INTRO

1 year before the Queen's Gambit

CIA Langley Virginia

She pulled up to the gate and the guard asked for the young lady's ID badge. The guard looked at her badge and handed it back to her. "Have a good day." The guard motioned her on.

She felt her stomach turning and knotting up. She was fresh out of the academy and she was already stationed at Langley. She could feel her hands sweating from excitement or just being nervous on her first day as an agent. She climbed out of her car and took a moment to look at the CIA home office.

Okay, this is your first day and you will impress them with what you can do, she thought to herself. She walked through the doors and went to the front desk. "Hi, I am..."

The receptionist did not give her a chance to finish. "Yes, they are expecting you. Please go down the hall to your right and take the elevator to the 3rd floor. Go left and to the fifth door on the right."

"Thank you." The receptionist gave her a smile.

She stepped out of the elevator and proceeded to the room. She open the door and saw a gentleman sitting at the end of a long table.

"Welcome to the Central Intelligence Agency. I am glad you decided to join us.", Weston said.

"Thank you, sir"

"Well let's get down to business. I believe we have the perfect first case for you given your unique talents." He handed her a folder with her first assignment. "This will most likely be a long-term assignment. Normally, we do not give such long-term assignments to new agents, but you are the best when it comes to hacking and frankly we need the best. You will be stationed in Starling City. You will be working for Queen Consolidated in their IT department for network and cyber security. Your job is to hack into their system and find out all you can about Robert Queen and his associates. You will also need to hack into their personal network in their home.", Mr. Weston said.

"I can do that sir, no problem at all."

"Yes, well considering you hacked into the NSA's network when you were 13 we Knew it wouldn't be a problem. We have information to suggest that Robert Queen has known associates that are connected to terrorist organizations and organized crime such as the Triads. We have your new job starting, this Monday. Whether this is a long-term project or not depends on what you can find on their network computers."

"Thank you, that will be all."

"Thank you, sir. I won't disappoint you."

Chapter 1

6 months before the Queen's Gambit

Felicity is frustrated. For the last 6 months, she has scrubbed the Queen Consolidated network, rewrite the code, install new firewalls, change data and anything else people needed to be done. Felicity raised out of her chair to get some coffee. As she was walking back to her desk, she notice one of the maintenance workers was pushing some hard drives in a cart. and their computers for any evidence related to her case. "Excuse me, where are you taking these?"

"To the I.T. room."

"Okay, thanks." Felicity sat down at her desk and watched as he took the hard drives out and placed them on the side.

"Here you go Jimmy. Mr. Queen wants all of these scrubbed."

Jimmy signed off on the paperwork and Felicity watched the maintenance worker leave.

"Hey Jimmy, you need some help?" Felicity asked.

"Sorry, but I am the only one who can touch these drives once they are signed off to me. Do not get me wrong, I wish you could. I would finish a lot faster."

Felicity stared back at her screen. She did not know what to do next. "I be right back." Jimmy did not hear her. Felicity walked into the women restroom and checked all of the stalls. When she saw she was alone, she locked the bathroom door. She reached in her purse to grab her phone and turned the camera on and scanned the room for any listening devices. When she saw the room was clean she started to dial.

"Mr. Weston, I have not been able to find any evidence as related to what you are looking for. What would you suggest I do?"

"Just as expected, Robert Queen is smart not to have any evidence on computers. No wonder his company is a Fortune 500. We thought this much, but we had to be sure. You will still need to get close to the family. Robert Queen could have the evidence in written form or on a hidden laptop within his home which means you will need to gain access to the house. He has a 22-year-old son, named Oliver who has a reputation of being quite a ladies man. You will need to gain access to the house through your relationship with Oliver by any means necessary."

"Yes, sir I will do that. Thank you, sir."

"Ms. Smoak we will increase your spending limit on the company card so you can buy clothes to entice a billionaire playboy like Oliver Queen. "

"Thank you."

As she left to go home, she felt slightly disgusted. She knew this type of assignment would eventfully be thrown in her lap. What bothered her so much was that she was 20 years-old and still a virgin and Oliver was used to having one-night stands on a regular basis according to the tabloids. She had to play this very carefully. Felicity had to somehow get Oliver to like her and perhaps become good friends first. Felicity was not ready to engage in a sexual relationship, maybe she can use her innocent look to her advantage, she thought. If he liked her, he would surely wait for her for some time and she can drag the relationship out to have time to search the house.

