Note: Hey guys! Just a quick note here! I'm sorry for taking so long to update this story, but I've been all caught up in another story that I have like two more chapters to write and then I'll be able to focus on this one more fully. I needed a break from Arrow, unfortunately. Or well, I don't know why but it did me good. Hopefully after I finish the other story, I'll be able to go back to this story full time, but for now, here you have this chapter that I hope you'll like! :) I have a note in the end of the chapter which is important too, so don't forget to read that one! xx


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 15: The Dodger

"Are you trying to tell me that you beat Oliver in hand-to-hand combat?" Tommy asked, raising his eyebrow at the blonde who was leaning back in her chair with her feet propped up on a spare chair in front of her.

Felicity watched him in amusement, playing with the Chinese food he had brought her when he'd come to visit her in the Foundry. "Is that so hard to believe?" she wondered, challenge clear in her tone.

"You're tiny!" Tommy protested.

"You've seen my hybrid strength first-hand!" Felicity laughed at his bewildered expression, putting the take-out box on her desk.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Tommy nodded along, shrugging. "I kind of wish I could have been there to see it, you know? Is there a recording or something somewhere? Like from a security camera?"

"Cameras are easy to hack, Tommy," Felicity said. "Oliver learned that the hard way when I got in and found out his identity. He told me to get rid of almost every last one of them after I joined the team and he started trusting me."

Tommy looked at her curiously. "How long ago was that exactly?"

Felicity contemplated his question, thinking about what would be the best way to go about it. Should she be completely honest and tell him that Oliver pretty much hated her at the beginning of their partnership and that he didn't really accept her until like a month or so back? Considering that Felicity couldn't see a reason to start making things up when it came to her relationship with Oliver, she did just that. Tommy seemed awfully skeptic of it though until she told him just how cold Oliver had been toward her before.

"I can't believe he was like that," Tommy gaped. "He really didn't even let you leave the Foundry until you got a fake job at Queen Consolidated so he could keep an eye on you himself?"

"Yeah," Felicity nodded. "But we're good now. He's even trusting me to take care of the whole Roy-business on my own, which is exactly why I invited you down here by the way, so maybe we should get to talking about that instead of me and Oliver?"

Tommy grinned at her, clearly not wanting to let go of the subject yet, but nodded nonetheless. "Okay, so you're going to approach Roy – Who is Thea's boyfriend, by the way. – and tell him that he's a werewolf that hasn't turned yet," Tommy said, taking a bite from his own food.

"Yeah," Felicity drawled, spinning in her chair once. "So, what do you think is the best way to tell someone that they have suppressed werewolf genes and that they are coming closer to activating their werewolf side with every full moon that passes?"

"Well, baring your fangs was kind of effective," Tommy shrugged, shooting her a pointed look.

"I don't want it to come to that," Felicity said seriously, but the memory of how frightened Tommy had looked when she had done just that was kind of funny to think about.

"It was rather dramatic, wasn't it?" Tommy mused, slurping his noodles.

Felicity scrunched up her nose when some sauce dribbled down his chin and he wiped it away. "I didn't want you to hate Oliver," she told him. "God, you eat like a pig."

"It's noodles! There's no way to not get sauce all over your face," Tommy defended. "And are you always this protective of Oliver? I thought it was just him, but apparently it's a two-way street with you guys."

"And so we're back to me and Oliver," Felicity sighed, leaning back in her chair.

"You are a curious subject to discuss," Tommy told her. "Or at least you are when one isn't discussing it directly with one of you."

"You talk about us when we aren't around?" Felicity narrowed her eyes. She understood that people were curious about her relationship with Oliver, but there really wasn't anything other than friendship there. They were partners, if anything, and it didn't go beyond that. Or well, at least she didn't think it did? She had admitted to herself long ago that Oliver was attractive, but she wouldn't let herself do anything stupid and ruin everything they had built so far. Besides, she was a Dark One and he was a hunter. It wasn't as if he would just forget and let go of everything that he had been taught these last seven years or so and start caring about her more deeply.

"No," Tommy said quickly, but he didn't sound very convincing.

Felicity shook her head at him, "I invited you here to help me figure out how to talk to Roy. Can we please go back to that now?"

Tommy looked like he wanted to say something else, but finally, he sighed. "Fine," he said. "Let's talk about Roy and how you're going to invite him into this world of crazy."

Felicity let out a laugh at that as they finally began discussing again. She did her best to ignore the way her heart beat just a little bit stronger in her chest when she thought about Oliver and her and the way he was starting to make her feel.

-§-

Oliver tapped his knee with his finger as he kept his eyes on the road. He and Diggle were making their way toward the Foundry after a long day at work and he knew that Felicity was there with Tommy alone, because apparently she had needed someone's help to figure out how to handle the Roy situation and Oliver wasn't good enough to confide in.

