Chapter 3:

Spotlight

The next morning Emily once again found herself waking up in the Queen Mansion, she just hadn't gotten around to finding a hotel and ended up sleeping there again. Thankfully this had been one of her nightmare free nights, and she felt almost rested as she splashed some water in her face and put on a simple grey t-shirt and a pair of skin tight black jeans. Lastly she stepped into her black van's, and headed out the door. Following the voices she found the strange gang all in the living room, watching the news.

"Hey Twitchy" she smirked as Roy shot up from where'd he'd looked very comfortable on the couch. He turned his head to the side to give her a snide glare. Oliver pointed to the screen.

"You're on the news."

Emily groaned as she saw a large picture of herself in the right corner, and listened to the mostly correct story about her new involvement in the company.

"Is it too late to back out now?" She asked, and Diggle grinned at her.

"Yes, and that brings me to my next issue, we're going to have to do something about this." Oliver pointed vaguely in her direction.

"You're pointing to all of me!" She exclaimed.

"You're a part of the board, you're going to have to update your wardrobe."

"I like my wardrobe." Emily glanced at her beloved but frayed shoes.

"Your wardrobe is a bag." Felicity pointed out.

"You can't show up in the same suit to every boardmeeting. They're already worried about you being to young, and if you walk around like this the public is probably going to share that opinion."

"Fine fine fine, I'll update my wardrobe." She mimicked Oliver, and Felicity let out a small giggle. Oliver glared at the blonde.

"Um sorry, it was just like really spot on."

"Why don't you accompany her Felicity?" Oliver said evenly, and Felicity's smile dropped.

"I thought you needed my help at... work."

"I think we'll do fine today, right Diggle?"

"Oh yes."

Emily glanced between Oliver and he's supposed bodyguard, once again finding their relationship to extend the normal.

"And Roy, you'll accompany them of course." Oliver smiled, and Emily heard him sigh.

"Of course, … ."

"I still really don't think I need a bodyguard." Emily protested, grabbing a crossiant from the breakfast tray.

"You're in the spotlight now, until it blows over I'll feel better knowing you're safe." Oliver said, and Emily knew better than to argue. She did however not think it was for her safety, Roy Harper obviously wasn't an experienced bodyguard, and more likely following her to keep an eye on her.

"Let's go then." Felicity sighed in defeat, grabbing her coat on the way out. Emily went to get her leather jacket, but decided to use the same suit jacket she'd used the previous day. It didn't look too snobbish without the shoes and the shirt.

Felicity and Roy waited in the car, Felicity in the back seat with her. Emily gave the other girl an apologetic look, making a mental note to do a background check on her, Roy and Diggle the moment she came home.

"Sorry to drag you away from your usual work." She said, and the blonde shrugged.

"I've been through worse."

Twitchy grunted slightly in the front, and Emily leaned back with a thoughtful look at Felicity, before turning her head out the window.

They went into store after store, buying everything from boring suits to gala dresses. Felicity did seem to have a fondness for high heeled shoes and colorful dresses, two things Emily wasn't a fan of.

"I look ridiculous!" She exclaimed, swirling in front of the mirror in the fancy changing room. She was wearing a purple frilly dress and golden heels.

"You're right, it's not you." Felicity turned her head sideways, looking thoughtful. Emily caught a glance of Roy's bored face in the mirror, leaning towards the wall at the entrance. "Wait a second!" Felicity shot up and away, leaving Emily and Roy alone. She kicked the shoes off.

"So what did you do before you became a bodyguard?" She asked casually.

"Nightclub." He simply said.

"Just nightclub, you made a nightclub?" Emily couldn't help it, she just liked to push his buttons.

"I worked at a nightclub." He clarified.

"So what happened?"

"It shut down."

"Too bad, I really need to let off some steam." She sighed casually and pulled the curtains around her, trying to get the zipper down. She heard on his voice that there was more to that story, but she knew she should leave it alone.

"Crap", Emily breathed, realizing the zipper was stuck.

"You okay?" Roy's voice was coming from just outside the curtain, and she sighed loudly before pushing the curtain away. He looked at her wonderingly.

"Zipper's stuck."

"So?"

"Uhm, a little help would be nice?" She narrowed her eyes as he sighed, taking a step closer. She turned around, pressing her arms to her chest to keep the dress up as she felt his hand brush against her back.

A small shiver went through her. And her skin prickled when he had to push her hair away over her shoulder, also brushing her neck. Then he finally loosened the zipper, but didn't pull it all the way down.

"Thanks Twitchy" she mumbled quickly, seeing him roll his eyes just as she closed the curtains around herself again. Felicity thankfully came back and shoved another pair of dresses into the changing room before Emily had any time to ponder about what had just happened.

"Well this is what I call a job well done." Felicity said, admiring her handiwork. Emily was clad in a pair of black flats, expensive jeans, blouse and a trenchcoat. And most of the backseat of the car was covered in various bags and boxes.

"Apparently I can afford it now." Emily shrugged, and Felicity grinned.

"You look great."

"I feel like I Queen" Emily said sarcastically.

