Oliver Queen had been looking for Felicity for two days straight, and there was absolutely no word from her or her captor. Oliver kept those simple notes close to him for the fact that those were the only pieces of contact from her abductor to him. He was irritated, and on edge every day, and every night.
He wouldn't dare sleeping, not that he could sleep with her missing. He was beside himself with grief and on the verge of having a mental breakdown. His body was drained, and you could tell by the look of his face.
His eyelids were half open, large bags had formed under his eyes. He looked worse now than he ever did on the island.
Diggle tried telling him countless times to rest his mind, his body because he wasn't going to be in a well enough state to look for her. He wasn't doing her any favours by being in this type of shape.
"Diggle please, you know I just can't sleep she's been gone for days, and we've accomplished absolutely nothing. I have failed her." He said holding his head in his hands. Gripping his own hair to the point of almost tearing it out.
The Foundry looked lived in by a bunch of rowdy college students. Oliver had become so enraged he knocked over tables, and his bows went flying everywhere on the ground. Diggle would have never believed this would happen.
Everything was a mess without Felicity there to guide them in missions to help and save Starling City. The crime rate shot up again as Oliver didn't feel up to par to go out and save other people while Felicity was in peril.
Out of no where the door at the top of the stairs opened and Oliver couldn't believe his eyes.
Felicity came down the stairs dressed in her skirt, and her blouse. Her hair was neatly done in her trademark ponytail. Her glasses were on and she looked refreshed. This was completely unusual, and Oliver was deeply worried.
"Felicity! What happened?" Oliver ran to her, and Felicity stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He was looking all over her face, and her body.
"Oliver I'm fine. Calm down, please you're doing your blood pressure no good when you panic like this. I'm right here. I'm okay." She said while grabbing his arms trying to still them from trying to check every inch of her body for wounds.
"Where the hell were you? Who took you Felicity?"
How the heck does she answer him? She couldn't come up with anything that sounded plausible so Slade told her to tell Oliver the truth.
"Oliver, Slade is back." She told him, and his eyes went wide.
"He's the one who had you? What did he do to you Felicity? Did he hurt you?" Oliver asked her in the best way he could by trying not to yell at her.
"He didn't hurt me Oliver. He was kind to me.." She told him, and Oliver was shocked beyond belief.
"Felicity! He was injected with the Mirakuru. He could've ended your life if he wanted to. Why are you saying these things?" Oliver asked her trying to get a sense of where she was coming from.
"Look Oliver, he told me what happened on the island with Shado, and to tell you the truth it was horrible to hear all those things but, that's in the past now. We can't do anything to change any of that. Just be happy that you're alive." Felicity told him, and he couldn't believe what he was listening to.
"You mean to tell me you don't have a worry about any of that?" Oliver asked her.
"No. I make my own decisions about things, and I choose to believe that there's a little bit of good in everyone. People make mistakes. We can't dwell on things. It leads us no where." Felicity told him in the most sincere way. She needed to butter him up for the next part.
"I can't do this anymore Oliver. I will work at Queen Consolidated, but I have to step back on the Arrow business. I just feel very drained from all of this." She said in an even tone trying to swallow down her nerves. She had to go to Slade. There is no other choice to make.
"Felicity why now?" Oliver asked in a low voice his eyes focused intently on her. Trying to scope out any clue about what was happening to him, to his world.
"It's just something I have to do for myself. I need time, Oliver. You have your hands full. I need to find my family. I need to reconnect with them. It's time for me to close that door of uncertainty. I need to know where they are." Felicity told him that part, but she won't tell him who will be helping her in that search.
"There's nothing I can say or do that will make you stay is there?" Oliver's pleading tone was breaking her heart, but she had to hold her ground.
"I can't promise anything Oliver. It's not in the cards right now for me to be here." Felicity told him as she began to gather up the few things she had left here in the lair.
"I'm sorry for making you worry. I know I should've called. I just needed some time to think about everything that happened. Just to let you know Slade is gone. He was only here to get a sense of things. He sees that you're doing a good job protecting the city. He left knowing it was in good hands." Felicity told Oliver a half truth.
"I can't say that I like this Felicity. Not one bit. But, I understand your need to find your family. If you don't want my help, or Diggle's I can't force it." Oliver said to her while standing up and walking towards her.
He touched her shoulder with his hand, and she visibly relaxed into that feeling of comfort he had always given her.
"I need to go. I will see you at QC on Monday." Felicity said as she gave Oliver a hug goodbye. Oliver held her tight to his body as if this was the last time he would get to hold her.
"That was very good Felicity. Now it's time to get to business." Slade said into Felicity's ear piece as she made it to her vehicle to head back to her apartment.
"I need to see you." Felicity said to him. She had started to grow an interest in this man. Granted she knew he was dangerous, and she should stay away from him, but she had never had someone in her life like him. She wanted to see if she could get under his skin.
She wanted to see if she can make all of this stop. To get him to own up to his faults. She knows Oliver has made mistakes but, by the sounds of Slade's story so has he.
"You can come to this address. I can't very well be seen outside. I need to stay hidden Felicity." Slade made sure to stay covert because he didn't want anyone to know he was still in town.
Felicity drove to the location, and he told her the code to enter inside the facility over the ear piece. She entered in the code and opened the door to the old secluded building.
She had to summon the courage to face him again. She wasn't scared of him because she saw something inside of him that switched on when he was talking to her. Almost as if he was entranced by her.
"Thank you for coming back so soon. I can tell that you're going to work well with me Felicity. How did your talk with Oliver go?" Slade was sitting on a abandoned desk that still looked in good condition.
"It went as well as it could go. I got him to calm down, and I told him that you were back but that you left. I don't think he suspects anything. I told him about how I needed time to myself to find my family. Hopefully that occupies him. Felicity said to him as she walked closer to him.
She was looking into Slade's eye. He never told her what happened to his right eye. He only told her what happened with Shado. She wasn't about to ask now and make him angry. She just wanted to know about him.
"I want to know your story. I was hoping we can go somewhere else. This just isn't comfortable enough. If you don't mind." She asked him. She knew he was a lot older than her. But, that's not going to stop her from learning all she can about his life.
"Well Felicity. You're just in luck. I think I know where we can go to talk about ourselves." Slade stood away from the desk and came towards the little space she left between them. He let her take his arm and they left the facility to go to Slade's headquarters.