A/N: Hey guys! I know it's been a while, but it was really hard to write this. I think I'll get into the swing of it soon though, but the tone of this story is completely different, and it's taking me a while to get used to it. Anyway, most of this is Felicity POV, but no interaction with Oliver yet, that comes in the next chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 2:

Felicity POV

Unlike last time she had received life-changing news, this time, the phone call came first. Felicity was at work, writing new code for a computer security program she was writing for Queen Consolidated, when her phone rang. She picked it up without checking the display. "Just a sec," she said, stuffing the phone between her shoulder and her ear as she finished a line of code. "Okay, hi."

"Felicity…" it was Tommy, and he didn't sound good.

"Tommy, what's wrong?" she asked, turning away from her computer. This conversation would probably require her undivided attention. "Is it Laurel? Is she okay? Oh god, it's not Thea, is it?" she asked, dangerously close to babbling.

"No, no, they're fine, it's… Felicity… Oliver's alive."

Nothing happened.

Felicity didn't drop her phone, the sky didn't fall, nor did hell freeze over. The world kept on spinning, as it always had, whereas her world had turned itself upside down.

What was she supposed to say to that? She knew Tommy wouldn't joke about that, much as he thought he could joke about everything else. Felicity wasn't even sure what to think. Oliver was alive?

"How?" she breathed. She couldn't move, could hardly think, so of course her brain thought that how was the important question here.

Tommy sighed. "He got shipwrecked on an island in the North China Sea. It's going to be all over the news any minute now. Moira's gone to pick him up from the hospital, and I invited myself over for dinner." He hesitated. "You could come, you know. Thea would love to have you there."

Felicity took off her glasses and massaged her forehead in hopes to counteracting the headache that was already pounding in her skull. "Moira barely tolerates me on most days, I doubt she'd be happy to see me on her first family dinner with her son. Besides… it's been 9 years Tommy. I barely knew who he was before he spent 5 years alone on an island…"

She could picture Tommy running a hand through his hair in the few seconds it took him to answer. "I know. I'll let you know how it went, okay?"

"Okay. Tell Thea I said hi, and that she can call me if she needs me."

And with that, the conversation was over.

It still hadn't really sunk in that Oliver was alive somehow. Closing her eyes, Felicity leaned back in her chair. She remembered when she'd gone to Oliver's grave to say goodbye. It had felt strange and empty to her then, and she idly wondered if somehow she'd known. Which was ridiculous, of course, but a girl was entitled to some delusions… right?

Ugh, she couldn't deal with this, she needed coffee. Felicity saved her work and headed over to the employee lounge. The TV was on, and a few coworkers were crowded around it, but she tuned it out. Turning on the coffee machine, she leaned against the counter and glanced over at the TV. And promptly froze. Oliver's smiling face covered the screen, while the news anchor recounted his whole history.

It seemed that she wouldn't be able to avoid Oliver after all.

/*/

Oliver's POV

Being back was… harder than he'd imagined. He couldn't seem to connect with his family, and everything he said seemed to either make them uncomfortable or angry. Thea, who had been just a kid a second ago, was now 17, and apparently not a stranger to drugs or alcohol, his mother had remarried a man Oliver could barely remember as his dad's CFO… At least Tommy was still the same. A little calmer than he remembered, but 5 years would do that to a person.

Oliver had given Thea the Hozen in the hopes that she would see that he was there for her, and that she could trust him. And then Tommy had taken him out to see the city. "Could we drive down to the glades?" he asked his friend unexpectedly.

Tommy raised an eyebrow at him, but nodded all the same. That was one of the perks of having been presumed dead; people tended to want to give you whatever you asked for, and didn't really ask questions.

"This city has gone to crap," Tommy said quietly as he parked the car. They were across the street from the old Queen factory, which had been exactly what Oliver had wanted to see. Oliver had known how badly the city was doing, of course, but it was still hard to watch the city he loved suffer. "Your dad sold his factory just in time. Why'd you want to see this anyway?" Tommy asked, sounding only mildly curious.

