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: Okay, I did my best, I don't know if I'm happy with the beginning, or if it is anything more than crappy at all. Anyways, here you go, I love you guys, enjoy!

Bird Song by Florence And The Machine
Well I didn't tell anyone, but a bird flew by.
Saw what I'd done. He set up a nest outside,
and he sang about what I'd become.
He sang so loud, sang so clear.
I was afraid all the neighbours would hear,
So I invited him in, just to reason with him.
I promised I wouldn't do it again.

(You'll get that at the end)

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN: BACK IN THE GAME

The call came around eleven pm. Oliver and Felicity had just settled into bed, she reading a book on her tablet, he reading the morning newspaper. They were out of bed in seconds, dressed in the clothing they had worn that day 3 minutes later and down and ready to leave in another two. Dig was working the nightshift at the Queen Mansion and drove them down to the club in record time. Oliver was nervously tapping his fingers on his knee until Felicity grabbed hold of them and squeezed them softly. She gave him a small reassuring smile, which he returned with the tiniest of lip twitches and a worried look.

They should have expected it. After their break-in at Queen Consolidated, the hoods would go to the club, that Oliver still owned. But they thought they would find him there, not just his sister. Felicity was positive Oliver was blaming himself, for not knowing it earlier. Dig comes to a halt in Verdant's parking lot. Oliver jumps out but does have the patience to help Felicity out. They walk inside with a quick pace, His hand on the small of her back. They hurried towards Officer Lance, who was questioning Roy. He was saying on of the attackers was missing a hand before Oliver interrupted.

"Who's behind this?" He asked with a low and growly voice.

"The Hoods, Again. They came here looking for you, they took Thea instead." Lance explained.

Oliver clenched his jaw and his fingers dug into the flesh of her waist. Lance's gaze shifter from Oliver to her and they exchanged short nods as a way of greetings.

"Where? " Oliver almost whispered, not trusting his own voice.

"I'm sorry! I really tried to stop them, But I…" Roy began apologizing, but Oliver wouldn't hear it. His hand left her back as he walked around them , and into the one direction no one would go. Hell, she didn't even expect him to go there. But she knew where he was going.

"Queen! Oliver!" Lance called after him.

Oliver turned back and looked at the older man.

"We'll get your sister back." Lance reassured him. Oliver nodded and met her gaze before he spoke

"I was just gonna check something downstairs."

He stalked off and Lance turned back and looked at her. She was biting her lower lip. She softly said something about going to check on Oliver and excused herself as she hurried after him, Dig in her wake. Her heels clicked against the stairs as she almost ran down, now right behind Oliver.

"Me and dig made a few improvements down here." She hurried around a concrete pillar and found the light-switch.

"Just in case, you know, you decided to get back at it." She flipped the switch and the room illuminated itself. The glass cases lining both sides of the room filled with his suit, and all kinds of weapons, a 3D printer, a scanner and several devices to find out what drugs, like Vertigo, are containing. And don't forget her beloved computers.

Oliver's eyes went wide and for a moment, he couldn't do anything but stare. Finally, he turned around and gave a approving smile. She smiled back at him and looked proudly at Dig. Dig nodded and smiled at her.

"We need to find these guys" Oliver spoke and started walking to the computers. Felicity followed him with short steps.

"I've been trying, ever since we got back." Oliver frowned and then lifted his eyebrows, but he let it slide and just sighed.

"Figured you'd come around eventually." She said with a devilish grin as she stepped beside him. he looked down on her and rolled his eyes. She knew him so well. Her fingers wrapped around his and he squeezed them softly before looking up. She followed his gaze and smiled even more wickedly.

"I kept that." She said, pointing to the salmon ladder. "I liked watching you do that" The last part was whispered so Dig wouldn't hear. She grinned as she saw Oliver swallow and clench his jaw.

"Thea's boyfriend said one of them was missing part of his hand." He said as Felicity settled into the chair, starting up her search engines on the computers.

