Felicity roamed the upstairs hallway with her morning coffee, stopping when she found the gym and its very sweaty, shirtless inhabitant inside lifting weights on a bench. "Why am I not surprised this is your version of taking it easy?" she sighed, sipping her drink.

"It's fine, I'm only working on my upper body," Oliver grunted, the muscles in his abdomen and arms going from taut to smooth with each lift.

"I've noticed," Felicity murmured over the edge of her mug.

His mouth twitched in amusement at the familiar banter. "You mean 'not noticed', right?"

"… Right," she said casually, smirking at his slightly embarrassed laugh. Felicity made herself comfortable on the seat of the rowing machine while Oliver did one last weight repetition before setting it back on the bar. "I seem to remember threatening you with more vehicular-related wounds last night if you didn't rest," she said. "Or did you think I was kidding?"

Sitting upright, Oliver untucked his t-shirt from his back pocket and wiped it over his face in lieu of a towel. "I knew you weren't. That's why I was hoping I'd be done in here before you woke up."

"Sneaky, but I'll allow it." Felicity stifled a yawn. "I'm probably not one to talk anyway considering I've been going through work emails in bed the past half an hour."

"Anything urgent?"

"Not so much as it turns out, because two of our potential investors cancelled their meetings next week."

Oliver carefully swung his hurt leg over the padded seat so he was facing her. "That's disappointing," he frowned. "Did they say why?"

"Ms Butler mentioned that she'd found another interested party, and Mr Pearson said, well…" her face flushed as Oliver looked at her in confusion. "He said that he didn't want his company associated with so much 'frivolous soap opera scandal'."

"And here we thought the gossip ripple effect had eased off." He scrubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "I'm sorry this keeps cropping up."

"Let's not go down the 'sorry' path again, OK?" she said with a wry smile. "Because then I'll just do the same and we'll never abandon this mutual apology merry-go-round." He nodded, gently rubbing his knee over the bandage. "How's the pain level today?" she asked.

"It's fine." He heard her scoff. "It's manageable," he amended. "I've been here before, it's nothing to be worried about."

Felicity shook her head. "The fact that you're not worried only makes me more worried. You've been so blasé with your own safety lately, and I'm not the only one who's noticed."

"Felicity I'm…"

"Don't say fine," she said quietly. "That word lost all its meaning about twenty injuries ago." She gazed at him. "Why do you keep pushing yourself so hard?"

He contemplated her before shrugging. "Because I have to." Felicity opened her mouth to protest but Oliver quickly stood up, shifting the burden to his good leg. "I'm going to have a shower," he said, limping towards the door.

Holding back a sigh, Felicity nodded. "OK." She tapped her fingernails against the coffee cup. "So what are our plans for the rest of the day?" she asked, hoping to alleviate the mood. "Movies? Arts and crafts? Or something that involves a blatant disregard for relaxation?"

"Definitely one of those items on the list," he called back over his shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

"I'm getting the feeling you're not talking about making origami swans," she muttered under her breath.

"You owe me ten bucks," Diggle said, holding out his hand to Sara as they walked into the foundry to discover Oliver and Felicity working at their desks.

Felicity smiled to herself while the other blonde dug a note out of her jeans pocket and slapped it into Diggle's palm. "How on earth could you bet against Oliver staying away from this place?" she asked, as Sara shrugged off her jacket.

"I didn't," said Sara. "I just got the time wrong."

"There's no way Oliver would have held out until noon," said Digg, slipping the note into his wallet. "Rookie mistake," he smirked.

"Where was I while this wager was taking place, by the way?" asked Felicity, holding her hand over her heart in mock offence. "If anyone knows how tenacious Oliver's going to be it's me."

"How about we call Roy and put him on speaker?" Oliver piped up, swivelling around in his chair. "That way you can all talk about me like I'm not here."

