Notes:

I am truly sorry it has taken this long for me to update. This chapter has been very difficult for me to write and I am still not happy with it but it is what it is.

Thank you to everyone who supports me and this story and puts up with the long wait between chapters.

I really hope you enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 71

They say don't be violent In the face of my traitors I paid all my payments, I'm all out of patience So save all your statements you say from your basement

Oliver

"Sara? Pretty Bird?" He called out to her pretty much the moment he stepped over the threshold, needing to make sure she was alright, at least physically. That this bombshell revelation wasn't putting her and Mila's health's' at risk.

"Ollie." He had only just put his keys down and taken his jacket off when he heard his wife's distressed voice while she was rushing towards him.

They met in the middle of the hallway in a tight embrace. God, it was good to be home. Oliver felt her nails dig into his shoulder blades almost painfully, while she was desperately clutching on to him and trying to hold herself together at the same time. He squeezed her even tighter in response to her actions. Once again, part of his world appeared to be crumbling down around him and he wasn't sure how to handle yet another betrayal, another disappointment, another person whom he trusted that had taken advantage of said trust and betrayed him. It was still very difficult for him to wrap his head around all of this, around the fact that Felicity could've done this.

This betrayal almost hurt more than all the others before because he had loved her, had wanted to spend the rest of his life with her by his side and because of that had trusted her in a way he hadn't the others. The pain he felt at her actions was on another level and hurt a lot more than he was currently willing to acknowledge. And this helped, holding Sara in his arms helped, it gave him something to hold on to, to focus on besides the searing pain that came with Felicity's breach of faith and the millions of questions that came with it, it reminded him that even though part of his world might be falling apart and there might be some serious, painful changes necessary, this was real, she was real and at least this part of his life was thriving and better than he had ever thought it could be. Sara was here, and she always would be. His Pretty Bird wasn't going to leave him again. He could face whatever was going to happen now, watch the destruction of something that had taken him years to build and he had believed was solid, watch it all burn to the ground and be okay eventually, just as long as his Pretty Bird was by his side.

He eased up on his hold on her a little, when he felt a tiny foot kick his abs, only then realizing he was doing the same as she was to some degree, trying to hold himself together by holding on to her. His daughter's behavior made him grin for a moment and move his hand from Sara's back towards the front, so he could greet their little tyke too, the other one still softly stroking her hair. But he also put a little more distance between them, making sure they weren't squishing Mila between them, in their desperate need to be as close as they physically could be in order to ground each other. Their daughter's actions made Sara chuckle and lightened the mood considerably.

This led to Oliver deciding it was the right moment to bend down and capture his wife's lips in a searing kiss hello. God, he had missed her, had missed them, had missed this. Sara didn't hesitate and returned the kiss in kind, her hand pulling at his neck to bring him even closer to her height while she was standing on the tips of her toes, further deepening the kiss. He moved his hand from her stomach to her waist, over her lower back until it reached his goal and he caressed that perfect ass of hers, her other hand was buried in his hair. God, he needed her. Their tongues met in a sensual dance and he was only moments away from lifting her into his arms and moving their greeting into their bedroom, when they were rudely interrupted.

They broke apart, at the clearing of someone's throat, seriously? It was his fucking home, if they had an issue with him giving his wife a proper hello, after he'd been gone for almost a week they could just go fuck themselves and leave. Sara just smirked knowingly at him, patting his chest comfortingly, obviously being aware of his previous intentions. Not surprisingly, she knew him better than he knew himself and their thoughts were usually a line with each other.

His wife rubbed his arms comfortingly, mouthing a "later", while grinning naughtily at him, before turning around towards the Deadman walking who had interrupted them. The wicked smirk on her face and mischievous twinkle in her eyes reminded him of the way she had looked at him, that one time he had taken her to the carnival, right before she had very unexpectedly given him head, while they were on the Ferris Wheel. He'd dragged her into the Haunted House right after and they'd fucked in a hidden corner, while people walked past, too terrified to notice them. It had been a fun night.

