Chapter Ten:

Disclaimer: I own nothing… promise that. Raw… no beta no edit.

College has started back up for me so the chapters may come slowly, but they will be there soon.

Oliver wasn't a stupid man that was one thing for sure. He caught sight of the man that followed him throughout the day the minute he pulled onto the street. Oliver knew exactly what was happening and he was delighted to play along. He quickly called Diggle explaining what was going on and what he was going to do. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know who the man was following him, he just wished he knew the name. Oliver had gotten a really good look at the guy and now knew exactly what he looked like. An older man maybe in his 50's with dark hair, medium built and wearing a gray tailored suit. He looked more like a business man than an attacker, a torturer. He knew it had to be Felicity's attacker and the only thing that kept him from stopping in the middle of the road and getting out to beat the life from the man was Diggle's voice in his ear. Oliver could feel the rage in him wanting to take control. He hated how his conversation with Felicity went. He knew she was hurting and he knew that she was in a very dark place, he hated it. This man was at fault for that. Oliver hadn't meant to put his hands on her hips, it was instinct to catch her before she fell. She felt as though she could never be loved, she was so wrong. After knowing everything that happen to her, he still loved her with everything good. He was mad, but he wasn't mad at Felicity, he was mad for what she went through, mad for what was going through her mind making her feel unloved. He was mad for not protecting her, mad at the whole situation. But he was scared, scared that he would never get Felicity back. He was scared that they would lose her and that was something he couldn't handle in his life. He would make sure every single day she knew how he felt about her. He only saw coldness in Felicity's eyes when she would look him in the eye, it hurt for him to see that. Felicity wasn't alone, he would make sure of that. She would never feel unloved, lonely or on her own as long as he had something to do with it.

Oliver stopped into the bakery and picked up Felicity's favorite pastries, and even added Thea's favorite to the list. He wanted to make his girls happy. Thea had been heaven sent helping Felicity and he couldn't repay her even if he tried. He made a quick phone call to Thea while in the bakery waiting for his order to be filled. He let her know what was going on and be prepared just in case. She had reported to him that Felicity was awake just lying on the bed on her side staring at the shade drawn window. She also reported that Felicity wanted to take more pain pills even though she had given the blonde one when they had walked into the apartment before getting Felicity cleaned up.

Oliver was worried about that to say the least. It wasn't like Felicity, but Felicity wasn't the person she was over a month ago. He remembered back to when he would hear her pleads for vertigo and how she begged for it, cried for it and even screamed for it. He wanted to talk to her about it and he would when he found the right time. He was scared she was going somewhere that she would never be able to come back from.

Oliver walked back over to the window for a quick look after putting his phone back in his pocket. The man was sitting in his car with a newspaper… a newspaper, why hadn't he seen all this before he thought to himself. The young girl from the counter let him know that his order was ready and he quickly paid and went to Thea's car. Keeping his eye trained on the guy in the silver jeep wrangler he went to his next destination. He would lead the sorry soul all over the city until Diggle and Laurel could get the footage from the hospital and then get with him.

After what seemed like many hours and many stops later, Oliver went back to the apartment complex knowing that Diggle and Laurel had made it back to the apartment and was standing watch over Felicity and Thea.

"No, just leave Felicity alone we can do this." Oliver heard Thea say strongly to the two friends sitting on the couch. The trio seemed to come down with the case of closed mouth once Oliver made his appearance.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, we were just getting ready to watch the footage that we retrieved from the hospital security cameras." Diggle stated turning his attention to the t.v. and the suddenly exciting remote in his hand. It seemed like everyone was on edge with what happened to Felicity, he could say the same about himself.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked handing over the day's purchases to his sister. Felicity seemed to be on his mind most minutes of the day. That was something he didn't want to change though.

"She was sleeping when I checked in on her a little while ago. I gave her another pain killer, she said the pain was unbearable." Thea looked sad when she spoke. They all were sad for what had happened to their friend. No more than the other one cared for the blonde IT tech. Oliver knew without a doubt that Felicity was in pain, mentally and physically. Hopefully this new evidence that the team had come up with will help them find the low life that caused the pain in Felicity. It may not take the pain away from Felicity but he knew without a doubt it would make him and the team feel better, knowing they took care of the problem.

Everyone turned their attention to the television screen once Diggle had found what he was looking for. There on the screen plain as day was the face of the man that attacked their Felicity Smoak. Many voices could be hard at once. Diggle expressed his thoughts on who the person was. He had seen him many times over now, that he saw the face. He gripped the television remote in his hand so hard, it could be heard cracking.

Suddenly everyone stopped talking when they heard the sharp gasp from the bedroom doorway. There in complete shock was Felicity, hair a messy bun, looking weak and tired. She was staring at the television screen in complete terror.

"Damn.." Oliver said under his breath as he quickly stood and went toward his blonde friend. He reached out to steady Felicity, to take her back into the bedroom away from the living room and the t.v. screen. Once he placed his hands on either side of her arms, the blonde started to shake uncontrollably. Felicity's eyes grew dark and tears formed, Oliver wanted nothing more than to stop those tears, stop her hurt.

"Felicity look at me.." Oliver spoke softly. Felicity wouldn't have nothing of it, she was standing or rather almost leaning into the wall with tears in her eyes shaking from head to toe.

"Felicity please.." Oliver pleaded with the blonde. He started leading her back into her bedroom and was shocked to find that Felicity allowed him to. He stayed close to her and walked her toward the bed and both sat down on the edge. The blankets was very ruffled where Felicity tried to get comfortable but couldn't.

Oliver went to place his hand on Felicity's head when she finally spoke. "Don't touch me please." Felicity's words were soft, tear filled and he could clearly hear the pain.

"He is still alive Oliver." Felicity said.

"For now." Came the simple reply from Oliver. That was the only words he could form to speak at the moment. He sat next to the blonde on the bed and was very surprised she hadn't asked him to move yet. He didn't need to look at Felicity to know that her tears were streaming down her face freely now.

"Oliver.."

"Felicity, I promise you, we will take care of this."

"Take care of what Oliver, you going to take everything away? You going to take away the pain that I feel, the shame that I feel, or hey how about the demons that chase my dreams? So you going to take everything away? I don't want to be here anymore Oliver, I don't want to wake up when I do. I don't want to feel this way. I don't want you and the others to be here. I don't want to be in this dream. I want out."

Oliver stood up suddenly making Felicity jerk a little bit which he didn't mean to do.

"What are you saying Felicity?"

"Oliver I want to die…."