Being back at Queen Consolidated meant that she had to deal with the fact that the CEO had an assistant. Felicity didn't like the assistant. She swore that the woman flirted just a little too much with Oliver and that the coffee always tasted off. She knew that the whole issue of personnel would change shortly with the merger between Queen Consolidated and Merlyn Global. She, Oliver, and Tommy would sort out how staffing worked then. Right now, they were all just trying to keep the status quo.

So, in the meantime, Felicity enjoyed getting out of the office and getting air while walking down the street to a nearby coffee shop. The coffee never tasted off and it was just a good excuse to get out of the office. It was also handy if she and/or Oliver couldn't really get out of the office for lunch. They conveniently had wrapped sandwiches to go.

She'd been waiting for her coffee order, the pastries already in hand in a paper bag, when one of the last people she expected to see came towards her. Isabel Rochev was in Starling City and was looking right at her.

Crap.

Felicity had learned that when it came to Isabel, things were never coincidence. The evil woman was there for a reason and Felicity was certain that it involved her, Oliver, and Team Arrow. She knew that she really didn't have anything to worry about in public. Isabel would never dare actually attempt anything physical or newsworthy in a coffee shop, but that didn't ease her nerves.

"Felicity," the barista called as her coffees were set out in a carrier.

She looked between Isabel, who was nearly to her position, and the coffees. Felicity was wondering if she could grab the coffees and make it out of the coffee shop before Isabel could make it to her. Avoiding the icy woman seemed like a viable plan...at least in theory. So, Felicity gave it a go. She quickly shouted a 'thank you' to the barista before grabbing her coffee order. She hurried in the opposite direction of Isabel. Felicity knew that the door she was about to head out of would mean a few extra minutes backtracking, but if it meant avoiding Isabel then it was all worth it.

Hot coffee hit her and her mouth dropped open as she let go of her own coffees, which splashed against her after hitting the floor. Felicity didn't know what to pay more attention to, the pain or the person who had inflicted it. Her chest was burning from the hot liquid and her blouse was drenched and now fairly sheer as it clung to her skin. Her left leg also had a trail of burning that included the top of her foot and she was fairly sure she now had coffee in her shoe.

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

Isabel Rochev.

Felicity looked at her and the woman seemed to be keeping a fuss from being made over it all. Isabel Rochev was far too good of an actress when it came to the public and Felicity wished that she could tell everyone that she'd done it on purpose. "I'm fine," she lied as she pulled away from Isabel's reach as the woman pretended to blot coffee from her.

Isabel grabbed her arm and leaned in close enough that her words only traveled between the two of them. "I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I was /back/ and that I /will/ be doing a lot more than just giving you minor burns…"

Yanking herself back away from the crazy woman, Felicity stumbled a bit and headed further into the coffee shop. She was certain that Isabel was following her because she heard her voice trying to publicly make it sound like she was mending bridges.

"Could we please have those coffees again? How much? I'll pay for all three."

Felicity thought that she was home free, at least for a few minutes, in order to do the best she could to freshen herself when she was grabbed by Isabel. She was sure to the watching eyes of the public around that it didn't look like anything serious.

"Here! Let me help you!" Isabel's voice said far too loud to be normal.

She was shoved into the bathroom and the door was closed and then locked behind Isabel. Felicity stared at the other woman. They were still both expected to walk out of that bathroom like normal adults and with no further harm done. What did Isabel really thin she could prove in that small confines of that bathroom?

Isabel turned on the facet and then turned her gaze back to Felicity. "You tell Oliver that I could have killed you today if I had wanted," she threatened. "It would have been easy and there would have been no witnesses past seeing you pick up your coffee and leave the building…"

What did you say to something like that?

"You being the daughter of Malcolm Merlyn or the fact that he's brokered some kind of /deal/ with my father means nothing to me. I /will/ be coming for you...all of you. Once I kill every last one of you, I'll take Queen Consolidated back...and I hear, I might even have a bigger prize… There are rumors that you're merging with Merlyn Global." She was confidant and a little too pleased as she spoke. "That'll just make things that much better…"

Felicity just waited. She figured that there was no point to arguing with the woman. The last thing they needed was for there to be a spat in the bathroom. If it got out of control, Felicity knew that Isabel could take out every single person in that bustling coffee shop and then likely make it look like she'd luckily survived. Right now, the two of them couldn't settle anything.

