A/N: Sorry for the late update but I had a big exam on the 15th and I stopped writing for a while to focus on studying. Anyway my schedule is much better now so I should be able to update faster and finish this story quickly!


Lililovingreading: Thanks! I'll try to update faster from now on!

PiratePrincess16: Thanks! I hope you keep enjoying the story!

LateVMlover, Guest: Thanks! I fixed it!


"Felicity, Felicity."

Felicity is sitting on the couch, her knees pressed on her chest and her hands gripping her legs numbly. She has been in that same position for the whole time it took Diggle to explain to her what have happened.

Oliver started talking at first but once he uttered that two magic words "your dad" she went still like a statue, she took a quick intake of breath and looked at him with a shocked, lost look and for some reason he couldn't keep going.

He just stared at her with a helpless and all too familiar guilty look. In other circumstances she would have been frustrated with his always present guilt, even in situation where he has no blame and she would have called him on it, but not this time.

This time she kept silent and looked right through him, trying to make sense of his words. Because they seemed ridiculous, so crazy that she was waiting for someone to pinch her and wake her up because there was no way this was real life.

She remembers vaguely Diggle taking over and talking to her in his calm, soothing voice. Those are the times in which she is really grateful to have someone like John Diggle in her life, in their life. Their own personal anchor in the storm. And what a storm is about to come.

Her father is in Starling City and there is a chance he may try to contact her. In fact he may be the one who has been following her. And the best revelation of all: he works for ARGUS and he is a very dangerous man.

Diggle had the kindness not to elaborate further but she knows what kind of people works for ARGUS and if he had to emphatize that he is dangerous she can very well guess what is listed as his job's special skills. Probably murderer is mentioned somewhere in his curriculum vitae.


"Hey."

She looks up to see Diggle approaching her carefully, afraid that she is going to bolt at any second. His eyes are soft and warm and she feels a wave of affection for her friend. He slowly sits down on the couch, close to her and he starts to ease the tight grip she has on her legs.

He gently makes her hands drop on the couch before reaching to rub her back soothingly. At the moment his large, warm hand lands on her back it's like a dam breaks.

She jolts feeling her cheeks damp and she realizes she is crying. She brings a hand up and clasps it on her mouth trying to choke her sobs while her shoulders shake helplessly.

Diggle reaches for her and envelops her tiny frame in his large body. He is talking to her, trying to calm her down but she can't hear his words over the ringing in her hears so she tries to breath deeply and she focus on the motion of Diggle's hands running up and down her back, comforting her.

Once her shaking has subsided he releases her and squeezes her arms, concerned eyes locked on her face. She gives him a trembling smile and nods, before wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what happened, I just-"

She tries to put into words what she feels but she can't and shakes her head slightly, a little sad smile on her lips.

Diggle smiles kindly at her. "That's okay, Felicity. Family is a difficult subject for everyone. Us of all people understand that."

She smiles back and nods before glancing at Oliver. He is a feet from the couch and is watching her. She takes in his tense stance, his hands closed into fists and his lips in a hard line.

There is a heavy, troubled look in his eyes. It isn't the first time she has seen Oliver bothered, quite the opposite in fact. He usually tries to put on a carefree and unaffected mask for the outside world to shield himself from everything and everyone but his eyes always give him away, at least in her opinion.

There are more times in which his eyes look hunted than peaceful but this time Felicity knows she is the cause of it and she feels a pang of sadness at the knowledge.


"Oliver." She calls softly for him, even if she doesn't know what to say. She has the urge to reach for him but she stays firmly sat on the couch, aware that Diggle is watching them but most of all knowing that she isn't supposed to be the one in charge of easing his worries.

"Are- are you okay?" She asks hesitantly, her voice a little hoarse.

That makes him huff a little laugh and she is glad to see that his eyes soften at her words and he seems to relax slightly.

"I should be the one asking you that."

"Oh! Oh I' m good."

"Felicity."

"No really, I' m sorry for-" She waves one hand around and dries her cheeks completely with the other, trying to fix her appearance and clears her throat to speak in a strong an unaffected tone.

"I promise I' m good."

"Good." She turns to look back at Diggle, who seems to believe her, or at least to understand she needs to be left off the hook in that moment. "Either way one of us is going to keep an eye on you, just to be on the safe side."

She opens her mouth to protest but she stops when she sees her friend's determined and hard face. "Ok. Do you really think it is necessary?"

"I think it doesn't hurt."

"Ok, fine. Thank you for taking care of me."


Felicity glances over at their teammates.

Oliver and Roy are training, while Diggle is giving the younger man pointers on his moves. Roy has improved a lot since he joined the team but his lack of any real training is obvious and he still has troubles to keep his short temper in control from time to time.

It has been a few days since they told her about her father and from that day she hasn't been alone, except when she is at work.

The level of security at QC has been highly increased recently, due to Simon Drake's suspicious murder, so they agreed she will be safe there.

Felicity has noticed that Ray seems nervous these days, more jumpy than usual and he seems to have gained a permanent crease between his brows.

