Note: Can we just state the fact that I suck sometimes? I can't even begin telling you how sorry I am for once again putting this story on hold. I hope you're still hanging in there, even though I've kind of been focusing on another fandom for a while... Please, enjoy this chapter and I promise you that I'll do better with the next!
Hunted
Chapter 19: The Morning After
It was early, that much he was sure of.
He hadn't opened his eyes yet, though he was certain that the sun had just made its way up on the sky and that the light was slowly filling his room. His arms were filled with warmth and he couldn't help but lower his head down into the softness of her hair as his hand moved down to rest on her stomach. He knew who she was because how could he forget? There was no way he would ever let last night slip from his mind, for as long as he lived.
Oliver opened his eyes and was instantly met by the sight of blonde tresses. Felicity's hands were resting over his arms, which were wrapped around her, holding her close to him and their legs had ended up tangled during the night. They were there because they had made it. The Undertaking hadn't failed completely, but at least they had made it out of it alive. There had been a moment when he thought that he might lose her, but he had found her in time and helped save her life. The thing that the had shared when he took her home with him – the blood sharing – had surely been enough to show him that she was still there with him and that he was breathing as well.
It had been intense, definitely more intimate than any sex he could ever remember having had with a woman. The fact that he knew that her blood was running inside his veins and that his was running through hers made his stomach flip with something that he could only describe as excitement. He wasn't really sure if that was a good thing or not, but he did know that it had helped them both heal faster, and really, that was was all he could ask for.
A part of him wondered if he should be embarrassed for the reaction that the exchange had had on him, yet another part told him that there was no reason to. If it had bothered Felicity, she would have pushed him away but she hadn't done that at all. No, instead, she had pressed closer to him, almost as if she wanted to remove the thin layer of clothes that had been covering them and then keep going. Oliver didn't know what that meant; if it had only been a natural reaction to the exchange of blood or if it had been more.
He wanted to know but he didn't know how to ask and then again, he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted it to happen again.
Malcolm had been defeated, yes, but there had been casualties. Oliver hadn't stayed up long enough to look at the news but from what he had seen on his way to Verdant, he knew that the numbers of dead would rise throughout the day as they looked through the rubble on the streets. His mother was in prison too and he had his sister to think about now. He knew that things would without a doubt change on Queen Consolidated as well, so he would need to set a meeting with his mother's husband to figure out what they were going to do. Over the course of twenty-four hours, his life had completely fallen apart and he needed time to pick up the pieces, once again.
Yet, in that precise moment, all he could think about was how soft Felicity's skin felt under his fingertips and how much he wanted to just stay in bed like this with her and ignore all those other things that he had been thinking about just moments ago. He had been so deep in though, in fact, that he hadn't noticed how Felicity had turned in his arms and cuddled closer to him, her eyes now opened and looking up at him with a still sleepy face.
"You're thinking," Felicity yawned, lifting one of her hands to cover her mouth. "What are you thinking about?"
"Everything," he said. "What's going to happen, what happened yesterday… All of it."
Felicity's hand rested on his chest, her fingers trailing over the scars that littered it. "You're worried," she stated. "I am too."
It wasn't just her admitting it, but rather her telling him that he wasn't alone. He knew that and it made him feel even more strongly for her than before. It was difficult to imagine a time when he hadn't had her in his life and to be quite honest, he didn't want to. He wanted to tell her that they would get through it, which he was certain they would. It would take time though and during that time, he couldn't afford to be distracted. What had happened the night before – no matter how pleasurable – couldn't happen again. Oliver knew that he had always hated Dark Ones and sure, his hatred for them had lessened slightly since Felicity came into the picture. If anything, he knew that he didn't hate her at all and she had made him believe that maybe not all Nightcrawlers were pure evil. He understood now that there were innocents among them too. Felicity had been innocent and she hadn't known about her werewolf heritage until she turned and it was the same thing with Roy. Oliver didn't even want to begin thinking about what would have happened if Roy hadn't known about being a wolf and then spontaneously turned into one while he was with Thea. It would have been a nightmare for everyone involved, he was sure.
"Last night…" Oliver trailed off, not knowing how to continue. Felicity was still softly running her fingers over his scars and he wasn't sure if he could say what he wanted without her misinterpreting it.
"Hm…?" Felicity hummed, looking up at him. He could tell that she was amused by the twinkle in her eyes, but she also seemed to understand that it was a serious matter, so she didn't smile at him.
