They Say Love is A Virtue

by scripsi

Summary:

Felicity wakes up in the hospital after they've been pursuing a dangerous villain with months of memories missing. How original, I know. There is a bit of twist, though. This story starts in the hospital, but it moves back to Arrow-y, detective-y, hunting down supervillains-y territory. There will be flashbacks to Felicity's missing months along with present day progress on Team Arrow. Lots of angst, but hopefully a happy ending?

Notes:

This is my first fanfiction, so I would love suggestions for how to improve it, make it clearer, etc. If there is interest, I would be happy to keep the story going, so please let me know via comments, kudos, and well wishes from afar.

Oh, and the work's title is from "Sea of Love" by the National

Chapter 1: You’re dumbstruck, baby

Felicity wakes up with a funny taste in her mouth and a pounding in her head. She hears beeping and distant voices. Someone is holding her hand, Oliver. She tries to wiggle her fingers. Open her eyes. He must be worried. She falls back asleep

She awakes again. He's still there. She forces her eyes open. And rasps—“water.” Oliver glances over quickly. He looks tired, and older somehow. He sighs a relieved breath and Diggle, sitting on the couch across the room, gets a glass of water from the sink in Felicity’s room and calls for the nurse.

With Oliver’s help, Felicity takes a careful sip of the water. She is about to ask what happened when the nurse hurries in. “Hi Ms. Smoak,” the red-haired nurse greets, “How're you feeling? You've been out of it for a little while.” “Alright I think,” Felicity responds, then pauses and adds “My head is killing me.” As the nurse increases the pain medication dosage in her IV she says, “okay, sweetie. This should help with the pain. I'll get your doctor to look in. I’m Brooke, if you need anything.”

Felicity turns to her boys—“Oliver, how long have I been out? You guys look worried.” Oliver stays silent and stares out the window with a harrowed look on his face. Diggle responds carefully “three days.” Felicity is surprised. It’s not that three days is a short amount of time, but based on the looks on their faces, she’s been out for months.

“Have you been here with me? Where are we on catching Prometheus?” Oliver's eyes go wide. He exchanges a look with Diggle, then, mutters something about needing some air before leaving the room. Felicity stares at the door dumbly for a few minutes before her eyes start to droop. “Diggle, what did I say? I don’t under—yawn—stand.” “Don’t worry, Felicity. Just rest for a few minutes. I’ll be here.”

When Felicity wakes up this time, she immediately asks what was going on. Diggle waits for a moment before asking—“you, uhhh what do you remember?” She needed answers. Both Oliver and Digg were acting strange. “What are you talking about?” she asks. “We were working to track down Prometheus. I'm assuming that's how I ended up here. It was our nighttime activities, wasn't it?”

Diggle shakes his head in apparent disbelief before Oliver walks back in. “Hey man,” Diggle says, “I think...” “Oliver, please,” Felicity interrupts. “What's going on? Please. You aren't even looking at me.” Oliver finally made eye contact with her. His eyes were so sad. He looked lost. Confusion settles in—she was fine; why was he so worried. She suddenly gasps, “was I alone? Oh no! Was Laurel hurt? Roy?” Diggle shakes his head and Felicity takes a breath, “I love you, Oliver. We'll be okay. No matter what. We can get through this together.”

Oliver’s brow furrows at her words. Before Felicity could fully register his expression, a doctor walks in. She has hazel eyes and dark skin with a soft smile on her face. “Hi Ms. Smoak. I'm Dr. Green. How are you feeling?” “Well,” Felicity responds, “my head is still pounding and I'm feeling very drowsy.” Dr. Green scans through the chart, “I think the nurse already upped your painkillers. I think we should get an MRI to check for further head trauma. Do you remember the car crash?” Felicity tries to focus on the last thing she can recall. “Ummm… no. The last thing I remember is Oliver and I going to bed after we watched Doctor Who.” Dr. Green looks over at Oliver, who shakes his head.

Everyone’s behavior causes Felicity to start rambling as panic sets in—“Doctor Who, you know? It's a British show. It was Oliver's first time watching it, which is crazy because it's basically an institution. I know that there’s the classic series and the new series, and I didn’t really know where to start with Oliver, but I figured he would identify more with the ninth doctor because he’s got this…”

At this point, Diggle clears his throat. Felicity turns to him and says—“will someone please tell me why you're all looking at me like that? Oliver? Diggle?” Dr. Green speaks up—“Ms. Smoak, we'll know more once the MRI comes in.”

Oliver, then, speaks up for the first time since she woke up. “That was months ago. We... I... That had to have been at least six months ago.” Felicity's mouth falls open in shock. Dr. Green says that a nurse will be by soon to schedule the MRI. Diggle follows her out, and tells them he would be right outside.

Felicity sputters “you must be wrong. It just happened. We watched it; you liked his leather jacket, remember? We were so exhausted after Prometheus shot up that law office the night before, but you said we were watching because you promised we would... You.. You…”

Oliver gulps before taking a deep breath. “Prometheus is gone. He killed Thea. He knew that would break me, and he was right.”

Tears start to build in Felicity's eyes. “Oh my God, Oliver. I'm so sorry.” She reaches for his hand. He twitches like he means to pull away, but let's her hold his hand. His feels limp and cold. Not warm and reassuring like it does in her memory.

“Felicity,” Oliver starts, “we aren't... I'm here because I'm still your emergency contact. I guess you never changed it after...”

“After what, Oliver? What do you mean? We… we’re still together…” Oliver looks her in the eyes briefly before dropping his eyes to the floor and shaking his head. He gently removes his hand from hers and heads out the door.

Notes:

This Chapter title is from the National's "Racing Like a Pro."

Chapter 2: Unrattle my brain

Felicity tries to re-orient her mind to the new world she lives in where Thea’s dead, her and Oliver’s relationship has ended, and six months of memories have vanished without a trace.

Her head is throbbing, and the strain it’s taking to try to will six months of memories into being is making it even worse. She closes her eyes, and counts to ten to try to calm her racing mind. When she opens her eyes, her head is still pounding. Apparently, amnesia and head trauma are not curable by yoga and meditation tricks.

Thankfully, Diggle comes back into the room a few minutes later. One look at Team Arrow’s IT girl, and he knows that Oliver has told her what’s happened in the last few months. She looks up to him, and gives him a sad smile. “Well, it seems my life’s imploded. How are you doing these days?” Diggle chuckles softly. Through Hell or high water, it seemed Felicity was the same.

