Reunited And It Feels So Good…

Felicity gnawed on the cap of her pen and stared at the coordinates of the Hōzen. Oliver was clanking above her, on the old salmon ladder, the first salmon ladder. She wrapped her sweater around her tighter, she'd forgotten how cold the old foundry could get. Oliver dropped down and reached for the towel he had put there earlier.

They'd gotten Markov. Now cleaning up the city the good old fashioned way was the last thing to do. They'd made the unilateral decision to bring the kids back, as Markov and his top players were behind bars with evidence piles stacked behind them. It was just the corrupt way Markov left the city. But they'd dealt with a corrupt city before and they could do it again.

"Where are they?" Oliver asked. Felicity jumped. He was right behind her, leaning over her shoulder and squinting at the computer.

"Oh um. They've been in city limits for a while now."

"Good." Oliver pulled a chair over to her table of computer monitors and rolled it over next to hers.

"Put a shirt on its drafty in here." Felicity tucked her fingers under her arms. Oliver let out a breath and grabbed at her hands. She murmured, "Furnace." He pulled her into his lap.

"Your personal furnace," he corrected. Felicity smiled tightly at the name she deemed appropriate ages ago. She rested her head on his shoulder and relished the warmth coming from him.

"Do you think they'll be mad?" Felicity murmured quietly. Oliver tensed.

"I hope not. But… I wouldn't hold it against them if they are," Oliver answered. Felicity sighed.

…

William squeezed Rose's hand. Rose squeezed back just as she turned her head to look up at him. William hesitated in meeting her eye. He wasn't sure about this. It'd been all of two days since the Hōzen beeped. He had somehow gotten talked into bringing movers into their apartment, he'll blame Tommy for that. But they'd packed up their sparse apartment and sent it in a moving truck from the east coast all the way back home to Star City.

And now?

Now they were standing across the street of Verdant. Or Vedat, as the sign said. Bags dropped off at a motel under the name Clayton.

"So… are we going in?" Tommy asked.

"Let me go in first," William replied. Rose's hand tightened on his.

"But it's the Glades," Rose said. That was the whole point. William knitted his brow and looked over his siblings. They all begged him silently. Will sighed.

"Fine. But stay behind me and don't talk or make any sudden movements."

William handed Rose's hand off to Tommy. Tommy looked giddy. Kit on the other hand looked just as skeptic as William. She brought up the rear with a firm nod to Will up front.

The building was in good shape, just trashed on the inside. Some people had obviously been squatting there, but they were now gone and had been for what seemed like a few weeks if the mold on the food on the ground was anything to go by.

"Where's the door to the basement?" William asked.

"Near the bathrooms. Off that hallway." Kit pointed in the direction she meant and William started off. He came to a door that had a keypad lock. He rolled his eyes.

"So easily hackable," he grumbled. "What's the code?"

"I don't know. No one ever said the code," Kit replied. William sighed.

"We'll do this the old fashion way then." He raised his fist and pounded on the door.

…

Felicity jumped a foot in the air. Oliver smoothly moved her off his lap and grabbed his bow and an arrow. "Wait! Wait!" Felicity shouted typing on her keyboard. She held up one hand. Oliver froze, arrow nocked and pointing at the door the story above.

"Felicity," Oliver snapped as the noise continued.

"It's the kids!" She jumped out of her chair. Oliver looked back at her with an eyebrow raised in question. "They're right above us. It has to be them. They just don't know the code."

…

"Stop banging," Kit shouted covering her ears. "Jeeze, Will."

"Well…" Will tried the doorknob. "No one's here. So-." Will turned around on his way out. He'd taken two steps when the door popped open an inch like someone had remotely unlocked it. Tommy leaned over Rose and pushed the door all the way open.

"Dad!" Rose jumped into Oliver's arms. William turned around and looked gob-smacked at his father. Oliver held Rose tightly and took a long whiff of her hair. Tommy spotted Felicity waiting at the bottom of the stairs and he shot off into the foundry, clambering down the stairs at high speed before crashing into his mother. She grunted at the impact and ran a hand through his hair.

"You're so tall," her words were garbled around Tommy's shoulder but they were still full of shock.

"Yeah," Tommy whispered holding her as tightly as possible, as if she would float away from him. Felicity rose onto her tippy toes and stretched her neck so she could free her face from the cramped position Tommy's shoulder put it in. Tommy simply held on tighter.

