I always wanted to do a story about the nuts and bolts of becoming a hero and this story's giving me the opportunity. I know it started as a series of fun drabbles, but it's sorta taken on a life of its own, so I apologise if there's a bit more serious stuff creep in.

Felicity and Laurel 28

Arriving at Felicity's on Sunday with coffee and croissants, she found the hacker bouncing round the room, full of energy. Smiling, Laurel offered her coffee, not without a little trepidation.

"I think feeding you coffee when you're this hyper's just asking for trouble" Felicity favoured her with a wicked grin as she helped Laurel unload her hands.

"Coffee! And croissants! Laurel, you're perfect. Babe, you know I love you" Laurel just shook her head; since their episode in Amaris' club if anything Felicity had dialed up her flirting, leaving the lawyer unsure if Felicity meant it or was just suffering from even more foot in mouth disease.

"Well I'm here now, so tell me what exactly we're doing?" Felicity ushered her over to the computer and set her down.

"I play online games" She pulled a face. "Well I used to, before Oliver hijacked my life" She indicated the computer. "One of them was a game called City of Heroes, absolutely the best superhero role playing game. Ironic really" She sighed. "It's gone now, but when it was running they had this awesome character creation software, you could create just about anything, look like just about anything. Honestly it was one of my favourite parts of the game, I had so many characters cause I'd fall in love with a character concept...anyway, there are still sites that host the character creation software, so here's your chance to get creative"

They spent the next half hour running through the system, Laurel having to admit her friend hadn't been kidding, the possibilities really were endless. If anything she was a bit overawed by all the choices.

"Just start clicking and we can go from there" For more than an hour they clicked their way through hundreds of combinations, getting a running commentary from Laurel.

"I am not going to try and fight crime in stilettos" She looked across at her friend in mild exasperation. "I don't care that you think they'd make my legs look 'fabulous', trying to run in them, let alone do martial arts, it ain't gonna happen…" A few clicks later she was shaking her head.

"And I am not fighting crime in a latex fetish outfit, hell most of these costumes might as well be body paint, they're that tight" Felicity tried to wave her objections away.

"Hey, you could totally rock a skin-tight latex body stocking" Laurel just looked at her friend, whose enthusiasm didn't waver. "You know, like the Silk Spectre in the Watchmen" She smirked. "Just saying" She suddenly grinned. "At least none of the bad guys would be able to fight you effectively, given they'd have their minds elsewhere, not to mention no blood flow to the brain cause it all went to their..."

"Felicity! Get your head out of the gutter for heavens sake" Laurel shook her head at her friend's motor mouth, ignoring Felicity's muttered retort.

"Hey, I can't help it, do you realise how much easier my life would be if I actually had a functional brain to mouth filter?" She shook her head. "Besides, it'd make kicking them there even more effective" At the look she got from Laurel she just smirked. "Hey, with all the hot bodies on show, you can't blame a girl for thinking about it" Laurel glanced at her friend out of the corner of her eye, smiling, then waved at the screen,

"Focus girl" A few minutes later they stopped again, Felicity shaking her head this time.

"No, no, no, I am vetoing anything that shows any skin, I'm not sending you out in anything that doesn't cover your whole body in leather and Kevlar. I don't want you coming home with holes in you"

"Thanks for that, I appreciate your concern" Felicity waved her comment away.

"I'm the one who'll be doing the needlepoint remember, plus it'll be me your father will come looking for if you get hurt" Laurel shook her head and clicked on another button, replacing the uncovered arms of the on-screen avatar with full length coverings.

"No Felicity, there is no way I am wearing a cape, I don't care how menacing or sexy or mysterious you think it looks, or the fact that guy up in Gotham wears one, just no" She shook her head at her friend's sad pout. "And I'm not Oliver, that pout doesn't work on me." She sat back and crossed her arms. "Besides, you were the one who insisted we sit through that Watchmen movie, they had a character who died when his cape got taught in a door" Felicity sighed, she really thought heroes should have capes, most of hers in the game had.

"Fine" She huffed. "So we scrap the cape. Even if it'd look so good, you on some rooftop, silhouetted against the moon, cape fluttering in the breeze…" Laurel just gave her 'The Look'. Felicity sighed even louder. "Fine, ok, which of the ones left do you like?"

