Note: Hello everyone! Things are definitely moving forward in this fic. I'm so happy everyone liked the previous chapter and I sincerely hope you'll enjoy this one as well! This one IS a little filler-y, but it picks up right after the previous one and deals with some things from Oliver's past (obviously). Hope you enjoy it! :) xx


Hunted

Chapter 26: The Story of Shado

Felicity wasn't thinking clearly. That had to be the only explanation. Oliver stared wide-eyed at Roy who was still howling, the sound so powerful that it seemed as if the Foundry shook with it. Felicity moved toward her beta, holding on to the young man's hands as he thrashed against the chains that had been secured around his wrists.

"He's going to turn," Felicity said hurriedly. "We need to unchain him and get him into the cage!"

The cage had been placed in the Foundry a good while back and so far, they hadn't needed to use it. It was for emergencies, if Felicity lost control or Roy wasn't able to handle a particularly rough full moon, but Oliver had never had to put either one of them in there. Besides, he knew how Felicity felt about being tied or locked up.

"Tommy, get Thea out of here!" Oliver ordered, moving his sister toward his friend, but Thea made a sound of protest.

"I am not leaving," she said, her voice shaky but eyes blazing. Oliver didn't have time to say anything when Felicity called out to Diggle to get the cage open. The older man hurried with the keys to the cage and pulled open the door before once again returning to their side.

Roy was hissing at them, his eyes glowing and fangs sparkling. It was as if he didn't even recognize them. Felicity managed to get one of the restraints off of him, but she didn't move back fast enough. Roy lashed out, claws connecting with Felicity's skin, drawing blood and spraying the red substance all over the floor. Felicity cried out and Oliver moved forward quickly, catching her as she momentarily stumbled back. Sweat beaded on Oliver's forehead as fear coursed through him. Had Roy ripped her throat out? He looked down, seeing the marks over her chest. Roy had torn through her shirt and there were long marks stretching from her right shoulder, down toward her left collarbone. The shirt seemed to have protected her somewhat, but the blood quickly soaked the front of her shirt. Oliver didn't know how bad it was, although he didn't get to dwell on it for long because Felicity moved forward again, ignoring her own pain as she unclasped the other cuff and held down Roy's arm. Oliver stepped up to her side and switched with her effortlessly, lifting Roy with Diggle's help off of the table. Roy hissed and clawed at them, but they managed to push him into the cage somehow. Felicity pushed the door closed and locked it up, jumping back when Roy came at her, trying to reach for her through the bars. Oliver saw the worry on her face and the tears in her eyes when Roy's growls morphed into pained whimpers. He heard the cracking of bones and recognized the signs of a wolf turning. Reaching out, he took Felicity's hand, pulling her back toward him and away from the cage as Roy's body doubled over. The younger man fell to his knees and Oliver heard his sister scream. Felicity moved quickly this time, away from Oliver as she intercepted Thea, grabbing a hold of her shoulders.

"Thea, he'll be okay," Felicity murmured, letting Thea slump against her. Oliver watched them for a moment before turning back to Roy, his arms where Felicity had been mere moments ago feeling empty. He understood though; she wanted to keep Thea away from Roy, which was going to be difficult. His sister had been there for Roy when he had turned into a wolf a few times, but this time, it wasn't just a werewolf transformation. There was no full moon involved now. This was a forced turn.

Roy's clothes ripped and he screamed. It was painful to see the excruciating transformation. Brown fur appeared, first in patches, then slowly growing long and thick over his entire body. The young man's legs bent, feet transforming into paws, claws long and sharp as they scraped over the floor. It didn't take more than a few seconds until a wolf with glowing yellow eyes started pacing around in the cage, throwing itself against the bars a couple of times to try and make the metal bend beneath his force.

His sister was crying openly, breaking down and Felicity was comforting her. Oliver, however, couldn't take his eyes away from the wolf in the cage. His mind took him back to painful years, cold nights and nightmares that he didn't even know how he had survived. He knew what this was, how Roy had been forced to turn, but he didn't even know how to begin telling the rest of his team. He wanted to, they deserved to know everything. What would they think of him when he did tell them? What would Felicity say?

Oliver swallowed thickly, looking back at the blonde who was still holding his sobbing sister up. Subconsciously, he found himself moving toward them and he met Felicity's eyes over Thea's shoulder. They were filled with her own tears and Oliver reached out, wrapping his arms around both women, feeling Felicity's hand clasp his where it rested on Thea's back. Looking at Diggle and Tommy, he could tell that both men were at a loss, not knowing what they were meant to do now. Roy's pacing eventually stopped, but there was something violent in the wolf's eyes as he stared them down from behind the bars. He had no control; he wanted to kill them.

Oliver closed his eyes, wondering how they were going to get out of this one with Roy unharmed.

-§-

Fifteen minutes later, Felicity sat on one of the rolling chairs, elbows on her knees as she looked Roy, who was still pacing in his cage. Thea had finally stopped crying, but she looked downright miserable where she sat on her own chair, a safe distance from the cage. Every once in awhile, Felicity would see Thea's lips move and Roy would momentarily stop pacing to stare at the young brunette. Felicity didn't want to impose and listen in, so she didn't. Besides, her own ears were still ringing from the adrenaline that was slowly wearing off and making the pain over her chest known.

