12. New York

Her hand covered a yawn that escaped her lips, her eyelids felt heavy, and as she grabbed the coffee cup that rested on her side on the table she realized to her dismay that it was empty.

She placed it down and stretched like a cat on her spot, feeling tight and tired. Turning on her swivel chair towards Oliver, who was on a table near by in front of the second computer of the lair, his face just a few inches of the screen.

"You can't possibly see anything that close to the screen" she commented, her blue eyes following closely his movement as he pushed away from the computer, his handsome face turning towards her. His eyes were red from exhaustion; it was four in the morning.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment and she moved in her seat her heart skipping at beat under his gaze, he took a breath and his lips turned into a half smile.

"You should go and try to catch some sleep" he said, his voice deep and it was obvious he was tired but determined to not sleep that night.

"About that—Where am I supposed to sleep?" she pressed the palm of her hands against her legs, he blinked heavily.

"In the bed" he said simply turning back towards the computer, though he didn't return back to work immediately. Felicity frowned thinking it was obvious he was trying to avoid the obvious elephant in the room.

"Your bed? The only bed in this place?" she felt nervous and her blood was boiling under her skin, happy that Diggle had left thirty minutes before.

His eyes were on her once again and he looked at her intensely.

"It's a comfortable bed" he said and she pressed her lips in annoyance.

"You know very well what I mean Oliver" he sighed loudly.

"And it's not the right moment to have the conversation you want to have"

"Well at least you are acknowledging that there is a conversation that needs to happen" she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Felicity…"

"Look, I know we just found out that a crazy mean woman is stealing your company away, we got kidnapped just a few days ago and we… well we did some things in that cabin in the woods, unexpected things" she breathed out and her face was warm in a flush, his eyes were bright and round.

"We did do things in that cabin" he said nodding after a moment of silence "but not unexpected" she blushed even more as he got up from his seat and walked towards her, she felt her heart rush when he kneeled I front of her, his hand resting on her arm chair.

"I'm not ashamed or trying to avoid talking about what happened between us, I just want us to solve this mess before we dive into it" she felt her throat go dry and she nodded.

"If I am going to sleep in your bed, then were are you going to sleep? I mean I don't mind you laying there with me, to sleep I mean" she babble and she smiled at her though she noticed his face was also blushed.

"I don't think I will be sleeping tonight…"

"Okay… I guess I better go to sleep then" she said in a low tone, her lips curling into a soft smile. He rose from his spot and offered her a hand; she took it and in a second he was pulling her up, his other hand rested on her other arm stabilizing her.

"We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow" he commented.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, she noticed his eyes traveled quickly to her lips, her heart never stopped beating quickly, and as she swallowed heavily she squeezed his hand.

"You will kick her skinny ass tomorrow and get your company back, we have way too much evidence against her… she will be in jail for a while" he smiled a breathy smile, and his hand traveled down her arm in a soft caress.

"Thank you" he said truthfully and with a nod she let go of his hand and walked away to the darkness of his room.

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A flood of memories flooded her dreams, the scent of fresh coffee at the diner near QC, Oliver sitting next to her wearing a gray suit after his trip in New York City.

He joked around about her becoming his assistant; his lips forming a smile and the soft crinkles on the corners of his eyes made her stomach turn, his blue eyes fixed on his club sandwich, his fingers playing with a French fry on his plate. She remembered then them exchanging words about Isabel.

"She seems too young to have the experience at managing a facility that size- and my own father who knew how to do this a lot better than I put her there" the memory of his voice sounded annoyed and concerned, his words distant now.

Then her eyes opened suddenly. Felicity had fallen asleep in the plane on their way to New York City; she had been holding her computer firmly on her lap and had woken up when it started sliding off her legs with a jolt. She must have made a noise that sounded like a yap because Oliver had raised his eyes towards her, and Diggle's hand had caught the computer before it completely fell off at the sudden movement of her body.

"Oliver" her eyes were wide at the memories of her dream, groggy from sleep and tired from the sleepless night before.

"You were dreaming Felicity" it was Diggle's calm voice next to her, she turned to him and blushed slightly, nodding while her hands brushed the hair that covered her face, then she reached to her computer feeling her heart chasing inside her chest, her fingers typing quickly. Diggle and Oliver exchanged a puzzled look.

"Is everything alright?" Oliver asked after a second of silence.

"This is why I need to sleep the mandatory eight hours a day—my brain doesn't function right if I don't—" she said hastily, Oliver leaned forward and his brows pulled at the center utterly confused.

"I'm not even sure you are fully awake yet to type that fast" he said softly and her eyes shot up to meet his.

"A few months ago you came to the New York branch to check up on it because it was a mess, correct?" Oliver sat back his face turning straight remembering; he took a deep breath and nodded.