Isabel smirked at her and motioned up and down. "Now clean yourself up and collect your coffees on your way out… We wouldn't want people to talk…" With that, Isabel was gone.

. . .

The /only/ reason she went back to Queen Consolidated was because of Oliver. She didn't want him to worry if she just texted him that she'd see him later. She knew that that would put up more red flags than they needed. Today was going to be hard enough. Plus, they'd been in such a hurry to get to their meeting with Walter that morning that they hadn't had the tasty kind of coffee or breakfast. Those were both things that normally happened. A coffee and pastry really weren't a proper meal, but they would both be enough for Oliver to consume quickly and continue with what he needed to get done.

"Hey…"

"Do you mind if I go to the Foundry?" she asked quickly, her eyes focusing on his desk as she set down the bag of pastries and the cup of coffee. "I was thinking that-" she started to ramble, but Oliver stopped her. He'd turned her, his hands were on her arms, and he was standing right in front of her.

"What happened?"

His voice was gentle as he asked and she looked up into his eyes. She knew that she couldn't keep this from him. She just wished that it could wait until after dinner. "Isabel Rochev ran into me...with coffee…" She could see the anger flaring in him immediately. "I'm okay… I mean, coffee burns, but they're not bad burns… I'll be fine, I-"

Oliver wrapped his arms around her and held her there. "I'm sorry."

"I'm okay, Oliver," she assured as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'll heal and hopefully the coffee will wash out of my blouse." She pulled away from him and motioned down to her left heel. "Not sure those will wash out though…"

He smiled a small smile and then kissed her forehead. "Diggle should have been with you...or Sara…"

"I was in public… I /should/ have been fine. I make that trip /all/ the time," she told him. Felicity really didn't want the security, especially the added security that would come with it if Oliver felt like her life was really threatened.

"But you weren't."

And he was right.

"She threatened me...us…"

"What did she say?"

"That she's going to kill all of us and take over the company." Felicity added a moment later, "And she knows about the merger…" She sighed. "She said that she could have killed me today and no one would have known it was her if she wanted…"

Rage was definitely bubbling now.

"Are you /sure/ you're okay?"

Felicity nodded as she watched him. "Really...I'm-I'm shaken more than anything…" she admitted. They had talked about talking more and being truthful, so she was doing that. "But it was because I knew I couldn't do anything in public… Isabel doesn't know who she's messing with… She doesn't know that I can defend myself or that I can use a bow or-"

"Isabel...Talia...she's tough, Felicity."

"I know."

"Digg-"

"We have dinner tonight," she reminded and reached up to pretend to fix his tie. She ran her hand down the fabric of it and let out a slow breath. Felicity really wasn't looking forward to that dinner, but it was likely to just go along with the theme of the rest of the day. She knew that they couldn't get worked up and that they couldn't deviate from the course of the day. There was just too much at stake. "I finished all the merger paperwork before I went to get coffee… So, there's really not a whole lot I /need/ to do here before dinner tonight…" she told him as calmly as possible. She stared up at him and could see the worry in his face...in his eyes. He hated all of this. "So, why don't you call up Diggle or Sara and let them know I'm heading to the Foundry for a bit and they can meet me there, if they're not already there…"

"Okay," he said quietly before pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Just… I don't like it," he said once they parted. "And I just want to know that you're safe." And she understood that. "Can you just do something for me?"

Felicity reached up and ran her fingers along the side of his face. "You know that I'd do anything for you."

He let out a sigh. "Call me when you get into your car? Let me talk to you until you get to the Foundry?"

She smiled. "It'll be like a long distance lunch date."

"I think we missed the part where we're supposed to have an actual meal, though."

"Don't really think my stomach could handle it right now anyways," Felicity told him honestly. "But I'll call you," she promised and pulled him down for a goodbye kiss.

. . .

The only parent that actually knew what they'd be discussing was Walter and Felicity felt bad for putting him in the middle of things, but he was really their only hopes of making it work. She had a feeling that once Moira and Merlyn found that out that there might be some glaring. They hadn't done any of this to pit anyone against another, it was just for ease of getting things done and for minimal stress during the process. With Isabel Rochev looming, they really didn't need another uncalled for stresser.

"Please tell me that this isn't another one of your 'be better parents' meetings," Moira practically complained as she directed her attention towards Thea.

