Starling City

Felicity's leg bounced up and down as she stared out the small window of the plane. It was after nine and night had fallen across Starling City. The city was larger than she imagined. Somewhere out there, is Oliver Queen and she was going to find him. The only problem was she had no idea where to start.

During the flight she had done a more thorough internet search on the man she knew as Flynn. Before the summer of 2005, Ollie Queen lived for the spotlight. He relished in drunken debauchery, drug induced haze, and public lude behavior. And then there was the girls. So many girls. His name was linked to starlets, models, debutantes and everything inbetween. Tall, gorgeous, brunette women. Everything she was not.

Felicity scrolled past the stories, her unease growing until she noticed something about his red rimmed glazed eyes. Ollie was empty, cold, drowning, he had no sparkle in his blue eyes. She compared a picture of him two months before Tahoe with one she had taken and it was two different people. In her picture he was looking at the camera his smile bright, his eyes filled with an inner light, he radiated joy and happiness.

After Tahoe, he became reclusive. He no longer donned the front pages of magazines with a new girl on his arm. When he was spotted, it was in school libraries, carrying books and being boring as one reporter wrote. There was speculation on his change in behavior, most reports claimed rehab, one even claimed alien abduction, her favorite was the one on cult brainwashing. Oliver wore hats, sunglasses, hooded sweatshirts. He kept his head down and his life private.

He graduated with a business degree and a minor in internet security. That part had surprised her. She thought he preferred cars, to computers. -Joining his family's company he worked with human resources filling QC's IT department with the best and the brightest. Felicity knew some of the names on the list he created. Oliver Queen didn't discriminate, hiring the best no matter of race, sex, orientation, or age. He went to data conferences, colleges, going to company after company always searching for more and never satisfied for long. Or was he searching someone special, Felicity wondered.

"No, that can't be it," Felicity muttered under her breath.

Curtis stirred beside her, his head on her shoulder. Felicity didn't understand why he was here. What possessed him to take this journey with her? He hadn't talked to Paul before they left and Felicity was worried that she would cause problems between the couple. Which she found funny considering she was on her way to interrupt or stop a wedding of another couple.

The wedding location was hard to track down. To discourage media coverage the couple had booked three venues, with half hour staggered start times plus the continued assurance by Moira Queen the wedding would take place at Queen Manor. Leaving Felicity with four possible locations, starting after four PM even hacking couldn't help her, each location was paid for, the food, and booze ordered. The secondary sites were to be used for other smaller weddings. Yvonne had set up a twitter campaign for a Dream Wedding. Videos and letters were sent in, pleading the case of a bride in need. Only the couples selected would know where and when their wedding would take place. Felicity thought it was sweet, useful, an added layer of protection from the media.

Felicity spent way too much time looking into the woman Oliver had asked to marry. She was stunning, smart, a brilliant mind for business, even her tweets were funny. The few images she found of the two of them together had been nice. He held her in one, Yvonne looked up to him while he stared into the distance. Felicity saw something in his familiar face, longing and a hint of sadness. She wondered if she was trying to force distances between the couple so she would feel better about go through with her plan to stop the wedding.

Now she needed an actual plan.

Felicity had no idea what she would say to get into the wedding much less how she would get to Oliver. She figured it would be easier to approach him at home, but would she also meet the fiance. Felicity would be so nervous she might accidently proposition them for a threesome. She tried to write out her thoughts, but she was unable to move past that he never called.

When she missed her bus to Starling City, Queen Consolidated human resources department refused to push back her hire date. QC rescinded their job offer and Felicity was left with few options. Most of the companies that had courted her after graduation, no longer had positions available. She spent hours reaching out to companies until a small startup in San Francisco made her an offer.

Barbara Grayson created Oracle Forensics; a intelligence company dedicated to identifying and disrupting criminal networks operating on the internet. Barbara had created a platform that uses data science and specialized algorithms to find unique signatures of criminal conduct in the clear and dark webs and provide law enforcement with immediate, actionable intelligence to identify and prosecute criminals who prey on the most vulnerable.