"It can't happen again," Oliver struggled to say.
He kept looking at her, waiting for her response. He half-expected her to push him away and be angry with him, but instead, she nodded and didn't move away at all. "I understand," was all she said and he couldn't help but frown at her.
"No," he shook his head, twisting around so that he could face her more fully, "I don't think you do." When she only looked at him expectantly he continued, "This can't happen again because if it does, I'm not going to be able to control myself." She had to know; how could she possibly not know already?
"Aren't I supposed to be the one to say that?" she wondered and her voice sounded teasing.
"Felicity," Oliver groaned turning to lay on his back again as he disentangled himself from her, pressing his hands against his face.
"Oliver," Felicity smiled next to him, poking his forearm with her finger gently. "Sorry, I couldn't help myself," she told him before he looked at her again and her expression turned serious. "Look, I get it," she said. "I understand why it can't happen again, but I just have one question, which to be honest, might be kind of silly to ask now, considering."
"What?" he wondered, looking at her fully again.
"Would it be so bad if you didn't control yourself?" she asked, biting her lip.
Oliver resisted the urge to just throw himself at her, lowering his gaze slightly. He regretted it instantly though, because the shirt that she was wearing had ridden up to her waist, exposing the boxers that she had worn to bed. He swallowed thickly, "I can't do this. Not with you. It wouldn't be fair."
"Fair to whom?" Felicity wondered.
"Us," Oliver answered. "Both of us. Trust me, it's better if I don't drink your blood again."
"You know that I trust you. But what about me then?" Felicity questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.
"If you need me, I will be there for you," Oliver told her, raising his arms as she cuddled into his side again, resting her head on his arm.
"Hm… Are you offering to tap a vein, Oliver?" she said, her voice returning to that teasing tone. "Or are we talking about something else entirely?"
Oliver asked himself that as he drew her tighter against himself, not being able to help himself. He wanted to keep her close but he knew that if he ever drank her blood again or shared something like what he had shared with her the night before, he would break and then there would be no going back for him. That was why he needed some distance from her but there was no way that he would be able to leave her completely.
"I don't know," he sighed, his hand clasping hers which rested over his heart.
-§-
Felicity looked at the clothes that Oliver had gotten for her this time around in the mirror. He had talked to Thea and told her that he hadn't been able to let Felicity stay the night in the Glades – where they had long ago told Thea that Felicity lived – and the younger Queen sibling had found an oversized sweater that she could borrow as well as some pants in the back of her closet. Felicity wasn't by any chance big, but Thea was thinner than her around the hips so it was a miracle that the pants even fit her.
It had still been too early to get out of bed after liver had told her that they couldn't share blood again, so they had stayed in bed, just holding on to each other while they talked about everything that had happened.
Well, everything except for the connection that they had had when they had shared blood the night before. Felicity had heard stories about couples sharing blood and she knew that it was supposed to be something special, especially among vampires. Since she was a hybrid which originated from a line of werewolves, she had never done such a thing though, so she had had no idea that it would be like that for either of them. Besides, Oliver was human and from the stories that she had heard, she couldn't recall anyone ever telling her that it had been that pleasurable with a human before.
For Felicity, it had felt as if she had somehow reached out and touched Oliver's mind. She had felt what he was feeling too and she had been aware of the fact that the feelings she had for him went both ways. Perhaps that was why she had so easily accepted the fact that they couldn't share blood again? She knew that he wasn't the only one who would have trouble controlling himself if they ever did it again and it wasn't something that she was ready to face at the moment. They had enough trouble brewing as it was and they needed to take care of those first, just as Oliver needed to focus on getting his own things settled. His mother was imprisoned and neither of them had any idea what would happen with Queen Consolidated. Felicity still needed to teach Roy and train him to control himself because there was no way to know for sure when he would turn for the first time. Also, Felicity's own mind had been filled with other complications since the night before; things that she needed to discuss with Oliver and the rest of their team as soon as possible.
