Fic: Dating Philosophy 101 (Olicity)
Author: Poetgirl925
Title: Dating Philosophy 101
Summary: Felicity has a date, and Oliver realizes that he knows very little about her personal life. When he starts asking questions, he gets a little more information than he bargained for, and it sets them on a new path in their relationship.
Rating: R
Pairing: Felicity / Oliver
Fandom: Arrow
Warnings: Spoilers through ‘The Huntress Returns’ at least, but I’m not really sticking to canon. Story begins earlier - just before the opening of Verdant
Disclaimer: Don’t own, just playing :)
Chapter 2
The Big Belly Burger was busy as Oliver and Diggle entered, weaving through customers to grab the last empty table in the back corner.
“You know if we keep eating here, we’ll need to double our workouts on a daily basis,” Oliver commented as he sat.
“Hey now - I make your burgers from the leanest beef I have, and I have whole grain buns or lettuce wraps for the carb watching crowd,” Carly replied as she placed the menus in front of them.
“And if we have to double our workouts, it’s worth it,” Diggle said, directing a smile her way.
“He has a point,” Oliver allowed. “I dreamed of burgers while I was on that island. How are you today, Carly?”
“Busy. Ever since a certain billionaire started hanging out in my diner, I’ve had a lot more customers. Felicity’s not joining you guys tonight?”
“She had a prior engagement,” Oliver replied.
“Another date? I know her last one was a bust, but she seems determined lately to get back out there,” Carly said.
Oliver hadn’t thought to ask her if she had a date. In fact, he hadn’t questioned her when she mentioned dinner plans because she hadn’t been particularly dressed up - not like the night of her setup.
“It’s just dinner with her friend Lindsay tonight, but I think she has another date next week,” Diggle answered. “I’ll have the lean burger with everything, fries, and the strawberry shake.” At Oliver’s raised brow, he shrugged. “Hey, a man’s got to eat. I’ll worry about the workout tomorrow.”
When Carly turned her attention to him, Oliver relented. “I’ll have the same.”
“Ok, I’ll have it right out.”
Oliver waited for her to leave before turning to Diggle. “How is it that you know Felicity’s plans and I don’t?”
Diggle leaned forward, a slight smirk on his face. “You see, Oliver, there’s this thing that people do. It’s called having a conversation. Generally, one person says something and then the other person responds. Simple, really.”
“I talk to her.”
“Sure you do - about the list, about work, and about computer issues. But not about her life - and monosyllabic responses when she starts babbling don’t count.”
Oliver thought about that as they waited for their order. True, he wasn’t always particularly talkative, but he’d thought Felicity was opening up to him more lately. They’d had a long talk after Helena left her tied up under her desk at Queen Consolidated. He’d been concerned that Felicity was going to bail on the team after that, but she said that hadn’t crossed her mind. Instead, she’d told him that she now had two reasons to stay. First, she wanted to find Walter. Second, she wanted to find his psycho ex and put her down before she caused any more damage.
Oliver suspected that words had been exchanged between Felicity and Helena during that confrontation, though so far Felicity hadn’t been forthcoming with details. However, the very fact that Felicity was out for Helena’s blood was proof that Helena hadn’t simply threatened her to get the information on the safe house. Since he knew Helena’s penchant for mind games and finding weakness that could be exploited, he could reasonably assume that she had taken the opportunity to play with someone who was important to Oliver. After all, when Felicity had unexpectedly appeared in the basement while Helena was there, he’d reacted explosively out of fear that Felicity would be one more person who could be used against him. That had clearly piqued Helena’s interest, especially since it had been obvious that Felicity was aware Oliver was also the hooded vigilante.
Their food arrived, and Carly took a break to sit with them as they ate. She and Diggle had been spending a lot more time together, and Oliver was happy for his friend. Just because he had to sacrifice that part of his life didn’t mean that Diggle had to as well. Nor did it mean Felicity had to. He didn’t want to shipwreck them on his own personal island.
They had just finished eating when Diggle’s phone rang. He glanced at it and frowned. “Hello? This is John Diggle.” He listened for a minute and then stood abruptly. “I’m on my way.”
Oliver stood as well. “What’s wrong?”
“That was the Starling City Police Department. Felicity was mugged.”
“Oh my God, is she ok?” Carly looked concerned as Diggle pulled on his coat.
“The officer said she was still giving her statement, but she needed a ride home and she asked them to call me.”
“I’ll go.” Oliver already had his jacket on, and his mind was racing with questions.
