Seven days. It had been seven days since the ritual that joined Felicity and Oliver, and the IT Girl was finally going to get to see what the League of Assassins had under the hood, technology-wise. Felicity had been desperate to get started since Ra's had mentioned the possibility, but she had to remain cool and wait. Pursuing it, asking about it, would have tipped her hand. She was just grateful that Ra's had sent someone to the chamber that morning to escort her to the League's digital command center.
Yesterday had been a bad day. It had started like any other in recent memory. They had routines. Snuggling in the morning, breakfast together, and then heading their separate ways for the day. She had proceeded to the library to scan the books, as she did every day for a time. They knew her there now. Her second visit had been the most awkward, as she was compelled by tradition to add a citation in a journal about the consummation of their union. Theirs had not been some arranged affair, dispassionate and clinical. They were a real couple with a deep connection. It was difficult to share something so personal, but she might have been a little pleased to scandalize the League librarians with a few extra details of Al-Saheem's prowess. One clerk in particular, Adil, who seemed like the clerk who had been there the longest, might have smiled from beneath her mask. Felicity took that as a win.
After that first day, things had been easier. She was mostly left to her own curiosity and set about learning what she could in the books. But after her library visit in the morning and an afternoon of what she called "sparring" and Malcolm called "running away too much," Felicity returned home and waited several hours for Oliver to return. When he finally entered the chamber, Felicity immediately sensed a problem. Usually, Oliver brightened when he came through the door. He would sigh loudly, as if expelling the air in his lungs exorcised Al-Saheem from his body. But there was no breath, no freeing gasp. Felicity saw exhaustion and emptiness in her lover's eyes as he slowly trudged across the room to lower himself onto the chaise. Felicity rose and headed toward him. Only then did she see his hands, his forearms, covered in blood.
It wasn't his own blood, of course, and Oliver wasn't concerned with the dark stains covering his flesh and caked around his fingernails. He was just looking at the wall, as if there was a projection of the day running on a continuous loop. Everything in Felicity wanted to rush to his side immediately, but a voice in her head counseled restraint. Instead, she got a basin and filled it with water, then brought it, along with some towels, to the chaise. She kneeled down in front of him, regarding him with love and concern.
"Here," Felicity said, carefully taking one of his hands, slowly and deliberately. Oliver didn't make eye contact with her. He didn't pull away either as she used a wet cloth to wipe off the blood, first from his arms, then his hands, then each of his fingers. After she had cleaned everything, she didn't stop touching him. Instead, she started massaging his hands, his fingers, like the manicurists did at her nail salon. She remembered back to the first manicure she ever got, back in Las Vegas with her mother. How surprisingly good it felt to be touched that way. How relaxing it was to feel the pressure on her joints, how the stimulation released her tension. She hoped that was what Oliver was feeling now. If anyone needed a release from something right now, it was him. When it came time to press down on the muscle between his thumb and index finger, a spot she always found tense herself, she said his name.
"Oliver. You're okay." On that, his eyelids slammed shut. Felicity continued to rub his wrists and tug at his fingers. When she began kneading the fleshy pad on the heel of Oliver's right hand, he groaned and opened his eyes enough for a tear to escape. He erased it from his cheek with his free hand, and then dropped it to touch Felicity's face. He looked down as she turned to kiss his palm and took in a deep breath then ended up stuttering as he exhaled. She covered his hand in hers and continued motion across it. The massage was working to release whatever toxic thoughts had filled his mind, but he was obviously very vulnerable.
"I am so sorry you had a horrible day," she said quietly, rubbing circles on the inside of his wrists, which seemed so much bigger than hers right now.
"I don't want to," he whispered. "I didn't mean to…"
"You are a good man, Oliver. Please don't forget that. Whatever you did today, it wasn't something you would have done – you did it to protect us."
When Felicity stood up, he immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face against her softness. He groaned as she dragged her fingers through his short hair, scratching the top of his head.
"It's getting harder each day to fight this, Felicity. I feel like I'm losing myself. Sometimes I forget who I am…that I'm pretending."
