Thanks for the patience on this chapter. I've had a lot going on, plus I was losing a little bit of inspiration for this fic. Only because I've been dreaming of other Olicity fics I potentially wanted to write. HOWEVER, I promise to finish this one before I start anything else.
Anyways...enjoy!
p.s. this was hastily betaed so apologies for any glaring weirdness
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"Felicity, why are you harassing my bouncers?"
"Digg, have you seen this list?" she questioned as Verdant's head of security pulled the clipboard—with the list in question—from her hands.
The doorman behind her looked absolutely confused, wondering why this petite blonde was questioning his capabilities of handling guests. That still didn't prevent him from staring at her ass when she turned around though.
"Of course I have," Diggle answered, passing a sharp look at the younger man, warning him not to go there with Felicity. "I printed it off when I came in tonight. Roy, you can go back to the stage." Diggle resumed his post by the door and turned back to Felicity. "Aren't you supposed to be enjoying yourself?"
Felicity had been at the club no more than five minutes when her control freak side took over. She had just wanted to give the night's finer details a triple check and had ended up cornering poor Roy, the guy covering the door, and asking…
"Who the hell is Adam Cray?"
She had made that list herself and it had been stored in encrypted files, knowing from personal experience how easy it was to hack admittance into a club. No one should have been able to break through her technological walls.
Diggle looked at the list and recalled the face—or mask—that matched the name.
"Tall guy," he told her. "Dark hair, nice suit, blue mask with a bunch of star-flower looking shapes on it."
"Let me know if you see him again," Felicity said. "He's not supposed to be here. He definitely wasn't on my list which means he definitely hacked his way onto it and if he did that, then he's definitely bad news."
"I seem to remember another bad news, brilliant girl who hacked her way into a club not to long ago," Diggle winked. Felicity couldn't help her grin and nudged him with her elbow. "You look beautiful tonight."
"Thank you," she replied. "I better go find Sara."
Sara had decided to be behind the bar for part of the night. She reasoned that there was no way Verdant could survive such a big event without their best bartender front and center. Plus, she couldn't ignore an opportunity to be the center of attention.
As Felicity headed in her friend's direction, her eyes searched for Oliver and she almost ran into smack into another person. She stumbled and caught another woman's arms.
"Sorry—" she started to say as she regained her footing. She pushed at the corner of her mask as she made eye contact with the person in front of her. "Laurel. Hey."
"Hi, Felicity," Laurel returned with a small smile.
Felicity couldn't help noticing how great she looked. Instead of wearing a mask, she had tiny stones around her eyes that left her face bare and fully recognizable. A man came up behind her, one Felicity thought she recognized, but it was hard to tell when half his face was covered by a Phantom-of-the-Opera styled mask. He placed a hand at the small of Laurel's back.
"You okay?"
"I'm fine," Laurel smiled at him. "Sebastian, this is Felicity Smoak, a friend of my sister's."
An unusual smile graced the man's face as he extended his hand toward Felicity. "Smoak, now that's a name I'm very familiar with. You wouldn't happen to be Oliver Queen's assistant would you?"
"I am," Felicity replied. "I'm sorry, have we met?"
"No, but not for lack of trying. Sebastian Blood. I'm running—"
"For mayor." The light bulb went off inside her head. "I've spoken with your assistant a few times."
He looked at a confused Laurel. "She's been calling and trying to set up a meeting for me with Mr. Queen, I was hoping I might see him out tonight. Since we can't seem to get past the gate-keeper to speak to him."
Sebastian was all political charm and Felicity smiled politely. She had grown used to being around men like Blood: men who wanted things and would do the male equivalent of bating their eyelashes to get it.
"Sorry to disappoint, Mr. Blood, but Mr. Queen is much too busy to be out tonight. He had a business dinner earlier this evening," Felicity told him, using her firm assistant voice. "Which reminds me…I made him reservations at Bistro Blue. They have fantastic wine. There is one I've been dying to try…a Lafite Rothschild. If only I could get my hands on a bottle. I would certainly be grateful."
Sebastian read the bribe. "You drive a hard bargain, Miss Smoak. I'm glad to have met you."
Felicity smiled again and wished him and Laurel a good evening, applauding her own ability to wrangle a fancy bottle of wine out of a desperate politician. Being Oliver Queen's assistant definitely had its perks.
Finally, she made it to Sara, who was at the other end of a crowded bar.
"What does a girl need to do to get some service?"
