Chapter 10

The last couple of weeks in Verdant had been…bizarre. Clint had quickly made himself at home; much to Oliver's irritation. He updated Oliver's arrows ("latest tech from Stark. I…borrowed it."), he flirted outrageously with Sara using cheesy pickup lines ('hey canary, we may not be birds of a feather, but can we flock together?"), brought cupcakes for Felicity (a token of my eternal gratitude for your hospitable couch, Lady Stark.), trained with Digg (Bro, do you lift?), and generally pissed off Oliver.

While they generally danced around each other, they almost came to blows on the first day when Clint was questioning Roy about his training ("you've had him slapping WATER?"). Afterwards, Clint took over Roy's training supplementing his archery with mandatory meditation and yoga. "Trust me, if this works on Banner, it will work on Red."

Oliver, for his part, had stayed remarkably calm. After he had a few days to cool down, he realized how helpful it was to have the Avenger around. Even Sara benefited from his combat practice. Oliver had considered himself a decent fighter, but Barton was on a completely different level. Felicity noticed Oliver's change of heart regarding the Avenger one morning when she found a cup of coffee on her desk at QC. Oliver had come in early and was actually doing his own paper work, for once.

"So what do you think Lis?" Clint smirked as he and Oliver circled each other on the mat. "How does he measure up?"

"To who?" Felicity holding a tablet while balancing a stack of QC paperwork and a mug of coffee.

"Batman"

CRASH

The coffee mug shattered on the floor spraying coffee everywhere. Clint used Oliver's momentary distraction to pin his arms behind his neck.

"He's definitely not as skilled. His toys aren't as cool." Clint said casually as he tripped Oliver and slammed him on to the mat. "His secret hang out is under a club, so kudos for that, even if it is filled with vermin." When Clint had found out about the rats on the second day he had declared their extermination part of Roy's training ("call it moving target practice"). Roy had been charged with shooting to capture, not kill. There was a cage in the lair which now contained 3 rats, which Clint was planning to release into the wild, or put in Isabel Rochev's car if she pissed off Felicity.

"I do respect his skill with a bow though. It's a noble weapon." Clint was now sitting on Oliver's back "Come on now Hoodie, Bats would have had me pinned by now."

"I'm not Batman." Oliver gasped into the mat.

"Clearly, he's less broody and better looking." Clint stood and reached out his hand to help Oliver to his feet. "Am I right Lis? How was it you so eloquently described Bats? I believed the words 'built like a Greek God' were used."

"Clint!"

"Sorry. I may have spied on your girl's night with Romanov…Hey!"

Instead of using Clint's outstretched hand to get up, Oliver had chosen this moment to grab it and attempt to drag Barton down. Clint didn't resist instead he allowed himself to drop, using the momentum to hit the mat and pull Oliver on top of him. This resulted with the two rolling on the mats each attempting to subdue each other.

"Have those two finally decided to stop fighting their feelings for each other?" Sara commented as she leaned against the bottom of the stairs.

"You can join us if you want." Clint called out.

"Nah, I'd rather watch."

Clint chuckled and lazily threw Oliver off.

"I'm going to hit the showers. Good job Queen; you almost had me. Next time focus, instead of letting your emotions dictate your tactics." Clint walked away whistling.

Oliver stood up slowly and made his way to the computers where Sara was helping Felicity clean up her spilled coffee.

"What's your relationship to Batman?"

"I set up his computer system before I came to work in Starling City."

"How long did you work with him?"

"A couple months. He started Batmanning in 2011 and I stayed for a while, but things got…complicated. So I came to work in Starling."

"Complicated?"

"Gotham is a difficult place to live. I thought I'd move to Starling for a more quiet life…a fresh start."

Oliver was stone-faced and silent.

"Ollie" Sara murmured "say something."

"I'm just processing all this information. I…need time to figure out how I feel about it." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I know that lately I've been acting like a…"

"An overbearing, judgey, shouty, asscravat?" Felicity supplied.

"Yes." He said "I guess I thought you were the only one of us who could escape this and live a normal life."

They smiled at each other

"Sooooo is that an apology?"

"Yes"

"Apology accepted and since I have you in a good mood now might be the time to remind you that you need to get ready for your mother's debate."

Oliver groaned and walked out of the foundry. Sara looked at Felicity.

"You bring out the best in him." She said softly.

"No, he's much happier since he's been with you."

Sara shook her head and smiled at her friend.

"So, word on the street is that Batman is built like a Greek God?"

Felicity blushed.