He nearly rolled his eyes at himself for thinking that way, because he knew that he and Felicity had come to a new level of understanding since the whole thing with the Savior. Oliver had been there for her when she had been down, yet again, and he trusted her more than ever. He wanted to be able to say that it didn't bother him that she had gone to Tommy for advice though, but he understood her when she had told him that it was merely because Roy was Thea's boyfriend and Thea was his sister and that she didn't want to complicate things between them all when she told Roy that he was a werewolf.

Diggle was having his reservations about leaving Felicity to deal with Roy on her own. He had told Oliver as much when they had begun their drive to the Foundry and ended up stuck in traffic. It wasn't because he didn't trust Felicity, but more because he didn't want her to pressure herself into dealing with all of that on her own. They only knew a small portion of what she had endured when she had been forced to turn into a hybrid by the Master and even with that knowledge, it was safe to say that she had been through more than anyone else they knew.

Oliver had been through his own personal hell when he had been stuck on Lian Yu and then later gone through various other journeys that had forged him into the hunter that he was today, but there was something about Felicity's story that struck a chord in his heart. Often, when he was alone at night, his mind would go back to that night when she had told him her story – or at least some of it – and he would feel sorry for all the things that he had put her through when she'd first come to join his team. He had been spiteful and mean, purely because she was a hybrid and he didn't believe that there could ever be a single one of the Nightcrawlers that was simply good. She had proved him wrong, time and time and again, by both being there in the Foundry during his patrols, making him new weapons to use against hybrids, putting his sister's safety first and saving his life on multiple occasions.

He cared for her now and there was no denying it, but he just couldn't bring himself to talk about it either. Whatever it was that was changing between them needed to be kept between them and them alone. He didn't want to dwell on why he had felt that familiar sense of jealousy when Felicity had mentioned starting a pack with Roy because he hadn't actually been jealous in several years. The blonde hybrid was doing things to him, making him feel emotions that he had never thought he would feel ever again. Still, he wasn't ready to tell her that or to question why it was that she was somehow managing to weave her way into his heart slowly.

"I thought a lot about Roy Harper last night," Diggle said suddenly, making Oliver return to the land of the living and leave his deep thoughts about the blonde that was still haunting his dreams at night.

"Oh?" he raised his eyebrow, earning a look from the older man that said 'Don't even go there' which almost made him chuckle. "Did you come to any conclusions?" he asked instead.

"Whenever Felicity tells Roy, there's another problem we might have to think about," Diggle pointed out. "If Roy keeps seeing Thea, your sister is most likely going to find out about the People of Darkness too. It's only a matter of time before Roy does something or she figures out that something is wrong."

Oliver frowned then, asking himself silently why he hadn't thought about that before. He had been keeping Thea in the dark about this secret world and other life of his for seven years now, since he had returned from being lost for so long. Telling her the truth about the Dark Ones had never been in his plan but what Diggle was saying was true. Whenever Felicity approached Roy on the matter, Thea finding out the truth would be inevitable if Roy remained in a relationship with her. Oliver didn't know what he thought about that other than the fact that he was worried that his younger sister might actually end up hating him for keeping such a thing from her.

"I don't know, Dig," Oliver sighed. "I can't think about that now. We're letting Felicity handle Roy on her own and I want to have faith in her. I need to believe that she has a plan and whatever happens, I'll just have to deal with it."

Diggle nodded curtly, "So if Thea finds out the truth, you'd be fine with it?"

"I don't know," Oliver repeated. "I guess we'll just have to take it one day at a time and see how things go."

At that, Diggle let out a low chuckle. "Man, Felicity's been rubbing off on you with her optimism," Diggle told him.

"Is that a bad thing?" Oliver questioned, but his mouth twitched up in a half-smile.

"No, man, it really isn't," Diggle grinned. "It's good to see you lean back and let others help you. You don't have to carry the burdens of the world on your shoulders alone anymore."

Oliver found himself nodding solemnly, silently agreeing. Diggle had been trying to tell him that for two years, but he had never allowed himself to fully accept it until now. Felicity was changing things and he found himself thinking, that perhaps, that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

-§-

Oliver dodged Felicity's punch, but just barely. She had gotten faster and he wondered briefly how much she had been training when she was down in the lair alone. Surely, she had to get bored when watching movies all the time and he knew for a fact that she sometimes showed up at the office tired, which must mean that she was doing something.

"You've gotten better," she panted, circling him with her hands balled up in fists, readying herself for the next attack.

"I've always been good," he scoffed, raising a challenging eyebrow at her. They had been training together for the past hour, but Oliver was nowhere near done. He knew that Tommy and Diggle were watching them – they really weren't as discrete as they thought they were – but he didn't find himself caring about it at all. For some reason, as he fought Felicity in hand-to-hand combat, he couldn't help but get some kind of burst of energy inside of him. It was like every single time that she managed to get a jab in, he became even more determined to take her down.