Felicity enjoyed the work more than she thought she would. She had never considered a career in law enforcement but she loved taking down the bad guys.

Her first week after Tahoe had been hectic, learning her job in the company, trying to find a place to live. She pretended that she didn't have time to worry over her phone, but she checked her emails, her social media and called her phone every few nights to see if it was still working. By the second week it was harder to ignore the ache in her chest. The fourth week she spent her days working and her nights crying into her ice cream.

She hadn't noticed her period was late until about a month into her new job. Felicity had been terrified that she was barely twenty-one pregnant and alone. She hesitated to take a pregnancy test, convinced that the two blue line would make it real. After a week of sleepless nights and nausea she had run to the late night pharmacy and picked up two tests.

Sitting on her bathtub she waited for the timer, she could envision how her life would be. Chasing a small blonde boy or girl with dimples and blue eyes. Somewhere in those few minutes she realized that she wanted to be pregnant, to hold onto something from her time with Flynn. It was irrational, but she wanted it.

Felicity had sobbed into her pillow, when both tests had been negative.

That night she threw away the small bear he had won for her along with the test. She locked away his pictures and shut away her pain. She tried to take off the star necklace but her hand wouldn't stop shaking long enough to open the catch. She left it on as a reminder to follow her own path. Work became her life, her computer's her babies. Felicity refused to open her heart to anyone ever again.

"Are we there yet?" Curtis grumbled into her shoulder.

"We are circling the city now, not much longer."

Curtis sat up and rubbed a hand over his face, "Any idea where we are going?"

"I'm not sure if showing up at his door step in the middle of the night is the best idea. It's after hours so I doubt that we can get into QC. The wedding is tomorrow evening, I'm just not sure where. Honestly why am I even going there? This is one of the craziest things I have ever done. First was going off with Flynn, I mean Oliver Queen. Do people always call him by both names? For some reason whenever I realize who Flynn was I say both names. Do you say both names? Who the hell gets called by both of their names? You known, you can stop me any time."

Curtis patted her hand. "You are an idiot in love. You are doing something crazy to fight for a chance of finding that love again. We might be chasing a dream but you are still going after something bigger, better for yourself. I am so proud to be your friend, and witness the real Felicity Smoak."

"Keep telling me that when I am banging on the glass window à la The Graduate."

"I'll make sure to keep the bus running, when you race out of the church with your man."

Felicity snorted and bumped her shoulder into Curtis.

"Tonight it's too late to find him, I say we get a hotel room. Sleep a few hours and then start the search tomorrow." Felicity pulled up her tablet and started searching for a hotel room.

"Felicity, are you sure you are not just delaying the reunion?"

"No...Maybe, but it still makes sense to rest, before I make a bigger fool of myself."

Curtis shook his head and didn't comment. Felicity went back to her search. Once inside the hotel room, Felicity was unable to stop her brain from spinning. Curtis was in the room next to her and alone she knew that she was making a huge mistake. Looking through the life and times of Oliver Queen was making her sick to her stomach. She couldn't approach him with her bruised heart in fear he won't remember her. Felicity knew that without Curtis here she would have already turned around.

She sat her laptop down screen up and a slideshow of pictures from her time with Oliver. With each picture she found her eyes growing heavy and when sleep claimed her, she was greeted by dreams of an untaken road.

Time slipped through her fingers and the clock mocked her. Felicity could find anything on the net, except where Oliver Queen was hiding in Starling City. Curtis had encouraged her through the morning, even got her to go to his known address. Which only lead her to a cranky landlord, who refused to tell her anything, besides that the apartment was already sold. QC was closed for the weekend and security wouldn't talk to her no matter how many business contracts she had with the Queens.