She doesn't mention it to her team. She knows she should, but she still believes him to be innocent and she has the nagging feeling that if Oliver knew about his change of behavior he wouldn't agree with her.

She reasons that it's normal to feel nervous when someone who works closely to you gets killed and she is the weird one for not feeling the same. She has spent too much time fighting crime with people who just seem not to get scared, so she doesn't even know what is normal anymore.


Someone is always there when she goes out the office and at night she either stays with Diggle and Lyla or she has Roy or Oliver sleeping at her place.

It felt weird at first, a bit embarrassing, but she is slowly starting to enjoy the company and feeling a bit more at ease.


The first night she stayed at Digg's she couldn't sleep. It may be silly but she felt weird not being in her bed and she went downstairs in the middle of the night only to find Lyla having a midnight snack.

They bonded over chinese leftovers and John found them giggling on his kitchen counter an hour later. He looked baffled for a moment, than smiled widely and joined them.


The next night she got Roy, sleeping on her couch. She felt it was good for him too, to have company, because she knew, even if he tried to hide it, that he was missing Thea terribly.

She was happy to know that at least their arrangement helped someone else other than her.


The night she spent with Oliver was the one she most waited for and dreaded at the same time.

He didn't question her about her father or about anything else really. She felt like he didn't know how to be around her anymore and that made feel her terribly uncomfortable.

She was worried something like that would happen after their kiss but after feeling awkward around him for a while it seemed like everything was going to go back to normal.

Better than normal actually, since they shared that great evening together. That was of course before everything changed.

After that night he seemed the most uncomfortable between the two of them and even if she was eager to ease the awkwardness she was afraid to spook him and drive him even further away.


She is obviously touched by their concern, even if she finds the lost of her freedom a bit frustrating.

She also doesn't enjoy the wary looks she gets at time to time from Roy and Oliver. They watch her like she is a ticking bomb and they are waiting for her to explode, while Digg either gives her more credit or hides his feelings way better.


She refuses to talk about her father, she even refuses to think about him.

He left when she was a child and that's it, that's the end of the story, the closure. There won't be any more chapters or an epilogue, she must make peace with that.

She shut him and all things related to him in a box in a safe corner of her brain and that agrees perfectly with her.

Probably it isn't the healthiest way to deal with that her issues but since none of her friends can give lessons about opening up and sharing their feelings she feels entitled to do as she pleases.


She turns sharply when she hears an alert popping on her computers and she quickly scans the information.

"Guys. Double murder between Spring Gardens and Whitworth Street. SCPD is already on the scene. They haven't identify the victims yet, but the MO is the same of Mr. Drake's homicide, I' m tracking their calls right now. We should probably take a look."

"I think you are right."

Oliver and Roy move quickly to change while Diggle doesn't move from his position behind her.

"Digg?" She turns to question him, eyebrows raised.

"I'm staying behind this time, no need for the whole team."

She takes a deep breath and look at him with a determined look on her face. She considers herself a resource for the team, not a liability and she won't have anyone making her feel that way.

"Digg. I' m going to be fine, I' m safe here."

"I know Felicity, this isn't about you, it's about me. I don't feel like going out."

He winks at her and moves to grab the comms, passing her one before picking up a chair and moving close to her to have a good view of the monitors.


"I never told you about my family, did I?"

Felicity turns to look at her friend, a heavy weight settling on her stomach. She knows what he is trying to do and she appreciates it, she does, but she can't do it, she can't talk about him.

"Digg, you don't have to do this."

"My dad was in the military. That's the reason I decided to serve, too, I wanted to honor him. I grew up looking up at him, at his memory. My mother tried to get me to change my mind. She wanted both me and Andy to find an ordinary and safe job."

"So, your dad. Did he?"

"He died, yes. We were kids but still, I remember my mother being desperate, he was the love of her life, his death broke her heart. They were high school sweetheart."

"That's sweet."

"Yeah. He got a medal, you know? He died as a hero, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt when he left. Sometimes I wish by baby would be able to meet him, him and Andy."

"I'm so sorry Digg. But you will tell the baby about them, about the amazing people they were."

She whispers emotionally, knowing that it couldn't have been easy for him to tell her that.

"Thank you, Felicity"

She takes a breath and looks down at her lap, her hands gripping the sides of the chair. "Part of me wants to meet him. It is wrong, right?"

"He is your father. I think it's normal to feel that way. But I' m not sure this is a good idea."

"Because he is dangerous?"

"Yes. I'm not saying he would harm you or he doesn't want to meet you for a genuine reason, but that is a chance none of us is willing to take."

She keeps looking down, as to consider his words. She is worrying her bottom lip and she shakes her head before she starts talking.

"My mum was desperate too, when he left. I remember I heard her cry all night. From the day after that she refused to talk about him. I asked her when he was going to come back and she said that I had to forget about him because he left, they always leave."

"Felicity."

"Sorry. I know it's not true, I know. But I was also sure he was never going to leave us, so sometimes I can't help thinking that she is right. Because people, they- they leave."