Felicity tugged his chin up to face her. She looked down with love and understanding, holding back her own tears. "I know it's hard. But I know you can do this. You've survived so much already. You are stronger than you know, Oliver. And you already know how crazy strong I am for both of us." Oliver nodded at her with a little smile that made her feel infinitely better. "We've got this." She leaned down and kissed his forehead.
The rest of the night they held each other. Felicity played the "vacation game" where they took turns pitching ideas for where they would go together once their ordeal was over. It wasn't an easy game. Islands and beaches were out. Moscow was definitely out. Nothing associated with Vegas was relaxing. And now any place with exotic minarets was out. On this occasion, she suggested they get a car and drive through the wine country north of San Francisco, stopping at random bed and breakfasts, hiring a limo to drive them around to the wineries so they could enjoy themselves freely, and eating in amazing restaurants every night. No agenda, just meandering through Napa. Oliver Queen approved of this scenario and went to sleep dreaming of Felicity holding his hand at a café table, an open bottle of wine, rows of grape vines stretching out to the horizon. Felicity shared a similar dream, although the wine and the scenery were absent. She was simply holding his hand and they were free.
xxXXxx
Felicity Smoak, IT Girl extraordinaire, had sweaty palms - actual hands, legitimately slick with nervous perspiration. It got worse as she was handed off to a League member named Fedil. The older man led her through several heavy doors at the edge of the enclave. As they walked, she noted that he walked with an odd gait, a sort of limp. It occurred to her that a wounded man might not have a place in the League if he did not provide some valuable service beyond fighting. Fedil currently ran IT. Felicity made a mental note, appreciating that any detail she might learn on her explorations could have value.
MIT's most dangerous graduated got excited, hearing an electronic hum emanating from the final chamber. Then she entered and all expectations were obliterated. The digital nerve center of the League of Assassins turned out to be…okay. Not worthy of a James Bond villain, but it wasn't a high school computer lab either.
There was no need for it to be large. As Felicity learned during her indoctrination into the department, it was only used for gathering intel on enemies of the League, communicating with their network of spies and managing resources, like transportation and equipment. They had a basic server room, reasonably new monitors and several powerful desktop boxes. Her set up Arrow Cave was far superior, but this one could work with a few enhancements.
Of course, she made no disparaging remarks to Fedil. She knew the value of impressing him and staying on his good side. As she studied the system, he hovered over her, trying to explain things he assumed she didn't understand. Since earning his trust was vital and might result in more relaxed supervision, she remained respectful and complimentary. Now it was time to try to make a good impression.
"These are good processors," she remarked after checking one of the systems. "But what you are doing here is important. You deserve better." That was something Fedil agreed with, so he nodded appreciatively. "It can't be easy to access the Internet up here."
"We have access to a satellite network," Fedil gloated, as if he had invented it.
"Of course. I guess the cable guy is pretty far away," she replied with a sarcasm that was rarely heard in Nanda Parbat. At the same time, she was fist pumping in her head. Satellites were her friends.
Fedil was just about to speak when Ra's Al Ghul entered. Felicity sucked in a breath and noticed that the League's IT man, previously looming beside her, rose to attention and appeared frozen with fear.
"Manar," Ra's growled, removing his gloves. He nodded to acknowledge his senior man without a word and turned his attention to the monitors. "You have reviewed our systems?"
"Just physical ones, so far. Your people here are doing quite a bit with very little, if you ask me. And you kind of just did…ask me. If you are willing to consider a few hardware upgrades, I think we can make your database faster so you can, you know, assassinate or whatever, more efficiently. But that's just one side of things. You can't gather information and run your organization without reliable communications systems. I still need to look at the efficiency of the packet data that's carried on your satellite connection. It would be helpful to see your VSAT terminal and the antenna size. Also, are there redundancies and do you know if it's a symmetrical service?" This time Felicity was babbling deliberately, hoping to impress her captor, or drive him out of the room out of sheer boredom.
Ra's looked at her like she asked him about a weekend at Disneyland. Then he sort of smiled and patted her on the shoulder. The touching, although completely platonic, freaked her out. "Fedil, it appears that Al-Saheem's bride is going to be a formidable asset. She helped the Arrow run a very successful covert operation for a number of years and I think she can add much to your group."
"Yes, we are very fortunate," Fedil nodded a little too hard.