She had the advantage of having better senses than him, due to her hybrid-side, but since she was refraining from drinking blood, her wolf side had become more prominent and the hybrid aspects had faded somewhat. Oliver didn't kid himself though. He knew that if Felicity were to consume human blood, she would once again have the upper hand on him. Then again, even if she had just been a simple wolf, she would still have had the instincts needed to give her an advantage. For the first time, Oliver actually allowed himself to admit that it was a good thing for him to have a supernatural being to train with, without having to worry about them ripping his throat out. It was very educational, to say the least.

At least that was what he told himself every time that Felicity floored him and he got that strange, tingly feeling in his gut that almost worried him a little.

Still, they needed this; they both did. They needed a way to work off some steam in a controlled environment, where Oliver refused to let his mind wander off to the dreams he was still having about the blonde. He didn't know exactly what Felicity felt toward him, but he knew for certain that she cared about him a lot. Her actions since she had joined his team and since she had saved his life for what felt like the hundredth time showed him that much.

The two of them were moving in perfect sync, it seemed. He threw punches and Felicity dodged them, she tried to sweep her leg under his feet to make him lose balance and he jumped to avoid her. They were both sweating and panting and Oliver just couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from hers, which stayed connected with his throughout the workout session. He was so lost in his own world, where it was just Felicity and him, that he completely missed Diggle turning up the volume on one of Felicity's computers. It wasn't until Felicity turned her head away from him to look over at Diggle and Tommy that he noticed that something was up. He immediately stopped the attack he had just been planning on the blonde and moved his attention to the screen.

"One of the guards was found decapitated and the other one claims to have been unconscious the entire time. The police are yet to make a statement, but it seems as if this is the work of someone that has a history with this kind of thefts. Some anonymous sources suspect that the stolen diamonds and the murdered night guard from the museum point to the man known as Winnick Norton–"

Diggle turned down the volume again as the reporter began to list the things that the media had dug out about the thief and killer. "Winnick Norton usually goes by the codename 'The Dodger'," he shared. "He uses bomb-collars that he puts around people's necks to make them do his bidding. He got the name because he never gets his hands dirty during a heist."

A snort was heard suddenly and Oliver turned his attention to Felicity, who moved to sit down by her computers. Tommy and Diggle were looking at her as well and she just shrugged. "I've heard about him before," she shrugged. "He's not only a thief and a killer, but he's also a very cray-cray hybrid, which is the real reason to why he uses his bomb-collars." They looked at her questioningly and her eyes connected with Oliver's. "You know, decapitation? One of the few ways to kill a hybrid?" They kept staring at her. "Gosh, how do you guys forget some of the most important things I teach you about hybrids?"

"We didn't forget," Oliver frowned at her. "We were simply trying to think of how you know this guy."

"So, how do you know him?" Tommy questioned.

Felicity scrunched up her nose. "He... He used to work for the Master, I suppose. Maybe he still does," she shrugged. "I came across him a few times when I was being held captive after they forced me to turn."

Oliver could tell that there was something she was keeping from them, but he didn't want to pressure her into telling them. He knew that she would share whatever it was when she was ready to. The memories she had of being held prisoner by the Master were clearly as unpleasant as his memories of Lian Yu and the other places he'd been to when he was presumed to be dead and he himself wasn't exactly open to sharing what had happened to him with everyone yet, even though two years had passed since his return to Starling City.

Almost instantly, Oliver felt bad for the way he had treated Felicity when she'd first sought him out. He'd been insistent on locking her up because the only thing he had been able to see when he had looked at her was a threat to everyone he loved and cared about. It wasn't until a lot later that he had realized that Felicity hadn't actually had a choice in becoming what she was today. She had been forced into becoming a hybrid and she didn't actually enjoy being one at all. On the other hand, he knew that it had all been a very knee-jerk reaction of him. He had spent the past seven years of his life killing the People of Darkness and not taking a single moment to even ask himself if all of them were evil. In his defense though, most of the creatures that had ended up on the wrong side of his bow were Dark Ones that had been threatening him or innocent humans. Still, Diggle had been open to giving Felicity a chance because he had immediately seen that there was something different about her. Oliver though hadn't even wanted to consider the possibility of her actually being anything but evil.

"So, what would you guys normally do now?" Tommy asked, looking toward Oliver. "It's not like we can have a crazy hybrid running around blowing people's heads off."

Oliver looked at Felicity and John, giving them a curt nod.

Felicity sighed, "Well, it seems like revealing a world of darkness to Roy Harper is going to have to wait a few more days." The corner of her mouth lifted into a small smirk, "That sounded a bit more poetic than I intended it to."

"How do we go about this then?" Diggle asked after chuckling in amusement at Felicity's remark. "We don't even know where to start looking."

"Surely, Norton won't do anything else tonight and since he's already left the scene of the crime, we might have to lure him out," Oliver stated. "We can start coming up with a plan tomorrow."

