A/N: I hope this chapter is just as fun to read as it was to write!

He needed to get to QC and sit in on some performance reviews, the one thing that Walter didn't feel comfortable covering by himself since he hadn't worked with these people all that long, but there was someplace he needed to go first.

He shook his head as opened the door to the Foundry. Monday morning and both Dig and Roy were there. Dig was sitting in front of Felicity's computers, trying to make sense of one of her reports, and Roy was lazily throwing knives at a target on the wall.

"Pretty early for you to be here, Roy," Oliver commented as he set down his coat.

"Thea needed to be here for some deliveries." Oliver stopped in his tracks and stared at the boy, who sighed. "And I of course picked her up from her home with your mother at 7 am before dropping her off here and coming downstairs."

"Thanks, that was nice of you."

Roy and Dig rolled their eyes at Oliver's insistence that Thea was still a 12 year old, innocent girl.

"She's probably going to need you to cover for those deliveries though, if her bartender isn't here in time to sign for them."

"Huh?"

"She's taking Felicity to the salon today in a bit; I called her before heading over here." Oliver dug through a few drawers before finding the bag he needed.

"Everything cool?" Roy followed him to the medbay where he was unzipping the bag. Diggle hadn't moved but his ears were tracking the entire conversation.

"Yeah, she just...needs to do something. And so do I." Oliver brandished the electronic clippers in his hands triumphantly.

"You're shaving your scruff? Man, I thought Felicity really liked that?"

The look Oliver gave Roy was a mixture of disbelief, confusion, and reluctant humor. It took him a few second to catch on.

"Oh, you're going to shave your head!" Another pause. "Oh shit, is Felicity shaving her head?"

"You graduated high school, right?" Dig asked as he stood up and joined them. "You thought this through, man? Not everyone can rock something as smooth as me. And Felicity doesn't really seem like the type that needs everyone around her to be on the same page."

"I thought about it, yes. And...and it was something Felicity said, actually, that convinced me. She said that she couldn't wait to be the one with the 'shortest hair' or something."

"So?" Roy twirled the clippers around absentmindedly.

"So," Oliver snatched them back, "she's not getting it all shaved off today. Not yet, at least. And you're right, Dig, I don't think she'd want us to all have completely shaved heads in her honor. It would be too much attention for her. But…"

"But, if you get your hair cut just a little shorter than her's…" Dig smiled at his friend.

"Exactly."

"And you were gonna do it yourself? Here?"

"Well...yeah. Just a quick thing before I go to work. How hard can it be? Don't you do your own hair?"

"Hah." Dig turned very serious. "No. And I'm not gonna let you, either. I've done a few of my buddies' hair in the army and all you white boys like the same style anyway, so give it here. I'll fix you up."

"Is this going to take long?" Oliver asked as he pulled the rolling chair to the middle of the floor. Dig snapped out a sheet that they usually used for the medbay and tucked it around Oliver.

"Whoa, this is getting legit," Roy commented.

"Well, unless Oliver wants tiny little hairs in his shirt, pricking him and making him itchy as all hell, it's gonna stay legit."

"Good point," Roy murmured as he unzipped his hoodie.

"What are you doing?" Oliver asked, concerned about the impromptu stripping down that seemed to be occurring in front of him.

"I don't want to get hair in my favorite hoodie, okay?" At their looks, he scoffed loudly. "What, like you guys thought I wasn't going to cut my hair too?"

"You sure, kid?"

Roy had the longest hair out of all of them and had been known to spend a lot of time on it, making sure it looked the way he wanted. He prized his hair, yeah, but it was still just hair.

"...Why wouldn't I be?"

It was such a natural question to Roy, he honestly didn't overthink it. It wasn't a decision, as far as he was concerned: Oliver said this would make Felicity feel better, so he was going to do it. That simple.

Dig clapped him on the shoulder and Oliver was giving him some sort of strange look that Roy couldn't place.

"Good man," Dig said gruffly as he turned on the clippers. "You ready?"

Oliver nodded. Unlike Roy, he had understood that this as a decision, and he hoped against all hope that it didn't backfire. He was sure that Felicity would be a little more than miffed if they all completely shaved their heads, but he felt like this was a good compromise. An effort to make her feel better without feeling like she was impeding their lives.

He studied himself in the mirror afterwards while Roy was getting his own shave. It wasn't too short and he prayed it was just a bit shorter than Felicity's. He even kind of liked the way it looked; he had craved short hair so desperately on the island, but at his mother's insistence that he didn't try to overcompensate for anything when he returned, he had settled for a more popular style, never going too short. This wasn't too bad, he figured, running his hand over it lightly. A part of him even hoped his mom had a bit of a coronary at it.

"Check it out." Roy did a little spin as he got out of the chair before coming up next to Oliver and looking in the mirror beside him. "It's like the unofficial haircut of Team Arrow."

"Something like that, kid," he muttered before playfully rubbing the kid's head and shoving him away. "I've got to get to QC."

"You need a driver? I am gonna need Felicity's help to make sense of this. Nothing is jumping out at me."

"Sure. Roy, you wanna go upstairs and make sure Megan's got the deliveries covered?"

"No problem. I'll see you later at Felicity's! Your sister better dig my hair, man!"

Dig and Oliver left through the back, stepping out into the crisp September air.

"Wow, it's cold up here now," Oliver put a hand to his head mockingly. "Is this what you feel like all the time?"

"Get in the damn car. Hope everyone thinks you got that haircut to hide a bald spot," he muttered good naturedly. Sometimes it didn't hurt to have a boss like Oliver Queen.

"Sorry I'm late, Walter, I had to…" He floundered briefly, trying to think up a valid excuse.

"Get a new haircut? No worries, we were just about to get started."

