Note: I am BACK PEOPLE! Or at least I am for this week! ^^

First off I want to quickly apologize for taking so long with this update, but school (as I've said so many times) is really killing me and to be quite honest, I didn't really have time to write.

Still, this chapter is over 14k long, so I hope that makes up for it! ;)

Thank you to everyone who keeps showing their support by commenting and I am SO HAPPY that this story has already passed 100 reviews here on fanfiction! Thank you so, so much! I love you guys!

No Arrow on TV this week, so I kind of felt like I needed to cheer those of you who have been waiting for this chapter up a bit! Please enjoy this new chapter of Hunted! :)


Hunted

Supernatural hunter Oliver Queen's latest mission's name is Felicity Smoak; a new born hybrid who has gone rogue and left her master. The new hunt brings unexpected twists and turns and when the young hybrid saves his life, Oliver realizes that there might be more to the girl than meets the eye. The hybrid might not be the biggest monster in Starling City and as their unexplainable bond grows stronger, he learns that you can't plan who you fall in love with.


Chapter 10: The Dark Archer

"Talk to me Felicity," Oliver grunted into the comm-link. He leaned his back against the wall of the container, peeking around the corner, trying to get a look at the Dark Ones that had apparently taken to using guns in exchange for their fangs.

"I'm hacking into the cameras of the warehouse," Felicity replied, her voice rushed. "Diggle is on his way, Oliver. Just hang on a bit longer and you'll have backup!"

It was so stupid; the entire situation.

They had been searching for the clues on the missing werewolves for almost two weeks now, but every name they managed to get out of the Dark Ones Oliver threatened, always led to a dead end; literally.

Almost all the wolves that they had managed to locate had been either dead, or too insane to try to talk to for information. The ones who seemed to always end up dead were former Pack Wolves, while the insane ones who had to be put down immediately were Blood Wolves.

They had been following a lead tonight that was supposed to take them to a warehouse where a small pack of wolves had last been seen. Oliver had pressed one of Bertinelli's former men for information and the made vampire had practically told him that the pack of wolves, who included pups, had been taken to the warehouse in the Glades.

Oliver had killed the vampire and Diggle had been left to dispose of the body while Oliver went for the wolves. As soon as he had gotten into the warehouse though, the Nightcrawlers that were keeping the wolf pack in captivity, started shooting at him with semi-automatic weapons.

"I'm here, Oliver!" Diggle called out through the comm-link.

"Don't use the back entrance!" Oliver told him in a whisper over the gunshots. "I used that one and they have me surrounded."

"Front door it is," Diggle copied. "I'm going in in five seconds, Oliver. Be prepared to shoot."

Oliver counted in his head, before finally jumping out from behind the container that he had been using for cover. One of his arrows lodged itself into the vampires shoulder, just as Diggle burst through the front door and started shooting.

His partner took down two of the vampires and Oliver shot another three through the heart. The first vampire he had shot, he had incapacitated by using one of Felicity's special arrows that were filled with vervain. The arrow-tips were mechanical and opened up into a claw-shape as soon as they hit the target, injecting them with the herb that usually knocked them unconscious.

The vampire was screaming, thrashing on the ground, holding onto his shoulder as blood poured out. Oliver approached him with quick steps, aiming and arrow at the monster's head.

"Where are they?" he growled, his voice disoriented.

The vampire was crying, which surprised Oliver, to say the least. The monster, who looked like he was in his early twenties, whined, clutching his shoulder as he stared wide-eyed at Oliver and Diggle, who was now also approaching them.

"I don't know, man," the vampire spoke. "I swear to God, I'm innocent!"

"I'll only ask you one last time," Oliver bit out. "Where. Are. The. Wolves?"

The vampire shook his head, tears streaming. "I'm not one of them," he said. "I got mixed up in some weird shit man, but I ain't one of them."

Oliver glanced at Diggle who was standing behind the monster, gun aimed at his head just in case. Frowning, Oliver knelt down, reaching for the arrow that was still lodged into the vampire's shoulder. Pulling it out roughly, the kid yelled and Oliver watched as blood poured from the wound.

"Why aren't you healing?" Oliver stared, trying to make sense of what was right in front of him.

The boy paled, staring up at the Hunter, eyes disoriented, "I can't heal because I'm not like them."

"This boy is human," Diggle spoke, quickly putting his gun away as he started pressing against the wound.

"How the hell is that possible," Oliver yelled, reaching down to help Diggle.

What was a human boy doing with a bunch of vampires? Oliver had watched the other monsters shrivel up as he and Diggle put them down, so he was one hundred percent sure that they were vampires. He knew that sometimes vampires compelled themselves humans so that they would always have fresh blood with them, but this boy seemed to be there willingly.

"What kind of weird stuff did you get mixed up in?" Diggle asked the boy, who was shaking from the blood loss.

"Vampires, werewolves, that kind of shit," the boy replied, blood trickling down his chin from the corner of his mouth. "They told me they would turn me, if I promised to bring back a family of wolves I had come across."

"There were children in that family, Oliver," Felicity hissed. "I looked them up. They were a model family, no history of killing or anything. Pack Wolves that only wanted to live a human life in peace!"

"Where did they take the wolves?" Oliver asked, looking down at the boy. The distress in Felicity's voice seemed to have spread over to him, which was a little surprising to be honest.

Pack Wolves weren't that common in Starling City. Most of the wolves in the city were actually Omegas or Blood Wolves, which meant that they were basically lone wolves that exchanged favors with the vampire community. Blood Wolves were the more violent type, and those had been the only kind that had existed on Lian Yu.

Perhaps that was the reason that Oliver had decided to simply hate all wolves?

But children of a Pack Wolf family? They didn't turn until they were eighteen, which meant that they were basically human until they did.

Despite how Oliver may feel about the Dark Ones, he didn't want to believe that children could be corrupted in the way that the other Nightcrawlers that he had come across were.

"I ain't got no clue," the man on the ground spat. "I swear, they just took them out of here. I don't know where they went."

Oliver felt anger bubble inside of him; it was another dead end.

Without thinking, he kicked one of the containers, the metal clang echoing through the empty warehouse.

"Damn it!" he swore, his hands balling up into fists. He didn't even hear it when the young man he had shot with the arrow gurgled and coughed.

He didn't even hear it when the boy took his last breath.

-§-

Diggle made sure that they disposed of the bodies. All the vampires were burned, while the young human had been left out in the streets, making his death look like a mugging gone wrong. No one would ever be the wiser and no one would suspect the Hood's involvement in his death.

They returned to the Foundry, tired and beaten. Felicity stood up from her chair, walking over to them immediately. She began checking Diggle for any wounds, but he assured her that he was fine. When she tried to give Oliver a once over, he instantly turned away from her and walked off to the med-bay. He had been grazed by a bullet, but it wasn't anything big, which meant he could basically take care of it himself.

An hour later, he knew he should probably head home or talk to Diggle about what had happened. Felicity was still watching him from where she was sitting on her cot, a pair of black sweats and a pink T-shirt on. She had changed soon after Oliver had insisted that he didn't need any help with stitching himself up, and he was thankful of the fact that she seemed to understand when he needed to be left alone.

Diggle on the other hand was glaring at him, most likely because he wanted Oliver to say something at least.

"Was that the first human you ever killed?"

Felicity's voice startled Oliver, and he looked over at her. Her hair was slightly curled and put up in a messy bun on top of her head, small tendrils falling down at her sides. She was wearing the glasses that she had at first only worn as a cover, but now enjoyed so much that they had become more frequent.

He searched her face for judgment, or anything that would tell him what she was thinking of him at the moment. Her face was carefully blank though, but the quietness of her tone told him everything he needed to know.

"No," he replied, not wanting to lie to her.

Oliver had in fact killed many humans during the five years that he had been gone. Even before the Island, Oliver had known that the world was a dark place, but he had never actually known to be thankful for the fact that the darkness never touched him in his precious castle. When he had gotten shipwrecked though, he had quickly learned that there was a lot more to it than just bad people. Monsters existed and he had vowed to kill every last one of them.

Sometimes though, the monsters were the humans themselves.

He remembered his time in Hong Kong, when the top secret organization A.R.G.U.S. had used him as an assassin. Sure, he had used it to his advantage, training his body up to pretty much a perfect physique that would help him when he finally returned home. He still remembered the first time he had been forced to pull a trigger on a human, but there had been so many bodies dropped after that one, that he wouldn't dare to think about it. It would most likely lead to his own insanity.

