Author's Note; I know, I know! I'm a terrible, terrible, terrible person! I am so sorry for not updating this sooner. The show was screwing with my head and my muse abandoned me and I was all turned around with what was happening and I had so much uni work to do and I'm just a terrible person!

After this, I have exams, so I probably won't update for a couple of weeks.

Thank you to all of you who have given me support so far and I'm so sorry for letting you down.

Enjoy the chapter, and let me know what you think at the end.

Previously in At Least It Wasn't Dirty Dancing

"What are you doing?"

Felicity sighed. She couldn't do this. Not now. Not again.

"I'm going home, Oliver." She told him tiredly, moving toward the exit to the alley. She growled when he stepped into her path. "Move Oliver."

"Felicity, please-"

"Please what?" She cried, "Please go? Please don't go? Please never come back? Please what?"

"I- I don't-"

"I don't know." She spoke over him, shaking her head. "Until you do know, Oliver, just, don't expect me to be here too much." She sighed and moved around him to get to the door. "Make sure you stay off your ankle and ice it." She reminded him before she closed the door behind her.

Oliver's POV

He was-

He couldn't-

Everything hurt.

He couldn't catch his breath.

His lungs weren't working.

The door closing felt like a physical crack to his cheek.

He reeled backwards and stumbled on his injured ankle.

In the silence left behind her words seemed to echo throughout the Foundry. All of them, but the ones that seemed to reverberate louder were the ones that he focused on.

"You betrayed me."

"I trusted you."

"No right."

"Please what?"

"Its not good enough."

"You betrayed me."

He was numb.

He couldn't focus.

He couldn't move.

He didn't want to move.

If he moved, it would all become real.

He tried blinking his eyes. Maybe if he could just open them, this would have just have been a dream. A nightmare.

It was ridiculous, but he couldn't help himself. He screwed his eyes shut tight, counted to 10 in his head, and hesitantly opened them.

He was alone.

Alone never used to bother him. Since his return from the island, before he brought in Diggle and Felicity, he had craved the time he alone he spent in the basement of his family's company's steel factory in the Glades. There was no need to pretend when he was alone. No need to keep his public face up, no need to convince the world he was the same Ollie Queen that he had left as.

Somehow he stumbled to one of the concrete pillars and sank down it heavily, stretching his legs out.

Alone.

Felicity's POV

She made it to her car in a daze. Unlocking the drivers door she slid in, put the key in the ignition and started to the motor, but then she stopped. Felicity hadn't meant for it to happen like that. Sure, she'd told Roy that she would talk to Oliver, but she'd meant that she was going to talk to him about Roy and Thea, not about her.

But then Sara had made that comment and she just… couldn't stop.

Not wanting to think on it anymore she took a shuddering breath, clicked her seat belt on and pulled out of the lot.

"Where were you?" Roy asked as soon as the door opened. It seemed that he had been sitting on one of her dining room chairs that he'd pulled into the entryway, facing the door.

"Hello to you too, dad," Felicity greeted sarcastically, rolling her eyes and shrugging out of her jacket, leaving her bag on the floor.

"Flick, what is going on? You sounded upset when I called, but you were only going to the foundry."

"You know, you almost sounded like Grouchy Pants then."

"Felicity!"

"Wow, okay, you really need to stop spending time with Oliver." She said, ignoring Roy and walking into the kitchen to get a drink. Thank God it's Friday, she thought, sighing as she poured a generous amount of gin into a high glass before adding tonic.

"Please can you just tell me what happened?" He asked, having trailed after her, "And make me one of those too while you're at it."

"Okay, A) I am not your mother, your barkeep, or your maid," she said, throwing him a dirty look, "B) I thought we agreed last night: no alcohol for you until we research this Mirakuru some more, and C) I'm fine."

"Two can play at this game. A) I never said you were my mother or anything, although you've already proven yourself a better mother than my own, B) we never agreed on the alcohol thing, but point taken, and C) you're not fine. You're upset. You're drinking something other than red wine. So. What'd he do?" Roy said, leaning against the bench next to her and fixing her with an unflinching stare.

