CHAPTER 14 "ALL BETS ARE OFF"

Four days after Felicity had entered the hospital, Oliver didn't come home for the night. Moira hung her head, looked shamefully over at Thea and sighed. She then called Sara to concede that she had indeed won the over/under bet on Oliver and Felicity. They treated her to dinner that night, having been defeated. Sara had had the advantage of seeing the two interact when they thought no one was watching. She knew that Oliver wasn't going to wait more than a few days to make his feelings known after everything they had gone through.

Felicity had to have surgery on her arm the second day she was in, and it was doing surprisingly well. The doctor told them a couple days later that she should get full use back with therapy and exercise. Felicity had assured him she "exercises that hand plenty….by TYPING!". They all had a nice laugh at her expense, and that's the night Oliver had gotten into her bed to hold her until she fell asleep. He wound up sleeping there all night. When he woke up in the morning, she was already awake, contentedly watching him sleep.

"Good morning." He said when he opened his eyes and saw her gazing up at him. He didn't even receive a verbal reply. Felicity just smiled, pulled his head towards her with her good hand, and kissed him for the first time. It was passionate but not forceful. Just like Felicity herself. He noticed that she did it like it was expected. Like it was the most natural thing in the world for them to kiss each other good morning. That's when he realized, he felt the same way. That was exactly how he wanted to wake up every day. By the time the kiss was over and she pulled back shyly, touching her lips with her fingers, Oliver had come to an unwavering conclusion.

"I love you." He said, gently touching her cheek, then brushing a stray piece of hair from her face. It wasn't awkward, and it wasn't forced. It was exactly how he felt. He had decided that the second he realized he loved and wanted her to be his forever, he wanted forever to start right then. They had seen too much sadness, and loss… and death. Waiting at this point seemed to be the least reasonable thing they could possibly do. Having gotten lost in his thoughts for a few seconds, he finally realized she was staring at him. He couldn't read her face, he wasn't sure if it was confusion he saw, or regret, or happiness. It was just a blank expression. He had rendered her speechless for possibly the first time ever. He instantly thought he had misread the whole thing and panicked.

"I mean…I'm sorry…that was…you don't have to…"

"I love you, too." Felicity interrupted. Finally giving him the bright smile she was famous for. His breath hitched as his heart rate slowed back to a normal pace. He had never been that relieved, except maybe the other night in the lair, when her heart monitor beeped back to life indicating they hadn't lost her.

She explained, "I'm sorry, I was just…shocked…that you said it first. I mean, we just had our first kiss. I figured I'd be saying it first and prying it out of you…" She giggled.

"Who knew you'd turn out to be so mushy Oliver Queen." She teased. Thankfully, back to her old self.

"Well, you bring out the 'mush' in me I guess. You tell anybody and I'll never speak to you again." He threatened.

"Empty threat, you already know everyone is going to know about this. I'll probably still be telling them this story on 60 Minutes ten years from now just to torture you…I mean!..." it was her turn to blush at the implication that they'd still be together ten years from then.

"I don't mean…I didn't just say…" She stammered. Oliver finally cut it to save her from herself.

"I'll probably be sitting next to you, rolling my eyes and face-palming embarrassingly." He smiled down at her.

"Not to say you wouldn't deserve it after outing me to the world." He added and mockingly let out a quick scoff.

She smacked his arm, and playfully giggled again. He loved that sound. He loved that smile. He wanted to make her do that everyday for as long as possible. He took her cheek in his hand, and gently pulled her face back towards his to kiss her again. This time, with more passion, and more urgency than the last.

With that they were hooked. Inseparable. They had made the silent, unspoken pledge that they were all in. It had taken them long enough to get passed all the innuendos and personal fears. All of the past baggage. They just accepted each other for who they were,and finally let everything that held them back go. They both would describe that kissed, separately and to other people, as the best kiss they'd ever had.

