The night air was crisp. Oliver was patrolling Starling city and as things had been a little quiet, he'd asked Felicity to take the night off. He knew she deserved it pushing herself to get their lair..command center..whatever, up and running. Oliver snorted..he was never ever going to call it the Arrow Cave no matter how many times Felicity tried to slip it into their conversations. He rolled his eyes at the thought.

As his thoughts settled on her he immediately started backing away mentally...whoa...since when did he have thoughts about what she said, thought or did, for that matter? Since when did he "roll his eyes" at all? Felicity was rubbing off on him, more than he had let himself realise. He smiled automatically recalling her protests about her work space..her arguments..verbal diarrhea..mile-a-minute thinking and the hand waving & gesturing and ever changing expressions..

Hold up..When had he started paying attention to all her mannerisms? Had he seen her for what she was when he first walked into her cubicle in QC, with the bullet riddled laptop? Or was it when she tilted her head, not for one minute believing his sorry tale, about coffee shops in bad neighborhoods?

Was it when he surprised her in her car, bleeding out, into her back seat..or much later when he woke up to see her hard at work, fixing up his rudimentary system into something much more cohesive? He remembered being grateful that she hadn't run screaming to the cops, as most people would have.

Was it when she trusted him (even with his bordering on - stupid cover stories) with his father's journal? Or later when he'd saved her from Count Vertigo, she apologized to him..for putting him in position where he had to kill again? Oliver started feeling uncomfortable at the number of times Felicity had been put in harms way while helping out on his crusade and his arguments to Diggle that they could protect her were starting to sound tired, even to him. He knew he was holding on to her and not just because she was amazing at what she did.. Nope...don't go there...dangerous waters...his mind shied away from such thoughts and ideas, no matter how promising they may be.

Perhaps it was when proved her mettle by staying with them while the Glades came crashing down thanks to the man-made earth quake device. Oliver's eyes burned as he remembered Tommy's death and his subsequent actions. Yes...much safer to focus on the anger that fueled his quest. As these thoughts rattled around in his head, he suddenly stopped short. He saw that he had reached Felicity's apartment building without even realizing it. His mind had steered him there unconsciously.

He stood up. From where he was standing he could see her, sitting in her cozy hall..watching television..her expressions mirroring the actors emotions on screen. The temptation to be a part of that warm setting pulled at him..but he straightened his spine..and shook those images away. She was his partner, for God's sake. He would not ruin the one good thing going for him, in this partnership, to save his city. Besides she was safer at a distance. Yes..he would keep her at a distance, if not for anything else, but her safety. Her safety was paramount.

And that's when it hit him.. He saw her clearly..he'd listened to her..he had let get under his skin, when she had forced him to cut short his self imposed exile and come back...when she had gently but firmly made him look for a different way to save his city, thus leading him to find a better way to honor Tommy's memory as well. For her, he stopped being the "Hood" and became the "Arrow"!