DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, they belong to the CW and DC comics. this is just a fanmade story of a couple the author would really want to see ending up together. Just fantasies that I can't keep to myself anymore. no hard feelings.

A/N: Yes, so, I don't have much to tell you guys. This will continue to be influenced by season 2, and I hope you have fun reading this brainchild of mine.

Battle Scars by Paradise Fears
You're stuck on the ground,
Got lost, can't be found.
Just remember that you're still alive.

I'll carry you home.
No, you're not alone.
Keep marching on,
This is worth fighting for,
You know we've all got battle scars.
You've had enough,
But just don't give up.
Stick to your guns,
You are worth fighting for.
You know we've all got battle scars.
Keep marching on.

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX: THE COMPANY OF FAMILY

Oliver squeezed her hand before tapping twice on the car window for Dig to open it. The door opened and they were greeted by bright flashes and an enormous wave of yelled questions. Oliver looked at her and she quickly nodded. He stepped out of the vehicle and straightened his back and buttoned his jacket before extending his hand back into the car for her to take it. She was blinded by the bright lights and she could feel the rush in her ears at the constant buzz of voices. She had anticipated reporters to come to the company for Oliver's return and his taking place on the CEO-throne. But the moment she stepped out of the car, with Oliver's hand in hers, she suddenly was very aware of the fact that she was pregnant beyond concealable, and was driving to work with Oliver. She sighed when she imagined what the tabloids would say tomorrow morning. She pulled her coat a little tighter, fumbling with the belt, as Dig started guiding them through the crowd. Oliver gave her a reassuring smile as he shielded her from the camera's. she returned the smile with tight lips and tried to get inside as quickly as possible.

When they finally made it inside, she sighed heavily. Oliver questioningly raised an eyebrow at her and she just shook her head a little. She was fine. She would have to get used to it. This was going to be her life. And she should accept it. She just had this minor headache that was slightly annoying her. They stepped towards the elevator and stepped inside the car. She could feel the soothing warmth of Oliver's hand on the small of her back and she relaxed a little, leaning into him.

"Are you nervous?" She asked in a small voice. Oliver let out a shaky breath and nodded.

"Yes" His hand curved around her waist and pulled her closer. She reached up and straightened his tie. Afterwards, she placed her hands on either side of his chest and looked up at him, a soft smile on her lips.

"You can do this." One of her hands traveled upwards and cupped his cheek.

"You've handled with worse"

Oliver covered her hand with his and smiled at her. They heard Dig clear his throat from the other end of the elevator and Felicity chuckled.

"Sorry" she whispered and dropped her hand from Oliver's cheek. They both straightened their posture and Oliver softy squeezed her waist.

"So, what should I introduce you as?"

Felicity sighed and felt the headache flaring up again. She thought for a moment, but couldn't get up with anything slightly less shallow. She sighed again.

"I'll guess we'll have to roll with assistant." Another sigh from Felicity. Oliver tried to hide his smile. When they had discussed the subject this morning, she had not been happy at all that he had even dared to suggest it. She refused to be looked at as his coffee-girl.

The elevator doors slid open and they stepped out and walked towards the conference room. His hand on her back all the way. Immediately after they stepped inside, Isabel stood up. A serious expression on her face, and with the bright red dress she looked downright dangerous. She held out her hand.

"Isabel" Oliver took her hand and shook it "Rochev"

"Oliver Queen" He let go of Isabel's hand and gestured to Felicity

"This is my assistant, Felicity"

She could feel Isabel's gaze looking her over and taking in the both of them standing so close to each other. She swore she could see the other woman putting one and one together. Felicity was suddenly very intrigued by her royal blue peplum dress. It flared out just above where her stomach started ballooning out. She felt her cheeks redden. Luckily Oliver quickly pulled the attention away from her.

"Sorry we're late"

"For this meeting, or a career in business?"

Oliver swallowed and half-smiled. He stepped back and slid a chair back, settling Felicity in it.

"I didn't realize hostile takeovers were filled with so much hostility".

"Not at all, I'm actually in quite a good mood." She said as they settled down. Isabel across from Felicity, and Oliver at the head of the table.

"Really? So destroying companies agrees with you?"

"Winning agrees with me."

"You haven't won yet."

Isabel glared at him.

"Since you majored in dropping out of college, let me put this in terms that are easy for you to understand."

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but Felicity's slight shake of her head stopped him from making things worse.

