As his eyes slowly opened and he found blue eyes staring back at him, he felt relief. Reaching out, he pulled her closer to him. He let out a sigh and was immediately groaning at how lousy he felt. He'd given two units of blood and he was seriously feeling it right now. Immediately, he noticed the change in her face. "Hey," he whispered hoarsely as he reached out to take her face in his hands. "You're okay…"

"Are you?" Felicity questioned, her voice breaking and her eyes searching his.

Ray stared at her. Felicity had always been one to worry and to want to take care of people, it was one of the things that he loved about her. So, her worrying about him right now wasn't something that was unexpected. "Yeah," he whispered. "Though, I think we need to call Doctor Wallace." She seemed to move quickly, trying to do it immediately, but he held onto her. "No…just wait a minute…"

"Ray—"

"Did you sleep?"

She bit her bottom lip and as he waited, he already knew the answer before she spoke it. "No." She looked pale, almost sickly, and there were dark circles under her eyes. "I couldn't," she whispered as tears formed in her eyes. "I was too worried that you'd stop breathing…or…or something would happen…and I wouldn't know—"

"Okay," he whispered and pulled her to his chest. He let out a sigh. Ray could understand that worry. In her place, he would have been up all night, holding her in his arms and listening to each breath, feeling for each beat of her heart. He kissed the top of her head. "We're okay, Felicity… I promise…"

"Can I call the doctor now?" she asked as she held onto him.

Ray sighed. One thing about being Ray Palmer and being such a big figure in Star City along with all the money was having a doctor on duty. "We need to have him bring at least a unit of blood—"

"But I took TWO last night," Felicity told him as she peeked up at him.

"People give a unit every day at blood donation things…I should be fine with just one, right?" Ray asked. He wasn't absolutely sure about it, but it sounded right to him. As soon as she moved, he pushed back covers and started to sit up and swing his feet until they hit the floor.

"What are you doing?!" Felicity asked as she scrambled to his side with the phone in hand. "You need to be laying down."

It wasn't exactly the best plan. Ray felt light headed and nauseous and just not so great. He covered his face and could feel Felicity holding onto him. "I can't stay in this bed all day…"

"You can until the doctor looks at you and says that you are okay to leave the bed."

Ray sighed. "What about the bathroom?"

"I'll get you there," Felicity offered as she got up.

Ray really wasn't too thrilled about this, but he wasn't going to fight with Felicity about this. She was being cautious and if he hadn't been so sick feeling, then he'd not normally understand. But he DID feel horrible.

Slowly, he helped her to the bathroom. He felt silly and odd. He wasn't used to being an invalid. Even when his leg had been broken after the siege on Starling City and the death of Anna, Ray had pushed himself. It was hard for him to be vulnerable like this, to depend on someone else. He was always the one that everyone depended on. He was always the strong one. Being weak was not something that he liked, especially when he had so much in his life.

Concern about Felicity and the girls were top in his mind. There was what Felicity had told him and their guest on their fold out couch that he had been mulling over, which he knew had to have been a lot for Felicity to deal with emotionally. He was worried about her and he didn't feel like he needed to be the one being tended to. Ray just desperately wanted to be able to fuss over his wife and make sure that she was okay, really okay. Then there were the older three girls, they'd seen far too much the day before. The idea of possibly needing to put them into counseling came to mind, but he was fairly sure that he and Felicity needed to at least sit down and talk to them at the very least.

"Go ahead and call the doctor," Ray said as he held himself upright with the assistance of the wall. He really didn't need Felicity standing right there while he did what he needed to do in the bathroom. They didn't even both brush their teeth while in the bathroom together. He liked to think that still having mystery in marriage was a good thing.

It was clear that Felicity was uneasy. "I—"

"I'll yell and then you'll hear a loud thud if I need help," Ray told her with a smile. Felicity really didn't seem amused by that comment. "I PROMISE I'm going to be okay in here alone for five minutes," Ray said slowly and took her hand in his. "Just call him and let him know to bring the blood."

"Should I tell him why?" Felicity asked.

It was a good question, but Ray felt like there was very little chance that their doctor was going to actually ask that. "No need to complicate things. If he asks, then tell him I'll explain when he gets here."

"I suppose he's used to eccentric types."

"I'm hoping so," Ray told her.

