A/N- thank you everyone for the continued support for this story! I'm really enjoying writing it and am excited to see where my brain takes it. Just a heads up, there are a few situations where italics are used for both emphasis and to signal a private thought in a characters head. I didn't want to use bold lettering for the emphasis so this is how I did it, if a single word or two words are in italics that signals emphasis. If an entire sentence or more is in italics that signals a private thought. This will apply to the entire story. I hope that doesn't get confusing! Also anytime you see the letters MSD it is an abbreviation for Smoak Tech's Medical Science Division. I didn't feel like typing that out every time I needed to refer to it. Thanks again to my beta user Felicity Danvers and to all of you for reading and reviewing!

The engine in Curtis's sports car roared as he pulled up to the Starling Grand's entryway. Through the tinted windows, Oliver could see flashes from cameras and microphones waving through the air, "What is this the Grammys?" he asked as he took it all in.

"Felicity's making the announcement of the century tonight, what did you expect?"

"I don't know," Oliver replied, "Not this," he was getting nervous.

"You'll be fine," Curtis encouraged, "Just follow my lead."

"They're not gonna try to interview me, are they?"

"Nah!" Curtis Laughed, "they only want to talk to the higher-ups, not a low-level grub like you." Oliver frowned, "Kidding! Totally kidding!" Oliver continued staring him down, "Uh- hey look it's our turn!" Curtis tapped the gas pedal and the car inched forward, when they reached the valet he applied the break, put the car in park and he and Oliver opened their doors.

"Mr. Holt we've been expecting you," the valet walked around to the driver side and gave a slight bow, Curtis dropped the keys in his hand.

"Thanks, bro!" Curtis exclaimed and gave the young man an incredibly awkward look that Oliver had never seen before. It was almost as if he was holding in some bad gas. The two stared at each other briefly before Curtis joined Oliver and they walked towards the Hotel's doors.

As they walked Oliver leaned over to Curtis and asked, "Hey, what was that face you were making at the valet?"

"It's called the smolder," Curtis replied in a somewhat hushed tone, "Its supposed to make me seem like a total bad ass, but also incredibly mysterious and exciting at the same time."

Oliver raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

"What? He was cute and I wanted to look cool! You think I pulled it off?

Oliver smiled, "Definitely!" He lied. As they entered the lobby Oliver and Curtis were greeted by a doorman.

"Good evening gentlemen, here for Ms. Smoak I presume?"

"We are," Curtis answered with a smile.

"Wonderful, if you'll make your way to the hallway at the other end of the lobby and head through the double doors you'll find the ballroom."

"Thank you, sir."

"Your welcome sir," the doorman replied and with a slight bow extended his arm ushering them on.

"Does everyone here act so, proper?" Oliver asked.

"This is a swanky place dude," Curtis replied, "We're talking pinky up when holding your cup swanky," he pretended to take a sip from a cup and extended his pinky.

"I'm not doing that," Oliver retorted.

"I'm just messing with ya," Curtis laughed and nudged Oliver's shoulder. "Just relax and be yourself, make some conversation, have a drink or two, maybe get yo flirt on with a certain superpower CEO businesswoman?" He added in a hushed tone. Oliver replied with an annoyed look, "Oh come on Oliver live a little! Hey, you were the one who told me that you think she's cute. Besides, Thea will kill me if I don't force you to have some fun tonight."

Oliver smiled, "We'll see." After weaving through another group of partygoers he and Curtis stepped into the ballroom and were greeted with the sweet sounds of live classical music accompanied by the faint roar of all the conversations going on around them. As he looked around Oliver managed to pick out a few faces he recognized as co-workers from the MSD plant, and a few more who were prominent figures in Smoak Tech's hierarchy.

"Oh look there're my friends Lisa and Jonathan, let's go say hi!" Curtis pointed to the bar at the far left of the room and gestured to Oliver.

