Note: Hello everyone! First things first: I was going to update this weekend, but unfortunately, my baby brother broke his leg in a skating accident (it was his first time skating on his new skateboard and I have no idea how he fell, but he broke his leg) and I was stuck with him in the hospital for three days while he underwent surgery and whatnot. He's feeling better now and we're back at home, but he won't be fully recovered for another six weeks.
Either way, here is the new chapter of Hunted! Yay! As you can see, it's called "The Russian" and parts of it will take place in Russia. Since I don't speak Russian, I decided to just put the Russian dialogue in cursive. Hopefully, that will make sense to you as you read it. I'm not saying anything else regarding that, so that I don't spoil anything.
So: When Oliver is speaking to a Russian and the English text is CURSIVE, just pretend that it's in Russian. Got it? Great!
Now, please enjoy the chapter! :)
Hunted
Chapter 20: The Russian
Three months passed.
Three months where a lot of things happened. The Glades was slowly being re-built after the disaster but after the first month of silence, the Dark Ones became more active again. Oliver and his team worked their hardest to repair the Foundry and as soon as they got up and running again, the hunting began anew.
For the past two months, Oliver had been taking down Dark Ones together with his friends. After the Undertaking, Quentin Lance had finally learned the truth about the People of Darkness and a long meeting between the detective and the Arrow was forced to be had because of Felicity. She believed that with Lance's help, they wouldn't need to kill all the Dark Ones, especially those who were being forced into working for the bigger bad ones of the city. Some of the Dark Ones were lone wolves who had lost their packs or left them willingly, only joining the bad ones because they needed to have a sense of belonging somewhere. From time to time it was difficult to make out who the real bad ones were, but so far, it had been working well for them. Oliver took them down with simple wolfsbane or vervain injections and Lance locked them away in a secret underground department in Iron Heights that had been used during the Cold War for various kinds of experiments by an organization called A.R.G.U.S. It was Diggle who had used some old military contacts in order to make the deal and set up the cells so that they would be able to hold the Dark Ones. As far as Oliver was concerned, it was a new way that worked well for him.
His view on the Dark Ones had changed a lot during the time that he had gotten to know Felicity. She was an example of how not all Nightcrawlers had to be evil through and through and since Roy had joined their team officially, Oliver had come to the conclusion that he needed to give even the Dark Ones a chance instead of just killing them. Well, at least the ones who he suspected weren't completely evil. During the months of apprehending the Dark Ones, Oliver had learned that there really were some kinds of monsters that were truly evil. Blood wolves couldn't be reasoned with at all and neither could lethalis shapeshifters because they were the creatures who had forgotten what it was like to be human. Lethalis shapeshifters often became mad due to the fact that they changed human shape and most of them, after years of changing, forgot their own face. Blood wolves were killers through and through and there was no stopping their blood lust. Even Felicity understood that because she had learned that when she was a young werewolf herself.
Most of the time, Felicity spent by her computers, trying to find any kind of lead on the real Master. When she wasn't doing that, she was teaching Roy the ways of a wolf and giving the rest of the team what Tommy called 'Dark One 101' lessons. On the second full moon after the Undertaking, Roy turned for the first time. It was a difficult transformation that lasted well over five hours and Felicity was by his side through it all, turning at the same pace as him so that he wouldn't be alone. Oliver had stood guard outside the garage that they had used for Felicity's transformation and even Thea had come along, not wanting to leave her boyfriend to go through it without her.
Oliver's sister had been distancing herself from him since she found out the truth about him being the Arrow, but from what Oliver had gathered, it wasn't about him being the Arrow as much as it was about him not believing that she would understand. Thea was hurt by the fact that he hadn't trusted her with the truth from the very beginning but she wasn't necessarily angry with him. It was her way of dealing with everything, but Oliver knew that she talked to Felicity frequently, which made it difficult for him to understand why she couldn't talk to Oliver directly.
After Roy's first change, the young wolf and Felicity grew closer and bonded. Felicity had explained it to the rest of the team as a thing between pack wolves. When they had turned together and Felicity had been there for him, Roy's inner wolf had bonded with hers in the way a Beta would bond to its Alpha. Essentially, that meant that Roy was loyal to Felicity and that Felicity felt a sense of responsibility towards Roy. Oliver, Diggle and Tommy thought it was interesting to see the way that the two of them interacted in the lair. Felicity treated Roy like any big sister would treat their younger brother and Roy looked up to the blonde in every way possible. Of course, the newly formed pack bond between Felicity and Roy hadn't done anything to affect his relationship with Thea and Felicity had explained it as being something like a mating bond. Roy was deeply in love with Thea and for a wolf, true love like that normally meant a love that would last forever.
Since Felicity had taken up Roy as her apprentice – From time to time she actually referred to him as her young Padawan, which always made Oliver roll his eyes at her – Oliver had decided to officially give Tommy some proper training. His friend had been forced to put down his father but before that, he had only stood there helplessly watching Diggle and Oliver engage in a fight with Malcolm. Enough had been enough and Tommy had told Oliver that he wanted to be able to protect himself and Laurel if he ever needed it. His friend was a quick learner, despite complaining about wanting Felicity as a teacher because she wasn't as strict as Oliver.
While Starling City was recovering from what they understood to be a terrorist attack, Felicity remained at the Queen mansion for two more weeks until she managed to find herself an apartment. She didn't have many belongings, but Oliver and the rest of the guys helped her move in and make herself comfortable there. About a week after that, Felicity announced that Roy would be moving in with her because the earthquake had left his place in ruin. Whatever they had been able to save from the rubble, they moved into Felicity's spare bedroom which was now Roy's room and even though Oliver knew that there was nothing like that going on between Felicity and Roy, their bond still made him itch a little.
The lines between Oliver and Felicity had started getting blurred after the night of the Undertaking. They had shared blood with one another, something which Felicity had never done with anyone before, and after that, they had only seemed to grow closer. Oliver would let his hand linger on the small of her back whenever they stood close to each other and Felicity would drop chaste kisses on his cheeks whenever they parted ways. Sometimes, in the Foundry when they were alone, Oliver would walk up to Felicity and place his hands on her shoulders, subconsciously kneading the tense muscles as she gave him an update on her searches.
The search for the person behind the hybrids was going slow and for the past three months, nothing new had come up. It frustrated Oliver to no end because he wished that he could just end it once and for all so that he could go on with just keeping the people of the city safe with the help of his friends. It didn't help that he felt as if the whole world was weighing down on his shoulders with both the safety of the civilians in Starling City and the trouble over at Queen Consolidated. Since Moira's arrest, the company has been in turmoil over who will take over as CEO. Board members began selling off their shares because they didn't want to be associated with a company that helped a madman create a natural disaster which had lead to the deaths of hundreds of people. The few who stayed were loyal to the Queen family and understood that Moira had been forced into helping out of sheer fear. That, however, didn't stop other people from trying to take over the company.
Isabel Rochev was one of the people who had bought her way into the company and she was trying to take over by buying the other board members out. Most refused out of loyalty which was the only thing that put a stop to her plan. Even though the Queen family still held the majority of the shares, the company wasn't stable and with Isabel's manipulative skills, Oliver feared that she would somehow convince the others to let her lead as CEO.
The Rochev problem was one of the reasons that Felicity and Oliver had grown closer. The time that they didn't spend together in the lair, they usually spent together at Queen Consolidated, going to meetings and trying to figure out how to move forward without losing the company. Their struggle to maintain the control made them both frustrated and often, when Felicity would see how much it was tearing down Oliver, she would try to take him out and away from it all so that he could clear his head. Most of the time, they ended up driving away from the city on short trips to a lake nearby but other times she took him home to her apartment where they spent time watching movies together. Oliver had fallen asleep there numerous times and every time he woke up, it only got more and more difficult for him to pull away from Felicity.