The boy in the warehouse tonight, the young man... He had been Oliver's first human kill since he had returned to Starling City. That was why his death had bothered him so much, because he had vowed to himself that he would never kill humans again.

"It probably won't be the last either, Oliver," Diggle spoke up. "We have promised to help this city and keep the civilians safe from the Dark Ones. That doesn't mean that some of them won't look them up themselves."

Oliver remained quiet, staring at the floor in front of him.

"Diggle's right, Oliver," Felicity said softly. "People like that man tonight... There will always be people out there who are seduced by the idea of eternal life."

"Why would anyone want to turn into one of them?" Oliver asked, glaring at Felicity and Diggle. "I don't understand it and I don't think I ever will. What can be so good about being–" he abruptly stopped himself from speaking any further when he saw the look on Felicity's face.

She was smiling at him sadly, there were even a few tears shining in her eyes. He wanted to apologize; say that he didn't count her when it came to them anymore, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. The blonde hybrid met his eyes and nodded, almost as if she had understood what he had meant to say without him even opening his mouth.

"There must be something we've missed," Oliver said, deciding to move to a different topic entirely. He knew they would probably get back to the one he had almost started sooner or later, but for now, he needed to clear his head and think about something else. "Is there a possibility that some of the wolves might be going willingly?" he asked, looking from Diggle to Felicity.

"Perhaps," Diggle agreed. "Turning into a hybrid would have perks, right Felicity?"

"You mean like enhanced strength, going to the top of the food chain after supposedly being on the bottom of it? Sure," she agreed. "That doesn't mean that all of them know what they're getting themselves into. Also, I don't think parents would risk the life of their children by trying to get them turned into hybrids."

"Maybe they aren't going to turn the kids?" Oliver suggested. "They wouldn't have turned into full werewolves yet, right? Not until their eighteenth birthday?"

"That depends, Oliver," Felicity said. "Sometimes they turn earlier, sometimes later. There's no way to know for sure, but usually Pack Wolves make sure that their children learn in time what it means to be a wolf."

"I can't say I have much experience with Pack Wolves," Oliver frowned. "Somehow I always end up with Blood Wolves on my hands."

"Yeah," Felicity snorted, "those aren't fun at all... Savages, basically."

Images of the first Blood Wolf Oliver had ever seen flashed through his mind. The wolf had been in the middle of turning during a full moon and one of his friends who had been a little slower in the turning process had been ripped to pieces before Oliver could put a silver dagger that he had gotten from Slade through the wolf's heart.

"Savages," Oliver muttered in agreement. "Are you sure that other wolves aren't going to your Master of their own free will?"

Felicity's eyes betrayed her anger and annoyance at him when they flashed yellow for a moment. "I didn't," she bit out, turning away from him, crossing her arms over her chest. Why was she closing herself off like that all of the sudden?

"Hey," Diggle said softly, reaching for Felicity's arm. "Oliver didn't mean it like that. We know that you don't have a master."

Oh.

How could he have been so stupid to let an implication of Felicity having a Sire slip out of his mouth? He knew very well how much Felicity hated the idea of someone controlling someone else and he honestly hadn't wanted to insinuate anything or hurt her feelings.

"I know, I know," Felicity said, brushing it off. "It's just a touchy subject for me, I guess..."

"Felicity, I didn't–" he started, but she looked up at him and shook her head.

"It's okay, Oliver," she said quickly. "And it's not important at the moment."

He nodded curtly, trying to figure out where they should begin next. Even if Felicity hadn't gone willingly with the monster who the hybrids were calling Master, it didn't necessarily mean that the other wolves hadn't done so. At the same time, he knew there was a big chance that Felicity was right too.

He watched the blonde hybrid who sat down by her computers again, starting up another search. The pain that always seemed to be hidden in her eyes whenever he brought up her captivity made him curious. It was clear now that Felicity really hadn't wanted to become a hybrid, but she had never actually told him how she had been turned. It intrigued him, but his curiosity made him sick. He had his secrets and Felicity was entitled to her own.

"The Blood Wolves might be going willingly," Felicity said, bringing him back from his momentary haze. "They hunger for power and rising from the bottom of the supernatural food chain which means they might be giving themselves over for turning."

"That makes sense," Diggle agreed. "It would also explain the few crazy wolves we've come across the last couple of times we've followed a lead."

Oliver nodded in agreement, "It does make sense, but that still leaves us without a clue on what to do next and we don't know what the other wolves are doing."

"We need more time," Felicity concluded. "We might be barking up the wrong tree entirely, no pun intended."

Oliver fought the grin that threatened to appear and sighed, "We might not have time. All we have to go on so far are speculations and guesses. We need more concrete information."

"Where do you suggest we find that?" Felicity wondered.

"Bertinelli," Oliver deadpanned, watching the other two, waiting for their reaction.

"Oliver, you can't seriously be considering going to the Black Rose again," Diggle said. "After everything that happened last time?"

"We don't have any other choice, Dig," Oliver said, putting his bow on the table. "Bertinelli is one of the few Dark Ones who know about everything that goes on in the city. If anyone knows anything about the taken wolves, it's him."

"Or one of his personal lapdogs," Felicity stated, fingers flowing across the keyboard as she brought up a picture of a girl with jet-black hair and deep blue eyes. "This is Christine Alpert," she explained. "She is one of the few vampires that never leaves Bertinelli's side. Whatever he might know, she knows too, even if they both pretend that it isn't like that."

"It might be easier to get to her then," Diggle pointed out and Oliver had to agree. It would be much easier to catch this Christine person rather than going directly to Bertinelli himself. Tonight he wouldn't be able to do anything though, because it was already too late and he would have a busy day at the office tomorrow.

"Tomorrow night I'll head out and see if I can get a hold of Alpert," he told Diggle and Felicity. "Do you know anything else on her that might be helpful?" he asked Felicity who nodded.

"All I know is that she's a lamia vampire and I think she might have had a hand in turning Bertinelli a few years ago," Felicity said. "There is a pretty big chance that she has him claimed as her mate, but I can't be sure. They might just be using each other to gain a stronger hold among the People of Darkness."

It was a possibility, he guessed. Bertinelli had been doing everything he could to gain more power, so working together with Christine Alpert may just have been a way for him to rise in the ranks of the Dark World.

"We'll deal with it tomorrow," Oliver said. "John, go home, Felicity, get some sleep."

He didn't even look at them as he walked to the bathroom to change into his casual clothes. The face of the young man he had killed tonight crossed his mind and he couldn't help but feel frustrated about it.

He had released that arrow without any hesitation. Not once had he thought about the possibility that there were humans among the Dark Ones. Guilt filled him instantly, but at the same time he knew there had been nothing else he could have done. The young man should never have gotten involved with the Nightcrawlers, and that wasn't on Oliver– or at least that was what he needed to keep telling himself.

He stepped out of the bathroom and saw Felicity laying on her cot, her glasses removed and placed on the floor next to a book. She turned her attention to him when he exited and their eyes met for a moment.

Her hair was down, blonde tresses spread out on the pillow as she turned to lay on her side so that she could look at him more properly. She was resting one of her hands underneath the pillow, her head on top of it as she blinked up at him, her eyes asking a thousand questions that he knew he would never be able to answer.

"Good night, Oliver," Felicity said, her voice low, her eyes never wavering.

He let out a small breath as his eyes traveled across her petite form on the bed before returning to connect once again with hers, "Good night, Felicity."

-§-

The following day, Moira Queen walked into the office side by side with her son. After the small disagreement they had had about Oliver and his Executive Assistant two weeks prior, she had backed off a little when it came to the blonde.

"Walter called earlier," Moira said as they entered the elevator. "He said he would be returning from Central City tonight."

"Thea's been missing him," Oliver said, "and I know you have too." There was another beat of silence between them, which Moira had become accustomed to by now.

If there was one thing Moira Queen was afraid of, it was losing her children. The main reason that she had gotten off of Oliver's back about Felicity Smoak was because she feared that if she pushed her son too far, he might leave her altogether, which wasn't something she was going to accept.

"Yes," she nodded thoughtfully, her mind drifting off to her husband instead, "I have missed him."