After a couple of hours of small talk and a few drinks, Oliver was getting antsy. While Curtis and his friends all babbled away at a hundred miles an hour, Oliver was lost in thought preferring to spend his time leaning against the bar tapping his glass with his class ring. He had just about had his fill of this and decided to take the next available opportunity to let Curtis know he was catching a cab home.

"Sending out an SOS?"

Oliver turned to see a beautiful blonde woman in a wheelchair, rolling her way up to him, "I'm sorry?" She was wearing a sleek black V neck dress with spaghetti straps that ended just above her ankles. Her long flowing hair was perfectly draped over one shoulder and her big beautiful eyes were framed by a pair of thick framed eyeglasses. The entire look was just revealing enough to accentuate her obvious beauty, while still remaining conservative enough to match the class of the woman in question. Oliver had to catch his breath.

"Your ring, your glass," she pointed at Oliver's hands, "Sounds like your typing Morse code on that thing." The woman chuckled and smiled up at him.

It took Oliver a moment to realize who he was talking to, "Oh, the glass!" He reiterated and set his drink down on the bar, "I'm so sorry Ms. Smoak, I was lost in my own world there."

Felicity frowned, "Ok look, I know we just met and all but I don't let anyone call me Ms. Smoak, not my driver or my bodyguard, anyone. It's Felicity," her frown curved into a warm smile.

"Ok then," Oliver smiled back, "Felicity, I'm-"

"Oliver Queen."

Oliver was surprised, "You know who I am?"

"Of course, you're Mr. Queen."

"No, Mr. Queen was my father," Oliver chuckled.

"Yeah but he's dead," Felicity replied, then frowned after realizing what she had just said. "I'm so sorry, I don't know why I said that!"

"That's ok," it surprised Oliver to hear those words come out of his mouth. Normally the death of his parents would be a touchy subject, as it would be for anyone. In this case, however, Oliver found himself quick to overlook the slip-up. Maybe it was because Felicity was his boss, or maybe it was simply because he found her to be a very pleasant person. Regardless he didn't want to let this conversation end because of just one extremely inappropriate statement, luckily Felicity seemed to feel the same way.

"No, it isn't, I'm sorry. See I don't really have a filter between my brain and my voice box, yeah it's caused me to stick my foot in my mouth on more than one occasion if ya know what I mean." She gave him a playful wink.

Oliver quirked an eyebrow, "Sorry I don't follow."

"That was a wheelchair joke, get it? I'm in a wheelchair, my legs don't work, I can't actually stick my foot in my, never mind." She blushed and looked to Oliver's right, "Curtis!" She called. Curtis swung his head around and smiled, he excused himself from his current conversation and hurried over,

"Hey! I see you two have met, that's great!" He bent down and gave Felicity a hug.

"It was, we were having a nice conversation until I decided to treat Oliver here to a full-on display of the ramblings and inappropriate outbursts that I like to call my train of thought."

"Oh don't worry, he gets that stuff from me all the time. I'm sure he's used to it by now." Felicity looked to Oliver for confirmation.

"It's true," he replied with a smile.

Felicity let out a sigh of relief, "Curtis, just so that Oliver doesn't think I'm a complete psycho stalker, you can confirm that we do extensive background checks on all of our prospects before hiring right? Including family history?"

Curtis turned to Oliver. "Uh, yeah," he replied looking confused.

"My dad," Oliver explained.

"Ooo yeah," Curtis winced. "Dead parents, never a good topic for discussion," he mumbled.

"No shit Sherlock." Felicity thought to herself. She looked down at the floor then back up at Oliver, blushing with embarrassment. "Could we maybe pretend the whole dead dad thing never came up and try again?"

Oliver chuckled, "That would be my preference."

"Great! Give me a sec," Felicity closed her eyes.

Oliver gave Curtis a confused look, Curtis shrugged in response.

"Ok 3-2-1-," Felicity opened her eyes, "Yes Mr. Queen I know who you are, you've made quite the name for yourself over at the MSD. Curtis has told me a lot about the work you two have been doing and your name has come across my desk several times for one good reason or another. Seems like I'm lucky to get to call you mine."

