Oliver winced as he heard the distinct sound of fighting over the coms. He really hated this, and no matter how many nights he had helped the Green Arrow "save the city," he would never get used to it. But this was his life now. Long gone were the days when he would come home from his day job as Tech Support, sit on his couch and watch the newest episode of The Big Bang Theory, his favorite show. No, now he had a completely different persona at night. He was partners in crime with Starling City's own vigilante. And he was in love with her.
Yeah. That's right, he was in love with his boss. How could he not be? Ever since the day her phone had stopped working and she practically sprinted into his cubicle begging for his help. His relationship with the CEO of Smoak Industries grew every time she had a tech problem, which was quite often. He quickly developed a crush on the accomplished woman and jumped at any chance he got to talk to her. But of course she would never feel the same. He was him, and she was her.
Then everything changed the night she revealed her true self to him. He had been walking her to her car, as a true gentleman does, after a long night of expense reports and computers shorting out.
"Oliver," she said. He loved that she didn't call him 'Ollie' like everybody from his past. He was a new person and she respected that.
"What's up?" he replied.
"Oliver," she said desperately. He noticed that she had stoped walking and was immediately concerned.
"Felicity, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" Oliver frantically asked, trying to find the source of whatever was hurting her.
After a long pause, Felicity took a big breath and spoke again, "There is something I need to tell you."
"Yeah. Sure, what is it?" he asked, relieved that she wasn't in any immediate danger.
"Not here," she said, "come with me."
She took his hand in her smaller one and began to pull him to the stair well of the parking garage. After climbing six flights of stairs, not once letting go of Oliver's hand, they reached a door labeled 'Roof', Felicity pushed the door open and walked out into the dark night, dragging Oliver with her.
She started pacing back and forth on the gravel, wringing her hands nervously. Oliver knew something was odd but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what. He hoped this little trip to the roof would clear everything up.
"Felicity? Are you sure you're okay, you don't look like you are," Oliver asked.
"Well," she paused, "that kind of depends on how you react to what I am about to tell you."
"Okay," he said nervously, "just tell me then."
Felicity mumbled under her breath, another one of her traits that Oliver found adorable, but he couldn't quite catch it.
"What was that?"
The next words she spoke to him were clear as day.
"I am the Starling City Vigilante." she shifted behind the fact, with a questioning look in her eyes searching for any hint as to how Oliver was reacting.
He scoffed, as if not believing what he was hearing on the gravelly rooftop, "What?"
"You heard me."
"No Felicity, what I just heard was you saying that you are the Vigilante that has been running around lately, which cannot possibly be true because you are a normal, sane person."
Felicity looked down at her feet as they shifted from place to place. She said nothing.
"Felicity! Look at me!" her head shot up instanlty and the look in her eyes was one of pure truth. She wasn't lying. "Oh my God...you're serious."
"Yeah," she replied standing firmer and prouder behind that fact.
There was one question that kept flooding Oliver's brain though, so he got over his immediate shock and asked it, "Why are you telling me?"
Looking him dead in the eyes she said, "Because I need your help."
And everything since then was history. Oliver helped Felicity out with the toughest criminal ring she had faced yet and he loved every second of it. Soon he was coming in to the "Arrow Cave" as he liked to call it, and helping with any research or tech that he could.
Seeing this side of his boss, the fearless, brave, skilled side, only made his feelings grow stronger in the months to come. Months. He had been doing this for months, and he still hated the sound of fists on leather and grunts of pain. But he knew Felicity could hold her own. God did he know it.
On days that there wasn't much criminal action, Oliver would usually do some research, or screen all of his devices for any breaches or viruses. But Felicity...Felicity took to other tasks. Like working out, or as Oliver liked to call it, "distracting him from work." But he couldn't help but stare when all she was wearing was a pair of tight fitting leggings and a bright sports bra. She usually worked her way up an down the Salmon Ladder over, and over, and over again, until her body was glistening with the sheen of sweat. She would then proceed to spar with a few dummies and would practice shooting.
Hands down Felicity using a bow and arrow was Oliver's favorite thing to watch. He admired how her back muscles flexed under the pressure of the drawstring and how she steadied herself before releasing the arrow. She looked so calm and serene in those moments, Oliver could stare at her forever. And he was pretty sure Felicity knew it too. She had caught him on more than one occasion, staring at her with a dopey grin on his face, appreciating all that is Felicity. Which, of course, he had fixed by awkwardly clearing his throat and pretending that he had just remembered something that needed his full attention on the computer screen. But the whole time, he was thinking how amazing she looked when she was in that outfit. Wow, he loved his night job.
But it was nights like tonight that he wished to be out in the field with her, able to protect her and watch her back at all times. He watched as the dot that represented Felicity's location pinged rythmically. He made her put a tracker in her industrial peircing so he could tell where she was. He could still practically hear the bruises she was getting. And he hated it. He hated not being able to protect the woman he loved. He had loved her for some time now, but was always too shy to even remotely bring up his feelings.
