AN: Thank you everyone who has supported me through this adventure. The Favorites, Follows and Reviews are amazing and encouraging. Thank You!

Mic RiddyBannon, thank you yet again for the beta work. Also, Rennie75 (who has been writing for six months now :D) Thank you for your assistance as well. Kyra19 - I owe you thanks as well for you encouragement!

Disclaimer: Mic RiddyBannon, Rennie75 and I love to play with all things Arrow, even if we own nothing. It belongs to CW.

Chapter 10 - Emotions

As the group turned to their vehicles to head home Felicity realized that the Team had brought the two bikes and a car. She was conflicted, she knew that she would be expected to ride in the car with Diggle, but she really didn't feel like leaving Oliver's side right now. She was still extremely shaken up over the last few days and she didn't want to lose contact with him, no matter how briefly.

Oliver could see the emotions crossing Felicity's face as she realized the travel arrangements. He knew that she was still running on adrenaline from her most recent abduction and he was worried about what would happen when the adrenaline ran out. Besides, he didn't exactly want to leave her side right now. It took him a split second to decide what to do.

"Sara, you head back on the bike. I'll ride in the car with Felicity and Diggle." Oliver said as he removed his quiver before turning to the car.

"What about your bike man?" Diggle asked, knowing that Felicity and Oliver wouldn't want to leave each other's side, but he also didn't think that leaving the bike was a good idea.

"I'll come back for it." Sara said as she put her helmet on. "Right after I drop mine off at the club." She knew that she could make her way back quickly enough if she parkoured her way across the rooftops. She turned and climbed on her bike, started it up, and peeled out of the lot heading for the club.

"Let's go guys." Diggle said as he held open the back door of the car for Oliver and Felicity.

Oliver guided Felicity into the back of the car, pulling her close to him as soon as the door was closed. She sat, curled up against his side, as Diggle drove them back to the lair. Oliver sat with his nose buried in her hair, his arm around her, and he felt the adrenaline draining from her as she began to shake in his arms.

"Shhh, Felicity. It's okay, you're safe now." Oliver whispered to her quietly as he gently rubbed her arm. He wanted her to know that he was there for her. After all, it is my fault she was abducted – again. He thought to himself.

"It's not your fault Oliver." Felicity said quietly, without moving. "It wasn't yours either Diggle. Slade wanted me and he would have taken me no matter who was there. Neither of you are to blame."

They all rode in silence for a few moments, each engrossed in their own thoughts. Diggle was trying to take Felicity's words to heart. He knew logically that she was right. If Slade had really wanted her then there was nothing that any of them could have done about it. He was stronger than any of them and had connections that would get him anything. After replaying Felicity's words in his head several times he finally came to the conclusion that she was right, it wasn't his fault.

Oliver wasn't so easy on himself. He knew it was his fault even if no one else really did. He had had the chance many years ago to keep this from happening, had thought he had killed Slade, and yet here he was again, hunting Oliver and those he cared for. Oliver didn't know what else he could do to protect his friends, his family, his girl.

As they pulled up to the back door of Verdant Oliver and Diggle saw Sara, perched on the fire escape of the building next door, keeping watch over the rest of the Team. As Felicity and Oliver walked through the back door of the lair, Diggle nodded to Sara as she turned to parkour her way back for Oliver's Ducati before heading inside himself.

"I'm going to go shower." Felicity said, as they reached the bottom on the stairs. "I need to get his smell off me." She shuddered a bit as she finished speaking to Oliver. She turned and headed back towards the bathroom. She couldn't help but turn around to look at Oliver, make sure he really was there. She smiled to herself when she saw him taking off his jacket and shirt before reaching for his cargo pants not far away. At least I can watch him show off his abs again soon. Felicity thought before quickly going to shower.

Oliver headed straight for the Salmon Ladder as soon as Felicity turned the shower on. His muscles were still tense, he was tired from lack of sleep no small thanks to his nightmares last night, and he was still furious at himself for allowing Felicity to be taken by Slade. He should have known better than to leave her alone, well not alone because Diggle was watching her. But he should have stayed with her, or had her stay at the lair with him. Any way he looked at it, the fault was with him and him alone.

Diggle watched as Oliver started up the Salmon Ladder, again. He knew the younger man blamed himself because he had done the same thing. He took his jacket off and headed over to the training dummies to let out a bit of pent up anger, at himself, at Slade, at the whole situation. This never should have happened, especially to Felicity.

Felicity closed her eyes and simply enjoyed the hot water and steam from her shower. Slade hadn't touched her much, just enough to move her from place to place, but she couldn't help but feeling disgusted from it. She felt about it similar to the way she had after the Count had taken her. She felt repulsed for having been touched at all by a crazy man. She felt relieved that Oliver had come for her and yet felt bad for him at the same time. She knew that he was beating himself up over the situation – again. She simply hoped that he would pull out of it quickly, and Diggle too for that matter.

