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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Arrow or any of it's characters or anything that is or may be affiliated with it or them.

Chapter 8

Need

Felicity woke up once again wrapped up in Oliver's arms and couldn't have been happier. Even in the midst of everything that was happening, she couldn't find it in herself to get wrapped up in the worry of her situation. She had complete confidence in Oliver, even when he didn't have any in himself. They were going to find Zytle and they were going to take him down once and for all so they never had to deal with Vertigo again. Felicity couldn't resist reaching up and brushing the back of her hand across Oliver's face. She had never felt a constant need to touch someone the way she did with Oliver. She supposed it had something to do with always wanting to make sure he was whole, and safe, and with her. Seeing him sleeping was a strange sensation for Felicity. She knew he not only had trouble sleeping, but that when he did he was an extremely light sleeper. She couldn't believe that her touch hadn't woken him up. He actually sighed in his sleep and pushed his face into her hand. She couldn't help the smile that lit up her face at the significance of the movement, of the whole situation. Felicity sighed as she realized that no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't lie in bed all day with Oliver. It took her a good ten minutes to get out of the bed increments at a time so she wouldn't wake him, but she did it. She looked down at him with a smile before grabbing the clothes Diggle had dropped off for her a few nights before. She decided to use Thea's bathroom, not wanting to push her luck on letting Oliver sleep.

Felicity knocked lightly on Thea's door, knowing the young girl slept into the late afternoon sometimes, depending on how late she had stayed at the club the night before. If she didn't answer, Felicity was sure there were more than enough bathrooms in the house she could use. Before she could contemplate which way to go down the hallway in search of another bathroom, Thea opened the door and smiled at the sight of Felicity in one of her brother's shirts and a pair of her own shorts this time.

"Morning, Lis." She said with a smile.

"Thea. I'm really sorry to wake you. I just didn't want to risk using the bathroom off Oliver's room because I was surprisingly able to sneak out of his bed this morning without waking him up and didn't want to push my luck." Felicity said in a rush.

"So you need to use my bathroom? Sure. I would say you don't even have to ask because you are more than welcome to anything of mine, but I wouldn't want you walking in on something that could scar you for life. I definitely don't want to walk in on you and Ollie. Ever." Thea finished with a grimace.

"Oh, I would never just come in your room without knocking. Or use your stuff without asking first. And I certainly don't want to walk in on you and Roy doing anything. Not that you two together is awful or anything. I just don't want to see it. And Oliver and I would never do anything in front of you. I'm going to stop now and use your bathroom." Felicity finished with a blush spreading across her face.

"Yeah." Thea laughed out.

"Speaking of, where is Roy?" Felicity questioned.

"He is off dealing with some of my investors for me. Gotta love having your boyfriend as your Co owner." Thea said with a smirk. That caused Felicity to pause for a moment.

"Co owner? I thought he was just your assistant manager?"

"He was. Until we signed the paperwork yesterday making him co owner of the club. So now, half the place is his." Thea said matter of factly.

"Wow! Thea, that's huge! That's a big step for the two of you and I'm so happy for you. I think it will work out great for you." Felicity hugged Thea.

"Yeah. Roy is nervous about telling Ollie for some reason though so don't say anything yet, okay?" Thea asked.

"I will do my best, but I warn you that not only am I a horrible liar, but I couldn't hide anything from Oliver for the world. Not for long, anyway." Felicity told her.

"Well, I guess that just means Roy will have to hurry up and tell him sooner rather than later. Speaking of congratulations, I hear they are in order for you and Ollie too. He's being reinstated as CEO and mom and Walter are making you his Vice President? That's a pretty big deal." Thea smiled.

"It's not quite official yet, but I've been informed that's the plan. I have to actually go in this morning and sit down with Walter."

"Yeah, mom said he came back into the city a few days ago." Thea said thoughtfully.

"He and your mom had been speaking a lot over the phone the past few months. Do you think they are going to be okay?" Felicity wasn't trying to pry, she just genuinely wanted both of them to be happy.

"I think they are slowly making their way to being okay. I know mom really loves Walter, and I think he loves her too. It's just a question of whether or not he can forgive her and the two of them can move past this." Thea said slowly.

"You have become pretty wise, Thea Queen." Felicity complimented.

"Well I owe it to my IT Specialist slash soon to be Vice President best friend. Now go take your shower and meet me downstairs. We can have breakfast together and maybe I can drop you off at QC on my way to Verdant?" Thea asked.

"Sounds amazing. I won't be long." Felicity turned and walked into Thea's bathroom.

Felicity walked into the dining room and was surprised to see Moira still there. She was reading the paper and having light conversation with Thea. She put her paper down when Felicity walked into the room and gave her a warm smile.
"Morning, dear. Have a seat." Moira motioned to the chair next to her, and opposite Thea.

"Morning, Moira." Felicity was surprised that there was none of the awkwardness she had expected.

"Is Ollie really still sleeping?" Thea said in disbelief.

"Uhm, yeah. He has been sleeping a lot better the past few weeks." Felicity tried to make that statement as normal sounding as possible.
"Hmm, I wonder why that is." Thea said with her signature smirk.

"Thea." Moira warned lightly.

"I'm just saying, obviously there is something significant when after three years of not being able to sleep for more than like two hours at a time, Ollie suddenly sleeps all night." Thea said.

"Well, I can't disagree that Felicity obviously calms him." Moira said properly. She then turned to Felicity as Raisa brought out a plate of eggs and toast and set it in front of the surprised blonde.

"I told Raisa that's what you liked." Thea smiled as she dug into her own breakfast of the same.

"Thank you Thea. And thank you very much, Raisa." Felicity offered the older woman a warm smile that was returned in full force.

"You are very welcome, miss Felicity." Raisa patted her shoulder as she made her way back to the kitchen.

