A/N: Drabble Wednesday time! :D Which means another chapter of Crumbled Papers for you guys!

Once again, thank you for all the support you're giving me and this story! It really means more to me than you'll ever know!

Enjoy!


"Crumbled Papers"

Chapter 8/?: Rides

Word count: 2,343


The only sound that could be heard in the Foundry, was Felicity's typing and Oliver's occasional grunting as he trained. Diggle had gone home for the night, and Oliver had just recently returned from patrolling. He had told Felicity over the comm that she could go home, but she had told him that she had some last searches to go through.

The truth, however, was that she had spent most of the day looking through old pictures on her cousin Mark's Facebook page. He was quite the adventurer, Mark, she mused quietly, as she looked at the pictures of him driving a dirt bike on some foreign location she had only seen on the Discovery Channel. Next came some pictures of him climbing the Mount Everest with his girlfriend, him in a helicopter for his twenty-first birthday and one of him jumping off a small bridge in some European Country.

She glanced over at Oliver, thinking of the things he must have been through while shipwrecked. Besides the constant terror, Felicity figured, it must have been quite an adventure. There were still a lot of things that Oliver had told her and Diggle were to painful to talk about, but at the same time, he had told them quite a few stories since they got to know each other.

Felicity knew Oliver had been through a lot, and the issues she was having at the time, only seemed miniscule in comparison. Taking her eyes off her computer, she glanced over at Oliver, who was preparing to get on the salmon ladder. Once again, she turned back to her computer and looked at Mark's pictures again.

"I want to jump off a building."

Clank!

Felicity turned at the sound of metal dropping and Oliver groaning, raising her hand to her mouth at the sight that met her. Oliver was laying on his back, the stick he used on the salmon ladder had fallen out of his hand and was rolling on the floor.

"Oh my god!" Felicity exclaimed, standing up. Although, she didn't move closer to him. "Are you okay?"

Quickly, Oliver rose to his feet and inhaled sharply, rubbing his shoulder lightly. Without speaking, he only gave her a look, and in that moment, she thought back to what she had actually said.

"Not to kill myself!" she said quickly, realizing what it must have sounded like to him. Oh, she really needed to think before she spoke. "I mean, I want to live," she blurted, "but I really want to jump off a building too you know... Like, bungee jump!" she explained. Her hands were twitching and Oliver shot her a confused look. "Skydiving could also be an option, but I kind of did that when Diggle and I came to get you on Lian Yu... I don't know if I want to count that though, since Diggle pretty much had to force me to-"

"Felicity," Oliver interrupted. She shut her lips tightly and looked at him expectantly, but he didn't say anything else.

"Climbing a mountain could also be a good option," she began again, but Oliver took a step toward her, his face stern.

"I'm not letting you jump off a building," he told her, his tone mirroring his look perfectly. As he took yet another step toward her, she began feeling a bit cornered, but for some reason, the way he had spoken, only made her annoyed.

"Why not?" she exclaimed. "You jump off of buildings all the time! You get shot, and you hurt yourself, giving me mini-heart-attacks as I listen over the feed!"

At the mention of mini-heart-attacks, Oliver's lips quirked up in a small smile, but it only lasted for a second before his face turned even more serious than earlier. "And you're not getting shot any time soon either," he informed.

She groaned and sat back on her chair, spinning around once or twice before Oliver stopped her by putting his hands on her shoulders.

"What brought all this on?" he asked, this time softer. He looked genuinely curious to her sudden outburst and unexpected ramble, and she contemplated just shrugging it off as not important. Yet, she knew that he wouldn't just let it go.

"It's just that, I'm dying, Oliver," she sighed, watching as his muscles tensed. His hands squeezed her shoulders lightly, and she knew he didn't like that word. Ignoring his reaction, she continued, "It sucks, and I know that I'm trying to fight and whatever, but it really, really, really-"

"Sucks," he finished for her, his grip on her shoulders loosening slightly.

"Yeah," she bit out. "The thing is that when I think about what everyone else my age has done, my life is kind of boring, you know? I mean, the only two real risks I've ever taken in my life are jumping out of that plane with Diggle, which as mentioned, I don't really count, and joining Team Arrow," she explained.

"You've taken plenty of risks, Felicity," Oliver reasoned. "Not that I like it when you do," he added quickly.

"But most of them have been with Arrow-business," Felicity complained, earning another look from Oliver at her tone. "I just want to live. Do something crazy. I know it's cliche, but I just want to be able to say that I've done something exciting for once. Like, something that I could tell my kids one-" she stopped short, her mouth still open. She felt as if the breath had been knocked out of her. Letting out a shaky breath, she spoke again, "Never mind, I guess it really doesn't matter."

How could she be so stupid sometimes? Surviving stage 3 was already difficult as it was, and here she was, making Oliver worry about her sanity by proclaiming that she wanted to jump off buildings, and for what? So she could tell her children about it. Her chest tightened as she realized that she would probably never have a kid of her own...

"Felicity," Oliver said, breaking through her thoughts. Without realizing it, she had turned off the computers and started getting dressed to head home. "I'll just take a quick shower and change. Wait here," he pretty much ordered.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

Once again, his hands found her shoulders. "Trust me," he smiled before walking off. She sat back down on her chair without hesitation. When it came to trusting Oliver, she never thought twice about it. Not only was he her friend and hero, but he was also her partner. For some reason, that title meant a lot more to Felicity than the others. Partners needed to trust each other, no matter what, and she did, she really did trust him with her life.