They spent that whole day in the hospital bed together, just holding each other, talking laughing, kissing. Ignoring what they were about to face with The Man In the Mask, and the mirakuru just for one more day. They just wanted to be happy for a few hours. Revel in their new relationship status, and be excited that they finally stamped all the bad down and let in the good.

Felicity finally kicked Oliver out to go home, shower, and get some real rest. Sara had come by that night after Oliver left to check on Felicity, and to thank her for the fancy dinner. Seeing Felicity's beaming smile as soon as she walked in, Sara knew Moira and Thea were right to assume what had finally happened. Felicity was confused when Sara thanked her, that is until Sara explained that she had won the over/under. Blushing and putting her face in her hand, Felicity couldn't do anything but smile a goofy grin and giggle…for the 800th time that day.

It took them a week to finally release Felicity. Of course, Moira insisted that she convalesce at the mansion with a full staff to help her. And with Oliver. They gave her a separate room, but knew she wouldn't be spending her nights alone. They were right, Oliver snuck in every night to hold her in her sleep, until the one night a few days later when they did a little more than holding. Oliver had originally wanted to move slow in the bedroom department until Felicity was fully healed. One night, Felicity cornered him in his own room and locked the door. She didn't let him protest, putting her hand on his mouth as he went to speak. She then removed his shirt, and hers. The next day he had all of her things moved into his room instead of hers. Felicity would have protested, but she really didn't want to go back to her condo after what happened. The nightmares were bad enough without having to see it in person and relive it. Plus, she wanted to be with Oliver, and it was clear that's what he wanted as well. She decided just to go with it for now.

Things finally came crashing down on them again 3 days later when Slade showed up at the Queen mansion. Oliver and Felicity came home from a work benefit early, because Oliver was still overprotective and thought it might be too much for Felicity too soon. She had scoffed at first, but realized she could use this to her advantage and get him home and back into bed sooner. Unfortunately, by the time they left, her shoulder and arm actually WERE killing her, and she would definitely need to lay down for a while.

They walked through the door to find Slade sitting in the den with Moira, laughing and joking around. Oliver froze on the spot surprising everyone but Slade.

"Oliver this is Mr…" Moira started, but Oliver didn't even acknowledge her and spoke directly to Slade.

"Slade. What are you doing here? ..How?" Oliver started, grabbing a tighter hold on Felicity's hand. Once she heard and registered the name, she held on just as tight.

"Mr. Queen, good see you. It's been a long time." Slade said standing. And walking up, face to face with Oliver.

Oliver instinctually directly Felicity somewhat behind him for protection, and just stared at Slade. Fire in his eyes.

"Oh…how do you two know each other…?" Moira asked. She was immediately concerned by her son's reaction, but has a good poker face. She didn't know what was going on but was not about to reveal that she knew anything about Oliver's double life.

"We met a while back…we have some…unfinished business." Slade explained vaguely, smile still plastered on his evil face.

"Get out." Oliver seethed.

"Why Mr. Queen, so hasty? I didn't mean to intrude, I was having such a great time with your mother here. She delightful." Slade peaked behind Oliver's shoulder. "Ms. Smoak, good to finally meet you. I've heard so many great things. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other again soon." Slade threatened, making Oliver almost shake with anger.

Slade started to walk towards the door, just barely getting by Oliver and Felicity when he suddenly turned around and grabbed Felicity's bad shoulder, spinning her towards him and squeezing hard. His thumb directly where her arrow wound was. All of the breath left her lungs, she couldn't even scream from the pain. Her knees nearly buckled and the blood drained her face. Oliver's hand was on Slade's arm immediately, but Slade didn't budge. He just cocked his head to the left and started speaking again, directly to Felicity.

"Oh by the way, I wish I could say I was sorry to hear about your father…but we both know what kind of a pathetic excuse for a man he was. Goodnight Ms. Smoak. Mr. Queen. I'll be around" He finally let go and Felicity gasped for air.

