A/N: I have been thinking about writing this for weeks! I am glad to say I started it, but it did not turn out completely the way I wanted it to. First, it was supposed to be a one-shot, but it was too long already for my standards, so it will have more two or three chapters I guess. I own none of the characters. Criticism is encouraged :)

The characters' lines are introduced by "...". And thoughts by '...'.


Opening his eyes, Oliver saw the familiar ceiling lights in his team's secret lair. Ok, so he was hurt during combat once more, no biggie.

"What happened?", he asked to whoever would be nearest to him.

"Well", that was obviously Felicity's voice, "you, Roy and Diggle were being your usual badass selves, destroying the Mank's hideout, when Mank decided to try one last shot at escaping. So he released a gas bomb containing a highly concentrated Lullaby formula in the warehouse. It went off right beside you so you passed out from the exposure, but Diggle was able to catch him in time."

Hector Mank was a just another punk trying to create the next Vertigo – because apparently the variety of drugs on the streets wasn't already enough. He was only 15, but after long weeks spent in the school's chemistry laboratory he accidentally created the Lullaby, a drug not as strong as Vertigo, but that lasted for an obscene amount of time while giving its users a 'bitching high', according to them. The biggest problem though was that Mank's crew was getting more and more violent. Lullaby's low cost and high effectiveness attracted many customers, and the sellers were starting to feel like they owned the Glades; after a while they were functioning on a 'obey or be shot' kind of basis.

Oliver looked up at her, frowning. "You said highly concentrated?", Oliver still felt a little dizzy. Not like 'I was badly hurt and knocked out' dizzy, more like 'I haven't been getting much sleep' dizzy.

"Yeah, apparently he thought that his drug was stronger than it is and assumed it would become a very dangerous weapon. We used some of those herbs from the island on you, that's why you're not feeling the Lullaby's effects, although it is still in your system. But don't worry, I'll keep an eye on you for any fallout". She smiled at him for a couple of seconds, and then blushed slightly. "And when I say 'I' I mean the whole team. Not just me, obviously. Diggle and Roy are aware of the situation". She shook her head a little and gave a little laugh. "How are you feeling?"

It was Oliver's turn to laugh. For two years he has been working with her. Two years. Seven hundred and thirty days being in constant interaction with her. Yet she never seized to amaze him. Her intelligence had made all their missions seem like a really bad game of hide and seek – no perpetrator was ever left hidden, she guided his fists to criminal after criminal –, not to mention the number of times it had saved his green ass. Her kindness and understanding towards him saved his mind, his trill to fight and protect. Her beauty... 'Hold your thoughts Oliver', he thought to himself. Nope. Not gonna happen. If there was one part of his life where he needed control, it was his love life, and he intended to protect that with an iron fist. Felicity was dangerous, even with that angel formed face, she could be the end of him if he ever took that road. Laurel, Sara, McKenna – those were the kind of women for him, predictable and... well, safe.

"Oliver?", there was a touch of concern in her voice.

"Oh, I'm ok. I'm just surprised to see no bloody clothes or gauzes anywhere after a taking down.", he smiled at her, looking deep into her eyes. God, those heavenly gorgeous eyes, that could guide any soul to the safety of Paradise...

"I know right!", she exclaimed excitedly. "Although, it's pretty sad that we are so unaccustomed to that. Anyway, a victory is a victory. Diggle said he would be at Roy's place blowing off some steam, since he was too full of adrenaline to go home to Lyla. She will not be happy about that in the morning, I assure you, her hormones have been all over the place lately. I know..."

"Felicity". He loved her babbling. Her voice, in any occasion, was music to his ears. But one thing he loved even more was the look she got every time he stopped her on her tracks. It was a mixture of surprised and apologetic feelings. Saying her name in order to stop her from going on loop holes around some subject was a guilty pleasure of his.

"Sorry. He said you could stop by if you wanted, but you look like you need a bed. And maybe some warm milk. Do you want a drive home?". It was barely a question, as she was getting her car keys and reaching a hand to help him up.