Just a few minutes after they had secured Roy in the cage, Tommy had gotten a call from Laurel, who asked him of his whereabouts. He had been forced to excuse himself, telling them that he wished he could stay but knowing Laurel, his fiancée probably thought he was cheating on her by now with all the late nights. He was lucky that Laurel had been keeping busy with her own work since the Undertaking and that she was making frequent visits to her mother in Central City. It was understandable though, that Tommy wanted to step back from the hunting business. Keeping up with a double life could be exhausting and Felicity was happy that she didn't have to hide anything from her loved ones. Nevertheless, Roy was in the cage now and he wasn't going to be getting out anytime soon. Tommy being there wouldn't make a difference since all they had to do was wait, so that they could ask Roy what he could remember. Felicity had wanted to tell Tommy as much, but Diggle had beaten her to it, promising that they would text Tommy any news on what was happening with Roy. Shortly thereafter, Tommy had left, a sympathetic look sent in Felicity's direction and another one full of concern directed at Thea and Roy.

"Hey," Oliver murmured when he stepped closer to her. Felicity tried not to acknowledge how she leaned into him as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Are you going to heal or do we need to get you cleaned up?" he asked, sounding worried.

Felicity looked down at her torn shirt, eyes zeroing in on the long cuts and the blood that was slowly drying. The wounds weren't healing yet and she had to wonder whether it was because of whatever it was that they had injected Roy with in order to turn him into a hybrid. Besides, with these new hybrids appearing from left to right, how were they supposed to know that Roy was the same type of hybrid as her?

A low hiss escaped her lips when Oliver reached out and gently touched the skin surrounding the claw marks that spanned from shoulder to collarbones. She looked up at him and saw that his face was dazed, but his fingers curled back into a fist when he realized what he had done. His face looked grim and when he met her eyes, she saw regret in them. It was clear that touching her to make sure that she was all right had been an instinct for him and without thinking twice, she took his hand in hers and gently returned it to her shoulder, not close enough to her wounds, but close enough so that he would feel that she was safe. Turning her face into him, she pressed her forehead against the back of his hand, still holding it with her own. Oliver's thumb moved comfortingly over her shoulder and she looked back up at him.

"I'll be fine," she said. "It's just taking a bit longer."

Oliver nodded slowly, though she could still see the worry on his face. The man was always brooding, it seemed, but it was nice to know that the concern she felt toward him was reciprocated. Felicity looked down, seeing that he had changed out of his Arrow suit. How long had she been lost in her own thoughts? She was just about to suggest that she too change out of her bloody and torn clothes when her eyes settled on the marks on Oliver's own arms.

"Oliver," she breathed out in a low gasp, reaching out to check on his arms. She hadn't even noticed that Roy had managed to get his claws into Oliver too. She had been so lost in getting Roy to the cage before he turned that everything had been a haze.

"The leather took the brunt of it," Oliver told her. "It's just a scratch."

Felicity looked at the marks that were still bloody. They weren't deep, but they were still there. She could smell Oliver's blood in the air and she shook her head quickly. "I'll help you clean them up," she said.

Oliver stared at her blankly for a second. "Diggle can look at them for me," he said, looking nervous as he shifted from one foot to the other. Before Felicity could say something, to ask what was wrong, he looked away from her toward the wolf in the cage. "What are we going to do now?" he asked her.

Felicity looked over at Roy again, eyebrows furrowing. "I don't know how long he'll be a wolf," she said. "I might need to stay here until he's human again to make sure that there weren't any other sideeffects to his transition. Until then, I don't really know what else to do."

"I'll stay here with you," Oliver told her and she knew deep down that it wasn't an offer. He was telling her that he wasn't leaving her side and she found herself appreciating it a lot. She wasn't sure that she was going to be getting any sleep at all tonight.

"I should go get changed," she said after a moment. Oliver nodded at her and Felicity was once more aware of the fact that his hand was still on her shoulder. Or maybe he had let go of her, but then returned it? She wasn't sure anymore, everything was a haze.

"I'll ask Diggle to look at these scratch marks," Oliver said, but his eyes didn't leave hers.

"You should," she agreed, giving herself a few seconds to breathe through whatever emotions she was currently feeling. With everything that had happened, she still hadn't forgotten about the conversation that they hadn't gotten a chance to finish at Queen Consolidated. It hadn't even been twenty-four hours yet and she still wasn't sure what she was supposed to tell him. Back in their office, before Thea had come rushing in, Felicity had almost admitted that kissing Barry had been more about her seeing if she could get over whatever feeling she had toward Oliver. It felt almost cruel, when she told herself that, because if Barry's feelings for her had been more serious, that kiss would have been about her pretty much using him to put her own emotions in order. She was glad that Barry hadn't felt more than friendly feelings toward her, but she still felt strange whenever she admitted to herself that kissing him had made her realize the extent of her feelings for Oliver. After everything that they had been through, she still cared deeply for the man and while he might have hurt her back in Russia, she had been given time to heal and think about what she wanted.

And she wanted Oliver, she truly did. He had respected her need for distance and not pushed her for anything she wasn't ready for. Felicity still remembered how he had confessed that he didn't want her to shut him out of her life completely, how he wished that they would at least become friends again with time. She had seen his desperation then too, how her throwing him out of her life scared him, how he needed her, despite everything, like she needed him.

With a small smile, she stood from her seat. Oliver's hand lifted from her shoulder and she moved forward, but stopped herself abruptly. He blinked at her and she frowned. "I really want to hug you, but I have a lot of blood on me and I don't want to ruin your shirt," she said.

A sound escaped Oliver, half-choked, but sounding almost like a snort. He looked at her and Felicity's mouth turned up at the corners.

"Are you sure you don't need any help?" Oliver asked her.

"With healing?" Felicity questioned, raising an eyebrow at him. "Are you offering to tap a vein, Oliver?"

