Here is the next part of the Take A Bow series. The song is once again "Everything Will Change" by Gavin Degraw. Totally accidental but then when I realized I loved the symmetry of it. According to my timeline (yes I actually have one) we have 3, maybe 4 chapters of this left. Seeing as I have 5 research papers, and two grade-make-or-breaking projects coming up, I doubt you'll see any updates in the next few weeks. That being said, I did write this one in the last hour or so, so who really knows?

Disclaimer- if you hate this series so far, PLEASE for the love of God, don't bother reading or reviewing. Nothing has changed. The characters are the same and I'll continue writing them this way until the end of this story.

To everyone else, there aren't enough smileys in the world to express how much your support means to me.

Enjoy! I own nothing.

Take those boots off the shelf

Wipe that dust of yourself

Even if you've been through hell; you're back

Felicity ran her hand across the smooth desk in front of her and a sigh of pleasure passed her lips. She'd been back for three weeks and she still couldn't quite believe it. She was home. After just sort of existing for so long she was finally back in the basement of Verdant. Her heart still sped up as she approached the secret entrance and a grin still overtook her face as the hum of her computers filled the large basement.

How had she lived without this for so long?

"Felicity?" Oliver's voice over the comms snapped her back to attention. Her fingers flew over the keyboards, her keyboards, as she pulled up the data he needed to find their newest target.

"He's in the alley between Main and Hastings. He's likely meeting with a buyer for those guns." She glanced quickly at her second screen. "You're two minutes out."

"Thank you." Oliver replied quietly before they fell into radio silence.

Things remained awkward between the two of them. It was the only sour note in the symphony that was once again her life. She wasn't even sure if the awkwardness stemmed from Oliver, from herself or both of them. He was clearly happy to have her there, even if he had been much less vocal about it than Roy and Diggle. She saw it in the way his eyes smiled even as he bit the inside of his mouth to keep his lips from following suit. She shouldn't still be able to read him so well.

He'd been polite and welcoming but he'd kept his distance. They hadn't quite found their footing yet but they were well on their way to becoming a team once more. She guided Team Arrow through their missions and he relied on her once more for intel. He thanked her each night over the comms, perhaps because he knew she'd always be gone by the time he returned.

She wasn't avoiding him exactly. It was just that she needed a life outside of the Team. The first time around she allowed no time for a social life and then suddenly she was off the team with too much time on her hands and no idea how to spend it. She needed a healthy middle ground. And if she spent her nights in her PJs eating ice cream and watching Doctor Who, well that was just nobody's business.

Things were awkward between the two of them, but she wasn't willing to look too deeply into the root of it. She wasn't an idiot. She knew that there were still feelings there. She knew just how much she had to mean to him for Oliver to have taken the steps to figure his issues out. He quite possibly loved her. And the idea that she maybe still loved him wasn't entirely outside the realm of possibility.

But she wasn't ready for that. She wasn't ready to delve too deeply into her psyche or his. She was a part of the team again. She was a hero. She had spent the last year and a half avoiding moving on with her life. She had wasted too much time doing a job she hated for a company she didn't like.

"Park around the corner, Guys. I don't think he's alone." Felicity suggested to the three men in her ear.

"Copy that." Roy replied.

It was time to make something of her life. The first step had been coming back here, coming home. Now it was time to quit her awful job and really go for it. She'd been dreaming of opening her own IT business since she was in pigtails. She had the skill, the genius and the necessary business savvy. She could pull it off. She'd saved every penny over the past several years and she had enough. She was pondering possible names for her company when the sounds of a fight filled her earpiece. Her back straightened and her body tensed as she listened to the fight. She heard Oliver grunt in pain and her knuckles whitened around the edge of her desk. Oliver never acknowledged pain.

Her stomach was a ball of nerves as she listened to John shouting directions at Roy. Her lips were pressed together tightly to keep herself from worrying out loud.

She tried not to think about the fact that Oliver hadn't said anything since he'd been hurt. She tried not to worry or care about the fact that he might be bleeding out again or –

"Felicity?" Roy barked in her ear. "We need the med table ready."

He said nothing else but his tone told her everything she needed to know. Oliver was hurt. She jumped to her feet, swaying in her heels for a moment before she raced around the basement gathering supplies. A tear slipped down her cheek as she pushed the defibrillator towards the med table. She placed her palms on the cool table and bowed her head. Breathing deeply, she did her best to calm down.

She was just worried about a teammate.

The door at the top of the stairs opened as Roy and Dig staggered in, carrying an unconscious Oliver between the two of them. Felicity froze as her eyes swept over Oliver, assessing for the injury. His eye was blackened beneath the hood and blood dripped steadily from his nose. She held her breath as her gaze trailed lower.

"No!" She gasped quietly as her eyes landed on the growing red stain on his jacket just over his abdomen. Dig and Roy lifted him onto the table and her fingers immediately went to the hole in his jacket. She gasped again as his blood ran freely beneath her fingers. She snapped into action and stripped his jacket.

"Knife wound." Dig explained needlessly. She could see that. He blew out a long breath. "Serrated blade."

Felicity nodded tearfully as she cleaned the wound that just wouldn't stop bleeding. Her hands shook and Dig covered them with his own. She fought for control before meeting his worried gaze.

"I've got this. I need you to stitch Roy up." He jerked his head in the younger man's direction. "He caught that blade too but he's downplaying it."

Of course he was, she thought hysterically. Could he be any more like Oliver? She set her jaw and turned away from Oliver without another glance. Roy needed her help and she knew that she needed a bit of space at the moment. Dig would have leveled with her if he needed her help or if he thought Oliver was truly in danger.

As she stitched up Roy's own wound, glaring at his protests, she realised that maybe this whole working together thing might be even harder than she'd thought. Somehow she'd forgotten the outright terror she felt whenever Oliver got hurt. Apparently their time apart had not only not lessened that fear, it had actually made it worse. Because she'd lived the last 18 months without Oliver Queen.

And she just wasn't sure that she could do it again.

When he woke up four hours later and his eyes searched frantically before landing upon her, she realised that she wasn't the only one struggling down here.

Hey, before it gets too late

Before the night is over, before the world's awake

Everything will change

Hey, I feel it coming on

Starting like a fire, tonight you lit the flame

Now everything will change

Short, I know. But I felt like I needed to post it anyways. It's a natural break between this and what I have planned for next chapter. Thoughts? Thanks for reading!