Okay, so this started out as just a one shot for Oliver and Felicity set to one of my favorite songs "Let My Love Open The Door" by Pete Townshend because I think it fits very well with Olicity and it completely spiraled out of control! It turned into this whole thing about Oliver's feelings on love and life and his relationships in general. It deals with the emotional trauma of losing people and finding love despite that. I did it in about an hour and a half so it was a bit rushed. I had to do it during nap time so you know how that goes. Read on and I hope you all enjoy
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Arrow or anything that is or may be affiliated with it. I do not own Let My Love Open The Door or anything that is or may be affiliated with it. Thank you.
Let My Love Open The Door
When people keep repeating
That you'll never fall in love
Oliver was the first one to tell it to himself. He would never find someone that he truly loved. He had thought it was Laurel, but that had come to be more about pretending he was happy and in love than actually being happy and in love. His mother used to throw her head back as she looked at the ceiling and say "Sometimes, Oliver, I fear you will never fall in love."
What was he supposed to say to that? So he would try harder to find that feeling with someone. All he ended up getting was a reputation as a playboy. Women flocked to him and he never had any trouble finding female company, but it was never satisfying enough for more than a night. Until he had met Laurel. He thought she was the one for him. That he had finally found someone he could fall in love with. But when he had spoken to his father about it, Robert Queen had put down the papers he had been holding to stare directly into his only son's eyes.
"That's not how it works, son. You don't find someone you can fall in love with. You meet someone and discover that you already are. If you don't change your way of thinking, you'll never fall in love."
Oliver didn't understand what he meant by that so he continued to be with Laurel, and sometimes other women. Until Sara. Oliver knew it was wrong not only to cheat on his supposed girlfriend, but a special kind of wrong when you were cheating on her with her sister. Sometimes he had a hard time even looking at himself in the mirror.
Then there had been the shipwreck and the five years on that godforsaken island and the only thing that kept him going was Laurel. The thought of fighting his way back for her. To her. He thought that must mean he loved her. Then he did it. He made it back home. Only to discover that Laurel had been with his best friend Tommy for a while. They both expected him to be angry about it, hurt at least. And the three of them were shocked to discover he was okay with it.
Oliver spoke to Thea about the situation with Laurel and Tommy and told her he wanted to be mad but he just couldn't find it in himself to be upset with either of them, especially when they both seemed so happy together. Thea had only shaken her head at him with a small smile
"Ollie, that's because you don't love Laurel. Or, maybe you do, but you're not in love with her."
"What the hell is the difference, Speedy?"
"Wow. If you don't know the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone you aren't ever going to fall in love."
Oliver groaned as he threw himself onto his bed in frustration. He was so tired of everyone telling him this!
Then he had become the vigilante, the hood, and falling in love had taken a back burner to protecting his city and his family. He had met John Diggle, a man who became as much of a best friend to him that Tommy was. Then there was her.
Felicity.
When everybody keeps retreating
But you can't seem to get enough
Oliver sometimes wondered if he would ever just tire of the constant abuse he put himself through and give up. When enough would finally be enough and he would accept defeat and just be done with it all. He put himself through constant abuse trying to be friends, or some semblance of friends, with Laurel. She just wanted to emotionally torture him to the point when he could pull the small amount of hair he had on his head right out. Then she just pulled away from him completely, retreated as though he had been her one enemy the entire time. And that still didn't seem to be enough because he kept trying.
Oliver knew Tommy was tired of seeing the back and forth between him and Laurel, especially because he could tell Tommy was in love with her. Oliver could also tell that Laurel had feelings for him. But he kept pushing, his guilt driving him to make all the things he had done wrong up to her. Tommy finally flat out told him he loved Laurel and asked Oliver to stop pursuing her. Oliver tried to explain what was happening to him, but he could tell Tommy didn't trust him. Then Oliver had stupidly fallen into bed with Laurel that one last time, and Tommy had seen enough to know what happened. His best friend retreated from him and acted as though he had never come back from that island. Oliver wondered if it was enough torture yet.
