Chapter Text
Fallen
The sound of feverish typing seemed to have paused, Oliver wondered; if he looked up, would he find her looking at him while he trained? He always liked the embarrassment that washed over her face as she quickly looked away and started rambling at him whenever she thought she'd been caught. But since he'd yelled at her about letting Barry in on their secret she'd seemed to spend less time looking at him from behind her bank of computers while he worked out, he knew she wasn't necessarily angry at him about it anymore but she did seem to be a little different since Barry's visit. He decided not to look up, he'd rather not know.
“I’m just running up stairs, I need to grab a bottle of water from the bar, back in a minute!” Oliver paused in his pounding of the punch bag and glanced over at her raising an eyebrow.
“You sticking around much longer? There's not much going on tonight, you could take the rest of the evening off you know…”
“It's ok, I've been working on a new way to have our system monitor the city's CCTV using a programme that can identify violence and I think I'm near a turning point in my programming so to be honest that's really more exciting than anything I have sitting on my dvr at home right now!”
She was obviously excited by this considering the speed with which she rushed up the stairs, it always made him happy to see her so enthusiastic over the work she did for Team Arrow, at least she could get some work satisfaction here, it took the edge off the guilt he still felt for pulling her into the world of Executive Assistants and away from her beloved desk down in the IT department. He knew she understood his reasoning for giving her the position, they all needed to maintain a cover and it meant them being seen together made perfect sense. What he didn't tell her was how much more balanced having her just outside his office made him feel, he could keep her safe.
Bzzzz bzzzz
The sound of Felicity's phone receiving a text pulled him out of his reverie, he started walking over towards her desk, it was probably Diggle sending an eta, after all, he should be here by now. It didn't even occur to him that he could be invading her privacy.
Freddy: Hey Lis! I'm in town for a couple of days, drinks tonight?
Oliver was frowning down at the message from the unfamiliar name on her screen when it vibrated again.
Freddy: Ur legal now right!? ;)
His frown deepened, then heard the muffled bleeping of the the pin being entered into the door at the top of the stairs leading up to the bar.
Felicity's heels were clicking across the concrete floor of the lair as he reached the bottom of the Salmon ladder deciding it was as good a time as any for a set.
Half way up he heard a little noise of delight uttered from behind the computers, glancing down after the next rung on the ladder her saw her quick firing texts with a poorly restrained grin on her face.
“Oliver?”
Having reached the top in no time at all Oliver looked down at her, hanging from one arm, the light of the computer screen bathing her upturned face really did make her look lovely from this angle, not that she didn't normally he mused.
“Hmm?” He managed to grunt before dropping to the floor.
Standing from her computer chair she was gathering her coat and bag as she looked over at him.
“I’ve decided I could really do with taking an evening to decompress, ...not that being here aaaah ...compresses me” she grimaced at herself, “I just think a little r’n’r would actually be good, I can jump right back on this tomorrow or Monday” she waved at her screens to indicate the programme she'd been fully engrossed in not five minutes before. “You'll be ok right? Diggle should be here soon anyway.” She looked at him suddenly uncertain, pushing her glasses up, a nervous tell he’d become fond of.
“I’ll be fine Felicity, I'm sure I can manage to be by myself until Diggle gets here” he smiled at her gently in an attempt to alleviate her doubts, he honestly wondered sometimes how she thought he'd coped before she and Diggle became constants in his life.
“You're sure?” She looked him in the eyes stepping closer, not totally convinced, he obviously need to work on that smile.
“Felicity, go.” he pointed at the stairs using his stern/determined face, hoping he had more practice with that one, “have a nice evening”.
That seemed to have been what she was looking for because she visibly relaxed, the smile from earlier taking over her face again as she walked away, “I’m sure I will, promise to call me if anything comes up!?”
Turning back she levelled her gaze at him, he considered asking what had made her change her mind about staying, who Freddy was, but he decided he wanted that smile to stay on her face as long as possible, he didn't see it often enough.
“Promise”
With that she spun on her heels, pony tail flying out, “Great! See you tomorrow.”
Watching her depart he saw her almost collide with Diggle at the top of the stairs, she reached up and planted a kiss on his cheek as she greeted him and said goodbye in one breath hardly breaking her stride as she rushed out to her car. Oliver stalked over to the bank of computers switching one to the CCTV feed in the parking lot, he just wanted to make sure she made it to her car safely. Diggle arrived beside him and he could tell his frown was back as Diggle looked at the computer screen then raised an eyebrow at Oliver.
“I’m going to suit up and do a patrol.”
“I thought you were taking the night off, we were going to do some sparring to work on your left?”
“Changed my mind” Oliver shot over his shoulder as he walked towards the case containing his alter ego.
“I guess I'll just man the lair then…” he heard Diggle mutter under his breath, clearly disgruntled.
