A/N: Hey guys, again I'm sorry about the long wait between updates, but the end of semester/finals craze has been...well, kind of crazy. Anyway, I'm hoping to update more frequently now that I'm on break for a couple of months, so you all have that to look forward to!

Felicity huffed out a sigh and stretched back in her chair, allowing her poor cramped muscles a much-needed break. She had been researching for hours, and she had identified a couple possible targets for the Arrow's next job, but she had yet to figure out which one he would be most likely to pick. And when - that was a problem as well. With the ruby, it had been easy since there had been an obvious time, place, and target. Now, things were much more difficult.

He was planning something. She was positive of that, although she didn't know why - it just seemed like the right timing for his next job. Call it instinct or whatever, but she was sure that she was right.

She had to beat him to it. It was the only way to contact him again and keep his attention fixated on her.

Looking over her list of possibilities, Felicity began to smile. She knew exactly how she was going to play this.

…

Oliver slumped back onto his bed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Normally, picking a target was easy - something would stand out to him and he would just know. However, this time he was trying to think like someone who was trying to think like him would think - a convoluted idea - but basically he was trying to put himself into the mindset of the female thief. The only way to find her again (and confirm his suspicions that she was actually Felicity) was to make sure she would show up at his next heist. And, in order to ensure that, he had to be predictable.

Predictability was hard.

He kept second-guessing himself - if he was his copycat, where would he think the Arrow would strike next? The whole idea was giving him a serious headache.

With a resigned sigh, he closed his eyes and randomly pointed to something on his list of targets. The name under his finger was "Impressive Expressionism," an abstract art expressionism exhibit visiting Starling for a couple days. Oliver shrugged, hoping that somehow the female thief would choose the same heist. It was a long shot, but sitting around doing nothing certainly wouldn't allow him to pay off his debts nor meet his mysterious competition.

Looks like his target was set. Now came all the in-depth planning and the hours of mind-numbing research before he would be ready to pull off this job.

…

Felicity blushed furiously - he had caught her staring. Again. "Keep your cool, keep your cool," she muttered under her breath, plastering a smile on her face and trying to look innocent as the object of her intense scrutiny broke away from the impromptu soccer game and jogged over to her.

"Felicity, hi," he greeted her.

"You know my name?" she stared at him in complete wonder. Sure, Ray was a computer nerd like she was, but he was also gorgeous and popular and athletic. The closest she came to anything athletic was a couple attempts at sit-ups on mornings she was feeling particularly motivated.

"Yeah - we're in a class together." He smiled at her and she felt her heart start to beat more quickly..

"Computer programming with Wright," she squeaked out. Of course she knew they had a class together - she spent most of it staring at the back of his head and daydreaming about the moment he would ask her out.

"That's the one," he nodded. Then, gesturing towards the field, he asked, "Wanna play?"

She laughed before she could politely decline. "Not unless you want me to join the other team as a liability."

"That bad?" he raised an eyebrow in interest.

"You have no idea." Then, surprisingly, he sat beside her, his gaze intent on her as he waited for her to tell her story. "Oh, uh, you...right," she stammered, caught by surprise. "Well, this one time in gym class…." her thoughts wandered to the future as she told her embarrassing story, a future with Ray as her knight in shining armour.

She had never believed in love at first sight, and she still didn't. But love at first conversation? That was totally plausible.

...

"Are you going somewhere?"

Felicity jerked her head up guiltily at the sound of Ray's voice. "I just...I have to run some errands," she explained. Mentally, she breathed a sigh of relief that she had stashed her black leather costume and matching heeled boots in her backpack - those would have been even harder to explain to Ray.

"At one in the morning." His tone was skeptical, and the look in his eyes reflected that same emotion.

"I...I couldn't sleep so...maybe…"

Ray sighed and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" she asked, the disappointment in his voice making her irritated. He had no right to judge her or what she was doing. "I'm allowed to leave if I want to. It's not like I need your permission."

"Stop lying to me," he almost shouted, then visibly calmed himself.

Something inside of Felicity snapped. She was sick of this - sick of sneaking around, sick of trying to pretend things were all okay, sick of his jealous suspicion. "How would you even know if I was lying to you?" she asked coldly, throwing sensitivity to the wind. "It's not like you actually listen to me anymore."

Ray stepped back, looking like he had been slapped. Felicity immediately felt a moment of guilt - Ray was a good guy, and she hadn't exactly been the best girlfriend lately considering she was lying to him and she was a wanted felon. But she pushed it aside, resolving to deal with those emotions later.

"Who are you?" Ray nearly whispered, staring at her like she was a stranger. "I don't even recognize-"

"-I need some air," she cut him off, feeling tears starting to form in her eyes. She couldn't tell whether they were because she was angry at him for not being what she wanted or whether they were because of the sorry state of the relationship she had been so sure would lead to marriage.

