Disclaimer:The characters are not mine, but the story is. I make no claims on the CW or DC's Arrow intellectual property.
Behind The Darkness and The Light
"My mind," he said, "rebels at stagnation. Give me problems, give me work, give me the most abstruse cryptogram or the most intricate analysis, and I am in my own proper atmosphere. I can dispense then with artificial stimulants. But I abhor the dull routine of existence. I crave for mental exaltation. That is why I have chosen my own particular profession, or rather created it, for I am the only one in the world."
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Sign of Four
Felicity twirled her pen in her right hand as she looked at the code for the security system; there had been a mandate a few days ago demanding a review of the building's security and naturally the initial step for the program was on her to-do list. She sighed, placing the pen in her mouth and chewing as she found something odd - her face scrunching up.
"Something wrong?" A voice said from the doorway and Felicity jumped, pen falling out of her mouth at the movement.
Any other time Felicity would have realized who it was - the voice was somehow etched into her body and it responded instinctively; however, it was very difficult to draw her out of her work - especially when it involved finding weaknesses and unraveling mysteries.
So it was that instead of suavely saying hello to Oliver Queen, she instead gaped at him as the sound of her red pen rolled from her lap onto the floor, the soft sound echoing sharply in the silent room.
She watched him move towards her desk, hesitation in every step, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Felicity shook her head, "No no it's alright, I was just zoned out, my mind was on my work," she gestured lamely to the monitors in front of her.
"I admire that about you - that you seem so interested in what you do," Oliver said softly, sincerity rolling off his tongue and it made Felicity gulp audibly.
"Thank you. What brings you to the IT dungeon?"
She watched as he shifted his stance slightly, "Well I thought that the last time we met wasn't really the best time to - uh, you know, talk about that night…"
Felicity quirked an eyebrow, "Oliver, it's been a month, I don't think we need a post-mortem on our one night stand."
"Right, but I feel bad that we never talked afterward, doesn't seem right," he said with an awkward stutter.
"Why come now, and not right after you realized where I worked?" she pressed again, not letting him get away without answering.
She was granted a bright smile from Oliver that took her breath away, momentarily making her wonder why she was delaying accepting his invitation to talk. "You ask a lot of questions."
Sighing, Felicity bent down to grab the pen off the floor, "Yeah, I've heard that one before," her voice was muffled by the desk and when she sat back up Oliver was looking at her intensely.
"I would just like to take you to have coffee. You clearly don't need to talk about it, but I would consider it a great favor to me if you came with me today for lunch."
Oliver spoke with such precision now, whereas before he had seemed nervous.
Although she was still confused as to why, after a month of no contact, he was seeking her out now - however that didn't stop her from nodding, "Alright, I usually take a break at two."
He smiled, but it was smaller now, "Thank you. I'll pick you up then."
And with that he spun around and walked out of her office, leaving Felicity's brain a muddled mess and wondering if she should call Caitlin for a pep talk. She hadn't expected Oliver Queen to give her the time of day every again, but apparently he was full of surprises.
"Two deluxe Big Belly Burgers, fries, one chocolate milkshake and one tea; can I get you anything else?" The waitress looked at Felicity who shook her head and murmured a 'no thank you', Oliver shaking his head.
"I still can't believe you've never been here before," he said as he unfolded his paper wrapped burger and took a giant bite out it.
Felicity smiled, "Well, Mr. Queen, if you remember I am fairly new to Starling City and my work doesn't leave much time for discovering new places just yet."
She watched as he swallowed and licked his lips, "I confess I had forgotten that part about you, but you seemed to have time to go to Verdant - how'd you find out about that place?"
Felicity shrugged and dipped a fry in ketchup and popped it in her mouth, "Caitlin. She's really outgoing and found a bunch of friends once we arrived and they invited her there for New Years." She waved her hand, "Of course, I was dragged along - as you hopefully remember."
"How could I ever forget?" He grinned at her as she smirked before taking a bite out of her burger.
