Technical Assistance

Chapter 57: Installation of Hardware Bugging Devices

If the guard has issues with it, he doesn't notice. His eyes are too busy appraising her figure in a way that makes her decide she needs a bath when she gets home—and that maybe her smile is a little too inviting. While Oliver may have done the same thing when he saw her in the dress for the first time, this guy makes her feel like she's a pretty statue on a shelf: property that can easily be bought and sold.

She practically scurries into the open door to get away from it. Apparently, Felicity isn't the only one who noticed because Oliver says through the comm, "If I have to go in after you, he's getting the first arrow." If anyone else made the declaration, it would be rough and possessive, said with a fire underneath; instead, Oliver is clinical and detached. She expects the follow-up to be something like, I didn't like the way he looked at you, but he continues, "He should have known that would make you uncomfortable."

Instead of answering, Felicity focuses on trading the cash Oliver gave her beforehand for chips. Where the hell he managed to find ten thousand dollars on short notice, she'll never know—the banks were already long since closed, and, to her knowledge, he never left the lair. Then she rolls her eyes before deciding he has an emergency hidey-hole in the lair, too. In fact, she's willing to bet that he has hidey-holes everywhere he spends a lot of time.

(She can't resist thinking that, even after they moved the suit out of the one he made in her closet, he insisted on stocking it with a burner cell, some cash, and a spare change of clothes for all three of them—her, Oliver, and Digg—despite her protests that it's in a closet where she keeps plenty of clothes.)

"I need you to be my eyes, Felicity," Oliver's voice calls, jolting her out of her thoughts. "Tell me what you see."

After taking a long scan of the room, she finally answers, "I see two pit bosses and a floor man. As far as the games go, roulette—worst odds in the casino, by the way—craps, maybe a game of Texas Hold 'Em in the back, and—my personal favorite—blackjack." She frowns, mentally cataloguing what she sees different from an actual Vegas casino. "But no slots. Which, frankly, is ridiculous. How do you call yourself a casino without any lucky sevens?"

She shakes her head, not realizing that her nervousness is expressing itself via her mouth again. "And not because I like slots," she clarifies. "I don't. I don't like the random probability. But slots provide a purpose in a casino. They're attention-getters—they have flashing lights, and they make a lot of noise all the time. That makes gamblers feel like everyone is winning all the time, which is part of the psychological draw of a casino." Then she continues, "There's a science to it, you know. Everything in a casino is strategically—"

The sharp rebuke of "Felicity," comes to her then, with a little resignation this time. Oliver sighs softly before continuing, "Just try to relax. You're doing great." For not the first time, she's grateful that he understands her excessive talking is due to nervousness. Not a lot of people bother to cut her slack when it comes to that trait. His calm voice reminds her that she's not alone, and Felicity is increasingly glad that he's with her—even if it is just as a comm in her ear.

In the desire to express that thought, it somehow gets jumbled up with her nervousness, coming out of her mouth as, "It feels good having you inside me." Felicity immediately makes a face as she feels her face heat, and the answer from Oliver is a somewhat strangled, wordless call. "That is not what I meant," she rushes to say, even though the damage is already done. "By 'you,' I meant 'your voice.' And by 'me,' I meant 'my ear.' I don't know why my mouth does this to me."

The line is silent for a moment, until Oliver finally manages to respond to her gaffe in an unfamiliar tone, "Tell me something I don't know."

Felicity trips over air as she realizes that he's actually flirting with her. Teasing is so rare that she's come to appreciate it, but flirting hasn't really happened since he was using the hood to hide his identity. This isn't just rare; it's unheard of. She's so stunned by the moment that she can't even think of anything to say in response, only letting out a strangled cry of surprise.