A/N: Hi, I'm kinda new to this. Like "I wrote this and made my account at one in the morning" new, so if there are any funky mistakes please let me know and I'll try to fix it. Is this how you correctly format an author's note? I hope so...

A few weeks after the whole Slade/mirakuru problem, the city is slowly getting fixed up. A few minor crimes here and there for the Arrow to take care of, but other than that it's relatively quiet.

The sound of Felicity's heels echo around the foundry as she walks down the steps. She's looking at her tablet, but she glances up to address Oliver who's beating up his practice dummies. "I'm not sure you're aware of this since you've been so busy trying to get QC back, but Laurel has been trying to get in touch with you for a while now," she said, glancing up at him.

Oliver pauses mid-punch and turns and quirks an eyebrow at Felicity. "Laurel? Why would she want to talk to me so badly?"

"Well, I mean you guys haven't really had the chance to discuss anything about how she knows you're the Arrow now," Felicity stated as she sat down in her usual seat in front of her computers.

Oliver sighed and stepped off the training mats. "I should probably see how she's doing, shouldn't I."

"Yes, you should. She got taken by Slade, too," Felicity replied, involuntarily rubbed her neck where Slade had pressed the sword against it.

"I think I'll go see her right now," Oliver said.

"In normal clothes or your arrow gear?" Felicity teased with a smile.

Oliver shot her a look. "I don't think it would really make a difference anymore," Oliver said as he climbed the stairs.

Felicity heard him pause and then walk back down. "Diggle's gonna be here in about half an hour. Are you going to be okay down here by yourself?"

Felicity waved him off, "I'll be fine, Oliver."


Oliver knocked on Laurel's door and did a quick 360 of the hallway out of instinct.

Slowly, the door opened and Laurel peeked her head around. "Oliver! Hi," she said, surprise evident in her voice, "Um, come on in."

Oliver smiled faintly and stepped into Laurel's apartment. "How are you doing Laurel?" He asked as he shut the door behind him.

"I'm doing okay. A lot has happened in the past few days and I'm guess I'm still trying to process it," Laurel said with a shrug. "Why haven't you been around, Ollie? I tried to contact you in every way possible, and you never answered."

Oliver exhaled quietly and looked over her shoulder for a few seconds, trying to collect his thoughts, before he shifted his eyes to look straight into hers. "I didn't reach out to you because I wasn't sure how you felt about me now that you know I'm the Arrow. I figured it would be best if you time to think about it all before I showed up and complicated things."

"Oh Ollie," Laurel whispered as she stepped closer and put her hand on his arm. "You've been such a big part of my life, I'm not gonna let you go now. Even though some of your choices haven't been clear, the Arrow-you, saved this city, and I couldn't be more proud."

"Thank you, Laurel, for understanding," Oliver said, giving her a meaningful look before turning towards the door. "And sorry I can't stay for longer, but I need to head back to handle some Arrow business."

Laurel nodded in understanding. "Thank you for stopping by, Ollie," Laurel said, as she opened the door for him. "If you ever need any anything as Oliver Queen, or even as the Arrow, I'd be happy to help you save our city," she added.

"I will keep that in mind. Good night Laurel."

"Goodnight," She said as the door quietly closed. And with that Oliver headed back to the foundry.


"... But then again, if you tried putting the newer software into the old 2010 model it doesn't really make a difference since the processor isn't up to date. Speaking of up to date I really need to update the tracking program on these computers. I heard that the..."

"Felicity," Oliver said, interrupting her babble as he entered the foundry. "Anything happening out there tonight?" He did a quick once over of the lair and saw two bags from Big Belly Burger and a slightly bored looking Diggle leaning against the medical table. "Has Roy stopped by?" He asked.

"Oh! Oliver!" Felicity swiveled around in her chair to face him. "I didn't even hear the door open. Don't worry we saved you a burger," she said gesturing towards the bags. "Criminal wise, nothing major seems to be happening, so I think tonight's gonna be a quiet one. And no... I think Roy was helping his friend Sin with something tonight."

"Wanna go for a round?" Oliver asked Diggle, nodding his head towards the training mat. Diggle quickly agreed. An hour's worth of Felicity's rambling can really get to you.

Just as the two men were about to change, Felicity jumped in her seat. "Hey, um, you guys might wanna check this out," she said, pointing to

her screen.

On one screen, Felicity had pulled up a police scanner and was getting live feed from the scene of the robbery. "We've had a robbery at the Starling National Bank. Suspect is male, about 6'0" with a blue hoodie going south on 5th street," a police officer said through the speakers. On the other screen, traffic cameras showed the described man slipping through the crowded streets.

