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Chapter Two: A Beautiful Friendship

Felicity had never met Tommy Merlin before, she had seen him from a distance, often with Oliver or Laurel. She had even seen him gracing the covers of magazines. She hadn't, however, ever seen him slumped against the side of the bar in Verdant clutching a bottle of whiskey in one had while staring blankly ahead. A part of her worried for the clearly distraught man, another part wondered if she should turn away and leave him to his solitude, he clearly did not want to face the world. Fate, or bad luck, took the decision away from her when her phone rang out throughout the vacant club, the noise startling the other man, forcing her to meet his blood shed eyes. Felicity sent an apologetic wince before shutting off her phone and slowly moving towards him.

"Are you alright, Mr Merlin? Well obviously you're not alright, if you were alright you wouldn't look like you do. Not to say that you look bad or anything, cause you don't! You look fine, great even that is and you can feel free to stop me any time." Felicity babbled with a flush on her face, this is so not going well. She was interrupted by a small chuckle from Tommy.

"Thanks…I think. Who are you exactly? The club isn't exactly open." Tommy questioned, he is pretty sure that he would have remembered the babbling blonde before him, especially considering she isn't hard to look at.

"Oh, right sorry. Felicity Smoak, I work with Oliver." She said cheerfully, "Well not really with him, more for him. He's my boss." Tommy frowned slightly at that.

"Does that mean you know about his new night time hobby?" At her slight pause his suspicions were confirmed, "And you are alright with him murdering people?" He exclaimed jumping to his feet, part of him wanting to physically shake the answers out of her. His anger deflated slightly as he heard the weary sigh that escaped her.

"I don't like the killing, I never have. But he needed help and I am the best tech support around" She stated looking him in the eye. A frown covered Tommy's face.

"Then why help him if you don't agree with murder." Tommy blurted, feeling slightly foolish for having this conversation with a woman he had met all of two minutes ago.

"Because despite the killing, Oliver is helping more people than he is harming. He is singlehandedly saving this city and that is the reason that he deserves the help. He is a hero." Felicity said softly, her affection for the man in the hood clearly shining through.

"He may be a hero, but he is still an arsehole." Tommy mutter bitterly before taking another swig out of the bottle of whiskey he held in his hand. Felicity seemed confused for a second before something seemed to dawn on her.

"Laurel." It was a statement not a question, a fact which caused Tommy to snort.

"Got it in one, Blondie!" He chuckled bitterly before moving to take an unsteady seat at the bar, clearly he had drank more than he though. He heard the click of her heals following him and he turned to see her leaning against the bar with a small, sad smile on her face. "How did you know?"

"I said he was a hero, never once accused him of being clever." And with that small simple statement, from a girl he had never met before, Tommy Merlin truly laughed for the first time in what felt like an age.

"Felicity I do believe this is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship!" He stated handing the bottle of whiskey over to he, which she took with a bright smile.

"I'll drink to that!" She exclaimed taking a sip from the bottle before setting it back on the counter, the two falling into easy chatter that, surprisingly, had nothing to do with Oliver.

Oliver didn't like to admit when something confused him, but this confused the life out of him. He stood by the door of Verdant watching as Tommy and Felicity interacted. He frowned slightly watching the two seemingly enjoy each other's company, when did they become friends? He cleared his throat, eyebrow rising as the pair jumped apart startled.

"What's going on here?" He questioned moving to them, watching as Tommy scowled at him before moving to grab his coat.

"Just having a little chat with Blondie here, better be off." Tommy stated barely even sparing Oliver a glance as he brushed his hand against said blondes shoulder before moving towards the door. He turned before fully heading out, "Remember lunch tomorrow?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" Felicity said with a slight smile, and try as he might there was no denying the lead ball that seemed to settle in the pit of his stomach. The door closed but neither seemed to pay much attention, Felicity was looking at him with a slight frown and concern shining through, "Everything alright?"

"When did you two become friends?" He questioned with a slight growl that caused a scowl to cover her face.

"This is the first time we have ever spoken. He looked like he needed someone to talk to, so I did what I do best, I talked." That worry to surge through him, Tommy wasn't the type to advertise when something was wrong.

"Is everything alright?" Oliver watched as she shook her head in exasperation, before grabbing her stuff, clearly looking for this conversation to be over.

"You should be asking him this, not me." She moved to walk away from him but halted her escape with a firm grip on her arm.

"Please Felicity, he is my friend." That seemed to be the exact opposite of what he should have said as she shook his hand off her before turning away. "Felicity! Please, I just want to make sure he is alright!"

Her shoulders were tense but she still never turned towards him, he was about to ask again but was stopped when she brought his world crashing down around him.

"He saw you. He saw you with Laurel after you told him to go after him." And with that she left him alone in the empty club, wondering how he had managed to destroy everything he touched.


So that is chapter two, what do we think? Please leave feedback and let me know any hints, tips and suggestions.

Chapter three should be up soon.