The first bridegroom she had barged in on had dropped a bottle of scotch on his foot. Felicity had apologized profusely, with Curtis chuckling behind her. She offered to get him ice and slammed the door on the wide eyed shocked room. The second bridegroom was being dressed and held up by his groomsmen, the smell of alcohol in the room almost knocked her over. She told the planner to get strong coffee and wished the couple the best of luck.

"We are never going to make it in time, the hotel is on the other side of town." Felicity groaned.

"We have to try, Felicity. Don't give up now."

"Curtis, I have run through two hotels, barged into two rooms and sputtered through two embarrassing apologies. I can't do it for a third time."

"Just one more, please."

"Pssh! That's if it's not at the Queen Manor. Which is twenty to thirty minutes out of town, surrounded by a gate and security patrol. If the wedding is there then we are screwed."

"We've got to try! You have got to try! I won't let you give up, not like I did." Curtis grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the taxi.

"Curtis, what are you talking about? You are happily married."

"Paul left me, he said that my work is more important than he is. And I couldn't even argue with him. I have been so caught up, that I haven't talked to him in months. I forgot our anniversary, our anniversary Felicity. He walked out and I haven't seen or talked to him for two weeks. He won't take my calls. I screwed up. I didn't fight for the love of my life. I didn't even try to go after him."

Felicity pulled her tall friend into a hug. "Curtis I am so sorry, I had no idea. Why are you here? Go home and find your husband. You have been amazing and I know, I would never have gotten this far without you. I promise I will keep looking, but you, my friend need to go make an idiot out of yourself."

Curtis looked out the window for a moment, he turned to her, his smile brightened.

"Don't stop, don't ever stop looking. You deserve to be happy, with him or without him, you deserve it. Driver can you let me out at the corner, I'm going the wrong way."

The car pulled to the curb, Curtis jumped out before it even fully stopped. He pulled his bag from the trunk and poked his head in to kiss Felicity on the cheek.

"Go get'm tiger!" She called out.

Felicity arrived at the last location, the Westin. On her way to the hotel she had pulled up the hotel schematics and found the banquet room the service was being held at and the adjoining rooms used by the bridal party. The first hotel she ran through had been a nightmare of empty corridors and locked doors. She refused to be caught off guard again.

The wedding was on the Imperial floor, in the Alexandra Room on the thirty-second floor; considered to be one of the most exquisite wedding venues in Starling City. The room had a spectacular wraparound view framed by fourteen foot floor to ceiling windows. Alexandra's is considered a lavish glass castle with hundreds of tiny pin spot lights for illumination. The images Felicity found were jaw dropping, not to mention the close to three hundred per person dinner. The other venues had been beautiful as well, but this was the ultimate in luxury weddings.

She should have started her search here.

Felicity adjusted her glasses, tightened her ponytail, and slid a hand down her dress. What do you wear to the wedding of the man you love, who was about to marry another women? She picked up a form fitted sleeveless pale pink silk midi dress covered in hand painted pastel posies. A bold blue line, ran the center of the dress, from the v-neck to the hem. She paired the dress with slim black stilettos that buckled around her ankles.

The butterflies in her belly had intensified their fluttering and she was sure they multiplied. She stared at the numbers slowly increasing. The higher she rose above the city, the more her nerves took over.

The elevator doors opened on the thirtieth floor, an older elegant blonde woman stepped a board. The woman appeared agitated glaring at her watch, her phone pressed to her ear. Felicity stepped back, tried to ignore the one sided conversation. She had almost succeeded until a name cut into her mental speech.

"Oliver Jonas, this is your mother and I will not be ignored. I have been trying to get a hold of you all day. If Yvonne and you have eloped I will never forgive you. You have a responsibility to your family and your guests to be here."

