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Felicity told herself everyday for three weeks that things were back to normal. Oliver fought crime, Diggle assisted him and Felicity used all the technology at her fingertips to help in the process. She acted like the perfect executive assistant; she got him coffee, checked his schedule and smiled at everyone who walked through the door.
She refused to think about the island.
She refused to think about the island when Oliver would nudge her shoulder while looking at her computer screen. Refused to think about the island, when he would stand behind her, silently watching her hone her archery skills. Refused to think about the island, when she walked into the club to find him in deep conversation with Laurel, ignoring the abrupt stop in their conversation when they saw her. And especially refused to think about the island when the latest waitress hired at Verdant started throwing herself at Oliver every time she saw him.
This was normal, this was fine. This was the epic friendship of Oliver Queen, billionaire/vigilante and his incorrigible sidekick, Felicity Smoak. Nothing more.
"Felicity," Oliver called, breaking her out of her trance. He stood next to her shirtless, having just finished working out, "Did you run the trace?"
"The trace? Right, the trace," Felicity rambled, her attention focusing back on the screens before her. "Yes, I was able to pinpoint it to the docks, maybe one of those huge shipping crates. I'll send the signal to your phone now. You should be able to track it with that when you get closer."
"Don't leave the foundry until we get back," Oliver said, gesturing toward Diggle where he was assembling their supplies. "Blood has already kidnapped you once. He knows you work for me. It isn't safe."
She nodded, having no intention of leaving without one of them for protection. Sebastian Blood had escaped from a top level security prison the day before. The only sign of him was a credit card he had under an alias that Felicity had been keeping tabs on. It was that intel that was sending them docks.
Oliver paused mid turning to leave, looking back at her. His face looked pained, his mouth opened as if he was going to say something but thought better of it because he left without another word.
For the next hour and half, Felicity listened as Diggle and Oliver fought through Blood's men, only to discover Sebastian had already fled. She heard Oliver curse as Diggle confirmed that Blood had escaped.
"Felicity, do you have anything?" Oliver asked with his 'Hood' voice.
"No," she said, scanning the screens before her. "Nothing else is turning up."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that," came a dark voice behind her and the cold edge of a knife against her throat.
Felicity did not panic. Two years working closely with Oliver had put her in way more panic inducing situations than she ever knew possible. So she knew exactly how not to panic. But that didn't stop her from incoherently babbling out anything that came to mind. Call it her coping mechanism, call it stupid, call it whatever; it didn't change the fact that she couldn't stop herself once she got started.
"I mean, really," Felicity stumbled on, ten consecutive minutes of talking later, "I work for a billionaire, who also happens to be a badass. You would think his own personal, secret lair would have a better security system. Right? I mean, I was expecting cutting edge, state of the art technology. All though, now that I think about it, I really should have looked into it better. Maybe this is as much my own fault as it is Oliver's."
"Ms. Smoak," ground out Sebastian Blood behind her, "Will you please shut up before I am forced to slit your throat?"
"Um, yea, yes," Felicity swallowed, "Yeah, I can do that."
Trying to focus on not speaking, Felicity began to do some calculations. Figuring Oliver would be there in no less than five minutes, ten max, so she just had to stay quiet that long. Oliver had heard Blood's voice through the comm, he would come. He always came. There was really no reason to worry.
The lights went out, leaving them in total darkness.
"Let her go, Blood," came the Hood's voice from behind them. Blood spun her around cutting her slightly in the process.
"None of your tricks, Oliver," Blood said, "Turn the lights back on. Let's talk about this like adults, like equals. After all, don't we have the same goals in mind."
"Let her go. Then we talk," came the Hood's voice from above. Blood jerked back, lowering the knife a little in the process, his arm around Felicity's waist loosening.
"I have no quarrels with you, Oliver," Blood shouted, his panic showing. "I left you alive on that island, didn't I? I am not your enemy."
"You certainly look like the enemy," came the Hood's voice from in front of them.
Then the Hood's voice came from behind them, "Let her go, prove to me you're not."
"I will kill you, Blood," came the Hood's voice to the left.
Blood was turning in circles, dragging Felicity with him trying to pinpoint where Oliver was. Sensing her chance as Blood hauled her around again, Felicity stuck out her foot, tripping Blood causing his hold on her to slip. She didn't think just ran, until she hit something, strong arms around her bracing her from falling.
She almost screamed, but Oliver's voice in her ear calmed her instantly, "It's me. Stay here."
Then he was gone. She knew better than to ignore a direct order when he was in Hood mode. So she stood perfectly still, listening. There was shouting, grunting and suddenly the lights flickered on.
