Author's Note: So...this took a turn on me. I think the previous case mentioned has shifted into an overarching arc. It certainly wasn't ready to be solved. We'll see where we go.

Advent Anticipation – Day 21 – Candle

"Found him!"

Felicity felt the air pass as she punched a fist up, but she didn't care. Her combing of surveillance paid off at last. She watched the scene once more as Oliver stepped out of the building and glanced around. It seemed odd to see him in jeans and a button down, but it wasn't the neighborhood for a suit, and his Arrow get up definitely wouldn't have worked. Still…it was…weird.

He stepped onto the empty sidewalk, glanced around, and then his hand flew up to his neck just before he…crumpled, for lack of a better word. Felicity's hands clenched into fists as she watched him lie, helpless in the street, as a van pulled up. Two men jumped out and loaded Oliver into the back of the vehicle. A few minutes later another figure joined them, climbing into the passenger seat up front. Felicity's blood ran cold.

"Helena," she breathed out in disbelief. "That can't be right."

She activated the comms. "Guys, I need you back at the lair. I've got a lead."

"On my way," Dig acknowledged.

"Practically there," Roy agreed.

That finished, she shifted to another computer and began typing. Her nails clacked at a fast clip over the keys as she used her backdoor into the SCPD network. Sure enough, buried under everything else they were dealing with currently, she found a report detailing the escape of one Helena Bertinelli, aka The Huntress, from prison.

"But why…?" Felicity murmured, eyes shifting back to Oliver's abduction. "She was getting better…why would she do this?"

Felicity would admit, upfront and unashamedly, that she was not and probably would not ever be Helena's greatest fan. The woman Dig called Oliver's psycho ex-girlfriends made a bad habit of being a grade A nut whenever she came to town. In the few times she'd been in Starling City, she managed to threaten Oliver's family, Tommy, the Lances, and Felicity herself. She shot McKenna Hall and left Felicity tied up in her own workspace after forcing her to hack the FBI.

Being held at the working end of a crossbow was not a memory she particularly enjoyed revisiting.

Still…she'd been doing better according to all reports. Oliver kept track of her, even talking to her from time to time as he held some residual guilt over her actions, and Felicity checked in on her psych reports from time to time. (If Oliver and Dig ever caught her, she planned a simple answer as to why: once bitten, twice shy.) Everything painted the picture of a woman coming to grips with her bad choices and trying to find a way to overcome her anger issues. If something had gone wrong, a single phone call would have had Oliver (and team) looking into it for her.

So why this? Why now?

Felicity bit her bottom lip as she began typing once more. She needed to see if she could find more information on the van or if she could track Helena's current location. This situation grew more confusing and mysterious as she tried to figure out the angles – and she couldn't stand mysteries. Like she once told Walter Steele – they needed to be solved. Her attention fixed on the computers and she lost herself for a while, but then she heard the door open and footsteps clattered down the steps.

"Hey, Blondie, did you get any sleep?" Roy strode up to her. He didn't wait for her answer before shaking his head and shoving a cup into her hands. "You look like you've got bruises under your eyes. Have some coffee."

The aroma hit her and all of the sudden she felt every iota of her exhaustion. "Roy, some days I simply adore you," she told him before taking a sip of the coffee. "Oh I needed this!"

Dig came downstairs. "What do we have?"

"Helena."

Felicity's one word answer caused both men to flinch. "Not again," Dig muttered.

"I thought she was in jail? And…doing the repentance thing or something?" Roy glanced between them.

"Well," she shrugged. "That's what I thought to, but…" Here she spun and brought up the correct picture. "That is definitely Helena, and according to a report I dug up, she escaped from prison."

Dig sighed. "So-"

Felicity's phone rang, interrupting him. She snatched it up, her jaw dropping as she saw Oliver's picture on the screen. Swiping her finger over the face of it, she put the phone on speaker. "Oliver?"

A sugary female voice answered. "Why, hello there, Felicity."

"Helena." Felicity glanced at the men who suddenly surrounded her. "Where's Oliver?"

"That's what I'm calling about," the other woman answered. "You will find him in the empty warehouse at Forest and Overton."

"Why are you telling me this?" Suspicion coated Felicity's voice.

Helena chuckled. "Such distrust. Whatever did I do to you, hmm?"

"Do you really want me to get started?"

"Don't bother, little miss hacker." Helena sounded more entertained than anything else. "And I just needed to borrow your boss for a little conversation. He's perfectly fine and waiting for you."

"Helena-"

"Do remember, Felicity – I could have turned him in at any time. I didn't." Her voice turned thoughtful. "Sometimes I'm not sure why, but he's got a way about him, doesn't he?" Then she laughed again. "Never mind that now. Go toddle along and pick him up. I'm sure we'll see each other eventually."