"Just trying to look like you, you know, show you that I'm really taking my part-time CEO role seriously."

"Yes, of course," Walter commented dryly. "Shall we begin?"

It was after lunch when they finally finished the performance reviews and Oliver had given all the relevant feedback he could.

"I'm sorry I wasn't more organized," he apologized sincerely. "I usually just...I have things more together than this."

"I understand. The loss of Miss Smoak is a critical one."

The phrasing didn't sit well with Oliver and he felt as if he had to clarify. "I didn't lose her. I mean, she's still here. She's not going anywhere."

"Yes, of course, I didn't mean...actually, there is something you should know."

"About Jenkins?" He asked, referencing the last employee to leave his office.

"About Miss Smoak, incidentally."

"Oh." He swallowed hard. "What is it?"

"There has been talk...water cooler chatter, if you will, that she and you have...gone off together."

"Gone off? Gone off...where?"

"You have to understand that this sort of talk was bound to happen, what with the secretive nature of both of your absences, but I'll have you know that if there is a shred of truth to it, I will have...let's just say I will have a lot to say about it."

"Shred of truth to what, exactly?"

"They say that you have gotten Miss Smoak pregnant. And her absence is to facilitate that."

He knew his jaw dropped. He was usually much better at hiding his true reactions to such things, but he had been expecting Walter to say...well, anything except that. He had actually expected a story closer to the truth, if he was being honest.

"Walter, uh, Mister Steele - that is...that is not true. In any way, shape, or form."

"I'm happy to hear." And the man did look a bit relieved. Oliver couldn't believe that he had actually considered that to be an option! "Is she doing well, then?"

"Who?"

"Felicity, Oliver."

"Oh! Yes, she is. She's...it's a rough patch right now, but she'll be okay."

"I'm happy to hear that. Again, whenever you are able to, I'd...I'd like to personally see to it that she is okay."

And not pregnant, Oliver thought bitterly, but he just nodded. The man really did only have the wellbeing of Felicity in his mind, which was appreciated.

He quickly said his goodbyes, eager to get home to Felicity and see how she was coping with the hair setback she had experienced earlier. And, if he was honest, he wanted to see her reaction to his hair.

He decided to go to that coffee shop a block down the street to pick Felicity up a muffin she liked so much while Dig was pulling the car around. He knew that Lance had only showed up with coffee that morning and while he might lament the prices of the coffee there, he had to admit that the muffins were really good and he was actually a fan of the croissants as well.

Which was why he was particularly put out when they told him they had just sold the last croissant to a previous customer. He was paying for the muffin when he spied the behind the counter help bagging the croissant. He briefly contemplated just stealing it right then and there - they were seriously delicious - but that thought was put on hold when he saw the customer reaching for the bag.

"Detective Lance?"

The man in question took the croissant and turned and faced Oliver Queen. The same Oliver Queen who was now sporting a virtually identical shaved haircut as the detective.

"Well, this is awkward."

"Oh, this is good," Dig crowed as the two men stepped outside the coffee shop where he waited patiently beside the town car. "Did you two plan this? Call each other up and ask each other what number blade you were using? I swear, if you two start dressing identical, I'm going to look for other employment."

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Oliver gritted out.

"You have no idea."

"I think I do." He turned to Lance. "What are you even doing here? You hate this place."

"Felicity got me hooked on these damn croissants! And what are you doing here? And what's with the hair?"

"I could ask you the same thing! I saw you five hours ago!"

"And I did it the second I left after your little sister showed up."

"I did it the second I left after you showed up."

"I guess this means you didn't call each other," Dig mumbled. "Listen, are you two seriously arguing over who cut their hair first?"

"Yes!" The two men responded in tandem.

"Well, it's not the most ridiculous thing I've seen two grown men fight about."

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose. "He's right. This is stupid. We should be happy that we both had the same idea to help Felicity."

"Even if I had the idea first," Lance pointed out.

"You did not have the-"

"Dad, Ollie! What are you two doing here?" Laurel Lance stood a few feet away with what looked to be one of her coworkers from the District Attorney's office. She took in their haircuts. "Did you two plan this?"

"No!"

Oliver threatened Dig with a single finger, daring him to say something. He remained silent but his smile was growing exponentially.

"What are you doing here, hun?" Detective Lance ignored Dig and Oliver for the time being in favor of his eldest daughter.

"We just got a late lunch down a few blocks away, we were heading back to the office. I haven't seen you in so long - is this hair new?"

"Yeah, pretty new. Newer than his," he motioned to Oliver who opened and closed his mouth, wanting to rebuttal but somehow unable to do so without looking like an ass.

"Well, it looks great. Listen, I'm pretty busy with depositions this week at night, but how about we get breakfast one day before your shift starts?"

"Sure, that sounds good honey."

"How about Wednesday? We can go here, now that I know you like it so much." She nodded to the bag still clutched in his hands.

"Yeah, why-"

Oliver cleared his throat loudly, looking pointedly at Detective Lance. Wednesday mornings were his and Felicity's and if Lance wouldn't protect them then he would.

Recognition clicked on the detective's face and he backtracked. "Actually, Wednesday is no good for me. Got a meeting. How about Thursday? Or we can even do something this weekend. Whatever works for you."

Thrown off by his sudden change in heart but seeing no fault in it, Laurel agreed easily.

"I'll see you then. You two really do look cute," she teased as she walked away.

"I'm leaving," Oliver told Lance. "And we are never talking about this ever again. Not a word, Diggle."

Dig grinned at Lance as he closed the door behind Oliver.

"Felicity is gonna love this."

A/N2: Luckily, both Stephen Amell and Colton Haynes, not to mention Paul Blackthorne, have all graced us with their shaved head looks, so it requires very little imagination on anyone's part. Are they not all perfect?