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The night had been going so well until it all went to hell.
The team had successfully investigated, and were on their way to stopping, Anarky’s plans for the Star City local government. The team had been busy for most of the week, thoroughly scanning the homes of politicians for bombs and disarming what they’ve found.
After reverse-engineering a few "sample" bombs, Felicity had been able to discover that all the bombs had a digital switch that allowed Anarky and his followers to detonate those bombs through a simple PING over the mobile networks in the city. They also observed that all of the bombs were attached to various light fixtures around the homes.
“Fitting”, Felicity had told the team, “Part of the clue had referred to Thomas Edison’s invention”
As a result, the team had been able to focus and automate their bomb scanning tactics with a use of modified scanners that identified suspicious devices that emitted signals.
It had all gone well. Tonight’s mission was focused on disarming all the discovered bombs in City Hall, then handing the bombs over to SCPD.
Oliver had just finished disarming the last of the bombs that they found hidden all over the lights in City Hall when he heard the unmistakable ticking sound coming from the Mayor’s Office.
He opened the door to the office to see what looked like a home-made bomb with an analog clock ticking.
“Everybody, OUT!!!” Oliver shouted into his comms unit before running as far away as he could from the source of the ticking sound.
He spotted Felicity by the City Hall lobby with one of the modified scanners in her hand, waving it towards the grand chandelier. He frantically picked her up without a word as he rushed out of the building, sensing that the rest of the team were running behind him.
“Oliver!” Felicity screamed, clutching Oliver’s shoulder in panic, as a loud exploding sound was heard from the back of the building.
“We have to go,” Digg announced from Oliver’s left, running towards the van with Thea and Laurel behind him. Sirens can be heard getting closer to them.
“I’ve got you,” Oliver murmured to Felicity, breathing in relief as he kept her aloft in his arms as he ran to his Ducati, “Felicity’s with me, Digg.”
“Copy that,” Digg responded.
—————–
Oliver and Felicity got to Thea’s loft before everyone did.
“Are you all right?” Felicity asks, running her eyes and hands all over Oliver’s body, checking for injuries.
“I’’m good,” Oliver says, running his eyes and hands all over Felicity’s body to check for injuries, “You?”
“Good,” Felicity sighs, stepping closer to Oliver to put her arms around him in relief and gratitude, “It could have gone so wrong …”
“Shh, shh,” Oliver murmurs, pressing his lips on her right temple, stroking his hands up and down her back in comfort.
“We have to see the reports, call SCPD, find out what happened,” Felicity insists, pulling away from Oliver so they could focus on what happened tonight.
“Yes,” Oliver nods, pulling her back in his arms, “Just – give me a minute.”
Felicity closes her eyes as she burrows her face unto Oliver chest, sighing, “Just a minute.”
The rest of the team finds them in that position.
“What the hell was that?!?!” Laurel screams as she enters the loft.
“What?” Felicity frowns as she and Oliver pull out of their extended hug to face the livid woman.
“Laurel–” Thea warns softly, extending an arm out to stop the older woman.
“I thought your scanners worked, Felicity!” Laurel accuses, “You –”
“They did,” Oliver growls, standing beside Felicity, “It was an analog bomb. Nothing like the ones we’ve gotten in the past. The scanners Felicity made worked with the other kind of bomb. We –”
“Of course, you would take her side,” Laurel huffs, dismissing Oliver and turning to Felicity, “You were supposed to have this, Felicity! Now, City Hall is in flames! There’s panic on the streets. And I can’t even imagine what would have happened to the team, if –”
“You don’t think I know that?” Felicity responds, “I thought they were using a specific type of bomb. All we’ve collected are digitally-detonated bombs. I built scanners for that. How was I to know that they would go old school tonight?”
“You were supposed to know! What use are you, if don’t know these things?” Laurel shouts back, stubbornly folding her arms across her chest.
“Wha–?” Felicity’s eyes widen, affronted.
Oliver glares at Laurel, his hand on Felicity’s shoulder, “How dare you say that?”
“Hey, hey,” Digg interjects stepping in between the two women, and putting a hand on Laurel shoulder to stop her, "It won’t do any good to start blaming each other.“
"No,” Felicity says, stepping away from Oliver towards Laurel, “I’d like to know what the point Laurel is making here. So, you’re saying that, if I can’t predict that a terrorist would use a different kind of bomb and prepare for it, then I’m useless in the team? Is that the point? Or is it that I don’t care enough for the city and the team to develop the prophetic skills? What is it, Laurel?”