"Maybe a Veteran? Check hospital records for any males that had surgical amputations on their extremities."

"Cross checking by race and age. Got one, Jeff Deveaux, African American, late thrities"

"What else can you get on him?"

Felicity started typing and a news article popped up. "Ex-marine."

"Well, That explains how he could handle himself." Dig said "Did he loose his hand overseas?"

"No." Felicity said, voice a little softer. "In the earthquake. Says here he and his wife were trying to make it across the 52nd street bridge, when it collapsed. She didn't make it. "

Oliver sighed "Phone records. Please, I wanna know who he's in contact with."

He walked off, examining his new arrows, really astonished by what a good job they had done, refurbishing this place.

"He's made a lot of calls to a church in the Glades. Something called 'Standing Strong'. It's a support group for people who lost loved ones in the quake. "

"Great place to meet three other guys as angry as you, looking for a little payback." Dig said.

Oliver nodded slowly. "Give me an address, please." He said in a soft voice.

Felicity pressed her lips together and looked up at Dig. He nodded and she braced herself on the armrests of the desk-chair to get up. She walked over to a large, black, hard-plastic, case.

"You're gonna need this"

Oliver walked over to where she was now standing. Her fingers clasped around the locks and opened them. She took the cover and flipped it over, exposing the brand new bow.

"I had it custom made." She said, turning around to look at him.

It was a green so dark it was nearly black. A compound bow. Much more powerful than the recurve he had used before. He took a step closer and took it out of the case. He examined it, the comfortable weight on his arm. Something inside him snapped. This was what he had needed, and she knew it.

"How did I do?" She stood right beside him with a small smile on her lips.

His empty hand snaked around her waist and rested on the small of her back. The corners of his lips twitched up in a tiny smile.

"It's perfect." He whispered and leaned in to kiss her on her forehead. She sighed softly and lifted her hand to rest it on his chest, fiddling with his lapels.

"You were right, once I signed on I stopped thinking about all the bodies you dropped. Because I knew that being the hood meant occasionally being a killer. But maybe there's another way."

He sighed soflty and reached up to stroke her cheek with his thumb.

"Maybe, but they have Thea." He looks at her for another moment before stepping away to get changed. When he was out of the room, Felicity sighed and fell into her desk-chair. She started looking for the address of the church and had it within seconds. She leaned back and sighed again. Every man Oliver would kill, would put extra weight on the guilt he was already feeling. She didn't want that, she never had. But, if that meant giving up the hood, she didn't know what to do. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Digg. He smiled at her and she relaxed slightly.

"He'll come around. He's seen the state the city is in. He won't let it go to waste."

"I hope you're right." She whispered back and Digg squeezed her shoulder again before letting go.

Oliver walked back in a little while later, fully hooded up. She gave him the address, and handed him his new bow. He smiled at her and a gloved hand reached up and cupped her cheek. She put her own hand over it and leaned into the touch, closing her eyes for a moment. Oliver steps closer and leans his forehead against hers. She can feel his breath on her skins and she tilts her head and presses her lips to his. It's soft and very comforting. He telling her to not worry, and she apologizing and telling him she trusts him. She always does. He lingers for a moment when their lips part. She sighs when the gloved fingers fall away from her face and she is left standing there alone as Oliver walks up the stairs.

There had been no time to set up a comm link so when Oliver finally returned to the foundry, she sighed in relief. Thea was okay, and would be here any minute and he immediately goes to change. When he gets back, Felicity's there, with make-up wipes at the ready. She grins at him and pushes him into her chair, stepping between his legs and reaching for his face, wiping away the green face-paint carefully. Oliver sighs and sits up so she can reach him better. His right hand finds its way to her leg and he starts stroking her soft skin with his thumb.

He sighs again. "I tried another way." He whispers.