“Sara’s doing well; she’s so big now.” Felicity’s smile widens. “Oh, she’s got to be huge now! I can’t wait to see her when I get out of here.” Felicity was so thankful for John. Even if things were strange and confusing with Oliver, at least she could count on Digg. “Lyla has been on assignment in the Maghreb for ARGUS the past couple weeks, so it’s been tough. But, she goes to pre-school for half the day now.”

There's a few minutes of silence before Felicity asks “how long ago did it happen?” “Thea?” Felicity nodded. “Four months ago,” Digg said. “How’s Roy handling it? I’m surprised he’s not here.” At this, Diggle looks at Felicity for a long moment. “I don’t know how Roy is doing. I can’t imagine very well.” Felicity considers Diggle's statement about Roy. Her head was still in so much pain, and what he was saying didn’t make any sense. “What do you mean? Does Roy not talk about it? I mean, I’m sure he doesn’t want to talk about it. How could he talk about it?”

Felicity paused, hoping Diggle would be able to help her organize her muddled thoughts. “I don’t know how Roy is because I haven’t seen or heard from him in two months.” Felicity gaped. “Did he quit Team Arrow? He left you and Oliver to defend the city on your own? That doesn’t sound like Roy. He would’ve at least wanted to find Thea’s killer.”

Diggle reaches out to hold her hand. His hand, unlike Oliver’s, feels comforting in the light of all the confusion surrounding her. “After Thea’s death, Oliver and Roy tore the city apart looking for vengeance. You and I wanted to help, but they shut us out. Acted like we didn’t care enough about her death to ‘do what was necessary.’ Oliver, especially, went to a very dark place. You tried to be there for him, but he closed off. When we finally lost track of Prometheus a couple months ago, Oliver and Roy parted ways. There is no Team Arrow anymore.”

Felicity was shocked. She thought they were past all that. Sure, Oliver still had doubts about the mission, but they worked through them together. After the Undertaking, Slade and his Mirakuru Army, and the League of Assassins, she thought they could face anything. It was all so hard to process, and not being able to remember how it all happened added a layer of frustration to her confusion and sadness.

Diggle continued, “I saw Oliver a few weeks ago at a benefit Queen Industries threw for wounded veterans. As far as I know, that’s all he’s been doing these days. The Green Arrow hasn’t been seen in the Glades in months. You and I still see each other every Saturday, though. Because, and I quote ‘Saturday brunch is almost as wonderful as Grace Hopper’s first compiler.” Thoughts of Grace Hopper and lemon pancakes manage to bring a small smile back to Felicity’s face.

“This is all so crazy, Dig. I don’t even know where or how to start dealing with this.” Dig sighs as he stands up—“I guess a day at a time. I have to go pick up Sara from pre-school. Are you going to be alright?” At that, Felicity lets out a scoff—“I don’t think I’ll be alright for a little while, John.” John squeezes her hand again, and says he’ll be back in the morning.

Felicity knows she should try to think of what to do next, or how to mentally prepare herself for her life, but she’s just so tired. She decides it’ll all still be there when she wakes up. And, hey!, she thinks, maybe her headache will be gone.

Her headache was not gone, but they had brought her a dinner tray, so… yay vanilla pudding? She pressed the nurse button to figure out when she might be able to get the Hell out of there, and back to at least some sense of normalcy in her apartment. A few minutes later, Brooke comes in. “Hi Ms. Smoak. Still got that headache?” she asks. “Felicity is fine, and yeah… my head doesn’t really seem to be doing much better.” Brooke looks down at Felicity’s chart, and says, “well, we still need to do that MRI. Is it okay if we wheel you down in about an hour to take care of that?” Felicity nodded vigorously, and then regretted it. She was eager for something to do, some kind of task to focus on, but head movement was not helping the pain situation. “Okay, then. I’ll call down to radiology and let them know to expect us.”

After she leaves, Felicity eats her pudding and looks around the hospital room. The walls are this deep green color that might be comforting to many patients, but just make Felicity think of Oliver. There’s a vase of tulips at her bedside table. She reaches over to grab the card. “My hopes and prayers are with you for a full and speedy recovery. Best, Laurel.” Shit, Laurel. She forgot to ask Digg about Laurel. Felicity supposes she was doing well, or at least well enough to send flowers. How did she find out Felicity was in the hospital? Diggle must have told her.

Hasn’t it been an hour yet? It must’ve been. Felicity decides to rest until Brooke comes back. It is, after all, quite exhausting to feel like your life has fallen apart in the span of a day.

What feels like moments later, someone is gently touching her shoulder. “Hi Ms. Felicity. Sorry it took us so long; we can go get your scan now.” Felicity is relieved that Brooke helps her into a wheelchair. She might’ve insisted on walking another time, but even standing felt a little daunting with her exhaustion and throbbing pain.

After the very noisy and obnoxious MRI scan was over, Felicity was very glad to be back in the hospital bed. She hoped beyond hope that when she woke up in the morning, Oliver would be lying in bed next to her and this would all be some horrible dream.

Notes:

Hope you enjoyed Chapter 2! Thank you so much for reviewing and commenting on the last chapter. It really made this first time fanfic writer giddy with happiness. Oliver is in the next chapter, so there's that.

This chapter title is from the National's Pink Rabbits.

Chapter 3: I need somewhere to be

Felicity sleeps through the night, and when she wakes up in the morning her head is no longer pounding. Felicity thinks that maybe her wish did come true, maybe it was all this sick nightmare. But, she felt the itchy hospital gown on her skin and the bandage on her wrist, so she opened her eyes to her empty hospital room.

Not long after, a middle-aged blonde woman in scrubs comes in—Felicity’s new nurse, she assumes. “Good morning, Ms. Smoak. How are you feeling today?” Felicity sits up a bit in her bed. “Just Felicity. My headache seems to be gone, so that’s nice.” The nurse smiles broadly. “Well just Felicity, I’m Jenna, and I’m glad to hear your head is feeling better. Your breakfast should be by soon, and Dr. Green’s shift starts in a couple hours. Hopefully, she’ll be able to review your scan with radiology before the afternoon.”

Felicity’s stomach rumbles loudly at the thought of breakfast. She looks sheepishly at Jenna, thinking she probably should’ve eaten more of the dinner than just vanilla pudding. Jenna chuckles softly, and tells Felicity to just press the call button if she needs anything.

Felicity thinks about calling Diggle to see if he was going to be able to come by today, and if he was if he could please please grab her tablet from her apartment. Otherwise, she thinks to herself, what was the use of giving him a spare key?

