Title: The Fix
Author: Some1FoundMe
Rating: K+
Summary: He has returned from the dead – again – it feels like everything has changed. Takes place in the "Not Another Mistake" universe. Established Olicity. Takes place after 3X12 Uprising.
The Fix
He found her in the kitchen at six o'clock in the morning on their first day off in weeks. She was at the sink, her hips swaying to the slow melody that drifted from her phone where it lay on the counter. Her small frame was dressed only in the shirt he'd discarded the night before and a pair of lace panties that he could barely make out below the shirt's hem.
She should still be sleeping, warm and pliant and tucked in their bed. He wondered why she was up at such an ungodly hour as he crossed the room to stand behind her. When he slipped his arms around her waist, she let out a yelp of surprise.
"Damn it, Oliver!" she groused, "I swear one day I'm buying you a bell."
He smirked and pulled her back against him. He pressed his lips to her cheek.
"What are you doing down here so early?"
She gestured to the pile of dishes that currently occupied their kitchen sink. They'd had everyone over for dinner the night before – Roy and Laurel, Dig and Lyla, Thea. It had been the first time that they had all been together in the home that he and Felicity shared since he'd come back from the dead. They had all been so happy – so relieved – to see him but it was Felicity who had been quiet. She'd been distant. He knew that what had happened to him still haunted her. It haunted him as well.
"Couldn't sleep?" he inquired.
She shrugged, "Not really. You?"
"I woke up and you weren't there. I was worried."
She scoffed, "Yeah, join the club."
The bite in her words caused his arms to fall and he took a step away from her. She turned, her eyes wide, and lifted a hand to cover her mouth.
"Oh, God, Oliver, I –"
He shook his head, "It's fine."
"No, no it isn't. I'm sorry. It's just… you were gone for three weeks. For three weeks I was alone here. In our house. Without you. And I spent most of that time praying for you to come home to me," she let the words rush out, "I was so scared."
"I know, Felicity, I –"
She shook her head.
"You don't know. You left me. You chose to go. And I know that you were protecting Thea. I know that you were doing what you thought had to be done but I… did you – even for a second – consider what it would do to me if you didn't come back?"
He took a step back until the kitchen island was digging into his hip. She was trembling as she stood across from him, her arms wrapped securely around her middle. There were no tears in her eyes and he was surprised by her resolve. He had been home for two weeks and they had yet to really address what he had been through. They hadn't talked about it at all. The night that he'd returned she had curled up beside him in their bed, her head pillowed on his uninjured shoulder, and cried herself to sleep. There had been no discussion after that.
"Every moment that I was weighing my options, every second that passed after Nyssa declared the League's decision, I was thinking of you. You have to know that I didn't – I did not want to leave you, Felicity."
She swallowed hard, dropping her gaze to his bare feet.
"But you did."
He sighed and moved to close the distance between them. He took her chin between his fingers and tipped her face so that he could look into her eyes again.
"What do you need from me? How can I make you understand that I am not going anywhere? I came back. I'm here because of you. Maseo may have saved me from dying on that mountain but I'm alive because of you. You are the reason that I made it back here.
Her tears came then, sliding down her cheeks until they splashed against his fingers. Her own hands found his hips, fisting in the material of the sweatpants that he wore.
"When Merlyn told us that you were dead," she gasped, "I – I … a part of me died then, too, Oliver. I don't know if I can ever get it back."
She was in his arms in that moment, her face buried in the center of his chest, her tears dampening his t-shirt. He kept her close as she cried. He whispered words of comfort, affirmations of his love for her, into her hair as she shed tears for him. As she broke for them both.
Felicity withdrew from him abruptly and wiped her eyes. Her shoulders slumped, the fight drained from her, and she took a second to drag her fingers through her tangled hair.
"I'm going to take a shower."
He watched her carefully as she moved around him and mounted the stairs. He made no move to follow her.
He had known that she'd been worried, he'd known what they had all thought had happened to him. Their assumptions had been right. He had died out there with Ra's sword plunged into his chest. He had died and his life had flashed before his eyes like a fucking film reel he couldn't stop. It had been a movie that featured one too many brushes with death and so little living. The only bright light had been her, her smile, her faith in him, her humor, her sharp wit. Everything about her made him love her and as the image of her face had entered his mind one final time, he'd known that he had to come home for her. He had to survive for her.
He entered their bedroom, thankful that the shower was still running, and approached his side of the bed that they had shared for close to six months. The house had been perfect. More so than they had thought possible. And after only a few coats of paint and some minor decorating, it had become their home. Sitting atop the warm brown comforter, he opened the drawer of his nightstand and reached inside to retrieve the small book that had been tucked in the back.
It was the same book that his father had given him after the Gambit had gone down. It was the list that had started it all, that had put him on his path. It was what had – essentially – led him to her.
He flipped it open and glanced at the small velvet satchel that had been tucked inside. For a moment, he could do nothing more than look at it as he tried to imagine what she would say. He hoped that she would say yes, that this gesture would help her to understand that he had no intention of leaving her again. He could only hope that she would accept everything that he was offering her. He could only pray that she would accept him for everything that he was, no matter how broken.
He'd been so lost inside his own head that he hadn't heard the shower shut off or the bathroom door opening. He lifted his head at the sound of her calling his name.
"Are you alright?" she asked, approaching slowly, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have freaked out at you like that. I can't imagine how awful it was out there and I –"
He shook his head, "You have every right to be angry. To be upset. I've made so many mistakes, Felicity. I let myself believe that I could be happy. That this life, this… normal was something that I could actually have. But then the League and Malcolm … I never imagined that I would have to walk away from you and I realize now that I didn't have to do that. We could've found another way. We always do. I didn't have to go but I did because all I could think about was keeping you safe, all of you."
"Oliver…"
She came to stand in front of him, a towel wrapped securely around her body, her damp hair hanging over her shoulder. She touched the side of his face, her fingers trailing along his jaw, and his eyes slipped closed.
He clutched the book tightly in his hand as he made his decision. When he opened his eyes to look up into her concerned face, he drew in a steadying breath.
"Before I left, before… before Nyssa came I bought this."
He watched the confusion flash across her face as he held the book out to her. She opened her mouth to question him only to close it again as she took it from him. It seemed like a lifetime before she actually lifted the cover to look inside. When she did, when she extricated the item hidden inside, he felt his heart slam painfully against his sternum.
Gently, slowly, he took the pouch from her. At the same time, he slid off of the bed until he was on his knees in front of her. She took a startled step back.
"I made a mistake when I chose to leave you here, Felicity. I chose the wrong path. I have no intention of doing that again. Ever. I want to be with you and only you. I will spend the rest of my life proving to you that I am not going anywhere."
He removed the contents of the satchel, the modest diamond in its platinum band so small in his large hand, and held it out to her. Her eyes were shining with tears as she lifted one hand to cover her mouth.
"Felicity, will you marry me?"
