Technical Assistance

Side Story #11: Optimization of System Performance

Oliver finds himself sitting on Felicity’s couch while she changes when the doorbell rings. Knowing she’s indisposed—he tries very hard not to think about how she’s indisposed, and he’s not successful—he walks to the door, checking the peephole. He expects Barry or the nice, elderly neighbor, but instead he watches Thea roll her eyes as she turns to the boy in the red hoodie next to her.

He immediately walks back toward Felicity’s bedroom, and he hesitates when he sees her zipping up her skirt. Oliver isn’t sure where to look, but he knows that looking at her is inviting trouble. She made it clear when she offered to let him stay tonight that she wants to take a physical relationship slow, and he thinks it’s a good idea. Before, he wasn’t concerned with the length of a relationship—both long-term and short-term were fine with him, and, even with Laurel, he never thought about how long it will last. Instead, the man he had once been would dive into all aspects of a relationship and inevitably crash and burn. But this time, things are different.

This time he wants it to last.

“Thea is at the door,” he tells her quietly. “There’s a guy with her.” He tries not to sound upset about this, but ever since the Christmas party when he walked in on her and that kid, he’s realized that his sister is no longer twelve. Coupled with the drug use that she seems to have kicked, Thea is starting to remind him of his younger self, and it terrifies him.

“Could you get the door, then?” she answers without skipping a beat, as though she isn’t aware of her effect on him. But, knowing Felicity, she probably isn’t. “I’m trying to get dressed.”

He nods once. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay with that,” he answers, unsure how to phrase the rest of his thoughts. It’s later at night than he usually visits, and he doesn’t want to leave any false impressions—or perhaps correct ones—on Thea or her friend.

She stops to look at him, her eyebrows furrowed together. “Why wouldn’t I be?” she asks slowly, and then understanding dawns in her eyes. “Oliver, I’m not trying to hide our relationship.” She hesitates. “But the Arrow complicates things because I don’t want to accidentally give your identity away. So we need to figure out which identity I’m ‘dating.’” She uses air quotes before waving her right hand flippantly. “We can figure that out later, though.”

Thea’s knocking grows more insistent, and Oliver moves toward the door, taking a deep breath to steel himself before unlocking and opening it. A wide-eyed Thea greets him, and Oliver tries to appear as casual as possible as he says, “Hey, Speedy.” He motions for her to come in, and she follows with narrowed eyes. The boy, however, studies Oliver in the same way he studies the room, as though he isn’t familiar with the space. “Felicity is cleaning up,” Oliver continues. “I guess you heard what happened.”

“It was on the news at CNRI tonight,” Thea answers, “and then more details came through about it. When they said the IT department, I decided to drop by.” She looks at Oliver with a frown. “She’s all right, isn’t she? What happened?”

Oliver takes a seat in one of the chairs, and Saphira, who had been sitting on her bed in the corner of the room, immediately jumping into Oliver’s lap. He absently scratches her ears as he decides to tell them the same story Felicity told Lance. After the two are settled on the couch, he answers with a sigh, “She’s fine, Thea. I think she has a few bruises, but it could have been worse.” That fact will probably always haunt him—it was a miracle she wasn’t injured more than she was, and Helena had no reason to leave Felicity… healthy. “I asked her to set up the Internet at the club tonight, and when she was late and that break-in report came through, I sent Mr. Diggle after her.” He hesitates. “Apparently Helena used Felicity to hack an FBI database.”