It was well passed noon when Felicity finally woke up, she groaned and stretched whilst she sat up in bed. After last night she fully expected to feel like crap but right now; she felt fine, still not 100% but much better.
She got out of bed and went to the kitchen after last night better not eat too much she thought and put some bread in the toaster just toast and then I'll go see the team Felicity decided with a small smile.

After breakfast Felicity had a shower and washed all the dried sweat from last night off her body, she concluded that it was just food poisoning and would throw out the rest of the soup.
Dragging a brush through her wet hair Felicity dressed herself back into her comfy clothes and went to find her phone in her bag – there were three miss calls and 2 messages Oliver she couldn't help but smile and feel her face flush.

Just as she was about to message Oliver she turned and nearly dropped her phone "Oliver?!" Felicity jumped and clutched her chest "I was just about to…I got all your calls…I" why is Oliver in his Arrow gear? "Oliver! It's the middle of the day!" she gestured to Oliver's attire

"I was worried about you" the voice modulator made his voice deep and smooth, making Felicity go weak at the knees, Oliver stepped closer to her, placing his bow on her lounge

"It was just food poisoning, I'm fine now" Felicity assured him "what's wrong? Why are you in your suit, are you following a lead? Do you need my help?" Felicity quickly found her tablet and turned it on asking for names, dates, anything that Oliver might already have

Oliver silently shook his head and took her tablet from her hands, placing it back on her lounge "Felicity" that one word, her name, sounded like beautiful music out of his mouth

"What do you need?" Felicity seemed confused

"I need you to be safe, you're not safe right now"

"What are you talking about?"

"I said that I could protect you and I meant it. I can keep you safe, you're important to me and the team" his voice, if it were possible, became softer as he invaded her personal space and cupped his hand to her cheek, staring deep into her eyes "trust me to keep you safe"

"I do" she wasn't sure if what she said could be audible as Oliver went one step further and gently hovered his lips over hers seemingly asking for permission "Oliver…" the rest of whatever she said was lost as lips met lips.

Felicity had dreamed of this moment but now that it was finally here, she had no idea what to do. Thankfully, Oliver took the lead and deepened the kiss, bringing his hand to that sensitive spot behind her ear and rubbing it in feather light touches enticing a small whimper out of her. Oliver smiled against her lips.

Finally, Felicity's mind started working, reluctantly, she broke the kiss and stepped back "What are you doing?!" her voice wavered a little

Oliver stared back at her

"Oliver what are you doing?" shock fuelling her ability to speak now "Wh-why did you come here?"

"I need to keep you safe"

"What about Sara?" the mention of Sara seemed to dumbfound Oliver so Felicity went on "you're with her Oliver! Sara! Not me! And last time I checked: my hair isn't naturally blonde, I don't have a sister and my last name isn't LANCE!" Felicity was angry, she came forward and poked his chest "I am not that kind of girl Oliver!"

"I'm…I"

"WHAT OLIVER? You're what? Only trying to protect me? Well I have the rest of the team too, they can protect me…from getting hurt" she turned away, feeling tears in her eyes "I think you should go" she didn't stop them as they fell one after the other wetting her face with all the sadness and confusion of what had happened.

Oliver still hadn't left, he stood there behind her and watched her cry, Felicity grew tired of being near him and asked him to leave once again. Not hearing receding footsteps, Felicity turned sharply and used all the emotion she was feeling to scream at him "I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU ANYMORE!" Felicity was shouting into open air. She was alone.

Oliver wasn't there; his bow was gone from her lounge. It was like he was never there.

Sara and Diggle drove over to Felicity's house that afternoon, both worried about their IT Girl. They reached her house in record time, Diggle not exactly obeying the speed limits, and approached the front door. They knocked and waited for Felicity to answer.

Diggle gave Felicity a warm smile when she came and answered the door "Hey Felicity, are you feeling any better?"

Felicity stepped aside to let them in, not really giving Sara eye contact, "Much better, thanks guys. Can I get you something to eat? Drink?"

"No thanks Felicity, we just wanted to see how you were doing. Oliver was worried about you after yesterday" Sara explained and it didn't escape her attention that Felicity seemed to flinch ever so slightly at the mention of Oliver "are you sure you're OK?"

"I'm fine" Felicity said a little too seriously "You didn't need to come, Oliver came and checked up on me earlier today" she wouldn't look at either one of them now, like she was embarrassed

"He did?" Diggle questioned "he told us he would be at the office all day today?"

"Well he made time to come and see me!" Felicity snapped rudely "I was fine then and I'm fine now!"

Sara didn't believe her for a second "You don't seem fine. Why don't you tell us what happened?"

Seeing as they weren't going to give up, Felicity took a deep breath and explained that Oliver had come to her earlier that day, all dressed in his Arrow gear and told her that he would keep her safe.

