"So how is it so far?" Felicity asked. She held the phone an arms length away from her face. Her sister's lovely face smiled back at her on her screen.

"It's good," Laurel said as she glanced around her. "I just got in, but the flight was fine, and the hotel room is gorgeous."

"And what's on the agenda for the day?"

"I thought I might do some sightseeing," Laurel said. "I've got this list on my phone of the must-see spots in Star City, like the museums and art galleries. Then I think I'm going to go on the walking tour of the QC campus."

Felicity's face twisted in disgust. All mentions of QC reminded her of a man she didn't like wasting precious energy thinking about. "What if you run into Oliver?"

Laurel shrugged. "I don't think I will. I overheard a local report saying he's out of town, scoping out business ventures."

Felicity felt relief for her sister, even though Laurel really had no reason to dislike him. Not like she did, anyway.

"And when are you planning on meeting up with Tommy?"

Laurel's shoulders fell. "I don't know," she admitted. "I've been trying to come up with a way to go about it subtly. A way that doesn't make me look like some crazy stalker, you know?"

"Laurel, anything that's not texting him and telling him you're in town will make you look like a crazy stalker. Because if your plan is to 'accidentally' run into him somewhere, that's going to require a little bit of stalking."

"I know. Which is why I'm still thinking on it."

"OK. Well let me know if you need help devising a plan."

"Will do. Hey, how are things going back home?"

Felicity shrugged. "Nothing much to report. Barry went back to Central City yesterday. Iris and I had sort of a goodbye celebration before he left."

Laurel shook her head. "I still can't believe what you told me about Iris and Barry. I mean, Iris and Barry! Who the hell would have thought?"

She didn't even know the half of if. Felicity had yet to tell her sister about Barry telling her he loved her the same day Tommy and Oliver skipped town. She wasn't quite sure why she didn't want to bring it up — it was a combination of avoiding all topics that involved the phrase "I love you" and not wanting to take attention away from her sister's shitty situation.

"I know," Felicity chuckled. "I feel like I'm waiting for one of them to pop out of the corner any minute and be like, 'PSYCHE! Just kidding!'"

"But when you think about it, they're kind of cute for one another, you know? If they decide to make it official or anything."

"I think they might. Iris mentioned something about going to Central City to visit him."

"Wow." Laurel's eyes widened at that news. "That's huge."

"I know."

The two sisters chatted for a little while longer before saying their goodbyes. Once they hung up, Felicity let out a sigh and pulled herself out of her bed. She had just finished an eight-hour shift at the bookstore and now she had to leave the house to go to the Daily Record offices.

She quickly gathered up all her equipment and stuffed it into her bag before heading out of the house. Once she got to the newspaper offices, she swiped her security card through the scanner and walked through the employee entrance.

At six in the evening, the printing press was already whirring, and the technicians were tending to the different moving parts. Felicity paused for a moment the watch in awe as the gigantic machinery rolled off page after page. While she had always been an advocate for digital news and digital media, there was still something to be said about the shock and awe of watching the old-fashioned print media at work.

Eventually the reek of turpentine permeating the press room forced her to walk away, toward the newsroom. While everyone else in the building kept normal business hours and had long since gone, home, everyone in the newsroom was still sitting at their computers.

"Hey, guys," Felicity announced once she walked into the room.

They all returned her greeting. Iris, sitting in the far corner, jumped up from her seat and bounded to Felicity, who was walking through the bullpen toward the news library where all the back issues and microfiche were kept.

"Are you digitizing tonight?" Iris asked.

"That is why I'm here," Felicity answered wryly.

She opened the door and flipped the light on. The fluorescents overhead flickered to reveal the dank and slightly depressing library. It was lined with bookshelves of bound back issues that went all the way back to the 1800s. Then there were the miles and miles of filing cabinets that held all the rolls of microfiche, starting at 1900. And in the far corner of the room sat the ancient desktop and microfiche reader.

Felicity didn't like spending a lot of time in the news library by herself. It was dark and windowless (because sunlight damaged the newsprint in the old issues, from what she understood), and looking at the desktop just made her feel depressed. But she was hoping to make a big dent in the 1920s.

Iris had followed her into the library and sighed as she looked around. "I'm sorry you have to work in such a gross place, but we couldn't move the microfiche reader. It's way too big for us."