Finally, Felicity relented and left him alone. He could hear her, though, as she talked. It was almost comforting to know that she wasn't far off. Ray was still very much affected by the fact that the reality of the world was that he could have lost his wife and three daughters the day before. Slowly, Ray eventually made his way to the sink using the wall to keep himself up. He was so dizzy, light headed, and nauseous. None of it was thrilling. Turning on the sink, he leaned over it, his elbows supporting his weight, and splashed water on his face. He just really needed to make it through the day.

He needed to get dressed, Ray thought, he was dressed merely in his boxers as he slowly used the wall to move towards the door. Felicity likely wouldn't appreciate it, but he couldn't just be dependent when he really felt like he could do so much more. Just as he reached the door, Felicity opened it and the look on her face immediately foretold the rest of the day. She looked like a mix of terrified, exhausted, and almost upset. "I'm okay," he told her calmly. "I just… Moving is a lot better than standing in one place."

"Doctor Wallace said that he'll be here in no more than forty-five minutes," Felicity said quietly as she continued to stare at him.

Holding out his arm, so that he could allow her to help him back into bed, he just nodded for a moment. Felicity helped him back to bed and he hated the idea that that was where he was going to be stuck for a couple of hours. Ray really felt like he needed to be the one up and out there to make sure that the girls were okay, keeping an eye that Oliver Queen wasn't doing or saying anything that he shouldn't to their girls, and allowing Felicity to rest.

He sat on the edge of the bed and she sank down next to him. Ray kept hold of her hand. He looked over to her and just stared. There was so much emotion in her and the last time that he was certain that he'd seen her so confusion and upset and just affected by that many levels of emotion would have been before they were even together. "How you doing this morning?"

"I don't know," Felicity whispered.

"Yesterday was a lot."

Felicity nodded and then was just really quiet. "The girls…"

"They seemed okay last night and I…didn't hear anyone up," Ray said. Of course, he was fairly sure that he'd pretty much passed out at one point. If the girls had woken up screaming, Ray didn't think that he'd really be able to sleep through that. When he last remembered, Quentin had still been there, but Ray had no idea if he'd stayed over.

"Etta seemed about the most unfazed, which I told Quentin scares me, but he thinks she's going to be fine," Felicity explained. "He talked to all of them." She was quiet for a moment. "Alex seems okay… But something she said…"

"You mean about seeing Oliver at the cupcake shop?"

Felicity stared at him for a long moment. "Exactly how quickly can Clara text?"

"Maybe her future lies in accurately taking down information for people," Ray teased with a smile. He wasn't threatened by Oliver at all. He'd had a night to sleep on it and he just wasn't. Oliver and Felicity had had those years together, in the past. They'd had good times and bad. He'd spent time with Felicity in all kinds of situations and they'd courted. She'd helped him through hard times and he felt like he'd helped her too when she'd needed it. They'd been a family. In the end, he was the one who she'd married and decided to have a life with. Felicity hadn't decided to sit around and wait for a ghost to return or to cling to false hope (even if it wasn't so false).

"Clara's the one that I'm really worried about," Felicity admitted. "Alex seems okay…not sure how I feel about her seeming okay."

"But Etta's okay, too?"

Ray was fairly sure that Felicity was mainly worried about Alex for two reasons: because Oliver had had interaction with her in public before and because Alex was the one that biologically was farthest from their family. That didn't mean that Alex was any less part of their family. He and Felicity loved each of them just as much as they loved Liv. He knew, though, that Felicity had been more worried about Alex and feeling connected to their family lately.

Felicity bit her bottom lip. "I just… I'm worried about them all… I'm just so thankful that Liv was with you and Quentin…"

"The girls are going to be okay and if they need counseling or something, then we'll work through it," he told her as he squeezed her hand lightly. "Together. As a family. Just like always."

Felicity nodded and then the doorbell sounded. They both stared at each other. "That's quick, if it's the doctor."

"He's never on time," Ray said. "Are we expecting anyone else?"

"Maybe Quentin? He went home quite early this morning," Felicity explained. "We ran out of bed space." She patted his hand. "I'll be right back."

Ray sat there and watched her as she pulled on a pair of plaid pajama pants and an old MIT shirt so she wasn't just going out there in a camisole and panties. He didn't care how covered she was, she was always sexy, even if she was completely bundled up or when she just woke up and her hair was doing whatever it wanted.

Felicity looked back at him, quite seriously. "Stay in bed, please?"

"That's the plan."

And it was.

She left him and Ray just sat there staring at the door, waiting for her to return. As he thought about everything she'd said, he realized how had to be at the door. Sighing, he realized he was going to have to get out of bed to try to intercept things. In all honesty, Ray wasn't sure if Felicity was ready for who was on the other side of that door.