"Sounds good," Felicity agreed. "The Dodger is obsessed with diamonds from the Ominous decade so we might be able to use that against him to draw him in." She began searching for the artifacts online and Oliver had to admit that it was a pretty impressive piece of jewelry. "That is one expensive necklace," Felicity whistled as she eyed it on the screen.

Oliver glanced at Tommy who snorted. "I think you've underestimated just how rich the Queen family is, Ms. Smoak," Tommy joked. "I'm sure Oliver could get a hand on that piece in time for the charity ball this weekend."

"Huh," Felicity said, nodding lightly. "I guess we have a plan after all."

"In that case, we'll need to plan it all out in more detail tomorrow," Diggle said.

Oliver agreed, "Felicity, use my family's private account and buy that necklace and if it's possible, see to it that it's here in time for the charity ball."

"Yes, Sir," Felicity grinned teasingly. "Could I maybe throw in a pair of earrings for myself too? I feel like I kind of deserve it."

Oliver blinked a couple of times, not sure if she was joking or if she was being serious, but by the way that her grin only widened when she turned to look at him, he knew that she was once again trying to be funny. His lips twitched and his hand seemed to itch to reach out to her and tell her that once all of this was done, he would make sure to personally buy her a gift for all the work she's done, though instead he remained quiet. He did however meet her eyes and he hoped that he was at least able to show her silently what he couldn't say out loud.

Although, he did make a mental note to ask her when her birthday was because for some reason, he had already thought of the perfect gift for her.

-§-

"I can't believe we stayed this late at the office," Felicity groaned as she and Oliver got into the elevator.

"We had a lot of work to finish before the charity ball," Oliver replied. "But yeah, I didn't expect it to run this late either." He looked at his watch. It was already eleven, but he had asked Diggle to go on patrol since he and Felicity had been holed up in his office for the better part of the day. Tommy had texted Felicity and told her that he could act as surveillance from the lair. Oliver didn't like the fact that Tommy was getting involved in his crusade, but at the same time he was thankful that his friend didn't actually hate him for it anymore. Although, he didn't know how exactly it was going to effect Tommy's relationship with Laurel and since the two of them were happily engaged, Oliver didn't want Tommy to risk ruining it by getting too involved.

"Tommy just sent me another message," Felicity said, writing something back on her phone. "He said that it was a calm night and that Diggle said that it was okay for you to go home."

Oliver frowned, "He's finished with patrolling?"

"Yeah, apparently there wasn't much going on," Felicity shrugged. "He stopped a vampire from feeding on some girl in an alley, but other than that the Dark Ones seem to be on the down-low tonight." She looked up at him as they exited the elevator. "So, are you going home then?"

"No," Oliver shook his head. "I need to be prepared for anything at the charity ball, so I have to train."

"Oliver, no offense, but I don't think you could get more buff than you are," Felicity said bluntly. Oliver startled and looked at her. She blinked a few times and Oliver resisted the urge to smirk at her when a small blush crept up her cheeks. "Unless of course you compare your arms to Dig's, then you still have a long way to go," she blurted.

Oliver continued to walk by her side. "Should I inform John that you're comparing our arms? Is this something I should be worried about?" he teased her, nudging her in her side.

"Of course not, but it's kind of difficult to not notice," Felicity told him. "If you're going to work out tonight, do you want a ride with me?" Oliver quirked an eyebrow at her and Felicity punched him in the arm lightly. "You should be used to my slips by now, Oliver Queen!" she laughed.

Oliver grinned at her despite internally frowning at himself. He found himself leaning into her a little, chasing her touch, it seemed.

"If you're up for it?" he told her.

"Only if you're up for it," Felicity countered, then blushed again. "Damn it, I seem to be on a roll tonight."

Oliver chuckled and shook his head. "You're always on a roll, Felicity."

The two of them walked toward her car. She had parked it outside of the building, a little further down the road due to almost being late for work today. Her excuse had been that she had been up late and then barely slept at all during the night. Oliver had wanted to ask her about it, but once again he didn't want to pressure her into sharing anything. Felicity suggested that he wait for her by the building while she hurried over to her car, but Oliver didn't like the idea of her accidentally exposing herself. Besides, every time Oliver looked over his shoulder, something made him feel a bit uneasy.

They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached her mini. Felicity reached for her keys in her bag and Oliver began walking to the other side of the car so that he could sit in the passenger seat. He was stopped abruptly though when Felicity reached out and grabbed his wrist tightly. He turned around and looked at her with a frown on his face but he didn't have any time to ask her what was wrong, because Felicity took a step closer to him and his brain seemed to stop working.

Her chest was pressed tightly against his, her hand still clasped around his wrist, holding him in place. Her other hand found its way to his shoulder and all of the sudden, her face was moving closer to his. Oliver's breath hitched and he was certain that Felicity could hear the pounding of his heart. What was she doing, leaning into him like this? He furrowed his eyebrows when he looked into her blue eyes, seeing them flash that familiar yellow color for a mere second before she leaned up closer. Felicity's nose brushed against his cheek and Oliver suppressed a shiver when he felt her lips graze his ear a moment later. He could feel her hot breath against his skin and he still wasn't sure what she was doing, but he knew that there must be a reason for her to be doing it.