His feelings for her were confusing but they were growing as well and he didn't know what to do about them. He didn't want to risk what they had but at times, he felt as if they were both already doing so. Diggle had tried to address it a few times, though Oliver always shut him down. It wasn't something he wanted to talk about with anyone but Felicity, although he just couldn't seem to make himself bring it up. All he knew for certain was that they were walking a narrow and dangerous path between friendship and something more and he had no idea what he would do in case they actually crossed the line and gave in to each other.
-§-
"This is preposterous!" Mr. Miller said, shaking his head. "Mr. Steele, you can't be serious about this!"
Walter watched him calmly, not moving at all in his seat, "Oh, I am very serious indeed, Doug."
"You're signing away your position in the company to Oliver?" Mr. Miller questioned again. "You want him to take over as CEO?"
"I believe that Queen Consolidated should be run by a member of the Queen family," Walter replied, looking towards Oliver. "Considering everything that is happening with my wife at the moment, I believe it's my time to step down and let the young man that I've been teaching for the past two years, take over. I need to focus on my wife and her awaiting trial because to me, family is far more important than any company in the world."
A murmur spread among the other board members, but in the end, they all seemed to agree. Oliver swallowed thickly, not saying anything when he was asked if he would like to accept the position as CEO.
"I do believe it's time for a break," Felicity spoke up next to Oliver, standing up abruptly from the table. "Why don't you all enjoy the refreshments and Mr. Queen will return to you shortly?"
Oliver stood up as well and before anyone could protest, he walked out of the room with hurried steps. Everything around him was breaking apart and the walls felt as if they were closing in on him. He needed to breathe but there was no way for him to just leave the building without people questioning where he had gone. The fact that Isabel Rochev sat across from him around the table, giving him smug looks whenever a board member mentioned something that implied that he wouldn't be good enough for the job made his stomach turn. It didn't help that Felicity put her hand on his knee to keep him from jumping it up and down all the time; it didn't help that she tried to offer him silent support.
Without thinking, Oliver entered the men's restroom, making his way over to a faucet and washing his face with ice-cold water. He heard the door swing open only seconds after he had closed it and he didn't need to turn around to see who it was, because he could feel her presence there in the room.
"Get out," Felicity said to one of the employees who just exited one of the stalls and in the mirror in front of him, Oliver could see how the man looked at her confusedly for a moment, but then scurried away under her angry stare.
He breathed heavily, trying to stop the constricting feeling in his chest that was making it difficult to breathe. The lock on the door clicked behind him and he knew that Felicity had locked them in so that no one would disturb.
"Oliver," Felicity said behind him and he felt her hand on his shoulder. Her voice was calm, despite the worry that made it through in it as well. He didn't know what to do, everything was breaking apart and he didn't know what to do.
"Felicity, what am I supposed to do?" he asked, turning around to look at her.
Sadness was evident in her eyes and she furrowed her eyebrows at him, reaching for a paper towel. He turned around, leaning back against the counter, standing with his feet slightly apart so that Felicity could fit between them as she began drying his face with the paper towel.
"You're supposed to do what you think is the right thing to do," Felicity replied. "I can't tell you what that is because you have to figure it out for yourself."
"Walter wants to focus on getting my mom out of prison," Oliver said. "Shouldn't I be doing the same thing?"
"You're still hunting the Master, Oliver," Felicity pointed out.
"I know," he said, closing his eyes when she finally dabbed away the final drops of water from his face. He leaned down, pressing his forehead against her shoulder and took a deep breath. "With everything that's been going on… Thea, Roy, my mom, the Master and the company… I feel like my mind is going to explode."
"Thea will come around, Oliver," Felicity said. Oliver shivered when he felt her fingers at the base of his neck, playing with the short hair there. "I'm handling Roy and the entire team is on the lookout for any clues concerning the Master. So if Walter wants to focus on your mother, let him do so. You'll be there for the hearing. You're still going to support her."
"And what is left then? The company? Do you really think that I can take over as CEO? Because I sure as hell don't," Oliver muttered into her neck as he turned his face toward her. This time it, was Felicity's turn to shudder and she didn't even try to hide it. He felt her fingers tighten their grip on his hair slightly and Oliver's own hands fell to her hips, squeezing her gently.
Felicity took a step closer to him, her body coming up flush against his as she turned her head toward him, forcing him to look up into her eyes. He was awkwardly bent, but his eyes were level with her mouth and he suddenly felt like he shouldn't move at all and just let her take the lead on this thing; whatever it was.
"I think you can do anything that you set your mind into, Oliver," Felicity said, her breath ghosting over his lips. He looked up into her eyes, feeling that sharpness in his chest again; that same clenching, but for a completely different reason.
"You think?" His voice was quiet because the atmosphere in the room made it clear that this conversation was one of those conversations; the kind of conversations that blurred the lines between him and Felicity, the ones that made him think that it was possible that there might be something more between them already.
"I do, Oliver," Felicity replied, her voice mirroring his in tone. "I really, really do."
At first, he couldn't really comprehend what was happening. He felt himself gravitating towards Felicity, his nose brushing against hers. A shuddered breath escaped her lips and Oliver found himself closing his eyes.
It wasn't until Felicity's fingers slid down his neck to settle on his lower back that Oliver seemed to wake from the daze. He opened his eyes, only to see Felicity's still half-closed. She was breathing hard but Oliver knew it must be because of the same emotion that was currently running through his own veins; the feeling that he didn't want to name.
He reached up, fingers brushing against her parted lips and watched in fascination as her cheeks tinted pink. Felicity's sharp intake of breath and her eyes snapping wide open as she met his gaze made Oliver pull his fingers away from her soft lips. He met her eyes and a tightness built up, deep inside his belly. It felt like he had touched a live wire when Felicity looked into his eyes, black bleeding into blue before her pupils left only a thin ring of golden, shining in a way that he had never seen before.
Oliver took a step back, knowing that he needed to put some space between them both before he did something they wouldn't be able to come back from. He couldn't help the twinge of disappointment that filled him when Felicity looked away from him, breathing heavily through her nose again as she tried to calm herself.
"I'm sorry," Oliver blurted, before he could stop himself from speaking.
Felicity didn't say anything as she slowly turned back to face him again, the red even more evident on her face. Her irises were back to blue, but Oliver could tell that it had been just as difficult for her to pull away this time around too.
"I believe in you," she told him instead of commenting on his apology. The look that she was giving him made him feel stronger and all he wanted to do was pull her close once more. He knew that he couldn't though; not now that things were so fragile.
Instead, he settled for reaching out to her and he was happy when Felicity took his hand in hers and laced their fingers together.
-§-
A week later, Felicity was sitting at her computer in the lair, looking through files and the information she had gathered so far on the real Master. It didn't even fill out half a page yet and it was frustrating her to no end. Oliver wasn't exactly helping her frustrations by working the salmon ladder on the other side of the room. The two of them had grown a lot closer since the Undertaking and this past week they had been working more at Queen Consolidated than in the Foundry. There had been a lot of paperwork to be filled out when the board finally made a decision on the CEO position, but Felicity had been thrilled when Isabel Rochev lost in the vote.
"I hear congratulations are in order," Tommy said as he walked into the room. Felicity turned towards him and watched him approach Oliver, giving him a one-armed hug. "You're officially the new CEO of Queen Consolidated. How does it feel to be the only one here with a real job?"
"Hey!" Felicity protested. "Last time I checked, my job is pretty real too."
Oliver blinked a few times and his lips quirked up, "Well, it's not like you bring me any coffee…"
Felicity shot him a glare, but she knew that he was just joking. It was good seeing him happy again; too long had passed since she had seen a proper smile on his face.
