Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow or DC Comics. Obviously.

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You're Banging My Bedroom Wall

XXIV. Strange Encounters

Felicity leaned against Oliver, his arm wrapped possessively around her waist, as they mingled with her co-workers and other QC employees after the final unveiling of the project. She pressed her face to his neck, uncaring of all the eyes on them, and sighed. "I want to go home," she whispered.

He gently squeezed her waist, pressing a kiss to her temple. "Me, too," Oliver murmured back. "Come on, let's go find Thea and say bye and then we'll leave."

She let him pull her through the throng of bodies until they spotted his sister standing by the windows talking to somebody. Felicity took one look at who she was talking to and dug her heels in as she shook her head, forcing Oliver to stop. "No. Nope. I don't think we need to physically tell your sister we're leaving, Oliver," she told him, tugging futilely on his hand. "We can just text her from the car. Come on."

Oliver followed her gaze and chuckled, capturing her hands in his. "They're just my parents, Felicity. They're not going to bite," he reassured her.

"Your mother's frightening," she protested with an insistent pull at his arm. "I met her one time and I don't think she particularly likes me." Felicity flashed back to the one time she had encountered Moira Queen at a QC fundraiser last year and shuddered.

His hands traveled up her arms, fingertips softly skimming the length of her throat, before gently cupping the back of her neck in his hands and tipping her head until she met his gaze. "They'll like you, I promise," he murmured softly, his equally hypnotic and distracting blue eyes focused on her with laser precision. "Besides, my mother already likes you. She claims you've tamed the beast in me."

Felicity frowned at him, but before she could respond Thea was suddenly standing there next to them. "There you guys are!" she exclaimed, tugging at their arms. "Mom and Dad have been looking for you, Ollie. They want to meet the girl who made you change your ways," she told them with a wolfish grin.

They let Thea drag them through the crowd, stopping once they stood next to her parents.

"Found them," she announced, cutting into whatever conversation Mr. and Mrs. Queen were having and turning their attention onto them.

As soon as his father finished greeting them, Moira Queen immediately turned to her son with a warm smile and embraced him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Oliver, sweetheart."

Futilely, Felicity attempted to pull her hand from his and run, but he held tight as he returned his mother's kiss. "Hi, Mom," he returned. Oliver released her hand only to wrap his arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his side. "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Felicity Smoak."

Mr. Queen offered her a smile. "Ms. Smoak, you and Mr. Kyle did an astounding job tonight."

Felicity nodded, a wide smile of her own spread across her face. "Thank you."

Mrs. Queen turned to look at Felicity and she resisted the urge to fidget under the older woman's sharp gaze and stern expression, forcing herself to stand tall and at least pretend not to be intimidated. A tense beat of silenced passed, but eventually a warm smile spread across her face and Felicity could have sworn she saw a look of approval in her gaze. "It's lovely to meet you, Felicity. I'm happy I finally have the opportunity to meet the young woman to have captured my son's heart," she finally said, reaching out to grasp Felicity's hands in her own.

Felicity blinked in disbelief. Was she suddenly standing in some parallel universe or did Moira Queen, the woman best known for her stone cold reputation, just approve of her dating her son? "It's lovely to meet you, too, Mrs. Queen," she returned, still reeling.

"Call me Moira, dear," she corrected, gently squeezing her hands. "I insist."

She nodded. "Okay, Moira."

Oliver shot her a triumphant grin as if to say I told you so and looked to his mother. "We just came over to say goodnight," he said.

"Oh, then goodnight, dear," Moira responded, leaning up to kiss her son on the cheek. She turned to Felicity next, her smile just as warm as the one she gave Oliver, and took her hands in her own. "It was lovely to meet you, Felicity."

She easily returned her smile. "It was nice to meet you too, Moira."

"We're still meeting for coffee tomorrow, right?" Thea asked as she hugged Felicity.

She nodded. "Yep, at that new place that opened last week near my building." Thea grinned and Felicity let Oliver guide her to the elevator.

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Felicity and Oliver stepped off the elevator behind Carrie Cutter once they reached the parking garage. "You did so well up there, Felicity," Carrie was saying as she pressed the button on her key fob, making the lights of a nearby sedan flash. "All that worrying you did about messing up your presentation was for naught."

She made to respond, but the sounds of the beginning of a struggle echoed back to them from the other end of the garage. Carrie doesn't hesitate before running to the source of the noise, dropping her clutch and keys in the process. She and Oliver shared a look before rushing after the redhead. They skidded to a stop behind an all too familiar blue sedan and Felicity bit back a groan.

Palmer.

Of course it was Palmer.

A scream of outrage suddenly filled the air and Felicity stared in shock as Carrie started hitting and kicking at Palmer right there in her floor length gown and high heels in the small space between his car and the one parked beside it. "What did I tell you about this kind of behavior?" she screeched, punctuating each word with a new hit or kick.

"Oliver, stop her," Felicity rushed out as she finally spotted the young woman crouched beside them.

Felicity knelt beside the woman and recognized her as one of the engineers in Applied Sciences. "Pamela, are you okay?"

Pamela stared up at her with wide eyes, the can of pepper spray attached to her keyring tightly clutched in her hand. "Bastard came out of nowhere and grabbed me from behind," she said, letting Felicity help her stand. "But I got him good. Right in those pretty brown eyes of his."

Felicity eyed her worriedly and turned to see Oliver forcefully drag Carrie away from Palmer, kicking and screaming obscenities at him. Palmer, on the other hand, was curled up near the front end of his car whimpering pitifully. She would have felt bad for him, but he deserved everything he got and more.

"Hey! What's going on over there?"

Everyone turned at the sound of the angry shout to see a security guard rushing toward them.

Felicity sighed to herself.

This certainly wasn't how she thought her night was going to go.