"A) I'm sorry, the mother comment wasn't nice, I should have known better, B) we did agree; you didn't have a beer last night, C) why do you assume that it was Oliver, and for that matter D) why are we speaking in alphabetical bullet points?"

"A) You know I don't hold it against you, B) just because I didn't have a beer doesn't mean we agreed, C) I never said Oliver, I said he. For all you know I could have been referring to Diggle, but you just confirmed exactly what I thought, so you wanna explain what happened? And D) I don't know, but can we please stop."

Felicity laughed lightly and shook her head. If this is what it would have been like with a brother, she was really disappointed she hadn't had it earlier. Indicating with her head towards the lounge she pushed off the counter and walked away, trusting him to follow. She sank into the corner of the couch much like she had the previous evening curling her legs up underneath her and propping her arm head up with her arm curled under her head. Roy sat on the opposite end feet up on the coffee table, arms crossed over his front. She took a drink before sighing and massaging her temple with her fingers of her spare hand.

"Nothing happened, especially. Nothing directly. A few weeks ago, I told Oliver about my Dad. It- It wasn't like telling you. Maybe because you're kind of in the same boat, I guess. Anyway. When I told him I thought it was in confidence. Turns out, he didn't really see what the big deal was."

"What do you mean?"

"He ended up telling Sara, somehow. I don't know how that could have come up in casual conversation, but I don't really want to think about that."

"So he told Sara about your father. After it took you a year to even bring up your family?"

"Mmmhmm," she hummed, drinking some more.

"I swear to God, I'm gonna kill him," Roy growled, balling his shaking hands up into fists.

"No, Roy." She sighed, putting her glass down on the coffee table and stretching her feet so they nudged his leg, "He's been a terrible friend lately, but he's blundering through this all in the dark; Sara, Slade, Mirakuru being back in play, he doesn't know how to juggle it all."

"I can't believe you're defending him, Felicity!"

"Roy, tonight I got off my chest some major issues that have been brimming for the last year. I really just want to forget about Oliver for a while. Just chill here, maybe watch a movie. It's Saturday tomorrow. How do you feel about sleeping in 'til lunch and then, I dunno. Oh! We could go mini golfing! There's that new place that's just opened and I have been dying to check it out and I really need a distraction from all this."

"This isn't over," he growled, even as he stretched forward with shaking hands and picked up the remote.

"No, it's not."

Felicity blinked expecting to be on the sofa still. Needless to say she was surprised when she realized that she wasn't in her lounge. In fact, she was lying in her bed, under her quilt, without her glasses on. Tapping her hand around on her bedside table until she found her lenses, and slid them on as she sat up and stretched. She was still in her leggings and hoodie that she'd got changed into before heading to the foundry the previous evening. A rustling noise from the direction of her kitchen drew her attention, but unlike the previous morning, she didn't freak out.

"Harper! I expect breakfast in bed!" She called jokingly even as she got up and padded down the hallway. When she got into the kitchen though, it wasn't Roy at her coffee pot.

"You know, if I was a normal girl finding two different men helping themselves to my kitchen two mornings running would be really concerning." She quipped as she reached passed her guest to get her favourite mug down from the cupboard and handed it to him.

"Well I'm here because the first man who helped himself to your kitchen called me. Said that he thought you could do with some 'Diggle Time' as he called it."

Felicity laughed and accepted the coffee from her friend as he handed it to her, taking a sip.

"Smart kid, that one."

"Debatable," Digg grinned, finishing off his own coffee.

"So, where is he?" She asked, glancing across the passage at the spare room. The door was open and the bed made, although rumpled and obviously slept in.

"He said he had some business to attend to. With him, that could mean a lot. I thought better than to pry." Digg said, refilling his mug with the last of the pot. "How's it going - babysitting him - anyway?"

"Honestly! I'm not babysitting! He's like having a kid brother around, or what I would expect from a kid brother, which I don't know anything about, obviously, because I never had a brother, kid or otherwise." She rolled her eyes as he grinned at her again.

