A/N: Here's the next chapter! I'm hoping to be back to working on this story here soon. I've still got 7 more prewritten chapters to share with you all, however. Thank you to all of the faithful commenters and reviewers! I love you all so much!
Recently I have opened a group on Facebook called Quills & Arrows which is meant to be a place for fans of Arrow fanfiction to come together and share their works. I would love to have you all join the group and share all of the fanfiction you love containing our beloved Arrow characters. This group is not ship specific so if you aren't a fan of the main ships of the show feel free to search our Fic shop for pairings that you may love. You can also find Quills & Arrows on tumblr as well. I know I'd love to have you all and your friends in the fandom as members! :)
Let me know what you think!
Love always,
~starr
"We have about ten minutes until someone figures out the source of the blast," Slade said, stalking toward the now open door of the warehouse. Looking back over his shoulder, he noticed that his lackeys had frozen in the blast. He fought the urge to roll his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. "What the hell do you think you are doing?"
The three lackeys exchanged a few nervous glances as they kicked the dirt in front of them. No one wanted to speak. At this point, they were walking a very fine line that would most likely end in their deaths if they weren't careful.
"Well?" Slade hissed. "We are running out of time to get this mission complete."
"Has everything detonated?" one of them finally asked, taking a small step forward.
"Of course it has!" Slade shouted, tossing his arms in the air. "Now get your asses in gear. I'm not in the mood to spend time in jail this morning."
Quickly the three lackeys ran from where they were standing into the building. Slade just watched and shook his head. He knew that it was going to be a long evening if these idiots were going to remain on his team for very much longer.
Slade pointed at two of the lackies as he spoke. "You two go find any electronics that you can find. They are coming with us. I'm going to look and see what else we can take with us down here. You," he said with a smirk, turning to face the last lacky, "will be keeping watch. We shouldn't be interrupted, but we do still need to be careful."
"Yes sir," they replied in unison before taking off.
Slade nodded his head proudly. "That's more like it."
. . . . . . . . .
"What have we got?" Oliver asked, walking into the bunker with Felicity in tow.
Her eyes were wide with excitement as she looked around the room she was currently standing in. Screens were flashing all around her, and they were bigger than anything she could have dreamed up. This place was amazing.
John turned toward Oliver and their guest and exhaled sharply. He waited in place for Oliver to join him in the center of the bunker with his arms crossed over his chest. "Nothing good."
Oliver tossed his head back slightly with a laugh. "I know that much, seeing as I was in the field when the blast happened. Do we know where it originated?"
"Are you sure we should be discussing this in front of her?" John asked, tilting his head in Felicity's direction. "What exactly does she know about all of this? You've spent the better part of the last three years trying to keep all of this a secret, and now -"
"I haven't told her anything yet," Oliver interrupted. "Keep your voice down. Until she asks, I'm not saying anything."
"Oliver, you brought a reporter down here and are letting her wander around aimlessly right now. What are you doing?"
"I don't know," Oliver hissed, gritting his teeth. "Instead of staying at the coffee shop, she decided to follow me. All I know is, she's nothing like Chase. So if someone's going to out me as the Arrow, I'd prefer it to be her."
"I don't like this," John replied, shaking his head as he looked over Oliver's shoulder watching Felicity move slowly from screen to screen.
"I don't either, Dig. But what other choice did I have? I needed to get down here..."
"You could have led her anywhere else. Or you know, maybe keep your coffee to under an hour."
"That's my fault," Felicity chimed in, walking over to them. "Trust me; I've got a lot of questions. But I can wait until all of this is over."
Oliver and John exchanged a glance before focusing their attention on Felicity. Undoubtedly she was going to have questions, but Oliver wasn't certain that he would be able to answer her questions. At least, he wasn't sure he'd be able to answer them in a way that would explain why she couldn't report on this.
"And I promise, I won't report on anything about this," Felicity said, motioning around the room they were currently standing in, "unless you tell me that it's okay. Can I ask one quick question?"
Oliver nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Are we still in Starling City?" Felicity asked, nervously rubbing the top of her shoe against the back of her leg as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Oliver laughed, "Yes, we are still in Starling City."
"Good," Felicity said with a smile. "Alright, I'll leave you two to whatever it was you were discussing, and I'm going to stand over here."
Oliver turned to John and shrugged. "So do we know the point of origin?"
John sighed before walking over to the three computer screens. He reached down and clicked a few times. "I haven't been able to narrow anything down. I can't get this thing to stop beeping at me."
Oliver joined John at the screens and grabbed the mouse from his hand, clicking the mouse a few times. Nothing he clicked on seemed to stop the beeping. All it appeared to do was anger the technology. Scrambling, Oliver looked for the power button. Maybe turning it off would fix things.
"Do you want some help with that?" Felicity chimed in once again. Both Oliver and John turned toward her voice and then looked back at one another.
"You know something about computers?" Oliver replied, straightening up and leaning up against the table.
Felicity fought the urge she felt to roll her eyes at his comment. "Yes, I do know something about computers. I actually started working for the Sentinel in the IT department before I moved up to being a reporter."
Oliver glanced at John out of the corner of his eye, and both men shrugged before turning their attention back to Felicity. Oliver nodded his head slowly. "Very interesting."
"Have at it," John said, presenting the screens to her as he stepped to the side.
"I'll see what magic I can work," she replied, taking a seat in the chair in front of the screens. She slid toward the center of the screens and placed her fingers on the keys. Not long after she sat down, her fingers were rapidly clicking away at the keys as she made quick work of the beeping noise.
Deciding that he didn't really need to hover, Oliver took a few steps away from where she was sitting and rubbed his hand over the top of his head. He took a deep breath before scrubbing his hands over his face. As he lowered his hands, he noticed that John had come to stand next to him with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Don't," Oliver grumbled, looking at John out of the corner of his eye before his gaze drifted back to the computers.
"Don't what? I didn't say anything," John replied, following Oliver's line of sight and shook his head slightly.
"Nothing is going on between us."
"No one said there was unless something happened during coffee this morning…"
"Nothing happened during coffee. This was the first time I actually met this woman."
"That didn't stop you with Sara."
Oliver rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking about this right now. Especially not when she's within earshot."
John put his hands up and nodded. "Alright. I'll drop it. For now."
Oliver shook his head and walked back over to where Felicity was typing away furiously. She barely registered that he was standing near her. With the moment afford to him, he took the time to really look at her, more so than he had earlier.
He could sense John's eyes on the back of his head as his eyes trailed their way down her small frame. Scrunching his nose as she crossed his arms over his chest, he turned away from her and met the eyes that had been watching him. A smile appeared on John's face, and Oliver just shook his head.