Technical Assistance

Chapter 65: File Corruption

It takes her ten minutes to realize that she's pacing, and, when she does, Felicity decides she's spent too much time with Oliver. Staying still seems impossible; she has to keep moving, to do something. Oliver is probably fighting Merlyn, but the nagging feeling of doubt reminds her that the score is two-and-oh and not in her boyfriend's favor. Sure, Diggle is with him, but that means she has two of them to worry about. Not to mention the fact that Roy is out there somewhere, and Lance is not moving fast enough to the subway station.

She jumps when her cell phone rings, answering it on the spot when she hears the ringtone. "Now isn't a good time, Barry," she greets him, trying to pull off a calm demeanor. It doesn't really work, though; a moment too late, Felicity realizes she didn't use his nickname. "I'm kind of waiting for a call right now."

"I just saw the Moira Queen press conference on the news," he states, ignoring her hint to get off the line. "Please tell me you're not in the Glades right now. Please be at work or staying with Oliver until this blows over. Or the Arrow," he adds as an afterthought. "Does he live in the Glades? That would make sense."

Felicity rolls her eyes at his babbling. He must be nervous, too. "The Arrow does not live in the Glades," she affirms. "And no, I'm not at work. "No, I'm not staying with Oliver, but if this damn thing goes off, I might have to for a while." She purses her lips together. "And I'm in the Glades, but I'm in the safest building in the neighborhood—the Arrow made sure of that."

It doesn't seem to comfort Barry, as he sighs. Felicity can practically see his hand running through his hair in worry. Even so, he knows better than to try and argue with her. "Where's the Arrow? Are you at least with him?"

Felicity pulls a face. "Kind of," she answers. "We're currently on radio silence, but he has help with him." Before he can worry any more than he already is, she adds, "I kind of need to make a call—I'm trying to remotely disarm the Markov device."

There's a long pause before he finally asks, "I know you love this guy, Felicity, but are you sure that dating the Arrow is worth the danger?"

A smile spreads across her face before she answers the easiest question of her life. "Absolutely. No regrets, Watson." Something makes her choke up—probably the sense of impending doom. "And just so you know... You're my best friend and I love you." A familiar chime comes from her phone—one of many things she's been waiting for tonight. "I have to go, but I'll call you after."

Felicity terminates the call before he can respond, then answers the second call. "Please tell me you have my dog," she answers without preamble. Then she adds, "Oh, and that you're safe and out of the Glades before this starts."

"Yeah, I see who you care about the most," Roy huffs, but she can hear the smile in his voice. Knowing he wouldn't tease her unless everything was fine, Felicity breathes a sigh of relief. "Thea has the pooch—I kind of stopped to pull people out of a burning bus."

"Thea?" she asks, eyebrows narrowing in confusion. Then the second half of that conversation comes back to her. "Are you kidding me, Harper? I specifically gave you early warning so that you could get out of there before you were killed. While I understand your insatiable urge to be a hero—after all, my boyfriend is currently trying to stop Merlyn from putting this whole thing into motion—could you at least tone it down to pulling cats out of trees?"

The response she receives is amused, and she doesn't appreciate it as much this time. "I can't climb, Blondie," he answers in a dry tone, and Felicity makes a mental note to slap him the next time she sees him. "And don't worry—Thea is fine. She came to save me." His voice turns up at the end as though he's surprised by the revelation, and the blonde can't fight a smile. The two of them make a good pair. "And she has Saphira, so she's fine."