Oliver only nodded curtly, "Well then, I'm glad he's coming back tonight. I have to go now though. the head of the Applied Science Division had some papers for me to sign before they can begin with their new projects. See you later, Mother." He kissed her cheek and then walked off, not waiting for her to say anything else in return. Moira stared after him, hating the drift she seemed to have caused between them, but most of all hating that all it had taken was some blonde for it to appear.

Truth be told, sometimes Moira wondered if it was actually just her own fault. Late at night she caught herself thinking about what would happen if her own secrets caught up with her and she loathed the fact that she would most likely lose her children either way.

Or at least that was what Walter had told her before he had left for Central City.

The two of them had had a disagreement the morning before he had left. He had come across a small notebook that Moira had told him not to look any further into because she was afraid of what might happen to him if someone else found out that he knew more than he should know.

"Mrs. Queen, Mr. Merlyn is here to see you," her temporary assistant told her as she walked toward her office.

"Thank you, Sasha," Moira nodded curtly, already feeling her gut tighten at the thought of seeing Malcolm Merlyn, the father of her son's best friend.

She walked into her office, closing the door behind her as she eyes the man who was standing with his back toward her. He was looking at the city through the window, not doing or saying anything to acknowledge her, even though she knew perfectly well that he knew she was there.

He was wearing a well-tailored suit, as always, his hair impeccably perfect. One of his hands was resting on the window while the other hung loosely at his side as he slowly turned to face her.

"Good morning, Moira," he said, his voice the epitome of calmness, sending chills through her body.

"Good morning, Malcolm," she replied, eying him cautiously, knowing that the chills weren't the good kind. "To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you so early today?"

"I wanted to personally make sure that your husband isn't asking any questions," Malcolm told her, watching her with that cold stare of his.

How had he known?

It's Malcolm, she reminded herself. Of course he knows.

"Walter isn't asking anything," she told him. "I swear that he doesn't know anything."

Malcolm walked around her desk, walking closer to her as he rested his hand on her shoulder. She resisted the shudder that threatened to course through her body, keeping her eyes level with his.

"I really hope that is the case," Malcolm said. "We wouldn't want anything interfering with our plans. Or anyone, for that matter."

Moira smiled at him in a way so that it would be obvious that she didn't mean it, "Of course." She moved away from his hand and walked to her chair where she sat down behind her desk, clasping her hands together in front of her. "I have Walter under control and he isn't going to ask any questions or look into anything that could lead back to you," she assured him.

"I'm glad to hear that," Malcolm nodded. "We would hate for something unfortunate to happen to him, wouldn't we? We don't want a repeat of what happened to Robert."

"I've made sure that all the yachts my family owns have been disposed of," Moira bitterly said, but it only brought out a smile out of Malcolm as he laughed.

"That was a good one, Moira," he chuckled, but there wasn't a hint of amusement in his eyes. His face turned serious and he watched her quietly for another minute. "You know why we have to do this," he said, stalking toward the desk. He gripped the edges tightly, knuckles turning white as his eyes bore into hers.

"I know," she answered, her glare equally cold. "Now, I would appreciate it if you called the next time you decide to barge into my office."

"Just wanted to make sure we were still on the same page," he told her, stepping away from the desk.

"That doesn't mean that everything else is going according to plan," Moira said. "We've had to move up our plans for two years now; ever since the Hood came to Starling City."

"Robin Hood isn't going to be a problem for us this time," Malcolm snapped. "He's playing his own part in all of this without even knowing that he is. When the right time comes, he will be brought down too, but for now, he's actually being useful."

"Whoever he is, he ruined your original plan," Moira pointed our. "How come you haven't looked him up sooner? With your resources, I'm sure you would have been able to find out his identity."

Malcolm shook his head, that eery smile still etched on his face, "It will all fall into place soon, Moira. Don't you worry about it." He checked his watch and sent her another curt nod, "I have to go. I finally got Tommy to make lunch plans with me."

"That's nice," Moira said. "Send Tommy my congratulations on the engagement. I heard on the news that Ms. Lance seemed over-joyed during the proposal."

"One would think that the paparazzi have better things to do than follow around my son when he's taking a walk through the park with his girlfriend," Malcolm muttered and suddenly, Moira felt like she was taken back to the time before Malcolm's wife had died. They had been friends back then; all of them.

Things had changed though and now they were all just using each other for their own ulterior motives.

"I had a hard time getting them off of Oliver's back when he came back home," Moira agreed. "They don't have anything better to do," she stated.

Malcolm remained quiet for a while until he met her eyes again, "You have a good day, Moira." With those words, he headed for the door, opening it, but then froze a second later.

Moira stood from her seat as she watched Oliver's Executive Assistant standing on the other side of the door, a stack of papers in her hand. She looked taken aback, clearly having not expected someone to open the door before she had been able to knock.

"Mr. Merlyn!" the blonde blurted out, eyes wide. "Tommy's father, right? I'm sorry, I recognize you from the news, I–"

"And you are?" Malcolm's eyes narrowed in on her as Moira stepped forward. No matter how she felt about Felicity, she wouldn't want Malcolm doing anything to actually hurt the woman, who until proven otherwise, had done nothing wrong.

"This is Felicity, Oliver's E.A.," she explained. "What can I help you with, Ms. Smoak," she asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, uh," Felicity lifted the papers, "Oliver asked me to bring these to you. He told me to tell you that he'd signed them already, but that he would appreciate you looking through them one last time before you give your approval as well."

She'd said it all in one breath, which was rather impressive. Moira nodded at her, "You can put them on my desk and I'll read them through."

"Thank you, Mrs. Queen," Felicity smiled, making it that much harder for Moira to hold on to those unexplained suspicions that she held for the girl. Whenever Felicity smiled, there was some kind of innocence shining through her, and it made it really difficult for Moira to stay wary of the girl. "Mr. Merlyn, it was a pleasure to meet you," Felicity said, holding her hand out for Malcolm to shake.

He took it without any hint of hesitation, still looking intently at the girl, "Pleasure was all mine, Ms. Smoak."

The blonde offered them both one last smile before she turned around and walked away. Malcolm turned back to Moira and she could see the wheels turning inside of his head. Just when she thought he was going to say something, a mask of impassiveness covered his face. "Have a good day, Moira," he said, walking out of the office.

Moira closed her door and walked over to her desk, sinking into her chair as she let out a breath that she hadn't even known she had been holding.

-§-

Oliver watched as Felicity hurried back to her desk after he had asked her to take some files to his mother. There was a frown etched on her face and Oliver wondered whether his mother had said something to her.

His mother seemed to have backed away from Felicity these last two weeks and Oliver was hoping that it would stay that way. If Moira stayed away from the hybrid, he wouldn't constantly have to think about the possible outcomes of a confrontation, which would most likely lead to his own secrets unraveling.

Oliver stood up from his desk and walked out to Felicity, who was sitting in her chair, typing away on her keyboard with one hand while simultaneously flipping through something on her tablet.

"Everything go okay?" he asked, his index finger rubbing against the pad of his thumb.

"Yeah, everything went fine," Felicity replied calmly, looking up at him with a smile. "I bumped into Malcolm Merlyn though," she added thoughtfully.

"Tommy's dad was visiting my mother?" Oliver frowned.

"Yeah," Felicity drawled. "I didn't overhear their conversation though, if that's what you're wondering. I would never listen in on your mother or spy on her or anything else like that. Without your permission, I mean."

Oliver shook his head, an amused chuckle escaping, "Why would I ever need you to spy on my mother?"

"No idea," Felicity shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to put it out there."

Oliver nodded thoughtfully before speaking, "Did they say something to you?"

"No," Felicity replied. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Oliver quickly said. "You just came in here looking a little down, I guess, and I suppose I just wanted to..." he trailed off as she looked up at him with those bright blue eyes of hers. Another blinding smile spread across her face and he could have sworn that her eyes changed color into that mischievous golden tone of hers.

"Were you concerned for me, Oliver?" she asked him, her voice low and... sultry?

His mind went into hyper-mode almost instantly, replaying the images of her that usually haunted him at night.

Those very, very inappropriate images.

"No!" he protested, maybe a little too quickly because Felicity's grin only widened and a light blush spread across her cheeks.

They looked at each other for a moment without saying anything. Oliver didn't want to be the first one to break, so he refused to look away or say anything else. He had a feeling that whatever he said would most likely be misinterpreted and he would end up flushed, which was something that was becoming a habit whenever Felicity was around.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to say or do anything, because he could hear the distinct sound of footsteps coming closer.

