A/N: Here's another one-shot. I think I like the salmon ladder as much as Felicity. Enjoy - please leave a comment and let me know what you think. :))

Disclaimer: I'm just playing around in CW's and DC's awesome playground.

To Build a Kiss

One-Shot: Concentration

Felicity tried to concentrate on the assignment that a fellow hacker had sent her as an initiation to his organization. Oliver may have the Russian Bratva as part of his widening contact base, but she had other hackers, insanely competent hackers. As good as she was in the realm of hacking, she admitted it didn't hurt to have connections in the hacking world, so she reached out to join this group. They e-mailed her a serious hacking assignment and gave her a six-hour time limit to crack it.

Normally, a hacking endeavor, any hacking endeavor, would be a walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon for her. Felicity thought working in the lair on this initiation test would be ideal since criminal activity had been slow lately. However, she had a distraction to deal with that most hackers probably didn't see every day. She had Oliver . . . a shirtless Oliver. On his salmon ladder.

Clank . . . clank . . . clank.

She tried hard to avert her eyes from the darkened monitor to her left that was perfectly positioned so that it would reflect Oliver on the salmon ladder, but she lacked the necessary will power. She looked. In fact, she turned around in her chair to admire his . . . ability.

"Unngh," Oliver exhaled from effort as he reached the top rung. He hung there for a few seconds before dropping eleven feet to the concrete floor.

That was Felicity's cue to stop her staring. Too bad she didn't pick up on it. He reached over for his towel, swiped it under his chin to catch a pool of dripping sweat, and started toward her command center.

Felicity couldn't help but notice the sweat covering his upper body. Beads of sweat traveled down in strategic spots and hid under the waistband of the shorts he wore in a dangerously low position.

"My God, but you're sexy - Sweaty! I mean sweaty! Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty." Felicity turned beet red and turned completely around in her chair, squeezing her eyes shut and shaking her head.

"Well, truth be told, I could say the same about you, Felicity."

She looked back at him. "Wha – that I'm sweaty?"

"No," Oliver leaned toward her putting his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "that you're sexy."

Felicity's jaw dropped.

"It's true. I can't concentrate on my workouts when you're over here working on your computers, your hair whipping around as you move from monitor to monitors."

Felicity continued her state of disbelief. "I had no idea you felt that way."

"Oh, believe me," Oliver smiled, "smart is very sexy."

"Well, um . . . speaking of concentration, I am have the same problem as you tonight. I have to pass an initiation test to join a network of hackers."

"Join a group of hackers?" Oliver went into alert mode. "Is that wise?"

Felicity crossed her arms. "Is being affiliated with the Russian Bratva wise?"

"Good point," Oliver conceded. "So what do you have to do?"

Felicity turned back to her main monitor. She clicked open the window for her e-mail and opened one from the hacker group's leader.

"I have to perform a pentest."

"Um, a little help here, Felicity," Oliver smirked.

"Oh . . . penetration test. It's where a hacker attacks a computer system for the purpose of finding weaknesses in the security. Once you gain access, you can certainly do a lot more, but that's basically it."

Oliver scanned across Felicity's monitors. "That should be easy enough for you to do."

"It should be, but I am on a time limit and only have about 40 minutes left – and a little concentration would go a long way."

"Damn, Felicity – that's not much time." An idea materialized. "Hey, why don't I go for a run. I'll do six miles and you work your magic on this pentest. We can see who gets finished first. Deal?"

Felicity loved a challenge, especially when it came to her IT skills. She adjusted her glasses as she gazed across her keyboard, already in supreme hacker mode. "Deal."

Oliver loved a challenge, too, and grabbed a t-shirt, a bottle of water, and a Clif energy bar on his way up the stairs. He was a simple man when it came to working out. Music, running apps, and sports watches didn't appeal to him like they did to most fitness enthusiasts. He preferred to be one with the environment around him, fully aware of each sound and sight. Working out on a remote island for five years would do that to a person.

Oliver ran. Felicity clicked.

Oliver finished his six miles with a sub 38-minute time but waited to go back down to the lair. He knew Felicity needed to maintain her think tank atmosphere, so he drank his water and ate the Clif bar he left just outside the entrance. Feeling energized, he decided to run a quick parkour circuit in the lair's quadrant of The Glades before checking on Felicity's hacking test.

When he reached the entrance to the lair, he felt sure Felicity's time was up and went to check on her. Her feet were propped up on the computer desk. She was enjoying a glass of white Zinfandel, and a bowl of strawberries rested in her lap.

Oliver smiled. "Looks like you're doing a victory lap around the computer track."

"Oh, yeeaahhhh." Felicity couldn't help but smile back. "And it feels good, too. Not only did I pass the initiation but I helped to bring down a bogus non-profit organization."

"Really?" Oliver asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Yep. Hackers can be very helpful."

"So I've noticed," Oliver grinned and Felicity threw his towel at him.

And notice, he did – but not her computer skills this time. He couldn't take his eyes off her glow from a job well done. She exuded confidence, and that woke something up inside him. Deep inside him. Not to mention she looked too damn hot drinking wine and eating those succulent strawberries with her feet propped up on the desk showing off her long legs.

He peeled off his sweat-soaked shirt and reached down to take the bowl of strawberries out of Felicity's lap. Her eyes rested on his chest, taking in the sweat that glistened across his scarred skin. He wrapped the towel around the back of her neck and slowly led her out of her chair with it.

They both felt the highs of adrenaline over their respective workouts, his physical and hers mental. Oliver pulled the towel ever so gently, closing in the distance between them and leaned his forehead against hers.

"Um –" Felicity swallowed hard.

"I told you," Oliver's voice was husky. "Smart is sexy."

He closed his lips on hers. The heat from his lips warmed her wine-chilled ones causing her body to respond. Her hands rested on the waistband of his shorts and opened her mouth to his. Their tongues met, dancing around, slow but heated as Oliver turned Felicity so that she rested up against the computer table. His hands left the towel to caress her face.

"I'm glad I could help you penetrate."

"Um –" Felicity tried again, but Oliver pulled her into another kiss before her brain had fun with his innuendo. It was a kiss, he hoped, that would last all night.