"Aww," said Sara. "Are someone's feelings getting hurt?" she grinned, playfully ruffling his hair. "I just lost ten dollars, if anyone needs sympathy it's me."

Rolling his eyes, Oliver put down the arrowhead he'd been adjusting. "Nevermind me being here on a Saturday morning, what's everyone else's excuse?" He frowned when Diggle and Sara exchanged a look. "OK, what am I missing out on?"

"We got wind that the group you were after last night are planning another robbery tonight in the city," said Diggle, settling on the end of Felicity's desk. "Sara and I were just about to put together a plan of attack."

"Great, fill me in," said Oliver, hearing a snort of laughter across the room.

Felicity met his gaze with her own resolute one. "Yeah, there's no way you're suiting up tonight, Oliver."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," she challenged. "No matter how many miracle herbs you ingest your knee isn't going to heal properly in half a day. And unless you've got a Bachelor of Idiocy with a Masters in Dumbass, you know you need to sit this out too." Felicity could see the tic in his jaw working overtime as he battled internally with his frustrations.

"She's right, Ollie," Sara agreed. "Me and Digg, we've got this covered. You can trust us."

Oliver exhaled slowly through his nose. "It's not you I don't trust," he muttered, catching a glimpse of concern filtering through Felicity's stoic veneer. Resigned, Oliver folded his arms and frowned. "Fine, I won't do anything physical but I'm still going to be involved in other aspects."

"Such as?" said Diggle.

He gestured towards Felicity's cavalcade of computers. "I can help with the research, tech… thing," he replied somewhat uncertainly. "And Felicity and I will keep a car running outside the building tonight just in case things turn sour."

"We will?" said Felicity.

"We will," Oliver nodded, allowing a fragment of his resolution to falter for her. "I'd just be able to 'relax' a lot better if I knew everything was going satisfactorily."

Sensing that this was important to him and he wasn't just being obstinate for the sake of it, she nodded in support. "Guess we'd better stock up on coffee and donuts then," she stated, the wrought tension in Oliver's shoulders diminishing a fraction.

Diggle smiled. "I think that's more of a stakeout staple. Or a clichéd cop drama."

"You underestimate my attachment to coffee and donuts, Digg," Felicity replied. "They're an everything staple." She tucked a pen behind her ear and returned her focus to Oliver. "If you were serious about learning more of this 'tech thing' – which, by the way, I should get printed on a business card: Felicity Smoak 'Tech Thing Expert' – then scoot yourself over here for a quick lesson."

Complying with Felicity's request, Oliver carefully shuffled his chair over with his uninjured leg, sliding in to place beside her. "Thanks," he said, as Diggle and Sara busied themselves with their own tasks. "I just needed to stay in the loop, y'know?"

"I know," she said. "And it's not like I'm the boss of you anyway."

He met her gaze, lips quirking upwards. "You are a little bit."

"Yeah, I just didn't want to brag." She matched his smirk before turning her attention back to the main computer. "So we're really Freaky Friday-ing this mission, huh? Digg's taking on your role, we're taking on his, you're doing me…" She bit her lip and uneasily gestured in front of her as the phrase lingered around them. "I meant by learning more about computers and what have you." She cleared her throat. "Let's just get started, shall we?"

Oliver leaned forward in his chair, ready to concentrate. "Take it away, Professor."

"Hmm, I like that," she tilted her head in thought. "I should add it to the business card. Right, first thing's first – how much computer jargon can you handle?"

"Enough."

"See, you say that with confidence but your scrunched-up face is telling me otherwise." Felicity regarded him in amusement. "I'm totally going to have my own 'How To Train Your Dragon' moment aren't I?"

"I'm not completely useless you know," he replied, pretending to take offense. "I handled this side of things in a reasonable manner before you and Digg came along."

Felicity arched an eyebrow. "Is that so? Because I seem to remember upgrading your whole sorry system my first trip here." She bent her body towards his conspiratorially. "You probably used the Microsoft paperclip to help you back in the day, didn't you?" Felicity laughed while he gaped at her, horrified.

