Chapter 2 – Alone

AN – Many, many thanks for all who have continued to read my fanfic even while I've been on hiatus to work on my original stories! Your support and encouragement is so very much appreciated!

WARNING – While I'm excited to expand this oneshot into a multi-chapter summer story, it is not set in the Lessons Universe like I've done previously. This one's also a bit more AU than I usually do but I blame the show for delving into time travel and magic! BTW, I don't watch The Flash or LOT regularly but those shows do play a part in this story. However, pls remember that I'm always OTA (Oliver, Diggle, & Felicity) as well as Thea/ Roy and Olicity so pls be patient and give me a chance on this one! :) It is mostly written and updates will be posted weekly but suggestions/ comments/ questions are always welcome and could inspire me to make changes! Thank you!

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE ENTIRE STORY – This takes place after the Season 4 finale so spoilers for, well, basically the entire show! Read at your own risk if you aren't current!

DISCLAIMER FOR THE ENTIRE STORY – CW's Arrow and all DC comics characters belong to others. Never had a claim, never will.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Oliver winced when Felicity missed the block and Curtis connected with her ribs. One of the experimental spheres immediately moved into the air to scan for damage even though the two continued to spar. He split his attention between their training and the injury report coming up on one of the monitors.

Curtis spun away to read the report. The collision of Felicity's staff with the table jarred her enough to make her mutter under her breath. She turned to glare at Oliver.

"It's not really fair for me to fight either of you. He's an Olympian and well, you're you, you're Mayor Oliver Queen, the Green Arrow. Can't I train with a just normal person instead? Assuming I could find a normal person around here that is."

"So many run-on sentences." Curtis murmured but both Felicity and Oliver ignored him

Flinging the jo aside, she nursed the sore but not broken ribs with one hand and continued. "I know what you're going to say. We have to be prepared for anything especially as we're down several Team Arrow members now. I know, I know. I just needed to whine for a moment or perhaps have a glass of wine or a carton of ice cream."

Curtis ignored her but Oliver moved to her side with a worried frown. His hand hovered near her face for a single moment before dropping to take her elbow. She leaned slightly toward him before straightening but she didn't break the contact. Their eyes met for several moments before Curtis spoke again.

"We're getting more reports of violence. The program can't triangulate a central hot spot which is weird. If someone is trying to gain power they have to have a headquarters—"

"But maybe we've been looking at it wrong. If there are two separate parties then we need to figure out two centralized locations." Felicity brightened at the breakthrough.

She gave Oliver a brilliant smile and moved away to her desk. Curtis had changed everything when he revamped their lair and she was still adjusting. There was a lot to adjust to though since Team Arrow was now only the three of them. Pushing those worries aside, her fingers flew as she revised the code along with Curtis.

"Okay then, I'll just go train by myself since you don't need me."

Oliver meant it as a joke but the words struck a chord inside him. Felicity remained at his side – close but just out of reach. Diggle and Thea had chosen to leave. Laurel was dead. He hadn't kept his promise. Team Arrow no longer existed and he wasn't sure if the Green Arrow did either. Felicity hadn't left the Team but she had left him. She was making her own path as CEO after fighting hard to get the position back. Most of his work was handled during the day too and she wasn't there for that. He felt more alone in the office surrounded by people than when he had spent his nights at the lair. She had taught him to love and live in the light and in return he had given her the darkness. If he could take it back into him he would. He wouldn't take back loving her though and he wouldn't stop loving her either.

His strikes against the training dummies repeated in time with their keystrokes. The familiar sounds soothed him even while his mind continued to wander. As Mayor, he had accomplished many things in the last few months. The Bay remained his central project and the restoration was moving along with new businesses signing up already. Rebuilding after an attack took time though. He knew that better than anyone.

Felicity glanced up and her eyes instinctively found Oliver. She intentionally looked away and allowed her eyes to scan the room instead. Curtis' influence was obvious but she was grateful for the improvements even if it was yet another reason she no longer felt at home there. The lair had once been home just as the Team had once been her family and Oliver had once been…her whole world. Biting her lip, Felicity again allowed her eyes to travel along the man she loved. She felt like she understood him better now, loved him more now after all she had been through with him. Before she had been thoughtlessly optimistic but now she was more of a realist and now she was scared. She was scared she wasn't strong enough to be with him. He wasn't just a normal man. He was the Green Arrow, Mayor Oliver Queen and she was just Felicity. Maybe they weren't meant to be after all.

A familiar beep pulled Felicity's thoughts away from Oliver. She read the update twice before speaking out loud. "I think I've found the two zones of activity – one's near the Bay, the other is close to City Hall." Pausing, she typed again while the men watched and waited.

"You mean there are two people struggling for power. Didn't we already assume that?" Oliver prompted from his new position kneeling just behind Felicity's chair. His close presence startled her and her flinch brought their bodies in close contact. The warmth of her body pressed into him caused the ache in his heart to thump in time with his accelerated pulse. He gave her a slight smile when he released her so she could again take her seat.

"Yes, we did assume that." Curtis attempted to prompt them as well. He still worked more with Felicity alone. He had known she was a kickass CEO but with Oliver she was more. It was no longer about saving jobs but about saving lives. He still wanted to help with that himself.

Felicity pushed her glasses up and frowned at both men. "Yes, but there's something else. Keeping the two central locations, the incident reports show another pattern. There's escalation on both sides and they are getting closer together. It's like they've been running tests - building to something bigger."

"Testing what? What kind of escalation?" Oliver's eyes scanned the maps of glowing red and blue dots that haphazardly filled the screen. The pattern wasn't obvious to him but he trusted Felicity.

"The police have been rebuilding just as we have, as the city has. Lyla is helping them – behind the scenes, of course, but she's trying to keep the city safe too. Things have been quiet but we knew someone would step up to fill the criminal vacuum and we thought the violence was part of that. My point though is that someone is checking to see just how safe we are, testing the response they get." Felicity explained as she continued working.

The silence lengthened but Oliver didn't return to his training. His eyes alternated between following Felicity's fingers as she typed and reviewing the map. Curtis' next words brought both of their gazes to him.

"I've got even more. If I were running a test, I'd want to see the results first hand. Look at what one camera picked up. Do you guys…" Curtis' voice trailed off and he glanced uncertainly between both Oliver and Felicity. When they didn't speak for several moments, he tried again. "You look like you are seeing a ghost. Who is—"

"There's no way. That's just not possible." Felicity typed furiously. She didn't even glance up when Oliver squeezed her shoulder.

Curtis watched the exchange silently until Oliver then turned away to face the cases holding the suits of his former Teammates. There was no expression on the man's face that Curtis could understand.

More pictures filled the screen. In the final one, the slim, masked villain turned to stare directly at the camera. The black and orange mask concealed her eyes but not the smirk or long dark hair. She kept a hold of a sword in each hand as she ran across the roof and disappeared from view.

"Isabel Rochev is dead." Felicity stated with authority before her gaze met Oliver's. "Isn't she? That can't be her. Someone has to stay dead!"

"Someone else could be picking up where she left off." Oliver kept his eyes on Felicity even though memories of Slade filled his mind.

Curtis tried to be patient but he needed more information. He needed to know what they were afraid of after all they had seen. "Where exactly did she leave things?"

Taking a shuddering breath, Felicity moved forward to briefly hold Oliver's hand before facing Curtis. "She was trying to mass produce a serum to create an army of super strong soldiers to help Slade destroy Oliver and Starling City."