The question was: could he move fast enough?

Grabbing a pair of pants, he pulled them on quickly before getting to his feet with a groan. He definitely wasn't going to be able to stop her in time. Felicity was likely already at the door. Ray forced himself towards the door and somehow made it there without wall support the entire way on his own (and without falling on his face). Pulling the door open, he made it there right in time for Felicity to open the door.

"My poor girl!" Donna Smoak immediately said as she grabbed Felicity for a hug.

At least Quentin was in tow. Donna was supposed to meet them in Geneva, but Ray had called her after and had her flight re-routed to Star City. Quentin had picked her up early this morning, since she'd had to layover someplace. Ray just hadn't wanted Felicity to worry about her mother, so it seemed best that they all stay together for now. Plus, Ray was certain that they'd be going to Geneva, it just was going to be a couple of days. They needed to figure the whole Oliver situation out.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Quentin asked.

At first Ray thought that his query was directed at him, but as Ray made his way slowly down the hall, he realized that it had been to Oliver who was in their kitchen apparently making breakfast. It didn't take long for him to be noticed.

"Holy Hannah! Talking about people who should be in bed," Quentin muttered.

Crap.

He was screwed.

Felicity spun around and she looked just so vulnerable. "Ray, you said—"

"I realized it was going to be your mom," he started to explain. "And I didn't know if you'd be up to seeing people so early…"

"Didn't sleep?" Quentin asked.

Donna put her arm around her daughter. "Why don't we get you to bed?"

"The girls—"

"Quentin and I will watch them." Donna turned to Quentin. "Right?"

"Of course," Quentin said a moment later.

Felicity didn't seem convinced. "Ray and I should at least talk to girls and see them before we consider going back to bed," Felicity said quickly.

"And the doctor should be here in like half an hour…" Ray informed him. He looked towards Oliver. "So, you know…maybe you should put a shirt on."

"I wasn't going to complain," Donna commented.

He didn't miss Felicity sighing or rolling her eyes at her mother's comment. Ray had become very used to Donna's comments and they actually reminded them of how Felicity was sometimes, but it was more of an accidental response than something thought out. "Well, I am going to," Ray told her. "We've got teenage girls in this house."

"We've already seen it," Etta told him the three older ones moved past them dressed in their school uniforms.

"He's making us breakfast," Alex informed them. "Also, Liv is in on your bed."

Clara was taking her time making her way towards the kitchen with the others. "I told them that we shouldn't talk to him because he's a stranger," Clara told both Ray and Felicity.

"But I argued that since it seems like everyone knows him and his picture is in our house," Alex said as she motioned towards the picture. "AND the fact that he SAVED us, that that makes him NOT a stranger."

"I just approve of him making us breakfast," Etta put out there.

Ray could tell that Felicity was having a hard time. When she didn't sleep and was stressed, she just melted down. He knew it was coming. He moved away from the wall and was careful to take a step towards her. "Girls, why the uniforms?" he asked. Ray was certain that that was coming, so he figured he'd just to that topic before Felicity had to ask it. She really needed to lie down and the sooner they took care of things out there, the sooner he could get Felicity into bed with him. "The school has you excused for at least two weeks."

"But we're not in Switzerland," Clara explained as she held her bite of eggs on the fork in midair. "If we're not in Switzerland and we skip school, then we're truant."

"I'm okay with it," Etta spoke up. "I have something I could do."

"Tell them what happens if we're truant," Alex told Clara.

Clara got extremely serious. "If we're truant, the police will come for us. Then you have to pay a fine. Why pay something crazy like five hundred dollars?" Clara went on. "Do you realize how many books that is? And that's five hundred for each of us, so that's FIFTEEN HUNDRED dollars! One thousand five-hundred dollars! So many books! A whole library of books!" Clara took a deep breath. "So, we're going to go to school."

"Sweetie, you know that I AM the police, right?" Quentin spoke up.

"And that your absences ARE excused?" Ray pointed out.

Clara went to say something, but then she seemed confused. "But what else are we supposed to do?"

"Write down a list of things that you want and we'll have it brought in," Ray offered. "We're still going to Geneva, it's just delayed." He looked towards Oliver, who was moving from the kitchen towards the couch. Oliver had obviously folded up the fold out bed and didn't look like he was staying (or he was just trying to be mindful of the fact that people might use that sitting area). Ray really wasn't sure what to think about it.