"There is a line," he said, pointing at her accusingly. "And you just trampled all over it."

She held up her hands in surrender, biting her bottom lip in a struggle with her own amusement. "OK, fine, I'll admit you've got the basics covered," she said, lowering her arms to resume typing. "But you're only part way there. It's like, I don't know, you've shown up for a date and not brought any wine."

Oliver slid his chair closer to the desk so he could concentrate on the screen, the armrest nudging against Felicity's. "I never forget the wine," he contested.

"Whatever, you forgot flowers then," she retorted playfully. "Or yeah, sure, you booked a nice restaurant…"

"Italian," he offered.

She smiled, keeping her eyes on the screen. "But just when you think you're really clever you realize you left your wallet at home and you can't go Dutch." She picked up a paperclip from her stationery supplies and bounced it around in front of him. "It looks like you're crashing a burning on a date – would you like any help?"

Oliver fought back a laugh. "I may be rusty but I'd like to think I'm not that lousy," he said, his arm lightly brushing against hers. "My wooing skills are certainly better than my IT expertise at any rate." He paused, smiling at the twinkling in her eyes. "What?"

"Did you just say wooing?" she grinned, letting her arm linger next to his.

He feigned confusion. "Is that not what the kids are saying these days?"

"If they aren't then they should because it's pretty adorable."

"See?" he shrugged, smiling back at her. "Still got it."

An alert tone on the computer broke their reverie. Felicity reluctantly moved her arm away first, averting her gaze to focus on the monitor. Oliver scratched the back of his neck as he read the email attachment Felicity had just opened.

"So we should probably get back to this whole lesson thing," Felicity said, pushing up the middle of her glasses.

"Yeah," Oliver nodded. "Bring on the jargon. I'm ready."

Felicity glanced over her shoulder at him, smiling as she swiftly retrieved the discarded paperclip and attached it to his shirt collar. "Now you're ready," she said, smiling wider as he sighed in exasperation.

An arrow sailed across the lair towards the bullseye target set up in the corner, sinking into the right side with a dull thud. Diggle lowered his bow in annoyance just as Sara returned from the bar upstairs. She began to collect the arrows scattered across the board. "I thought I had better aim," he muttered. "Do you think anyone would notice if The Arrow became The Gun just for one night?"

"You're doing fine, Digg," Sara reassured him, walking back and handing him the bundle of weapons. "It's more for distraction purposes anyway, then we'll stick to hand-to-hand combat."

"Did you fill Harper in on the plan?" he asked, placing the arrows into the quiver on his back.

Sara nodded. "He was kind of pissed not to be joining in but it was going to be too suspicious the both of us abandoning Thea and our bar duties for the evening." She grabbed her sonic device off the workbench where she'd left it earlier and resumed tinkering with the exposed back. "Besides, it should be an easy run with those goons."

Diggle snorted. "Tell that to Oliver's knee," he said, resting against the workbench.

"It's not his knee that's the problem it's his stubbornness," she countered, standing beside Diggle. They both looked over to where Oliver and Felicity were still sitting in front of the computers, Oliver smiling at whatever Felicity was gesturing animatedly about.

"I guess that's why they haven't moved for a few hours," said Diggle. "He's probably too pig-headed to admit he has no clue what Felicity's talking about."

Smirking, Sara turned her head to the side. "Yeah, that'd be why they're off in their own little world," she teased.

Glancing at the blonde, Diggle chuckled. "You've picked up on that too, huh?"

"How could you not?" She watched Felicity duck her head, laughing at something Oliver said while holding up a paperclip. "God, they're ridiculous aren't they?" she said in wonder. "I just want to clunk their heads together."

"Hey, if anyone gets that honor it's me," said Diggle, raising his eyebrows. "I've been witnessing this little dance for a long-ass time now. Do you know how exhausting it is keeping my mouth shut?"

