Felicity couldn't help smiling at the change in his aura. Just a small smile, that ended up a bit lopsided because she was really trying not to.

She knew she had a part in making him forget his pain, even for just a moment and she liked that. She liked that a lot.

His red aura was riveting in its sparks of warmth, but it was his green that was breathtaking. It was simultaneously soothing, showing his poise, yet powerful. He was savage, wild, and confident like the panther she envisioned. It drew her in, so all she wanted to do was rub up against him. Yes, his green, he wore it exceptionally well.

He held her glance with a gaze that spoke of his curiosity of her then...regret flickered and it all just... stopped. All at once, Felicity felt...nothing. She saw no colors and no longer felt connected. She was adrift and didn't like it. What was going on with her gift tonight? She took stock of her psyche and knew it wasn't her. She looked back up at him as she realized, it had to have been he who broke the connection.

She just had a virtual door slammed and locked in her face. He looked so hardened now, like he had put on battle armor. Felicity shivered with profound loss at his forced isolation and the loss of...him.

"Right, Ollie?" Thea asked as she continued her conversation with their childhood friends Sara and Tommy.

"Um, right." Oliver replied as he tried not to look back over at the table where the woman sat. He wanted to stare at her all night and soak up all that she was. She was beautiful and bold in her open staring, but strange..there was just something about her. She intrigued him. Oliver was used to blatant interest from both males and females, but this time was different. She was different. She seemed to vibrate with an energy that captivated him. It felt like she shared his burdens. As if she could see through his barriers to the man beneath. The man who no longer lived in the light.

It tempted him like he hadn't been tempted in so long. He was so caught up in her, that he would have done something stupid. He would have gotten up and gone to her, if she had not smiled. That incredibly warm, lopsided smile that reminded him, he did not deserve one. He did not deserve a life that held joy.

His waitress came by and placed a glass of soda water with a slice of lime down in front of him. "I didn't order another one," Oliver said as the waitress slid a cream colored business card towards him.

"The lady at the back table sent it over with her compliments." Three heads at his table turned to search the back of the bar. Oliver looked directly at the table where She sat.

"Ollie, I swear I can't take you anywhere." Thea half joked with a confused Oliver.

"Which one is she?" Sara whispered trying to be covert while bobbing her head up and down looking around.

"My, my, my Oliver, care to share what your new lady friend wrote?" A smirking Tommy said as he sat up, wagging his eyebrows up and down, moving closer to look at the card.

Oliver covered it with his hand as he watched his mystery blonde get up from her chair, give him a small wave, then turn and walk out of the bar. She wasn't smiling anymore. He had done that to her and it made him feel even more of a cad.

As she disappeared through the door, Oliver picked up the card, glanced at it then turned it over and read her handwritten note. If I can ever be of help, please call.

"Oliver!" rang out in unison as three pairs of curious eyes stared at him for answers.

"Just a phone number." Oliver said, as the subject of how forward people could be in bars started up. Oliver tapped the corner of the card on the table. He batted down the feeling of loss at her exit as he pulled out his wallet and slipped the card in. He wasn't going to go after her. Leaving whatever this was alone, was for the best.

Tommy gave him a wink before regaling the ladies of bygone days when he used to get phone numbers slipped into his pockets.

An hour or two later Oliver Queen, heir to the multi-faceted company Queen Consolidated, walked his sister three blocks from the bar to his downtown apartment. She had been too tired to make the hour long drive home to their family estate.

Oliver made sure Thea was settled in his guest room, asleep, before changing into his work out pants and made his way to the spare room where he kept his exercise machines. After an hour of running on the treadmill he took a shower letting the hot water and exertion, hurl him towards sleep.

Sometime later shadows from the full moon spread across his bed touching his tangled, restless legs as he fought demons in his sleep…

"Dad, I think we need to try a …" Oliver said right before their car was hit and flipped onto its side on the quiet mountain road. He and his father were being chauffeured back to their city hotel after visiting a solar panel farm in the remote hills of the small country of Verdan. Their security team followed close behind in a black SUV.

Screams and gunfire rang out as their car windows exploded. There was chaos as a mob of people surrounded their vehicle. Dazed and stunned, Oliver saw his father crumpled unconscious on the floor. Blood was everywhere and their driver's head lay at a horribly unnatural angle. Oliver reached for his father as hands grabbed onto his legs. They dragged him through the shattered remains of his beaten car and onto the dirt road.

Before a hood was thrown over Oliver's head he caught a glimpse of John Diggle, the head of his father's security detail and three others of their team, pinned down in their SUV. They shot back at the attackers through a haze of gun powder. Oliver struggled as his arms were wrenched painfully behind his back and zip ties were strapped on. They cut into his skin and his ankles. Rapid blows came from thick boots that stomped and kicked at him to stop his struggles. He couldn't stop screaming for his father and the group of men he had known most of his adult life.

"Ollie!" echoed through the fog of his nightmare as he woke to find Thea screaming as she lay beneath him on the bed. "Ollie, please stop." She gasped as he released his hold on her arms. He jumped off her to cower in the corner of his room.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," He cried as he slid down the wall to sit on the floor burying his head in his hands.

"Shh, Ollie, it's just me." She whispered as she rubbed her tender wrists. Thea carefully sat down next to him as he struggled with where he was and what just happened.

"Did I hurt you?" His guilt spilling out with his words.

"No, you scared me more than anything. Ollie, you're still having those nightmares?"

"Yeah."

"I should have known not to touch you. I'm sorry. I heard you screaming and before I thought about it, I tried to wake you."

"It's okay, Speedy. I'm okay," Oliver said as he lifted his head and rested it against the wall.

"No, you aren't okay Ollie. It's been over two years. You need to get help, please."

Thea fell asleep on his lap as they sat on the floor. Oliver gently lifted her to the bed and tucked his little sister in as he glanced at his wallet that lay on the bedside table. He sat down on the edge of the mattress and stared at his billfold.

"Okay, Speedy, I'll try." He quietly said as he pulled out the thick, embossed business card from his wallet. His fingers flipped the card over to re-read what had surprised him earlier that evening, "Felicity Smoak, MD, Psychiatrist."