"Don't worry about it," Felicity said with a wave of her hand. She set her bag down and started pulling out her laptop and charger.

"Anyway, I have an idea that I would like you to listen to in its entirety before you say no."

Felicity straightened up to stare with raised eyebrows at her friend. "Already I don't like the sound of this."

"Just hear me out, OK?" Iris took a breath. "I have two weeks of vacation coming up, and I'm going up to Central City to see Barry."

Felicity's expression cleared up, and she smiled. "Oh! Good for you. But why were you being weird about telling me? I already told you that I'm fine with you and Barry."

"Because there's more." Another deep breath. "I think you should come with me."

Felicity's smile immediately fell off her face and she shook her head. "No."

"Why not?" Iris demanded.

"Because I can't afford to take two weeks off of work. Walter needs me at the bookstore, and these records aren't going to digitize themselves. Besides, what happens if there's a huge IT problem with one of the city's servers? I'm the only one who knows how the system works. The whole city could be thrown into chaos."

Iris rolled her eyes. "OK, first of all, the tourist season is over, which means business at the bookstore is slowing down. Walter can definitely spare you for two weeks. Second of all, there has never been a problem with the city's servers ever since you took over and I very much doubt there will be one while you're gone. Third of all, these records aren't going anywhere. They'll still be here when you get back."

Felicity shook her head. "All right, all of that is true, but that's not really what I mean by I can't afford it. I already spent a fortune on Laurel's vacation, and it put a big dent in my savings. I have to make up the difference within the next week if I'm going to get back on track. So I can't just go to Central City with you for two weeks. I genuinely don't have the money."

"What if I told you we'd have most of it covered? Barry's got a guest room in his apartment, so you don't have to worry about a hotel. It's close enough to drive, so we don't have to spend anything on airfare, and I've already saved up all the money we'll need for gas. All you'll have to worry about is food and drink. And even then, I bet you could hoodwink some gullible guy into buying you loads of drinks when we go out."

Felicity sighed. "Iris…"

"Come on, Lissy! When was the last time you took a vacation?"

"That — that's not the point."

"That's totally the point! Just the other day you were forcing Laurel to take a few weeks off for herself. Well if you ask me, she's not the only one who could benefit from that advice."

Felicity huffed, unable to truly say anything. Iris was making far too much sense.

"I know that you're determined to work yourself into the ground, but as your best friend, it's my responsibility to make sure you're taking care of your mental and spiritual health. You, my dear, haven't gone on a vacation in five years. It's time you take a freaking break. You've more than earned it."

She sucked in a reluctant breath. "You're not going to let this go are you?"

Iris shook her head. "Nope."

Felicity let go of the breath and let her shoulders slump as she did. "Fine. I'll go with you."

Iris broke out into a wide smile and threw her arms around Felicity. "Yay! This is going to be so much fun, I promise!"

Most everyone had a different reaction when Felicity told them she was taking a vacation, but there was one common emotion they all shared: genuine joy.

When Donna Smoak found out, she squealed with delight loud enough to send Quentin running into the room, brandishing his service pistol about in front of him. When he found out his wife was simply being exuberant (as usual), he made an annoyed grunt before clicking the safety back on.

"Jesus, what the hell are you doing, running around and screaming like that?" he demanded.

"Lissy's going on a vacation to Central City for two weeks with Iris!" Donna responded, clapping in excitement.

The news made Quentin's eyebrows shoot up his forehead as he directed his incredulous gaze at his stepdaughter. "No kidding? You? You're actually going to go on a vacation?"

"Be sure to take loads of pictures!" Donna insisted. "I want to see everything when you get back, OK? And be sure to give Barry a big ol' hug just from me!"

Laurel, of course, was more subdued in her reaction. But once she got over her initial shock, she kept texting Felicity links of things she found online to check out when she was in the city. So much so, that Felicity worried that her sister wasn't actually enjoying the vacation she was supposed to be on.

Then, of course, there was the matter of telling Walter and begging for the days off which he was only too happy to give.

"Felicity, of course you can have two weeks off," he said with his typical magnanimity. "I was beginning to fear you'd never take a break from this town."

