Emma was sitting in her canopy swing. She was back to wearing her off the shoulder sweater and a pair of leggings. She held a cup of hot cocoa and stared at the horizon but it was more like staring into emptiness as she was lost in her thoughts.

She had been back home for almost two hours. Oliver had dropped her off as he headed for Queen Consolidated to tend to a board meeting. She was exhausted. It was an emotional and physical fatigue. The entire day had worn her out. Meeting his family and the press conference had been a lot to take. Yet, she felt relieved that things had gone relatively well. She had enjoyed getting to know Thea a bit more and quickly realized that she was a strong independent young woman. It kind of reminded her of herself.

Oliver arrived at the apartment, where there were still some reporters hanging around. He unlocked the door with a spare key that Emma had given him, it would have seemed odd as a husband to have to knock on your own front door.

"I'm home", he called out. He paused for a moment. It felt weird saying those words. But in the weirdness of it all, he suddenly found comfort in it. Someone was waiting for him to come home.

Hearing no answer, he quickly went through the different rooms but couldn't find Emma. He looked up at the ceiling. She must have been on the rooftop, her haven and even if he wasn't an expert in deciphering people, he had a feeling it was something to worry about. It wasn't that she never went up there just when everything was perfect, but he knew that everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours had probably been a lot.

He took off his suit jacket, untied a few of his shirt buttons, turned up the sleeves and headed upstairs. He walked over slowly.

"There you are", he said smiling upon seeing her. She gave him a faint smile in return.

He sat down next to her. "Are you okay"?

"No. Not really".

He said nothing.

"It just hurts you know. Some of the questions those reporters asked at the press conference. I mean it's as if the only reason I could be married to you is because I'm either pregnant or have it out for your money! I've never felt so diminished"!

He pulled his arm around her and pulled her into him as she placed her head in the nook of his neck. "You and I both know that it's not true. You would also marry me because I'm extremely good-looking, smart and have an awesome sense of humor"!

"If what you've just tried to display is indeed your awesome sense of humor, you've amazingly failed"!

"Look, I can understand how what they said could hurt you, but you can't let them. Because, I know the truth. You did it to save me but I started falling for you, way before that"!

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking in what he was saying, before opening them again. "Ollie, I never thought of asking you, but do you want to move into the Mansion"?

"No. Even though the Mansion is my family home, my home now is with you and as a newly married couple, I want to be able to make love to you as much as possible, so I'd like to keep our privacy and intimacy".

"Make love to me as much as possible"?

He grinned. "Of course, last night was just the beginning. If you think I'm going to be able to keep my hands, my mouth and my body off of yours, you couldn't be more wrong, Mrs. Queen"!

"I like the sound of that".

"Good", he said as he stood and took her hand. He pulled her along the way as they headed back downstairs. The minute they were inside the apartment he pinned her to the wall and kissed her passionately as his hands passed under her sweater. She finished unbuttoning his shirt and he freed his arms to let it fall to the ground. He removed her sweater and his mouth started trailing from down her neck to her cleavage. She was on fire as her breathing accelerated. She wanted him, so badly. She pushed her hips into his and he moaned from pleasure. She pushed him back as she unbuckled his belt and led him to the bedroom. Initially, she would have worried about the reporters lurking in the hallway, but as they groaned, moaned and cried out in pleasure as they climaxed together, the entire world disappeared!

At around half-past midnight they were both awakened by Oliver's phone ringing. It was Felicity, the Arrow was needed.

Less than twenty minutes later Oliver and Emma walked down the stairs to the lair.

"What have we got"? asked Oliver.

Emma smiled. Oliver Queen had left the building. Even if he wasn't wearing the hood just yet, he was already in Arrow mode. She had always found that amazing, how he could so easily shift from one to the other.

Felicity typed on her computer and the picture of a man came to the screen. Emma sat down next to her.

"Let me introduce you to Lone Reklaw, or thanks to your wonderful wife sitting next to me who spent numerous hours playing around with it in her head, Leon Walker"!

