AN: This chapter is as good as it is in large part to JamesRamsey, my amazing beta, who put in a lot of hard work editing this chapter and helping me organize my thoughts! Thank you! You're amazing!

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Chapter 7

"So anything I should know before we go in there?" Oliver asked as they sat in the car, neither having dared to break the silence. "I mean besides what Roy was saying."

Felicity let out a breath and turned to look at the house in front of her.

"Nope, Roy pretty much summed it up." He knew she was discouraged. She hadn't said a word since they left the motel and that worried him. Oliver wasn't used to being near Felicity without her talking about something.

"You sure that's it?" He asked as he kept his gazed fixed on her profile.

"Yep," She popped her 'p' before taking a deep breath.

He noted that she had yet to reach for the door handle so he made no move either. He was willing to wait with her as long as she needed. He was even willing to wait it out in silence, however disconcerting it was. From the day they met, Oliver knew that Felicity was special.

She always seemed to know when he was telling a lie but didn't call him out on it. She even took the fact that he told her the truth while bleeding out in the backseat of her car very well. Felicity wasn't afraid to challenge him and he loved that about her. Felicity had a kind heart and was able to see the good in a person, which was a trait that he had lost during his years on the island. Oliver was continually amazed at how brave she was – the only person in their little team without years of training or a reason to fight besides it being the right thing. To him, Felicity was amazing.

"I can go in alone you know," she told him without turning her head to look at him.

"You really don't want me to meet your mother, do you?" Oliver joked in an effort to lighten the mood.

Felicity turned and raised her eyebrows in challenge. "Do you really want to meet my mother?"

"Well I think after all this time it would be nice to meet your mom and see childhood photos of little Felicity," he joked but when he saw it was having no effect he sobered. "Come on, we talked about this."

"Yeah, but I just keep thinking about how awful I was about … your mom." She ended in a whisper.

Oliver wasn't sure how to respond. Sure his mother and Felicity weren't best friends but Felicity never once said anything about his mother that wasn't true. No matter what his mother did, Felicity had been fair in her judgment. Felicity even showed up to his mother's funeral when Moira had been nothing but hostile towards her. Granted their history wasn't the best, but he never doubted that both women cared for him.

"Your mom, no matter what she did in her life, I mean mass homicide is pretty drastic although she was kind of coerced into that, and she could be really scary…" Felicity trailed off at the expectant look on Oliver's face. "Your mom loved you and Thea … more than her own life. I'm pretty sure my mom would sell me for a decent high right about now." Felicity finished with her eyes downcast.

Felicity was right, about his mother at least. Moira's final act had proven infinitely just how much she loved her children, and put into action what she had assured them all their lives. She died knowing her kids knew without a doubt that her love for them was real when so many things about their relationships had been lies and half-truths. To hear Felicity speak in such a way that belittled the love her mother must have for her made him ache.

This was Felicity. Strong, smart, beautiful, amazing Felicity. How could anyone not love her? She never let him give up and stuck by his side through everything. She jumped out of an airplane to bring him home, trusted him with her life so many times, and never once left him. Oliver admired her for that courage.

"I think sitting in this car all night isn't going to find us answers," he murmured as he reached over to gently squeeze her shoulder. "How about we go up to the door and just try?"

Felicity seemed to consider his offer before nodding her head and moving to unbuckle her seatbelt.

"Just remember that I warned you," she muttered as they exited the car.

"I'll take that into consideration." He gave her a smile over the hood of the car.

He didn't know what to expect on the other side of the front door but he knew he could at least provide Felicity with support. She had been supporting him since they first met and now it was his turn to show her that he was strong enough to help her. Ever since Slade's take down, he and Felicity had been growing closer. While Roy had secured the spot on Felicity's couch, Oliver had been working to prove to himself, and Felicity, that he could have a life outside of being the Arrow.

The first three months after the battle were filled with the massive cleanup for all areas of the city as well as recovery for those injured in the attacks. Detective Lance had been admitted to the hospital with severe internal injuries but had pulled through after a twelve hour surgery, three months in the hospital and then a physical rehabilitation center. Laurel had taken the interim position of District Attorney while sitting in a hospital waiting room as the doctors worked on her father, with Oliver and Felicity the only witnesses to the call.

Oliver believed that day in the hospital was when Laurel began to look at Felicity differently. The two women never really spoke outside of a few instances, and here Felicity was offering to get Laurel food while she waited, or asking if she needed anything.

