Felicity had looked down at the floor for no more than a few seconds to make sure the ridiculously expensive dress Oliver insisted she wear tonight was not being stepped on by the mass of people around her. In those few seconds, Oliver, who had been right in front of her guiding her through the crowd with a gentle hand on her elbow, stopped.
He just stopped walking, moving, breathing.
Felicity's head snapped up when she stumbled against his strong back.
"Oliver?" she questioned, but got no response. Since she couldn't see his face from her position, she couldn't tell what exactly had made him stop. After struggling for a few moments, she was able to move to his side, but his grip on her arm had tightened.
"Oliver?" she asked again as she searched his face for any clues as to what was going on with him. She followed his gaze toward a man standing on the other side of the ballroom. He was of average height, but shorter than Oliver. His dark hair and olive complexion made him look like a modern day Heathcliff. The only thing she could tell that didn't quite fit in with him was the eye patch covering his right eye. She let her eyes swoop back to check Oliver's reaction. His jaw was ticking and he looked like he'd seen a ghost. She gently pushed him towards the wall to get them out of the crowd of people who were watching the dancers twirl in the middle of the ballroom.
Oliver kept his eyes glued to the man across the room while Felicity managed to get them out of the crowd.
"Oliver, you're starting to scare me. Who is that man?" she asked as she placed her hands on either side of his face. Even her touch did not stop his stare. "Oliver, please."
When he made no movement, not even a blink of an eye, Felicity changed her course of action. She tugged his arm until she began to move them so Oliver was no longer facing the man. He resisted at first, but then suddenly, he hauled her in his arms and pressed her against the column behind them.
"Oliver," Felicity breathed quietly. "What's going on? Is he the guy we're looking for?"
"No," Oliver whispered as he looked over his shoulder towards the man again. Felicity's eyes widened when she saw the man's gaze shift their way. Before she could move, Oliver had spun around again and crushed his mouth to hers. At first, it was just a simple pressing together of lips. Felicity's eyes were open as she stared at him in disbelief. Oliver, on the other hand, had his eyes closed and the grip he had on her arms tightened. Just as she went to pull back, Oliver's hands moved up to cradle her head. His fingers wove themselves through her silky, blonde locks. His lips shifted against hers before he opened them to draw her lower lip between them.
White, hot desire flooded Felicity's system and now it was her turn to grip his arms tightly. Her eyes drifted closed and she tentatively moved her tongue so that it caressed his upper lip. His answering groan caused molten heat to pool in the lower part of her body.
"Uh, Oliver," Digg's voice cut through the haze of desire. Oliver pulled back slightly so that their noses were touching.
"Yeah?" Oliver replied
"Our jewel thief is making his way to the door," Digg responded into their earpieces. Felicity simply stared at Oliver with her eyes drifting from his mouth to his piercing gaze.
"On it," Oliver said as he pulled Felicity into his side and began making his way to the exit. Not a word was spoken as they entered the hallway leading to the outside. Digg met them with the duffle bag that Oliver used to keep his Arrow outfit handy. Before he rushed off to change, he lifted his left hand to rest against Felicity's cheek.
"We'll talk about this later."
"Okay," she whispered before watching him sprint off.
"Felicity," Digg said as he moved to stand beside her.
"Yeah?"
"What happened in there?" he asked.
"Oliver saw some man he obviously knew, but he looked like he'd seen a ghost. Granted this man was a little too alive to be a ghost," Felicity began to ramble.
"Show him to me," Digg commanded as they made their way back into the ballroom. Felicity easily found him and pointed him out to Digg.
"Slade Wilson," Digg muttered causing Felicity's head to snap up to meet his gaze.
"No," she breathed. "He's dead. Oliver said he was dead."
"Apparently not," Digg responded.
"Digg, I need you to take Felicity home. I've got the jewel thief and I'm about to drop him off in front of the police station. Stay with her until I get there," Oliver said through their comms.
"You got it," Digg replied.
"This is really bad, isn't it?" Felicity said once she and Digg were in the car.
"Only Oliver knows how bad this is going to be."