"So you don't mind?" she asked with a hint of trepidation. "I didn't give you a lot of notice…"

"Nonsense," he waved away her concerns like they were a thin smoke. "It's well past tourist season, and I'm perfectly capable of handling things while you're gone. Don't worry about a thing."

So with seemingly unanimous blessing, Felicity climbed into a car with Iris in the early morning on the way to Central City, and four hours later, they were pulling up to Barry's apartment. The man himself was waiting for them with open arms and a grin wider than the plains of Iowa when they parked in the open spot.

"Iris! Lissy!" he shouted once they got out of the car. He gave Felicity a big hug, then pecked Iris on the lips. "You're finally here!"

Iris blushed at the kiss, and Felicity ducked her head into the trunk while she grabbed their bags in order to hide the smile.

Barry led them up the stairs to his apartment. It was a quaint space on the second story of his building, with a living room window that overlooked the vast Central City skyline. The room at the end of the hallway was the master bedroom and the one right next to it was the guest room, outfitted with a queen bed big enough for both women, but Felicity had a feeling that after the first night she'd get the bed all to herself.

Once their bags were in the guest bedroom, Iris made a beeline for the toilet while Felicity wandered out into the living room to admire the view. Barry walked up behind her, his hands in his pocket and a tentative smile on his face.

"Nice, isn't it?" he asked.

"Oh, it's gorgeous," Felicity gushed. "This apartment's amazing, Barry."

"Yeah, I like it a lot."

A pause hung over them, heavy with words that had yet to be said. Finally, when she couldn't take the tension anymore, Felicity blurted out, "I'm really happy for you and Iris."

Barry's face melted into sudden relief. "Really? You are?"

"Of course I am."

"You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

He shrugged. "I just thought you might be, or something...I mean, it was literally the day I told you that I loved you and I was just...I don't know, I thought you might be angry. With the both of us or something."

"Barry, all I've ever wanted was for the two of you to be happy. Outside of my family, the two of you are the most important people in the world to me."

His smile stretched across his face. It was the first genuine look of happiness he showed her since all those weeks ago, when he confessed his unrequited love. "I feel the same way, Lissy. And I'm just glad that it's not awkward between us anymore."

She grinned back at him. "Me too."

Barry stepped forward and slung a casual arm over her shoulders and together they stared out the window. "Admit it, though," he said. "You're kind of bummed you turned me down because then you might get to live here and live with this view."

Felicity rolled her eyes, but laughed all the same.

Once she and Iris had settled in, Barry suggested the three of them go out to lunch at a quaint French-inspired cafe in downtown Central City. While he drove, he pointed out the touristy sites, like parks filled with laughing families, fountains that spouted waterfalls glittering with sunlight or the towering structures that cast shadows in every direction.

They reached the cafe and the minute they walked inside, Felicity fell in love. The exterior looked like any old restaurant, but the interior looked like a quaint parlor decorated like a small bakery somewhere in France. There was exposed brick, colorful paintings, and light streaming in from lace covered windows.

And what was more, the place smelled like heaven.

The three of them joined the line forming in front of the register, and the people in front passed them a couple of menus that listed a variety of delicious soups, salads and sandwiches on one side and practically every pastry known to man, from croissants to eclairs to macarons on the other.

"I want to live here," Felicity declared when she looked up from the menu.

"You're not the only one, believe me," Barry grinned.

Barry and Iris got their food first, so they went to find a free table. As Felicity waited, she felt a buzz coming from her purse. Pulling out her phone, she saw she received a text from Laurel.

You will never guess what the tabloids here are saying about Oliver Queen, it read.

Felicity rolled her eyes. Has he dropped dead from being an asshole? Because that's literally the only headline I'd care about.

Nope. He's in Central City for the next two weeks.

She snorted. So what if he was in the same city as she was? This wasn't Hertfordshire. This was a big city. There was no way in the world she would run into him here.

"Felicity Smoak?"

She turned at the sound of her name, expecting for her food to be ready at the counter.

But instead of seeing a warm chocolate croissant and a cafe au lait, she saw a pair of piercing blue eyes and a chiseled jaw that felt all too familiar.

Fracking irony.

"What are you doing here in Central City?" Oliver asked with a slightly tilted head.

His question jumpstarted her dumbstruck brain. "I'm, um...I'm here on vacation. To visit a friend."

"Really?" His quirked eyebrow made it look like he didn't quite believe her, and she felt a stab of irritation.