"No reason," Oliver evaded.

Tommy shrugged. "So, what did you miss the most? Stakes at the palm, drinks at the Station?" He grinned lewdly. "Meaningless sex?"

Felicity. "My family," he replied instead. "You and Laurel."

Tommy raised an eyebrow. "Don't go getting all deep on me, saying that it's the people, not the material things you miss," he said, teasing.

Oliver managed a smile. "Oh, trust me, after a month on a deserted island, there's nothing you miss more than a Big Belly burger and a hot shower," he joked.

Tommy laughed. This was familiar ground, this was what Tommy expected him to do. Even after all these years, he was still doing what people expected of him. "So where to next? We have some time before the first bars open," Tommy asked.

"Laurel."

Tommy's smile fell. "Ollie, everyone is glad you're back. You really want to see the one person who isn't?" he asked quietly.

Oliver and Laurel had been on good terms before he'd left. Or, as good as they could be, considering he was dating her little sister, and she didn't approve. "I need to see her, Tommy." I need to apologize.

Tommy stared at him for a minute, before nodding. "Okay."

Oliver knew it wasn't going to be easy. He never expected it to be, especially considering the circumstances in which he left. Laurel blamed him for Sara's death, and she had every right to. After all, he'd been the one to convince Sara to sneak out after her dad had grounded her. And then she'd died.

It was Oliver's fault, and Laurel deserved an apology. He just hoped she would accept it.

/*/

Felicity's POV

Felicity sipped her coffee. She'd desperately needed it after the day she'd had. The news of Oliver Queen's return had been the talk of the entire country for the past 2 days, and there was simply no avoiding it. Worse, she worked at Queen Consolidated, and you could be sure that the latest gossip somehow always found its way to the IT department.

Sighing, Felicity shifted in her seat. He was late, and she didn't like sitting here alone. She knew it was silly, but she always felt like she looked like a loser, sitting at a booth all by herself. It hadn't even been her idea to come here, but it was his favorite place to eat.

She was about to signal a waitress for a refill when he finally slid into the seat opposite to her. "Hey there, Smoak, fancy meeting you here," Tommy said, that insufferable smirk of his already in place.

Felicity rolled her eyes, she loved Tommy like a brother, but he could be so childish sometimes. "Yeah, what a weird coincidence," she replied sarcastically, but a smile was already tugging at her lips. His childishness was part of his charm, after all.

"So, how's your day going?" he asked, grinning.

"You did not ask me to lunch to ask me how my day's been going," she said, giving him a wry look.

Tommy's smile fell a fraction, but years of dealing with paparazzi and other media had taught him to keep his composure well. "No, you're right. But I do want to know how you are. You're still my friend, Smoak, whether you want to be or not." And there was that familiar self-confident smirk again.

Felicity was about to answer when her phone rang. Glancing at the screen told her that Katie had apparently heard the news too. "Hey Katie," she said when she answered her phone.

"Hey Lissa. How are you?" she asked with forced cheer. They'd remained close friends after FCA, and grown even closer when Katie had broken up with Cody, and Felicity had gone through that whole ordeal with Cooper. Suffice to say that Felicity knew her friend well. Well enough to know when she was avoiding talking about something.

"Why does everyone want to know how I'm doing today? We both know you didn't call to ask that, Katie," she replied with a tired sigh. Tommy's smirk only grew as he heard Felicity's side of the conversation.

"Okay, you're right-"

"I'm always right." Felicity paused for a moment as Tommy ordered their food. He knew her well enough to know what she liked, so she didn't pay any attention.

"Shut up," Katie said, but Felicity could hear the smile in her voice. "I just saw the news, and I wanted to know…" She trailed off.

"You want to know how I'm dealing with… all this," Felicity said. "I'm okay. I haven't seen him. I'm fine, I promise. I haven't seen the guy in 9 years, okay, I've had a life since then." She winced at her poor choice of words. Oliver hadn't had much of a life since… "But I promise I'm not on the verge of a breakdown, nor am I going to dramatically proclaim my love for him."

