So like I said I want to remain as close to the show as possible so here's my take on tonight's episode. Unfortunately that means waiting for the episode to air before I write a chapter in some cases, like this one. So I am sorry about the wait.
BTW as anyone read the press release for episode 14 The Odyssey? If you haven't you should :)
Oh and a big, huge, massive thanks to everyone reading this and so on and so forth.
You all rock!
Felicity:
Oliver was like that guy you went out on a date with once. You know the one that you waited by the phone to hear from. The kind of guy who you would willingly let your pants be charmed off for. But he never calls and then...
Booty call.
Okay, maybe that wasn't the best analogy to use, Felicity thought biting her lip. She would really need to work on getting rid of this stupid crush she'd developed for her boss. So what if he was handsome! So what if he had a chiselled jaw and killer eyes! So what if his devilish grin got her all hot and bothered! She would just have to forget about those things. It was never good to mix business with pleasure. Not that she thought anything would ever happen between her and Oliver. He was a bad boy, vigilante with a hero complex and she was the geek or nerd (the word "nerd" was first coined by Dr. Seuss in "If I Ran the Zoo) or whatever it was people wanted to label her. Either way, she was nipping the crush feelings in the bud and turning them into friendly feelings.
Felicity was currently working on a website for Oliver's club. When he'd called the other night telling her it was time for her to get to work, this was not what she had in mind. But that's the only request he'd made of her skills, since he'd started mainstreaming again. Crime rates had gone down and as a result, more and more people were starting to call the vigilante, a hero.
There was still no word on Mr. Steele and Felicity still hadn't said anything to Oliver about the list. She didn't want to do it over the phone (not that she actually had his number or anything), but face-to-face so she could gauge his reaction. She knew she had too be careful or she could end up disappearing too. So even if Oliver's face was impossible to read, he'd probably take immediate action upon her big reveal (tadaa; here's a bunch of names that potentially might be on your hit list too).
"Hey Felicity, we're going ordering food, want some?" Jacob, one of the other IT employees stuck his head in the door, pulling Felicity from her depressing thoughts.
"Yeah sure, what are you ordering?"
"We were thinking Thai."
"Great. Lime Chicken Stir Fry for me then. Thanks Jacob."
I'm obsessing too much. His not going to need my help every single time something bad happens in Starling City. Besides its good that we have a cover, if we're ever seen talking together. At least we both can honestly say that I'm setting up his club site. Not that I'll ever actually go to that place.
Felicity put her chin in her hand and turned her attention back to her work. She was obsessing too much, but it wasn't like people like Oliver Queen stepped into her life everyday. Particularly ones whose hobbies include fighting crime, shooting arrows and breaking into people's homes (she still thought he was an arrogant ass over that last one).
It was about half an hour later, when Felicity finally got her food. Her mouth started to water as soon as she smelled it. One of problems of becoming too caught up in her computer work was that she sometimes (a lot of times, really) forgot to eat. Sometimes she'd even forget that she needed to go to the bathroom (not that she had any accidents of that persuasion or anything), but computers had a way of making her forget about the real world. That's was definitely something she'd found useful when she needed to escape reality and her own head.
As geeky as this was going to sound, Felicity felt like she was connected to her computers. She understood them in a way that nobody else understood her. They were sort of a crutch for her, because no matter what, they'd always be there. Besides they were simple and straight forward compared to humans.
Humans were complex creatures; no two were the same. Once your programmed your computer to do what you wanted it to do, it stays that way unless you change it. But you can't programme a human. You can't make them act the way you want them act. Not really, not unless you brainwash them. But that didn't guarantee that a person would stay under control, because the human mind is a resilient and resourceful tool. Even when it seems broken, even when it has suffered unimaginable pain, it can still keep going; can still keep that person from truly giving in. Felicity was both fascinated and humbled by the power of a mind. It could make you or break you.
Oliver was a prime example of that. He suffered terribly and yet he was still fighting. He was still pushing forward with his life. That took courage. Thinking of the Devil and he shall appear...
Felicity looked up from her food just in time to see her cocky boss, stride into her office. Of course Oliver would walk in just as I'm about to stuff my face with leafy goodness.
"You don't call, you don't write," Felicity remarked flippantly, dropping her chopsticks and food back into the box. "And here I was beginning to think my days of being Oliver Queen's personal computer geek were coming to an end."
"Is that your way of saying you miss me?"
"No. But if it works for you, go with it." Felicity smiled when Oliver chuckled. It was on the tip of her tongue to mention the list, but Oliver unknowingly waylaid her by handing her over a security fob. It was a USB like device that acts as a digital signature to prove ones identity and authentication in the online world. "Hmm, I wonder what could be on here? Let me guess, you have a friend who likes to use extremely tight security to protect their diary and your just dying to know what they've written about you?"
Felicity laughed at her own attempt at a lame excuse. She inserted the drive into the computer and watched it boot up.