"Ollie?" Thea said as he walked into the room. Both Felicity and Oliver turned around at the same time to face the young brunette and in his mind, Oliver decided that he stare-down had ended as a draw. "What are you two up to?" Thea asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously at the two of them.

"Nothing," Felicity shrugged. "What are you doing here, Thea?"

Thea raised an eyebrow at the blonde, lips tugging up in a smile, "Nice to see you too, Felicity."

"Sorry," Felicity grinned back sheepishly.

"But the question remains," Oliver said. "What are you doing here, Speedy?"

"Worst nickname ever," Thea groaned, like she usually did whenever he called her that, rolling her eyes at him. "I came to ask you to lunch actually."

"Me?" Oliver frowned.

He and Thea used to get lunch together a lot after he returned from Lian Yu, but these last few weeks that his sister had become friends with Felicity, she had come to almost prefer the blonde hybrids company over his. He didn't exactly mind it anymore though, because he trusted Felicity with keeping Thea safe even if he wasn't there. The hybrid had made it clear just how protective she was of his sister since Thea's birthday party and he couldn't deny that he was thankful for that.

"Yeah, you," Thea giggled. "Although, Felicity could always join us, right?" His sister looked over at the blonde who turned to look at him.

"It's alright," Felicity stammered, "I wouldn't want to impose on your sibling bonding session."

"Oh, you wouldn't be imposing at all!" Thea said quickly. "Right, Ollie?" The younger Queen gave him a pointed look and he narrowed his eyes at her.

What was she doing?

"Of course not," he said after a seconds thought. "You can tag along, Felicity. You'll need to get yourself some lunch either way, won't you? This way we can make sure to get back on time; the both of us."

"You mean that I can make sure that you get back on time?" Felicity deadpanned. "Because I am always on time."

Oliver shrugged as if to say 'whatever' and Felicity nodded slowly. He wanted Felicity to come with him and Thea, mostly to show his sister that he honestly couldn't care less about Felicity in the sense of a potential something. Even though his mother might have backed off of asking him about his relationship with his Executive Assistant, his sister hadn't yet given up on her quest to somehow force the two of them together. Since Tommy's engagement to Laurel had hit the news, Thea had let Oliver know just how perfect Felicity would be to have as a date for the wedding, which wasn't even planned yet. Felicity herself had told Oliver one night in the lair that his sister had started picking out dresses for her, even though she probably wouldn't even be invited to the wedding, whenever it came around. Oliver had accidentally let it slip that Thea had made it clear to him that she was assuming that he would be bringing Felicity as his plus one and the blonde hybrid had blushed at the comment.

He needed to show his sister that he and Felicity were nothing more than business partners, without somehow revealing his own secrets.

"Okay, I guess I'll join you," Felicity said, standing from her chair as she turned off her computers.

Oliver watched her as she bent down to reach for her shoulder bag that she had placed on the floor, trying not to focus on the way the fabric of her orange dress clung to her form. He turned his gaze away from her ass just in time to meet Thea's eyes, who had been watching him intently.

As the smirk spread on his sister's face, he realized that explaining the existence of the People of Darkness would probably be easier than trying to convince Thea that there was nothing going on between him and Felicity.

-§-

They went to a small Sushi place two blocks from Queen Consolidated. Oliver sat down on one side of the booth while Thea and Felicity squeezed in together on the other side. At first Thea had tried to not-so-subtly tell Oliver to sit next to Felicity, but Felicity had made up some lame excuse about how she would need to use the bathroom a thousand times because of some cold or something and that the seat next to Thea was closer to the ladies room.

Thea didn't seem to buy it, but didn't say anything else on the matter.

Everything was going good. They were talking and having a laugh as Thea told Felicity about some of the things that Oliver had done in his younger years. It surprised Oliver how incredibly infectious Felicity's laugh was and he even caught himself smiling genuinely a few times himself. Her eyes seemed to shine every time laughter vibrated through her and she squeezed her eyes shut, tears leaking from the corners as she giggled at one of Thea's stories.

It was all well, until Felicity stood up to 'use the bathroom' (because she hadn't used it even once since they had sat down, which Thea had promptly pointed out). His hybrid- The hybrid, turned around just as some guy, about Oliver's age, bumped straight into her, covering the front of her dress with raw fish.

Felicity squeaked out in surprise as Thea gasped. Oliver instantly stood up, reaching for Felicity who had stumbled back, almost tripping over her own feet. He caught her around the waist and looked down at her flushed face, "Are you okay?"

He had spoken so low that he was sure that Felicity was the only one who had heard him, due to her hybrid-hearing. Felicity nodded, the movement barely noticeable as she steadied herself on her feet.

"I'm so sorry," the man who had walked into her apologized. He reached for the napkins on their table, "I can help you clean up." It was clear that the man knew very well what he was doing as he moved toward Felicity's chest where most of the spill had ended up and Oliver immediately saw red. Oliver drew Felicity back, putting himself between her and the man who froze as his eyes widened.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Oliver growled at him, eyes shooting arrows into the man's head.

"I-I'm sorry," the man stuttered as Oliver towered over him, seeing that there was nothing close to a sincere apology in the man's eyes. Oliver was at least a foot taller than the man who at least had the decency to blush furiously.

"I suggest you take a step back before I show you just how sorry you should be," Oliver glared.

"Oliver, it's okay," Felicity said, grabbing his arm.

The stranger's eyes flew over to Felicity before lowering, his gaze once again landing on the blonde's chest. Inside, Oliver felt his emotions flare up.

"Take your goddamn eyes off of her before I remove them myself with her fork," Oliver snarled, taking another threatening step toward the man.

He didn't even know what had come over him, but he was suddenly very aware of the entire restaurant having their eyes on the scene that was playing out. "I suggest, you apologize to the lady," Oliver bit out.

The look on the man's face darkened suddenly as he looked over at Felicity. "I'm sorry lady," he sneered. "I didn't know you had an asshole of a boyfriend."

Oliver started to draw back his arm to punch the stupid piece of shit in the face, but Felicity firmly held him back, clearly using her hybrid-strength.

"Hey," Thea suddenly blurted out, "just back off nicely before things get ugly."

The creep looked over at his sister, eyes traveling over her body. Oliver started to say something else, but Felicity beat him to it, "You better walk away before I show you just how much I don't need my awesome boyfriend to defend my honor, when I can just kick your ass myself."

There was a gasp or two heard in the restaurant but Felicity paid no mind to it as she glared the creep down. Oliver's heart beat just a little bit faster when she had referred to him as her boyfriend, but he wasn't sure why. All he knew was that he really hoped that Felicity hadn't picked up on it, considering that she was most likely able to hear it and feel it, since she was still holding onto his arm, pulling him back.

The creep seemed to realize that he had embarrassed himself enough, so he just turned around and walked away. Felicity pulled Oliver back, pushing him to take his seat again as she slid into the booth, right next to him.

"What the hell was all that about?" she glared at him.

"Nothing," Oliver defended. "He almost touched you, Felicity!" Oliver pointed out in a whisper-shout when she gave him that look that told him that she didn't believe him.

"So? Don't you think I could have handled him myself?" Felicity frowned.

"Well, you didn't really need to refer to me as your boyfriend," Oliver deadpanned, shooting her an equal glare.

"I just played the hand that was dealt," Felicity told him. "You were the one who wanted to punch the guy. I had it under control."

"Didn't look like you had it under control," Oliver snorted, rolling his eyes.

"I don't need you to protect me, Oliver," Felicity snapped at him.

"I wasn't protecting you," Oliver retorted. "I was just–"

"Okay," Thea drawled, "why don't we just take a breath? The situation had been handled, so there's no need to talk about it anymore."

"Fine," Oliver said, still glaring down at Felicity.

"Great," the blonde sarcastically remarked, looking as if she was ready to jump into another argument with him.

"But if you ask me, it totally looked like you were jealous, Ollie," Thea added.

"No one asked you!"

Oliver turned back to stare at Felicity who had spoken at the same time as him. There was a pink tint on her cheeks as she refused to remove her gaze from him.

A sudden urge to do something bubbled up inside of him. He wasn't exactly unaccustomed to the feeling, because it had occurred to him several times since he had first met her. His heart was beating hard in his chest and he willed himself to calm down, but his eyes betrayed him as they flickered down to her fuchsia colored lips before once again meeting her bright blue irises.