She sat down on her couch with her favorite ice cream, mint chocolate chip, and put in the next season of Star Trek Voyager. These two activities were her favorite thing to do especially when she is stressed out and trying to figure something out. She had to figure out a way for Oliver to notice her besides as a girl who is working for his father. I know, I will hack into his computer and put a virus on it to go off around 11 am. Hopefully, he will go to his dad to get his computer fixed. She then digs out her laptop and gets to work programming the virus and hacks into Oliver personal home computer. She looks at the computers on their home network and sees the one named Oliver. People should really not name their computer's with their name, she thought. It really makes my job too easy when there are multiple computers on a home network. She puts the virus in place and goes back to her favorite activities.

The next day Oliver is up early trying to finish his paper that is due to turn in at 4 pm Monday. He can't wait till he is finished. Oliver had no choice but to finish this paper. His father threatened to take his car away from him and give it away for free. At least he will be able to relive some stress. Since it is Friday and Tommy and Oliver usually hit the clubs on Friday. Well at least there is something good about Laurel and I being broken up, he thought, I can have any girl I want tonight. Oliver gets back to work. It is almost 11 am and he only has one more page to write. It is amazing I am not waiting until the last minute like I usually do. But then again, I never had my favorite car threatened to be taken away from me. My dad better be proud of me this time for actually trying to get a decent grade in this class, Oliver thought to himself. However, Oliver knew he was really doing this just to keep his car. This paper I'm writing has become more of a hassle than I thought. Well, at least I am almost finished with it. At that moment, there was a knock on Oliver's bedroom door.

"Mr. Oliver, lunch will be ready in 15 minutes", Raisa said.

"Okay, thanks. I'll be down in a bit."

Oliver looked back down as his laptop and continue to working on his paper. After about 15 minutes all of the sudden the screen went black. "Oh, No! What the Hell?!", Oliver said starting to freak out.

"What's wrong Mr. Oliver? Is everything okay? I heard you yelling.", Raisa asked with worry in her voice.

"I think my computer just crashed. This is not good. I have a paper that I need to turned in Monday."

"Mr. Oliver, I wouldn't touch it. My late husband always said that when a computer crashes you shouldn't try to troubleshoot it, unless you know what you are doing. Because you can damage it more. I think you should talk to your dad. He may know someone that can fix it. "

"Thank you Raisa, what would I do without you?"

Oliver decides to take his Porsche instead of having the Queen's driver take him to Queen Consolidated. He loves his car, but he was thinking about getting a new model. After all, he has already had it for a year which was longer than all the other cars he had. However, if he cannot retrieve his paper, he will not have a car to trade in and his father will not give him the money to buy a new one. As he pulled up to the building he realized that he was on edge. He was worried that he had lost all of his hard work. He got in the elevator and went to the top floor. Hoping his dad was in his office and not in a meeting because he really needed to get to the bottom of what was wrong with his computer.

"Dad, I need help. My computer crashed and I have a paper turned in Monday. Do you know anyone who can help me?", Oliver asked with desperation in his voice.

"Yes, I do. Do you know where the IT department is?", Robert asked.

"No."

"Well, get in the elevator and go to the basement and ask for Felicity Smoak. I believe she will be able to help you with anything you need. I would go with you myself, but I have an important meeting in 5 minutes"

"That is fine. I'll find my way. Thanks again Dad.", Oliver said as he rushed to the elevator and pushed the basement button. Why is the IT department in the basement?, he asked himself. Must have something to do with security, he reasoned.

Oliver stepped out of the elevator and saw a young blond woman with glasses with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Oh yeah, I will have her eating out of my hands. I know I can convince her to help me. Oliver thought.

"Hello, Felicity Smoak?", he asked as a blond girl with glasses with a red pen in her mouth as she looked up.

"Mr. Queen, Hello...um...um. What can I do for you?"

"Mr. Queen is my father, please call me Oliver.", he said smiling.

"Okay...Oliver, how may I help you?", she looked at him and realized that the tabloid pictures really did not do him justice. He was much better looking in person, she realized.

"I have a paper that is due on Monday and my computer crashed. I am hoping you can recover it. If I don't turn in that paper Monday, then I will fail the class and will probably get kicked out of my fifth college."

"You been kicked out of four colleges?", it was a rhetorical question. "Well, I can see how your dad might possibly kill you if you get kicked out of a fifth one. Don't worry, I'll do my best. If it is recoverable, then I am the one who can do it."

