Tony made sure to say goodbye to Pepper. He also made sure to get himself a meeting with the Queen Consolidated board and make sure Pepper had enough to keep her busy so he could "volunteer" to cover for her. Queen Consolidated was up for the buying but he wasn't interested in that.

"It's really only a friendly visit. I promise I won't put in a bid unless you say so. I'll just charm away, maybe suggest a possible partnership for some projects."

"You know any business propositions have to go through me. I'll just shoot down anything I don't see fit."

"Of course you will. And since it's me that's going, they'll know they're not getting into anything serious- though, they probably need my money."

He reassured her and left flowers on her desk, an overly flamboyant and enormous bouquet of red roses so Pepper thought he was just being his usual ridiculous self. Even though it was an actual business meeting he was going to, it didn't help to smooth away the rumpled feeling of guilt within as he boarded the private jet.

"Hey, Marcos. Ready to go?" Tony flipped up his sunglasses and once-over'ed the member of his security detail. Marcos stood stiffly but relaxed when Tony clapped him on the shoulder.

"Yes, sir. Pity 'Happy' Hogan isn't along for the ride."

"Yeah, I miss him too."

Tony crashed into one of the sumptuous leather seats. An attendant made a glass of champagne magically appear and then disappeared herself after Tony didn't ask for anything else. He was too busy staring ahead of him, chin on his fist as it always was when he was faced by a problem.

He pulled out the file JARVIS had put together for him.

"Felicity Smoak..."

Felicity drummed her fingers on the counter. She had just finished dealing with a snotty teen-aged guy who was obviously trying to impress her with hilariously inaccurate tech knowledge. He was also wearing an eye-searing pair of ill-fitting jeans. And then there was that elderly lady who came in to complain that her new laptop was making no sense. How the lady managed to glitch out the laptop so completely was almost beyond Felicity.

"Smoak!"

Felicity jumped and began to look like she was desperately busy before her boss could emerge from his office. Or should we call it a bear's den?

"Yes, sir?"

Barney strolled out of his office. Felicity rolled her eyes before turning around to greet him with the brightest plastic smile she could muster.

"Did you do the inventory?"

His tone implied that she wasn't even capable of doing so. You're talking to an MIT graduate, mister.

"Yes, yes, I did. I also made sure of the resupply list for the rest of the month, updated our filing system, re-categorized the records properly, and set up the schedule of the tech squad."

Felicity smiled and amped up the brightness of her smile until her facial muscles ached. She was well rewarded by the dumbfounded look on the man's face.

"Um, well, good work, then. Uh, carry on." He stuttered out.

"Thank you, sir."

"And uh, put on another pot of coffee in the back." Barney called over his shoulder as he disappeared into the back office.

Felicity's smile melted off her face.

"Sure thing." She bit out before turning back to the counter with another plastic smile to deal with a new customer who was coughing not so discreetly for her attention.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

The guy shuffled awkwardly. Felicity almost laughed. He was a broadly-built young man in a leather jacket but he looked as uncomfortable as a teenager about to be sent into the principal's office.

"Sorry, my phone broke and I'm in a hurry to replace it. My boss wanted to give me one but it was a bit over my head." He hurriedly explained.

Felicity softened. She felt a sympathy for those people who couldn't keep up in the rapidly developing tech world, even if she didn't have a problem with it. At least this guy wasn't a complete ditz when it came to it. Unlike some people...

"Simple flip phone model?"

The guy nodded.

"Coming right up." She disappeared into the store room and reappeared with a box and handed it to the man. "This baby is simple but effective for any of your calling and texting needs. You can also buy one of these prepaid cards. I'm guessing you're not from around here."

"That obvious?"

Felicity laughed. "It's the accent. I watch enough tv to know you're a New Yorker. And," She watched him pull out his wallet, "You're not careful enough with your wallet for a Starling City stomper."

"Well, that's weird because I'm a security guard. We're all about being careful."

"You're a security guard and your boss was willing to replace your phone with a really high tech one?"

"Yeah. He's good like that." He took the bag Felicity handed to him. He paused and took out the receipt. He smiled awkwardly at her before proceeding to scribble out something on it. He handed it to her.

"Um, that's- that's my number. I'm going to be in town for a while. I thought maybe I could get you a drink. And... you could meet my boss. I heard you talking with yours. You're wasted here."

Felicity wished she wasn't so prone to turning a horribly bright shade of pink. She took the receipt. "Thanks?"

It was the man's turn to become bright red.

"Only if you want to, I mean! I-uh."

"I'll think about it." Felicity hastily reassured him.

The guy looked relieved. "The name's Marcos."

"Nice to meet you, Marcos." He held out his hand to shake. Felicity took it.

"You know, you're not the first guy this week to say that I could do better than this place."

"Then it's decided! I will introduce you to my boss."

Felicity struggled within herself. She was still trying to get Oliver to reclaim his company and she didn't want to leave him now. But it didn't hurt to network.

"Okay." She said. She couldn't help smiling when Marcos broke into a wide grin. "So, who do you work for again?"

Marcos shuffled and looked down at his feet again.

"Um, between you and me... I work for Tony Stark of Stark Industries."

"Oh."