Chapter 25

He found it strange to have another person down in the lair sleeping. The lair was subterranean, too quiet and lacked decent heating. It was a good enough place to run secret operations from. It was strategically located, discreet and allowed him space to get into the mindset he needed before going on a patrol. It reminded him of the fuselage back on the island he had taken shelter in, but unlike the fuselage, it was better equipped, didn't have rain seeping in and kept enemies away.

The lair wasn't a habitat for living. Sure it provided shelter and an escape from the outside world. It hosted his equipment and supplies. He had had set up his cot in one corner and it was surprisingly comfortable and he had spent many nights on that cot when he was too tired or wound up to go home. Yet it wasn't a good space to live in. Diggle simply refused to stay in the lair himself. Even at his worst, he would get himself home, be in a car or simply a taxi and would speak in a judgmental tone when he Oliver opted to stay.

Now, as he got on his feet and looked down at Felicity's sleeping form, wrapped in his gray blanket, he realized that the lair had turned out to become something he wasn't expecting. It brought him peace. It was a place where he didn't need to use the personas he showed to the outside world, a place where he could forget that his best friend didn't want to talk to him, that his mother was involved with something that was likely to endanger the city he was trying to save, that his step-father was still missing. It was a place where he could exist in the boundary between Oliver Queen and The Arrow.

He didn't want to disturb Felicity so he got up and went to the small bathroom that was already installed when he had decided to use the basement of the foundry as his base of operations and changed his clothes. When he got out, he noticed Felicity was awake and on her feet, but then he noticed that she wasn't wearing her glasses and he rushed to her, helping her steady herself before stumbling and falling down. He handed her glasses and watched as she squinted before putting them on. Her expressions were delightful.

When she thanked him for letting her sleep in the lair, he knew he had to get the truth out from her. She had looked scared, the first time he had seen her in such a state. She had gone undercover on a mission to an illegal casino filled with armed men, risking her life, but she had been brave and there had been no change in her disposition. Yet when she came down the stair last night, running straight into his arms, she had been shaking and pale. He never wanted to see her like that again. So he asked her, and she told him, still keeping important information to herself, but it was more than enough to worry him. He wasn't used to being worried. Anger, hatred, annoyance, even fear, were emotions he was used to. Worrying about others, that was new.

He wanted her to go to the police. Even though he didn't know the specifics, she had been attacked, in her own house. That was illegal. He had been doing a lot of illegal things ever since his return to Starling City, but that didn't mean he was fine with other people committing illegal activities. Especially when they endangered her life. Whomever had attacked her needed to be found and brought to justice. There was someone at loose who could try to hurt her again. She didn't want him to do something about it, which he was okay with. Yet he couldn't help but think that her first thought of action should have been going to the police and not to him. In the confusion he felt after the night's events, he hadn't thought about it at first, agreeing to go along with her suggestion to eat. She was being stubborn and it was wrong. He couldn't really understand her reasoning, but he also couldn't help but feel something tugging his chest at the thought of him being the one she ran to.

He opted to ride alongside her in her tiny little car and she drove them through the wet streets of the city. It had been lightly raining when they left the diner last night, but the rain had stayed. They made splashes and the wipers worked tediously as she drove. They reached her street but there were no spots left in the vicinity of her townhouse to park the car. She started cursing, which bemused him, then decided to park a street over.

It was raining heavily and neither of them were prepared for it. She was hesitant to leave the car. He grabbed her hand and started running with her along his side. She shrieked as the cold water seeped through the cotton of her sweatshirt and when they made it to her front door a minute later, both of them were soaked to the bone.

Oliver swiped a hand through his wet hair as Felicity opened the door. He asked her to wait and entered inside himself, checking every corner and nook, looking for signs of an intruder. There were signs of a struggle right in the middle of the living room where bags of what seemed to be brand new shoes were thrown. He breathed through his nose to relax himself as he analyzed how close to danger she had been. She needed to report the crime so he didn't touch anything to leave things as they were. It seemed that the intruder had come through her porch door and had left quickly. He needed to remind her to get better enforcements for the door and maybe a security system. When he came to the conclusion the house was clean, he invited Felicity inside.

"You're wet, you're going to get sick." Felicity commented as she stepped inside and took off the shoes he had lent her and then her wet sweatshirt, leaving her with a tank top. Oliver looked at her and took in her appearance, with her wet hair cascading down her shoulders, sticking to her body, then looked away, suddenly aware of the fact that he was blatantly checking her out. "Here." She threw him a blue towel. "Bathroom is the first door on your left upstairs. Go take a shower and leave your wet clothes before the door, I'll put them in the dryer."

"I'm fine, Felicity." he argued. He thought it was strange that she seemed to be more worried about his health than her own security. When she placed her hands on her hips and tilted her head, he gave in and went upstairs after taking his shoes off.

Oliver had never been self-conscious about his body. He mostly ignored his scars, knowing that he could do nothing about them. As he stripped of his wet clothes in Felicity's bathroom decorated with purple towels and rugs, he was nervous. He folded his jeans and sweater and laid them before the door, then made sure the door was locked and stepped inside the shower. The hot water felt great. He was tempted to use the shampoo that claimed to be organic and the body wash that smelled really like lavender, but he resisted and simply soaked himself until he felt warm all over and got out, wrapping the towel she had given earlier around his waist. Through the steam on the mirror, he looked at his reflection then his surroundings and couldn't help but smile. He was in her house, in her bathroom, surrounded by her things, taking a shower like it was the most normal thing.

