May 4

Felicity had been at it all night. The files on the laptop Oliver had brought her were protected by an asymmetric encryption algorithm, and breaking in was a total bitch. So bye-bye, good night's sleep!

Even after all these hours, she still hadn't figured out who all this money belonged to. She did manage to create a list of deposits after hacking Cayman Fidelity, but what good did that—

Wait, that one… that really big one of December twelfth… Isn't that the day Walter disappeared? Felicity sat in her chair, stunned by the realization. This was a clue. After six months, she finally had a lead on Walter. This might actually be it. They could find him soon! This was the reason Felicity joined, and it was finally happening!

As she hurried up the stairs, something else occurred to her; after this, their deal was done. She told Oliver she would quit the team once they found Walter. This was her out. Once they found Walter—however long that would take—she could get away. She could leave after this, and Oliver wouldn't suspect anything was wrong. And if Oliver could quit being a jerk and make up with Diggle along that way, then everything would be perfect.

Saving Walter now also meant keeping her secret, which made this discovery all the more urgent.

Felicity burst through the swinging door that led to behind the bar. "Oliver I need to show you what—" Then she saw the knockout at the bar he was talking too. Felicity had a feeling she knew who she was. "I just totally walked in on a thing, didn't I?"

The pretty brunette looked confused. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Nobody," Felicity answered before Oliver could say anything. "I mean, I'm not nobody; I'm someone, obviously, and so are you, you're… Laurel, right? That Laurel?" Oliver's old flame gave her an awkward smile. "Gorgeous Laurel…" The Laurel that Oliver will always choose over everyone, including me…

Oliver finally spoke up. "This is Felicity. She's setting up my internet."

"Router, and I need to show Oliver something very important related to it."

"I'll let you go, then," Laurel replied. "Thank you for the coffee… and the advice."

"What if one of Bachman's clients was paid two million to kidnap Walter?"

Felicity and Oliver were in the basement, and she had convinced him of the usefulness of that deposits list.

"Then we find out which client it was," he answered as they walked to the computers. "And use them to find Walter."

Felicity sat down, almost jittery as she put her fingers to the keyboard.

"Okay, back trace the account, follow the money... Hopefully, it will lead us to whoever kidnapped Walter." Oliver ordered.

"After all this time, do you think Walter might still really be alive?"

"I don't know."
Seconds later, Felicity found him, his information popping up on the screen. "Got it: Dominic Alonso."

Oliver let out an exasperated sigh.

"Name ring any bells?"

"Yeah," he replied. "Alonso runs the biggest underground casino in Starling City when he not busy kidnapping."

Felicity stared at the screen. "He looks like the kind of low-life someone would hire to kidnap Walter." Interrogating this guy was going to be satisfying. She looked at Oliver. "How many arrows do you think you'll have to put in him before he gives up Walter's location? Say, a lot?"

"It's not that simple. That casino has its own private army. We need to access Alonso's computer, but without setting off any alarms."

"Looks like we're going to need all the help we can get," she replied. "It's too bad there isn't someone else we could call…"

"That's enough," Oliver chided. "We can do this on our own."

"Well then, looks like someone's going gambling tonight."

"Those guys would make me the minute that I walked in there. Oliver Queen would never be caught dead in a place like that."

"I wasn't talking about you."

"Absolutely not," Oliver said, sounding like a dad forbidding his teenager from going to a concert on a school night.

"I can count cards," Felicity argued. "It's all probability theory and mathematics. Have you met me? Bottom line, I know my way around a casino."

"Felicity, I'm not letting you walk—"

"Oliver, the reason I joined you in the first place was to find Walter," she countered, standing up. "And for the first time we have a real chance at finding him."

He looked as if he was searching in vain for a rebuttal.

"You have to let me do this."

Oliver looked at the computer. Felicity had pulled up the article about Walter's disappearance. The tactic worked.

"Alright. But we do it my way."