With that, he turned and walked swiftly to the door almost in one motion. Slamming it behind him. Felicity's knees finally gave out. Oliver caught her mid fall as if he was expecting it, and gently lowered her to the ground. She still was gasping for air, and couldn't speak.

Oliver immediately unzipped the back of her dress and lowered the front to check the bandage. The area around her chest would was red and angry looking but it hadn't started bleeding again. Thankfully, it had healed enough not to open up again. All Felicity could do was lean her head forward into Olivier's chest to brace her weight, and concentrate on breathing through the pain, making small whimpering sounds with every exhale. Moira immediately ran to get Diggle who she knew was probably in the back garage, having just dropped off Felicity and Oliver. Oliver took her chin and moved her face up to look at her. Her eyes were full or tears and pain. When she finally could catch her breath, all she let out was one choked sob before the tears fell down her pale, now sweaty face.

"I'm so sorry. He was dead, he was supposed to be dead. He was never supposed to get to us again. I'm so, so sorry. He'll never hurt you again, I promise. I'll die before I let him to you." Oliver was rambling, in shock and horrified by what had just happened to the woman he loved. Terrified that Slade would make due on his promise, but he knew that he would. Slade was insane, and Oliver knew him well enough that he was ahead of them in every way. Nothing would stop him until he got his revenge.

Felicity had just started to be able to hear and register words again in the middle of Oliver's rant. She pulled her good and up and grabbed on to his lapel for dear life, shaking violently. The fear was finally seeping in through the pain. Did Slade Wilson just threaten her? She couldn't process it all because she couldn't even hear everything he was saying. At a certain point, all she could hear was white noise, and her pulse racing in her ears. Once her breathing evened out, and she was able to look up at Oliver's eyes again, he finally asked the question that hung in the air.

"What did he mean?" Oliver asked.

"what?" Felicity replied weakly. She hated how tiny her voice sounded.

"What he said about your father? What did he mean? Did he know your dad?"

Felicity looked confused. She had missed that part of the conversation, and what Olivier was saying didn't make any sense. She closed her eyes and shook her head.

"what do you mean? what did he say?...i couldn't really…hear…" Felicity forced out, looking back up at him. Speaking was difficult for some reason. Probably pain, but she couldn't think.

"Felicity. Can you hear me? Are you with me? I need you to think" Oliver asked concerned.

She just nodded yes and looked up into his eyes with forced resolve. 'Focus' she thought to herself.

Oliver smiled weakly at her. "There's my girl. You can do this. That's right, focus."

She realized she said her thoughts out loud, but was in too much pain to be embarrassed.

"Felicity, Slade said he knows your father. He included to the fact that he's dead, and that he knew him and said that he was pathetic… what does he mean? What is your father's connection with Slade?" Oliver asked pointedly.

Felicity just shook her head slowly, brows furrowed. She looked to the floor to think and closed her eyes again to concentrate.

None of this made sense. How did Slade know her father? He was a horrible man who abandoned her and her mother once he discovered her mother's illness. Felicity was only 3. She barely remembered him. According to her crazy mother, when she was old enough to understand, her father had found out about her mother's illness and only stayed another 6 months. He was weak, and couldn't deal with her mother's outbursts anymore. He left Felicity with a sick, horrible, violent woman at 3 years old. So many memories and feelings were bubbling up through her walls, and through her physical pain. All she could do was shake her head as the tears were pouring out now.

"Felicity…?" Oliver questioned worriedly after a full minute had passed.

"I don't know. I don't know what he's talking about! NOTHING MAKES ANY SENSE!" She the cried out as she screamed, hurting her chest again.

"Ahhh…" She squeaked out again while trying to breathing deeply again. Oliver just held his forehead to hers, and placed a hand on her cheek.

"Shhhh…shhhh, it's alright, we'll figure it out. Just calm down. It's ok, you'll be alright." He whispered. He was trying to keep her calm so she didn't hurt herself again when Diggle finally ran in, followed by Moira.