"We're not alone," Felicity whispered into his ear, her grip on his wrist tightening only slightly. "I can smell two vampires close by."

Oliver immediately tensed. He moved his hand – which had somehow ended up on Felicity's hip – inside his suit jacket, reaching for the thin wooden stake he carried with him there. He pulled Felicity a little closer to himself and he heard her sigh, knowing that she too was getting ready to fight off the threat. He let her lean into him, knowing now that the closeness was most likely something to use as a cover. Oliver didn't know what he had been thinking at first. He had actually thought that Felicity might have wanted to kiss–

"Well, well, well," a cold voice said, almost out of nowhere. Oliver and Felicity pulled apart and turned in the direction of the intruders. They stood side by side, a woman and a man – most likely mates – dressed all black. The woman was pale with almost glowing red eyes, proving that she had most likely fed just a little earlier while the man had dark skin and icy blue eyes. Oliver assessed them, pulling Felicity a little closer to himself. He felt her fingernails digging into his wrist and he did his best to remain impassive, not wanting to give away the fact that he knew what the strangers were.

"If it isn't little Ms. Smoak," the woman grinned, tilting her head to the side. "She looks just like she does in the picture, Dave." She grinned at the male vampire next to her, licking her lips. Not only did she look feral, but she looked excited too, as if she was ready to pounce at them in a second.

"Excuse me?" Felicity asked, voice trembling, but Oliver knew she was faking her fear. He could feel how steady her breathing actually was.

"Let's not try to worm your way out of this one," Dave smirked, his eyes flashing.

'Lamia,' Oliver acknowledged in his mind. The man was probably not just the woman's mate, but also her Sire.

"I didn't believe Maya when she first told me she thought she had spotted you," Dave continued, referring to his mate. "The fact that the Master has us all looking for you and then you just casually walking out of Queen Consolidated with none other than Mr. Queen next to you... Well, the chance of that happening was just too small, I thought."

Maya cackled, "I made Dave come with me though to check you out and then we just knew that you were her. Working with Starling's resident hunter wasn't enough for you, but you had to go for the

billionaire bachelor too. Did you think he would be able to protect you with his money?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Felicity said, letting go of Oliver briefly so that she could open the car door. Maya sped forward at an inhuman speed and slammed the door shut, making Felicity gasp.

"Don't bother lying," the female vampire grinned as her fangs elongated. "I can smell your hybrid blood."

Oliver knew that it was time to act the second that Felicity's eyes flashed that golden hue that gave away that she was up to something. The moment that Felicity grabbed Maya's head and slammed it up against the car, Oliver drew his stake and made a move for Dave. The lamia vampire obviously hadn't expected Oliver to have a weapon or actually understand anything that was going on, because he was so taken aback that Oliver was actually able to shove the wooden stake deep into his stomach. Dave grunted and fell to his knees as Maya let out a wail, still pressed to the car by Felicity. She was struggling against Felicity's grip – trying to get to her Sire – but Felicity was stronger than her.

"How do you know about the Arrow?" Felicity growled, her own fangs slipping out. Her grip on Maya's neck tightened slightly, making the vampire splutter as she tried to take a deep breath.

"The M-Master," Maya replied.

"Shut up, Maya!" Dave snarled as Oliver dug the stake deeper into him, angling it upwards toward the monster's heart. "Don't t-tell them anything!"

"D-Dave," Maya sobbed, tears springing from her eyes. Oliver looked over at Felicity and saw that her eyes seemed to soften slightly, the yellow color fading. He knew she felt sympathy toward the monster in her arms and it would get her in danger sooner or later. Deciding that answers would have to be found in other ways, Oliver pulled out the stake before quickly slamming it back in, this time straight into Dave's heart. Maya let out a loud cry as Dave's body turned gray, his eyes lifeless as he slumped to the ground once Oliver let go of him. Oliver turned and stalked up to Felicity and Maya, removing Felicity from the vampire before staking her as well. Tears still streaming down her face, Maya's eyes became empty with the small gasp that left her body before Oliver pulled out the stake and let her fall to the ground as well.

He looked at Felicity, who was staring at him with wide eyes and surprise but he just gave her a look that told her not to say anything. Wordlessly, they worked together to dispose of the bodies before going to Felicity's car again. She didn't say anything the entire ride to the Foundry, just assuming that he would still be coming there with her and Oliver knew that she was assuming right. There was no way in Hell that he would be leaving her tonight. The Master, whoever he was, knew that she was working with him to stop the People of Darkness in Starling City. What Dave and Maya had said about a picture circling around had Oliver worried. The fact that the Dark Ones out there knew that she was working with the Arrow put her in even more danger than before. She had obviously been a target since the very beginning because she had been the one to escape the Master's claws even after they tried to break her, but now she was even more dangerous to the Master than before.

