The Letter
Chin in her hand, staring blankly at her screensaver of Flash's lightening bolt logo, Felicity replayed the scene in her mind a million times. The warm kiss to her forehead, the patent statement, " I love you." The light in his eyes as he said it was magic and still made her catch her breath. Blinking and shaking herself slightly, she stopped daydreaming and got back to work at Queen Consolidated.
It had been days since Oliver left to battle Ra's and radio silence was not uncommon for him, but she felt worried, like a nagging itch in the back of her mind she couldn't scratch. Diggle said to give it time. Roy just shrugged his shoulder, almost embarrassed, saying nothing like the young man he was, unsure what you tell a woman in a situation like this.
Trying to be normal, she woke, went to work, and came home day after day. Ray hounded her for ideas about his A.T.O.M. project and she gave them thought before she supplied her common sense to his crazy designs. Why was she always the voice of reason for the men in her life?
Dropping her purse on the side table by the door far past quitting time, she wearily crossed her threshold after another tense day of Ray, his brilliant light speed mind, running ideas at her as fast as Barry could run. No messages on her phone, no texts from Diggle or anyone about Oliver.
Shoulders sagging, under what she felt was the weight of the world, she shut and locked her door and then trudged to the kitchen. Opening the freezer for her favorite stress reliever, she didn't find a pint of Ben and Jerry's but an envelope.
Puzzled, she pulled out the frost-crusted paper examining it. Her name was neatly written in the hand she knew well: Oliver Queen.
Ripping it open as if it was oxygen for her drowning heart, she pulled out the cold, now slightly damp paper. A hand flying to her mouth, she inhaled sharply:
Dear Felicity,
I guess this is pretty lame, but if you are reading this, it means that something I didn't plan has happened.
You know, you were right. You are always right from the moment I laid eyes on you to the moment I left to face Ra's. You always saw the man in me I thought I had lost after years on the island. You didn't turn your back on me when I was a killer set on vengeance for all my wrongs. You were always that rock I could depend on when I was at my worst.
I've let you down. So many times, I should have aimed higher but I didn't. Yet, again, you never left my side.
Felicity, you are an angel in a world of demons. My only regret is not giving you what you truly deserve, which is happiness and peace.
Know in your heart, if I am gone for good, that you were always the last thing on my mind and I never deserved a love as wonderful as yours.
I love you,
Oliver Queen
Felicity gasped a breath, not realizing she had been holding it as she read. The next was a sob and heart rending cry of agony. Crashing to the kitchen floor, she cried for what she had lost and never had the chance to enjoy.
Oliver was gone.