Soon after, Laurel and Felicity began going to self-defense classes together or going for coffee, much to Roy's displeasure. At first Oliver found it a bit disconcerting as well, but after seeing Felicity come into the lair one night with a smile and her eyes seemingly glued to her phone he brought up the new change in her demeanor.

"I'm just texting Laurel." Felicity responded to his question about her new habit of glancing at her phone. "There's a wine tasting at the art museum tomorrow night that we're going to try to go to."

Oliver heard Roy's scoff on the other side of the training mats followed quickly by the sound of Diggle knocking Roy off his feet with a bo staff.

"Since when are you and Laurel friends?" Oliver asked with arms folded across his chest.

Felicity smirked and cocked her head to the side.

"Since when is it an issue for me to have friends outside of you three?" Felicity asked in a teasing tone. "Or is it because my choice of friends includes your ex-girlfriend?"

"It's not." Oliver tried to defend himself as he heard Roy and Diggle halt their movements. "And it's just that you and Laurel don't really have much in common."

"Oh please, if there were ever two people that had something in common it would be them, the ex and the missus," Roy snorted.

Oliver turned to give Roy a frustrated glare, catching Diggle holding back his own chuckle, before returning to Felicity who seemed to struggle with her composure as well.

"I only asked because you and Laurel never really talked." Oliver told her after taking a breath.

Felicity shrugged. "She appreciated that I was there with her when her father was in the hospital. Last year's drug and alcohol debacle put her on the outs with a lot of her friends, and I don't have a lot of female friends. So we bonded. It's also nice to have a life outside of … here." She gestured aimlessly to their surroundings.

Oliver nodded while Roy and Diggle resumed their actions on the training mat. Felicity gave him one more smile before turning back to her computers. So she wanted a life outside of here, the lair, the mission.

He didn't blame her. How could he? Having a life outside of being the Arrow was becoming a secret desire of his, but if anyone found out who he was then his friends would be at risk – Felicity would be in danger. If the past year confronting Slade had been any indication of what the fallout would look like then the people in Oliver's life would be better off this way.

Still he couldn't help himself from wanting it. Wanting, her.

Later that night when he got back to his new, unfurnished apartment only two blocks south of Diggle's, he pulled up the art museum's website and looked into the event. It was a charity wine tasting for the re-construction efforts—something the Queen name should be associated with if he wanted help getting the company back. This would be good publicity.

He talked it over with Walter, who had supplied sage advice during the past three months of working to get his company back. Walter had become a trusted advisor in the world of business and was immediately on board with the idea. Oliver found himself trusting people in a way that had been nearly impossible when he first returned from the island.

When he first returned to Starling City he had been so focused on the list and righting his father's wrongs. Letting people in had not been a luxury that the new Oliver wanted or could afford. The person that he had become over the course of those five years away was not someone who wanted or needed anyone else's help. He knew in his gut that he could save the city on his own.

At least that's what he thought at the time. First, he had let Diggle in on the truth and then he found himself going back to the same IT specialist multiple times. Dig and Felicity were the first two people that he had in all honesty let into his life after he came home. There were too many secrets among the Queen family, too much bad blood with the Lance family, and as much as he loved Tommy he couldn't connect with the person he had become. They had all expected him to be the same belligerent party boy he had been when he got on that yacht – Ollie.

Felicity and Diggle challenged him and came to accept him as the person he was in the now. They were the ones responsible for helping to bring back the humanity he had lost when he was stranded on Lian Yu. He wanted to prove to them he wasn't a lost cause and that their faith was placed in the right person. Oliver wanted to show them that he could leave the island, and those subsequent years, behind him and grow into a new person – a better person. Oliver wanted to be the person they saw when they looked at him.

Oliver planned to surprise Felicity at the event, give her his patented Oliver Queen (former) billionaire smile while others looked on before they snuck away from the crowd. He wanted to give her a normal night where they could discuss some of the local artists, laugh at the way the rich of Starling City still paraded around like peacocks, and sip on red wine that would forever remind them of this night. He also had hoped to leave Diggle at home. Oliver wasn't worth much these days lowering the chances that anyone would want to harm or kidnap the Oliver Queen for ransom. But Diggle insisted they keep up appearances.

When the two men walked into the museum Oliver spotted her straight away. Felicity stood off to the side, laughing into her wine glass, while Laurel looked to be explaining something about the painting before them. She looked at ease—comfortable in her navy, cocktail-length dress with electric blue nails that he could see clear across the room. She wasn't wearing her glasses and her hair was in loose curls, similar to the night they caught the Dodger.

