A/N: This idea for this fic hit me when I saw the promo for the upcoming Arrow epsiode - 3x21. This will be a two part fic,

Diggle closed the door quietly behind him, his footsteps echoing on the tiles beneath him as he made his way down the stairs into the open living room of Thea's loft. One scan of the room, he spotted who he was looking for, sitting at the kitchen island.

Felicity's fingers danced along the stem of the wine glass as she stared into the fireplace across the room, her thoughts swirling around in her head. She was trying to ignore the big fat elephant in the room. Well, note technically in the room, but in the bedroom above, resting. God, when did things get so complicated?

"They were complicated from the moment we started this job." Diggle said, sliding into the stool next to her.

Felicity looked up startled and gave Diggle a wry smile, "I said that out loud didn't I?" She shook her head, before raising the wine glass for a sip. "How is he?"

Diggle looked at her, his eyes not missing the slight shake in her hands or the fact that her eyes looked everywhere but at him or the fact that she had taken to biting her lip. Most of all, it was hard to miss the anxiety in her eyes. "Why don't you go up and check on him?"

Her eyes widened as Felicity mulled over that, "I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just-" She paused. "I don't think I am ready to see him yet."

The first time she saw him, it was through a CCTV cam. A state of the art, high definition CCTV that Palmer Technologies had installed throughout the building.

Felicity's eyes grew wide at the sight of him, clad in black leather, towering over Nyssa, his sword drawn. It had been three weeks since she saw him, since they kissed each other "not goodbye", yet it seemed longer. He seemed different. A niggling sense at the back of her mind probed at her, that maybe this was not the same Oliver she left in Nanda Parbhat, the same Oliver she confessed her feelings to.

She watched as Diggle stepped into the frame, his gun aimed at Oliver, asking him to back away from Nyssa.

She watched as Oliver called out for Diggle to not get involved in League business.

She continued watching when Oliver raised his sword, ready to plunge it into Nyssa. Her mind numb, her fingers raised, touching her computer screen, touching his image.

"No Oliver." She whispered.

Then all things went to hell, Laurel did the Canary Call, glass shattered all over, Oliver stumbled to his knees, Diggle rushed at him, trying to get to him while Nyssa slid to her feet, her bow pointed at Oliver, only to have him kick out her feet from under her, jump to his feet and turn around and duck Diggle's tackle but plant a kick in his back sending him sprawling, then Oliver lunged at Laurel who swung her baton at his head only to have him grab her arm, raise her over him and fling her aside. Diggle was already on his feet ready to launch another attack on Oliver, his fist connecting with Oliver's jaw.

Felicity's heart thudded in her ears as she watched her friends - her family - fight one another. Pushing her chair back, she raced through the hallway to the rooftop, calling out Diggle's & Laurel's name. Calling out Oliver's name, hoping that he could hear her in some way. Her heels thudded up the steps, her breath haggard as she tried to reach the top.

The cold steel handle of the rooftop door dug into her hand as she pushed it down hard.

She saw him first. His back to her. His hand reaching for an arrow to nock his bow.

"Oliver."

He stilled. His hand letting go of the arrow, letting it fall back into the quiver. His face angling towards her, his body turning slightly.

She put one foot in front of the other, her heels clicking softly on the cemented floor, until she came to a stop less than a foot from him.

"Oliver."

He turned completely to face her, his face shrouded by the hood, his eyes blank, "My name is Al Sah-Him." The low timbre of his voice was devoid of any emotion, almost robotic.

She felt like something was squeezing her heart as she listened to his voice. A part of her was glad to see him but another part of her was dreading what to expect. Her hand reached out, touching his leather jacket tentatively, her hand looked small against his broad shoulder.

His gaze followed her hand. She took another tiny step forward, her hand gripping his leather jacket, nails digging into the smooth leather, unwilling to let him go, not now. Not again.

"You are Oliver."

He whipped his head to her, his gaze burning, not empty of any emotion this time. He held her gaze, hers hungrily devouring his face, trying to memorise its lines and see if there were any changes from when she last saw him while his gaze probed into her, trying to see into her and decipher her motives.

"Oliver Queen is alive only in the past."

She tugged at his jacket, trying to pull him closer, trying to budge the immovable mass of muscle in front of her, when a noise coming from behind him got their attention.

All at once, he pulled out of her grasp, and turned. The sight of Nyssa, Diggle and Laurel, armed and ready for another go greeted him.

Turning on his heel, Oliver looked at Felicity one last time before running off to the edge of the building and jumping off.