He felt anticipation course through him at her words and the promise that came with the look on her face. Wondering what his imaginative and playful Bird had in mind and would come up with this time. He put his hand on her hip, moving forward so her back was pressed against his chest, in the process also concealing the effect her demeanor was having on him, kissing her crown softly before focusing on Roy, who was just looking at them smirking knowingly, while Speedy, who was looking at them the same way she did puppies, he wasn't sure how he felt about that one, was pulling at his arm, as if trying to get him to leave them alone while Sin was glaring at her male best friend.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt anything." Oliver raised one of his brows in a challenge at his friend's blatant lie, which was made even more obvious by the humorous look on his face. It almost seemed like he was asking to be shot again. It had been a while… now that he thought about it, he reflected amusedly, before Roy poured a figurative ice bucket over his head, with his next words.

"But I gotta take off, sorry. Damien and Malcolm somehow managed to kidnap Rip. I need to help the guys find him." Roy's face went from humor to serious in a matter of seconds and Oliver could easily understand why once he explained. Rip was very important to Roy. He had given him a purpose during a time he had felt lost. Icy dread was running through his veins at the mentioning of his sister's biological father. Hoping Malcolm would stay as far away from Star City as humanly possible. His hand on Sara's hip tightened inadvertently, the other one was once again stroking her stomach, needing to hold on to her while his mind was shoving the memory of her broken and bloodied body on the table in the Foundry to the forefront from the dark corner he had hidden it in.

He couldn't lose her again. Especially now, now that he had just found her again, that they had finally found their way back to each other for good. Now that it finally appeared to be the right time for them, that things were looking up regarding their relationship for once, something that had rarely happened in the past twelve years.

Oliver was almost certain that it could be decades from now and the mentioning of Malcolm would still lead to this very visceral reaction from him. Malcolm had been the one person who had actually succeeded in killing her, in taking her from him for good. The only person. She had survived the sinking of the Gambit, a year on the Freighter with psychotic Anthony Ivo and his very dangerous men, she had survived Lian Yu and a Mirakuru crazed Slade, she had survived the sinking of the Freighter and the months she had spent on Lian Yu alone with the former prisoners and men from the Freighter, facing unimaginable horrors even for his standards, until Nyssa had found and saved her while at the same time damning her when she had chosen to take her to Nanda Parbat with her instead of bringing her to a hospital on the way and finally granting Sara her freedom and a chance to go home to her beloved family. The only thing she had truly wanted from the moment the Gambit had gone down. Sara had survived Ra's and the League, and Slade again, only to be killed at the hands of a man she had known for most of her life. Yes, Malcolm knew Sara, almost as well as he knew him, and that was the reason he had achieved what no one else before him had managed. Malcolm had used his knowledge about Sara against her and utilized one of her biggest weaknesses against her in order to kill her. The unconditional love for his baby sister. The image of her lifeless body in the Foundry was haunting him to this day. He forcefully pushed the image back into the darkest corner of his mind where it belonged and pulled his focus back to the here and now, Malcolm wasn't his problem at the moment, he was Roy's not that this knowledge eased any of his worry, it just shifted from his immediate family to a part of his extended one.

"Of course. No need to apologize. I really appreciate the time you took away from the Legends to help us. It means a lot. Be careful with Malcolm and don't ever underestimate him. He will use any opening you give him to his advantage. If there is anything we can do, I'm just a phone call away." If there was anything he could do to help him save the Waverider's original captain, he would do it without a moment's hesitation. Rip's choice to recruit Roy had done wonders for his friend, and he really liked the person he had turned into. The leader he had known was within him. Rip had made sure Roy had something to believe in again, that he could be a part of something bigger again and that he could change people's lives for the better, which was all he had ever wanted to do. Oliver would forever be in Rip's dept for doing what he himself no longer could and give Roy a purpose once more.