"There she is," he smiled, gently bumping her chin with his knuckles. "Are we gonna talk about what happened last night?"

"No?" She tried, although she knew they would. If there was anyone she could open up to about this stuff, even more so than Oliver, especially more so than Oliver, it was Diggle.

"Let me rephrase that: I'm going to refill the pot, and then we are going to talk about what happened last night." Diggle said, giving her a look that let her know this wasn't up for discussion. She sighed, but nodded. Sitting at her breakfast bar and plucking an apple from the fruit bowl to munch on.

As promised, once the coffee pot was full, Digg joined her, sliding onto the stool next to her. The silence stretched between them until Diggle got sick of her shuffling and slurping and crunching, moving her (now empty) coffee mug out of reach, and looking at her with his 'Dad' face until she put down her apple core.

"You may have noticed that I don't talk about my family," she started, deliberately using the same words that she'd used to tell Oliver. Unlike Oliver though, he merely looked at her emphatically, waiting for her to continue. "My mother was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar – I did not mean to quote a song just then-"

"Felicity-"

"I'm sorry. Right. Mum was a waitress, and I can't remember what it was my Dad did, but I do remember he worked a lot. In saying that, he was available every night to read me a bedtime story. One morning when I was 4, I woke up to yelling and screaming. I remember rushing out of my room just to see my father opening the door with a suitcase in his hand and my mother sitting on the floor, crying her heart out." She felt a tear drip down her cheek, the salt stinging her sensitive skin. A hand entered her line of vision and stilled her fidgeting fingers where they were incessantly plucking one another. Her lips trembled as she gave him a little smile, trying to do something to reassure him that she was okay. "I remember he turned back, and saw me standing down the hall. He saw me, but he still chose to leave. And that's what hurts the most. He chose to leave me there."

"So that's what Sara meant by you not having a father. How did she know?" He asked, releasing her hands only to wipe away the tear.

"I don't know how Sara knew. Well, I mean, there is only one way that she would know, and it wasn't cos I told her."

"Oliver?" He asked. She didn't know if it was a good thing or not that his tone wasn't surprised or incredulous, just curious.

"I ended up telling Oliver when I told him about Thea and Malcolm Merlyn," she sighed shaking her head sadly. "To be fair, I didn't tell him not to tell anyone."

"That's beside the point, Felicity," Digg sighed, going and washing their coffee mugs and tipping the now cold coffee down the drain, "You told him something that was obviously very difficult and very personal. He of all people should understand what that takes. If you told him something in confidence it would only be fair for you to assume that he would keep that information to himself."

"I know," she sighed, moving into the lounge and flopping down onto the couch, Diggle coming and sitting in the one and only armchair a moment later.

"So that's what happened with Sara. Do you want to talk about what happened with Oliver after we left?"

"No. That... that stays between me and Oliver. I think he got the message this time." She said quietly, making syre to give Digg a reassuring smile. "We'll be okay." She added. As she spoke the words though, a thought came to her. She didn't know who the 'we' she spoke of was. Did she mean Team Arrow? Or her and Oliver?

"Do you have any plans for today?" Digg asked, effectively changing the topic and earning himself a grin.

"Well, before he disappeared, I suggested to Roy last night that we sleep til noon, which I almost managed, and then go mini golfing."

"Really? You want to the kid mini golfing?" He scoffed at her and she gave him a sly grin.

"Hey, we could use it as a new control exercise!" She said, bouncing in her seat. "Probably more fun than slapping water."

Digg looked at her contemplatively. "Actually, that might work in some skew way."

"So it's settled then," she smiled, jumping up and dashing to her room to retrieve her cell. "Let me just text him to ask if he's still cool with it." She said coming back into the lounge and managing to jump over the back of the sofa. (It was a manoeuvre that she had practised for years before she managed to do it without hurting herself, and now she did it out of habit, even though she had been lectured multiple times by both her mother and Digg about ruining the furniture.)