"You said that your father's friend George put her on charge of the New York branch, he told you that she had been shadowing your dad for this job before hand" Felicity said her eyes fixed on his, he nodded again his face turning red quickly as the realization started hitting him.

"What was George doing before you got kidnapped in Colombia Oliver?" she heard Diggle holding his breath.

"He was in charge of the New York branch, when Walter stepped to be the CEO of Queen Consolidates he moved to Starling City to become the CFO" Felicity continued after no one answered her question, her heart pounding inside of her chest. Oliver shook his head his jaw tightening.

"Walter… he married my mother Felicity, he is family. He didn't do this" he said abruptly, in a defensive way and she shook her head pressing her lips momentarily into a fine line.

"I know Oliver… after you came back Walter announced in the press conference that he had to leave QC because he had to take his place in his own company, he said that it was time for a Queen to be the CEO of his own company" Felicity paused.

"And you said you didn't want anything to do with it, and opened Verdant instead" Diggle said.

"George Randall was going to become the chairman" Felicity interjected and his brows went up.

"Randall had the complete motive to want your family gone, he placed Isabel in charge of New York, who turns out to be stealing and buying parts of your company under the radar" Felicity proceeded feeling breathless as she finished, Oliver frowned his hands turning to fists.

"This makes sense Oliver" Diggle said quickly nodding, sounding upset.

"When I came back I asked Walter to become my CFO, and since he had more shares of the company than George, he was forced to step down—I can't believe I didn't put this together before" Oliver's Fingers touched his temples, his face red in anger.

"I didn't even think about checking his bank accounts, he always seemed to support you in the board meetings, he always talked so highly of your dad" Felicity said her heart in her throat while her eyes tracked numbers and letters in the screen before her. Hacking to his email accounts was easy, finding the emails exchanged in between him and Isabel was a whole different issue, but she eventually cracked through.

She was glad the QC jet had wireless internet, and by the time the flight attendant came with refreshments she had found more emails to incriminate them both that she could have imagined. Oliver had decided not to call his lawyer until they landed; this was a surprise visit from the CEO.

Felicity got up from her large leather seat and went to the back of the plane, where there was a small table with a computer and a wireless printer. She had printed, emails, bank accounts, telephone calls. They had managed to find who had been trying to steal Oliver's company from under his nose.

Felicity checked all the paperwork and returned to her seat, a warm meal was waiting for her there. She didn't know how hungry she was until her stomach twirled inside of her, the food look delicious.

The flight lasted for many hours and it was just enough time to help them prepare for their entrance to the company. They will go to the hotel straight from the airport; the lawyer will meet them there to go over all the incriminating paperwork they had gathered. They will then contact the police and head to the New York branch.

They didn't have any evidence to George being involved in the kidnapping, but they had enough to prove they had been stealing and plotting against the Queen's for the past two years.

The jet landed smoothly at noon that day, the flight attendant waited for them at the entrance of the plane and handed them their respective luggage as they walked out. Felicity took her bag and stepped out first to the cold fall afternoon in New York. There was a blackout car waiting for them near the plane, and they walked quickly towards it in silence.

Oliver was on the phone with the lawyer, Moira and Walter on their way to the hotel. Felicity gasped when she saw they were pulling in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower, the bellhop opened her door and helped Felicity out of the car. She took in the beauty of the building in front of her, the dark glass windows, and gold roof and trimmings.

They walked inside in silence, Oliver hanging up his phone and putting it inside his pocket. His serious assemble didn't change until they got into the front desk of the hotel, where a talk blonde woman eyed him up with a flirtatious smile.

"Good afternoon, do you have a reservation?" she said in a melodic voice, her green eyes fixed intently on Oliver who was serious and seemed a bit out of his element. Felicity moved uncomfortable on her spot, feeling a primal urge to wrap her arm around his dominated her.

"We do- Pent House under Oliver Queen" he said, after blinking heavily his charming smile spread on his face to dazzle any heterosexual female that was close by, tapping his fingers impatiently on the dark glass top.

"Oh, of course Mr. Queen—I will check you in right away" she checked on her computer quickly and Oliver slid the black Amex card on the top of the counter. It took just a minute for the girl whose tag name read Amanda to hand them their room key and gave them a quick explanation to where the gym was, spa and pool were.

"-And if you don't feel like having a drink at the hotel there is a really good bar a few blocks from here called Medina Club, I normally go there… they have really good drinks and music" Felicity raised her brow and turned to see the same expression on Diggle's face.

"Thank you, but we are here strictly on a business trip" Oliver said in a friendly tone but his smile fading, his blue eyes traveling to Felicity.

They walked to the elevator in silence; the whole place was elegant and polished. Warm marble floors and walls, gold trimmings and gold elevators. The wait room had plush beige velvet couches, and a large chandelier that hanged from the roof.

Diggle pressed the call button to the elevator and Felicity took a deep breath breaking the silence.