Sara looked over at Felicity and beamed, holding up a hand to signal that she'd be right there. Felicity nodded and moved back a little, laying her hands over the bar. Her fingers drummed over the white surface of the bar.
"You'll be waiting forever," a male voice said to her. "She keeps saying she'll be right back, but she never comes back."
"Well, you're in luck," Felicity said turning toward him. "Because that's my best—you?!"
Felicity eyes widened at a blue mask, with the starflower symbol Diggle had described. It was an atom symbol, Felicity recognized.
"Me?" The man laughed, flashing a set of perfect white teeth. "Have we met?"
"Adam Cray? I saw your name on my list."
"That's me," he replied. "Again, have we met?"
"Is that your real name? How did you hack your way into my system? No one should be able to do that, I set up those fire walls myself."
His lips curved and the movement of his cheeks tilted his blue mask so that it shimmered metallic under the club lights. Something about it set off his dark eyes.
"You must be Felicity Smoak."
Felicity blinked. When had she become so famous?
"Hey, who's your friend?"
Sara slid up to their section of the bar as a new song began to thrum from the speakers.
"I'm Adam," he flashed that hundred watt smile in Sara's direction. Felicity watched her melt a little as she took his extended hand.
"If that's even his real name," Felicity muttered, just loud enough for them to hear.
"It's a masked party," Adam argued. "Isn't anonymity the point of it all? To raise the stakes?"
"Not when you've illegally hacked your way into my club."
"Your club?" Adam questioned.
At the same time Sara said, "Oh, because no one else here has ever done that," she gave Adam a sympathetic look. "Felicity doesn't like to be beaten. What can I get you to drink?"
"No! No drinks," she said, shoving Adam back. "You stay right here. I'll be right back."
She would go get Diggle and have him put a the fear of god into the man to figure out who he really was. Felicity didn't need some unidentified hacker snooping around Verdant's big night. She would also head upstairs for a quick moment to double check the security on Verdant's computers.
How someone was able to hack in was beyond her capacity of thought. He would have had to be a super genius.
Sara caught up with her, grabbing her arm to stop her. "What's the matter with you? That guy was cute and obviously trying to flirt with you."
"Sara, he hacked his way onto the guest list on this really big, important night. Plus, he knew my name. Don't you think that's a little suspicious?"
"Felicity, my dear friend, you watch too many crime shows. Seriously, go back and talk to him! Let him buy you a drink."
"Felicity," Laurel was at her side again, this time without Sebastian. "Have you seen Ollie?"
Felicity shook her head. She hadn't seen any sign of Oliver, not that she had really had that much time to look. Just like at work, she was being pulled in multiple directions.
"He's not coming tonight," she said, keeping the secret of Oliver's planned appearance. If Oliver saw Laurel and wanted to tell her, then that was his decision to make.
"Tommy's in the corner booth over there, I'm a little worried."
Felicity and Sara both peered around Laurel's shoulder and saw Tommy sitting alone in the VIP section, a bottle of grey goose in hand and a deep frown prominent under the black mask covering the top half of his face. Her eyes went wide. Tommy was always so light and jovial; she didn't even know he was capable of an expression that stormy.
"What's wrong?"
"He didn't really say, he wouldn't talk to me I was hoping—"
"I can talk to him," Felicity assured her.
"I can do it," Sara offered.
"No, you go back to the bar and keep your eye on Adam Cray. I find out what's wrong with Tommy."
Sara hesitated, but turned and went back to her drink mixing.
Laurel passed Felicity an encouraging smile and stepped away to find Sebastian again.
Tommy didn't even noticed Felicity's approach. He continued to sulk with his bottle, his eyes glowing different shades of green, as lights flickered overhead.
"Why the long face?"
Tommy's miserable eyes flicked up to her face. The moment he registered her, he attempted a weak, humorless smile.
"Smoaky!" His arms flailed out to his sides, alcohol sloshing from the bottle. "Just the woman I wanted to see."
Felicity chuckled and slid down next to him. She could smell the rum saturating his breath. "I thought we talked about that nickname."
"Felicity," Tommy slurred. "As beautiful as you are wise…tell me…why can't I get the girl I love to love me back."
"Uhh, I don't know. I don't know why you're asking me."
"Because you're a genius," he hiccupped.
"I'm not a love genius," she countered, thinking of the recent shortcomings in her love life. Which reminded her…
"Have you seen Oliver? It's the big night and I haven't seen him anywhere."
