A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I've had mixed reviews on my writing but I'm glad there are people that like what I'm writing it means so much to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always review it.

Everything was blurry to her eyes, she couldn't completely see where she was but could only assume it was the hospital because she tried to move her left arm but it was restricted by a tube sticking out of it. She looked around the tiny room she was in and there was no one else in there with her, but her vision was starting to clear up and she knew for a fact that she was in the hospital. The beeping machines next to her were enough to give her a headache but she knew they were there for a reason.

Being aware of what she now knew was an IV, Felicity tried to push herself into a sitting position but it was useless she winced as soon as she put pressure on her hands and just fell back against the pillow, "Damn it," she remarked under breath and let out a small cry because of the pain.

She wiped the tears away from her eyes before anyone walked in and saw her, she heard talking right outside the door to her small room and she didn't want whoever it was to see her crying. She heard that familiar deep, strong voice she knew as Oliver talking to the doctor, "Thanks doctor." Shortly after that remark he emerged in the room, Felicity tried to pretend that she was still sleeping she didn't want to face reality just yet.

"Felicity, are you awake?" Oliver quietly asked, she was busted. She felt a tear escape her eye as she opened them and then saw the hurt in Oliver's eyes as he wiped the tear away from her face. She wanted so much to be strong in front of him but she couldn't hold her breakdown in, she broke down yet again in front of Oliver and she hated herself for it. He sat down in the chair next to her bed and grabbed her right hand in his own, "Hey, ssh, its okay no one here is going to hurt you. Hey look at me."

She obeyed and brought her gaze up to his, those eyes, she could get lost in his eyes all day long. Felicity quickly moved her gaze down to her stomach where most of her pain was coming from. "It hurts, really bad."

"I know, you just have to relax. They are moving you to a room upstairs in a little bit. What can I do for you now?" he asked wanting to do anything he could to make this easier for her.

"I need to sit up, I can't lie here anymore. I can't do it myself," she didn't even have to finish her question, he placed an arm under her knees and another behind her back and repositioned her into a sitting position, he placed a couple more pillows behind her so she didn't have to struggle to stay in that position. "Thanks, that's better."

"You know you scared the hell out of me, I thought you were gone for good. I can't express how happy I am that you made it." Oliver looked away from her, he didn't want to show weakness in front of her and he could feel his eyes welling up with a couple tears. She reached over for his hand and grabbed it in her one free hand.

"Hey, let's not think like, I'm here, you didn't lose me. Hey, now it's your turn to look at me. Oliver, look at me." He wiped the single tear that escaped his eyes away and turned slowly to face her, "Good, now listen to me very carefully. You will never have to know what its like to lose me, I'm harder to get rid of than you think."

"Don't joke about this."

"I'm not joking Oliver, I'm here so let's just live with that for now. Can you do that?"

"Yes, but this isn't done until he's done. Can you understand that?"

"Of course, I want to get him just as much as you do. He hurt you as well, and I hate him for that."

"My hurt doesn't compare to your hurt, so don't worry about me."

"I worry about you every single day, every time you leave as the Arrow I worry, so this is nothing compared to that worry."

"I hate myself for that, I brought you into my world and I wish it wasn't this way."

"You wish you never met me, is that what you're saying here?" she started to think real hard about what she was going to say next, "You don't want me part of this team? You know damn well that you won't get far without me, is that what you want?" she started to raise her voice, and Oliver was worried she was going to raise her blood pressure with her new found anger. "Oliver what do you want?"

"Felicity, you have to understand something, I don't regret meeting you, but I do regret the danger you face every day because of who you're associated with. I also understand that you being a part of this team is a huge thing, I know I wouldn't be able to do half the stuff I do without you, but I hate to see your life in danger because of me." Felicity looked up at him hurt in her eyes.

"Oliver, do you honestly believe that I blame you for this, were you the one holding the gun? Did you pull the trigger that placed two bullets in my body? Come one Oliver, stop this nonsense, and stop blaming yourself for something that is out of your control." her words were harsh but she didn't stop there, "Would you be saying these things if John were here instead or me?" he gave her a look and she continued, "That's exactly what I thought, why am I different then?"