As Oliver stared at her from the main entrance he was very aware of the fact that she took his breath away, literally. Felicity was always beautiful, but to see her outside of work or the lair, happy with friends and not in danger, he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he wanted this. He wanted to have a normal life so he could take her to these events, sit at home on a Friday night watching bad television while she tried to re-educate him on all that he missed, making her late for work because he just couldn't get enough of her … he wanted it all.

Standing in front of her mother's house now, he wondered if they would ever have that "normal" life. This had been the most normal thing they had done in months and it was still, as Felicity said, complicated and messy. It was a dangerous situation and for once had nothing to do with the Arrow. Would they ever have a normal?

"Hey, you can wait in the car, you know?" Felicity nudged his shoulder as it was his turn to stop and stare at the house in front of them. "You don't have to go in and meet her."

"I told you." He turned to look her in the eye, putting his earlier thoughts about a normal life for the two of them into that one look. "I'm not going anywhere."

Felicity gave an un-lady like snort. "Your funeral." She muttered as they began their walk up the path.

Oliver found himself reaching down to take hold of her in a show of support.

He kept hold of her much smaller hand clasped in his own rough one while they waited for Vivienne Smoak to answer the door. He assumed she didn't mind this sudden act of care as she didn't say otherwise and didn't fight to remove it from his grasp. It was just one more example of how much their relationship had evolved.

Felicity could hear the sounds of someone on the other side of the door fumbling through the house. While she and Roy had been in there earlier she noticed that her mother had gotten messier over the years, or maybe it was Felicity that had kept the house clean, she wasn't sure. Either way it hadn't stopped Felicity from trying to clean the kitchen up while she had been getting them all water.

Felicity glanced up at Oliver out of the corner of her eye. When he had grabbed her hand she hadn't really given it a second thought. It wasn't like they usually held hands, but it still felt normal when he had done it. She was used to being the one to initiate the occasional hugs after high intensity moments, or taking hold of his hand when he was in need of comfort. This was new. What made it feel a little less normal, was that he hadn't let go. He continued to hold her hand as they walked up the path and while they waited for her mother to answer the door.

She wasn't stupid. She knew that for the past five months they had been growing closer to each other. It started with re-locating the lair and then continued while she helped him look for Thea. They spent more time together just the two of them. Roy had been a loose cannon when they first returned from Lian Yu, before she was able to reach him. Diggle had been finding more reasons to turn in early so that he could spend time with Lyla, rightfully so. That often left the two of them alone.

They frequently shared stories about college, her with MIT and him with … a lot of them. She felt that he knew her better than Roy and Diggle ever could. Sure Roy knew what cereal she stockpiled in the cabinets and what TV shows she watched when she was stressed out after a long day of vigilante/hero crime fighting, but Oliver knew how to stop her from going on a tangent with just a touch.

Diggle knew how she liked her coffee, but Oliver knew when she was too tired to function without it.

Felicity wasn't even sure if Oliver was aware of how well he knew her.

"Felicity?" Her mother's voice broke her from her thoughts of Oliver, causing her to squeeze his hand a little tighter as Vivienne's eyes raked over Felicity, Oliver, and their joined hands. "And another man?"

Felicity glanced at Oliver before looking back at her mother.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say you were following in my footsteps." Vivienne stood in the door way with a smug smirk on her face and a lowball glass of what Felicity assumed was Vodka in her hand.

"You never brought men home," Felicity stated in confusion as she chose to ignore the not so subtle dig.

Vivienne shrugged her shoulders before crossing her arms over her chest. Felicity could feel Oliver tense beside her. "Just because I didn't bring them home didn't mean that there were none."

Felicity held back a shudder as Oliver gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"So, who is this one?" Vivienne let out a sigh as her eyes scanned Oliver, standing tense and at alert beside her daughter.

"This is Oliver, my friend," Felicity announced. "Can we come in?"

Vivienne shrugged her shoulders before moving from the doorway to let them in. Felicity gradually released Oliver's hand as she followed her mother into the house. It looked even worse than the last time she was here. There was still shattered glass on the living room carpet from where the bullets came through the now empty space where the window used to be. Felicity also saw piles of clothes on the couch as well as a nearly empty bottle of Vodka.

"What do you want now?" Vivienne bit out, although Felicity heard the underlying fear in her tone.

"We came to get more information on Johnnie so we could help," Felicity said in frustration. "I want to help you."

Oliver moved to stand beside Felicity, seemingly not trusting the woman in front of him or the house itself to leave her too far from his protective reach.

"You want to help me?" Vivienne let out a mocking laugh, taking two steps forward so she was only a foot away from her daughter.