Hey Harper! We still on for mini? Digg is cool to join.

"Wait, you're coming too right?" She asked after sending the text.

"I suppose I can. If we're going to make it a family affair do you mind if I bring AJ? Give Carley a break?"

"Yes! I haven't seen AJ in forever, and Carley deserves some me time." She said just before her phone buzzed.

1 New Message. Roy: Diggle Time go well then? I didnt realize u were serious, bt I think I can deal.

I'm always serious about mini. We're gonna bring Digg's nephew too. You're good with kids, right?

1 New Message. Roy: Kids?

Felicity didn't bother replying, just let Digg know that they were on with a quick thumbs up seeing as he was on the phone, presumably with Carley. He gave her one back and she motioned down the corridor, indicating she was going to get dressed.

Feeling much better than when she got up that morning, she returned to her room once again. She took her time with her shower, washing her hair and taking the time to dry it and curl it a lot more than she normally did. Pulling on a pair of comfortable skinny jeans, she delved into the recesses of her wardrobe for a loose knit jumper that she'd bought months ago but never had the opportunity to wear. It was varying shades of blue in odd bands, bringing out her eyes, but most importantly it was snuggly and warm and perfect for the slight chill that was creeping in with the fall. She didn't bother with make up, just pulled on a pair of lace up ankle boots as she heard the front door open.

"Diggle."

"Roy."

She heard the two men greet each other in their usual terse manner, and she rolled her eyes before making her presence known.

"Pissing match over, we are having family time." She reminded them, standing with her hands on her hips and giving them her best 'Mum' look. A knock on the door saved either of them from replying.

"That'll be Carley," Digg said, but Felicity darted to the door before he could. She flung the door open and smiled at her friend before dropping to her knees so she was eye level with the little boy.

"And who is this handsome fella?" She cooed, putting her hands on her knees.

"It's me!" He cried indignantly crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, hi Me, I'm Felicity." She stuck her hand out for a handshake. He looked incredulously between the proffered hand and her face before giving a wide grin and rushing forward for a hug instead. She laughed and gave him a cuddle before standing up to greet Carley properly.

"Hi, how's things?"

"Things are good. Thanks for taking the little monster."

"Hey, no worries! I haven't seen the little man in aaaages!" She cried theatrically for AJ's benefit. Carley laughed and bent to kiss the top of her sons head where he was looking up between the two women.

"Now, you behave yourself, alright? And do everything Uncle John and Felicity say."

"Yes, Mum," He sighed in that exasperated child way, and making all the adults laugh.

"Go. Have fun," Digg said, moving Felicity out of the way so he could give his sister-in-law a kiss on the cheek. Even after their failed attempt at a relationship they were still good friends and family. It had taken a couple of weeks to get there, but they'd managed. For AJ.

"Behave!" Carley called back over her shoulder as she disappeared down the steps, and Felicity couldn't work out if she was talking to her son or to Diggle. When she said as much Digg gave her a playful push to the shoulder. Felicity followed as Digg ushered AJ into the room. When the young boy caught sight of the other man he stopped chatting suddenly and tucked himself into Digg's leg. Roy smiled uneasily and, after looking at Digg to check if it was cool, dropped to his knees like Felicity had at the door and stuck his hand out.

"Hey, little man. I'm Roy." When AJ shrunk further into Digg Roy looked desperately up ato Felicity, his eyes clearly questioning what he'd done wrong.

"He's okay, AJ," Felicity said, brushing her hand over his head as she passed to stand by Roy. "I know he's kinda scary, but he's, like, really strong. Probably stronger than your Uncle John!" She whispered conspiratorially.

"No one's stronger than Uncle John." AJ cried, finally moving out from behind his uncle.

"Wanna bet?" Felicity grinned. The two men clicked and started a friendly banter. Roy made a show of taking off his hoodie and stretching his neck and arms while Digg took off his leather jacket and sat on one side of her coffee table.