Felicity remembered then, that she had said the exact same word to him at another time. It had been after the Undertaking, the morning after when she had woken up tangled up in him, her body pressed flush against his. It had been just as teasing then as it was now, but she knew she had made a mistake when she had spoken this time. It wasn't because she was worried with how Oliver might react to the remark, but rather because of the fact that her mind was flooded with images of the time that she had shared blood with him. It was difficult to ignore the heat that pooled low in her belly, especially with the way that Oliver's own eyes seemed to darken slightly. She couldn't help but wonder if he remembered too, the words that he had told her that morning; that he would be there for her if she needed him. So much had happened since then, so much had changed. And yet, she now found herself repeating those words, bringing back so many memories that made her feel all warm inside when she really should be focusing. Yeah, definitely the wrong thing to say, especially at a moment like this.

"I'm sorry," she said, looking away from him. She was surprised when she felt Oliver reach out and take her hand in his. Meeting his eyes again, she noticed his dilated pupils, but also the nervousness in his eyes.

"You know that if you needed me to, I would, right?" he asked, his voice low once more. This was a conversation meant for just the two of them, but it was difficult to uphold when everyone else in the team was close enough to both see and hear the exchange. Felicity once more thought about that morning and how Oliver had told her that he wouldn't be able to share blood with her again. He had still told her that he would be there for her if needed, but he had remained unclear on whether he meant it in regards to the blood. Back then, he hadn't been certain as to what he was referring to himself. Now though, it seemed like he knew better. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she licked her lips, noticing how Oliver's focus shifted downward before once more settling on her eyes.

"I know," she finally said, knowing deep in her heart that it was the truth. She had sworn back then that she wouldn't give Oliver her blood again unless she had his consent, but when he had been close to dying, she had wanted nothing more than to help him heal. She had been willing to risk him waking up as a Dark One and to have him hate her forever, all so that she wouldn't lose him. Once more, the urge to say something to him about it rose inside of her, but she couldn't bring herself to speak. Instead, she just smiled at him again and let go of his hand so that she could go and grab something else to wear. Oliver didn't say anything, but she could feel his eyes trained on her, even as she walked away.

Twenty minutes later, Felicity had managed to get her wounds cleaned up on her own. They weren't bleeding anymore, but as far as she could tell, the skin wasn't exactly stitching itself together quickly either. She had grabbed a t-shirt from their drawer of spare clothes, but she didn't know for sure whether it was Oliver's or Diggle's. Nevertheless, it was big enough to hang off of her shoulder, and it gave her wounds enough room to breathe. When she exited the bathroom, she heard Oliver hiss when Diggle poured some antiseptic on his own marks.

"Can you do me next?" Felicity blurted, stopping short when she realized how wrong that had come out. "I mean, could you help me bandage the wounds up so I don't keep bleeding all over the place while I heal?" she clarified. Diggle smiled lightly and nodded, but Oliver continued to stare at her. She offered him a small smile of her own before turning back around to walk over to Thea.

"How are you doing?" Felicity asked, noticing that Roy had stopped pacing in the cage and instead laid down on the floor. The brown wolf's ears were pressed back, both front paws covering his muzzle and he was blinking almost sleepily at Thea and Felicity. When Felicity touched Thea, Roy's ears perked up and Felicity heard the low rumble in the wolf's chest. Quickly, she removed her hand from the young brunette, and Roy once again settled down. How peculiar.

"I'm okay, I guess," Thea said, her voice raspy. She had cried too much and Felicity wanted nothing more than to hold her and comfort her. Thea was family to her and Felicity knew that it wasn't just because Roy had bonded with her as a mate.

"We don't know how long Roy will be a wolf," Felicity started slowly. "Maybe you should go home and get some rest? I'll stay with him until he comes to and then I'll call you…"

"No," Thea answered. "I'm not going to leave him."

"Thea," Felicity sighed. She only wanted what was best for her and she didn't think that staying in the Foundry, worrying about Roy would do Thea any good. If the girl could get some sleep, she should.

"Felicity, no," Thea said firmly. Felicity glanced toward Roy when she heard him growl again, this time, his canines showing. "Would you leave?" she asked and Felicity stared at her because Thea glanced toward her brother when she asked the question. It was clear that she was asking Felicity whether she would leave Oliver.

"No," Felicity replied, quietly. "Never."

Thea nodded slowly, eyes softening. "Then you know why I can't," she said.

Felicity knew she meant it too and for a moment, she allowed herself to be happy for Roy and Thea. The two of them were solid and they knew what they wanted with one another. They weren't going to let anything break them apart and as far as Felicity could see, Roy acted differently toward Thea, even in his uncontrolled wolf-slash-hybrid form. Felicity looked over at Oliver and she could see the grim look on his face as he watched his sister worriedly. She had a feeling that Oliver knew what the nature of their conversation had just been and he didn't seem happy about the fact that his sister would be staying in the Foundry until Roy recovered. Nevertheless, Felicity couldn't blame Thea for wanting to stay and she knew that Oliver couldn't either, so she hoped that he wouldn't say anything to Thea about it.

"Felicity, I'm ready to bandage you up," Diggle said, motioning for her to come over. Felicity stood and gave Thea one more sympathetic look before joining Diggle. She gave Oliver a pointed look as he walked over to his sister and he nodded curtly as he kneeled down in front of Thea and started talking to her in hushed whispers. Once again, Felicity decided to give them some privacy, but she couldn't help but glance toward Oliver. A small sound, almost like a huff escaped Diggle and Felicity was successfully distracted, turning toward him.

"What?" she asked, just as Diggle finished dressing her wounds.

