Felicity didn't answer Oliver's question. The sunlight was flooding the living room and now in the harsh light of day everything did seem far more complicated. She cocked her head and pulled her smile to one side, "Oliver, how did you survive? How did Merlyn save you? He didn't even know you were dead until after we did." Oliver looked at his feet and shuffled a little bit. "It is a complicated answer and it might be best if I answer that question when the entire team is together, and by 'team' I mean you, me and Diggle. I'm not ready to tell Thea and Roy."
Oliver was standing shirtless and she noticed that there were no new scars. She had spent more than her share of time watching Oliver on the salmon ladder and she knew every scar on his body and there were no new marks. She suddenly realized she was blatantly staring at Oliver's shirtless chest and she began to flush; her cheeks warming. "Felicity, what are you thinking?" She shook her head, broke her stare and looked up at his eyes, "um, nothing. Nothing. I…I was um, noticing no new scars" A smile spread across Oliver's face, "I see. That's all you were thinking?" Felicity opened her mouth to offer a protest but nothing came out and her heart started to flutter and she really wanted this conversation to end. "Okay, I'm going to call Diggle, and hit the shower. If you want to wait, we can ride to the Foundry together." Oliver walked over to Felicity and kissed her forehead, "That sounds like a great plan."
The warm water washed over Felicity like a blanket. Oliver was alive and she couldn't help but be happy about that. She knew they were still facing challenges and difficult conversations but right now in the security of her shower she was giddily happy and she couldn't stop smiling. She couldn't help herself; she started singing.
Oliver stood outside the bathroom door, in Felicity's bedroom putting his shirt and shoes back on. Her walls were painted a warm yellow, and her bedroom was filled with stacks of books and tech magazines. He picked up a picture on her nightstand; it was of her and Oliver at his Mom's Christmas party. He let out a breath and smiled. He liked being in Felicity's room – it left him feeling warm, loved – normal. He was about to walk out into the family room to wait for her when he heard her singing in the shower. Yeah, he could get used to being here. He grabbed his coat and walked out of the bedroom.
Felicity typed the code into the keypad and opened the door to the Foundry. Oliver followed Felicity downstairs and his mouth fell open. She turned around, "yeah, we did some updating to the Foundry while you were gone. We had to. We had to make space for the other new team members." Oliver raised an eyebrow at the recognition that Felicity used the plural version of 'members' which concerned him. The workout mat was the same with Felicity's computers facing the salmon ladder. The evidence table and display dummies for Oliver and Roy's suits were still in place, even the spare for Barry but now the Foundry had expanded in the opposite direction with additional tables, racks of weapons – some weapons Oliver didn't even recognize. And then the number of display dummies – Oliver counted three additional dummies. He knew about Thea but who were the others? Before he had a chance to ask about them, the door to the Foundry clicked open and he heard Diggle's heavy footsteps on the stairs. Diggle walked halfway down the stairs, stopped suddenly and exclaimed, "Oliver Queen! Son of a bitch! I knew it!" and he ran down the stairs extending his arms to Oliver embracing him. "You scared me man! You really had me scared! I could not be happier to have you back. It's been rough."
Felicity looked between the two of them and couldn't believe how calm Diggle was regarding Oliver's surprise survival but then Diggle had experienced things she never had. He had seen the dark and unexplainable part of war and perhaps it was best that she didn't know about those things. They congregated around the steel evidence table and Diggle asked the obvious question – the one Felicity had been waiting for Oliver to answer since she saw him. "So, how did you survive?"