"Don't sweat it, anytime. I won't. I know how dangerous he is, just what he's capable of. I know, and I appreciate it." Sara stepped forward and out of his arms and hugged Roy tightly, telling him to take care of himself while doing that, reminding him that their daughter was going to need her godfather in her life. The genuine and overjoyed smile that lit up their friend's face was precious, and Oliver was glad they had gotten the chance to ask him to be Mila's godfather. With Tommy no longer a part of their lives, there really hadn't been anyone else they would've asked. There had been no other choice. There really wasn't anyone who would've qualified as a candidate, they would trust with their daughter's life the way they did Roy.

And he knew people would probably question his choice, wondering why he hadn't picked Dig or Barry, but in his and Sara's minds, Roy was the obvious choice. He knew them both, they both knew him. His connection with Thea and Sin intertwined him in their lives in ways the other two weren't. And Roy had proven numerous times that he was willing to do whatever it takes to protect the Queen family and the Green Arrow's mission. Roy's loyalty and understanding of both Sara and him ensured that he would respect the way they were going to raise their baby girl and the choices they would make concerning her. Those were things he could no longer say for sure when it came to John. And Barry, Barry was a wonderful friend, someone whose company he enjoyed, but Barry was also reckless and still, after all those years, relied more on his powers than tactics and let his emotions guide him. The way he saw and approached the world was very different and this was an issue when it came to deciding to whom they entrusted their daughter to. And if he were honest, he really couldn't picture Barry taking care of a baby. And he just needed to know that Mila would be safe, as safe as she could be, and that would not be the case with Barry, who still assumed his speed made up for everything, even safety and security. No, Roy was the right choice, the only choice, really.

"Hey bro, I missed you. Sin and I are gonna go with Roy and come back to grab our stuff after..." Thea wrapped him in her arms as soon as Sara had stepped away, he returned the hug in kind, as always enjoying the feeling of holding his baby sister in his arms, he had missed her too.

"Alright, I missed you, too, Speedy. I'll see you later." He squeezed her tightly for a moment, before releasing her after her words. She stepped away from him while Roy patted his shoulder and moved towards the entrance door, Thea and Sin following him. He watched them leave for a moment, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach and sadness filled him at the thought of the three friends once again being forced to part ways. It wasn't fair, wasn't something he had agreed on. Yes, the Legends were good for Roy, but he should be with them because it was his first choice, not the only one he had. He should be able to come home if he wanted to. His heart ached for his sister, knowing how difficult it was for her to not have Roy around, perfectly understanding the pain she was in, having been in her position before. Oliver turned around and faced the reason for his insight into the former couple's situation. Sara and he had found a way. He was sure Speedy and Roy would, too. He just hope it wasn't going to take them as long as it had Sara and him. There was nothing he could do about that right now, and even if Roy wouldn't abandon his team in their time of need, anyway. Not before they brought Rip back home. Probably not before Damien and Malcolm were taken care of, either.

"How are you holding up?" The question left his lips as soon as he heard their front door close behind the three friends, his eyes seeking Sara's.

"I honestly don't know." He just nodded his head at her admission. It was easy for him to relate to that. He pulled her into his arms again, resting his chin on top of her head and running one of his hands through her hair. He felt similarly. It was still difficult for him to wrap his head around everything. Had he really been that deluded concerning Felicity? Had he been so very wrong about her? How could he have gotten so fooled? How had his instincts been so muddled? Where did he go wrong?

Oliver felt shaken in his abilities to read people and wasn't sure he could still trust and rely on his instincts. He needed to think about the past choices he's made. Think about the members of his team and go through everything that had transpired in the last three years. He needed to share as much as he could about them with Sara. He suddenly felt too close to everything to make a rational decision. Sara might have just enough distance to look at everything objectively. To see what he had missed and been misled.

But that was for later. Right now, all he wanted to do was to take a hot shower and maybe take a nap with Sara after. The bone deep exhaustion was sneaking back up on him again. Too much. Everything that had happened in the last year was just too much and it was catching up to him, especially given this latest betrayal. He was still playing catch up and every time he thought he had gained on Prometheus and Ruvé; he was thrown back several feet because of some unexpected event that completely blindsided him. Never would he have thought the latest would be because of his own team.

