Chapter 12 – New Intel

AN – Let's just keep this moving right along, shall we?!

DISCLAIMER – Still in place, I own nothing!


"Can I tell them good bye?" Thea only realized she had asked for permission from a man who was virtually a stranger to her after she said the words.

"Go on in." Diggle suppressed a laugh as he could see the young woman's annoyance with herself for even asking.


Thea came in to find Oliver kneeling beside the bed and attempting to hide a smile while Felicity tried to get comfortable on the bed even as she glared at him.

"Another pillow might take the pressure off your ribs." Thea offered as she moved forward to grab a pillow. She was surprised at how quickly Oliver moved up and cradled Felicity against him so she could place the pillow behind the blond. Thea noticed Felicity was also surprised but that be because she was distracted by rubbing her hands up and down Ollie's arms.

"Ollie, you mind if I speak to Felicity alone for just a few minutes before Diggle forces me to go back to the Mansion?" Thea heard the whine that slipped into her tone but as she was Ollie's little sister she felt she deserved to include it.

Thea watched Oliver nod without looking at her and then he moved very slowly to place Felicity back against the pillows. He took even more time to release her from his arms and Felicity just continued to stroke his arms and stare at him without speaking. Now 'worse' makes so much sense, Thea thought with a smile.

"Today? Can I talk to Felicity alone sometime today?" Thea grumbled when after a few more seconds neither had responded further. Oliver turned to glare at her before he slowly stepped away, Felicity's hands fell to her sides as her face flushed.

Thea waited until Oliver had left before she joined Felicity on the bed – she moved very carefully so as not to cause Felicity any pain. "So sis, wanna tell me what's going on?' Thea decided she also deserved to add some teasing.

"We've told you what's going on, Thea." Felicity had gotten so distracted by Oliver putting her to bed that she was having a hard time focusing on Thea's words.

"I don't mean the Arrow, Slade Wilson stuff…I mean you and Ollie. I mean you made it clear at the hospital that you had thought about kissing him and did not want him to be your brother even though he is mine…" Thea trailed off as Felicity paled suddenly. "Felicity? Are you okay?"

Felicity had sudden images of her drug induced ramblings – she could clearly remember saying Thea was her sister and then refusing to accept Oliver as her brother. Did I tell them he saw me naked? Felicity cringed as she continued to try and find the missing memories. Do I really want to know? Felicity's blush took care of her pallor as she suddenly remembered Oliver's lips on hers. After another couple of moments she finally turned to speak to Thea as she just couldn't continue to think about what all had happened.

"Look Thea – you might as well know that I ramble, I mean I ramble A LOT! I also say some really inappropriate things especially about your brother, but I really don't mean those things. As we are family now you'll have to learn to ignore me the way John and Oliver do. Trust me it's better for all of us if we just ignore most of the things that come flying out of my mouth. Well, not the tech stuff and they listen to me then. And I'm pretty good at trivia too but—"

"Got it – you ramble and we are supposed to ignore it, right?" Thea interrupted when it didn't appear Felicity would be stopping even to breathe.

"Yep, so anyway, you do need to get home and don't do anything stupid!" Felicity teased in hopes of distracting Thea from her rambling and revelations. Felicity kept her attention on her computer as she just couldn't bring herself to meet Thea's eyes.

"Stupid, huh? You mean like not telling someone you love them before they go out to risk their life?" Thea watched as Felicity's head snapped up to stare at her.

"He knows I love him but he's with Sara and I respect that. We have a weird partnership and I know you don't understand—" Felicity spoke fast as she tried to convince herself and Thea.

"I understand he's not with Sara." Thea dropped that bombshell and just smiled as Felicity stared at her open-mouthed. "He told me they broke up. They broke up before you were in the hospital – before you admitted to less than sisterly feelings for him which by the way he clearly returns." Thea grinned happily as Felicity just continued to appear shocked.

Felicity's mind was reeling and she closed her eyes to try to process everything – Oliver and Sara have broken up?! How could I not know that? Why didn't he tell me? When did it happen? A million questions swirled and Felicity started replaying things in her mind: Oliver saying they need to talk, Oliver never telling them what happened when he visited Sara after their first night in the hotel which was before the hot tub incident when he had groaned before he stepped away so quickly.

"Earth to Felicity? Are you back with me yet?" Thea had given the other woman several moments but it didn't appear she was going to speak anytime soon. When Felicity finally looked at her again Thea continued. "He said you two were going to talk. You knew that right?"

