Brooding at the computer screen, Oliver kicked his feet up on the table. Sweat trickled down his back and face from his recent workout. Against doctors orders and his mother's protests, he checked himself out of the hospital, " Mr. Diggle is not my personal life support and he should get out of that horrible gown." Oliver stated calmly with a pleasant smile to his doctors and mother.

" Thank you, sir." Diggle said with mock sincerity. Shaking their heads as Oliver signed the release, he walked out a semi-healthy man.

Footsteps echoed down the stairs and he could tell by their cadence and type that it was Felicity. He felt that funny butterfly feeling again but pushed it down.

" You asked to see me? Well, not like that—like I'm you secretary or something, you know, because I'm not." Felicity said in a slightly annoyed tone, approaching the chair Oliver sat in. She was particularly aware that he was not wearing a shirt, but that novelty was starting to wear off. However, she was still a warm-blooded woman and she would not complain about the scenery.

Ollie turned in the chair, a smirk on his face from her declaratory statement, " I would never assume a lovely, intelligent lady like you was just my secretary." He noticed color on her cheeks and remembered Dig's words, ' just be yourself.' He noticed how bright her lipstick was against her skin.

" Well, why am I here?" she asked simply as he looked up at her, hands in his lap.

Oliver tilted his head slightly, " We have some work do to. I've noticed an uptick in Hedera moving 'product' out of the Glades recently. I think your hacking got them scared."

" More like angry. I barely made it out without being detected. What's that got to do with us?" Felicity returned wishing he'd put his shirt on so she could maintain focus. Those scars still unnerved her.

" I had an arrow-cam in the ceiling and it's been broadcasting to a private YouTube account. With our video and Tommy's sample I think we can run Miss Crabgrass out of town." Oliver responded confidently.

Felicity stepped back and leaned against a worktable, looking at him dubiously, " Do I hear mercy for Ivy? From you of all people?"

Oliver narrowed his eyes slightly and replied darkly, " You sound like Helena."

" Have you seen my files? Have you seen what she's done to people?" Felicity could hear the vicious tone in her voice, gesturing widely, " You almost died. " she concluded softly and looking at the floor, embarrassed to have shown so much emotion to him.

Oliver didn't have a counter argument at that moment but ached to hold her. A chirp from the alarm panel at the upper door distracted both of them; it was Tommy. He came trotting down the stairs, his collar loose and sport coat over his arm. " Did I interrupt something?" he seemed unusually chipper. Maybe he and Laurel made up.

" No." Oliver said quickly and barely glanced at a slightly disgruntled looking Felicity. She stood and straightened her cardigan primly. " We were discussing our next plan of action against Isley and Hedera." he continued.

" You know you can't just hand over that sample." Tommy shared, poking at a set of tools on a table.

" Why not?" Oliver asked quickly, thinking this was a quick case of open and closed.

" Well, Mr. Flunked out of Ivy League, I was the only person she's shown her lab to. Even Dad hasn't been in there. You think that she'd put two and two together." Tommy said sarcastically. " Are you thinking straight?" He gave Oliver a sidelong look.

Oliver turned away from him in the chair so he could not see the disappointment in his expression. He was right. That would blow everything wide open if they just magically produce a vial of poison and Tommy was the only one to have access to that lab. Queen began to think about how he could get a story to cover for Tommy, but he guessed that Pamela was already aware of her missing vial. "Tommy. Did you look at those papers you gave to your dad?" Oliver asked turning back around.

" No. I was too busy getting rid of them to get to you." Merlyn replied looking slightly disgusted bringing up his dad.

" I wonder what her plan was." Oliver mused out loud crossing his arms over his still bare chest.

" She called it the Undertaking." Tommy said absently, hanging his coat on a chair. Oliver sat up straight in his chair as if someone shocked him. "What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

" Oh, muscle cramp. Nothing." Oliver said quickly but Felicity knew he was lying. Tommy wasn't totally exclusive yet to their little trio of Diggle, Oliver and herself.

" Well, I wanted to check on you, since I was upstairs calculating this weekend's profit. And a hefty profit it was!" Tommy said grabbing his coat and returnning upstairs. They both watched him rise up the stairs and out the door.

" We can still upload the video to the state EPA and police." Oliver continued his thought looking at her.

" True, but do you think action would be taken just because they have a video of sludge?" Felicity commented dryly. Oliver looked at her strangely. When did she become so blood thirsty?

" So you want me to arrow her." Oliver stated flatly as he stood up, the killer look creeping into his eyes.

