Disclaimer: See chapter one
Please see my A/N below for further information.
AAA-FOQ-AAA-FOQ-AAA
Chapter 26 - Tempus Fugit Mortuum Fuerit
Felicity watched in amusement as Oliver, Diggle and Sara seemed to dance around the lair with their Bo staffs as they worked out two on one, pacing slightly in front of her computers to remind them that her babies were there. It had become a regular thing since Sara had returned to the City for the three of them to work out together – although there had been a slight argument between the couple when Felicity had insisted that she work one on one with Sara as well
An argument that had gone much along the lines of: "She's a trained assassin." "I'm a trained Amazon minus all the bits that make up Diana, who else better to wake up muscle memory!" and promptly kissed him to Diggle's and Sara's joint amusement, shutting him up.
She couldn't however stop her slight squeak when Diggle caught Sara in the temple with his staff, promptly ending the fight. Oliver actually laughed slightly because for a second for she had honestly sounded like a mouse. He caught her up by her hand and pulled her into his side knowing that she would check Sara's forehead for herself.
She promptly slapped him in the abs but also did exactly as he had expected. (In fact, Oliver had honestly hoped that his girl would do that because for some reason known only to Sara herself, she tolerated Felicity's almost motherly/sisterly touches).
Letting Sara escape her finally, Felicity turned in Oliver's arms, squealing slightly as he raised her in the air with just one arm around her waist (the hand that was holding his bo staff if the truth be known) and ran the back of his fingers over her cheek.
"Are you sure I can't change your mind about coming to her welcome home party?" He asked her, cupping her cheek as she rested her arms around his shoulders, hands in his short hair.
"I really don't want to come face to face with your mother, Oliver." Felicity rested her forehead on his, closing her eyes for a moment.
"And I really don't want to come face to face with her without you." He replied as he ran his hand into her hair. "Please come, I think Sara and Thea would be more comfortable if you were there."
She sighed again and then nodded. "Alright, alright I'll come but it's on your head, Oliver; I'll get Digg to cover the police radio channels. It's been quiet recently, too quiet so something's likely to happen if both you and Lance are at this party."
"Has anyone told you how cynical you've become recently," He murmured before kissing her slight laugh away.
Across the room, Sara watched them while Diggle, eyebrow raised watched her, "Problem?"
"No," She shook her head, a soft smile actually lighting her face for a brief few seconds. "I'm just... it's hard to phrase it, but happy will have to do, for him, for them. I'm just... adjusting still to this new Oliver. I like it but I'm still adjusting."
"Adjust away but don't be surprised when someone tells you to get over it already."
"I can already hear her saying it."
Both of them started laughing bring the couple's attention to them before they looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, dismissing it.
AAA-FOQ-AAA-FOQ-AAA
Thea literally raced down the stairs as she heard the familiar light tones of her brother's girlfriend and threw herself into her arms. "Felicity, you are here, I could have sworn you said you weren't coming this morning when I asked."
Felicity laughed, looked up at the smiling Oliver at her side, hands on her hips (he had moved there to keep her steady on seeing his sister running). "Your brother was very persuasive," and laughed again at the look that crossed the younger woman's expressive face – especially as he slipped his arms around her waist to emphasize it
"EWW! Felicity, please that is my brother." Thea stuck her tongue out at her and then literally clapped as the door bell rang again. "That must be the Lances."
"Well here we go." Felicity murmured in a voice that only Oliver can hear.
It could be said that it was one of the best welcome home parties that the Queen family had ever head, well unless you count the fact that; the eldest daughter refused to attend, Sin and Roy had to pretend that they didn't know Sara, the icy relationship between mother and son was noticeable enough for Thea to catch, oh and let's not talk about the look on Moira Queen's face on seeing Felicity at her son's side.
"Oh yes, lets definitely not talk about that."Felicity said aloud to herself as she actually wished for her tablet to ping at her. She slipped her hand down her side to where her pocket was to check when she noticed that Lance was on the phone, a familiar look of his face. Subtly moving through the partiers, she arrived at Oliver's side just as his phone rang and her tablet dinged.
