Ardour

By Cortexikid

Chapter 4: Home Sweet Home

A/N: So, I changed the spelling of the title back to British English. It just hurts my little Irish soul to leave out the U. Sorry Americans – I do love your inclusion of the 'Z' in words (like realize and characterize etc.) though :) I like mixing it up spelling and grammar-wise is what I'm saying. (I'm wild, I know.) Anyway, you don't care about that – let's get on with the Olicity goodness!

Prompt from NewObsession – "Where have you been?"

With narrowed eyes, she glanced around her, slowly taking the last step down into their new lair. It was silent, more so than it had been since they'd moved in a month prior. After a lot of hard work, repositioning from Verdant and setting up in their current location, it seemed that everything was finally coming together. She had her desk all set up, her babies all in working order (as much as she could make them with having limited means of replacing and repairing the damage caused by Slade-gate) and the boys had their various toys in designated areas too.

Roy with his target practice.

Digg with his gun display.

Oliver with a brand-new glass-case for housing his hood, along with an abundance of space to train.

And, Felicity was happy to note, even a place for the salmon ladder. That just so happened to be in her direct line of sight.

Not that she noticed, or anything…

With a sigh, the tech genius' eyes drank in the space. It was just one of the many, many changes that had befallen their team in the last few weeks. A change that she was sad to see happen. The foundry had become somewhat of a second home to her over the near two years she spent there. She had been the one to re-vamp it during Oliver's five-month sabbatical, adding little touches of herself to the 'man-cave' feel it once had, and therefore felt a strange pull towards it. It was after all, key in not only being their base of operations, their home away from home, but a place of safety, a tie forever tethering her to The Arrow and his world.

But Slade and his minions ruined all that. Made it unsafe and exposed. Now, it was if that tie had been severed, and in its place, a void had formed.

Perhaps she would get used to it in time, but for now, she couldn't help but notice that it felt as if something was…missing. It didn't quite have the feel that the 'Arrow Cave' had. It was disconcerting, and admittedly bothered her more than she let on to the rest of the team. She silently wondered if they felt the same way, but hadn't brought it up, not wanting to cause complications with something they could neither change, nor control.

This was their 'lair' now. Period. No amount of homesickness or misplaced melancholy, would or could change that. She had to accept that if—

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Felicity jumped, whirling around rapidly, her bag clutched tightly in her raised hand, ready to strike before she caught sight of the intruder, her shoulders slumping.

"Could you not do that?! You almost gave me a heart-attack!" she exclaimed loudly, her eyes falling on Oliver who had descended the stairs like the frickin' ninja that he was.

"Did they teach you to teleport in vigilante school or something, David Rice?" she asked, her heart still racing from the shock.

And from something else entirely, that same something she refused to think about since leaving that godforsaken island for hopefully the last time, but dreamt about constantly. Stupid subconscious.

Oliver frowned in response to her words.

"Right, right…on an island for five years, a little pop-culture deprived, I know," she waved a hand before heaving a sigh, "honestly, my awesome references just go right over your head. Why do I even bother?"

"Well, you could always say Scotty beams me up," he shrugged, stepping forward, "I'd get that."

Felicity's eyebrows raised, before tilting her head pensively.

"Hmm...not quite the analogy I was going for, but, A for effort, Queen," she flashed him a small smile before taking another deep breath, and slowly letting it out.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice laced with something she couldn't quite identify as he stepped closer to her, his eyes raking over her face.

It was then that she realized, this was the first time they'd been completely alone in their new lair. An intensity rose in her at that thought. It was the first of many firsts, and it served to remind her of another intensity that always lay under the surface of every one of their shared moments of the last month, the memory of…that night.

Trepidation rose in her stomach like a fluttering of butterflies' wings.

"Where—" she broke off, clearing her throat, feeling the compulsion to say something, anything, to break the silence and get her away from her wandering thoughts, "where have you been?"

Oliver watched her silently for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, before he turned around, walking back over to the stairs and picking up a large box (one of many) that she had failed to notice.

Without a word, he walked back over to her, placing the slick white cube at her feet.

"Oliver what—"

"Open it…" he cut across her, his eyes a little lighter than she had seen them in a long time.

He almost looked…cheerful.

She found this to be contagious, her heart skipping a beat, overjoyed at the fact that he had in some small way, found something to lighten the darkness that shrouded him, especially during the last few months. With everything that had happened, his mother's death and Thea's subsequent disappearance (that they were all still working themselves to the bone on,) she was afraid that he would traipse back even further into the gloom, and honestly, she wouldn't blame him if he did. But, like many of the things Oliver did, he surprised her.

Ever since their last jaunt from the island, he had made an effort not to shut himself off. She had fully expected him to isolate himself and go on a desperate one-man-tirade, after Roy finally broke the news to him about Thea after they returned from Lian Yu, much like he did after his mother died, but he in fact did the opposite. He embraced the team, letting them help on getting her back, and even spending more time than ever before hanging out with them outside of Arrow business.

Well, he spent more time hanging out with Felicity.

They had struck up somewhat of a routine. He had stayed in her guest room for a short while before finding himself a small apartment that he could afford on what little money he had left. She had told him he could stay as long as he liked (she admittedly enjoyed the company, and not to mention felt safer him being there) but he insisted that he didn't want to over-step and to her chagrin, left after a little over a week.

She had thought that would be the end of them actually spending more time together outside of an Arrow situation.

Again, he surprised her. While he may have had an apartment to go home to now, that didn't stop him from arriving on her doorstep with pizza and her favourite wine after a long day, and crashing on her couch having fallen asleep during on of their many TV marathons. Nor did it stop him from bringing her coffee most mornings, or going grocery shopping with her on the weekend – something he hadn't done in a long while, if ever, she guessed.

