A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed and followed and favorited! I'm absolutely delighted that any of you take the time out of your day to read my stuff, let alone review it. There are still a few more chapters to go before Oliver and company find out, but I hope that you don't think all the build-up drags. I really love writing these characters.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arrow.

"Didn't we do this last week?" Oliver wondered aloud, not expecting anyone to really answer. "Go home, Felicity."

"I feel fine."

It was Sunday night in the lair and Felicity was studiously ignoring Oliver and the others who were casting her dubious glances and focused on deleting footage from Oliver's latest vigilante antics.

"You still have a fever," Oliver argued.

"It comes and goes. I feel fine." Which was true to some extent, she reasoned. This fever thing was a real bitch though, and she woke up with cold sweats multiple times per night in the last few days.

"Maybe you're in the walking ghost phase," Roy suggested. At Felicity's confused look, he continued. "You know, like after Chernobyl when everyone got all that radiation and got pretty sick but then they felt fine before all just dropping dead."

"You think I have extreme radiation poisoning?" Felicity was proud of herself for not letting hysteria creep into her voice.

"No, he doesn't," Sara cut in, slapping Roy in the back of the head. "And why do you even know that?"

"I read!" Roy defended, rubbing his head gingerly. "You probably don't have it."

"You definitely don't have radiation poisoning," Oliver assured her, talking over Roy. "I put up dosimeters all over the lair when I first started using it. We would know if you had encountered anything more than an X-ray, I promise."

"Well that's good to know, but I still feel fine."

Roy coughed and it sounded suspiciously like Chernobyl, but the group collectively ignored him.

"Guys, really, I am perfectly fi…" Felicity stood up and watched as the world wobbled around her. "Whoa."

"That's it, I'm taking you home." Oliver stood abruptly, his bow clattering to the ground as he steadied her.

"I'll take her," Sara volunteered, not on Felicity's side any longer. Oliver looked like he was going to protest, but her soft voice continued. "I have to meet Nyssa at the docks later anyways."

Sara was going to be leaving them for another few months for League of Assassins business, but she promised that Starling City was her home now, and she would return. Knowing that this would be the last time the two women saw each other for a while convinced Oliver to tamp down his protective instincts. He was happy with the friendship that had developed between two of the most important women in his life and knew that Felicity would want to say her goodbye to her in private anyways.

"Okay, but you're going to the doctor tomorrow, okay Felicity?"

"Call me if you need a ride," Dig spoke up. "Oliver can handle himself for a few hours."

"That will not be necessary. But I will go to the doctor tomorrow and get some antibiotics or whatever and be right as rain." She winced. "Pretend I didn't say that bit. I've never said that phrase before in my life, I promise. You," she pointed at Oliver. "You will now have to go through all this footage and flag any cameos you or Roy make. I'll take care of it tomorrow night. And don't touch my chair!"

Felicity passed out after a tearful (on her part, of course) goodbye with Sara and another promise that she would go to the doctor the next day. She woke up early, making sure to schedule her appointment for the first open slot they had that morning so that she could go to work in the afternoon.

With that in mind, she hurried to the doctor's, feeling mostly fine but she couldn't deny that she woke up a few times with the sweats again. She would feel better once she had something to help her system fight off whatever vicious virus she had, not to mention she knew that the rest of Team Arrow would feel better knowing that she had gone to the doctor at all.

"Open up and say 'ahhh.'"

"Ahhhhhh." Felicity felt a little ridiculous given the actual sick people that were in the waiting room, all in various stages of something that looked to be much worse than what she was dealing with.

"Your lymph nodes are pretty swollen, so you're definitely fighting something, but since they don't hurt, it's probably through your system at this point," Dr. Markowitz told her. The kindly old man with a subtle southern twang had been her physician since she had came to Starling and luckily this was her first visit outside of annual appointments. "Do you mind untucking your shirt so I can hear your lungs?"

She pulled the light pink button up out of her pencil skirt, and dangled her legs off the bed she was perched on. Something about being at the doctor's always made her feel like she was ten years old again, getting her arm set after falling out of a tree. Well, that's what her mom thought she had been doing anyways. In reality, she had been climbing her roof trying to readjust their antenna so that she could get better reception for the TV she had just re-built for herself. Other than that, she had been blissfully ignorant of most medical procedures. Until she started working with Oliver, of course.

"Woo-wee, how long have you had that bruise on your back, Miss Smoak?"

She silently cursed, forgetting that it isn't always easy to play off injuries to actual doctors. "Oh, just about a week or so. I've been doing...Krav Maga." She had no idea why those words were the ones out of her mouth, but she couldn't take them back now. She almost laughed aloud at the look on Oliver's face if he heard her spouting off about taking Israeli martial arts lessons.