He thought hard before he answered her, he didn't want to say anything else to upset her but he had to come up with a reason that he himself didn't know yet, deep down inside of him he knew the reason was because he loved Felicity in a way that was more than just a friend, but was he ready to tell her that now, "Felicity, you're different because you're innocent in all this, you're the behind the scenes to John and my actions and you can't…" he tried to finish his statement to try to explain where he was coming from.

"I can't defend myself right, that's your reason. I'm sorry I'm not as inclined with the fighting part of our world as you or John, but why does that matter in this situation. This situation was out of your control, you were knocked out when everything went down. This situation was out of your control, you were knocked out when everything went down. You didn't get a chance to defend me, if anything its my fault for getting in the way," he opened his mouth to interject but she spoke before he could, "Don't try and argue with me on this one, I got in the way. I knew better than to saw what I did, I provoked Slade whom was the one who shot me, can we just agree that the only one to blame in this situation is Slade and Slade alone." she had a frustrated tone to her words but she finally got through to Oliver that he was not the one to blame for Slade's actions, or so she thought.

"You know that I will always blame Slade for this, he pulled the trigger twice and put you in here, that is always going to be on him, but I am always going to worry about you and try to protect you as best I can." before she could argue or accept what he was saying a nurse came into the room, yet she gave Oliver the look that said this conversation is not over yet

"Miss Smoak are you ready to be moved to your room upstairs?" the nurse was a short red haired older lady, she was so sweet and kind to Felicity and she really didn't pay attention to Oliver in the room. "My name is Shirley and I'll be your nurse for the rest of the night, I've come to get you ready to move upstairs."

"Thanks Shirley, how long do I have to stay in here by the way?" Felicity asked, hoping the answer wasn't too long but she knew better than and that she probably would be in there for at least a week.

"I'm sorry Miss Smoak, I can't answer that for you. That's a question you'll have to ask the doctor, he'll be making his rounds early in the morning. Now let's get you up to your room." she unhooked the last machine and unlocked the bed wheels. She started to wheel Felicity out of the room, down the hall and into a huge elevator. Oliver behind the entire way.

They arrived at the room about five minutes later, she had a large private room on the fifth floor. Shirley got Felicity settled and hooked back up to all the machines, she checked over her bandages and cleaned the wounds which made Felicity wince a little, then put new bandages on the wounds and left Felicity in the room with Oliver.

They sat in silence for a while after the nurse left, Oliver didn't want to speak first so he waited Felicity out. She was fidgeting with her blanket and contemplating how she was going to address the last comment Oliver had said. "Oliver, I know you have the mindset that you have to protect everyone who is close to you and I respect that." he went to interrupt her, she held up her hand to stop him "I'm not finished. Now I understand where you are coming from with this protecting thing, but you have to give me a chance to do it for myself first. Can you do that for me?"

"Felicity, you don't have any training in fighting, how can I,"

"Train me then, teach me simple self-defense. That way if we are ever in the field again and problems arise I can protect myself and we won't be in a situation like this again." he didn't answer right away but she could tell he was thinking about what she just said "Oliver, I trust you more than anyone with my life, I can trust you to train me. Come on it would put your mind at rest a little when something else happens like this. Maybe not against someone like Slade, but against anyone else yeah. What do you say?"

"I'd say you are one stubborn women, but you are in no shape to train anytime soon."

"Thanks captain obvious, but once I'm healed can we agree that you will train me, Oliver?"

"I want you to be safe, and I want to protect you, but I know this is something that you need and I will do this for you but only after a doctor clears you of a full recovery, deal?"

There wasn't much to argue with there, he was giving her what she wanted so she had to accept it. "Deal."

"You look tired, why don't you sleep." she gave him a wary look and her understood what she meant by that look, "Don't worry, there will be someone here with you at all times, I'm here now so you can sleep." Felicity was indeed very tired and she trusted Oliver enough to allow herself to sleep for a couple of hours at least.

A/N: I know this chapter was a little short, but I have ideas for the other chapters and I feel that I needed to end this on at this point. There will definitely be more chapters so I'll try to update again as soon as I can. If anyone has ideas for future chapters let me know and I can try to fit them in. Thanks for reading.