That close Felicity could see the sadness and fear in her mother's eyes that she hadn't seen earlier. It was the kind that formed over years of abandonment issues and resentments.

Vivienne shook her head as if the idea was funny. "Go home. Get as far away from here as you can."

"Mom …" Felicity felt the urge to stomp her foot as her mother once again tried to turn her away, but instead brought a hand to her forehead where she felt a subtle throb begin to form.

"Felicity Meghan Smoak you are supposed to be God damned genius! So get out!" Vivienne threw her arms up in frustration before turning to run a hand through her hair. "Why won't you leave? Why won't you listen to me? Are you really that stupid?"

"She's here to help you because you asked her to come," Oliver gritted out between clenched teeth. "You are her mother and you asked for her help. If you knew anything about your daughter you would know she doesn't leave anyone behind, no matter how they treat her."

Felicity turned to glance his way. She hadn't expected him to speak up during their meeting with her mother. Felicity knew he meant the words, they were partners, but she also knew not to read too much into it.

"So this is the boyfriend. I have to admit I like him a whole lot better than Pretty Boy earlier." A Cheshire cat style grin was slowly forming on Vivienne's face as she moved to reach for the nearly empty bottle of Vodka.

Felicity rolled her eyes at her mother. "Oliver is not my boyfriend." Felicity sensed him shift on his feet as she said the words.

"Oh, sweetie," Vivienne cooed while she poured the remaining liquid into her glass. "That's what they all say."

"We came for information." Oliver was all business, but Felicity could see that he was struggling to remain calm. "Who is this Johnnie guy, and what's the name of his casino?"

Vivienne shook her head before turning to the window that overlooked the street. Felicity didn't understand why her mother was being so stubborn. She called her here to help her and now she either kept trying to get her to leave or wouldn't say anything. Felicity knew her mother could be difficult but she was entering a whole new level. For all of Vivienne's faults growing up, she had never treated Felicity like this.

"Mom … please," Felicity tried as she took a step towards her.

Felicity watched as her mother's smug smile began to droop at the edges and her eyes cleared of their spite.

"Did you know that when you were little you used to take apart the appliances in the house just so that you could put them back together?" Vivienne spoke softly without looking at either guest. "When I would find you, I would get so upset that I would send you to your room as punishment." Felicity nodded at the memory. "You were so amazed at how things worked, so curious because you hated the mystery of it."

"I'm still like that, mom." Felicity moved to stand beside her mother while using a calming tone.

"You shouldn't be." Vivienne turned to face her daughter, a frown on her face and a real sadness in her eyes. For the first time since Felicity got to Vegas she was finally seeing the mother that she had grown up with. "That curiosity is going to get you killed."

"Then why did you call me here?" Felicity asked in frustration. She felt like all they were going were going around in circles.

Vivienne shook her head again, as if the slight lucidity she was feeling was beginning to wear off.

"Johnnie doesn't have a last name, at least none that stay the same." She closed her eyes as she spoke and began to pick at her pant leg with trembling fingers. It was as if she was searching for the answers that had been clouded by the years of drug abuse. "The casino is north of downtown, on Owens. It's heavily armed and only people who know where it is can get in. The entrance is hidden, it's a false door with a security camera that tells the guard on duty who you are."

Vivienne turned from her spot at the window and once again moved to the couch. Felicity watched as her mother began moving the piles of clothes around and searching the pockets she came across.

"How does the guard know who you are?" Oliver stepped forward when Felicity didn't respond. "Is there a code we need to know?"

Vivienne shook her head again without looking up. "No, it's a bracelet that all the members wear. I have one in my bedroom." Vivienne jerked her head in the direction of her bedroom but didn't stop searching.

Felicity turned to look at Oliver who nodded in agreement - they could do this like the other casino job. The plan was starting to form.

"I'll text Dig and Roy," Oliver told her as he raised his cell phone to show her.

"Mom, can we use the bracelet?" Felicity asked her mother.

She wasn't sure where this sudden compliance came from, but if they were going to help Vivienne then Felicity needed to get as much cooperation as she could now while she was still willing.

"It's in my room," Vivienne told her with a huff as she sat on the couch. Whatever she had been searching for in the clothes wasn't there. "In the jewelry box on the night stand. It looks like a gold semi-circle; it's the only gold jewelry I have. We all get them when we start working but they're all the same."

Felicity reached out to squeeze her mother's hand, gaining her a sad smile in return. Vivienne then turned away while bringing her hand up to rub her weary face, leaving Felicity to get the bracelet.

