"Oliver Queen Drowns Again"- Starling City Associated Press

The news article went into details. The former billionaire playboy had too much to drink, presumably at his sister's club and drove home drunk. He hit an ice patch on the North Starling bridge. Queen slid off the road, drowning in the river. It took several days to find the body and he had to be identified by DNA as he was no longer recognizable. Queen is survived by his sister, Thea Queen, owner of the Verdant club in the glades...

Felicity couldn't drag her eyes from the article. She knew it was all a lie. That Barry had and Caitlyn had used a corpse from the Central City Medical school, had planted Oliver's DNA, and that she had to do the final touches and make sure all the computer records reflected the story they wanted told.

After three days of him being gone, Digg brought it up, that Oliver didn't want to die down in the foundry, didn't want to have his death hidden from the world the way Sara's was. She could give him at least that, so she came up with the plan, so that she could properly burry him, not that she ever got to see him again, never really got to say goodbye after he said he loved her and walked away. It sickened her that the story had to be drunk driving, that it had to play to the negative light the press had basked him in for years. But it was the best story they could come up with.

Roy and Digg stole the banged up bike from a low level street thug at the docs while keeping up appearances as "arrow and arsenal," though Roy was shooting both green and red arrows that night. They changed out the license plate and shoved it off the bridge. Cisco had given them some sort of device that could pound through the iron on the bridge safety rail- made it look like the bike had crashed through at 90 miles an hour.

Felicity had called in the tip to drag the river using the arrow voice modulator after the story broke about "Oliver Queen MIA." And that story had only come out after everything was in place and Felicity filed the missing person's report, quietly letting Captain Lance know she had already traced his phone- the last ping had been days ago on the bridge. It was horrendous, and elaborate, and ironically the best cover story team Arrow had ever come up with. All that mattered though was that the plan worked and a week later the world knew Oliver Queen was gone.

So Felicity sat in her office, remembering all the time she spent there with Oliver. Looking at the skyline of the city he sacrificed everything for, remembering the man she loved. He told her months ago that he wasn't allowed to mourn, that he had to be strong for everyone else. She had done that this time, but now that it was over, that it was official, she chewed on her red pen while re-reading the article for the hundredth time, weeping. She didn't have to be strong anymore.

-xxxx-xxxxxx-xxxxxx-

Ray had been caught up in his A.T.O.M. designs, hadn't left the building, seen the news, or even connected to the internet for days. He was so excited that Felicity knew the truth, that she hadn't freaked out, that he just wanted to keep going on the project. When he made the breakthrough this morning all he wanted was to tell her about it but he knew what he must look like after 4 days of working without stopping. So he took a quick shower in his executive bathroom, changed into a CEO appropriate suit, and rushed up to her office to tell her the good news.

"Felicity! The mining in Colorado hit an even bigger payload than expected, the suit should be ready in-"

He was cut short by the weeping woman who hadn't paid him any attention as he barged into her office. She couldn't acknowledge him. She simply had a red pen with bite marks in it lying on her desk next to a stack of tissues as she stared at her monitor, looking the way he felt the night of the Siege.

"Oh my God, Felicity, what's wrong?" He ran to her side but she still never moved, just hardly whispered. "It's over... dead... all alone now... can't fix it..."

"Is it your mother? Is she alright?" But as he got closer he saw the screen, and it all suddenly made sense. Why else would a genius from MIT become an executive assistant, work in a mall tech department, or refuse to be a highly paid executive of one of the top tech companies in the world. It was always about him, she was in love with Oliver Queen and now he was dead. All he could think to do was hug her, so he did, he held her tight, maybe for moments, maybe for hours, but it was all he could do.

When Mr Diggle showed up in her office it was the first time she moved. He simply walked over and told Ray, "Thanks man, I've got this now," lifted her to her feet, cradled her to his side and they left the building. Ray wasn't sure, but it looked as though they had done this before, as if they had known each other for a long time and he knew how to take care of her when no-one else could.

He didn't speak to her again for a week. He had sent flowers and his condolences, texted her to let her know things were slow for the holidays anyway and she could take as long as she needed. He didn't realize how close they were, thought it was a one sided affection until the day of the funeral. He showed up to pay his respects, he never expected Felicity to be sitting in the front row between Walter Steel and Mr Diggle. Behind her was Laurel Lance, the media's version of Oliver's one true love. Captain Lance sat with his daughter, but they each had a hand on Felicity's shoulders, consoling her rather than each-other or even Thea- there was definitely something more going on here than he expected.

Two days later, his lawyer met with him about Palmer Industries stock, as Oliver Queen had still owned a large percentage of the stock at the time of his death. Ray expected that it would be transferring to the younger Queen, weather or not she would sell would be a discussion for a later date. But what the lawyers revealed shocked him even more than the display at the funeral.

In May, just before the Siege but after his mother's death, Oliver changed the terms of his will. He gave complete power of attorney, all of his assets (though they weren't much at the time), and his life insurance policy all to one Felicity Megan Smoke. Ray was prepared to give her more time and space before bombarding her about coming back to work, but now he had to talk to her, now he had to know the truth, and find out what his chances really were with her- both when he had first kissed and now looking to the future.

What he found out was more than he bargained for...

-x-x-x-

AN- All mistakes are mine, I still dont have a beta. If you would be interested let me know, I'm working the story line ahead by several chapters and I need someone to bounce ideas off of, as well as an editor. Thanks for reading!