Dear Readers,

I still get asked if this story has an Olicity endgame. The answer hasn't changed: ABSOLUTELY YES. However, I aim for a measure of realism. Oliver just got out of a relationship with Sara and quite frankly, he's not ready yet. However, he's coming to realise what Felicity means to him and he's starting to question those feelings. YAY. He's heading in the right direction. Felicity for her part is finally having some fun and developing a life outside of Team Arrow. That, to me, is HUGE for her. I don't for one second believe that she shouldn't have a life because she's keeping Oliver's secrets safe. Quite frankly, it hasn't stopped him.

Like I mentioned before, I love Adam and I'm exploring how his feelings about the vigilante affects Felicity's own beliefs and creates some inner conflict for her. We're getting there, guys, hang on. :)

Thank you for reading and reviewing.

LadyG

Over the course of the next few weeks' Oliver's life followed a more orderly routine. Gone were the complications brought on by meaningless relationships and in its stead was the time to focus on getting up to speed with what was happening at Queen Consolidated by day, and cleaning the streets of Starling City by night. The change of focus was good for him and the sense of accomplishment he derived from being as productive as possible was true motivation to keep going on all fronts.

He and Felicity had settled into a comfortable camaraderie again. If anything, he was more attracted to her than ever and often found himself wondering what might have happened if he hadn't been such a blind fool. Then he reminded himself that he hadn't been in the right space to be the kind of man that she deserved, he still wasn't. But at least he was able to acknowledge where he'd gone wrong and attempt to take the necessary steps to repair the damage. He would never have forgiven himself if he'd taken advantage of her feelings for him only to break her heart down the line. There would have been no coming back from that. He'd have lost her completely and deservedly so. The reality was that that's the kind of guy he used to be and he honestly no longer cared for that version of himself.

If Felicity still harbored any residual feelings for him, then she hid it well, because he certainly detected nothing. He still found it difficult to see her so happy with another man, but he was grateful for the hard lessons he'd come to learn as a result of it. Taking her for granted had cost him more than he'd initially realized. It had driven her away, into the arms of a more deserving man, and it had fundamentally changed something between them. He didn't doubt her loyalty, not for a second, but he also realized that he was no longer her first and only priority. She was as dedicated to her work at QC and to the Arrow as ever before, but she now had a life of her own that was completely separate from him and the team. In his weaker moments, he admitted that it stung and that he had only himself to blame.

Sitting at his desk at QC, Oliver was perusing the latest stock reports when Felicity breezed in. "I have some good news," she said, her eyes alight with excitement.

He sat back and smiled faintly, convinced it was something to do with some or other program or gadget she was working on. "I'm all ears."

She walked deeper into the room, the heels of her black stilettos tapping on the floor. "You know how I couldn't figure out where Dream Dynamics were siphoning funds to?" She didn't wait for his response before continuing, "Well, this new program I've developed is able to track and trace all-" At his arched eyebrows, she comically rolled her eyes and waved her hands in front of her face dismissively. "English. Right. Basically, I've found it. It all ties back to Harvey Davis and the shell corporations he's set up in the Glades that's conning people out of their life savings. We got him."

Oliver stood and walked around the table toward her, buttoning his suit jacket out of habit. "No, you got him."

She preened a little, pleased at his praise. "Well, you know, I kinda did."

"So, guess where I'll be tonight?"

She snapped her fingers. "Hauling ass on behalf of the SCPD?"

He laughed at her choice of words. "Something like that." He touched her arm lightly and then thought better of prolonging the contact. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he looked at her admiringly. "Good work, Felicity."

Twisting her hands together self-consciously, shrugged. "Thanks, but the job's not completely done yet. Once he's safely in police custody and all the information I've found out about him handed over, then we can all breathe a sigh of relief. One more baddie out of the Glades."

He wondered if she was seeing Donner. "You don't have to stay tonight if you have other plans."

"Oh no, I want to be there. I mean, we started this together. It's fitting that we end it together too." Their eyes met and Oliver's heart thumped a little faster. "Besides, who's going to make sure you get back safely?" she teased.

"Diggle?" he asked, in jest.

"Sure," she said making as though she was seriously considering it, "you could do that. But it would mean leaving him behind when you might need backup. You do know that Roy's not quite ready for nighttime adventures that require a measure of discretion? Now if you're looking for absolute destruction, then he's your guy."

'Well-"

She put a hand up. "And before you mention Sara, you know she's out of town visiting her mom." Biting her lip, she appeared to be contemplating something. "Oliver, I appreciate you acknowledging that I have a life outside of work, but being involved in our covert operations is still as important to me as ever."

Hearing her say it meant everything to him. "What would I do without you?" Realising how possessive that sounded, he amended, "I meant, what would we do without you?"

Grinning, she folded her arms across her purple sweater. "Believe it or not, that's a question I ask myself all the time."

So did he actually. He dreaded the day when she might ask him to walk away because living a double life had eventually taken its toll. He knew that better than anyone. Felicity wasn't built for lies and deception, especially not with people she genuinely cared about. Would the day come when Adam meant more to her than the team?

"Then I look forward to having you in my ear." His lips twitched.

Her cheeks went red as she remembered the occasion she'd said those words to him. She touched her forehead, cringing. "I thought we agreed never to talk about that again?"

Oliver frowned, feigning confusion. "I don't recall actually agreeing to anything."

She glared at him, but he could tell she wasn't serious. "That's why it was called tacit."

"Sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," he deadpanned.

He noticed that she was trying hard not to laugh. "Fine. I'll remember this," she warned, turning and marching in the direction of her workstation, "and so should you."

"Is that a challenge?" he called after her.

