A/N: Seeing as the Muse is somewhat in a good mood today I'm able to share a second chapter. Hope you like it.

The lair,

"Felicity!" the harsh sound made her flinch. Her eyes darted to Diggle who came down the stairs two at a time. "What was that about? I know you care about Oliver so why did you bail on him out there? Even if he's unconscious, he might feel your presence. Don't you think it would have been worth a try?" He loomed over her pointing an arm into the general direction of the hospital. He knew he was playing a risky game here but he had to try to make Felicity react. He'd seen her retreat into her shell, a completely out of character reaction for her. Somehow this time Oliver getting hurt had gotten through her protective walls, had hit her harder. So he decided he'd confront her and go with whatever reaction he'd get out of her.

Felicity stared back at him in shock mouth agape. Until now she hadn't ever been at the receiving end of his anger. This was usually reserved for Oliver when said Oliver had made some harsh decisions involving other people and forcing them to follow him not unlike the way he had recruited Diggle to the team. Her eyes started to water up and a heart-wrenching sob broke out of her chest.

In an instant he closed the distance between them and encircled her in a bear hug. A sigh escaped his lips as he felt his shirt getting damper by the minute. This had been easy, far more than he had expected it to be. Felicity could as easily have snapped at him as she did when Oliver was out of line. Her immediate surrender was a supplementary proof, if one needed one, that she wasn't her true self.

"He promised…"

The whisper almost escaped Diggle's attention. "What?" He frowned. What did she mean by that?

"That day… he promised me I would never lose him, when I admitted I was scared to lose someone that important to me…" Felicity felt the necessity to clarify in a small shaky voice.

"Oh, Felicity!" Diggle's arms encircled her harder when understanding hit him. She had finally realized she could very well lose Oliver to his quest. While Oliver seemed to have made peace with the fact that he might die trying to accomplish his goal, Felicity's subconscious must somehow have occulted it to protect her.

"You're not going to lose him." Dig didn't know it, but his words almost perfectly matched Oliver's, thus providing supplementary comfort. "If you hadn't stormed out early, you would have heard the doctor say they expect him to make a full recovery. If he gives it the proper time, but knowing that stubborn streak he has…" his voice trailed off. Felicity nodded taking a shaky breath.

"So not this time…" she couldn't finish her sentence, say the words. They felt so wrong to her as if they could become a reality only by voicing them.

"No, not this time… Probably never, if he can avoid it." He held her at arms length tilting her chin up to make her look him in the eyes. You know what he said to me recently? He argued that for the first time since a very long period, he felt he had something to lose. Believe me Felicity, he knows he has something to fight for, to live for…"

"But he always takes those crazy chances…." Felicity tried her best to argue.

"That's why we love him so much," was the immediate quip, deflating the sails of her argumentation instantly. Diggle's eyebrows rose at the absence of protest on the other side. It was a first. A smirk had appeared on Felicity's face. He felt the need to hug her once more.

"Thank you." She really meant it, felt grateful for her "big brother" and his looking out for her.

"Just promise me one thing…" The bodyguard asked his gaze sinking into hers.

"Yeah?" Felicity hesitantly said, not too sure about what was to come and that she would like what she was about to agree to.

"You'll come and visit him at the hospital?"

"I promise, I just… just give me some more time." She knew she could do this, but not at this moment. First she needed to regroup, to gather her energy and focus on the task Diggle had set her.

"Okay." Diggle pressed a kiss to her forehead and let her go. "I've to get back to the hospital. I kind of sneaked away to set up a private security detail upon Moira's orders while she fought with SCPD about proper protection measures."

"Ouch." Felicity drew out the last syllable pursing her lips. "Poor detective Lance."

"In fact it was his direct superior who had just chased him away under the pretence that a simple beat cop had not to meddle with real detective work."

"I feel so sorry for him." Felicity sighed.

"Who? Lance? I think he has made the right choice and now he's dealing with the consequences." Diggle said while walking up the stairs and out of the lair leaving Felicity to her thoughts. she stepped from the mats and to the case displaying the various types of arrows Oliver used during his missions. She let her fingers glide over them. Memories resurfaced suddenly…

"My buddy Steve is really into archery … apparently it's all sort of a rage now…"

"I don't know why ... looks utterly ridiculous to me…"

"Hmmh …"

She had to smirk at that thought. She still felt embarrassed at her reaction and her body reacted promptly making her cheeks turn a nice shade of pink. God! What he must have thought! How did she manage to always say the worst things at the worst possible moment? To her excuse at that time she didn't know it was The Hood standing in front of her. He hadn't been vexed or she was sure she would have made the acquaintance with one of his green-penned arrows. She sat down in her swivelling chair and turned looking around her. This was Oliver's safe haven and it had become hers too gradually.

It was true though; she always had seen archery as an absurd activity. That was until she had met The Arrow and seen him at work. Suddenly everything bathed in a new light, made sense. She saw the use of a bow and an arrow differently. It was no longer something to play with, a "sport". It had morphed into a means to restore justice. Even if she wasn't supporting the killing part completely, she had tried to see his point of view. Diggle was right, Oliver was relying on her, and he needed her. The roles were reversed for once. With that idea she caught her purse with her tablet and set out.