Title: Paved With Good Intentions
Summary: Despite knowing that this was a dream, Oliver couldn't bring himself to wake up from it and leave a life where he was married to Felicity.
Dedication: mimozka on Tumblr as a fake-Secret-Santa for the Olicity Secret Santa Holiday Gift Exchange haha.
Inspiration/Prompt: "I'm Yours" by The Script
He felt the soft brushes of hair against his chest before he actually saw the golden strands fanning over his bed and over his body.
Oliver blinked, glancing around and taking in his surroundings before his eyes drifted back to the girl on his bed, and in his hazed filled mind he could only register one thought.
She wasn't supposed to be here.
Actually she was, she had promised and when he woke up to an empty room and a devastatingly upsetting phone call, he hadn't expected her to ever be in this room again.
She shifted a little before rolling her body over, her face now snuggling into his chest and all he could think of was this was a dream.
He wouldn't be fooled again.
But somehow he couldn't force himself to go back to sleep, to sleep and wake up and find his bed empty again and her missing and avoiding his phone calls and he couldn't do that, not again.
Except despite his refusal to being tricked by his own mind, Oliver couldn't force himself to face reality. A few moments of being with her wouldn't hurt would it? Just laying here… her in his arms…
No. He couldn't afford to have her in his life like this only to get hurt. And he wasn't talking about the villains and his enemies either.
Memories of The Count touching her hair and her shoulders and pulling her to him so that he could drug her with Vertigo flashed through his mind, and Oliver tightened his hand around her waist.
No, he was referring to his own destructive ways, and despite what Diggle and Felicity said about him, it was true. Everyone around him got hurt.
He just didn't want to add her to the list.
She shifted in his arms again and Oliver looked down at her, before brushing a fallen strand of hair away from her face.
"Oliver?" she asked groggily, before stretching in his arms and sitting up on the bed.
Looking at her quietly, Oliver took in the sight of the sheets falling around her while she yawned, and a warm clenched feeling became rooted in his chest.
"Felicity", he said softly, knowing that she had just woken up and wouldn't really be in the mood for more talking. He hoped that had at least stayed the same.
She smiled at him before reaching down and kissing his forehead and standing up to go to the bathroom.
Oliver stood up after the door had closed and began an observation of the room they were in.
It was still his room at the mansion, but he could see little fragments that indicated that Felicity lived there, like her dresses hanging in the closet or her glasses perched on the nightstand. Walking away from the bed and closet, he walked towards his table and saw her tablet sitting on it.
When he went to pick it up, he noticed the gold band on his finger and wondered how he missed it in his last dream.
Oliver could hear the sounds of water running as he got closer to the bathroom and smiled when he heard a soft humming.
This didn't feel like a dream, but then again that was exactly the line of thinking that had gave him the disappointment he felt when he woke up. He would have to stay alert.
But as he leaned against the wall and waited outside the bathroom door, he questioned the dream.
Weren't people supposed to wake up after they figured out the dream was just that? A dream? Or at least people would realize they could control the dream and would attempt to do so right before they woke up? (Felicity had actually questioned why he was asking her to research dreams and he refused to give her an answer.)
He shuffled his feet before hearing the bathroom doorknob turn and decided to test it out.
Felicity will come out of the bathroom and go to the table to get her tablet.
She did come out of the bathroom so he guessed he could say it wasn't a total failure.
Felicity smiled at him, wrapped her hand around his wrist tightly and squeezed it before walking towards the bed and putting on her glasses.
"Bathroom's all yours!"
He nodded and smiled tightly before entering the bathroom and wondering what was going on.
Ten minutes later he was sitting on the bed with Felicity scrolling through her tablet next to him. So technically, he had gotten his dream-direction correct and any moment now he would wake up and ignore the hollow feeling in his chest when he couldn't find her.
This was getting out of hand.
He knew this kind of… fixation wasn't healthy. It was pointless to put so much focus on the way she bit her lip when she couldn't find something on a search, to the glint in her eyes when she tried another way and found something that worked, to the little fist pump she made before sheepishly hiding her hand under her leg.
"So…" she looked at him and smiled, and all he could think of was how the glasses and ponytail reminded him that in real life, she was disappointed in him and unhappily working as his Executive Assistant. "What is the last thing you remember?"
Concerning her?
"There was no choice to make."
Oliver looked away. Suddenly he wasn't sure if telling her about killing The Count in her defense was the best idea.
"Uh… going home to see my family."
Felicity nodded, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear before typing the memories down on a notepad program. "What else?"
"…" How in the world was he supposed to explain that his mother was on trial for being part of a conspiracy that killed 503 people?