"What if it isn't?", he asked.

"How many pages is your paper?"

"10 pages. It is on Shakespeare's Hamlet. By the way, which was a little hard to understand, but I think I got the hang of it. Of course, it might have been easier to understand, if I hadn't had two beers at Hooters with my best friend, but oh well."

"Yeah, you probably should not be drinking when you have to study or have homework. It affects comprehension.", she said with a chuckle that made him smile. "Look don't worry. If I can't recover it, then I'll help you rewrite it. You won't be late turning in your paper. I guarantee it", she said. Why in the world am I offering to help him? But he does look kinda charming standing there. I am really a sucker for helping people, she thought to herself. However, Felicity knew this was also a way for her to get close to Oliver.

"How is that possible? It took me days to write that paper."

"Because I'm a genius. My IQ is 160, same as Albert Einstein's. Not to brag or anything. Just trying to prove that you have nothing to worry about. Now let me see your computer.", she said as he handed her his laptop. She turned it on and accessed what looked like some configuration screen. Something Oliver has never seen before.

The phone started to ring and Felicity answered.

"Ms. Smoak?" It was Robert Queen.

"Yes, yes sir?"

"Has my son found his way to you yet?"

"Yes sir, he standing right here with his laptop."

"Good, do not worry about any projects at this moment. Help my son and take long as you need too. It is important for my son to complete this assignment. I am hoping it will help him in the future and learn how to commit and not quit."

"Yes sir, I will do my best." Felicity hanged the phone up and started to hook Oliver's laptop up to her computer.

"What are you doing? Are my files still there?"

"It is best that I run some diagnostics on it first before trying to access anything on the hard drive. I don't want to cause any damage.", she said as she hooked the laptop up to another computer. "This is going to take about two hours or so. Are you hungry?" she asked, "I was just about to go to lunch, would you like to join me?", hoping he would say yes because she really was hungry.

"Actually, I am. What would you like to eat? Oh, and it is my treat which is the least I can do for you fixing my computer. "

"Do you like hamburgers?", she smiled. Oliver looked at her and he realized that he liked it when she smiled. She had such a young innocent look about her. Something different than most girls he met. It definitely intriguing to him.

"Yes, I do."

"Great. I know the best place. I'll drive." Felicity said with a slight smile. She chuckled. I bet the Rich playboy probably never even thought about going where we are going. Well, it should be an enlightening experience for him, she thought.

They walk out into the parking garage and head toward her red mini copper. "I have been wanting to go to this place for a while, but since it is a little far from Queen Consolidated, it is almost impossible to get back to work in my lunch hour. But since we need to kill some extra time, it is perfect."

"Where is located? Outside of Starling?', Oliver asked now being intrigued.

"Here's my car...um...I think you will fit, seeing that you are really tall, but just try it. How tall are you anyway?"

"6'1" and I am sure I will be fine, but if you are worried we can take my Porsche. ", he smirks thinking she would love to ride in his fancy car. All girls love it anyway which is why he loves showing it off so he can impress them.

"Um, No, we can't. Not where we are going. Nope, you definitely don't want to drive your car where we are going."

"Okay, now you got me worried. Where we going, Felicity?", he asks as gets into the tiny car.

"You'll see.", Felicity pulls out of the parking garage and starts driving to the Glades. She is at a loss for words for once. He looks so uncomfortable sitting next to me. Oh well, he will get over it. I wonder if he works out? Looks like he does, considering how that shirt fits. Felicity, get your mind out of the gutter. He is an asset to the job nothing more, she scolds herself.

"Felicity, this looks like the Glades. It is not safe for me to be here. The people in the glades generally hate my family because we have money. Can we go somewhere else?"

"It will be fine. Trust me. Besides Luiz, the owner, is a really nice man. I am sure he won't have a problem with Mr. Queen eating as his place."

She keeps driving for another 20 minutes. "We are almost there."

"Okay..."

"Here we are. Big Belly Burger. They have the best burgers and shakes in town."

Oliver and Felicity climb out of the small car. As they walked in, Oliver could not believe he was going to eat at such a place. Especially in the Glades. Tommy is never going to believe this, he thought to himself.

"Oliver, you have never been to a place like this, have you? I bet you only eat at restaurants that are 5 stars."

"Yep. It is sad really. My family won't be caught dead in a place like this. Their words, not mine. My family's view of the Glades is that we would get mugged or the press having a field day with me spending time in the Glades."

