Disclaimer: I own nothing, and am just borrowing these characters for a while.
I am not sure if this is a one shot or if this will be a multi chapter story...will see what my muse advises me to do. So for now the story will be marked in-progress.
It was raining in Starling City; Oliver imagined it was reflection of his mood. Out patrolling, the urge to see Felicity was suffocating. He hauled himself onto his motorcycle after apprehending a would be rapist, and rode hard and fast until he reached his destination. Carefully he hid the sleek vehicle from sight and scaled the fire escape of the bookstore directly opposite her Brownstone. On the roof he looked up to the darkened skies, in the distance lightning struck and the thunder drowned out the sounds below. As the hours passed, he settled in a comfortable position to wait. He would be patient, he used his time to come up with the words that would take away the pain he had caused her. That would bring her back to him, reassured he was ready and willing to try. Having Thea at home made him realise he could no longer push away those he cared about, those he loved. They could be taken away in an instance - look at what had happened to Sara.
At 1am, the whine of a Queen's Consolidated Bentley jarred him back to the present. Oliver couldn't hear her, but saw her mouth goodbye to her driver. Usually, arriving home so late signified Arrow duties. But that was now becoming a thing of the past - she always had something to do, so she said, but really he knew it was because of him, because of his inability to keep his mouth shut and for once just take a chance. Moving closer to the ledge, he observed Felicity pull her coat tight around her slender form. It was cold, and just like that he unwittingly did the same to claw back the warmth that had left him ages ago. Brightly illuminated by the security light just above her porch, she skipped towards the dark blue door of her brownstone. Diggle had drummed into her security was key; she had to be visible to the traffic driving by.
A low needy growl resonated from his chest, and just as quickly he bit his fist to prevent another sound revealing his presence. Felicity stilled and looked around, clearly perplexed by something not quite being right about her surroundings. Unable to pinpoint what it was, she returned to fishing around in her bag for the door keys, before stepping into the welcoming home she had spent so long creating.
Although she was not on active Arrow duty, she still helped. However, since their talk at the hospital after baby Diggle's birth, she had kept him at bay preferring to interact with Roy or Diggle. When she did speak to him, everything was professional, everything was friendly, but the light and openness she once had towards him was gone - he missed it and in turn her. That incomplete feeling gnawing at him. No amount of training, sparring with Dig or Roy, or patrolling could dampen down the prickly feeling that a part of him was missing.
'You love her man, you need to fix this...' Diggle's sage advice as he gently lay down a sleeping Sara. Gently grasping his brother-in-arms shoulder, he used his index finger to indicate 'keep quiet' as they tiptoed out of Sara's bedroom. That had been earlier in the evening before his patrol had begun, and this is why he found himself battling fear, which he had long ago trained himself to ignore. He was determined to find out once and for all, would they ever get back to that place he missed so much - would she let him back in?
Peering from her living room window out into the darkness, he dropped down nose to the dirt rationally he knew she had not seen him, but still he wondered if she had a sixth sense about his whereabouts. He definitely did when it came to her, whenever she was nearby a skittish rush of electricity would flow up and down his spine, sometimes so painful he had no choice but to seek her out - wherever she might be to dull the ache. Once during a lunch break, when she had not appeared to dig into her favourite Thai meal, on instinct he'd jogged down four flights of stairs, heart racing, pulse pounding just to find her stood around a water cooler casually chatting to Noah Richardson, one of the whizz kids from the finance department. Playfully shoving him away, Felicity coyly dropped her gaze to her shoes as her ponytail swung around to sit just on her right shoulder.
'So, Felicity...are you coming to join me and the others at Archer's bar tomorrow night?' Noah hesitatingly asked, tentatively making a play to brush a stray strand of hair from Felicity's cheek.
Begrudgingly, Oliver noted the guy was no dog, and it riled him to see Noah elicit that kind of reaction; it twisted at his gut. He knew he was not being fair, he was the one who had erected the wall to keep her at arms length. Then it dawned on him, Felicity and Noah had that comfortable gait of people familiar with one another. How did she know him? Had she dated him? He'd never asked about her personal life, if he didn't know it wasn't happening. And if it wasn't happening he couldn't beat himself up or take it out on the lair.