The smirk she sent his way he interpreted at an affirmative. Sitting back down and feeling lighter than he had in a while, Oliver glanced up and noticed the smile on Felicity's face. It felt good to know that for the first time in a long time, he was solely responsible for it.

The following evening Felicity had finished sharing a pizza with Adam in front of the fire when he ended a call with an associate.

"Everything okay?"

He sighed and made himself more comfortable on the couch. They were laying together, her head on his chest, her hand splayed across his heart. For the past few minutes she'd been mewling like a kitten as he gently massaged her scalp. She lifted her head to see him run a weary hand over his face and she felt sympathy rushing to the fore. He'd been working really long days over the past week. "My work load has just tripled." At her inquiring look, he explained, "I'm on the Davis case. This means another few months of hard slogging so I'll be ready for the trial."

Her pulse hopped. The previous night Oliver had delivered a bound Davis into the hands of Quentin Lance, along with all of Felicity's intel. The fraudster was looking at a long time behind bars. She placed her head back on his chest. "Surely the case is cut and dried?"

She felt him shaking his head. "Not necessarily. I'll need to go over all the details with a fine tooth comb. All it takes is one small misstep and he'll walk."

Felicity was pretty sure that she'd been thorough, but she couldn't tell him that. "He's been on your radar for a long time?"

Adam resumed running a hand absently through her hair. "Yes, I sort of inherited him from the previous DA. I guess the vigilante strikes it lucky again." His words didn't sound complimentary.

Knowing that she was treading on dangerous territory, Felicity decided to proceed with caution. "You really don't like him, do you?" Wanting to see him she propped her chin on her hand and regarded him thoughtfully.

"It's not that I don't like him; it's not personal, Felicity. I just can't support someone who represents everything I work against."

"But he has done good things for this City," she argued. "Things that the Police haven't been able to. He's helped improve the lives of so many people."

He placed his arm behind his head so he could see her better. "Yes he has. I can't deny that he's made a big difference both here and in the Glades. But at what cost, Felicity?"

A little frustrated that he wasn't seeing her point, she sat up. "Come on, Adam. Replacing a street lamp here and there or having to rebuild a wall can hardly be weighed against that of saving a life?"

Following her up, he continued, his tone not at all argumentative, "I'm not referring to the monetary implications, I'm talking about the human side of this. These days he seems less inclined to kill, but that wasn't always the case. Why the change? I don't know. Might he ever regress? I don't know either. My point is, what if some other people get it into their heads that vigilante justice is acceptable? What if they start picking off their neighbours over a perceived wrong? What's good for one man should be good for all, right? Wrong. With everyone running around doing their own thing there'd be chaos. That's why we have a legal system that aims as protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty. If that system falls apart because we allow one or two or three men to live above the rules that applies to everyone else, can you begin to imagine the fallout?"

Taking her cue from him, Felicity calmed down. She wasn't supposed to come across as emotionally invested. "Whatever his reasons, he seems to have turned a new leaf and I-I don't know why, but I don't think he'd go back to killing people indiscriminately. You have to admit, he knows what he's doing and it's a benefit to us all. Honestly, would you have been able to prosecute Perez and probably Davis and countless others without him?"

Adam leaned forward and stoked the fire before replacing the poker in its stand. Once more the room was bathed in a warm orange and yellow glow. "Maybe not. I can't answer that. All I know is that I've worked tirelessly to get those men and so many others caught the right way. Do you know how many times I've seen guys like them walk because of a technicality? Because the arresting officer wasn't following protocol or the chain of evidence was contaminated? Those were professional people who should have known better. What happens when it's a man who answers to no higher power, who's exempt from the consequences that you and I would face in a similar situation? It may take me twice as long to catch them, Felicity, but at least I'd know that when I walk into that courtroom, there are no surprises waiting for me." He spoke passionately, his voice ringing with conviction. "So I guess I do have an answer to your question: Yes, he's made my life easier by dropping these guys on my doorstep but he's also made it ten times harder to prosecute them because the guy who caught them can never be called to testify. And even if he did, would anyone actually believe a murderer masquerading behind a veil of anonymity?"

Felicity sat in stunned silence. Murderer. The word reverberated through her brain like a bullet ricocheting off a wall. She believed in Oliver and his cause. In the depths of her soul, she'd never doubted that his intentions, though not always executed in the best ways, were good. She knew his reasons for being the vigilante and she understood his desire to improve the lives of the people in the City they both love. But wasn't calling him a murderer harsh? "I never thought of it like that," she admitted.

He reached for her hand and kissed her palm softly. "Whoever he is, he saved my life once and I'm grateful, so I guess I owe him one. I like to think that I'm repaying that debt by not chasing after him."

She smiled weakly. "Why aren't you?"

"I don't take what he did for me lightly. He could have left me to die and no one would have been any wiser. But he didn't. Despite how I may feel about the way he goes about doing things, I won't ever forget that. So as long as he stays out of my way, he has nothing to fear from me."

"You're a good man, Adam Donner," she said, moving towards him and cuddling against his side. When his arms wrapped around her, she closed her eyes feeling more conflicted than she ever had before. For the first time, she also understood why Adam loved the law and why he believed that if he stayed on the right side of it, he could be as effective as any vigilante. Perhaps he wouldn't be as swift, but at least he'd close his eyes at night knowing that his conscience was clear – a thing she knew Oliver still had trouble mastering despite his absolute conviction in his cause. The feeling she'd had a while ago that a big decision was imminent rose up within her again causing a moment of panic. Would she ever have to choose between Adam and Team Arrow? And if she did, what would her choice be? Either way, she couldn't shake the belief that should it ever come to that, no matter what she chose, her heart would break regardless.