Felicity turned her head to the woman, Oliver's mother, Moira Queen. She recognized her now. The regal grace of a woman who owned half the city below. In Felicity's late night internet excavation into all things Queen, she had learned that Moira was no trophy wife. She helped create and expand QC, as an equal partner to Robert Queen. She was considered cold and ruthless in business. The press unforgivingly dubbed her, the Ice Queen.

As a woman with her own company Felicity understood that most women in business were wrongly labeled or unfairly judged. Felicity believed people should be judge by their actions not by preconceived notions. She did admit that she was a little intimidated, by the woman currently scolding her son's voice mail. Mrs. Queen ended her call and pressed another series of numbers.

"Mr Diggle, this is Moira Queen again, has there been any word from my son?" Her clipped voiced filled the glass elevator. "This is unacceptable, remind me again what I pay you for Mr. Diggle. We will discuss this further once my son has been found. Notify me immediately when you have heard from him or Yvonne."

Hate to be that guy, Felicity thought.

The other woman's head snapped around to Felicity, ice blue eyes froze her in place. Felicity's body went rigid, her eyes widened at the dawning realization she had spoken out loud. Heat flooded her face and cold captured her racing heart.

"Excuse me? Do you make it a habit of eavesdropping on private conversations?"

"Not normally, no. I did have a job once that required me to snoop on chat rooms. But that's not really eavesdropping it's more skim reading or trolling. If you know what I mean," Felicity chuckled nervously and then gulped. "Not that you would frequent chat rooms, right? But this is a public elevator and you were talking really loud. I didn't mean to comment, it just kind of happened. I'm sorry, I talk when I'm nervous and you keep staring at me and I can't stop."

Moira Queen's eye narrow and a perfect eyebrow arched up. Felicity felt exposed, laid bare, examined and found inferior.

"Maybe you should learn a little restraint, young lady."

Felicity nodded once, tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. Felicity may have been caught off guard by the Queen matriarch but she wouldn't bow down to her, pun intended.

"True, maybe one day. But not today. Hope you find Oliver before the wedding. That could be really awkward, maybe not as awkward as this, but that's really my awkwardness seeping into the confined space we are in. Is the elevator even moving? It's only supposed to be two more floors."

"You know Oliver? No, don't answer that. I don't have time to listen to anymore of your nonsense. You're not on my guest list? So why are you here? Again don't tell me, you don't matter."

"Your guest list? But I thought this was Oliver and Yvonne's, ahhh never mind. Hey I matter," Felicity huffed. "I was dropping off something for him."

"Sure, I've heard that before. I know why you're here. Do you really think you are the first girl to try and stop this wedding? You think Oliver and you had something special years ago and now you're here to tell him how you feel. You're not his normal type, but that doesn't matter he loves Yvonne and he's marrying her today."

"Wow, nice to know how you see me. But Mrs. Queen I am the CEO of Smoak Systems and was bringing over the signed contracts of our partnership with QC. Oliver Queen was the one that brokered the deal, and told my associate to bring them over as soon as possible, before he was out of town."

"It is Saturday night and you came here ten minutes before Oliver's wedding to have paperwork signed. Do you really expect me to believe that? You can lie to yourself, but don't try to lie to me. If you tell Oliver, you will rip his world apart if Yvonne finds out. And a part of Oliver will always blame you. I have no idea when you met my son, but I can assure you Oliver was a different person when he was younger. He is not that person anymore. For your own sake, leave and have your associate bring the paperwork next week."

The elevator dinged the doors slid open, Moira looked at her once more with pity as she stepped out. Felicity stood frozen, held captive by self doubt. She was a fool. She let her imagination run away from her and put her heart in danger again. She knew better. Seeing the pictures, discovering Flynn's true identity had thrown her life in a tail spin. She walked away from a stable, sweet guy, all for a fading memory.

Maybe it wasn't Oliver she'd missed, maybe it was who she was when she was with him. He had brought something out in her and instead of nurturing herself she locked it away. She locked herself away and left the key in the hands of a man that she didn't really know.

