Sorry this is a little darker than my usual stuff but hope you enjoy anyway.

The Dark of Night.

Felicity knew that something wasn't right with Oliver. It had been a few months since he had returned from Lian Yu for the second time. She had (begrudgingly) become his executive assistant and he was trying to improve the reputation of his alter ego (whom he preferred be called Arrow, rather than the Hood) and things were going pretty good.

Over the past few months Felicity and Oliver had worked together closely. She was at his side each day, playing the part of his dutiful assistant. It wasn't as bad as she thought. In fact he had a whole other secretary who worked down the hall in a separate office who answered his calls, typed his letters and made his coffee. Felicity's job was to pretty much plan his meetings and advise him. As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was quite enjoying it.

At lunch-time they would sit on the plush couch in his office, their shoes off and feet on the coffee table, eating from take out boxes and talking. Not talking about work- just conversing and learning about each other. Diggle was often there but a lot of the time, it was just herself and Oliver.

They had started to relax around each other and even shared some personal things with each other. Like a few weeks ago Felicity let it slip that she made out with her (female) college roommate after too much tequila and that her friend was a great kisser. Oliver's mouth hung open at her accidental admission so he made her feel a little better by telling her that he once woke up wedged in a child's swing (with very little clothes on) after a night of drinking Tequila with Tommy. It took a worried phone call to Tommy and a hacksaw to dislodge him before the police could arrest him for loitering in a children's park. Felicity almost choked on her sushi as he told the story. He had a genuinely happy face on him when he told stories about Tommy, his hands waving enthusiastically in the air.

The only difference between their days and evenings was location and attire. Usually Felicity would change out of her more glamorous work dresses (her pay raise did help boost her wardrobe) into jeans or more comfortable looser dresses and flats. Oliver would change from his business suits to either his 'green' suit or his sweat-pants and nothing else. Felicity would try her best not to watch him train shirtless but she usually failed to hide the quick glances. Sometimes Oliver would ignore it, so as not to embarrass her. Other times he would give her a quick, knowing smile.

Then something changed. The case with Barton Mathis seemed to cast a cloud over Oliver. He was a serial killer and Felicity was to be used for bait. He was already in bad enough mood after Laurel trapped him but he was not at all happy that Felicity would have to be used to attract him. Felicity had told her it was her decision and that she had discussed the plan already with Officer Lance. His jaw tensed and he didn't speak but she could see his chest rise and falling more sharply and his eyes cast downwards. She knew he wasn't happy.

When she came back to their lair after Mathis had grabbed her (and got away), Oliver was fuming. He banged down the metal steps and threw his gear off quickly. His eyes were livid. When he turned and saw her sitting on the edge of the medical table, his anger softened some. His eyes rose to hers and he took a tentative step forward.

Diggle was cleaning up a wound on her neck. "All done. Shouldn't even scar."

"Thanks Dig," Felicity tried to say as upbeat as possible, a forced smile on her face.

"I'll just clean up and I'll take you home," Diggle said, rubbing his friend gently on the arm.

When Diggle walked towards the bathroom, Oliver approached Felicity cautiously. They had fought about her going out there tonight before she left and her eyes were avoiding his altogether. She played with the hem of her pink top.

When he was right in front of her his hand reached for her, but didn't quite touch her neck, where Diggle had placed a bandage. "Are you ok?"

"It's only a scratch. I think the bandage is a bit of an overkill but Dig insisted. And well he has the medical training so who am I to argue. But it's fine. I'm fine altogether." Felicity's voice was trembling, her eyes still downcast.

"Are you really ok?" Oliver asked. His hand hovered next to her cheek for a moment before he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb.

Felicity pursed her lips together and raised her eyes to meet Oliver's. "I can't wait to get out of these clothes. I swear I can smell that monster off my clothes." Tears started to prick at her eyes. Oliver didn't hesitate. He pulled her towards him and enveloped her in his arms. It took a few seconds but then he felt Felicity relax into his chest. She let out a long sigh and then wrapped her arms around his back. Her head fit snugly under his chin and he stroked her hair soothingly. Felicity pulled back slightly, only enough to look up towards Oliver. Her cheeks were moist and she sniffled slightly. She swallowed hard and was about to speak when Diggle returned.

"You ready to head…?" Diggle suddenly realized the intimacy of the scene in front of him and stopped midsentence.

Oliver pulled back quickly and Felicity dried her eyes on her sleeve. She hopped up off the table and said with as much chirpiness as she could muster, "Yup. All ready."

When Felicity had gathered her things and Diggle was leading her out of the lair, his hand reassuringly hovering over her lower back Oliver spoke. "Give me a text message later and let me know you're ok. Please."