He took a step back, releasing Sara from his embrace. He was rubbing his eyes with his fingers while stifling a yawn.

"How about I wipe up some food while you get cleaned up and we'll lie down for a little after?" He took his hand from his eyes to look at her. He wasn't sure why it still surprised him just how well she knew and read him.

"Sounds perfect, thank you." He gave her a peck on the lips before moving towards their bedroom to grab a pair of sweats and on to the bathroom. He was going to shower, and then they would eat and lie down, maybe talk about everything some more after, this gave him some more time to try and come to grips with everything before he would have to go to the Bunker and fill the team in on everything he had learnt concerning Prometheus. Including his plan of bringing the fight to him. He was done playing sitting duck, waiting for Adrian's next move. Wondering if he was going to come after his family. He was done waiting.

Oliver wasn't sure he was ready to face Felicity. He wasn't sure if he was ready to face the implications that came with Felicity's actions. He wasn't sure he was ready to face this betrayal. Honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to know how she got recordings of Sara's voice and what else she might have gotten, even less the reasons behind it. Why would she do something like that? Why would she put them all in danger? It was such a colossal risk she took. Anyone could get those recordings and use them against them, from the cops to their enemies. Was this why Prometheus always seemed to be a couple of steps ahead of them? How he knew what they were going to do? Had he somehow managed to get his hands on Felicity's secret recordings? Or was all of this just chance? Had she only recorded Sara in particular or the entire team?

But that was going to be later, after he had settled back in at home. He stepped into the shower and let the warm water wash over him and help him relax and ease his mind for the moment. He let those thoughts be pushed back in his mind to focus on the here and now. On the hot water easing the tension in his body and letting the knowledge that he was back home settle in. Looking forward to spending the next couple of hours with Sara. Before he was forced to face the reality of the outside world and his team.

Felicity

John and she were in the elevator down when they heard a crashing sound and shared a concerned look. She was hoping this didn't mean that once again one of their enemies had just walked right into the Arrowcave, like they, for some reason, tended to do. Merlyn always just walked in as if he owned the place, and there wasn't a security system in place that rivaled those in a high security prison or ARGUS, as did Nyssa. She hoped it wasn't either of those two, but if she'd have to choose, she'd rather have it be the former assassin than the man Oliver misguidedly always seemed to end up working with instead of getting rid of once and for all. John placed her behind him before stepping out of the elevator once they reached the Bunker, confirming that he had probably thoughts along the same line as she. What they saw stopped them in their tracks as soon as they stepped out. It had not at all been what she and, obviously, Dig had expected.

Oliver was shoving her expensive, state-of-the-art computers harshly off of her desk, in the process shattering them once they hit the ground sparks flying but she wasn't sure Oliver even noticed he never even paused in his stride and flipped her desk over, causing even more destruction to her workplace, equipment and the extensive work she and Cisco had put into it. Felicity felt anger rise at the callousness and disregard he showed towards her workspace and with that, the hard work she had done and large amounts of time she had sacrificed for him for years. Even after everything that happened and he had done that she hadn't agreed with. She couldn't believe the disrespect and ungratefulness he was showing her right now.

She let her eyes roam over the rest of the Bunker, noticing the damage Oliver had done while pretty much tearing the place even further apart. Realizing that her space had not been the only one he had completely destroyed. She hadn't even known that he was back already, from wherever he had gone to. He hadn't been too forthcoming with the information. As usual. But she knew Sara hadn't gone with him. Where ever he had gone to, had obviously let to him losing his mind. What had gotten into him? Why would he utterly destroy the basis of their operation? He wasn't going to be able to continue his mission without any of the equipment he had just destroyed.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" Felicity flinched at the unexpected and angry voice which ripped her from her thoughts and led to her realizing that Oliver was walking towards her now. The Green Arrow stepped off the platform and moved closer towards them. He had a grim look on his face, and his eyes reminded her of cold steel. She automatically took a step back at his menacing demeanor.

