So, i'm going to try and update this more regularily, but i'm not making promises. I'm trying to find a good way to bring my two bad guys in here, while still making it mostly about the relationships (mostly Olicity and Ricity). I'm also trying to be realistic about our two boys. They are not perfect. And while we all know that of Oliver, i might not have been able to write it as well for Richard. He's a guy, he gets jealous and obnoxious and mean. So that's what this is about.

Also a special shout out to Jadimples28: this chapter is for you, because you asked so nicely :)


5 hours, 6 cups of coffee and an entire pint of Mint Chocolate Chip ice-cream later she gave up. It was – she glanced at the bottom right corner of her screen – 3 AM and she'd gotten absolutely nowhere. All the parameters she could put in, wouldn't do her any good if she couldn't crack the strange code in which all the info was written. It's not like she expected to find a file labeled 'My nefarious plans with Malcolm Merlyn', but seriously? It's got to be one really paranoid dude to code all the info on a super secured hard drive. She ground out her frustration, rolled her neck back and forth, and tried not to throw something across the room. With her aim, it would probably hit one of her babies. She sighed, reached down to put her shoes back on and stood.

"Have you found anything?" Oliver's voice coming from directly behind her, made her jump up and squeal a little. She turned around, hand firmly pressed against her fast beating heart and scowled at him. "One of these days Oliver, you'll have to go and find yourself a new tech-girl…" Oliver's heart dropped at that statement, she wasn't really thinking about leaving, was she? "… because you will one day scare me to death!" She finished her sentence and his eyes flashed relief. "Sorry, I just saw you packing up and wondered if you had found something." Her shoulders dropped a little. She wasn't used to letting him down, and this particular case really got on her last nerve. Unfortunately, wishing it was over soon wouldn't do anything about the tension that had formed in the team. Because, when this case was over, Richard would still be here, with her. And Oliver would still not like him, and Richard would still not like Oliver. This was going to make for awkward birthday-parties.

"No Oliver, I didn't find anything. That drive is in code. And since I'm neither a specialized code-breaker nor Robert Langdon, I'm not sure I will be able to find anything out. What we need, is a linguist, or something like that, to 'translate' this code into normal people wording. But alas, we don't have that particular gift in our pool right now." She shrugged apologetically and walked over to the stairs. "I've got several comparison programs running, but if we don't have the key, I don't think we'll be able to understand any of it. And I'm too tired now to try and find any other solution. So, I'm going to go home, sleep like I haven't slept in days – which is true by the way – and will not be at QC in the morning. Consider this me taking the morning off."


When she woke the next morning, or actually more like the next noon, she was feeling… well, more rested for sure. She was however not feeling more confident. She knew there was no way she would be able to break that code without the key. Unfortunately that key could be anything. A name, a sentence, lyrics to a song,… you name it, and it could be a key. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack. Or no, more like looking for one specific needle in a really, really big stack of needles. And probably infinitely more dangerous. She supposed it would be too easy if the man had just taped the key to the bottom of his stapler, like some of those idiots at QC did. Because really, why would you even need a frigging password if you just lay it out, for everybody to find.

This whole thing was giving her a major headache. It was so much all at once. She had to keep an eye on the city, had to crack everything from the secured servers of several government agencies to stupid little thumb-drives, had to keep Roy from doing stupid things (like she was his damn mother) and had to keep Richard and Oliver apart as much as possible. And all that was not even her regular day job. No on top of all that, she had to make sure Oliver's schedule was organized, brief him about meetings and conferences and do all of his damn research. Next time they had a relative crime-free period, she was going on a vacation. Somewhere sunny and beachy with coconut cocktails and cute little umbrellas. The last time she was away from Starling City had been to that god forsaken island in China, and even though it had a beach, it also had land mines instead of fruity drinks. And that was not her idea of a good time.

Resigned to another long and difficult day, she got out of bed and into the bathroom. A nice long shower would certainly do her some good. As would coffee, the special blended kind, the one Oliver always gave her as a New year's present.


When she got into her living room, her mouth dropped open. It's not every day you see two 6-feet-somethings glaring at each other in the middle of your apartment, while both carrying cups of delicious smelling godly nectar. She'd walked right into another pissing-match it seemed.

"… no right to come here! She's my girlfriend, or didn't you get the memo. I was pretty sure I told my secretary to send you one specifically!" Richard growled at Oliver, who was getting more furious with every word coming out of the other man's mouth. "First of, I have every damn right. She's my best friend and my partner in both businesses, and if I want to check on her I will. Secondly, you do realize you just called your own girlfriend a 'secretary' by association, right?! And nobody likes a gloater." Felicity realized at that time, they had no idea what so ever that she was standing there. Which was totally out of character for both men, you know, being the superhero type.

"Yeah well, I wouldn't have to rub it in your face if you knew your damn place! She's not your girlfriend, thank god, what with all the crap you've put her trough over the past years, you're lucky she's even willing to work with you at all!" "Yeah well, from what I heard, you don't exactly have the best track record with her either. Care to elaborate on the whole 'sleeping with every girl in her study-group' thing? Because I'm sure she didn't mind that at all! At least I'm honest in my behavior. She knows I'm not the guy everybody sees me as, I'm just not so sure she knows what kind of guy you really are!" At that point Felicity had heard enough, and stepped into the room with a small cough. Both men turned to face her, cheeks slightly red and eyes landing everywhere but on her.

"Wow… I.. Just, WOW. I really have no words for this.. which might be a first in my whole damn life." They both just stood there, coffee in hand, looking like children busted with their hands in the cookie jar. She walked over to the front door, picked up a pair of bright yellow ballet-flats and her purse. "I am going out. I don't want either of you following me. If I do see anybody, I might just take my vacation a little earlier than planned. You two, I can't even look at you right now. You should have heard yourselves. Acting like little children fighting over a toy. So, I will say this only once. I am nobody's property. I make my own damn decisions and I think so far, I've made them very well. So at this point, I'm choosing to walk away and not make an even bigger scene right now. But trust me, this isn't over. Not by a long shot.

And with that, she opened her door and walked out. Shutting it just a little more forcefully than strictly necessary, to convey just how upset she really was. So now, she not only had to hide from the press, but also from her best friend and her boyfriend. Because if she didn't hide, and cleared her head, she was sure they would be neither anymore when she was done. And she wasn't really keen on loose either of those relationships.


Hi this is Ellen, I'm looking forward to your reviews, so please, leave them after the beep, or you know, down at the bottom!