“No one is saying that, Felicity,” Thea says in calming voice.
“No, I heard Laurel say exactly that,” Felicity glares at Laurel.
“You were supposed to know!” Laurel shouts, not backing down, “That’s your contribution to our work! If we can’t rely on your information –”
“Then what? I’m useless?” Felicity finishes for the other woman, stepping back, “Look, I’m sorry that I didn’t know. I’m sorry that my scanners didn’t pick up signals from an analog bomb. And I know exactly what it could have caused us. But that was not on me. That doesn’t give you the right to question my place on this team. Or to make you say that I don’t care!”
“Felicity, no one is questioning your place in the team,” Digg says in voice that didn’t allow for any argument, shooting a warning glance at Laurel, who deflates.
“Well, I thought Laurel just did,” Felicity scoffs, turning away with a hurt but resigned expression to face her computers. “We need to check with Dete– Captain Lance, and get a status update on the situation.”
“No,” Oliver announces, moving closer to Felicity, “No, you don’t have to take that kind of treatment, Felicity. And until people in this team acknowledge how much you contribute and how much you care, we don’t have to do anything.”
“Oliver –” Felicity looks back towards him.
“We’re going home now. I won’t allow anyone to treat you this way. You shouldn’t either,” Oliver says gently to her as he puts a hand on her shoulder blade to pull her towards him.
“So that’s it? I say something bad about Felicity and you leave?” Laurel calls out from behind them.
“Laurel, shut up!” Thea cries, “You’re not helping matters. Just – calm down!”
Digg steps closer to Laurel in warning.
Before anyone can say anything more, Felicity’s phone rings.
“Detec– Captain Lance,” Felicity greets sullenly as she answers the call, “Yes, sir. Everyone’s fine. Did you see the explosive devices we left in the lobby? There’s more in the balcony on the second floor. That’s everything that we were able to scan. Yes, sir. All right. I look forward to it. Thank you.”
“The SCPD Bomb Squad is looking into all of the bombs we’ve disarmed and the one that was detonated in the Mayor’s Office,” Felicity announces to the team as puts her phone back in her pocket, her eyes at Digg and Laurel, “There are no casualties or injuries. But the Mayor’s Office is gone. The report on the detonated bomb will be available in twenty-four hours. The SCPD will make a press statement in a few minutes.”
“Good,” Oliver says, “Then there’s nothing keeping us here tonight. Let’s go home.”
———-
John Diggle hesitates before ringing the doorbell to Oliver and Felicity’s converted warehouse home. He’s only been to this place once – on the night when Oliver and Felicity figured out Anarky’s cryptic message. He had declined further invitations from Felicity after that.
He knew Felicity understood. He had wanted to keep things between him and Oliver to be just about their common work and mission, nothing more.
But today was not about Oliver, Digg reminds himself. It’s about Felicity.
“Diggle.”
Digg turns to his left to see Oliver approaching him with what looked to be a bag of groceries. The younger man was dressed in his work out gear, and Digg knew that Oliver had just come from his morning run and a round of parkour around town.
“You want to see Felicity?” Oliver confirms before opening the red door to their home.
“Yes,” Digg nods.
“Are you going to defend Laurel’s behaviour last night?” Oliver asks, blocking the doorway.
“No, I want to see how she is,” Digg says.
Oliver nods before motioning the other man towards the flight of stairs that led their living area, “She’s still asleep. She worked all night, helping the SCPD figure out the bomb in the Mayor’s Office – anonymously, of course. They’ve finally figured it out.”
“I know, Lance called,” Digg responds as he steps into Oliver and Felicity’s home.
Oliver and Felicity’s home is an impressive but very warm place, Digg observes. An open plan living area done in dark wood floors and cabinets, white brick walls and black ceilings with red, grey and white furnishings made for an inviting space. The entire place was the perfect melding of masculine and feminine design, making for a space that reflected the couple who had made this their home.
Oliver heads to the slate-top kitchen island to place the paper bag he had been carrying on it.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll start with brunch before waking Felicity up. Give her more time to sleep in,” Oliver says, “Make yourself comfortable.”
Oliver points to the Kuerig machine on the counter top near the dining area, “Grab yourself a cup, if you want one.”
Digg nods as he pulls his overcoat off and hangs it on a wrought iron peg by the doorway.
As Digg serves himself a mug of coffee and takes a seat by the dining room, Oliver prepares food for brunch. The two men share a comfortable silence – their first since Oliver and Felicity had returned.
