A/N: Okay, so I know it's been way too long since I updated, and I'm really, really sorry about that. But I did include something in this chapter that some people have been asking about, so there's that.

I can't promise I'll start updating regularly again, but I'll do my best. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 4:

Felicity did end up getting her fix of Doctor Who and wine, and it calmed her down somewhat. Enough that she decided to call Katie. She told her friend all about what had happened, and what Oliver had said.

"In a way, he hasn't changed at all," Felicity sighed. "He's still hiding behind that stupid jerkface mask of his, just like he did back in high school."

There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Felicity took advantage of it to down her glass of wine.

"You know," Katie said hesitantly, "Oliver may have had his faults, but he was a good guy."

"When did you jump onto the I-love-Oliver bandwagon?" Felicity asked, a little waspishly. Wasn't Katie supposed to be on her side?

Katie sighed, and there was a sound of fabric rustling, like she was moving about. "He made me promise not to tell you…"

Well that came out of nowhere. Felicity frowned, not really having expected an answer to her question. "Tell me what? What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember Nathan? Nathan Statham?" Katie asked, sounding nervous. Which was weird, what would she be nervous about?

"Of course… he broke my heart. What does he have to do with anything?"

"Oliver asked me not to tell you, he said he only wanted you to have good memories. He wanted to protect you." Felicity could practically hear Katie biting her lip, and that couldn't be a good sign.

"Protect me? Katie what the hell are you talking about?"

"Nathan wasn't the guy you thought he was, Lissa. He was… The day before he transferred, I overheard him talking… He…" Katie trailed off.

This was getting weird. "What?" Felicity asked, a tad impatiently.

"He said he was going to have sex with you, whether you were conscious through it or not. He was talking about date rape drugs, Liss."

Felicity couldn't speak for a moment. "But… how… what happened?" Her hands were trembling, so she set her glass down before she dropped it.

"I sprinted back to find you, but I ran into Oliver first. I didn't know what to do, so I told him everything. He said not to tell anyone about it, and make sure that you stayed in. So, I faked feeling ill, I even cancelled my date with Cody, remember? When we heard that Nathan was in the infirmary the next day… I knew Oliver had gone to him, and probably threatened him to never talk to you again or something. He later asked me not to tell you anything about it."

"But… why would he do that?" Felicity was so confused.

"Because he loved you. He loved you more than anything else, and he would have done anything to protect you."

"Oliver didn't love me. He couldn't have," Felicity said, more to herself than her friend. "He broke my heart too."

"He thought you deserved better, and that he would only make your life miserable, so he acted like he didn't care, like a complete jerk." Katie shrugged. "I told you, he wanted to protect you… at all costs…"

Felicity wanted to say that she was confused, that it wasn't possible, but… Hadn't she just told Oliver that she still remembered him as the guy who tried to protect her from kidnappers? Did it really surprise her that he'd go to such lengths to protect her?

"Why tell me now?" Felicity asked, mostly to distract her from her own thoughts and doubts.

"He promised me not to tell, but now he's…" Katie trailed off, but Felicity knew exactly what she meant. Now that Oliver was essentially back from the dead…

It had been years since Felicity had spoken to Oliver – their conversation at the party aside – but somehow, he was still there, still affecting her. And still trying to protect her, even from himself. "Katie, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure, sweetie. Call me whenever you need," Katie replied, and hung up.

Sighing, Felicity slumped down further into her couch. This day had already been so exhausting, she wasn't sure if she'd be in any way productive tomorrow. Luckily, she only had to go into work at noon. At least she wouldn't have to deal with Oliver and that whole mess. She doubted he'd go to his family's company any time soon.

Oliver. Predictably, her thoughts returned to the billionaire playboy. As much as she knew him, she just couldn't figure him out. Then again, maybe she didn't know him anymore. Maybe he really had changed on that island.

Felicity sighed again. There was no use thinking about it today, she'd just have to push it from her mind and try to get a few hours of sleep. Glancing at her phone, she saw that it was 2 am. She went to bed.

Unfortunately, her dreams wouldn't leave her alone either.

/*/

She was on an island, and she was running. For some reason, she knew this was the island that Oliver had been on, even though it looked a little more like a tropical jungle than an island in the North China Sea probably should.

She jerked as she heard someone running behind her. Pushing herself to go faster, she tried to see who it was. But the person – or animal, or whatever it was – kept itself hidden behind bushes and trees. She felt panic clawing at her throat, but she couldn't give in now, she had to survive, had to get back. She couldn't remember where she had to get back to, but that wasn't important.

So, of course, like a complete cliché, she tripped over a tree root and fell face-first into the jungle floor. Except that it was a beach now. One of those beautiful, white-sand-and-clear-water kind of places. But despite the bright sun and the exotic location, she was freezing. She whirled around, but there was no sign of her pursuer.

Felicity looked around, desperate for anything that might help her. Again, she didn't know exactly what she needed help with, but that was irrelevant.