"It was the middle of the day and he was dressed as The Arrow? That doesn't sound like Oliver" Sara thought out loud looking at Diggle

Felicity could see the silent conversation going on between them, the looks of confusion mixed with concern and she could see that they knew she was holding something back. Felicity had left out the part where Oliver kissed her. They urged her to come to the Foundry and tell Oliver, despite Felicity's protects and the fact that Oliver already knew in her mind.

"Please Felicity, just come with us and we can all talk about this together" Diggle smiled and held Felicity by the arm, not exactly giving her a choice but letting her know that they were there for her.

Felicity gave in and allowed them to usher her into the car and together they all arrived at the Foundry, Felicity's mouth went dry at the thought of seeing Oliver so soon after their…meeting? But with Diggle and Sara and Roy there with her it seemed easy enough to be in the same room with him.

Oliver let go a sigh of relief at seeing Felicity walk into the Foundry and went over to meet her, she smiled but didn't return his greeting "how is she?" he asked Sara and Diggle as they entered "do you know what's wrong?"

"I think you had better hear it from her, man" Diggle said gently gesturing to Felicity who had taken her place at her computers but wasn't facing them, she sat with her hands in her lap and her head looking down.

Oliver slowly walked over the Felicity "Hey, what's up? How's my favourite IT Girl?" he tried to lighten the mood

"Sara and John think it's a good idea that I talk to you" Felicity's voice was soft and hesitant "about my day today"

"I hope you got a lot of rest after yesterday"

"Oh I did. You made sure of that" Felicity said pointedly

Oliver was confused and looked at Sara and Digg for confirmation, when they did nothing but gestured for Felicity to continue Oliver waited for the explanation

"You came to my house, Oliver. Dressed as The Arrow, at first I thought you were on a mission but that couldn't be right since you never go out Arrowing in the middle of the day because that would be crazy!" Felicity saw how confused Oliver was why does he not remember? And went on "you said you needed to keep me safe and that you asked me to trust you"

All of this was news to Oliver's ears but nothing prepared him for the highlight:

"Oliver…you…you kissed me" Felicity could feel tears in her eyes and suddenly felt very embarrassed with Oliver looking at her, she avoided his eyes

"Felicity…I…we…." Oliver was at a loss for words and tried to keep his voice as normal as possible "Felicity, I never came to your house today and I…I never kissed you"

"You're saying I'm lying? That I made it up because it felt pretty real at the time!"

"No, I'm not saying that you made it up, I am not saying that but we need to talk about this and what's been happening lately" Oliver said comfortingly "starting with that medical journal you were reading, you don't need to tell me everything but we all need to understand"

Felicity looked around at Oliver, Diggle and Sara and sort of half smiled. They were her team, her friends and her family, she could tell them anything and right now was the time to let them in.
She launched into what had been going on, talking about the day her mother was diagnosed, her father working hard to save her and then disappearing out of their lives. Felicity was seated in her computer chair and, sometime during her story, Oliver placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and watched her intently.

"I read the medical journals once a month in case my dad's name comes up or anything about my mother's illness, that's when you caught me looking at one Oliver. I didn't tell you because I didn't think you needed to know. I'm sorry"

"It's OK Felicity, we're here now" Oliver promised "now…about the dog and spiders and…me in your house"

"They didn't happen? We never kissed?" Felicity couldn't hide the relief mixed with sadness at the realization "not that it was a bad kiss or anything it was actually pretty good but you were with Sara and I just didn't want you two-timing again and – I'll shut up now" Felicity blushed after her rant and saw Oliver shake his head and smile softly too

"We need to work out how and why Felicity is having these hallucinations, you don't think it's your mothers illness?" he asked

"No, all I have are the hallucinations and my diet is pretty good, considering the amount of Big Belly Burger we all eat at night. It couldn't be that but I'll make an appointment with my GP for as soon as possible" Felicity nodded and then thought about going back to her house alone "what if it happens again? The hallucinations?"

"I could stay with her, Oliver" Sara volunteered "I'll look after her and let you know if she is having another hallucination"

"Good, it's settled then. Once we know more we can figure out what our next step will be" Diggle felt better now that things were getting underway "Sara, did you want to go pick up a few things from Oliver's before heading over to Felicity's?"

"Yeah, let's go"

Sara, Felicity and Diggle got into Diggle's car and drove around to the Queen Mansion, they were silent on the ride there and still silent on the way to Felicity's house. Sara was content to leave Felicity to her own thoughts, not wanting to pry, and knew that Felicity would come to her if she wanted to talk.

A/N: YAY AN OLICITY KISS! Even if it was all in Felicity's mind, I still had a LOT of fun writing it. I did intend for it to be a little bit longer but might save that sort of kiss for later (might be real or it still might be in her head WHO KNOWS?)

A/N2: I know this ended on a rather…dull note but I didn't want to end it on just the kiss. Oliver and the rest of Team Arrow needed to know.

A/N3: If it wasn't clear to some: all the food in Felicity's kitchen was laced with the same drugs that are giving her hallucinations.

Read and Review! Suggestions are welcome and feedback is appreciated

xxx