"Yeah, really," she huffed. "Why? What are you doing here?"

"I'm scoping out potential business acquisitions for Queen Consolidated with my mother," he responded.

At the mention of the word "mother," a woman standing behind him turned her head, as if her name was called. She was a beautiful woman with shoulder-length blonde hair, a dignified nose and eyes identical in shape and color to the man she stood next to.

"Oliver?" The woman glanced between him and Felicity. "Who is this?"

"Mother, this is Felicity Smoak. Felicity, this is my mother, Moira Queen."

Moira turned her gaze to Felicity. The younger woman didn't sense much hostility — merely curiosity, like her son had happened on animal that she had never seen before.

"It's very nice to meet you," Moira said, holding her hand out to her.

"It's nice to meet you too," Felicity responded as she shook the other woman's hand. All the while she screamed in her head at the people behind the counter to hurry up and finish her order so she could get away from them.

"Forgive me for asking, but how do you know my son?"

"Oh, I live in Hertfordshire. I met him while he was staying there for the summer with his friend Tommy Merlyn."

For some reason, the mention of Hertfordshire made Moira stiffen, and Felicity saw her eyes narrow just the slightest bit. "And what brings you to Central City?"

Felicity detected just the slightest hint of coolness in her tone, and it made her wonder what the famous Queen matriarch was thinking. "My best friend and I are visiting her boyfriend who lives here. He's a CSI with the police department."

"Ahh." There was still a calculating look in Moira Queen's icy irises, but it was a little more subdued. "Is this your first time in Central?"

"I've visited a few times in the past, but only on school trips. We didn't get to see a lot of the city."

"That's a shame. Well I hope your trip affords you more time to explore. This is a wonderful city, after all. Oliver and I are here often on business, and we could give you a list of places you must see, if you like."

Felicity wanted nothing more, in the world, than to grab her food and run to the safety of her friends. But they must have been hand grinding every bean to brew her coffee because it was taking so freaking long to make. So she grit her teeth and smiled. "That's very sweet, but you don't have to do that."

"Nonsense," Moira replied. "Any friend of Oliver's is a friend of mine. In fact, you must come to dinner with us tonight. We have reservations at a lovely restaurant downtown called Rosings. Come meet us there at seven, and feel free to bring your friends."

Next to reliving the fifth grade spelling bee in which she mispelled the word "urethra" in front of the whole freaking school, having dinner with Oliver Queen and his mother in a strange city at a fancy restaurant was the absolute last thing Felicity wanted to do. But what could she do? She was pinned into a corner, and there was no way she was going to get out of this.

Besides, Moira Queen looked like the kind of woman who wouldn't hesitate to shank her if she said no.

"We would love to," Felicity said in a strained voice. "Thank you very much for the offer."

"Wonderful. We'll see you then."

Finally the counter called her name. With wooden limbs, she took her croissant and coffee, smiled one last time at the Queens, and made her way to the table with all her friends.

God, how the hell was she going to explain this one?

"Are you sure this dress is OK?" Iris asked nervously.

Felicity rolled her eyes. "For the millionth time, yes. You look great."

The two women hadn't packed many "fancy" clothes in their suitcases, figuring there weren't going to be a lot of occasions to wear a cocktail dress while they were on vacation in Central City. In fact, Felicity probably wouldn't have packed the red and gold dress Iris was wearing at the moment if it hadn't been for Donna Smoak's insistence that they be prepared for any and all contingencies.

Felicity had already made a note on her phone to thank her mother once she got home.

"I just can't believe we got invited to eat at a fancy restaurant with Oliver and Moira freaking Queen," Iris giggled. "Like what are the chances that he'd be here in the same city as we are?"

"You're acting like this is the greatest thing ever when really this is because I have the shittiest luck in the world," Felicity grumbled.

Now it was Iris' turn to roll her eyes. "Seriously, what do you have against going to a four-star restaurant in a big city?"

"The fact that I'm going to have to be in close proximity with Oliver Queen is the main issue," Felicity answered dryly.

While Iris was sure to attract the stares of everyone in the restaurant in her striking outfit, Felicity had opted for something a little more subdued. Her dress was bright blue in color, but the wide straps showed off the grace of her shoulders and the length of her slender neck. The skirt stopped at her knees and swished nicely — which, for Felicity, was half the fun of wearing a dress anyway.

