Technical Assistance

Chapter 54: Driver Installation

Despite the many situations Felicity has found herself in since joining Oliver, she doesn't think she's ever felt quite this nervous or stressed. Even as she rests her fingers on the keyboard and sinks into her chair, her hands shake on the keys and she bounces her knee under the desk. She has a bad feeling about this, a sinking in her stomach caused by the idea of what could go wrong.

"I don't know about this, Oliver," she says lowly into the headset at her ear, voicing her reservation for what feels like the millionth time tonight. "I can barely keep up with one mission, let alone two. I know you think I'm up to it, but I can't follow two missions at once. And, unfortunately, those moralist spoilsports banned human cloning, so you're stuck with me at half-capacity." She tilts her head to the side in thought. "Then again, that whole clone thing didn't work out too well for Sarah Manning or the Doctor."

She knows he's probably irritated since it's no less than the tenth time she's expressed that thought, but yet he still manages to chuckle. His new-and-improved tracker puts him in en route, and she's never been so glad to see a green dot in her life—especially since that whole debacle with the Count. "I'm not sure the world knows what to do with one of you, Felicity," he answers with a smile in his voice. The synthesizer mixes with the wind and the roar of the bike in an odd fashion over the line, blending the two together. "And I'm pleased with the one I have." Then his voice sobers, growing more serious. "Both missions are routine, so there shouldn't be anything to monitor. Sara is going to stop Rasmus from leaving the country, and Digg and I are going to ensure that ARGUS takes Deadshot tonight."

As if sensing the need for his reassurance, Diggle adds in his calm tone, "Everything's going to be fine, Felicity. That's why the two of us took this mission together—so that it would work out without incident." To Oliver he adds, "I'm in position but hanging back—the last thing I want to do is spook this guy. Somehow I don't think someone known as 'Deadshot' is going to go down without a fight."

Felicity bites her lip, surprised when an idea hits her like a lightning bolt. "There may not be two of me," she starts slowly, "but what if I called in Roy to monitor you and Digg, Oliver?" The more she mulls over the idea, the more she likes it. "You two aren't likely to have as many issues because there are two of you—not to mention you're used to communicating with mission control." Then Felicity bites her lip again. "No offense, Sara—I just meant you're new to Team Arrow."

Oliver manages his typical grumble of Stop calling it that, but Sara doesn't seem to have an issue with the name. "I'd rather have someone used to running an op for my first solo mission," she agrees as Felicity types out texts to Tommy and Roy, who is working upstairs, on her phone to let them both know what is happening downstairs. "Besides, it makes it feel more like a girls' night out." Something in her tone indicates subtle humor, and Felicity wonders if the dry sense of humor is an island thing or if she had it before.

"It does get lonely down here in the sea of testosterone sometimes," Felicity can't help but agree. "Which makes having another woman on the team a very positive change." She cringes when she realizes how that sounds. "No offense, Digg. I don't feel like I need to say 'no offense' to you, Oliver—I think you know I like you."

"That has come to my attention," he answers in a dry tone.

With the knock on the door that follows, Felicity doesn't have time to respond to his sass. Instead, she checks the cameras before allowing Roy access into the lair. "Okay, boys and girl," she calls into the lines, "Roy is here, so codenames only. Sara is Canary, Oliver is Arrow, and Digg is..." She trails off, unable to think of one off the top of her head. Apparently the naming thing is more stressful than she realized.