She let out a groan and spoke through eating, "Oh my guhgd, this is aghmazing!"
Oliver just laughed at her enthusiasm, nodding in appreciation.
Licking her lips, she couldn't contain her questions anymore, "So after five years away, why a big loud nightclub? Seems like you'd want to ease into the social scene a bit…slower."
His face took on a surprised expression and Felicity watched the emotions flicker over his face - he was so stoic, but she had learned she was quite good at reading the changes and clinches of Oliver's facial expressions.
"I was never one to do things by halves and I guess that never changed," he said quietly.
"I think that's a lie," Felicity said bluntly. She watched his surprise and continued, "You didn't seem to enjoy it when we met, it looked more like a chore to you - the way I look when I have to clean my bathroom."
He chuckled despite his tense body language and she ploughed through his expectations, "I saw you, when you had to talk to the crowd that night. You hated it. Just makes me wonder why you're really doing all of this." She gestured to his nice suit, trying to convey what she meant - that he seemed to be wearing a costume of the old Oliver Queen.
Oliver cocked his head and regarded her seriously, "You're quite observant, Felicity."
She just grinned as she took another bite of her sandwich, gesturing with her hand for him to actually answer her question.
He rolled his eyes good naturedly, "When I came back, I felt aimless - I needed a purpose. On the island, every day had a clear goal - survive; when I got back, I didn't have that. When Tommy mentioned the steel plant was closed, I saw a project that I could focus on."
Felicity was silent as she took in what he was saying; she dabbed her napkin on her lips before responding, "Thank you for your honesty."
She watched as Oliver sat up straighter and leaned in, looking at her with intensity. "That's why I wanted to talk, Felicity. I'm so sorry about leaving, I didn't want to, but it was an emergency. Thea had called me, frantic - worried because she didn't know where Walter was."
"I thought for sure the emergency line was a lame excuse," she quipped, her eyebrow raised. "More than one eyeball rolled when I read it."
Oliver barked out a hearty laugh, "Yeah I imagine so - that's why I wanted to talk to you in person about it. I didn't want you to have a bad impression of me, especially if I start working at Queen Consolidated like my family wants."
"Well I can't say I would recommend you for it, you're already distracting your greatest IT asset from reviewing your security program," she winked at him, mirth in her eyes. "I didn't think poorly of you as I had no expectations. Oliver Queen, even someone new to Starling, has quite a reputation for the ladies."
She watched him cringe curiously, as if he was uncomfortable with the categorization. He opened his mouth to say something when the waitress turned up the volume on the TV, capturing the attention of the diner.
"The Starling City vigilante struck again last night, apprehending notorious cartel operator James Carver while leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Detective Lance of the SCPD has indicated an increase vigor in the anti-vigilante taskforce stating, 'His actions are outside the law and are an affront to our country and we will make sure he is brought to justice soon.'"
Felicity glared at the TV as it switched to another segment, the waitress again muting it; she swirled a fry aimlessly around the paper and Oliver cleared his throat, breaking the silence.
"So the city is pretty wrapped up in this whole vigilante thing, huh?" His voice seemed to be light, but Felicity just rolled her eyes.
"I don't know why, normally society frowns on mass murderers." She looked up at him and saw him blanch at her words and frowned at him.
"What do you mean? Most people I know see him as doing a great service, apprehending all those criminals."
She scoffed again, glaring at him and watched as he sat back in his chair, "He's 'apprehending' the ring leaders, sure, but he's killing everyone to get to them. What about those people, their families? Most of them are probably just doing their job, and sure that job is illegal and violence prone, but there's a reason why the justice system exists." She took a deep breath, "Plus he uses a bow which is fairly ridiculous against guns…"
Oliver smiled at her unexpectedly, "Uh huh."
Felicity blushed at him, "Sorry, I tend to ramble…"
"I've noticed. I like it though, it sure charmed me that night…" he drifted off, not finishing his sentence and instead stared at her intently.