"It's not like you're threatening to fire me," Felicity returned.
"I might just," Oliver teased, walking toward her.
"You wouldn't dare," Felicity said, her own lips quirking up into a smile.
The two of them looked at each other, smiling softly and Felicity couldn't help but feel the small flutters in her stomach that she had been getting more and more used to.
"Do you guys want me to leave you alone or something?" Tommy asked, bringing them both out of their small moment.
"Oh please, Tommy," Felicity rolled her eyes at him before going back to her work. She couldn't help but notice how Oliver remained standing close to her.
All of the sudden, their phones simultaneously pinged and Felicity picked hers up to see an S.O.S. message from Diggle. She frowned to herself and a moment later, the doors to the Foundry opened and Diggle hurried down the stairs.
"Good, you guys are here," he stated, his tone serious.
Felicity couldn't help but notice the tenseness in him as she stood up from her chair to meet him halfway into the room. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"A friend of mine who works for A.R.G.U.S. got kidnapped on a mission," Diggle said. "I need to go after her."
"A friend?" Tommy repeated. "Is she the one who hooked us up with the secret department of experimentation for our not-too-bad bad guys?"
"Yeah, she's the one," Diggle nodded. He turned to Oliver, "I have to leave and go after her, man."
"I understand," Oliver nodded. "Where was she kidnapped?"
"Russia," Diggle answered.
"Russia?" Felicity looked at Tommy and Oliver who had spoken at the same time as her.
"Wait, Dig, you can't go to Russia on your own," Felicity shook her head. "Where is she even being held?"
"At a high-security prison," Diggle replied.
"You planned on breaking into a high-security prison on your own and then breaking out again with one of the prisoners?" Tommy wondered. "Man, you don't have to do all of that alone."
"I don't want you guys to risk your lives for something that I have to do," Diggle said. "I have to get Lyla out of there and I don't want you in danger."
"Dig, we're helping," Felicity said.
"I have contacts in Russia," Oliver said. "The Bratva can help us."
"Wait a second," Felicity looked at Oliver. "You want the Russian mob to help us? Is that safe?"
"Felicity, you're a hybrid and we hunt Dark Ones every night. Are Russian mobsters that scary?" Oliver countered.
Felicity smacked his arm, "No, but I just mean that mobsters are mobsters. I don't really know how I feel about getting involved with them."
"Don't worry about it," Oliver told her. "You're going to be staying here."
"Excuse you?" Felicity glared. "If you're going with Diggle, I'm going too."
"And who is going to keep watch here in Starling City?" Oliver asked.
"Tommy's here," Felicity stated. "I've trained Roy enough for him to be trusted on patrol in the streets. Besides, maybe he can put on the hood a few times while we're gone so that the Arrow can be spotted while you're out of the country."
"I don't like it," Oliver said.
Felicity rolled her eyes at him, "You don't have to."
They stared at each other for a long while. She searched his eyes for the words that he didn't want to speak but Oliver's face remained unreadable.
"Did I come in at a bad time?" Roy suddenly asked. Felicity looked at him, noticing for the first time that he had come into the lair. She had been so deeply concentrated on her conversation with Oliver that she hadn't even noticed him. "I got the S.O.S. from you, Diggle," he pointed to his phone.
"No," Oliver said before Felicity could speak to her apprentice. "You actually came in at just the right time. We have a mission for you this week. Diggle, Felicity and I will be traveling to Russia."
Felicity grinned.
"Russia?" Roy questioned. "What are you going to be doing in Russia?"
"Business trip," Oliver deadpanned. "Might as well see how our over-seas office is doing."
-§-
Leaving Starling City and traveling to Russia under the disguise of a corporate mission turned out to be a bit more difficult than Oliver had first anticipated. Isabel Rochev had a thing for meddling in his business ever since she had bought herself a place in the company and she had insisted on coming along on the trip, thinking that he and Felicity had been leaving the country for a romantic getaway date. Oliver hadn't even wanted to get into that one with the woman but he and Felicity had shared a look when she had overheard what Isabel had hinted at regarding the two of them.
On the plane, Felicity had done a fairly good job at pretending to just be spending time with Diggle. They needed to seem as normal as possible and look as if they weren't going on a secret rescue mission in Russia. While Felicity and Diggle talked and played cards with one another, Oliver had been forced to sit and listen to Isabel talking about all the meetings they would have to go to and all the associates they would need to talk to. Oliver didn't even listen to her half the time, but it was a long flight so by the time that they actually reached their destination in Moscow, his head felt as if it was going to explode.
"How are you feeling?" Felicity asked him as they finally walked into the hotel.
"Like I want to bash my head into the wall," Oliver admitted.
"That bad, huh?"
"You have no idea," he said, shooting Isabel a glare for good measure. He turned back to Felicity. "We should get settled in our rooms and then meet in Diggle's to set up some plans."
"What about the Ms. Ice Heart?" Felicity wondered, glancing toward Isabel.
"She's going to be making calls and setting meetings all day," Oliver said. "She pretty much told me that she would handle it all because she thought that I was inadequate."
"God, I wish I could just punch her and get away with it," Felicity said through gritted teeth.
Oliver chuckled, placing his hand on her upper arm, "Don't worry about it. It might be better if she took care of it. I mean, I'm still trying to play the role of not knowing what I'm doing, right?"
Felicity just gave him a look and tilted her head, looking toward Isabel again. The brunette woman walked up to them and Oliver immediately dropped his hand from Felicity's arm.
"Well, I can see that the two of you are already getting cozy," Isabel stated coldly. "Don't worry, Mr. Queen. I will not let you screw up this trip."
"Oliver won't be screwing anything," Felicity frowned. Her eyes widened, "I meant that he won't be screwing anything up. He's good at his job. Walter has been teaching him how to do it for the past two years."
"What Mr. Steele has been teaching Mr. Queen is that it's okay for him to run out on business meetings and dropping out on important board assemblies," Isabel said. "In my book, that hasn't been teaching him a thing."
Felicity narrowed her eyes at her and Oliver took a step toward her, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry too much about my reputation, Ms. Smoak," Oliver said. "I do believe that everyone knows that Ms. Rochev is far more qualified than me to handle the meetings on her own. Besides, that might give me some time to visit some old friends."
"Friends?" Isabel raised an eyebrow.
"From college," Oliver said.
"Which one?"
"Don't remember," Oliver grinned. "One of the four that I dropped out of."
Isabel huffed, crossing her arms, "That shows just how little you care about the company. I'm giving you a month before the board changes its mind about naming you CEO."
"You're being awfully generous," Oliver said, only managing to aggravate Isabel further.
"Well then," Isabel said. "I'll debrief you on the meetings when I'm done, Mr. Queen."
"I look forward to it," Oliver said, not even bothering to hide the fact that he was being sarcastic. "Now if you excuse me, I believe that we've been on a long flight and I need some rest."
"Naturally," Isabel narrowed her eyes. Oliver didn't miss the way that her eyes flickered over to Felicity, who was still glaring at her. "Enjoy your evening then."
"You too," Oliver said as he began walking away from her, pushing Felicity along.
"I can't stand that woman," Felicity said, her voice low as she allowed herself being led away by Oliver.
"I know, Felicity," Oliver smiled.
"I'm glad that at least one of us is able to keep the cool when it comes to her," she continued.
Oliver chuckled, "Yeah, I don't have to be a hybrid to sense how much you wanted to jump on her."
"Oh, believe me," Felicity said darkly, "if I was just a little bit meaner, I wouldn't have minded ripping into her throat."
-§-
Oliver looked out the window in John's hotel room as he waited for Felicity to connect her laptop to the hotel's Internet.