Curtis whipped his head in her direction, mouth gaping. Felicity looked up at him, smiling obliviously.

"I mean that Smoak Tech gets to call you ours!" She corrected frantically. "Of course I don't get to call you mine, I mean we just met, you're a complete stranger, why would I even want to call you that. Not that it would be a problem if I did, I mean look at you-you're gorgeous." Oliver choked on his drink, almost spitting it out. "Did I say that last part out loud?"

"Sure did." Curtis cringed

As Felicity buried her face in her hands Curtis looked over at Oliver, "Ho-ly-crap!" He mouthed.

Holy crap was right, Oliver was dumbfounded, he had no idea what was going on. Was this really happening? Was billionaire Tech tycoon Felicity Smoak actually flirting with him, or at least trying to? Maybe he was reading too much into this, or maybe he wasn't reading enough. As he stood there contemplating his next move Oliver realized something, he was excited. For the first time in a long time, Oliver Queen was truly excited about something.

By this time Felicity had composed herself and begun speaking again. Oliver couldn't really hear what she was saying, he was too overcome with emotions that he hadn't felt in so long. As he watched Felicity speak his nerves began to creep up on him, he felt anxious, but in a good way. "Could this be it?" Oliver asked himself, Could these new feelings, and the beautifully quirky, bubbly blonde who had stirred them up be the change that Thea had talked about? The change she so desperately wanted for her brother? Oliver's heart lunged in his chest, he didn't want to let this opportunity pass him by like so many others had. He wanted to use this new found courage while he still had it and pursue this chance as far as that courage would allow. There was just one problem, That beautiful, quirky, bubbly blonde was his boss.

"Oliver, Oliver!" Curtis exclaimed

Oliver shook his head in response, "I'm terribly sorry, I just got light headed there."

"Uh oh, too much to drink maybe?" Curtis asked concerned.

"I don't think so, This is club soda," Oliver chuckled.

Felicity wheeled herself a little closer, reached out and touched his forearm, "Are you gonna be ok?"

"Not if you keep your hand there," Oliver thought to himself. Feeling lightheaded had been a lie to hide the fact that He was panicking inside, but if Felicity kept touching his arm like that, Oliver felt that he might actually pass out. "I'm fine, really," he inadvertently looked down at his arm and Felicity's hand resting there, he could almost feel her soft skin, his eyes were drawn to the bright red nails that adorned her fingertips. He could feel his heart rate increase, ever so slightly.

Felicity followed his gaze and realized what she was doing, she quickly pulled her hand away. "Well," She placed her hands in her lap and twiddled her thumbs, "That's good to hear," she wasn't sure but Felicity felt like she was blushing bright enough to match her nails at that moment. "Wouldn't want you passing out on me before my big speech now would I?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Oliver replied as he kicked himself for embarrassing such a beautiful creature.

Curtis sighed, he felt sorry for his friend. He knew all too well that Oliver Queen was a man of many talents, but playing it cool was definitely not one of them. "Speaking of your big moment," he turned to Felicity, "We should probably go get ready for that don't ya think?"

Felicity breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously thanked Curtis for breaking the awkward silence, "You're right, it is about that time. Oliver I'll expect to see you right up front."

"I'll have my pom poms ready!" Oliver joked, but Felicity looked confused. "It was a joke, you know pom poms, cheerleaders, I'll be cheering you on, never mind," he scratched the back of his head. "Go on up there and change the world."

"Ok," Felicity grinned as she spun herself around. She and Curtis both gave Oliver a small wave before disappearing into the crowd.

Oliver took a deep breath and let it out, he turned around, found an empty barstool and took a seat.

"Another?" The bartender called from the other end of the bar and pointed in his direction. Oliver nodded and a few moments later his drink was on its way. When the bartender reached Oliver he sat the drink on the bar, leaned in and motioned for Oliver to come closer, "Hey man, if you wanna snag a girl like that, you're really, really gonna have to step up your game.

"You saw that huh?"

"Dude I could see that train wreck from twelve miles away," the young man chuckled and went back to work.

