Sorry it takes me so long to update, but I'm hoping that it's worth it! Big stuff happening in this chapter, the beginning and setup for even BIGGER things!

This chapter is titled after lyrics from the Civil Wars' Poison and Wine, I do not own the song including the lyrics.

Always and ever, SassySnow1988, my darling beta and dartie, you are REMARKABLE! I love you! You are the BEST! Thank you SO much for all the work you put into the edits for this chapter!

-Arrow-

Chapter 2: You Only Know What I Want You To

One week after kinda-sorta-striking a deal with the maybe-possible-devil, Felicity Smoak was happier than a bird with a French fry—she'd seen that on one of those generic-but-crafty-looking wall hangings in a café restroom recently, "Today I will be happier than a bird with a French fry," it'd drawn a far-too-loud-and-out-of-place-in-a-public-restroom-giggle, which she'd attempted to quickly smother while her cheeks burned. Regardless of the moment of embarrassment attached to that phrase she'd still loved it and it was a truly apt description of how she felt.

Today Felicity would finally begin the arduous task of updating Oliver and Tommy's nightmare computer and security setup, and she still couldn't decide which was weirder: that she was on a first name basis with two of the richest and most famous men on the west coast or how they'd reacted to her informing them that their existing system was in such abysmal shape she needed to scrap the entire things and start all over. They'd barely batted an eyelash before giving her carte blanche on anything computer and security system related. When she'd shown up at Verdant the next morning to get to work, Oliver had handed her his platinum card and told her to buy whatever she deemed necessary.

Felicity's eyes flew wide as dinner plates, gaping at the silver card in her trembling hands, before slowly lifting her disbelieving stare to her boss—twice-over now, since she was working under him both at QC and Verdant-not under him under him, but under him... "That is a very dangerous thing to say to a tech-geek. I mean you're basically giving me enough access to literally bankrupt you buying tech—not that I would!" she rushed to add at his raised eyebrows, not wanting him to think she planned to steal from him. "Though I—" She cut herself off before admitting that she didn't even need his card to get into his accounts, realizing that that would really make the situation worse, snapping her mouth shut and swallowing those words back, before saying instead, "I'll get right on ordering everything we'll need then." Head down, in an attempt to hide her flaming cheeks, Felicity spun on heel towards the offices upstairs, scurrying away from her boss' intense stare. Why did he always look at her like that? As if she was stripped naked—metaphorically speaking, of course, because she wasn't physically naked, that wouldn't be appropriate in public, especially in front of her boss, and why would Oliver Queen ever think of a nerdy IT girl like that?—before that oh-so-blue laser focus of his, baring everything about her: good, bad, and just plain embarrassing. It really made it difficult for her not to look like a complete idiot, which was a novelty for an actual genius, she supposed, but one she'd rather not have to experience, especially around the very person who incited it—fucking Murphy.

Despite a few Oliver-intense-stare-related-gaffes, Felicity was actually happier since taking up the job at Verdant, it afforded her more opportunities than QC's IT Department; coding and building entirely new computer and security systems, namely—much more interesting than removing computer viruses because some numbnuts was downloading porn at work…again. Her mother and friends, however had been less enthusiastic.

Grinning happily as she stood in the middle of her sitting room, she watched her mother—Felicity was surprised to find Donna still awake when they'd gotten back to the apartment; her mother was utterly exhausted from the treatments most of the time—and friends process her new job announcement.

Caitlin spoke up first, "Felicity," she bit her lower lip, "are you sure this is a good idea?"

The blonde's happy expression fell. "Why not?" Her gaze whipped around to the array of concerned faces around her. "It's a good job. The work will be fun and interesting, things actually I enjoy doing for a change, and the pay is great."

"It's not the work necessarily," Barry quickly assured her. "But you're already always working, you get home so late most of the time, and…and we're just concerned that Queen and his buddy might be taking advantage of the fact that your primary income is from Queen's company, so you may not feel like you can say no."

"But I'm the one who volunteered," Felicity argued earnestly. "I offered to do the work. I want to do it!"

Iris placed a hand on her shoulder. "We know you want to do, it you love this work. But people like Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn are good at manipulating people into doing what they want them to do."

Felicity jerked away, insulted. "We have three genius intellects in this room, with mine being the highest IQ overall and only one of us graduated summa cum laude. Considering the fact that Oliver Queen and Tommy Merlyn each graduated middle of their classes with their MBAs, I'm pretty sure I could tell when I'm being played better than they could play me."