"I knew I needed to tell him about my past. I wouldn't let myself think about us being more than partners…I couldn't and he couldn't, he hasn't…he acts the same, a little different but still the same too…oh no, we can't talk about this now! We have to defeat Slade – he needs to be focused on that! I can't distract him now!" Felicity tried to rein in her panic as she wanted to think things through clearly but then Thea spoke again.

"Okay, okay – I get that! Let me repeat something a very smart woman told me once, 'You have to feel that love whenever he smiles at you, kisses your cheek, holds you tight.' You feel that love too, don't you Felicity?" Thea asked the question softly and smiled when Felicity couldn't deny the truth.

"You don't have to talk now Felicity but you two do need to talk because for two very smart people you are making some very dumb decisions." Thea teased. "I'm going to go now but you just think about what I've said."

Felicity nodded as she accepted Thea's kiss on her cheek. She wondered if Thea could have any idea of how difficult it would be to think of anything else. Felicity had already known she wanted a future with Oliver but now it seemed that could be like a real possibility, a real future as real partners she was scared. There was so much to consider and she didn't want to just jump right in...well, she did but she knew that wouldn't be smart. As her computer beeped, Felicity realized there was a legitimate reason to postpone thinking about it and to postpone their talk – there was still work to do to ensure they could even have a future.

Once Thea was gone the trio settled back into work mode and actually moved to the lair so the guys could train while Felicity worked. They were still concerned for her health but Felicity knew they needed to train and she needed to have full access to her system. She also needed out of the hotel as the hot tub taunted her even more since Thea had revealed that Oliver was free and available.

Felicity had been relieved and annoyed, grateful and angry, and also felt more than a little lust as she had thought about Oliver and the change in his relationship status and the possible change in their relationship. She had to believe Thea was right and that he did intend to talk to her and she could logically understand why he would want to wait until Slade was no longer a threat. However, logic had nothing to do with the way her heartbeat sped up, her breath caught, or the fact that her knees weakened and that hot tub really wasn't helping either.

She was glad to be back at the lair and settled quickly into her chair to get to work. Felicity continued to hack into financial records, company info, and other files as she tried to follow the money in the accounts listed on the flash drive Roy had provided. At the same time, she had set up programs to further search forany documents or reports pulled from the QC network before it crashed. Felicity leaned back to take a brief break and raised her arms over her head for as much of a stretch as she could get with her ribs still taped. She refused to consider another dip in the hot tub but couldn't resist taking a moment to watch the guys train.

Felicity watched and marveled at the way Oliver moved with such power, such control, such grace. She rarely even noticed his scars anymore and despite what he may think it wasn't just the muscles she focused on either. She simply liked the whole package, liked him – not just as a hero but as a man. Realizing her thoughts were moving in a dangerous direction Felicity pulled her eyes back up his body and froze when she met his eyes.

Oliver grinned at Felicity and then laughed when she blushed and quickly turned away. He couldn't wait until they could talk and then do more than talk. He couldn't take much more of the looks or touching without doing more. With that thought in mind he focused on his training and on defeating Slade once and for all so he could have a future with Felicity.

Felicity ignored Oliver's laughter but had a harder time ignoring her own thoughts and feelings. As her computer beeped signaling more results Felicity did force her attention back to their mission. Felicity had been researching the account numbers but as most were connected to shell companies it was taking a lot of time. She was also still running the QC search results but those were focused primarily on Isabel and her connection to the Bratva. Felicity had been able to compile a damning amount of evidence which should allow them to oust Isabel from QC permanently.

As she pulled up more new bank account numbers Felicity quickly hacked past the bank's security to access the name on the account. Felicity read the name a second time and then a third before she was able to speak.

"Um, guys, you're gonna wanna see this!" Felicity quickly moved the report to a larger screen as the Diggle and Oliver approached.

"What is it?" Diggle asked as they stopped behind her.

"I have the name of the middleman minion, trying saying that three times fast, carrying out Slade orders…" Felicity pointed to the screen and read the name aloud as they turned to the screen, "Sebastian Blood."


AN2 – We are reaching the end of the journey my friends! One more Chapter to be posted tomorrow and then an Epilogue on Wednesday! Let's just all take a moment to celebrate this one coming to an end within my preset time frame, shall we?! :)