She had told Oliver as much and currently, she was sitting in the kitchen with Thea and Roy while Oliver talked to Tommy and Diggle on the phone. Thea was playing with her cereal, her elbow on the table as she stared down at the bowl. Felicity could tell that the cereal had gotten soggy and she looked toward Roy who was watching his girlfriend worriedly. It must be hard for the girl, losing her mother like that. One day everything had been fine and the next, Moira was in prison. Neither of them said anything when Oliver returned and joined them at the table. Raisa, the Queen's housekeeper and cook placed a sandwich in front of Oliver, who only smiled in return before taking a bite. Felicity looked toward him and he met her gaze instantly, as if he had felt her eyes on him. She motioned toward Thea, who was so deep in though that she didn't even pretend to be eating anymore. The girl looked as if she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. Oliver looked toward his sister and his face fell instantly. Felicity knew that this was just as hard on him as it was on Thea.
"So," Oliver said after another moment of silence, clearing his throat. "What are your plans for today, Thea?"
Felicity watched Thea as she circled her spoon around in the bowl again. "I don't know," she shrugged. "I might just stay at home or something. I wanted to drive down to the Glades and see if I can volunteer to help someway, but I'm guessing that you wouldn't be too keen on letting me go down there."
"Thea, it's not safe there," Oliver said. "Until the area is secured, I can't let you go down there. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I figured as much," Thea said bitterly. "I could always have taken Roy with me, but that's not okay either, is it?"
"No…" Oliver replied slowly. "Stay at home today and then tomorrow we can go down there together," he offered.
"What about you?" Roy asked. "What are you going to be doing today?" He was looking Felicity's way, even though she had a feeling that the question had originally been directed at Oliver.
"I'm going to drive down to Verdant," Oliver said. "I have to check what damage has been done and then see how much it'll cost to repair."
Felicity knew that he was talking about the lair, but neither Thea nor Roy knew. So when she saw a look of anger covering Thea's face, she had almost been expecting it.
"You're going to check on your club?" Thea asked. "When there are hundreds of people out there who have lost their homes in the earthquake? The earthquake that our mother helped a psycho create?"
"Hey," Oliver interjected. "I thought you understood why mom did what she did?"
"Yeah, I do, but that doesn't change the fact that it happened and she isn't exactly here to help pick up the pieces," Thea said. "I think we owe it to everyone to help in every way that we can. If you want to focus on your club instead of doing that, then do whatever you want. I'm out of here."
"Thea!" Oliver tried to call when Thea stood up and walked out of the kitchen. He stood up and followed her, but Felicity heard Thea run up the stairs and then slam her bedroom door shut while Oliver tried to talk to her from the outside. Her heart went out to the siblings and she knew that they were both hurting. She wished there was something she could do.
"Hey, Felicity," Roy said as he too stood up and walked over to her. "I've been up all night, thinking."
"Oh no, this can't be good," Felicity sighed, turning in her seat to face Roy. "What's going on?"
"Well, you see," Roy began, shifting from one foot to the other. Felicity's senses were heightened today after the blood exchange from the night before so she could practically smell the nervousness coming off of him.
"Come on, Roy, we don't have all day until Oliver comes back," she said, once again focusing her attention on Oliver and Thea upstairs.
"I was thinking about whether it would be okay to tell Thea the truth," Roy blurted out.
Felicity snapped her head in his direction and her mouth dropped open. "What truth?" she asked, needing him to specify.
"About me being a wolf?" Roy said, but it sounded more like a question. "About you, maybe? And about us working with the Arrow?"
"You mean me working with the Arrow," Felicity stated. "You're still not officially on the team."
"I'm a part of your pack though, right?" Roy gave her a look. "Doesn't that count for anything?"
"Roy, I can't make these decisions on my own," Felicity said. "Revealing the truth about you and me to Thea could lead to us having to tell her about the Arrow too and that isn't my secret to tell."
"I just don't see how it could hurt," Roy said. "I hate seeing her like this. What her mom did and now with her brother acting as if he doesn't even care about the people who were hurt… I know Thea and it sucks not to be able to tell her that you and the Arrow are trying to figure things out." He looked at her again. "I mean, you guys are trying to figure things out, right?"
"Yes, Roy," Felicity nodded. "We need to get our secret lair in order after the quake though, so it might take a little while until we're up and running again. We took down Malcolm Merlyn last night."
"I read about it online," Roy said. "You guys killed him."
"Yeah," Felicity nodded.
"Does it make me a bad person to say that I'm glad that you did?" Roy wondered, taking a seat next to her.
"As wolf, its natural to sympathize with those who are hurting around you," Felicity told him, putting her hand over his. "The fact that Thea, someone you love, is hurting, hurts you more than anything and you want to make things right for her. In your wolf mind, she's your mate and you need to protect her at all costs. Malcolm Merlyn was a threat to her so now that he's gone, of course you're going to be relieved."