Felicity's eyes widen for a second and then meet his. "You did the right thing" She says with a soft smile. She cupped his cheek and got rid of the last smear of face-paint. Stepping back, she took his hand and hauled him up. His arm fell around her shoulders and they started walking up the stairs. Upstairs, they waited for Thea to return. Oliver and Felicity snuck in without getting noticed. Digg walked over to them, standing next to Oliver, without needing to say anything. Felicity stood very close to Oliver, his hand never leaving her waist. They were very silent, both lost in thought and looking at the ground.

"Ollie!"

Both their heads snap up and Oliver barely has any time to process what is happening as a shaking and crying Thea crashes into her brother. She's muttering something but Felicity can't understand what she's saying. She bets Oliver can. He wraps his arms around his little sister and kisses her hair. He whispers something along the line of 'you're okay. I'm here.' As he rubs soothing circles on her back. Felicity stares at Thea's shaking form. As if he has read her mind, Digg steps away and a moment later, returns with a woolen blanket. Oliver releases Thea and nods thankful to him, taking the blanket and wrapping it around her.

Thea looks at Dig and whispers a thank you. She sniffles and tears start to well up in her eyes again as she turns to Felicity. She had grown quite attached to Oliver's sister and pulled her in for a hug.

"I thought I was gonna die." She cries.

"Ssshhh, you're here now." Felicity soothes.

She feels Oliver's hand on her shoulder and he pulls the two women towards him. Softly stroking Thea's hair. They stood like that for a moment until Roy came looking for Thea.

Thea freed herself from the embrace and turned around. When she spotted Roy she nearly ran to him. Roy pulled her to him and kissed her, hard. Felicity felt Oliver tense immediately and rolled her eyes. She turned a little and put a hand on his chest.

"Let them be, Oliver."

He sighs and the corners of his mouth twitch upwards. His hand on her back pulls her closer and leans in to kiss her softly. She rested her head against his shoulder after they parted. He placed his hand over her stomach. She smiled and placed her hand over his, moving it a little up. It took a little while, but their little baby girl granted them with two strong little kicks. Oliver was smiling widely and leaned down to kiss her again, this time a little more fervently.

They had returned to the mansion around 1:30 in the morning. Felicity was tucking Thea into bed. They had cleaned her up a little bit, getting rid of smudged mascara and the such, and put her in a nice warm fuzzy pajama. Felicity sat on the edge of the bed and and eased the duvet over the younger girl. Felicity put a hand on Thea's upper arm and stroked it softly with her thumb.

"I could have died, tonight." Thea whispers, biting her thumbnail.

Felicity sighs softly and shakes her head a little "But you didn't, and you're safe now."

"I know, but…" Thea trailed off. "They talked about my mom like she was some crazy axe murderer. She's not like that. She was scared of Malcolm. He pressured her or he would hurt our family. Why can't they see that?"

"I know, Thea. I know." Felicity wasn't planning on going into depths of this subject. She didn't want to hurt Thea, and it was way too late for such seriousness, and she was kind of scared Thea would misinterpret her.

"Hey" Felicity reached out for Thea's shoulder and squeezed it softly. "Everything is going to be okay, I promise."

Thea smiles a little and watches as Felicity gets up and starts walking towards the door. She thinks for a second about what she's going to do, but decides she should just get it over with now.

"Does my brother know you help him?" Felicity freezes. "The Hood, I mean."

How could Thea possibly know about that? She'd been so careful around her. Felicity slowly turned with a frown on her face and looked at the girl.

"I overheard Detective Lance when I was at the precinct to pick up some files for CNRI."

Felicity took a hesitant step closer.

"When was this?"

Thea thought for a second. "Maybe, right before the Undertaking, I think."

Felicity started rocking back and forth on her feet. How was she going to explain this.

Ghehe. Perfect moment to stop. A little cliffy. How is Felicity going to save herself from this? I wonder….No really, I have no idea yet…uh-oh! Next chapter is up in a week! Love you guys!

Love, Carolina