"Oliver, man, calm down. What has gotten into you?" But he just ignored Dig, who had taken a step towards Oliver and was slightly in front of her as if to shield her from the other man's anger, never faltering in his stride towards Felicity.

"Doing what? Oliver, I don't understand…" she wasn't sure what exactly he was talking about. What he was getting at, but that might also be because her brain wasn't fully functioning right now. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins while her fight or flight instinct kicked in at the sight Oliver presented. Felicity had never seen him like this before. She had never before been on the receiving end of this specific look on his face, and she had never before had the full force of his fury pointed at her. And she had to admit she was actually terrified of him right now. She glanced towards John, making sure he was still close to them, just in case. She had seen Oliver in many different emotional states during the years. Yes, he'd been angry at her before, but not like this, never like this. This was the very first time she actually feared him and she didn't like that feeling at all, especially given the situation. There was a part of her trying to tell her Oliver would never hurt her, there was no reason for her to be afraid of him and she wanted to believe it but there was another part of her which reminded her of exactly what Oliver was capable of, reminding her of all the lives he had so callously taken during his first year back as the Hood. She felt horrible about feeling terrified of him. Oliver was her friend, a man she had wanted to marry and spend the rest of her life with. A man she loved. She shouldn't be feeling this way, but she did, and this made her feel guilty. Being unsure whether he would hurt her or not made her feel terrible and ashamed.

"Is this one of yours?" The cold, harsh sound of his voice had her snap her head back towards him. It took her a moment to realize what he was talking about. Her eyes strayed to the small device in his hand and her heart dropped into her stomach, which was churning anxiously while her sweaty palms nervously glided over the fabric covering her thighs as if to remove wrinkles that weren't actually there. She wasn't sure when the last time was she had seen him this enraged, if she's ever seen him this infuriated before. He was furious, and there was a dangerous glint in his cold eyes. Felicity had never before felt as intimidated by him as she did right now. How had he found this? How had he known to look for it? She hadn't told anyone about this.

"Oliver man, calm down. You're tripping. Do you even hear yourself right now? You don't make any sense." John stepped forward in an attempt to calm Oliver down, something Felicity was pretty sure was a futile endeavor. She wanted to say something to defend herself, but the words wouldn't come just like a part of her wanted to turn around and escape to the safety of the elevator, but she was bolted to the floor, incapable of moving.

Great moment to be speechless.

"John, stay out of this. Answer the damn question, Felicity! Is this one of yours? Or is someone else recording everything we say?!" Oliver's fury was palpable, he sidestepped Dig and kept on advancing towards her, and she knew she needed to answer him or it would only get worse, if that was even possible.

"Oliver, I can explain..." was this really her voice? It didn't sound right to her own ears. But she had no time to dwell on that. Oliver interrupted her before she had the chance to explain anything at all.

"The recordings of the security cameras were supposed to be deleted within 24 hours. This was how I told you to keep it. The only reason those cameras exist is to make sure we know if someone who shouldn't sets foot in here while we aren't around. Nothing more, nothing less. It was set to record over the previous recording at the 24-hour mark." She knew that she had questioned him about that when she had first joined him. He hadn't really given her an explanation passed 'this is how we do it because I say so'. She had done it the way he wanted until after they had brought him back from Lian Yu, not understanding what the point was if they deleted the recordings in such a short time period, knowing it could take them longer than 24 hours to realize someone had been inside the Foundry. So, she changed the lengths of how long the recordings would not be destroyed. It had never been her intention to keep them indefinitely, only as long as she thought they could possibly need them. She just never had figured out the perfect length of time to keep them, so she had never deleted any of them. Just created a new secure server to store the recordings.

"I know that. I just thought they might be helpful depending on the situation and you might never know, we might not notice until after 24 hours." She justified her reasons. There wasn't anything he could say against that. It made perfect sense. She had added her own devices as a backup, running on a separate system, just in case someone would manage to hack the ones they'd already had after the debacle with the Clock King. She was just trying to help and make sure their data wouldn't be destroyed if there were going to be a repeat performance of that disaster.

