TITLE: Green-eyed monster

CHARACTERS: Felicity Smoak, John Diggle (Oliver Queen mentioned)

SUMMARY: Diggle checks on Felicity after she leaves to "get some air" after her fight with Oliver (Tag to 2x10: "Blast Radius")

DISCLAIMER: Oliver Queen and company belong to DC Comics.

He found her shivering inside her car in the parking lot, staring moodily at the pulsating green light from Verdant. He knocked gently on the Mini Cooper's window so as not to startle her, and showed her the items in his hands when she looked up.

"Thought you might need this," Diggle said as Felicity got out. He placed two mugs on the hood of the car before helping her into her coat, hiding his smile when her teeth chattered as she offered her thanks. Since she apparently chose to freeze rather than return to the warmth and comfort of the Arrowcave, Diggle decided not to mention that it was Oliver who silently handed him the coat on his way out. The waves of anger and hurt radiating from Felicity were palpable.

He waited until she finished buttoning up the light wool coat before handing her a mug. "It's chamomile. Figured you didn't need more caffeine."

Felicity's head snapped up. "I'm not the one who needs calming down," she said heatedly, her voice rising. "It's him down in the basement."

"Stupid, arrogant, idiotic, condescending, stubborn jerk. Trying to make me feel guilty for not being here when an explosion goes off. Next time I take some time off I'm gonna tweet the criminals of Starling City and ask them to postpone their activities until I get back. Also, you know what sane people do when they hear about explosions? They head the other way. Me? I hear about buildings blowing up and what do I do? I take the first train back to where things are going kaboom! Because I've completely recovered from having a building fall around me."

Felicity took a gulp from her mug and Diggle thought she was done. Apparently, she was only getting started. "What was that crack about getting back in the game? It's not like I abandoned the mission altogether. I had my tablet with me the whole time! Wasn't I feeding you information, tracking low-level criminals who might have seen that monster in a skull mask? It's not my fault that guy all but disappeared. Is he blaming me for that, too?

"And how dare he bring Barry into this now. When I asked if he could spare me weeks ago, he said and I quote, 'Absolutely. Stay as long as you want.' Besides, he owes me weeks of vacation time. It's not like any of us have taken time off from either of our jobs. The closest I've come to going on a vacation was that trip to Russia. And that was no fun at all!"

Felicity took a deep breath and there was a plaintive note in her voice when she spoke again. "Is it so wrong to want to be there for a friend? To want to make sure he sees a familiar face when he wakes up. I know we'd just met," she said softly, turning moist eyes toward Diggle. "But I like him. He was very sweet. And I owed him."

Diggle let out a heavy sigh. Of course Oliver brought Barry into the conversation. From Diggle's point of view, Barry was the reason Oliver has been so grouchy lately. But he wasn't going to tell Felicity that.

Oliver and Felicity's relationship was changing, had been changing for awhile now. Into what? He thought he had a pretty good idea. He was serious when he said he didn't think Oliver had a problem with Felicity's work until the young CSI assistant from Central City showed up.

He wondered if they've noticed how much they've been fighting lately, as if they could hide all those swirling emotions behind the loud words. He wondered, too, if they've noticed how they watched each other all the time, when they thought the other wasn't looking.

Diggle had noticed.

And the past five weeks had opened up Diggle's eyes just a little bit more. He couldn't miss Oliver staring at Felicity's empty desk, as if willing his executive assistant into showing up. And he definitely noticed Oliver stopping himself several times a day from calling out her name, forgetting she was not in town.

He had a feeling it would only confuse the situation more to mention all that to Felicity.

Diggle blew out a breath. "That wasn't your fault, what happened back there. Oliver was totally out of line."

"Why do I sense a but coming."

He cleared his throat, wondering how to phrase his thoughts. "He is going through some changes right now … realizing stuff. He needs to figure out exactly what he wants to do."

Felicity frowned. "You mean with the Mirakuru problem."

"That's part of it," he nodded. "His past is catching up with his present and he may need to make a choice soon." He looped an arm around her shoulders and drew her to his side. "He missed you. I missed you. Not just because we have no idea how to make those computers do your magic. The Arrowcave is not a fun place without you. More grunts, fewer grins."

Felicity nodded then stood on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "Thanks for listening to me rant, John."

"Anytime. And Felicity, when Oliver comes to apologize. Make him grovel. Just a little."

The end