Felicity nodded.

"Come on," Oliver said, and Felicity followed him out. "Go home and get some sleep. We'll go to the casino tonight."

"Should I wear that gold dress I have? Think that's casino-y enough?"

"You'll need something more formal. I'll take care of it."

Diggle had a feeling Felicity would come by eventually. She was the peacekeeping type, sure to try and mend the fences between him and Oliver.

"What do you want?" he asked after opening the door.

"Is that any way to treat a girl who just walked up six flights of stairs?"

She made a valid argument. "No, it's not. Where are my manners? Come on in."

"Thank you," she replied as she crossed the threshold.

Diggle locked the door behind her. "Welcome," he said, gesturing to his apartment as he made his way to the fridge. He got out two beers. Offering a beverage was a perfectly normal thing to do when entertaining a guest, but Diggle was looking to confirm something. Well, maybe not confirm, but…

He was nearly certain Felicity was pregnant. All of those symptoms, some of which had gone away, were very suspicious. If it were true, she would've figured it out by now. He had assumed she would tell him—probably not Oliver, but definitely him—yet she still hadn't said anything. He didn't want to ask her outright, so he thought giving her a beer would help clear things up a bit. If she drank it, okay, but if she didn't…

"Did you do these?" she asked, trying to be conversational as she observed the paintings.

"You know, Felicity," he said, handing her a beer. "Oliver and I don't need a relationship counselor."

She wasn't convinced. "That hasn't been my experience." she argued as he sat down on the couch. "We have a lead on Walter. I need you to come back and help us find him." Felicity said as she sat down next to him.

"Oliver put you up to this?" he questioned, waiting for her to take a sip.

"No," She set her beer on the coffee table. "He doesn't even know I'm here."

It seems she was going to casually forget about it. Maybe she just wasn't thirsty. Still, it made him wonder.

"Look, I know Oliver didn't help you find your brother's killer and that hurts…" she began. "It sucks. But you gotta know that if it was your life on the line and not just your very understandable vendetta, he would be there for you, no hesitation."

"And I don't want a partnership with those kinds of qualifications, Felicity."

"I know Oliver's religiously against admitting he's wrong…" Boy, did she. In some ways, she knew it better than him. "But the truth is, he needs you."

Diggle thought about it for a second. "Yeah," he stood up, signaling that her visit was over. "And when Oliver is ready to say that, he knows where I live."

Sighing, Felicity stood up. "Sorry to bother you,"

"It's no bother. I hope you find him."

As she left, he wondered how she must be doing. Could she really be keeping something so big a secret? If it were really true, that is. Diggle also wondered how Oliver must be treating her without him around to stick up for her.

All he knew for certain was that Oliver better apologize soon.

Everything was going to be fine. Felicity repeated it over and over in her head, trying to calm down. She had been so driven to save Walter that she hadn't thought about just how dangerous it was.

Oliver had told her the plan on the way out of the club; it sounded simple enough, even safe enough. But she was still going in there alone; Oliver outside and no Diggle for backup. She regretted not telling Diggle she was going in the field. He would've rejoined the team for the sake of her safety, but it would be far more dangerous to have Oliver and Diggle working together with their issues unresolved. Felicity was the only option.

I'm so sorry, Baby Hood. Mommy has to do this. I promise, if there was any other way… Felicity took a deep breath and started fixing her makeup. Her hair was already done, and Oliver was going to be there any minute with her outfit.

Felicity started singing "Poker Face," and it helped her mood. Especially since the lyrics were so relevant to what she was going through.

Minutes later, she was buzzing Oliver in and opening the door for him. He held two shopping bags.

"Yay, presents!" she cheered, trying to put a smile on his face and failing. She kept trying, though. "Does this kind of remind you of Pretty Woman? Is there a really expensive necklace in there and when I try to touch it, you'll snap the box shut on me?"

Oliver only raised an eyebrow. "There's no necklace."