When he had first met Felicity he found her endearing and adorable. The two became fast friends as she continued to help him with his vigilante work without actually knowing she was doing it. Then his mother had shot him and he had ended up in the back of her car. He knew he could trust this IT girl to keep his secret and she had. They had gone from friends to partners and he couldn't imagine doing what he did without her and Diggle. He would tell her about what was going on with Laurel. What was going on with Tommy and she would just listen. And Felicity never judged Oliver for the things he did or the choices he made. He knew that he would snap at her whenever his frustrations got the best of him and he didn't always apologize about it later either. But she never retreated.
When it finally occurred to Oliver that Felicity never retreated from him no matter what he had told her or all the times he snapped on her, he asked her about it.
"Why don't you ever just walk away from me? Tell me to screw off as you stomp out the door?"
"Because you don't mean it. And we're partners, remember?" She said as though it should be obvious.
"Most people would have retreated by now." Oliver said dejectedly.
"I'm not most people. And for some reason, I just can't seem to get enough of your nonsense Mr. Queen. My mother always told me I never knew when enough was enough." Felicity had said it with a smile.
Oliver couldn't help himself from smiling back.
Let my love open the door
The months went on and more people joined him in his crusade. Roy had become Arsenal, fighting alongside Arrow. Sara had turned up alive and was known to Starling City as the canary. Tommy had found out about everything and at first he had been angry, but he had eventually accepted it. Oliver was his best friend after all. It became more and more difficult to hide his secret from Thea and Laurel and eventually the two of them found out about it as well. Oliver and Felicity continued to get closer all the time and everyone on the team noticed, but no one ever spoke up about the feelings they obviously had for each other
Let my love open the door
To your heart
Then Tommy had died during the undertaking of the Glades. They had all taken it hard and the relationships in the group had suffered for it. All of them wondering if it was best to be alone and keep that one person they loved the most as far away from danger as they could. Things became strained, but the crusade went on. Eventually, they felt Tommy would want them to hold each other a little bit closer in the face of danger instead of push each other away. Things seemed to get a little better after that. Then another tragedy had hit. Sara had been murdered.
When everything feels all over
After Sara's death, Laurel began a dangerous spiral. She was drinking and taking anti depressant medication at the same time. She was in an emotional free fall and she wouldn't let anyone help her out of the hole she was putting herself in. Roy had decided it would be best for he and Thea to take a break for a little while. Oliver had distanced himself from Felicity even though he had finally come to his own conclusion that he loved her. Diggle had called it quits with Carly, insisting that she was better off without him, that things just wouldn't ever work. The whole team felt as though they were falling apart. Crime in the city began a slow rise with the Arrow and his team being down a member and clearly off kilter because of it.
Everybody seems unkind
Oliver walked down to the foundry to see Roy and Diggle arguing on one side of the room, while Laurel was letting loose an angry rant on Felicity. He quickened his pace and made his way to the center of the room. He waited for them to notice his presence and stop the fighting. After a few minutes of them still not realizing he was there, Oliver had had it.
"Enough!" He roared and they all fell silent and stared in his direction.
"We are a team! This needs to stop. It's been months and things are getting progressively worse. Not only in here but out there! This city needs our help, not all of us biting each other's heads off. Come on." Oliver ended his rant in a desperate tone. None of them said anything, but slowly began packing their things up and leaving one at a time. Oliver was afraid that everything was really all over. That this was how everything he had fought so hard to achieve was going to end.
I'll give you a four leaf clover
The team went over a week without any of them going into the foundry. Things at Queen Consolidated were not much better. Diggle wasn't really talking to anyone and then had told Oliver and Felicity that he would need to be gone for a few weeks to take care of something. He had refused to tell either of them what was going on and told them he would be back soon. Things between Oliver and Felicity were tense and he knew it was his fault, he just didn't know how to fix them. He loved her and she loved him and he had pushed her away. Things were never going to be the same.
Diggle came back two weeks later with a woman named Lyla. He told Oliver and Felicity that she was his ex-wife but that he was still in love with her and wanted to be with her. Diggle encouraged Oliver to fix things with Felicity and get the team back to crime fighting status.
"I never should have told you our lives meant we couldn't be happy with someone." Diggle told Oliver sadly.
"No, John. Maybe you were right."
"Oliver, I'm trying to tell you I know I was wrong. I couldn't be happy with Carly because she wasn't the one for me. Lyla is. And I am going to be happy with her and save this city. So you need to go get your girl back and get this damn team back in the game." Diggle walked away after speaking so Oliver didn't have a chance to argue.