Cisco was quick to step in next. "We know. We would never imply that you aren't smart enough, but we're just…we're worried about you. You're really worn down, Felicity. And we just don't want to see it get even worse."

She took in the looks on all of her loved ones' faces. "You all think this?" After a few nods her eyes settled on her mother. "Mom?"

Donna bit her lip, stepping forward to clasp Felicity's hands between her own, holding her gaze. "Do you want to do this job?"

Felicity was surprised at her mother's question since she'd already said she did, but keeping her eyes locked with Donna's she answered, "Yes, this is the kind of work I've been wanting to do ever since signing on with QC, designing and building systems myself. I'm thrilled to finally have the opportunity."

Her mother cupped her cheek, studying Felicity's face closely before her lips lifted into a smile and she nodded. "Okay. If it makes you happy, then that's what I want for you. But please, baby," she stroked a thumb over her daughter's cheek, "if it all gets too much, promise me that you will ease back, that you won't run yourself into the ground for this."

A brilliant grin lit Felicity's face as she flung her arms around Donna's waist, hugging her tightly. "I will," she promised aloud, all while silently swearing to herself that she would do this job and earn the money they needed to pay for the care her mother needed.

Felicity shut down her QC computer and packed up her belongings, setting aside the files on her desk for Monday. Before stepping out of her cubicle the framed photo on her desk caught her eye, and her smile grew at the sight of her and her mother happily squished together at the center of a group hug with her friends. She let her fingers stroke the frame fondly, trailing away as she finally turned and stepped out of her cubicle. Exiting the IT Department, she returned waves and goodbyes from friendly coworkers while easily ignoring the glares that others threw her way, having long ago gotten used to letting other's ill-will roll off of her.

She hummed quietly to herself as the elevator took her down to the parking garage, tuning out the lift's other occupants, already mentally reviewing her plans for Verdant's computers and security since some of the new equipment should've arrived by that afternoon. The brisk clicks of her high heels echoed her excitement as she as she hurried to her bright red mini, eager to get to her new job and the challenge it presented. Starting her car, Felicity couldn't help grinning at the clock, 4:30 PM. The past week she'd actually been leaving work on time, even when she'd had to take her mother to the doctor on Wednesday. And it all was due to a small interaction last Saturday.

"Felicity?"

She looked up from where she'd been jury-rigging Verdant's office computer so that it would suffice until the new equipment arrived at Oliver's query from the doorway. "Yes?"

His gaze was unnervingly piercing and level, she has to suppress the desire to fidget. "Why haven't you applied for a promotion in the IT Department or tranfered to a position in Applied Sciences? Walter has high hopes for you and he mentioned that you were interested in Applied Sciences. You could've had either months ago."

Felicity shrugged, returning her attention to the computer. "I have applied, but around the time I was eligible to apply my mother was diagnosed. Every time my supervisor has said that because I have to leave during the day or cut out early to take my mom to her appointments or just care of her, it shows a lack of commitment on my part so he denied my applications." She allowed herself to clench one of her hands into a tight fist for a moment, out of Oliver's view. "But I have been coming back in after and staying later to make up for it; the real reason he's doing this is because I'm the best in the department and he doesn't want me moved up or out, but he also doesn't want anyone to know how good I am." She'd spoken without arrogance, just simple statement of facts because it was the absolute truth.

Oliver had nodded slowly, thoughtfully before walking out the door.

The odd interaction was forgotten as she slipped back into coding, until first thing Monday morning when she had been called into her supervisor's office, surprised to find not only a flustered Jim Tobias—the misogynistic prick—but Oliver Queen himself lounging comfortably in front of the IT head's desk.

Felicity hugged her tablet protectively to her chest, eyeing the two men. "Mr. Queen, Mr. Tobias, what may I do for you both?"

"Please, Ms. Smoak, sit." Oliver gestured to the chair beside him.

She studied his expression, trying to divine answers from it as she took the proffered seat, unable to discover more than that there was something deceptively mild about his manner, bland politeness hiding something coiled and much more dangerous just waiting to strike. She just hoped that she wouldn't be the target.

"Mr. Tobias and I were just discussing all the extra hours you've been putting in, and I wanted to make sure that the work you're going to be doing at Verdant won't interfere with your chances in the next round of applications to Applied Sciences."

