A/N: A litte one shot that hit me when I was listening to some old CD's earlier today. If you want a peak at the inspiration, look up the lyrics to "Unsigned Letter" by Garth Brooks/Chris Gaines. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: Characters belong to DC/CW
Felicity unlocked her front door and sorted the mail. Bills, bills, charity request, bills. It was all the usual junk until the very last one: A plain white envelope her name and address hand written. She didn't recognize the handwriting. She held it up to the light to see what was inside. It seemed to be a note card. Once she was certain it wouldn't explode immediately, she opened it. The card was as plain as the envelope. She opened it and saw three words written in the same hand.
Come to Boston.
No date, no time. No indication who she was meeting or how she was supposed to get there. She checked the envelope and card for any brand markings, any way to trace its origin. No luck. She checked for a post mark, none. It must have been hand delivered while she was at work. Unfortunately, her IT girl salary didn't pay for an apartment with any measure of security system so she wouldn't know who dropped it off. She could ask her neighbors, but one of them didn't speak English and the other one still held a grudge from the day Felicity accidental called her "sir." She picked up her phone and dialed.
"Diggle."
"Hey, busy?" she asked.
"Oh, hey Felicity. Nope, I'm at Big Belly Burger. Want to come?" She was tempted. She could bring him the card; they could work it through together. But there was something that told her not to.
"No, I'm , um I already ate." she lied. "I was just wondering if there was any news?" Diggle sighed.
"Nope, still no sign of him. He hasn't called me or Thea or made any contact with anyone."
"Ok, just thought I'd check. You know, it had been twelve hours. Things change."
"Nothing's change in three months Felicity. You have my word that if it does you'll be the first person I call ok?"
"Ok. Night Dig." She hung up and held the card in her hands.
There were several possible scenarios for this. Most of them were really bad. They were the type of horror stories they showed on 48 Hours. The young professional travels at the last minute, doesn't tell anyone where she is going and ends up in a bathtub of ice missing her kidneys or married to a guy with fifteen other wives.
But there was one scenario that she couldn't shake. The possibility that this was what she had been waiting for. There could be something wonderful waiting for her in Boston. Maybe the universe had finally gotten the message that it owed her one. There was only one way to find out.
She emailed her boss and said she was taking a couple of personal days for a family emergency. She went online and found a flight leaving at ten that night. That gave her three hours to get to the airport. The last minute pricing was so good she even splurged and upgraded herself to first class. She figured at least that way if she lost her kidneys, she could comfort herself with extra leg room. Considering she had no idea who she was meeting or what she'd be doing, packing was surprisingly easy. She dumped her five favorite outfits into the suitcase along with her basic make-up. She changed out of her office clothes into a white t shirt and red skirt. Within forty five minutes she was out the door and on her way to Starling International Airport.
She spent most of the three hour flight telling herself she was stupid. How the hell was she supposed to find out who sent the card or why? Where was she supposed to go once she got there? There was a growing possibility she would end up just getting the next flight back and looking like a fool.
She collected her bag and made her way to the arrivals area. It was packed with happy families or busy business people, all trying to get out of there as quickly as possible. But she waited. She sat on a bench hoping whoever was looking for her would show up. The crowds thinned until she was the last person other than staff left. She looked at her phone to check the time. The next flight home was in twelve hours. She at least had to find something to eat. Felicity grabbed her suitcase and started pulling it towards the ramp that lead outdoors to the cab stands. She wondered if this was going to be one of those embarrassing stories she never told anyone.
Once she reached the top of the ramp, she got her answer. A silhouette she would know anywhere stood at the bottom. His hair wasn't any longer, but he had grown out his facial hair from controlled stubble to a full fledged beard. When their eyes met he smiled nervously. As much as she wanted to be mad at him she smiled back. He took a few steps towards her, meeting her before she reached the bottom.
"Felicity," He said softly.
"Hi Oliver." She was momentarily stunned by the fact that he was really there.
"Are you ok?"
" Yeah, I'm trying to decide whether to hug you or slap you." She admitted.
"Oh. Well," before he could say another word her arms were around him. He wrapped his around her waist and lifted her up in a bear hug. When he put her back down they stopped holding on to each other but didn't move apart.
"Where the hell have you been? We looked everywhere. I was using all my hacker tricks, Diggle called in whatever favors he had left. You completely vanished. How?"
"I'll explain it later but the short version is I got out of town, sold the bike and lived off that."
"And what about the card?" She asked.
"I paid a college kid heading to Starling City 500$ to write it and drop it off. That way you didn't recognize my writing and bring other people with you." Her heart sped up as she tried to analyze that statement.
"Why? How did you know I would come alone?"
"For the how, I'll just chalk it up to instinct." He looked at her intensely. "The why is that I needed to make it up to you before anyone else. I wanted to make it up to you before anyone else so that you could give me the strength to go back." Felicity blushed under the gaze she had dreamt about pretty much every night since she met him.
"Wow, I , um, I don't know what kind of, what you're saying is-" she babbled and tried to look at her shoes. He put his hand on her shoulders to bring her eyes back to him.
"What I'm saying is I thought about you every day for the last three months. I can be my true, honest self with you and that is a feeling I've missed and never want to miss again."
"Then stop leaving." Felicity blurted out. She blinked away some stray tears that were threatening to escape. Oliver smiled sadly and wiped away one that fell on her cheek despite her efforts.
"I can't promise that. But I promise not to disappear again. Is that a deal?" She nodded. He kissed her cheek and pulled back to look in her eyes one more time. Once he was certain, he leaned forward and took her lips this time. They rested their foreheads together and let the moment sink in. The airport`s announce system pulled them back to reality.
"So, um, I kind of forgot to eat anytime in the last twelve hours." Felicity began. "Do you think we can fix that?" Oliver smiled.
"Definitely." He took her suitcase handle in one hand and her hand in the other. They may not have been in Starling City, but in that moment he felt more at home than he had in months.