The line went down.

The three of them traded a concerned look before Felicity took a breath and straightened her shoulders. "She's psycho and she needs to be behind a locked door, but…she told the truth. She might have fought Oliver, but she never turned him in. She never named names."

"I'll check it out." Dig hastened towards the door. "You two stay here."

Roy hung over Felicity's shoulder, watching as she switched from one camera to another in order to follow Dig's progress through the city. When he pulled into the warehouse in question, they lost sight of him.

"Are we sure that call was on the up and up?" Roy demanded. "And if it is, then what the hell is the crazy lady up to?"

"To be honest, Roy, I don't even care," Felicity admitted, twisting her chair from side to side. "I just want it to be real."

They watched as the car pulled out once more and began driving through the city towards the lair. No one followed them. She let the car go, keeping an eye on the warehouse to be safe. Nothing stirred – no one so much as stuck a nose out of the doors. "What are they doing in there?" she murmured. The car would be at the lair soon and only the team could get in. She didn't worry about anyone else – if any of them were likely to break and give away that kind of information, it was her or Roy…and she wasn't even sure of that anymore. The two of them would probably last longer than most bad guys would expect or be prepared for – which kind of made her happy…although thinking of that also made her a little sick to her stomach. What would someone do to get that kind of information anyway?

Oh, good God, she was babbling in her own mind. Someone needed to interrupt her before she talked herself in to a panic attack or something.

"Hey."

She stared at Roy for a moment, not sure she could believe her own ears. His eyes shot up to look over her shoulder and a grin began to make its way over his face. When he started to shake his head in amusement, she spun her chair to gape at the stairs. Oliver stood there with a small smile on his face. Her eyes did a quick scan of him, and while he appeared tired and disheveled, he seemed none the worse for the wear. Settling one of her hands on her desk, she pushed herself to her feet and began to make her way towards him. Her steps remained slow and steady, almost like she feared he would disappear if she moved too fast. (If this is how she felt after a single day, she couldn't imagine what her state would be if it had been longer.) As she came with in arms reach, her hand reached out but stopped short of touching him. What if he was hiding an injury or some wound or other? "Oliver?"

"Felicity." His hand came up and folded over hers before pulling her into his arms.

She wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes and burying her face against his chest. "Oliver."

"I'm all right," he murmured into her hair. His lips ghosted over the top of her head. "I promise, I'm all right."

"Glad to have you back," Roy told him. "What the hell happened?"

"I'll tell you later, okay?" Oliver replied. "I already sent Dig home to Lyla, Sara, and some sleep. We're meeting back here tonight after sundown. I'll go over everything then."

"I can get behind that," Roy agreed. Just one question - it wasn't the case, right?"

"No," Oliver told him. "Helena was something entirely separate."

Roy sighed in relief. "In that case, I'm out of here. Take Blondie home, would you? She's been here since you vanished."

"I'll take care of her."

Felicity listened to all of it, but she never lifted her head. Nerves and adrenaline had kept her running since Oliver's disappearance, and she could feel the crash beginning to swirl in the back of her mind. It wouldn't be long before she needed to pass out, but she wanted to stay right here until that moment. Oliver's fingers began to comb through her hair, releasing it from its ponytail. She hummed, contented and happy.

"Hey," Oliver touched his lips to her temple. "Let's go home."

She pulled back, reluctance in every line of her body. "We need to get our things," she informed him, gesturing towards the table.

His eyes followed her hand and a remorseful light entered his gaze. "I missed the fifth candle," he noted with regret.

"You were here," she disagreed. "Dig, Roy, and I made sure of it."

"There's my remarkable girl," he smiled, his arm moving to encircle her shoulders.

She leaned into him. "I haven't done our calendar yet. We could do that first and then go home?"

"I like it."

They moved together to stand in front of the table. Felicity pushed the calendar towards Oliver. "You open it today," she told him.

He nodded and reached out to open the right door. The small smile on his face began to grow. "Look at that," he murmured.

"What?" She went to get a closer look, but his fingers pulled out the candy and he held it out to her. Her smile blossomed and she could feel moisture filling her eyes. "It's a candle." Her chin tilted up until she could look him in the eye. "A candle to light the way home."

Oliver's free hand came up and he ran his thumb under her eyes, wiping away the few tears which escaped. "I'm home," he agreed, his gaze intent on her face.

Color infused her cheeks, but she ignored it and turned to face him. She put the candy down on the table behind her and then framed his face with her hands. "You're home," she agreed before pulling him down into a tender kiss.