Felicity has to force herself to eat her breakfast slowly. Who knew hospital food could be so good? It could possibly only be this good to someone who hasn’t eaten real food in a few days. She asked Jenna if she could use her hospital room's phone. Diggle answered after several rings, and Felicity immediately heard crying in the background. “John? Is everything okay?”

John curses under his breath, “I’m sorry Felicity. I should’ve called. I couldn’t take Sara to preschool today because she’s sick. I’m going to try to figure out a way to get there. I can’t imagine what you… I wish I could be there with you Felicity.” Felicity tries not to let her disappointment show in her voice. “Digg, don’t worry. I’ve got vanilla pudding; I have a bedchair with a million buttons. I’ll be okay. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Felicity tries to sleep to pass the time, and asks her nurse if they had any spare copies of MIT’s Technology Review lying around. Jenna thought she was joking; Felicity was definitely serious. Jenna goes on a mission, and produces a five-month old copy of Popular Science. Well, here’s the silver lining of memory loss—she hasn’t read that issue. Okay, so maybe it’s a grey lining, but she’ll take anything she can get.

After a few hours of magazine perusal and a lackluster lunch, Jenna walks back in followed by Dr. Green. “Hi Felicity, it seems like your head is feeling a bit better.” Felicity nods. “That’s great news. Looking at your scans it seems like there are no serious problems outside of a little swelling. It’s my hope that your memories will come back in time.” Felicity breathes a sigh of relief, then thinks about the lost memories and briefly wonders if it's better not knowing.

“Great! So, when can I get out of here? I mean, no offense. This place is lovely. You’re both lovely. I don’t mean physically lovely. Though you are… both… physically lovely. I’m gonna stop now.” Jenna and Dr. Green both had wide smiles on their faces.

“Well, Felicity,” Dr. Green starts, “you’re in luck. Your wrist and shoulder should heal with physical therapy outside the hospital, and as long as you have someone that can stay with you for a few days, I think we can release you this evening. You will have to come in for a check-up in two days.”

Shit, Felicity thought to herself. Why does little Sara have to be sick today? “Of course! Yes, I have people that can stay with me, or I can even stay with people. So many good options.” Dr. Green nods politely and leaves the room.

Great job, Felicity. If they didn’t already think you were crazy... Suddenly it came to her—Laurel! She could ask Laurel. They weren’t the best of friends, but surely Laurel wouldn’t mind if Felicity crashed on her futon. She sent her tulips, after all, Felicity thinks desperately.

Jenna interrupts her thoughts—“do you need to use the hospital phone again? I can pull it back over by your bed.” Felicity thanks Jenna, and starts trying to figure out how to get ahold of Laurel. Other than Diggle's, the only number she has memorized is Oliver's. Given his behavior yesterday, that seems like a horrible idea.

Felicity thought for asking for a phone book, but decides that would look too suspicious. With the help of the city switchboard, she is eventually directed to the DA’s office. Hopefully, Laurel is still working there. The DA receptionist asks her who she is three times, and eventually just sends her to “Ms. Lance’s voicemail” because “Ms. Lance was very busy working on a case right now, and asked not to be interrupted.”

Felicity feels defeated. She thinks of her co-workers, which leads her to a crazy spiral of wondering if she still worked in Applied Sciences at Queen Industries. Surely, Oliver wouldn’t have fired her, but departmental meetings must be a whole lot of awkward. She just doesn’t feel comfortable asking her co-workers this.

They treated her differently since she started dating Oliver and she and Thea became such good friends. Oh, Thea. Felicity had tried not to think too much about what her life would like without Thea in it. It felt darker, somehow.

Jenna had already brought by the release papers, when Felicity realizes that her only real option was to call Oliver. She would try to take a cab home, but she was afraid they would catch her and make her go lay back down on her million-buttoned chairbed.

Oliver answers immediately. “Hello?” Felicity tries to insert some calm into her voice. “Hi Oliver. It’s Felicity. I was wondering, can you pick me up from the hospital and drop me off at my apartment? I would ask Diggle, but Sara’s sick and Lyla’s out of town, so he’s kind of overwhelmed.”

There’s a long pause before he responds robotically “I understand. I can pick you up. I have a meeting in a few minutes, but I can come by after that?” The Oliver she knew, the Oliver she loves doesn’t sound like that, but Felicity steels her nerves. “Sounds great,” she replies with false cheer.

Forty minutes later, she is sitting in Oliver’s car with a vase of tulips in her lap. The first few minutes of the drive are in near silence with some music playing softly through the car’s speakers. Felicity turns to Oliver. “Thank you really for doing this. I’m sure you’re busy, and you don’t really want to be running errands for your uhhh ex-girlfriend, but I appreciate it all the same.”

Oliver looks over at her, and for a second there’s a crack in his walls. “Don’t worry Felicity. I don’t mind.” After a few minutes he adds, “I’m honestly surprised they discharged you. I assumed it would be at least another day or two.”

They were turning onto Felicity’s street when she replies. “They knew I was eager to go, and they said as long as I am careful, and someone stays with me and makes sure nothing crazy happens…” He interrupts her as they stop in front of her house, “someone is coming to stay with you?” She can’t figure out what’s in his voice. Anger? Confusion?

“Well, no. I lied about that part, but it shouldn’t be that big of a deal. I’ll ask Mrs. Fernandez to make sure I’m not dead in the morning.” Felicity chuckles at her joke. Oliver does not find it very funny.

“Felicity,” he says in a way that makes her heart long for six months ago, “you should’ve said something.” Felicity stutters as she gets out of the car. “It’s really fine. I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re all fine.” Oliver shakes his head. “I can’t just let you stay here by yourself. I can sleep on the couch.” Felicity’s eyes widen in horror at the thought. Him being so close, but so far away sounds like torture. She is tired, though, and he had his serious face on, so she knows she would lose this battle.

She murmurs her thanks, as he follows Felicity to her apartment. She realizes she doesn't have her keys, and looks around desperately for a solution. “It’s okay,” Oliver says, “I still have my copy.” Felicity glances over at him, and he shrugs in a you-never-know kind of way.

Right then, for the first time since she woke up into this confusing new life, she felt hope.

Notes:

Chapter Three's title is from "Don't Swallow the Cap" by the National. Yes, all the titles are going to be from the National songs.

Please let me know if y'all still are interested in me continuing & that you like it via commenting, kudosing, bookmarking, etc. I would also love any suggestions you may have to improve it.

Chapter 4: I have faith, but don't believe you

By the time Felicity wakes up and heads to the kitchen, Oliver has already made coffee and is reading the newspaper. She feels her heart fall to the pit of her stomach. She pauses in the hallway. Maybe if she stays there just watching him for a few more minutes, she can pretend this is still what her life is like every day.

