Alright, I am just horrible at updating. It's official.
I'm actually really happy with this one, and I hope you guys love it. Let me know what else you guys want. I love getting a challenge.
Here's 3x14 "You're cute."
I don't own Arrow! REVIEWS ARE LOVE!
Felicity landed on the floor almost soundlessly.
Her hands shot out, fingertips brushing the ground where her feet were planted. She'd been in the office tons of times, dating all the way back to her childhood. Her father would sit her up on the desk and give her a lollipop while he worked. For a second, she let herself miss her father. Then she checked all around her for anyone staying late. The coast was clear as she rounded the desk, eyes landing immediately on a picture of herself and Robert Smoak. She was younger by a few years, but it was definitely her.
Her eyes scanned around the room and suddenly she felt like she was in the wrong place. She didn't want to do this anymore, but Maseo's voice clouded her and made her forget her cold feet. "Are you in position?"
She paused, taking a deep breath. All she had to do was run the program and get out. No one would ever know she'd been there. Yes, the thought was saddening, but it was probably for the best. Her right hand rose up to turn on the comm. "Yeah."
"The company computers are protected by biometric encryption. Look for a fingerprint reader."
"Ok, why wouldn't they take me out of the directory?" She felt just a bit childish asking, and Maseo's reasponse didn't exactly boost her confidence. "Why would they? You're dead."
The man certainly made a point.
She shoved her finger forward and onto the scanner sitting there. A bright blue light washed over her thumb a few times before the smaller light at the top turned green and the computer unlocked. Almost incredulously she said, "Yeah. I'm in." She didn't know why she wasn't expecting it to work. Maybe she thought it was careless on her family's part. Or maybe it was a sign they hadn't moved on.
"The crawler's programmed to seek out all of Kang's network traffic."
She plugged the program in and watched as a screen appeared, orange lines running furiously across it.
"And it's running." Curse her lack of technological grace.
"The program should take 90 seconds ."
So she would wait the minute and a half. But then a folder jumped out at her with her father's name on it. A folder marked 'private'.
"What's that?"
Upon opening the folder, there were two files within. The first was titled 'For Thea', and the second was titled 'For Felicity'. Immediately, she searched around for a flash drive and began transferring the files. She also yanked the program from the computer upon its completion and shoved it in to her jacket pocket.
"Felicity you have to go."
"I'm not done." She needed to know what those files were. They were something intended for her and her sister, and they might give her more answers regarding her father's impromptu suicide.
"You have to go, someone's coming."
The files finished at that moment, and Felicity grabbed the flash drive, closing what she'd opened and dove for cover behind a wall in the adjoining conference room.
A man entered the office then, wearing a white button down with black polka dots and fitted black dress pants. He had a lanyard dangling from his neck and thick, black glasses on his nose.
His hair was short, cropped and blonde, along with his trimmed beard. In his hands he had a folder.
He stepped behind the desk, his eyes falling to the same picture she had spotted when she had been there. He smiled softly. "You're cute." she heard him say.
Was he talking to her picture? Mild amusement rose up in her chest as she leaned forward a bit to see what would happen next.
His hands rested on the edge of the desk and he leaned forward. "It's too bad you're..you know…dead."
What was this guy doing? She could feel herself beginning to smile as he continued. "Which is obviously a lot worse for you than it is for me."
He left the file on the desk and placed his hands on his hips. "I really need to learn to stop talking to myself." He headed back out of the office, shoes making a small thud against the marble.
Felicity's smile grew and she stood there for a moment. Some random guy just inadvertently hit on her while she was supposedly dead, and normally that whole idea would creep her out.
Whoever that guy was…well, she didn't mind it so much coming from him.
Oliver landed on his chair with a big 'plop'.
Another late night in the Smoak Industries IT department, and this time was painful. Oliver was grumbling, which almost never happened save for those times he was severely lacking in the caffeine department. This was one of those times.
