A/N: I'm warning you all now-we're getting close to the end! Which means you will get answers…even if they're not in this chapter ;)

Detective Lance meets them in the lobby, sending his team of cops and an ME up to the penthouse without him.

"I called LVPD like you asked," Lance says, sneaking a glance at Felicity, who's sitting stiffly on a leather couch by the front desk.

"Last Saturday a Donna Smoak was found dead in her home of a gunshot wound. A neighbor called it in, heard screaming and a shot."

"He killed her," Oliver says, tipping his head back towards Felicity. "She was there."

Lance sighs. "Care to explain how this girl's father ended up dead in your apartment?"

Oliver winces. "She's a friend of Sara's."

"My Sara?"

He nods. "Sara asked if she could stay with me for a little while. I didn't know why, at the time, but Sara was pretty insistent, said she needed a favor."

"And when was this?"

"Saturday night."

Lance shakes his head. "So her father followed her here?"

"Yeah, I guess so. He didn't really say anything, just that he was sorry, and then..." Oliver closes his eyes as he hears the echo of a gunshot.

"Well, my guys are going to be here for a while so I suggest you two find a place to stay for the night. If you need to pack a bag you should do that now. And I'm going to need to talk to Miss Smoak."

"Tomorrow," Oliver says automatically. "Please."

"Alright," Lance acquiesces.

Oliver glances back at Felicity, shivering in her little black dress. "I should get her a change of clothes."

Lance gives him a sad smile. "It's okay. I'll stay with her until you get back."

xxx

Oliver takes her to the Starling National Hotel and books a suite, signing the credit card statement without even looking at the balance.

Felicity is dead on her feet, dragging behind him into the elevator. He brought down her panda flats for her and she's carrying her heels in her hands.

She doesn't speak, just stares silently at the wall with glazed eyes. He unlocks the door and she wanders into the suite behind him, listing to one side.

"Hey," he says worriedly, reaching for her. "Come here."

She slips out of reach, one hand trailing across the gold embossed wallpaper.

"I have to shower," she mutters, one hand running through her hair.

"Felicity-"

"I'm going to take a shower," she says again, and slips into the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Well, shit.

Oliver collapses onto the plush cream couch. That's the first thing she's said since she woke up laid out on the couch in the lobby of his building.

He turns the tv on, rapidly flips through channels.

Paces around the room, listening to the running water of the shower.

Pours a whisky from the bar, waits five minutes just to prove to himself that he can, fuck it, tosses it back and then does one more, because everything is totally fucked up and he needs a goddamn drink.

Fifteen minutes, and Felicity still isn't out of the shower.

He calls Sara but she doesn't pick up, so he leaves a brief message explaining what happened and tells her to call him the fuck back.

Oliver sits back down on the couch, stands up, sits back down, waits a few more minutes. Gets up, walks to the bathroom door.

"Hey, Felicity?" he calls out, knocking on the door.

She doesn't answer.

"Felicity?"

He waits a beat, turns the handle, and to his relief the door isn't locked.

The shower is still on and when he slides the frosted glass door open Felicity is sitting on the floor, naked, shivering violently, knees to her chest.

He crouches on the floor in front of the shower, and when she tilts her head up Oliver is instantly worried by the blank stare in her eyes.

"I can't stop shaking," she says dully. "It won't stop."

"That's just the adrenaline wearing off. It's normal. I'm going to turn the water off, okay?"

She barely nods, the tiniest shift of her chin, and dramatically shivers, her teeth clacking together.

Oliver turns off the water and grabs a fluffy white towel from the stack on the towel rack. He gets on his knees on the wet floor of the shower and wraps it around her shoulders.

"Come on," he says gently. "I got you."

He helps Felicity stand and walks her back out to the couch where she collapses in a ball, her wet hair sticking to the back of her neck.

Oliver goes back to the bathroom and gets a second towel. He goes back to the couch and sweeps Felicity's hair out from behind her neck.

"What're you doing?" she murmurs.

"Your hair is wet."

He squeezes it gently with the towel, soaking up the excess water. "Do you have a brush?"

She rubs her eyes tiredly. "In my bag."

He finds it in a side pocket and sits next to her on the couch. She turns to the side automatically and Oliver brushes her hair, starting at the bottom and working up to the top, like Thea taught him.

"Why are you good at that?" she mumbles.

"Little sister."

Felicity lets him brush her hair and when he's done he pulls a tee shirt and yoga pants out of her bag. "Here."

Felicity looks dolefully at her clothes. "I don't know if I can move."

He touches a palm lightly to the top of her chest. "You're freezing. You need to change."

"Why am I so cold?" she chatters, sitting up and crossing her arms tightly over her chest.

"You're in shock," he tells her. "You should get dressed."

"Um..." Felicity blushes. "Not exactly how I pictured you seeing me naked for the first time."

He kisses her forehead. "I'll turn around."

"Actually..." Her hand on his wrist is trembling. "Can you help me?"

He gets trapped in her watery blue eyes, dark with pain. "Yeah, of course."

Felicity turns her back to him and pulls the towel down to her waist. Oliver grabs her shirt and helps her slip it over her head, hands lingering on the smooth curve of her back. She slides her feet into the yoga pants and maneuvers them onto her legs under her towel.

"Come on," he says, holding out a hand to help her up. "Let's get in bed."