"Oliver," Tommy snorted and took another pull from his bottle. "No, I haven't seen Oliver. But that's what all the girls want isn't it?" Tommy stood up, stumbling a bit and sweeping out his arms. "Oliver Queen. The prince of Starling!"
Felicity began to panic. People around them could hear Tommy's voice in spite of the loud music and they were starting to stare. "Tommy, why don't we go downstairs and talk?"
That caught his attention, he dropped back down next to her, practically sitting on her lap. "You want to go downstairs with me? Felicity?"
"You're drunk," she rolled her eyes. "I meant to talk. About why you're angry at Oliver."
"I'm not angry at Oliver. He's my best friend. I just—" he let out a hard sigh, that reeked of rum. "I just want to know when it's going to be my turn."
"You're turn? You're turn for what?"
"Is everything okay?"
Felicity looked up. She wasn't sure how Adam had made it past the VIP velvet rope, but there he was standing over them, giving Tommy a weary eye. She shot up holding out her hand to stop him. "Everything is fine. How'd you get past security?"
"I have my ways."
"Is this guy bothering you, Smoaky?" Tommy stumbled to his feet again, his eyes shooting daggers in Adam's direction.
"I was just asking her the same thing," Adam challenged. Honestly, who was this guy?
"Whoa," Felicity said holding out both of her hands between the two men as they sized each other up. "I don't know why there is a sudden influx of testosterone in here, but everyone just needs to calm down. Tommy—"
Felicity had a split second to make a choice: finish her sentence or duck.
She ducked, as Tommy's fist swung wide and collided with Adam's eye.
The clubbers around them gasped and yelled, moving back and circling around the three of them prepared for a fight. Female eyes gleamed with the promise of gossip and drama as the bouncer standing at the front of the VIP area rushed forward. Tommy was winding up for another punch but Diggle was there, appearing out of thin air, and pulling him back.
"What's going on? Felicity?"
She turned and Oliver was there, ripping his mask from his face.
"I don't know," she replied over the noise. The music still played, but no one in the VIP area was worried about dancing or drinking. Oliver's sudden appearance turned everyone's attention from the potential fight.
"That guy was bothering Felicity," Tommy pointed at Adam.
Oliver shot a glare in Adam's direction. "Diggle, get him the hell out of here."
Diggle grabbed Adam by the elbow and jerked him forward. Felicity spared a glance at Oliver, who was attempting to prop up his fuming best friend. He nodded toward the basement and Felicity held up one finger to indicate she'd be right back. She scurried off, cutting through the onlookers, and followed Diggle out with Adam.
He was half a block away before Felicity caught up to him.
"Hey!" She shouted after him. "Hey! Who do you think you are?"
Adam turned. His mask was off and he was rubbing the red spot near his cheek. There was a tiny bit of blood trickling down his cheek where the plastic had cut into his face.
Now that she saw him without the disguise, he looked familiar, but she was too angry to give it any thought.
"That was my friend in there," her tirade continued.
"I didn't realize—"
"You don't even know me—you had no right—"
"I'm sorry I thought—"
"You thought you would impress me by swooping in and saving me from another club asshole? Well guess what, I'm not that kind of girl. And if anyone is the club asshole…it's you! Why the hell did you sneak in here in the first place?"
"I have my reasons."
"Is stalking one of them? How did you know who I was?"
"I really am sorry. I think you have the wrong impression-"
"I don't care," Felicity replied. She whirled around and stalked back into Verdant, leaving Adam Cray and whatever crap apology he had planned, out on the sidewalk.
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When Oliver returned to the basement office, Tommy was slumped back against the couch, his arm resting over his eyes. He peeked under his elbow and moaned.
"I got this from Sara," Oliver said holding up a plastic bag of ice.
He tossed it over to his friend and grabbed the chair next to him, taking a seat. Tommy sat up, wincing as he put the bag of ice over his bruised knuckles.
"What is wrong with me?"
"I was about to ask the same question," Oliver replied. "What happened?"
Both men had discarded their masks on the desk. Oliver tugged his tie down a bit.
"Please tell me you didn't hear anything that proceeded it."
"You mean the rant about the Prince of Starling?"
"I didn't even see you around. I guess that mask really did the trick." Tommy groaned again, dropping his head into his hands. "I didn't mean it," he apologized. "I just—It's Laurel."
"Laurel? What about her?"
"I'm in love with her," Tommy admitted. "I have been, for a while. And I thought maybe…if you guys were really broken up this time…and then she shows up here with another guy tonight. I just lost it."