Sharing a brief look with her, Oliver pulled his phone out. "We're on our way Digg."
"How did you know?" He asked.
"Because Detective Lance just got the same call," He looked down at the tablet that Felicity was now holding out for him to see. "And so did our girl."
"I'll get Sara," Felicity kissed him swiftly before literally gliding away.
"Our girl's instincts were right on the ball." Diggle added before Oliver replied. "She always is... unfortunately."
AAA-FOQ-AAA-FOQ-AAA
Felicity whacked the dummy in frustration once again.
The last twenty-four hours had not gone well and that was a major understatement.
Not only had Tockman interfered with their com system enough to almost send Oliver into a bus after the first bank robbery following the theft of the universal key from Kord Enterprises but she had not been impressed with the way that Sara had just taken over her role with the forensics part of the investigation.
As much as she knew that Oliver loved her, in for the first time ever in their night-time job, she was feeling a little pushed to the side (and for the first time ever, feeling the lack of her full Amazon abilities) and what to make it worse, it was clear that neither Sara nor even Oliver realised that they were doing so.
Giving the dummy one last hit, (something Diggle had told her to stop before he had gone up to Verdant to help Thea with a problem following a call from Roy), she went back to her computers as she heard Oliver and Sara pull to a stop on their motorbikes.
"This doesn't look residential." Oliver growled over the coms even as Sara heads towards the van she had just seen. Discovering the modem inside, what followed next scared Oliver more than he had even been on the island and considering what had happened there, that was saying something.
The sounds of the other man taunting Felicity and the sudden explosions cutting him off from her had him racing for his bike and back to the lair without even speaking to the other woman who had accompanied him that evening.
At full speed, he ran into the lair and without even thinking about it, pulled her off the ground from where she was pulling apart her servers and into his arms. He pushed her face into his neck so that he could feel her breathing and then wrapped his arm around her waist holding her to him, keeping his other hand in her hair. She immediately reciprocated with her arms around his neck, holding onto him with all her strength.
After a moment, he pulled her head back slightly to look into her eyes. "Are you alright, you're not hurt?"
"I'm fine, I promise." At his sceptical look, Felicity managed to free herself (and she was not quite sure how she managed to do that when she thought about it later) and literally turned in a full circle so that he could look her over before going back into his embrace. "I'm fine, Oliver."
He rested his head on hers, keeping her enfolded in his embrace, even as he asked "How bad?"
"Tockman used the skeleton key to penetrate our firewall." The slight note of anger was clear in her voice and he tightened his hold around her. "He told our systems to commit suicide... and they did."
"And could have hurt you, killed you as well." Oliver let her pull back slightly so that he could look into her eyes, silently asking once again if she was alright. She sighed in response and raised her hand to touch his cheek, replying equally silently in the affirmative.
After finally releasing herself from his embrace so that she could go back to seeing what she could salvage from her babies. Felicity suddenly turned to look at Sara. "Oh Hades, Sara, I won't be able to come with you tonight, I have to try to save what I can here."
"This is more important than a family dinner." Sara shot back at her. "And you didn't really want to come, Felicity anyway knowing how Laurel feels about you."
Felicity rose to her feet and moved to her side, taking her hands in her's, Oliver moving back to her side now that she was on her feet again, his arm around her waist unable not to touch her following her narrow escape.
"Sara, you're about the only one with a family that's worth fighting for, go to dinner." She indicated her servers, "Nothing can be done here with my babies like this and take Oliver with you, I know you don't want to go alone."
"Felicity!" Oliver's refusal was clear in his voice and she turned to look at him, cupping his face in her hands. "You're the only one who knows her then, here and now, Oliver, I think you should go, you're the only person who knows, that they know of, what it's like to come back from the dead."
AAA-FOQ-AAA-FOQ-AAA
He would never have let himself be convinced to go to the Lance family dinner if he had know exactly what his better half had planned to do in his absence.