Felicity had overheard the entire thing and thought it was about time someone besides her wanted to work things out in their team. She already had a plan in mind.
When Oliver walked into his office the next day, there was a four leaf clover sitting on his desk with a note. Just one word was on the note. Foundry. He gently tucked the clover into the breast pocket of his suit and hurried out of the office, and to the foundry. When he got there he found Roy, Diggle, Thea, and Laurel were already there. They all looked to him silently and he pulled the clover out of his pocket and held it out.
"Which one of you was this?" Oliver asked quietly.
"Wait, I thought it was you." Laurel was the first to speak up and Roy, Thea and Dig nodded in agreement.
"No, I found this on my desk this morning with a note that just had the word foundry on it."
"I did it." Felicity walked down the stairs and across the floor until she was standing in front of all of them.
"I assume you don't all have your heads still shoved so far up your asses that you've forgotten what this means to all of us?" Felicity said wryly. She was met with silence and stares encouraging her to go on as to why she had done this.
"Not long after I met Tommy, he told me when someone handed you a four leaf clover, it meant more than just good luck. It meant love. It meant that person was always going to be with you in your heart for as long as you carried that clover around with you. I laughed and accused him of throwing me a line and before I could blink, he pulled one out of his pocket and handed it to me. He told me he had given Oliver and Laurel both clovers years ago. That he had recently given one to Thea. Then he joined this team and I remember him handing one to Roy and telling him the same story. Roy had made a comment about how it was a weird thing for a guy to give another guy and tried to act macho about it. I saw Roy gently put it in one of his jacket pockets as soon as Tommy turned his back. Then there was a day that he handed one to Diggle. He had accepted it with grace and brought Tommy in for a hug. And we all know Sara didn't make it here a day before he was handing her one. She had already heard the story of course and her first response was 'where do you keep finding these? I thought they were supposed to be rare.' Tommy just smiled and told her he had his ways." Felicity could feel the tears clogging her throat as she said the memories and the teams laughed at both Tommy and Sara's antics. They all waited for her to continue where she was going with this.
"Then he died. He died and he left the rest of us here alone. Without the charming and witty sarcasm that was Thomas Merlyn. We were floundering and broken and didn't know what we were fighting for anymore. Until the day we all walked down here, not sure where we were going and Sara was waiting for all of us. She yelled at us for drifting apart, for not fighting our hardest. She told us that Tommy would be ashamed and he would want us to become closer to each other instead of push one another away. Then she had pulled clovers out of her pocket and given each of us one. Sara laughed as she told as we damn well better take care of them because she worked really hard to find them and we were never getting another thing from her again. She told us all how Tommy's story about them had affected her and she believed it wholeheartedly. I know all of you still have those clovers." Felicity waited for all of them to pull out the two clovers they all had on them. She nodded before continuing.
"So I went and I worked really hard to find more four leaf clovers and I left all of them in a place where you would find them first thing this morning with notes that said 'foundry' on them and hoped you would all be here. Those are my gifts to all of you. I love all of you and this is a team. We need to push through the grief together not push each other away because of grief. Sara and Tommy are gone but that doesn't mean we stop. You fight to honor the dead and we are not done fighting. None of us."
They were all in tears by the time Felicity was finished and they all rushed to her and hugged her and each other.
Take all the worry out of your mind
Laurel had become the Black Canary to honor her sister's memory and they all carried their clovers on them for good luck. Roy and Thea had come back together and promised to turn to each other when there was a problem instead of away from each other. Diggle and Lyla had gotten married and had a baby girl and name her Sara in honor of their fallen friend. Oliver continued his crusade with his team by his side, no longer killing people. Instead, they handed them over to the SCPD in honor of Tommy always believing Oliver had it in him to make the city a better and safer place. To really do good things. That just left two people.
Let my love open the door
Oliver finally admitted to Felicity how he felt about her and that he wanted her by his side and to always be a part of his life. He told her he wouldn't have been able to do the things he had if she hadn't been right there by his side. She had just laughed and told him 'it's about time' as she pulled him in for a kiss. All seemed right with their team again.
