A/N: This is another one of my Olicity stories from AO3 so if you recognize it that's why.

Warning: This story mentions physical abuse.

I do not own arrow or it's characters.

Felicity paced the length of her office, a hand running agitatedly over her hair that was pulled back into a ponytail, her other hand held her phone to her ear. "No, I understand. I just wish I had more notice."

John Diggle who stood at the open doorway, arms crossed over his chest watched her agitated movements and listened to her side of the conversation and though he was only hearing her side of the conversation he was pretty sure she was talking to Victor and he was explaining that he was being shipped out in just two days.

John could see where her agitation came from, watching the tense set of her shoulders. She would have to find another man to take up Victor's position. Which wouldn't seem that big of a deal except for the fact that the spot she needed filled was kind of secretive since not many knew of the secret woman's shelter that Felicity ran. It made looking for someone to fill Victor's spot rather difficult, to say the least.

Though he did know a guy who was more than capable of replacing Victor. Oliver Queen. He had served with Oliver for a few years before he joined private security up until the point when he met Felicity. While he was stateside Oliver had continued with several more tours. But Oliver had gotten stateside 6 months ago and they got together for drinks every few weeks. He knew Oliver was working private security like he used to but he could see his friend hated it.

He knew Oliver was struggling and maybe doing something more than private security, something truly important would do his friend some good. He contemplated bringing him up as a suggestion to Felicity as she finished up her call.

"No, thank you, Victor. It was an honor to have you for the time that we did. Stay safe." Felicity bid Victor goodbye ending the call, she rounded her desk setting the phone receiver back in its cradle before sinking into her desk chair, huffing out a breath, and rubbing at the creased that formed between her brows when she was stressed.

"I know a guy that could fill in for Victor."

Felicity dropped her hand from her forehead. "I can't just hire anyone, Digg. You know that."

"I do. And I wouldn't suggest just anyone. I know how important it is what we do here."

Felicity reached for her red pen and twirled it between her fingers in a thinking gesture. It wasn't often Diggle vouch for people. He was a hard man to impress. So when he did Felicity tended to take it to heart. There wasn't a person on earth who she trusted more with her life than John Diggle and with good reason. When they first met he had saved her life, she had been living on the run from her psycho ex-boyfriend Cooper Seldon, if it hadn't been for him, she'd probably be dead. It was a chance meeting, wrong place, wrong time kind of deal or right place, right time, depending on how you looked at it. "Is he a good man?"

"One of the best men I've ever had the honor to call my brother. We served a couple tours together." Diggle assured her. "I would take a bullet for him."

"High praise." Felicity mused, leaning back in her chair.

"Well earned," Digg said. "Trust me, he's worth at least considering. Just give him a chance, meet with him and if you're still not convinced no harm done. I'll put my feelers out for someone else."

Felicity tilted her head in his direction. "I always trust you Digg. Set a meeting up and we'll go from there. If I think he's a good fit. I'll hire him. Until then I might need you and Roy to take extra shifts."

"I'm fine with the extra shifts and I'll give him a call now." He stepped out of her office closing the door behind him.

Felicity let out a sigh. Her life was completely different from what she thought it would be. She thought she'd be working at a huge tech company or maybe start up one of her own. Instead, she ran a secret woman's shelter out of a convenience store. The owner of the store was more than willing to help out and Felicity had a working arrangement with her and paid good money for the hidden shelter and its discreetness. She got the money from freelance computer software jobs.

Felicity spent most her time trying to protect and fight for these women who were in horrible situations who couldn't fight for themselves.

But sometimes it was dangerous, the women that they housed were in the worst situations and the ones that they were running from were usually psychotic and took things too far which was why Felicity had taken to hiring men to protect the shelter and the women and children that took refuge here.

Diggle was in charge of everything security wise after she hired them. She kept a total of six bodyguards and they worked in separate shifts. There was Sara Lance, Nyssa Al Ghul, Roy Harper and Slade Wilson. Victor had been one of them but not any longer and of course, John. She trusted every single one of them.