He must sense her presence, because he turns to her and asks how she’s feeling. “I think I’m doing a lot better today.” She grabs her smiley face mug, fills it with coffee, and settles down in the chair across from Oliver.

They sit politely in silence for several minutes before Oliver says he should to go to work soon. Felicity asks after her position. Oliver tells her that Gina has been managing Applied Sciences in her absence. They discuss business briefly before Oliver straightens up to go. It’s all very professional and polite; it’s all very unlike how they used to be.

“Thanks for this. I’m sorry. I… I’m sure Diggle can take it from here. I guess I’ll see you around.” Oliver nods, then she adds under her breath “since apparently, we don’t defend the city together anymore.”

He turns around, “what was that?” Felicity rises onto her feet, “oh, I was just saying that we’ll only see each other at work because you don’t care enough about the city you pledged to protect.” Oliver tenses. “Of course I care about the city. You obviously don’t know what you’re saying.”

Felicity’s eyebrows raise, “I know exactly what I’m saying. Oliver, I know you lost Thea. I can’t imagine what you went through--- what you’re going through. I love Thea. I can’t put into words how much I wish I could talk to her right now. I can’t, though.” She pauses then adds, “she would want us to keep protecting Starling. She would want us to carry on your mission. I know she would.”

Oliver’s knuckles whiten on the chair he’s gripping at the mention of Thea’s name. “I don’t know what she would want because she is gone. I couldn’t protect her. I couldn’t even avenge her.” Felicity starts again, “Oliver, I understand. I know that you wish you could…”

“You have no idea! I don’t have a family anymore."

“Oliver, you were my family. Team Arrow is my family. Even if you wish you could push it aside, we were all there for each other. You were there for me after I got hurt. Hell, even Laurel sent me flowers. It doesn’t matter if we fight crime or not. We’ll still get hurt. I got in a car accident that landed me in a coma. Just a freak accident.” Oliver leaves the kitchen and walks over to the door, preparing to leave before he scoffs and says, “you’ll be fine Felicity.”

Felicity suddenly feels angry. “God, Oliver. If I knew how easy it would be for you to stop feeling anything for me, I wouldn’t have put so much of myself into it. I guess I was wrong about you.” Oliver’s hand drops from the door. “What the hell are you talking about?” Felicity takes a sip of her coffee, trying to appear calm. “Obviously you didn’t care enough to fight for us, to work through anything.”

With more exasperation and sadness than anger, Oliver says “Damn it, Felicity. you know that I cared about you.” He pauses before adding “I will never not care about you.” Felicity’s briefly smiles before furrowing her brow in confusion. “Well, then why…” “You don’t understand,” he says, almost in a whisper. “It was… you just can’t…”

“Remember. I can’t remember. Well, I’m gonna go back to my bedroom and try to remember how the fuck you think you’re honoring Thea’s memory by closing yourself off from everyone that loves you and the city you said you would protect. I’ll see you at work next week.”

With that, Felicity stormed—slowly stormed, she was still recovering—upstairs and slammed her door shut. She hears Oliver leave a few minutes after.

She calls Diggle an hour later. Sara's doing better, so they can stay at Felicity's that night.

Diggle comes over with all manner of snacks and a sweet baby girl who looked startlingly older than Felicity remembered. She welcomes them in gladly. She manages a laugh when Sara hugs her with an "Aunt Felicity," and tears of joy spring to her eyes when Digg produces a pint of mint chip from one of the bags.

When they were sitting on the couch after putting Sara to bed, Diggle eyes Felicity warily. "So," he starts. Felicity holds her hand up-- "I'm going to stop you right there. My life is a shitstorm, and I need one night of just hanging out with my friend. Yes, Oliver dropped me off, then stayed here last night. No, nothing happened. He slept on the couch. No, we did not part ways this morning amicably. Yes, I am so excited to watch a movie with you and not talk about everything that's gone wrong while we stuff our faces with this delicious feast you brought."

Diggle nods his head and goes to pop the popcorn while Felicity fiddles with the remote until he gets back. "So I was thinking Galaxy Quest? Mostly lighthearted, funny adventure story." Diggle munches on some popcorn, and says "I've never seen it, but whatever's fine." At that, Felicity gasps, shakes her head, then puts the movie in. "You haven’t seen Galaxy Quest?! How long have we known each other? This film is a classic. It teases Trekkies without mocking them. Alan Rickman is in it playing an alien... Or well playing a guy playing an alien, which he kind of resents at first. It's fantastic. It's..."

And just like that-- for an evening the world felt simple while two friends ate snacks and laughed as Commander Taggart and his motley crew saved the galaxy.

Notes:

This chapter's title is from "Don't Swallow the Cap" by the National. Again, I know.

I hope y'all are still enjoying it. Please kudos, comment, bookmark, etc. because it makes me a better writer. Hah, that would be cool. But it does make me really happy, and make it more fun to write this story!

Chapter 5: It’s Hard to Keep Track of You Falling From Through Sky

Diggle leaves around 7 to go bring Sara to preschool and to do a daytime security gig. Felicity has no real plans until her doctor's appointment at 2:30, so she spends her morning researching Prometheus. She starts with her last memory of him-- his takeover of the city council chambers. It seems that things just got worse after that. He kidnapped the District Attorney, and executed him in the town square.

After that, Prometheus promised terror at what was now Starling City's biggest sign of justice-- the Green Arrow. He must discover that Oliver is the Green Arrow because he decides that the best way to make him suffer would be to kill his precious sister. It was a well-known story to all. The two siblings who lost everything--even, occasionally each other--standing tall in the face of such adversity. Prometheus watched and waited, then used a sniper rifle to kill Thea queen while she and Oliver were sitting in their living room.

The tabloids loved the story. How dark and exciting, they thought. What would Ollie do now? Would he go back to his partying ways, and ditch his glasses-wearing former secretary. It turns out they were right about the latter, if not the former. Oliver threw himself into work. Queen Industries made deals left and right posting the best quarter earnings in a decade.

The papers also wrote about "the end of the Green Arrow." He hasn't been spotted in three months. Was he dead? Did he retire? Starling City PD were doing their best, but after Prometheus' reign, injustice and crime permeated the Glades. Verdant shut down, but after a little digging, Felicity discovers that Oliver got a few offers on the space that he rejected. There was that hope again bubbling in her chest. The problem was, none of this information actually told her anything. She knew that she couldn't learn what really happened unless Oliver told her.