Felicity needed to say goodbye to her past and start looking to her future. She may never see Oliver, but she knows where she can go to say goodbye to the memory of Flynn.

One last trip to Tahoe. A long overdue goodbye, in the place where it all started. Even if it was only to a house.

Felicity pulled out her tablet and made arrangements. She rented a convertible car, changed out of her dress into a pair of relaxed fit jeans, a red tank top and her favorite panda flats. She decided she needed a long drive into the mountains on a warm summer night with the top down. According to her GPS, she had an almost seven hour drive.

After a quick stop for snacks, Felicity headed north east and wondered what fate held in store for her next.

San Francisco

Oliver would have had better luck flying commercial. Mid flight one of the engines failed and forced the pilots to make an emergency landing in Monterey. During the landing the second engine failed. The emergency crews had met them on the ground. He'd been checked over by the paramedics even after his repeated assurance that he was fine. The whole process took hours. Surprisingly it had stayed under the press' radar at least for now.

He knew that if he didn't get out of there soon then he would be facing an army of press. He'd be questioned about the flight. Then why he was leaving Starling City the night before his wedding. Oliver had asked Yvonne to hold off making any announcements so that he could travel under the radar. She had no problems agreeing and made her own arrangements for her escape from the city. Yvonne took her a flight, heading south to Costa Rica. She told him she didn't want to waste the two week stay at the Springs Resort private villa.

Yvonne had no qualms about a vacationing alone. Oliver had told her to have fun and stay out of jungles with strange men. She made him promise to tell her what happened with his Felicity.

The plane was no longer an option. It was a two and half hour drive to San Francisco from Monterey. By the time he got to the City it would be well past two in the morning and Oliver had no idea how he was going to find her. He did the only thing he could think of, he called Diggle.

"Oliver? What the hell man? Do you know what time it is?" Diggle muttered thickly.

"Dig, I found her. But I need your help."

"Hold on, let me get a pen." Oliver heard rustling and hissed out curse words. "What do you need? Who is she? Where is she?" Diggle woke up a little more with each question.

"Her name is Felicity Smoak. I have her date of birth. I know the name of her company, and her business associates. But I have no idea how I'd find her in a city of almost a million people. Where do I start? Do I show up at her house at three am and hope she remembers me?"

"Yeah, that isn't the best idea. Where are you anyway? What about the wedding?"

"Yvonne found the cell phone and encouraged me to find her. The wedding is off and I'm on my way to San Francisco. Well, I was before the jet engine failed."

"Wait, what!? San Francisco? Engine failed? What am I supposed to tell your family?"

"Don't tell them anything. I will explain when I get back. Yvonne is on her way out of the country so she'll be out of reach. I'll warn Tommy and Thea. My mom is going to be all over you, I'm sorry."

"You're going to make it up to me. It won't be easy but I'll distract her for as long as I can. Send me that info and I'll reach out to some of my contacts. I hope you find her Oliver. But you should get some rest before you go knocking on her door. Hate for her to call the cops on you."

"Good point, I'll get a hotel room before I drive up the coast. I'm going to turn off my phone after I call Tommy and Thea. I'll check in every few hours."

"Good luck Oliver. Can't wait to meet her."

"Thanks John, good luck with my mom."

Before disconnecting Oliver heard Diggle curse again. He called Tommy and explained everything. His sister was a harder phone call, she wanted to know everything. But after the story of meeting Felicity, she had wished him luck, and told him he owed her big for the hell she was about to go through.

The morning drive up the coast was beautiful. The ocean view made the Saturday traffic tolerable even if it added an additional hour to his drive time. By the time he arrived to the address Diggle sent him it was afternoon. The five story building was a modern townhouse-style condominium located in the heart of Mission Bay at the city's south waterfront. Finding parking was difficult and required a few circles around the block.