Felicity nodded, pursing her lips. She grabbed the bags and went into her bedroom. Oliver shut the front door, locking it like Felicity should always remember to do.

"Hey, the dress is red, like in the movie! Well, it's longer than the one in the movie, and it doesn't have ruffles—"

"Can you please stop comparing yourself to a hooker?" he called from beyond her closed bedroom door, gritting his teeth as "Pretty Woman" got stuck in his head.

Oliver should've made her change at the club.

He leaned against the wall by the door in her all-too-familiar apartment, impatiently waiting for her to get dressed. This place held very potent, specific memories, and trying to ignore them was like swatting at flies.

They had eaten breakfast together, right over there in the kitchen. He remembered thinking how great it would be to sleep over again. And again and again and again. That was before he realized how much danger he'd put her in by being with her.

"Hey, Oliver?" Felicity called from behind her bedroom door.

"Yeah?" he replied, shaken from his reverie.

"You know that joke you made a few days ago? That blonde joke? The one about Guantanamo Bay? I was wondering…"

"About what?"

"Um…" He could hear her zipping up her dress. Oliver had been very adamant about the personal shopper getting her something she could zip herself; he really didn't need that kind of temptation. "It occurred to me later that, well, it's kind of weird that you didn't already know I'm not a natural blonde. At first I thought you hadn't noticed when… Um, you know… But later I realized that how could you not notice? I mean you didn't say anything at the time so…"

Yes, it was a very good question. He had noticed, but never cared enough to mention it; there were other parts of her that he had been more preoccupied with. Oliver blushed, surprised she would bring up their time together. "Natural or not, you're still blonde."

"Ah,"

Though she stayed mercifully silent, Oliver was getting more uncomfortable. More and more memories were being triggered, and every one of them made him more and more aware of how alone they were in the apartment. Well, there was Paperweight, but he was just a tortoise and didn't count. It was just Oliver and Felicity, and the thought made him feverish. Oliver, not the tortoise.

All that separated them was the bedroom door; that awful, wonderful bedroom door. Oliver could just walk right in and grab her. He could kiss her and touch her and make her moan like he used to, all while pulling up the skirt of her dress so he could—

I need to get out of here.

"Are you almost done?" he asked irritably, glancing at the thankfully closed bedroom door.

"You ready?" Oliver asked as they walked out of the alleyway.

"Think so," Felicity replied nervously. "Just to be clear, the plan is for me to get caught counting cards in an underground casino filled with hardened criminals."

"So you can get a friendly warning from Alonso and plant a bug on his office computer."

"Right, which will hopefully lead us to Walter."

Oliver nodded, protectively placing his hand on her back as they got closer to the casino.

"That is assuming I get the friendly warning and not a bullet," she added, stopping and turning to face him.

Oliver was enough of a nervous wreck without her saying that. "Hey, you don't have to do this,"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay," he said, slightly annoyed. "If anything happens, I'm right outside."

Felicity looked around the casino, telling herself she had nothing to worry about. It was a simple plan, and everything would be fine, right? Right.

"What do you see?" Felicity heard through the earpiece.

"Six armed guards, two pit bosses, and a floor man." She walked around, trying to act casual. "And no slot machines. I mean, how can you call yourself a casino without any Lucky Sevens?"

"Stay focused, please." Oliver said. "I'll be with you the entire time."

"Thanks." That's exactly what she needed to hear. She felt very alone in the casino, surrounded by people who wouldn't have a problem killing her. She sighed, feeling slightly more relaxed. "It feels really good having you inside me." Wow, that brought back memories. "And by you I mean your voice," The dirty talk was so much fun… "And by me I mean my ear."… Especially when he growled right by her ear… "I'm going to stop talking. Right now."

"That would be my preference." Being in her apartment had been bad enough; he really didn't need to hear say stuff like that.

