Oliver was slightly worried about Felicity. She'd walked into the lair around seven o'clock and had immediately become engrossed at her computer, muttering greetings to everyone as she hustled by. Smirking and thinking nothing of it at first, he'd continued sparring with Roy and Dig.

Dig left first, wanting to spend some more time with Lyla as her due date neared, but not before making sure to shoot a pointed glance towards Felicity. Oliver nodded, letting him know he was aware of the situation. Roy had noticed too and bailed soon after, saying he'd promised to meet up with Sin. He grabbed a towel and wiped off his sweat soaked skin, tossing it aside and leaning against the wall, watching her.

Her hair was up in a ponytail, swept off to one side and leaving the back of her neck exposed. The urge to walk up behind her and touch her bare skin surged through him. 'Stop,' He thought. He frowned and clenched his fists when he realized that he'd actually taken a step forward, his subconscious pulling him physically towards her. Frustration rippled through him and it was mostly directed towards himself.

What was he doing? He couldn't keep doing this, he had to stop thinking about her like this, he had to stop following her home. The thing was that he didn't want to. He wanted to have the right to walk up and touch her, to be able to go into her house instead of standing outside, hidden by shadows.

He was tired of living this lie, he lived enough of them as it was, but he didn't know what to do. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if he screwed this up, if he lost her. First things first though, him and Laurel needed to discuss some things.

Shaking off thoughts of Laurel, he walked across the room, coming to stand next to her. "Felicity."

She didn't hear him, her eyes never leaving the screen, fingers tapping away against the keys. He said her name again with the same results. Sighing, he lightly touched her shoulder and she jumped out of her seat, startled. He held his hands up. "Sorry."

She rubbed her temples. "That one was on me." She frowned, looking around the empty room. "Where are Diggle and Roy?"

"They left about half an hour ago but you were pretty absorbed in whatever you're doing over here. What is exactly that you're doing, anyways?"

She sighed loudly. "I was seeing if I could find some more information on Marcetti and his guys."

His brow furrowed. "You think you missed something?"

Her gaze flicked back to the computer. "I don't know. I figured it was a good idea to do a little more digging since I'm sure Marcetti's arrest isn't going to stop the Cassavette's from trying to set up shop in this city, might as well be ready for the next guys, whoever they might be."

She wasn't telling him something. He knew her well enough to know when there were thoughts churning in her head that she wasn't saying. He opened his mouth to push for more information when his phone rang. He gave Felicity an apologetic look and pulled it out of his pocket. Seeing Laurel's name flash on-screen, he stepped away from Felicity as he answered.

"Hey," he greeted. "What's up?"

"Look, I know that you weren't going to come over tonight," she paused, the silence heavy over the phone. "But I was hoping you could come over for a little and we could talk."

His eyebrows raised up in surprise. "Yeah, I can be there in fifteen minutes." They said quick goodbyes and Oliver turned back to Felicity. "I have to go. Are you going to be here for a little while?"

She nodded. "Yeah, there's a few things I wanted to do before I go home." She smiled at him and his chest tightened. "Go. Enjoy your night with Laurel."

He wanted to tell her it wasn't what she thought, that he was pretty sure his talk with Laurel wasn't going to end with him staying there, but he didn't. 'Friends. We're friends,' he told himself. So instead, he said, "Good night, Felicity."

He arrived at Laurel's apartment twenty minutes later. She opened the door, greeting him with a kiss on the cheek and gesturing for him to sit in the living room. She sat on the couch with him but kept her distance.

"What's going on, Laurel?" He asked after they sat in silence for a long moment.

She sighed. "This," she gestured between the two of them. "Isn't working, Ollie."

He sat on the edge of the couch, his hands clasped together, eyes on the floor. He couldn't disagree with her but he didn't want her to see the relief that washed over him at her words. She reached out and took his hands into hers. "Ollie, look at me." He obliged, meeting her eyes. "Whatever this is that we've been doing these past few months isn't a relationship. We barely see each other and when we do," she trailed off. She looked away for a second and when she looked back him, her eyes were wet. "You told me after Sara came back that you had loved me for half of your life and I've loved you for just as long but I don't think we're in love with each other anymore."

"I do love you, Laurel."

"And I love you, Ollie but I'm not in love with you." Even though he'd been thinking the same thing, a part of him expected those words to hurt and he was pleasantly surprised that the feeling never came.

"I'm sorry, Laurel." He leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her forehead. "You're right."

She playfully pushed him away. "Of course I am," she teased. Her face turned serious again. "We owed it to each other to try. I think if we hadn't, there would always be a part of us that would wonder if we were meant to be together and now we know." She smiled at him fondly. "I'm always going to love you, Oliver. You're my best friend and I'll always be here for you."

He smiled back, feeling lighter than he had earlier. "One day you're going to find the man who loves you the way you deserve to be loved."

She made a face."One day but not anytime soon. I think I want to be on my own for a little while, enjoy some me time."