"You control forty five percent of Queen Consolidated stock, I control forty five percent, leaving ten percent outstanding, but, in two days the board will release the final then percent."

"And I'll buy it before you do" Oliver cut her off.

"With what money? I doubt or trust fund is that large and no angel investor will go near the company that helped destroy half the city"

Oliver swallowed and looked away, meeting Felicity's gaze halfway. He looked at her for a moment until Isabel called his attention back.

"Companies rise and fall, Mr. Queen. Your company has fallen."

He gritted his teeth and gripped the table a little tighter. He immediately stood up when the hoods barged into the conference room. Felicity jumped in her seat and one of her hands automatically flew to her stomach, protecting her baby. Her terrified gaze met Oliver's, which looked equally distraught. He wanted to shield her so bad, but he simply couldn't.

"Oliver Queen, you have failed this city!" One of the hoods called.

Oliver froze and squared his jaw. He didn't know what to do to. He couldn't just jump in and disarm the guys. His cover would be blown in a split-second. But if anything happened to Felicity, he wouldn't forgive himself. Ever. When the hoods started firing at him so soon, he was caught off guard a little. He lunged for Felicity and pulled her under the table. Dig jumped in quickly and covered for them as He motioned for Isabel and her team to the nearest exit. He and Felicity got up and followed them as quickly as possible. Oliver on the side of the shooters, shielding her with his body. They ran. His hand firmly on her back as she clutched at his shirt. Oliver flinched mid-stride. He growled in pain but continued running and getting her out of there.

"You okay?" He cupped her face and looked at her. Felicity's eyes stood wary, her hair a little tousled and she was breathing heavily. She nodded quickly and grabbed Oliver's wrists.

"Yeah. I'm okay."

He sighed in relief and pulled her against him. She clutched at the back of his shirt as he softly stroked her hair. They stayed that way until Dig gave the all clear and Police-officers and medics swarmed the place.

"They got away" He informed them as he put his gun back. Oliver frowned and sighed, slowly letting go of Felicity. Her hands stayed on his sides. And his arm was still around her. She hadn't anticipated her fingers meeting the hot stickiness.

"Oliver?" she whispered as she pulled her hand back to look at it. Her fingertips were red and she gasped.

"You're bleeding!"

"It's fine, it's just a graze"

"No, it's not fine, you're gonna get this looked at."

"Felicity"

"No. I'm not arguing about this." She gestured a medic over and let him do his job. Oliver sighed and shook his head, a small smile around his lips. Felicity cupped his cheek and smiled back at him, happy that he was taken care of.

"Quite the determined little thing, you are."

"It took you that long to figure that out?"

Oliver snorted and smiled a little brighter. He spotted officer Lance and looked at the man for a moment. Felicity followed his gaze and bit her lip.

"I'm gonna go talk to him" She whispered.

"U sure?"

She nodded and squeezed his hand before stepping away, approaching Lance.

"Still can't get used to you in that uniform, Detective Lance."

Lance sighed and turned to face her. "It's officer now, and I'm just glad it still fit."

She smiled and started nervously rubbing her wrists. Lance looked her over. She could see the surprise in his eyes as he took in her ballooning stomach. She blushed a little.

"Did they hurt you?"

Felicity shook her head "No. Thanks. I'm Okay"

Lance nodded. "You heard anything from our mutual friend, lately?"

She pursed her lips and shook her head again. "Nope. In fact…." Her gaze shifted to Oliver, only to see him look up at her. She smiled a little and Oliver continued his conversation with Diggle. "…I keep waiting for him to show up."

Lance sighed and shook his head. "Well, let me know."

Felicity nodded and Lance put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and then walked out of Oliver's now empty office with the rest of the officers and medics. She was quiet for a long moment, biting her thumb-nail. Oliver looked at Diggle, who stood next to him and gestured his head towards her. Oliver walked over to her, very slowly. When she was just out of his reach, she spoke up.

"You could have stopped those guys." It was barely a whisper.

"Not without giving Isabel Rochev and the Hoods a pretty good idea of what I'm capable of."

Diggle walked over to them and leaned against Oliver's desk.

"I think what Felicity is wondering, if whether you avoided taking those hoods on? And Oliver, she's not the only one."

Oliver shook his head furiously. "I told you, I did not come back to Starling City, to be the Vigilante."

"And I respect that, but they came after you Oliver, you could've taken them out."