"Dig, can you fill us in on what your friend Lyla was doing here in Russia when she got captured?" Oliver asked, turning to Diggle who was sitting in one of the armchairs, also patiently waiting for Felicity to hook up their technology.
"She was here on an intel operation in a Russian gulag," Diggle explained. "A.R.G.U.S. contacted me and recruited me to break her out since they don't have sufficient resources for the op. Amanda Waller decided that I owed them because they are helping us detain Dark Ones at Iron Heights."
"A.R.G.U.S. doesn't have sufficient resources?" Oliver frowned. "That's a first…"
"You sound like you've worked with them before," Felicity pointed out. She paused for a moment, blinking a few times, "Have you worked with them before?"
Oliver sent her a look, "I have crossed paths with them a few times, actually." He had decided a while ago that there was no point in lying about his time with A.R.G.U.S. Sure, Diggle had been the one to strike the deal with them regarding the special prison for the Dark Ones, but Oliver had had dealings with them in the past.
"You never mentioned that," Diggle said calmly. "Then again, there are a lot of things you've never mentioned over the years, so I should probably be glad that you actually said something now."
"What kind of path crossing was it? Peaceful or… arrow-y?" Felicity wondered.
"It can never be peaceful when A.R.G.U.S. is involved," Oliver simply stated before turning to Diggle. "You were saying? About Lyla?"
"Yes, Waller wanted me to get her out of the prison," Diggle said.
"And you just agreed?" Oliver raised an eyebrow. "Is there something else we should know about all of this, John?" Using his real name was a way for Oliver to show Diggle that he could see through his act of pretending that this was just a simple get-in-and-out-again mission for the man. There was something else going on there, especially with the way that Lyla Michaels had helped them talk to Waller and set up the prison deal for the Nightcrawlers.
"Lyla is my ex-wife," Diggle replied.
"She's your what?" Oliver looked at Felicity, only to see that she too had looked at him. They had spoken at the same time, equally surprised by Diggle's revelation.
"Ex-wife," Diggle repeated himself, even though Oliver was certain that he knew that he didn't need to.
"Now, this makes so much more sense now," Felicity said. "I mean, with the way you didn't even hesitate to take this mission on? That's some deep love you must still feel for that woman."
"Felicity, please," Diggle sighed. "I just need to know what our plan is. How do I get in and how do I get out again?"
"First of all, we're going to need help to get you in," Oliver said. "A friend of mine should be able to help us, but we're going to have to meet up with him."
"The clock is ticking," Diggle said. "Who knows what they might be doing to Lyla in that prison? We need to get her out of there as soon as possible."
"It's a good thing that it's night then," Oliver stated, "because my friend owns a nightclub in the middle of the city and I'm certain that he'll be there tonight."
Felicity cleared her throat, "And how do you know for sure?"
"Because he's always there," Oliver said. "Anatoly is the leader of the Solntsevskaya Bratva here in Russia."
"A mobster, Oliver, really?" Felicity sarcastically said.
"The easiest way to get into a prison is to get arrested," Oliver shrugged. "Besides, Anatoly has men everywhere. It wouldn't surprise me if he actually has people working for him in the prison that Lyla's being kept. They would be able to help you get out."
"But first we need to meet this Anatoly guy, am I right?" Felicity asked. "At a nightclub?"
"I hope you've brought something nice to wear," Oliver nodded. "That place will most likely be packed."
Felicity sighed and looked over at Diggle, who only nodded. "As long as he'll help me get in there as soon as possible, I won't have anything against working as your bodyguard tonight," Diggle said.
Oliver offered him a curt nod in return. He looked over at Felicity then and the blonde merely shrugged at him, indicating that she didn't really care if she had to come with them tonight. Normally, she would stay behind, but this time around, the mission was different. He couldn't leave her alone in a hotel and go out to meet up with Anatoly. His mind would be on Felicity, no matter what his old friend said and that meant that he would be distracted. It would be better for him to have Felicity with him and by his side, but he couldn't also help but worry about Anatoly's peculiar taste in women. He knew that he would need to fill Felicity in on the matter before she came with him, but at the same time, he didn't want to worry her too much. Besides, he would be there and Anatoly respected him enough to not try to pull anything with Felicity…
Or at least Oliver hoped that was the case.
-§-
"Oliver! Moy brat!" Anatoly exclaimed as he stood from his seat, approaching Oliver with quick steps before he embraced him tightly. "How I have missed you!"
Oliver returned the embrace as good as well as he could before stepping back from the older man. "You're looking well, Anatoly," he said, but Anatoly's eyes seemed to already have wandered to the blonde woman behind Oliver.
"And who is this exquisite creature?" he wondered, this time in English, eyes roaming over Felicity's form.
Oliver reached out his hand to his partner, offering her his hand as he pulled her a little closer to himself. "This is my friend, Felicity. She's under my protection during our stay here in Russia," he said, his voice not wavering but still keeping the lightness in his tone so that Anatoly wouldn't feel threatened by it.
"Is that so?" Anatoly looked amused as he took Felicity's hand in his own, leaning down to kiss it lightly. "Pray tell what she would need protection from, Mr. Queen?"
Oliver suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at his old friend and settled for once again taking Felicity's hand in his own. He was aware of the fact that Anatoly once again gave Felicity a once-over and he had to do everything in his power not to actually beat up the only possible ally he had in this country. Felicity, of course, hadn't made the task any easier by dressing in that tight-fitting black dress of hers, which accented the curves she had and made her look more enticing than anything she had ever worn before. The dress had looked quite modest when she had first tried it on and shown it to Oliver and it was, in the front. The soft material hugged her perfectly and came to an end just a few inches above her knees. Of course, Oliver had made the mistake to assume that it was just as conservative in the back and he had only noticed that it wasn't so when he had placed his hand on Felicity's lower back to lead them to the limousine which would take them to Anatoly's club. The moment he had touched her warm skin, he had pulled back and stared – quite obviously – at the bared back. Thin, silvery chains were the only thing that hung down it, and Oliver was sure that his heart would beat straight out of his chest when he realized that there was no way that she could be wearing anything other than a thin scrap of material underneath, since he couldn't see any obvious trace of underwear on her body.
As soon as they had arrived at the club, they had been taken upstairs to the private section and then to Anatoly's office. Oliver had been to this club once before, but he couldn't remember it ever being as packed with people as it was tonight. He had held on to Felicity's hand tightly as they had been led through the crowd and he hadn't let go of her until the moment that Anatoly had stood up to greet him.
"I believe we have some business to discuss," Oliver stated. It had been a while since he had spoken in Russian, but the language was still fresh in his mind; just as his memories of his time in the Bratva.
"I do believe so," Anatoly nodded, suddenly looking grave before turning to Felicity with a smile. "Could I offer Ms. Felicity a drink?" he asked.
"Oh, Mr. Knyazev, you and Mr. Queen have important matters to discuss. I wouldn't want to impose," Felicity replied and Oliver looked at her curiously to see that she was playing a role tonight as well, apparently.
"Nonsense," Anatoly exclaimed, motioning to two men with a finger. Both of them immediately walked up to Felicity, offering two plates of various drinks. Felicity looked over at Oliver who gave her nothing more than a barely visible nod and a moment later, Felicity picked up a pink drink with a straw. She promptly took the straw between her lips – which she had painted in that dark pink color that Oliver found that he loved seeing her in – and sucked.
Oliver swallowed before looking away from her, settling his eyes once again on his old friend. "Our business?" Oliver questioned.
Anatoly tore his eyes away from Felicity's mouth and grinned at Oliver, "Yes, our business."