"Oliver, I left a blanket for you before the door." He heard Felicity's voice through the door.

He unlocked the door and stepped outside. He picked up the cream wool blanket carefully laid before the door and couldn't help but inhale the fresh scent coming off from it. He wrapped himself with the blanket and made it downstairs.

His bare feet was met with carpet and he walked towards the sofas in the living room. He sat on the armchair he preferred whenever he visited, then looked up to see Felicity walking towards him with a towel wrapped around her hair, wearing different clothes, carrying two mugs. "10 more minutes until the dryer is done." she announced as she stopped before him. Still looking up at her, Oliver stood up slightly and accepted the mug, then sat back down on the armchair while Felicity chose the side of the couch opposite to him. "I hope the shower knobs were easy to use. That's one thing I hate myself, when you want to take a shower and can't figure out how it works in an unfamiliar one. I'd like to think that mine are pretty easy and you won't have any trouble next time. Not that I wanted to insinuate anything by that. I mean, you're always welcome to shower here. Mi casa es su casa."

"Thanks." he replied and took a sip from the coffee.

"Thank you, for coming here to check out." she commented. "I can actually go to bed now. Not now though, I meant tonight."

"You sure you'll be fine?" he asked.

"I need to report to the police so I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. I should have done that first thing, but it didn't even crossed my mind." She gave him a shy smile then brought the mug to her lips. Oliver couldn't help but stare at her lips devoid of the usual lipstick. "Not sure if Detective Lance would be interested about hearing a patient attempting to attack his doctor when he has a vigilante at large, but I can be convincing."

He laughed. "He seems pretty obsessed with the Hood, but it's his job to make the safety of this city's citizens his number one priority."

"The Arrow." Felicity suggested.

"The Arrow? Is that my new name?"

"It seems so." she said but didn't comment any further. Oliver wanted to ask if what had happened to her had something to do with him, but the look on Felicity's face seemed to plead with him not to ask any further questions so he didn't. He hoped Felicity wasn't harmed because of him. She gathered her legs underneath herself and leaned back on the couch, closing her eyes. "I'm sorry we got soaked. The street parking situation here sometimes is ridiculous. I have a small car, it shouldn't be this hard for me to find parking."

"I'm aware of how small your car is." he said with a smirk, noticing her attempt to change the subject. He went along with it. "You need something bigger."

"Just because you're enormous and can't fit into compact cars doesn't mean I have to change my car!" she exclaimed, laughing. "It's green and it is red in color. I love it."

"Whatever you say, Felicity." he teased.

A beeping noise came from somewhere in the townhouse. "That's the dryer." Felicity said and got up. He followed her to a small closet by the stairs that hosted the washer and the dryer. She opened the dryer and warm heat hit them. She reached and grabbed his sweater, then held it up and brought it up to her neck for a second, then handed it to him. Just the image of her holding his warm sweater against her made Oliver forgot that he was naked underneath the blanket and the towel and he dropped the blanket on the floor and wore the sweater and almost was going to repeat the same action for the towel when he saw Felicity blushing as she reached and handed him his boxer briefs.

Felicity turned around and he quickly dressed, then threw the towel into the hamper basket. "Thank you, Felicity." he said and he meant it. "I should get going."

"It's still raining and I drove you here." she said. "Give me five minutes and I'll drop you on my way to the police station."

He nodded and she rushed upstairs. He went to the living room and picked up the mugs and brought them to the kitchen. Felicity was back in a few minutes, dressed in an ensemble resembling what she would wear during their sessions, her hair in a ponytail. She looked completely different from how she was in her yoga pants and sweatshirt, but she was still the same Felicity he had grown used to. She was beautiful. He didn't say a thing and followed her outside the townhouse, then stood close to her as they slouched under an umbrella that didn't really protect him against the rain and made it to her car.

"See, now all the spots are available." Felicity commented. "They are all taken when I need one."

He laughed and got inside the car. They didn't talk much as she drove him back to the foundry. He couldn't help but feel saddened by the prospect of parting from her, not knowing when he would be able to see her again given he needed to focus on Malcolm Merlyn and she had a police case and patients to take care of.

"I'll see you later." Felicity said as she parked by the entrance of Verdant. "Thank you so much again, Oliver." she added. She then leaned over from her seat towards his and kissed his cheek lightly. It was only the second time, but Oliver still felt the same rush he had from the first time. His heart seemed to rattle against his ribcage. Her lips were soft and the momentary sensation of them against his cheek made him want to reach and kiss her on the lips, taking her taste, her smell in, feeling her warm breath mingling with his. He fought the urge, simply gave her a weak smile and got out.

As he watched her drove off, standing in the same spot, Oliver Queen decided that Felicity Smoak was no longer just a friend to him. He had fallen in love with her somewhere between his first lie and her second kiss on his cheek and he didn't know what to do.