Sara considered him. "Why don't you say anything?"

"Don't get me wrong, I give little nudges every now and then," he replied, plucking at the string of the bow. "But there's no need to spook them."

"Like cats," she offered, breaking into a laugh with Diggle.

"Yeah. I'll give you one guess which one's Grumpy Cat."

Sara fiddled with a screwdriver. "It's nice to see Ollie like this," she said. "Back on the island everything was so… hopeless," she settled on, missing the flicker of sympathy crossing Diggle's face. "And I mean it's not always a picnic here, but there's something different about him. He's allowing himself to have those lighter moments in between the chaos."

"It's good to see Felicity settled again too," said Digg, elaborating off Sara's confused head tilt. "When Oliver went back to Lian Yu after Tommy died it was kind of rough on all of us, but I think Felicity took it to heart the most." They heard a loud snort from their blonde colleague as Oliver pointed out something amusing on the computer screen. "Don't get me wrong, it's not like she was moping around the place, that's not her style. It was more that Oliver shut himself off completely from everyone because he thought he didn't deserve our support that upset her."

"Definitely an Ollie speciality," said Sara ruefully.

Diggle nodded, putting the bow down behind him. "She just wants the best for him." He smiled to himself. "Once that girl believes in someone she's in it for the long haul – something Oliver still needs to be reminded of every now and then."

Clicking the cover of her device back into place, Sara looked up at Diggle. "So I guess in the meantime we just stand aside and let them figure out things at their own pace?" she asked.

"However glacial that may be," he deadpanned.

A sly grin spread across her face. "I know something that could move them along," she said with a wink. "Might want to cover your ears," she added, holding up her newly restored equipment and giving it a quick press.

Oliver and Felicity leapt towards each other in shock as a quick, sonic screech reverberated through the lair. They both immediately glared at Sara who gave them an innocent look.

"Sorry!" she called out. "Just testing the upgrade!"

"How about you test it in a place that has no glass to shatter?" Oliver retorted, eyeing all of his cabinets to make sure there were no cracks.

"Or eardrums," Felicity added with a wince.

"Relax, you're fine, I know what I'm doing," she replied, biting back a grin when she saw Oliver reach over and brush his hand across Felicity's left ear in concern.

Diggle's chest rumbled with laughter. "Oh yeah, you know what you're doing all right," he smirked.

Sara shrugged one of her shoulders, far too pleased with herself. "Hey, it's probably less painful than smacking their heads together."

"The party should be starting any minute now," said Oliver, checking his watch before resuming his surveillance of the medical research building they'd parked down the road from in a dimly lit street.

Felicity pressed her earpiece. "Digg, Sara, everything going to plan?" She gave Oliver a small smile when their colleagues answered back in the affirmative. "Donut?" she asked him, offering the pink and white box his way.

"No thanks," he replied, giving her a bemused look. "I can't believe you actually brought them."

"And I can't believe you actually thought I wouldn't," she countered, biting into a choc-iced one. "They're like my Popeye spinach," she mumbled, licking some icing from her fingers so she could keep track of the security footage she'd hacked into on her iPad.

Oliver leaned over from the passenger seat to glance at the screen, satisfied to see Diggle and Sara in costume, skulking through the building towards the assailants. He jiggled his good leg up and down, flinching when Felicity briefly rested her hand on it to stop him from moving.

"I know you'd rather be in there," she said gently, "but everything will be OK. Sara and Diggle have it covered." As if on cue they heard a commotion through their earpieces as the thieves realized they had company thanks to Sara's sonic soundwave. They watched as Diggle shot an arrow through the bag of stolen supplies one man was trying to spirit away, pinning it to the wall behind him. Felicity let out a whoop of joy. "He's going to be so proud he made that move! Hell, I'm proud."

Before a smile could fully register on Oliver's face, he heard Diggle yell out in surprise when another attacker threw out a smoke bomb, shrouding everything in a thick fog. "Diggle?" he cried out, straining to hear. "Sara? Are you OK?"