-§-
An hour and a half later, Oliver watched in annoyance while Felicity flirted with Anatoly's guards. The men seemed to have taken a liking to her and were teaching her words in Russian while supplying her with drinks. Oliver was worried that she might have had too much to drink, in fact, but he couldn't be sure since he didn't know how much it would take to actually intoxicate a hybrid. Anatoly had agreed to help Diggle get arrested and make sure that they got out of the gulag without a hitch and Oliver couldn't wait to go back to the hotel to share the news with his friend that had stayed behind. Also, Oliver couldn't wait to get Felicity as far away from Anatoly and his men as possible.
The Russian hadn't been particularly subtle with his flirtatious behavior and even though Oliver knew that his friend was married with children now, he couldn't help but remember a time just a few years ago, when Anatoly had expressed his particular fondness for some creatures of the night. Even as Oliver had been rising in the ranks of the Bratva and working for the man, he had never been able to understand how a man who was protecting the people of Russia from the People of Darkness, could also be drawn to the Dark Ones in such a way. Back then, Anatoly had tried to make Oliver understand that not all of them were bad to the point where they couldn't be redeemed. Sure, they were still monsters in the Russian's eyes, but it didn't mean that he hadn't enjoyed spending a night or two with some particularly beautiful vampires who had only taken blood from willing humans. According to Anatoly, it was empowering to share such a bond with blood-suckers, although, that had been the only thing that Oliver had never been able to agree on with his old friend.
Now, he didn't know what he thought. He knew that Felicity was one of the good ones and he remembered all too well the night of the Undertaking when he had shared blood with her. He knew what kind of effect it had had on him, even days after the exchange and despite that he had told her that he didn't want to share blood with her anymore, he couldn't help but think of how good he had felt afterward. At times, it was hard enough as it was to control himself around the blonde, but seeing her all dressed up tonight and having had a drink or two himself, he couldn't help but get annoyed when Anatoly's men flirted shamelessly with her and she actually giggled at them.
Did she ever giggle at him? She laughed and she chuckled, yes, but did she giggle? And why did he keep feeling as if he wanted to kill those perfectly human men for flirting with his very much single partner, who didn't belong to anyone?
He wasn't jealous.
He refused to admit that he was…because he wasn't.
He needed to keep telling himself that and refrain from strangling the man who just served Felicity another sparkly, pink drink.
"Since when do you consort with Nightcrawlers, Oliver?" Anatoly wondered, looking amused as he lifted his glass of vodka to his lips.
"I don't consort with them," Oliver said, taking a sip of his own drink before placing the glass on the table.
"Who do you think you're fooling, Brother?" Anatoly snorted. "The nature of that blonde beauty you've brought with you tonight didn't escape me, no matter how hard you've tried to conceal it."
Oliver looked over at Felicity, who was now dancing with one of the men. He gripped the arms of the chair tighter as he narrowed his eyes at the sight. "Felicity is different," was all he said.
"Didn't I tell you a few years ago that some were? I remember you being opposed to my own… couplings with the Dark Ones. I'm curious, since I've never been with a wolf: How good is she in bed?"
Oliver turned to his friend, eyes blazing as he stood up. Anatoly remained seated as he watched Oliver with curiosity. "I wouldn't know, because I haven't been sleeping with her," he replied, voice sharp. "And she isn't just a wolf, Brother. She's a hybrid."
Anatoly seemed taken aback by his tone but nodded nonetheless.
"Thank you for your hospitality and for your help with our little problem," Oliver continued in English. "I think it's time for me and Felicity to retire for the night, since we have a big day ahead of us tomorrow and she'll need to be fully alert for when we send our other friend into the lion's den."
"Of course," Anatoly nodded again, watching Oliver curiously.
"Good night, Brother," Oliver said before walking over to Felicity, grabbing her hand. When she began to protest, he just pulled her along, ignoring her completely. He didn't wait around to listen to Anatoly's parting words and he didn't listen to a single question that Felicity shot his way as he pushed her into the limousine and ordered the driver to take them back to the hotel.
-§-
Oliver's hand was grasping Felicity's wrist tightly, pulling her along as they passed the lobby in the hotel and headed for the elevator. Felicity struggled not to trip over her own feet as she protested against his tugging, but her high-heels were making it a nearly impossible task.
"Oliver, stop pulling me," she bit out as he continued to drag her out of the elevator and down to his room. He opened it with the key-card and then pushed her inside before closing the door and locking it again. Diggle was most likely in bed already, in his own room, but Oliver knew that there would be no sleeping for him tonight.
"I said let go," Felicity finally hissed, baring her fangs at him as she pushed him away from her. Oliver glared at her darkly before heading over to the small fridge, taking out a bottle of whiskey, opening it up. He took a huge gulp straight from the bottle, never taking his eyes off of Felicity.
"Aren't you going to apologize?" Felicity wondered, her eyebrows furrowing. She had crossed her arms and Oliver couldn't help but think about how devastatingly beautiful she looked when she was angry with him.
"What for?" he asked.
"For acting like an asshole, pulling and pushing me around as if I was some kind of pet that you needed to control," Felicity said. "I'm not some dog to be put on a leash, Oliver!"
"Don't you think I know that?" Oliver exclaimed, closing the distance between them in three long strides. He stared down at her, still holding the bottle of whiskey in his hand as he stalked closer, forcing her to take a few steps back. "Don't you know how fucking hard it is to keep telling myself that? That you're not a monster? That you're just you?"
Felicity narrowed her eyes, "You're not making any sense, Oliver…"
"I mean, when you're you, you're not a monster at all and it's difficult for me to stay away from you then, no matter how hard I try," Oliver tried to explain, but his words weren't coming out the way he way he was thinking them. "Fuck," he swore to himself, but it came out a lot louder than he had intended it to. He closed his eyes for a moment and Felicity watched him curiously. She placed her hands on his chest, over his heart. It was pounding like crazy and she wondered briefly whether he was actually okay.
"Oliver, what are you talking about?" she asked him again, willing herself to calm down. If they were both angry, there was no telling how this would go down. She needed to remain the sane one tonight, it seemed.
"I'm talking about you and how you pranced around with Anatoly's men," Oliver growled, snapping his eyes open as he once again towered over her.
"I didn't prance around with anyone," Felicity said calmly. "I was getting them drunk in case something would have gone down and we needed to get out of there. One of them used to work as a tech-guy in the Bratva before being promoted and he conveniently gave me some access-codes before he got too stupidly drunk to even remember his own name."
Oliver's eyes softened slightly, "It was all business?"
Felicity felt his heart calming, but she could still sense that there was a whirlwind of emotions running through him. "Of course," she replied. "Why would you ever think otherwise? I would never-" Felicity cut herself off and shook her head. "Oliver, why would you react this way?" she asked instead.
Oliver blinked a couple of times, shaking his head slightly. "I was not jealous," he said and for a moment, he looked surprised at his own words.
"Are you trying to convince me or yourself?" Felicity whispered, eyes flashing golden for just a moment.
Oliver felt himself move toward her and he knew that it was just like in the restroom at Queen Consolidated. There was a pull towards her that he couldn't explain and before even he knew what he was doing, he had pressed his body fully against hers, pushing her up against the wall. A crash was heard from the bottle breaking as it hit the floor where he had dropped it, but all sounds disappeared when he finally pressed his mouth to hers.
