A/N: I have feels from that ep! Wrote this quick and dirty to address a few things the show couldn't. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

When he dragged his aching body off the cot he was surprised to see it was almost ten in the morning. He'd trained until almost dawn, trying to force the echoes of Slade's voice and Thea's destroyed expression from his head but failed, finally collapsing when he could barely stand.

He didn't expect to see Felicity at her desk when he stepped into the main part of the lair, one hand still raking through his hair as he stretched. She was focused intently on the screens, the reflection of the light on her glasses not letting him see her eyes.

"What are you doing here?"

She startled with a small jump as her head flew up. "Oh, god! I thought you were sleeping," she said, almost accusingly,

"I was, but it's ten. Why are you here?" he repeated as he crossed to the small fridge and grabbed a water.

When he turned back she'd swiveled her chair and for the first time he noticed she was dressed casually. Dark pants, low heeled boots, and a shirt and jacket he'd never seen before.

Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she stared at him with an almost perturbed look on her face, "Well, when the CEO literally signs his job away to a two-faced, duplicitous woman who's in cahoots with our biggest enemy, the CEO's EA is sort of out of a job as well." she gave an exaggerated shrug of her shoulders, hands opening wide as his head fell back in response.

"Felicity…" it hadn't even crossed his mind and now he was even more angry with himself for not considering how it had affected her,

She turned back to the monitors but the set of her shoulders was stiff, "It's done, Oliver. We have bigger things to worry about, I get it."

And he knew she was telling the truth, because Felicity always put everyone else ahead of herself.

He sat the water aside, "That doesn't mean it's okay. I'm sorry," he said, voice lowering as he approached,

Her hands paused over the keyboard, "I know, but really, what's one job, or two I suppose in the grand scheme, right? Although we're really going to have to figure out how to get yours back or...this isn't going to pay for itself." her hands waved around to indicate all the equipment in the lair, "I mean, you being a billionaire sort of makes the whole 'hero by night' thing possible. I don't know how less well funded heros would make it happen. I couldn't do half of what I do if I didn't have all this and this...not cheap, let me tell-"

He dropped a hand on her shoulder and she stopped talking immediately. He saw her fingers curl into her palm and the way she took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, his hand staying where he'd placed it and sinking an inch as she released the breath.

"I'm sorry. I haven't been...I've been distracted and now we're paying the price,"

"It's Slade, Oliver, I understand. You know what he's capable of and he's been planning this for a long time. Taking the company was just part of that," she spun her chair again and he let his hand follow until it rested on the opposite shoulder, feeling the need to keep some form of contact with her,

"Take everything," he said thickly, "That's what he promised. What he did with Thea, that was just a power play. To show me what he was capable of."

She nodded in agreement, "Which is why we need to play catch up, and fast. The good thing about not having to go in everyday and answer your phone is that I can spend all my time here doing important things," she gave him a wry grin that he couldn't help but returning,

He let his thumb run over the soft fabric of her top, feeling the hard line of her collarbone underneath before he squeezed once and took a step back. She cleared her throat and spun back so fast she almost clipped him with the chair as he came to stand at her side, arms crossed over his chest, "So, what important things are you working on?"

"Finding Slade is practically impossible, but now that we know that Isabel is working with him I decided to focus on her. I've been adding information to her profile for months but nothing has really hit. I just figured I'd been looking in the wrong places."

"You have a profile on Isabel?"

She tilted her head to the side and gave him an incredulous look, "Yes, she's on the list, Oliver, of course I have a profile on her. I have a profile on everyone in the book."

The list. He hadn't thought about the list in months. Yes, he knew Isabel's name was in there, he'd memorized every name in that book but he'd put it out of his mind because he was trying to be a different man, a better man, and thinking about the book just reminded him of everything that had gone wrong the year before.

He scraped a rough hand over his face and let out a long breath,

"There are holes in her background that I'm sure paint a very interesting picture but I haven't been able to fill them all in yet. But once she showed her hand with QC I had another avenue to follow. I think Slade wants you company for more than one reason. I mean, yes, he wants to destroy you by every means possible and taking the company is part of that but think he also wants to use it's resources. Why not, right? It's what I would do if I was an evil mastermind."

"Then I guess we're lucky you use your powers for good and not evil,"

She gave him a half an eye roll and a shake of her head before she continued, "So what Isabel has failed to grasp is that I am more than just a short skirt. If she thought she could hide anything in the QC internal servers well...ha, hate to break it to her but I designed those firewalls and know those programs like the back of my hand." her voice had become more animated like it always did when she started talking tech, and he couldn't help but smile as her fingers flashed over the keyboard, "Since she became CEO she's allocated an obscene amount of money and resources to the Applied Sciences division. I think...I think we know how Slade's going to make more mirakuru."

A chill went down his spine as he leaned in over her to see the numbers with his own eyes. Felicity was right, the only changes Isabel had made were directed to Applied Sciences. He muttered a Russian curse under his breath and stepped back with clenched fists.

"The prison bus," he said, voice hollow as it began to click into place,

He hadn't even realized he'd moved away until Felicity was on her feet and by his side, "I can't beat one of him...if he's got an entire army on mirakuru…" any trace amount of hope he'd had vanished as he imagined exactly the destruction Slade could inflict.

"Hey, this isn't over." she said forcefully, hand landing on his arm as she gripped tightly, the only thing anchoring him at that moment, "We know his game plan now which means we can put together a defense, and maybe even an offense."

"But…"

"What did we tell you last night?" she was right in front of him now, looking up with wide, beseeching eyes that begged him to see himself the way she did, "You're not alone, Oliver, and you can do this. I know you can."

The optimism he'd felt earlier was still missing, "You can't know that," he said almost as a whisper, head bowing as he focused on her purple nails instead of her face,

She moved in even closer, other hand coming up to cup his jaw and the tingle he felt at her touch made him look up, "Yes I can. I can know that because I know you. You're not going to lose. You're not going to let him beat you." His eyes fell shut as her words washed over him, her thumb running in slow comforting strokes across his stubble, "You're a good man, Oliver Queen. You're a hero."

The air exploded from his chest as he collapsed forward, his head coming to rest against the side of hers as her arms lifted to wrap around his shoulders. Her belief in him had always been the strongest thing he'd known. No matter what he did she never wavered. It was that belief that had propelled him out the door to go after Thea. Her voice, her words, her strength had given him the assurance he'd needed to let him know he was doing the right thing.

"Thank you," he said throatily into her hair, one hand splayed across her back to draw her just a little bit closer to him. "And...I'm sorry, for the job and...if you need anything…"

She pulled back and let her hands slide down until they rested inside his elbows, "I'm fine. This insanely rich guy dumped a million dollars in my bank account last year before he cut town and...I made a few investments, and I'm not just talking about the 3-D printer I put down here."

He knew she was trying to bring things back, to bring him back from the edge like she always did so he gave her a tight lipped smile before he let go.

Her eyes held his for a long moment and he was struck by the depth of support he found there. "I don't deserve you," he said just as she'd turned to go back to her desk and she froze in place, "But I'm glad you're here,"

"I'm glad I'm here too," she said softly without looking,

He didn't move until he heard the familiar sound of her fingers on the keyboard. As he sat down at one of the work benches he cut another glance her direction. He had no idea how it was all going to turn out. Slade still had the upper hand and the advantage, but with Felicity's voice in his head now instead, Oliver thought maybe they had a chance.