From Felicity's delighted reaction, her body language changed when she realised he was there - stepping back slightly from Noah, whilst Oliver did his best to act nonchalant, adjusting his tie before jamming his hands into his pants pockets as he slowed down his breathing to a normal pace. Stuttering something about catching up with paperwork, then washing her hair, then something that alluded to her having unusual nighttime activities. Only pausing to mentally count to 10. In between the awkward silence, she looked back from Oliver to her potential suitor. 'Rain check, maybe some other time...' a genuine smile followed from Felicity.
'Ms Smoak...' loudly clearing his throat 'we have a meeting in a few minutes...' Oliver locked his gaze with hers, blue on blue, the tension radiating off him, hoping she would understand why he needed her to wait. Never once giving Noah a second glance, he was sure the storm of emotions he battled hard to suppress would clearly be revealed. Breaking this staring contest, he finally acknowledged Noah with a nod, the distraction gave him the split section to realise the overwhelming need to see her had passed. He was sure the intensity of his relief was blatantly palpable to the confused EA.
'Uh...yes...Oli..Mr Queen...' The slip into informality garnered a look from Noah. Their odd behaviour lending credence to the many rumours about the CEO and his EA. 'Sorry, I got to go...don't forget Game of Thrones is on later this week. You'll love it...' sentence trailing off as she stiffly walked over to Oliver. 'Just need to get my stuff...boss...and we're good to go...' her artificially airy response covering the flash of confusion at his sudden appearance. 'Good...' he visibly relaxed, territorially placing his hand on her lower back whilst guiding her to the executive lift.
His jaw ached remembering the memory. He was grinding his teeth, and forcibly had to make himself stop. Having lost himself in the memory, it took a few seconds to pick up her movements within the house. Up in her bedroom, ceiling to floor velvet burgundy curtains were partially open. He perched even closer to the edge straining to get a closer look. The bedside lamp, illuminated her lithe body - her grey body con dress with blue square cut outs clinging to her like a second skin. As she bent down to pull of her heels, a curtain of blond hair swamped her features. He knew every additional inch of those heels, which made her legs, appear more toned and stretch beyond her 5ft 5in stature, were gratefully prised off her tired feet. Now sat on the bed, with her feet curled towards her, she absentmindedly rubbed her feet with one hand and used the other to scan through her tablet. His powerful gaze sweeping from her cupid bow lips to take in her full face. She puffed out her cheeks, now using both hands to manipulate the sleek rectangle. Whatever she was reading was not to her expectations. Snuggling back against the mass of oversized pillows, which adorned her outrageously large bed, her fingers rapidly moved back and forth. Her bed was the one indulgence she allowed herself. If I'm spending most of my time in dank grey underground caves, you bet your ripped bodies I'm going home to extreme comfort… she informed the team as they helped her assemble the bed.
He missed her, the way she made him feel like he could do anything especially when Isabel Rochev and her cronies were constantly picking at his every decision. God, he missed that feeling, he missed her, he needed her. It was his own fault, completely his own fault she had withdrawn. First it had hurt and then he grudgingly understood why she no longer would confide in him, tell him about the changes in her life. A well-meaning QC contact had let it slip that she was back working at QC for Ray Palmer. Not as an Executive Assistant, but as something so much befitting her skills and experience. If she let him back into her life he would never force her to put his needs before his own ever again. She mattered, she would know that.
He was so proud of her and what she was doing at QC, but it wounded him that she felt she had to maintain the charade she still worked at Tech Village rather than tell him the truth. Taking a deep breath, and one final look at her, he made his way towards an abandoned shed and changed out of his Arrow uniform into something casual - white t-shirt beneath his black leather jacket and jeans. Ready, he swung his rucksack over his shoulder and quietly descended the fire escape ready to confront Felicity Smoak.