The attention was too much for her and she sat up, "It's time to go back, I don't want my boss to yell at me for being late - even if it was to eat lunch with Oliver Queen."
Oliver nodded and she caught a brief flicker of disappointment. They got up and he walked over to go pay their bill. As Felicity watched his interaction with the waitress, she couldn't quite understand why this man worth billions of dollars felt the need to take her out just to apologize for running out. Surely it wasn't the first time he's done that. She watched his lithe body move under the impeccably tailored suit and involuntarily licked her lips, remembering vaguely how his body felt underneath hers.
"Felicity?" She was pulled out of her memories and looked to Oliver, who had a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright?"
"Me? Oh yeah, absolutely fine, mhm."
"Hey, what you said earlier - about the vigilante - do you think he could be good?" Oliver spoke, asking the question seemingly out of nowhere and Felicity blinked.
"Uh, sure I guess. I mean clearly he's trying to help - just maybe could be smarter about it. He seems really brutish right now, barreling in and smashing things to get his way."
She saw him smirk and nod, holding the door open for her as they stepped out of the diner.
"So..thank you for agreeing to meet with me today. I know it seems silly, but I just wanted you to not have that impression of me. I'm not who I was before," he said it so earnestly that Felicity softened her skeptical nature and stared at his hard face that held such concern for what she thought.
"I never thought that, but I appreciate your apology," she continued to stare at him and decided to bite the bullet. "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime, no pretenses? I mean not that this was a date, but I mean it certainly could be taken as one and you could just have used that as an excuse. Why else would it have taken a month to apologize for that, if you didn't have to work up the-"
Oliver placed a finger on her lips and she just stared at him, blinking. "I can't really…do that," Oliver said, looking pained and struggling to make her understand.
"Oh…okay, well I understand. You probably have socialites and heiresses to court, not to mention Laurel who by all accounts is gorgeous and-"
"No, it's not that. I just," Oliver sighed, trying to make her understand something he couldn't put words to. "My…therapist…suggested I not get involved with anyone for awhile, due to recent events."
He winked and she accepted the gentle rebuke, not trusting herself to say anything. It was ridiculous, after all, she didn't know why she had bothered to ask - that night was clearly a one time thing.
Oliver leaned in and kissed her cheek softly as they stood in front of Queen Consolidated. "Goodbye, Felicity Smoak. And thank you."
She didn't say anything and he turned away to get into his car, signaling to his driver and they pulled away. Finally Felicity turned and went inside; it wasn't until she sat back down at her desk and grabbed her pen from earlier that she realized something was off, and there was something incredibly familiar with the way he said goodbye.
Filing that away for future pondering, she shrugged and went back to work.
It was later that evening, far past when she should have left Queen Consolidated, when Felicity finally locked her computer and office and headed to the elevators. After the fairly-random lunch date with Oliver the other day she had been struggling to catch up - and focus on - her work. Her mind kept wandering, mulling around his words and goodbyes, trying to figure out why he just felt so...familiar.
Ladies all across the world, listen up
We're looking for recruits
If you're with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Felicity shifted her bag in front of her and dug around for her phone, recognizing Caitlin's ringtone and humming the beat involuntarily.
Hitting the answer button she breathed a hello, simultaneously snapping the button for ground floor as she stepped into the elevator.
"Felicityyyy, are you still at work?"
"..no?" Felicity braced herself to be chided, but attempted to stave off trouble, "I'm literally in the elevator right now and I'm about to walk to my car."
Caitlin tsk-tsk'd at her, "Alright, but just this once! Aside from that, you actually get reception in the elevator there?"
Laughing at her amazed tone Felicity responded, "Yeah Caitlin, we're a tech company, there are wireless boosters everywhere. I'm pretty sure we're our own cell tower and if we're not, we should really look into it."
The elevator stopped moving and she stepped onto the concrete of the parking garage, pulling out her keys.
"You better come straight to my place, you promised you would tell me all about your Oliver Queen lunch date."