He wanted to kiss her, and that thought alone was what made him finally look away from her, knowing that he needed to get himself under control before he made that spectacularly stupid mistake.

He glanced over at his sister, who was grinning from ear to ear and for the rest of their lunch, he remained awkwardly quiet, refusing to look at the blonde who didn't move from her new seat beside him.

All he knew was that he couldn't wait for this day to be over.

-§-

Later that evening Oliver was taking out his frustration on the dummies down in the Foundry as he prepared for going on a hunt for Christine Alpert. It was still early and he knew he had a few hours until the People of Darkness would start roaming the streets more openly, which meant that he had time to release some tension that had set in him during his long day.

The lunch he had shared with his sister and Felicity had gone from good to bad to awkward within less than an hour and he knew that most of it had been his own fault. Felicity had been right when she had told him that she could have handled the situation herself, but he would never admit it out loud to her because he was simply stubborn like that. What confused him the most though was his own reaction to the man that had been creeping on Felicity.

Why had he acted the way he had? Like a jealous boyfriend?

When he had begun his training session he had thought a lot about that. He blamed his reaction solely on being concerned that Felicity might lose her control or something, but he knew very well that if anyone was in control of her emotions, it was Felicity.

Truthfully, at times, he thought that the hybrid was better at keeping her emotions in check than he was, which was saying a lot considering that she was a hybrid.

Instead of dwelling on that, his mind instead went to the other issue; his urge to kiss Felicity senseless. That one he blamed on their little argument at first, until he realized that it meant that he must have been somewhat turned on by said argument. Searching for another excuse though proved to be useless because even though Oliver might be good at lying to others, he wasn't very good at lying to himself.

"Hey, Oliver?"

He punched the dummy extra hard and then turned to face the blonde who had been occupying his thoughts. His breath was coming out in heavy pants and he knew that he would have to take a shower before he went out on his hunt tonight. As he eyed Felicity, he noticed that she had changed into her training clothes which consisted of a pair of dark gray yoga pants and a large black T-shirt.

"What are you wearing?" he grunted, looking over her attire.

She pulled a little on the T-shirt, playing with the hem of it. Was she nervous?

"I was thinking that maybe since Diggle won't be coming in tonight, the two of us could train together?" she suggested. "I mean, I could give you a better work out than those dummies, right?"

He raised an eyebrow at her and she quickly released the T-shirt she was holding onto. "And by 'work out', I actually do mean work out, as in training. Not any other form of physical activity that would also make us burn calories."

"Felicity–" Oliver started but was quickly interrupted by the hybrid who was too busy explaining herself to actually hear him say her name.

"I'm not saying that we would be working out to burn calories. It would be more of a stress-relief-kind-of-thing," she clarified. "Which doesn't sound any better now that I say it out loud."

"Felicity!" Oliver said loudly, trying to rid himself of the images of them doing other physical activities to burn calories out of his head. "Just–" he took a breath and gave her a pointed look, "Just get on the mat."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up immediately.

"Yes, before I change my mind," Oliver groaned, turning around so that he could put away the dummy. When he turned back around, he froze momentarily as he watched her pull her shirt over her head, leaving her in a hot-pink sports bra with black stripes.

Shit.

Tearing his eyes away from the area that the garment covered, he cleared his throat, "So, how do you want to do this?"

"How about you attack and I evade and then we switch?" she suggested. "It can be good for you to practice taking down a hybrid, especially with the impending hybrid army coming around."

"Mhm..." he mumbled his agreement, not giving her a second to prepare as he launched.

Felicity proved to be quite a good training partner. He managed to keep his mind clear of any inappropriate thoughts for the better part of the first thirty minutes. She instructed him on a hybrids weaknesses and showed him what pressure points to push at if he ever ended up in hand to hand combat with one of the monsters. Using her hybrid speed, she showed him what advantages a hybrid would have over him, but despite those, he managed to pin her to the mat almost every single time.

When it was her turn to advance at him, he didn't hold back as he fought back, copying the way she had moved before. It was almost too easy to evade her attacks, which made him wonder if she was letting him win on purpose. He had seen her training with Diggle and he knew that she had been a lot smarter with her offense then.

"Don't hold back," he grunted as he dodged her punch, jabbing her in her elbow in return.

"What makes you think I'm holding back?" she panted, eyes glimmering yellow as she pounced at him, throwing punches at him. Her movements picked up in speed and he knew immediately that she was teasing him.

"You aren't a fighter," he told her. "You don't plan any of your movements. You're all over the place."

"I didn't know you needed to follow a manuscript in a fight," Felicity replied, jumping as she spun around, leg out to kick Oliver in the ribs. She almost managed to get the kick in, but he caught her foot, pulling her toward him in the last second.

The blonde struggled to balance herself out, bending the leg he had caught at her knee, which ultimately only led to her ending up pressed tightly against Oliver. They stared at each other, panting, chest to chest, noses almost brushing. One of Felicity's hands had ended up on Oliver's shoulder as she tried to keep her balance while Oliver's held onto her upper arm so that she wouldn't be able to get another hit in. The hand that was holding onto her calf slowly slid up to rest on the back of her thigh.

He wanted to say something about how she needed to be prepared for the unexpected when she was in a fight, but this time, he had caught himself off guard so he couldn't bring himself to utter any words. Instead, he remained staring at her almost dumbly, aching to know what was going through her mind.

"This is why I always win," he said suddenly, forcing himself out of his thoughts. "I see your sloppy moves and I predict what you're going to do next way too easily. You make yourself an easy target to take down by being predictable."

Felicity hummed lowly, gazing into his eyes. A smirk started spreading on her lips suddenly and all he knew was that he had seen her eyes turn golden and then he was suddenly laying on his back with Felicity on top of him, straddling him.

The hybrid had surprised him when she had pushed off the ground with her leg and wrapped that one around his waist, using both legs to hold onto him as she quickly twisted her upper body, using the momentum of his surprise an advantage when she pulled him back toward her. He had staggered when she had twisted and somehow, before her own back had hit the mat, she had flipped them over in the air so that Oliver had ended up below her.

Her knees now rested on either side of his body as she sat on his bare stomach. His hands were pinned above his head and he knew that even if he struggled to get free, she would only use her strength to keep him down.

"Maybe my tactic is being predictable so that my opponent doesn't see my real attack coming?" she pointed out, sounding almost innocent. Her hair was sticking out in a few places, some shorter strands plastered to her face. He could see a bead of sweat slowly making its way from behind her neck toward her front as she loomed over him. The drop traveled slowly across her skin before disappearing under her sports bra.

"Clever," he admitted his defeat, voice hoarse as he tore his eyes away from the article of clothing that somehow always ended up getting his attention. Her grip on his wrists loosened and he acted on pure instinct when he rolled them over.

Her legs were still wrapped around his waist as he hovered over her, his hands now on her bare waist. The hybrid blinked up at him a few times, and suddenly, he was too much aware of how close their faces were.

Felicity's hands were pressed between their chests, palms plat on his and without thinking, his fingers tightened slight on her waist. Years could have passed for all that Oliver knew, but all he could see was the way that Felicity's tongue darted out to wet her lips.

The urge he had had earlier came back and it made Oliver realize just how foolish he had been to agree to train with Felicity. The strangest thing occurred to him though...

No matter how much he wanted to be able to say that the situation was awkward or unwelcome, he couldn't, because to be quite frank, it felt almost a bit too natural to be this close to Felicity.

Before he could say anything though, Felicity's voice broke through his thoughts.

"You should probably go take a shower and get ready for your hunt," she told him. "Christine Alpert is probably going to make her way toward the Black Rose within the witching hour, so you need to get going."

"Uh, yeah," he cleared his throat. "You're right."

Felicity's legs came to rest on the mat as she released her grip on him and Oliver quickly stood up. The hybrid leaned up on her elbows, still laying down as she looked up at him through still half-hooded eyes. He offered her his hands without thinking and she took it without any hint of hesitation.

After helping her stand up, they watched each other for another few seconds before he moved toward the bathroom. He needed to get out of the lair as soon as possible before he did something he was sure he would regret.

Still, before he entered the bathroom, he turned to give Felicity one last look, only to see her staring back at him, an absentminded and thoughtful look on her face.

-§-

"Christine Alpert," Oliver growled, the voice modulator changing his voice as he stared at the vampire in front of him that he had cornered a few blocks away from the Black Rose.