There was a man behind a desk in the lobby. He was talking to a tall skinny man with brown hair. Oliver noticed a key pad near the elevator doors, if he wanted up he was going to need the code. Left without a choice he approached the two men and waited to interrupt.

"What do you mean she's gone? When did she leave?"

"I'm not allowed to discuss that with you. I already got in trouble for what happened yesterday."

"Come on Jimmy, she's not answering her or my phone and I really need to talk to her before it's too late."

The man with his back to Oliver rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

"All I am at liberty to say is that Miss Smoak is not at home. I will inform her that you were here."

"Jimmy, I'm worried about her. She isn't acting like herself."

"I understand sir, but she still isn't at home. I will tell you that she went off with Mr. Holt and they looked excited."

"Curtis? I'm locked out of her phone and I don't have mine. Do you have his number? I really need to talk to her."

Oliver turned on his phone he had Curtis Holt's number. He wondered if Curtis knew about the past Oliver had with his boss. Nothing from their last conversation suggested that he had known. The guy in front of him must be the boyfriend that had answered the phone last night. He sounded anxious with no idea where Felicity was.

A loud ringing filled the lobby, the two men turned toward him. Oliver looked at his screen and saw it was his mother calling. No way was he taking that call in front of witnesses. He silenced his phone and met the eyes of Felicity Smoak's boyfriend.

"Sorry," Oliver offered.

"Aren't you Oliver Queen? Are you here to see Felicity? We talked on the phone yesterday."

"Last I checked. I take it Miss Smoak isn't here." Oliver gritted his teeth to hold back his snarl.

This man had no idea that he was dating the woman he loved. Oliver didn't need to take it out on him, even if he was thinking about breaking his upturned nose.

"She took off and Jimmy here won't tell me where she went."

"Wouldn't be much of a doorman if he did. What if you were a stalker?" Oliver shrugged.

"Jimmy knows me, and I'm her boyfriend. Even if we are on a break."

Oliver shoved his hands in his pockets, to keep himself from shaking the other man. A break? What did that mean? Does that mean she's single? Where the hell did she go?

"Gentlemen I believe it's time for both of you to leave. Miss Smoak is not here and neither of you are on her approved list."

"Wait I'm not on the list?" Pig nosed boyfriend asked. "I was on the list yesterday? What the hell happened?"

"I received and updated list this morning by email. I'm sorry sir, but you are no longer on the list. Until she returns, you will not be allowed into the elevators." Jimmy looked over to Oliver. "You sir are also not allowed up."

"Thank you, I'll be going."

Oliver walked out of the building and pulled out his phone. He pressed the contact number for Curtis and waited for the line to pick up. It rang twice and went to voicemail. Oliver ended the call and tried again.

"Mr. Queen do you have a moment?"

Oliver turned to see he'd been followed by the boyfriend.

"Why are you looking for my girlfriend?"

"It is business related? And non of yours." Oliver snapped.

"The scion of a million dollar company doesn't make house calls on the weekend. I would think that you have people to do that for you."

"Multi-billion dollar company, and it's our willingness to go above and beyond that keeps us ahead of the game. Now if you excuse me I have better things to do than to explain my business etiquette."

Oliver walked away without looking back. He imagined knocking the snug kid on his ass. He might be right and more observant than the normal person, but Oliver wasn't going to confess his love for Felicity if she wasn't there to hear it.

Oliver's phone rang and he looked hoping to see Curtis' name instead he saw Diggle.

"Dig? What's going on?"

"Besides you mother on a rampage, not much? My job has been threatened at least a dozen times in the last hour alone."

"She can't fire you, you're my bodyguard. And my friend."

"Thanks, but I do a lot better when I know where you are. The press knows about the emergency landing. I think your mother turned a lovely shade of purple when she heard. A picture of Yvonne surfaced of her boarding a plane alone. You better get indoors and out of sight while this blows over. I know you just found this girl, but I don't think you want her to be dragged into the middle of a media circus. No one will believe that you haven't been cheating on Yvonne with her. She will be dragged through the mud and called a homewrecker."

