A/N: Well, here it is. The long-promised baby I've been so excited about! I wanted to be further along in it than I am now before I started posting, but life has been chaos lately and I got too impatient. I'm going to be updating once a week, as long as I have chapters written. I may amp it up a bit once it's finally finished, and there may be times it takes longer than a week when RL gets in the way, but that's the plan for now. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it!

"No. No, no, no."

"Felicity, we don't really have much of a choice."

"No, Digg. You can't make me!"

Digg sighed. "I'm not making you do anything, Felicity. But this is our best shot for getting the goods on Tipton and you're the only one who can do it."

"Get Laurel!" she snapped. "She knows about Oliver being the Arrow, she can play along instead."

He snorted. "Right. Oliver would throttle her before the day was out."

Felicity gave him her most pleading look. "Digg, you know this is impossible. There's just no way I can survive a week at a couples retreat, pretending to be Oliver's wife."

He gave her a sympathetic look, but the mission came first and they both knew it. For all her protests, Felicity was certain she'd be playing Mrs. Oliver Queen in less than two days' time. She started mentally cataloguing her closet and groaned. "I'm going to need clothes. I can't convincingly play a billionaire's wife with my current wardrobe. Oliver better be willing to hand over his credit card for this," she said grimly. "Speaking of which, where is our fearless leader? Why isn't he here asking me, instead of sending you to do his dirty work?"

Digg smirked. "Because he's a coward," he said bluntly. "He was too afraid to face you with this particular request."

"It's not actually a request," she grumbled. "But at least I know he still has a few brain cells in working order. He's right to be afraid of me."

"I am really not envious of him at the moment," he chuckled. He pulled out his wallet and handed over a credit card bearing the name Oliver J. Queen. "Especially not after he sees the damage you do to this thing."

"He owes me," Felicity sniffed, taking the card and making a mental list of everything she would need. "Besides, if he wants me to play the part, I have to look the part. All those other high-society trophy wives are going to be decked out in designer swimwear and lots of jewelry, and I don't think my Old Navy tankini is going to cut it."

Her phone lit up and began playing its musical little tune, and Felicity made a face before picking it up. "I hate you. I really, really hate you."

Oliver stifled a laugh. "I'm sorry, Felicity. It can't be helped."

"You could take Laurel," she said desperately.

"That would never work and you know it," he returned. "Laurel has a lot of great qualities, but being subtle and playing a role are not some of them. C'mon, Felicity, I know you can do this. You're a great actress, you'll be able to pull this off in your sleep."

"Which we're going to have to do, together," she reminded him grimly. "Not that we'll actually be sleeping together, in the sense of not really sleeping. But we'll still have to share the same bed because I kind of think the Tipton people would be suspicious if we asked for a room with two queen beds instead of one bed for two Queens." Her eyes narrowed, even though he couldn't see her. "And don't even think about telling me you'll just sleep on the couch. I won't let you make yourself uncomfortable every night for a whole week when we are both fully capable of acting like adults."

Oliver fell silent and Felicity sighed before changing the subject. "Digg gave me your credit card so I can go get prepared for this charade. You know this is going to be expensive, right? There's no way I can outfit myself in the manner befitting Oliver Queen's wife without making a dent in your shiny plastic."

"If you need another one, let me know," he replied casually, tacitly giving his approval to spend whatever was required.

Felicity glanced at her watch. "I need to get going. I'm hiring a personal shopper to just go pick out everything I need, but whoever it is still needs to take my measurements. Then I need to go to the spa and get plucked and waxed and steamed and scrubbed so I can look like a Mexican hairless Chihuahua with no pores. Because every other female there is going to actually have had the benefit of being able to go in for spa treatments pretty much daily, and it'll be weird if I show up looking like, well, me."

"You look perfect," Oliver reassured her, and she swallowed hard. "But I know how important that ritual is in these circles. Go, enjoy yourself, and don't worry about the bill."

"Easier said than done," she muttered. "You just got your fortune back and I'm about to blow half of it on seaweed and mud wraps, designer clothes, and diamonds big enough to choke a horse. Oh! Jewelry! What do you want me to get?"