"I just find it amusing, sometimes," he said, a smile on his lips. Felicity looked at him long enough for him to continue without any further prompting. "The way that you're both so subtle."

Felicity's cheeks heated up, but she refused to look away from Diggle. Doing so would be an admittance that what he was implying was real, which it actually was for her, but she wasn't ready to share it with the world yet. She hadn't even figured out how to start that conversation with Oliver yet.

Before she had the chance to say anything though, she heard a whimper and the familiar sound of bones cracking. Diggle looked over toward Roy at the same moment that she did and they stood quickly when they saw that the wolf was shifting back to human form, curling up on the cold floor, completely nude. Felicity grabbed a blanket quickly and walked over to the cage. Oliver looked like he was about to protest, but before he could, she had already opened the door and stepped through it, throwing the blanket over Roy who was breathing harshly and sweating profusely.

"Are you okay?" Felicity asked, brushing his hair back from his forehead. He whimpered, shaking his head. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

She waited patiently, but Roy still had his eyes closed tightly. He didn't shy away from her touch though and she couldn't remember having seen him this vulnerable, not even during his first transformation.

"Yes."

Roy's reply was so low that she had barely heard it, but it made her hold him tighter against her as he shook, a sob falling from his mouth. Felicity looked up, seeing that Oliver was holding Thea who was once again crying. She met Oliver's eyes and nodded. It took him another moment, but finally, he let go of Thea who stumbled inside the cage, throwing herself on her knees next to Roy. He moved on his own, away from Felicity and into Thea's arms, his own circling her as he pressed his face to Thea's stomach, crying openly. Felicity's chest ached at hearing his cries, but she couldn't bring herself to move.

"I need you to give me a sedative," Roy said after a quiet moment, his voice thick.

Felicity noticed how Thea's grip on him tightened, but Felicity knew his words were directed at her. "Roy," she started, but he pulled back and finally met her eyes. She saw that his eyes were still yellow and worry filled her instantly.

"I'm so angry, Felicity," he said. "I can't explain it, but I just want to… I'm going to hurt someone and I need to sleep that feeling off." His eyes fell to the compression on her chest. "I've already hurt you. I'm sorry."

"That wasn't you," Felicity said. "You couldn't control yourself."

"Which is why I need you to lock me up again and give me a sedative," Roy said. "I can't walk around when all I can think about is ripping your throat out." It was grim and brutally honest. She wanted to know if the urge to kill was just directed toward her, because he seemed fine to hold Thea, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Okay," she agreed.

A couple of minutes later, Roy was dressed and fast asleep on a makeshift cot they made him inside the cage. Thea was still sitting on the floor outside, holding his hand through the bars. Felicity was preparing her old bed for Thea to sleep in tonight when Oliver walked over to her.

"Felicity," he said and in her name, she heard everything he wasn't saying. Are you okay? What will we do now? What will happen to Roy? Are you going to be all right?

"I'm fine," she said, voice shaky.

"No, you're not," Oliver countered, stepping toward her.

Allowing herself a moment of weakness, Felicity turned into him, burying her face in his chest as his arms wrapped around her. "I'm not," she agreed.

-§-

Three days passed, but not much changed. Oliver was getting anxious because so far, Roy's unexplainable anger hadn't subsided and it made Oliver worry that his suspicions were true. If Roy truly had been injected with mirakuru, there was no way to reverse the change and Roy would slowly start spiraling until he lost control of himself completely. At least that was what Oliver's experience with the drug had taught him.

Oliver could see how much Roy's transformation weighted on Felicity. She had dark circles under her eyes and there seemed to be a permanent frown on her her face. He didn't like that she wasn't sleeping, but he didn't know what to say to her on the matter. Thea hadn't been leaving the Foundry at all, but Oliver had explained the situation to his mother who appeared more worried for Roy than he would have expected.

Oliver was out with Diggle, getting some burgers and fries for the others who were waiting down in the Foundry when Diggle brought up that he had talked to Lyla about Roy's situation. It surprised Oliver, but at the same time, he knew that Diggle and Lyla had grown close again after Russia. They hadn't come out and outright said it, though Oliver was a hundred percent certain that the two had rekindled their old flame.

Oliver didn't really expect it when Diggle shared that Lyla offered up a safehouse owned by A.R.G.U.S. for Roy's recovery. According to Diggle, it was located just a few hours away from Starling City and remote enough so that no humans would wander by and accidentally get killed. Oliver didn't like the idea of Roy losing control and killing someone because he knew how difficult it would be for the young man to recover from such a thing. All the killing that Oliver had done over the years had been catching up to him recently, even though he deep down knew that there had been times when he hadn't had a choice.

"It might only be a temporary solution," Diggle had said, "but it's better that Roy gets some time off to get his head on straight than for him to stay locked in a cage forever."

Oliver didn't disagree, but he wasn't sure how Felicity or Thea would react to the suggestion. That night, when he stood by Diggle's side as the older man laid out the proposal, Thea remained silent for a good while before walking off to the bathroom. Oliver thought she would be upset, but when he reached out to her, she brushed right past him without a word. Felicity, on the other hand, was vocal about her strong disagreement.

"Absolutely not," she said, crossing her arms. "I'm not going to abandon Roy now. He's doing better already."

"I know this is difficult, Felicity," Diggle said. "Still, you can't just expect us to keep him locked up in here all the time. He should have a chance to figure out being a hybrid on his own. Breathe a little fresh air."

Felicity sighed exasperatedly. "This isn't about fresh air, Dig. This is about sending him away," Felicity said. "You know that with everything going on here in Starling City, I wouldn't be able to go with him. He would be on his own and-"

"I'll go," Roy interrupted. Oliver noticed how Felicity tensed at the sound of Roy's voice. "I want to go, Felicity." He was standing up, leaning against the bars. His eyes were no longer glowing yellow, but there was tension in his body that seemed to be pushing to be released again.