Taking a deep breath, Felicity walked over to the blackjack table and handed the dealer a stack of cash from her purse.

The game went as expected; it may have been a while since she counted cards, but she hadn't lost her touch. Her heart was in her throat when the dealer drew for final time. An ace of spades… a queen of hearts…

"Blackjack!" the dealer announced.

Felicity giggled like a dumb blonde who got lucky, clapping her hands in excitement. She picked up her glass of wine, ready to drink from it like a victorious girl would. A sip wasn't going to hurt anything. Well, anyone…

"Miss?" A somewhat intimidating man approached her. He was one of the guards. Felicity set down her wine, thankful she didn't have to drink it; the notion had made her uncomfortable.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Get up." The guard wasn't playing around.

"Well, since you asked so nicely,"

Felicity was escorted to the manager's office, the guard firmly gripping her arm.

"Oh, look, there's the bathroom," she casually mentioned. "I should've known the manager's office would be down the hall and to the right of the bathroom."

"Mr. Alonso," the guard said, getting his boss's attention. Alonso hung up the phone as Felicity was nudged into the room.

"Have a seat,"

She obeyed, hoping for just a friendly warning.

"What's your name?"

"Megan," she responded, surreptitiously taking out the bug and activating it.

"Do you know where the term 'eighty-sixed' comes from, Megan?"

"Yes, it happens I do. It's from prohibition," she answered, her voice steady and her heart pounding. "There was, uh, an illegal casino—NOT like this one—located at, uh, 86 Bedford Street in New York, and…Ah, you know I'm just going to stop talking." she stammered as she sneakily attached the bug to the back of the CPU.

"And now it means to ban someone. Someone who's cheating. You're eighty-sixed. Leave your chips and go."

Oh, thank God. She wasn't going to be killed.

"Thank you," See, Baby Hood? Everything's cool. "Thank you." she said, before rising to leave.

"Oh, and Megan, one more thing," Alonso added. Dammit. So close. A guard stepped in front of her and pulled out a device and waved it by her ears. It beeped. "You see, the thing about card counters is, uh, that sometimes they work…" Alonso pulled the piece from her ear. "…with a partner." And with that ominous statement, he crushed it under his heel.

Uh-oh. Oliver was going to be pissed. "You're going to be really upset when you meet my partner."

The casino manager smirked. "Point him out to me, and I might go easy on you."

"He's not in the casino," she replied, knowing it didn't help her to say she was working alone. Felicity held her clutch purse in front of her stomach, trying to calm her nerves. "But I assure you he soon will be."

"Really? Well, let's wait for him, then."

Felicity sat back down and fidgeted with her gold cuff bracelet. Hopefully the only thing getting killed tonight was time. Although she actually didn't mind if Alonso and his men got killed as well…

"So, do you wanna play darts while we wait, or…?" she suggested, gesturing to the dart board.

"What's this partner of yours look like, Blondie?" barked Alonso.

"Oh, he won't be that hard to spot." She absentmindedly swept her hair out of her face. "He likes to make an entrance."

"Which means what, exactly?"

Bang! Bang bang! Suddenly there was a commotion out in the casino; things breaking, people shouting, guns going off…

Don't worry, Baby Hood; Daddy's got this. "Sounds like my partner's here."

Alonso gave her a dark, slightly frightened look.

"You really should've just let me go." she added.

"Who the hell is he?" the manager snarled.

The casino got quiet; the intruder had gotten past all the security. So much for the casino's private army.

"The Hood," She couldn't help smiling at the terrified look on Alonso's face. He yanked her out of the chair by her arm and pulled her behind the desk. Then he opened a drawer and took out a gun.

"Oh, crap," Felicity whimpered.

"Something tells me he doesn't want you to get hurt," he said, putting the gun to her head seconds before the door burst open. The Hood fired an arrow, accidentally hitting the center of the dart board to the right of Alonso's head.

"I heard you never miss," mocked Alonso.

