showcased a slit that crept up her leg even further. Her golden hair tumbled in bouncing waves around her shoulders. It took Oliver a moment to realize it was Felicity. There were no glasses perched on her nose and her legs looked like they went on for miles. She looked uncannily like she had the night he'd run into her at the nightclub and he'd almost forgotten the effect of her "after-hours" look. His mouth popped open as he stared at her.

Dig nudged him with an elbow. "What is it? What do you see?"

"Felicity." Her name sounded strangled coming from his throat.

Dig followed his line of sight and left out a low whistle. "Girl cleans up good," he murmured. They started towards her and she looked up from her phone as they approached.

"I'm getting a good signal on the tracker," she announced, holding up the phone with a proud smile.

"Looking good, Ms. Smoak," Dig told her.

She beamed back at him. "Thank you, Mr. Diggle. You don't look bad yourself. Or you, Oliver."

Oliver attempted a smile back but that knot of frustration he'd been feeling since the other night just tightened further. He hadn't counted on the fact that working with Felicity meant he was going to see her all the time. He also hadn't counted on seeing her all the time only making him want her more.

He'd had the perfect opportunity to put off his feelings about Felicity by taking McKenna Hall out on a date. The SCPD Officer was definitely interested in him, had flirted with him and given enough hints that he'd have to have been stupid not to get the message. As it was, he felt guilty for asking her out to coffee under the guise of "catching up" as old friends, only to put the listening device on her phone when her back was turned.

Why couldn't he just ask McKenna out and forget about Felicity? He'd thought about it and had nearly done just that. But he couldn't get the words out. Instead, he'd left the coffee shop, leaving McKenna looking disappointed behind him.

And his "problem" with Felicity was only getting worse.

Seeing her in this dress with her hair down and her makeup and those shoes... Oliver's restraint was being sorely tested and he was reminded just how long it had been since he'd properly gotten laid.

"Speaking of," Felicity was saying as the three of them walked together along the display cases for the auction, pretending as though they were checking out the jewels, "have you given any thought to what might happen if this doesn't work and the Dodger absconds with your family jewels?"

She caught herself a second later, her eyes slamming shut as she stopped walking. Diggle smirked and Oliver felt a smile threaten the corners of his mouth. God, she was precious.

"I'm sorry, that came out totally wrong," she moaned.

"It's all right, Felicity," Dig assured her. "We got what you meant."

"We're not going to let it happen," Oliver told her. "You've got your eye on the piece, and no one's going to get past Dig or I. Let's just keep our eyes open."

They split up for a bit and Oliver tried avoid McKenna, whom he'd spotted talking to some patrons. He tried to keep an eye on Felicity but he lost sight of her as she walked around with her phone out, keeping a vigilant eye on the bait. He found Dig after about ten minutes and was about to suggest that they find Felicity when she came rushing up to them.

Oliver didn't notice it at first, not until her fingers flew up to touch it. A chunky metal band was in place around her neck, lights flashing red on it. Her eyes were wide and afraid. "Guys? I think we have a problem," she said breathlessly. Dig grabbed her arm and looked to him. Oliver, meanwhile, felt like he was going to be sick.