Oliver hesitated. "Don't worry about that," he said finally. "I have access to a whole safe's worth. I'll just pick out the pieces I think would suit you best."

Felicity groaned. "I really don't want to risk losing any of your mother's jewelry," she protested, but Oliver dismissed her concerns.

"It's insured, and she had so much of it that most of it isn't really special to me," he reassured her. "If anything goes missing it'll be replaced, so don't worry about it."

"Fine. I really have to go now," she said, picking up her tablet to start a quick search on reputable personal shoppers. "I'll see you later."

"Goodbye, Felicity."

She hung up the phone and looked up from her tablet to see Digg shaking his head and silently laughing at her. "What?" she asked defensively.

"Felicity, you are the only woman I've ever met who would be aggravated at the idea of being Oliver Queen's wife, spending his billions on clothes and the spa, and inheriting his mother's jewelry."

Her eyes darkened. "Yeah, and none of it is real. I have to spend the next week pretending I'm married to someone who will always keep me at a distance. Sounds like a blast."

Digg smiled as she selected a shopper and placed the call. Something told him their little undercover mission was going to start a fire that neither one would be able to control. He just hoped Felicity didn't get burned.

lllll

The next 36 hours passed more quickly than Felicity was prepared for them to. The dozens of little tasks that she had to fit in between actually working for Oliver kept her brain racing and she was actually grateful that she had very little time to think about what she was about to do.

The new Gucci luggage set, packed to the brim with all of her new clothing, accessories, and other paraphernalia required to pull off the role of Mrs. Oliver Queen, had arrived that morning. Felicity wouldn't even look at it; it just brought on more panicky fluttery sensations in her stomach. She had Digg pack it up in the limo as soon as he could spare a minute, grateful that he was in on the plan and she didn't have to touch it herself. He'd raised an eyebrow when he realized she'd refused to even look inside it, but hadn't said a word. Felicity was surprised he'd managed to hold his tongue, but she figured Oliver would get an earful at some point so she could be spared.

Oliver. Felicity sighed as she thought about her fake-husband-to-be. They'd barely spoken since the call where he'd given her carte blanche with his credit card and promised to provide jewelry. She had no idea how she was going to face him, let alone how she was going to spend the next week pretending to be his wife. The most painful thing was that she was pretty sure it wouldn't be hard to slip into the skin of a woman she sometimes fantasized about becoming; the hard part would be knowing that no matter how he looked at her, how he touched her, what words he spoke, none of it would be real. She would be forced day in and day out to have her fingertips just barely touching the edge of heaven, knowing that at the end of the week it would all be ripped away from her and she would have to resume her old life, the one Before, as if she hadn't spent a week in the arms of happiness. She would have to pretend that it had never happened.

Felicity was a good actress. She knew she could play the role of Oliver Queen's wife without too much difficulty. She just didn't know if she could play the role of Felicity Smoak post-Mrs. Oliver Queen, around Oliver himself, and still keep her sanity intact. She didn't know if this role would be the one that tore them apart right after pushing them closer together than they'd ever been.

"Are you ready?"

Felicity gasped as Oliver's quiet voice intruded on her thoughts. "Oliver!" she wheezed. "You scared the hell out of me!"

His face was apologetic, but he didn't speak.

Rubbing a hand over her weary face, she nodded in response to his question. "My bags are all packed in the car, the thermostat's been set, my mail delivery's been put on hold, I even bought those glass plant-feeder things so my plants don't die while I'm gone. My replacement at QC has been briefed, all your emails have been followed up on, meetings re-scheduled, and our Out of Office alerts have been set up. I think we're as ready as we can be at this point."

The gentle smile on his face escaped her notice. "I don't know what I'd do without you," he said simply. "You run my life and I'd be falling apart if you didn't."

Felicity glared at him. "If I weren't here you'd be dragging Laurel on this trip from hell," she grumbled acrimoniously. "Right now that sounds pretty darn good to me."

Oliver laughed softly. "Come on, Felicity, it won't be that bad," he teased. "We make a great team."

