Author's Note: I know, I know it's been too long since I've updated. I am sorry about that but I did lose the drive all my stories were on so I've basically had to start from scratch on all of them. Anyway, this update is shorter than I wanted but I've learned not to question the muse so there ya go. The title for the chapter comes from the song "Keep Breathing" by Ingrid Michaelson. Any Grey's Anatomy fan should recognize it but if you don't, check it out it's a great song. So, let me know what you think and have a great week! (As much as we can anyway during hiatus time).

Chapter Four: All We Can Do Is Keep Breathing

Donna Smoak fidgeted in the uncomfortable, plastic hospital chair. It had been hours since she'd gotten an update – even longer since she'd been able to properly breathe without the stinging pain in her heart.

Nobody would tell her anything – nobody would tell her what happened. Nobody would explain why her baby girl and new grand baby were still being worked on when the delivery was over hours ago.

She'd fainted when the doctor first told her. A fine looking older man in scrubs approached her – Felicity was in the ICU and her new grandson in the NICU – something about Felicity losing too much blood and the baby inhaling fluid from the womb. Donna had watched enough doctor shows to know that none of those letters meant anything good . . . the last thing she remembered before she hit the floor was the doctor asking her if she was okay. Five hours later, she was over her momentary panic attack but still freaking out. And, she still didn't know how Felicity and the baby were.

Why wouldn't anyone tell her anything?

She was terrified – Felicity and this new little baby were her world. They were all she had left and if she lost the two of them . . .

If she could just get an update . . .

She looked up through the tears in her eyes – the nice looking doctor was walking toward her.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

Of the many, many people who attended Moira Queen's grand funeral, few truly knew who she really was at all. Most only knew her as the woman who'd aided in the total destruction of the Glades and got off with barely a wrist slap. Others as the woman who ran for mayor before her condition forced her to withdraw. It was only Oliver and Thea who knew her as a mother – the woman who raised them and watched out for them.

And now she was gone.

What came next, Oliver truly didn't know. Despite her mistakes, she'd still been his mother. And Thea . . . she was so young. How could he possibly help her through this when he himself didn't have any clue what he was doing?

Luckily things had been quiet for the Arrow and his team. They were still looking into Palmer Tech – though Oliver had yet to tell his partners of his discovery of the widowed Mrs. Palmer. Truthfully, he didn't know what he was going to do about that yet either.

For some unexplained reason, he was sure of her innocence – but how to explain that to Diggle and the others? His connection to her – to Felicity – had been instant the first time he'd seen her in the cafeteria months ago. They had yet to officially meet but she continued to consume his every thought . . . even distracting him from the grief of his mother's passing. Of all the things that he already felt for her, the drive to protect her and her newborn child was by far the strongest.

He'd continued to watch over her during last few days since he'd seen her in the hospital. He'd found out that both her and her baby were in critical condition – in fact, she was in a coma and had yet to awaken. A woman he'd learned was her mother was a constant presence, wandering back and forth between her daughter and grandson. He found he envied her and her right to spend time at Felicity's bedside. He wanted to be there for her and hold her hand, even be there to comfort her when she awoke . . . but that wasn't his place.

For now, he'd bide his time in the shadows, protecting her from afar. So far, there hadn't been any sign of a threat to her or the baby. Not even the presence of anyone from her husband's company or the police. Didn't Lance say she'd be a target? No, of course she was – she was the sole inheritor of a multi-billion-dollar company that served as a front for all sorts of criminal activity.

Soon someone would come after her, the baby, or her mother and the Arrow would be there to stop them.

"Hey Oliver, you okay?"

He blinked, looking up. Out of his thoughts, he was back in the lair. The arrowhead he'd been sharpening fell to the table. His grip was tight on the knife in his hand, the muscles in his arm and shoulder straining. Roy stood a few feet away, obviously wary and not interested in moving any closer. Oliver swallowed, letting the knife drop to the table. He blinked again. "I'm fine."

"O-kay . . ." Roy raised an eyebrow but didn't push the issue. Smart boy, Oliver thought.

"What's up?" Oliver cleared his throat, rising to stand.

"Dig called – A.R.G.U.S. found out who the Australian partner is and . . . you're not going to like it." Rory told him.

"Well?" Oliver grunted.

"It's . . . well it's Grant Wilson . . ."

Wilson . . . Oliver's entire body tensed. "As in Slade Wilson?"

"Um . . . yeah." Roy nodded. "A.R.G.U.S. thinks Grant is his son – and apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Slade told me his son's name was Joseph." Oliver ran his hand through his hair, letting out a breath. He paced around the room – this was not good.

"Yeah well . . . evidently he's got another one." Roy shrugged. "According to Diggle, Grant and Palmer both went to the same college, ugh I forgot which one. I guess they stayed in touch. Anyway, we're not really sure what Grant's involvement is, but if he's anything like his dad it can't be good."

"Probably not." Oliver sighed. Slade Wilson as Deathstroke had a been a force to be reckoned with . . . and if his son was anything like his father . . . "We need to find out how this Grant is involved – whether he w's employed by Palmer Tech or another organization that was working with Palmer and his people."