"Roy, I can't let you go alone," Felicity said.

"I need to learn to control myself. I can't have you as my crutch this time," he told her. "I understand that you can't come with me, but I need time, Felicity."

Oliver could see how much it pained Felicity to admit it, but eventually, she nodded. It seemed to be settled and when Thea returned, ending a phone call she had apparently made in the bathroom, Oliver's heart fell to his stomach because he knew what his sister was going to say before she even opened her mouth.

"I'll stay with Roy," Thea said, looking at Felicity. His sister seemed to be avoiding his eyes completely.

"No," Oliver said, this time firmly. "If Roy can't control himself, you are not going to be putting yourself in danger just so you can stay close to him."

"From what I've heard, you didn't abandon Felicity when she almost turned during the Undertaking," Thea snapped back.

Oliver pressed his lips together, sending his sister an annoyed look. People, including himself, needed to stop comparing him and Felicity to Thea and Roy. His sister and Roy were soulmates, he and Felicity were… Complicated.

"Ollie, I keep Roy grounded," Thea finally sighed. "When I'm here alone with him, he's the man I fell in love with and not the angry creature that the bad guys turned him into. I believe in him and I trust him to keep me safe." She hesitated before continuing, while chewing on her lower lip. "When I'm not with him, I feel completely drained, Ollie. I can't explain it, but being close to him gives me life, it gives me purpose. I know that I belong on his side, no matter what and I won't leave him to fight this alone. I can't."

Oliver knew the battle was lost, but he couldn't help but try one last time. "What about mom?" he said. "You can't just disappear. Who knows how long it will take for Roy to recover and learn how to control himself?"

"I already talked to her," Thea said. "Just now, actually. I explained the situation and told her that I can't leave him. She didn't like it, but she understood. I'll call every day and check in on you guys and give you updates. I promise."

And then, it truly was settled. Oliver had about a dozen reasons as to why Thea shouldn't leave with Roy, but he knew that she would shoot down every last one of them. They were soulmates and nothing would stand in their way of being together.

Oliver looked over at Felicity and she met his gaze. None of them said a word, but somehow, their shared look and the silence between them, spoke volumes.

-§-

The next day, Lyla arranged for Roy's transport. They had all gone over the details of the safehouse and Felicity had been assured that people who Lyla trusted within A.R.G.U.S. would check in on Roy and Thea once a day, to make sure they had everything they needed. Before Roy stepped into the car, Felicity took a moment to speak to him alone. Oliver was exchanging words with his sister too, who had packed up and already said goodbye to their mother and Diggle was discussing something with Lyla. Felicity didn't fail to notice how close the two stood.

"Be open," Felicity told Roy. "I know the bloodlust is difficult to control in the beginning, but be patient and be honest with Thea. If you need her to leave for a while until you get yourself in check, tell her." The unspoken words of 'don't let it go too far' lingered between them, but Roy nodded.

"I will," he said, meeting her eyes. "Thea isn't the problem, for me… It's everyone else. It's like she said, she keeps me grounded. When she's close, I don't feel the bloodlust. Her blood isn't the blood I want to draw." Felicity nodded, understanding what he meant. She had never had the urge to kill the people she cared about either, but Roy was still new at all of this. They still didn't know fully what kind of a hybrid he was, but from what Felicity was able to tell, there wasn't anything strange going on with him. He seemed to be like her, a mixture of wolf and vampire, although being freshly made often meant struggling to keep the new side of oneself under control.

"You know, you should be open too," Roy said, a small smile on his lips for the first time in days. Felicity noticed how his eyes flashed for just a moment before returning to normal. "Be honest," he told her and Felicity noticed how his gaze flittered over to Oliver, who hugged Thea as they wrapped up their own conversation. With everything that was going on now though, Felicity wasn't really sure what she was supposed to say to Oliver.

The thought was still swimming in Felicity's head later that night. After Roy and Thea's departure, they had all decided to go back to their respective homes and rest for the night. There was no point in going out on a hunt for the truth when they were all exhausted after days of dealing with Roy's transition. It wouldn't do them any good to get injured or something, just because they couldn't keep their own heads straight. Her apartment felt empty now that she was alone. Usually, when Roy was there with her, they would sit up and watch movies together whenever one of them couldn't sleep. Now, she had no one and she didn't want to call Oliver or Diggle to come over and spend time with her. She knew that Diggle was probably with Lyla and Oliver was most likely spending some time with his mother now that Thea had left. It wouldn't be fair to ask either of them to come over just because she felt lonely and couldn't sleep.

Hours passed and soon enough, it was two o'clock in the morning and Felicity hadn't gotten a single hour of sleep. Outside, rain fell slowly, hitting the window pane and filling her room with a comforting and calming sound. It didn't help her though, because she couldn't sleep, no matter how much her eyes burned or how exhausted she felt.

There was a knock on the door and Felicity shot up from her bed, sitting up. Frowning, she listened intently, wondering who it was that was coming to see her at this hour. If it was an enemy, they surely wouldn't know, would they?

"Felicity…"

She hurried out of bed, pulling on a robe over her sleep shorts and tanktop before walking out to the living room and into the hallway. Opening the door, she found Oliver standing there, his hair wet and jacket soaked through. She pulled the robe closed, feeling his eyes linger on the faint pink marks that were still left on her skin after Roy's attack a couple of days ago.

