Part 3


That same night, once she was done with work (and let's face it, she was so eager that she had decided to keep one of the stake outs for the next day), Veronica went to Verdant and found out that Oliver had put her name on the list of people who could go in freely. She didn't have to wait in line, or even to prove her identity because the bouncer had her picture already.

She knew what he and everyone else would be thinking: if Oliver had put her on the special list, then something must be going on between them. People would assume that she and Oliver were dating or something alike but for once, it was a rumor that Veronica wouldn't mind having going around about her. Earlier, they had even agreed that Oliver would use her as an alibi when he couldn't use the club. They'd say that he was helping her out with a case or that they were getting to know each other for Thea's sake.

Thea had been insisting for the past couple of months that Veronica and Oliver would be perfect for each other and that they needed to spend more time together. The younger Queen might not know their secret identities but she seemed to know them well enough. Veronica couldn't help but wonder if Thea was right and if they'd get along in the romantic department of their lives also. Would it work out in the long run? Would they work better then she had with Duncan, Logan or Piz? She knew for sure that he wasn't the man who had cheated on Laurel with Sarah anymore, but would he even want a relationship with her?

Shaking her head, she forced herself to stop thinking about it. Now wasn't the time, they had villains to catch. Bad guys to find and send to prison. She had an high school reunion in a few weeks that she wanted to avoid. She was too busy right now to think about a potential relationship.

This wasn't the first time Veronica stepped in Verdant. She had been invited to the opening and had dropped by a few times, mostly when she was on a case, spying on someone and waiting to get the money shot.

As soon as she was in the club, Veronica headed for the bar and took her cell phone out but Oliver came to find her before she even had the time to start dialing his number, confirming that he had been waiting for her and watching out for her through the video surveillance. After happily greeting her and exchanging a nod with Tommy, he showed her the way to his hidden cave, letting her see the code on the way so she'd be able to go down on her own later.

"So, does Tommy know what you're doing down there?" Veronica asked Oliver once she was down admiring all of his equipment.

She had noticed them exchanging nods and wondered if Oliver's best friend knew of his nightly activities and of the reason behind the creation of Verdant or if he thought that she and Oliver were going to be doing much naughtier things.

"Yes, I had to tell him when I saved his father's life, he wouldn't have trusted me to do it otherwise. Things were pretty complicated with him."

"Were?" She asked him looking away from his arrow making station and up to him, curious about the past tense.

She decided to keep for herself her thought that Starling City would probably have been better off without Malcolm Merlyn.

"Apparently your little article helped him cope with what I do. I mean, I try not to shoot the criminals I stop now, if I don't have to." Oliver replied.

"That's good, I'm glad I helped. Having a best friend is important, especially for a friendship as old as yours. You need to do whatever you can to keep it alive." She nodded, thinking briefly of Lilly and of the fact that she'd love being able to speak to her about her own nightly activities.

"I think that you assuring him that you were not going to tell Laurel who you are and that you're not interested in being anything more than her friend because you were interested in someone else helped as well." John added, revealing more voluntarily in hopes of pushing them together.

To be truthful, Oliver had stopped going to see Laurel as the Vigilante and even though he knew she wanted to see him again, he stayed away. He had enough work with his list and Veronica's blog, he didn't need Laurel to bring him new cases and he didn't feel the need to spend more time with her. Laurel was nothing more than an ex girlfriend and an actual friend now. He didn't want anything else from her.

"Maybe." Oliver replied quickly before asking Veronica "So, what do you think of our equipment?"

He hoped she hadn't paid attention to what John had said about him being interested in someone but he knew her enough to know that even though she didn't show it, she had heard it. Would she be able to guess that it was all about her or would she think he had set his sight on someone else entirely?

"Truthfully? I think I might be in love with it. Is it weird that I feel right at home already?" She smiled, making him smile as well.

"Just with the equipment?" John whispered while nobody could hear him.

"I'm glad you like it. So, does Thea know about you writing the blog?" he asked her, smiling back.

"Yes, she does and she knows that I know who the Vigilante is but she hasn't asked me who he is. She doesn't want to know, she understands the importance of the secret." Veronica replied, making him smile.

"Good, I don't think I'm ready for her to know yet."

"I understand, don't worry. Actually, she thinks that I should join the Vigilante and work on a kick-ass costume to join him at night." Veronica chuckled.

"And do you have any ideas yet?" He asked her, knowing that if she wanted to be on the field, there would be no stopping her.

"I'm not sure but I know what kind of weapon I'd like to have." She smiled.

"What is it?" John asked her with great interest.

"I was thinking of my taser and of how many time he's saved me over the years and figured... you know, something like that except a bit longer... Like an electrified whip or something. Of course I'd have to learn to use a whip first, but it sounds cool." Veronica replied, already picturing the thing in her mind.

"We'll have to find someone to work on it but I agree, it would fit you." Oliver nodded, already picturing Veronica with something like that.

"Your costume would have to be isolated so you don't get electrocuted... I'm not sure how we'd make that work though..." John added.

"Well, we have time to think about that. We'll see, maybe we'll meet someone able to help us with your costume and whip." Oliver told her with a smile.

"Anyway, about Malcolm Merlyn..." Veronica started, stopping to find the right words.

"What about him?" Oliver asked her.

"There's something fishy about him. I'm not sure what it is exactly but he's not a good person. He's definitely guilty of something. I know he's one of your family's oldest friend and your best friend's father but... I mean, I don't have hard evidence and I can't quite put my finger on what's wrong with him..." Veronica told him.

"You don't trust him?" he asked her, exchanging a look with John.

"No, I really don't. I know people and he's definitely hiding something dark. Be careful around him." She advised him.

"But you trust Tommy?" Oliver asked her, knowing enough about her to trust her instinct.

"Yes, I'm pretty sure he's completely clueless when it comes to his father's dark evil secrets."

"To tell you the truth, we're starting to think that he might have something to do with the Gambit going down. He and my mother might be involved in something bigger but we don't know what yet. Why don't we concentrate on one devil at the time though? We can try to figure out what Merlyn is hiding later. Right now we need to stop the Count and take Vertigo off the streets before too many people die of it." Oliver nodded while John smiled at the way Oliver and Veronica were already working together.

In a few seconds, Oliver and Veronica managed to work together as though they had been doing it for years. They worked side by side in perfect harmony and John couldn't help but think that they had been meant to be, meant to work together and hopefully meant for more.

With their forces united, it took them a week to find the Count, send him in jail and destroy all of the left over Vertigo. Of course Veronica made sure to write about it in her blog and she saw happily that Lance was slowing down his vigilante hunt. That left them with more time to investigate Malcolm Merlyn and Moira Queen. Oliver had asked Veronica to look into it as much as she could, and she did. She hadn't looked too deep before out of respect for the Queen family but with Oliver's authorization, she dived right in, looking into everything from financial records to other matters, some as old as Oliver was. It would take her time but she knew she'd eventually find something out. She never failed.


Part 3 is done, part 4 is coming.

This one shot is getting pretty long, don't you think? I honestly have no idea where I'm going to stop. Veronica and Oliver are just too good together.

As you can see, I'm thinking about giving Veronica a costume and secret identity so she can go out there. What do you think of my idea of weapon for her? What should her name be?

Review please?

Lorelei Candice Black