"No, Felicity, thank you. I can get a cab. The mansion is too far from your house."

"Yeah, so? I work for a billionaire, I can get him to pay a full tank of gas if I need to". She had a teasing smile on her face. Oh, she could get him to do anything... "Get up, don't make me sedate you to take you to my car. That would certainly take some blood out of one of us.". Was it okay to be turned on by that?

"Ok, Miss Smoak", he got up and put both his feet on the floor, finding the right balance. His dizziness was almost completely gone by now, the only remaining effect from that gas bomb was a faint headache, but that was probably from his lack of sleep. "Lead the way", he smiled at her, holding a hand forward. She walked in front of him and he put his left hand on her back. Nowadays he didn't even give much thought to that, touching her was an instinct. It was like his hands were destined to feel that creamy, soft skin, that smelled like freshly harvested flowers and fancy wine and... 'Stop it Oliver!'.

The ride to the mansion was quiet, mostly because he was almost asleep for the entire time, and she wanted to let him rest as much as possible until their next target started begging for attention. She wanted to help him to his bedroom but he assured her that he would be fine on his own. He didn't trust his sleepy self, he might drag her to his bed to keep taking care of him and end up causing irremediable problems to both of them. So he just squeezed her shoulder a little bit: "Goodnight, Felicity. And thank you".

"Don't sweat on it. Goodnight Oliver". They stared at each other for 3 seconds more than they should, and he left her car.


A shower and a glass of something quite stronger than warm milk later, Oliver jumped into his bed. He needed some rest, and when he admitted something like that to himself it only meant he was moments away from passing out due to physical exhaustion. It wasn't a good habit, but it was the best way to keep his nightmares at bay; if he was too tired to think straight, there was a good chance he would sleep through at least six hours without waking up covered in sweat and tears, shaking and visualizing the last breaths of so many people he cared about. He learned that trick after two years on the island, and even though his dreams were getting less traumatizing, he wasn't ready to deal with them every night. He had to remember his sins every time he looked at his scars, his tattoos or his eyes. When he was wearing the hood, he could see none of those things. He was safe from the sad memories from the island, yet his heart reminded him of the dead bodies he left in the Glades and the mistakes he'd made while trying to carry the city on his shoulders. The only complete peace of mind he could get was from a deep slumber.

Oliver took a deep breath, feeling the softness of his sheets on his skin and the gentle fingers of Sleep closing his eyes.

"Are you really planning on sleeping without me?". That voice rang a bell. But it was the middle of the night and nobody was supposed to be in the mansion besides him, especially in his freaking bedroom! So it is no surprise he jumped on his feet and started to attack the owner of said voice. He froze before reaching his surprise guest though, for the person before his eyes was no other than Felicity herself.

Any other night in which one of his teammates suddenly appeared in his bedroom, he would be concerned, because maybe somebody was hurt or kidnapped, or maybe the city was being attacked; in one way or another, the Arrow would be needed. But that scenario didn't scream 'Vigilante required'. In front of him stood a blond girl, wearing nothing but an unbuttoned shirt – his shirt, the same he wore that morning during a meeting –, and the sexiest dark green underwear he has ever seen in his entire life (that was saying a lot considering his late womanizing manners). Her hair was wild, like... like pos-rough-sex wild. Those golden locks of hers were thrown to one side in a way he would never imagine her styling. The only apparent makeup she had on was on her eyes, making them seem bigger and hungry for something. Her lips were red like natural rose petals and – that was probably his hormones thinking – quite swollen. And Oh. My. God. Were those hickeys on her upper tight?

"Mr. Queen, should I remind you of your duties again for tonight?". Ok, if he hadn't almost had an aneurysm earlier, that was the time. God what was that voice?!

"Fe-Felicity?"

She stepped in closer. He didn't notice he was moving until his legs hit the bed behind him. She laughed, like she found it amusing for him to be distancing himself from her. Her eyes were sparkling, intrigued. She raised her hands and touched his chest, her fingers moving down a little. Oliver took a second to curse himself for putting on a T-shirt.