Felicity looked back towards him and managed a half-smile. "Will do. Night."

For a few weeks after that incident, things slowly started to return to normal. Oliver was lightening up around her again and they were more at ease. But then something bad happened. Bad was probably not a strong enough adjective to describe the situation. Oliver had needed Felicity to come with him to an office building late one night. The building outwardly looked like it sold life assurance but it was actually a front for gun running. They had major firewalls on their computers and Oliver needed Felicity to be able to predict their next shipment.

The mission had gone down hill when a silent alarm was triggered and a mini army descended on the building. Oliver had managed to hide Felicity as much as possible and incapacitated about a dozen men. He tried not to kill if possible lately but this good intentions came back to bite him. One of the injured men fell to the floor, his leg bloodied and mangled. When he fell to the ground he saw Felicity crouched behind a desk. While Oliver was working on the last guard, the injured man reached for a fallen weapon and pointed it directly at Felicity. Her back was turned and she didn't see him aiming. But Oliver did. He was across the room though and his bow had been knocked to the ground. By the time he got to his bow, the guard had pulled the trigger. Oliver felt like it was in slow motion. He saw the man's finger tighten on the trigger. Then there was nothing. The weapon didn't fire. The man pulled at the trigger again and again before realizing it was jammed and banging it on the ground. Oliver didn't hesitate. He wasn't giving him another chance and planted an arrow in his back.

Oliver pulled Felicity roughly out from under the desk and made their escape. On the trip back a heavy silence hung between them. When Diggle had cleared them from the danger zone he asked how it went.

While Oliver pointedly continued looking out the window silently, Felicity spoke. "Ok I suppose. Could have been better but we got what we went in for."

Felicity noticed Oliver bristle. "Ok? Ok is not how it went." His voice was low and it sent a shiver through her in the same was she was sure it sent a shiver through his enemies. "He fired at your head but his gun jammed. You should be dead right now."

Bile rose in Felicity throat. "Oh. I didn't know," Felicity answered, her voice quivering slightly. The remainder of the journey was in silence. Oliver avoided her gaze at all cost.

When they returned to the lair, Oliver disappeared to clean himself up. He didn't speak a single word to either of them. Diggle offered Felicity a ride home but she said she had her car outside. "Will you be ok with Mr. Broody there?"

"I'll only stay a few minutes more to look at the data we retrieved. I'm pretty tired now." Felicity gave him an assuring smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Ok so. Get some sleep though."

"I will. Thanks."

Felicity sat in front of the computers, her legs pulled in under herself. She wasn't sure if was the temperature in there or the fact that she was almost killed but she was shivering. She didn't hear Oliver enter the room again.

"You should go," Oliver shot at her coldly.

"I'll head home in a minute," Felicity responded without looking back to him.

"No. I mean you should go altogether. I want you to leave."

Felicity slowly pulled her legs out from under her, her toes having gone numb and stumbled to her feet. Her shoes were abandoned somewhere under the desk and she didn't take the time to look for them. She turned to look at Oliver. He was staring frostily at her. "What do you mean Oliver?" Felicity was sure her voice was breaking slightly.

"I want you to leave and not to come back. You have helped us a lot Felicity," Oliver almost spat her name, "but you are a liability now and we don't need a liability."

Felicity felt that tickle in her eyes, the kind you get while trying not to cry. "Why are you saying these things Oliver?"

"Because it's true. I will move you back to the IT department tomorrow. You can keep the raise but I no longer need you to be my assistant."

"I don't care about the money. You know I don't care about that kind of thing," Felicity spat back at Oliver. She took a step closer to him and was suddenly acutely aware of how small she was next to him in her bare feet.

"You can tell people you quit as my assistant if you want but I don't need you for my day or my night job anymore. Thank you for your service." Oliver turned to move away as if he was done.

"Thank you for my service?" Felicity practically screamed at Oliver. "My service really? How about my loyalty? My discretion? How about the endless days and nights that I've worked with you to help make this city a better place."

Oliver's voice was lower now but no less cold. "And I thank you for that but I don't need you to help me. I can do this without you."

Felicity voice softened slightly as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "You're just throwing me out. That's it? I've outlived my usefulness and I'm thrown out with the trash. Is that it?"

"Please don't make this any harder on yourself…"

Felicity cut him off. "Harder on myself? How dare you?" Felicity's tears were held back by the anger she was feeling right now. "At least look at me when you throw me away."

Felicity saw the tension building in his shoulders before he slowly turned to look at her once again. His eyes were filled with something she couldn't quite place. Was it anger? Despite the hurtful words he was saying to her, it pained her to see him like this. Oliver took a deep breath and his eyes cast downwards. "You need to leave now."