Oliver rolled his eyes and spun his stool around to face the festivities.

As he exited the restroom Oliver heard an announcement being made back in the ballroom.

"Thank you for coming everyone, without further Adieu I give you Ms. Felicity Megan Smoak."

"Crap," Oliver muttered as he hurried back to the party. everyone had already gathered in front of the stage and the lights had been cut, a video about Smoak Tech began playing on a large screen above the stage. When he reached the edge of the crowd Oliver scooted around a few people but couldn't get much further, there were at least a few hundred people attending tonight and the crowd was dense. "Come on!" Oliver sighed in frustration and gave up. "Hopefully Felicity won't be too upset." As he watched the video Oliver became increasingly nervous, he was thinking about his earlier encounter with the aforementioned blonde beauty. Had Felicity's actions been nothing more than a genuine concern for the well being of one of her employees, or could it have been something more? This was something that was going to eat at him for the rest of the night.

Suddenly, without warning Oliver was jarred from his thoughts by someone violently shoving him aside, he fell to the ground taking a couple of the surrounding guests with him. He quickly apologized and tried to look up at the offender as they dashed past him, but because of the darkness, he couldn't make out much of anything. The faint light cast by the video did, however, allow him to see that the individual was wearing a ball cap. "Strange choice for a party," Oliver mumbled as he helped the people he had knocked down to their feet. A moment later the video ended and the lights were brought back up revealing Felicity sitting poised at center stage

Applause erupted and Felicity bowed her head in gratitude, "Thank you, everyone," she began. "This is a day I have looked forward to for a very long time, because today I stand," she paused as the crowd chuckled, "On the shoulders of many giants. Benjamin Franklin, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, and of course my father, Noah Smoak." Oliver watched closely as Felicity spoke, she handled herself like a pro up on that stage, his fast-growing admiration for her grew even more. "Their work has always been about making the world a better place, and today we get to take another step towards that goal." Another round of applause erupted, everyone raised their hands and clapped and shouted. Suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Oliver saw a few of those hands shoot back down and someone yelled, "Excuse me!" Not far ahead of him. Maybe it was his violent interaction with the stranger just moments ago, but Oliver had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

"As we all know Battery technology has been at a virtual standstill for decades," Felicity continued. "Batteries aren't lasting any longer or charging any faster than they did in the nineteen-seventies, tonight we aim to change that."

Out of instinct, Oliver began to make his way further into the crowd, as he did he noticed another commotion, further ahead than the first.

"Hey, buddy watch where you're going!" A man exclaimed.

Oliver stood up tall and over the sea of shoulders and heads he could barely make out a navy ball cap pushing its way towards the stage, "This can't be good."

Felicity pushed on, unaware of what was happening just ahead of her. "Tonight Smoak Technologies is incredibly proud to present, The Power Cell." An image of the product appeared on screen along with some text. "This is a one hundred percent recyclable battery capable of charging an electric car for thousands of miles. It can provide electricity to a home for years all on its own and right now, a single power cell is not only powering this entire presentation, but also this entire building!" Again the entire room began to applaud. "That's right! As a thank you for hosting us all these years Smoak Technologies is proud to donate one of our very first production models to The Starling Grand Hotel!"

Oliver hastened his movements, excusing himself and apologizing to people as he weaved through the crowd. The blue ball cap was still making its way towards Felicity and Oliver began to fear that she was in danger, the closer they got the more anxious he became but suddenly no more than ten feet away from the stage the mysterious figure came to a halt. Oliver froze in place, unsure of what to do next, he looked frantically from the man in the hat to Felicity and back. "She's gotta have some sort of security somewhere right? Where the hell are they?"

Oliver quickly searched the area behind Felicity and saw that there was one tall, muscular man standing at the back right corner of the stage. Unfortunately, Oliver had no way of warning him of the possible danger, his frustration grew when the bodyguard suddenly turned to his left and walked off stage.

