Turbulence

The merry band of misfits made their way to a private air field, staying alert for any signs of trouble. As they pulled up to the hangar in the hi-jacked utility van that they promised to return if they survived, team arrow saw the small commuter jet that was on loan from Palmer Industries. The owner himself couldn't join in their flight of uncertainty due to his remaining injuries he had obtained after his and Felicity's trip to Central City.

The pilot that Palmer had paid an obscene amount to keep quiet, led them to the stairs of the plane that were folded out for them. He took their luggage as they ascended the steps and stowed it away. It was rather odd, having paid help assist them with something as mundane as luggage when they were marching off to battle.

Palmer. Oliver could barely think about him without slightly cringing. For a long while he felt like Palmer was just stealing bits of his life away from him, starting with over hauling QC and ending with Felicity's partnership in his vigilante endeavors. The last one was the hardest pill of all to swallow, worse than the two of them being romantically involved. Felicity had given her trust and counsel to someone else, and it felt like she had really given up on believing in him. His only solace was that she was still here fighting beside him, even if he would do anything to have her as far away from this as possible. He had finally learned though that it was indeed her life, her choice, and his choices over the past several months had driven her straight into Palmer's life. Palmer needn't lift a finger. There was no stealing involved. He had left the door to his life wide open, and by not allowing Felicity to make her own choices and by not listening to her opinions, Felicity walked out of said door repeatedly and into Palmer's waiting arms. Palmer wasn't the enemy, he was just the man smart enough not to let something remarkable slip through his fingers.

Pulling his head out of his less than happy thoughts, Oliver shifted to the dream he had had in the warehouse. He had a family that had stayed by his side, despite Oliver's idiotic decisions to let the ends justify the means on more than one occasion. Not to say that they had been besties this whole time. Felicity's talking down she had given him that night in the alley and her harsh demand a week later that they could never go back, was just a few instances of his team attempting to pull his head out of his colon. He was angry at the time and was sure that they no longer believed in him. Fortunately he had finally realized that by confronting him and not backing down, they were sticking by his side and trying to save him from himself. They could have just walked away, made a team of their own and left him in the dust to fight his demons alone. He was slowly starting to accept their words, critical and encouraging. Sarah had said at the beginning of the year that they needed people in their lives that didn't wear masks. Barry told him that Oliver Queen could be the inspiration his city needs, not the Arrow, that guy was a douche. Laurel had called him out on hiding his feelings behind the hood. Roy had confronted him in front of the team to protect Thea's integrity. Diggle was a never ending spout of "Yoda like" knowledge. Felicity hit the nail on the head nearly a year ago outside of QC right after he lost it to Palmer. He told her about his vertigo experience and she in turn told him that being afraid of himself, Oliver Queen, was in short, ridiculous. The irony was not lost on him that distancing himself from Oliver Queen, had led to him becoming his own worst enemy.

The lesson was learned though, and just in the nick of time. He needed his family, and after a year of doubt and grief, he was finally starting to believe in himself again.

Looking around the cabin of the plane, it was easy to see that despite Oliver's confident statement previously in the day, there was still a cloud of uncertainty. Diggle, while always an even keel in a storm, was showing signs of anger and doubt bubbling just under his well-placed mask as he leaned his head against the window of the jet. The mother of his daughter and recent wife was being held by a power hungry woman bent on revenge. While Diggle knew his team would move the ends of the earth to save Lyla, as a former soldier he knew that sometimes that wasn't enough.

Roy and Laurel were attempting to play a hand of gin rummy, but their half-assed hands made it obvious that their thoughts were elsewhere. Roy's was steadily moving further away from him as they flew out of Starling City where Thea was left behind. He knew that logistically speaking, she was safer there, but he couldn't help but worry about the state of her mind. She had been through hell this past year, and he wished he could've stayed behind to comfort her in any way she would allow him. He knew he needed to continue on with the good fight though, in order to preserve what precarious future that he and Thea had slowly started to rebuild over the past couple of months.

Laurel's thoughts were with her father and the strenuous relationship that had taken hold since she had revealed the truth about Sarah. She had to make it through this in order to make things right with him. With Sarah gone, he was the only person left that truly understood her, her ardent search for justice, laced with a bit a self-righteousness and stubbornness. She needed to see this through for her father, for Sarah, and for herself.