"The Hood," the vampire nodded curtly, acknowledging him without letting any emotions betray her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"It has come to my attention that the People of Darkness are planning something for Starling City," Oliver said. "I want information and I figured that a lamia vampire such as yourself would be the best way to get it."

The vampire kept looking at him as if she was bored, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder, "Is that so? Care to enlighten me as to what these supposed plans are?"

"Someone is taking werewolves and turning them into hybrids," Oliver snapped. "I want to know who it is and where they take the wolves."

A grin spread on the vampires face as she walked toward him slowly. "Do I really look like I would give a damn about some mutts?" she asked him. "Why the hell would I help create more hybrids? That would just undermine my own authority in this city!"

"Tell me what you know!" Oliver demanded, not buying the vampire's words.

"I don't think she knows anything," Felicity whispered in his ear.

"Tell me what you know about the Undertaking," Oliver said anyway, watching as the vampires eyes suddenly glazed over.

"The Undertaking?" she asked, her voice low. "I don't know where you get your information from, Hunter, but the Undertaking clearly isn't what you think–"

A loud gasp escaped from the vampire as she staggered back. A black arrow was embedded inside of her chest and Oliver quickly turned around to look for the person who had shot it. He heard another arrow be released, this time seeing the source of it.

On top of a building, on the other side of the street, stood a man with almost entirely black clothes. A mask covered his face and the only thing Oliver could see from down in the alley was that the man held a bow in his hand.

"What happened?" Felicity wanted to know, but all Oliver could do was stare as the other archer slowly retreated from the rooftop. Oliver turned around and looked at Alpert who was laying flat on her back, two arrows embedded in her heart, her skin turned ashen and shriveled up.

"Alpert is dead," Oliver spoke into the comm-link.

"Did you...?" Felicity trailed off and Oliver's jaw tightened.

"No," he told the hybrid. "Someone else did."

-§-

"The Hood strikes again! Tonight a woman was struck down by the Starling City vigilante a few hours after midnight in the Glades. Reports have been coming in all week long about the masked archer upping his game, killing people who have done nothing wrong in the eye of the public. Despite the police's search for the vigilante known as the Hood, a key member in the search team– Detective Quentin Lance– does not believe that these recent killing have anything to do with the vigilante, but rather a copycat killer–"

Felicity turned down the volume on the computer as Detective Lance appeared on the screen, talking about how signs in his investigation pointed to someone copying the Hood's M.O.

"How did we miss this?" Felicity asked Oliver, who was standing next to her with his arms crossed over his chest. "According to the data I've looked up, this copycat has been killing people from left to right all week long."

"The police have been thinking that the Hood has been responsible for the deaths," Oliver pointed out. "But you're right, we should have noticed if they talked about it on the news."

"First of all," Felicity began, "I don't particularly feel like 'the Hood' is a good name for you. I mean, sure, you wear a hood and all that, but couldn't people think about something a little more creative?" Oliver gave her a look and Felicity shrugged, "Either way... I checked out the previous murders and all of them have been people from the Glades who supposedly 'aren't important enough' to bring up on the news. Christine Alpert is a shareholder in some companies around Starling City, so her name had kind of been heard of before."

Felicity observed Oliver as he watched the screen intently, Detective Lance sharing his theory about a copycat. She could tell that the man in front of her was tired and it was obvious that whatever had gone down tonight in the Glades, he hadn't been expecting it. Who could have?

"I didn't have a chance to take out one of the arrows before the police showed up," Oliver told her. "The other archer must have tipped them off, but who knows if he actually knew that I would be there."

"I don't think he knew," Felicity contemplated out loud. "He was standing on the other side of the street, on top of a high building, as if he had been on his way to get Alpert but stopped when he saw you already confronting her."

"He killed her before she had a chance to give me any information on the Undertaking," Oliver said. "I could tell by the look on her face that she knew something, but now we'll never know unless we go to her superiors directly, which would be a huge risk all on its own."

"We could always look up Bertinelli, but I don't think he would be willing to talk considering that the person rumored to have turned him was killed tonight," Felicity said. "Or, we could go directly to the only person who seems to believe that you aren't the one behind these killings."

She had thought about it the moment Quentin Lance had appeared on her computer screen, insisting that this wasn't the work of the Hood even though the rest of the police department thought it was. During the Unidac Auction she had seen that Detective Lance wasn't a bad man. He was probably one of the few in the police department that wasn't corrupted in some way by the People of Darkness, but that was probably because he seemed to have no idea that they actually existed.

"Lance, you mean," Oliver stated, looking at the screen as said man walked off the podium. "I hardly think he'll be willing to help me."

"You've gotten his help before though, right?" Felicity questioned anyway. She remembered that she had found evidence of the Hood working with the Detective before she joined Oliver's team.

"Those were during special circumstances," Oliver replied.

"It's worth a chance though," Felicity insisted. "If he really believes that it's the work of a copycat killer, he'll probably be more than willing to help."

"Lance can't know the truth about the People of Darkness though," Oliver said. "I don't think he would believe me even if I told him the truth."

"I'm always willing to prove that you're telling the truth," Felicity shrugged, internally not liking the idea of exposing herself like that, but deciding that if it ever came to it, she would do it wholeheartedly. "Besides, there have been human victims among this copycat's kills. Drug dealers, yes, but not supernatural ones in any kind."

"In that case, I guess I can see if Detective Lance is willing to borrow me one of those arrows that was used to kill Alpert," he said, opening a drawer to pull out a phone. "The last time I was forced to contact Lance, I used this phone. Hopefully, he hasn't thrown away the one I left him."

Pushing a few buttons, Oliver held the phone to his ear, waiting for the detective to pick up.

Felicity turned back around as she began her hack on the police department to see if they had anything to add with their on-going investigation.

-§-

Oliver stood on the rooftop of the police department, waiting for Lance to arrive. He had been skeptic at first about Felicity's suggestion that he contacted the detective, but Lance hadn't sounded surprised when he had given him the call.

"I was expecting to hear from you soon," a voice that he recognized as the Detective's was heard behind him. Oliver turned around slowly, making sure to bow his head a little in order for the shadows to hide his face even more.

"I'm not the one who killed Alpert," Oliver said, his voice coming out modified due to the voice modulator.

"I know," Lance returned. "I've been trying to tell my superiors the same, but they don't seem willing to accept my theory of a copycat."

Oliver remained still, prepared for any type of ambush (which wouldn't be the first time when it came to his meetings with Quentin Lance). Oliver still felt horrible for the pain he had caused Quentin when he had caused the death of his youngest daughter, Laurel's sister, Sara. In a way, Oliver knew that Lance had every reason to hate Oliver Queen, and sometimes, he wondered whether that hate had been transformed into a hate for the Hood, even if the detective technically wasn't aware of his secret identity.

Lance watched him for a moment before sighing, "I'm breaking a lot of laws by giving you this, but I have no other choice if we're going to catch Ms. Alpert's real killer." He held out a container and Oliver reached for it, opening it to see the black arrow from the other archer.

"Thank you, Detective," Oliver said. "Whatever I find, I'll bring it to you."

"Yeah, yeah," Quentin muttered. "Do me a favor and try to catch this bastard alive so that we can actually put him on trial."

Oliver didn't say anything. Instead, he ran to the ledge of the building, using one of his special arrows to swing across the street and land safely close to his hidden motorcycle, driving back to his secret lair where Felicity was waiting for him.

-§-

Oliver walked into the warehouse, arrow nocked and bow raised, prepared for any kind of threat.

It had taken Felicity less than five minutes to find the arrow's shipment information and trace the location of the delivery. Oliver had been impressed by her, to say the least and he would probably never forget the look on the blonde's face when he had told her that she had done a good job.

Felicity had insisted that he wait for Diggle, or at least allow her to come with him, but Oliver had refused. Something as important as eliminating this other archer couldn't wait and he didn't really think he had a choice in the matter.

He needed to do this alone.

"Oliver," Felicity sounded in his ear. "Dig is here. Don't do anything stupid."

"I don't need a distraction," Oliver growled, doing exactly what he knew Felicity feared he would do; he turned off the comm-link without any hesitation.

He could imagine the frustrated looks on both Diggle's and Felicity's faces, but he meant what he had said. He couldn't have them talking in his ear when he needed to be aware of everything around him. Yao Fei and Slade had taught him to always mind his surroundings and that lesson had saved his life on multiple occasions.