Clara sighed. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine… Mom's just tired…and I'm…well, I gave more blood than you should, but I don't want you to worry," he said quickly. He'd seen the worry cross faces, especially Clara's. "There's a doctor that's coming to double check me and bringing a pack of blood, so I'll be stronger in a little bit."

"But you're okay?" Alex repeated.

"We are ALL going to be just fine," Ray told her. It took him a moment, but he finally reached Felicity and put his arm around her.

"So, this means that I can change to pajamas then?"

"Feel free."

Etta was already in her room, likely changing. Alex and Clara kept eating and exchanged looks. Ray just hoped that this would help ease things. The thing was, Ray knew that the girls would be just fine with Donna and Quentin. He wasn't worried about them. It was Oliver that he was worried about. It was Felicity not feeling safe enough to sleep that he was worried about.

"Let's get you to bed, Honey," Donna told Felicity.

Ray really wasn't going to argue even though he now had both Quentin and Felicity helping him back in the direction of the bedroom and Donna was following along. It took them a lot longer than normal, but eventually they made it there with Liv curled up in their bed giggling.

"Mama! Daddy! Sleep in your bed," Liv told them.

Immediately Felicity lit up and went to cuddle their youngest in bed. Ray took an extra couple of moments to get in bed and thought it best to just leave the pants on. Normally, he didn't sleep with them on, but with the doctor coming and all of the extra people in the house it just seemed like the best idea. "Are you sure you're okay watching the girls?" Ray asked Quentin.

"You mean am I sure that Donna and I can watch the girls and police Oliver?" Quentin reworded. "It's going to be fine. The girls are going to be fine and I have far too much experience with Oliver Queen, so I don't want either of you to worry."

"Why don't I go ahead and take her?" Donna offered.

Ray watched Felicity and Liv. They were rather attached at the moment. "Why don't we give Liv a couple of minutes?" he suggested. He looked to Donna. "Would you mind bringing us both a protein drink from the fridge?"

"Of course not, though I doubt that's very healthy," Donna told him and went to run the quick errand.

It might not be the healthiest thing, but he and Felicity were obviously not in a state to eat and it would help keep blood sugar level and fill them up enough so that they could sleep without their stomachs complaining about being hungry. "I don't know what he'll do," he told Quentin.

"I meant it when I said I could handle him," Quentin reminded.

Felicity sighed. "He's been working with the League of Assassins for the last five years," she told them. "And as much as I want to say that he's the Oliver Queen that I remembered and that I once lov—worked with… I think we need to be cautious."

"I really don't think he'd do anything intentionally to harm those girls. You heard Alex—"

"He stalked us. We have to just…I think we just have to be careful."

He was a little shocked that Felicity felt that way. At the same time, it made him feel a bit better about Oliver being in their house with Felicity not feeling like she could completely trust him. It HAD been five years before. He'd been part of the League of Assassins. They definitely had REASONS not to completely trust him, especially when it came to their kids.

"I don't want you worrying about anything," Quentin told them, especially directed towards Felicity.

Ray groaned as he tried to get comfortable, but it really wasn't working well. Donna came back in a moment later and handed Ray both cartons. "Thanks."

"You two get some sleep, okay?" Donna said and finally Liv decided that she'd go with her. She was giggly and had just apparently had needed some cuddle time with her mom. Donna kissed Liv and she was just so happy. "Why don't we go check on your sisters?"

"Eat! In my mouth!" Liv told Donna as she held open her mouth and motioned with her finger. "Hungry!"

"Vocal, aren't we?"

Ray smirked as he watched Liv and Donna. Quentin patted his shoulder before he disappeared with Donna and Liv, pulling the door shut with him. If they hadn't been there, then Ray and Felicity definitely wouldn't be in their room trying to get SOME rest. But since they were…and they knew that they could trust Quentin and Donna to not only watch the girls, but keep Oliver in line…it was a bit easier.

Felicity was laying on her side with her back to him, which was fine, but Ray was still worried about her. He highly doubted that she was sleeping. Ray knew his wife, he knew how much she worried and carried things. Things that weren't her fault, she carried the weight of it. He set the two drinks on the bedside table, they could wait for the time being. "Hey," he whispered gently as he tried his best to scoot closer to her. The shift in the bed must have worried her because she rolled towards him and she looked like she was ready to cry. His heart broke a bit. It was just hard for him to see her like that, maybe harder because they were normally so happy. "Hey…" he whispered as he cupped her face with his hands. "Everyone's okay. The girls are safe. You're okay… You just need some sleep… And the doctor will be here soon and I'll have an extra unit of blood in me and hopefully after a nap and a proper meal, I won't need walls to keep me from falling over."