She didn't know Diggle's old army buddy but she trusted Digg's judgment. If he said the guy was worth giving him a shot than she was willing to at least interview him.

A week later Felicity had plans to interview Oliver. Shortly after Digg had talked to Oliver and he had shown an interest in the job, Felicity received a call from Oliver Queen they spoke briefly over the phone and set up an appointment but as soon as Felicity was off the phone with him, she immediately began looking into Oliver Queen. She did a full background check on him. He had graduated from high school but drifted through several colleges never truly able to make one stick and seemed to have trouble finding a place he truly fit until he joined the army after dropping out of his fourth college. Where he seemed to falter in school academics he excelled at everything in the army and was one of the youngest most decorated soldiers.

Felicity had gone as far as to hack into the government database and take a look at his missions, the lives he took and the lives he saved. He took a huge risk and he often threw himself into the line of fire but it usually always paid off even if he had been in the army hospital more than a few times. She had taken a look at his medical records and 65 percent of his body was covered in scar tissue and he had more than a few broken bones and fractures over his time of service that never healed properly.

Felicity admitted that on paper he seemed to be exactly what she was looking for out of someone to fill in Victor's place but what was on paper didn't always turned out to be what she thought. She wanted to meet with him and get a feel of him herself to determine whether or not if she would hire him. Dig's recommendation may have gotten him through the door but it didn't get him the job.

There was a knock at her office door and she called out for them to come in, Dig appeared in the doorway. "Mr. Queen is here for his interview, Felicity." He stepped further into the room and when he did Felicity caught sight of the man in the doorway.

She had seen pictures of him in her background check but the photos that she had seen hadn't done him any justice. He was a gorgeous man and he had a large build not nearly as large as Digg's but still, he swamped her and was twice the size Victor had been.

Felicity stood from her desk and motioned for him to come in as she rounded her desk coming to stand in front of it as he walked further into the room.

"Ms. Smoak?" Oliver moved forwarded extending his hand. "I'm Oliver Queen."

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Queen." Felicity shook his hand, noting how it covered hers completely and how warm his skin was.

"No, Mr. Queen is my father. You can just call me, Oliver." Oliver smiled, releasing her hand.

Felicity allowed her hand to return to her side as she leaned against her desk. "Yes but he's not here and neither does he have the qualifications for this interview. Not that your father isn't good enough. Or you for that matter. I mean not that your not good enough clearly you are if your four army tours are anything to consider. I mean, sure your more than qualified to meet my needs." Oh God, why couldn't she just stopped why she was ahead. Damn her mouth always getting away from her. She really needed a filter. "Not my needs as in my physical needs." she was quick to correct. "I meant the needs for the interview." she pursed her lips and counted down backward. "3..2..1." She blew out a breath. "Why don't we get started." she motioned with her hand to the chair opposite her desk.

Oliver was silent for a moment and she waited to see if he would mention her babble, she noted the small upward turn of his mouth and she could see the amusement in his eyes, she didn't know if he was laughing at her silently or if he just found her babbling amusing. Finally, he said. "Of course, Ms. Smoak."

Felicity nodded, rounding her desk once again and taking her chair, noting how Oliver waited till she was seated before sitting in the chair across from her as Dig took station at the door.

"John tells me that you served two tours together and that you're more than qualified to take up this job and I've taken a look at your public record and I would have to agree but if I'm going to trust you to do this job, I need to know what kind of man you are."

"If you saw my record I think it more than speaks for what kind of man I am," said Oliver with a raised brow.

"It speaks of your accomplishments as a soldier but I'm not asking about the soldier. I'm asking about the man."

"What's the difference? I'm the same person."

"The difference is a man and a soldier think differently. Sometimes that's a bad thing but sometimes it's a good thing. I just would like to know which one it is with you." she locked eyes with him. "So tell me, Mr. Queen, why did you join the army?"

"I was lost. I didn't want to live up to the expectations around me so I did the exact opposite of what they thought me capable of."

Felicity hummed. "And how did that work out for you?"

"Better than I thought it would." Oliver found himself admitting. "I always sort of drifted since high school but when I joined I found a purpose something worth fighting for."