"Maybe I'll have to do that too."

Laurel chuckled and gave him a look. "I think it's a little late for that, Oliver."

His face scrunched in confusion and he waited for her to elaborate.

She raised an eyebrow before she shook her head. "You're already in love with someone. I've seen the way you look at her, the way you watch her when you think no one is looking," she said with a sad tinge to her voice.

Oliver looked away, uncomfortable with the change in topic.

"You might not be ready to admit how you feel but the feelings are there and you can't deny that. I know you're scared and maybe now isn't the best time but if you wait too long you might lose her anyway."

He sat there quiet for a beat, gaining a new appreciation for Laurel. "She deserves someone better," he whispered.

"You are a hero, Oliver," she said, fiercely. "Something that, correct me if I'm wrong, makes that argument completely invalid," she added softly.

A small smile graced his lips. "Thank you, Laurel, you're a good friend."

The next morning, Felicity woke up at the crack of dawn. Well, technically, she got out of bed, seeing as she never actually slept last night. A refreshing shower and half a pot of coffee later had made her feel only slightly better.

She'd found absolutely nothing new out about Shepard or Marcetti. Not that she even knew what she was looking for. She was starting to feel paranoid but she couldn't deny the feeling in her gut that she was missing something. The second that look had come across Shepard's face, she'd felt uneasy but had found nothing that had any sort of connection to her. At this point, she could tell you every detail about their lives that was out there to find. She wasn't the type of person to give up when something was bothering her but this had been a thin thread to begin with. Besides, they were both in jail and not a threat, she needed to shake this off.

Determined to do just that, she spent her morning and afternoon taking care of mind-numbing chores that always fell to the wayside during her busy week. Cleaning and scrubbing everything felt therapeutic, clearing her mind better than the shower had.

After a quick trip to the store to pick up some stuff, she found herself home alone with nothing to do but that was remedied by her phone buzzing on the counter where she'd set it down, Roy's name flashing across the screen.

"Hey," she answered, already knowing where this conversation was going.

"Any news, sightings, anything at all?"

Her heart broke for him and she wished she could tell him something good. "I'm sorry, Roy, I haven't found anything yet, I've found no sign of Thea anywhere. I'll check everything again after I get to the lair tonight but I'd get an alert if anything new came up."

He sighed, audibly, the same reaction he had every time they had this discussion. "I don't understand how she could just disappear off the face of the earth," Roy growled in frustration.

"We'll find her, Roy. I promise." She meant it but she was beginning to think she'd underestimated how hard it would be to find a nineteen year girl, especially when you had no idea where to start. She told him she'd be at the lair in the next couple hours before hanging up.

She took some time to do her hair and make up, putting on a pair of dark, tight jeans, a plain white v-neck and a small black jacket. When she arrived at the lair forty-five minutes later, she was greeted by the sight of Roy using the salmon ladder. "Did you come here right after we got off the phone?" She asked as him as she took her coat and sat down at her computers.

He dropped to the floor and gave her a sheepish look. "I had nothing better to do."

"That I understand," she commiserated. Her social life was severely lacking. Work and helping Oliver filled up the majority of her time but when she wasn't doing either of those things, she found herself at a loss. She used to love to curl up on the couch and read a book or watch a movie but lately she found she had a hard time doing anything like that. The last couple years of her life had turned her into somewhat of an adrenaline junkie. She didn't want to be jumping out of another plane anytime soon but sitting on the couch doing nothing didn't seem as appealing as it once did.

"I have to get her back, Felicity," Roy's impassioned plea pulled her out of her thoughts.

"I know, Roy. I know." The pain on his face was breaking her heart. "And I will do my absolute best to find her but you need to accept the fact that we might not find her until she wants to be found."

He nodded jerkily. "I know." He ran his hands through his short hair and started pacing. "I just feel like this is my fault. I lied to her. I lied to her and I screwed this all up and I lost the best thing that ever happened to me."

"You're not the only one that lied to her, Roy," Oliver's voice came from the stairs. He walked into the room, hands in the pocket of his jeans. "If there's anyone who should be shouldering the blame of Thea leaving, it's me." He shook his head, eyes betraying how much he missed her. "I wanted to protect her from how awful this world could truly be, I wanted to preserve her innocence but that was naïve." He straightened up and leveled his gaze at Roy. "She will come back, when she's ready." He walked up to Roy and squeezed his shoulder, doing his best to comfort him, before turning back and facing Felicity. "What's on the agenda for tonight?"

She shrugged. "I'm keeping an eye on the police scanner but so far, it seems like a quiet night."

He nodded and looked at Roy. "You up for some archery practice?" Roy grinned like he'd been waiting for Oliver to ask.

Archery practice was becoming something of a competition between the two of them, a constant game of one-upmanship. Roy had a long way to go before he'd be at the same skill level as Oliver but he was improving by leaps and bounds.

