Hey guys! I found my muse. It's a little damaged and so it doesn't work so well. Being that as it is, this post is 21 days late. I'm sorry. So so sorry. I'm going to try to make it a goal to update every Wednesday. Try. Very hard. I might need help reminding me to work on it. I am working two jobs though...

Anyways! This is the long awaited follow up to my ficAt the Edge of Nowhere. This picks up right after it ends so I highly encourage you to hop over and read it.

This is a multi chapter -heaven help me- and I'm planning to have it done before Season 4 premiers. We'll see.

Enjoy! Thanks for reading!

Reviews feed the muse!

It took them two days to catch up with her.

Felicity was surprised that the time was so short. She had been certain that with all her crazy precautions that it would take her mother at least a week, hopefully longer, to find her.

Felicity should have known going to Starling City had been the fatal flaw.

Pressed close up against Oliver's back, she felt the warmth of his body leek into her, filling her up with a strange comfort. She felt safe for the first time since leaving Las Vegas, the slight fear of the unknown plaguing her constantly until she had met Oliver. She trusted him for reasons still yet unexplained.

These facts frightened her though. Felicity was on a motorcycle with a billionaire who so happened to be not only her boss's boss's boss's boss's son, but was apparently her half-sister (the one she found out about two hours ago) half-brother. She had met Oliver in a truck stop of all places and now was putting her entire life in his hands to take her to a place she had never been. All he had offered her was promises. Felicity knew so little about him that she didn't know if he could be faithful to these promises.

Felicity didn't even know where they were going at 1 am in the morning.

However, she had made her decision to trust the mysterious acquaintance- one she had kissed twice, she reminded herself—and put her existence in what seemed like very capable hands.

Felicity's mind would not shut up though. It started running through all the reasons to not trust Oliver even though her gut and her heart said otherwise. Her soul had recognized a similar one and had bonded, forged a link that she was only beginning to discover.

Her head screamed caution! With blinking lights and a scrolling marquee. Oliver had just come back from war, instincts carved into his habits. Most, if not all, soldiers suffer from PTSD. Oliver was not an exception. Who knows what he would do to her if he had a flashback, or reacted to a strange noise. If Felicity wasn't careful she could end up hurt.

Or worse.

But for now, he was the only constant appearing in her life. A relation of a strange sort. He knew her, by name. Knew of her story, knew what made her tick. He seemed to care about her in the exact way Felicity was starting to care about him. Slowly, but very steadily.

Firmly, she threw up a mental block on her fear and doubts. She knew that the exhaustion created openings to allow the misgivings to seep through. Scary things cast shadows at night. In the daylight, everything was different. Truth becomes clear and doubt scuttles back to the corners.

She decided she needed rest before she would come to any clear cut decisions.

For right now, she basked in the warmth of another human being.

Oliver swerving off the freeway and down an exit ramp made her look up. In the distance, she saw skyscrapers twinkling and the dull roar of traffic resounding off the buildings.

Starling City.

They were in the outskirts of the city, a nice subdivision metropolitan area. Townhomes stretched down every block, white picket fences on every third home. Apple pie lives stared back at her, mocking her. Since her father left, she always dreamed and wished to be one of these families, to know her family loved her and cared for her and that she would rarely want for anything.

Now, she hated them.

Hated what they stood for, what could have been hers, what had never actually been possible for her life. Just who she was was a twisted blend of visionary and psychopathic nonsense.

Felicity turned away, staring at the black leather of Oliver's jacket, slung over his precious green hoodie. The hood her brother had given him. The brother she wished she knew.

Reaching up, she ran her fingers over the hood, the cotton soft on her pads. A member of her family that had actually troubled themselves with her well-being had touched this. Nostalgia overwhelmed her, yearning to have had the chance to know him choked her.

Oliver pulling over and killing the engine snapped her out of her dangerous emotional spiral.

"We're here."

The first words spoken by either one of them in the past two hours broke a tension Felicity hadn't realized had been there.