Let my love open the door
They never forgot about their fallen team members and wanted to make sure no one else forgot about them either. Oliver worked hard at Queen Consolidated so he could have a statue made for Tommy with a plaque underneath telling everyone the parts he played in keeping the city safe and protecting others.
Let my love open the door
To your heart
Felicity arranged for an anonymous donor to have another statue placed alongside Thomas Merlyn's. This one was of Sara Lance and also had a plaque describing her strength and perseverance to overcome any obstacle that was thrown in her way. They also added a line that was subtle enough not to throw too much suspicion, but obvious enough that the team and anyone close to them knew the truth. It read : Like a canary, Sara always took genuine interest in everyone and everything around her.
I have the only key to your heart
Oliver decided the time had come. He realized he had finally found true love with the most amazing woman he could ever ask for. He wanted everything with her and he didn't want to wait any longer before starting the rest of his life with her. So he made plans to propose to Felicity. He took her to the restaurant where they had tried to have their first date. It hadn't gone as planned and had ended in the form of an RPG taking the whole place apart and injuring Felicity, succeeding in pushing him even farther away from her at the time. He of course had paid for the restaurant to be completely repaired as an anonymous donor. Oliver was also sure to have completely scanned the place for bugs and had Diggle and Roy patrolling outside just in case. He never messed around when it came to Felicity's safety. Felicity's eyes had widened as he got down next to her on one knee and she didn't seem to be able to believe it was actually happening.
"Felicity Megan Smoak, everyone always used to tell me that I would never fall in love. They all gave up on me and would retreat anytime I brought it up. Then I met you. I think I fell in love from that very first day. You have never retreated and have always stood beside me. You never told me you had had enough and were walking. You just stayed with me. Any time things felt like they were all over, any time everyone seemed to be unkind, you would take all the worry out of my mind. You gave me that four leaf clover and told me you were never leaving. I've always lived my life with the doors on my emotions firmly closed and locked and then I found that you did too in your own way and I realized that non only do I have the only key to your heart, but you have the only key to mine. So let my love open the door, Felicity. Marry me."
Felicity hadn't been able to speak through all the overwhelming emotions, so she just nodded and leaped into Oliver's arms and held on to him for dear life.
I can stop you from falling apart
Where there was happiness, there was still always going to be a struggle. There was always going to be some big bad that came along and tried to take everything away. That's the way it was always going to be and they just had to do the best they could to protect their families, each other, their city, and themselves. Oliver and Felicity had an extravagant and beautiful wedding. It had gone off without a hitch and the happy couple had decided to wait to take a honeymoon. They knew Oliver's enemy from the island had come to town and Slade Wilson wasn't going to wait for them to come back from a week away to the Cayman's before striking. They tried to prepare themselves as best they could.
Moira Queen died in Oliver's arms after being stabbed by Slade and he had held her crying until the very last moments. She had put her hand to his face and given him a small smile.
"I'm sorry I ever told you I didn't think you were going to fall in love. You were just waiting for your soul mate to come along. And I don't think there is a single person out there that can love you like Felicity can. Your father would be so proud of you and everything you have done. I am so proud of the man you have become, despite your parents' mistakes. I want you to promise me one thing though."
"Anything, mom. Anything." Oliver said it with tears streaming down his face.
"When you get to the point that this city is safe enough, hang up the hood, or pass it down to Roy and have a family. You and Felicity will be amazing parents. Just don't ever let them think their grandparents were bad people. And don't ever let Felicity forget that I truly loved her as a daughter. That she has made me as proud as you and Thea have, and I could never approve of someone for my only son more than I approve of her."
"Mom? You knew I was-"
"Oliver. I may have acted like I didn't pay much attention, but a mother always knows. I love you."
Oliver couldn't have been more devastated. He was so sick of losing people. Tired of always feeling like no matter what he did, he always lost. He didn't know how much longer he could do all of this and he began pulling back into himself. Felicity wasn't having any of it. She cornered Oliver on the day of his mother's funeral. She had found him standing by the statues of Tommy and Sara and wrapped her arms around him from behind. She hugged him as tightly as she could and reminded him that she wasn't going anywhere and he needed to let her in. Oliver had been quiet for a few minutes before he sighed and turned in her arms. He wrapped himself around her and tucked her head under his chin.