The three of them left a half hour later, taking a ride sharing service to the restaurant. Sure enough, once they gave their names to the maitre d, they were seated immediately in a secluded corner table where Moira and Oliver Queen were already waiting for them. Oliver sat at the end of the booth and Moira sat in the middle and on her other side was an African American man with the biggest biceps Felicity had ever seen in her entire life.

"Felicity," Moira greeted with a polite smile. "It's so lovely to see you again. Please take a seat."

She did as obeyed, while Barry and Iris took seats on either side of her.

"I don't know if you've met our friend and business partner. This is John Diggle. John, this is Felicity Smoak and her friends."

"Nice to meet you," he said with a warm grin.

"You too," she replied. "And these are my friends, Barry Allen and Iris West."

"Pleasure," Moira nodded.

"Thank you so much for inviting us to dinner, Mrs. Queen," Barry said in a weirdly high-pitched voice. "This was very generous of you."

"Not at all. Like I told Felicity earlier at the cafe, any friend of Oliver's is a friend of mine."

For the next few minutes, everyone was preoccupied with their menus as they perused, trying to decide what they wanted. Then the waiter came by to take drink and food orders, and immediately disappeared afterward.

"So, Felicity," Moira began. "What do you do in Hertfordshire?"

"I work at the local bookstore," she answered.

If Moira was stiff before, it was nothing compared to her posture after Felicity told her where she worked. It was almost as if someone had taken a titanium rod and shoved it up her spine so that she was forced to sit completely straight.

"The bookstore," she repeated.

"Yes."

Felicity could feel the judgment radiating off the older woman in waves, and she felt herself getting defensive. Sure, working at a bookstore in a small town sounded really lame, but it wasn't like she was going to work there forever.

"She also works part-time doing other things," Oliver added. "She runs the municipal information technology systems. And as I understand it, she does a lot with computers."

Felicity had never been more surprised in her life. It was almost like...like he was trying to rescue her from his mother's judgment.

"So you're in IT?" John asked.

"Sort of," Felicity admitted. "The city contracted me to set up and maintain their servers, and whenever the system goes down, they call me to come fix it."

"That sounds like a lot of responsibility," John remarked.

"It can be. But I put a lot of work into the city's IT infrastructure, so it's pretty stable."

"And that's not all she does," Iris said, a hint of pride in her voice. "When she's not running around fixing other people's computer problems, she's working part-time at the Daily Register digitizing old records."

"Yeah, Felicity's a regular tech whiz kid," Barry grinned. Felicity felt herself blush under her friends' praise.

It seemed that Moira's original assessment changed ever so slightly, because her frown softened and her eyebrows inched up her forehead. "Well, Felicity, if you don't mind my asking: if you're so talented with computers, why are you working at a bookstore? And why are you living in Hertfordshire? That town is hardly known as a bastion for technology."

Felicity's fists clenched in her lap. Quite honestly, she did mind her asking. She hardly knew this woman, yet here she was, sitting in a suit that probably cost more than she made in a year at all three of her jobs combined, staring down her rich nose at her like she was some sort of fascinating insect. And what was worse, she felt like she had to explain her jobs and her life, when really she hadn't done anything wrong to begin with!

"The bookstore was my first job, in high school," Felicity answered in as calm a voice as she could manage. "The owner is like a second father for me. And I'd like to eventually leave Hertfordshire, but at the moment I don't have the money or the job."

"Where did you go to college?" Moira pressed on. "Surely your alumni network could help you find a position somewhere. Here in Central City, perhaps. Or Gotham."

On either side of her, Barry and Iris shifted in their seats.

"I didn't finish college," Felicity said in a very measured tone. "I went to MIT for two years, but I had to drop out due to family reasons."

Her confession was met with different reactions from her dinner companions. John simply nodded, not wanting to pry any further. Moira kept watching Felicity, like she was some sort of fascinating insect. But Oliver — he looked up from his plate in surprise. Like he didn't think she was even capable of getting into MIT or something.

After a prolonged moment of silence, Moira said, "Well you should consider possibly going back. A degree from MIT can open a lot of doors."