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Jumping another roof gap Oliver found himself looking down across the street to the door of Felicity's apartment block. He'd tried telling himself that he'd ended up here because it made the most sense to head in this direction for the beginning of his patrol, but he felt that was a step to far in self delusion even for him and had decided he was just checking on her, making sure she'd made it home ok. He kind of wanted to get eyes on this Freddy too, his traitorous brain hadn't stopped running over the messages since he'd seen them.
Legal?! What did that imply, really?
A car (looked like a rental) pulled up outside the building, a tall dark haired guy stepped out of the drivers side a second later, Oliver watched as the guy pulled his phone out of a pocket and raised it to make a call. Glancing up at her window (so this wasn't the first time he'd checked up on her, for her own safety) he watched as a her face appeared and looked down at the street, she waved quickly but her visitor didn't seem to have noticed, maybe he didn't known which window was hers, that idea irrationally pleased Oliver.
A couple of minutes passed before he saw Felicity come rushing down the steps, rental car guy(must be ‘Freddy’) stepped forward to meet her as she barrelled into his arms, she threw her arms around his neck as he lifted her of the ground and spun her around, both laughing as she grinned at him and peppered his face with little kisses. Oliver's fists clenched unconsciously and he began to feel like he was intruding on her privacy, she obviously knew this person well and was definitely happy to see him, he couldn't really claim to be looking out for her safety any longer. As he stood to leave he saw Felicity take a step back, she'd stopped smiling and now seemed to be annoyed at rental guy as she berated(Oliver suddenly wished he'd found a closer vantage point so he could hear her) him and hit him on the chest, the object of her annoyance raised his hands in a placating gesture and said something back to calm her whilst stepping in to give her another, if more sedate, hug.
When she stepped back this time she was smiling again, Oliver noticed she was wearing a figure hugging black and pink dress, not one he'd seen before, he wonder what kind of occasion that dress would be worn for, not formal or restricting, he began to suspect dancing would be involved.
A taxi pulled up and they both climbed into the back, Felicity pulling rental guy (some how he couldn't bring him self to think of him as 'Freddy') by the hand, she seemed to be secure in their relationship anyway.
For fear of heading too far into the realm of stalker Oliver forced himself to turn in the opposite direction to the one the taxi headed in, time to find some thugs to deal with, his string finger was itching.
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Four blocks in to his patrol his wishes were answered. Below, just inside the entrance to what used to be a busy park in the now devastated landscape of the Glades, Oliver could see a girl being flanked by two guys as she headed further into the dark park. Quickly assessing the layout of both the streets and the park Oliver grabbed a grappling arrow from the quiver on his back, firing at the next building whilst taking a running jump, he was on the ground in seconds.
Taking the trees as cover he was in the park and heading in the direction he'd seen the three figures disappear when he heard a startled shriek from up ahead. Putting on a burst of speed Oliver rounded a particularly large tree to see one of the men going through the girls bag whilst the other was gripping her around the waist as he tried to kiss her, she pulled her head back and head-butted him soundly on the nose, angry, and now in pain the second guy threw her to the ground drawing back his leg to deliver a kick.
“I really wouldn't do that” Oliver intoned through the vocal modifier, he knew the voice was intimidating but he was pretty sure his reputation also had something to do with the speed at which the guy holding the bag turned and ran.
Unfortunately the one with blood pouring from his nose wasn't quite so easily cowed, adrenalin could be a great stupidity enhancer. He reached behind his back in a move Oliver was all too familiar with as he stepped forward, having a gun helps bravado too apparently.
Oliver lowered his bow, cursing his recent decision to be a better man and ‘find another way’. Looking over at the girl as she picked herself up of the ground “Run” he ordered her.
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Felicity couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun, really, truly, just relaxed. True she had felt a little guilty leaving Oliver alone at the lair after saying she would be staying to work into the night but then Diggle had been there as she left so it really wasn't like Oliver was going to be alone, she was pretty sure actually that Diggle had talked about plans to improve Oliver's ability to fight leading with his left, what ever that's about. He'd be fine.
And she was just so happy to see Freddy, it felt so good to get that bear hug she knew so well and they had so easily fallen back into that natural closeness she was afraid they would have lost after so long, and after...everything.
If she'd maybe checked her phone half a dozen times since getting in a taxi with Freddy then that was because she wanted to make sure she wasn't needed at the lair in the event something Arrow-y had happened.
Freddy had just stepped outside to take a phone call so Felicity had taken the opportunity to tear herself away from the dance floor of the club they had ended up at in order to grab them some drinks from the bar. Squeezing her way through the crowd to the bar it didn't take her long to get the attention of a cute bartender and she yelled (using her loud voice to the fullest) over the thump thump of the bass to order another beer for Freddy and the greenest looking cocktail the bar served. At the bar level there was a window to the left that looked out to the street, she could see some girls walking past laughing and Freddy's back with the phone held to his ear from her vantage point as the cute guy behind the bar mixed her cocktail. Glancing up at the buildings on the far side of the street hoping for a glimpse of the moon, her breath caught in her throat as she suddenly saw a familiar silhouette. Flashing her best smile at the bartender she motioned that she would be back for the drinks in a moment.