"Where are we?" Felicity asked, shakily climbing off the bike. Oliver followed suit, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"My commanding officer's house. He's the one that got me out of Washington D.C." He huffed a scoff. "The government apparently doesn't pay for national travel. Overseas only." Oliver looked at her then. "Are you alright? Is it okay that we're here? I promise you, John will be alright with it."

Hesitantly, Felicity nodded. Oliver took off towards the house after putting down the kickstand. Two knocks, a pause, followed by two more knocks Oliver's knuckles rapped. A code, like some spy movie. Felicity expected identity verification when Oliver's friend opened the door. What she wasn't expecting was to see someone she knew.

Felicity had taken extreme measures to escape Las Vegas. The city was fun, to outsiders. But to her, it had always felt like a colorful prison, where one always stays in the same place, never moving, never taking chances. The first second she got she was on a plane to Boston, a full ride scholarship safely clutched in her hands.

Those had been the most freeing four years of her life.

Just after graduation, her mother had gotten in a car accident, a hit and run. Felicity had reluctantly come home to look after her. Felicity had already gotten a job offer from Queen Consolidated that she had accepted, planning to move to Starling City to work there. Her mother's accident interfered with those plans. As her luck would have it, a subsidiary was situated in Las Vegas. QC had been very accommodating to her, moving her position from its original place in Starling City to Las Vegas at her convenience. All was well and good, but once again Felicity was trapped in the pretty prison.

The only thing that had made that year bearable was her mother's neighbor. A man who lived with his brother and his family. A man who became her best friend, a rock she could lean on. He had leant on her in return. He had come back from war, like Oliver, full of PTSD and regrets. It was thanks to him that she knew so much of recovering military persons.

Felicity had helped him in return. She had been his support shoulder for as long as he had been in Vegas. She had encouraged him to reconcile with his ex-wife, a woman he had loved very much. However, his PTSD and psychological damage had been worse than his ex-wife's and he had ended it, cutting her free of his darkness.

Her friend had moved away from Vegas when his brother died, taking his Sister-in-law and nephew with him. He had moved to Starling City, the place where his ex-wife lived. The last she had hear from him was that he was getting remarried.

Until now.

Because the man in front of her was her neighbor from Vegas. The man that Oliver trusted most in this world was the same man she had trusted with her pain.

The one and only John Diggle.

Felicity gaped at her friend, standing in the doorway. Diggle greeted Oliver, reaching out and pulling him into a bro hug. Diggle only noticed her when he drew away, stopping in shock.

"Felicity? What are you doing here?" Diggle looked back and forth between her and Oliver. Oliver was staring at her with a confused expression.

"You know Dig?" He asked. Felicity nodded.

"Diggle? May we come in?"

"Oh, right. Yes, please, come in." Diggle drew back, holding the door open for them. Oliver let Felicity go first, following her through. The door closed behind them with a click.

"Alright you two," Diggle said. Felicity and Oliver turned to face him. Dig had his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. "You two are going to explain why you are here, together. Especially you, Felicity. You're supposed to be in Vegas. Explain."

Felicity sighed, not wanting to get into all the details again. She was tired and just wanted to fall asleep. Just as she was about to explain this to Diggle, Oliver beat her to it.

"Diggle. Can't this wait until the morning? We both have had a very long day and night and would love to get some shut eye. We promise to explain everything in the morning."

Diggle eyed Oliver. "Promise?"

"Promise." They chorused together.

"Fine. Oliver you're on the couch because Felicity gets the guest room. It's down the hall to the right." With that, Diggle marched out. Felicity could faintly hear him on the stairs.

"I don't think he's very happy." Felicity staged whispered to the man next to her. Oliver shook his head in agreement.

Felicity hiked her backpack higher on her shoulder. "Well, goodnight."

Oliver cocked an eyebrow at her. "Don't I get a goodnight kiss?" He asked cheekily.

Felicity grinned and then replied simply. "No."