"I see what you did there" Felicity chuckled "Let's get you back to the house, I need to get some real work done."

Emily was sure she didn't imagine Felicity and Roy making quick eye contact at her last words.

"Sounds good to me, I'm pretty tired." She said and yawned. She had some background checks to run.

…

Felicity's heels clattered against the steel staircase down to the lair, or the 'Arrowcave', as Diggle once said. Oliver hadn't exactly liked it, but she kind of thought it had a nice ring to it.

"Hey, how was shopping?" Diggle grinned as she stalked across the floor.

"Not in my job description", she said dryly, sending a glare towards Oliver. Unfortunately he was shirtless, and sweaty, why did he always have to be shirtless and sweaty?

"And not in mine either." Roy added, panting, he and Oliver had been sparring, a part of his new training.

"Your official jobs are my EA and Emily's bodyguard, it's what expected of you." Oliver sighed, walking over towards Felicity who'd joined Diggle by her triple monitors.

"Oh and I thought what was expected of us was catching bad guys." Felicity said sarcastically, mostly to herself, but Diggle grunted slightly beside her.

"Speaking of, what did you find out?" Oliver ignored her previous comment, as Roy also joined them by the monitor. Felicity pulled up a picture of a nasty looking man and his record.

"Here is our escaped felon, most of his previous crimes in Central City but it seems like he's moved his business over here lately. Maybe two terrorist attacks in two years brings all the crazies here." She said, glancing at Oliver. "I don't mean you, of course."

"How can I find him?"

"We." Roy added pointedly, and Oliver glanced at him.

"You're not ready yet, I can't have you on the field."

"I'm ready" Roy's voice grew dark and his fingers knitted into fists. Felicity glanced between the two men. They all knew Roy wasn't ready, it hadn't been more than a few weeks since Thea left, and he obviously wasn't over it.

"Your mind is elsewhere, I want you back at the mansion with Emily."

"Oh c'mon! She's a nobody, nobody's going to come after her!"

"She might have been, but now she's a boardmember at QC, and also, I want to know what she knows, and your position as her bodyguard gives you the best opportunity to keep an eye on her."

"Hey crazy idea, why don't you just ask her?" Felicity pointed out, receiving disbelieving glances from the three men. "She seems okay to me."

"Because being upfront has always been Oliver's style" Diggle mused.

"Enough. Felicity, you find out felon, Roy you're going back to the mansion, and Diggle-"

"Yes?"

"Go see Lyla."

…

Emily took a large sip of coffee, closing her tab on Felicity Smoak. She's been right, that girl was completely out of place as an EA, she'd graduated first in her class from MIT and then gone to the IT department at QC. Emily saw no reasonably explanation for her sudden promotion- or demotion, depending on your definition, to Oliver Queen's assistant.

Then she had Diggle, army man, three tours to Afghanistan, then went into the private sector. Divorced. He actually did make sense as a bodyguard, but she still had a feeling that his and Oliver's relationship extended beyond that.

And then there was Twitchy.

Named after his father, grown up in the glades, high school drop out. And with a pretty extensive record.

"Well you've been busy" Emily murmured as she scrolled. "Petty theft, petty theft, stolen car, petty theft again- oh wow armed robbery in a liquor store. Way to change it up Twitchy."

His first offence was registered when he was sixteen, and then get going until two years earlier, where he dropped off the police radar. Emily wondered what had made him change his career, especially to become a bodyguard, which she found nothing about. She bit her lip thoughtfully, none of this made any sense to her.

And she hated when things didn't make any sense. All these loose ends in her life kept fraying away on her sanity, like an itch in her brain she couldn't quite scratch. She liked having people figured out, always knowing their next move, but now she had no control whatsoever over her own life.

"I need a drink" she mumbled and shot off the bed where she'd sprawled out with her laptop. The coffeecup toppled over, thankfully empty. "And I should probably stop talking to myself too."

Coffee cup in hand she sauntered down the stairs, she wasn't even surprised to find Roy with a sour look in the hallway, looking like he just arrived.

"Hey where you been?" She chirped.

"I do have other things to do than to watch you shop." He said dryly, hands in his suit pockets. The gesture reminded her of a boy in a man's clothes, a man in a suit usually didn't shove his hands in his pockets, a guy in a hood might.

"Well so did I- or you know, used to." She groaned, remembering the drugdeal she'd been trying to catch a few days earlier. "Do you know where Oliver keeps his liquor?" She added, holding up her coffecup. Roy looked surprised.

"You making Irish coffee?"

"Actually I'm making alcohol, it's empty", she smiled slightly. To her surprise she thought she saw something resembling a smile cross his face.

"I don't know where he keeps it."

"I'm disappointed, I'd thought that someone with your... history would know that. Or do you only steal alcohol from stores?" She said across her shoulder, walking into the living room.

"Wha- how did you know?" Roy said sharply, and she grinned. Of course he took the bait, he was so easy. He'd followed her into the living room as she scanned the bookcase and opened a few cupboards at random.

"I have my ways."