Blood and Oliver were exchanging blows, each using whatever hand-to-hand combat training they knew agains the other. Felicity watched as Oliver punched Blood in the gut, before bringing his head down to his knee. Blood retaliated by grabbing Oliver around the middle with a growl, throwing both of them off balance. Oliver recovered first, attacking again, but Blood dodged it, instead grabbing Oliver's arm, twisting it behind his back before his other arm came around Oliver's neck, a knife held firmly in his hand.
Oliver froze as he felt the knife, looking up at Felicity, his hood having fallen off sometime in the fight.
"I don't want to fight you," Blood yelled into Oliver's ear. "We could work together. We could be more. We could rule this city. Make it safe for everyone."
Felicity spotted Oliver's bow at her feet, his rack of arrows a couple of feet to her left. She didn't really think, just grabbed the bow, reaching out to notch an arrow before she realized what she was doing. Blood seemed to have forgotten she was there, ranting on and on about saving the city.
"Let him go, Blood," Felicity shouted, imitating Oliver's Hood voice the best she could. She thought it was pretty weak, but both Blood and Oliver froze, heads whipping up to stare at her.
"Forgive me if you don't scare me, Ms. Smoak," Blood laughed, "But I don't think you'll shoot. What if you miss and hit Oliver instead."
At his name, Felicity glanced at Oliver. His face was set on hers, his expression almost unreadable. But Felicity hadn't spent almost all her waking hours with the man over the last two and half years for nothing. She saw the way his eyebrows raised just slightly, how his eyelids closed a fraction. It was his 'I know you can do it, Felicity," face.
It was all she needed, her eyes focusing on Blood's leering face over Oliver's shoulder. She breathed deep, heard the bow string tighten, felt her center and then she released.
The arrow hit his shoulder, a mere inch about Oliver's. Blood howled in pain, while Oliver took advantage of the situation, disarming Blood and pinning him to the ground.
"Felicity, handcuffs," Oliver yelled, as he struggled with Blood. She dropped the bow, running to grab the cuffs from one the racks lining the wall. Diggle burst through the door, as Oliver finished handcuffing him, he held a syringe in his hand.
"Sorry it took me so long," Dig said, as he injected the syringe into Blood's neck. Blood immediately passed out. "I'll go find a place for the police to find him. Once they test his blood, they won't believe anything he says about Oliver Queen's secret hideout."
Oliver nodded at Diggle, as they both hauled Blood up, carrying him out the door together. Felicity sank into her chair as they left, the adrenaline wearing off. She put her head in her hands, exhausted.
"You could have died," Oliver stood before her, having silently returned. She shrugged up at him, thinking about all the other times she had brushes with death. "You saved my life."
"Yeah, well," she said, trying to keep her voice light, "I think I owed you one."
He didn't return her smile, just stared. Then he lunged, pulling her up from the chair, bringing her crashing into his chest as his other hand slid around her neck, tilting her face upward as his mouth descended.
The kiss was desperate and needy, his tongue battling with hers, both wanting dominance. He walked her backward until she felt the desk hit her thighs. His hands moved to her waist to lift her up onto the desk, her legs automatically wrapping around his hips, pulling him closer. She didn't remember removing his hood, but couldn't resist once again exploring the scars the jacket revealed. His hand slid under her skirt, his thumb tracing the lace of her underwear on her hip, before his fingers moved, digging in to her ass.
She moaned, low in her throat.
Abruptly he ended the kiss, resting his forehead on her shoulder, both of them breathing heavily still holding onto each other. She expected him to pull away, to once again tell her it was a mistake. Instead he removed his hand from her skirt, only to wrap it around her back, his arms tightening, drawing her closer to his body as he curled around her. She followed suit, tightening her legs, throwing her arms around his neck, giving him the closest thing to a full body hug she could manage. He kept his head buried in her hair.
Felicity felt his considerable strength surround her. Strength that had killed, fought and survived; but now he held her, as if it was the only thing it was good for. His muscled arms keeping her as close to his body as humanely possible while still being fully clothed. She felt him kiss the side of her head, knew he was just as lost in the embrace as she was.
Too soon he released her, standing as her arms fell until only her hands grasped his shoulders, her legs slackened to bracket his. He reached a hand out to cup her cheek, his face pained, his voice low when he spoke.
"Effective tomorrow you will no longer be employed by Queen Consolidated. You'll receive six months severance and an excellent recommendation."
Felicity felt as if she had been hit with one of his arrows. There was a physical pain in her chest preventing her from moving, from saying anything; all she could do was stare back at Oliver's resolute face.
"You will no longer be welcome at Verdant and I never want to see you down here again," he continued, his voice steady and sure. "Good bye, Felicity."
And then he left without a backward glance.