Felicity parked the car outside of Verdant and turned off the engine. Oliver could hear her breathing calmly, which told him that she was anything but. He too had perfected the act of breathing like nothing was wrong with the world, even though it actually was.

"You don't have to come with me," Felicity told him.

"I'm staying the night with you in the lair whether you want it or not," Oliver countered, turning so that he could face her.

"I'm safe there," Felicity argued, looking at him as well. "I can take care of myself. I did it for months before I joined your team."

"I know that," Oliver said, never breaking eye-contact as he spoke. "But you don't have to be the only one taking care of you anymore."

The meaning of his words hit her and Oliver frowned when he saw her lower lip began to tremble. Felicity looked away from him, her eyes screwing shut and Oliver couldn't help but move a little closer. "Hey, hey," he said softly, reaching out to her so that he could cup her cheek. "You're not alone," he told her when she finally met his eyes again. Tears were shining in her blue eyes and he could do nothing other than try to smile at her assuringly when she finally took a deep breath and nodded.

They walked into the lair together, Oliver's hand brushing against hers the entire time to give her silent comfort. He changed into some of his clean training clothes and Felicity put on her pajamas before offering him her bed.

"I'll just sleep on the med bay," he told her. She looked ready to protest but he held up his hand to stop her. "I've slept on worse, believe me," he said with a sheepish grin as his memories of his first few days on Lian Yu flashed through his mind.

Felicity laid down on her cot wordlessly and turned on her side so that she could look at him while he got settled. He was on the other side of the room, but he could still see her clearly because they had left one of the lights on. Oliver shifted so that he too was laying on his side, arm propped under his head so that he could look back at her as well.

A minute or so passed in silence before Felicity broke it.

"I've slept on worse too," she whispered, so silently that he had barely heard her at first. He looked at her, seeing that distant look in her eyes once again, even though they were still settled on him. Oliver knew that she had been through a lot and he knew that she wasn't ready to talk about everything just yet, so he didn't say anything. Instead, the two of them kept looking at each other until they both drifted off to sleep, never knowing who it was that closed their eyes first.

The next morning, they didn't talk about it at all, but for some reason Oliver just knew that the reason that his heart beat just a little bit faster when he was in Felicity's presence was becoming more and more obvious by the day.

-§-

Oliver watched Felicity as she smoothed out the imaginary wrinkles of the short dress she was wearing. She was standing almost as tall as him with the black stiletto heels that she had matched with the blue material of her dress and silvery dangling earrings. The blue dress hugged every curve of her body in ways that affected Oliver just a little too much. He reached up and loosened his tie a little, considering that it would be another half hour or so before the two of them were scheduled to head out to the charity ball.

Felicity had done as Oliver had told her and gotten the necklace from the Ominous era to be put on display for the charity tonight by the Queen family. Tommy was already on set with Laurel accompanying him, but Oliver had strictly told him to stay out of the hunting business tonight. If Tommy wanted to learn, he could do so when Laurel and everyone else they loved weren't in direct danger. This mission had to be all about Oliver, Diggle and Felicity.

Oliver couldn't help but go over every single thing that could go wrong tonight and he knew that Felicity could sense his nervousness more clearly that anyone else. Her heightened senses surely helped her feel it all around the lair, but for the first time in a long while, Oliver didn't mind that someone knew that he was afraid that something might go wrong.

"Diggle will take your bag and place it in one of the hotel rooms," Felicity told him. "He'll work his job as your bodyguard and driver tonight and I'll do my part as the pretty lady on your arm." She looked over at him, blinking a few times before she stepped into his space. Oliver watched her silently, his jaw clenching when she reached up and fixed his tie for him. "Everything will be okay," she promised him.

"The Master knows that you're working with me," Oliver argued. "If he had people there tonight, I don't know how we'll be able to capture the Dodger without something going wrong."

"You'll just have to trust me on this one, Oliver," Felicity said, offering him a small smile as she rested her hands on his cheeks, forcing him to look at her.

"I do trust you," he told her, covering her hands with his own. "Don't doubt that. It doesn't mean that I'm okay with the Dark Ones knowing that you're working with the Arrow."

"Maybe we should have talked to Diggle about this?" Felicity said, pulling her hands away from him. "Maybe we shouldn't have just ignored it, Oliver. This isn't an issue that's just going to go away. Not until we stop the Master, whoever he is."

"As soon as tonight is over, we'll talk to Diggle," Oliver agreed. "You're right about this not going away and we already have so many things on our plate that I don't even know where to begin with it all."

"We'll deal with it together, Oliver," Felicity told him, taking her purse. "Tonight, let's just focus on catching that crazy hybrid and hope that I don't trip in these ridiculous heels."