"I don't."

The arrow blew up, sending Alonso and Felicity falling to the floor. She crouched behind the desk, trying to breathe. I'm so sorry, baby. We're okay now.

She watched as the Hood picked up Alonso and smashed him against the wall.

"Where's Walter Steele?" he demanded in his deep, scary Hood voice.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Six months ago you had him kidnapped!" he roared.

"It was just a job," replied Alonso. Felicity stood, realizing they were seconds away from knowing Walter's location. "I was given a name; I didn't ask any questions."

The Hood tightened his grip. "Last chance. Where is he?"

"Below ground."

"You're lying!"

"I'm not. I delivered him, and they killed him."

No, Felicity thought. No, he can't…

"I heard the gun shot. He's dead."

The Hood stepped back and knocked Alonso out with a punch. Lowering his hood, he turned to face Felicity. They stared at each other for a moment, neither of them sure what to say. Felicity started sobbing.

"Come on," Oliver said, and Felicity took his hand and let him lead her out.

Felicity was having trouble computing. Not literally computing—her tech skills were just fine—but dude… There was only so much craziness she could process at one time. She thought Walter was dead, but he's actually alive. And the bad guy who took him? Malcolm Merlin. Tommy's dad. Seriously.

Oliver was in Bludhaven, right now, getting Walter back. That was the easiest to digest. Oliver was kicking ass. It was like calling the sky blue or the ocean wet. Oliver beating the tar out of people made sense, but coming back from grieving for a guy she thought was dead and knowing that Tommy's dad was in on the villainy was harder to swallow.

Finally, she got a call.

"Is he okay?" she blurted as soon as she answered.

"He's fine, Felicity," he said, sounding emotionally drained. "You can go home, now."

May 5

It was way too much. Just… everything. Being at odds with Diggle was hard, then came all the alone time with Felicity, which was dangerously difficult to handle. He thought finding out Walter was dead would be the final thing to deal with this week, but then it got worse. His mother had been so weird when he told her Walter was dead, so he followed her. Apparently: Walter wasn't dead; Tommy's dad was holding him hostage; his mother knew Mr. Merlyn had Walter. Also, his mother and Malcolm were conspirators in the Undertaking.

Then he had to pretend to know none of that when he was at the hospital. He had to pretend that all the worrying was over, because Walter was back. Never mind that his mother had been the reason for his kidnapping. All this emotional crap led to a potentially deadly slipup; he introduced Felicity as his friend. Why did he do that? His mother was in the room! Something told him it wasn't safe for her to know about Felicity. Or for any of them to know, actually. He'd never introduced her to his family and friends for a reason; she was privy to his secret and more a part of his vigilante life than anyone else. It felt precarious for anyone to know about her. Yet she'd met Laurel and his family in the past two days. So much for keeping her safely tucked away.

But the pain wasn't over yet. Malcolm was in the hallway when Oliver exited Walter's room at the hospital. He had to look him in the eye and act like he didn't know a thing. He had to contain all that rage, and when the encounter was over he even felt fatigued.

And he still couldn't catch a break! Laurel was there to see how Walter was doing, and they accidently started talking about her and Tommy. Big mistake. She said Tommy was convinced she belonged with Oliver, that he was still in love with her. He almost denied it, but then remembered how sure Tommy was about Laurel choosing him if she knew he was the Hood. That's why he broke up with her. No matter what Oliver told Laurel, Tommy wouldn't change his mind about that. And it was true, wasn't it? Well, so was Oliver being in love Laurel. And she was a better fit for him, wasn't she? She could handle herself better than Felicity, and he didn't worry about her the way he worried about his I.T. girl. So, fuck it, he decided to plant a seed. He told her he couldn't tell Tommy he wasn't still in love with Laurel because it wouldn't be true. He had enough lies in his life, and that was even truer.

Then he left to apologize to Diggle, because it was the easiest fucking thing he could fix.