"What else don't I know about? What else have you done without my knowledge? Tell me, Overwatch!" She flinched at the malice dripping from his voice when he called her by her codename. A name he had given her, one she had cherished ever since, a name that had made her feel like a part of the team, more than anything else. It was silly, and she knew that, but she had been the only one without a codename. And she had been so overjoyed the day Oliver had called her Overwatch for the first time. He had made her feel special. There had been so much affection and pride in his voice, it had been such an enormous contrast to the way it sounded now. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Not that it really mattered he wasn't really giving her a chance to reply before continuing, anyway.

"You were spying on Sara?" she took a step back at the rage on his face and the force the words were spit at her. She wasn't sure whether it was supposed to be a question or a statement. How could he even think that? Of course not, she would never. Sara was her friend.

"What… Oliver, I never spied on Sara. What are you talking about? Did she say that?" she never spied on Sara, she would never... Felicity was getting more and more confused by the minute. What would make him think that? Had Sara claimed she had? Why would he... but why would Sara make such an outrageous claim? They had been alright the last time they had spent time together, sure it had been a while ago, but still… why would Sara say something like that to Oliver? She hadn't done anything to her that would justify such an insinuation. Why would Sara turn Oliver against her?

She saw the even darker look cross his face when she questioned him and brought Sara up. That had obviously not been a smart move on her part. Felicity could've kicked herself, she should've known better, but still, she had a right to know if Sara was saying things like that about her.

"No, she didn't say anything except what she had learnt through Roy. Which was apparently, that you used recordings of her voice to fool Quentin into believing he was talking to her while she had been dead for months already! What the hell were you thinking?!" she felt her eyes widen in surprise and she swallowed harshly. Oh. Oh! She suddenly understood exactly what he was talking about. And why this might lead to him assuming she had been spying on Sara. Oliver wasn't supposed to know that, he had never been supposed to learn about that, they all had agreed so why would Roy have told him… except, she just registered Oliver's words, Roy hadn't told him, he had told Sara and Sara had told Oliver. Felicity wanted to say something, to defend herself and her actions, but the words just wouldn't come. He was never supposed to know about any of this.

"Oliver, calm down. You weren't here, and there is a solid explanation for that. If you'd just give her a chance and let her speak." Dig was trying to take charge of the situation and get Oliver to calm down, coming to her defense. It wasn't working, though.

"Stay out of this, John. This is between Felicity and me!" Oliver only granted Dig a quick glance before focusing back on her, well it was more like between her and Sara if they were going to look at it objectively.

"Where are they? I want every single copy of every single recording, and for you to delete all of those files from your system and all the backup servers. Do you have any idea what you've done? What this could've led to?" He was still so furious. What was he talking about? She was only trying to help. Nothing could've happened. The recordings were safe. No one had access to that server but her and the security on it was pretty much unhackable. She had created it herself.

"I was making sure that nothing was going to slip through our fingers. That we could trace the coming and goings in here as far back as we have to in case we realize that someone like I don't know Malcolm Merlyn has just regularly let himself in here without our noticing. I was making sure nothing would go unnoticed. I was helping by making sure everything was on tape." Huh, it looked like his words had made her angry enough for her voice to return and finally let her explain her actions to him. This time making sure she wasn't giving him time to interrupt her before she was done.

"And I didn't spy on Sara. I was simply keeping track of everyone. Sara just showed up, and she had those powers we knew nothing about and you never questioned it and just let her be a part of the team. And you just trusted her and expected us to do the same. I was just being cautious. We knew nothing about her and you just expected us to accept her as your second in command. Do you have any idea how that made us feel?" Yes, she had been wary of her at first, but that was understandable. John had been too. Both of them knowing the severe blind spot Oliver had where Laurel was concerned and rightly assumed the same was the case with her younger sister. They had been especially worried after they had found out about her Canary cry and the potential dangers that came with it, in addition to her being a member, or former member, of the League of Assassins. She had just decided to be cautious, not knowing if they could really trust Oliver's judgment when it came to the woman he had cheated on his girlfriend with. Never mind the fact that he wasn't the best judge in character regarding women, especially the ones he got intimately involved with. Isabel Rochev sprung to her mind at that thought, as did Helena Bertinelli.

