The tension in the room wa palpable, at least Oliver felt it was. He stood at full attention waiting for Adrian to even step in Felicity's direction. Adrian wiped the blood from his lip and turned his gaze to Felicity. Oliver swallowed his pride that not only did Felicity punch him, but she punched him hard. His girl was strong in every sense. She is not yours anymore, the voice in his head reminded.

When Adrian moved towards Felicity, Oliver moved to stand between them. He held his head high and looked him dead in the eye before speaking with more conviction in his voice than he ever had, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Why not? You gonna kill me, Oliver? Cause we both know you'd like that." Adrian teased, giving Oliver his patented smirk that made Oliver want to do just that.

"Take one step closer and we'll both find out." Oliver countered, his grip on the tightening so much it hurt. He honestly did not know what he would do. He knew they were at City Hall and there they were Mayor Queen and District Attorney Chase. Killing him would be a bad idea. Hell, punching him here would be a bad idea. But when Adrian held him hostage and threatened Felicity; showed him how close he had been to her, Oliver felt powerless. He could not protect her then. He could not protect her from himself either. He had tried and failed. But now, he could protect her from Chase.

"Do it, Ollie. Show Felicity what you're to afraid to tell her." Adrian encouraged, his smirk only growing wider.

He felt frozen.

After a moment, Adrian broke the silence, "No. Nothing. Well, this is boring now". And as abruptly as he entered, he left.

"Wow, that felt good." Felicity enthused after taking a deep breath.

Oliver walked over to the couch in his office and sat down. He wasn't sure why, but he felt heavy. He laid the gun he'd been clenching down on the table in front of him and closed his eyes.

"Oliver, please talk to me." Felicity pled while walking towards him.

He opened his eyes and watched as she walked to him. He didn't put up a fight when she took the gun from the table and unloaded it. She threw the gun across the room, as though the though of it made her angry.

"I was supposed to protect you." He began with a defeated sigh.

"What are you talking about?" Felicity asked leaning forward, closer to him.

"Do you remember when we were on the plane to take Thea to Nanda Parbat and I told you that I had come home once before and how I saw Thea?" He waited for her reply before continuing.

"Yeah."

"Well, I saw someone else during that trip. I saw you. You came into my mother's office and you were talking to the picture of me on my mom's desk." He looked up to gage her response. She looked surprised, so he continued.

"I had forgotten that feeling that you brought in that moment; peace. I never forgot it. In the rest of the time that I was gone, I had this game that I would play with myself when I needed that peace. I would try to figure out what your name was. It was stupid but thinking about you made me feel that peace again."

He stopped talking when he felt her hand on his. He should pull away but damn if that feeling he was just telling her about wasn't still there. How does she do it?

"When I came home, I was adamant that I need to go to the QC Office. I knew it was confusing for everyone. It was confusing to me. But I needed to know if you were still there. See, I promised myself when I decided to come home that I would stay away from you. I knew that if I was around you then you'd suffer. I didn't see you though. So, I thought that you'd found a better job and left. Then I walked into your office and my heart soared when I saw you."

"Oliver, why didn't – "Felicity began but Oliver cut her off.

"Please, let me finish." Oliver pled looking up to finally meet her eyes. Her eyes were full of wonder and love. He didn't deserve that love. She'd given it to him before and he destroyed. He wouldn't let that happen again. She sighed and nodded while squeezing his hand.

"After that, I tried to stay away from you. But I didn't take into consideration how much I would need someone with your skills in my mission. Once I realized it though, it was so easy to find a reason to be around you and the next thing I know, you're on my team. And I just lost track of my promise, to stay away from you to keep you safe."

"Is that why you overreacted after our explosive first date?"

"It was a part of it."

"Thank you." She whispered with so much sincerity it hurt.

"For what?"

"For failing."

He stood from her and started pacing. Confused didn't even begin to explain how he felt right now.

"Oliver, I can feel you thinking." Felicity teased from her spot on the table.

"I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Everything that has happened to you since the moment I walked into your office is my fault. You've been tied up, kidnapped, held at gun point, held at sword point, blown-up, drugged and then you made the mistake of loving me. And I broke your heart. You should be begging me to leave, to go!"

"Oliver, you have this way of putting people on a pedestal. I was heading for those dangers before I ever met you. You know about my hacktivist days. I have no doubt that I would have ended up in this type of life before I ever met you. I was in a transition period when I met you. I was lonely and numb."

"You were safe."

"Maybe so. But I didn't feel anything. I stopped living, really living and just went into auto pilot. But then, you showed up. You helped me, not only find myself again, but become even better than I could have ever hoped to be. If you hadn't showed up and given me the choice to join your awesome crime fighting adventure, then once I found myself again, I'd have went looking for something."

"That doesn't erase all the bad, Felicity."

"No, it doesn't. But it does make it worth it."

How could loving him make it worth it? Did she miss the list of pain he'd brought into her life?

"Do you remember when you told me that there was a schism in me?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah."

"I feel like I've fallen into it. I don't know who I am anymore. I don't know how to fix anything." Oliver confessed.

He watched as felicity stood and walked over to him. She stopped a few inches from him and raised her hand and stretched out her palm. She opened it to reveal the bullet she'd taken from the gun earlier.

"This isn't going to help you figure it out." She declared.

"It's the only choice I have left." Oliver confessed, suddenly feeling ashamed.

"No, it's the only one you can see." Felicity rationalized, "But you're not doing this alone. You have John, Quieten, Thea, Rene, Curtis, Dinah and me."

"I don't feel like I have you." He admitted looking down at her. He saw regret flash across her eyes and he wanted to vomit. Did she regret him?

"Everything all right in here?" John asked opening the door.

"Yeah, it's okay." Oliver reassured taking a big step back from Felicity.

John swept the room with his eyes anyway and they stopped when he saw the gun laying on the floor close to the door. He walked over and picked it up. Oliver knew he recognized it. It was John that gave it to him to keep in his office, just in case.

"Sure, about that, Oliver?" John enquired.

Oliver met John's eyes and felt Felicity's bearing into him like she was trying to see his soul. He knew they were concerned about him.

"If we can find a way to stop Adrian Chase, then yes; I'm sure." He declared.