"But Oliver—"

"Is not your responsibility," Ray reminded. "His choices are his own, Felicity."

"Five years ago," she whispered. "I loved him."

Ray stared at her. "I know," he replied quietly. Did she just feel guilty about have loved Oliver Queen? About the last time she'd seen him before his death, did she somehow feel like she could have prevented him from going? Was she thinking about how things might be different if Oliver had come back? Did she regret things? He sucked in a breath and then slowly let it out. A question struck him and he felt like it was only fair to both of them to ask it. "Do you still love him?"

"No—yes—no…I mean," Felicity stumbled with her words. He could see the emotions spin on her features. "I mean, I loved him…and I still—but not the same—"

HIs question only seemed to upset her all the more as she struggled to respond clearly. "It's okay," he whispered as he stroked her cheek. Maybe it really wasn't fair of him to ask when she hadn't slept. It had just hit him and he wondered if that was why she was having such a hard time, because her feelings for him had sparked. Ray had no idea how he'd react if after all this time, if Anna just showed up and was alive. Would he have feelings for her?

Absolutely.

They'd been engaged.

Ray had loved her for so long.

So maybe it wasn't even a question of Felicity's answers, but of HER realizing why she was having such a hard time with it and maybe reinforcing that it was okay for her to still love Oliver. That didn't mean that she was just going to leave her family. That just meant that she had feelings about someone from her past. It was all reasonable.

"It's okay if you DO still have feelings for him," Ray whispered and leaned in to kiss her quickly. He stared at her for another moment. "I have no idea how I'd act if Anna appeared alive… I can tell you that there would be feelings, so if that's what you're worried about…that somehow I'd be upset with you." He paused as he stared at her. He hoped that she was understanding and that it made her feel a bit better about things. "I could never be upset with you, I've told you this."

"I just…I'm so confused," Felicity admitted through a sob.

Pulling her into his arms was painful and difficult to do, but Ray managed and held her there. Eventually, she fell asleep. Ray was thankful for that, but as soon as he untangled her from him a bit was when there was a knock on the door. He eased Felicity back onto her pillow and looked over to find the doctor stepping into the room

"Shh…" Ray practically pleaded. "She just fell asleep."

"You look like hell," Doctor Wallace commented quietly.

"I feel like it," Ray answered and sat upright again in his bed. He looked over at Felicity to make sure that she was still asleep.

"Your wife was extremely vague on the phone on WHY you needed the blood," the doctor said as he moved to Ray's side.

And for good reason, he thought.

"There was an emergency. Someone was bleeding pretty bad and we knew that my blood was a match. I know two units is a lot more than normal to give, but he needed it," Ray tried to explain. "There was no time to get him to the hospital."

"It sounds…illegal."

"We just weren't anywhere close to the city," Ray told him. He shrugged. "Captain Lance knows all about it. I just didn't think that we needed to make a big fuss about it by having me admitted to the hospital."

Wallace nodded. "I did see Quentin out there with your daughter."

"Felicity and Quentin were up late making sure I was okay, in fact Felicity didn't sleep at all," Ray tried to explain. "So Quentin came over to help with the girls so that Felicity and I could just rest for a bit."

"Well, good to know you have such good family support," the doctor said as he took a moment to check vitals. Ray remained quiet during this time. The doctor sighed. "Symptoms you're experiencing this morning?"

"Light headed, dizzy, a bit nauseous, not so stable on my feet," Ray explained.

"Okay, but next time someone needs blood and you volunteer…do me a favor and don't give more than one unit," the doctor went on as he pulled things out of the bed he'd brought to set things up. "People ask questions when you want blood, even when you're a doctor."

"What did you tell them?"

"That I had a patient who was a bleeder who cut themself and who was too stubborn to actual leave home to do anything about it," Doctor Wallace explained. "Believe me, it's completely believable."

"If you say so."

"And next time, you call me as soon as you get back to the city if you do something stupid like this," the doctor continued. He was an older man with greying hair and who normally had a grumpy disposition. He was a good doctor though and he was discreet. Those were the things that counted. So, this bit of a lecture he was getting was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Noted."

