A/N: Excuses: there was some stuff (again/still because my life is craziness), and then I tried to cut off my thumb. Fortunately, I was mostly unsuccessful, but it's made typing interesting. So here we are...

I tried to just ignore some of these gaping plot holes, but in the end I couldn't swerve that much. Please rest assured that the corporate details will be kept to a minimum. But I think it's safe for us all to assume Oliver's not broke and will be running the company he owns controlling interest in. Hm'kay?

For all my US readers, have a safe and happy holiday! For everyone else, have a safe and happy Friday. I hope you enjoy this Oliver POV.

Things Fall Apart

"Oliver, you did remarkably well," Walter says.

I can't help but smile when I hear the pride in his voice. He's not my father, but Felicity is right. He's a good man.

"I've known the members of the board for years," he continues. "It's obvious you've alleviated quite a few of their suspicions. Everyone is eager for stability, and because of your presentation, they're convinced you're the man to bring it. The requisite documents will take time." Walter almost imperceptibly rolls his eyes. "The only ones benefiting from this are the attorneys. Next time you might simply ask for assistance, rather than signing over control of the company."

"Yeah, Felicity mentioned something like that just this morning. She thinks I should ask for help."

"Ms. Smoak's taste in men notwithstanding," he says with an equally subtle wink. "She has a one of the finest minds I've ever known. You're extremely fortunate to have her loyalty and should listen to her good counsel."

Walter affectionately grips my arm as we step into the waiting executive elevator, and before I can stop myself, I've aggressively flexed and glared at his hand. Walter immediately lets go, but not before Digg makes a quiet disgruntled noise and kicks the back of my shoe.

If Felicity were with us, she'd be embarrassed and disappointed, even if I didn't mean it. I'm tired, and we only just dropped off Slade, and I wasn't ready for Walter to touch me, especially not so paternally. But that's no excuse. She would remind me that Walter's not only doing right by me, but Queen Consolidated too. His return as CFO is the only way I'll be able to successfully run my family's company and ensure someone like Slade or Isabel never is able to wield this much corporate and investment influence.

"I'm." I clear my throat. "I'm sorry Walter. That was rude. I'm just." I clear my throat again. "Extra jumpy today."

"Of course," Walter politely agrees.

"No. Walter." I offer him my hand. He waits only a second too long before shaking it. "Thank you. For everything. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I look forward to learning a great deal from you."

"No need for flattery," he replies with a forgiving smile. "Family's family, Oliver."

I decide not to point out he's my ex-stepfather, which is the most tenuous of connections under the best of circumstances, and me nearly beating him in an elevator isn't the best circumstance by a long shot.

There are times I wish I could just be normal, even though if I'm being honest, I have to acknowledge that "normal" for me would have equaled spoiled brat.

"Yeah, when Thea's speaking to me again, we should get together. Have regular dinner plans or something."

Walter looks surprised, but he smiles and nods. "I would enjoy that. And I owe you an apology as well."

"Walter, no."

He holds up his hand to stop me.

"I've intended to say this for some time, and there's no excuse for delaying this long. We did you a grave injustice," he says. "Moira and I. And Thea too, to a certain degree. When you were finally returned to us, your mother needed you to be unscathed by your years away." He shakes his head and uncomfortably glances away. "I understand now, of course, why she clung so desperately to that facade. But it wasn't fair to you, Oliver. I acted as though I knew you because I spent those years surrounded by your memory and your family, but I hadn't the right. None of us should have presumed to understand your ordeal. Please forgive me. Us."

It's my turn to rest my hand on Walter's arm.

"Of course. We'll call it even for the horrible way I treated you when I got back. Deal?"

The elevator doors open on the main floor, and the three of us step out. For once, there isn't a crowd of photographers and reporters waiting for me on the steps.

"You kept the wolves at bay?" I ask.

"No," Walter says. "They must still be too busy reporting on Mr. Wilson's destruction around the city to spare anyone for quiet corporate dealings, even large ones like a new CEO."

"New-ish," I remind him.

"Your mother loved you," Walter suddenly says. "I cannot condone many of her decisions and actions, but know that she never wavered in her devotion to you. She believed in you, Oliver. She wanted this company to be yours. She would have been pleased that you're back at the helm."

I don't know what to say, or how to say it if I did have any words. So instead I clear my throat again and shake his hand a final time.

"We'll be in touch, Oliver," Walter says before turning and walking back into the waiting elevator, heading back up to ensure a swift and smooth transfer of power. "We should have you ready to move back in by the end of the week. In the meantime, please give my regards to Ms. Smoak."

"That's not something you see every day," Digg says after the elevator doors close. "Good thing you didn't knock him unconscious and miss it."

"Shut up," I mutter as we take the steps two at a time down to the garage. While necessary and ultimately successful, this has taken entirely too long and I'm eager to get back to Felicity.