"You stop me from falling apart. I'm done trying to keep everything I'm feeling to myself. I need to tell you what mom said to me before she left us." Oliver grabbed Felicity's hand in his and began telling her what was said as they walked to the cemetery.
Try today, you'll find this way
Oliver brought the man down in a hard tackle and the two of them fought with everything they had in them. The legends of Rha's Al Ghul were all clearly true and not in any way exaggerated. The man was a skilled fighter, much more skilled than Oliver. The odds should have been stacked against him, but there was one very important thing that separated the two of them. One thing that tipped the scales back in Oliver's favor. He knew what he was fighting for. Oliver was fighting for Tommy. For Sara. For his mother. For Felicity. For Thea. For John and Roy and Laurel. Oliver fought for all of them and with everything he had and was able to defeat Rha's. He almost couldn't believe it himself. The man's labored breaths coming out in the cold, winter air were short, frequent bursts. The man needed help or he was going to die. Oliver came to his feet slowly due to all the injuries he had sustained. He made his way over to the man and stood over him, the sword still in his hand. Rha's looked to him and gave a slight smile and a laugh.
"Go ahead, boy. Finish the battle. Be the true victor."
Oliver raised the sword for one last strike and before he was about to bring it down, he heard Tommy's voice in his head asking him not to kill anymore. He heard Felicity telling him there was another way. He heard Sara telling him not to lose the light he still had inside of himself. He heard his mother telling him she was proud of who he had become. He heard Thea telling him he could make a real difference in people's lives. He heard John telling him he was better than a killer. He heard Roy asking saying he wouldn't give up on Oliver if Oliver wouldn't give up on him. Oliver brought the sword down into the ground next to Rha's head and looked the leader of the league of assassins directly in the eyes.
"The battle is finished. You leave my family, my friends, and my city alone." Oliver turned and began walking away.
"That's it? Do you realize what will come of you when you kill me?" Rha's couldn't believe this.
"I don't care. I have everything I need back home. There is nothing you could offer me that would change my mind." Oliver never looked back. He just made his way home.
Release yourself from misery
There's only one thing that's gonna set you free
That's my love, that's my love
Oliver made it home to his family and couldn't imagine life getting any better. They struggled every day and were always afraid for everyone on the team everytime they went out into the night, but they did their best to protect one another and do whatever they could to keep team Arrow safe.
When tragedy befalls you
Don't let it drag you down
Love can cure your problems
You're so lucky I'm around
The years went on, and Oliver sat at his desk at Queen Consolidated and reflected the past ten years of his life for a moment. From the island, to becoming a vigilante. Meeting John and Felicity and Roy. Sara coming back. Letting Tommy, Thea, and Laurel in on his secret. Loving Felicity. Losing Tommy. Losing Sara. Marrying Felicity. Losing his mother. All the battles he had been in, all the people he had gone up against, the odds he had beat. A smile came to his face as he thought of his son Tommy at home with Felicity, waiting for him to finish work. He thought of Thea and Roy getting married in a few months and talking about having a baby in the relatively safe city they resided in. The crime rate had been at an all time low for the past two years. Oliver rarely had to put the hood on anymore, but he would be lying if he said he didn't like it when he did. Oliver had been through many trials before he had become the man he was today. The tragedy, the losses, the regrets, everything. He never would have made it through, never would have accomplished any of the things he had set out to do if it hadn't been for his team. For the love they all held for each other. If it hadn't been for Felicity and the love she felt for him and the belief she always had in him. If someone had told him when he turned 21 that he was going to change his playboy ways and become a hero. That he was going to meet and fall in love with a beautiful woman and be faithful to her for the rest of his life, marry her and have a son with her, he would have done more than scoff. He would have passed out from the lack of oxygen to his brain because of how hard he was laughing at them. The experiences he had gone through made him into the man he was now, and he wasn't one to toot his own horn, but he thought he had come along quite nicely. Oliver stood from his desk, grabbing his jacket as he walked out to the elevator, Diggle in tow. He was going to take off early and go spend the day with his wife and son. And he was going to send Diggle off to do the same. Oliver Queen had fallen in love and would never believe how lucky he'd gotten.
Well that's it! I really hope you all enjoyed it and if not, well sorry I wasted whatever amount of time you used up reading it. Apologies for that one... Fanfiction on my friends! It helps keep creativity and imagination flowing for all!