Roy nodded slowly, a solemn look on his face.
"Although," Felicity continued, "what happened with Malcolm shouldn't have happened in the first place. It never should have gotten that far. He had lost it completely, which was the only reason that he didn't make it. Remember when I tell you that it's better that we don't kill as wolves because you never know which kill might turn you into a blood wolf."
Roy shuddered, clearly remembering the stories that Felicity had told him about the wolves that she had encountered over the years. Blood wolves were never a fun topic.
"Look, I'll talk to the Arrow," Felicity said. "If he decides that it's okay, we'll talk to Thea together."
Roy only nodded again and didn't say anything else and Felicity was thankful for that. After all, it wasn't as if Roy himself knew the entire truth about the Arrow.
-§-
Oliver drove them silently through the city toward Verdant. There were several ways to get to the Glades, but unfortunately, most of them had been blocked by the police until that part of the city could be secured again. Surprisingly enough, it seemed like a lot of people who had had relatives in the Glades were trying to make their way there, and the police had been forced to control the flow of people into the area. They were letting through cars, but slowly and in order. So far, Felicity and Oliver had been caught in traffic for about half an hour, no words being shared between them.
He had known that things would become messy after the Undertaking, though he had never really expected things with Thea to get so complicated. He knew that she was hurting because he was too, but he hadn't expected her to act like she had this morning during breakfast. Oliver had seen the looks that Felicity had been sending him over the table and he had looked toward his sister and immediately understood that things were worse than he had first thought. He wished that Thea would have talked to him instead of locking herself into her room, but she hadn't wanted to hear anything that he had to say. She was upset and she had every right to be, so he had simply made the decision to give her some space. Hearing her muffled cries from the other side of the door hadn't exactly made it easy for him.
Felicity was shifting nervously in her seat next to him, but Oliver could only think about what he had realized back at the mansion. He didn't know whether it was a side-affect from the blood exchange they had done the night before, although it was the only thing that actually made sense to him. While he had been trying to get Thea to talk to him, he had been able to hear everything that she was doing on the other side of the door, more clearly than he usually would have. It was as if he was standing in the corner of the room with her as he heard every step she took and easily pinpointed her exact location inside her bedroom. Even now, as he drove forward as slow as a snail, he could see his surroundings more clearly than before.
"How are you feeling?" he asked Felicity, and he immediately felt her eyes on him.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" she emphasized.
He knew that she was talking about his mother and Thea and everything that had happened this morning, but he nodded anyways. "I'm okay," he told her. "But I was thinking more about whether you're feeling some affects from the… blood sharing," he explained.
"Oh," Felicity said. "Well, uh, I guess? I'm more alert, if that's what you mean? Like, I can pick up on how you're really feeling about all of this and I can hear a lot better. That's usually the way blood affects me when I drink it." She reached over, her fingers brushing against his. "Why are you asking?"
"Because I am currently seeing things in high-definition," he said, clenching his jaw.
"Does it bother you?" Felicity wondered, her tone understanding.
"I don't really know," he admitted. "It's just weird, I guess."
"I get that it's strange for you," Felicity said. "It should pass when it's out of your system. My blood, I mean."
"How is it supposed to get 'out of my system' when I don't exactly plan on bleeding out any time soon?" he asked sarcastically.
Felicity laughed at his comment, "What I meant was that once my hybrid blood travels through your body for a while, your white blood cells will have fought off my cells."
"You mean that if I drank more of your blood, there would be a risk of me turning into a– Eh, a hybrid? Vampire? What?"
"No, I don't think so… Maybe, if you drank all of my blood," she mused. "Honestly, Oliver, I'm not really sure how that's supposed to work. I mean, a human could turn into a vampire through blood exchange with a vampire, but that's the most time consuming way of becoming a vampire. On the other hand, only a blood wolf would be able to change a human into a wolf if they bit them during a full moon… Pack wolves don't usually do that since they are more in control." She sighed then, "So what I'm trying to say is that I don't really know. I told you last night that I had never exchanged blood with anyone. You were my first."
Oliver nodded, his chest filling with some strange kind of pride and possessive feeling, much like the one he had felt the night before. He pushed the emotion away, not wanting to deal with it at that moment.
"Okay, let's talk about something else now, since we're stuck in traffic," he said.
"Yes, let's," Felicity grinned, turning in her seat to look over at him.