Oliver offered her his arm, not being able to help himself as he leaned down, his lips brushing against the shell of her ear when he spoke to her: "I'll catch you if you do, I promise."

He pulled back and watched in satisfaction as pink dusted over Felicity's cheeks and a small smile appeared on her face.

-§-

It turned out that Oliver's worries were justified. They got to the charity on time, mingled around with a couple of people and even danced a time or two, despite Oliver's original protest. The thing about Felicity though, was that no matter how much he loathed dancing, he just couldn't seem to be able to get enough of having her in his arms.

It had all been going well up until Diggle alerted him to something strange happening in the lobby. In the few minutes that Oliver had gone down to check them out, Tommy had called him with a panicked voice, telling him that he just saw Felicity leave the room with a strange man. Without thinking, Oliver went to the hotel room that he had gotten and got redressed into his leather suit. Luckily, Oliver had convinced Felicity to wear a tracker in one of her earrings just like he and Diggle wore their inside of their shoes so that they would always be able to locate each other. Diggle pinged her up and Oliver left the building through one of the bathroom windows. He had parked his motorcycle close by to be able to use it in case of an emergency and considering that Felicity's life might be in danger, he considered this to be one.

Oliver's heart was racing but he knew that it wasn't just because of the adrenaline coursing through his body. There was something more to it all this time. This was Felicity. She had crept under his skin since the day that she had joined his crusade and she had made herself a place in his heart as one of the people he cared about the most in the world. Oliver considered her to be his friend and a part of his team. She was his partner. Never in his life would he have believed that he would become this dependent on her. Their relationship had grown so much these past few months that Oliver didn't know if he would be able to keep going without her and that realization scared him more than anything else.

Diggle told him over the comm-links that he had tracked Felicity down to the harbor and Oliver sped as fast as he could, breaking way too many traffic laws as he did, to get there in time. It wasn't exactly hard to find the Dodger and Felicity, but the problem was that Felicity was tied up as well as collared with one of the Dodger's bombs.

"Ah, the Starling City Hunter," Norton said, sneering at Oliver from where he stood on top of a container. Felicity was kneeling next to him, her face impassive despite the fact that she had a bomb strapped around her neck and was all tied up.

Oliver dropped his bike to the ground and raised his bow, aiming an arrow at the Dodger. "Let her go, Norton," he growled into the voice modulator.

Norton tilted his head to the side and observed him with a smirk. "You know, the Master wasn't sure whether she was working with you, but he suspected it considering that your knowledge on the hybrid breed seems to have grown a lot over the past few months," he said, lifting one of his hands to show a small remote. "You better lower that bow of yours or Ms. Smoak here will become a few pounds lighter after I blow her head clean off."

Oliver's eyes flickered to Felicity, who looked at him but didn't say anything. She seemed to be in a daze and the fact that she wasn't panicking at all had Oliver worried. Oliver lowered his bow slowly as the Dodger snickered.

"This is wonderful," he said, clapping his hands together. Oliver flinched when he saw how close he was to pressing the button on the remote.

"What do you want? Take the necklace and just go," Oliver finally said. "Let her go."

"The necklace is more of a personal prize than anything else," Norton shared. "Ms. Smoak though is to be returned to the Master, where she belongs."

"She doesn't belong to anyone," Oliver growled at him.

"Really?" Norton grinned. "You sound like she might belong to you."

Oliver couldn't look at Felicity now. He knew that her eyes were trained on him and he couldn't be happier that his face was covered by his hood. This wasn't the best time for him to be confused about what he was beginning to feel toward Felicity because he knew that he needed to keep himself focused. It still didn't help though that he had been questioning his feelings and that his heart sped up just a little bit when the Dodger referred to her as his.

"She's an innocent," Oliver snapped.

"She's the Master's," Norton growled at him, his eyes flashing yellow as his fangs elongated. "She escaped and she broke her Sire bond and for that she needs to be punished. Now everyone knows that she's working with you but after tonight it won't matter anyways because you'll be dead and she'll be put back in her cell again."

"I'm giving you one last chance, Norton," Oliver said, raising his bow again at the same time that the Dodger lifted his remote to taunt him.

"What has she even told you to make you protect her like this?" the Dodger frowned. "Did she tell you that she's good? That she isn't just using you to help her save her little werewolf friends that are still in captivity?" he chuckled darkly. "She's taking advantage of you. Why would she care? Why would she be better than the rest of us? We're all monsters here."

"You're not going to kill her," Oliver stated. "You're not going to touch another hair on her head." He watched as the Dodger took a step closer to Felicity and placed his hand on top of her head, running it through her hair. For the first time since he had found her again, Oliver saw Felicity flinch. There was no way for him to know what exactly may or may not have transpired between Felicity and Norton when she had been held captive by the Master, but one thing was sure and that was that she had indeed interacted with him before.

"You mean like this?" the Dodger asked as he petted Felicity's head before twirling one of her loose strands between his fingers. "She's a pretty one, isn't she? Have you seen her as a wolf yet? So majestic... The closest thing to perfection that I've ever seen..."