***************
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Oliver knew he'd almost crossed a line with that scumbag, there was blood on his knuckles but at least the only arrow he'd loosed had served purely to pin the guy to that tree by his hand, he was sure he'd live, well...pretty sure. He thought calling Detective...sorry, Officer Lance with the location was more than the creep deserved to be honest but he knew it was the right thing to do.
He felt pumped up and exhausted at the same time, it was a feeling he'd become familiar with over the past six or seven years, but it still left him unbalanced, he hated feeling unbalanced. He wasn't in the right frame of mind for patrolling anymore tonight, he wasn't sure why and he didn't really want to think about it. He should head back to Verdant, Diggle was probably wondering why he wasn't answering the comms by now, or his phone for that matter. Before he headed back though he wanted to make sure Felicity's night was going more smoothly.
Oliver pulled out his phone and quickly logged into the GPS tracker Felicity had set up on all of their phones when he'd got back from the Island a second time, so they would all be able to know where the other two were instantly in the event of a problem she had assured him, he was quietly convinced it had more to do with her peace of mind about him running off again however.
But he hadn't complained, it had its uses.
*************
Twenty minutes later he was looking at the front of a popular club on the other side of town. Why hadn't she gone to Verdant if she wanted to dance? Maybe she didn't want him running into Freddy(still rental guy).
Speak of the devil, Freddy came walking out of the club bringing his phone up to his ear. If he were being objective Oliver would have to admit that Freddy was a good looking guy even from this distance, he was tall and well built, his dark hair was close cropped and his face clean shaven. He had an open demeanour, held himself with a kind of poise and confidence and his face carried an easy smile, he could see why Felicity liked him. That didn't mean he had to like him though.
He was pondering on how he would be able to get a chance to see her so he could head back to Verdant with peace of mind when a group of giggling girls up the street drew his attention.
Apparently they hadn't escaped Freddy's attention either, he watched him turn to face the girls as they walked towards the club, he hung up the phone as they passed, said something that Oliver couldn't hear that stopped the girls and had their giggling directed at him, he was obviously flirting with them now, if there's one thing Oliver hadn't forgotten during his time on the Island it was that body language, he was all too familiar with it, though it was always him making those moves back then.
Oliver wondered what Felicity would think of her date now if she could see him.
Date.
He realised he was thinking of this as a date, that stopped him short and he became instantly aware that his right hand had drifted up towards the fletchings poking over his shoulder.
He really needed to get back to Verdant.
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Felicity smiled at the group of girls entering the club as she stepped out onto the street. She glanced up at the building opposite and scanned the rest of the horizon with a puzzled look.
“You ok 'Lis?”
“Hmmm?”
“Hey, what you looking for.” He asked touching her arm and dragging her attention away from the skyline.
“Oh, nothing, I just remembered reading something about a full moon tonight and thought I'd try and see it.” She glanced up at him trying for a natural smile in the hope he wouldn't press it. She must be seeing things.
“Oh, cool” he looked up at the sky “nah, too much cloud” he looked down at her hands, “hey where's those drinks you promised me? I thought you said you were gonna treat me right if I came to visit!?” His playful tone made her smile.
“Hey, you turned up unannounced, that wasn't part of the deal, you can't expect too much of a girl after two years!” But she was laughing and pulling him by the hand back to the bar, “Don't worry, I may have developed abandonment issues but I still love you Freddy, drinks are waiting for us inside”.
She waved down the cute bartender as soon as they reached the bar, he winked at her and handed over her order, she mouthed thanks as she handed him the note and refused the change he offered.
Turning to pass Freddy his beer her phone started vibrating in her pocket, pulling it out she saw Diggles caller ID flashing up on the screen, she motioned at Freddy to head back to the dance floor and told him she'd just be a minute, she hope she would anyway. Stepping back to the door she accepted the call.
“Hey Digg', every thing ok?”
“Yeah, fine don't worry there's no nefarious deeds for us to foil you can relax, I just wanted to speak to Oliver.”
“Oh, I see, you don't love me for me, just what I can do for you” she teased, maybe she was getting a little drunk.
She heard Diggle chuckle over the phone, “you know I love you for all that you are Felicity, I just wanted to check in with Oliver that's all and he's not answering his phone”
She frowned at that, “I though you guys had a sweaty training evening planned? Sorry he's not here Digg, should I be worried?”
Diggle seemed to pause, this wasn't making her feel any better. “No, no” he said suddenly “no need to worry, my mistake, he popped out for a quick sweep of the glades, he's probably heading back now and is just too busy jumping from building to building to listen to me pestering him”
“Ok, but Digg'?, you call me if you don't hear from him in the next half hour, yeah?”
“Yeah of course, you enjoy your night, ok?”
Feeling a little better Felicity hung up and headed back into the club to find Freddy and enjoy the rest of her night off like Diggle had suggested, secure in the knowledge he would let her know if Oliver didn't reappear soon.