"John! She's in a lot of pain, but the wound didn't reopen. He just aggravated it. She's calming down but she's hurting." Oliver explained quickly, both of them still kneeling on the floor. Oliver was basically holding her up.

"Alright, Felicity can you get to the couch? Do you want Oliver carry you?" Diggle asked gently,crouching down and looking in her eyes.

She just nodded affirmative. Oliver didn't wait to see which question she was saying yes to, and gently swooped her up with one quick motion. She grunted as he placed her on the couch, and Diggle immediately inspected her wound. It seemed ok, no permanent damage done. Moira was in the background asking questions about Slade, and what he had said about Felicity's father. Oliver was ignoring her, and focusing on Felicity. His anger at Slade, having been kept at bay while taking care of Felicity, was bubbling back to the surface. He had entered their home. He had hurt Felicity. He had been close to his mother. Oliver was seething just thinking about it.

"You just need some pain medication, and some rest. It could have been a lot worse kiddo." Dig said to Felicity as she smiled the best she could. She grabbed his wrist for comfort, and partly in thanks. Speaking right now seemed like a difficult task.

"I'll get her pain meds, be back in a flash." Moira said before she was gone quickly.

Felicity closed her eyes for a second, she was finally getting her bearings back. That is until she heard a loud crash and startled, quickly looking to where the sound came from. Oliver had thrown a vase of scotch into the fireplace, shattering it into a million pieces.

"I KILLED HIM! HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD! HOW IS HE BACK HERE!?" Oliver screamed in his Arrow "loud voice".

"Whoa! Calm down! HEY! Get it TOGETHER!" Diggle yelled walking up and grabbing Oliver's arms before he could punch a wall, and likely break his hand. Oliver wiggled away and pushed Diggle. Not hard, but enough to get him to back off. Then he stopped, and ran his hand over his face and through his hair with anger and frustration. Diggle put his hands up.

"Hey man, hey…We'll figure it out alright. We'll get him. You have more important things to do right now." He spoke so low to Oliver it was almost a whisper, bringing Oliver back to the present situation. He took a deep breath and walked over to Felicity, lightly grabbing her hand.

"Hey, I'm sorry. You alright?" He asked, reverting back to his loving, calm voice.

"yeah" she said softly, and squeezed his hand a little tighter.

"I'll be alright, it's hurting less as time passes. With the drugs I'll be fine by tomorrow." She explained.

"Doesn't mean you're leaving this house, or that room, or that bed for that matter." Oliver said sternly, soliciting an eye roll from his beautiful girlfriend.

"NO. ARGUMENTS." Oliver said decidedly, but not loud.

Diggle chimed in, "I'll have to agree with him on that one, sister. You should rest for at least a day, that kind of shock will aggravate that wound and set you back. Not to mention wear you out pretty fast." He confirmed.

"Don't gang up on me." She said tiredly.

Finally, Moira came running back in with the pain medication and a glass of water. Diggle gave her a normal dose and they waited with her. Keeping her company until it kicked in. Finally, she was slurring her words and joking around. Oliver decided that it was her bedtime shooing away Diggle and Moira. He lifted her up, and carried her up to "their room". He carefully took off her dress and bra for her, as she had completely passed out on the way upstairs. Replacing them with one of his old button up dress shirts, he then got changed himself. After going into his bathroom to make a quick call to his security team to up all security to red level, he came back into the bedroom and slid up next to her under the sheets.

Oliver stayed awake most of that night watching Felicity sleep, imagining what could have happened. He vowed he would make Slade pay, and he'd keep her safe at all cost. They would figure out what Slade meant about her father, and Oliver would finish this. No matter what.

A/N: STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT STORY. It'll be a continuation/sequel of this, obviously. I hope you guys enjoyed my first Arrow fic story as much as I enjoyed writing it! The feedback was amazing! You guys are all amazing! I love you and I hope to figure out what's next for Oliver and Felicity, and get it to you asap! HEARTS AND BUBBLES, RAINBOWS AND UNICORNS!

JAG :)