It took him a moment, but the doctor hooked Ray up to an IV line and then had to go out to talk to Quentin and they had to look around a bit, but eventually found some heavy duty tape to attach to the bed frame, in order to get it to act as an IV stand. "Now, this has to be disposed a certain way. Put it in a plastic bag and I'll pick it up later tonight when I come to check on you, understood?"

"Got it."

"I want you to drink a full glass of juice and have some good protein," Doctor Wallace continued and grabbed the protein drinks. "None of this nonsense." He shook his head as he gathered his bag with his other hand. "You need rest, too. So, rest."

"Got it."

"I'll be making sure Quentin knows exactly what you're supposed to be doing."


Ray woke a few hours later. He felt a lot better, a lot more than he'd expected. With Felicity still fast asleep, he was careful not to wake her. Rest was exactly what she needed. Once he was out of bed, he grabbed a STAR Labs shirt and pulled it on. He padded out of their room, raking his fingers through his short dark hair.

He found all three girls playing quietly together on the floor of Etta's room. They were playing some kind of board game and seemed happy, so Ray didn't bother them. Moving on, he found Quentin and Donna on the floor of the common living room area with Liv as she built with her oversized lego blocks and somehow the foam building shapes were coming into play too. Scanning the room, he found Oliver leaning up against the window that they'd had replaced after he'd broken through it.

They needed to exchange words.

For a moment, he thought about saying hello to his baby girl, but then he figured then she'd not let him out of her sight for a moment. Then he'd never get to talk to Oliver and right now Liv was very well occupied and distracted by Quentin and Donna, who had survived this long with the two year old. So, he made his way over to the window where Oliver was.

"I'll go," Oliver said quietly, not looking away from the city outside of the window. "I just didn't want to disappear on her again."

"I didn't come over here to ask you to leave," Ray responded.

"It's not good for me to be here. Not for any of you."

"Maybe," Ray allowed with a slight tilt of his head. "But I think that you really could use at least a couple of days of rest."

Finally, Oliver turned to him. "I hadn't planned on interrupting your lives," he said quietly. "I just wanted to see that she was happy here…with you…"

"I hope that you found that she is," Ray said. "It's not just in pictures, for show."

"Your security needs upgrading."

Ray smirked slightly. "Felicity and I are already addressing that."

"And you should know that if you piss Felicity off, she may just shoot you with an arrow." Oliver was the one who was smirking now.

"With an arrow?"

"Felicity has talents."

"I guess even some that I may not have discovered yet," Ray said slowly. He was a little worried at the thought of Felicity armed with a bow and a quiver of arrows. Felicity was scary enough with computers and what her mind could form, an actual weapon was terrifying.

Oliver was quiet. "You're a good man, Ray."

He hadn't expected that.

"Thank you." They were both quiet for a while. "Stay. At least for a couple of days. Felicity needs this. To have time to talk to you."

"She doesn't need me—"

Ray somehow appreciated that statement, but interrupted him. "She needs her friends and you're one of them." He paused. "With everyone that was from her old life that she considered a friend pretty much gone, I'd say that she needs and deserves to have time with you."

"I'm no good—"

Before Oliver could finish his sentence, though, there was a heavy knock on the door. He wasn't expecting anyone and from the look Quentin gave him, they weren't either. Ray moved towards the door and Oliver and Quentin moved right behind him. Peeking through the door, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Just the person that he wanted to see and didn't know he wanted to see.

Swinging the door open, Ray smiled the widest he'd probably smiled in the last twenty-four hours. On the other side of the door was something so amazing. His arms opened as he embraced the person on the other side of the door.

John Diggle.

"It's so good to see you!" Ray enthused.

"Felicity called and—" Diggle started to explain and then paused. "Oh my— Oliver Queen alive! You were working with the League, right?"

Suddenly everyone was looking at Oliver. Had he talked to Diggle over he last five years and everyone had kept it from Felicity? Ray was fairly sure that Diggle and Felicity were closer than that and that he would never let Felicity suffer the grief.

"Yes," Oliver said slowly.

Diggle embraced Oliver and Ray shut the door. "You're the archer that everyone in ARGUS is talking about…"

"ARGUS is talking about me?"

"You've spared and helped several operatives…whether you knew it or not. That leaves its mark." Diggle just seemed overly happy to be there. "Where's Felicity?"

"She's sleeping…we have…A LOT…to tell you about," Ray told him.

"Felicity said that there was a threat."

"Maybe you guys should talk in the gym," Quentin suggested as he motioned towards the room. "Little ears really don't need to hear all the details. Donna and I will keep the girls occupied."


TBC…