For a moment, Felicity remained still as he claimed her lips, but a second later, her hands that had been on his chest traveled up to tangle in his short strands as she opened her mouth up to his. Tongues tangling, Oliver groaned when Felicity tugged at his hair and he trailed his fingers over her body as he tried to memorize everything about the moment. The way she tasted, fruity with a hint of something stronger, most likely due to the drinks she had had tonight was intoxicating all on its own. He loved it only for a few strokes of his tongue against hers before he decided that he hated it as the memories of how she had gotten the drinks came back to him. Anger and that other emotion that he refused to accept welled inside of him and he pressed his lips to hers furiously. He bit down on her lower lip, making her moan, before slipping his hands down to the back of her thighs. With one squeeze, Felicity seemed to understand his prompting and she jumped up, allowing him to hold her up against the wall as her legs wrapped around him. He could feel the heels of her shoes digging into his back but it was a pleasurable sting, just like when he felt Felicity graze her human teeth against his throat as she moved to frantically press her kisses there.
Oliver gripped her tighter, pulling her away from the wall as he walked with her still wrapped around him toward the desk. He felt shattered glass crunching beneath his shoes from the broken bottle, but figured he could have someone clean it up in the morning. The only thing he could think about now was Felicity and the growing ache to just give into her.
After placing her on the desk, he was free to tangle his own fingers into her long, blonde tresses. More sounds of things breaking were heard somewhere in the distance when Felicity pushed everything off of the table and leaned back, pulling Oliver with her by holding on to his tie. His hands traveled down her exposed back, down to her thighs before his fingers began slipping under the material of her dress. Something that could only be explained as an actual growl escaped Felicity as she pulled Oliver closer by pressing her heels against his back. Goosebumps began spreading across her skin as Oliver started trailing kisses on the side of her neck, just as she had been doing to him moments ago. He reached up and pulled the sleeve of her dress to the side, allowing him better access to her creamy skin while his other hand moved further up her dress.
Oliver claimed her mouth again as he moved his hand toward the apex of her thighs, but he froze when he felt something sharp digging into his shoulders. It was as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water over him and all of the sudden he realized what he was doing. He pushed Felicity away from himself and took a few steps back from her, panting wildly as he stared at her with wide eyes. Felicity's eyes were glowing golden and her hair disheveled. Oliver glanced down and saw that her formerly blunt fingernails had extracted into wolf-like claws and he couldn't help but notice that her fangs were out as well. This was too much. What had he done?
"We shouldn't have done that," Oliver said, his voice shaky. He could still taste her on his lips, sense her intoxicating perfume and feel her touch, as if she was still wrapped around him. He wanted to go back to a moment ago, when he had been oblivious to anything but her body pressed against his and the path that they had started on tonight.
"Oliver, I'm sorry," Felicity said, looking down at her hands in shame. Her claws were still out and her arousal was making it impossible for her to get her other emotions under control.
"I'm sorry too," Oliver said quietly. "We really shouldn't have done that," he repeated, anger rearing it's ugly head in his voice.
He met Felicity's still glowing eyes and saw the moment the switch happened. It seemed like Oliver's own anger and disappointment in his lack of control was transferred to Felicity and suddenly, her eyes seemed to be blazing. "You can't honestly say that you didn't expect this would happen eventually," Felicity said. "That this, us, was just a question about when."
"No, Felicity," Oliver shook his head. "There is no us outside of the team."
"Who are you trying to convince, Oliver?" Felicity glared. "We've been tip-toeing around this since the night of the Undertaking. You know it and I know it. Hell, I think everyone else knows it too but they've just been too graceful to actually say anything about it."
"There's nothing to tip-toe around, Felicity," Oliver gritted his teeth.
Felicity glanced down and Oliver knew that her eyes were settled on his crotch, where he knew without a doubt that his arousal was still very much obvious. He hated her in that moment, but he hated his own body even more for betraying him in such a way.
"This was nothing," Oliver shook his head, looking away from her. "I've had one too many drinks and so have you."
"You're going to pretend that this was some drunken mistake?" Felicity frowned. "I'm a hybrid, Oliver. It takes a lot more than a few pink cocktails to get me drunk."
"It's still a mistake!" Oliver snapped, so loudly that Felicity actually jumped. He forced himself to keep glaring at her, even though the startled expression on her face cut him deeply. Her eyes were back to their normal blue color at least.
"Okay, it's a mistake," Felicity said. She wasn't doing anything to hide the hurt in her tone. "What happens in Russia, stays in Russia, right?" she chuckled bitterly. "The moment we're back in Starling City, this will all be forgotten and we'll go back to being nothing more than partners, if that's what you really want."
She was giving him that questioning look and Oliver nodded, "It's what I want." Oliver knew that she could see right through him and a part of him wished that she would just call him out on it so that he could give in. Felicity stayed quiet though and stood up from the table, her high-heels crunching against the broken glass on the floor as she looked at him.
"What do you want me to say?" she asked. "What do you want me to do?"
She was giving him one last shot, but Oliver couldn't go there. He couldn't tell her the truth because he wasn't ready to face it. They needed to focus on what they had come here to do and if something actually happened between him and Felicity tonight, there would be no way for him to keep his mind straight for the rest of their time in Russia.
"Nothing," he said. "Don't say anything, just go."
He looked away from her again, not being able to look her in the eyes as he told her to leave. The sound of her heels against the floor was the only thing he heard before the door closed quietly behind her. Oliver knew that it would have hurt less if she had just gone right ahead and slammed it, but he knew her well enough to know that she was sending him a message by her quiet exit without any further protests.
Oliver heard it loud and clear and it still echoed in his head as he sat down in the armchair and buried his face in his hands.
-§-
The next day, Oliver filled Diggle in on the mission and Anatoly arranged for the arrest and the escape. It all went off without a hitch, except for the single fact that Deadshot had ended up being in the prison as well and that Diggle had been forced to use his help to extract Lyla in time. They had agreed to let Lawton go in exchange for information on who it was that had hired him to kill Diggle's brother but the lamia vampire hadn't left until he had managed to get a good couple of sly remarks about the obvious tension between Oliver and Felicity, who had decided to act as if nothing had ever happened the night before.
When they dropped off Lawton on the side of the road, they headed back to the hotel in order for Diggle and Lyla to debrief Amanda Waller over a conference call and Felicity retreated back to her own room. Oliver knew that she was avoiding him again and he told himself that he just needed to hold on for a few more hours before their flight back to the States. Once they were back home, he figured that they would able to talk and maybe together decide that what had happened between them was better left behind. It wasn't worth losing a partnership as their own and Oliver knew that if they had really gone through with it, things would have been ruined between them for good. There would have been no going back for him or for Felicity.
Somehow, knowing that he might have screwed up everything between them, Oliver found himself in the hotel bar, nursing a glass of expensive whiskey. Someone sat down in the seat beside him and he turned his head slightly, only to see Isabel looking at him with distaste and something akin to curiosity.
"You look like crap," she stated before ordering herself a drink. Oliver didn't respond, only looked straight ahead. "In fact, you look more tired than I look at the moment and I know for a fact that I've been the only one who has been going to meeting after meeting for Queen Consolidated during our stay here. Don't tell me that Oliver Queen has finally tired of partying?"
Yet again, Oliver said nothing. He could feel Isabel's eyes drilling into him and he wished she would just go away. He needed to clear his mind and decide how he was going to handle what had happened the night before with Felicity.
"I think I was wrong," Isabel said. Oliver felt her move closer to him, her chest brushing against his arm as she leaned closer to his ear. "You look like someone who wants to forget something." Her hand came to rest on his thigh and Oliver finally downed his drink before turning to look at her again. He met her eyes and he knew that what he was about to do would be another mistake to add to the list that was already way too long.
Still, what Isabel had said was true. His emotions had become too much for him and right now, all he wanted to do was forget about them.
-§-
Felicity paced inside her room. The mission had gone good for the most part, but Lawton's words regarding the tension between her and Oliver had gotten into her mind and rooted themselves there. The lamia vampire had teased her about how there was an easy fix for it, though, she had tried her best to remain impassive. She had needed air though, so when the opportunity had presented itself to escort Lawton outside, she had stepped out of the van with Diggle and the vampire. Lawton had talked to her then, murmuring things that she knew that those without hybrid hearing wouldn't pick up on. He had told her about the bounty on her head that he had ignored and he had told her that the Master was still looking for her, as far as he could tell.