As if on cue, Felicity's home phone rings. Oliver asks if she minds if he comes by for lunch. He'll be there in half an hour. She calmly and patiently waits. Or maybe she paces back and forth until she hears a knock on the door.

Probably the second one.

She opens the door, and he’s standing there with a bag of Big Belly Burger and a smile on his face. Normally, this look would delight her, but the smile looks practiced instead of genuine. She lets him in, and they settle on her couch. “So,” they say simultaneously. They both chuckle before Felicity says, “you start. Lunch was your idea after all.”

Oliver sets his shoulders like he’s going into battle. Felicity sighs, thinking to herself that his body language is not promising. “I’m sorry for yelling yesterday. It was uncalled for.” Felicity looks up from her food in surprise. She was not expecting an outright apology. “It’s obviously not your fault that you can’t remember the last six months,” he continues, “I should not have taken my anger out on you.”

She takes a few bites of her hamburger before she replies. “Thank you. The last few days have been… tough.” Oliver gives her another tight smile before adding “I’m sure this is all very confusing for you, and I respect you and your contribution to Queen Industries, so I hope we can move past this.”

Felicity considers what he’s saying for a second. She tries to remain calm. He can’t possibly be here just so she won’t quit Queen Industries. He’s not that… cold… that calculating. Despite her best efforts, Felicity starts to tear up.

“This is… this is why you’re here? To ensure that I still come to work at Queen Industries. You… you are worried about your company.” Felicity puts her head in her hands. She tries to calm her breathing. Oliver’s eyes look focused, but not on her. He’s staring off randomly into space. Felicity looks up towards him. His eyes turn to hers briefly. For a moment, just a moment, she thinks his resolve might break. But, just as she thinks she sees a light in his eyes, he’s recollected himself.

“Of course I don’t just care about the company, Felicity. I’m sorry.”

Felicity sighs. It was easier when he was yelling at her. At least then it seemed as though he felt something. “I just want to understand. Not about us. About our mission. Why did you give up on the city?” Felicity doesn’t really doesn’t expect an answer, so, she’s surprised when he says in a quiet voice “I can’t protect this city.” Felicity’s eyes snap back to his. He looks as though the hope has all drained out of him. “Oliver, you can protect the city. We were protecting the city.”

Oliver shakes his head. “After… Prometheus, Roy and I went a little off the rails. We were so determined to get revenge that we didn’t care about what was left in our wake. When Prometheus left Starling City, and we lost track of him, it just all felt so pointless. If I couldn’t even take care of my sister, what was the point of my mission. Roy left to go try to hunt him down in South America somewhere. At that point, the Glades were in complete disarray. I looked around at the city that I had given everything to for five years, and I just decided it didn’t matter anymore.”

Felicity reaches over to put her hand on his shoulder to offer some sense of comfort. He doesn’t resist the touch, but he doesn’t lean into it like she yearns for him to. This is so much worse than a dramatic moment of resignation, a crazy fight that they had, a horrible injury that caused Team Arrow to fall apart. Instead, it’s a loss of hope. In the past, Oliver had always held onto it to keep him going-- to keep the team going. It wasn’t Thea’s death that broke him, it was the despondency in their failure to bring her killer to justice.

“I’m sorry that you feel like you failed, but we were doing good in Starling City. Think of what we did for the Glades after the Undertaking.” At that, Oliver chuckles humorlessly. “You should see the Glades now. It’s basically in ruins. It was even before we stopped. Prometheus took it over and turned into a danger zone. He didn’t want to control it like Brick did, he just wanted it to be a lawless wasteland of terror.”

Felicity smiles sadly before moving to throw the trash from their lunch away. She softly says, “You know, Oliver, we can change it. We can inspire this city to be good. We don’t need to give up. No one would blame you for giving up, but we can still do this.”

Oliver says nothing for several minutes before he responds, “I just can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry.” This time, Felicity resists the urge to reach out and touch him. To offer him some sense of comfort for the emptiness and loss she could see in his eyes.

Instead, she settles back down on the couch as they sit in silence. Neither of them knowing what to say.

Notes:

This chapter title is from The National's "Fake Empire."

Sorry for the delay. I fractured my wrist on Friday, so typing is a huge challenge. Because of that, it might take me a while to get Chapter 6 up. I've mapped out the rest of the story, and it looks like it will be 9 or 10 chapters.

Thanks again so much for reading and commenting. I would especially appreciate your virtual loving this chapter as I've been typing one-handed!

Chapter 6: Basement of my brain

The silence isn’t uncomfortable, but it isn’t quite natural either. Felicity is surprised he hasn’t yet made some excuse to go back to work yet. She is afraid to say something that might make him leave. When she’s sitting there with him, it seems like she is on the precipice of remembering something. Like, if he just said something a certain way, it would all come rushing back to her.

Then, her phone rings. “Hey!” she greets Diggle. She’s somewhat relieved that there is something to detract from the strange calm over the room. “Hi Felicity. I was about to head over to pick you up for your hospital check-up. Do you need anything?” At this point, Oliver is looking at her with a question on his face. She mouths, “Diggle.”

“Felicity?” Diggle asks after a few moments of silence. “Oh, yeah. Sorry Dig. No I don’t need anything. I’ll see you.” Felicity smiles at Oliver before getting up to get her jacket and purse.
She’s surprised that he’s still sitting on the couch when she returns. “So, is Diggle coming back here just to check on you?”

“Oh, I have a doctor’s appointment. I have to go back to the hospital so that Dr. Green can make sure my head is still doing okay.” Felicity points to her head as she says this. That’s helpful, she thinks to herself; he probably wouldn’t have known what she was talking about otherwise.

Normally, Oliver would’ve laughed at this, but instead he keeps surveying her seriously. “I can take you.” You would think that she would’ve gotten used to being surprised by Oliver, but it seems like that is not the case. “Uhhh…” she starts, “You don’t have to. Diggle is already heading over here soon.”

“Isn’t Lyla out of town? So, he has to pick Sara up? I’m already here. I’ll just take you.” Felicity decides that refusing will only make this whole situation weirder, so she lets him guide her to him outside as she texts Diggle. Luckily, Oliver had his Bentley rather than his Ducati. Felicity was pretty sure she was not ready to be that close to him again.

They settle in the car, and Oliver immediately turns on the radio. Apparently, he is eager to escape the silence that settled over them before Diggle called.