If his words landed like arrows in her heart, she pretended not to notice. "Yep, we're a fantastic team. As in partners. As in the non-romantic kind. That's exactly what we are," she muttered under her breath.

Unfortunately, it wasn't quietly enough to escape Oliver's hearing. He went still as her barbed words dug their way into him. He wanted to reassure her but he couldn't find the words. For all his adroitness with a glib word when needed, Felicity rendered him speechless at the most important, and most inopportune, times. Sighing, he reached for her hand. "It's time to go. Digg is downstairs waiting for us."

Her instinct was to pull away before his fingers could brush hers, but she relaxed and let him join their hands together. She was going to have to be physically connected to Oliver for a week, she couldn't jump every time they made skin-to-skin contact.

They went down the elevator together, neither saying a word, both thinking about the week to come with more than a little trepidation in their hearts.

lllll

The car ride had been painfully silent, but as soon as they entered the airport complex Oliver pulled out of his introspective thoughts. He looked over at Felicity, who was staring solemnly out the window at the planes taking off around them. Oliver cleared his throat gently and she flicked a quick glance his way.

Reaching into his inner jacket pocket, Oliver pulled out a small blue velvet jewelry case. Felicity's eyes widened and she lifted her eyes from the box to his eyes. "What is that?"

Oliver shifted uncomfortably. It was a necessary part of the ruse, but it felt so strange to be doing this here, without ceremony or formality. He wanted it to mean something, but that was a luxury that circumstances couldn't afford. "If we're going to pretend to be married, we need rings," he said quietly, and Felicity's eyes closed tightly. He could see her inhale a steadying breath before reopening her eyes, looking into his resolutely. He popped the lid open on the box and she gaped at the beautiful ring.

"Oliver!"

The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile as he picked her hand up. His ring finger absently stroked her palm as he held her hand in his, and he used his other hand to slip the ring onto her finger. He felt a tightening in his gut at the intimacy of the gesture, even as he slid his own wedding band on.

Felicity couldn't breathe as she stared at the ring, the weight of it pulling on her hand in a not-unpleasant way. As her brain started to clear, she realized it looked very familiar. Shock hit her when she recognized it. "You gave me your mother's wedding ring?"

He looked a little sheepish. "I didn't have time to go get a different one," he explained apologetically. "I thought this one might mean something to you, though. I know you're very fond of Walter and I hoped that knowing he picked this ring out, even if it was for my mother, might make it a little easier to bear." He searched her eyes for signs of discomfort or irritation. "Are you okay with this, even temporarily? I know you didn't like my mother."

She sighed. "Moira and I didn't get along, but it was because we had differing opinions on how best to protect you. I thought you deserved to know the truth, she thought you deserved to not be disillusioned. I didn't appreciate the way she treated me, but in the end, everything she did was because she loved you and Thea and was looking out for your best interests. If I ever become a mom, I actually kind of want to be like her. Except, y'know, without the conspiracy and killing and kidnapping."

Oliver didn't respond to the snarky addendum. He was suddenly struck with a vision of a very pregnant Felicity, her face beaming as she tugged him along to look at cribs and strollers and clothes. His throat went dry and he forgot to breathe for a moment.

Felicity looked at him, the laughing smile dropping off her face at the faraway look on his. "Oliver?"

Oliver shook his head, clearing the image from his brain before refocusing on her. "Thank you for understanding," he said sincerely. He paused before continuing, his voice a low rumble. "If we were married for real I would have gotten you a ring of your own, something unique and special." Just like you.

The thought made her a little light-headed and she took a moment to formulate her words so she didn't embarrass herself. "If we were married for real, this is exactly the ring I would want," she murmured eventually. Felicity turned her hand slightly to each side, marveling at the way the light refracted through the large diamond and filled the car with a dazzling rainbow. "It's perfect, Oliver."

He tried to ignore the sensation that sliced through him at the look in her eyes. "Well then, I passed the first test as your fake husband," he said lightly.

Before she could say anything, Digg's voice floated back to them. "We're about two minutes from the terminal, guys. You ready to assume the role of Mr. and Mrs. Queen?"

Felicity and Oliver stared at each other wordlessly, both of them thinking the same thing. Not even close.