Technical Assistance

Chapter 36: Malicious Remote Access

It's after six when Felicity glances back at the second computer at her workstation, frowning when she sees the result on the screen. She set it to notify her when it turned up anything, but apparently the computer decided that another plan of action was in order. Sighing, she still looks at the screen, just to make sure. Call it female intuition, but she didn't exactly believe that Helena would take defeat so easily, to just give up on her mission of revenge so quickly.

With that in mind, she still looks at the alert, her frown deepening when she looks at the text: a robbery at a sporting goods store, where they were relieved of one crossbow and enough bolts to supply a small war. Apparently Helena decided not to take Oliver's suggestion to get out of town, and she simply chose to take matters into her own hands after unsatisfactory results with Oliver. Under normal circumstances, Felicity would understand—she and Oliver have had their fair share of arguments because they're both ridiculously stubborn—but the idea of having a woman with a crossbow and a penchant for dropping bodies running around makes a small shiver run up her spine.

Especially when said woman has already tried to take a crack at Felicity once.

She decides that, even though Oliver is going to be overbearing and overprotective, that he probably needs to know that things with Helena aren't over yet. She pulls out her cell phone, still careful to use her burner to discuss Arrow business, and she dials one of only two numbers. With a number of tasks at the office still to complete, she connects it to her Bluetooth headset so she can have her hands free to move computers around.

"Hey, Felicity," he answers on the second ring, and she can hear noise in the background—noise that sounds suspiciously like Tommy, though she can't make out his words. Vaguely, she can make out a muffled, "Go flirt with your own girlfriend." It's silly the way her heart skips a beat at the last word; there's no doubt they're in a committed relationship, but it still surprises her sometimes that she's dating Oliver Queen. "Sorry about that," he says clearly now. "Do you want me to bring food down from the club for you?" Clearly he thinks she’s calling ahead because she’s about to leave work, and she glances wistfully at the clock before the stack of broken computers makes her frown.

"I'm not leaving QC yet," she answers, frowning. "I still have a few things to do before I call it a night here, but I was multitasking and picked up a police report that you should probably know about." She sighs. "Apparently, there was a break-in at a sporting goods store. Everything was intact, except they were robbed of one top-of-the-line, high-powered crossbow." She shrugs, even though he can't see her. "Could be some crazy coincidence, but I don't think so."

"Helena is still in town," he says in a tone that's several shades darker than his last. It's not anger, but something else that will always surprise her: worry. Even with few words, Felicity understands the emotion in his voice, in the words he doesn't say. They speak so much louder than the few he uses.

She decides to lighten the mood, just to make things a little easier for him. "Well, I was going to say 'psycho ex-girlfriend' since Digg isn't here to say it for me, but I think we've come to the same conclusion." It works; she earns one of those breathy almost-chuckles. "Either way, I think you should be careful. She's probably going after her dad, but I don't want you to catch a crossbow bolt because we assumed something we shouldn't have."

"I'll be careful," he assures her in a sincere voice. "I'm more concerned about you—she's already gone after you once this week." His tone turns dark again as he adds, "And that's one time too many for me." He sighs. "I probably can't convince you to come back to the lair tonight, can I?"

"That was one time only," she answers, confirming his suspicions. "I have Saphira at home, and I don't want her poking around your arrows. Or biting anyone's ankle off, though Tommy could probably use a good ankle-biting every now and again." It's worth another chuckle, and she's glad to relieve some of the pressure he fights every day—God knows he already has enough. Trying for a compromise, she offers instead, "You could stay the night with me, though."