"Well, she was subtle" she murmured and Oliver turned a quick glance to her a corner of his mouth going up on a flash of a grin.

"Maybe she was telling all of us we should go there" Oliver said, his tone sounded light but his cheeks were slightly flushed, which was something new in their stressful situation. Diggle blew out a snort and Felicity raised a brow shaking her head.

"I am just glad there is a penthouse waiting for us upstairs—and maybe after all of this is done we could have something to drink" Diggle said.

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"I will wait for you guys here in the lobby to keep an eye on things and wait for Sandrik (the lawyer), let me know if you need to come upstairs" Diggle said as he tapped his ear piece as they walked in the large lobby of the building. QC New York was a smaller building, but still just as magnificent, Felicity noted. It had dark marble floors, stainless steel tables and large modern light fixtures.

"Mr. Queen, I wasn't aware we were expecting you today" said the guard of the lobby getting up quickly from his table, eyes wide in surprise.

"It's sort of an impromptu visit Roman" Oliver said in a quick tone, not stopping on his feet walking straight to the elevator being followed closely by Felicity.

"Should I call Miss Rochev and let her know you are coming?" Roman spoke but Felicity had the inclination that the guard already knew the answer.

"That won't be necessary, but thank you—Mr. Diggle is going to stay here checking on some of the security footage from the last few months, if you can please help him get all the security clearance he might need"

Roman nodded and turned to speak to Diggle who was already in front of him, Felicity turned to Oliver as the doors of the elevator closed in front of them.

"How are you feeling?" she asked after a moment of silence, her eyes noticing that a vein in his neck was popping and his jaw was clenched. He looked impeccable though, in a light tailored gray suit with a white shirt and a charcoal gray tie.

She shivered in her spot and he turned to look at her a slight concern flashing through his features.

"Are you cold?" he was evading her previous question, but he had a point. She was cold. She had chose to wear a light knee length green dress and a beige trench coat.

"I could have picked a better jacket—or more layers, but I forgot to pack any of them" she shook her head taking a deep breath "how are you feeling?" she repeated, they were getting closer to the last floor and she was starting to get nervous.

"Good" he said nodding; his blue eyes fixed on her "you give me some reassurance… I guess that having you here makes me feel more in control of my actions"

Felicity blushed and a small smile tugged the corners of her lips, her heart beating quickly as the elevator made a soft chime and the doors opened revealing the top floor of the building.

They walked out in silence, there was soft music playing in the background, which was odd Felicity though, and at the end she could see Isabel's assistant Marianne, fixing her dark eyes on them her eyes wide in surprise. She quickly got up on her feet, her face growing paler as she realized whom they were.

"Good afternoon" Oliver said while his hand rose to quietly signal Isabel's secretary who was approaching them, the words dying in her red lips before they even came out. Felicity gave her a pointed look and quickly shook her head and the other woman just backed a few steps and turned on her heels back towards her desk. Oliver's face was straight and serious, and everyone in the room felt quiet immediately.

"Oliver Queen" Isabel sounded stunned, her dark eyes pealed wide and her thin lips moved into a stiff smile. Oliver entered the room without any other word. Isabel got up from her seat at conference room table in a steady elegant move; she was wearing a knee length black pencil skirt and a silk wine color top. There were five more people sitting in the conference room.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything too important" Oliver said his tone nonchalant, but his face showing not one emotion, stern and guarded, his eyes fixed on Isabel in a predatory way. Felicity pressed her tablet against her chest feeling a wave of nerves overcome her, moving uncomfortable under the intense stare of the woman. If looks could kill, Oliver and herself will be dead now.

"Not at all, we were having our regular afternoon meeting- the ones you normally can't seem to make" she said with a quick malicious grin, regaining her lost composure. Felicity though indignantly that no one that young should have the guts to speak like that to the CEO of the company she worked for—unless she was not afraid of loosing her job. The rest of the party around them moved uncomfortably in their places.

"I will want to postpone this meeting to a later time, I have more important manners to discuss with Miss Rochev" Oliver said a formal smile appearing on his face, his eyes traveling through the rest of the people sitting at the table, who now started getting up.

"This is in fact quite an important meeting Mr. Queen, and can't be reschedule" Isabel said, her voice powerful.

"It can, and it fact it has" Oliver said matching her tone his eyes traveling towards Felicity who nodded, her fingers tapping a few places in her tablet.

"I just reschedule the meeting for today at 4 pm Mr. Queen" Felicity said matter of factly and Isabel breathed loudly her fiery eyes fixed on Felicity.

"Good, thank you Felicity" Isabel glanced around as people started to leave the place quietly. Felicity had the feeling that Isabel normally talked horrible things about Oliver when he wasn't around.