Oliver took his chance then, releasing his arrow. It flew through the Dodger's wrist, severing the nerves that would make his hand function properly and the hybrid screamed in pain. Felicity moved so quickly then, swiping her leg underneath him, making him fall over and topple off of the container. The remote fell down and Felicity began struggling with her bonds so that she could get herself out of the death trap.

Oliver hurried over to the Dodger who was clutching his wrist before taking out one of Felicity's special made arrows, the tip of which extended into a claw that could be used to rip out a hybrid's heart.

"You're never touching me again you son of a bitch," Felicity hissed and Oliver looked up to see that she had successfully removed both the bindings as well as the bomb collar that seemed to have been deactivated. Oliver didn't even blink as he ran the arrow through the Dodger's chest, pulling as he ripped out the beast's heart and then watched in silence as blood spread across the dead monster's shirt. He took a few steps back and looked up at Felicity, only to see her dropping down gracefully off of the container. She stepped into him immediately and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, telling her that she was safe now and that they would be okay. He didn't say anything when she tightened her grip around him and pulled him in closer, burying her face in his leather-clad chest.

-§-

"It's getting ridiculous," Felicity stated absentmindedly as she tugged slightly on the hem of her shirt. She had changed into softer clothes after they returned to the Foundry and briefed Diggle on everything that had happened. "You've saved my life how many times now?" she asked.

Oliver knew that it was a rethorical question but he still decided that she deserved an answer. "About as many times as you've saved mine," he told her calmly, placing his bow back in its case. Diggle had gone home for the night and the two of them had been alone in the Foundry for over an hour now, but Oliver hadn't wanted to leave her alone just yet so he had used the excuse that he was going to practise target shooting. "What I don't understand though, is why you didn't fight back. Tommy said that you walked out of that room willingly," he said, looking at her where she sat on her cot.

"He threatened to blow up the place," Felicity told him. "I didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt."

Oliver nodded in understanding but deep down he almost wished that she would start taking care of herself too. He might be being selfish for thinking that way but he couldn't deal with losing another person that he cared about. After losing his father, Yao Fei, his other mentors on Lian Yu and other friends, he just couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose her too.

"Felicity," Oliver said thoughtfully. "What the Dodger said, about you only helping me to help your friends...?" He let his question trail off, looking at her as she sighed deeply. "Do you have friends who are still captured? Is that why you want to stop the Master?"

"My reasons for stopping the Master have never been a secret, Oliver," Felicity told him, her blue eyes boring into his. "I believe in people having their freedom and what he is doing to werewolves, forcing them to become something that they might not want to become, that is against everything that I believe in." He watched her for a beat or two before she continued. "The few friends I had that were captured, were killed in front of me," she whispered, finally giving him at least another small part of her secret past. "They tortured me by torturing them – my pack – and used my humanity against me when they tried to break me."

"Felicity, I'm sorry," Oliver breathed out, stepping closer to her.

"I had just joined them a couple of months before," she shared. "I was just beginning to feel like a part of the family when we were all captured... There were kids, Oliver," she said, her voice catching in her throat. She swallowed thickly and Oliver closed the remaining gap between them, wrapping his arms around her once again. He knew that there was nothing he could say or do to make her feel better. Felicity wrapped her arms around his waist and once again let her head drop to his chest. He leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, brushing away a couple of stray tears that she had allowed to fall from her eyes, holding her even tighter than before.

She needed comfort and as her partner and friend he was going to give it to her. Oliver closed his eyes, imagining the horrors that she must have gone through and just knowing that he would never be able to understand until she gave him everything. He understood her for not being willing to just tell him the entire story, because he too hadn't yet shared everything about his five years away from Starling City with anyone. A small part of him wondered whether Felicity might be the one that he would eventually open up to completely, but he wasn't yet ready to think too much about that. What was important right now was his mission and keeping her safe and out of the Master's clutches. The monster knew now that she was working with the Arrow and it would only be a matter of time before the Undertaking – whatever it was – became a reality that they needed to face. Oliver didn't doubt that they would do it together though, but right now all he could do was hold Felicity and support her as she silently re-lived all the horrors she had gone through. So that was just what he did as he held her tight, closed his eyes and let her hug him back with the same force.


Note: Poor Felicity, right? At least Oliver was there for her... As you can see, the Roy issue is being pushed forward a few chapters but it will be dealt with soon. Either way, I just wanted to say that I'll be going on vacation from the 22nd of June to the 3rd of July and then I won't be able to write or post anything. I'll be traveling to München to visit some relatives there and I'm very excited for that! :)

Tell me what you thought about this chapter by leaving a little comment. I really hope you haven't given up on me because I certainly haven't given up on this fic! Real life just gets in the way sometimes, as does inspiration for other stories... Thank you so much for reading! I love you all! xx