"Let's talk about how you've been acting twitchy since the moment we left the mansion and how I think it might be because you're trying to figure out how to ask me something," he said, all in one breath, looking over at her.
Felicity's mouth opened in an 'o'-shape and she averted her eyes for a moment before swallowing, "Well, it seems like your perceptive skills have been heightened as well."
"My perceptive skills are always high when it comes to you, Felicity." At his words, Felicity's cheeks tinted red, but a wide smile spread over her face. He almost gave her a full-blown grin at that, but instead, he settled for a small smirk. "So what's on your mind?" he asked her and she shrugged.
"Roy asked me if it would be okay to tell Thea the truth about the Dark Ones," she told him.
Oliver paused, clearing his throat, "Yeah? What did you say to him?"
"That it wasn't my decision to make," she said. "That I had to talk to the Arrow first."
"And what do you want me to say?" Oliver wondered. "That I think that it's a good idea? I don't."
"I know that," Felicity frowned. "I understand that you're having your reservations with telling the truth to Thea, but all I'm asking is that you think about it for a moment before rejecting the idea completely."
Oliver flexed his fingers against the steering-wheel, letting his mind wander to what could happen if Thea found out the truth about Roy. He knew that it would inevitably lead to her figuring out that he was the Arrow, especially if Roy told her about Felicity too. In fact, he was almost certain that Roy himself had already made the connection between him and his alter-ego. Fortunately though, Felicity never wanted to discuss the matter with Roy when he brought the topic up and the kid didn't dare pester her about it.
Then again, when he thought about it, would it be so bad if his sister found out about him?
He had been keeping his hunting a secret from her for over two years now – nearly three, in fact – and he knew that it was something that had been causing a rift between the two of them. Whenever he went out hunting, he was forced to tell lies and sure, Thea knew that he was good but sometimes she saw right through his act. With his mother imprisoned, he knew that Thea would need him to be honest with her. There had been enough lying and keeping secrets between them and with Roy most likely needing the whole truth, it will only be a matter of time before Thea finds out as well. It would be better if it came from him.
"Okay," he finally said.
"What?" Felicity looked at him.
"Okay," he repeated. "We'll talk to them both when we go back to the mansion. You talk to Roy and then we'll tell Thea together. It's time Roy joins us for real and I want Thea to know where I am all the time because I don't want to be a disappointment to her."
"Oliver, you could never disappoint your sister," Felicity said, tilting her head to the side. She took his hand in hers and squeezed lightly. "But we'll do this together."
Oliver squeezed her hand back and nodded.
-§-
The Foundry was still in chaos. Felicity looked at the rubble as she and Oliver slowly made their way inside and her eyes filled with tears after seeing the cot she used to sleep on, completely destroyed. Oliver held her hand tightly as they carefully walked over the broken glass and Felicity gasped when she saw on of her computers crashed on the floor.
"Oh, no," she whispered, eyes stinging slightly. Everything was messed up and there was no way that they would be able to fix the mess in just a day. Tommy and Diggle were on their way down too, but they would be there in a few minutes. When she felt Oliver's grip on her hand tighten, she looked to where his eyes had settled and her heart felt heavy at the sight of a dark, dried spot on the floor; her blood which had dried from the night before. It was a horrible reminder of everything that had happened before they had gotten to the mansion. In fact, now when Felicity thought about it, there had been a moment when she had been sure that no one was going to get there in time. She had been able to feel the splinters making their way deeper into her body and her hands had been slippery and she had been panicking. Just now, thinking about it all, Felicity's hand made it's way to her stomach and she tensed. It was getting harder to breathe and the lair suddenly felt a lot smaller than it was.
When Oliver removed his hand from hers, the panic became worse and a small sound of protest escaped her mouth. She expected him to pull away, especially after what he had said in the early morning when they had woken up. It was understandable that he wouldn't want to share blood again and Felicity understood where he was coming from. They had both gotten carried away and Felicity had never experienced intimacy on such a high level.
Although, the moment she felt Oliver's arms wrap around her body, his hands resting over her own hand on her belly, she felt herself relaxing again. The panic she had been feeling slowly faded and she closed her eyes, just breathing in his scent. His hands were warm and she could feel energy radiating from him. Her heart sped up when he rested his forehead on her shoulder, his chest pressed against her back.