Oliver blinked. That wasn't what he had been expecting. He and Tommy had gone through short bouts of rivalry over the years, but it had mostly faded since adolescence. Suddenly they were back in high school again, fighting over a girl. "You're in love with Laurel?"
"Yeah," Tommy replied. "Are you mad?"
Oliver wasn't sure. He was surprised, but not angry. However, Tommy took his silence for anger.
"I swear, I never did or tried anything! I would never—"
"I know, I know," Oliver said holding up his hand. "You're my best friend. I trust you. It's just," he let out a single laugh, "I was such a dick to her for a long time. If you love her why weren't you kicking my ass?"
"Honestly? I thought about it," Tommy laughed. "I just decided to punch a stranger tonight instead."
"You probably won't score any points with Laurel by punching her date," Oliver advised.
"That wasn't her date. At least I don't think it was, I'm kind of drunk." That was an understatement, Oliver thought. "He seemed like he was into Felicity."
"What?" Oliver asked. The question came out a little harsh, but Tommy didn't seem to notice.
"I don't know," he replied. "He went all macho over Felicity. He actually thought I was a creep and was stepping up to protect her."
A pronounced V shape split the space between Oliver's brows. Felicity had followed Diggle outside as he had dragged the mystery man out of the club. For a split second, he almost wished he had let Tommy hit him a couple more times.
"Whoa."
"What?" Oliver asked, looking up from the spot he'd been glaring at on the floor.
"You look madder now than when I told you that I'm in love with your ex-girlfriend."
Oliver shrugged it off. "I'm just worried. Felicity is my friend. It's my job to look out for her."
"Sure buddy, whatever you say."
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Felicity was headed back down to the basement when she saw Sara, sulking by the office door. She looked ready to punch something.
"What's the matter?" Felicity asked.
"Nothing," Sara replied. "I went down to check on Tommy and Oliver but they were talking."
"Oh," said Felicity. "I guess I should let them talk."
Part of her also wanted to make sure they were okay, but if Tommy was angry with Oliver about something then it was probably best to let them have some time.
"I'm ready to go," Sara said. "Are you?"
"Honestly? Yeah. This night didn't really turn out the way I thought it would."
"Yeah, I know what you mean."
Felicity cocked her head, giving Sara another studious look. She looked just as sad as Tommy had before, though not quite as drunk. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Sara smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm always okay. Come on, let's go get some Big Belly Burger. I'm starving!"
Sara slung her arm around Felicity's shoulders and the two girls walked toward the door.
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Felicity had expected to be a lot more tired when she woke up on Saturday morning. But she had gotten much more sleep than she'd originally intended.
The masquerade didn't go quite as planned. She'd gotten all dressed up and spent the night running around from one drama to the next without a chance to enjoy herself.
It was a shame. That dress had been great. She couldn't help wondering what Oliver would have thought of it, if had really gotten a chance to see her.
She quickly shook that thought from her head, concentrating again on double-checking the computer set up in the conference room.
Their meeting with Ray Palmer was in less than a half an hour. The other QC executives had begun to file into the room, milling about over coffee and some bagels. She said a quick hello to Mr. Steele as she slipped out to go find Oliver.
She found him in his office.
"Good morning," she said.
"Hey," Oliver greeted. "Where'd you disappear to last night?"
"I kinda fell out of the party mood," Felicity answered. "It didn't really turn out to be the night I thought it would."
"I know what you mean." Oliver gave her a look that was difficult to read.
"Everything okay with Tommy?"
"Yeah," he replied. "We talked. Everything is good."
"Can I even ask what was going on?"
Oliver sighed. "He's in love with Laurel."
Felcity's mouth fell into a surprised "o" shape. "Wow. I did not see that coming."
"Neither did I," Oliver admitted.
She realized what Tommy meant when he had said "his turn."
"I take it he wasn't so thrilled to see her there with another man."
"No," Oliver replied. He seemed distracted. Unsure.
"Are you…okay with that?"
Oliver looked up at her, folding his lips together.
"It's strange. But yeah, I'm fine with it. I'm not in love with Laurel and I want Tommy to be happy. If it's in the cards, then I wish them both the best." Felicity gave him an encouraging smile, pushing at her glasses. "And, we did get some press from the dramatics. Someone snapped a very opportune picture."
Oliver tossed the Starling City page six in her direction. There was a picture of Oliver, unmasked, holding Tommy back from the potential drunken brawl.
"Yikes," Felicity said, examining the paper. "I guess your secret identity has been compromised."