"You should have paid attention more," Thea said a bit coldly. "There was also a heavy dose of 'I'm concerned about my siblings and you should get an attitude adjustment because the world doesn't revolve around you'."

"Seems some of us missed quite the meeting," Roy mumbled.

"Thea's actually not the one who called this," Oliver announced and Felicity could hear the confusion in his voice, she was confused too at the exchange between Moira and Thea. She'd have to talk to her little sister about it later.

Felicity was thankful that she had a change of clothes at the Foundry and she'd been able to change. She'd come to dinner in something a little more colorful than she'd originally planned, but she really didn't think her attire should matter. She'd been wearing black and white earlier and had hoped to blend in with everyone else, but that would be nearly impossible now with her bright pink dress. Tomorrow she'd take something in a more muted color and leave it at the Foundry for the next time, though she hoped the next time she needed a change of clothes wasn't because of another Isabel coffee assault incident.

"You did?" Moira questioned Oliver.

At least she seemed intrigued, Felicity mused. Everyone was there, so she figured that they might as well start. "Actually, it wasn't just Oliver...Tommy and I wanted to discuss some things as well."

"Which is why I assume Malcolm is present."

"Yes," Tommy replied with a slight nod.

Moira took her seat and Felicity watched her closely. The rest of them had been milling about, most of them talking amongst themselves. "This is going to be interesting," Moira commented and looked towards Walter. At that moment, it seemed like Moira was studying him and Felicity became worried that they were all screwed. They knew that Moira was going to be upset with their news, but they didn't need her all wound up before they even discussed it. "You know why we're here, Walter…" Moira said slowly.

Felicity suddenly felt like she was watching a train wreck.

"Moira-" Walter started to speak.

"You /do/ know! They've told you and not told us!" Moira went on and then looked towards Merlyn. "Do you know, Malcolm?"

"No," Merlyn replied calmly.

"But you already know," Moira said as she turned back to Walter.

Oh, they were going to be doomed.

Felicity sank into her chair and brought her hands up to her face.

"Mom! Can you let someone else put a sentence together for a minute?" Oliver shouted. Felicity could hear the frustration ring in Oliver's voice. She looked up to see him looking directly at his mother, his expression was stern.

"Put a sentence together already," Moira said as she motioned around.

Everyone else had taken a seat and Felicity felt like Walter was extremely brave taking any seat near Moira. If her glares didn't get him, then she worried about his proximity to her. There was a moment of silence and she was going to speak up, but Walter and his lovely British accent started before she could push the words out.

"Moira, the reason why I didn't confide in you is a simple one," Walter said.

"You don't /trust/ me," Moira said as evenly as she could and then looked towards the rest of them. "No one seems to trust me."

"Given good reason," Merlyn spoke up.

"You're one to talk!"

"I'm not arguing that fact."

Felicity sighed. This was going to be a /long/ night.

"Getting back to letting me finish what I was /saying/," Walter said and actually sounded a bit irked. "I didn't confide in you, Moira, because I simply wasn't sure that the children would go through with this… It was quite /a lot/ to think about."

"What are you talking about?" Moira pushed.

"And I think that's /our/ cue," Felicity spoke up and let her words come out slowly. She didn't miss Moira's glare in her direction. "I guess I'll just come out and explain why we asked Walter to keep things quiet."

"And /why/ it involves the three of you."

Felicity nodded. "Well, it's not /just/ the three of us," she told Moira. "It involves the companies."

"I don't like where this is headed…"

"Dad, you /know/ I hate running Merlyn Global," Tommy told Merlyn flat out as he looked across the table at him. "It's one thing to work /in/ the company and another to be CEO of it."

"I don't understand where you're going with this," Merlyn said. His tone was still even and he looked relaxed in his chair.

Oliver was taking her hand and when he squeezed it, Felicity knew that he was going to spill it all out. That was a hefty secret and it was a lot harder telling it than she had originally thought. "We're going to merge Merlyn Global and Queen Consolidated."

"What?!" Moira practically screamed. "I won't allow it!"

"That's...unexpected," was all Merlyn said.

Felicity noticed how done Roy and Thea was with this 'family dinner' already and they hadn't even started the dinner portion. Moira was blowing things out of the water. "It's what makes the most sense for those of us who are running the companies-"

"/You're/ not running either company," Moira spat.