"So, Felicity, Thea was just telling me that the two of you were going to ride to QC together on Thea's way to Verdant?" Moira asked her.

"Yes. I'm sure Oliver or John won't mind stopping by and picking me up, later." Felicity answered.

"Well, what would you think of the two of you joining me? Walter would like me to sit in on the meeting this morning, so I have to go as well. We may as well all go together." Moira had almost a hesitant edge to her voice, which Felicity knew must be a new and strange feeling for the usually confident and capable woman.
"That sounds great. As long as Thea is okay with it as well?" Felicity looked to the younger girl in question.

"Absolutely. Perfect mother-daughters bonding time." Thea quipped, earning her a glare from both Moira and Felicity.

The girls all finished their breakfasts and got ready to leave. Felicity felt guilty for not letting Oliver know where she was going, but she didn't want to send him a text message and wake him up. He really needed to catch up on his sleep after all of the late nights at the Foundry they had been pulling. She knew how stressed out he was about the Zytle and Vertigo situation, and would do whatever it took to keep him healthy and at his best. So she did the next best thing, she left him a note on the kitchen table.

Oliver,

I went in to QC with your mom and Thea. I have a meeting with Walter and your mother about the Vice President situation this morning. I didn't want to wake you because I know how difficult it is for you to sleep, which is also why I didn't text you and am leaving you this note. Just let me know when you are up and around and maybe we can do lunch and you can come pick me up from QC? If not, that's fine. Just let me know and I will call John.

Love,
Felicity

Felicity had really hesitated on writing love at the bottom of the letter, especially because Thea was looking over her shoulder the entire time, but she figured what the hell. She and Oliver had already said the words to each other and she was never taking them back. She would say them to him as often as possible and would never get tired of hearing the words come out of his mouth. She turned towards the door to see Thea with a grin on her face that added a whole new meeting to the phrase "grinning from ear to ear".

"You guys are so adorable. I love it!" Thea enthused on their way out the door. Felicity just shook her head and walked out behind the two Queen women.

Oliver woke up suddenly with a gasp. He shook his head to clear the nightmare from his mind and blindly reached out for Felicity. His eyes opened fully and his head whipped around towards the other side of the bed when he realized his girlfriend was no longer in it with him. He tried to tamp down the instant panic that he felt from not only waking up alone, but from the fact that she had obviously been able to sneak out of bed without him moving a muscle. He looked towards the bathroom and felt the panic clawing it's way to the surface when it became obvious that she wasn't in there. Oliver hurried out of bed and crossed the hall to his sister's room with a frantic knock. After a moment of not hearing anything coming from the other side of the door, Oliver pushed it open and searched the bathroom as well, still coming up empty. Oliver hurried back to his room to grab his cell phone on his way down the stairs, checking to see if Felicity had left him a text or voice mail letting him know where she was. He groaned in fear and frustration when not only had she not left him anything, but she wasn't answering her phone, either. He left her a voice mail demanding she call him as soon as she received it and a text message saying the same. He was still holding out hope that she would be in the dining room with his mother or Thea, or in the kitchen with Raisa. Oliver was panting by the time he reached the dining room and saw that not only was Felicity not around but neither was his sister or mother. He took calming breaths and tried to assure himself he was overreacting but it wasn't helping. That's when Raisa came walking out of the kitchen, obviously preparing for her morning ritual of cleaning the house.
"Raisa! Have you seen Felicity?" Oliver couldn't tamp the panic down.

"Yes, Oliver. She left with Thea and your mother. I believe they were headed to the office, but I am not positive. Miss Felicity left you a note." Raisa gave him a reassuring smile as she pointed to he paper he had missed on the dining table. Oliver took a deep breath and held it in for a moment before letting it out harshly. This was why he tried so hard to stay focused, because when he let his panic get the best of him, he missed obvious things like the note on the table. He needed to learn to have a little more faith in Felicity. Faith that she wouldn't just take off on him without telling him exactly where she was and what she was doing. Especially not when there were situations like the one they were in. Most of the panic ebbed away as the remainder of it formed into anger. Anger that she would go anywhere without him when someone had a contract out on her life. Oliver tried to calm himself so he could read the note. Sure enough, she had headed into the office with his mother and sister. Oliver felt some of the anger subsiding when he read that she wanted him to pick her up and take her to lunch. Even more so when he read the send off at the end of the letter. He would never get sick of hearing her say those words to him. Oliver decided that he would shower and then call her and would indeed pick her up for lunch when she was done with her meeting.

Thea and Felicity were both laughing at a story Moira was telling them about when Oliver was little and all of the trouble he would get into. They were enjoying the ride to the office when Felicity noticed the driver tensing up out of the corner of her eye. She got that weird feeling again as the hair on the back of her neck stood up. Moira must have noticed the tension in Felicity because she reached out and wrapped her hand around Felicity's wrist gently.

"Felicity, dear are you alright?" Moira asked, concerned.

"Something's not right." Felicity answered.

"What are you talking about?" Thea asked, scared.

"Ladies, I'm going to need you to put your seat belts on immediately." The driver, Jason, asked them. They had taken the SUV that morning and were all sitting in the back seat freely. They began to attempt scrambling into their belts when Felicity saw that they were heading straight into the woods, off the road as Jason struggled to turn the wheel. Everything seemed like it was happening in slow motion as Felicity saw the point of impact would be where Thea was sitting. With a quick glance to be sure Moira was buckled and on the other side of the car, Felicity unbuckled herself and dove at Thea. The young girl shrieked in surprise as Felicity ripped her seat belt off and threw her to the floor, throwing herself on top of her as sounds of the car scraping trees could be heard. There was another, heavier crash as Felicity felt herself being flung against the door as the SUV must have overturned and then there was nothing.