After a few minutes, "Maybe I'm amazed" by Paul McCartney comes on the radio. They ignore it for a few moments. Felicity shuffles awkwardly in her seat. Oliver asks "do you mind if I change it?" Felicity is almost relieved as she says not at all. He flips the dial. “Only wanna be with you” by Hootie and the Blowfish is playing. Oliver doesn't ask if she minds before flipping it to the next station. His obvious panic is almost funny. Once they hear Whitney Houston belt out "I will always love you," Felicity can't take it anymore. She bursts into giggles.

Oliver looks over, consternation on his face. "I'm sorry," she gasps between giggles, "it's just so ridiculous." She has a huge wide smile on her face as she turns to him. Despite whatever has happened in the last 6 months, no one is immune to the charm of Felicity Smoak. Oliver starts laughing. It starts out as a light and embarrassed chuckle, but turns into a full-throated laugh.

Oliver and Felicity arrive at the hospital a few minutes later still grinning. They head toward the front desk and check in. They sit in the front room for a few minutes with a half dozen other patients before Felicity is called back. Oliver stands up to join her at first before thinking better of it, and sitting back down

She discusses her condition with the nurse for a few minutes before Dr. Green comes in. Her doctor smiles at Felicity widely before greeting her with, “you look much better today Ms. Smoak. How are you feeling?” Felicity talks about her recent lack of headaches, and they discuss her progress going forward. Before Felicity leaves, she can’t help but ask “do you think I’ll ever get my memories back?” Dr. Green sighs and gives Felicity a soft smile. “I’m sorry, Felicity, but recovery varies dramatically from patient to patient. All I can do is recommend that you go back to your old routine. That sometimes helps to spark something.” At that, Felicity scoffs and murmurs to herself “my routine has apparently changed a lot in the past six months.” With a shrug, however, she adds, “I am hoping to start work again next week, so that might help.” They finish their appointment soon after, and Dr. Green tells Felicity to book her follow-up and reminds her to go to orthopedics to get her wrist checked out next week.

When she comes back to the waiting room, Oliver is sitting on the too-small chair flipping absentmindedly through a magazine. God, she loves him. It's painful just to look at him now. He senses her presence, because of course he does. He looks up at her, and gives her a soft smile. As they walk to the car, their hands almost touch. She has to fight the urge to reach out and hold his hand. Once they're back on the road, he asks "how did it go?"

“Fine, I guess. It's hard to tell. They didn't find anything wrong on the MRI or CT scan. She said I should be able to go back to work on Monday. She didn’t really give me anything on the memory-retrieval front, though.” Oliver looks thoughtful as he continues to drive. No one looks that thoughtful while they are driving, Felicity thinks to herself. Eventually he says, “so do you need me to stop somewhere for dinner or…?” She glances over at him as he looks back out the window. “No it's fine. Digg is planning on coming to the house tonight, and I think I'll venture to the grocery store tomorrow. Thank you for offering, though.” He smiles over at her softly, a true genuine smile. “Of course.”

They spend a few minutes in silence as Oliver takes the familiar path to Felicity's apartment. She stares out the window and tries to think of a safe topic. Work. The last two times talking about work didn’t go well, but maybe the third time is a charm. At least, that’s what Felicity panickedly tells herself before she starts. “So, has Gina been working on the electrokinetic pulsing force? Last I remember, it was still being prototyped.” Oliver huffs out a breath. “I believe it’s going well. You had been working with Palmer Technologies on finalizing it before the first field test next month.”

Oh, great. Felicity thought to herself. Somehow she brought up her ex-boyfriend. Good topic, Felicity. “Great. I’m glad to hear it’s still uhh going well.” Oliver offers her a bland smile in return. A few minutes later, as they are arriving back at her place, Felicity wants to end on a positive note. “So, again, I really appreciate this. You really didn’t have to do this. But, thank you.”

Felicity steps out of the car. She turns back around to wish Oliver goodbye, and is surprised to see that he’s gotten out of the car as well. “Oh, you don’t have to help me. Since the little debacle with the return from the hospital, I had Diggle give me his spare key.” Oliver leans against his car and crosses his arms over his chest. “Okay. Then, I guess I’ll see you next week. I’m glad you’re feeling better.” They both stand there quietly. The silence is a bit awkward this time, but it seems neither of them want it to end.

After a while, Felicity walks over to Oliver says thank you, and leans over to give him a kiss on the cheek. Suddenly, she feels a rush of memories. She is holding Oliver tightly in his and Thea’s loft while he weeps openly, the blaring sounds of police cars almost drowning out his cries. She whispers “it’s going to be okay; it’s going to be okay,” in his ear as the medical examiner wheels Thea’s body away.

Now, she’s in the foundry and he’s shouting at Diggle about an unsuccessful mission. He turns to Felicity as she approaches. She thinks she can calm him down, but when she looks in his eyes expecting to find rage and anger she just sees blank emptiness. She puts her hand on his chest, but he shrugs it off, exclaiming that he is going back out to patrol as he slams the foundry door.

She’s in her apartment; they’re making love. She tries to look into his eyes, but he glances away. She places her hands along his jaw as they both are nearing climax and looks at him, begging, pleading for him to be with her. In this moment. In their lives. On the team. But he slams his eyes shut. He leaves her bedroom before she can think of something to say.

He’s got his back to the door in his office at Queen Industries. She can tell he knows it’s her by the way his shoulders tense. She remembers herself ending things with him. She remembers wishing he wasn’t forcing her to do it. She remembers him nodding perfunctorily and saying he’ll see her in the department head meeting tomorrow. She remembers barely making it back to her office before the tears start streaming down her face.

It turns out she was right, these aren’t the kind of memories you want to get back.

Notes:

Sorry for the long delay, I am still nursing my fractured wrist. I hope everyone is still enjoying this story. The chapter title is from The National's "Secret Meeting."
 
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Chapter 7: Protect the nest, protect the title

Notes:

Chapter title is from The National's "Karen."

“Are you okay? Felicity? Are you with me?” She comes back to reality, and sees Oliver holding her elbows and looking at her with a worriedly. “I’m fine. I just zoned out for a second.” She tries to huff out a laugh. “Are you sure you’re okay?” Felicity steps back and schools her expression. “Yep! This is apparently pretty normal. I just need to make sure to get plenty of rest, so I’m going to do that. To uhh.. rest. I’ll see you Monday, Oliver.”

At that, she starts walking hurriedly back to her apartment. She chances a look back at Oliver once she reaches the building’s door and sees him still looking at her with concern and suspicion. She is initially affronted, but then remembers that he’s right-- she is lying. She gives him a short wave before going into her apartment and collapsing on her bed as she tries to process her new old memories.

