A/N: Thank you all for supporting the story!

So I guessed you are all waiting for Oliver and Felicity to talk...I hope you will enjoy this!

LateVMlover: Thanks! I hope this won't be disappointing..

Nrdhrd3: Here you go! :)

Loulounana: Thank you! I'm really happy you are enjoying the story.


"Freeze!" Oliver yells, his voice menacing and cold, while adjusting his aim to get a clear shot at the man sitting in the darkness on the very edge of the rooftop.

He startles slightly when he hears him chuckling, his grip on the trigger never wavering.

He doesn't even look at Oliver, his eyes set on what's happening inside the building in front of him, one of his elbows leaning on the ground, while he keeps both hands on his gun, holding it steadily.

"Are you going to kill me Mister Queen?"


18 hours before


Felicity glances quickly at Oliver, scanning his face thoughtfully. He is sitting at the other side of the table and is sipping his coffee slowly, his fingers grasping the newspaper tightly, maybe a bit too tightly.

He seems focused solely on the front page, his brows drawn together in deep concentration, but she has been feeling his eyes on her during the whole breakfast, even if she never caught him staring. He has been shady, like the damn ninja he is.

When she woke up that morning and paddled barefoot in the kitchen, her eyes still heavy with sleep she was shocked to see him, instead of Diggle and Lyla, setting the coffee maker.

She has tried to brush her messy hair down her shoulders, to fix her appearance a little, even if nothing could hide her favorite, worn out, jammies.

They were comfortable and huge on her, but rather unflattering. And printed in comics strips.

She knows her friends don't mind, but she would have chosen something different, maybe something that would look like it belongs to a grown woman, not to a teenage boy, if she knew she would see Oliver that morning.

She was terribly worried when Oliver told her Digg had to take Lyla to the emergency room in the middle of the night, but he was quick to reassure her that both her friend and the baby were fine, nothing was wrong.

Lyla has woken Diggle up a little panicked, feeling nauseous and with painful contractions and she was sure the baby was coming a little early.

Luckily the doctor who examined her told her the pain was probably due to stress and the baby wasn't about to come until the expected term. Anyway he decided to keep her at the hospital for the day to be sure.

Felicity, despite Oliver's calm explanation, wasn't completely reassured and she decided to take the day off from work, hoping to go and check on Lyla.


"Felicity can we talk?"

She raises her eyes in surprise. She has been lost in her thoughts, the almost cold coffee mug in her hands near her lips, forgotten, and she looks at Oliver, tilting her head to the side.

"Yeah. What's up?"

She sets the coffee mug on the table and gives him her full attention, while Oliver puts aside the newspaper and rubs his hands nervously, methodically on his pants.

"I-I meant to-"

He tries to speak, his eyes fixed on the table and Felicity looks at him, confused, frowning slightly.

He is clearly nervous and looks a little lost. She is so used to strong, stoic Oliver that she almost smiles at the sight of this new vulnerable side. But he is always so gentle when she is the one to feel embarrassed so she opts for a kind, understanding tone.

"Hey. Whatever it is, just tell me, ok?"

Oliver relaxes visibly at her words, a small, unsure smile on his lips.

"I' m terrible at this."

"Talking?"

She jokes, grinning somewhat smugly and leaning her cheek on the palm of her hand.

"Yeah."

She freezes when she sees him scooting over, moving his chair towards hers, ending up right beside her. She turns to face him, bumping her knees on his thigh and she waits silently for him to speak.

She observes him, the uncertainty in his eyes and the twitching in his jaws right before he moves to take hold of her small hands in his.

She starts to pull back instinctively, surprised, but he doesn't let her, shaking his hand a little, pleading with his eyes and she stops, trying to relax in his light hold.

Oliver looks at her intensely, before taking a deep breath and speaking in a low tone, barely above a whisper.

"I need you to know how much it means to me what you did in those past two years, for the team. For me."

Felicity tries put on an easy smile, even if the feeling of his rough hands on her soft skin makes her stomach flutter, her heart once again betraying her.

"Oliver, you are worrying me. This-this sounds awfully like a goodbye. Or a break up, that would be absurd, because we-"

"No, Felicity. Sorry." He shakes his head, interrupting her nervous ramble. "It' just that I never told you and I should have. I count on you, everyday, and I need you to know that I don't take it, you, for granted. Even if I don't say it."

"Ok. That's good to hear."