"Will, Kit, c'mere." Oliver shifted Rose into one of his arms and opened his other so his remaining children could join in on the hug. Kit looked to Will for a second. A second that said a lot of things. Then she ducked into Oliver embrace. He kissed the top of her head and took a whiff of her hair. Kit maneuvered around her father and sister and started down the stairs. "Will, I can't thank you enough," Oliver said voice shaking with feelings.

William nodded. He let Oliver wrap him up in a hug and patted his dad's back before backing away and following Kit. Oliver felt a part of his heart starting to rip. But then Rose ran her hands over his scruff.

"I forgot how it feels," she murmured. Oliver hummed and followed the kids to Felicity.

Tommy finally let go of his mom to stand beside her waiting to get a hug from his dad. Felicity looked up at Tommy and did a double take. When did he get this tall? she wondered.

Rose wiggled out of Oliver's grasp and rocketed at Felicity. Felicity kneeled and peppered kisses along Rose's cheeks and forehead. Tommy dug his face into Oliver's shoulder and took long breaths.

"I missed you," Oliver whispered. Tommy nodded.

"Same," he murmured with a choked laugh before letting go.

Kit rolled around in Felicity's computer chair. William stood in front of the computers, taking in the information that Felicity was the one sending signals to the Hōzen. Rose talked rapidly about the school they had been at the past few months. Oliver stopped Kit from crashing into the fern in the corner of the foundry with a quick twirl of the chair. He felt a shudder go through him at the lack of laughter from her as she twirled.

"Have you eaten?" he asked trying to kill the silence from his eldest three. The kids shook their heads slowly.

"What are we going to have?" Rose asked excitedly jumping out of Felicity's arms. She then closed her eyes and crossed her fingers. "Please don't say pasta." William rolled his eyes but Tommy and Kit huffed their laughter.

"Breakfast for dinner," Oliver announced.

"Seriously, Dad?" Will asked.

"We have eggs and bread. Egg sandwich." Oliver moved over to where he used to make arrows back in the day. He had a hotplate and a pan, along with a mini refrigerator.

"Why can't we go to the house?" Kit asked crossing her arms over her chest. Felicity opened her mouth to respond then bit her lip. "What?" Kit asked hesitantly. Oliver shared a long look with Felicity before she broke the contact to look at her shoes. Oliver turned to face the kids.

"You know how we had to go to the safehouse because Mom found footage of someone breaking in, and then we found bugs?" Oliver asked. All four of the kids nodded. "Not long after you left, the house was set on fire." Felicity took a step forward to wrap her arms around Rose. Rose immediately turned her face into Felicity and gripped her mother's shirt in a fist. Felicity closed her eyes for a second to steel herself.

"It's," Tommy couldn't finish the sentence.

"Everything?" Kit asked, her voice desperate. Oliver swallowed down his tears as he saw the pain cross his children's faces. The only home they knew.

"We wanted to wait to look for a new place to live with you here," Oliver said trying to be a bit hopeful. Tommy's shoulders hunched over and he stuffed his hands in his hoodie pocket. Kit twirled the chair around until her back was to them all.

"Where have you been staying?" William asked trying to fill the silence with something.

"We rented an apartment. There's only two bedrooms but we have a pullout couch," Oliver answered. William nodded seriously.

"I can stay at a hotel," he offered.

"No, Will," Felicity started reaching a hand out to him.

"It's okay," William quickly added. "I'm going to have to find my own apartment anyways. Were you able to salvage anything from the," he sighed, "the house?"

"We had taken a lot out before," Felicity answered. "We have stuff from all your rooms in boxes, but we didn't get everything."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked his voice gritty. Felicity's eyes quickly flicked over to him. Rose wiped her eyes and looked up at her mother with a curious look.

"What?" Felicity replied a frown of confusion appearing on her forehead.

"Why'd you pack up before it happened? What did you know this was going to happen?" He leveled all his anger and spite on the bow and arrow case.

"We didn't know," Felicity's voice lacked strength. Oliver stood up straighter.

