Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.
AN: Thank you so very much for all the favors, reviews, kudos, etc. from last chapter. Things have been even more hectic as winter complicates my getting access to the internet even more. Sigh. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Previously:
Oliver shrugged. "I had to do so many terrible things, to survive, I decided, in order to live with myself, I needed to atone for it by becoming a vigilante."
Oliver saw, for the first time, true understanding dawn in Laurel's eyes. She looked down at her hands grasped in her lap as she thought of what was said. Looking up to see Oliver's eyes still on her, Laurel shrugged. "I guess I now understand what you all went through. Or beginning to understand, I suppose."
"So…shall I ask right now, will you be turning me in?"
Laurel looked at Oliver, then at the rest of the team, who were all silently waiting for her answer. Her eyes fell on Felicity, who she hardly knew, but she could already see what had drawn her father to her. And Oliver. Felicity looked at Laurel, silently pleading with her. "Laurel, as I once told your father last year, the vigilante is only trying to do good for this city. That's all Oliver had ever wanted to do. All he's ever meant to do."
Laurel returned her gaze to Oliver. "In a way, you have changed so much while you were gone. But, then again, you still are the boy with a good heart, and good intentions, who always took care of his little sister. Who stood up to bullies bothering younger kids. You always did fight for justice, didn't you?"
Oliver shrugged, a light blush coloring his cheeks. "Don't tell all my secrets, Laurel," he attempted to say with humor. "So?"
"Of course I wouldn't be turning you in. How could I? My own father supports you."
Lance grunted in embarrassment, and then asked, "So, you never did finish explaining why Slade is supposedly crying for revenge against you, Oliver."
"It's because Ivo led him to believe it was my choice Shado died. He's angry I didn't protect her. Because he was in love with her as well."
Lance looked puzzled. "That's why? All this because a madman killed the woman he loved?"
"Well, the mirakuru sometimes makes the recipient…insane." Oliver sighed. "I would like to think the man who I once considered a friend would truly not act this way if he hadn't been injected with the mirakuru."
Laurel turned to Oliver. "Another question. Does this mean you'll tell me what you've been truly up to since you've been back?"
Oliver considered Laurel, sitting there waiting for his answer. He wanted to know what was behind the question. Deciding it was probably best discussed in private, he said, "We'll talk more about it. Some other time, though. Like I said, there's a lot to discuss." Looking at his watch, he added, "I suppose we should end for the night. Some of us do work in the morning." He caught Felicity's gaze. "Oh, Felicity…we, uh, haven't had a chance to update you yet, but…"
"Oh, Diggle filled me on earlier. You and I, Bub, are out of work. Unemployed. Hitting the streets. Pounding the pavement." She placed a hand on her forehead. "I did it again. Babbling again. Sorry. Yes, Dig told me all about what happened with Isabitch." Watching Oliver's eyes cloud over, she quickly added, "Now, don't you worry, Oliver. I'll be fine, you and your family will be fine, and we'll get the company back and straightened out as soon as we can. After we take care of that SOB Slade."
Oliver walked over to her, placing a hand gently on her shoulder and leaving it there when she nodded her permission. "I'm truly sorry for you losing your job as well, and it happening so soon after…you know…"
"I know. Being unemployed complicates my recovery by adding yet another possible heartbreak to the mess, but…it probably has also brought up some issues I should address anyway that might interfere with my recovery if I didn't. So…it's a positive thing. I will look at it as a positive. A win, win. Go team!" Her cheeks turned pinker and she shook her head. "I must be tired. I think my filter is totally gone for the night."
Both Laurel and Lance stood up. Lance said, "I'll bring Laurel home. We'll get together within the next few days or so, and talk about more things." He caught Oliver's eye. "I'm sure not all of my questions have been answered."
His face somber, Oliver said, "I'm pretty sure you'll have at least a few more for me to answer." Nodding at Laurel, Oliver said, "We'll get together for lunch soon, okay?"
Laurel's lips trembled as she gave a little smile. "Okay. Just give me a call."
Sara said to the team, "I think I'm going to spend the night with Laurel, so I'm going to leave too." As they walked towards the stairs, Sara wrapped an arm around Laurel's shoulder.
Roy said, "I better get home…Thea's probably wondering what has happened to me." At Oliver's glare, he added in a softer tone, "Um, yeah, she's staying at my place tonight." He hurried up the stairs, following the Lances.
Dig looked at Felicity and Oliver. "You okay with taking Felicity home, Oliver? Or, I could."
"No, you get home. I'll wait with her while she turns off her computers."
Oliver was thanked by Felicity's smile, and answered the unspoken question in her eyes. "Yes, I remember you said it would take a little bit to turn them off tonight," he told her.
~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~
Felicity watched as the Lances left. Her head was threatening to bounce right off her neck with everything which had happened to Team Arrow in the past month. All because of one mirakuru'd idiot who Oliver unfortunately had met when away. Among other things, to have Oliver practically confess he actually had 'feelings' for her, then to have an evil supercriminal confirm it as well, in front of his ex-girlfriend yet, and her father, who was licensed to carry a gun, was just…beyond mind-blowing.
She turned to see Oliver watching her. "How you doing?" Oliver asked her.
Felicity shrugged. She didn't know quite what to say. "Confused. Overwhelmed. Tired. Frustrated. You name it." She looked him in the eye. "You sure we can trust Laurel to not turn us in?" Felicity felt a blush rise in her cheeks. "I'm sorry…I didn't mean to be so direct."
"That's fine, Felicity. Yes, I believe she'd be honest with us if she were going to turn us in. Besides, we told them a lot of things without being Mirandized, so I think we're safe there."