"Hmm." She knew he probably didn't believe her. She might be a little more lean and defined than she had been at her last appointment, but there wasn't a lot about her that screamed 'martial arts extraordinaire.'

He straightened up behind her, allowing her to tuck her shirt back in before standing before her.

"Lungs sound okay, possibly a little fluid build up but nothing that is too out of the ordinary with you having been ill recently. You're not the first person to get sick here." He turned around and muttered something that Felicity could've sworn sounded like 'walking ghost phase.'

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said it must be all those cold days. Really wreaks havoc with the immune system." Felicity let out a huge breath. She was definitely losing it. "Now, I know you're not going to like this, but…"

"You're going to have to draw blood, aren't you?" She sighed. She had anticipated this, she really had, but that didn't mean that she was looking forward to it. She was pretty sure she had a note in her file that mentioned her needle phobia (belonephobia, as she had discovered in an effort to educate herself about her irrational fear) and she usually avoided needles at all costs. The doctor's office accommodated her when they could, only drawing blood when it was absolutely necessary, but she knew she couldn't wiggle her way out of this one. Besides, she was apparently a Krav Maga master. She was supposed to be used to a little pain.

"I'll take a few vials, and assuming nothing changes in your health, you won't have to give any blood at your annual appointment in three months, how does that sound?"

It sounded awful to Felicity, but she nodded anyways, already looking away as he rolled up her sleeve. She wasn't afraid of pain (she didn't like it by any means, but she didn't fear it) but something about needles - they just irked her. She had always been a little wary about them, but ever since everything with The Count, she knew her fear had gotten somewhat out of control. Knowing that she would hyperventilate if she saw the actual needle or syringe, she squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to jerk her arm away at the cold alcohol pad that swept over the inside of her arm.

It was over as quick as it had began and the next time she looked, Dr. Markowitz was pressing a bandaid over the gauze pad on her arm, and had vials of gross looking blood next to him. He excused himself for a moment, leaving her alone in the sterile room, feet still dangling off the edge of the bed.

She checked her e-mails for a few minutes before he came back in, still smiling that genial smile.

"We're going to run a full CDC on you, so you don't have to worry about that in a few months. But I did do a preliminary test, much like the ones they do before people donate blood." Like Felicity had ever done that, hah. "And it does indicate that you're almost critically anemic."

"Like a pregnant person?" That was the only thing her mind was connecting to anemia.

"I thought you said that there wasn't a chance you could be pregnant?" The doctor asked as he went to look through her paperwork to verify that.

"No, no! There isn't. Trust me, there isn't. No possible way. If I am pregnant, it is in a very 'immaculate conception' kind of way. I mean, not that Jews believe in immaculate conception. Not that I'm even very Jewish anymore; I respect my faith and all that but it was kind of just a thing that I was brought up in, it isn't really something I practice anymore…"

"Well, uh. Okay then, Miss Smoak. Anemia can relate to a host of other things, not just pregnancy. The most common kind, that is the one associated with pregnancy that I believe you are thinking of, is iron-deficiency anemia. Your anemia would account for a lot of your symptoms, actually: the paleness, dizziness, fatigue, even that bruise not healing on your back."

She hadn't looked at the bruise on her back since last week, but she noted that she should check it out again soon.

"So all I need to do is eat a steak and I'm good?"

He chuckled. "A steak certainly would not hurt. I'll know more once I get your test results back but it isn't necessarily a cause for concern at this point. We'll run this and get back to you in a few days with the results. In the meantime, I do hope you feel better. Don't forget to grab a cookie and a juice on your way out, okay?"

"Sure. Thanks, Dr. Markowitz."

Feeling better than she had in a while, she skipped out of the office armed with apple juice and a chocolate chip cookie that she would feel no guilt in eating at 10 a.m. Doctor's orders, after all.

"Everything okay at the doctor's?"

Oliver had hung up the phone (Felicity sincerely hoped he had managed to say goodbye to whoever was the unfortunate person on the other end of the line) the second he saw her get off the elevator. He met her at her desk, helping her take off her coat and hovering like a mother hen. It was a tricky combination of sweet and overbearing.

"Healthy as a horse. Well, a healthy horse. Why don't they ever include that caveat in that saying?"

"What did the doctor say?" As always, Oliver ignored her musings.

She shrugged. "Probably a virus, which means there's not much I can do. He did tell me I was anemic so I should eat a steak. I had to get blood drawn which means yay cookies and juice but boo for needles being jabbed into my arm. Probably going to get a huge bruise on my elbow now, considering my luck."

Oliver's thumb ghosted over the bump in her sleeve where the gauze pad was taped to the inside of her elbow, but she noted that he looked much more calm after hearing her report from the doctor.