The woman in front of him lowered her eyes slowly to his lips. "Yeah babe?". How the hell was she doing that? Her voice was so low, even if the room were full of people nobody else would be able to hear her. She was talking only to him, her voice was meant for his ears only, like they were sharing secrets, very dirty secrets. 'Oliver! Snap out of it!'.

He took one of her hands in his and pushed it out of his chest. "Felicity, what are you doing?". He was doing his best to make sense of that situation. So maybe she was feeling lonely or bored and decided to have a one time adventure with him. Maybe she was never really kidding about fantasizing about him and decided to act on it tonight. But Felicity would never do that, would she? And if she would, would he go through with it? Well, she was the one to initiate it, he would not like to hurt her by denying something as simple as one night – one delicious night surely. The tip of his tongue started to burn, begging to taste that one little teasing birthmark on her hip.

She hooked her other arm around his neck, while pulling his trapping hand behind her lower back. "Right now? I'm just waiting for your orders, Oliver". There was something about the way she was purring his name, the way she rolled 'Oliver' around her tongue. There was no secret he was a control freak, and her role playing a boss-employee scenario was doing things to his body he was not expecting. 'And that is dangerous, Oliver', the righteous voice in his head was using its last breath to try and put some sense back into him, 'you have no control here. Your man parts may think you do, but you don't'. Yup, it was right. Righteous Oliver was right, he should stop that. He should push her back and take her to a guest room, the farthest one from his bedroom. But at that moment, losing control sounded like a little piece of amber about to melt in his mouth. And her body softly pressed on his was not helping Righteous Oliver's cause.

He was still debating with himself about his next move, when she pulled back from him only to throw his body on the bed a moment later. "Well, maybe you want me to give the orders tonight, Mr. Queen". That was it, he was done for.

She lowered herself on top of him when he heard his phone vibrate on the nightstand. He looked back from instinct, and when he turned his eyes back on Felicity, she was gone. "What the...?". He looked around his bedroom, it couldn't have been his imagination. "Felicity?". He could still hear her voice, feel her touch on his skin. He was sure it wasn't a dream because whenever he dreamed about her, the physical sensations would disappear shortly after he woke up, leaving behind nothing but desire and shame.

Oliver got to his phone. He received a text from Felicity, informing she had arrived safely at her house. That was something he asked her to do after a couple of days working together. He was always concerned about his teammates well-being, seeing that they were put constantly in danger because of him. So whenever they parted ways, they would inform him they had had no problems on their way back home. It was a silly request considering they were all above 21 – except for Roy – but it helped put some peace of mind in their stress driven boss.

So Felicity was really at home. What the hell happened?


Somehow, he slept throughout the whole night, only waking up with the beams of sun warming up his bedsheets. He checked his phone, it was past 11 am (good thing he didn't have to be anywhere that morning). Oliver was enjoying the blissfulness of having a good night sleep, being fully charged for the first time in weeks. And then he remembered last night's events. 'Oh, another moment permanently printed in my brain'. He kept his eyes firmly closed. Without the weariness from last night he was able to think clearly and sort things out: he was tired, he had just spent time with Felicity, and that glass of scotch just before bed apparently did the trick, because that hallucination was by far the most realistic one he had ever had. And of course it was an hallucination, the real Felicity was at home while his brain's Felicity (hot, almost naked Felicity) was making fun of him. He had to admit though, his brain did a pretty good job. He didn't know if it was because of the many fantasies he had about her, but every detail was spot on – unless for that birthmark which he was not sure about, a nice touch nevertheless. He was also pretty sure that she is the kind of girl to use her lover's clothing whenever possible. 'Ok, get up and stop being a creep'. Righteous Oliver was becoming a very grumpy old man.

Oliver opened his eyes and he felt a hot breath very close to his ear, "Good morning babe, how did you sleep?". He jumped to the floor. Now, he new that voice from about 9 hours ago. 'Fuck'. He raised his head and looked to the small figure on his bed. Laughing eyes were looking back at him.

