Outvoted
Spoilers: Nothing specific, but through Unfinished Business just to be safe
Disclaimer: Sadly, they're not mine.
Summary: Who would have thought that Team Arrow decides things democratically?
Author's note: Something silly that just wouldn't get out of my head. Let me know what you think!
"What do we want for lunch?" John Diggle's question broke through Felicity's tech bubble, making her realize that she was in fact hungry. It was Saturday and all three were at the lair for their own reasons- Diggle and Oliver to train and work on some new arrows and Felicity to decrypt a hard drive that Oliver had obtained the night before.
"Thai" said Oliver flipping down from the ceiling where he had been hanging.
"I was thinking burgers," Diggle replied, causing both men to expectantly turn to Felicity who finally looked up from her computer.
"Thai," She replied. Upon seeing Diggle's disappointed expression, she added "We've had burgers two nights this week and you just want to have another non-date date with Carly by ordering and picking up food."
"That's...you..." Diggle sputtered.
Felicity heard Oliver chuckle behind her and decided to do her friend a favor. "How about we order burgers if you promise to ask Carly out on a real date, preferably tonight, when you go to pick them up."
"I'm not sure-" Diggle began.
"That's a great idea," Oliver interrupted, walking up to the two of them, while pulling on a T-shirt.
"You're not planning on going out tonight." Diggle confirmed.
"Probably not, unless Felicity finds something really interesting in those files." Oliver turned to her with a questioning look.
"I'd say it's a 50-50 shot. I've gotten through the first layer of encryption, but there is so much here that even when I'm in its probably going take a while to go through everything."
"So, I'll just end up at the club." Oliver concluded. "You should take the night off."
Diggle glanced back and forth between the two of them. "Okay, what I'm hearing is that there is a 50% chance of something going down tonight. And I'm not sure Felicity can prevent you from going off and doing something stupid by herself."
"Hey," Felicity responded without thinking. "Do you honestly think I haven't considered how to stop either of you from acting like the idiots I know you're capable of being. I'm a little insulted. I have plans."
Diggle looked unconvinced. "I'm just saying that Oliver can be very determined and I'm not sure you've seen exactly how determined that can be."
"Oh please, how hard is it to drug his water?" She scoffed, and then realizing what she had just revealed, swiveled to look at Oliver with widened eyes. "Not that I would do that unless it was really really necessary...and there was sufficient time for the drug to act."
To her relief Oliver just smirked. "See, we'll be fine. Because Felicity has plans."
"Well that plan isn't going to work now." She muttered.
"I just don't think-"
"We should vote." Oliver said.
Diggle sighed in defeat as Felicity grinned, while unusual this voting thing had turned out to be a rather useful.
"All in favor of giving Diggle the night off?"
Oliver and Felicity raised their hands.
"All opposed?"
Diggle raised his hand. "I think my vote should count more since it is my personal life."
"You know that's not how this works. Congratulations we're having burgers for lunch like you wanted." With that Oliver walked over to one of the work tables and started studying an arrowhead, ending the conversation.
One month earlier-
"I am going back out there." Oliver stated.
Diggle barely paused in stitching Oliver's arm to reply, "No, you're not."
"You can't be serious. You were just shot. You're still bleeding." Felicity pointed out, deciding that while Diggle was occupied with being a medic she could attempt to talk some sense into Oliver.
"It's just a graze. And it will stop bleeding as soon as it's stitched up." He explained in that infuriatingly flat tone that she had come to associate with Oliver in full vigilante mode.
"It's on the arm you use to draw your bow." She argued back. "And as soon as you draw your bow it will start bleeding again. And what if someone gets a blood sample of the vigilante?"
Oliver pinned her with a stern look. "We just found this guy, Felicity. I have to go after him so he doesn't disappear again."
"You don't know where he is going, but we do have a better idea of how to track him now. Let me figure out where he's hiding out after tonight's little adventure and then tomorrow you can threaten him to your heart's content. After your arm isn't bleeding and doesn't have a chance of getting infected and falling off."
"How about you do that and I will try to pick up his trail."
"He ran off an hour ago. How can you possibly track him in a city?"
"Oliver, this is a pretty deep graze." The bodyguard had finished the stitches and was now taping a clean square of gauze over the wound. "Let Felicity do her thing and go after the guy tomorrow."
"Diggle-"
"Oliver." He said in a commanding tone that clearly had been developed in the Army. The two men now seemed to be engaged in some sort of staring contest.
At times like these Felicity sympathized with Diggle for having had the responsibility of talking Oliver out of his less-than-sane plans all by himself before she came along. Then inspiration struck. "We should vote."
This statement effectively stopped the staring contest with both men now looking confused, so she continued, "On whether we go after Jamison tonight or wait until tomorrow. There are three of us, so all in favor of waiting?" She raised her hand and was relieved to see Diggle follow her rather ridiculous idea by lifting his arm as well.
"All opposed?"
Oliver just sighed, finally seeming to accept that between herself and Diggle he was not leaving the lair again that evening.
"Great, so you're staying here and I get to play with traffic and surveillance camera footage for the rest of the night. Yay!"
As she hurried over to her bank on computers she heard Oliver mutter, "So we vote now?"
AN2: There is a second chapter of Felicity getting outvoted in the works!