Felicity gripped Oliver's arm as they waited for what felt like hours, letting out a sigh of relief when Diggle's voice eventually rang through the radio silence.

"We're OK," he coughed, "Sara ran after one of them and I'm tailing another but there's two more on the loose."

"They went out the fire escape," Sara's voice chimed in with a shout. "I'll double back asap once I get this idiot."

Switching around security cameras on screen to get a lock on everyone, Felicity heard the sound of a car door opening and swung her head to the side. "Oliver don't you dare!" But her warning was futile as he was already half way outside.

"I have to," he said darkly, throwing the blue hoodie of his civilians over his head as he half limped half ran down the street.

Two men dressed in black with balaclavas surged around the corner of the building, not expecting to be met with any interference. Oliver used their surprise to his advantage, throwing a succession of harsh punches at the first man and knocking him over, stumbling marginally on his injured leg with the momentum.

Registering this weakness, the second, smaller of the two kicked Oliver right in his wounded knee, causing him to drop to the ground with a painful groan. Just as the man was about to deliver another kick to Oliver's jaw he felt something crack against his skull and stumbled over in a daze before the item hit him again, square in the face. Oliver's head shot up to find Felicity standing there in a mixture of disbelief and satisfaction as she held her now demolished iPad in her hands.

"I knew I'd finally get to unleash this one day," she stammered, letting out a stunned laugh.

Movement out of the corner of Oliver's eye made him avert his gaze, his face contorting in fear when a figure loomed behind the blonde. "Felicity, get out of the way!" he yelled, scrambling to his feet.

Felicity turned just in time to be knocked back into a parking meter by the first man, her shoulder connecting painfully with the corner, her glasses flying off in the fracas. Crying out, she dropped her iPad, clawing at the man who was grabbing for her before her training instincts kicked in and she curled her hand into a fist, throwing out a punch. She felt her hand connect with something solid before she swayed to the side, the man in front of her suddenly gone and a yell of rage from Oliver filling in the gaps between combat.

Making out her glasses on the ground, she bent down and quickly put them on, amazed yet grateful there was no damage. Her senses restored to high alert, Felicity tensed herself for more fighting but all that was in front of her were two masked men on the sidewalk, out for the count, and Oliver looming over them, his face clouded in darkness.

"Oliver?" she said, wincing at the sudden twinge in her shoulder when she moved forward. "Holy mother of..."

Hearing her sharp intake of breath, Oliver snapped out of his haze and pushed the hoodie off his head, staggering over to her. He cupped her cheek, checking for any facial injuries before noticing that she was gripping her back.

"It's my shoulder, I think I bruised it," she said through gritted teeth. "Same damn place I got shot if you can believe it," she added, huffing out a humorless laugh.

Oliver dropped his eyes with a slight shake of his head before looking up again, the concern evident in his gaze. "You shouldn't have followed me, Felicity," he said quietly.

She tilted her chin up defiantly. "So I should have just watched you get beaten to a pulp instead? No thank you." She saw the pain in his eyes and sighed, bringing up her free hand to rest on the one still cupping her jaw. "I help you, you help me. That's the deal of this partnership. And besides," she added with a soft smile, "My crime fighting ponytail is on point today."

Allowing her a small upturn of his lips, he gently dropped his hand from her face as they heard Diggle and Sara emerge from the building, each manhandling the respective target they'd been chasing. Oliver surveyed the other two still out cold on the ground and looked back at Felicity. "Let's sort this mess out and go home."

Muttering curses under her breath, Felicity slid on her pyjama bottoms, thankful that she wasn't wearing a dress today and could just keep the tank top she had on originally. Her upper arm movement definitely wasn't at its peak condition after the evening's activities. Twisting her body around she looked at her shoulder in the dressing table mirror, grimacing when she could see a large, greenish bruise already forming. "Attractive," she murmured as a knock sounded on her bedroom door.