"I would like a coffee table at the end of this." She reminded giving Roy a significant look. He nodded before dropping to his knees on the other side of Digg, sticking his arm out poised for an arm wrestle. With AJ cheering Digg on Felicity watched in amusement as the two made a big deal of their battle. After 10 minutes she could see Digg getting sightly pissed at the cocky smirk on Roy's face and decided to call time, ending the wrestle with Roy allowing Digg to slam his hand down. AJ cheered and jumped on his uncle's back as he stood.

"Told you, Felicity!" AJ cheered. Keeping up the charade she made a big deal of shaking her head at Roy in mock disappointment.

"We ready to take this show on the road?" Digg asked from where he was now standing in the entryway with AJ still on his back.

"Yeah, just give me two seconds to grab my bag and a coat," she said, racing down to her room.

"I need to grab my jacket." She heard Roy say from down the hall. By the time she re-emerged the three boys were standing on the foot path at the bottom of the steps. She grinned at them before turning and locking the door, then bouncing down the steps to join them.

"So who's on my team at mini putt?" She asked taking the lead and sliding into the back seat of Digg's car.

"You play mini putt with teams?" Roy replied, taking the passenger seat. Once he'd got AJ in the back with Felicity Digg climbed into the front and started the car.

"I thought mini was a free for all."

"You three are just worried that I'm gonna miraculously make you suck, aren't you?" She said, raising a challenging eyebrow at each.

"I'll be on your team Felicity!" AJ said happily.

"My champion," she winked at him.

The rest of the day passed cheerfully. The radio in the car was loud and they all sang along, censoring where necessary for 'little ears'. Mini putt was surprisingly competitive. AJ and Felicity teamed up, but Roy and Diggle were determined to out do one another. Perhaps even more surprisingly though, Felicity ended up being the best, getting three holes-in-one. The two grown men sulked all the way to Big Belly afterwards while the little guy regaled them with some of Felicity's best shots. By the time they arrived at the diner they all ready for a decent meal.

"Uh oh, here's trouble," Carley called from where she was behind the counter. AJ rushed through the door ahead of the adults, running across the room and bouncing up onto one of the stools across from his mother. Felicity followed at a much more sedated pace, just catching the end of AJ's anecdote.

"- and me and Felicity beat them both!"

"Felicity and I," the two women corrected at the same time while the men just laughed.

"Whatever," AJ grumbled before starting on Digg and Roy's arm wrestle from earlier in the day. Digg disappeared behind the counter and helped himself to the coffee, pouring out four cups and handing them to each of the grown ups and handing a juice box to AJ.

"Do you want some food?" Carley asked, accepting her coffee.

"I'm dying for a Big Belly Buster." Felicity groaned, a hand over her stomach as it gave a particularly loud growl.

"Ya know, Flick, you keep eating junk food and you're not going to be able to fit into those skin tight dresses you wear for work," Roy grinned, tickling her side with one hand. She squealed and squirmed on her stool, nearly sliding off and knocking her coffee over in the process. AJ rescued her though, giving Roy a shove, to which the older guy stumbled back dramatically.

"It's not very nice to tease a girl about her weight, Roy," Carley reprimanded.

"Yeah! And it's not like you and Oliver and Sara don't keep me in shape," Felicity added. After her brain caught up with her mouth she flushed and closed her eyes. Roy and Digg choked on their coffees and Carley rolled her eyes.

"What's so funny?" AJ piped up, looking between all of them in confusion.

"Nothing, AJ," Felicity sighed, glaring at the two men until they got themselves under control.

Carley distracted everyone, and efficiently rescued Felicity from further tormenting from the guys, by asking for the rest of their orders. After she had returned the conversation moved onto AJ's school, and safer topics. When the food arrived they moved to one of the booths, Felicity and Roy on one side, AJ and Digg on the other, with Carley pulling up a chair to join them at the table. Felicity watched as Digg handed his nephew a napkin and tucked an extra to cover his shirt. It was a nice change to see this side of her friend. Sure, he was very protective of her, acting as an older brother, but 'Uncle John' was downright nurturing. She stayed quiet as they ate, content to let the others carry the conversation, only letting out one inappropriate noise when she first bit into her burger.

