Chapter 14
Oliver didn't make a comment when they went out for lunch for the first time just the two of them.
He had given the information he found on Alfonso's computer to Diggle, recounting details about the assassin and his various aliases and allies, but Diggle was still hesitant to go back to working with him. Oliver was patient, he was more than willing to wait until Diggle was ready to come back. He was still going at night, crossing out names from his list just like he had first started. It was difficult, but he wasn't going to give in. Felicity was still around to pick up his calls, listening to him, letting him confide in her; his trust in her was growing every day. It wasn't long before he suggested that their new friendship not be limited to late night phone calls or her assistance, despite his unwillingness, on his activities.
The events of her involvement with the underground casino were still fresh in his mind. Staying away, not being able to stay close by for her protection, being only limited to audio had him agitated. She was on her own, surrounded by crooks and dangerous men with heavy machine guns, trying to get herself caught. All because of him. He was too stubborn to admit to Diggle that he was wrong and had failed to catch the guy known as Deadshot when he had the chance and Felicity instead was covering his tracks.
He had been proud of her as he listened to the croupier announcing her winnings one after another. He had had his share of casinos together with Tommy in both Monte Carlo and in Las Vegas but he couldn't remember a time they had actually won something in monetary value. From what he could hear, she had tripled the money he had given in less than twenty minutes. It was obvious she was cheating but it still was impressive.
When she asked him to meet her in ten minutes, he didn't know what she was planning. She was supposed to get close to Alfonso's computer to plant the bug then leave through the door she came in from. She wasn't supposed to have a back-up plan, it was his responsibility to make sure she would not get into any trouble. He got on his feet on the fire escape he was perched on and listened as Felicity tried to outsmart Alfonso who sounded as awful as his illegal operations.
He was enraged when he heard Alfonso's remarks. He had her alone in a room, defenseless and it boiled Oliver's blood. He had his hood over and his bow and arrows ready when instead of screams of help he heard the sound of a spray being discharged, followed by an agonizing scream and then a loud thump. He listened intently to figure out what was happening, only to be responded by Felicity's quick breaths indicating that she was running and then he was running to the rooftop to meet her. Felicity Smoak kept surprising him.
He met her outside her office and they started walking. She didn't have a preference in cuisine so he chose for the both of them. It was a small Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Glades, one that always reminded him of the one summer in Rome he had spent with Tommy. It was a restaurant he frequented before Queen's Gambit went down. The owners were still the same and they remembered him, giving them his old table.
He ordered the chef's special for himself and a pitcher of the red house wine while Felicity insisted on plain pasta. He suggested other items on the menu given how good they were, but she said she was okay with her choice. She picked and ripped apart five packets of sugar on the table while he was telling him about seeing Laurel and Tommy for the first time in a month. It was awkward to see his two former best friends in each other's arms, promptly ignoring him as they walked past him on the street outside Queen Consolidated. He was used to getting cold shoulder given how he had treated people in the past, but what he was feeling was a new, strange sensation. He had entrusted them with his biggest secret and they now wanted nothing to do with him. There were only four people in the city he had revealed himself to and out of the four of them, only Felicity had received the new information so easily.
He took his time to examine Felicity who was silent but nodding as he spoke, looking out into the space. She seemed distracted but she was still listening to him, which made him all the more eager to speak. It was a pleasant feeling having someone around him just listening to whatever he was saying, showing trust in him he was sure he didn't deserve. The island had taught him in the harshest ways possible that trust was a fickle thing: it was hard to earn and grow. In a few months, he had grown to trust Felicity, even with his life, and he knew she trusted him in return.
The waiter was talking to himself in Italian and possibly complaining about her order when he came in with their food. She listened intently and replied in Italian, telling something to the waiter that he didn't understand, silencing the waiter. He was taken aback, not really expecting her to be speaking Italian, but didn't say a thing. She poured the contents of the packets on her pasta, mixed the sugar and took a bite while he took in the scene with a stoic look on his face, trying not to make a comment.
"My dad used to eat his pasta with sugar." she said casually, answering the question he didn't ask, and then continued listening to how his once best friends ignored him and walked to the other way upon seeing him.