"I can't believe that I almost lost you," he whispered and Felicity wasn't sure if he meant for her to hear him or not. She didn't say anything to him because she wasn't sure what she was supposed to say. Last night, when she had been working with Lance to defuse the earthquake machine, her mind had been on Oliver and the others, wondering if they were still alive. She had wanted to be there with Oliver to fight by his side, but she knew that she had been weakened by Merlyn's signal.
She opened her mouth, but closed it quickly when she heard the Foundry door opened. Felicity almost laughed at the way that Oliver jumped away from her. The moment he heard Tommy and Diggle making their way down the stairs slowly, he had moved away, taking a step back from her. Her gut tightened and definitely not in the pleasant way and for just one moment, she felt disappointment bubble up inside of her. That was until Oliver took her hand again and laced their fingers together for just a moment until Tommy and Diggle stood in front of them.
"This place is a mess," Diggle said, taking in the sight with something akin to horror. "How the hell are we supposed to even begin cleaning this up?"
Oliver must have been able to pick up on Felicity's need to embrace the older man because he squeezed her hand again before letting her go. Felicity immediately made her way over to Diggle and hugged him tightly before turning to Tommy and embracing him too.
"Are you okay?" she asked him, knowing that despite everything that he did last night, it must have been difficult for him.
"I'm fine," Tommy said. "Or at least I hope I will be. It's just, a part of me wishes there would have been another way or maybe a way to not let it go that far."
"I'm really sorry you had to do that, Tommy," Felicity said, hugging him one more time before releasing him.
With that, they began slowly cleaning up the main area of the lair. Felicity's computers were completely destroyed, so they would need to be replaced before they could start their business up properly again. Tommy and Diggle filled Oliver and Felicity in on what exactly had happened when they had gotten to CNRI the night before and how Detective Lance had told Tommy something about the Arrow being a hero. Felicity had looked toward Oliver and seen his cheeks turn just a shade darker before he lowered his head and kept cleaning. She smiled to herself though, happy with the fact that people were finally seeing Oliver for what he really was.
About an hour into their work Oliver finally declared that they could keep cleaning up later, because he knew that Felicity had something to tell them all. Truth be told, however, Felicity wasn't even sure where to begin.
"Okay," she said after a moment. The three men were watching her curiously, waiting for her to continue but she only bit her lip and swallowed thickly.
"Come on, Felicity," Diggle urged. "There's nothing that you can say that will upset us more than last night's events did."
Felicity looked at her friend and nodded slowly before speaking again. "Well, you see, last night, when I was under the influence of Malcolm's sound device, something happened," she said. "It was like images and sounds began flashing in my mind, like some kind of old video tape, all blurred together. I think it was suppressed memories from my time in captivity."
The three men remained quiet and Felicity forced herself to take another breath.
"Do you remember how I told you guys that my memories are all messed up about that time? That I remember most of it but some things are really blurry to me?" Felicity asked. Oliver nodded, as did Diggle. Tommy only kept listening. "Well, the thing is that I think there might have been something else in play and that I got it all mixed up somehow when I suppressed my memories."
"What exactly does this mean then?" Tommy questioned.
"I think it means that something else might be going on," Felicity said. "We know that Malcolm was responsible for the Undertaking now, but some things still don't make sense," she pressed, looking toward Oliver, hoping that he would understand.
"The army of hybrids," Oliver stated after a moment.
"Exactly," Felicity nodded. "I mean, what happened to the werewolves turned against their wills? What happened to that crucial part of the Undertaking?"
"Damn it," Diggle said. "I was so wrong about my earlier statement. This shit apparently could get worse."
"Hold on, I think you lost me," Tommy said. "Stop speaking in riddles and just come out and say it."
"I think there's someone else out there making the hybrids. Someone else is building an army and yes, Malcolm's plan was the Undertaking, but someone else has another plan and we're back to square one because we have no idea who is behind the hybrid army."
-§-
Oliver and Felicity returned to the mansion in silence. After the initial shock of Felicity's discovery, Oliver had told both Diggle and Tommy that they would need to get the lair up and running as soon as possible in order for them to begin their new search. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours since the Undertaking and there was already a new threat that they would need to deal with. Oliver was exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to just go to bed, but he knew that he had something else to deal with. His sister had to know the truth about him and he figured that after over two years, it was time for him to share his story with her.
"Oliver."
He breathed in, looking down at his hands that rested on his lap. Felicity's voice was calm and collected and he felt her reach over to take his hand.