There had no doubt been a definite shift in their dynamic, that much she knew. And she couldn't help but bask in moments like this when his eyes sparkled, and a little lightness broke through the cranks of his battered soul.

She didn't know what caused this light, but she was eternally grateful for it, nonetheless.

"Fe-li-cit-y," he snapped her out of her reverie gently, an eyebrow arched as he waited for her to say something.

Her mouth dropped out a little.

"You…got me a present? It's not my birthday," she gaped, her eyes lowering to the enigmatic box at her feet.

"I know. But, I thought that there was something a little off about this place…and thought this might help," Oliver shrugged, before gesturing to the box.

"Go on, open it…"

Her eyes found his once more, flickering in silent question, before bending down and lifting the lid. Rummaging through the sheath of bubble-wrap and protective padding, her fingers finally brushed against something. Biting her lip, she pulled away the last remaining coverage and let out a loud gasp, as her eyes landed on what lay beneath.

The Satellite Frequency Communicator TX50.

"Oliver…" she gaped, her eyes rising to meet his, "what—"

"I couldn't put my finger on what didn't feel right about this place," he interrupted, shuffling a little, his hand flexing minutely, his thumb and index finger rubbing together, "then it hit me. Me, Diggle, Roy - we all got our own small sense of re-branding, our own little changes to fit in with all the others. Except you…" he trailed off, looking towards her computers that certainly not in their usual pristine condition.

"This place…" he began softly, offering her his other hand to help her straighten up, which she silently accepted, her heart hammering in his chest, "it needs more Felicity Smoak 2.0. And what could help more with that than some classified equipment that you could put your remarkable skills to?"

Felicity, with tears welling up in her eyes, for the first time in what seemed like her entire life, was at a loss for words. So, she expressed herself in the only other way she knew how – standing up on her tiptoes and embracing him, her hands clutching the material at his shoulders.

Oliver stilled for a moment, before relaxing into the hug, one arm coming to rest on her lower back, his fingers sprawled across the fabric of her dress.

They stood like that for a long moment, neither willing to break the embrace.

"Oliver I…" Felicity sighed, her face pressed into his shoulder, her voice a little muffled as her lips connected with his shirt as she spoke, "thank you so much. But I can't accept this, it's too—"

"Hey," Oliver stepped back a fraction, hand still pressed against her as he caught her eye.

"The best equipment is needed for the best skillset. You do remarkably already, but this can only help you be even more badass," he smirked as she blushed, shaking her head at him, "and besides, without you, we never would have captured Slade, and Waller would have had to commit mass genocide, so she kinda owes you."

Felicity's eyes bulged at his words.

"So you actually got this from A.R.G.U.S?"

He nodded, "Digg may have mentioned how you 'fan-girled' – his words, over it when you went to them to ask for help finding me…"

"I may have touched it inappropriately," she conceded, causing a chuckle to erupt from him.

She did love the all-too-rare occasions when he laughed.

"Felicity I—" he broke off. She could feel his fingers flexing against her back, and if she looked down she knew she would see his index finger and thumb rubbing together again.

He was nervous.

She offered him an encouraging smile.

She could have sworn she saw his eyes flicker to her lips for a moment, before they snapped back up to meet hers.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she waited patiently for him to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Oliver's hand tightened ever so slightly around her, "Felicity I…owe you too. So much. Without you, I would never have been able to defeat and capture Slade. I wouldn't be able to catch those who harm this city…hell, I probably wouldn't even be alive, instead bleeding to death after my mom shot me," he shook his head, his voice catching a little at the mention of his mother.

Felicity trailed her hand down his shoulder before catching the hand at his side, squeezing it gently, stopping the nervous tick.

Oliver's eyes closed for a half a second, a sigh on his lips before he was looking at her again, his gaze heavy with sincerity, "I just want you to remember, every time you look at that screen, that I—you mean so much to…this team. We couldn't do this without you. We're not…'Team Arrow' without you. And this 'lair' will be all the better with more you in it…"

Her heart lurched as his words rang in her ears. She had never expected, or indeed wanted, thanks for what she did, that was not why she did it, but his words were so sincere and so meaningful, especially coming from him. A warmth spread in her chest as she gave his hand another gentle squeeze.

"I can't believe you actually said 'Team Arrow' and 'lair' in the same sentence. Roy will be so pissed he missed it," she smiled.

"I'll deny everything," he deadpanned.

A silence befell them as her conveyed through her eyes her gratitude for everything he said, and for everything leading up to this: first his ridiculous but always amusing lies, then his trust in her to help him in his time of need, then his friendship, then their partnership and now…now something that was on the cusp of being so much more, that it equally elated and terrified her.

But that was an exploration for another day.

An ease that she'd never felt in this place suddenly settled over her, as she savoured the touch of his hand against her back, his other rubbing soft circles into her palm.

Taking a deep breath, she welcomed the change of ambiance, feeling for the first time that this really could be a good change, and she was fine with that as long as Oliver was there, Digg and Roy too. They really could make this their new home, all of them…

A large grin broke out on her face at the thought of the new chapter they were now well and truly embarking on.

And what better place to start than introducing her new baby to her others?

Nudging Oliver's shoulder, she gestured behind him to the other boxes by the stairs, unable to keep the smile off her excited face, "well then, make yourself useful. You do the lifting, I'll do the assembling. If we finish by five, I may even treat you to a burger at Big Belly's…"

A/N: I'm still taking prompts so feel free to drop me one if you'd like :)