Oliver

I stood guard, scanning the immediate area for potential threats, whilst waiting anxiously for Felicity to download the necessary information on to her thumb drive. Up until two hours before we had been living the domestic high life, settling down just outside Central city, in a house with a white picket fence in the suburbs, after spending the last five months travelling the country.

The minute Thea called asking for our help, Felicity couldn't resist. The team back in Starling needed some Intel and Felicity's tech skills, and my girl Friday was happy to oblige. I had happily left my alter ego behind, thriving on being only myself, finding out who Oliver Queen actually was, but when Thea needed our help, part of me realised that as much I as loved my new life, I missed the thrill of the old. After an initial attempt at breaching the Company's firewall, Felicity decided it was quicker and more secure to hack directly into the system, so that is how we ended up after hours at the office of Bray and Sutherland.

Venturing away from my lookout point at the door towards the light of my life, my attention was drawn to a photograph on one of the desks to my right. Sandra. My eyes flicked to the small boy in the photo, no more than seven or eight and suddenly the overwhelming need to vomit, left me shaking and unable to breathe. Our baby was dead, she told me she had lost our baby, but now looking at this photograph I realised that everything I had been led to believe was a lie. It didn't take Felicity long to notice my response and she leapt out of her chair in an instant.

"Oliver?"

I shook my head "I'm fine, we need to go"

Felicity diverted her attention back to the computer monitor, pulling the drive and grabbing her bag.

"Its done, come on lets get out of here"

Those words were like music to my ears and I nodded in response ushering her out of the door towards the stairwell.

Seven days ago, after some investigation I found out that I am indeed Connor Hawkes father. After the initial shock of seeing that picture in Bray and Sutherland I felt compelled to dig deeper, if I had a son I had a right to know. Using Felicity's equipment it didn't take me long to hack Sandra's social media accounts revealing her son, our son, was called Connor. Doing the Math surrounding the time Sandra told me she was pregnant and Connors name, I hacked into the Central City's County Clerks office to obtain a copy of Connors Birth Certificate, and there it was in black and white, my name scrawled under the heading 'father'.

I sit now on our back porch, bare feet against the cool grass, staring up at the clear black sky, mesmerised by the twinkling of stars above me. The feel of the blades of grass tickling between my toes grounds me back to reality, and I scrub my hand across my face, wiping away the tracks of my tears.

I should have known that things would change, that the perfect life we have been living wouldn't last. I scold myself for thinking so selfishly, I want more than anything to meet and create a relationship with my son, but I can't help but be terrified of how this will affect my new found relationship with Felicity.

Up until now I have kept this information to myself, I needed to somehow come to terms with the information, with the fact that I have missed out on eight years of my sons life. His first breath, his first words, his first steps. I need to see him, I need to confront Sandra, but first I need to talk to Felicity, and that's how I've found myself in the middle of the night, sat on our porch, sobbing, wondering how to tell the love of my life that our lives are about to change.

I hear the familiar creaking of floorboards and the scraping of the door behind me and I try my hardest to compose myself before she approaches.

"Oliver?"

I don't trust my voice quite yet so I offer a noise in acknowledgement instead "mm?"

"Nigtmares?"

I shake my head just slightly "No, Just thinking"

She sits down beside me and curls into my side, she's cold and I'm momentarily distracted by her nipples pushing proudly through her flimsy camisole. I chastise myself as I shrug off my zip up hoodie and drape it over her shoulders, pressing a loving kiss into her hair.

"So you going to share these thoughts?" She nudges me.

I don't reply, I don't know how to, and in true Felicity style she amazes me yet again.

"It's been seven days, are you ever going to tell me?, because I'm kinda getting bored of waiting, and you know how impatient I can get."

I can only imagine the look on my face and how my reaction to her astuteness has transpired through my features. I shouldn't be suprised, not really, Felicity knows me better than I sometimes know myself. She quickly realises in my silence that I haven't cottoned on so she prompts me further "He's a cutie just like his Ole dad"

I look at her for the first time since she came out of he house and she's smiling, she's actually smiling. Our world has been turned upside down and Felicity is making jokes. I can't keep up and I don't want to. I love the fact that I'm constantly amazed by her, whether its her verbal diarrhoea or her wonderful mind that works about ten times faster than anyone else's.

"How? I? Felicity I"

She eyes me for a second, and raises an eyebrow "Really?, Oliver after all this time associating with a tech genius and you still haven't learnt how to delete your browsing history. We really need to work on that."

I half heartedly laugh at her enigmatic response. I take a minute to admire her tenacity, her strength and more than anything her beauty, inside and out and wonder how I got so lucky.

"I was going to tell you. Honestly? I just didn't know how"

"Hence why I've found you sat on our porch at three in the morning?"

I nod and quickly realise her smile is fading. I can see that she's pretending to be okay with this, even though she's not and it breaks my heart. My right arm slips from around her shoulder, but remains firmly at her back as my other caresses the delicate curve of her cheek. Her hand reaches out and rests on my knee, breaking my train of thought and the words I was going to speak somehow disappear under the weight of her palm.

"It's okay Oliver. Whatever happens I'll support you. Whether that means spending time with Connor and having him stay over, or waiting for you to come home after you've spent time with him. Whatever you need. Even if that means taking a step back, if that's what you want..."

"Felicity. No. I can't do any of this without you, I won't"

I raise my hands and frame her face making sure she really sees me, sees how serious I am. I need her to understand that the thought of her leaving is too much for me to bear. Her hands close around my wrists and I bask in the feeling of her skin beneathe my touch, lost in the moment of silence between us. Leaning my forehead against hers and ignoring the sting of her tears against my cheek, I whisper a thank you. Felicity kisses me in response and I tug her bottom lip between mine, hesitant to let her go, but eventually we both give in to the breathlessness that overtakes us.

She snuggles into my side, tucking her head into my shoulder and I watch her curiously as she stares up to he dark sky that I had been admiring only minutes before. We sit that way for a while before I make a move to head back into the house. As I rise up off the porch stretching out my legs, I offer my hand for her, but she remains poised in her position, and I know something's still bothering her.

"Felcicity?"

With her face still focused on the sky above she replys "I'll be in, in a minute"

"Felicity"

"I'm fine honestly." She lies. I grab hold of her arm gently and urge her to turn toward me which she does. I am unprepared for the pure hurt that is etched into delicate features, it pains me to see her so upset. She averts her gaze, nervously, coyly and I feel my heart rate increase at the prospect of whats going through her mind.

"I'm fine really"

I sit down and entangle her fingers with mine, my eyes pleading with her to just tell me what is wrong

"Felicity, please, talk to me"

"It's just...it's just up until this week, I thought that if you were ever to be a father, it would be because of me...and then..."

I cut her off mid sentence imploring her to understand, that I feel the same

"Felicity. It should have been you"

She must see the instant pain and regret that flashes across my face because she leaps forward at me, both hands cradling my face "it's ok, it's not your fault it's just..

"What Felicity"? What is it?"

As she's purses her lips to speak we are interrupted by the ringing of a cellphone. I want to ignore it but I think we both recognise he late hour and that it must be important. We both scramble into the house in panic and reach for our phones respectively. When I turn mine over to see the display I see Diggles face glaring back at me as the receiver vibrates in my hand. I swipe the screen and before I've answered, Diggles words fill me with dread.

"Sarah's been kidnapped, I need your help"