Felicity took a step closer to him but looking towards her toes because she didn't trust herself to look into his eyes. She could feel his body heat radiating and for a moment forgot her restraint, " She almost killed you."

Oliver smiled a self-sure smile. "Felicity, lots of people have tried to kill me in the past five years. I've defied the odds. " He hooked a finger under her chin, " And that will be a constant as long as you work with me." His expression was one of tenderness and vulnerability. Just be yourself, Diggle had said. Well, here I am, Oliver thought.

Felicity looked up at him and blue met blue. She couldn't sleep last night because she kept having a dream about a funeral and Oliver was the man in the casket. " Oliver, I… I think… too much." She broke eye contact and stepped away. Queen exhaled in frustration. " I will upload the video tonight and encrypt it. If you decide to go out… I don't want to know." she continued heading towards the stairs, ponytail swinging gently against her back. Oliver remained where he was, but now alone.

Moira and her family sat at the long table in the monstrous, opulent dining room. After her losing her first husband, she was uncomfortable with the large space but embraced it again after Oliver was found, despite the loss of Walter. The gentle sound of silverware on plates and the soft clinking of glasses were the only sounds in the room as Thea, Oliver and herself ate their evening meal. Moira had metaphorically twisted Oliver's arm to make him come to dinner instead of staying in that godforsaken hole of a club he had created. Looking down the table at him, she caught his eye. He gave a polite smile, wiping his lips and then sipping some wine.

She was proud that Oliver had found an outlet for his energy after coming back from the island, but she knew he spent too much time there to be healthy. He reminded her of his father; driven to success at whatever their undertaking was be it money, liquor or women. " Oliver, tell me if they ever found out where you were exposed to that horrible chemical?" she asked.

Oliver chewed his bite and swallowed, "No clue. But I'd guess that it was a byproduct of the renovation at Verdant." He was using his innocent lie mask, hoping his mother would not probe further.

" Well, I do hope you plan on having the air, water and soil tested around that place. It was a steel mill, Ollie. Not an organic garden." Moira gently admonished her son.

" I'll put it on my to-do list, mother." He replied easily and went back to his dinner glad she was dropping it.

" Maybe instead of Verdant you could call it Ver-dead." Thea joked and got a rude look from her mother.

" And this is coming from the girl who is too young to get into any other club in the whole city, hmm?" Oliver shot back at his sister.

" Enough you two. All these years and you still haven't grown up!" Moira said tensely.

" Sorry mom." They said simultaneously with mock humility.

" Owe me a Coke." Oliver said quickly.

"Hey, no fair!" Thea said, her mouth full of food.

Oliver chuckled at her and then looked at his mother. Her eyes glowed happiness and pride despite her slightly rude children. His heart warmed to see her happy for a brief moment and he knew his father would be equally happy.

His phone buzzed with a text message the next morning at some ungodly hour, which was about nine in the morning. Why didn't I set the volume off? He cursed and rolled over to see who it was. Felicity had texted him " Hedera pulling out of Sterling City. TV."

Sitting up in bed he grabbed his remote for the flat screen across the room and flicked it on. The familiar face of the news anchor filled the screen and in his sonorous voice announced that Hedera Chemical and Dr. Pamela Isley were taking their business elsewhere. Shareholders were shocked at the revelation that Hedera was knowingly leaking chemicals into the water systems of Starling City in the Glades section. The image shifted to a picture of prosecutor Laurel Lance, who heading the case with extensive video evidence produced by the vigilante.

The video footage again shifted to a stunning redhead pushing her way to her limousine after her court appearance. She had no comment for the paparazzi frenzy as her rippling red hair bounced around her shoulders like an exotic vine against the lime green pantsuit she wore. Oliver flicked the TV off and turned his attention to his phone again. He texted back, " This one got away."

Felicity did not reply. Oliver felt the need to call Tommy to see if he was in hot water with his dad over this. " Tommy. You hear the news?" he asked his best friend.

" Yeah, just saw it." Tommy replied and Oliver could hear Laurel's voice in the background. He guessed they made up.

" Are you in trouble?" Oliver inquired carefully since you never knew who was listening.

" Nope. At least for now." Tommy responded in that tone that let Oliver know he understood what was meant, " We'll get together later."

"Absolutely." Oliver agreed and hung up.

He still flopped back into bed and stared at his phone. In a moment of brashness he texted her, " Meet me for breakfast sometime again?"

A long while passed to the point Oliver thought he might have texted the wrong number. Then a chime came in, " Maybe." It said.

Maybe is all I need, Oliver said and smiled at the ceiling.

FINE.