Hey All! I'm sorry for the lack of updates but this heat is killing me and my brain cells. Thank you for all the new faves/alerts and feedbacks! I hope you're gonna enjoy the new chapter :)

Huge thanks to Hip Karma for helping me!

REPLY FOR THE GUEST REVIEWS:

Ini: It seems there's rarely anyone who likes Laurel but then I guess I don't help her case lol And yes, as you said Digg is the man, voice of the reason as always, Oliver needs him for sure. Thanks for the review :)

Tori: Oh, yes, Oliver definitely has to do something, or he'll end up with nothing left to him but I think he needs some time to realize this. Thanks for the feedback :) I hope you're going to enjoy the new chapter!

Felicity rushed towards the elevator, her heels clicked against the hard stone floor of the office. She was obviously lost in her thoughts, and in her mobile when she bumped into me. A surprised little noise escaped her lips as she almost fell back to her bottom. It seemed to become a habit of hers to do this. I reached out to steady her, taking a soft hold of her arm, not wanted to grip her too hard, and scared her even more.

"Bruce," she smiled at me surprised as she adjusted her skirt which as usual wasn't exactly too long. Most certainly, I wouldn't complain about the length of her dresses, she had nice legs. During the pool party I noted even though she had a pretty figure there was no way she'd have been trained. It made me wonder what the reason was for that. Didn't she want to be able to defend herself? Didn't the Arrow want her to be safe just in case? If she was working with me, under no circumstances I'd agree for her not to learn self defence.

"Felicity," I returned her smile, tilting my head to the side, raising an eyebrow when she quickly hid her phone behind her back. "Are you in a hurry?"

In the last few weeks I'd spent quite a lot of time at the company. It was a good excuse to be around Felicity, get to know her better. I enjoyed her company, her babbles, her sense of humour. Through all of our conversations though, there was one thing she never brought up; Oliver Queen. That was odd, considering that she shared why she didn't have a lot of friends and preferred computers over people, or that she had a stalker after her during college.

Felicity rarely spoke about her mother barely touching the subject, clear indication it was a sore point for her but she'd rather talk about that than her former boss. I asked her one time about working for Oliver but her answer was a short 'It was alright.'. I was wondering a lot if they had something more between them. I wouldn't have been surprised after the way Oliver acted towards her. He was obviously jealous but then I believe my presence angered him in general. There was always some kind of underlying tension between us.

"Ahm, yes, I have a very important meeting," she nodded, glancing away. A very important meeting... I hoped she wasn't going to get into any kind of trouble. I knew she'd been working with the Arrow for quite a while but it really concerned me that she wasn't trained.

Because she seemed to be nervous, I couldn't imagine what else she could be doing other than helping the other vigilante. I could tell she was distracted through the week. Most likely she was busy with finding a way to catch the serial killer who turned up in the city not long ago. The man was killing people in a ritual way, capturing them in churches in the name of God, and for that reason the press started to call him the Crusader. I had no doubt I wasn't the only one after him.

If I'd had any doubt about Felicity working with the Arrow, they'd have been cleared after the results of the blood sample. She was testing the blood of the terrorists, most likely trying to find out what kind of poison they used for their suicide. I knew right away what had caused their deaths, a highly toxic flower that could be found mostly in Columbia but was common in gardens as well, angel trumpet. In smaller doses it could be used to sway people's will, almost like a drug, in bigger doses though, it was deadly

Unfortunately, it wasn't rare enough to take me closer to the terrorists. However, it made me suspicious that they were maybe a drug cartel slowly working their way into the underground life of Starling. Though, that wouldn't have explained why they were going after the employees of the company.

"I see," I nodded. "Do you need a lift?" I asked even though, I knew the answer would be 'no'. She was incredibly secretive about where and how she spent her time after work.

"No, thank you," she smiled at me warmly before glancing at her phone in her hand. "Hallo?" She answered the phone, smiling widely. It must have been someone close to her because her features softened again. "I'd love to meet you, Walter but unfortunately, I have something to do tonight… maybe another day?"

I was wondering if the Walter she was talking to was the ex husband of Oliver's late mother, or it was just a coincidence. She seemed to have many attachments towards the Queen family. There was Oliver, now Walter, Oliver's bodyguard was guarding her as well.

"I'll call you. Have a good evening," she ended the call. "I really have to go now but see you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Have a good evening, Felicity," I said, watching her walking out of the building quickly, joining Mr. Diggle at the entrance.

I was getting closer to her gradually, and that was fine, I didn't want to rush anything. I had a feeling it was worth the wait for Felicity Smoak.

Diggle and I entered the lair where , Oliver and Laurel were already waiting for us. Tonight was the night when we hoped the catch the serial killer who had turned up a few days ago. We knew at the first murder that this was something else as it was obviously a ritual kill. The first was followed by another two. I managed to find the pattern. The killer was moving north through the churches, one by one, ended the life of whoever he found there during night, including a child.

The silver lining for me was that at least the press seemed to got off my case with Bruce and Oliver. The calls from the journalists became more and more rare which I was very grateful for. Things seemed to settle slowly. Oliver made peace with me working for Bruce, as much as it was possible for him to, of course. Laurel didn't try to cut my throat since the last time she came up against me, that was an improvement as well. Then there was Bruce who I couldn't help but like more with every day that passed.