"I'm sure my fellow executives won't be too thrilled with the latest gossip."
"Lucky for you I was eavesdropping on their conversations while I was double checking the set up in the conference room," Felicity told him. "None of them head straight for the gossip columns first thing in the morning."
"Thank god," Oliver replied. He stood and grabbed the suit jacket from around his chair, sliding his arms into his sleeves. "Hopefully the same can be said for Ray Palmer."
"Well on the bright side, he's young. He's not an old curmudgeon like the rest of those guys. I think he would give you a little bit of leeway for still being a man about town."
"Curmudgeon?"
Felicity opened the door. "Too early for big words?"
Oliver chuckled. "I know what curmudgeon means, I've just never heard someone use it in a sentence."
She laughed and followed him down the hallway toward the conference room.
"Who was that guy?"
Felicity face was buried in her tablet. "What guy?"
"That guy that Tommy punched," Oliver clarified. "He said he was bothering you. Did you know him?"
"He was just some guy that I had been talking to her earlier," Felicity answered. "He hacked his way onto the guest list. To be honest, I'm glad Tommy punched him. I kinda wanted to do it myself."
"For stealing your move?" Oliver grinned.
"I'll find out who he is," Felicity promised. "Then we'll see who is the better hacker."
"Please don't do anything that will wind up with you in prison," Oliver said, giving her elbow a small sqeeuze. "I need you here."
"Oh don't worry, I don't get caught." She smiled up at him. Oliver's hand was still on her arm as they paused just in front of the conference room. Their eyes stayed locked and Felicity felt a little flutter of electricity that started at her elbow and moved down her arm to the rest of her body. Oliver's lips parted.
"Sorry, I'm late. Traffic held me up."
The voice coming down the hallway broke the tension. Felicity shifted away and turned her head, her jaw dropping to the floor at who she saw.
"I'm Ray Palmer."
Oliver stepped forward, meeting the dark haired man walking up to them. He reached for Ray Palmer's out stretched hand and introduced himself. Felicity couldn't stop staring. This Ray Palmer was not the same Ray Palmer who's lectures she had attended all those years ago.
It was the same man, though. He was just…hotter. At some point the glasses and greasy hair and bad fashion sense had melted away to strapping man with dark hair and a smile that reminded her of toothpaste commercial.
The worst part though, wasn't that he had become so painfully attractive. The worst part was the purple shiner just below his left eye.
"This is my assistant, Felicity Smoak," she heard Oliver say next to her. "Felicity? Fel-i-city?"
"Hi, umm yeah. I'm Felicity Smoak. He said that already. Because that's me. His assistant. Mr. Queen's assistant. I'm Felicity Smoak."
She quickly shook Ray Palmer's hand and snatched her arm back, unable to tear her eyes away from the giant, splotchy bruise marring his chiseled face.
"Mr. Palmer," Mr. Steele greeted from the doorway. "It's a pleasure to meet you. Walter Steele."
"Good to meet you, Mr. Steele. I apologize for my appearance," Ray pointed toward his eye. "I was the unfortunate victim of the in-flight shift of carry on luggage."
He glanced at Felicity and her eyes snapped down to her tablet, ponytail shaking back and forth.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Shall we get started?" Oliver held out his arm and invited Ray into the room. He started to follow but Felicity's hand shot out and grabbed his arm, pulling him back.
"Felicity," Oliver said. "What's going on?"
"You remember that guy that Tommy punched last night?"
"Yeah?"
"That's him," Felicity explained. "Tommy punched out Ray Palmer. In the middle of your club."
Realization hit him and he let out a heavy sigh, running a hand over his face. "And then I threw him out."
"And then I followed him down the street and yelled at him," Felicity replied with a gulp.
The two of them looked at one another, Felicity mirroring Oliver's nervous expression. She tried to swallow her worry. "I think we might have made a huge mistake."
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I suppose the night didn't go as anyone expected. Did you guys pick up that the Adam Cray was Ray Palmer? I used the name from the Atom comics. Adam Cray is a character from the comics, who was thought by fans to be Ray Palmer in disguise for a while. See what I did there? ;)
I also apologize if his character seems weird. I honestly have only watched a couple episodes with him in it. I only stay mildly current with the show. I like to binge watch, so while the season is happening I mostly just keep up with it through tumblr gifs haha
And I know some of you are shipping Tommy/Sara in this fic, so I'm sure the declaration of his love for Laurel disappoints. But..there's something else going on. Kudos to anyone who picked up on it :)
Thanks for reading!
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