As Sara walked down the stairs to the lair after retrieving Oliver's Ducati she realized that there was a good possibility that no one had informed the rest of the group that Felicity had been rescued and was safe. She pulled out her phone as she reached the bottom of the stairs, not failing to notice Oliver on the Salmon Ladder and Diggle on the training mats. She realized Felicity was in the shower as she heard the water running. Smiling to herself she sat down to call her Dad and then Roy to let them know everyone was safe and accounted for.

Felicity felt a million times better now that she had washed all the dirt and grime off after her latest abduction. She was happy as she walked out of the bathroom that Oliver was still on the Salmon Ladder. She simply loved watching him and his gorgeous abs on display and was happy that he had not worked out quite all of his frustration before she finished in the shower and changing. As she sat down at her computers she gave Sara a small smile. Sara was obviously on the phone with her Dad at the time and she didn't want to interrupt the conversation.

Oliver could feel the moment that Felicity entered the room. He felt her eyes on him as he worked his way up the Salmon Ladder, again. He almost smiled to himself and would have if he didn't still feel guilty. He knew when she sat in her chair, when she turned towards him, and the moment she allowed a smile to grace her beautiful face. She is so beautiful when she smiles! He thought as he dropped silently to the floor in front of her.

Felicity smiled up at Oliver as he reached the top of the Salmon Ladder. She had had a rough night last night but being here, in the lair, watching Oliver working out shirtless again made her feel better, even if only for a moment, because everything seemed right for just those few moments in time. She was so focused on Oliver that she didn't notice when Sara and Diggle quietly stepped out of the lair, knowing that Oliver and Felicity would need some time alone tonight after everything that had happened. She watched intently as Oliver knelt as he had when he came to rescue her just an hour, or less, before.

Oliver looked up into Felicity's beautiful eyes. She was staring intently at him and he could see all the emotions that she was trying to hide from him. He stood from his kneeling position on the ground and walked around the desk to stand right in front of her.

Felicity looked up trying to hide the fact that she was crashing, the adrenaline had finally faded and she had realized, seconds before Oliver stood in front of her, that her hands were starting to shake again. She tore her eyes away from his blue eyes and looked down to where her hands were folded in her lap , not wanting him to see the emotions that were warring within her. She realized that she had utterly failed, however, when he knelt down in front of her and tilted her face up towards him with a gentle hand under her chin.

Oliver could tell that Felicity was starting to lose it. He had noticed when he looked up to her from his kneeling position at the bottom of the Ladder that her hands were starting to shake once more and he was worried about what was going to happen when she finally crashed. As he stood in front of her as she looked down to her hands in her lap, avoiding his gaze. Oliver knelt down in front of her, tilting her head so he could look in her eyes, and he saw the tears that were threatening to spill over.

Felicity was trying to hold in her tears as Oliver pulled her to her feet. She stepped into his embrace and hid her face in his bare chest, before her tears started to flow freely. She cried for several minutes as Oliver stood there with his strong arms wrapped around her, holding her close. He didn't say a word, just let her cry out the last several hours. Finally, when she could cry no more, she looked sheepishly up into his amazingly blue eyes.

"I'm sorry Oliver." Felicity sniffled. "I didn't mean to cry on you like that."

"Shhh, it's okay Felicity." Oliver replied quietly, not willing to let her go yet. "You have been through so much, not just last night, but in the last few weeks. Sometimes a person just needs to let go of all the pent up emotion."

"Like you do?" Felicity asked sarcastically. She knew he never talked about his emotion much less let them show.

"You see how hard I work out." Oliver replied, knowing that it was the truth. "I work out so much because that's how I let my emotions out." As Felicity looked at him wide eyed he knew he had to do some more explaining.

"Last night I had a nightmare. In it you were being held by Slade and he… he killed you. Right in front of me." Oliver paused for a moment as he reached up and cupped her face in his hands. He decided to allow all the emotion from the last several hours to be evident on his face and in his voice. "When I woke up I immediately texted Diggle to see if you were okay and when he said that you were gone it was all I could do to not lose my sanity. I was so worried that he was going to hurt you and it was all my fault. I should have protected you and I failed."

"Oliver." Felicity started as she wanted him to know that she didn't blame him, that it wasn't his fault.

"No, let me finish." Oliver said as he placed a finger on her lips to keep her from rambling. "When I heard that you were gone I felt like a piece of me was gone, like the sun was never going to shine in my life again. Do you want to know why? Why I was devastated?" Oliver paused for a moment before Felicity nodded her head indicating that yes, she did want to know what he was thinking.

"It's because I love you!"

AN: Thank you for reading yet another chapter. Please take a moment to leave me a review!