However, the call I had gotten from Walter concerned me a lot. I couldn't help but think there was something wrong with Oliver's business dreams. Laurel was stressed all the time, complaining about how rarely anyone wanted to return her calls, and that the members of the board didn't want to be involved with Oliver again. I couldn't say I was surprised after how irresponsibly he had acted through his entire career at the company. The whole Isabel fiasco was just the icing on the cake.

"Felicity!" Oliver raised his voice to get my attention as I drifted again.

"Yes, I'm going to get the headsets, and we can go," I nodded quickly, started towards the desk to gather the things we would need to be able to stay in contact during the mission.

"Felicity," Oliver touched my elbow softly and pulled me slightly away from Laurel and Diggle.

"What is it, Oliver?" I asked, turned to face him. I could tell he was having a hard time saying what he wanted. I couldn't imagine what was going on. Was he worried about tonight?

"You aren't coming tonight," he said, watching me closely, clearly waiting for my reaction. I gasped, looked at him dumbly, not entirely I understood what he was talking about. I had to go with them, I couldn't imagine Diggle as the bait.

"What do you mean?" I asked, stared at him.

"Laurel is coming this time," a disappointed 'oh' escaped my lips. I couldn't help it, I felt a little bit let down as usually it was me playing the bait. "You have to understand, your face appeared on the front pages too many times lately."

"Of course, I understand," I nodded, and swallowed hard, tried to hold back my emotions. I knew Oliver was right, and that was the rational thing to do but this decision still stung. I shook my head mentally, and stepped around him to get the things they would need.

A few minutes later I watched the three of them leaving the lair, with me put back to my place behind the desk. I told Oliver after all that I didn't want to be a bait for a serial killer again. Not that it mattered when we'd been fighting against Slade. Despite my slight childish pouting I was hoping everything went smoothly for them.

I was again left alone with my sometimes disturbing thoughts. I was becoming divided between Oliver and Bruce, between Arrow and Batman. The chase after the terrorists started but it didn't seem to go anywhere. The plant was a dead end, too common to lead it back to anyone. Oliver was hunting down people underground but everyone was silent, either too terrified to share any information, or knew nothing. I couldn't help but think it would have been better if they worked together. Wouldn't it be more beneficial for both of them if they teamed up? I knew this idea would most likely never work out but a girl could hope.

"Can you hear me, Felicity?" Oliver's voice brought me back to reality. They were already at the church I thought would be the next target. He took his place across from the church on one of the buildings, and Diggle at the opposite end of the street so they'd be able to see any kind of movement.

"Yes, I'm here," I answered, watching the scene on the screen. Fortunately, I managed to get two new laptops, and a couple of other things that was highly necessary when I got paid this month. I broke into the traffic cam system so I was able to watch the street as well. "Something is coming from west."

The street was empty, it was late at night so it was easy to see someone crossing there. Laurel was inside the church, waiting for her attacker to turn up. I hoped she wouldn't end up hurt. Whether we liked each other or not, I certainly didn't wish any bad on her.

"I can see," both Oliver and Diggle replied at the same time. They didn't move though, they had to wait until the man would attack to make sure it was the right person, and not some poor soul who was looking for redemption at the night.

I watched the figure passing the gates of the church when something caught my attention in the corner of the screen. Something, or someone landed on the roof across from Oliver. I blinked a few times before I realized it was Batman.

"Damn," I mumbled, and knew this wouldn't end well. Our perfectly planned mission would become a mess if he suddenly jumped into it.

"Felicity? Is everything okay?" Oliver asked, concerned. I could tell he was worried something would go wrong with Laurel. I knew he hated to put her in danger.

"Yes, sorry… It was just my coffee," I lied through my teeth before turning my speaker off so he couldn't hear what I was doing.

I had to act quickly before something would happen. I reached for my phone, triggered the application that made the device untraceable, also the one that changed my voice, and dialled Bruce. I hoped he had his mobile with him even while he was wearing the mask.

"Hello?" I heard and saw him answering his phone. My eyes were glued to the screen, not wanted to miss anything that was happening, and put the others into more danger than necessary.

"I am… the partner of the Arrow, and would like to ask you to leave," I thought that sounded incredibly stupid but I didn't have any other idea than just to say he had to go away as soon as it was possible.

"Why is that?" He asked back, took a quick glance around himself, most likely looked for someone else there. Fortunately, both Oliver and Diggle were laying low, and couldn't have been seen from the position of Bruce.

"Because we set up a trap for the Crusader, and you are walking right into it. I ask you again, please, leave," I said as firmly as possible. Laurel let out a desperate scream, Oliver and Diggle both started towards the church quickly.

"I'll wait here," he answered before ended the call. That was fine by me. At least they had backup if something went wrong.

Luckily, everything went well. The man was insane enough to think a cross could stop the Arrow. He said nasty things to Oliver but other than calling him the minion of Satan, he couldn't harm anyone. Laurel was a little bit shaken but of anyone, I could understand the reason for it.

This night though, made me even more convinced that the two vigilantes should have teamed up. If I didn't know Bruce's number, or if he didn't listen to me they could have ended up crossing each other's path, and let a disturbed murderer run, just because they were too stubborn and proud to work together. I had no doubts if I brought up the question to either of them, they'd both say no without hesitation.