"We were worried something would happen. Mom was keeping tabs on what they were doing with the house. They initially searched through everything, took out all the electronics, anything they thought might give a clue as to where we were, where you were." Tommy's face wrinkled with anger. "Over the course of a few nights, we packed up anything we valued or thought you might value from your rooms." He paused letting it sink in. Felicity's brushed her thumb over Rose's cheek. Rose tucked her face back against Felicity, but her tears were no longer there. "We went back to get more stuff from our room and found it…" he trailed off.

"So you knew?" Tommy asked voice caught between seething anger and choked betrayal.

"We were cautious," Oliver corrected. Tommy's chin trembled slightly. He turned to face the bow and arrow case, fiddling with the arrow darts. Oliver took a step toward him but William raised a hand and shook his head. Oliver frowned at his eldest, but William gave him a look that begged for trust. Oliver silently nodded his head and took a step back.

A sniffle broke out through the silence of the room. Will, Oliver, and Felicity's heads jerked to the chair Kit was in. Rose peeked her head out from Felicity's stomach. Tommy gripped a dart in his fist.

"Kit," Oliver breathed. He slowly made his way around the chair before kneeling in front of Kit. Her face was buried in her hands and her shoulders were silently shaking. He placed his hands on her knees. Her quiet tears abruptly turned to loud sobs. Her head dropped heavily on his shoulder and her hands fisted his shirt. "Sunshine," Oliver's voice broke.

"I hate him," Kit said between sobs. Oliver rubbed her back.

"He's in jail now," Oliver replied. Kit sighed. She slowly pulled away from her father to slump in her chair. Oliver tucked her hair behind her ear and smiled sadly at her. "I love you. I missed you." Kit's eyes flicked between his, trying to decipher the truth behind his words.

"Then why'd you send us away?" she whispered a confused frown appearing on her forehead. Oliver's hand fell to her hand.

"It was the only way to keep you safe," he answered loud enough for Tommy, Rose, and William to hear. "We put you in the safehouse because we knew our house was compromised. The week Markov came to the safehouse, I found evidence that confirmed our suspicion that you four were being watched." Oliver sighed. "We didn't want to send you across the country but it was the only way we could get you out of the crosshairs."

"We did it because we love you and want you safe," Felicity added. Tommy turned around with a firm frown set on his face.

"Why couldn't you have joined us?" he asked pain laced in his voice. Oliver and Felicity shared a moment's look.

"We needed each other to defeat Markov. I'm not the best Green Arrow without my Overwatch," Oliver answered. Kit and Tommy locked eyes. They stared at each other for a few moments before they both folded and nodded their heads at their parents.

A silence settled across the room before William broke it with, "Anyone else craving an egg sandwich?"

Both Felicity and Oliver felt a weight lift when Tommy and Kit scoffed out chuckles at their brother. William made his way over to the small makeshift kitchen Oliver had set up and opened the mini refrigerator. He pulled out the carton of eggs and fiddled with the hotplate. Just as William turned around to ask how it worked, Oliver stepped up beside him and turned it on.

Oliver felt a brimming need to express how thankful he was for his eldest. William pulled out a bowl and fork to crack the eggs as Oliver thought deeply about the right words. Felicity was murmuring quietly with Kit and Tommy was twirling Rose around at her demand.

"William," Oliver softly spoke. Will paused for a millisecond then cracked another egg.

"Yeah?" he asked. Oliver sprinkled salt and pepper into the egg bowl. He took a deep breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

"I want to thank you." William frowned at the eggs. "We asked an unfair thing of you." Oliver looked at his son and saw his confused face. "Drop your flourishing startup, move across the country, and take care of your little siblings."

"But I was in danger too, Dad," Will pointed out still confused.

"But you know how to defend yourself and-." He was cut off by William's cold laugh.

"Do you not remember how he beat the shit outta me?" His eyes squinted at his father. Oliver pressed his lips into a thin line. "I didn't really have a choice." Will sighed heavily and went back to whisking the eggs. Oliver's shoulders slumped.

"I just wanted you to know," he paused thinking through his words. "I'm thankful, Felicity is thankful. You stepped up and took a position we should have been filling. We'll forever be in your debt." William stopped beating the eggs and Oliver took that as his cue to poor them onto the hotplate, but Will still didn't move.

"Please don't say that, Dad," Will whispered. Oliver arched a brow and looked at his eldest. Will dropped his fork in the now empty bowl and met his father's eyes. "I don't want to be in your debt. All I did was take care of them when no one else could. You did that when my mom died."