"Oliver, whatever you're feeling guilty about… It's okay", she said, reaching down to place her hand over his. He looked back at her and wondered how his dreams had gotten her right, gotten her every word and look and touch in exact detail. He knew it would hurt in the morning but he couldn't find it in himself to care or regret seeing her like this, on his bed and in his life. "I'm not going to judge you."
He nodded. He knew that.
What was he worried about anyways? This was just a dream. He could enjoy this and for once, his actions wouldn't have severe repercussions. It was just a dream.
He began talking.
"My mother", her mother-in-law, his brain added quietly, "She was just acquitted and had come home."
"Acquitted?" Felicity asked with a soft hitch in her voice, "Of what?"
The very real reaction turned him quiet for a second before he remembered that this wasn't really Felicity; this was just a dream and nothing he said would have any real effect no matter how much he had wanted it to.
"… Of conspiring in the Undertaking."
When she realized he wasn't going to elaborate on that, she prodded ahead. "… What's that?"
Oliver's head sharply turned towards her and he was both relieved and disappointed that she didn't remember, except she shouldn't have been remembering it anyway since this was just a dream.
He tilted his head before trying a different approach. "You don't remember?"
Maybe she would remember if he wanted her to. Despite his wishes however, she showed no signs of recognizing what that word even meant. He sighed.
"It was a plot to destroy the Glades using a man-made seismic device—"
Felicity gasped, and he stopped talking to ask her what was wrong.
She shook her head, "That… that actually was a plot, but Oliver your mom, she wasn't…" Felicity bit her lip before searching for an article about it on her tablet. When she found it she handed it over to him, a small frown marring her face.
"Here… I don't know if this is what you remember, I mean clearly not because your mom wasn't involved, I mean, she was but—" Seeing Oliver's raised eyebrow made her stop. "Just read it. I'm going to get us something to eat."
Holding the small device in his hands, Oliver began to read the article.
Merlyn Global Group C.E.O. Arrested for Plot To Destroy Glades
Seeing the article, Oliver tried to breathe but the air refused to go down to his lungs.
Now he knew this was a dream. It had to be. He remembered taking the arrow and running it through his chest to stab Malcolm's heart. His hand touched the scar on his chest and looked for the scar. It was still there.
This was just a dream…
There was a detailed explanation of how Malcolm Merlyn was revealed to be behind a plot that involved two earthquake machines created by Unidac Industries; how he was found to be the Dark Archer that was terrorizing the city and was behind the Unidac Massacre.
His fingers gripped the tablet as he read of his mother's involvement… She had gone to the police and told them of Malcolm's plot after the Massacre had occurred in exchange for immunity. She was even quoted…
"He's a monster who needs to be stopped. He has killed dozens in pursuit of this madness."
They had found the machines and stopped Malcolm Merlyn from obliterating the Glades and killing everyone in it. They… they stopped him?
There was no Undertaking?
Somewhere in the back of his head he knew this was a dream but he couldn't … he didn't want it to be.
He heard the door creak open and saw Felicity walking through the door with a small tray holding two glasses of orange juice, with Raisa behind her, carrying a tray of breakfast.
Felicity smiled when seeing him, "I tried to carry all of it but Raisa threatened to hide my tablet somewhere in the house, and since I still can't walk back from the kitchen without getting losing my way, I guessed I lost that battle."
Oliver smiled back, something in his throat catching when he heard her speak about living here.
Raisa left the tray of food on the table before greeting him with a good morning and leaving the room.
Felicity handed him a glass before putting the tray on the table and taking her own juice to the bed. "So… did you recall anything else?" she asked hopefully.
He sipped at the drink to avoid answering. Seeing the small glimmer of hope in her eyes made him not want to tell her that all he could think about was how false everything in this dream was. He knew he should have said so to her, but he couldn't bring himself to break her heart like that.
Especially because she deserved better from her husband, from him because that's who he was in this world, and even if he would know better than to paint such a big target on her back like this, this was just a dream and he could savor it while he could.
"No."
She nodded but smiled anyway, as if this wasn't hurting her. Oliver could see right through it and it pained him to see her like this.
Because of the life I lead, I just think it would be better… to not be with someone that I could really care about.
"Tommy was… He was pretty broken after that", Felicity said softly, glancing down at the bed. "He couldn't even walk through the streets for a while because it was unsafe for a Merlyn to be seen in public."
Tommy. Tommy.
It was as if something was lodged in his throat and he couldn't even say his name, to ask what had happened to him.
"Eventually it got better after he testified in court against his Father… but he hasn't really been the same since."
Tommy. He was alive.
"It should have been me!"
Oliver didn't even realizing how tightly he was gripping his glass before he heard the sound of glass breaking and Felicity's sudden scream.