She smiles, still a little stiffly, clearly emotional over his words but worried for the possible outcome of that conversation. She can't stop thinking that he may try to push her out of the team. To tell her that even if he is grateful for her help she should go back to her old life.

If that's what he is about to say she is going to fight him. She is part of the team and despite her lack of fighting skills she isn't helpless and they need her, as much as she needs them.

After two years they aren't just team mates to her, they are family and she can't lose them.

"Whatever happens nothing could change that."

She feels her heart drop at his words, now sure that he is going to push her away and her voice breaks as she answers.

"Ok." She absentmindedly tries to move her hands that are resting on her knees but only manages to brush her knuckles on his palms, making him drop his focus on their joined hands.

Felicity doesn't move as she feels him lightly caressing each one of her fingertips with his thumbs, her eyes set on his bowed head.

"I know I left for four months and that maybe you thought I had left for good."

"No, I-" She protests weakly and he raises his head to look at her, piercing blue eyes boring into hers.

"Felicity."

"Yeah, ok. I may have thought that. But it's not like I blame you or anything."

"It wouldn't be you." He speaks softly, tenderly, with a small sad smile and Felicity lets out a little strangled laugh, feeling a little overwhelmed. "I' m sorry I let you think I left. I wouldn't do that, I swear. I would have come to say goodbye."

He lets her slip her hands out of his own and watches as she reaches for him with tentative, trembling hands and tugs him towards her by his shoulders.

He sinks into her soft, warm body and encircles her waist with his arms, resting his chin on her shoulder, holding her flush against him, letting her drape her bended legs on his thighs, to keep her as close as possible.

"I thought I was giving you a break. Part of me has always thought you were better off without me."

Oliver speaks softly into her ear and feels her shaking her head, where it rests on his shoulder, than she shifts, trying to pull back but he holds her tightly, needing to keep talking and not sure he can face her just yet.

"But we met, that night at that restaurant and I was selfish. I wanted to see you again, I wanted you back. That's why I asked you to come back working together ,but you didn't want that, so I believed I was right to leave you alone."

"No. No." He lets her push him back this time and watches her eyes glossy with unshed tears, even if her voice is still strong. "No, Oliver. It's not- You were wrong."

She stops as she sees him smiling a little, his arms still loosely draped around her waist and shakes her head, before speaking again, looking at him straight in his eyes, determined.

"I was wrong too." She says softly, letting out a shaky laugh. "We really need to use our words more. I thought you were going to leave again, that's why I didn't want to work with you anymore. I should have told you, but I thought it would have come out terribly wrong, as usual, so for once I decided not to talk. So we are good, right? Or do you have anything else to tell me?"

She feels relaxed, light, like a heavy weight has just been lifted from her shoulders. She stays there, her hands comfortably leaning on his shoulders, smiling at him.

The knowledge that she has finally been able to tell him everything that has been on her mind in the last few months is liberating and Oliver has been the one who wanted to talk with her, to open up. An absolute first.

"I wasn't lying."

"What?"

The smile falls quickly from her face and she takes her hands back, leaving them hanging in the air between them, stunned, her brain still fighting to make sense of what he has just said even if her heart has already instinctively understood.

He speaks more clearly this time, loudly, his words a little hurried, rushed. "I wasn't lying, that night. I-I'm sorry I let you believe that."

"You weren't lying." She repeats his words slowly, in disbelief, her heart pounding wildly. "Oliver you can't! That's not- that can't be what you mean."

"It is, Felicity!" He interrupts her quickly, a note of urgency in his voice, while his eyes asks her to believe him. "Why do you think I kissed you?"

"I-I don't know! I-I guessed I thought we had a moment."

Oliver lets out a quick breath and shakes his head, avoiding to look at her.

Felicity wants to explain herself, to make him understand, but it's not easy to put into words feelings she has decided not to deal with for a very long time.

"I don't know ok? I have tried really, really hard not to think about that."

Felicity waits for him to turn and look at her, but he keeps his head slightly turned to one side and his lips are pressed in a tight line. His hands that were holding her are on his sides, closed into fists.

She is tense too, her fingers fidgeting with the hem of her shirt and the question that has been on her lips escapes her naturally.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She watches as he swallows, still avoiding her eyes.

"I-I don't know. It was never the right time and I thought you didn't deserve to be stuck with me. You still don't. But you have the right to know."