Oliver rubbed a hand over his face and looked out towards the water. Diggle was right. Nothing about the next few weeks would be easy, until a bigger scandal hit. It wouldn't matter that Felicity and him haven't been together for years, she would be targeted. Not only would his family be demanding answer about the called off wedding but the paparazzi would hound him.

Was this really the time to reconnect with Felicity? He selfishly thought, hell yes it was. But was that fair for Felicity? Probably not.

"Yeah Dig, I'll head out of town. I'll call when I get somewhere safe. I'll even call my mother, just need a good bottle of scotch to do that."

"What are you going to do about the girl?"

"I don't know. I just found her Dig, how can I let her go again?"

"There is no easy answer. For now get out of sight. You know where she is now and it's only a matter of time before you'll see her again."

"I've waited this long, what's a few more weeks. See ya."

Olive disconnected before Diggle could answer. He had heard enough from his friend. Oliver wasn't mad at Diggle for being the barer of bad news, he was just mad that he would have to wait longer to see her. Why was fate keeping them apart?

Back in his car he programmed in the Tahoe address and headed out of the city.

Incline Village

Driving through Incline Village always brought him a sense of peace. He didn't come here enough. His plan was to move here permanently in a few years, work from home. Oliver had never talked to Yvonne about his plan because he knew that he would never bring her here. He could never picture another woman in their place. It belonged to Angel and Him. Or Felicity. He needed to get used to using her name.

During the ride up he had called the caretakers and had them set up the house. They no longer questioned him about his preference for the smaller house on the property. Oliver pulled his rental car into the garage. He was greeted by clean sheets, stocked cupboards, and an empty house.

Oliver was too tired to eat. He climbed the stairs, kicked his shoes off and crawled into bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day of phone calls and explaining. One of those calls he hoped included Felicity. But that was for tomorrow.

Sunshine woke him up the next morning, he had forgotten to close the blinds. Oliver pushed himself up out of bed and headed to the sliding door. The view still managed to stun him even after all these years. The mountains, the water breaking through the trees, sunlight sparkling off the surface of the lake. Oliver stepped through the door onto the balcony. A warm breeze caressed his skin. He could swear the air smelled of apples and cinnamons, maybe it was a memory brought on by being back here.

Oliver placed his hands on the rail. Everything made more sense when he was here. He wanted to find and talk to Felicity, to see if everything between them was still as powerful as he remembered. But he also didn't want her to suffer, because of him. He would wait to call her, wait until the media no longer cared. He only hoped that he wouldn't be too late.

He stood up and turned to head back inside when a flash of red caught his eye. Oliver looked down, a women stood on the lower patio, near the pond waterfall. She wore jeans, a red tank top, her blonde hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Oliver's heart thundered in his head, he felt hot and cold flashes throughout his body. She was here, did she know he'd been looking for her. It didn't matter, she was here now.

Oliver ran through the house, out into the summer morning. The familiar smell of her shampoo slowed his foot falls. It hadn't been a memory, it had been her. It no longer mattered to him what the press would say, this was more important than gossip or image. The life he had wanted was only a few feet away, all he had to do was convince her to give him another chance. He wanted to know her details, the good with the bad. He wanted to know everything about her. No more nicknames. He wanted Felicity and Oliver, not Flynn and Angel.

His body was trembling from anticipation. Oliver wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her but he knew that he needed to restrain himself before making a move on her. Somehow she didn't hear him approach, her back was to him.

He licked his dry lips opened his mouth. This was it. This was the first meeting all over again. What the hell does he say?

"Felicity Smoak? Hi, I'm Oliver Queen."

AN: Wow only one real chapter left, can you believe it. Please forgive me for the minor cliff hanger, I promise to make it up to you in the next chapter. For every review, favorite, I just want to say thank you to my readers.