"Promise?" Katie said with a wicked edge to her tone. She was enjoying this far too much.

"I promise, now go away, I'll call you later, okay?"

"Okay, bye, Liss!"

Felicity hung up the phone and shot Tommy a sheepish look. "Apparently, you're not the only one who thinks I can't deal with this situation," she said, managing to sound at least somewhat scolding.

Tommy laughed. "Whoever that was, I like them!"

Felicity rolled her eyes. "You know who it was, you met Katie at my birthday party, remember? You flirted with her."

Tommy threw her a look. "Then she's on a very long list of women I flirted with."

Reaching over, Felicity slapped his shoulder. It wasn't very hard, but it was the thought that counted. "You're gross."

Tommy was grinning again. "What can I say, women love me, I can't help it." He threw a wink at the waitress who had just arrived with their food, and the girl blushed deeply, making sure to smile at the billionaire.

Sighing, Felicity put her elbows on the table and leaned forward, waiting until the girl had left to speak again. "You didn't ask me to lunch to discuss your success with women," she said. Then she paused and made a face. "I hope. Because I am so not the girl for that. I'm not the wingwoman kind of person. If that even is what a wingwoman – wingperson? Is there a term for that? – Anyway, I don't even know what a wingwoman is supposed to do, I've never been one. Katie's said that she's mine, but I still don't–"

"Felicity," Tommy interrupted. "No offence, but you're not my wingwoman. Don't really need one anymore, remember?"

She took a breath. "Right. Sorry. Go on."

"I want to throw Ollie a welcome back from the dead bash," he said with a grin. "I told him to just give me the word, and a location, and I'd take care of it."

"He's just spent 5 years completely alone, Tommy, did it ever occur to you that all this may be a little overwhelming? And throwing in ample amounts of liquor and, you know, eager women, might not be the best idea." She was blushing, she knew, but she did her level best to ignore it.

Tommy's grin never faltered. "Exactly, he's been alone! I can only imagine how much he's starving for a tequila and some meaningless sex."

Felicity looked away for a moment. She was so not discussing Oliver's possible sex life. Talk about uncomfortable. "I don't know why you're even telling me this, Tommy, I haven't spoken to Oliver in years," she said.

"I want you to be there." And that was the most sincere thing he'd said since he'd slid into that booth.

"Tommy–"

"No, hear me out. I know you think he's forgotten all about you, but he hasn't. At least, he hadn't before the island. He asked me not to tell you, but he not-so subtly tried to find out stuff about you. How you were doing, if you were happy, what you were majoring in, that sort of stuff."

Felicity didn't know what to say. So, for 4 years after they'd had their fallout, he'd still wanted to know how she was doing? She really wanted to be angry that he never reached out, but hadn't she done the same thing? Through Tommy, and – to a lesser extent – Katie, she'd tried to figure out what was going on in his life.

Did it surprise her that he cared? A little. On the one hand, she knew Oliver felt everything deeply, more so than most people realized, and so he tried his best to hang on to every meaningful connection he made. But on the other, he'd seemed to revert back to 'Ollie Queen' as soon as she was out of his life; going back to partying and getting arrested.

"Please come. I can't make you talk to him, but it's going to be the party of the year, and just can't miss it," he said, his tone a lot less light than his words.

Felicity sighed. She supposed it couldn't hurt. It would give her an opportunity to break in that new dress she'd bought. "Fine. But no pushing me, I mean it, Merlyn," she said, waving a finger and mock-glaring at him.

He grinned at her and dug into his food. "It'll be fun, you'll see," he said around his full mouth.

"You're disgusting, Merlynn," she said, amused.

He just shot her another grin. Felicity sighed and took a bite out her burger. What was she getting herself into?

A/N: So? What did you guys think about this chapter? How does it compare to ASG?

Please leave a review!