Felicity is stunned by his words, even if she probably shouldn't. She knows him well after all and she has watched him, trying to keep people at arm's length, thinking he doesn't deserve them, for two years.

But that doesn't mean she is used to it, or she doesn't, every time, against all odds, hope that he will be able to let his guard down, to let people in.

"Why would you say that?I don't-"

"You didn't know me before the island and I wasn't a good person. Than, after what has happened to me, it doesn't matter if I' m trying to be better, it's not enough. When I kissed you I wasn't thinking. You were there, being you and I just-"

"Oliver-"

"Laurel told me her father said the man under the hood doesn't matter, only the Arrow does and I think he is right. I' m doing some real good as the Arrow but as me. I'm still me and you don't deserve that."

"That's the saddest thing I have ever heard." She has to pause and shut her eyes, pained to hear him so hurt, so hopeless.

"I' m sure Lance didn't mean it that way, Oliver. He doesn't know you are the Arrow and until he is in the dark he doesn't have to think there is a real person under the hood. Because in that moment he would care, it would make the hero human, like he is.

But the problem is I already know that and to me you matter. So it's too late because I already worry about you, care about you.

As the Arrow too, because your mission has become my mission and it's important, it changed my life, but I don't see just that, I see you for who you are, not for the mask you are wearing.

I don't want you to sacrifice your life, your happiness. Please don't do that, you are important to me."

"Thank you." He speaks quietly, his voice a little unsure and Felicity has to know, she has to be sure.

"Are you sure?"

"What?"

"When you say love you don't mean you are a great friend love. I mean- you are positive because-"

"I'm sure."

She swallows tightly and searches his eyes, still a little doubtful, so Oliver speaks again.

"Felicity you are the most beautiful person I have ever met, outside and inside. Kind, forgiving, strong and honest. You make me want to be better, to be a person again.

When I came back my life was so full of lies that I couldn't show who I was to anyone, I couldn't trust anyone, but I trusted you instantly, since the first moment we met. And I kept coming back to you, I guessed I wanted you to make me feel that way again.

When we started working together you became important in my life and that scared me, worried me. I didn't want you to know, I didn't want to know.

Than last year the Count kidnapped you and I was terrified. In that moment I knew, without doubts. I love you, I really do."

Felicity is stunned by his words, by his confession. She has always known how important Oliver is to her but she has never imagined she, of all people, has made such a difference in his life. She can't speak and she feels silly when she has to swallow to keep her emotions at bay, to stop her lips from quivering and tears from spilling from her eyes.

"I told myself it wasn't true, I couldn't feel that way, so I pushed you away, but I still kept you close because I couldn't help it. I' m selfish Felicity and not the person you deserve.

That doesn't mean I won't be there for you, if you need me. I' m not going anywhere, you can always count on me."

"You aren't selfish, Oliver."

Felicity gives him a watery smile and speaks in a breathy voice, her clear blue eyes searching his, willing for him to understand.

"You are boneheaded and secretive, but that's ok. I' m stubborn too, and if you try to stop keeping secrets, to open up to me, that's enough.

You need to stop trying to control other people's life, it's not up to you. I know you think it's for the best but you are wrong. Choosing for me doesn't make me happy, it doesn't assure me a better life.

I don't need a perfect life on paper, because I' m a real person and I want more, I need more.

I need the life that I wish for. The one that makes me miserable at times, but so incredibly happy anyway.

Let me decide what I deserve."

She speaks with such conviction, staring at Oliver and she is sure that despite the doubt, the uncertainty she sees, somewhere inside him there is also hope.

She feels he wants to believe her and she is aching to clarify any doubt he can have, to make him believe he can have that life, they can have it. Part of her though knows she can't make him believe it. He needs to do it, he has to give himself a chance, before giving one to them.

"Felicity, I-"

"Wait, just wait, please. Don't say anything now. Think about it with an open mind, for me, please. Take your time. We need to solve the case and to make sure Lyla is okay. Than, when we have a moment, when the time is right we will talk about this, ok? We will figure it out."

"Ok."


"Hey guys."

Felicity knocks lightly at Lyla's room, peeking inside to see Diggle crouched down next to her, obviously engaged into a heated discussion.

She has been anxious the whole morning, so after lunch Oliver has suggested to go to the hospital to check on their friends, since Roy was looking after Donovan Gallagher, the last target of the unknown shooter, and he didn't seem to need any help.

