Sometimes A Surprise Is Just What You Need

Untitled Part 19

Felicity arrived early to work the next morning. She was a little nervous but optimistic that she and Oliver could work through their disagreement about her being in the field. Not seeing him in his office, Felcity set her things down, put on her headphones and got to work. As she sipped her coffee combing through the camera footage she had obtained from the Marina, Felicity started to notice a pattern emerging. It seemed that every night at midnight there was a shift change at the warehouse that lasted approximately 30 minutes. Could this be the magic window that they needed to get in and destroy the server? Felicity bit her lip as she suddenly noticed an alert pop up on her screen. She had set the alert to warn her of when the QC hacker was online and trying to gain access to the server. Grinning, Felicity's hands flew over her keyboard. Gotcha!!, she thought.

Oliver stepped off the elevator, nervous but looking forward to seeing Felicity. Their encounter had been intense, just like every other interaction between them. He knew that he was going to have to tread lightly with her today. Saying the wrong thing could set her off again, and that was the last thing he wanted.

A smile curved his lips as he saw Felicity at her desk, hard at work. Walking up to her desk, Oliver stood there for a good two minutes before she finally noticed him.

She jumped a little, pulling off her headphones with a hesitant smile.

"Good Morning Mr. Queen, I didn't notice you standing there."

Oliver grinned, "So I noticed Miss Smoak." Turning, Oliver headed into his office throwing over his shoulder, "Give me about 5 minutes then come in and let's discuss my calendar for today. We have the board meeting at 10:00 a.m., and I want to be ready to speak to Kord about the hack."

Felicity was not sure what to think. He had smiled at her and seemed to be sticking to their formality agreement, but how would thing go when she brought up the Triad's server? She had not changed her mind. She needed to get on-site.

After about 5 minutes Felicity gathered her tablet and his schedule, not seeing Diggle anywhere she headed into Oliver's office, closing his office door behind her. She always closed the door in case someone walked in while they were talking.

"So where is Diggle today?", she asked as she took a seat across from him.

"I have him working with Slade, Roy and Lyla on training today. We can talk more about that in a moment. What is on my calendar for today besides the board meeting?"

It took about 15 minutes for them to cover his calendar and for her to have him sign a few papers that had been sent over from the Applied Sciences division. Felicity had scanned over the information and gave him a synopsis of each one before he signed.

Having covered everything Oliver leaned back in his chair, his gaze caring but intense as he looked at her.

Before he could speak, Felicity sat forward in her chair, "Mr. Queen, we need to discuss what happened in the meeting yesterday. It's obvious that you don't want me to go to the warehouse. And I respect your reasons as to why. But what you need to remember is that I have been an agent for over 5 years. And in that time I have dealt with hijacker's, serial killers, hackers and a host of other situations that put me and my team in danger. I am trained and I am good at what I do. I don't take unnecessary risks. I go in and get my job done and I am out." Felicity kept her voice even but firm. She needed Oliver to understand that nothing he said was going to change her mind. She really needed him to back her on this play.

Oliver's response was immediate, and Felicity gritted her teeth."Miss Smoak, the answer is still no." Oliver knew he was treading on very thin ice by the look on her face.

"Just like you have been an agent for 5 years Miss Smoak, I have been dealing with the Triad for 5 years. I have seen their methods up close and personal, and I am not just talking about with my parents." Oliver's face hardened. Felicity could not be certain but she felt he was referring to his time in Russia that Diggle had eluded to. Just what had they done to him to have him so spooked.

"With all due respect Mr. Queen, this is not soley your decision to make." Felicity's voice was tight, she was trying to hold on to her temper. "I think we should bring this before the team and let them decide."

Oliver's jaw ticked, his fingers drumming on his desk. She could tell he was biting his tongue, trying to keep his temper under control.

"Miss Smoak...", his voice was controlled as he leaned forward. "I will not let this happen, even if I have to tie you to a chair to do it."

Damn, he infuriated her.

"Mr. Queen I have spoken to both Agent Waller and Agent Lance and they have agreed to let the team make the final call on this." She leaned her face down close to him, her hands braced on his desk and spoke softly but firmly, "I suggest you get on board Mr. Queen." Standing she headed for the door. "Oh and by the way, Mr. Queen. There has not been a rope or zip tie invented that has been able to hold me yet."

Giving him a smug smile, she walked out of his office, back to her desk.

Oliver was livid. How could Waller and Lance agree to this. Did they not understand what they were dealing with? What the Triad was capable of? Oliver knew. He knew too well. Over half of the scars he carried on his body had been inflicted by them when they had captured him in Russia, and the thought of them getting their hands on Felicity, well that was completely unacceptable.