As soon as I punch in the code and open the door to the lair, I realize Felicity is not alone. I can see her sitting at her computers, but there's movement out of my line of sight. I spring into action, and Digg places a restraining hand on my arm before I can leap over the rail. I have to settle for jogging down the stairs.

"Now what, Felicity?" I hear Roy ask even though I still can't see him.

"Please go through the medical supplies," she says, not looking up from her screens or pausing from her typing. "Inventory what we have left. It shouldn't take long."

"What all are we supposed to have?" he asks.

"Don't worry about that right now. Just see what's there." Felicity swivels in her chair. "There are..." She takes a breath. "Developments. But first, how'd it go?"

"Was it really that hard," I spit out through gritted teeth. "To not open the fucking door?"

"Now just hold on a second," Felicity begins, reaching for my hand.

"Actually..." Roy says at the same time.

"Shut up," I snap at him. I yank my hand out of her reach and glare at her. "I asked for one goddamn thing while I'm doing what you fucking told me to do..."

"There's no need for blasphemy," she says, her voice frighteningly quiet.

"You're Jewish."

"The Commandments were ours first."

Part of me wonders if she's joking with me at a moment like this, but after staring at her for a second, I decide that I don't think she is. She can't be as angry as I am at the moment, but she's close. We only just made up, so I close my eyes and try to be calm when I try again.

"I asked one thing," I carefully amend. "Not only for my peace of mind, but for your safety. I don't think asking you to not open the door while I was gone was too much."

Felicity stares at me for too many silent seconds. Digg and Roy are quiet and hovering in my peripheral when she finally speaks.

"Are you finished?" she asks. When it's obvious she's going to wait for me to respond before she continues, I nod my head, but it feels stiff. "I appreciate your concern for my safety, Oliver. I really do. And I understand why you're being more than your usual level of paranoid right now." She pauses and gives me a knowing look. "But before you have an aneurysm or reach for your bow or stew for the rest of the day because you think I blew you off, Roy called me first, and then he let himself in."

"He let himself in?" I stupidly repeat.

"I have the code," Roy says.

"Shut up," I say again.

"Jerk. This is probably why Sarah left too," Roy grumbles.

"No," I argue, trying not to cringe because I know I sound exactly like a jerk. "This has nothing to do with Sarah. She left because..." My voice trails off because I honestly don't know why she left. I'll have to ask Felicity to explain it to me later.

"You can be a bit," Felicity begins.

"Prickish?" Digg offers.

"Damn straight," Roy agrees.

"We need to work on your people skills," Felicity diplomatically suggests.

"Digg! A little help this time."

"You really want me to comment on your people skills right now?" he asks me with a knowing look as he takes off his jacket and rolls up his shirt sleeves. "What do you need me to do?" he asks Felicity.

"What happened?" she asks, leaping from her chair. "Please tell me you didn't blow it with the board." She closes her eyes and looks like maybe she's counting in her head. Or praying. I hate that she thinks I can't speak to my own board.

"Give me a little credit," I say. "I'm not completely useless."

"Please tell me you didn't hit anyone."

"Close!" Digg says.

"Shut up!" I snap. "Go and. I don't know. Count something."

Digg raises his eyebrow at me and stares at me long enough to let me know exactly what he thinks of my suggestion before joining Roy and our pathetically small amount of medical supplies. We need to restock before one of us gets hurt. I don't know what we'd do right now if someone needed stitches.

"Oh Oliver," she says, leaning her head against my chest. "What are we going to do with you?"

"Help me find a way to keep my night job even though I'm CEO of Queen Consolidated."

"You have to be serious about it this time," she says. "You were lucky to get a pass, and I'm sure the fact that Isabel turned out to be psychotic helped your cause. You can't expect them to ever give you another break like this. Not even you are that charming."

"Thanks to you, Walter's going to help me," I remind her. "And I have the best Executive Assistant in the biz."

Felicity sighs and looks around the lair. She and Roy have been busy, and there are piles of salvaged equipment, as well as piles of what Slade ruined when he broke in.

"We have so much work to do. It could have been worse, I suppose. A lot of the damage is superficial, but it's going to take time to get us up and running. I hope you're not expected back at the office right away because this is more than a part-time job. But I'm really glad that you're not poor."

"You knew I wasn't poor," I remind her.

"Still, good news on that front. Let's not diminish it."

"Tell me about the developments," I say. I brace for the inevitable bad news because everything is forever falling apart no matter how hard I try to keep it together.

"The important thing is that we're not in immediate danger. That was not the case just a few days ago, and I don't think we should take our safety for granted or lose sight of that."

"So definitely bad news, then."

"No," she says. "I didn't say that."

