A/N: Thank you for all the favs, follows and reviews! I appreciate them.
Here's Ray's story.
Standard disclaimer...not mine, song's not mine, enjoy at least and review at the most. :-)
Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don't patronize, don't patronize me
Ray always knew she wasn't his. Not completely.
She had captivated him at one of the meetings about Oliver getting QC back. She was beautiful, but clearly she was also bright, genuine and loyal.
He hoped to earn some of that loyalty. It made no sense, he knew, but instinct screamed she was special, and instinct had so far served him very well. If he got some dirt on Queen, well, all the better. And so began an earnest courtship, ending with slight surprise when she finally said yes.
It was fine for a bit. Being closer to Felicity, though, brought some strange observations.
Such as how tired she always was. It was like she didn't sleep at all. She was still amazing in her wit and efficiency, but his trained eye saw the copious amounts of coffee, the power naps between meetings, the expertly applied makeup.
Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart and I feel the power
But you won't, no, you won't
Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't
He noticed how often Queen would contact her, her responding almost every time. He also noticed no one got to Felicity except Queen. Regardless of the lively intellectual conversations Ray and Felicity had, that was the only time he saw true passion from her. He had seen the full gamut of emotions when she was dealing with Queen. All just as real, and all very intense. Though he had to say, recently the way he knew it was Queen was the way Felicity scowled at her phone.
Ray sensed the way she held back, that she had her secrets. She never voluntarily talked about herself, Ray actually admired the way she gave just enough to satisfy passing curiosity but not enough to learn anything of substance. He never pushed that, he had his own secrets that he'd prefer to keep that way.
Nonetheless, curiosity got the better of him. And pride, though he was reluctant to admit that. Queen was good looking, but Ray had not read nor seen a reason for him to command the loyalty he did of someone as remarkable as Felicity. He had to know what was keeping her from being fully his, and instinctively he knew it was at least in part Queen.
It wasn't until he followed her that it became clear. Felicity went into a building that made zero sense for her to be in; not long after that he spotted the Arrow leaving the same building. He knew he wasn't seen, his special abilities prevented that.
Shrinking down, Ray hopped onto the Arrow himself, hoping to solve some of the mystery. And he almost lost control of his ability when he heard the Arrow speak:
"Felicity, where am I going?"
Jesus Christ, Oliver Queen was the Arrow, and Felicity was his assistant. Well shit, a lot of things made more sense now. The loyalty, the tiredness, the responsiveness of her to him even when it was clear she wasn't in the mood...the reason a rising star in IT would suddenly move to being an EA.
He stayed with Queen during his mission, laughing to himself at both the ridiculousness and necessity of his voice modulator once he turned it on. He chuckled when they argued over him. He didn't have to see the two of them physically interact to know they loved each other. It was obvious in the way they spoke to each other, especially when they bickered.
Queen eventually made it back to his hideout, and Ray quietly withdrew to his own place of rest deep in thought. He knew now that QC had to have been helping fund the Arrow, and that couldn't be done without Oliver as CEO. He also knew Oliver was clearly more than who he let the public know, not at all unlike himself. It was also abundantly clear Felicity was no small part of both Queen and his alter ego's success.
Perhaps he could consider QC a lost cause. He knows he can consider Felicity a lost cause. Her heart and being belonged solidly with Oliver Queen. As for QC, well, he hoped a solution would present itself.
I'll close my eyes, then I won't see
The love you don't feel when you're holding me
Morning will come and I'll do what's right
Just give me till then to give up this fight and I will give up this fight
He decided his persistence had paid off in the past, and he made one last effort to win Felicity's heart. The date was going well, the night even better...until he woke to an empty bed. Softly padding to another room, he Felicity clearly working. Since he hadn't given her any projects, she had to be working on something for Oliver. At 6 in the morning. On a Saturday. And she never even noticed he was there. He went back to bed, and felt her come back a short while later. She was careful not to disturb him, so as to seem as though she had never left he guessed. Ray knew then for sure that he would always get Oliver Queen's leftovers. Incredible though she was, Felicity would never be completely his, and if he truly planned on being more, like Oliver, he would need to find someone who would be.
And so Ray forced himself to let Felicity go. She took it with grace, and a faint look in her eye told him she even somewhat expected it. He couldn't resist trying to ease the sting by telling her a truth she likely didn't expect- the Arrow had inspired him to use his gifts for more than he had been to this point. He didn't, however, tell her he knew Queen was said Arrow, but he did see a flash of pride that she quickly masked. She would probably figure it out when he all but shoves QC back in Queen's hands, but he let her keep their secret.
He showed her what he was capable of, and as he suspected she would, she offered her assistance if he ever needed. They parted, to remain friends.
And so it was with regret of varying degrees that signaled the end of Ray and Felicity.
Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
Here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart, and I feel the power
But you won't, no you won't
Cause I can't make you love me, if you don't
A/N 2: I should be able to update this for the next two days. All thats left is editing and posting, so thanks for sticking with me!