"Well getting mugged might be true if you were out in the Glades at night. But really, is your life under that much scrutiny by the press? Why would they even care?"

"You'd be surprised. It seems whatever the Queen family does is like front page material to them. I've grown used to it, but sometimes it gets tiring. Especially, when I take a girl out on a date a few times and the press gets wind of it. She gets spooked and then she stops dating me because she doesn't want to deal with it. "

"I never really listen to the tabloid stuff. Although, when I heard you stole that taxi. That was kind of funny. "

"Yeah, well I wish my parents thought if was funny. "

"You should know that when you find the right girl she won't get spooked. I think it just showed that those girls weren't really into you like you thought. Someone who really cares about you would stay and want deal with the press with you so you won't have to deal with it alone."

"Wow, you are really smart you know that?"

"So I have been told."

As they were smiling at each other Oliver knew there was something about her. Something that he liked. She definitely was nothing like anyone he has known before. But perhaps that was a good thing. Maybe he was dating what was expected of him and not what girls he should. Only time would tell.

Oliver and Felicity ordered and then sat down when their food came up. Oliver and Felicity sat there eating their food, talking and laughing. Oliver took the last bite of his burger and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Damn, that is a great burger."

Felicity started to laugh. "I told you it was." Felicity looked at Oliver again and started to laugh more and almost fell out her seat.

"Felicity? What...?"

Felicity pointed her finger at him with one hand and touch her nose with her other finger. Oliver grabbed a napkin and wiped his nose and saw he had muster on the tip of his nose. "What the? How long was that on my nose?"

Felicity started to laugh more. "Since you took your first bite." Oliver looked at the napkin and started to laugh out loud himself.

"O my gosh, the press would have a field day with this." Oliver took a drink and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"Well, we should probably get back. I am on the clock since I work for your father."

"Well at least you have a good excuse."

"And what is that Mr. Queen?"

"You're with me, of course." Oliver said while smirking.

"And how many girls have used that excuse with?"

"Well, Ms Smoak I am a gentleman and shouldn't kiss and tell, but if you let me take you out on for dinner sometime maybe I will."

"Well, Mr. Queen are asking me out on a date?"

"Umm...let's just say that this is a fact-finding mission where you can find out everything you want about me." Oliver says smiling from ear to ear.

"Why Mr. Queen that sounds like an offer I just can't turn down."

"Great. How about Saturday night at 6:00?"

"Sounds perfect, I look forward to it. But let's get back to the office. The diagnostics should be done with your computer."

Back at Queen Consolidated Oliver watches as Felicity's fingers fly over the keyboard.

"Yep. Just what I thought. You had a virus. It was actually very nasty virus. One that can't easily be removed with virus software. It was actually deep in your system, but I remove every trace of it. I also upgraded your system with the latest windows updates. You are good to go."

"You are remarkable, Felicity."

"Thank you for remarking on it. Oh, here is my address for Saturday night."

"I guess I'll see you Saturday then."

"Yep. I have to get back to work and you need to finish your paper."

Oliver leaves with a smile on his face. This girl is something else. Definitely one-of-a-kind.

Later that night Felicity walked in her apartment and laid her keys and purse down.

"Miss. Smoak!"

Felicity reached behind her back while turning and pulled her gun out. Felicity raised her gun pointing toward the man in the corner. "Mr. Weston?"

"Take it easy Smoak. I figured this was safer than using the phone." Weston said.

"Unless you get a bullet into your head." Felicity replied.

"Well, I can see your point on that. Anyway, I am here to see how your investigation going."

Felicity put her 45 on the table. "I have made contact with Queen's son. If I rush this relationship then his mother will be sure to find a way get rid of me. I have already found evidence that Moria had paid a woman 2 million dollars that Oliver Queen got pregnant to leave town and tell Oliver that she had lost the baby."

Weston looked out Felicity window. "I see. Do you have physical proof of this?"

Felicity opened her drawer and pulled out an envelope and handed it to Weston. "Sir, when you send me on a mission, I do not do it half way."

Weston smiled. "Good job. And I think you are right by choosing to take your time. Keep up the good work and keep me updated."

Felicity smiled "Yes sir."

Saturday Night

Oliver knew exactly where to take her. He wanted to take her to the nicest restaurant in town. She was willing to go out of her way and help him rewrite his paper if it came down to it, so only the best would do. As he pulled up to the front of the restaurant he saw her get tense.