Felicity found herself babbling off to the pilot, inundating him with one inquiry after another. Did the plane have enough fuel? Did he know how to navigate through the mountain range that would lead them to a rural landing strip just outside of Nanda Parbat? Was he indeed, a licensed and certified pilot? It was easy to focus on her slightly unfounded fear of flying and heights than to focus on the mission that lay in front of them. Fortunately for the pilot, Oliver chose that moment to save him from the tiny force known as Hurricane Felicity.

"Hey, let's go sit down and give the pilot a break, huh?"

Felicity looked up at him with a nervous smile and stood up, wiping her slightly sweaty palms on the front of her jeans. As she followed Oliver out of the cockpit she tossed back, "I'll check on you later Bob." The pilot gave her a wary look.

Oliver led them over to two window seats facing each other with a small table between them. As he sat down, Oliver raked his hands over his face while exhaling a breath he'd been holding too long. He looked at Felicity's fingers and noticed them twitching in a manner quite similar to his own nervous tick. When had that started?

"Nervous?" he asked as he adjusted in his seat and waited for her to grab her tablet.

As she turned from her carry on, he could see that she looked hesitant and she huffed out quietly, "Yea, a little."

Thinking back on their failed first date he immediately responded with "The line forms behind me." As she sat down with her tablet she nearly dropped it on the table, but she quickly recovered and gently placed it between them. Yea, she definitely caught the reference. She slightly chuckled and shyly responded.

"Well, I don't have any benzos this time, sorry." She looked up at him and damnit if he wasn't sporting that small smile again.

"What? What's that smile about?" she implored with a tilt of her head. His small smile morphed into a big grin as he replied, "I'm just glad you're here."

Felicity's mind stuttered to a stop. Wait, what did she just hear?

"Wait, what did I just hear?" Felicity stared incredulously at Oliver waiting for his response. He sobered up and considered what he was about to say. How could he say that he had royally screwed the pooch and was trying to fix things between them?

"I, uh, I think it's high time I start letting you make your own choices, or at least start hearing you out. I'm just now starting to realize that I need everyone, that I need you, in order to continue leading the life that we lead. Even though I know it's too late for there to be anything more between us and that you're happy with Palmer, I'm happy to have you by my side as a partner in all of this. You're still my uh… 'girl, girl,' and while I'm never going to be comfortable with putting you in danger, I know that having your support, and having you here is far better for our chances, and it's far better for me and my journey back to uh, your Oliver, the Oliver you saw inside of me before all of this."

For the first time during their relationship, Felicity was speechless. Oliver waited patiently for her reaction, subconsciously rolling his thumb and forefinger together. He hoped he hadn't crossed a line by saying too much, by alluding to the feelings he still had for her.

Felicity's mind raced, and she knew this was an important moment. How was she supposed to respond to that? How was she supposed to say that Palmer and she were over, on mostly amicable terms? How was she supposed to tell him that there was still a possibility for more between them?

"Well, uh, that's good to hear. You may not feel that way after I trip over my own feet while we're storming the castle." She said with a small chuckle. "And there's not an 'us' anymore."

Oliver's heart dropped. She had given up on even having a friendship with him.

"I mean, um, what I meant was, Palmer and I are not an 'us' anymore. When the dust settles, he's leaving for Central City, and I decided that it would be best if I stayed back. He's definitely still dealing with Anna's death, and I'm…uh,"

Oliver perked up. "You're what?"

"I'm unsure of a lot of feelings, many feelings,… so many feelings."

And just like that, Oliver's hope of having something more between them reignited.

Felicity abruptly stood up and called out to their small group.

"It is far too quiet and gloomy in here people!"

Felicity shuffled over to the sound system. She had to do something to put a stop to the very dangerous conversation that she and Oliver started to have. She fell back on one of her favorite episodes of How I Met Your Mother. She pulled out her IPod and synced it to the sound system. Shuffling through her playlists she landed on the one titled "Barney's Get Psyched Mix." This would do the trick.

A moment later the strong thrum of Bon Jovi's "Shot through the heart," filtered into the cabin. The group instantly started to chuckle, and an easy air settled over them. For the remainder of their flight, Felicity continued to feed them with upbeat songs, and for a while, they were just a group of friends having a good time. For a while they were okay.