Technical Assistance

Chapter 40: Recovery of Deleted Information

Felicity nods once, trying to get over the initial shock and focus on the facts. Falk has another victim, but Felicity knows how to fix this. She immediately starts toward the basement, Oliver on her heels as she states a little loudly, “Digg helped me solve the puzzle—Falk is working out of the old subway system that was shut down about twenty-five years ago.” She turns around, continuing to walk backward as she points at him. “I gave you the right locations, but he was underground.” It’s said more for her benefit than his—a reminder that Carnahan’s death is not her fault.

“No one doubted you,” Oliver answers, unlocking the basement entrance with the keycode, reaching around her to do so. She realizes that he means it; he didn’t doubt the location she gave him even after the first one failed. It sends and odd jolt of emotion through her.

They both take the staircase down into the lair, Felicity going to her computers while Oliver grabs his suit and bow. “Felicity, you’re with us,” he states tersely, clearly kicked into Arrow-mode already. “I want you nearby.” She can read the translation: I don’t want you to sit here and wonder what’s happening out there.

“I take it you’ve seen the news?” Diggle asks her after Oliver ducks into the bathroom. Digg is already grabbing guns from the toolbox in the corner, preparing to charge in after Oliver. “I thought I’d have to come up to get you two.”

Felicity doesn’t look up from her computer. “Roy is my friend, John,” she answers quietly. “Falk isn’t a savior—he’s an executioner, and he has my friend.” A bubble of near-hysterical laughter leaves her. “I just talked to him last night after everything happened—he made some smart-ass comment about me leaving a tip because I was bugging him at work.”

Diggle places a hand on her shoulder, a frown on his face and concern in his eyes as he says to her slowly, “No one would blame you for sitting this one out if it hits too close to home, Felicity.”

“I would blame me,” she answers immediately, transferring all of her information from the desktop computer to Oliver’s laptop—the one she built for him. “I can’t just sit here and wait for this to play out. There’s a reason I joined this team, and it’s because I don’t want to sit on the sidelines anymore. I want to do something.”

He nods once. “Then you should come,” he answers firmly. With a smirk, he adds, “And you should remind Falk that the only vigilante in this city wears a green hood. And that he has a tech genius standing right behind him.”

Felicity stops long enough to offer him a grateful smile, intending to say more when Oliver steps out of the bathroom. “Ready?” he asks them, already standing near the outside exit. Felicity nods once before closing the laptop, gathering it under her arm. When she catches up to him, he adds, “I thought Roy might need a familiar face when this is over.” As they head up the stairs, he turns to ask her, “Where is Falk now?”

“He’ll be at the Spring Street stop in fifteen minutes,” she answers following him and Diggle up the stairs. It takes her a moment to register the rest of what he’s saying about Roy. “You wouldn’t care if he knew that I worked with you?”

Oliver chuckles, an action that makes her head turn because it seems aimed at what he says afterward: “I’m not exactly concerned that he’ll call the police.” It takes her a moment to realize that it’s a joke, and it startles her into a smile. She savors the rare moments of humor because they’re always few and far between. Then he sobers ever so slightly. “You could have told me he had a criminal record,” he adds gently, not reproach but fact. “Tommy does, too. So do I.” But she hears what he doesn’t say: I’m in no position to judge.