"My stories were not that bad." If Felicity wasn't mistaken, she would definitely say that Oliver Queen sounded petulant. She ignored him, though and concentrated on the information coming up on the screen.
"It's pin protected. And goes back to a company called Black Hawk Quad Protection Group." Felicity typed away at her computer, explaining what they were seeing to Oliver as she hacked the fob. "This is a military grade cryptographic security protocol. Do I even want to know where you got this?"
"It's better if you don't. I'll give you my number and you can call me when you get something." Oliver scribbled his number on one of the many pieces of paper scattered on Felicity's desk. Well, at least now she had his number if someone tried to kidnap (kill) her. "But listen, if you get through it, there is a bottle of very expensive wine in your future." Oliver tapped her shoulder with his finger and smiled at her.
Felicity watched him leave and he was almost out the door of her office, before she called out to him. "Make sure it's red."
A smile of her own gracing her face, Felicity turned back to her computer. There now. That wasn't so acted perfectly normal around him for a few minutes. No nervous babble. No sweaty palms. You were perfectly calm and in control. Especially now that we're back on familiar techy ground. It made it easier for Felicity to act more natural around Oliver.
Felicity shook her head to clear her thoughts. No time for thinking about girly stuff now. It was time to hack a military grade cryptograph.
Felicity was feeling apprehensive. Why? Well, because she was dialling the number of the popular boy, so to speak. She was being ridiculous and she was aware of it, but sometimes her sixteen year old self would pop her head up and make her feel like a teenager again. Her sixteen year self was currently telling her that the popular would never answer the call of the geeky girl, but Felicity wasn't having any of it.
Go back into your corner, she told her insecurities firmly. She brought the phone to her ear and waited (the average person will spend at least 2 years of their life on the phone).
Oliver answered on the second ring.
Hah, take that stupid sixteen year old self!
"What did you get?"
Straight to the point. Felicity actually liked that.
"We'll, once I got past black ops authentication system there was a directory. A very illegal directory might I add, with details about robbing armoured cars with grenade launchers and tear gas. So those three robberies on the news, you're going after those guys?"
"Felicity." Ah, the tone. How, she was becoming to dislike it.
"Right. Pretending not to know anything like the good tech girl that I am. Well, someone at Black Hawk was using their system to store detailed routes and schedules for each of the cities seven major armoured car carries including the three that have already have been hit. You should be able to predict the next heist with the information on here. I would say we should hand this over to the authorises, but..."
"Forward that directory on to me. Thank you." Oliver hung up, sounding extremely agitated.
"So... No wine then."
Sighing she did as Oliver asked. She then proceeded to erase any evidence that the fob had ever been in her computer or that she'd been in the Black Hawk system. She followed up by wiping the fob clean, pulling it from her computer, dropping it on the ground and stomped on it repeatedly. She'd admit that, that last part was overkill, but one could never be too careful. She didn't need any extra dangers being added to her growing list that might get her killed (ugh, list was becoming a hard word to stomach).
When Felicity got home that night, after setting the alarm, she tuned on the news. She hadn't heard back from Oliver since their phone call and she was worried. She'd even sent him a text message asking him if he was dead. In retrospect, that hadn't been the smartest move on her part, but she wanted to make sure he was alright.
"As of tonight, the men responsible for the armoured robberies have all been found dead at the scene of their fifth attempt..."
"Fifth attempt?"
"I interrupted the forth and they tried to..." Oliver sidestepped the flying remote, which shattered against the wall. "Rob a fifth car. They had someone I know try to commit that particular one under duress. They kidnapped a family member of his, but we stopped them before they could hurt anymore innocent people. You helped us do that."
Felicity had a hand clutched to her chest; her heart was trying to beat its way out. She had answer to her text then.
"Again? You break in again? Why isn't my alarm going off?" Felicity's words sound breathy to her own ears. He'd scared the jelly beans out of her.
"Scared the jelly beans?"
Oops. Felicity wasn't aware of having said that out loud, but then she was trying to restrain herself. She wanted to go over and slap him upside the head.
"Now, Felicity violence isn't always the answer." Felicity glared at Oliver, but the jackass just grinned evilly at her.
"Your trying to give me a heart attack, aren't you? I've never been this stressed out in my life." Stressed is desserts spelled backwards. "You have to stop sneaking up on me like that, Queen!"
"And miss the look on your face? Nah, I'll pass."
Felicity collapsed on to her sofa, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. It would seem she was going to have to resign herself to Oliver's, predator like, comings and goings. "Why didn't my alarm go off?"
"I had Diggle install it..."
"...and he gave you the code," Felicity finished with a nod. Feeling like an elephant had sat on her head (elephants are the only animals with four knees) she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again Oliver was gone. Why that son of a b... She was distracted by something on her coffee table. Something that hadn't been there a minute ago. A bottle of very expensive red wine; Le Fete Rothschild, 1982, to be exact.
Felicity smiled.
Damn, but he made it hard to stay angry.