Of course, his plan on minding his surroundings pretty much went to hell when he entered one hallway, only to find a man wearing all black in front of him, bow raised, aiming straight at Oliver.

Taking in the man's features, Oliver realized that he wasn't much bigger than him, if he even was bigger; it was hard to tell from the black suit he was wearing.

The man's face was covered, only a small spring open for his eyes to be able to see, but he was too far for Oliver to actually notice anything particular that might be useful in identifying him.

"Finally," the masked man said, "I've been waiting to cross paths with you."

Much like Oliver, he was using some kind of device to disorient his voice. Oliver tightened his grip on his bow, now understanding what Felicity had once said about the voice modulator being creepy. It was bad enough that he couldn't actually look this foe in the eyes, so it was even worse that he couldn't hear his real voice. At least then, the opponent might seem a little bit more human.

"What do you want?" Oliver growled, holding his bow up and ready for a fight.

A robotic chuckle sounded in the small hallway, making chills rise inside of Oliver, "What every archer wants; to see who's best."

With those words, the man in the dark clothes moved so quickly that Oliver barely had time to react. After releasing an arrow, the other archer instantly nocked another one, sending that one flying in Oliver's direction as well. Oliver was forced to both dodge and jump, while at the same time retaliating with two arrows of his own.

Somehow, they ended up in another room, scaling the various containers and walls, trying to get the upper hand of each other. Oliver could tell by the way that the other man was fighting that he was human, but he was well trained and he put up a good fight.

Oliver tried to anticipate his next move, but he ended up miscalculating and received a punch in his gut. They had left the arrows behind, it seemed, as they engaged in hand to hand combat instead. The other arched moved quickly and Oliver wondered briefly if he had been wrong; the speed in his movements would suggest a supernatural creature, but of course, a human too could have been trained to have this kind of quick responses.

Oliver didn't know how it happened, but he suddenly he staggered to the cold floor, screaming in agony as the archer kicked him in the ribs, over and over again. Just as he was about to stand up, to keep fighting even though his arms ached and his hands trembled and cold sweat had covered him from top to toe, he heard how the other archer released another arrow which ended up in his right shoulder, not far from the spot that Yao Fei had once shot him through.

Oliver screamed out, pain coursing through him once again and he felt how the blood was already seeping through his green suit. In the distance, he heard a low chuckle and footsteps as the other archer calmly walked away from the scene, but he could barely breathe through the pain, much less do anything to stop him from going.

He reached up to his ear, activating the comm-link once again.

"Oliver!" Felicity's voice rang out immediately, worry etched in it along with a thousand other emotions that Oliver didn't want to decipher.

"Felicity... Send me Diggle... I'm..." he grunted out, trying to take a breath, but the air seemed to be knocked out of his lungs.

"He's already on his way," Felicity told him, a slight tremble in her voice. "Oliver, stay with me. Just, don't close your eyes, okay? Focus on my voice."

Oliver's eyes felt heavy though, as they slowly fluttered shut. He could feel his strength leaving him completely, the pain going numb.

"Mhm..." he mumbled in agreement, but he ended up closing his eyes anyway.

The last thing he thought of before darkness embraced him, was how he wanted to tell Felicity that she had a nice voice, and that he actually didn't mind listening to her when she talked.

-§-

When Oliver later came to, he slowly opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. Immediately, he recognized the walls of the Foundry, and for a mere moment, he wondered how he had gotten there. He felt sore and all he wanted was to just lay back down and fall asleep, but he couldn't, especially since he didn't even remember what had happened.

"Hey," a small voice said, somewhere in the back of the lair. Oliver turned his head and was met by the sight of a slowly approaching Felicity.

Her hands were wrapped around herself as she moved toward him, looking at him worriedly. She came to stand next to him and he suddenly became aware of the fact that he was laying in her bed; the little cot that he had gotten her when she first began sleeping there.

"How are you feeling?" Felicity asked, her voice low. She raised her hand, resting it against his forehead, an action that seemed to have been almost automatic for her. Her eyes widened slightly and he realized that he must have given her a surprised look that made her realize what she was doing. When she began pulling her hand back though, Oliver reached up and caught her wrist, keeping her hand in place on his forehead. He groaned when pain surged through him from his side, most likely a broken rib or two, and then proceeded to close his eyes.

"Leave it there," he muttered, trying not to think about how weak he sounded. "Your hand is cold. It feels nice."

"You're really hot," Felicity breathed out in a sigh and despite the pain, Oliver's lips quirked up of their own accord. "As in warm. Like, you might have a fever or something and I should probably check it since Diggle gave me strict instructions to do so."

Oliver opened his eyes again and looked at her, happy to see the crimson coloring her cheeks, making the deadly hybrid look human.

"Where is Diggle?" Oliver frowned, mostly because his partner would have shown himself by now if he was actually in the lair.

"After he brought you back here and we patched you up, he had to go back to the warehouse," Felicity replied. "You lost a lot of blood and he had to remove all traced of you ever being there in case the police came around. We wouldn't want them getting any of your DNA, now would we, Mr. Arrow."

There was some teasing laced in her tone, but Oliver knew that she was being serious.

He quirked an eyebrow at her, "Mr. Arrow?"

The blush on Felicity's cheeks only deepened slightly, "Yeah. As I told you once or twice, I don't particularly find the nickname 'the Hood' flattering and 'Arrow' sounds a lot better in my ears. More like a hero."

Oliver could only stare at her.

This hybrid, who he had started out by hating, who then had earned his trust in her own way, just like she had sworn that she would. The monster who somehow felt the need to protect his younger sister and who stood by him, even when he had said some awful things to her since they had first met.

And now she was calling him a hero.

"I'm not a hero," he insisted, but Felicity only smiled at him, almost a little sadly.

"You will be," she replied confidently. "I can almost bet on it."

Their eyes met and Oliver suddenly had one of those urges again; the ones where he wanted to just pull her close and hold her, no matter what he thought about her kind.

"I should probably check that wound of yours," Felicity said thoughtfully. Oliver's eyes lowered to where she was looking, at the bandage that went around his entire right shoulder.

"I can do it myself," Oliver offered as he sat up, but he moved a little too quick and he couldn't keep in the wince and the small string of curses that escaped his lips at the pain.

"Uh, yeah, no," Felicity shot him a glare, "John told me to look after you while he was gone, and I don't intend to let down Mr. Diggle."

She moved away from him when she made sure that he could sit properly without falling over, his feet now resting on the floor as he sat on the end of her small bed. He wondered how he had even fit on it, but he didn't want to dwell on it too long as he watched Felicity move around the lair.

The blonde hybrid gathered the supplies that she would need to check his wound and re-dress the bandage, and then quickly walked back to him, pulling a chair with her. Sitting down in front of him, she slowly began unwrapping the bandage that was already tied around him.

"How long was I out?" Oliver wondered, trying not to think about how cool Felicity's fingers felt against his hot skin. "Has Diggle been gone for long?"

"He left just fifteen minutes ago," Felicity replied. "He called and told me he would be a while since you and that other archer messed that warehouse up pretty bad. Somehow though, it seems like only your DNA can be found..."

"He was covered from head to toe," Oliver explained. "Not really sure how he would have left a fingerprint or anything that could be used to identify him. Unless of course he dropped a stand of hair–"

"–which would be impossible to find without the right equipment," Felicity finished, meeting his gaze. "Yeah, Diggle and I already concluded that. As to your first question, you've been passed out for three hours since Diggle brought you back here. At first we were worried that you might need to be taken to the hospital, but we decided that we could handle your injuries ourselves. I just hope we did a good job."

"I feel okay," Oliver lied and she shot him a skeptic look.

"You feel like hell, Oliver, so why don't you just admit that and stop trying to downplay your injuries," Felicity said, shaking her head at him.

Silence rested between them as she worked on getting his bandage off, cleaning the wound that would most likely end up becoming yet another scar on his already marred body. Her touch was soft and more than once Oliver caught his own gaze linger on her face as she focused on the wound.

"You know," Felicity said, startling him out of his thoughts, "when I was captive, I heard a lot of stories from the guards and the other captives, at least until they put me in confinement."

She didn't even look at him as she spoke, reaching for some cotton and the antiseptic, gently dabbing it on his injury. Bandaging him up went a little faster and then she looked up at his face, frown once again appearing. "I should probably clean those too," she muttered and he realized what he must look like. The other archer had gotten in a good punch to his face as well, so if he was planning on going home tonight, he should probably make himself a little more presentable even though his mother and sister wouldn't be dumb enough to miss his injuries.