"You're thinking like the mob or mafia or something right?" Roy guessed.

Oliver nodded. "If not something inherently worse."

"Maybe Palmer's wife was a Wilson too." Roy shrugged.

"I doubt it." Oliver shot him down. "Let's not focus on the wife just yet – we need to figure out what Wilson and Palmer were up too and who else could be involved."

"Got it boss." Roy nodded, turning around.

"Hey . . . how's Thea?" Oliver cleared his throat.

Roy froze. "Um . . ."

Ever since the funeral, Thea had refused to come home. She wouldn't even speak to Oliver. As far as he knew, she was staying with Roy at his place in the Glades. He didn't like her there – it was too dangerous – but for now he'd give her space to grieve. "Look, I know she doesn't want to talk to me right now – I get it. Just . . . how is she?"

Roy shrugged. "She's better than she was, but she won't talk about it." Oliver figured that. "She is helping Laurel at the D.A.'s office, like interning or something. At least she's keeping busy."

Oliver nodded, sighing. "Thanks."

As Roy left, Oliver went to the computers in the center of the room. He didn't know much about computers – five years on an island had left him out of the start of the tech age – but he'd learned enough since then. When they worked with The Flash a few times, his friend Cisco helped them set up a better system for their operation. Since then, things had gotten a lot easier.

He sat at the desk, pulling up the security feed for the hospital. With a few clicks, he had a split screen feed – Felicity's room and the NICU ward. This allowed him to keep watch over the two of them when he couldn't be at the hospital. He'd also figured out a way to set up an alarm for suspicious activity in the hospital and track the visitor's logs.

He had to keep them safe, protect them from whatever her husband had dragged her into. If something happened to either of them, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

OFOFOFOFOFOFOFOFOF

Three weeks later, Felicity still hadn't come out of the coma. Oliver kept a constant watch – both on the hospital security and her labs. So far there was still no attack or move from her husband's people but he knew it had to be imminent. Her son was still in the NICU but from what he'd learned from his labs he wasn't as critical as when he'd been born.

He hadn't told the team about her. He knew he had to eventually but right now he just wanted to keep her in his little bubble – the better to protect her and her son.

At least that's what he told himself.

Little had been discovered about Grant Wilson or his involvement with Palmer Tech. When Ray Palmer died nine months earlier, his entire company seemingly went to ground. They'd been trying to track activity of a few of the things they did know about – the weapons, the trafficking, the embezzlement . . . they'd had a few leads but nothing concrete yet.

These people were quiet which could only mean that they were planning something big. All the waiting around was making Oliver tense and itching for a fight. Anything to distract him from his mother's death, Thea's distance, and the woman fighting for her life that he couldn't get out of his head.

The woman whose hospital room he was currently pacing back and forth in his Arrow suit in the middle of the night.

He'd been out patrolling the city, trying to clear his head, when he found himself jumping into a dark window on the fourth floor of the hospital – Felicity's room. The room was dark and quiet and Felicity's mother was nowhere to be found. Felicity herself was, of course, unconscious on the bed, the only sound in the room from the monitors she was hooked up to.

He watched her for a while, the rise and fall of her steady breaths. She looked to be only sleeping . . . sleeping beauty waiting to be awoken. She was still as beautiful as the that first day he saw her in that cafeteria.

This was the first time he'd been this close to her.

She was right there, right there in front of him . . . but so far out of reach. Even if she weren't in a coma, she would still be out of his reach. There was no way that he would ever be able to be with anyone, let alone her. The work that he did, the enemies he'd made . . . No.

She was better off without him.

A noise out in the hall drew his attention, some kind of scuffle. He looked back at Felicity one more time before quietly making his way to the door. Pulling an arrow out and raising his bow, he edged around the corner. If someone was there, he'd get the drop on them first.

As he rounded the door, however, he found that no one was there. Down the hall a few nurses were knelt on the ground picking up scattered pieces of paper but that was it. He stalked down the hall on the other side and down further past the nurses (careful not to be seen) – nothing. Letting out a sigh, he turned back toward Felicity's room. When he got closer to the door he heard a noise coming from within her room.

Quickly he entered the room and what he saw made his heart nearly stop. A man in a security guard uniform stood by her bedside – holding a pillow over Felicity's face.

"Get away from her!" He shouted, the device on his suit masking his voice. The guard looked up, dropping the pillow and pulling a gun from the holster on his waist. Oliver readied his bow and sent an arrow flying that collided with the guard's hand, knocking the gun out of his hand. The guard grunted and bent down to reach for the gun that had fallen on the floor.

Oliver lunged forward, kicking the guard in the face and knocking him backward. He then kicked the gun across the room where it fell in the vent on the floor. The guard stood back up, going for Oliver. Voices sounded from outside the room down the hall – Oliver needed to wrap this up quick.

Before the guard could reach him, Oliver readied another arrow and sent it flying. Right on target, the arrow hit the guard in the chest. As the guard fell dead to the floor, Oliver followed the noise from the bed –

A pair of wide blue eyes stared right into his – Felicity Smoak-Palmer was awake.

To Be Continued . . .