"No, I couldn't, Diggle." He spat back. "Look, there's a part of being the Hood, that neither one of you are considering."

It was silent for a moment.

"The body-count" He finished.

Felicity frowned and stepped closer to him.

"And excuse me, for saying this, but so what?!" She stepped even closer and glared at him. "Since when do you care?" She poked him in the chest on the 'you'.

Diggle sighed. "Since Tommy"

Felicity turned to look at him, her face full of disbelief and then she was hit by realization. She turned back to Oliver with an apologetic look on her face. Oliver took her hand and squeezed her hand.

"After he found out my secret, do you know what Tommy called me?"

Felicity swallowed and looked down.

"A murderer." Oliver's voice had lowered "My best friend died, thinking that I was a murderer. And anyone that I kill, dishonors his memory."

She looked up again and locked her gaze with his. Stepping just another little bit closer.

"So don't" she said, looking straight at him. "It's not like you've killed every guy you faced."

Oliver's jaw clenched and he had to suppress the urge to snap at her.

"I could've. Because when I put on the hood, it's kill or be killed. That is what kept me alive."

Felicity swallowed, but didn't tear her gaze off him. He sighed and let go of her hand and grabbed his jacket.

"I'm going to talk to someone who will help me save my family's company."

He was gone before she could gather what was happening.

"Oliver, wait!" she called, but he was already gone.

She cursed under her breath and stepped to one of the recliners and sat down, her face in her hands. Diggle sighed and sat down on the chair opposite of her.

"Why did I act like such a bitch?" she sighs and shakes her head a little

"Probably mood swings." Dig said and placed a hand on her knee

"Damn hormones." She cursed and looked up at Dig.

"I should apologize"

Dig sighed "I really don't think now is the right time."

"Yeah, well, when is it ever a good time?" She stood up and started gathering her things. Dig scoffed and raised an eyebrow as he looked at her and stood up as well. She turned and slumped her shoulders as she saw the look on his face.

"Sorry"

"That's okay, but do you even know where he went?"

"Of course I do." She said and waved with her phone, tracking system active on the screen. Dig chuckled and led her out of the office.

The buzz for the opening of doors sounded and Oliver stepped into the room that was too familiar to him. The grey walls and floor. The fluorescent lighting. He walked over to one of the tables and sat down on one of the two stools. He licked his lips and leaned his elbows onto the table, folding his hands. He thought about what Felicity had said, but it just angered him because he knew he could never be what she imagined for him. He wanted to be the hero she thought he could be, but he wasn't so sure himself. And he despised himself for getting into a fight with her over it. The bell rang again and his mother stepped through one of the opened gates. She looked less vibrant, but he had expected that. He smiled as she approached

"Hey"

"Hey" she whispered back and a bright smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it here sooner." He said as she sat down across from him

"Oh, no, no, no, please Oliver. There are going to be enough apologies with me apologizing to you for the rest of my life. Besides, Thea told me about Europe." She smiled a little.

Oliver smiled at the thought. "You shouldn't have too, you know. You saved hundreds of lives."

"And killed hundreds more."

He sighed and let his shoulder hang. "Including Tommy."

"That was Malcolm, you need to know that, Mom."

Moira sighed and straightened her back.

"Alright, enough of that, how has it been going at Queen Consolidated?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow, surprised she even knew about that. Moira chuckled.

"Yes, we do get the news in here" Oliver scoffed shortly and smiled at his mother.

"You know, If I had known the key to you taking your rightful place was its demise. I would've declared bankruptcy a year ago."

Oliver chuckled. "I don't know if I'll get to run it for long."

Moira frowned.

"Stellmoore. Their VP is coming after us. Hard."

"Isabel Rochev."

He nodded "Yes"

Moira gave him a stern look. "Do not trust that woman Oliver, she is dangerous."

A sigh escaped his lips. "Mom, everywhere I look there are no good options. I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to do it yourself." She reached a hand across the table and laid it atop Oliver's. "This is a family business."

"Mom, I love Thea, but I don't think she wants anything to do with it."

"I wasn't talking about Thea."

Oliver frowned in confusion. It took him a moment to figure it out. Walter. He would help him. He smiled a little at his mother and squeezed her hand. The buzzing of the doors sounded again and he noticed her gaze shift to something behind him.

"Oliver?"