"I don't know how to tell her, Felicity," he confessed, voice shaky.
"It doesn't matter how you tell her," Felicity said. "What matters is that you do. And I'll be there with you because you're not alone in this."
Oliver looked over at her then and met her calm blue eyes. For a moment, he almost wished that they would flash gold but he had no idea why he felt like that. Instead of over-thinking it, he lifted his hand and reached for her cheek, cupping it gently. Slowly, he brought her face towards his, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment before pulling back and pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. He couldn't put it into words just how much her being there for him meant, although, he truly wished that she could somehow sense it.
The two of them walked into the mansion together and Oliver waited in the foyer while Felicity talked to Roy first. They had agreed that Roy needed to be filled into the whole situation; it was time for him too to know the truth about Oliver. With the threat of a hybrid army, they needed all the allies that they could get and Felicity had thought this through ever since she had found out about Roy having suppressed werewolf genes.
"Now I understand why she hangs out with you so much," Roy said, looking a little green when he approached Oliver. He then put his hand out for Oliver to shake and Oliver took it giving the young man a short nod. "You saved my life," Roy stated. "I can never tell you how grateful I am for that."
"Felicity played a great role in that rescue," Oliver told him, looking toward the beautiful blonde who was standing next to him. "In fact, sometimes I wonder where I would be today if she hadn't joined my team."
Felicity smiled his way and Oliver's eyes remained trained on her until the moment that Thea walked into the room.
"What's going on?" his sister wondered, looking confusedly between the three of them.
"Thea," Oliver turned to her. "There's something I need to talk to you about."
He asked her to listen to him until he finished and they went to sit down in the living room. Oliver talked for about an hour straight, trying to make Thea understand at least a portion of the things that had happened to him when he had been away from Starling City during those five years that the world had thought he was dead. He talked and Thea stared and Felicity was by his side as he explained the People of Darkness to his sister and she flashed her fangs and everything when it came to showing Thea that he wasn't just crazy.
What shocked him the most, though, was the fact that throughout that hour, Thea hardly spoke a word. She didn't interrupt him and she didn't look directly into his eyes as he explained the reason that Malcolm had gone mad and forced their mother into helping with setting the Undertaking in motion. When Felicity took over and explained more about the Dark Ones and Roy stepped up and told his own secret, Thea remained silent, not looking directly at any of them.
Once they were done, Oliver waited, not knowing what to do now that the truth was out. He hoped that his sister understood and he hoped that she didn't hate him for keeping it from her for so long.
"So, you're a werewolf, huh?" Thea asked, finally looking over at Roy. It was the first thing she had said in such a long time that Oliver was actually a little startled at hearing her voice, but then again, he supposed that the sharpness of the tone was even more alarming.
"I'm, uh, going to be… I guess," Roy replied, looking at her worriedly, almost as if he could sense that she was off. Maybe he could, Oliver thought to himself. Maybe Roy was getting better at picking up human emotions because his first transformation was coming in. "I didn't know, Thea. I'm sorry for not telling you the moment I found out."
"Well," Thea clicked her tongue, "my mother is in prison for a crime she was basically forced to commit, my brother is the Arrow and his girlfriend is a hybrid. I think that my boyfriend being a werewolf isn't exactly the worst thing that's happening in my life right now."
There was an underlying bitterness in Thea's tone and Oliver didn't like it. He took a step toward her when she abruptly stood from the couch. "Thea–"
"No, Ollie," Thea shook her head. "I'm sorry, but… I just need a moment. I need some time to think about all of this."
"Are you angry with me?" Oliver had to know.
"No," Thea shook her head. "No, I don't think I am. I just… I don't know."
"I understand," Oliver nodded solemnly. "You need time."
"Yes," Thea nodded, looking as if she was ready to burst into tears at any moment. "I'm sorry."
"No, I'm the one who is sorry," Oliver said, wishing that he could just step up to her and embrace her and give her comfort. He knew that she needed space now though. She wouldn't want to be near him until she had time to process it all and he couldn't blame her for it.
That's why he didn't say anything when she walked off to her bedroom, only taking Roy with her as she did.
-§-
"She's not angry with you," Felicity told Oliver for what felt like the hundredth time to her. She wondered whether it annoyed him that she was sounding like a broken record, but she supposed that he would have said something to her about it if it had.
"I don't know, Felicity…" Oliver trailed off as he changed into a pair of sweatpants and removed his shirt.