Oliver walked towards the table his hands fixing the lapel of his suit; she followed him closely as he looked around to make sure no one was at an ear shot distance. Isabel walked around the table straight and confident Felicity noted and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"So to what do I owe this pleasure?" she said in a hard tone.

"I am afraid Queen Consolidates has decided that the New York branch has not being doing as well as we wanted to—we are letting you go Isabel" her nostrils flared in anger her face turning red in a matter of seconds. Felicity was shocked when she heard a soft laugh leave the lips of the woman in front of her.

"You can't do that" she said poised.

"Oh, I am afraid you have underestimated how easily replaceable you truly are" Oliver said.

"No, I mean you can't fire me Oliver—you have been so busy sleeping with your assistant that you haven't noticed that this company doesn't belong to you any longer" she said with a contemptuous smile appearing on her face. Felicity held her breath at the implication, not being able to not blush intensely while her eyes traveled to Oliver.

"There is where you are wrong Isabel—you are not as smart as you think you are. Do you think that my company will belong to you when you have been purchasing it with money you have been stealing from me?" the smile disappeared almost immediately from her face.

"You have no way to prove that" she said and it was Oliver's turn to smile.

"You see, while you managed to underestimate my assistant and her intelligence, she was uncovering all this plotting and stealing you were doing behind my back" Oliver spoke clearly, Isabel's murderous look traveled to Felicity who held her eyes defiantly.

"I guess you should have done a better job at stealing, you got sloppy last week" Felicity said with a cheerful tone and Isabel shook her head.

"You have no way of proving anything"

"Oh but we do… from the account numbers, to the dates and amounts that you been stealing for months—to the incriminating emails exchanged with Mr. Randall" Felicity countered, her eyes traveling down to her tablet with a smirk. Isabel's lower lip trembled.

"This company is mine, I deserve it—he promised it to me" she snapped, her face red.

"George can't promise something is not his to give" Oliver roared and they were both surprised when she smiled sardonically.

"Oh but you don't know… it wasn't George the one that made fake promises, but your dad" Felicity saw Oliver turn pale in a split of a second, holding his breath.

"He promised me he was going to leave your mom, your sister and you, he promised we will be together. Our bags were packed— and… he told me this will be mine… ours"

There was a moment of silence and Oliver took a deep breath fuming "You are lying"

"But I am not, your dad got involved with his young intern, he took advantage of me and I believed him when he told me he loved me, and made fake promises"

"Was that why you had him killed?" Oliver retorted and Isabel's smile disappeared from her face, anger showing through her features, making her appeared much older.

"Why would I kill the love of my life, my soul-mate?" she snarled, her face red.

"He was not your soul-mate" Oliver sounded so angry Felicity shook in her spot, her heart beating fast when he gave a step towards the woman in front of him. Felicity's hand went to his arm, giving him a reassuring squeeze. He stopped and took a long deep breath; she could see that his eyes had closed briefly trying to regain any control he had lost.

It was then that a S.W.A.T team exited the elevator, quick steps and shouts. Their guns were pointed at Isabel as two detectives approached her telling her she was under arrest. Diggle and the Queen's lawyer entered the room a few minutes after.

Isabel yelled she was innocent and the cops took her out screaming and kicking. Oliver sat down in the conference room after the place was empty and quiet. Felicity and Diggle gave him some space with the lawyer.

She went to Isabel's old office and sent emails to the company explaining in a formal letter what had happened. Then with the help of Isabel's old assistant, they both canceled meetings and reschedule some other ones. Diggle left an hour after Isabel was put in custody, back to Starling City to get Walter and Moira who were coming to assess the situation.

Oliver was concerned for the safety of his family after learning that Isabel didn't seem to know about Colombia, but George's emails pointed him to be involved on it. There could be an attempt against the Queen's after George learned what happened.

It was 5 PM when Felicity entered the conference room that afternoon; Oliver's face was resting in both of his hands in the table. She approached him quietly feeling concerned, and when his eyes rose to meet her he looked pained and vulnerable.

"I should be on my way back home… not Diggle" he said after a moment, and she placed her hand softly on his shoulder.

"You have to be here, to make sure that your employees know you belong in here" she took a soft breath and sat down next to him, his blue eyes piercing her soul.

"Something could happen to Thea… or Raisa, I let myself break down and didn't make the right choice"

"Oliver, nothing is going to happen to your family—we called the cops, detective Lance has patrol cars near your place, and your mom increased the security in your home before leaving, the place is a fortress—George is on the run, he won't try to get himself caught in the process" she smiled softly when he blinked, his hand rubbing his eyes tiredly.

There was a moment of silence and he took a deep breath. Felicity knew he was thinking about what they learned just a few hours before, about Isabel and his dad, about all she had said, and all they had gone through in the last few days, so she got up and was followed closely by his eyes.

"Let's go back to the hotel—we need some food and rest, it has been a long day"

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Camila