She stops suddenly and yelps when she feels Oliver's hard chest colliding with her back, making both Diggle's and Lyla's heads turn to look at her.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to intrude."

Felicity smiles sheepishly, trying to break the tension in the room, feeling her friends' eyes on her.

She looks from Lyla to Diggle, confused, seeing something akin of panic in their faces.

Diggle is the first to recover and he straightens, clearing his throat and smiling kindly at them.

"Don't worry, Felicity. What are you two doing here?"

"Felicity wanted to make sure everything was okay."

"Oh, thank you. You are sweet."

Lyla gives her a warm, even if a little sad smile, her eyes slightly glossy, but Felicity tries not to read too much into it, she must have had a really emotional night, after all.

Felicity walks into the room to reach her bedside and puts a comforting hand on Lyla shoulder. "So is everything ok?"

"Everything is good."

She turns to look at Diggle who was the one to answer and she tightens her grip on Lyla shoulder, almost imperceptibility, involuntarily, sensing the edge in her friend's tone and not understanding it at all. What is going on?Is there anything wrong with the baby?

Felicity tries to break the tense silence that follows and diverts their attention to a safer topic, wanting to take their mind off of whatever is bothering them.

"I took the day off from work so I was thinking that now that I saw you are all right I can go to the lair and work on the case."

She watches Diggle giving her a tight smile. "Sure. I-"

"No! John you need to stay here, I didn't mean you have to leave. We can go to the lair and do a bit more digging. Roy is keeping an eye on Mister Gallagher so we got it covered."

She turns to glance at Oliver who nods at Diggle, confirming that they don't need him, that he should be there for his family.

"Why don't you stay here. I think Lyla is sick of seeing me and we can work on the case."

Felicity looks at Diggle confused. He has tried to joke but it came out forced and unnatural, she really doesn't know what to think. "But-"

"Lyla?"

"Yes. Felicity please stay."

Felicity looks helplessly from Diggle to Lyla and can't do anything but accept. "Ok."


Felicity examines Lyla carefully from her place next to her bed.

She can see something is bothering her. She has been trying to look calm and collected for the whole day, but she has started to fidget with the hem of the blanket and to glance sideways at her more and more frequently and she is starting to freak Felicity out.

"Lyla, what's going on? Is there anything wrong between you and John? Is this about the baby?"

She speaks softly and she almost expects Lyla to shut her down but she is surprised to see her diverting her gaze from the window, from the soothing darkness outside, and looking straight at her, intensely, nodding and taking a deep breath before answering her.

"Felicity I' m so sorry."

"For what?"

Her tone is genuinely surprised and she looks at the other woman, her eyes wide.

"I know who the sniper is."

Lyla speaks slowly, measuring each word, her eyes apologetic and sad.

"Lyla! Why-why didn't you say anything? We need to tell the team and-"

"They know."

"What?"

Felicity stops as she sees Lyla's bottom lip trembling, waiting in silence for her to speak and after a moment she says something she doesn't expect and isn't ready to hear, at all. "It's your dad. I' m so, so sorry."

"No. What-why are you saying this? It's not true. It's not!"

Felicity's voice is loud, she is almost screaming now, her heart pounding wildly as she starts feeling a little nauseous.

"Sweetheart I'm so sorry."

"I have to go."

She stands abruptly and fights the tears which are about to spill from her eyes. She moves in a haze, a dull ache inside her chest and she turns, fleeing from the room as fast as she can.


Oliver starts climbing the stairs of the tall, decrepit building which gives the perfect view of the three floors townhouse at the other side of the street, where Gallagher is supposed to be.

Diggle has been keeping a eye on him at work, while Roy has shadowed him the whole day. He has been walking around in civilian clothes and has meddled perfectly with the people walking around Starling City. But they didn't expect any problems in daylight.

Oliver has decided he has to be the one on that rooftop, it's his duty to stop the sniper before he can kill his last target. He is the Arrow, he has made a vow to keep his city safe and he is about to honor it, once again.

Diggle can't be in harm's way, not now that he is about to become a father and Roy isn't ready, not yet. He is still too impulsive, too reckless and Oliver isn't about to let him get himself killed.

But this isn't any mission. As hard as he tries to focus only on the mission Oliver can't escape what he has found out, what Diggle told him the moment they entered the lair.

The sniper is Felicity's father.