He pouted but Felicity had turned away towards the hall Diggle had pointed to. Oliver caught her around the wrist, spinning her around and stealing a kiss from her. "Goodnight," he whispered against her lips.

She left the room with a bounce to her step.

XXX

In the morning there was a knock on her door. Pulled from the best sleep she had gotten within the past three days, Felicity groggily got out of bed, pulling a sweatshirt over her head. Running her finger through her hair she opened the door to the guest room.

Oliver stood there, a solemn expression gracing his features.

"Dig wants us in the living room. Now."

She responded by closing the door behind her. They left the hall to find Diggle pacing the front room, the blanket Oliver had used to sleep with tossed half-heartedly over the arm of the sofa.

"Sit." Diggle commanded, pointing at the sofa. Felicity plopped down, curling her feet under her as she leant against the arm. Oliver sat next to her, elbows braced against his knees. Felicity yawned as Diggle faced both of them.

"Felicity. What are you doing here? Why are you with Oliver? I got Oliver a plane ticket to Portland, not Vegas. Why were you in Portland? More importantly, why are you in my house with a strange man I don't think you know. Explain."

Felicity opened her mouth but Oliver spoke over her. "Diggle—"

"No." He shook his head. "I want to hear it from her."

"I ran away alright!" Felicity spoke, exasperated. Once she let the stopper out, the whole story spilled through. "My mother is marrying a cop who I have met once and insulted me by accident, and then she tells me that my biological father is Malcolm Merlyn! I couldn't handle it so I ran away. I met Oliver outside of Portland and he agreed to take me to Starling. Okay?"

Diggle shook his head vehemently. "No! Felicity, this is not 'Okay'! Not even close! You don't know Oliver. You don't know his history. How can you trust a man you don't even know?—And don't try to defend yourself, Oliver. You were my brother in the military but that was close to four years ago. I don't know the man you've become. Felciity, if I don't know the kind of man Oliver is, how can you? By meeting him for what? Ten Minutes?"

"It's not like that Diggle! He knew my brother! He knew my real name, who my father was before I even recognized him. He called me Felicity Merlyn."

That stopped Diggle's onslaught. His shocked expression clear upon his face. "Wait. You're telling me," he said cautiously, "that Oliver knew you were Malcolm Merlyn's daughter? This doesn't make sense."

Oliver finally was able to step in. "I knew of her before I went to college. Tommy wanted to meet his sister and I went with him. We never revealed to Felicity her secret though. We were too much of cowards."

Diggle ran his hands over his head. "You two are killing me. You," he pointed at Felicity, "ran away from a mother who loves you very much. And you" he pointed at Oliver, "won't even tell your family that you're back in the States. You are both messed up. "

"Then it's a good thing that they're here, Johnny." A voice spoke from the doorway. Felicity looked over to see a woman holding a child in her arms. "Who else better to sort themselves out than a man who's been there before." Apparently seeing Oliver and Felicity's perplexity , she introduced herself. "I'm Lyla, Diggle's wife."

"Ex-wife." Felicity said. Oliver had spoken the same words at the same time. She looked over at him. 'Jinx', she mouthed. It brought a small spark back to Oliver's eyes.

"Food's ready, John. Perhaps our guests would like to eat before you interrogate them some more."

Lyla disappeared into the kitchen. Diggle gave them a look. "We're not done talking about this. I need to make sure that you both know what you are doing and what you two are getting into."

"We wouldn't expect anything any different." Felicity replied. She moved to follow Diggle but Oliver stopped her.

"Are we…okay?" He asked, eyes searching hers. Felicity nodded, the feeling that she could trust Oliver still present in her gut. The moment it goes away is when Felicity will start to worry. Until then, he could be her constant.

If she wanted him to. Felicity really wanted him to be, and that frightened her a bit.

"We're alright. Let's get something to eat. I'm starving." With that, she pried Oliver's hands from her arm and followed the smell of eggs, bacon and hash browns.