Their first lunch outing taught him two things. Felicity was a wonderful lunch companion. And there were too many things he didn't know about her. She had never spoken about her family before and he didn't remember reading a specific thing about the family when he had researched her on the internet. He didn't know what other obscure food preferences she had. He didn't know when she had learned Italian.
The next time they went to lunch, he let her decide. She drove them in her red car that was too small for him to a roadside diner on the city limits. The diner only had a couple of tables occupied despite the lunch hour and they sat down at a table by the window, looking at cars driving by.
"This was where I had my first meal in Starling City." she said, looking at the menu their middle aged waitress handed. "It was amazing. This is still probably my favorite place in the city."
"When did you first come to Starling?" he asked as the waitress placed a plastic glass of water complete with a straw before him.
"Seven years ago." she replied, twirling her straw. He couldn't help but look at her fingers, her fingernails painted a dark blue. "I was chosen to intern under the supervision of Professor Alberto. I was working too hard to notice anything else in the city, though."
"Training to be a better therapist than him must have been tough."
She smiled at him. "I can only hope to be better than him." she said. "He is a legend."
His response was quick. "A legend who has been terrible at seeing through my lies, unlike you."
"Are you complimenting me?" she asked, sounding shocked. He was surprised to realize that she didn't already know how highly he thought of her. He nodded in response. "Um, thanks." she mumbled. "Anyways, my friend from med school and I were going to intern together so we did a cross-country road trip and drove all the way from Boston to here. So this diner was our first stop in Starling and our last stop on our road trip. It was long and tiring, but that probably was the best summer I had."
"Tommy and I were going to do a road trip ourselves after I came back from China… but you know how that went." he admitted. It was one of the many plans he had made that never came to life. "It must have been fun."
"It was." she said. The waitress came for their orders. "Can I have pancakes with strawberries? And lots of whipped cream."
He gave her a questioning look. "Felicity, it's lunch time."
"Breakfast food is valid for any meal of the day." she shrugged, handing back her menu.
"I'll have the garden salad with grilled chicken. And a side of bacon." He gave his menu away, too, and looked at Felicity. He found her food choices odd. She seemed to have an interesting relationship with sweet food which was something he never craved for while he was on the island. Bacon, on the other hand, was something amongst the things he had missed the most.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Pancakes are awesome. I can eat them for dinner, too."
He shook his head, giving a sly smile. "No, pancakes are good. You seem to have a sweet tooth."
"I took it after my dad." she remarked, but didn't explain. "Have you talked with Diggle, yet?"
He sighed because she was changing the subject yet again and because things with Diggle were still complicated. "John is not ready yet." he replied. "I gave him the information I found thanks to you. He said he appreciated that you went undercover by the way." he added, garnering a smile from her. "He said he needs a little time. I'm fine though, I manage on my own."
"You need him." she leaned over from where she was sitting. "For back up."
"I started this on my own, I didn't have anyone to back me up back then." he responded quickly.
"I just…" she started, but was interrupted when their food arrived. "This looks so good." she said before indulging in her pancakes. "You want some?" she offered between bites.
"I'm good." he replied as he took a bite from a strip of bacon. "You never know how much you can miss bacon until you get stranded on an island."
"I've never had bacon." she said.
"You never had bacon?" he asked, confused. He couldn't think of any reasons why anyone would miss out on bacon.
"I'm Jewish." she commented. "On my mom's side. I can't eat anything not kosher."
"I'm sorry if I offended you." he said, reaching out and placing a hand on her hand on the table, not knowing how else to react.
"It's fine." she shrugged, pulling her hand away. "I don't practice it much, I still play with fire on Shabbat. Not that I play with fire, I'm not a pyromaniac. I meant it as in cooking." she paused, taking a breather. "I just never had a taste for non-kosher stuff because of my mother."
As he sat there opposite to her, forking his way through his salad, he realized that little by little, he was going to learn everything about Felicity Smoak. He was going to be patient with her, too, like she had been with him, like he was doing with Diggle. He felt that there were still too many things left unsaid between them, that they still didn't know much about one another, that there were things he wouldn't want to tell her, but they had the most important thing they shared: trust. He considered Felicity a friend and he cherished his time with her. It was all that mattered.
A/N: I am back! thank you all for your patience. there isn't much going on in this chapter, but i just wanted to give some background and some weird habits to my felicity in the story (she has some traits of leslie knope and me) . please read and leave a comment!