She does return to work on Monday, and despite her fears, it actually goes pretty well. She only sees Oliver in passing, but he smiles at her and says that it’s good to see her back. It seems like he means it. The next week goes by smoothly. Even though she still doesn’t remember the bulk of six months of memories, she is having an okay time managing her projects. One day, she’s meeting with Oliver one-on-one, and she starts babbling about something and he just laughs. She looks up in surprise to see a full smile on his face and delight in his eyes. She smiles in return. It’s not perfect, Felicity thinks, but it’s a hell of a lot better than when she first woke up.

It’s a couple weeks after she woke up when things change. Some new criminal upstart is terrorizing the Glades that Prometheus left in ruin. He robs a bank and kills seven hostages in cold blood. Felicity and Diggle can’t sit idly by while their beloved city crumbles. A day after the robbery, Diggle walks down the stairs of the Foundry and sees Felicity hard at work researching this new threat.

Felicity looks up at him and smiles. Diggle shakes his head. “Why am I not surprised that you’re already here?” At that, Felicity just shrugs her shoulders. They look around the lair for a few moments. Both patently aware that Team Arrow’s founding member is absent. “I just… couldn’t not do something, you know.” She looks over at Diggle who nods. Diggle walks over to Felicity’s station. He sees the robbery footage on one screen and a database search running on another. “Okay,” he starts, “let’s do this.”

The next week Felicity spends all of her free hours in the basement underneath Verdant. Finally, she is able to identify the crook as Patrick Barden. Then, with the help of Diggle's contacts, they track his hideout. It's in what used to be a coffee shop called Mugshot in the Glades. Felicity chuckles to herself at the newfound double meaning in the shop's name. At least, she thinks, this criminal has a sense of humor. She and Diggle map out their plan, and decide to attack the next evening.

The whole next morning it gnaws at Felicity. Going on this mission without the Arrow, without Oliver. She is desperate to reach out to him, but she resists. She's afraid she'll damage this newfound trust and camaraderie that she and Oliver have. If she approaches him on this, will he completely close off to her again? In the afternoon, she breaks. Felicity sees him in the break room while she's getting another cup of coffee. He asks her how she's doing. Her breath catches a little bit at the way he's looking at her. He still cares for her; it's so clear in his eyes. And she can't help but hope that he still cares about his city too. She smiles up at him, puts her hand on his arm, and asks "can we talk?"

His brow furrows briefly, but then he's leading the way to his office. She shuts the door behind him, and just looks at him. He looks back down at her with a soft smile. This should be weird. Them just standing there not saying anything. But it feels nice. Felicity has to fight the urge to reach out to him. To kiss him.

She remembers, though, that this was not why she asked to talk with him. "So..." she starts. At that, Oliver just raises an amused eyebrow. Felicity walks over to sit on the sleek leather couch in his office and steels herself. "Diggle and I have been tracking someone. His name is Patrick Barden, and he is responsible for those bank robberies in the Glades."

Oliver's eyes shut immediately, and when he opens them the warmth in his expression has been replaced by coldness and feigned disinterest. "Obviously I can't tell you or John what to do, but I can't be involved anymore."

Felicity is unsurprised, but she can't help herself from feeling disappointed. She nods and says, "I understand." After a few moments she adds, "if you change your mind the mission is tonight." She's walking out when Oliver puts his hand on her shoulder. "Felicity?" She turns toward him. He looks at her sadly before leaning down and softly kissing her forehead and whispering "good luck."

Felicity rushes to the foundry after work and finds that Diggle is already there beating the Hell out of a punching bag. "Did you ask him?" He calls out to her. She briefly considers lying. Showing Digg that she has faith in them and their plan. Showing him that she thinks they'll be fine without Oliver. But Felicity sighs and says "yeah. I asked him." That's enough of an answer for Digg who goes back to his punching bag. They've had missions without Oliver before. When he was dead for example. But those times they always had back up. Now, Roy was MIA and Laurel had hung up the mask when she decided she could do more in the District Attorney’s office.

They go over everything one final time before Diggle gears up, and heads out the door. As he makes his way there, Felicity tries to calm herself. Felicity is shaken from her reverie by Diggle’s voice over comms. “I’m in position.” Felicity lets out a deep breath. “okay, just one minute.” Suddenly, three storefronts down, the alarm system starts blaring. Barden’s lackeys stream out of Mugshot over to the electronics store where Felicity had tripped the security system. On this cue, Diggle incapacitates the one remaining guard and sneaks in through the back into a supply closet. Felicity watches the heat signatures of the thugs falling into their trap. Once the dozen or so men are inside the store, she re-arms the security system, and triggers it to call the cops. The plan should still work if they don’t show up, but police presence would certainly make it go smoother. “You’re up, Digg. It looks like there are still three people in the Northwest corner.”

Diggle sneaks to the Northwest corner, clearing the room as he goes. When he clears the whole shop, he says in confusion, “are you sure they’re here Felicity? I don’t see--”

Shots ring out, and Felicity hears Diggle grunt in pain. “JOHN!” she screams. She hears what she believes is a fist fight over the comms, and she holds her breath in fear of what could be happening. A few minutes later, she sees one of the heat signatures stumble out of the coffee shop, and is relieved when she hears Diggle pant, “Felicity, I’ve got a gunshot wound to my thigh. They were in the basement; that’s why we couldn’t find them. I think I’m gonna be fine.” She breathes out heavily, and asks “are you okay Digg? Can you make it back?” She hears him cough heavily. “Yeah, yeah. I’m five minutes out.”

Sure enough, a few minutes later, he limps through the door. Felicity runs up the stairs, and half-carries him down to the medtable. “Barden?” she asks, as she starts cleaning his wound. “He was down when I left, and I heard sirens heading there. I think we did it, Felicity.” She smiles at that before Diggle starts swaying on the table. “Digg? Are you okay?” His eyes shut and he dazedly responds, “I think there’s something wrong,” as he collapses onto the table.

Notes:

Yay! An update! I am having surgery on my wrist this week, so send me well wishes about my story and recovery, please. :)

Kudos, comments, bookmarks make my heart swell.

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Chapter 8: Nothing Can Touch Us, My Love

Notes:

The chapter title is from "All the Wine" by the National.

Felicity tries but fails to stay calm. God, if only John had told Lyla that they were going on this mission. Instead, he made sure that Lyla and Sara were visiting her cousin in Coast City. Diggle’s breathing seems normal, but she has no idea why he has passed out. She hardly even resists before dialing Oliver’s number.