"Will, I'm your Dad." Will jerked his head back and forth.

"No. You barely knew me. I had just found out you were my father. No one else could really take care of me." Oliver opened his mouth once more but Will beat him with, "I don't count my grandparents. And anyways, Felicity's taken care of me when you weren't around. If anything, this was my way to make up to you guys." Oliver shook his head. Will huffed in frustration. "Really, Dad. I'm serious, don't mention it." There was a moment of pause. "I don't think I did the best job in your absence though. I said some things the other day. I regret it but I don't know how to make it up to them. You would think after four months I'd know." He laughed bitterly. Oliver pulled Will into a tight hug.

"I love you, buddy." Will hummed in agreement.

Dinner was a mixture of emotions. The longer they talked about everything from the past few months, the less angry Kit appeared. As Felicity and Rose babbled about nonsense, Tommy relaxed and started to eat without hesitation. William watched in awe as Rose bounced straight back to that happy little kid she was four months ago. And he found himself laughing at the stories the kids told.

…

"Here we are," Felicity announced. Oliver unlocked their front door and their family stumbled in. "Dad and me are at the end of the hall. There's a queen and a twin in the other room and the couch is a pullout. I didn't know how you wanted to sleep. It's only for a few nights. We've got our pick of houses that we want to look at."

William took the pullout, Tommy the twin, and the girls took the queen. Felicity and Oliver put the kids to bed and slowly made their way into the living room. Felicity gave Will a really long hug and whispered her thanks. Instead of fighting it, he grumbled an okay.

Towards the end of their bedtime routine, there was a knock on their door. Rose poked her head through and softly pleaded to sleep in their bed. Neither one of them could resist and patted the bed. She quickly curled up in between them. It didn't take long for her soft snores to appear, one hand gripping Oliver's shirt while her other held Felicity's hand.

Oliver opened his eyes and looked down at his youngest, his baby. His gaze traced all her features taking each one in and noticing the new freckles that he'd never seen before. He wrapped one of his arms around his daughter and wife.

"I missed this," Felicity whispered. "So much."

Oliver agreed and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips.

"Me too."

…

It was probably around one in the morning when Oliver woke to a knock on the door. A few seconds later, Kit stepped into their room. "Hey, sunshine," Oliver murmured. "What's up?"

Kit watched him for a second. "I just… was just checking." She turned around to leave when Oliver softly called her name.

"Checking what?" he asked. Kit shrugged. Oliver found himself standing up from bed and walking over to his daughter. "We're here." He placed a hand on her shoulder. They stared into each other's eyes for just a moment before Kit launched into his arms.

"I missed you."

"Missed you to, sunshine. Want to sleep in here?" Kit sniffled. "You can sleep in the chair beside the bed." Oliver watched as a war waged behind Kit's eyes.

"Yeah," she finally breathed. Oliver pulled a blanket out of the closet and covered her with it as she sunk into the fluffy lounge chair. He kissed her head before settling himself back in bed.

"Kit?" Felicity asked eyes wide open. Oliver nodded. Felicity smiled happily.

…

The next time Felicity woke, it was dawn. She felt someone watching her and opened her eyes. The figure standing in the doorway took five years off her life from fright. Then she put her glasses on.

"Will," she greeted. "Sleep well? Why are you up so early?"

"No one was in the other room." Felicity frowned. "I checked on them like I do every morning when I get up to go to the bathroom. I checked and no one was there. So I came to check on you guys. I found them." He smiled and shrugged.

"What? Tommy?" Felicity sat up slightly and looked around until she found Tommy on the ground beside the bed fast asleep.

"Just like old times," Will chuckled. "I'll start on breakfast." He took a step into the hallway. Felicity reached over and pinched Oliver's arm. He jerked awake a little violently.

"What?" He looked around for threats but instead was greeted with his wife's cringing face.

"Sorry. Go help Will with breakfast." Oliver blinked for a few seconds but nodded and swung his legs off the bed. Just before he stood, he leaned over and kissed her. He dropped a kiss on Rose's head then one on Kit's before he stretched. He grabbed a hoodie out of the closet then stopped abruptly to laugh.

"Tommy." He shook his head. "Just like old times." Oliver left with a smile and Felicity burrowed back down with Rose.

She liked these just-like-old-times moments.