A ding! from the elevator and familiar footfalls told Oliver that Dig had arrived behind her.

"What's the verdict?"

"Healthy as a horse," Oliver repeated with a small smile on his face, his back still to Dig. Felicity cleared her throat. "A healthy horse," he amended as he turned to see Dig.

She had no idea why she was surprised when a heavy takeout box was dropped onto her desk at lunch. Steak and a baked potato. Of course.

"I would get a shot off if Dig's big head wasn't in my way," Roy joked over the comms later that night. Felicity was tired but not out of commission entirely and was happy to be back in the lair, monitoring the comms herself.

The men were actually on their way back from a routine surveillance gig, checking to verify that when they had stopped the human trafficking ring the week before that there weren't any other interested parties looking to pick up where the others left off. They had stumbled across a band of common street thugs wreaking havoc in the Glades and decided to intervene. Since they were clearly more skilled, Felicity couldn't help but note that they were using this as a sort of a de facto training exercise. And they were enjoying it.

"Dig, move your big head," Oliver commanded in his gruff voice, but she could still sense a smile there. "Arsenal, try the arrow with the ropes, see if you can make it work for you this time. Elbows tight."

Felicity was enjoying just listening to them, always a fan of when they worked together as a well-oiled machine. Her personal phone on the desk next to her started to buzz and while she usually ignored her calls while on "duty," the number looked familiar to her. A quick search while it was still ringing told her it was her doctor's office.

"Guys, my mom is calling, can I put you on mute and take it or do you need me to mediate this?" She wasn't sure why she said it was her mom but she knew that if she said it was her doctor, Oliver would probably want to take the call himself.

"My big head thinks we'll be okay."

She made a noise of assent and quickly muted the comms, answering her phone right before her voicemail picked up.

"Hello?"

"Ah, hello, Miss Smoak?"

"Doctor Markowitz?" She thought for a second that her blood results might be in already, but it had to be too soon for that. She was at a loss as to why her doctor would be calling her though, and at 8:30 p.m. Didn't nurses usually give reminder calls, or even automated message machines?

"Yes, hello. Is now a good time for you?"

"Well, sure. Is everything okay? Don't tell me I need to come back and give more blood," she joked.

"Actually, that is what I am calling about. There were some abnormalities with the blood you gave us today."

"In addition to the not-being-pregnant anemia thing, you mean?" She could've sworn she heard him smile over the phone.

"Yes, it would seem so. There are a few more tests I want to run on you, are you available tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" That seemed awfully soon to her, but maybe they had messed up with her original blood that had been drawn. But at the same time, she had fought to get an appointment in with him that morning, she didn't think that he would be free the next day as well.

"I think tomorrow would be best for this."

"What time? How long? It's a pretty busy work week for me, unfortunately." Not entirely true, but she didn't want to waste her day at the doctor's office, especially since she had already taken time off the week prior.

"I would feel better if I could see you first thing tomorrow morning. It might take a few hours, but we could meet at Starling General and whip these tests out as quick as possible."

Still slightly confused but now convinced that he had messed up her blood tests and clearly didn't want to get in trouble for it, she was vaguely aware of her agreeing to meet the doctor the next morning. She hung up her phone and clicked the comms back on, only to be met with silence. Not wanting to interrupt them if they were in the middle of something much more dire, she remained silent, mulling over her doctor's words.

Hours of tests and at the hospital? This did not sound like her idea of a good day. Any warm, fluffy feelings she had felt for the doctor for trying to get her out of any unnecessary blood being drawn dissipated instantly; it was now clear that she was going to have to get even more taken.

She yawned again and stretched her arms over her head when a thought occurred to her. Super tired. Swollen lymph nodes. Sore throat. She knew these symptoms. Her college roommate was just getting over it when they came back from winter break one year. She probably had freakin' mono.

She did a quick google search for mono symptoms and groaned when they matched up with hers, right down to the night sweats. She didn't know for sure though and she wasn't going to get everyone worried for nothing. Her roommate told her that she had been out of commission for weeks when she had been diagnosed. That was not something that she, Oliver, or Team Arrow could afford. The more reading she did, the more convinced she was. Finally she heard the door to the lair creak open and the sounds of her friends traipsing down the stairs, the smell of pizza wafting towards her. She Xed out of the screen she had been looking at quickly and slid her comm out of her ear. They must have taken theirs out, too, which would account for the silence.

"Pizza delivery for one Blondie," Roy adopted a terrible fake Italian accent as he slid the pizzas down on the table.

"This is how I know you're the true heroes of Starling City," she said around a mouthful of cheese and peppers.

"How's your mom?" Oliver asked as he slipped out of his jacket, positioning it perfectly on the mannequin as he always did.

"What?"

"Your mom. She called. You answered. Any of this ringing a bell?"