Felicity was so close to throwing her napkin on the table and storming out of the restaurant, but she kept her cool. Instead she plastered a wobbly smile to her face and said, "I'll certainly look into it."

She was saved from having to say anything else on the subject because John Diggle jumped in and steered the conversation elsewhere by asking Barry about what he did. That then sparked a whole new discussion on some of the weirder things he'd seen as a CSI, and the tension started to lift very slightly.

But no amount of weird crime stories Barry told could help Felicity shake the feeling that Oliver Queen was staring at her whenever he could.

Dinner came to an end at nine, but Moira insisted that the night was still young for the rest of them.

"I'm too old to stay out too late, but you all should go check out the nightlife," she insisted. "Oliver knows of some good places to get a drink. Go on, honey. Go have fun with your friends."

Felicity wondered if Moira really understood the definition of "friends" because that dinner should have proved that she and Oliver were almost the opposite of friends. But regardless, the five of them went off to a nearby bar with a laidback vibe, a great jukebox and three pool tables.

Once they walked through the door, Oliver walked up to the bar to order their drinks, Barry and Iris made a beeline for the pool table, and Felicity followed John to a table in the back of the bar.

"Well that was intense," John commented with a grin.

That made Felicity smile in return. "Is Moira always that...inquisitive?"

"Yep," he nodded. "She asks a million questions about everything. She says being curious helps uncover secret truths, both in business and in her personal life. If you ask me, it's just an excuse for her to be nosy, but you can't really argue with her business results when she's one of the richest women in the country."

"Fair enough," she sighed. "It's just, I came here for a vacation not a cross-examination. And never, in a million years, did I expect to run into Oliver Queen and his family."

"How did you meet Oliver, anyway? From what he told me, he rarely left the beach house he and Tommy rented when they went on vacation in Hertfordshire."

"Oh, no, he most definitely left the beach house," Felicity shook her head. "If he hadn't, it would have denied me the pleasure of running into him practically every day at the bookstore."

John raised an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me he went on vacation to a beach town and ended up spending most of it indoors at a bookstore?"

"I know!" Felicity giggled. "Who does that?

That made the other man chuckle. "So you met him at the bookstore then?"

"Not exactly," she sighed. "I met him at the annual start-of-the-summer beach bash, where he skulked by himself and refused to talk to anyone there. Then a few days later, I went out to dinner with him and Tommy and Laurel, and he told me that technology was ruining society even though he runs a multi-billion dollar tech company. Oh, and he basically said that the whole town was filled with rubes."

John nodded sagely, like he'd expected as much. "Yep, that sounds like Oliver."

"What sounds like me?"

The man himself had returned with a waitress in tow, carrying a tray of drinks. Once she set them down, she shot Oliver a flirty smile before sauntering off, making sure to swing her hips in her skimpy shorts. Unfortunately for her, he didn't pay a bit of attention.

"Felicity here was just telling me how you brought your antisocial ways with you on vacation to Hertfordshire," John told him.

Oliver slid into the booth next to his friend and shot an irritated scowl at Felicity. "I was hardly antisocial."

She scoffed. "I beg to differ. The day I met you, you barely said two words to anyone."

"That was my first day in town," he argued. "I didn't know anyone."

"It's a party. Do you mean to tell me you can't be introduced to people at a party? Besides, we tried to include you in our conversations, but you just stared off into the distance like you were too good for any of us. And when we asked you to play a few rounds of volleyball, you just refused."

John laughed, which only caused Oliver to turn his scowl to him. "Sorry, man, but that sounds like exactly the kind of thing you'd do."

Oliver took in a deep breath. "Look, I know I have a tendency to be...closed off," he began. "But I'm not...I'm not really good at making friends very easily."

John snorted. "No kidding."

Felicity leaned forward and stared at the cluster of drinks. "Which one is mine?"

Oliver plucked the wine glass out of the bunch and handed it to her. "I got you a cabernet."

Felicity's eyebrows shot up her forehead. "How do you know I like red wine?" she demanded.

Oliver shrugged. "That night we went to The Place for dinner when we were out with Tommy and Laurel, I noticed that you ordered a merlot. Then tonight you went for a malbec. So I thought you'd probably like this one."

For once in Felicity's life, she was shocked into total silence.

"Well," John muttered as he smirked into his whiskey, "I guess you're not as bad at making friends as you think you are."