Felicity's eyebrows shot up, her mind instantly recalling what she'd told him only a couple of days earlier. At the time, she'd thought they'd put the matter to bed, but obviously not, and she had no idea what to say to that statement. "Oh," she finally managed lamely.

That pointed, vivid blue gaze swung to Tobias. "And we were also discussing how it would be irresponsible for QC to not accommodate an employee who is working so hard while also trying to care for an extremely ill family member, so any time you need to take to help your mother will be granted with no repercussions." The CEO's tone brooked no argument.

The small, balding man cowering on the other side of the desk visibly swallowed under the scion's glare. "Of course." His eyes cut to Felicity. "Whatever time you need."

Upon the completion of this…meeting Oliver and Felicity walked out the door together, and once they were far enough away from Tobias' office that they wouldn't be overheard, she stopped turning to face him and he followed suit. "I can fight my own battles, Mr. Queen," she informed time stiffly.

He raised an eyebrow at her tone, slipping his hands into his pants pockets. "I'm fully aware, Ms. Smoak." There was the faintest thread of what Felicity thought might be amusement in his voice. "However this isn't just about you. It's about setting an example for all of my employees, making sure what's been done to you never happens to anyone else in my company ever again."

Felicity had reluctantly conceded that point, and honestly she couldn't argue with the results; she wasn't hassled about having to leave to help her mother anymore, and she wasn't pressured to stay late or, for the first time in months, to come in over the weekend. And since she was expecting all of the new equipment for the club to have arrived by now that was even more of a blessing because she would be able to focus just on setting that up. She so desperately wanted to prove herself worthy of the time, interest, and consideration Oliver had invested in her, the trust he and Tommy had so freely offered, and the faith that Mr. Steel still had in her, and had apparently instilled in Oliver, by doing her absolute best on this project and giving it the attention it deserved.

Waving to the security guard posted at the entrance of Verdant's well-lit employee parking lot, Felicity guided her car into the space by the backdoor which Oliver and Tommy had reserved for her. She pretended not to notice that the "employee" parking lot was much bigger than necessary for the club's fairly small staff, and willfully ignored the Porches, Mercedes, BMWs, and similar high-end cars regularly parked there that were quite obviously far beyond what any employee could afford—billionaire owners, excepted—just as she paid no heed to the several very large and intimidating-looking men patrolling the lot. Felicity kept her attention carefully focused directly in front of her as she passed a nondescript door with a security pad and lit only by a dim bulb overhead; she had an inkling where that door went, but had no desire to confirm it and open that particularly dangerous can of worms. Instead she strode up to the door with the giant "Authorized Personnel Only" sign and massive guard outside it, a bright grin already taking over her face as she recognized him.

"Diggle! How are you? I thought you weren't going to work tonight."

A warm, affectionate grin lit the usually-stoic face of the head of security/hulking bouncer/sometimes-bodyguard. "Evening, Felicity. I'm well, and I took Jimmy's shift because his in-laws are in town this weekend and they get all pissy when he's not there, then Oksana gets annoyed because of that and he's on the couch for the next two weeks."

Felicity gave a sympathetic wince, nodding. "Ouch! Yeah, definitely best that he's there then. Nice of you taking his spot for tonight!"

"Well, he did agree to take a day for me next month so I can take Lyla out for our anniversary," he admitted with a broad grin.

"Well, played, my friend." Grinning just as broadly, she patted one of his massive arms, which was about the size of three of hers. He truly looked every inch the intimidating guard type, but over the last few days she'd discovered that he was really a big teddy bear who adored his wife and daughter. At least until, as the Swayzean mantra went, it was time to not be nice.

A smirk quirked his lips as he unlocked the door. "I saw a large shipment being delivered a few hours ago, lots of 'fragile' and 'handle with care' labels along with pictures that looked like monitors and keyboards."

There was no containing the little excited bounce and squeal she gave at his description, and he chuckled, shaking his head fondly. "It looks like you've got quite a lot of work ahead of you tonight and this weekend."

Rather than being deterred by his words, Felicity was buzzing with even more anticipation and joy. "Yep! And I can't wait to get started!"

He just kept grinning at her, seeming unable not to in that face of her own happiness, opening the door and waving her in. "Well then, I won't keep you from your tech binge. Have a good night, Felicity."