She had been so lost in trying to plan for the worst case scenario of her being unable to help for a few weeks that she had honestly forgot that she told Oliver that it was her mom on the phone.

"Yes! My mom! Yeah, she is good. Very...mom-like."

"Everything okay?"

"...Yes." Felicity was not an excellent liar, least of all to Oliver, who seemed to have a knack for reading her, but when an idea struck her, she had to at least try. "She is...coming into town. Tomorrow. In the morning."

"To visit you?"

"Yes. No!" She couldn't chance Oliver wanting to see her, but it was such a perfect excuse to go to the doctor without causing a fuss. "She is coming in to town and wants to see me, but it isn't to see me. She's just...passing through. For a few hours," she echoed Dr. Markowitz.

"Why don't you take the morning off and see her?"

"Even though I was late this morning?" She watched Oliver's face as he picked the olives off of his slice of pizza. She didn't know if he was on to her lie or not, but he seemed more focused on his food than on her.

"Sure." He looked up and flashed her one of his rarer, large smiles. "You're the worst sick person in the world, Felicity. My schedule for the week is down to the minute. Not to mention you typed up the minutes to a meeting that I don't even think you attended. I think Queen Consolidated will still be standing if you take another morning off."

They shared a smile at that and Felicity pushed away her guilt at lying to Oliver, instead trying to focus the conversation elsewhere.

"But what will Dig do without me?"

"Kick his ass, probably," Dig offered.

"Do you want to take minutes in my meeting, Dig? Really buck the stereotype of being my black driver?"

"I would pay money to see Dig in a boardroom meeting," Roy laughed.

"Is that a race thing?" Dig deadpanned.

"W-what? No, not at all, I just -"

"He's kidding," Felicity reassured him. She gobbled down a second piece of pizza and had to admit that she didn't feel all that sick. Walking ghost phase or not, she was starting to doubt whether she even had mono at all. She was probably just being paranoid.

It might've just been her imagination, but when she woke up the next morning, Felicity felt like even her night sweats hadn't been that bad. She was already on the mend and eager to get these stupid tests over with. She had been working with some figures in her brain last night and thought maybe she could revamp some of QC's or Team Arrow's security firewalls, but she needed to try them out in a test system first. In order to do that, she had to get to either one of her offices, and not the hospital. Tablet in hand, she readied herself for a boring morning of being poked and prodded needlessly.

Dr. Markowitz met her at the outpatient center in Starling General. She was fifteen minutes early and genuinely surprised that he had gotten there before her. He introduced her to his colleague, another older woman with a name she promptly forgot.

"Dr. Markowitz, is all this urgency really necessary? Was there something wrong with the blood that you drew yesterday?"

"The blood that was drawn yesterday was just a little concerning is all. Your numbers aren't really where we need them to be."

Numbers of what? Need them to be for what? For her to be healthy? For her to be alive? She didn't voice any of her questions, just looked between the two doctors, waiting for them to explain further. The woman spoke up when it became clear that Dr. Markowitz had dropped the ball.

"The preliminary numbers for your blood showed that you were extremely anemic-"

"Oh, we knew that," Felicity interjected. "I totally had a steak for lunch yesterday."

"Be that as it may, your red count numbers were so low, a steak might not have fixed the problem. That, coupled with your very high white cell count, is cause for concern. The white blood cells might just mean that you're fighting an infection, but we won't know until we run more tests."

"Could the higher white cells also mean that I have mono?"

"It is a possibility, yes, but there are also other things we need to rule out as well."

Well, okay then. Felicity couldn't get a good read on either doctor to tell her if they thought she had mono. Doctor Markowitz cleared his throat.

"If you'll just follow Dr. Monroe, then we can get started. Either she or I will walk you through each procedure before it begins. I just need to go grab some paperwork for you, and we should be all set."

Dr. Monroe! Felicity repeated the name in her head as they walked to an exam room down the hall, but it must not have been as silent as she had hoped.

"What was that, dear?"

"Oh, nothing! I'm sorry. I was just - I'm usually better with names is all. Want to make sure I don't forget yours."

"It's no problem. I'm sure you must be a little nervous being here. Do you have anyone you want to call?"

"Nervous? No, I'm not really...should I be nervous? I just kind of thought it was a few tests to clear up the bloodwork. I'm not particularly nervous. If you think I am because of the talking, trust me, I do this all the time. It isn't really indicative of nerves, or of anything. I'm fine. Really."

The doctor gave her a sympathetic smile which, irony of all ironies, definitely made Felicity nervous.

"There's a gown just behind this curtain. You can feel free to change; you can keep your underwear on but you're going to need to take off your bra if it has an underwire and any jewelry in order to be X-Rayed."

Gowns? X-Rays? What was going on?