Felicity suspected as such, but still breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to her computers to check their progress. "Yeah, almost finishing some of these searches, and running some alerts."
"No problem." He leaned back in the chair.
Without her realizing it, Felicity's mind-mouth filter faltered once again. "If Laurel would take you back, would you go back to her? As a boyfriend, I mean?" She gasped, her face beet red this time, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Her eyes wide, she looked at Oliver, who was staring at her with his mouth open. "I'm sorry. That just came out. Not the right time, and me not the right person to ask you such a question." Felicity coughed. "I guess Slade got me all shook up, and then he said that about Laurel, and she was acting different tonight, like she wants you back, and…."
Oliver looked at her for a full minute as Felicity squirmed in her seat. "I again don't know if this is the right time to discuss such things with you, because of your…recovery, you know, but…I'm not in love with Laurel any more, Felicity. That's been over for some time now. It just took me a while to realize it." He paused, as if attempting to gather his courage. "You came into my life, Felicity, and you accepted me for who I am. All the parts of me, without question. You brightened my dark world with your amazing personality. You made me believe in myself in a way no one else ever could."
Felicity's eyes filled with tears, even though it was the last thing she wanted to happen in front of Oliver. She could hardly breathe for taking in all the wonderful things Oliver was telling her.
"I did get the impression that Laurel may have changed her mind over a future with me. But… it doesn't matter, Felicity. I will always love her, and she will always be special to me. However, I no longer am in love with her, and I don't want to make a life with her. I want that with you. Despite all the risks, despite all the threats, including any and all other possible 'Slades' of my world."
Reaching forward and taking her hand in his, Oliver told her, while looking into her eyes as if he could see into her soul, "If you will let me, Felicity, I will gladly help you get over what happened with Slade. If you let me in."
A beep from one of the computers interrupted them, and Felicity reluctantly turned away from Oliver to make sure it was all right. All the computer updates were finished, so she turned all the computers off. She then sat back in her chair and looked at Oliver.
"Sorry about that."
"So, do you understand what I've said, Felicity? No matter what has happened with Slade, no matter what would happen in the future with either of us, I choose you. I want you. Maybe not right away, for we have a few things to take care of. But whenever you are ready. Like I told you before, I will wait for you as long as it takes. Or if you want to let me in now, in whatever way you want, I'm in."
All Felicity could do in that moment was nod. And give the man of her dreams a little smile. She only wanted to sit a moment and soak it all in. Oliver again said he wanted her. Despite all her brokenness. She hated Slade for delaying the moment she wanted to have with Oliver, but she knew she would be healthy enough someday soon to be willing to be with Oliver sexually. Until then…
She wasn't sure whether Oliver could read all that in her eyes, and she wasn't sure if she was able to tell him either. She began to speak, but Oliver placed a finger on her lips. "I can tell…you feel the same. You don't have to say anything yet. Just know I'm here for you."
Felicity let her gratitude shine through her eyes as she nodded, whispering, "Thank you. Please let me think about all of this. To….to get used to this."
"Certainly," Oliver smiled at her and offered her his hand. "If the computers are done, why don't I take you to your apartment."
She accepted his hand and they walked out of the Lair together.
~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~
The rest of the week passed uneventfully, at least as far as Team Arrow could tell. Of course, this made Oliver very, very nervous. Felicity did go to the center every day, accompanied by either Sara or Diggle. Now, not only did Felicity continue to have the feelings from the trauma with Slade, she now had feelings stirred up by her firing and what the loss of her job meant to her. Felicity knew the loss of her job was in no way her fault, but suddenly, other unresolved issues from her life became apparent, which were bound to complicate her recovery. So she did have a lot to work out for the week.
Despite everything, Felicity did convince Oliver to "allow" her to come to the Lair Wednesday and Friday. Oliver reluctantly agreed to the compromise. Felicity wasn't too happy with it, but she decided to accept it. In the name of "choosing your battles", two days were a good start. And, as she reminded herself, learning how to accept good advice telling her to slow down and take it easy was also necessary for her recovery. She'd worry about the next week, and negotiating more days in the Lair, when it arrived, she told herself.
On Friday, she insisted on staying later than Oliver and Sara, saying her updates on her computer were not finished. Oliver wasn't happy, but agreed when Roy volunteered to stay and follow her home. He had promised Thea he would stop by and discuss some issues with her, and thought he'd let Felicity have some space without him for once.
Pulling Roy aside, Oliver said, "You make sure she gets home okay, and inside her apartment, before you leave. Understand?"
Roy smiled, resisting rolling his eyes. "Yes, sir, I understand completely."
"You're lucky you didn't salute me, kid," Oliver teased, knowing Roy well enough, he was surprised Roy had not included a salute in his reply.
"Yeah, I would've but I didn't feel like pushing my luck tonight," Roy said, smirking as well.
Roy watched as he and Sara left. He looked at Felicity, who said, "I'm sorry for making you stay. It wouldn't be too long."
"That's okay, Blondie. I don't mind. I'm going to stretch my legs." He got up and walked slowly towards the back of the Lair. We really should clean this part of the Lair up, even though we're using it as legitimate storage for Verdant, he thought as he looked around the organized mess.
As he turned to walk towards Felicity, he felt a prick on his neck. He immediately turned to see if anyone was there, and the world turned black.
AN: Oh-oh. Oh dear. Now what's going to happen? Muhwahwah! Thanks as always for reading, and hopefully, reviewing as well. Always, always appreciated. Just to let you know, now the real fun begins….muhwahwah…..and you thought Felicity was safe when Slade didn't grab her the last time….muhwahwah….