"So you would say you found something to believe in. Something bigger than yourself."

"Yeah, I did." Oliver didn't know why he was being so forthcoming. There was just something about Felicity, the way she seemed to look through him with her sapphire gaze, seeing down to everything that made him who he was at his core.

"And just what do you believe in?" Felicity questioned, she liked what she was hearing so far but she didn't want to be hasty in her decision.

"I believe in justice. I believe in doing the right thing. I believe in fighting for those who can't fight for themselves." Oliver spoke strongly. Fighting for others. Protecting innocents had become such a huge part of him it was practically ingrained in his DNA at this point.

Felicity heard every word he spoke and she believed herself to be a good judge of character with an excellent bullshit meter and right now everything in her was telling her if she hired Oliver she wouldn't regret it. She could hear the conviction in his voice that he believed every word he said. She stared at him and what she saw was a good man.

Felicity hummed. "How much did Digg tell you about the job?"

"Not much." Diggle had only told him he worked in security but never went into details. "But if it's a cause Digg is willing to fight than I know it's one worth fighting for."

Felicity looked over to Digg, sharing a wordless conversation and after a moment she nodded at him, her sign of approval with his recommendation and his loyalty to what they were doing here. She turned back to Oliver. "Once I tell you what exactly you're interviewing for and you for some reason decide this job isn't for you all I ask is that you never speak of it to anyone it's imperative that it remains secret for everyone involved."

Oliver felt the weight of her words and the way she was looking to him with trust settled in his bones and he knew instinctively that he would never betray her trust. "You can trust me."

Felicity felt like she could somehow she knew instinctively that Oliver was someone she could trust. "I run, I mean, John and I run a secret women's shelter. It's anonymous because the women who come here are in far worst situations than others and their desperate. We've had more than a few crazy exes literally try to kill their way to these women. And I take their safety and the safety of their children very seriously."

Oliver had heard of a few secret women's shelters, where everything was mostly anonymous. It was these shelters that were mostly targeted by psycho boyfriends, husbands, and stalkers. He hadn't known there was one in Starling or one on just the edge of the Glades for that matter. He would never have guessed but fighting for a cause to protect women and children from abusive bastards was a whole lot more appealing than protecting rich spoiled silver spoon brats like himself once upon a time.

"I can promise you this job is something I would take very seriously. I would do everything I can to make sure nothing will happen to the women and children seeking a safe place." Oliver vowed.

Felicity felt every word he spoke like a sworn oath of protection. She stood up. "Then welcome, Mr. Queen-I mean, Oliver." She quickly amended. "We're glad to have you." Oliver followed suit, standing from his seat. "How soon can you start."

"As soon as you want me to," Oliver answered easily.

"How about tomorrow." Felicity moved around her desk, coming to stand in front of him. "We can go for a tour of the place and you can meet some of the others who you'll be working with and Digg can discuss everything with you that you need to know." While Felicity hired the manpower here, she mostly connected with the women and gave them a safe place to live, a place where they didn't have to worry about looking over their shoulder every two minutes but it was Digg who handled the security who made the shelter as safe as it possibly could be so she tended to leave all the security measures and details to him.

Oliver nodded with a firm nod. "Sounds good."

Felicity nodded. "Then follow me."

Oliver followed behind her out of her office with Digg following into step behind her.

He listened as she rattled off things he needed to know as she led him through the shelter, giving him a tour introducing him to some of the other hired guards.

All of who seemed to highly respect Felicity and why wouldn't they. It didn't take more than two minutes to take notice of the way she carried herself. For someone so small she commanded a room with just one pointed look, a raised brow, a tilt of her head.

And there was just something about her that made you want to fight for her cause, her beliefs. That made you want to offer up your absolute loyalty without question. There was just something about Felicity Smoak that drew you in like a moth to a flame.

And years from now he would thank Diggle on his wedding day to the strongest woman he knew for introducing him to the most, beautiful, kind and selfless woman he had ever had the pleasure of knowing and falling irreversibly in love with who would one day become his wife.

A/N: Reviews are encouraged. Thanks for reading!