Dinner eaten, a quiet fell upon the group. AJ seemed to have fallen asleep, the excitement of the afternoon finally catching up with him. Carley stood and picked her son up, smiling at them before disappearing out back.

"Flick, I think I'm gonna head home tonight," Roy said quietly, fiddling with his milkshake glass.

"If you're sure," she sighed, squeezing his arm reassuringly.

"Yeah. Um, Sin text me earlier. She stopped by my place and said none of Thea's stuff was there, so I guess it's safe."

"Okay, but if you decide to change your mind for whatever reason, I'd be happy for you to just move your stuff into my spare room."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Digg said.

"What?" Roy asked, clearly confused.

Digg glanced in the direction that Carley had disappeared before turning back to them.

"No, it's a good idea. With Slade back Oliver's had me keeping watch over Felicity while he's been at the lair, but I still have to take shifts at the manor – I'm still employed as part of the Queen family security team. If you're at Felicity's you can stay with her and Thea will be back at the mansion so I can keep an eye on her then in a professional capacity so it's not suspicious."

"Can I think about it?" Roy asked, looking between two thirds of the original Team Arrow.

"Of course you can," Felicity smiled, pulling her phone out of her pocket and checking the time. "I might head home now though. I could do with catching up on some chores and things."

"Don't suppose you're heading in tonight, either of you?" Digg asked, giving both of them his best empathetic smile.

"I'm not," she said, nudging Roy to let her out.

"Not tonight, I'm gonna hang with Sin." Roy said as he stood. Felicity slid out of the booth and stood, collecting up her bag as she did. John stood too, sliding his leather jacket on.

"Just let me tell Carley we're heading out and then I'll drop you two home," he said, jogging out the back.

"Are you going to be going in at all?" Roy asked her as soon as Digg was out of sight?

"Hmm?" She hummed, feigning innocence.

"To the Foundry?" Roy cocked an eyebrow at her, giving her a look that let her know he knew she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Not for a few days," she sighed, giving him a little smile.

"How about this," he proposed, sliding his hands into the pockets of his hoodie and shrugging his shoulders, "I go back when you go back?"

"Sounds good," she smiled.

"You two ready?" Digg reappeared, keys in hand.

It had been a couple of hours since Digg had dropped her home. The clock on her Blu-ray player said that it was 9pm. So far she'd manage to do all of her laundry, straighten up the guest room after Roy's use, and do a full clean up of her kitchen and living room. A knock on the door surprised her from where she was curled up on the couch with her tablet. When's he got to the door she looked through the peep hole and saw just the person she had been waiting for. With a heavy sigh she opened the door.

"You know, Laurel once said that 'I Wasn't Trying To Be A Bitch' should be the title of my autobiography. I might just take her up on that." Sara sighed, proffering the bottle of wine in her hands to Felicity.

"I can see that," she replied, aware of the ice in her usually friendly tone. Regardless, she knew that they had to have this conversation so she stepped aside, accepting the bottle as she let Sara in.

"I'm not good at this stuff, but I figured wine would be a good start?" It came across as a question, which made Felicity smile.

"Frankly, I've never really had a girl-friend where this conversation was necessary, so I guess we'll blunder through together." She led the way through the lounge into her kitchen, opening the bottle and leaving it on the table to breathe while she retrieved down two of the wine glasses that weren't used enough. When she returned to the table she saw that Sara had taken a seat in the same seat Roy had for the previous few mealtimes.

"Ollie said that Roy was staying here?" Sara asked, casting an eye about the obviously Roy free house.

"Yeah, he's staying in my guest room until Thea's cleared her stuff out. Well, until he wants to go home, actually; it's an open invitation." She poured out a considerable helping of wine into each glass and clinked hers gently against Sara's before taking a fortifying sip.

"I don't even know where to start," Sara sighed, putting her own glass down without taking a drink. "I've done so much in my life that I need to apologise for, but this is in a whole new playing field."