"I would not have kept Queen Consolidated going as CEO for as long as I have without Felicity," Oliver said quickly.

"She's good, Mrs. Queen," Tommy spoke up. "Running a company isn't easy...and it's not something that the three of us really expected to be doing." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sure that I speak for Oliver when I say that we both expected our fathers to still be running both companies until they had grandchildren…"

"It doesn't sound /so/ bad," Thea spoke up. "It's not a bad thing, is it, Walter?"

"Actually, I think that the companies will help one another with this merger," Walter spoke up.

The voice of reason.

"How so?" Merlyn asked and seemed interested.

Felicity hadn't missed the fact that Moira was still fuming at the end of the table.

"Merlyn Global is still suffering from the bad press because of...the Undertaking," Walter explained. "Things at Queen Consolidated are still recovering because of Moira's stint in jail…" He paused. "In all honesty, I believe that a merger would yield far better numbers than the currently combined increases we've seen over the last year."

"Plus, there would be less stress on us," Tommy spoke up.

"The three of us have thought this over and it's what /we/ believe is best for ourselves /and/ the companies," Felicity explained. "I know that this might not have been your original plan for us, but I assure you...we're thinking about the companies. This way, both companies will technically still remain in /both/ families. It won't be Merlyn Global and Queen Consolidated anymore, but there will still be a company. I know that legacy is important to both of you," Felicity said as she looked between Moira and Merlyn. "That's why we kept things quiet and we brought in someone we knew we could trust before it could be officially announced. We /knew/ we could trust Walter because he /is/ family."

"And really, this might bring about a bit of monopoly on things...a /legal/ one," Walter added. "I wouldn't be sitting here speaking on behalf of this merger if I thought it was a bad idea."

"What would Robert say?" Moira asked and sounded simply disgusted.

"He'd likely be happy to do it," Walter answered. "Taking that there was not bad blood between him and Malcolm." He tilted his head. "Robert was always looking towards the future as far as the company went… He would tell you that the companies belong to the children now and even though you're Moira Queen, /we/ need to let them make their own decisions. Make their own mistakes. Show us that there /can/ be other ways of doing things."

Moira still seemed disgusted, but kept quiet.

"Have you thought of a name?" Merlyn asked.

Felicity dropped her mouth open a bit and then finally pushed out words. "So, um...that was our breakfast discussion for tomorrow...given that we weren't locked away tonight…"

"If it's going to help the three of you live a little more /while/ being beneficial to the stockholders, then I don't know /why/ I would object," Merlyn said all too logically.

"Okay then."

"We're really not /asking/ for permission, Mom," Oliver said a bit coldly a moment later. "And Walter's right…and you know he is. Dad would have counseled us...and Walter has...and then he'd let us make decisions and learn from them."

"But merging the company," Moira said, still sounding upset. "What are you going to call it? Who's going to be in charge?"

"It's not all about what it'll be called, Mom," Oliver said more gently. "Or who will be in charge… It's about our families still having a legacy /and/ the three of us being able to have some control over our lives. I'm assuming that you still want us to /live/ our lives."

"I'm not sure that you'll feel the same after I give /my/ announcement," Moira told him.

Oh, crap.

Felicity squeezed Oliver's hand and they all waited for it. She was fairly sure that Moira was purposely pausing for dramatic effect. As much as she liked to remind herself that they were adults, Moira and Merlyn tended to pull the rug out from under them all when it came to those kinds of thoughts.

"I had just talked to Malcolm last night and we decided on something," Moira announced.

"What?" Thea asked and sounded like she couldn't take anymore.

Felicity knew how she felt.

Moira was quiet for a few moments, as if collecting herself. "Malcolm and I have decided that Felicity and Oliver do /not/ have to continue the charade of getting engaged and married…"

"I won't even push for you to take my name," Merlyn told her directly. "I just want you to be happy."

They were pulling weights off of them, but all Felicity could feel was dread. What did that mean for her and Oliver? What would that mean for everything? She loved him and...he loved her, but without the pressure of having to get married in less than a year, would things change? Selfishly, Felicity didn't want things to change. She liked them just the way they were currently except with less parental pressure.

She bowed her head and closed her eyes.

Felicity couldn't bring herself to be happy or relieved.

"Felicity?"

. . .

TBC...