"What are you doing here, Oliver?" she asked before stepping aside so he could come in. Reaching out, she helped him take off his jacket and she motioned for him to leave his shoes by the door because they were both muddy and wet.

"I couldn't sleep," he confessed and Felicity didn't want to ask him why that had led him to her door. She didn't want him to leave, but she wasn't sure that she should ask him to stay either. Oliver seemed to make the decision for her though, because there was a look in his eyes that told her that he had come here for a reason and that he needed to talk to her about something. Whatever it was, she could tell that he was nervous because he kept switching from one foot to the other, his eyes moving away from her every once in awhile, as if he couldn't make himself face her.

"Oliver?" Felicity asked and watched as his shoulders sagged.

"I have to tell you something," he said, looking defeated. Felicity nodded and took his hand, leading him into the living room as he followed without protest.

-§-

Oliver waited for Felicity to come back to the living room. She had left to get him a towel, trying to lighten the mood by complaining about him getting her couch all wet with his hair dripping all over the place. He was deep in thought when she returned, wondering just where he was supposed to start his story. Felicity was able to read him, he knew. She didn't need heightened senses to pick up on his nerves because when it came to her, he was pretty much an open book nowadays. Their unfinished conversation from Queen Consolidated still circled around in his mind, but tonight was not the night for that to be brought up again. There were more pressing matters to discuss.

Felicity let out a low breath and Oliver was surprised when she sat down close to him and placed the towel on his head, drying his hair the best she could. He remained motionless, heart beating loudly at the closeness of her and his body heating up instantly when her robe slipped open a bit, allowing him to see her cleavage. The warmth inside of him disappeared again the moment he saw the pink marks left behind by Roy slashing her skin open. His own wounds had scabbed over, but they would without a doubt leave faint scars once they were fully healed. He was used to it by now, being scarred, but adding new ones to his growing collection was never fun. It wasn't something he thought about anymore, though the fact that Roy had been the one to put these marks on him… He knew that whenever Roy came back to their team, the young man would feel guilty about it. Oliver didn't want him to do so, but wolves felt things stronger than humans did and there wouldn't be a way to ease Roy's mind on it. It might be better if Oliver just pretended that he didn't even see the marks.

His mind stopped working when Felicity touched his forehead with her fingertips, trailing them down to his cheek. Oliver looked at her, his breath hitching when he saw the concern in her eyes.

"Talk to me, Oliver," she said and he found himself moving just a bit closer to her. He reached up and pressed her hand more firmly to his cheek as he closed his eyes for a moment. Turning, he gently kissed the flat of her palm and then proceeded to lower their hands so they rested between them.

"You know some of the things that happened to me on Lian Yu," he started, hesitantly. Felicity nodded, squeezing his hand as if to assure him that it was safe to keep going. "There's one part of the story that I never told anyone, not even Diggle." Felicity watched him and Oliver breathed in, looking down at their hands. Felicity's thumb moved over his rough skin, comfortingly. "When I was there, I met a man who later became my second mentor. His name was Slade Wilson," Oliver explained. "Slade had been sent there on some mission to evaluate the situation on the island. As far as I know, it was meant to be used as some covert government prison, but that doesn't matter right now. The thing is that Slade and I, we became friends too. Surviving together and fighting monsters every day helped us grow closer."

Oliver made a pause and cleared his throat. He looked at Felicity, who was listening intently. It was clear that she wasn't going to be interrupting him, so he continued. "There was a woman there too. Her name was Shado and she was the daughter of my first mentor, Yao Fei. Slade and I saved her from the Dark Ones on the island, but her father was killed in the process," Oliver said, running a hand through his hair. Remembering Yao and how he had watched a blood wolf tear the man's throat out was painful. Everything about that part of his life was painful to remember. Oliver had hoped to eventually move on, but with everything that had happened recently, he was forced to revisit the ghosts of his past.

"The thing was, after Yao's death, Shado and I… We grew close," Oliver said, carefully eyeing Felicity's reaction to that. She looked understanding, although Oliver couldn't help but wonder whether it bothered her. There was no need for it, Shado was gone and a part of his past, nothing more. Still, it wasn't as if Oliver was enjoying sharing the fact that he had hooked up with Shado all those years ago with Felicity, who now held his heart. Back then, he had been different and Shado had been the first woman he had come across on the island that wasn't a blood sucking monster.

"What happened to her?" Felicity prompted and Oliver realized that he had been quiet for too long. His mind had once again tricked him into thinking about everything that had occurred, but he needed to focus. He needed to tell this story.

"I didn't know it until it was too late, but Slade, my mentor, had fallen in love with Shado," Oliver shared. "I liked her, but there weren't that many feelings involved other than mutual attraction. Shado was special, though. She taught me about the monsters because her entire life had been about them," Oliver said.

"Was she a huntress?" Felicity asked.

Oliver shook his head. "Her father was, but Shado wasn't. She had taken after her mother, choosing to practice magic instead of hunting the creatures of the night."

"She was a witch," Felicity acknowledged and this time, her eyes widened. "That's why you weren't as surprised as Diggle and the others when I told you about Barry."

"Yeah," Oliver said and for a painful moment, he recalled the kiss he had witnessed between Felicity and Barry. He shook the thought away though, because Felicity had told him that it hadn't meant anything.

"Do you want to continue?" Felicity asked. "I have a feeling that this story is going to require alcohol, so if you want, I have a couple of beers in my fridge?" She looked nervous, but Oliver couldn't for the life of him understand why. Sharing a drink with Felicity, late at night while he revisited his demons, though? He could think of worse scenarios.