"Someone's reflexes are a little off in the morning. I hope that's not how you act while fighting crime". And there she was, clear skin, bright eyes, and golden aura embracing her body. Apparently she had tossed the shirt from their previous encounter away, for this time she was literally wearing nothing but her underwear. Her arms above her head on his pillow, she was in a 'draw me like one of your French girls' pose, if he remembered the only interesting scene of Titanic correctly. He couldn't react. He didn't know how, so he just stood on his floor by the bed, admiring her. Felicity's body was for him an eternal temptation. From the moment they met, it took him a long time to train his eyes and not look from her waist down, for the hem of her dresses and skirts would drive him crazy every single time. That 'look but not touch' thing was not possible when it came to her, his imagination was to vivid and his self-control very limited – both qualities were being tested at that moment.

"Oliver?", oh no, that husky voice again. The smile on Felicity's face slowly dropped, and he saw she was pouting, a hint of sadness on her expression. That was torture, he could not stand to see her sad. Felicity was the brightest person in his world, her whole demeanor was what gave everybody in their secret lair hope, and it never failed in putting him back up after a hard beating. Without her presence and her light there to guide him through the lies and judgement from others, the hood would have retired a long time ago, either in a box or in a grave. So seeing her sad – a product of his imagination or not – was unacceptable. Her sadness made him angry, and an angry Oliver was not to be messed with.

He had no choice but to indulge in that madness. "What's wrong?"

"I'm cold. Could you come back to bed?". Oh boy.

"Yeah, sure". He laid down next to her, being very careful not to touch her. Oliver was confused, he didn't know why he wasn't calling doctors and scheduling exams. He felt like a creep, really, because he was using the image of his partner, someone he trusts and who trusts him back, to satisfy this crazy need of her. There was surely some boundaries he was breaking, he just wasn't sure of which ones.

"Why aren't you touching me?", she sounded hurt, giving his heart a pang of guilt.

"I don't think it would be appropriate".

Her face went back to amused one more time. "Why is that?"

"Felicity, we are friends, partners. We shouldn't be here, like this".

She laughed this time. He loved the sound she made when she laughed. It was beautiful and truthful, there were no secrets behind her laugh. "Oliver", she put one hand on his neck, rubbing her thumb on the stubble of his jaw. That was a very intimate gesture, he felt his skin tingling from the gentleness of her touch. "Let's play a game".

That came out of nowhere. It was getting harder and harder to remember that this was not the real Felicity. "What game?"

She got a little closer, this time her knee sneaked between his legs. Oliver gulped. 'If I move forward now I will be able to feel every part of her, every region which I SHOULD NOT BE TOUCHING'. Red alarms started sounding in his head. This was wrong. So wrong. If real Felicity ever finds out about it she would be extremely hurt and probably lose part of her trust on him. And that could simply not happen. "Oliver, every time you lie to me, you'll grant me one wish". He saw the mischievous glint in her eyes, he knew exactly what kind of wishes she would want from him, especially when her face came dangerously close to his. Her lips looked like plums, apparently she had just woken up, yet she still looked like a freaking model. "Okay?"

"Okay". He couldn't say 'no'. He wouldn't hurt her, no matter if it was her in front of him or just her image. Oliver wouldn't hurt his girl for nothing in the world. "But how will you know if I'm lying or not?".

She giggled. "I know you, silly". And she giggled again. She had a weird gift of turning him on by the smallest things. "So, do you think I am pretty?"

He sighed, of course she would be exasperating even as only a representation of herself. "You're more than just pretty, Felicity."

"Really?", her tone was getting more suggestive. Her stare lingered on his lips, and her thumb followed the trail on his skin. Oliver felt like his whole body was boiling from her heat. "Am I sexy, Oliver?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to touch me?"

"Yes."

"Why don't you then?".