She listened to the sounds of their (mostly) friendly competition for almost an hour, working on a new software program, when an alert popped up on her screen. She read through it quickly before getting Roy and Oliver's attentions.

Oliver walked over to her and she spun the chair around to face him. "I have a lead on those recent robberies. I happened to catch a partial plate off the security camera pointed towards the parking lot at the last gas station they hit. I found the car a few blocks later but I lost it soon after that. I haven't seen it again but after running the partial plate and the make of the car, I just narrowed it down to two addresses, both in the Glades." She picked a pen up, twirling it in her finger, and leaned back in her chair.

liver looked at Roy, raising an eyebrow, who shrugged in return. "Robbers it is," Oliver told her as he walked over and grabbed his bow.

What about Dig?" She asked.

"Taking the night off, it's nothing Roy and I can't take care of."

She watched them leave, yelling after them to be careful, and turned her comm on, ready to work.

They weren't at the first address but they were at the second, along with all the money they hadn't spent yet. It hadn't taken long for Roy and Oliver to dispatch them and she reluctantly left an anonymous tip with an officer on duty. She threw herself back into her programming until she heard footsteps on the stairs.

"Why do I feel like I did all the work in this particular escapade?" She joked as she turned around and took in Oliver in all his Arrow glory, a sight she never tired of.

Oliver gaped as if he was offended. "Hey, I got punched in the face."

She got out of her chair and strode over to him, though staying out of reaching distance. She gestured towards his face. "That looks as good as it did when you left so—" she flushed. "I just mean that he must not have hit you very hard seeing as there are no marks on your face." His eyes were glittering with amusement and something else...she wanted to call it affection but that thought made her uncomfortable.

She cleared her throat, suddenly nervous. "Did Roy go home?"

Somehow, they'd moved closer to each other without her noticing. "Yeah, I don't think much else is going to happen tonight."

She made a noise of agreement, words escaping her for the moment. Something was different with him, she hadn't noticed it earlier but she sure was now. His presence seemed electric, more so than usual, and it felt like the air was being sucked out of the room, every hair on her body standing on edge. She wanted to say something, anything, but she couldn't. She could only continue to stare into his stormy eyes, watching as his eyes slipped down to her lips.

Reality stepped in and she breathed deeply, taking a step back. She had to get out of here. She turned around, grabbing her things, hastily putting her jacket on. "I think it's time for me to go home."

"Will I see you tomorrow?"

She stopped in her rush to leave, taken aback by the mundane question. He never asked that, assuming he'd see her or that she was only a phone call away. Or maybe he had asked her that before and it was the hopeful edge to it that was throwing her off. Either way, she had to get out of there, she was swiftly losing her capacity to think straight. "Maybe. I don't know. Call me if you need me." She ducked out of there before he could say anything else.

Thoughts of Oliver filled her head on the drive home and she was slightly surprised when she found herself in her driveway, not remembering the drive there. She took a deep breath before shutting the car off and getting out. She walked up, sliding her key into the lock and pushing the door open but before she could step inside, a voice she didn't recognize rang out from behind. Habit made her spin around while her right hand dipped into her coat pocket where it wrapped around the taser that had been her birthday gift from Dig.

"Felicity Smoak?" Asked the strange, tall, dark and handsome man standing in front of her. He appeared to be in his early thirties, dressed in a dark t-shirt and dark jeans.

"Were you hiding in the bushes?" She blurted.

The man smirked. "I need to talk to you. Can we go inside? It's too dangerous for us to be talking out here." His eyes darted around, emphasizing his words.

"You're telling me it's safer for me to invite a strange man into my home than to stand out in the open? I don't think so." Her left hand curled around the door knob and she started to push it open. "Who are you and how do you know my name?"

He chuckled and ran a hand through his messy, black hair. "I should have known you'd be a pain in the ass," he mumbled to himself. He turned serious and stepped closer to her, hands help up in the universal sign of I mean no harm."It is really not safe for us to be having this conversation out here, Felicity."

"I think I'd rather not have this talk anywhere. You need to leave." She really hoped he'd walk away, even though she was dying to know who he was and what he wanted.

He clenched his jaw, frustration flashing across his face. "There are some people looking for you and I was sent here to get you out of the city, keep you safe."

She couldn't help but laugh. "I really think you have the wrong Felicity Smoak, buddy. No one is looking for me and I am perfectly safe in Starling City. Well, as safe as you can be in this city." Now would be a really convenient time for Oliver to show up but why would she have that kind of luck? Of course the one night she found herself in something that could actually be dangerous outside of her own home would be the one night he didn't check on her. "I don't care who sent you or why you're here, you need to leave."

"Or what? You'll taze me? I am the last person you should fear, he wouldn't have sent me otherwise," he snapped, annoyed.

"Who is he? Who sent you?" She finally asked, curiosity getting the best of her.

He sighed, one hand on his hip, the other perpetually running through his hair. "Your father, Felicity. Your father sent me."