"Oliver, I don't want to dance anymore." Her voice was barely a mumble, but he heard her from the chair in which he had been resting. Moving towards her, he stood over her so that as her eyes opened the first thing that she saw was him.

"We're not dancing," he smiled down at her, relieved that she had awoken after five days unconscious from the blood loss and the shock.

"What?" She started to try and sit up. "Where am I? What happened?" The wires attached to her pulled and strained as she moved, a numb aching sensation felt as if it were ripping at her stomach as Oliver's firm hands on her shoulders forced her to stay still and remain lying down.

"Don't move, you're still badly hurt." She gave in and semi-relaxed back on the bed. He moved away slightly and she turned her head to the side, watching as he sat down in the chair that was pulled right up to her side.

"So bad I needed a bedside vigil, huh?" The smile on her face was weak. "Please don't tell me you've been sleeping in that thing?"

He was leaning forward, his arms resting next to her on the bed, propping his head up so he could remain close to her. "Of course not."

"You and Diggle been taking it in turns?" Oliver shrugged. "What happened?"

"What do you remember?" Turning, Felicity stared up at the ceiling, at the bright light as she tried to focus her memory. His hand taking hold of hers brought her eyes back to his. "Felicity?"

"I remember the weirdest dream. I was Cinderella. And Diggle was the Grand Duke, Sara my Fairy Godmother and Roy my driver to the Ball."

"Was I the Prince?" The blush on her cheeks was a stark contrast to her still incredibly pale skin and he wished that he could make it all better for her. "You mumbled some stuff."

"How embarrassing."

"Who was the evil stepmother and the ugly sisters, anyone I know?"

"Your Mom!" Felicity laughed, he chuckled and then she winced in pain.

"You okay?" Somehow he managed to move even further forward in his seat.

Nodding, she changed the subject away from her pain. "Thea and Laurel were the ugly step-sisters. Never tell them that," she hastily added. "Neither of them are ugly, far from it. I mean, if anything I'm jealous of their beauty. Don't tell them that either. Although I'm not even a blip on their radar so why would they care. Or even know my name." She stopped abruptly and forced a smile at him. He already had a slight smile from her babble; he had missed the babble. "The mission?"

"Everyone's fine. Officer Lance will need to take your statement later. Diggle will fill you in with the details, but you were mugged, they got your purse and bag."

"Oh, no, I really liked that bag."

"I'll get you another one."

There was a silence for a long moment and they both spoke at the same time. "I thought I'd lost you," he said as she spoke: "Did you get the files?"

Brushing what he said out of the way, Oliver responded to her question. "Yeah, but we've side-lined the whole thing waiting for you."

Nodding incredibly glumly to herself, her eyes on their still joined hands, Oliver recognised the guilt in her eyes. "I must have been really bad for you to bring me here."

"We really should look at keeping some blood supplies at the lair." She hoped it was a joke as she raised an eyebrow at him. Something in his eyes said he thought it was actually a good idea. "You were too badly injured."

"I don't… I remember opening the door to rescue you and then… the Cinderella stuff."

"As the door opened," he began to explain. "Security came from out of nowhere, one got past Roy and Sara. They shot you as I got them with an arrow. You stumbled back and hit something, the door closed on us again." Tears welled up in her eyes at being told of her own mistake. "I had to wait for you to regain consciousness to get out." They sat in silence for the longest moment, her eyes still filled with tears and him holding desperately onto her hand. Finally he whispered, "I thought I was going to lose you."

He saw her jaw clench and her watery eyes return to staring up at the ceiling. "Could I, uh, could I be on my own for a bit, please?"

"Are you okay?"

"Please," she repeated, turning completely away from him. Before he stood and released her hand, he gently pressed his lips against her knuckles and then quietly let it go.

ARROW-HOOD-QUEEN

Outside of her private hospital room, Oliver leant backwards and closed his eyes. It had been his decision to bring her to the mission. He felt nothing but guilt over it. It was the least that he could do to organise all of her medical care. He would have done it even if she had been mugged and he had nothing to do with it. Oliver was pretty sure that nothing would alleviate his guilt; he would simply add it on to his growing list.

"What's happened?" Oliver opened his eyes at Sara's voice and he sighed, shaking his head. "Is Felicity okay?"

"She's awake."

"And you're not in there with her? Have you left her alone?"

"She wanted to be," he answered. "She didn't want me in there. I don't think she could bear to see me."

"Why not?"

"Because it's my fault she's in there."

"Ollie, you did nothing wrong here. If anyone's to blame it's Roy and I for letting that guy get into the mansion. You kept her alive. You got her out of that room. And it's you who got her the medical treatment that she needed."

He knew that all of that was true. Well aware of the fact that if it had been Sara or himself, he probably would have refused the hospital. Even with Diggle and Roy, Oliver would not have made sure someone stayed with them at all times. Felicity was the different one of the team, the odd one out, perhaps. Any of the rest could be replaced or could be done without for a mission, but not Felicity. It was true that they had put the mission on the back burner whilst she was unconscious, but it was not just out of worry for her, or the fact that Oliver had barely left her side. He no longer trusted his team on a mission without her as backup. When he had returned from the island, Oliver had truly believed he would clean up his city alone and now he could not even function in those duties without Felicity and Diggle. They were both his voice of reason; Felicity more so than Diggle. She had no fear of him whatsoever, but then he would never shoot her like he had Diggle.

"It's my fault she even needed medical treatment."

"No." Sara shook her head. "The only thing that you can ever be blamed for, is bringing her into this in the first place. But she chose to stay, right? She learnt who you were, what you were doing, what you were about, and she stayed. So, no, you can't even be blamed for that. She got shot, Ollie. There was nothing you could have done to stop it."

"I should have been quicker."

"Okay, well head back to an island of misery simply to train your reactions to be super-human. Or take some Mirakuru. That'll solve everything." He rolled his eyes at her. "Do I sound ridiculous? So do you. Now, if Felicity is awake and wants to be alone, go home and rest. I'll watch her."

With incredible reluctance, Oliver nodded and moved away from the door. "I'll be back in two hours." He never slept for long anymore. "Make it four and take a shower and grab some food. Check in with your Mom and Thea."

"Yes, ma'am," he smiled. As he walked away the heavy weight of guilt was still pressing down on his shoulders.