Hopeful Friendship

Hopeful Friendship

"How did you even manage to get your old job back?" Roy bounced the tennis ball into her hands, before Felicity tossed it into the air waiting for a wayward arrow to finally hit it. It didn't. Roy's aim had greatly improved since first taking up the bow, but it was nowhere near Oliver's. Roy was slower, and much less confident, but Felicity had faith that he would continue on getting better. Plus this was fun. Much more fun that the previous plans of going home, getting tipsy on cheap wine, and binging on Doctor Who. Tonight was her night of celebration; she no longer had the joblessness looming over her head. She was practically giddy. Which was in turn lightening Roy's sour mood.

Why had she never interacted with Roy before the Mirakuru? He was so, well, there wasn't one word to describe him, except maybe stubborn. But he was just so cool. He was funny in a quiet, sarcastic way, and responded well to her babbling wit.

When Felicity walked into the Foundry three hours earlier and saw his red-rimmed eyes and the defeated slump of his shoulders, she just wanted to gather him into a hug and tell him everything was going to be all right. He was practically a baby, only nineteen years old, and had already been exposed to so much. But she was in awe of his courage.

Yep. Roy was someone she then set out to befriend.

She still wanted to hug him, but didn't, not knowing how well he would take spontaneous hugging.

"I didn't get my position back with the IT department," she said while tossing another ball into the air. An arrow is let loose, and then another miss. " I was transferred into Applied Sciences."

When Roy didn't give the reaction she desired, she repeated, but without the jazz hands . "Applied Sciences. Roy, it's like the super swanky, intelligent older brother of the IT department. I am going to be doing research. Finally. My MIT degree can stop weeping as I reserve Oliver tables at restaurants. I don't even know why I bothered with that, he is Mister Queen. He could probably swagger into any three-starred Michelin restaurant and get a table. Applied Sciences is what I wanted when I moved to Starling, but I needed a job to keep my home so that was that."

The eight days from the imprisonment of Slade to now passed in a blur. Oliver was meeting with lawyers to regain control of Queen assets, and with the head chair members of Queen Consolidated to become the CEO once more.

Diggle had been sparse, which initially worried her. When he wasn't with Oliver, he was not around the foundry. She shot him a text of concern, but he sent back saying everything was going to be fine. A worrying use of 'was' but she felt that he wasn't budging on his stance for not providing information.

Felicity shrugged. "Some good old breaking and entering, tech-style." Roy's blank look had her continuing, "I sent an email to the head of Queen Consolidated from the Isabel Rochev's company account. Had it watermarked three weeks ago, saying that my internal transfer had been approved and that I would be using my two weeks of vacation from the EA position."

Felicity picked off the flaking neon green polish of her nails. Time to pick another color.

"It's really ridiculous how slowly things go through at Queen Consolidated considering it is a Fortune 500 company. And it is equally ridiculous that I had to go through so much trouble. Not to pat myself on the back – but I am going to pat myself on the back – I am the best tech asset Queen Consolidated has-"

"How did you say all of that without breathing?" Roy had the same look on his face that he did when they had first met. Not self-aware, was what he said. He looked a mix between disinterest and boredom.

"That," Felicity said incredulously, "that is what you got out of what I was saying?"

"Basically you hacked your way through Queen Consolidated to get the job that rejected you when you got here."

"Hacked is a dirty word, you know."

Roy snorted in laughter, "Another ball please. Maybe this time I'll actually hit it."

"Is that misplaced blame I am hearing?"

And didn't that cut right to the heart of things. Even when she was actively trying to not bring up what would have Roy crying, she did. Her terrible brain-to-mouth filter.

At the silence, Felicity knew it wasn't blame directed towards her. She shook her head, knowing she slipped out a truth that he wasn't ready to share. What if it frightened him away from friendship. What if losing Thea meant losing Roy from Team Arrow? It was always a fine balance when she approached the idea of 'feelings' and 'emotions' with the two older members of Team Arrow. Don't push too much and have them shut off, and also having the patience to have them come to her.

For some reason they thought that have big muscles excluded them from needing to cry once and a while. As if she would judge their bodies less impressively if they expressed their fear, or anguish, instead of her having to dig it out of them. Roy, it appeared, would need the same balancing act.

"Hey." She dropped the tennis ball and edged closer to him. "Hey, it's going to be fine-"

He was turning red from his rage, not Mirakuru-induced rage, but I-hate-the-world-and-the-hand-it-dealt-me anger. "The world isn't rainbows and shit, at least not for me it isn't. Felicity, it's dirt and filth and corruption. I had something good. Someone good, and all she asked for was honesty. And I couldn't manage. I don't know if she is okay, where she is, or even how to contact her."

"She hasn't left the country, hasn't been checked into a hospital, hasn't touched any credit cards or bank accounts. There have been no death or marriages licenses made to a Thea Queen. The last time the facial recognition cross-referenced her face was when she was boarding a train to Central City, but then the electricity went ka-put, and I haven't been able to find her since."

"Why did you go through all that trouble?" He asked dubiously anger dissipating as quickly as it came. What do you want for it, is what he means. Because Roy expects people to take, and take. With no distinction or gratitude. He grew up defending what was his, understanding that if he didn't it would all-too-quickly be taken away.

An unexpected kindness, of course, would be regarded with skepticism and suspicion.

"She is important to both you and Oliver. Of course, I would look for her. And I will keep looking for her. I just didn't know how to bring it up to either of you." She hoped he saw her sincerity that he understood she actually meant every word.

He brows furrow, " I mean nothing to you, so why would you group me with Oliver?"

So we can be friends. So you are included in our makeshift family, something you desperately need to tether you to the side of justice. But she doesn't say that. That would be taking a jack-hammer to the balancing line, and destroying any chance of befriending Roy.

So she ignores the question. "I don't want you to get lost, Roy, so just know that if you ever need anything - anything at all - I am here. Here to listen or talk. Or even to get Big Belly Burger milkshakes with. Even though I will end up with a big belly."

He snorted derisively. "We are not going to share our 'feelings' and braid each others' hair now, are we?"

But under the affected disinterest, Felicity saw a flicker of something. Of what, she didn't know, but there was something she was sure about. Having people to rely on, a team, a family, it made all the difference.

She didn't want to think about a Roy Harper that didn't have the direction and support that Team Arrow gave. He would be more brutal than Helena and more vicious.

This chapter was inspired by the friendship between the actors who play this characters, which I would definitely see happening in Arrow. Roy and Felicity would be friends eventually I feel as if.

Also, friends group together and let's make this fix hit the double digits for reviews! Let me know what you think!

Shout out to my beta-reads: reallyfeeling for being fantastic.