"Felicity …" Her mother called out from the couch, causing Felicity to turn and Oliver to raise his head. "Never mind," she said as she furrowed her brow and shook her head almost as if she were conflicted.

Felicity raised her eyebrows to show her confusion before giving Oliver a nod of approval, signaling that she was ok while he sent the message to John. The house wasn't that large, but Felicity still had to walk down a carpeted hallway to get to her mother's room. The box in question was in plain view, right on the bedside table, like her mother said. She let out a breath in relief; this was finally all coming together.

Felicity had barely stepped into the room when she noticed the window in her mother's room, which did not have any bars likely due to its height from the ground, was open. Ever since Slade had come to Starling City she had found herself becoming more aware of her surroundings, and while an open window wouldn't normally alarm her especially as she was in someone else's house, this time it did.

Before she could turn to leave the room, Felicity found two thick arms encircling her, effectively covering her mouth and securing her arms tightly to her sides. The swell of panic rose in her chest as she began to jerk her body in an effort to wiggle out of the stranger's grasp while trying to give out a muffled scream to alert Oliver in the other room.

As the man restraining her pushed them further into the room, kicking the door shut behind them she knew it couldn't have been Oliver for two reasons. Reason number one was Oliver wouldn't intentionally scare her—he would give her a clue it was him. And reason number two was she knew Oliver's arms, and in an unashamed they-were-always-out-in-the-open kind of way, she was very familiar with them.

Felicity continued to struggle with a new attempt at throwing her head backwards in hopes of hitting her captor, just like Diggle taught her. She didn't hit anything but air as she felt him move his own head to the side missing her attempt at freedom. The arm wrapped around her arms and waist seemed to only get tighter as she struggled. Without thinking she worked her mouth enough to grasp the rough skin covering her mouth and bit down hard. Sure she only got the palm of the man's hand, but it was enough for him to yelp in surprise and loosen his hold.

Those few seconds when the man behind her was recovering from his shock was enough for her to reclaim her senses and remember the training that Oliver and Diggle had been putting her through almost relentlessly for the past two years. Stomping her foot on her opponent's foot caused him to shift his weight and loosen his hold even further.

With strength she didn't believe she would really have in a fight, as she always assumed that Oliver and Diggle went a little easy on her, she managed to flip her opponent over her back. The man landed in front of her with a thud, taking her with him.

The movement was enough to get herself free from his hold and allowed her to begin to crawl away from him and towards the door. She didn't make it far when it was flung open, hitting the wall with a loud bang.

That was sure to crack the drywall, which she knew was an odd thing for her to be thinking at the moment.

Oliver was like a propelled force, entering the room with only a slight glance in Felicity's direction. The man who had grabbed her was pushed up against the wall in a matter of seconds while she moved out of the way of the scuffle.

Now that she was in front of the man she noted he was taller than Oliver and definitely more muscular. He wasn't wearing a mask which led her to believe that his intentions hadn't been simply to grab her mother's costume jewelry and head to the pawn shop. While he was bigger, Oliver was demonstrating his own strength and skill as he jabbed his fist into the man's stomach, causing him to double over. But he didn't stay down long. Using his advantage, he rushed at Oliver's midsection with enough force to pin him to the wall.

Without thinking, Felicity reached for the item closest to her. Yanking hard on the lamp's cord she rushed over to where the man delivered another punch to Oliver's abdomen. The lamp shattered as Felicity threw it at close range to the back of the man's head, the light socket making a slight 'thud' as it hit his skull.

It would have been too good to be true for that to have done any damage, Felicity thought to herself as the man turned his head to glance in her direction. He looked annoyed, but not overly bothered. It was however a good enough distraction for Oliver to use his own weight to shove the man off of him and across the room once more. Felicity jumped back out of the way so that she stumbled over the corner of her mother's bed and in front of the open doorway.

Just as Oliver was about to charge the man in front of him they heard three gun shots coming from the hallway. Oliver had enough time to calculate Felicity's position as being in prime range before he threw himself in her direction-knocking her off her feet and to the floor.

While Oliver was heavier than Roy, who performed the same action only hours earlier, Felicity didn't feel the weight. She looked up to see Oliver tense above her with all his weight on his knees and his elbows, effectively caging her underneath him protectively. The deep breaths he was taking caused his abdomen to brush lightly against her own as she waited for the next hit to come.

Oliver lifted his head first and then his upper body to get a clear view of the room. His mouth turned into a deeper frown while his brows lifted in confusion. She pushed herself into a sitting position, with his legs still straddling her hips, and found what had him perplexed. The room was empty.