“Oliver, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“I’m going.” At Oliver’s warning look, Diggle dropped his argument. After promising Carly they would let her know how Felicity was, they left.
Oliver rode his bike and arrived at the police station first. Rather than wait for Diggle, he took the stairs two at a time and went straight to the desk sergeant. “I need to know where Felicity Smoak is. She was mugged tonight, and she’s here giving her statement.”
The desk sergeant hit a few keys on the computer before picking up the phone. “This is Walters at the front desk. You guys got a Felicity Smoak back there? We got someone here asking for her.” He listened for a minute. “Ok, thanks.” He hung up the phone and looked at Oliver. “Go through those doors and up to the third floor. She’s about done I think.”
Oliver waited for the sergeant to buzz him through the doors and then hurried up the stairs. He entered the busy room and looked around, finally spotting Felicity seated at a desk on the left. He noticed that her usually neat ponytail was off center, and a few strands of hair had come loose and been tucked behind her ears. Her hand was scraped up, and her foot was propped on a chair opposite her.
“Are you alright? What happened?”
Felicity looked up as he approached, her expression confused. “What are you doing here?”
“The department called and said you needed a ride home,” he reminded her.
“Yes, I know that. But I gave them Dig’s number, not yours.”
“And I was there when he got the call, so I came with him. He should be outside with the car now.”
She heaved a sigh and turned back to the detective. “Is that everything you need?”
The detective nodded. “We’ll call you back in if we find anything.”
Oliver directed his attention to the detective. “What exactly happened?”
“Classic mugging - girl walks through the park, guy jumps her and steals her bag. Lucky for your friend, all he wanted was the bag.” The detective handed over his card. “Call us if you remember anything else or if you have any problems at home. Perp’s got your identification, so…”
“Yeah, I got it, thanks,” Felicity replied hastily as she stood - or tried to at least. When she stumbled, Oliver reached out to steady her.
“Do you need me to carry you?” Oliver asked in concern. “I think you should have that x-rayed.”
Felicity shot him a look of disbelief. “Carry me? Are you kidding?”
“Why would I be kidding? You can barely walk.”
“Because Oliver Queen carrying me out of the police station or into a hospital has ‘money shot’ written all over it. I’d prefer not to wake up tomorrow to find #Olicity trending on Twitter, thanks. I mean, you’re my boss, not my boyfriend. And even if you were my boyfriend, I wouldn’t want it all over the media. Not that that’s even a possibility, but I’m just saying.”
In another situation, Oliver might have laughed at how grumpy Felicity sounded, but there wasn’t much amusement to be found in her being injured as a result of a mugging. He tried for a more soothing tone. “Felicity, you’re my friend, not just my employee. You can’t seem to put weight on your foot, so obviously you need to go to the hospital. I’m open to suggestions here. What about your friend that you were meeting for dinner?”
“Dinner was cut short because Lindsay had to go out of town on assignment. She’s a reporter for the Starling City Register. Just help me outside, but then Dig can go in with me at the hospital.”
Oliver might have argued, but something else had occurred to him. “How are you going to get into your apartment? I assume the guy took your keys.”
“I’m going to have to call the super and have the locks changed,” she replied as he began helping her towards the exit.
“Why don’t you let me deal with that while you go to the hospital,” he suggested.
They were waiting for the elevator, and Felicity nibbled her bottom lip, hesitating. Finally, she said, “Thanks. I still have my phone because it was in my pocket, so I can call while we’re in the car. I’ll give you the address.”
Oliver already knew her address, but he didn’t mention it because he had a feeling she might not appreciate it at that moment. The elevator doors opened and Detective Lance stepped off.
“Mr. Queen.” He glanced at Felicity. “New girlfriend? You do seem to go through them. I mean, the last one’s only been gone a few weeks, but I guess it’s about time for your Facebook relationship status to change again.”
Oliver felt Felicity’s grip tighten on his arm, revealing her sudden tension. Anger shot through him. “Detective, I can understand why you don’t like me, but leave my friend out of it. As you can see, she’s had a bad night. Maybe you could direct your energy toward finding the guy who attacked her.”
Lance had the good grace to look contrite as he looked at Felicity. “The mugging case, right? They put out an APB on the suspect you described, but you should know that well lit or not, Starling City Park is not the safest place for a young woman alone after dark.”
“Starling City Park has always been safe - it’s nowhere near the Glades,” Oliver pointed out.