"Oliver!" she quickly placed her glass down on the nightstand before crawling closer to him, her hands softly cradling his wrist to look at his hand. He didn't even notice the orange juice spilling over him and blood pouring out of his hand and dripping onto the bed.
"Oh my God. You're bleeding. Oh God I don't even know anything about liquids coming out of bodies and do not give me that look; you know what I meant."
Oliver tried to smile but his throat was still tight. He let Felicity lead him into the opulent bathroom where she used the light to look for pieces of embedded in his palm. She looked through the cabinets to find a pair of tweezers and began to slowly pull out the shards.
"You need to be more careful next time! Though I don't even know where you learned to crush a glass cup like that. Have you been going to the gym lately? Sheesh."
Oliver looked at her, a pang in his chest as he recognized the familiarity of Felicity tending to his wounds. Looking at his hand, she had removed all the glass and turned on the faucet to run his hand through it to wash off the blood and the juice.
"Did you even get any sleep last night? I felt you tossing and turning—" She stopped when she felt Oliver's hand cupping her cheek. He didn't say anything, just brushed his thumb on the skin underneath her lower lip. His eye glanced at his gold ring next to her concerned face and all he could think of was how right this felt.
He couldn't… Couldn't think this was real. Couldn't feel like there was more to this than what there really was.
Maybe it was about time he went to sleep.
"You're right… I should get some rest", he whispered, letting his fingers brush against her cheek, knowing this might be the last time he saw her like this, next to him as his wife.
She smiled and nodded, before grabbing a small, clean white towel and wrapping it around his injured hand.
"I'll call the doctor and have him patch this up for you while we wait okay? Just close your eyes and get some rest", she said, leading him to the bed.
He stopped her when they were a few inches away from the bed and turned her around with his good hand. Felicity was still holding onto his wrist, making sure the towel was wrapped up around his hand, and he cupped her jaw and looked at her again, imprinting the image of her worried face, her pajamas, her ring, before leaning down and brushing his lips against hers.
Just one kiss. Just one.
This was just a dream after all.
His lips pressed against hers and he softly bit her lower lip, letting his tongue sweep against her softly and surely, before he sighed and let her go by stepping away from her.
She smiled, and he couldn't help but smile back.
"Get some rest", she said happily, and made sure he was in bed before she went back into the bathroom to wash her hands.
Oliver looked at the sight of her walking away from him, and then looked at his hand wrapped around in the white towel and his ring glinting in the light, before leaning against the pillow and forcing himself to fall back asleep.
This may have been a dream, but he couldn't afford to become attached to this life… this idea that the Undertaking hadn't occurred, that he wasn't The Hood, that Tommy was alive, alive, that Felicity was his wife…
He closed his eyes and willed himself to go back to sleep.
A ringing sound woke him up, and Oliver's eyes shot open when he heard the sound of his phone ringing. Someone was calling him.
His hand shot out to his right to grab the phone from his nightstand, but when he tried to grab the vibrating phone, he felt a stinging pain run up his arm.
Oliver turned his head to look at what had happened, but the sight of a bloody hand gripping his phone greeted him.
He sat up, looking at the blood rushing down his wrist and dripping onto his carpet. Glancing down at the trail of blood, his eyes widened when he saw a formerly white towel covered in blood on the floor.
He didn't wake up to reality again? Was he still dreaming?
He looked around the room, and couldn't find any sign of Felicity's tablet or her dresses in the open door of his closet.
Gulping, Oliver looked at his left hand and was surprised to find that there was no gold band resting on his finger.
He pushed the covers off with his good hand and stood up, looking for something that he might have crushed in his sleep… That had to be it. He had gotten angry in his dream and taken it out in his sleep. That's why his hand to be bleeding, … except he couldn't find any evidence of breaking something in his sleep.
He searched the room. There were no glass cups or glass-anything besides his mirrors. He walked into his bathroom and looked for a bloody mess in his sink, but couldn't find anything to indicate what had happened in his dream besides the slow dripping of blood along his carpet.
He quickly used the Intercom to call up Raisa, and after two agonizing minutes of waiting while she walked up to his room, he hid his bleeding hand and asked if anyone had cleaned his room while he was asleep.
She said no. No one had been in his room. He nodded and smiled tightly, before closing the door and leaning against him with his heart hammering in his chest.
What was going on?
Ta da! A sequel to my other story known as The Road To Hell. For those of you who are familiar with the show Awake, and maybe a little of Inception, this is sort of where this story is going. :)
Hope you all enjoyed this! And my lovely mimozka, I hope you enjoyed it as well. :)
Please leave a review! Thanks!
For those of you who want to follow me on Tumblr where I post a lot of Olicity goodness, I am under "VoubleDision". :)
Love,
Ivy