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"Felicity, do you have a minute?"
Felicity looked up at the sound of Oliver's voice. "I have ten,” she said with relief, rocking back in her chair. “Twenty. However many you need. I swear, status reports are the most boring part of the job." She gave the computer screen a dirty look.
"I can relate," Oliver said with a grin, coming into her office. Two people came in after him: Diggle, Oliver's handsome, beefy bodyguard, and a woman Felicity had never seen before. She was blonde, slender, wearing a pantsuit and cute but practical flats. She was also really pretty, but that was something Felicity tried not to notice in new business partners or employees or whoever this woman turned out to be.
Felicity stood and came around the desk. "Who's this?" she asked with a smile.
"Sara Lance," the woman introduced herself, holding out a hand. Felicity shook it. Sara's grip was surprisingly strong.
"Felicity Smoak."
"Felicity is our CTO -- that's Chief Technology Officer," Oliver explained to Sara. He turned to Felicity, squaring his shoulders. "Sara is a bodyguard. More to the point, she's now your bodyguard."
"Excuse me?" Felicity stared at him. "Oliver, can I talked to you for a second?" She grabbed his arm and all but hauled him bodily across the room.
He faced her, his big brother face on. "Felicity."
"I do not need a bodyguard," Felicity said emphatically.
"Felicity, someone tried to kill you last week," he said sharply. Taking a breath, he continued in a gentler voice. "Being a senior executive at a company like this comes with risks. Queen Consolidated has enemies, and so do I. They'll come after you because they'll see you as a weak link." He put a hand on her shoulder. "I've been thinking about this for a while. You need someone to protect you. I can't do it, and neither can Diggle. She can."
Felicity folded her arms and looked over to where Sara and Diggle were talking quietly. Next to Diggle's tall, muscular build, Sara really didn't look the part. She just looked like a woman in a business suit. "You really think she can protect me?"
"Diggle does." Oliver caught Felicity's glance. "He's the one who recommended her. Apparently they worked together in Afghanistan -- although of course neither of them will say what they did. When I asked, they didn't even bother saying 'classified.'"
“Oo.” Felicity glanced at them again and shook her head. "I don't think I want to know."
"Yeah, pretty sure I don't want to, either." Oliver squeezed Felicity's shoulder and let go. "Give Sara a shot. If it doesn't work out, we'll find someone else."
Felicity sighed. "I take it there's no 'no bodyguard' option, even if I don't like her."
"Nope." Oliver grinned at her and led her back to where the two bodyguards were. "Diggle, I think we should leave these two to get to know each other. Sara, I leave Felicity in your capable hands. Felicity, please don't try to fire her."
Felicity made a face at him. "Go to your meeting, Oliver.”
He blinked at her. “I have a meeting?”
She sighed. "Applied Sciences and Kord Industries."
"Oh! Right, thanks. What would I do without you?" he asked as left.
"Get an assistant," Felicity replied. "Which you should do anyway!" she called after him.
Sara chuckled. It was a low, warm sound that surprised Felicity the same way her handshake had. “He seems like a handful,” Sara said.
“You have no idea.” Felicity took a breath and finally gave Sara her full attention. “I'm sorry about my reaction to the whole bodyguard thing. It wasn't personal – I mean, I'm sure you're a great bodyguard! I'm just not sure I need one. Really, how often am I really going to be in danger? This is a business, not the mob.”
“You'd be surprised how similar those two worlds can be,” Sara said. She hesitated, then said, “Listen. I'm here to protect you. It doesn't matter what the threat is: corporate rivals, jealous exes, even just muggers on the street. I know how dangerous it is to be a woman in this world,” she said, capturing and holding Felicity's gaze. “I learned how to fight back. How to be as dangerous to the world as it was to me. That's not the kind of lesson everyone can or should learn. You shouldn't. So let me use what I know to keep you safe.”
There was something in her eyes and voice that forced Felicity to pay attention. She didn't know what had happened to Sara, and she couldn't ask. Maybe someday she would. Right now, it didn't entirely matter. Sara's words were a thousand times more effective than any lectures from Oliver. In the face of that, it seemed like only a stubborn idiot would turn down the offer of protection, and while Felicity had frequently been called stubborn, she wasn't an idiot.
“Okay,” she said, letting out a breath. “I guess you've got the job.”
Sara breathed out, too, like she'd been holding her breath for Felicity's answer. “Good,” she said, smiling warmly. “And speaking of that – Mr. Queen may have been the one to hire me, but I work for you.”
Felicity raised her eyebrows. “Really. Well... good. Oliver is my friend and my boss, but he doesn't run my life. He can barely run his own,” she muttered, drawing another chuckle from Sara. Felicity was already starting to like that sound.
“That's good to know,” Sara said. “So, Ms. Smoak --”
“Felicity, please. Seriously. If you're going to be following me around all the time, we definitely have to be on a first-name basis.”
“Felicity, then.” Sara's smile was surprisingly sweet. “What's on your schedule for today?”
Felicity grimaced. “Right now, paperwork.” She went back to her desk and pulled up her calendar. “I'll make sure you get access to my schedule. Today...” She checked. “I just have a meeting at 4:00.”
Sara checked her watch and nodded. “Okay. I'll let you get back to it. Mind if I set myself up over here?” she asked, going to the wall to Felicity's left.
“Uh, sure. You can sit anywhere,” Felicity said, waving at the chairs in front of her desk and over in the corner.
“I'll stand, but thank you.” Sara put her back against the wall and folded her hands in front of her. It was a pose Felicity had seen Diggle in plenty of times. It was his way of being inconspicuous, kind of blending in with the furniture. Maybe they taught that in bodyguard school or something.
Felicity sighed quietly and went back to the status reports she'd been reviewing. She expected to have trouble concentrating with a stranger lurking in the room, but she didn't. It was actually kind of weirdly comforting. When they left for Felicity's 4:00 meeting, they fell into step together like they'd been doing it for years. Nothing could have felt more natural.
She glanced at her new, attractive shadow and smiled. Maybe having a bodyguard wasn't such a bad idea, after all.