"Like Oliver left?"

She looks up at him at his words, frozen, her eyes wide. She wasn't thinking about Oliver when she spoke, was she?

"I don't- I'm not mad at him because he left."

She bows her head and wonders if that's true, if she really doesn't blame him for leaving or if deep down she got burned when he left and she is waiting for him to leave again "He did, though. He was gone for four months and I think I believed he was never going to come back."

"Did you tell him that?"

"He has enough problems already. I don't want him to blame himself for mine, too."

"I think he would like to know."


Oliver and Roy keep an eye on the crime scene from the edge of a five floors building, a good vantage point to observe the street under them, well-lighted by the street lamps, while they are safely hidden in the darkness.

They can see the bodies covered by two thin white sheets. Felicity said they were killed in the same way the QC's inverstor, Simor Drake, was. So it must have been an execution, a bullet each in their forehead, precise and clean. The work of a professional.

"Roy let's go back. There is nothing for us here. I' m calling Lance on our way to the lair."

Since things went south with Laurel Oliver hasn't been at the hospital anymore but Lance was already recovering at the time and he is a thought and stubborn man.

He is sure he must be back to work by now, he isn't the kind of man to wait in the sidelines when he can do his duty.

"Hello?"

"Hello detective."

"Long time not to hear from you."

"I need your help. There was a double homicide tonight."

"Yeah, I know. Nasty business. Are your people on it?"

"Yes. We need all the information we can get."

"I thought your miss Smoak could hack into our database."

Oliver half smiled at that. "Apparently SCPD decided to take their system off line."

He hears Lance snorting before anwering him. "I'm on it. Oh, and it's captain Lance from now on."


"Lance will call us with the information once he gets the report."

"Great."

Oliver glances over to Felicity, who is shutting down her computers.

"So ready to go?" She nodds at him and he smiles before going to the bathroom to get changed.


Felicity keeps glancing at Oliver from the corner of her eyes during the whole ride home. She is sure he can feel her eyes on him but he refuses to ackoledge her stares.

He doesn't turn to look at her and keeps his eyes resolutely on the street.

She knows they need to talk.

Diggle told her to tell him how she felt when he left, but she still isn't sure. She is struggling with herself with what she should do. Of one thing she is certain though, she needs to do something to ease the awkwardness between them and she is determined to do it tonight, she is done avoiding him.

She hasn't been able to get their kiss out of her mind and there have been times where even Oliver seemed to look at her differently. She often wonders why.

She is so tempted to believe that he feels something for her, too.

Something obviously beyond friendship, that she has always believed he feels for her, and physical attraction, which he kind of made obvious with his hungry kisses.

The rational part of her of course can't help to remind her that he may simply regret what he did and he could be worried to lose her friendship and doesn't know how to let her down gently.


Felicity already has a foot on the first step of the stairs, ready to go to her bedroom and eat her words, not sure she has the courage to confront him when all of a sudden she turns around to look at Oliver, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth.

He looks at her, puzzled and for a moment she is tempted once again to wish him goodnight and don't say a word.

She shifts under his intense stare and feels her heart hammering wildly.

She wants to ask him why he is uncomfortable around her, closed off and distant like he was when they first started to work together, but for some reasons what comes out of her mouth is entirely different and surprises them both.

"I thought I wasn't going to see you again when you left. Or just not like before, like we were before. I don't want you to feel guilty or anything. I just wanted you to know. I felt I needed you to know."

She watches a million feelings passing through his eyes and she waits nervously for him to speak, to say something, anything.

"Ok."

He speaks softly, so softly that she almost doesn't hear him.

"Ok?" She repeats what he said, uncertainty clear in her voice, utterly and completely confused by his words. She truly can't believe her ears.

He only nods in return and she watches him for a good minute before blinking and shaking herself. She turns around and slowly gets up on the stairs.


Ok. OK.

She told him she thought he left forever without even a goodbye, like she meant nothing to him and the best he was able to come up with was ok. A miserable and stupid two letter word.

He closes his hands into tight fists, his nails digging in the flesh of his palms, but he doesn't even notice. "Ok" isn't even an answer.

He thinks he is an idiot and a coward. A liar, too. Because he most definitively isn't ok, at all. He screwed up, plain and simple and she had to be the one to tell him.

He wasn't even man enough to ask her what was wrong when she started avoiding him and he didn't have the guts to ask her why she acted like nothing happened between them, when he, on the other hand, couldn't forget their kiss.

Because the moment they shared was so blissfully perfect that he couldn't get it out of his head.

Diggle is right, as always. He told him that she needs someone who is there for her, someone who stays, who won't abandon her, breaking her heart, like her father did, like he did.

He is going to make it right, he has to make it right. It doesn't even matter if it won't change anything between them.

He won't blame her if she won't want him, if she won't be willing to even give him a chance. Because this time he doesn't want to make it right for himself, but for her, because she deserves it.

She is the best thing that has ever happened to him and he is determined not to be the worst that has happened to her.