"Stupid executives and their stupid porn and Mr. Steele's stupid clickbait obsession…"
It was a normal occurrence for Oliver to be ridding the system of viruses. Most of the people that worked at this company were ridiculously careless with their internet habits. It wouldn't have bothered him so much if it wasn't coupled with the whole 'no coffee' thing as well as the fact that he was in the middle of designing a whole new firewall for the system since some big files had been hacked and stolen. Which wouldn't have happened if they'd let Oliver take a crack at the firewall last year when he had offered.
But he wasn't bitter.
A woman he worked with, Carolyn, came up to him with a fresh cup of coffee from the local shop around the corner.
"Carolyn, you are literally my favorite person ever. At least for right now. Not that I don't always love you."
Carolyn blushed and Oliver internally sighed. He wasn't exactly into romance at the moment and he didn't want to lead her on. He did, however, want to drink the crap out of that coffee.
"Well, you saved me when I accidentally exploited Mrs. Queen's unnerving amount of love emails to Mr. Steele. Figured I owed you one."
Carolyn took her place a few desks away and with one last smile resumed her work. Oliver returned it and began to down the coffee. Immediately he felt better just by tasting it.
After a few minutes he noticed a folder in Finsky's tray. He knew from Finsky's mentioning it earlier that it was the budget report. He had a buddy in accounting who had asked him to place it on Mr. Steele's desk, and of course he forgot to do it. Finsky couldn't remember how to turn the computer on sometimes. That's why he was just an assistant, and not actually in any kind of position to handle tech. Like, ever.
With a sigh, Oliver finished the rest of his coffee before tossing it into the trash and standing up. He grabbed the folder and began heading toward the elevators when Carolyn ran up to him.
"Oh, Oliver? Are you leaving?"
"No, uh, I'm running something up to Mr. Steele's office. Something you need?" He tried to sound professional, curt even, but it didn't stop her from asking the dreaded question.
"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink when you were done…"
She was honestly a wonderful person, and he would probably have a good time, but he just wasn't into it. He was tired from days of late shifts and mounting stress. Of course, he couldn't be mean to her. She was actually a really cool person. He was the idiot.
"I'm sorry, Carolyn, but I'm just so burned out…"
She seemed upset, but there was no way for Oliver to lie. He wouldn't feel right. She began to walk away, but he called her back.
"It's not you, Carolyn. You're actually really great, and I'm an idiot for not accepting. But I'm so tired from all this extra work. I promise, if you're still interested Monday when I've had the weekend to recharge, we can definitely go for drinks."
Despite the awkward weekday, she seemed pleased at the suggestion. "Yeah, definitely."
Then Oliver was on the elevator, folder in hand. The doors opened on the top floor and he stepped out, fingering the edges of the budget. He turned the corner and pulled open the glass doors before stepping inside the office and crossing to behind the desk. His vision fell onto a picture of Robert and Felicity Smoak. He wondered briefly why Walter would have such a picture, but assumed that he was leaving the desk the way it always was in case Robert turned up alive. Doubtful, but a nice sentiment. He noticed the girl more closely. She had bright blue eyes and long blonde hair.
"You're cute." And she was. He'd noticed before the accident too, it's not like he was blind. But seeing her there, not at some fancy party but with an arm around her father, it made her look better…happier.
""It's too bad you're…you know…dead." Honestly he needed to start thinking before he spoke. Even if there was no one there for him to speak to. He was trying to ignore the fact that he had just hit on a dead person.
"Which is obviously a lot worse for you than it is for me." Please god, let someone come out of the shadows and shut him up. Anyone…a janitor, an employee, Felicity Smoak back from the dead. He would take anyone.
He placed the folder onto the desk, and then placed his hands on his hips. A breath blew forcefully out of his mouth.
"I really need to learn to stop talking to myself." He walked out of the room and back toward the elevator. For some reason, he spent the ride thinking about someone actually stopping his little display. He would have been ok if a janitor or some other employee had caught him. Bonus points if it was someone he knew because they'd already be used to his babbling.
But if Felicity herself had been there to reprimand him?
Well, if she had been there, he would have minded it a lot coming from her.
Let me know what you think. Next I'm considering a moment from the S2 finale, either "And you are not done fighting." or "You really sold it." We shall see.