"After what happened with Helena and Isabelle and then Slade, you can't blame me for not trusting your judgment regarding women or people from your past. I was just making sure." Whether he was thinking with his brain or a certain other body part that wasn't the best judge in character... No, Oliver wasn't known to make the best choices when he let his little head do the thinking and desire overshadow his common sense.

The fact how quickly he had gotten with Sara after she'd come home had only intensified her worry about whether he was thinking straight or not. Especially given Sara's newly discovered powers.

Yes, there had been a lot of unknowns where Sara had been concerned and she had just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to become an issue like the Huntress had. He really couldn't blame her for that. He was the one always talking about unknown quantities and stuff like that. She had just done what he would've. He had chewed her out for trusting Barry, yet he had turned around and done the same with Sara.

"I don't care! I don't fucking care how that made you feel, Felicity! I have a very upset, pregnant Sara at home who just found out that she was betrayed, violated by someone she called her friend! One of the first people she had been able to call a friend since the Gambit went down. Someone she trusted and shared some of the most traumatic experiences of her life with. Nothing about Sara was even just remotely comparable to Helena or Isabel. I can't even believe you would bring them up to justify what you did to Sara. You might not have known anything about her, but I've known her for most of my life, trusted her just as long. It should've been enough! You had no right to spy on her! How could you do this to her? Why would you do this to her? You know how private she is, how difficult it is for her to trust people, to open up and she did to you, so why would you add to her trust issues?" she had never meant to hurt Sara, it wasn't like she had singled Sara out. Sara hadn't even been a part of their team when she had decided to record everything that was going on. It was meant to be a safety percussion. It wasn't meant to hurt anyone. She never intended to make Sara feel that way. The thought that this might hurt her had never even crossed her mind. If she were completely honest with herself, she'd have to admit that one, she had never expected anyone to find out about this and two, she had never considered how it might make her friends feel should they ever find out. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Did you record us while we were alone, at the Foundry?" Oliver's words ripped her from her thoughts. The anger was suddenly gone, replaced by something far worse. Hurt and betrayal. And she knew exactly what he was really asking. She wasn't sure how to answer that. Yes. But she had never... not after accidentally watching them rekindle their romance that first night. She'd turned it off the moment she had realized where it was going. So, yes, there were recordings of them at the Foundry, but she had never watched or listened to any of them. She wasn't even sure why she had kept them. She knew she shouldn't have, but she had been incapable of destroying them. Part of her had been curious about them. About what it was about Sara that made her have so much power over him. Why she was affecting him the way she did. But she had never let her curiosity get the best of her and invaded their privacy like that, knowing full well that would've been a step too far.

"Oliver, Joanna's missing! She was supposed to visit her mom, but she never reached her." Laurel's agitated voice interrupted their argument. Felicity hadn't even heard the elevator, she had been so focused on Oliver, who had turned his attention to the woman rushing out of the elevator and towards them.

Felicity wasn't sure whether she was grateful for the interruption or not. She leaned towards grateful, though. Almost certain Oliver was too angry at her to talk to him rationally now. It also gave her the chance to gather her thoughts and rationally explain herself and her actions. So that she could make sure he understood it had never been her intention to hurt Sara.

Notes:

As I already said, I seriously struggled with this chapter and really hope I did both Oliver and Felicity justice and the way they behaved makes sense and is true to their characters.

I've mentioned it in the previous chapter already but this part about the recordings was not in my original plan for the story and led to me having to switch several things up and make some changes to the original plot and figure out how I can work it in and not change everything I've already planned and written up.

As always please let me know what you think, I love to hear your thoughts.

And yeah, I really loved that scene in Arrow Season 5 where Oliver lost his shit and slightly tore the Bunker apart, so I used it and put my twist in and made him tear completely apart. Lol.

Chapter title is from the Song "Cries Of The Crusader" by Struggle Jennings & Caitlynne Curtis.