Felicity just groaned, "Caitlin! I told you, he made it very clear it wasn't a date - especially after the fact that I asked him on another one and he said no. Definitely not a date and definitely not interested."
She listened as her friend babbled on about where they should go for their next date, completely ignoring what she had just said - not a date. Holding her phone with her left hand, Felicity went to unlock the door and let out a screech as she glanced at her reflection in the window - one that held not just her, but also the outline of the vigilante.
Hearing Caitlin's worried voice floating up from her phone that was now on the ground, Felicity turned around slowly and picked up the phone, her eyes never moving from the person in front of her.
"Hey Caitlin? I have to go, something came up. I'll call you when I'm on my way to your place."
Before she could hear the response, Felicity ended the call and brought her arm down, attempting to be calm and casual in front of him.
She watched as he titled his head to the side and her eyes caught side of the syringe in his hand and pressed herself against the car, an immediate reaction that she knew wouldn't save her.
"You fear me," his distorted voice spoke in the muted atmosphere of the parking garage.
Felicity momentarily forgot to be afraid as she looked at him with incredulity, "Seriously? You surprise me in the middle of the night while I'm alone, you're holding a very suspicious looking syringe, and I read that not too long ago you just wiped out another string of criminals. Am I not supposed to be terrified of you?"
He shifted and held out the syringe, unassuming. "I didn't come here to hurt you. If I wanted to do that, I would have before. You trusted me that night."
She stood up straighter and glared at him, "Well just because you were helpful once doesn't mean it's a pattern. If anything it's an anomaly based on all the evidence and-"
"I need your help," he interrupted her mid-rant and opened the hand that held the syringe. "There's a very dangerous drug that is being manufactured and it needs to be stopped before it hits the streets - can you analyze the contents of this syringe and try to see where it's being made?"
Felicity took it out of his hands, not wanting to agree to it, but also wanting to keep it away from him - she needed a weapon after all, just in case. "What makes you think I can help you? You don't even know me."
"Felicity Smoak. MIT graduate 2014, with honors, dual degrees in computer science programming and digital forensics. Recently appointed to oversee the entire security system of Queen Consolidated, friend of Cailtin snow." He rattled off facts like he was reading her linkedin profile and Felicity just gaped at him, "I know you can help me with this, but I'm asking - will you?"
"You sure know an awful lot about me after just saving me from street thugs that night," her voice was skeptical and she wasn't agreeing to this without him answering a few questions.
"It's possible," he gritted out, grudgingly answer her questions, "That I knew who you were before I saved you, that's why I knew where you lived. It's my job to know who can help me in this city - and you were top on my list."
She just hummed and tapped the syringe, staring at him.
"Alright. I'll help you, but on one condition."
He stood straighter and cocked his head, waiting for her to name it.
"You have to promise to try to not kill anyone this…mission, or whatever it is." She saw him open his mouth and continued, "I mean it would be amazing if you could stop killing people in general, but this is definitely a criteria for me - no killing while I'm helping you out, got it?"
He closed his mouth and nodded, pulling out a black phone and handing it to her. "This is a burner phone, the only number in it is mine. Call me when you have information for me."
Felicity stared at him wide eyed, barely looking at the phone, trying to figure out why this cold man had come to her of all people - list or no list.
He walked away a few steps, then turned and spoke, "I promise, no killing. Thank you, Felicity Smoak." And at that he just left, leaving Felicity staring at the entryway he had disappeared through, not knowing what to make of her second encounter with the vigilante.
He certainly didn't seem like a killer - though he certainly was a bit stand offish and didn't exactly know how to carry on a conversation - but what would she know? She's never talked to a killer much less agreed to help one.
Felicity resolved to get to the bottom of his nightly missions - no one just starts being a vigilante, there had to be a reason. And as she drove out of the parking garage she again laughed at the absurdity that was Starling City.
Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed the chapter! there will be two more =) Just as I predicted! I love this little story. Thank you so much for all the reviews and positive energy.