“Hello?” She breathes out a sigh of relief. A part of her was worried that he wouldn’t even answer. “Hi Oliver.” Her voice sounds so weak. “Felicity, I’m sorry that I can’t be there. I know it must be hard, but--”

“It’s Diggle, Oliver. I need your help.” Immediately there is a rustling of clothes and keys. “I’m on my way.” Oliver rushes down the stairs less than ten minutes later, and examines Diggle with careful hands. “I don’t know what happened,” Felicity says. “It was a through and through. He was conscious when he got here, but then suddenly…” Oliver nods at her, and says, “I think it’s just from blood loss. I sewed up the wound, but he should be okay.”

Oliver looks up at Felicity and sees the fear in her eyes. The tears starting to build. “I can’t. I can’t lose him. He’s all I have left.” At that, Felicity breaks down. She falls to the floor, and her chest heaves in deep sobs. Oliver sits behind her on the cold cement and wraps his arms around her, surrounding her with warmth and comfort. “It’s okay,” he whispers, “it’s going to be okay.” After a while, her cries subside and Oliver helps her up. Oliver is looking at Felicity intently. She looks up at him with red-rimmed eyes and gives him a half-smile. They both take a breath, then simultaneously…

“Oliver--”
“Felicity--”

They chuckle softly, and Felicity starts again, “thank you for coming. I know this is hard for you, being here. But, I didn’t know who else to call.” Oliver looks at Felicity strangely for a few moments. She is about to ask him what he’s thinking, but then he relaxes his shoulders and puts his hand on her arm. “Felicity, I… I can’t imagine what it’s been like for you. This past month. I’ve tried a few times to think about what I would do if all I could remember was us being happy, then wake up to this. And, I honestly can’t. This world without Thea, without the Arrow is all I feel like I know. I’m sorry. I know I’ve been closed off lately, and it’s not the same. But, I’m still here for you. I’ll always be here for you.”

Felicity eyes him curiously and tries to collect her thoughts. This would be a bad time for one of her babbles. “Oliver, that’s a nice thought, but you aren’t here for me. You’re only here now because it was a medical emergency. I know that you are trying to keep yourself from feeling anything again, and that’s your choice. But, don’t pretend like you’ve been there for me this last month. You gave me a ride twice, which I appreciate. And, for the record, I do have some of my memories. They’ve come in flashes, but I have some. And, it’s you pulling yourself away from me. So, thanks for helping with Diggle, but once he’s stable, I know you’ll be gone. Nothing has changed with us. Nothing has changed on Team Arrow. Don’t act like it has.” At that, she walks back over to Diggle, and checks his pulse.

Oliver slowly makes his way back to the medtable. They both stand there for a few minutes saying nothing. Felicity feels Oliver’s eyes on her. She eventually looks at him. His expression makes her breath catch. He looks so sad. Just desperately sad. “Felicity, I’m so sorry. I know I can’t make it up to you. I know that I can’t make it right, but please tell me, how can I make it better?”

Felicity walks over to Oliver’s side of the medtable. She puts her hands on his shoulders, and looks deep into his eyes. Oliver looks confused, but doesn’t move. His hand twitches like he wants to hold her.“I need to know,” she starts, “just tell me: do you still love me? This, all of this is killing me, but the hardest part is not having you-- my partner-- to lean on in the roughest patch of my life. And, the way… sometimes it feels like you do. So, do you love me?”

Oliver takes a step closer and smiles down at her. He places his hand on her cheek and whispers, “of course I love you Felicity Smoak. In what world could I ever stop loving you?” Felicity peers up at him and takes in his expression. She knows it’s true. She knows he loves her. That’s why nothing this last month made sense; he wouldn’t stop loving her. No matter what happened, she was sure of it. Now, he was standing there looking at her like that, and she couldn’t take it anymore.

She puts a hand on the back of his head, and leans up to kiss him. He must have been expecting it, because he answers her kiss with her fervor. His hands move from her cheek into her hair, then across her back. She jumps to wrap her legs around him, and he catches her and pushes her against a pillar so that he can knead his hands into her thighs as he kisses down the column of her throat. Felicity pulls back and gives him a wide smile, which he returns. She sets her feet back on the ground, and says “I love you, Oliver.” At that, he recaptures her lips and leads her back over to the couch. It doesn’t quite make up for the last month, Felicity thinks to herself as he starts moving his mouth slowly down her body, but it’s a good start.

When Felicity wakes up a couple hours later, with Oliver wrapped around her she smiles. She knows that what has been broken can’t be fixed this easily. Her trust in him will take some rebuilding, but she can’t help being happy in this moment. She slips into some of her workout clothes that were luckily still in the Foundry before crossing the room to check on Diggle. He seemed stable, and his breathing was even and calm. She would feel a lot better if he had already woken up, but Digg would probably be glad he didn’t wake up an hour before. Felicity cringes to herself.

She moves back over to the couch where Oliver is still sleeping. She kisses his cheek, and settles back next to him. “Oliver?” she asks. “Hmmm?” Oliver nuzzles closer to her in his half-asleep state. “I love you.” He holds her even tighter and breathes back, “I love you, too.”

When she wakes up up again, she is alone. After putting her glasses back on, she sees Oliver with Diggle at the other side of the foundry, and breathes a sigh of relief. She hurries over to hug Digg. “I was so worried,” she whispers. Diggle smiles. “I’m okay. It’s okay. And, I checked the police scanners and they caught Barden. It was a job well done.”

Felicity reaches out for Oliver’s hand, but stops at the stormy expression on his face. “This doesn’t change anything.” Felicity’s heart drops. She was so sure that he was through with this. That this was final. They were past all the bullshit. “I am not going to be the Green Arrow anymore.”

Felicity had hoped that they would be able to talk Oliver into rejoining the team, but most of her is just relieved that he isn’t breaking her heart again. He sees her expression and pulls her into his chest, “Oh god, Felicity. I’m sorry. I love you. I’m not gonna lose you again.

A few moments pass before Diggle chuckles and says, “so… it seems like a lot happened while I was out.”

The next week, Oliver and Felicity start to slowly rediscover each other. They have trouble focusing in meetings at work, and they hold each other close every night. Felicity goes to the foundry to do research a few nights a week. They never discuss it, but Oliver knows, and Felicity hopes that someday she’ll be able to convince him to join her.

They’re sitting in Felicity’s apartment making spaghetti one night when Oliver’s phone rings. It’s an unknown number, but neither think much of it until they hear the voice on the other line. “Oliver? It’s Roy. I found him.”

Notes:

...and Olicity! Trust me, I'm excited, too.

Thanks so much for all your well wishes! My surgery went fine, and I am slowly recovering. Let me know how you liked the chapter, and/or if you're excited to hear from Roy.

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