Oliver looked at Emma. "You found him"?

"Well, I've always like a good puzzle and since it hadn't brought up anything on any of the databases, I figured it wasn't a real name, nor an official alias, so I played around with the letters and had given Felicity a list to check up on. It was a long shot".

He put his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe but it worked. I'm going to pay Mr. Walker a little visit. Felicity do you have an address"?

"Yep. It's a warehouse south of the Glades and I tapped into their video surveillance and you're going to have company". She showed Oliver that there were at least ten men to account for in and around the premises.

"Dig? You up for a little trip"? said Oliver.

"Always ready"!

Oliver kissed Emma as John got his gun, he then took his bow and headed off.

Once they were gone Felicity looked at Emma and pouted. "Well at least you got a kiss"!

Emma smiled. "That I did.. You're not going to get all jealous on me now are you"?

"No. I'm happy for you, for both of you, even if it's taking time to realize you and Oliver are married, but a kiss from John would have been nice too".

"You know my mother once told me that the important thing was not how a man is with you in front of others, but how he treats you behind closed doors and she was right".

Felicity pushed up her glasses and smiled. "I like that. Your mother is a wise person". Then she blinked. "So wait, are you saying that Oliver doesn't treat you well behind closed doors"?

Emma laughed whole-heartedly. "No silly. Let's just say that behind closed doors he's a little less refrained"!

Felicity put her hand up. "I don't want to know, spare me the details please"!

Emma stuck her tongue out. "I wasn't going to give you any"!

Had anyone arrived at that moment in time, they would have witnessed how close Emma and Felicity had gotten and both John and Oliver knew they were lucky, not only because they had these women in their private lives, but also because a friendship like that was often rare and no matter what life had sent their way so far, either professionally or personally, it was still standing, stronger than ever.

Two days later, Emma was grabbing herself a drink at the bar, to accompany her lunch when she heard the front door of the bar open. Thinking it was either, Oliver (who had been called into QC), Felicity or John, she didn't bother turning around.

"I believe congratulations are in order, Mrs. Queen".

She turned around.

"Thank you, Mr. Merlyn".

"Please call me Malcom, I consider the Queens like family, so we practically are family".

Emma smiled politely. She really didn't like him. Not one single bit.

"I have to say, I'm not surprised. Oliver has always been attracted to strong, beautiful and independent women and I can't blame him. I would have tried myself. I guess we'll never have our dinner".

He moved in a bit closer to her and her heartrate went up a notch. Not only what he was saying was making her uncomfortable, as it was quite inappropriate, but it was also in the way he looked at her, how he moved around her.

"If he's anything like his father, which I hope he isn't for your sake, but do hope he is for mine, I'll be there to pick up the pieces and show you what a real man is"!

How could he? She attempted to slap him but he caught her hand firmly half-way in mid-air.

"Fiery! I love that. Nothing excites me more. The more I learn about you Miss Grey, the more I want you"!

He dropped her hand and started to walk away… "Oh and by the way, no need to tell Oliver about this… if you think he'll believe you over a family friend for more than thirty years, you're mistaken".

He stopped at the door and turned around. "Looking forward to our next meeting"!

Emma rubbed her forehead and closed her eyes. The door opened again.

"Is everything alright"?

She opened her eyes. It was Oliver.

"Was that Malcom Merlyn who just drove away"?

Emma faked a smile as she walked over to him. "Yes, he actually came to congratulate us on our marriage".

"Well that was nice of him. I'm sorry I wasn't here".

"Yeah… me too".

Malcolm had his car stop under a highway bridge. Someone entered the car sat down across from him and handed him a file.

"Is that everything"?

"Yes Mr. Merlyn, that is everything you asked for".

He took it and opened it revealing a picture of Emma.

"Then I think it's time, I got better acquainted with the new Mrs. Queen".

"What do you plan on doing"?

"Find a weakness that will allow me to interfere in their marriage so that I can destroy it and him along the way"!