“Maybe that was true five years ago, but crime from the Glades has steadily been encroaching on the rest of the city. That park is a popular spot for muggers and robbers because it’s close to all those trendy restaurants and coffee shops in Five Points that young professionals like your friend here tend to frequent. We’ve also had some reported sexual assaults. So I suggest that in future, you take the long way rather than cutting through the park.”
“Trust me when I say that I have no plans to be anywhere near that park in the future,” Felicity replied.
Lance nodded, walking away as Oliver helped Felicity into the elevator.
Diggle was waiting for them outside. “Damn, girl. I hope the other guy took at least one hit after all of our training sessions.”
“I assaulted his ears with my very loud screaming. Does that count?” At Diggle’s look, Felicity sighed. “He caught me off guard.”
Diggle shook his head. “We’ll have to work on that.”
“I was really afraid you were going to say that.”
Oliver helped her into the car. “Text me your address and the super’s number as soon as you’ve talked to him.”
She nodded, and Oliver watched them drive away before he got on his bike and headed towards Felicity’s apartment.
**
Two hours later, Oliver had the locks changed and had also put in a call to the same security company who handled the alarm systems at Queen Manor. He made an appointment to have a state-of-the-art alarm system installed the following morning. He really should have done it after Helena tracked Felicity down at her office because if she could find her at Queen Consolidated, she could certainly find her at home.
When Felicity hobbled in on crutches a half hour later with Diggle behind her, Oliver had a map of the city spread out on her coffee table. He had marked the park entrance closest to the restaurant area Detective Lance had mentioned, but he had no idea where Felicity had left her car.
“How’s your foot?” Oliver asked.
Felicity looked at the map as she sat down beside him, sighing with relief. She propped the crutches against the arm of the sofa. “It’s not broken - I just have a bad sprain. What are you doing?”
“Looking over all the entrances to the park. I assume you were coming from here,” he pointed out the entrance he’d marked. “Where did you leave your car?”
“I left it in the parking deck at Queen Consolidated,” she replied. “The business center is close to Five Points if you cut through the park. I’m usually only in that area during the day, so I didn’t know it had gotten that bad. And I’ve cut through there in the early evening hours before - this is the first time I’ve ever had a problem.”
“Did you call and cancel the cards that were in your wallet?”
“Already done. I only had my debit card and some cash on me.”
“And your driver’s license,” Oliver reminded her. “Which means the guy has your address. Tomorrow I have a security company coming in to install a home security system. Tonight, I’m going to sleep on your couch just in case you have any unexpected visitors.” When Felicity looked like she would object, he added, “This is non-negotiable. I should have done it already since Helena knows that you’re connected to me. Her interest in you is because of me, so this is me taking care of that problem. I’ll have an alert set up to notify you, me and Dig in case the alarm is tripped for any reason.”
“At least promise you’ll call before busting in here,” Felicity grumbled. “I can already tell you that that security system will end up getting tripped by accident somehow because that’s my life.”
“I’ll call first,” he promised. He glanced up at Diggle. “You can head out if you want to. I already called home and told them not to expect me tonight.”
“Alright. Are you planning to go into the office tomorrow?” Diggle sent Felicity a questioning look.
Oliver answered for her. “No, she isn’t.”
“Hello, sitting right here. You’re not the boss of me. Okay, technically you are the boss of me, but that doesn’t mean you can come in here and boss me around. And I don’t need my foot to type. Plus, my supervisor is a lazy tyrant who hates it when we take sick days.”
“Felicity, your hand is bandaged too. And you’re not playing hooky, you were mugged - if your supervisor has a problem with you taking a day off after something like that then I’ll handle it personally. I can assure you he won’t argue with me. Just take the day off.” They were glaring at each other now, each unwilling to budge.
Diggle cleared his throat. “Felicity, he’s right. You’re going to be feeling every bump and scrape tomorrow, trust me.”
Felicity deflated and leaned back against the cushions. “You’re right. I’m sorry I’m being so difficult, but I’m tired and upset, and I’m cranky - I hate crutches, and the doctor said I should use them for the rest of the week to keep weight off my foot.”
Oliver felt his anger ebb away. She looked pale and tired, and her usual bubbly energy was missing. He found that bothered him more than her injured ankle. He focused on the problem at hand. “I’m going to patrol the area of the park tomorrow, so I need a description of the guy who attacked you.”
“The police are handling it,” she replied. “They put out an APB.”
“Felicity, you heard them tonight. This kind of violence has become commonplace in the city, so I doubt they’re going to do much. They’ll reserve their man hours for more serious attacks.”
