Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that I'm doing this wrong. I know that I'm supposed to wait a little longer between chapters and let you… stew for a while. It was brought to my attention that that's how things work around here and that I shouldn't spoil my readers. While I am still confused as to why and how I managed to offend somebody with my rapid (obviously irresponsible) updating, I understand that I am burning through chapters here. But, you know what, guys? You are awesome and I like to spoil you. So I hope you're not offended, but here's yet another chapter.

I had a blast reading all the reviews and I sense that the general tenor is: Wow, Felicity and Oliver are having a hard time. Yes, people, they do. ;-) And I am not done yet. But for now we need a little rest…

Please keep your amazing comments coming, I love them and I'm so curious to read what you think. Oh, and the awards for the best reviewers ever go to: NyGi, Tatungui, lizb1813, michellemaldonado, onetreefan, NorthernLights25, sakura-blossom62, Gin2a, Lil5weetie, SandraDeee, TygTag, LachesisBenton and Yelena89. All my sincere gratitude and love.

7. The definition of bravery

They walked until the sun was about to set. It was turning dark very quickly, and Oliver knew that it was too dangerous to keep going. No matter how much he wished he could put even more space between them and their pursuers, he knew it was time to stop. Not only because he soon wouldn't be able to see where he was going, but also because Felicity's steps were turning heavier. They were on their feet for nearly twelve hours – and her feet were only covered by dirty socks that were showing first holes. It was enough.

He just wished he would find something that provided a little shelter, but he didn't. There was no place to hide. The best thing he could find was a group of trees that offered the barest of cover. He motioned toward it. "We'll stop there."

Felicity was so exhausted that she didn't react to his decision in any way. She just walked to where he had directed her and let herself drop to the forest floor heavily. With her back to the tree she sat, looking utterly defeated. Oliver took the backpack off. When Felicity had insisted on joining him that morning he had also taken all their sparse belongings with them. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He let the blanket, which he had rolled and strapped under the backpack, drop to the ground and reached for one of the two plastic water bottles he had refilled yesterday when he had found a spring. "Here," he said softly, "drink some water."

She did as she was told and when she had swallowed, she looked around. "I never thought I'd say this, but I miss our cave." She gave him the bottle back and closed her eyes.

Oliver took a huge swig of water. "I know this is not the best place," he admitted, "but we need to make the best of it." He glanced around and sighed. "It's too dark for me to try and hunt something, but we saved the treat." That was what Felicity had called the pack of waffles they had found at the bottom of the stolen backpack. The things stuffed on top of them had squashed them, but they were still good to eat. They had decided to save them for dire situations – and sitting in the wilderness, out in the open, having eaten nothing in twelve hours and having nothing else in reach qualified perfectly as a dire situation. He was about to open them, when he realized that Felicity had not reacted to his offering of the saved treat. That was very unlike her. He looked at her and saw that not only were her eyes closed, but also that her head had sunk to her chest. She had fallen asleep within thirty seconds after sitting down.

With fondness Oliver looked at her. She was so brave, she was really sucking it up, soldering on and doing all she could – plus then some more. He wished she didn't have to experience this, but he was impressed with how well she was doing. She was handling things better than he had been dealing on Lian Yu, he thought. But she deserved some sleep, some rest – in a more comfortable position than the one she was in now. He reached for her and gently placed her on the ground. He draped the blanket over her. "Sweet dreams, Felicity," he whispered and sat down next to her.

The moon that had been shining so brightly in the previous nights was nowhere to be seen, and soon Oliver sat in complete darkness. He could make out the shapes of the trees, but that was it. But he didn't mind. Because if he couldn't see, others were just as blinded. He had learned that very early during his stay on the other island: Darkness equaled relative safety. It was dangerous to walk around without being able to properly see where you're going. Nobody in their right mind would do it. Flashlights, on the other hand, made an opponent perfectly visible. And in the dark even the quietest sound turned louder and travelled farther. Somebody had to be very, very skilled if he wanted to sneak up on Oliver. At the moment he heard nothing, but some animal burrowing under the leaves nearby. There was no wind rustling in the leaves of the trees, no twigs snapping under the feet of a nearing enemy. It was wonderfully quiet.

Until a strangled gasp came from his left.

It sounded so horribly haunted that it spurred Oliver into moving. He leaned over Felicity, who was moving unruly in her sleep, and brought his hand to her cheek in an effort to calm her.

It did the opposite.