"Where are you going!" Oliver tried to think fast, he quickly searched the entire room hoping to find more guards but had no luck. He looked back to Felicity, she was still smiling and thanking the crowd. She seemed completely oblivious to the danger she might be in. Oliver began to doubt himself, was he overreacting? Was he panicking because of a legitimate threat to Felicity's life? Or was it because that in just the few minutes that they had conversed, he had become incredibly fond of her? Should he get involved, or was he just being foolish? His doubts were thrashed just moments later when a woman in the crowd let out a terrible scream.

"Gun, he's got a gun!" Within a fraction of second others began to yell and run for their lives. Oliver, still stricken with fear, remained in place. The room began to empty and as the crowd dispersed the gunman was left in the open, knowing he'd been exposed he pulled his pistol out of his jacket and pointed it at Felicity.

"Oh my god!" Felicity exclaimed, "it's you!"

"Yes Ms. Smoak it's me, it's been a while." The mystery man cackled

Felicity turned her wheelchair and tried to wheel herself off stage, "Stay away from me!" She cried but the gunman followed her with his arm, ready to fire at a moments notice. Oliver lost his mind, Felicity wouldn't make it in time, he was going to shoot her.

"Hey!" Oliver yelled and charged the man. The offender casually turned his head and sighed as if Oliver was nothing more than an inconvenience, he swung his arm around and prepared to fire. Luckily Oliver was a strong runner and was able to close the distance before the other man could pull the trigger. Without a second thought, Oliver speared the man in the gut and slammed him to the ground.

The Offender tried to raise his gun but Oliver pinned both his arms to the floor. "Get off me!"

"Shut up!" Oliver ordered as he continued to struggle with the man.

"Make me!" The gunman cried.

Despite Oliver's best efforts, the gunman managed to free the arm that wasn't holding the gun, he made a fist and drove it into the side of Oliver's head. Oliver recoiled from the blow and shook his head, his ears were ringing violently. The gunman took this opportunity to free his other arm and suddenly a loud bang rang throughout the room. Oliver shook his head again and quickly regained his senses, he opted not to give his opponent another chance to gain the upper hand. Oliver made a fist, lifted his arm and drove it back down as hard as he could striking the so-called assassin square in the jaw.

Needless to say, that was the end of it, the gunman was out cold. Oliver closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, once his senses returned he frantically searched the room then looked up at Felicity who was still cowering at the far end of the stage. As far as he could tell she hadn't been shot, a wave of relief washed over him.

A moment later Felicity opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Oliver kneeling over the unconscious body of the man who had tried to kill her. "Oliver? Oh my god Oliver!"

"Fe-Felicity." Oliver tried to respond but he was having trouble catching his breath, he planted his foot and braced himself.

"Oliver!"

He could see that Felicity was wheeling herself to the front edge of the stage, she was calling to him but he couldn't understand what she was saying. "Felici-ty," his breathing was becoming more labored, and his ears were still ringing from the blow to his head and the stray gunshot. Oliver looked down at the floor as his vision began to blur, "what's, happening to me?" He raised his head and prepared himself to stand, he pushed up as hard as he could and almost managed to get to his feet before falling back on one knee.

Struggling he looked up at Felicity, she was waving her arms and yelling at him. He still couldn't understand her, her words sounded muffled, but he soon realized that she was telling him not to move. Moments later the bodyguard Oliver had seen earlier ran up to Felicity, he tried to check on her but Felicity pushed him away and pointed at Oliver. The bodyguard quickly jumped off stage and ran to Oliver's side, just as he was about to lose his balance Oliver felt a set of strong arms wrap around him and keep him from falling. He brought his hand up to his face and could see that it was covered in blood, but he didn't know who it belonged to. As his vision began to go black he made one final attempt to respond to Felicity before losing consciousness.

A/N- Hope you liked it! One last thing, I'm hoping the Smolder reference will land on at least one other person. I recently watched the new Jumanji remake and loved it. When I was writing that interaction between Curtis and the valet it hit me and I just had to throw it in there. Curtis definitely can't pull it off like the rock can though! Thanks again for reading!