"A beer wouldn't hurt…" he trailed off and Felicity nodded, letting go of his hand long enough to get to the kitchen. She returned with a six-pack of bears, putting them on the table before opening one for each of them with just her hand. Oliver looked at her, impressed, but she just shrugged, mumbling about hybrid strength. He took a sip from the beer, locking eyes with her momentarily before she spoke again.

"So, Slade was in love with Shado and you were hooking up with her," she said, reminding him of where he had left off.

"Yeah," Oliver nodded. "The thing was that I was so ignorant of it. I didn't want to see it, I guess. It just felt nice to have someone with me, you know?" Felicity seemed to understand so she nodded. "Anyway, we were on our own for a couple of weeks, but then we came across some other people… Sara was among them."

"Wait," Felicity stopped him. "Sara, as in Sara Lance? Sara as in assassin-Sara-who-is-also-Laurel's-sister, Sara?"

"Yes, the same woman I cheated on Laurel with and took with me on the Queen's Gambit when I was shipwrecked," Oliver said. "I thought she was dead, but she survived somehow and ended up with this group of people, who turned out to be led by a scientist. He had come to the island because he knew about the mythology that surrounded it and he was collecting creatures in order to create a serum… He wanted to make soldiers with superhuman strength." Oliver took a long pull from the beer bottle, shaking his head bitterly. "He called the drug 'mirakuru', saying it was a miracle serum. It was a mixture of various types of blood, from different creatures. On his ship, he experimented on both creatures and humans, trying to perfect the mix."

"Is… Is this somehow related to Roy and me?" Felicity wondered, her voice quiet now.

"I think Roy might have been injected with the mirakuru," Oliver nodded slowly, keeping his voice carefully even. "I've seen it's effect and Roy suffers the same symptoms. Anger, bloodlust, more heightened emotions than the usual werewolf. I'm not sure about you though… You're different, you always were."

"I was a failed experiment," Felicity said, clearly remembering some of the things she had seen when she had been under the effect of Nyssa's serum.

"Maybe to them," Oliver said, reaching for her hand. "Not to me." He saw something flicker across her face, but he didn't know if he should acknowledge it now. This wasn't the right time for that.

But then again, what would be the right time?

Felicity smiled lightly at him and he mirrored her expression before continuing. "I thought I had destroyed everything that was left of the mirakuru on the island," Oliver said. "I think someone must have found a vial and kept experimenting. I think the Master might be using the mirakuru to turn wolves and create his hybrid army."

"Makes sense," Felicity said. "Why didn't you tell us sooner? Did you think we would judge you?"

Oliver frowned, "I guess I was afraid of what you might think of me. I know I keep a lot of secrets from you and I have been trying to open up, but some things are just too painful… I'm sorry. I should have said something the moment I suspected it might be related to the mirakuru."

Felicity eyed him carefully. "I forgive you," she said, "but I can tell there's more to this story. You're still hiding something."

Oliver suppressed the urge to laugh, because of course she noticed. She could see right through him and a tiny part of him hated her for it. A bigger part of him loved her for it too, however, and that part extinguished the hatred completely.

"It's all connected to Shado," he said. "Shado and Slade." He finished up his drink and Felicity immediately opened another one, supplying him with more. He appreciated it, feeling the alcohol calm him slightly. It had been a while since he had gotten drunk, but hopefully, that wasn't where he was headed just yet. In turn though, he reached for a bottle and opened it for Felicity. She smiled at him when she retrieved it from him, theirs fingers brushing.

"When I was reunited with Sara, I fell into old patterns with her. I had thought she was dead and it turned out that she wasn't, so I wanted to be with her because I knew her better… I was an ass," he said, shaking his head. The simple brush of Felicity's fingers against his had almost made him lose focus, but he needed to get on with the story, no matter how guilty he felt over what had happened. He didn't like thinking about how much he had hurt Shado in the process, especially not when she could have been happy with someone who had genuinely loved her; someone like Slade.

"I'm not going to object to that," Felicity told him, lifting the bottle that he had given her to her lips, taking a swig of it. "You can still be an ass sometimes."

Oliver didn't protest, but he did chuckle. It surprised him because he had never laughed when he shared stories of his past. It didn't seem right to do so, but the beer was slowly getting to him and Felicity was there and everything just felt a little bit easier to talk about with her.

"Nevertheless," he started, pointedly giving Felicit a look.

"Oh, big words," Felicity teased, leaning into his side. Once again, Oliver chuckled, wrapping his arm around her shoulders so she could fit into him better.

"I know, I know," he said, rolling his eyes at her.

"Sorry, please continue," Felicity told him.

"Okay," Oliver said, clearing his throat when Felicity leaned her head onto his own shoulder. His fingers tapped against the bottle in his hand. "Slade and I argued a lot. Sara told us about what the scientist, Ivo, was planning and I wanted to destroy his research so that he wouldn't be able to complete the mixture. Slade wanted us to get the boat and use it to get off the island and we made up a plan together. Shado was reluctant because her gut told her that nothing good would come from the mission. We should have listened to her," Oliver told Felicity. "There was an accident and Slade was burned badly in an explosion. We managed to get him away from the ship and back to our camp, but he would die from his injuries. Part of the mission was a success though because I had gotten the case with the vials containing the serum Ivo had worked on with Sara's help," he explained. The memory of Slade's burned face and pained screams still haunted him in his nightmares. It was something that he would never forget. "Shado tried to heal Slade, but nothing worked. She didn't have enough herbs and she couldn't do anything because her emotions were all over the place. I think that was when I realized that she cared about Slade a lot too," Oliver said. Shado had still technically been together with him, although he had seen it in her concern for Slade that day. She had loved Slade too, maybe not in the way that Slade had loved her, but it was there. It was that knowledge that had made Oliver do what he had done. "I took one of the vials and injected Slade with it," he said. Felicity gasped, clearly not having expected this. "We were supposed to destroy it, but I wanted to save him and I knew it was a fifty-fifty chance for him to survive with the mixture in his system. He didn't… Or at least we didn't think he did," Oliver said. "We left the camp with the case. Shado was inconsolable and she wanted nothing to do with me but she knew we had to work together to get off the island. We carried the case with it, intending to destroy it, but we didn't make it far. Ivo and his men caught us and I was forced to choose between Sara's life and Shado's."

