Hello everyone! Soooo look who's still alive! Yeah I know it's been ages and I'm sorry, and I wish I could say I'll make it up with tons of chapters in a short time but that would be lying since my uni is back and all. Although I will try my best to post more often.

Thanks to everyone who reads my one-shots and still waits for them and I really hope this one doesn't disappoint. It's a bit different, no fluff, but a thought I've been toying with and one that I may make in a chaptered fic later on -assuming that you guys like it enough.

Tell me what you think and enjoy!

I was kidding all along I totally own an Oliver Green... he's made out of paper.. hanging on my wall..

It happened so long ago that sometimes she could completely forget about. Or at least pretend to. It was hard however, even for someone as stubborn as her, to ignore the reminder that was a daily part of her life –and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even pretend to regret the outcome of the decision that brought her here.

She stares at her TV screen and sighs heavily for the third time since the news started. She tries to avert her eyes from the picture flashing across the screen but the piercing blue eyes are still there when she turns her head away from the TV. They're her daughter's eyes.

"Oliver Queen, the multi-billionaire, and former CEO of Queen Consolidated is back to Starling city after spending 6 years away…."

"Five years and ten months." corrects Felicity under her breath but the news reporter carries on undisturbed. "Finish your peas." She ignores the TV and points to her daughter's plate then proceeds to spear her own vegetables with a vengeance.

"But mommyyyyyy they don't taste yummy" whines the little girl, making her mother sigh in exasperation. Any other day, Felicity would have sweet talked her daughter into finishing her dinner, but with the title still flashing through Felicity's head, she just points at the plate again with raised eyebrows.

"No peas, no walking the dog." She allows a triumphant grin as the 5 year old slightly pouts then begrudgingly takes a bite.

Her grin is soon wiped clean as the story of how the Queen family –or at least the one remaining member of it- had left the city all these years ago is once again narrated on the news. She aims the controller at her screen and presses mute. She knows the story first hand.

Looking back, it never crossed Felicity's mind even once that Oliver could leave Starling city. Not even that one time he disappeared for five months tipped her off. She always thought that as The Hood, he'd want to stay around for as long as possible, and that even after that he'd still stay to help Roy take his place. That wasn't how things happened.

Three years after the Glades' incident Oliver had lost the only family member he truly had left. His sister. Thea Queen was kidnapped and killed due to her involvement with two of Starling's most wanted, she was The Hood's sister and Roy's girlfriend and she paid her life when the wrong people found out. At the time Thea was killed, Oliver and Felicity were starting to get closer than ever and she had been waiting for something real to finally happen. But when it finally did it was for all the wrong reasons.

Oliver showed up at her doorstep the night of Thea's service. His clothes were battered and covered with her assassins' blood, his eyes so dead and sunk into his skull that she had to ignore her own tears in order to wipe his. She had realized that night, as he sat stoically on her tiny couch, that the loss of Thea may be the final straw. She expected him to be angry and wild and hateful, and she was prepared to deal with it all.

What she wasn't prepared to deal with, however, was for Oliver to grab her wrist desperatally and look at her with pleading haunted eyes. "Please." His whisper came out ragged and broken. "I need… I.. can't…" he took a shuddering breath and Felicity's heart had never beaten faster. "Please, Felicity."

Of all the time she knew Oliver, Felicity had never known him to use that word except for that one time and as she looked down at the mess of a man holding on to her wrist, she couldn't do anything but nod once. He was devastated and broken and she couldn't deny him the one thing he wanted. Not when it could have pulled him off the edge because at the time she could tell that he was teetering there.

So she did it. She grabbed his hand tightly and led him to her bedroom without a word and what she always imagined to be a beautiful special first time, turned into a wrong and desperate act of grief. When they were done he had wept silently for hours then finally fell asleep against her shoulder but the next day he wasn't there when she woke up. And three days later, every TV channel had the same story running. Oliver Queen was gone.

She swipes at her eyes with a mad gesture as she feels them blurring at the memory. She knew for a fact, even as she agreed to it, that she'd later regret that night. She knew that he'd never look at her the same again and that he may kick her off of the team when he came back to his senses. She knew and she did it, because even in her worst case scenario, he was gone for a few months only. And in her most hopeful moment, she had even dreamt of getting him to come back and stay.

"Mommy," the tiny voice coming from behind, accompanied with a tug of her dress, pulls her from her thoughts. "Mommy can I walk puppy tomorrow?" her Rs still sounded like Ws, so the last word was pronounced Tomowwow.

"You know his name is Sebastian, not puppy" Felicity crouches down to level herself with the little girl and tucks a loose blonde curl behind her ear. "and Mrs. Avery will be walking him around the curb but I'll be a bit busy here, so you'll walk alone with her for a while" sighing, she takes off the apron then scoops the girl up into her arms then heads to her bedroom "you have to promise to stay with her and not let go of her hand, and no talking to strangers even if they look nice." She says the last sentence as she lowers Clara into her bed.

"Clara listens to mommy," the little one stated with sleepy eyes and an earnest nod "Clara stays close to doggie."

"Not to doggie, baby girl," Felicity brushes a kiss against her daughter's forehead then smiles. "you stay close to Mrs. Avery." Her instructions are as good as wasted on her daughter's already-sleeping form. She smiles wider then leaves the room. The moment she leaves, thoughts of her daughter's father invade her mind one again. He doesn't even know that his daughter exists and she'd like to keep it that way. Clara Smoak didn't need her father anymore than Felicity needed her Oliver, was Felicity's decision, and as she went to bed, she almost believed her own lie. Almost.