Gasping, Felicity ran after him, ignoring Diggle's shout, and looked over the edge. She saw nothing. He disappeared.

Diggle's arm around her waist brought her back to the present.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, his worried gaze taking her in.

"No."

"To see him?" Diggle asked. He was so used to seeing a confident, self- assured Felicity who knew exactly what to do, so to see this unsure side of her was a surprise.

"After everything that had occurred." She looked at her lap, her fingers playing with the hem of her skirt.

"It's ok to be nervous."

"It's more than that." Felicity looked at Diggle, fear in her eyes, "What if it didn't work? What if we didn't really get him back?"

The second time she sees him, he is standing across from her, his head hidden behind the black hood. Felicity itched to go to him, touch him. The fire flickered causing the shadows to dance on his face. A face that was so familiar yet so strange.

Ra's called to him, gesturing to Oliver "Eliminate this threat."

She spurred into action, moving forward just as Oliver unsheathed his sword, coming to a stop in front of Diggle.

"Don't do it Oliver." She said plaintively, trying to hold her voice steady as she tried to reach out to him, to the person she knew was buried deep inside of him.

His head jerked back at the sound of her voice, before he tightened his grip on his sword, "My name is Al Sah-Him." Taking a step closer, he towered over her, "Oliver is dead."

Felcity snorted, "Dead? Buddy, you and I have very different definitions of dead if you think Oliver is dead." Raising her chin up to him, she looked him in the eyes, trying to ignore the shaft of pain that wedged itself in her heart as she gazed into his blank eyes. "You are Oliver."

Ra's stepped over, "Stop all this posturing Ms Smoak. Whatever you say will not bring the dead back. Al Sah-Him will do as he is tasked unless you are a threat yourself."

Anger coursed through Felicity, it was because of him, that they were in this position. White hot fury propelled her to stomp towards Ra's, ignoring Diggle's warning shout.

"You!" She stabbed Ra's in the chest with her index finger. "You are the reason he is "dead"!" She ignored the stiffening of Ra's body and continued, "You will release Diggle right now! Oliver gave himself up to you on the condition that we not be harmed. You gave him your word. Unless you are a man who doesn't honour his word, you will release Diggle and let us go." She gritted her teeth, "You took him away from me but I won't let you take Diggle away."

Ra's grabbed her wrist firmly, fury evident in his controlled movement, and pulled her hand away from his chest. Felicity knew that the next day, if she lived to tell the tale, she would be sporting a nasty bruise on her hand.

"You walk a fine line, Ms Smoak. Disrespecting me is punishable by death." His fingers gripped her hand further, causing her eyes to water with the pain. "What makes you think that I would not kill you right now and here?"

For a moment, from her peripheral vision, Felicity thought she saw Oliver or rather Al Sah-Him take a step towards her and Ra's. Hope flared in her chest, her heart constricting with it. Maybe all was not lost.

Leaning toward Ra's, she stated, "Your word."

Ra's continued staring at her, before giving a curt nod and releasing her hand. "The Demon Head never backs down from his word." Turning around, Ra's continued, "Take Mr Diggle and leave now."

Relief flooded her but Ra's next words cut it short. "Mark my words, Ms Smoak, just because I let you and you companion live today, that doesn't mean that I will continue to let you two live if you continue to get in my way. If you in anyway threaten my League here after, trust me Ms Smoak, you don't want to know what will happen to you."

With those last words, he walked away.

Felicity rushed to Diggle, kneeling beside him as she cut his restraints loose. Al Sah-Him stood stoically next to them. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him rubbing his index finger and thumb together, just like Oliver used to do when something worried him. After a few more seconds, she heard him walk away.

"Are you alright John?" She pulled him up, checking him for injuries.

"What were you thinking, Felicity?" Diggle sighed exasperatedly.

"I wasn't about to lose you too." She replied fiercely, fire dancing in her eyes, daring him to argue with her.

Diggle looked at her for a beat longer before sighing and shaking his head. He knew he wld have done the same thing if he was in her position but maybe with less words and more fists being thrown about.

Felicity was looking at Al Sah-Him's retreating back, her expression forlorn. Touching her shoulder, Diggle got her attention.

"He is in there Felicity. We can get him back."

A sad smile graced Felicity's face.

"Listen to me. I saw his face when Ra's was threatening you. He looked like he was torn, like something was fighting within him. Oliver was fighting to get through." Felicity's eyes turned big behind her glasses, the implications of what he was saying settling in.

"You are the key to bringing him back, Felicity."

I hope you enjoyed reading this. Your comments and reviews are much appreciated.

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