"You basically just said, 'Well, at least no one is trying to kill us at this exact moment.' As far as positive spins go, that's pretty bad. Just tell me."

"Roy," Felicity quietly calls.

They must have agreed that he would wait for her because he was busy in the medical area but was obviously listening for her signal. This can't be good.

"Thea and I were supposed to leave together," he says before I can ask. "After I helped take down Slade. I was going to tell her everything, but when I got back to my apartment, this is what I found." Roy pulls a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and hands it to me.

He and Felicity pointedly don't look at me while I read Thea's girlish handwriting.

FuckshitdammitalltohellandbackwhatareyoufuckingthinkingTheaDeardenQueenI'mgoingtokillyouwhenIgetyoubackgoddamnit

It takes every ounce of self-control I possess to not crumple the letter into a ball and throw it as far as I can before setting fire to the lair because this is my fault. I lied, about too many things, and she doesn't trust me, and now she's going to take matters into her own hands.

No matter what it takes, I will be strong, she wrote to Roy.

What the fuck does that mean? Speedy, what are you thinking?

Jesus fucking Christ.

Okay. Deep breath.

I hand Roy back his letter and rub my face with both hands while Digg silently scans what she wrote.

"Do you have any idea," I finally begin.

"No," he interrupts.

Okay. More breathing.

"She dumped her cell," Felicity quietly reports before I can ask. "So I can't track her. And with Slade and his minions doing their thing, there isn't any surveillance footage to pull up to see who she left with."

Okay. Keep breathing.

"But the good news," she continues.

"Really?" I snap. "Good?"

"Oliver," she says. "Listen to me. The good news, and yes, this is good, is that ARGUS had Starling City closed off. No one was getting in or out. At least not that night. So we know, if she did leave then, and Roy talked with people, and we do think she left that night, it wasn't with just anyone. That significantly narrows the list of possibilities."

"We left," I remind her.

"You're not just anyone," she says.

"Sarah and Nyssa left."

"The League of Assassins isn't just anyone either. So I think it's safe to assume that whoever she's with, it's a big fish. We'll find her."

"So the good news is that my baby sister left with some form of assassin or government spook because no one else was getting out of town?"

I don't expect her to answer, and I know I'm not being fair. This isn't Felicity's fault. She encouraged me to be more honest, and I kept putting it off. I'm the one who drove Thea away. I have no one to blame but myself.

"I'm sorry," I say. "You're right. Let's figure out who else was in town. Maybe Lyla can help on this too. Quietly because we already owe Waller too much."

"We're going to get her back," Felicity says. "We will," she says to Roy.

"I was trying to protect her," I whisper. "I was trying to keep her away from all this ugliness."

"I know." Felicity's hand is soft and comforting on my arm. "Also, Laurel called."

"Please tell me she doesn't think she's taking Sarah's place on the team."

"Well," Felicity hedges. "That didn't come up. Yet. But only because she's got other things on her mind."

"Sarah's had years of training." Laurel will just get in the way. She doesn't listen. She's reckless. "Laurel will want to help, but she's a liability I just don't need right now."

"Or, you know, ever," Roy adds.

"Aren't you supposed to be inventorying?" He glares at me, and I bet he wishes he could still beat the crap out of me. But he finally nods and sulks off to the other side of the lair with Digg. "What happened?" I quietly ask.

Felicity swallows. "Detective Lance sustained rather serious internal injuries," she reports. "He tried fighting one of the minions, and instead of seeking medical attention right away, he was a hero. He was rushed into emergency surgery."

"Is he okay?"

"He." Felicity's eyes fill with tears and she shakes her head. "He hasn't woken up yet. They're not sure why."

I pull her into my arms, and she immediately buries her head into my chest. I kiss the top of her head and hold her while she sniffles. It's nice that we're taking turns freaking out. Things would be a lot worse if we did it at the same time.

"He's strong," I remind her. "It'll take more than a Mirakurued minion to keep him down."

"He's been hurt so much this year. Over and over again. He's just a man. A good man who loves this city as much as anyone."

"He always pulls through," I say.

"Until he doesn't."

"Hey. It's okay."

"Thea is missing. Detective Lance is in a coma. And our lair is ruined. No, Oliver. It is not okay."

"I thought we were going to focus on the fact that no one at this exact moment in time is actively trying to kill us?" I remind her.

"That was a stupid idea because what are the odds it's actually true?"

"Shh," I soothe. "How about this: it's going to be okay. Here's what we're going to do. Digg, Roy. Load up as much as you can into the car. I want my trunk and my gear for sure."

"And the hard drive," Felicity adds.

"We'll get the rest later. Right now, we're going to stop by the hospital. We're going to go and get something to eat. And then we're going home."

"I don't think you can train in my apartment," Felicity sniffles.

"No," I say. "We're all going to my house. All of us. New plan: the Queens need to consolidate."