The next day Felicity sent her daughter off with their friendly neighbor, then wandered to the window every now and then as her fingers flew over her various tablets. She tried to keep a watch on the tiny blonde head skipping down the street, but even as she did so, she somehow missed the man wandering aimlessly around their neighborhood.

Oliver has no idea how he ended up here or why. Okay, so maybe he does know why, but he still doesn't know when he decided to show up to this address or how he did it. One second he was debating whether or not he should try and find his old IT girl and the next her neighborhood's name was flashing on his screen and the decision was made. He didn't have a specific street or house number, so he just decided to walk down the street a few times then leave. He didn't even really want to see Felicity. He just wanted to be near her in a way.

He knew, deep down, that he had hurt her far too greatly in the past to be forgiven. Her feelings for him were written on her face every day for years for him to see and that night he had used them then threw them in her face mercilessly. He had used her. It was one thing to use someone who didn't matter, a stranger, for that sort of thing and a completely different story when you used someone you were –are- actually in love with. Needless to say he had done the latter and profoundly screwed things up, and then to top it off, he ran away from her.

From the city. From the memories. And most of all from his sister's ghost.

Thea's memory still haunted him even now. He saw her in every corner and in ever y face. Six years later and he still blames himself for her death. He reckons that losing Felicity as well as Thea, was a small punishment.

He walks with his head bowed down and is completely lost in thought until a sound calls his attention. Looking up, he spots a little girl chasing a dog down the street while an elderly woman shouts after the both of them. The girl, who couldn't be older than 4 or 5, is unstoppable as she races towards him and her giggles send shots of warmth to his heart. He watches for a second longer as she calls "Com'ere puppyyyy" and his lips twitch up. His thoughts are brought back to Felicity a moment later, and just as he turns around to walk back the way he came from, he spots a speeding car coming their way. The child's way. Somehow, in a heartbeat, Oliver has a scene playing in his mind. The little girl running across the street. The car too fast to stop in time.

In horror, he watches as the scene plays out in reality seconds later.

The dog barks at the girl then runs to the other side of the street, and the little girl followd in glee with smiling eyes. The car's wheels screech but it's too late, the girl is too close.

In a show of speed he thought he lost, Oliver races the few feet to the girl, then scoops her up into his arms and jumps out of the way just as the car comes to a halt right where they stood a few seconds ago. The old woman is having a melt down on the sidewalk and the dog is panting by their side and looking slightly guilty but Oliver only cares about the girl.

"Are you alright?" he asks with an exhale, the adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

"Yes," the girl's blue eyes –he could swear they looked familiar- are wide in fear and she chews on her lip nervously. "mommy said look at the street when you cross but I didn't" her speech sounds funny and Oliver, who's holding her in his, smiles despite himself. "don't tell mommy I went after puppy 'cause she told me not to."

"You should really start listening to your mommy then," instructed Oliver with a tap to her nose. "what's your name, little one?"

"Clara" Clawa, she said. His grin widened.

"That's a pretty name." He nodded approvingly. "I'm Oliver, by the way. So, tell me Clara, are your daddy or mommy here? Can we take you to them?"

"I don't have a daddy. Mommy said he's gone to fight dragons and bad people and he got lost," she nodded solemnly and his heart dropped. Who could ever be so heartless as to leave such an angel behind. "she said he'll come back when all dragons are gone but they're not yet"

"You know what? I don't have a daddy either," he whispered as if they were sharing a secret "so until your daddy comes back, you and I can be friends and wait for him." He didn't really plan on staying long but at that second he'd have said anything to make the kid smile. For some reason, he had warmed up to her too fast. Something about her sweet smile and misspelled name tugged at his heart strings.

"Like a club?" she beamed.

"Like a club." He confirmed, loosening his arms to shake on it, but just as he went to add more, a voice he recognized too well, came from behind him.

"Clara!" The voice screamed and sent him into shock. Every last muscle of his body froze. "Clara baby are you okay?" The woman's voice came closer as she crossed the street, and just as he thought his heart couldn't drop any harder, the little girl slipped from his arms and ran towards the voice, screaming the last word he wanted to hear.

"Mommyyyyy"

His back went rigid but he recovered quickly and whipped around just in time to catch sight of Felicity –his Felicity- catching the girl in her arms and giving her a look half stern and half fond. One only a mother could muster.

"Thank yo-" Felicity's words trailed off as she finally saw the face of the man who had her daughter in his arms a second ago. Her face clouded in a way he never thought possible and her arms tightened around the kid protectively. She sent him a stoic nod then started backing away.

"Mrs. Avery," she gave a brief nod to the elderly woman across the street. "told me what happened. Thank you." She swallowed thickly then turned to leave.

"Felicity-"

Her shoulders grew tense and she paused for a heartbeat. Clara looked curiously between her mom and the strange man.

"Don't" Her voice was colder than he ever heard it. Her word carried over the air harshly and slapped him in the face.

But as Felicity walked away it wasn't the word that had him flinching; it was the fact that he finally recognized the little girl's eyes –as his own.

A/N: So I may have forgotten to mention it's a bit angsty? just a bit. I feel like this shouldn't be a one-shot and that I could go somewhere with it (Angst alert) or at least give it a second chapter but that would require making it its own fic and I'm not sure about that.

Anyway tell me what you think and if you want to read more of this story line.

I hope you liked it and thanks for reading, you're great as ever.

Review?