"You too, Diggle, and stay safe!" she called as she skipped inside.

Quickly making her way to the server room, Felicity couldn't help taking a moment to bask in the soft hum of electronics and the coolness of the space, the perfect temperature to keep her babies happy. Sitting in one corner was—as promised by Oliver and Tommy, and described by Diggle—a gorgeous mountain of boxes filled with new tech. Felicity didn't even try to suppress a little happy dance at the vision before her. She glanced at her watch, deciding that she had a solid couple of hours to get some work done before she needed to head home and sleep before taking her mom to an early appointment tomorrow. Well, she could at least get everything out of the boxes, take an inventory and then decide the best way to dismantle the system so she could begin it anew.

Sliding into her chair in front of the monitors, Felicity interlaced her fingers and bent them backward, like she'd seen people do on TV, to crack her knuckles—because it seemed like the thing to do in this situation; this felt knuckle-cracking worthy—and then shook her hands out with an, "Ouch!" She hissed a breath out through her teeth as she got settled over her keyboard. "That wasn't as badass as I thought it would be…" But then her fingers were then flying over the keys and everything else faded away, leaving her deeply engrossed in the codes on her screen, lost in her own world.

Time itself seemed to melt away, it could've been minutes or hours that passed before a specific string of code caught her attention and she frowned. "What are you doing there?" she muttered to herself, and with a few key strokes pulled up another set of windows on a different monitor. At first she just squinted at it, but realization of what she was seeing quickly dawned on her and her stomach sank. "Shit."

-Arrow-

Oliver watched the city fly by outside his window as his driver for the day, Ilya, took him to Verdant, taking in the changes slowly taking hold, good changes in his book, particularly in the Glades. They passed the dark and shuttered Chinese restaurant that'd been an illegal weapons smuggling front for the Triad; SCPD had been tipped off about a shipment moving through it earlier that week and successfully raided it. Rebecca's House, a safehouse for battered women, children, and teens that Tommy opened in his late mother's honor, glowed bright and warm with lights in the windows and Sara and Nyssa's car parked out front, one of the women working a security shift at their favorite location. The corner that'd been the favored haunt of the Count's Vertigo pushers had been conspicuously empty for the last couple of weeks, and the drug's supply itself had nearly dried up after the lab had gone down in flames on the same night the Count mysteriously disappeared without a trace. Down an alley that only six months ago had belonged to dealers and gang members, now resided a brightly lit and cleaned out basketball half court that Roy, John and Slade had built where a group of kids were now shooting hoops.

So many other things showed the slow steps of progress in this most beleaguered part of town, things that actually made Oliver hope that perhaps he was at least doing some good, even with how blood-soaked his own hands were and how long the litany of his sins grew. Being the pakhan's favored kapitan, and who generated one of the largest percentages of income for the brotherhood, had definite perks in that he was given more leeway in how he ran his city.

"Who's on-site tonight?" he finally questioned Ilya after a few blocks.

"Diggle has the employee entrance. Hal is covering topside bar with Joan while Irina, Sophie and Beth work the floor. Don has the VIP bar, and Jess and Nora have the floor there. Stephan and Lou are at the front entrance, and Kevin, James, Ivan and Mikhail have the parking lot. Slade has the downstairs door, and Roy and that friend Sin of his are working valet. Lyla, Alecksander and Sergei are keeping an eye on the floor. Sara's got the bar down there and Shado, Nicole, Alexi and Yulian are at their usual tables," he rattled off succinctly.

Oliver nodded almost absently. "Good." All was as it normally was.

Ilya suddenly cocked his head in a way that Oliver knew meant someone was speaking to him on the comms. "Diggle reports that Ms. Smoak just arrived and gone to the server room."

And with those oh-so-simple and innocuous words Oliver's nicely ordered world was knocked off kilter.

Ms. Smoak.

Felicity Meghan Smoak. Born in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1990 the only daughter of single mom cocktail waitress Donna Smoak and absentee cyber-felon father Noah Kuttler. MIT class of '09, graduated summa cum laude at the age of 19 with a dual Masters in Computer Science and Cyber Security. At an age where Oliver had been dropping out of his first of four Ivy League universities she was graduating with honors and two Masters degrees from a truly prestigious school. Ever since Oliver had returned to Starling and started at QC, Walter had spoken frequently of "Ms. Smoak" in consistently glowing terms, and Oliver had meant to meet the young woman Walter was so impressed with but somehow kept missing her. He hadn't known what to expect, but it hadn't been the bright, funny, blonde he'd found in the office of his club one night, sitting behind his computer like she'd owned it. She'd surprised him after so many years of not being surprised by much of anything, at least in a positive way.