Digg is impressed by how domesticated the entire scene was: Just a guy, cooking food for his girlfriend on a Saturday morning.
No one would ever know how dangerous that guy really is, or what the same guy and his girlfriend were dismantling and disarming bombs last night, based on what was happening right now, Digg thinks. All you can get from this was a man devoted to taking care of his woman.
“Oliver?” Felicity calls out sleepily from what Digg assumes is their bedroom from behind the wall with a fire place in the living area.
Oliver and Digg both turn towards her voice to see her stepping out of the bedroom, wearing one of Oliver’s long-sleeved grey Henleys and pyjama pants with blue telephone boxes printed on them.
“Digg’s here,” Oliver says nodding towards where Digg was seated before meeting Felicity in the middle of their living room to give her a “Good morning” hug and kiss.
“Hey, Felicity,” Digg calls out, standing from his seat as soon as the couple untangled themselves from each other.
“Hey,” Felicity smiles at him tentatively, “Are you joining us for brunch?”
She walks towards Digg for a light hug.
“If that’s all right with you,” Digg responds with a gentle smile.
“More than all right with me,” Felicity nods shyly at Digg before going to the coffee machine to prepare herself a cup.
“Felicity,” Digg starts as she takes a seat across him on the dining table, her mug of coffee between her hands. He could sense Oliver tense from the kitchen, even though Oliver had his back turned to them as he cooked brunch. Digg ignores Oliver.
“You want to talk about last night,” Felicity finishes for him with a sigh, “I should have known, and –”
“Felicity, no,” Digg interrupts her, reaching a hand out to grab hers, “None of it was your fault. It was unreasonable to expect you to have known about that bomb. It was horrible that Laurel blamed you for it. And, I understand why you were upset.”
“Oh,” Felicity looks at Digg with wide eyes.
“Do you really think I believe that it was your fault? That I support what Laurel said?” Digg asks in confusion, “That I think that you’re only useful in the team because of the information that you can provide us?”
Felicity looks down, her gazing focusing on her full mug of coffee, “Well, I’m not a fighter, so yeah, I’m only as useful as the information I can provide.”
From the corner of his eye, Digg could see Oliver turn to face them with a scowl, moving towards them. Digg gives the other man an imperceptible shake of his head, causing Oliver to stop in his tracks and nod towards Digg with a clear, “Fix this” warning in his eyes.
Digg turns his attention back to Felicity, “I don’t believe that. Yes, the team needs all the information and the technical skills you have – we’re better for it. And yes, we each have roles in the team. But, Felicity, your value in the team, to me, is more than the intel you gather and your scary tech skills.”
When Felicity doesn’t meet his eyes or respond, he knew that the drama between Laurel and Felicity last night had cut Felicity deep. He thinks back to the time when Felicity doubted her value to the team when Sara seemed to adept at science-y stuff as well. This time though, it was about her doubting her place in his team, his life, and not Oliver’s.
Digg realises that he let his bitterness over Oliver affect his friendship with Felicity, limiting the time that he spent with Oliver has extended to him not spending time with Felicity – despite her multiple invitations. He allowed his grudge against Oliver to colour his relationship with Felicity, leading her to think that he didn’t value her and their friendship anymore. That he valued his new teammates over her.
“You’re irreplaceable, Felicity,” Digg reminds her gently.
That got her to raise her eyes to meet his.
“Remember?” Digg smiles at her.
Felicity sighs and smiles back, “Thank you, Digg.”
“You will always be irreplaceable to me,” Digg vows, “Always.”
As Felicity smiles in relief with tears in her eyes, Digg vows to remind her of how much he values her more often – and to not let the actions of Al Sahim / Oliver Queen affect his friendship with Felicity Smoak.
“Food’s ready,” Oliver announces as he brings plates of food to the dining table.
Felicity smiles softly at Oliver, standing up to relieve him of some the plates, “Challah, mushroom omelette, cheese danish – You had time to make these this morning?”
“I froze some of the danish from last week, remember? Just popped these in the oven to warm,” Oliver smiles back at her, tilting downwards to peck her forehead, “They’re your favourite.”
In response, Felicity nuzzles her face to his chest with a smile.
Digg tries to keep his eye-rolling to a minimum as he tells himself to stop smiling at the two. He was truly happy for them.
It was time to really reconnect with Felicity, he concludes. Grudge against Oliver be damned.