"No way, this is too much. This is the finest 5-star restaurant in town. Although I have always dreamed of eating here, it is too much. You don't have to take me here. Not that I am complaining or maybe I am, but really? And now I am just rambling which will stop in 3...2...1." Oliver couldn't help, but crack a smile. Her ramblings was kind of cute.

"It is alright. I actually come here quite often. Besides you totally deserve it for helping me with my computer.", he smiled at her and suddenly she felt like she was going to melt. This Oliver Queen is definitely different than what the tabloids have portrayed, she realized again. He got out of the car and came over to her door and helped her out.

"Hello, Mr. Queen. How are you doing today?", the valet guy asked as he took Oliver's keys.

"Hey Jerry, well, my computer crashed. Felicity had helped me get it fixed, but other than that pretty good. Hey, I think last time I forgot to give you a tip for taking care of my car."

"It is okay Mr. Queen. It is not necessary."

"It is to me. Here, I hope this makes up for it.", Oliver said as he hands him a $100 bill rolled up in his hands. Oliver purposely did it that way so that Felicity could not see how much it was. Normally, he didn't mind being flashy and throwing money around when he is in the presence of other girls, but Felicity was not like most girls. So he decided to be discreet as to not ruin her dinner.

"Thank you, Mr. Queen"

Oliver and Felicity started to walk into the restaurant. He walks up to the hostess. "I have a reservation for two."

"Right this way Mr. Queen" They sat down at their table and started looking at the menu.

Oliver notice Felicity was tensing up and was looking worried. He knew what was wrong. Oliver reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. "It is okay", he said with a smile.

Felicity felt like she was going to melt from the way Oliver was smiling at her. "But there is no prices on here. I do not want to order something expensive."

"Felicity, it is okay. As I said, I come here a lot. Please order what you want."

"Oliver, I know you are planning to spend a lot of money on me, but I hope you were not expecting a hookup after dinner?" Felicity said with a smile.

"Ummm" Cough. "What do you mean Felicity?"

Felicity reached up and lowered her glasses, " Mr. Queen, Please! You know what I'm talking about."

Oliver swallows hard in a low voice he said, "I'm sorry, I know you are not that kind of girl." He looks at here with sad eyes. "Can I be Oliver instead of Mr. Queen? It makes me fell old."

Felicity crossed her arms and started to tap her foot. "Okay Oliver, we will see how the rest of the date goes. And if you are a good boy, I might just give you a kiss on the cheek."

Oliver started to smile from ear to ear. "You are a very interesting person. I am very intrigued by you."

Oliver and Felicity sat at their table. After Felicity and Oliver have eaten their dinner, Oliver looked at Felicity. "Felicity, I really do like you a lot and like for you get to know the real me and I really do want to get to know you more. My life is an open book. Ask me anything you like. Please do not hold back."

Felicity looked at Oliver and smiled. Felicity at first was feeling guilty leading Oliver on. However as she spent more time with Oliver, she could not help to start to have feelings for him. "Oliver, thank you. I like you to and would love to get to know the real you." Felicity and Oliver reach down at the same time to take a sip of their drink. "So how many girls have you brought home after a first date?"

Oliver spilled his drink and started to cough. "Um, I'm sorry, umm. " Oliver was caught off guard again. "So, you want to know how many girls I had brought home with me? Would you believe me if I said that I really do not know?" Oliver loved this about Felicity. She was always straight forward to him and she never held back.

Felicity started to laugh. "For some reason I do believe you. I guess you prep boys never learn to count past 10." Oliver looked down at his hands and got Felicity's joke and started to laugh with her.

"HAHA, I know, too bad they never told us that we could had used our toe's." Oliver said. Felicity grabbed her stomach and could feel the tears coming from her eyes as the both of them could not stop laughing.

After dinner, Oliver had his driver take them to Felicity's apartment. As they pulled up, Oliver hopped out of the car and opened the door for Felicity and escorted her to her door. "Felicity, thank you for the best date I ever had."

Felicity smiled and looked at Oliver and reached over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for letting me see the real you tonight. You really surprised me. The date was wonderful. I really enjoyed it."

Oliver took Felicity's hands and held them and stared into her eyes. He so badly wanted to kiss her but he knew this was the woman who was worth the wait and taking his time. Oliver reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Felicity went inside and Oliver walked back to his car.