After going through hell, Oliver had come to prize order and control, using the power at his fingertips to manage his world and keep it perfectly arranged, to eliminate surprises as much as possible so that nothing could upset his tightly managed life. It was how he kept himself, his loved ones, and city safe; outside his small circle of family and friends Oliver saw the rest of the world as only targets or threats and treated them all as such.

Then he walked into Tommy's office a week ago.

Felicity with her bright blond hair and crooked spectacles sliding adorably down her nose, the bold pink dress that fit her body in a perfectly tempting way and the bright fuchsia of her lips, the image of her sitting there at the computer, hair falling out of that bun, and her mouth pursed around a red pen was indelibly seared in his mind. His entire world was turned on its head in that one moment, and Oliver just didn't know why. There was something about her from that very moment, the way her blue eyes met his, the babble that'd spilled from her lips. She was unlike anyone he'd ever met, a blast of color in a monochrome world, she brought vibrancy and unpredictability. But those very same things about her that'd drawn him in could threaten the stability of his carefully ordered world. Oliver should've thanked her and sent her on her way that first night, made sure she was treated more fairly at the company from a safe distance and not gotten directly involved. But for some reason he'd been compelled to have her do the work here at the club, and then again to be the one to confront her supervisor. As much as he knew he should stay away, something about her drew him in again and again.

Oliver shook those thoughts off as they arrived at Verdant, he needed to focus, it was the beginning of the weekend so both Verdant and the downstairs business would be busy, and he had at least an hour of paperwork to get done before he'd need to make his obligatory appearance above and below. His mind kept running through the dozen and ten things he had to do in the meantime, all the while acutely aware of his surroundings on the way to his office. Much to Oliver's surprise the very blonde computer tech he'd been trying—unsuccessfully—to put out of his mind was standing in the doorway of his office, gripping a tablet to her chest and worrying her lower lip—he pointedly ignored the distracting thoughts creeping in at the sight of that plump, red-painted flesh trapped between her teeth like that.

"Felicity?" Fuck, did his voice really sound that breathless? Oliver cleared his throat. "What can I do for you?"

She fidgeted uncomfortably, eyes darting anywhere but his own, like she couldn't—or wouldn't—meet his gaze. "I—I ran into an… When I was setting up… Uh…" After those aborted attempts at an explanation, Felicity chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Can we… Could we speak in your office, please?"

Frowning at her obvious unease, Oliver nodded and ushered her inside, closing the door behind them and moving to sit behind his desk, hoping that by making it so he no longer towered over her she might feel more comfortable speaking to him about whatever this was. "Felicity, what is it?" he asked, voice coming out much more gently than he was used to, a tone he normally used only with his sister—a thought he quickly shook off. Nothing about the way he thought of Felicity could be described as brotherly.

Felicity still seemed unable to meet his eyes. "I—I found something…butIdidn'tmeanto!" she quickly added, hands tightening on her tablet. "I was just trying to take a look at the system so I could decide the best and safest way to dismantle it, and I accidentally found…" She tapped on the screen, pulling something up, she hesitated but then haltingly held it out to him.

Oliver tried to catch her eye, gaze questioning, but she kept hers focused on the floor, as he took the proffered item from her violently trembling hands. At first it didn't fully register what he was seeing on the screen, because honestly he shouldn't be seeing what he saw, but he quickly recognized the dark, sleek mahogany of the bar Sara worked behind, the blackjack tables being set up for the night, Shado prepping the craps table, Slade at his usual spot by the door. All of it quite vivid in quality because Oliver had spared no expense on the quality of surveillance and security equipment in the building, but Felicity shouldn't have been able to see those feeds, because those feeds weren't from the club—the legitimate—part of the building. No, those were from downstairs, from the space that wasn't supposed to exist, a space she wasn't ever supposed to find out about. As the realization of what this all meant—not just for him but for her—dawned on him his stomach sank. Shit.

-Arrow-

BOOM! There's the bomb dropped! XD Did you all think I was going to do that so soon? ;-) Thank you so much for reading! Please let me know what you think!