"Felicity?" Oliver called out. "Can I come in?"

Walking over, Felicity opened the door and gestured him inside, having a split second of embarrassment over the mess of clothes currently residing on her 'floordrobe' (namely all of the underwear). Her attention was soon overtaken by Oliver's even more pronounced limp as he struggled his way in to sit on the edge of the bed. "You really need to stop aggravating the injury and go rest somewhere."

"I'm resting right now," he replied, gesturing to the bed.

She raised her eyebrows, slanting her head to the side. "That's not what I meant."

He gave her a soft look. "I wanted to make sure you were alright first. I know Digg checked you over and nothing's broken but…"

"I'm fine, Oliver," she reassured him.

"Thought we weren't using that word?" he retorted

Felicity let out a small, frustrated sigh. "Alright, I'm sore but I'll live. How's that?"

He braced his arms on the mattress, leaning back a little to gaze at her. "The living part is good," he said quietly.

Feeling a jolt in her stomach, Felicity broke away from the eye contact and picked up the tube of muscle rub she'd found in the first aid kit in the kitchen. "How about I meet you in the movie theater in ten and I'll finally introduce you to The Hunger Games? I think we've earned a night of doing nothing."

"Do you… do you need some help with that?" he asked almost shyly, motioning at the tube of cream in her hands.

"No, no, it's OK," she rushed, "I'm sure I can manage." She lifted her good arm and reached over her opposite shoulder, aiming for the muscle in question. "Just… need to…" she floundered around, stretching her hand before slumping in defeat. "Become a contortionist it would appear." She scrunched up her nose. "Is that assistance still on offer?"

With a smile, Oliver stood up and took the few, slow steps towards her as she wordlessly passed him the tube. He unscrewed the lid and tossed it onto the dressing table before brushing Felicity's ponytail to the side. Oliver held onto the straps of her tank top and bra and went to move them down before halting. "Sorry, is it alright if I…?" She nodded, taking a sharp intake of breath as he carefully slid the straps down to give him better access. He squeezed some of the cream onto his fingers and gently rubbed it into her damaged shoulder.

Felicity briefly closed her eyes at the sensation before biting her lip. "We're quite the pair aren't we?" she said jokingly. "Busted knee, busted shoulder, it's an injury-palooza."

"Did you take any painkillers?" he asked, gliding the pads of his fingers delicately across her bullet scar.

"No, this should be fine," she said, trying not to shiver. "You?"

He shook his head. "Island remedies will be enough." Oliver glanced up, noticing that Felicity was watching him in the vanity mirror. He let his hand glide higher up her shoulder and then traced it down her arm, lingering for a moment before he slid the straps of her clothing back into place. "All done," he said softly, swallowing roughly when he could feel goosebumps rise on her skin.

"Thanks," she replied, suddenly feeling way too warm. "We should, uh, we should go and watch that movie before it gets too late," she reminded him, making herself step away.

Oliver dropped his hand back to his side. "Yeah," he nodded, "good idea." He schooled his face into a more casual, unaffected expression. "But since you got first pick it's only fair I get second."

She groaned, falling into a smile. "If you're forcing me to watch something with your buddy Stallone in it then there needs to be alcohol involved."

"There's wine in the kitchen," he chuckled.

"That's right, you never forget the wine do you?" she teased, before remembering what the context of that earlier conversation actually was. Felicity felt her face burn up but was intrigued to see the tell-tale sign of a blush creep onto Oliver's cheeks too. "How about I go and get it since I've got two working legs and you set up the movie for us?" she said, offering them both a lifeline.

"Sounds good," Oliver quickly replied, shoving his hands into his pockets.

They looked at one another for a beat longer before they both moved at once towards the door. 'There better be a whole freakin' case of wine in that kitchen,' Felicity thought to herself, groaning inwardly. 'We're gonna damn well need it'.

Continued...