He turned in his seat to see Felicity standing there. Her hands clasped together, nervously shifting her wait from one foot to the other.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." She said in a soft voice. Oliver sighed and stood up. She looked up at him with worry on her face and gasped a little as she suddenly felt his strong arms around her. She put her hands on his back and leaned into him.

"I'm sorry, I know it's been hard and I shouldn't have pushed you. It's just that I can't seem to be able to keep my emotions in check and look at me, now I'm almost crying. Damn hormones. I guess it's your own fault." She rambled on until He pulled her back and cupped her face.

"It's alright" He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

"And It's totally worth it." He smiled at her and she couldn't help but chuckle.

He stroked her cheek with his thumb before pulling his hands away from her face and taking her hand. He pulled her towards the stools. His mother smiling brightly at them.

"Hi Mrs. Queen. I'm sorry to interrupt like that." She said, cheeks flaming.

Moira laughed. "Oh, don't worry dear. It's lovely to finally see you again. And please, call me Moira"

Felicity smiled and squeezed Oliver's hand. She turned to look at him and it was evident that he was happy two of the most important people in his life were getting along. He noticed Felicity's hand curve around her belly and had to fight the urge not to put his atop hers.

Moira looked at the two. They were clearly in love, and ready to be a family. She wondered when her son had grown up so much. Seemed like it was yesterday he had been running through the fall leaves in the back of the garden. Taking them in his hands and throwing them at his dad. She smiled at the memory. She missed Robert, but it had been such a long time that it didn't hurt as much to think about him.

"So, how's my granddaughter doing?" She asked.

Felicity looked up, and smiled brightly.

"She's tough, I can tell, she sure survived a whole lot, and she's been kicking a lot too."

Moira laughed and smiled at Felicity. "Just like her father."

She looked at her son with a proud look on her face. Felicity extended a hand and placed it on Moira's. She was surprised but happy by the sudden touch. She turned her hand over and took Felicity's in hers and squeezed it. Felicity smiled at the older woman and then looked at Oliver. He had subconsciously moved closer to her and draped his arm around her shoulders.

"Just nine more weeks until we finally get to meet her." He said and smiled brightly at her.

"Can't wait" Felicity whispered and laughed. Moira chuckled and looked at Felicity's hand in hers.

"Is that? Is that my mother's ring? Oliver, sweetheart, have you proposed?" Moira's face was filled with shock and excitement and happiness all at the same time.

Oliver chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, and No. I used it as a promise ring. But I do have every intention to someday marry her."

Felicity's face was flushed bright red as Moira was examining her hand. When Oliver spoke the word 'marry' Moira's head jerked upwards to smile brightly at her son and then at Felicity, who, if it were physically possible, would have blushed even brighter.

"Oh, Oliver, I'm so proud of you."

The loud buzzing sounded again and Moira sighed and looked down. Their time was up. She squeezed Felicity's hand one more time before letting go. They stood up and walked around the table to say their goodbyes. Oliver hugged his mother tightly and promised to be back soon. Felicity's hands wrapped around her stomach and she smiled at the sight of mother and son. She gasped at the sudden and pretty hard kick against her hand. She half laughed. Moira looked at her and stepped closer.

"She's kicking again." Felicity explained and smiled. Moira returned her smile and took another step closer.

"Can I?" She asked, extending her hand. Felicity nodded and placed Moira's hand on her stomach where the baby had been kicking. A second after Moira's hand touched her stomach, her daughter was kicking again. Moira gasped and smiled. Felicity laughed shortly and looked at Oliver, who was smiling that beautiful smile she rarely saw. The one of pure and unguarded happiness. Moira's hand fell off her stomach and the woman embraced her in a tight hug. Her hand found Moira's back, and she smiled a little as Moira whispered something in her ear.

"You're good for him, dear."

"And he's good for me" She replied as they let go of each other. Oliver stepped closer to stand next to her and placed his hand on her back. Moira took a step back and smiled at them.

"I'm glad you found each other."

Oliver laughed shortly and nodded "Me too."

A chuckle escaped from both of the women's lips and Felicity rested her head against his shoulder. Moira smiled at them and then headed back into the prison. She glanced back one more time with a smile as the guards lead her through the gates after the buzz.

How was that? Terrible? I'm sorry, but I wanted to give you guys something. I promise the next chapter will be up next weekend. Let me know what you think and don't forget to feed the muse :) Love you guys!

Love, Carolina