And he really could have done without the confrontation with Laurel – he had not until that moment realised just how much she refused to take the blame for any of her own actions – it really was no surprise any more that Felicity and Laurel had no common ground whatsoever.
The only good thing to come out of it, he realised was that he had finally in his own mind gained the closure he needed where the other woman was concerned, something he was sure that Felicity would be glad to hear.
But Felicity, his beautiful, stubborn, tenacious Amazon princess – if he had just known what was going through her brilliant genius mind!
Now as he held both her hands in one of his as Sara sewed put temporary butterfly stitches in her shoulder, her head pressed against his chest, wincing even with the drugs Diggle had given her and verbally mourning the fact that she still wouldn't have any scars (thank you very much Amazon healing!), he closed his eyes and tightened his hold on her.
He was still not sure what he was most mad about either – the fact that she had gone to the bank by herself without telling anyone or the fact that she hadn't even gone dressed as the Shadow but as herself.
In some ways though his mad was being over-ridden by his genuine pride in the way she had saved Sara's life and then taken out the Clock King by trumping his computer skills with her own brilliance.
It took Sara speaking to bring him back to the there and then. "I'm done, Oll-iver," He raised his eyebrow at her sudden use of his full name, slightly amused that she had actually realised how much the other blonde disliked the nickname to do so. "I don't think I need to tell you how to look after it."
He shook his head, doing his best not to laugh at the low ramble his drugged girlfriend was coming out with and pulled his shirt over her shoulder to cover her up. He then lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to her chair so that he could hold her in his lap.
"I'm sorry." They both said at the same time as they caught each other's gaze and found themselves laughing slightly at having done so.
"I shouldn't have gone to the bank by myself and I really shouldn't have gone as myself." Felicity laid her head on his shoulder feeling the drugs really begin to take an effect on her. (She would really have to ask Diggle where he got his aspirin from – she had never known any have this effect on her before!)
"I knew it was wrong when I decided to do it..." She sat up suddenly to look at him. "But he killed my babies, Oliver!"
"I know sweetheart." He gently pushed her back down to his shoulder. "And you got your revenge, remember." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Digg said that you're also a little insecure about Sara as well."
She opened her eyes at that to glare at the tall coloured man. "He wasn't supposed to tell you that!" Her tone was indignant but she suddenly deflated against him and he tightened his arms around her in response. "I was just having a moment of insecurity, even a genius who knows the man she loves, loves them back can have them, you know."
"I know." He pressed a kiss to her forehead again. "You're my girl, my genius and everyone knows that." With that he rose to his feet and turning, placed her on the bed. "Now sleep, we have been summoned to the Mansion tomorrow to meet someone."
AAA-FOQ-AAA-FOQ-AAA
The following day, bolstered by the news that Sara and her sister were beginning to salvage their relationship, Oliver and Felicity walked hand in hand into the Mansion that was his childhood home. They had begun to talk about finding a place that was their own, especially considering their almost icy relationship with his mother and were almost light-hearted for once.
Entering the main lobby, they found Moira waiting for them. "I'm glad you could come, Oliver... and Felicity, please come through there's someone I would like you to meet."
She walked ahead of them and then waved a hand to the man sitting on the sofa with his back to them. "Oliver, Felicity, I would like you to meet Slade Wilson."
As the familiar named man rose from his place on the sofa, Felicity actually took a step closer to Oliver without even thinking about it and found that her instincts were right on the ball for a second time that week.
Standing before them was the man both thought had died on the island from the mirakuru – Slade Wilson, Oliver's worse nightmare reborn.
AAA-FOQ-AAA-FOQ-AAA
Now that was surprisingly easy to AAA, hence the reason it's up little earlier this week.
I would just like to say that although I am anticipating the new season trememdously, I'm in the UK and we don't have a start date yet for S3! But I'm not one for worrying about spoilers - just thought I would get that out there!
Look forward to hearing from you ;op