But tonight something happened that changed everything. He was listening to the whoosh of arrows being released and the sound of punches making contact when everythig went dark. The beeping red dot that showed where Felicity was was gone. And Oliver would do anything in that moment to get the annoying sound back. Also, the coms had cut out. There were no longer any sounds in his ear letting him know she was alive. And without that in his brain, dark thoughts came seeping in. He tried to reconnect everything, anything, but he came up short. So, he did the only thing that he could do, he started pacing the room. After about thirty minutes of nothing, he heard a noise.
The noise sounded like the Foundry door opening, but he would not get his hopes up for no reason. He had learned that lesson the hard way, so he had to see for himself. And what he saw was the most glorious thing he had ever seen.
He saw her.
Felcity was walking in the Foundry door in her forest green leather. And she looked in one piece. Oliver let out a visible sigh of relief and rushed for her. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her in a crushing embrace.
"You're okay," Oliver whispered into her golden halo of hair. He kept on repeating it, "You're okay. You're okay."
Immediately knowing what he meant, Felicity wound her arms around his torso and hugged him back, "I'm okay," she reassured him.
Oliver held on to her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes, "I thought you were...You were..." He couldn't even finish the thought. He just grabbed her and held her close again.
And in that moment, Felicity couldn't resist any longer. She removed her hands from Oliver's back and placed them on his face. She looked at him and with a single look she told him that she was okay, and she was safe now. Then, without hesitation, Felicity leaned in and kissed him.
At first, Oliver froze. He never expected to be in this situation with Felicity. But right as Felicity started to pull away, he reacted. He couldn't risk losing the feel of her soft lips on his. So he reacted. He tilted his head and kissed her for all he was worth. The kiss was soft, as if testing the waters. Waters they both really enjoyed. But what happened tonight was too much for Oliver, he had to do something while he still had the chance.
So he broke the kiss, and rested his forehead against hers before pulling away and taking in her face. She had a look of question on her face, wondering why he had ended the kiss.
But Oliver just looked into her deep blue eyes and spoke, "I love you."
After many seconds had passed and Felicity showed no sign of accepting what he had just said, Oliver started to back up. He had done it. He ruined the only good thing in his life and lost the most important person in his life too.
But before he could get too far, Felicity grabbed his hand and pulled him in for another kiss. Oliver reacted immediately this time. This kiss was different though, instead of sweet and reassuring, this kiss was passionate and sure. They both pulled back when they were gasping for breath.
Felicity's face was flushed as she looked at Oliver and said the only thing that he had ever wanted to hear from her, "I love you too."
Oliver looked at her in disbelief. He wasn't sure if he heard her correctly. When he looked back up at he though, Felicity had the biggest, brightest smile on her face and he realized he said it aloud.
"Yes you heard me right. I do love you. I have loved you for a long time, but I was waiting for you to make a move, and I couldn't take it any longer."
At that, Oliver practically ran back into Felicity's arms again and gave her the most searing, passionate kiss either of them had ever had. He wrapped his arms around her small but muscular body and lifted her up. Felicity reacted by wrapping her legs around Oliver's waist and circling her arms around his neck.
"How's this for a move?" Oliver chuckled as he switched Felicity to a bridal carry and took her outside. He placed her on the back of his motorcycle and drove off towards his apartment, with Felicity's arms still securely wrapped around his midsection.
The next morning, Oliver woke up in his bed by himself. The only sign that Felicity was ever there was the fact that the bedsheets were slightly rumpled on the right side. Oliver's heart broke with that fact. The idea that Felicity didn't really mean anything that she said last night, or that their relationship meant so little to her that she would just leave without warning or any kind of excuse.
After Oliver quickly dressed in boxers and pajama pants he started to make his way out into the kitchen and towards what smelled like a fire. He panicked and rushed out of his bedroom but was amused and relieved by the sight that was there to greet him. Felicity was standing over the stove in his button up shirt from the night before. She cursed under her breath as she accepted the fact that she had burnt and ruined what looked like it was supposed to be a pancake for him.
Oliver walked up behind her, slid his arms across her stomach, and rested his chin on Felicity's head. He nuzzled his face into her hair and breathed in her scent.
Felicity giggled as she said, "Well, remember how I said I was a shitty cook? I wasn't lying."
"I thought you left," Oliver said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
Felicity put down the pan with the destroyed food and turned around to look at Oliver. "Now why would I do that? I said I loved you didn't I?"
Instead of replying, he grabbed her face and gave her a loving, tender kiss.
"Great answer," Felicity stated, a smile breaking out on her face.
"So what does this mean?" Oliver asked motioning between the two of them, "What is this now?"
"Well," Felicity started, "I love you, and let me get this straight you love me?" she said jokingly.
"Absolutely I do," Oliver replied, leaning in to press a kiss to her forehead. "I want to be able to love you every hour of every day. I want to be able to shout it from the rooftops that I love the most amazing person on the planet and they love me back! I want to be able to love you in public and in private. So Felicity, I want a relationship with you. I want to have a life with you as my parnter."
"Well then my love, you'll just have to let me shout it with you." Felicity grinned as she jumped into Oliver's arms, where she would remain for the rest of her life.