Righteous Oliver was shouting for him to stop, but his voice was way back inside Oliver's brain. He remembered he should be telling the truth, and only the truth, otherwise she might make him lose his mind before lunch time. "Because, Felicity. I created boundaries for us very early in our relationship. You are too much: too precious, too gorgeous, too brilliant, too special. I always thought you deserved somebody better. And yeah, I understand it was selfish to make this decision by myself, and that I also am terrified of you accepting me. If you do that I know I would do everything in my power to become the man you deserve, and value you as you deserve. But what...", he wasn't sure of what to say anymore. Truth is, he was surprised of saying those things because he had never actually thought about it clearly. He didn't know where he was going with that speech, the only thing he knew was that a weight was suddenly lifted from his chest.

She gently stroked his cheek. "What, Oliver?", her voice was barely a whisper.

"But what if even my best is not enough?". Oliver closed his eyes. He didn't want tears falling down his face. He needed to control his emotions. Just because he had no idea he felt like that, it doesn't mean he needs to go around wearing his feelings on his sleeve. He felt a pair of lips on his forehead, but when he opened his eyes, there was nobody there. Once more he whispered to the nothingness in his bedroom: "Felicity?".

His phone rang. It was Diggle. "Hey, just reminding you we have a training session after lunch, I will be there soon to drive you to the lair".


Oliver and Diggle were received by a very sweaty Roy beating up a dummy. Since Thea left to God knows where, he had been really on edge, doing his best to grow stronger and faster every day. It hadn't been easy for him, having lost the power of the Mirakuru before he could fully control it. Oliver admired his determination, any other person would have gone back to his or her old and normal life. But not Roy, he found purpose on the Arrow's team, and he knew he had to work harder than ever to be worthy of his position in the gang. One of the reasons he was so determined was that Thea kept updating them of her well-being. Obviously Felicity could have already tracked her down and sent her boys to fetch her back, but after Thea's first letter, they all noticed how the younger Queen was on the edge of a breakdown; she needed some time to herself after all the truth that was thrown at her face in such a small period of time. None of them knew who she was with nor where, they just knew she was living in a house far away from Starling City, and that she was ok. Roy took some time to adjust to the idea but, as of the last couple of weeks, he was focused on his training, just waiting for her to come back to him.

"Getting a head start I see" said Diggle, stripping his own jacket and shirt.

"Yeah, well, after last night I needed to take my mind out of... everything". Roy had a dark expression on his face.

"Do you mean the taking down? I don't know about you but going through an operation like that with no blood loss, that was definitely a good night.", Diggle was frowning slightly to the youngest of the team.

"Yeah, me too. But apparently that Lullaby thing is stronger than we thought. I've been having pretty vivid hallucinations since this morning."

Oliver held his breath. Finally, an explanation for his obsession to Felicity lately – well, stronger obsession. "What kind of hallucinations, Roy?"

"Oh, nothing big, just strange, huge guys pumped up on Mirakuru, waiting for an opportunity to cut my throat." His voice was dripping with stress and his whole body was tense.

Diggle didn't look surprised, "I thought that would happen. Even after several tests, we still have no idea of how Lullaby really works. Those herbs we took last night took the most noticeable effects, but the fact is that it will take another 36 hours for our system to completely get rid of this thing. We should be on alert until Friday. Maybe take it easy for a while".

"Are you having any side effects, Diggle?", Oliver asked.

"Same thing as Roy, I feel like there is a knife waiting for me at every corner."

The only thing Oliver could think about was 'lucky bastards'. They were all used to being in constant danger, having to look over their shoulders every 2 minutes. If anything, Lullaby's side effects would make them less susceptible to surprise attacks.

"And you Oliver, how are you feeling?", Roy asked.

"Same thing".

He would NOT talk about his hallucinations. Those two would probably have a worst reaction then Felicity. He just had to hold on for more 36 hours. And he could do that, no problem. He had struggled with much worst situations and he survived. It would be okay. "Get set, let's start with some hand-to-hand combat". It was his turn to blown off some steam.