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Felicity felt like her brain was about to short-circuit.
A boyfriend who appeared out of nowhere, whom she gave her body to after more than twenty years of fiercely guarding it, only to find out he was a kidnapper with clear antisocial tendencies? And yet, despite all that, his personal file was classified as high-level confidential.
That wasn't exactly the treatment a typical kidnapper would receive.
In fact, that wasn't even the treatment someone like Oliver Queen would get, and he was a literal billionaire.
Felicity found Allen increasingly mysterious, so much so that the very air around him seemed thick with unanswered questions.
She couldn't tell if he was joking, or serious…
It left her feeling overwhelmed, confused, and completely unsure of how she was supposed to handle this bizarre new reality.
There was no solution in sight.
'It could be dangerous…'
The only thing she was sure of was that being with Allen was definitely more thrilling, and far scarier, than hacking into the Department of Defense when she was seventeen!
And that had involved federal agents knocking on her door afterward.
Glancing sideways at Allen, who was lying down like he didn't have a care in the world, Felicity sighed, full of mixed emotions.
'What should I do?'
She closed her laptop slowly, then hesitated for a beat before lying down beside him.
Since she had no idea what to do next, she decided to let time figure it out for her.
Sometimes surrender was the only sensible strategy.
'I'll just sleep'
Exhausted from everything, the craziness, the emotional rollercoaster and the aftermath of giving herself to someone for the first time, Felicity quickly slipped into a deep heavy sleep.
Her breathing was steady against the quiet background hum of the apartment.
As the saying goes: 'Don't stress over problems you can't solve today, because chances were, you won't solve them tomorrow either.'
Or next week.
When Felicity finally woke up, there were still no magical answers waiting for her.
Apparently, even time had given up on trying to untangle the mess she'd landed herself in.
So, she shook off the lingering confusion, got dressed, washed up, had a quick breakfast, and decided to head to work like it was any normal day.
But before she left, she handed Allen a spare key.
"Use this, the next time!" she glared at him.
She wasn't exactly sure how he had gotten into her place yesterday, but it definitely wasn't through the front door, thus she figured this was the safer option.
Besides, it would save her from coming home to broken locks or mysteriously missing windows.
Now that he had official access, Allen didn't bother going out.
He lounged lazily on the sofa, basking in the morning sunlight like a cat, his thoughts drifting from one amusing idea to another.
If Felicity had already been the Green Arrow's girlfriend, he thought, he could have at least used the excuse of giving the guy a nice, shiny "green" forgiveness hat.
After playing around a bit, he would have met Green Arrow face-to-face and casually dropped something like, "Hey, your girlfriend? She's great."
'Ah, what a classic.'
Unfortunately, Felicity had become his girlfriend before Green Arrow even had a chance to appear on the scene.
That complicated things in ways Allen hadn't initially anticipated.
Still, Allen wasn't one to deny his own nature.
He liked the new, got bored of the old, and had no problems moving on.
Breakups, resentment, even lovers turning enemies, he was fine with it all.
'Yeah, that's certainly fun, heh'
Allen thought about it for a while, and finally figured out that the best move was to give Felicity a proper mission, something she could pour her heart into day after day, year after year.
Something that would make her matter even after they were no longer together.
Maybe something like becoming a hero?
Felicity already had a strong sense of justice.
She wasn't a fighter, sure, but her hacking skills were absolutely top-tier.
Behind the scenes, she could be a world-class operator. A city's hidden guardian.
"First day of dating, and I'm already planning for the breakup," Allen muttered to himself with a sigh, stretching lazily.
"No one's ever been this forward-thinking."
He chuckled, amused at his own ridiculous logic.
"But Felicity will become a hero too. Just watch."
If she eventually became an ex-girlfriend and also the symbol of an entire city, that wouldn't be a loss at all.
Actually, it sounded kind of amazing.
'Wait a minute… what if?'
What if he had… Cities full of ex-girlfriends?
An ex-girlfriend's club in every town?
Absurd? Definitely.
Exciting? Absolutely.
By the time Felicity returned from work, Allen had already made dinner, cleaned the place, hung up her coat for her, and sat her down in the living room like the perfect househusband.
Then, with the casual air of someone discussing the weather… he told her the full story, how he kidnapped Laurel, why he did it, and what sparked his interest.
"That wasn't an accident, it was man-made? That's huge news!" Felicity's eyes widened, her fork halfway to her mouth.
"How do you know something so secret?"
Allen just smiled calmly, giving nothing away.
"I have my ways."
He didn't mention how her wild imagination had already started sprinting ten miles ahead.
Maybe he's a government agent?
Maybe he's undercover, pretending to be a criminal to complete some ultra-secret mission?
Her mind buzzed with endless theories, each more creative than the last.
And just like that, Felicity's anxiety melted away a little.
At least now she didn't have to worry about having thrown herself at a true villain.
With a bright, hopeful smile, she grabbed Allen's arm and offered eagerly.
"Do you need my help?"
"Just keep an eye on Laurel," Allen said casually.
"No problem! Leave it to me!" Felicity patted her chest confidently, like a soldier being entrusted with a secret mission.
After dinner, she cracked open her laptop and got to work.
Tracking someone who didn't constantly check Instagram, tweet their every move, or wear a smartwatch wasn't easy, but this was Felicity Smoak, the same woman who hacked the Department of Defense for the fun of it.
She dove into the telecom network, found Laurel's mobile number, identified the internal signal code, and triangulated her position with efficiency.
She even set up an automatic system that would record all of Laurel's calls and forward them directly to a brand-new encrypted mailbox Felicity had created for the mission.
Twenty minutes later, she closed the laptop with a snap and grinned.
"Done!" she announced triumphantly, turning to Allen.
A victorious smile tugged at her lips.
"As long as she carries her phone, even if it's broken or turned off, I can track her. I'll leave the computer running at home. Let me teach you how to use it!"
Allen listened attentively, genuinely impressed by her skills.
After a moment, he asked, "So, as long as you have someone's code, you can track them anywhere, anytime? You wrote that software yourself?"
"Yep!" Felicity said proudly, her cheeks slightly pink.
"That's... kind of illegal, right? What were you planning to use it for?" he asked with a grin.
Felicity scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Well... it all started when my roommate's boyfriend was cheating on her."
She coughed lightly and added, "I had a lot of free time then, so I wrote the program. But I never actually used it, until now."
Then, seizing the opportunity to change the subject quickly, she said.
"By the way, you don't seem to have a phone, do you? How about I get you one?"
Allen stared at her in silence for a moment.
That wasn't just an explanation.
That was a hint.
'This girl,'
Allen gave Felicity a big thumbs-up and grinned from ear to ear.
"Felicity, I praise your wit!"