“No offense, but the guy was like fifteen, sixteen tops. I don’t want to be responsible for him being your target practice, Oliver.”
Her tone was neutral, but Oliver felt the sting of her words nonetheless. “I’m not in the habit of killing teenagers.”
Felicity met his gaze directly. “Look, I understand why you do what you do.” She paused. “I don’t know - maybe I don’t really understand it, but I’m trying to. And while I recognize that you’ve done a lot of good, the casualties you leave in your wake bother me.”
Oliver had known from the beginning that Felicity had a problem with his approach to the list. They’d butted heads over it on more than one occasion. What he hadn’t realized was how much it bothered her. He wanted to ask her if that was the reason she had refused to join his team on a more permanent basis, but he remained silent because he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.
Diggle was the one to break the uncomfortable silence in the room. “I think someone should do something about crime in the park. I was talking to some people at the hospital, and they said that three female joggers have been sexually assaulted there in the last couple of months.”
“I’ve been working on a new kind of arrow,” Oliver finally said. “It has a charge like a Taser when it strikes a target, but I’ve been having trouble getting the charge just right. Maybe we can work on it this week. It would take out random street thugs without leaving any lasting damage, and I could use zip tie handcuffs to secure them until the police arrived.”
Felicity looked at him in surprise. “I thought you said before that you didn’t have time for random city patrols.”
“I still plan to spend the bulk of my time on the source of this city’s problems, not the symptoms,” he answered. “But if random patrol can make things a little safer in the meantime, then it’s something I can make the time for… at least a couple times a week. A few sightings of the vigilante in and around the park would probably be a good crime deterrant.”
She smiled at him. “I can help. With the tasing arrows, I mean. If I’m going to stay home tomorrow, you can bring them over and I’ll take a look. And we should talk about your hood costume.”
“What about it?”
“Oliver, your disguise is basically a hood and some green paint around your eyes. Who is that really going to fool if they manage to get close enough to peek under the hood? You should be wearing some kind of mask. It’s not like people don’t know Oliver Queen’s face in this city, you know.”
“She has a point,” Diggle said, his expression one of amusement.
Oliver couldn’t help smiling a little at the return of Felicity’s enthusiasm. “Why don’t we talk about it tomorrow? Right now, I think we could all use some rest.” He reached for several sets of keys on the table and handed them to Felicity. “Your new keys - I had them install an extra deadbolt lock while they were here.”
“I noticed - thanks.” Felicity stood carefully with the aid of her crutches and began hobbling towards her bedroom. “The linen closet is in the hall bathroom. There are sheets and blankets in there. I turned the spare bedroom into a home office, so your only option for sleeping is the couch.”
“The couch is fine.” He turned away, but looked back when he heard her rattling the keys in her hand. He easily caught the set of keys she tossed him.
“It’s probably a good idea if one of you keeps a spare set of my keys,” Felicity said. “In case of emergency.”
Oliver was good at reading people; it had been necessary in order to survive on the island, and it was equally necessary now that he was home. So he recognized that this was Felicity’s way of extending an olive branch of sorts. It was her way of letting him know that she trusted him despite her other misgivings. He folded his fingers over the keys. “You’re right. It’s a good idea.”
She smiled and disappeared into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
“She’s good for you, you know. She’s good for both of us, really.” Diggle sat down in the spot Felicity had vacated. “She sees things a little differently, and she’s not afraid to tell you when she disagrees with your methods.”
“I know.” It was the reason he tracked her down at the office and apologized after she had walked out on him. He’d never really thought she would expose his identity as the vigilante, but he had been afraid she might not come back without some overture on his part. “Has Felicity talked to you about what happened between her and Helena?”
If Diggle was surprised by the sudden change in topic, he didn’t show it. “A little.”
Oliver had expected that answer. “I know I’m not the easiest person to talk to. I’m glad she can talk to one of us, though.”
“She talks to you, Oliver. You just have to pay attention to the details with her because her approach to sharing isn’t always linear. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Diggle left, and Oliver locked the door behind him.
Friendships took time to develop, and Oliver could admit he was rusty when it came to sharing. But he had a feeling that Felicity’s friendship would be worth the work he put into it because he could see now that sharing wasn’t so easy for her, either - not when it came to the important stuff. And he couldn’t expect her to tell him how she was feeling when he never reciprocated. Maybe he wasn’t a caring, sharing leader. He was self-contained, and he still operated in survivalist mode most of the time, but he was working on it. And somehow he knew Felicity could appreciate a work-in-progress.