Oliver wasn’t feeling any better the next morning as he entered his office. The feelings he was feeling have changed though. He was furious.

“What do we know about Adam Donner?” he asked as soon as he saw Felicity at her desk.

Felicity looked up from the screen and frowned. “He’s trying your mother’s case?”

He just looked at her.

She sighed. “What do you want me to look for?”

“Everything,” he snarled. “Anything that can prove he’s a bastard underneath all that polish.”

“I don’t know how that might help your mother, they’ll just find another prosecutor. And it might delay the trial.”

He shook his head. “This is not about my mother. This is about Laurel.”

Her forehead creased in a puzzled frown. “Laurel?”

His hands curled into fists, and he got yet another urge to smash something, but he curbed it. He’d already done enough damage to his room upon returning home from the fundraiser. “She’s dating him.”

“What?!”

Oliver nodded. “That was my reaction last night when I found out. And I wanted to smash his pretty face in.”

Felicity was shaking her head vehemently. “How is that even possible? She’s in love with you.”

“Is she?”

She looked at him as if she wanted to smack him upside the head. “Of course she is, she’s just pissed off at you. With good reason, I might add.” Her frown deepened. “That doesn’t explain her hooking up with a co-worker, though. How tacky is that?”

“I’ll take your word on that one. Get me some dirt on the guy, Felicity.”

“On it, boss.”

Λ

John avoided yet another vicious punch to the face and had had enough. Oliver has been pummeling first at that wooden dummy—that currently lay broken in pieces on the floor of the Arrowcave—and then at him for the better part of the day. It was just his luck most bad guys crawled out of their holes at night. There were still a couple of hours left before Oliver could unleash the Arrow at those poor unsuspecting idiots. John was feeling rather sorry for them at the moment.

“Would you like to talk about it?” he asked as he danced out of range. Again.

“About what?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” John panted. “What has you so angry you want to rearrange my face bones?”

“It’s Laurel.”

John could tell him that was how domestic violence started—first the guy pummeled on other people, then started on the girlfriend or wife—but refrained. Oliver would never hit Laurel, but he might just hit him again.

“What about Laurel?”

“She’s dating Donner.” The reply was a snarl.

“What?!”

Oliver stopped moving and cocked his head. “You know, both you and Felicity said the same thing when I told you. In the almost exact tone even.”

John rolled his eyes. “Ha-ha. What is this bullshit about Donner and Laurel?”

Oliver shrugged, his eyes murderous. “You know as much as I do. And I hope we’ll know more when Felicity shows up.”

As Oliver went back into his half-crouch and John contemplated whether start praying or fight as if he was in the army again, the back door to the Arrowcave opened and Felicity marched in. Followed by Sara Lance.

Oliver straightened and walked up to them, leaving John to breathe a sigh of relief. It’s not that he couldn’t have taken him, but it would hurt. A lot. Both of them. And they all needed Oliver whole and healthy.

“Why the hell didn’t you tell me?” Oliver snarled and grabbed Sara’s arm.

She was free in an instant, glaring. “Tell you what?”

“That Laurel is dating Adam Donner,” Felicity supplied.

“What?!”

John hid his smile. The news kept surprising everyone.

“Have you found out anything?” Oliver asked Felicity.

She shook her head. “The guy is clean.”

“Dig deeper.”

She sighed, nodded, and walked to her computers with a resolute expression. Which meant she was done playing nice and ready for illegality. John snickered softly. Who would’ve thought that the girl who had seemed such a straight shooter when Oliver had recruited her, would be so adept at hacking? And so willing whenever Oliver asked her. John quickly shook that thought away. That way lay trouble.

“I still don’t get it, man,” he said walking to where Oliver and Sara stood. “Why would she date Donner?”

“Why wouldn’t she?” Sara asked suddenly. “He’s single, handsome. He's in her profession, has a steady income. He's been pursuing her for a while—”

“What?”

She looked at Oliver and shrugged. “He first asked her out after the Dollmaker thing.”

“How do you know that?” Oliver asked.

“She told me.”

“But she didn’t tell you she was dating him?”

She just shook her head, a puzzled expression on her face.

“Why would she tell you about that first invitation and not about this?” Felicity asked from behind them, and they all looked at her. She swiveled her chair about and crossed her arms. “I mean, what’s the point. From what Donner told Oliver, they’ve been dating for the past three weeks. The Dollmaker kidnapped her months ago. So why not tell Sara?”

“Maybe she wanted to keep it private.” Oliver suggested in a grave tone.

“When she told me about the dinner invitation, which she accepted, by the way, she made it sound like she wasn’t into him. She didn’t make it sound like a date, just two colleagues sharing a meal.” She paused, frowned. “She told me she wasn’t comfortable around him.”

“He was the one who sprung that trap on you,” John supplied. “Is it possible she’s doing this to protect you?”

“She said she was with him because he wasn’t like me.”

Burn. John looked at his friend sympathetically. Laurel sure knew where to stick the proverbial dagger.

They were all silent, until Sara rubbed her palms together. “I guess I’m the designated interrogator then.”

Felicity frowned at her. “What do you mean?”

“We have a date tomorrow afternoon. I might as well ask her a few questions.”

“Date?” Oliver asked.

“Just the two of us

“Can I come with you?” Felicity chimed in. “We could make it a girls’ night. We could play good cop, bad cop.”

Sara shook her head, looking slightly uncomfortable. “It’s just Laurel and me, Felicity. Sisters’ night.”

John wasn’t convinced. There was something fishy about her expression, about her explanation. About the recently frequent ‘sisterly dates’ between her and Laurel. He could see Oliver wasn’t that convinced either, but they both refrained from asking questions that they knew wouldn’t be answered. What were the Lance sisters up to?

“Oh, okay,” Felicity said with a disappointed smile. “Next time maybe?”

Sara grinned. “Sure. We could go to that karaoke bar down at the waterfront.”

“And we can sing I Am Woman.” Felicity jumped to her feet. “Like Sex and the City only set in Starling.”

John shared an I-am-a-man-what-do-I-know-about-how-women-think look with Oliver, who probably had no idea, there were two Sex and the City movies. But if Felicity wanted to have a karaoke girls’ night out with the Lance sisters, who were they to prevent it. With Sara and Laurel around at least nothing overly dangerous could happen to her.