DISCLAIMER: I don't own Arrow or any of the characters you recognize.
A/N: Fair warning, I like to eat. A lot. And as such, food shows prominently in my writing. I made myself literally drool writing this chapter, so perhaps it's best not to read this on an empty stomach. Sorry if I make anyone hungry.
It goes like this: Roy comes down the stairs after solo-patrol on an oddly silent night, bags of delicious smelling Italian in both hands and a befuddled look on his face.
Felicity swivels her chair around at his approach. "Is that Italian I smell?" she asks with a smile. Then cocks her head at his expression when he doesn't answer. "What is it?" she quizzes.
Roy sets down the food and looks over at her and then to Dig and Oliver who have joined them from their sparring on the mats. "Remember that group of thugs we stopped last week, that was harassing the owners of that little Mom'n'Pop Italian restaurant?"
Wiping himself down, the older man replies. "Yes..." Oliver draws out, eyebrows raising as if he's waiting for the point.
Roy simply nods at the bags. "They wanted to thank us."
Felicity and Diggle waste no time tearing into the bags and containers of pasta, sauce, and the tenderest chicken emit mouthwatering aromas. There is salad, bread sticks and sinful look chocolate torte as well.
Roy shrugs. "They wouldn't let me say no."
"I won't either, now. This stuff is amazing!" Felicity moans after dipping a finger in the sauce. She scurries to get the paper plates and napkins to dish onto, while the guys wash up.
It is a fantastic meal and no one thinks anything more of it until Roy has familiar bags in his hand a week later.
"Again?" Diggle chuckles incredulously.
Roy shakes his head and shrugs. "They wouldn't let me say no, man! Besides, Mama says she made it special for us." There are steamed mussels and linguine, excellent grilled fish and garden vegetables and decandant tiramisu.
Felicity grabs a large portion of everything but the mussels and happily applies herself to her meal. "If you don't want it, Dig, I'll eat your share," she teases.
"Oh HELL no!" he chuckles.
Oliver eats the fish and veggies but won't touch the pasta, dessert or mussels, leaving the other three to bicker over the leftovers.
Two days later it's Dig hauling down the bags before they even get started for the night. At Oliver's exasperated face, the other man raised his hands placatingly."Hey, man, YOU try telling a sixty year old Italian woman 'no', when she's shoving food at you."
"Did you at least pay for it?" Oliver asks.
Diggle gives him a 'duh' look. "I tried," he offers. "But you'd think I ran over their dog or something. She said the least she could do was make sure Starling's heroes were well fed."
Oliver barely manages to avoid rolling his eyes.
"It is kinda interesting the way they keep balanced meals for you guys," Felicity tosses in her two cents as she helps relieve Dig of his bags and unloads them on the table. "Lean protien, good carbs, veggies..." she trails off after opening a box containing cannolis. "And a little bit of heaven for dessert," she coos.
"The Arrow'll talk to them," Oliver decides. "One meal as a thanks, I get, but this is getting ridiculous."
"Really weirds me out when you do that, man," Diggle sighs then turns his attention to the food.
Oliver is scowling as he stomps back through the lair later that night. Diggle is grinning broadly, so Felicity is relatively sure it's not actual Arrow related business.
"Oliver went to talk to the Italian owners," John tells her, casting an amused eye on the man in question, as he is putting away his things. "He didn't even get three sentences in before Mama told him to stop being stupid and if it was his job to save this city, it was hers to make sure he had the fuel to do so and trying to pay her was insulting. Someone from Team Arrow is expected on Monday nights from now on, to grab dinner."
The blonde glanced at the vigilante with a smile. That must have been priceless. She wonders if the restaurant has any security cameras she can hack into, purely to see if she can catch the expression on Oliver's face.
"By the way, they know we have a member with a nut allergy, so no worries on there."
No, the only worry is continuing to fit in her clothes for work, so Felicity has Dig up her training in self-defense and tries to squeeze in an extra cardio DVD in her free time. She doesn't really regret it, when it means that on Monday night, she's guaranteed a hot meal and the very real possibility of leftovers. It only gets better when Oliver finally caves and starts bringing some fabulous wine they keep down in the lair for Mondays.
Felicity wants to thank them, but as the boys have pointed out, Mama almost takes personal offense to the idea that she is doing anything but her job, so the blonde leaves glowing reviews on Urban Spoon and Yelp, and leaves an anonymous request to the local food critic to check out the place. It's the least she can do for the woman who's brought their team a little closer together.
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