"Felicity," Ray sighed, stepping towards her, likely about to offer her some apology that would put yet another temporary patch on their dying relationship, but she didn't want to hear it.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, feeling like it was something appropriate to say, then spun on her heel and practically ran out of the apartment.

...

"This is almost too easy," Felicity muttered to herself with a satisfied smirk, as she watched the security system crash in response to her hacking skills. "People really should design something that takes longer than a couple minutes to disable."

This was the fourth system she had broken into tonight. It was all part of her master plan to get the Arrow's attention again - if she couldn't predict his next score, she would target all his possible scores to be safe. At each one so far, near the most valuable piece, she had left a note written in red pen that simply said "Sunrise. Same place." She figured that the 'when' wouldn't be a problem as she could just wait there every sunrise until he showed up, but it was still vague enough that the police wouldn't be able to do anything with the information.

As she worked, deep down she could feel the hurt from her conversation with Ray, but for now, she buried it and focused on her task at hand. Right now, all that mattered was not getting caught before she had a chance to give the Arrow a piece of her mind.

…

Oliver smiled, pleased at the female thief's intelligence as he fingered the simple note between gloved fingers. He noticed with some surprise that she hadn't taken the painting (a Pollack piece) - perhaps it was a gesture of goodwill? Or a sign of a truce?

No matter what it signified, he found himself grinning widely as he carefully circumvented the alarms around the painting, pulled the picture out and safely secured it in a tube he had brought for the purpose, and slid a small, crude drawing of an arrowhead in the frame before hanging it back on the wall.

He even had enough time to stash the painting in his apartment before his sunrise meeting.

…

Felicity waited, every sense on alert in her determination not to be surprised by the Arrow if he appeared. She knew that the chances of him already having seen one of her messages were slim, but she was going to be prepared for any eventuality.

Keeping a vigilant eye on both ends of the alley, she paced nervously. She told herself she was just patrolling and keeping watch from different angles, but in reality it was just fear mingled with anticipation for the possibility of the meeting. With the sun only partially visible in the lightening sky, he could come at any moment.

"Don't forget to look up," a decisively masculine voice commented with some amusement.

Felicity started, her tightly wound nerves startled by the sudden noise. Then she clenched a fist with annoyance as she looked up and saw the Arrow sitting casually on the tall stone wall behind her. She could have sworn that there was a slight smile on his lips underneath his hood.

"I have a bone to pick with you," she told him, trying to sound confident and professional as she ignored his deliberate jibe.

"Pick away." He pushed himself off the wall and landed lightly in front of her. She couldn't help but pause, amazed at his athletic ability. Straightening up, he stepped past her and glanced down both ends of the alley, obviously making sure that they still had complete privacy.

The movement also put him between Felicity and her only escape route.

"You took credit for the ruby," she accused him. "That was me!"

"That's what this is about?" He sounded dismissive, and that just reminded her of Ray, which made irritation start to boil up.

"Yes, that's what this is about," she hissed, not liking the feeling that he had the upper hand. "I went to all the effort to get through security and to-"

"-I thought you wanted me to train you," he interrupted the start of her tirade. "Or did you want to continue trying to make a name for yourself when you have no reflexes to speak of?"

She stared at him for a second, stunned. "I beat you. Twice!" she sputtered. Why had she wanted to meet with this jerk? He took credit for her work, and now he wouldn't stop insulting her! But still, she felt this strange attraction to the man despite everything that told her she shouldn't.

He took a step towards her and she backed up, feeling her back hit the stone wall. "That's why I'm considering helping you," he muttered, continuing towards her until he was only inches away. "And because, with instincts like yours, you'll create a bad reputation for all us honest thieves without some training."

"I...I…" she tried to say something witty and coherent, but the Arrow put one gloved hand on the wall next to her face and leaned in, and the proximity was making speaking difficult.

"Do we have a deal?" he whispered.

"Uh huh," she agreed without thinking about what that meant exactly. She could see the outline of his lips shadowed by his hood this close and that was much too distracting for her. A couple inches closer and they would be touching hers…

The Arrow pulled away abruptly and Felicity suddenly found it easier to breathe. "I assume you need a fence to sell that ruby," he said, turning away from her. Was it just wishful thinking, or did his voice sound deeper than before?

"You actually call them that?" she blurted out. "I mean, I know that all the crime TV shows talk about fences but I didn't think that real...nevermind."

He could have sworn that he chuckled. "I'll arrange a meet for tonight - be here at midnight and I'll take you to him. Bring the ruby."

"Like I'd forget that," she muttered.

He turned to go, but then stopped and asked, "What should I call you?"

"Artemis," she responded without hesitation. She'd thought this one through - what better place than to find a name than from her favourite book? And besides, it seemed a fitting companion to the Arrow as she was the Goddess of the Hunt, often depicted with a bow and arrows. "You can call me Artemis."

Sorry if this chapter seemed a little disjointed...I couldn't figure out a better way to do it and still get everything essential in!

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