She brushed the sand off her hands and started off to her left. She hadn't gone more than a few paces, before she was suddenly standing on a cliff, even though she was sure she hadn't seen any cliffs earlier. In front of her lay a pile of stones, and a figure was kneeled in front of it. Whoever it was looked like they'd been through hell. Tattered clothes and long, matted hair couldn't hide the fact that it was a woman, though. Cautiously, Felicity walked around to see the woman's face.

Her own tear-streaked eyes stared back at her. "It's your fault. He pushed and pushed, and you just let him. And now he'd gone," dream-Felicity said, her voice broken and hoarse.

Felicity finally looked at the pile of stones and realized that it was a grave. A board of driftwood was placed where the body's head would be, and read–

She woke up with a gasp, her body drenched in cold sweat. She'd been dreaming. Something about a beach, and a jungle, and… had someone died? Felicity shook her head to clear it. The more she grasped for the remnants of her dream, the faster they faded.

Shivering, she sat up and glanced around her bedroom. The light filtering through her curtains was tinged grey. It wasn't even dawn yet. She glanced at the clock. 4:15 am. With a groan, she rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but it would be several hours before she would be able to.

/*/

It was a week before Felicity had the guts to show up at Queen Manor again. She'd promised Thea to go for lunch, and the younger Queen had sworn that Oliver had a court date and wouldn't be home.

Felicity should really have remembered rule number one of being friends with Thea Queen: Thea Queen lies.

When Raisa – the housekeeper – opened the door, Felicity smiled and shrugged off her coat, just like she'd done a hundred times before. Before Raisa could close the door behind her, though, Tommy slipped in.

"Smoak, didn't expect to see you here. Especially after you ran out on my party without saying goodbye," he said with a smirk.

Felicity rolled her eyes as she handed her coat to Raisa. "You look like you survived just fine. What are you doing here anyway?"

"Oliver's getting resurrected, no way I'm going to miss that," he said, and walked towards the sitting room. It was actually a living room, but Felicity always felt that it was way too fancy to be a living room, hence the mental name change.

She'd followed Tommy all the way there until her brain finally caught up with her and she realized just what he'd said. Oliver was still here? Oh, that sneaky, little–

"Four times, by my estimate," she heard Tommy say, as she trailed after him. He went on to list every time Oliver'd had to go to court, but Felicity was barely listening. Thea had noticed her and sent her a smile that was just this side of gloating, while Moira barely acknowledged her. Walter inclined his head, and Oliver had yet to spot her, thanks to Tommy's taller stature.

She tuned back into the conversation just as Oliver asked if Thea would join them in court.

Thea smirked. "Can't, Felicity and I are going out for brunch," she said cheerily, keeping her eyes on her brother.

"Felicity? I… I didn't realize you knew each other," Oliver said, and Felicity could decide whether the slight hitch was adorable or worrying.

"Of course we know each other, we're, like, total BFFs. Besides, you introduced us, remember? Isn't that right, Felicity?" Thea asked innocently, finally turning to her.

Felicity could feel herself blushing. "Uhm. Yeah, when you guys visited us in Gotham. Us being Katie and me, or should that be 'Katie and I'? I've never been very good at grammar, and I'm babbling, I'm sorry."

Both Thea and Tommy looked amused, while Oliver just looked shocked to see her there. Walter and Moira didn't offer any kind of reaction, probably having grown used to her babbling in the years since she'd started hanging out with Tommy and Thea in the Queen Manor.

Luckily, though, no one had to respond to Felicity's grammar ramble, as a man she didn't know walked into the room. "Mrs. Queen, the car is ready," he said.

He wasn't Moira's usual driver, so Felicity was a little confused as to who he was. And of course, Oliver noticed her confusion. "Where are my manners? Felicity, this is John Diggle, my bodyguard. Diggle, this is Felicity Smoak, and old friend of mine," he said, all charm, and no babbling in sight. Or hearing, really.

Felicity offered a small wave, to which the man – Mr. Diggle – smiled.

"Now that introductions are over, perhaps we can leave? I don't think it's proper to be late to one's own legal resurrection," Moira said. Not waiting for a response, she walked out the door, closely followed by Walter, who nodded politely.

Tommy shot Oliver a look, and slung an arm around his shoulders. "Come on, man, time to get you back from the dead."

Felicity and Oliver made eye contact one last time, before the latter was ushered out of the room, leaving Felicity with a still-smirking Thea.

"Yeah, there's no tension there at all," Thea said, walking over.

Glaring half-heartedly, Felicity crossed her arms. "No need to lay on the sarcasm quite so thickly, Thea."

The younger woman laughed and put an arm around the blonde's shoulders. "Actually, I kind of really did."

Felicity resisted the urge to drop her head into her hands and just ignore the brunette, but managed to keep her head up. As Thea led her upstairs, arm still firmly in place, though, she really wished she'd have stayed home that day. "So, do you have the hots for my brother?"

A/N: I love writing Thea, she's so funny! I hope I'm doing her character justice.

Anyway, please tell me what you think, especially about the revelation at the beginning of the chapter!

Review replies:

Jenna: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Not a whole lot of interaction in this chapter, but I hope you liked the bit that was there.

Stacey: He's an ass, but he'll get better, I promise!

Summer89: Here it is! I hope you liked it!

Guest: you're so sweet! I will, thanks!