"I know," Felicity said. "I could pick up on her emotions and anger certainly wasn't one of them. Mostly, she's just sad."
"It's my fault that she's upset then and even you can't deny that," Oliver said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Felicity walked over to him and stood in front of him, between his parted legs. She cupped his cheeks and forced him to look up at her. "Oliver, she's upset about a lot of things right now, not just you being the Arrow," she reminded him. "Your mom isn't here and Thea hasn't even had time to deal with that before we threw everything else at her. I'm not saying that we were wrong to do so or that we should have waited, because God knows she needs to be prepared for what's coming." She brushed his hair back from his forehead, tilting her head slightly as she looked down at him. "You're a good man, Oliver Queen and everyone you care about knows it, including Thea. She just needs time now and we're going to give it to her."
"Is it a good thing that she didn't push away Roy tonight?" Oliver wondered.
"Yes," Felicity nodded. "That means that the truth about the Dark Ones isn't going to scare her away. I believe this is more about her just having to deal with everything that will change now that she knows the truth."
Oliver looked up at her and Felicity's heart clenched at the look he was giving her. She wondered if he knew how he made her feel when he looked at her like that; as if she was someone that was a good thing in his life, someone who he knew he could trust.
"How do you always know what to say?" he asked her, offering her a weak smile.
Felicity smiled brightly at him in return, "I guess it might just be one of my many talents."
Oliver chuckled lightly at her lame joke and Felicity's chest felt warm. Oliver took her hands in his, running his thumbs over her knuckles slowly as he met her gaze again. "Will you stay here tonight?"
Felicity replied to his question with only a nod and another smile which she hoped could convey just how much it meant to her that he was inviting her to stay another night.
It was a dangerous path that they were walking and Felicity knew how easily feelings could change and emotions could grow. While she didn't want to risk the friendship that she and Oliver had, she knew that she would be a fool to deny that she felt something deep and true for her; something that had already crossed into another territory. Felicity slipped into the shirt that she had slept in the night before and made her way into the bed. Oliver laid on his back, watching her just as she had watched him, neither of them shying away from one another or the new-found intimacy between them. When she laid down next to him, Oliver surprised her by rolling onto his side and placing his hand on her lower back so that he could push her closer toward him. She didn't hesitate to scoot closer and lazily throwing an arm around him.
"I thought you said this couldn't happen again," Felicity whispered, pressing her nose into the crook between his neck and his shoulder.
"We're not sharing blood," he replied, his voice equally quiet. "Besides, I'm not sure I want to be alone tonight."
Hearing the vulnerability in his voice, Felicity acted on instinct when she tightened her grip on him, wrapping her leg around his hip as she moved even closer to him. Every inch of her front was pressed against his and she sighed contently into his chest when she felt him place his hand on her bare thigh.
"We're going to find the real Master, Oliver," she told him. "We're going to stop him, together."
Oliver hummed against her, his fingers trailing letters that she couldn't quite make out on her skin. Goosebumps raised all across her body and she wanted to just pull him in closer and tell him to tighten his grip on her further, but she resisted the urge to do so.
"What are we going to do now?" Oliver wondered, his lips brushing against her cheek as he spoke, his nose brushing against her neck as he inhaled deeply, almost as if he was trying to breathe her in.
Felicity sighed into the side of his neck, her fingers digging into his back slightly and she heard him let out a low hiss of breath as his lips gently connected with the underside of her jaw. She inched her fingers into his hair, massaging his scalp before tugging slightly on him to make him look into her eyes, wanting him to see that she spoke what was truly in her heart when it came to him. He met her gaze and for a moment, he just stared. Felicity suppressed the urge to shudder and finally just leaned her head back against his chest, listening to his wild heartbeat.
"We're just going to keep going."
Note: I want you guys to know that I read all your comments on the last chapter and I am so sorry that I didn't have time to get back to you on them. A lot of you were wondering if I will really hold out on the slow burn until the very end and without spoiling too much, the answer is a simple no. Yes, you'll have to wait for a few more chapters, but in chapter 20 (which I'll start writing tonight) there will be a time jump and we'll move forward with a few things. There will also be something else happening in there that I don't want to reveal just yet.
Either way, thank you so much for reading and I hope you liked the chapter enough to comment, despite it being more of a "set up" chapter for the hunt for the person behind the hybrid army!
Thank you for your support! Lots of love to you guys! xx