He flips the heavy covers back and Felicity crawls on the bed and curls into the fetal position. Oliver takes off his shirt and follows suit, shutting off the light and getting in next to her.

She slips under his arm, snuggling her cheek against his chest.

"It's not fair," she says softly.

He sighs, his fingers finding her damp hair. "I know."

"It's not fair," she says again. "He killed her, and now I'll never know...I'll never know-" Felicity swallows a sob- "I'll never know why."

"I'm so sorry," he whispers.

"Oliver?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't leave, okay?" she murmurs.

"Felicity-"

"I'm sorry," she says quietly. "I shouldn't have said that, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Nothing's wrong with you," he says, and leans down to kiss her head. "And I'm not leaving, so don't worry about that."

Felicity gives him a sad smile. "Sara was right."

"About what?"

"You. I wanted to stay in Vegas. I didn't-I didn't want to leave my mom. I know that sounds stupid because she was, you know, dead-"

"No," he says, "it doesn't sound stupid."

"Anyway, Sara made me leave, and she said she was taking me to this friend of hers, and I didn't want to, I was yelling at her, and you know what she said to me?"

"What?"

Felicity squeezes his hand. "She said there was no one else in the world who would be better for me than you right now. And she was right."

xxx

In the morning they check out and go back to his building where Lance is waiting for them in the lobby.

"Your apartment is clear," he tells Oliver. "Might want to call a maid service though." Lance shakes his head. "Suicide is messy."

"Yeah, okay."

Lance glances at Felicity, who's tucked into Oliver's side with her fingers clutching his in a death grip.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Ms. Smoak," Lance says kindly. "Would it be alright if we talked for a few minutes?"

Felicity looks up uncertainly at Oliver, who nods his head. "It's okay. I'll be right here."

Lance leads Felicity across the lobby and sits down opposite her on the couch, but they only get a few minutes into his interview before the lobby doors bang open and a blond girl in a leather jacket runs through them.

Felicity turns her head at the noise and when she sees Sara she jumps off the couch and goes running to her.

"Hey baby girl!" Sara exclaims, tackling Felicity in a bear hug. "You okay?"

Felicity bursts into tears.

"Shh," Sara croons. "It's okay." She looks at Oliver over the top of Felicity's head and she looks wrecked- red eyes, hair tangled.

A brunette in tight leather pants strolls through the doors and Felicity releases her hold on Sara, sniffing furiously.

Oliver doesn't blame her. Nyssa isn't the kind of person who has sympathy for tears.

Nyssa, the assassin's daughter (or so Oliver's heard) approaches them and stops in front of Felicity.

She presses her palms together and bends deeply at the waist, the tip of her ponytail almost brushing the floor, and to Oliver's shock Felicity follows suit, bowing to Nyssa until the brunette straightens up.

"My condolences," she says coolly.

Felicity's eyes are red and puffy but she manages to give Nyssa a smile. "Thank you."

"Hi Daddy," Sara says, giving him a perfunctory kiss on the cheek. "I'm starving, okay if we steal these two for brunch?"

Lance glances between Sara and Felicity, clearly keen to finish his interview but unable to say no to his youngest daughter.

"Oh; alright," he sighs. "But you, young lady, we're not done here."

Felicity nods seriously.

"Daddy, relax, it's just brunch," Sara says calmly. "Let the poor girl get some food in her before you wear her out."

xxx

They go to Cafe Lux, a sunny glassed-in restaurant on the top floor of Starling City Mall that boasts an incredible 360 view of the city.

Felicity is snuggled in the booth next to Oliver, her head resting in his shoulder. Sara keeps sending them little glances that Oliver is pointedly ignoring.

When the waitress comes Felicity only orders coffee and when they get to Oliver he orders one omelet for himself and one for Felicity.

The waitress makes a note on her pad and winks at him.

"Why did you order for me, I hate when you do that," Felicity hisses angrily, the first words she's said to him all morning.

"Because otherwise you wouldn't eat."

"You are so annoying."

"And you're stubborn as hell, but I'm not the one ruining brunch," he whispers in her ear.

Felicity sticks her tongue out at him and he chokes on a laugh. "Very mature, Felicity."

Across from then Nyssa and Sara are staring at then with twin looks of horror on their faces.

"I warned you," Sara whispers dramatically, pointing a finger at Felicity. "I warned you."

"Oh please, like you didn't know this would happen," Felicity says flippantly. "You frickin orchestrated it."

"I didn't think this would happen!"

"Sara," Oliver asks curiously, grinning at her. "What exactly do you think is happening?"

"You-you-" Sara splutters. "She's been with you for six days and you've got her wifed up!"

"What?"

"Look at you, you're like an old married couple!"

"You certainly bicker like a married couple," Nyssa adds.

"You did give me your credit card," Felicity says lightly, a smile playing on her lips.

"Jesus Christ," Sara says. "Are you incapable of keeping your dick to yourself?"

"She hasn't been anywhere near my dick, so chill the fuck out, Sara," Oliver growls.

"We are in public," Felicity hisses. "My father just killed himself, could you two please have some respect and cool with the dick talk?"

"Your coffee." Their waitress is back and holding a tray with a carafe of coffee, looking a bit nervous. "Is there anything else I can get you at the moment?"

"A time machine?" Felicity whispers under her breath.

xxx

A/N: Please review :)