"Why? I don't understand where this is coming from. Is it because of the man back at that building? Because if it is, I'm fine. Look at me I'm ok."

Oliver's voice was angrier than she had ever heard. "But you should be dead. If that gun hadn't jammed, your brains would have been smeared all over the walls of that building and there would have been nothing I could have done."

Felicity was shocked by the tone of his voice. "I'm in dangerous situations all the time."

"Exactly. No more! You're done. You're done with this life and done with me. OK?" Felicity had never heard Oliver so angry. If she didn't know him so well, she would have been scared by the way he looked at her now.

"Don't I get to decide that?" Felicity begged.

"NO!" Oliver roared and took a step closer to her. He was now only inches from her but she was determined to hold her ground.

Felicity tried to extend a hand towards him but he flinched. "You can't be responsible…"

Felicity was cut off by his hands roughly catching her uppers arms. "I am dangerous. Being with me is dangerous. You cannot be with me."

Felicity whole body tensed in his grip. His fingers were tight around her arms. His eyes burned into hers. "This isn't you Oliver."

"No this is exactly me! Maybe you think you know the real me but you don't. I'm a killer. I'm dangerous. I am not a good person."

Tears started to flow down Felicity's cheeks and for a second she thought she saw his anger wane but then he shook his head slightly and pushed her back two steps so that her back was against the hard concrete wall. "You are a good…" her voice quivered.

"NO. I am not. Do you hear me? I am dangerous. I could do anything to you right now and you couldn't stop me." Oliver's voice sounded disembodied.

"You wouldn't hurt me," Felicity voice was weak, a sob escaping her throat.

"Would I not? You couldn't stop me if I wanted to hurt you." Oliver sounded like a man possessed.

"You wouldn't hurt me," Felicity repeated, her voice almost a squeak now.

Oliver's fingers dug further into her arms until it almost hurt. "I have hurt you time and time again." His grip loosed slightly. "I've hurt you enough."

Felicity tried to muster all the bravery she could. "I know what you're doing. You're trying to make me hate you so I'll leave but that's not going to happen. I know you. I trust you."

Oliver's eyes fell from hers but his hands didn't leave her arms. "You should hate me. You should run away as fast as you can. I will get you killed and I can't live without…" Oliver's voice was barely audible.

"I could never hate you Oliver." As if the sound of her saying his voice snapped him back to himself, he let go of her arms.

"You should. I have done nothing but bring terrible things upon you." Oliver's eyes were frozen on a spot on the floor.

"You have let me be part of this team that helps the people of this city. You have given real meaning to my life. And if that means that danger comes with it, so be it." When she finished her sentence she tentatively reached a hand out to rest against Oliver's chest. "I won't leave you. So get that out of your head right now."

"How do you know I wouldn't hurt you? Why do you trust me?" Oliver's eyes finally lifted to meet with Felicity's.

"I just know. I know the good spirit inside you that I think sometimes you don't even believe is in there."

And then something happened that Felicity didn't expect. Oliver fell on his two knees in front of her. It was as if all the anger had drained from him and he was unable to keep himself upright anymore. He put his two hands to his face and Felicity wasn't sure if he was crying. She placed a hand in his hair and stroked her hand over his head to soothe him. When he slumped back onto his heels, Felicity fell onto her knees in front of him. She waited for what seemed like several minutes but he didn't remove his hands from in front of his face. His shoulders sagged and his breathing raspy.

The tears were drying on Felicity's cheeks when she decided to lift a hand to his and gently tugged them down. What she saw looked like a broken man. She didn't think she had seen him like this since the night Tommy died and she hoped she would never see him like this again.

Felicity held his two hands on her laps. Oliver looked at their intertwined hands but couldn't look at her face. She could see that his eyes were red but more than that she could see that there was a dejected look in them. She barely heard him when he spoke. "I'm sorry."

Felicity broke one of her hands from his grasp and lifted it to his face. "Apology accepted."

Felicity stroked along his strong jaw-bone and felt the tension still within him. "You really are remarkable aren't you?" Oliver lifted his head to look at her. "How can I ever apologize enough…"

"I just said apology accepted. I know you were only saying those things to protect me. And I'm glad you care that much about my safety that you would force me away from you. But I'm not going anywhere. OK?"

A sound almost like a sob escaped Oliver's chest and Felicity leant her head down to rest on his shoulder. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and rubbed his back. Oliver ran his arms around her waist and held her close. After a while Felicity's legs began to feel numb and Oliver's breaths had slowed so she pulled back from his embrace slowly. "Thank you Felicity. I don't know what I'd ever do without you." The genuineness of his sentiment brought a small smile to her lips. They knew they would have a lot of talk about but for now they were contented to put this night behind them.

I love would love it if you all reviewed.