Oliver stepped out five minutes later, washed clean and dressed. He grabbed his keys and motioned for him to follow him, which she gladly did. She didn't speak as he grabbed two motorcycle helmets and led her through the backdoor at Verdant, to where his bike was parked. It wasn't until he made a move to put one of the helmets on her head that she spoke.

"What are you doing?" she asked, but she couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. She knew perfectly well what he was doing.

"You're saying you want to do something exciting," he pointed out. "You want to do something crazy, and I want to keep you safe, so we're going to compromise," he announced.

"By teaching me to ride a bike, or just go on a ride with you?" she asked, closing her eyes for a moment at her choice of words. "I meant going on a ride on your bike with you," she clarified.

"I understood," Oliver chuckled. "But yes, you're going on a ride with me. On my bike," he mocked, putting the helmet on her head before pulling her hair out over her shoulders. He turned away from her and climbed on the bike, motioning for her to get on behind him with his head while putting on his leather gloves. They went good with the jacket he was sporting.

Felicity climbed on the back and he showed her where to put her feet. "How is riding a motorcycle going to be something worth telling people? Besides the fact that you're Oliver Queen, my boss? I mean, I've been on a bike once or twice with an ex of mine, but it wasn't exactly memorable."

Oliver's bike roared to life as he turned his head to look at her. "You've never been on a ride with anyone like me," he winked, finally putting his own helmet on. "Hold on tight," he said, and she instantly wrapped her arms around him. The next thing she knew, they were flying through the streets of Starling City.

To say that it was exciting, would be an understatement. Felicity's eyes were wide as Oliver swerved and steered them through the night traffic, holding onto him tightly, but she couldn't stop laughing for some reason. Oliver's driving was crazy, to say the least, but she also knew he was holding back so that he could keep her safe. His compromise made sense to her now, but she really appreciated it.

"Are you okay?" he called out and she nodded against his back.

"Yes! I'm better than okay!" she shouted back over the wind. A giggle rose in her throat as he sped up a little more, and she actually let out a squeal of joy. The shaking she felt as she leaned her helmet-clad head against Oliver's broad shoulders proved to her that Oliver was just as amused as she was and that he was laughing with her.

Then, his speed slowed slightly. Felicity was about to complain, but stopped herself when she felt his gloved hand fall over her own. Her heart was racing, and not only because of the adrenaline she could feel rushing through her body. The small gesture, which had become somewhat of a 'thing' between them, gave her comfort like nothing else. Sometimes, she wondered if Oliver was aware of that, and that that was the reason he kept taking her hand.

His hand stayed there, over hers, as he steered them through the streets, his speed slowing until he finally stopped completely, putting his feet back on the ground and turning the bike off. She didn't feel like letting go of him just yet, and she gave herself another ten seconds of just holding him. His other hand also came down to hold onto the one he hadn't been holding, and he didn't speak first. She was feeling good, and from what she could tell, so was he. He seemed relaxed as she held onto him, and when he broke the silence twenty seconds later, his voice was raspy.

"Felicity."

She only hummed in response, and he squeezed her hands once more.

"I have something else to show you, which will hopefully make this night worth telling people about," he told her, his voice back to normal again.

Realizing that they couldn't stay like that forever, she finally let go of him, but instantly felt the loss as he got off the bike. She got off as well and he took of his own helmet first before taking off hers. For a solid four seconds, time seemed to stand still as they looked at each other. Felicity blinked a few times, watching as emotion after emotion passed through Oliver's eyes. She wanted to put a name to every last one of them, but they were never there long enough for her to recognize them and before she knew it, he had broken the gaze, only to put the helmets on the bike.

"Won't someone take them?" she asked, finally finding her voice.

"I don't really care," he shrugged. "I have a couple of others at home anyway."

"You're disgustingly rich," she joked and he actually cracked another smile.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand and leading her into an ally.

"You aren't going to kill me, are you? I mean, I know you're not, but you never know when someone snaps, and- Oh never mind," she groaned. "I think I've reached my limit on being funny today."

Still, he chuckled at her failed attempt at a joke.

"Where are we going?" she asked as he led her to the emergency staircase connected to the building.

"To the roof," he replied, still holding her hand as he led them up the stairs.

"The roof?"

"I've been up here patrolling multiple times," he explained. "It gives a great view of the city," he said as they finally reached the top. Felicity's eyes widened as she took in the sight. Starling really was beautiful at night. The building they were standing on probably wasn't the tallest one, but it was in a place that gave one of the most beautiful views she had ever seen.

At Queen Consolidated, they always looked down on the city, but here... Her eyes followed the flickering lights of cars and the bigger buildings on the other side of town, which were visible from where they stood.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Oliver asked, standing beside her. She hadn't realized it until then, but she had been walking closer and closer to the edge to get a better look.

"Oliver," she breathed, turning to look at him. Her eyes were filling with tears and she fought the urge to throw herself at him and hug him. Instead, she gave him a smile. "Thank you."

He responded by simply taking her hand in his and putting light pressure to it before turning back to look at the view. She watched him for another moment, before following his gaze.

As they sat there on the edge all night, holding hands while arguing over where Queen Consolidated was, Felicity decided that she didn't want to tell anyone about this night. She wanted to keep it all to herself, which would only make it even more special.


A/N: What did you think? This was one of the happier kind, since I was kinda just feeling like it! :)

Reviews are golden!

Next Wednesday, Felicity's parents will be explained for those of you who have been wondering! ;)

Thank you for reading!