"I'm not interested in apologies for what you've done in the past, for the League or any of that, Sara," she sighed, fiddling with the stem of her glass, "I just- What you said? It hurt. A lot, I'm not gonna lie."

"So let's start there," Sara said, finally took a sip of her wine and gave a little smile of appreciation afterwards. The smile left her face quickly though as she became serious. "What I said, I didn't say it to be spiteful. I didn't know that it wasn't common knowledge – not that that excuses it, it doesn't. When– When Oliver told me- I don't want you to think that we were talking about you behind your back or anything like that, okay? We weren't. It was just... he'd been really quiet, more quiet than usual, and I asked him what was on his mind. I don't think he meant to tell me anything, but I kind of pushed him. He told me about Moira and Merlyn, and consequently Thea. I asked him how he found out, but it kind of clicked before he answered; how distant you'd been, especially with him, his terrible introduction of his mother at the rally. I told him that I worked it out, that it was you who'd found out and told him, and then I asked how you found out. He didn't really give me an answer, just said that there was a connection to some work you'd done for Walter at some point. But, me being me and not really knowing when to back down, I asked why Thea being Merlyn's daughter upset you so much. He said something came up about your family, I made some crass joke about the possibility of you being Robert's daughter and then he got all sullen in that way he does and growled 'for all we know she could be', which of course sparked more questions."

Felicity remained silent through the whole explanation, just occasionally sipping her wine. It made sense. Horrible sense, but sense nonetheless. Of course Oliver hadn't just gone and told Sara outright. Of course they hadn't been gossiping behind her back. Didn't make it hurt any less.

"Okay." She said, finishing the last of her wine.

"Okay?" Sara's tone was slightly incredulous.

"Okay. I can't- I won't forgive you just yet," she said, standing and taking her glass to the sink, rinsing it out and putting it on the side, taking a moment to just try and process.

"Yet?"

"Sara, you're a part of our team, a big part of it. And you're important to Oliver, obviously. I won't be the one to put anyone in an awkward position, but you have to know, I can't just put it all behind me as though nothing happened."

"I understand," Sara said standing up as well and pushing her chair in, "I know it's going to be a while, but I promise you, I will try to make it up to you."

"I know," Felicity gave her a genuine smile, the first of that evening, "And I look forward to it."

"Can I- Can I give you a hug?" Sara asked, sounding like the young woman who had left on the Gambit for the first time around Felicity, "It's just, before I left, if I ever had a fight with anyone, family, friend, we always made up with a hug. So is it okay if I hug you?" Felicity took a moment, trying to reconcile the ruthless assassin she knew with the young woman before her. After a moment of her silence had stretched for what was obviously too long, Sara nodded and swallowed audibly. "I understand."

"Oh, come here," Felicity sighed, opening her arms. Sara only hesitated for a moment before crossing the space between them and wrapping her own arms around her in a steel trap. The two stood like that for a while, just taking comfort in the friendly gesture. Eventually though they pulled apart.

"You know, I might just make this a new rule for the lair," Felicity smiled.

"What rule?"

"That everyone hugs when we make up."

Sara laughed, the sound surprising Felicity. She'd heard the other woman expel a breathe of laughter before, but this was a full blown laugh, and Felicity couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her face.

"I'd pay to see that. Can you just picture it? Ollie and Digg hugging after a fight? They're more likely just to deck each other and take a shot of vodka each."

"Well, that's basically what they do now, so I think hugging would still be a better idea." Felicity grinned, glad that they had at least come to some sort of understanding. As they quieted back down, Sara moved back around to the table to pick her jacket up from where she'd draped it over the back of her chair, pulling it on.

"So where does that leave us?" She asked, smiling back over at her.

"This leaves us almost back at square one. Maybe square two."

"Square two. I can do that." Sara smiled as she walked through the lounge to the door, Felicity trailing after her. As Sara left, Felicity held the door, getting ready to close it when Sara spoke again.

"Outta curiosity, what square were we on before I fucked it up?"

"Guess we'll find out." She smiled one last time before closing the door.