"You had no right-"

"Actually" she stood up straight. "For some reason you've been appointed to be my bodyguard without any kind of considerable qualifications and with a criminal record nonetheless. I don't see why that's any better than just letting me fend for myself." She caught sight of a tray in the corner with sparkly looking bottles. Their honeycolored contents looked extremely promising. "Which incidentally, I would prefer."

"Yeah because you really look like you can handle yourself" Roy looked her up and down, sly smile on his face.

"I spent almost four years in the system, I'm tougher than I look" Emily didn't exactly know why she felt like she had to defend herself. Usually she kept as much about herself a secret as she could. "You're a foster kid?" He was obviously surprised. She gave him a glance across her shoulder before she uncorked a particularly fancy bottle, and sniffed it.

"You want some Twitchy? Maybe it'll calm you down." She said, not answering his question as she filled half her coffeecup.

"I'm fine."

"Of course you are" Emily smiled sweetly as she finally turned back to him with a sweet smile. Roy looked annoyed as usual, but he'd lost that bored-to-death face he'd been constantly wearing before. "Well in that case I guess I'll be drinking alone," she took a sip. "Good stuff."

"At least one of us should be sober." He remarked, and she snorted as she passed him, throwing herself down on the couch, taking the remote control with her. The guestroom was super-fancy, but didn't have a tv.

"Where's the fun in that?" She said, clicking it on. Alcohol usually calmed her nerves, but Roy standing behind her still had her on edge, not that she'd ever admit that. She took another sip, savoring the warm feeling spreading through her chest, hoping it would dull her neverending stream of thoughts.

After flipping through the channels for few minutes she couldn't take it anymore, and swung around.

"Look it's kind of freaking me out that you're just standing there, either you go away or you sit down."

But Roy was distracted, his eyes on the TV. She turned back to find that the news was on, and Starling City's own Vigilante was the topic.

It wasn't like the news of the Hood, or The Arrow as he apparently went by now- hadn't reached Central city. She'd just never really paid him that much thought. This time the man in the green leather had apparently stopped some convicted felon from robbing a bank.

"I'll be upstairs." Roy grunted suddenly, and swept out of the room.

"Same ol' Twitchy." Emily rolled her eyes, taking another sip and leaning back in the couch. The news kept talking about the vigilante, and she didn't change the channel. They went into a deep reportage on his history and his dedication to the city since he first appeared two years earlier. Speculations of his true identity and the criminals he'd taken down.

Emily wasn't sure if it was the extremely expensive scotch in her system or the darkness falling over the livingroom. But she fell asleep to the sound of the tv.

Emily didn't usually have vivid dreams, when she dreamt of the black clad man that killed her mother it was like she was completely reliving it. Tonight she wasn't 14 years old and in her pajamas. She was running down the downtown streets of Central City, camera bouncing against her side as her pulse echoed in the night.

Rounding the corner Emily found herself facing a brick wall, she was trapped.

An arrow swooshed past, inches from her face, the next one buried itself into her shoulder. The camera splattered to the ground, and her knees buckled under her. Palms scraping against the cold wet concrete, she realized she was crying.

A shadow fell over her, blocking the light from the streetlights out. Swallowing her sobbing she whispered - "please..."

"Emily Bauer, you have failed this city."

Emily's head shot up, this wasn't the voice of the man in her apartment seven years ago. The man standing over her was clad in green, arrow pointed straight at her face. She swallowed, his face was in the shadow, but she definitely recognized Starling City's vigilante.

Then he released the arrow, and everything went black.

"EMILY!"

Emily felt hands grasping her, panic rising in her chest as she realized someone was pressing her down in the darkness.

"Emily it's me, you're just dreaming!" A voice called, and she blinked confusedly. The foggy darkness lifted, and she recognized Roy's face hovering above hers.

"Let go of me!" She snapped, pushing his hands away. Roy stepped backwards offended. The livingroom was still in darkness but the rain smattered against the large windows, the tv was still running in the background and the empty coffeecup stood at the table.

"Apparently you're not that good at handling your alcohol. I heard you screaming from upstairs, could barely get you to snap out of it." Roy said, looking down at her. Emily swung her legs off the couch, putting her head in her hands.

"It had nothing to do with the alcohol."

"You always wake up screaming?"

"Just leave it alone." She shot up, about to leave, but his fingers laced around her wrist, effectively stopping her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Fine" she pulled her hand back harshly, and the worried look on his face quickly faded. She stalked out of the room without another word.

Emily's heart hammered against her chest as she half ran up to the guest room, closing the door around her with a bang. How could she have missed this? How could she have been so incredibly, insufferably blind?

Ducking in under the bed she grabbed the notebook, flipping through the names. Guillermo Barrera, Frank Bertinelli, Jason Brodeur – all brought down by the Arrow.

All on the list.

AN:

Originally I was going to cut to Roy's perspective at the mansion, having him in Thea's old bedroom to get a bit more of a view what he's going through. And then have him hear Emily scream from downstairs- but I got carried away writing the dream sequence so I hope it turned out alright anyway!

Sorry for the long wait but I've been working, studying and had the flu, but now I'm better! I'd love to hear what you guys thought about this chapter, and THANK YOU so much for all the faves and reviews 3