Felicity had asked him what that meant and why Lawton himself hadn't come after her and he had again pressed that he didn't support those who wanted to break the balance in the world by exposing the People of Darkness. When she had asked him whether he knew the identity of the real Master, he had said that he didn't want to be involved in whatever business it was they had with the monster. He had never personally met him, but the stories and the henchmen that he had come across had been enough to make him stay away. Lawton knew what self-preservation was and even though he risked his life from time to time, he knew how to stay away from people who would eventually mean certain death.
Still, all the thing that had happened – with Lawton and Oliver and everything else – had gotten to Felicity and she knew that she needed to talk to Oliver. It couldn't wait until they went back to the States and she needed to let him know how it was that she really felt about him. She had tried to keep it under control for so long, but after that kiss she wasn't sure she could suppress it anymore. Combing through her hair with her fingers she gave herself a look in the mirror and then stepped out of her room, heading towards Oliver's down the hall. As she walked, she tried gathering her courage for what needed to be said, hoping to everything that she had that he would admit that he feels the same for her. She knew that there were feelings there, but she needed to hear him say it to her before they would be able to move forward; either together or apart. She wished for the former, though she knew that she needed to prepare herself for the latter as well.
Finally, she reached her destination and raised her hand to knock, her heart racing in her chest. This was something that she needed to do. She had to get it over with because she knew that it would be one less weight to carry. Felicity anxiously waited for the door to open, playing with her fingers for a while as she chewed on her lip.
The door opened and Felicity straightened, but only for a moment before the whiff of expensive female perfume hit her nose like a brick wall, making her pause. Her eyes focused on the brunette in front of her, who unashamedly zipped up her dress right in front of her with a smirk on her lips. Isabel looked back over her shoulder and Felicity's gaze moved there to Oliver who stood with his shirt still open and his pants unbuttoned, staring at her with wide eyes.
"Oh," Isabel said, "I don't think he'll be needing your assistance tonight." The smirk on her lips transformed into a grin that only made Felicity's stomach drop even further. She felt as if her heart had just been ripped out of her chest. The degrading way in which Isabel had spoken to her hit her hard, but she didn't want to show any weakness around the other woman. It was, however, difficult to hide her shock.
Isabel smugly stepped past her, calling back to Oliver over her shoulder as she thanked him for a good night and left the hallway, heading to her own room a floor up.
As soon as she was certain that Isabel was no longer there, Felicity lowered her head, swallowing thickly as she tried to comprehend just what it was that she had witnessed. It hurt more than she could have imagined.
"Felicity–" Oliver started, his voice sounding pained and regretful.
"Don't," Felicity interrupted. "I don't want to hear it."
"I'm sorry, I–"
"Don't worry about it," Felicity looked up, pressing her lips together in a smile that she knew wasn't fooling the man in front of her. "What happens in Russia, stays in Russia. I mean, what happened between us was just a mistake and–" She cut herself off with a small gasp as the constricting feeling in her chest doubled. The pain was becoming too much for her and she felt tears forming in her eyes. She needed to get out of there and away from Oliver, as soon as possible. There was a stinging feeling on her palms and a warmness that slowly spread over her hands. She glanced down, seeing blood trickle down to the floor, the coppery scent of her own essence filling her nostrils. Her claws had extracted, it seemed, in a subconscious attempt to calm herself and her heartache; to try and make herself feel something other than what she was feeling inside.
She didn't meet Oliver's eyes again as she turned around and started walking back to her room. The sound of him trying to follow her, calling her name as he buckled up his belt only made things worse for her as tears slipped down her cheeks and her blood dripped on the floor in the hallway. She made it to her room and quickly slammed the door shut before Oliver could reach her and she locked it before pushing her back against it before slowly lowering herself down to the floor. Looking at her bloodied hands, she could sense Oliver's presence on the other side but she couldn't see him now; she couldn't face him and what he had done with Isabel, or exactly what that meant for her and him.
"I'm sorry..." she heard him whisper on the other side and she ignored the blood on her hands as she covered her face with them, smearing the red substance over herself.
Yeah.
She was sorry too.
-§-
Oliver stood outside the plane, checking his watch for the tenth time within five minutes. Anatoly had sent him a message that he was going to come and see him off before he traveled back to America and both Diggle and Felicity were already inside the private jet. Isabel had opted for flying with her own jet and Oliver was glad to get away from her after the way things had ended the night before. The hurt that he had seen in Felicity's eyes when she had realized that he had slept with Isabel had been enough to make him feel guilty about the entire ordeal. It didn't exactly help that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Felicity as he had been having sex with Isabel and the fact that he had a feeling that the brunette had been aware of it. When he had seen blood trickling down Felicity's clenched fists, he had wanted nothing more than to take back everything that he had done and now, all he wanted was for them to get back to Starling City so that maybe things could return to normal between them. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking, but he wished that they could just forget about everything and… Well, he wasn't really sure what he wanted anymore.
Being with Isabel the night before had felt wrong in every way possible. Seeing Felicity when he had been about to walk the other woman out had been like a wake-up-call and he remembered how it had felt as if someone had just shot him straight into his heart when he had realized what he had just done. Maybe he had been foolishly hoping that no one would have found out about him and Isabel, all so that he could pretend that it hadn't actually happened.
He sighed at his own naivety, just as a limo pulled up in front of him. Oliver walked over to the car just as Anatoly stepped out. He embraced his old friend, thanking him for his help.
"Don't thank me," Anatoly said. "It's what brother's do for each other."
Oliver nodded curtly, "Thank you all the same."
Anatoly looked at him curiously for a moment, much like he had done that night in the club. "You know, Oliver. If I didn't know any better, I'd think you'd gone and caught yourself some feelings," Anatoly said. "Perhaps for the beautiful blonde that accompanied you in the club?"
"No," Oliver shook his head, speaking in English again.
"Don't try to fool me, brother," Anatoly smiled, accent heavy. "I spent a lot of time with you during your stay in Russia a few years back. So what is stopping you?"
"It can't happen," Oliver said, not knowing whether he was trying to convince himself of Anatoly.
"Why not? Because she's a hybrid?" Anatoly questioned. "That shouldn't stop you from loving her."
Oliver looked at him, startled. "I don't love–"
"Oliver," Anatoly interrupted him, giving him a look that said that he wasn't fooling anyone. "I saw the way you were with her in my club. Life is too short not to tell her how you feel. Especially with the kind of life you lead." The older man paused for a moment, "You'll lose her if you don't tell her. She's not the kind of woman who will wait forever."
Oliver's eyes moved toward the plane that was waiting for him. "I might have already lost her," he admitted, feeling that pain in his chest again that he had felt the night before. He had never felt something as intense and a part of him wondered whether there could be more to the feeling. The pain that he had felt when he had seen Felicity… For a moment, it had almost felt as if it was shared, between them. He knew that they had grown a lot closer since the blood exchange, but the bond that they had temporarily created when they had shared blood had been lost after Felicity's blood passed through his system. Or had it? Could there be a chance that the two of them were still deeply connected in another way?
The relief that he had felt when he had kissed her, the rightness of it all; it made him wonder. Anatoly had been able to see it after a short meeting, even though he hadn't seen Oliver in several years. His old friend had been able to see that Oliver cared deeply for Felicity and no matter how much Oliver kept trying to deny it, he knew deep down that it was true.
He did love her and he didn't want to lose her.
But for her own safety, it might be better if he did, not matter how much it hurt him.