As soon as his fingers touched her skin, she trashed away from the touch and shot up while a panicked whisper escape her lips. That shocked Oliver so much that he didn't, couldn't react. His blood froze in his veins, because he had understood the words she had said as she had awoken from her nightmare. "Slade, no!"

He couldn't really make her out in the darkness, but he heard her breathe heavily. It sounded like she was gasping for air, it was a sound of pure fear. Hearing it made him overcome his own shock. He reached for her. "It's me," he assured her and without thinking or hesitating pulled her into a hug. "You're safe." She clung to him, literally shaking, which in turn shook Oliver in the figurative sense. "I'm here," he whispered into her ear. "Nobody will hurt you. I am here."

She nodded against his neck, and he felt her reluctance to let him go. Right then, he felt the same; he needed her close. He shifted her so that she sat sideways between his legs. Her forehead was resting against his neck, the upper part of her body against his chest. He draped the blanket over them and placed both his arms around her. "Go back to sleep," he said softly and promised, "I'll be here the whole time." Strangely, not even two minutes later he felt her breathe evenly and deeply.

Oliver Queen had never been much of a cuddler. He had especially never liked girls clinging to him while he was sleeping – or trying to sleep, because who could sleep with somebody else wrapping herself around you, limiting your space, breathing in your ear, being all hot and sweaty under the covers? Oliver sure couldn't. He liked getting hot and sweaty as much as the next guy, but not while he was trying to get some shut-eye. But as he sat there in what essentially was an extreme cuddling position, he thoroughly enjoyed holding her so close. He rested his cheek against her forehead, cradled her to his body, and knew that he wouldn't let her go until she woke up. He hugged her close to him, because she needed it, and because he needed it just as much.

With Felicity touching had always been comfort. Their touch had always been calculated. They never touched lightly, even the smallest touch – the hand on the shoulder, the cupped forearm – had a purpose. It was meant to send reassurance, to gain attention, to show connection, and very often it was a way to make sure the other one was okay, alive and breathing. Even the most innocent touch could turn intimate like that. Not counting the naked hug to save Felicity from hypothermia, which was too surreal to really count, the position they were in right now was the most extreme form of touch they had ever shared. It not only felt intimate, it actually was intimate. Right now Oliver needed this. He needed reassurance and he needed to send it to her, he needed to be connected to her and to make sure that she was okay.

Her nightmare had shaken him to his core. It had hit him completely unprepared. Felicity had dreamt of Slade. He felt like an idiot for being so surprised by this. Slade Wilson had held a blade, the very blade that he had rammed through the heart of Oliver's mother, to Felicity's neck and had threatened to behead her.

That was more than perfect nightmare material.

And those were just the things he knew about.

Why had Oliver never asked her what had happened before he arrived at the scene? Why had he never asked what Slade did to her? The answer to both questions was easy and embarrassing: because Oliver didn't want to think about the things Slade Wilson might have done to Felicity. He had never dared to go there before, but now, in the night's quiet darkness, he couldn't help the mental spiral he was falling down as he followed the memory of how she had jumped away from his touch.

All of this was Oliver's fault just as much as it was Slade's. Oliver had used Felicity as bait. There was no other, nicer way to say it, because it was true. He had known Slade was watching and he had known what Slade would do when he thought that Felicity was the woman Oliver loved.

What did it say about him that he offered the woman he did indeed love up to a mad-man like that?

He had put the safety of his city, of everybody who might encounter Slade Wilson in the future, above her – and she had accepted it. Oliver could still hear Slade tell him how he had believed that Oliver "had a thing for stronger women." Proved how little his former mentor knew. Felicity Smoak was the strongest woman Oliver had ever met. She had waited there in the mansion with the knowledge that drugged up mad-men would come to take her to a psychopath with supernatural strength, who wanted to kill her, when the only weapon she had been armed with was her sharp tongue. There couldn't be a braver or more selfless thing to do.

He should have known that this experience would take its toll on her, he shouldn't have just let it slide, he should have offered her to talk about it. He felt like he had broken her, harmed her, but he would fix it. He promised this to himself right then and there. His arms closed a little more around Felicity, which caused her to sigh in her sleep and cuddle closer to him. He smiled at her reaction. He had already done the unthinkable when he had offered her up. Tomorrow, he decided, he would finally do what he had been thinking about for all of last year. Uncharted territory lay ahead, but it was time to finally match her bravery.