He gave her his permission with a small nod and Felicity moved to get a small rag as she started cleaning her face.

"What kind of stories?" he asked her after a while, deciding that he could use the distraction from the stinging that ensued when she dabbed his cheek with the antiseptic.

"About the archer," she mumbled, her eyes not moving from the small cut on his cheek. "There was one about the green archer who saved innocents, making it difficult for the vampire community to find their prey in the city." Felicity's lips quirked up, "I always liked that one; how he seemed to stick it to them when they were asking for it."

Oliver's own lips tugged up in a small smile and he recalled how she had referred to him as hero, just a few moments ago.

"There was always a hint of fear in their voices when they talked about him, the Hood," she scrunched her nose up at the nickname, once again showing her distaste for it, "but once I turned into a hybrid, I could smell it on them even more clearly." Oliver winced when Felicity dabbed the cut on his lip and she offered him an apologetic look. "There was another story though, and it took a little time for me to understand that it was a different one," Felicity continued. "A different story than the first; a story of a Dark Archer, killing Dark Ones and humans with no remorse."

Oliver caught Felicity's eyes as he realized what she was saying. "The other archer," he concluded.

Felicity nodded, "They say that he hasn't been as active as the Hood, but they fear him equally. At least when it comes to you, they know that you're protecting the people of Starling City. This other man, whoever he is, is killing both humans and Dark Ones. What purpose does he have, what does he even want?"

Oliver watched her for a while and Felicity didn't remove her gaze from his. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked her. "If you suspected that this was the other archer that they talked about, why didn't you tell me?"

"To be honest, I forgot about it," Felicity answered. He could tell that she was embarrassed by it and that she hated that she hadn't been of more help and deep down, Oliver might be a little annoyed, but he knew that if Felicity had known all along what kind of a man he was hunting, she would without a doubt have told him what she knew. "Some of my memories aren't that clear," she explained. "I was in-and-out of consciousness for a long time after I turned and some of the things I heard are shambled up and blurry. I had a bad feeling about tonight, but I never would have expected that this copycat killer was the Dark Archer that the guards spoke about."

Oliver didn't say anything, just watched her face, his eyes dropping to her lower lip when she caught it between her teeth. Inside of him, that feeling was stirring and it made him just want to shut down completely.

For a moment, he wanted to just put everything on pause; all his knowledge of the People of Darkness, all the worries he had about Felicity and all the things that had happened tonight when he hadn't listened to her and shut off his comm-link. All he wanted, was to reach for her, tangle his fingers in the loose blonde curls at the nape of her neck and pull her closer to him.

Whether it was a simple urge that had surfaced when his dreams about the hybrid began, or if it was a wish his heart kept secret until now, he didn't know, but the only thing he could see in that moment was Felicity.

He caught sight of his own hand moving toward her cheek, undoubtedly reaching to cup her face, and stopped himself, his brain once again setting in motion. Instead of touching her cheek like his fingers seemed to itch to do, he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, forcing his eyes to meet her blue ones that seemed to be shining.

"What happened tonight wasn't your fault, Felicity," he told her. "I was reckless, thinking I could handle it all by myself and I should have waited for Diggle as backup. I shouldn't have shut off the comm."

"We could play the blame game all night, but it doesn't change the fact that you'll still need to come up with a pretty good cover story for that busted up lip of yours," Felicity tried to joke lightly, as if she could sense that their conversation was heading into deeper territories. It was a good thing that he wasn't the only one who didn't want to get too close, Oliver figured, but a small part of him still wished that Felicity hadn't immediately tried to play it cool and joke about the situation.

Although, that didn't mean that he wasn't grateful for her change of topic.

"Crazy night in the club gone wrong?" he suggested, making the blonde chuckle.

"I think we've used that one too many times already," she replied, a small smile playing on her lips.

"We'll make something up," he smiled back at her, feeling that the conversation had gone traveled into a lighter place.

He still didn't want to think about all the things that had happened during that day; everything from the awkward lunch with Thea where he had expressed some feelings that he hadn't ever wanted his sister to witness, to the even more awkward training session with Felicity.

Although, the training session hadn't been awkward exactly, but it had been charged and Oliver would never be able to fool himself into thinking that it hadn't been. There was something there, between him and Felicity, but he didn't want to know what it was. Everyone around him seemed to think that it was some kind of crush, but Oliver found it ridiculous that a grown man like himself would have such a thing on another human being.

But Felicity wasn't human, he reminded himself; she was a hybrid.

That, however, didn't make him want to call this thing between them a crush any more. Whatever it was– a connection, an unexplainable attraction– he didn't want to acknowledge it, even though he deep down knew that a part of it already had.

"Oliver," Felicity whispered, her eyes lowering to the floor between them. "There is way for you to not have to come up with any kind of story."

Her words brought him back to reality, where he was still looking intently at her, his hand resting on her shoulder. He could tell that she was hesitating and he wondered what it was that was making her twitch so nervously suddenly.

"What?" he asked, wanting her to voice whatever it was that she was thinking about.

"My blood could heal you," she explained, her voice still low and she wasn't looking at him. Instead, she was playing with the cotton in her hands that she had used to clean his cuts. "Hybrid blood would make all your wounds heal and you wouldn't be in pain anymore."

"No," Oliver said, perhaps a little too quickly because Felicity looked up at him, meeting his eyes with a hurt expression on her face. She looked at if he had just told her that her suggestion was the most disgusting thing he had ever heard; like she had just rejected her, as a person and not only her blood. "No," he repeated, this time a little calmer, squeezing her shoulder again. "Thank you for the offer, Felicity, but I really wouldn't feel comfortable knowing that there was hybrid blood in my system. With the things I have to do every day, the risk of turning would be too great. You know that I would turn if I died."

"I know," Felicity bit her lip. "I was just hoping that we would be optimistic enough to believe that you would survive those twenty-four hours it would take for my blood to pass through your system." Oliver's lips tugged up again when he saw her visibly relax. "Also, there are other ways to turn," she said, almost absentmindedly.

Oliver thought about all the things he had learned during his years away and during the time that he had been back in Starling City. He knew the things that his mentors had told him about the People of Darkness, and he had witnessed a couple of turns himself, but he knew she was right. There were too many monsters in the world and every last one of them had a different way to turn.

Just turning someone into a hybrid could be done at least three different ways that he knew of and once again, Oliver found himself wondering how Felicity had been turned. What had she been before she was turned? How had she grown up?

Who was she?

"Felicity," he breathed out her name without actually meaning to. Her eyes focused on him again and he swallowed the questions that he wanted to ask; perhaps another time. "Thank you for being here tonight, for helping."

His gratitude seemed to surprise her but another smile appeared on her face as that little blush appeared again, making Oliver's insides melt without his permission.

"Any time, Oliver," she replied as she packed up the medical kit again, raising from the chair so that she could put it back in place. "You should lay down and rest until Diggle comes back. He'll help you get home safely."

He wanted to protest, knowing that it was her bed that he was laying in, but he could feel his exhaustion coursing through him again, clouding his mind. "Okay," he nodded, groaning a little as he began laying down again.

Felicity was by his side instantly, having used her hybrid speed to reach him faster. Her hand was on his shoulder as she helped him ease down on the mattress and it remained there, even after he was situated.

Yet again, their eyes collided and time seemed to stand still for a moment before she spoke again.

"I'm glad you're okay, Oliver," she finally said, gently squeezing his shoulder before walking away to keep cleaning.

Oliver stared after her for a while before looking up at the ceiling, quietly wondering if he gave her the same comfort when he squeezed her shoulder, as she had just given him.


Note: Mhmm, that's right, Malcolm Merlyn has made an appearance now and he even crossed paths with our dear hybrid! And the Dark Archer is in the picture, but as you can all probably guess, we won't be seeing more of him until later on in the first part of this story...

So, what did you like the most about this chapter? Did you catch anything that might be foreshadowing? If you did, good for you, because there was A LOT of it in this chapter! ;) Don't forget to tell me what you liked in a comment! :)

Oh, and I just want to add that there might not be an update next week, because I'm going to try to write a couple of chapters before I start posting again. But of course, it all depends on how much schoolwork I have and if I get any reviews for this chapter! *wink wink*

Thank you so much for reading! I love you guys! :)