"Oliver, no…" Felicity whispered, reaching up to touch his cheek. He hadn't realized it, but at some point in his story, tears had fallen from his eyes. Felicity moved closer, nuzzling into him and he tightened his grip on her.

"I tried to jump in front of them," Oliver said. "My hands were tied up and Ivo pointed the gun at Sara, so I jumped and instead, he shot Shado, point blank… I couldn't save her and it was my fault she died."

"It wasn't your fault, Oliver," Felicity said, still brushing his tears away. "You tried. You were put in an impossible situation. It wasn't your fault."

Oliver shook his head. "It doesn't matter now," he said. "The moment the shot rang out, a creature jumped out from the woods and started slaughtering Ivo's men. Ivo got away, but we killed him later… At first I thought it was a crazy wolf, but then, the creature slumped over Shado's body and turned human again and I saw, it was Slade. The mirakuru had worked, but it had turned him into a monster… A monster driven by grief."

Oliver thought about the way that he had acted toward Felicity in the beginning. His feelings toward Dark Ones and mistrust of them originated from everything that had happened with Slade. For a while, Slade had seemed normal, but as soon as he had found out that Oliver had been to blame for Shado's death, the monster inside of him had turned against Oliver. In the end, Slade had tried to kill him and it had ended with Sara being dragged into the ocean again and Oliver killing Slade, who had been not only his mentor, but also his friend.

Oliver looked at Felicity then, telling her the final part of the story. How in the end, he had been alone once more, with Slade dead, Sara gone and presumably dead too… His only hope to get home, destroyed. With everything that had happened, Oliver hadn't wanted to go home though. He had caused so much death and destruction that he didn't think he deserved to be with his loved ones anymore.

By the end of his story, the beer bottles Felicity had brought were empty. Felicity was still leaning into him, but Oliver was surprised when she moved suddenly, coming to straddle his lap. The empty bottle in his hand fell to the couch as his hands settled on her waist when she leaned in close and embraced him, her arms surrounding him tightly.

"I would never intentionally hurt you, Oliver," Felicity told him, her nose pressed against the side of his neck. "I understand that Slade was your friend and that the mixture made him lose his mind, but I'm not him and neither is Roy." Oliver's hands fell from her waist to her thighs and he placed them flat against her skin where the robe had ridden up when she had straddled him. He didn't know if it was appropriate, but Felicity didn't seem to mind. Instead, all he could think about was how she had understood why he had told her this story, why he had been so afraid. Roy was his friend too and when he had realized that Roy had most likely been injected with the mirakuru drug, he had feared that Roy would lose his mind like Slade too. Sending Thea away with Roy had been torture for Oliver, especially since he hadn't been able to give her more than a short summary of what he suspected. Before Thea had left, Oliver had warned her and he knew that his sister had listened to him. Oliver had seen the way that Roy seemed to calm down whenever Thea was close and he remembered the way that Slade had cried over Shado's body. Oliver only hoped that Roy's love for Thea beat the mirakuru that wanted him to lose control.

"You've been there for me through everything, Oliver," Felicity said. "You're my friend, my partner. Everything that happened in your past is a part of who you are today and I can't blame you for anything that happened then. You did your best in an awful situation and no one could ask anything else from you."

"Felicity, if something goes wrong and Roy loses it… I don't know what I'll do," he admitted.

"He won't lose it," Felicity said, confidently as she pulled back and cupped his cheeks, forcing him to look at her. "He won't, I know that he's stronger than the mirakuru. He's my beta and I know him. And even if he does lose it, despite everything, I'll be there with you and you won't have to make that choice on your own," she told him. Oliver closed his eyes when Felicity leaned forward, pressing her soft lips against his forehead. It was something that he did to her whenever he wanted to comfort her but Felicity doing it to him made his heart beat faster in his chest.

"You should stay here tonight," Felicity said, biting her lip as she watched him hesitantly.. "I don't want to be alone and you can't drive…" Her fingers played with the hair at the back of his head, his thumbs moved over the skin on her outer thighs.

"You're probably right," he said, eyes dropping to her mouth momentarily. Felicity leaned forward, but instead of doing what Oliver for a split second hoped she would, she laid her head on his shoulder, sighing against him in content.

"Maybe we should rest for a second," she suggested. "Tomorrow, we'll tell Diggle and Tommy about the mirakuru, but tonight…"

"Yeah," Oliver said, his eyes falling shut as his arms moved around her slim frame so that he could hug her again. "Let's rest."


Note: Thank you to everyone who commented in the previous chapter! Your kind words encourage me and give me motivation to keep going with this story. The next chapter is almost finished and it'll be a long one, since I decided against splitting it in two (due to voting on a poll on my Twitter!). You're not going to want to miss that one because it will be explosive in so many ways! ;)
Thank you once again for reading and supporting me. Lots of love to everyone! xx

P.S. I posted this chapter earlier than I originally thought I would. I was going to update on Sunday, but figured, what the hell! ;)