"And in two days' time," Ra's continued, "she will demonstrate her digital command capabilities." Felicity snapped her head to look at him. "That's right, dear. Al-Saheem will be leading a strike team and you will provide digital support to his endeavor from here. I may assume that you are up to the task?"
Felicity's mind splintered into a number of different reactions at once. She was pleased she would be able to help Oliver, happy that Ra's was trusting her already to do a job, worried about whatever mission Oliver was being sent on and concerned that the equipment on hand wasn't good enough to help her provide adequate assistance to help Oliver if he needed it. Also, she was very nervous.
"Y-yes. Of course. Thank you for the opportunity to serve. I wonder, if I provide a list, could we maybe get some things to improve our field support?" She tried to feign a smile at the end to keep things friendly.
"Well, how could we deny anything to lovely Manar?" he said warmly. Felicity immediately wondered if such talk would be considered sexual harassment in a normal organization. Of course, these people and their robes and torches were not likely to conduct sensitivity training on such matters. "By all means, submit your shopping list, dear."
On that, Ra's exited. Off to terrify some other League department, Felicity imagined. Housekeeping perhaps, for forgetting to leave the mint on his pillow last night. She snorted a little at the idea before recalling the Fedil was still in the room. She supposed that he had never seen Ra's treat anyone in such a fashion before. This would explain the curious look that he was giving her now. She thought it best to avoid speaking of it, so a distraction should be implemented.
"Fedil, would you please show me your satellite network terminal? Then, let's sit down and make that list. I suspect you have some thoughts on improvements. Perhaps there are some things you would like to add?" As different as she and Fedil might be, she knew that the fastest way to connect with an IT guy was through a shared love of toys. This was how Felicity would gather together some of the tools necessary for disassembling the League of Assassins. That Ra's was going to pay for them made it all the more sweet.
xxXXxx
Oliver had hardly crossed the threshold of their quarters that night before Felicity launched herself at him, arms wrapping around his neck. She was bubbling over with excitement and her enthusiastic desire to communicate the details of her day instantly exorcised Al-Saheem from the chamber for the evening. He loved the way her blue eyes shimmered in the light. Her hopefulness kept him alive. The cream colored silk shift she wore took his breath for a moment.
Like she was made of delicate paper, he carried her to bed and cradled her in his lap. He stroked her hair as she recounted her day in the IT department and her encounter with Ra's. He listened carefully as she explained that they would be working on a mission together later in the week and that their situation was finally improving. Her plan was coming together.
"Ra's kind of likes you, I think. It's a bit disturbing." Oliver chuckled and planted a kiss on her neck. Felicity giggled.
"I know. He keeps calling me dear. It's weird."
"You're are just irresistible, baby." Oliver peppered her mouth with small kisses.
"You know, I'm getting kind of used to that."
"What? Me calling you Baby?" he smiled with his eyes and softly brushed his lips against hers.
"I didn't think I was the kind of girl anybody would call baby. Not with a straight face anyway." Felicity pushed her hands underneath his robe. "I like it."
"You're so remarkable. So sweet. I just wish I could spend every day here in this room with you. Baby."
Oliver moved Felicity, placing her down on the bed. She looked up at him, unable to stifle a blissful smile as he pulled off his robe. She always loved seeing him unencumbered by clothes, but lately she was particularly pleased to see him strip away anything associated with the League. He smiled back playfully and lowered himself on top of her.
"But, I don't have a pet name for you yet. I've been thinking about it. Trying them on in my head. Muffin. Darling. Sweetie. Pookiebear. All completely terrible. Maybe you could pick something out?"
"I just like hearing you say my name, Felicity," he whispered as he pressed his body against hers.
"Oliver," she responded, melting under the heat of his body.
"I also like it when you moan my name." He growled that one, unexpectedly. Felicity found herself really liking 'unexpected'.
"Oliver," she reacted, seeking out skin to kiss.
"But lately I just love hearing you scream my name," he whispered.
Felicity guided his mouth to her breast and he began worshiping it, greedily. If she was going to make him happy tonight, they really needed to get busy.
xxXXXxx
Thank you so much for reading! I hope that you are enjoying the story. Please do share comments. The encouragement means so much.