They ended up spending most of the afternoon, refining concepts down to a couple of final choices, Laurel cycling through the final concepts before settling on one, a dark grey body suit with a white cross motif on the chest. She leaned forward, and then tapped the screen with her fingernail.

"I like this one, but this's too bright for what we do" Felicity nodded and with a few mouse clicks switched to another set of colours, the motif switching from white to dark blue, raising her eyebrow in silent question, getting a slow nod from Laurel.

"Yeah, I like the blue, it'll blend into the night well enough" Felicity nodded.

"Why a cross?" Laurel tilted her head to look at the screen.

"I dunno; it just seems appropriate, redemption maybe?" Felicity glanced from the screen to her friend and back again and then nodded slowly.

"Makes sense, you're redeeming the Huntress name I guess, I can see that, but why the really heavy boots?" Laurel sat back, taking in the solid boots complete with knee pads she'd selected.

"My ankles aren't as thick and strong as the guys, so I want something that'll cushion and support them when I'm running or jumping. I don't think it's particularly intimidating hobbling after the bad guys with a sprained ankle" She frowned. "The knee pads will protect my knees if I have to drop down any decent distances. Besides, making the boots heavier with metal inserts means that when I kick someone hard, they'll feel it" Felicity nodded slowly.

"You've given this a lot of thought, I can tell. Same deal with the reinforced gloves and gauntlets I suppose" Laurel nodded, her eyes still on the screen.

"I'm not as strong as the guys; I need to put targets down quickly and these will help, as will the elbow pads." They sat there for a minute or two, both looking at the screen, before Felicity moved the camera into a close up on the face, then mousing over the mask options, cycling through dozens of choices as Laurel frowned.

"Why don't I use the same mask as the rest of the team?" Felicity hit her with a look that screamed 'doh'.

"Oliver and Roy hide under a mask and a hood, while Dig and Sara aren't well known, you've been on TV regularly, so the more your face is covered the better"

Felicity frowned hard at the screen for a moment, then clicked open another menu and on-screen the avatar suddenly sported thick wavy dark hair halfway down her back, drawing a raised eyebrow from Laurel.

"A wig?" Felicity nodded.

"Yeah, it hides the blonde hair, helps cover your face and we can have it and the mask attached to a padded cowl that sits over your own hair and adds additional protection. Another couple of clicks had the dark blue mask covering most of her face, the lower points down below her cheekbones level with her mouth and the top disappearing into the dark hair.

The two women sat there for a few minutes, scanning the image from all angles before finally agreeing that it was the right one.

"Now what?" Felicity turned at Laurel's question.

"I have a number of contacts within the professional costume field, they make costumes for television and movies, for cosplayers and fans, so I'll contact them, tell them what I want" Laurel gave her a piercing look.

"And they won't put two and two together?" Felicity rolled her eyes at her.

"Not for the absolutely ridiculous sums they get paid, besides, everything's routed through untraceable accounts and a chain of drop boxes" Laurel looked at her friend through narrowed eyes.

"You've done this before, haven't you?"

"Duh, of course" She grinned suddenly. "Does either Roy or Dig look like the sort of people to be able to sew their own costumes?" Laurel had to give her that.

"No, not really" Felicity grinned happily.

"Trust me Laurel, it'll be good" She stepped up from the chair and wandered off towards a chest of drawers, pulling the top one open and rummaging around in it. "Now then, here comes the good part" She smiled back at Laurel over her shoulder. "Strip"

"Excuse me?" Felicity turned with a tape measure in her hands and a wicked look in her eyes.

"You need to strip girl. We're about to order a form-fitting leather and Kevlar body suit, I need to get all of your measurements, everything from the length of each finger to the circumference of your biceps and thighs" She let the tape measure unroll from her fingers, holding on to the end as it dropped. "Lose the clothes babe" Laurel shook her head.

"You, young lady, are enjoying this way too much" Felicity's grin, if anything, grew even wider.

"Hey, a girl's gotta take her fun wherever she can get it" Laurel stood and started unbuttoning her blouse, pausing to look up at her friend with a mock scowl.

"And that's exactly what I mean"