"I looked into the accounts at Starling National, and it looks like he just took $15,000 in cold cash," Felicity said, typing away at her keyboard.

Diggle gave a low whistle. "And he's still managing to get away that fast?"

"Can you pull up face recognition on him, Felicity?" Oliver asked as he walked towards his suit.

"Already on it. His name is Jacob Ruther, and it says here that he was tried for attempted murder and selling of drugs, but both times he was proven not guilty."

Oliver shrugged on his quiver and turned on his earpiece. "Tell me where to go, Felicity," he commanded as he ran up the stairs.

Oliver raced through the streets on his motorcycle. "Left on Newburgh," Felicity directed. "Now sharp right. Wait... I lost him. I think he went into a building."

Oliver growled. "There are over 20 buildings around this intersection; there's no way I'm gonna find him," Oliver replied. He revved his motorcycle and turned around. "I'm heading back. Try to get more information on him."

"Good news and bad news," Felicity said as he entered the foundry. "Bad news is, well, obviously he got away, but there also isn't a ton of info on him. His parents live in New York, no siblings, he's not married, no family, nothing. Only big thing is his trial, but all of the details are filed away in paper form in the DA's office."

"I thought you said there was good news," Oliver said, running a hand through his hair.

"Guess who was involved in both cases and could possibly get us the information we need," Felicity said, walking over to Oliver.

Oliver paused. "Laurel?" He guessed.

"Exactly," Felicity answered. "And since she already knows you're the Arrow, I'm sure she'd be willing to help us out."

He nodded his head, "I'll go ask her about it."

Felicity tilted her head to one side. "Right now?" She asked, "Don't you think it's a little late?"

Oliver looked at his watch. It was well past midnight. "Oh," he said, his eyebrows furrowing, "I didn't realize what time it was." He reached out and placed his hand on Felicity's shoulder. "You didn't have to stay so late, Felicity. Why don't you head home, get some rest. You to Dig," he said looking over at Diggle who was absently scrolling through his phone.

"Any of you guys need a ride before I take off?" Diggle asked as he grabbed his jacket.

"I'm taking my bike," Oliver answered.

"I drove my car here, I'll be fine. Tell Lyla I said hi," Felicity said with a smile.

"Will do," Diggle said as he came over to clap a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Goodnight guys. Call if you need anything." And with that, Diggle walked out of the foundry.

Felicity sat back down at her computers and absently mumbled something about needing to find more information.

Oliver walked over to her and sighed, "Go home, Felicity. It's late. You said so yourself."

"But what if Laurel can't get the information we need?" She asked, looking up at him.

"I think Laurel's gonna do everything she can to get that info for us," Oliver said with a slight nod.

"How can you be so sure?" Felicity asked, "She hasn't exactly been totally supportive of your whole Arrow thing."

Oliver fiddled with an arrow that he left out on the table. "When I went to speak to her today, she seemed really eager to help me out," he said with a furrowed brow. "If I didn't know I better I would've thought she wanted to join our team." Felicity smiled when he said "Our team".

"So what if she does?" She said with a shrug, "I know you have to go through that whole 'I care too much about her to put her in danger routine' but look at me! I'm perfectly fine. Not that I'm saying I know you care for me or anything which you might not, but I'm not really sure because I'm kind of confused now..." Felicity blushed when Oliver shot her a glance and quickly continued. "But anyways just give her a chance. I mean she's pretty smart and who knows, she might be able to help us with other stuff, too."

Oliver took a second to analyze the words Felicity just threw at him. "I guess we could give her a chance this time since we need her help anyways," Oliver said thoughtfully, "But we'll have to see from there."

Felicity nodded and began shutting down her computers. "It'll be nice to have another woman around," Felicity said with a small laugh.

Oliver smiled, "Let me walk you to your car."

Oliver and Felicity trudged up the stairs and exchanged their goodnights as they stood by Felicity's tiny car. "Oh, and Felicity?" Oliver said as she got into her car. "Of course I care about you."

Felicity smiled up at him, and Oliver walked back to the foundry for a training session that would exhaust him to sleep. He could never fall asleep because every time he shut his eyes he would see Slade holding Felicity captive and thoughts of losing Felicity would weigh down even more on his chest.

As he pounded away at the training dummies, Oliver wondered how Felicity could believe that he didn't care for her. Felicity had become such a big part of his life and he couldn't be more grateful. He just hoped that Laurel wouldn't create a void between them.