-§-
Felicity laid on her couch, watching TV on mute, nibbling on some popcorn. They had returned from Russia just a couple of hours ago and she had been quick about saying her goodnight to Diggle and Oliver and heading back to her own apartment. Roy was out for the night, still patrolling the streets in Oliver's place but he had texted her and told her that he would be spending the night at Thea's. Felicity was grateful for the quiet time because she knew that she needed it. There were a lot of things that she needed to think about and sort through before seeing Oliver again. She hadn't spoken a single word to him the entire way back to the Starling City, despite him trying to get a few words in whenever Diggle went to the restroom. It hurt her to ignore him but she had to because she could still feel the stinging of her own nails from the night before. The wounds on her palms weren't healing properly and she figured that it was because of how emotionally wrecked she had been. Wolves didn't heal as well when they were hurt on the inside and it could be that that was an attribute that she had kept when she had been turned into a hybrid. Either way, she had looked at them enough times already to know that the wounds would be gone in a day or two. They were scabbing over, which was also something that she wasn't used to. Usually when she was injured, her body would heal itself within a few hours and it wouldn't leave any visible marks unless the injury had been made by white oak or highly concentrated vervain and wolfsbane. She had a couple of scars from her time in confinement that had never healed, leaving thin, silvery lines over her skin. They were faint, but she saw them every time she took a shower and that was enough. She just wished that there was a way for her to remember more of her time in capture because maybe then, she would have been able to figure out who the real master was.
Her doorbell rang and Felicity looked up, inhaling deeply through her nose. She could smell his cologne and his musky, natural scent, recognizing him immediately. She found herself frozen on the couch, not knowing whether she should open the door or not.
"Felicity, please open the door," Oliver said, sounding tired. "We need to talk."
She stayed silent for only a moment, although, there was no way that she could say nothing when he was already getting on her nerves. "There's nothing to talk about, Oliver. Go away!" she called out, but he began knocking on the door, as if he was trying to force her to open it by annoying her until she gave in.
She held out for three minutes of non-stop knocking before she stood up from her couch. Pulling her cardigan tighter around her body, she walked over to the door and opened it, catching Oliver in mid-knock. She raised an eyebrow at him and he opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something before he paused and looked down her body, twice. She was wearing sleeping shorts and a tank top underneath her cardigan and since she hadn't been expecting any company tonight, she had opted for going bra-less, which she knew he probably realized when she shivered and pulled the cardigan tighter in front of her chest.
"What do you want?" she asked.
"Uh, I… I want to talk," Oliver swallowed, meeting her eyes again. "Please?"
"We said that what happened in Russia would stay there, so there's nothing to talk about," Felicity said, starting to close the door. Oliver put his foot in the way and his hand against the wood, stopping her from stopping it.
"I think you were the one to say that," he said. "On multiple occasions, actually."
"You told me the first time that it was what you wanted," Felicity frowned. "We should just leave it at that and move on."
"I want to apologize," Oliver said quickly. "Can you please let me do that inside? I feel like I need to explain myself."
Felicity narrowed her eyes at him and even though she didn't want to let him defeat her like this, his blue eyes shone with real remorse, making it difficult for her to deny him. She stepped aside, sighing as she let him in. Moving back to the couch, she made sure to stand on the other side of it so that Oliver couldn't get to close. She watched him close the door and then beckoned him forward.
"Well? Go ahead," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I, uh, wanted to apologize for the way I acted after we, uh, kissed," Oliver said, sounding a bit unsure suddenly. "I shouldn't have pushed you away like that, but I just needed to get away from you. I couldn't be near you because I knew that I would just lose control again."
"Oliver," Felicity shook her head. "I was the one who lost control. You pushing me away after we kissed was a good thing because I could have hurt you."
"I know you would never do that," Oliver said, taking a step toward her.
"You don't," Felicity shook her head. "If I lose control, there's no telling what I'll be capable of doing."
"I watched you turn," Oliver stated. "I touched you in your wolf form and you didn't attack me then. You're in better control of yourself than you think. I'm sorry that I hurt you by pushing you away again."
"That wasn't what hurt me, Oliver," Felicity said. "What hurt me was what happened with Isabel. You deserve so much better than her."
"I don't have feelings for Isabel," Oliver quickly said. "I don't care about her whatsoever."
"I understand what meaningless sex is, but it doesn't change the fact that seeing you and her like that made me feel like–" She abruptly stopped speaking. Her voice was thick and her emotions were once again getting the better of her. She didn't want to be like this but just having to talk about how bad he had hurt her without admitting her feelings for him was difficult. "Why would you do that?" she asked, looking away from him when she felt her tears stinging. "With her of all people?"
The heat from his palm sliding over her shoulder spread through her, all the way down to her toes. She closed her eyes when he pulled her into him and she was surprised by herself when she didn't resist it. When did he even get this close to her? His fingers slid into her messy bun and he gently pulled, making her lift her head from his chest and look up into his eyes. Slowly, he leaned down and pressed his lips against her cheek. He inhaled deeply before his fingers moved to slide over her cheeks, brushing away her tears. She met his eyes again and she could see the way that his mind was going a mile a minute. A second might have passed before he lowered his head again, this time letting his lips press against hers.
That feeling that she had felt in Russia quickly rose inside her chest. Felicity hesitated before finally returning the kiss. It was slow and tentative, but Felicity could feel the message he was trying to send. She pressed her hands against his chest, pushing him away from her slightly so that she could break the kiss. Her eyes remained closed as her eyebrows furrowed.
"I've never felt what I felt when I kissed you," Oliver said, his voice low. He was speaking as if he was telling her a secret and she wasn't sure how that was supposed to make her feel. "Being with her like that was all about trying to forget, and I know that it's no excuse. Everything with Thea, the Master and Queen Consolidated. You have been the only good thing through all of it and I didn't want to add you to my list of problems."
At his words, Felicity pulled away from him. She pushed his hands away and shook her head at him, wondering whether he had realized what he had just said to her.
"You won't have to worry about me being a problem, Oliver," she said, her hurt and anger evident in her tone. "Whatever it was that drove me to kiss you that night and the connection or whatever it was we felt, it's gone. I won't ever act on it again."
"Felicity, I didn't mean it like– It's all coming out wrong," Oliver said, shaking his head.
"I don't care," Felicity said firmly, eyes glowing. "We're still partners, but as far as I'm concerned, I'm not going to be another problem on your list." She turned her back against him, keeping her arms crossed over her chest. "You know where the door is. Goodnight, Oliver."
His emotions were easy to pick up on but she didn't care whether he was hurt by her rejection. He had been the one to reject her first and with everything that had happened, Felicity didn't want to think about it anymore. They had things to do and dangerous monsters to stop. That was stressful enough as it was, without emotions making things more difficult. Thankfully, Oliver didn't say another word as he walked to the door. She could feel every step that he took in her chest, as if something was pulling on her heart the further away from her that he got.
It wasn't until the door closed that she allowed herself to take a breath and release a sob which shook her body as she sat down on the couch and buried her face in her hands again.
Note: They kissed! TWICE! But then I broke them... I'm so sorry.
Just a small comment on this chapter from me: The kisses were NOT originally planned! In fact, the only reason that things went this way was because I started to feel the slow burn killing even me. Now, I did plan on having Felicity see Isabel and Oliver together and the conversations that followed. I want to state that in this story, Isabel is JUST a business woman set out to get Queen Consolidated. Yes, she is a bitch, but she is NOT a supernatural being or in any way working together with the Master.
The next chapter will be more action-filled aaaaaand, we'll be seeing Felicity in wolf form again! Excited to start writing it! ;)
Thank you so much for reading and hopefully, you liked it enough to leave a review! Much love! xx