"Do I even want to know?"

"Probably not," Quentin brushed off. "I've learned over the years how to cover for practically anything. It was a good thing that Rene and I came home earlier than you did, it gave us some time to lay the groundwork for some things."

"Like what?" Oliver questioned. It was so odd being back in a suit and tie. Maybe it was more because his head wasn't one hundred percent in the mindset of being Star City's mayor in that moment. His thoughts kept going back to Felicity.

"So, you're just going to have to deal with the cover story we went with," Quentin told him matter of factly. "Look. You're probably not going to like it-"

"Just tell me, Quentin."

"It was Thea's idea-"

He wasn't sure if that made him feel better about what was about being said or not. Oliver let out a sigh. "What is the cover story?"

"You were gone, in protective custody because of Chase's escape," Quentin started. "And that even though we're reporting that Chase is dead that you've been at your ex-fiancee's bedside because Chase had targeted her in order to lure you out so that he could kill you."

"Oh-kay," Oliver said slowly.

"Thea wanted to bring William into it, but I thought that that might have been a bit too much," Quentin explained. "She decided that if we really needed to and people were okay with it, we could always add that detail in later."

"What?"

"The public's going to know that you have a kid some time, at least with all that's been going on there was a weird way we could spin it so it didn't seem like William was such a secret," he said with a shrug.

Oliver sighed again before rubbing his face. He was already exhausted and he hadn't even been there for a half an hour. "Let's keep William out of the press, at least for now. I still have to talk to Samantha about...everything."

"Why are you here then?"

He looked up at Quentin, confused and frustrated. "What?" he breathed. "I figured that I needed to actually be seen here."

"Well, you made an appearance. Those young kids that use their smart phones to tweet or whatever are probably already letting the entire city know that you've been seen," Quentin said as he motioned around. "Freaking social media...it's like wildfire. Whatever happened to everyone knowing each other's name and gossip getting around by word of mouth."

"Our communities rose in numbers," Oliver blurted out without really thinking about it. "We went from hamlets to villages to-"

"Hamlet? Let's not bring Shakespeare into this, our lives are already filled with enough tragedy as it is."

"Not that hamlet," Oliver correct. "A hamlet is a settlement of people with a population under a hundred."

"Oh." Quentin paused for a moment, obviously letting it sink in. His face then changed into confusion. "Really?"

Oliver nodded. "Yeah. Hamlet. Village. Town. City. Metropolis."

"How the hell do you know this?"

"I have no idea," he confessed as he realized he really couldn't put a finger on where he'd learned it. It was likely during his travels during those five years in hell...or else it was just the one random fact that he randomly remembered. Oliver knew that it really wasn't important.

"Okay, well you've been seen," Quentin said as he put a hand on Oliver's shoulder and then turned him around. "Let's get you to see your son and work things out with his mom, okay? Rene and I can hold down the fort for a little longer."

As Oliver knocked on the apartment door, he felt like such a bad person. He'd not even seen his sister's new place before this because life just hadn't slowed down for him to make the proper time. He needed to change that. Oliver also was also insanely anxious in that moment, worrying what Samantha would say before they even had the chance to talk. It was his head telling him all the ways it could go and focusing on only the negative.

The door opened and Thea smiled at him. "About time."

"I stopped by the office."

She moved and swung her hand in a motion for him to enter. Once he did, she closed the door and he heard as each lock slide into place. "Why would you do that? Quentin's got everything handled right now."

"So I was informed, but at least I showed up and people saw me," Oliver put out there. "Quentin also told me that you had additional ideas for the cover about why I was gone-"

"You mean the truth?" Thea asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I don't want William to be dragged into this," Oliver said gently. He was just tired. He didn't want to fight with Thea. He didn't want to fight with anyone. Honestly all he really wanted to do was to go to the loft and curl up besides Felicity and just sleep.

"Which is why I agreed with Quentin," Thea pointed out. "I had an idea, but my ideas aren't always the best...and he was right. I still don't think that you can keep a secret son a secret when you're the mayor."

"Well, I need to talk to Samantha."

"They're in the back bedroom."

"Okay," Oliver said and started to turn, but turned back to face his sister. "And thank you, Thea."

"Sure," she said with a shrug of her shoulder. Thea disappeared towards the kitchen a moment later.

Pulling in a deep breath, Oliver looked down the hallway that Samantha and William were down and just tried to gather all the strength he had. He moved quietly down the hallway and caught a glimpse of Samantha and William playing on the floor of Thea's guest bedroom. It wasn't large, just a twin bed and a dresser. There was also a small air mattress set up along one wall and it was clear that that was where William had been sleeping. Samantha and William were both laughing as Oliver watched them, they were building something with legos and they seemed like a page out of some kind of family magazine.

It was Samantha who noticed him first. He hadn't wanted to interrupt. "Oliver!" she exclaimed and William looked over in that moment as well. "How's Felicity?"

"Stable enough to be released from the hospital," Oliver said slowly, he tucked his hands into the pockets of his slacks and looked down before looking back up at them. "Thank you for asking."

"What about her spine?"

"There's still swelling and they're not sure if the tech that had been used before will be able to be surgically implanted again in order to possibly allow her to walk again," he informed Samantha. It was hard to say those words, but he appreciated Samantha asking. He hoped that she now saw and understood what a good person Felicity was and how much she meant to him. "It's just a waiting game. She's at her place now, Curtis is with her."

Samantha was nodding now. "I'll keep her in my prayers."

"Thank you."

"Is it okay if I hug you?" William asked suddenly.

Oliver sort of stood there with his mouth ajaw for a moment before he nodded, his head moving before the words could stumble out of his mouth. "Yeah, yeah...I would actually really like that." William hugged Oliver and he wrapped his arms around his son, holding tight. It was something that was sort of small, but at the same time a big deal for them. He waited until William pulled back and then Oliver released. He smiled down at his son. "Thanks, Buddy."

"William, could you let us talk alone?" Samantha asked.

"Aren't you going to talk about me?" William questioned. "Why can't I be here if it's about me?"

"We're going to talk about a lot of things," his mother told him. "I want to hear what you want, but can Oliver and I talk alone first? Then we'll call you in and you can tell us your thoughts? What you want?"

William didn't look like this was really something he wanted to do, but he nodded, and left the room.

Oliver tucked his hands into his pockets and looked down for a moment, taking in a breath and trying to prepare himself for the conversation. He looked up at Samantha. "I don't know where to start," he admitted honestly.

"I know that you and i weren't really together, Oliver," Samantha told him. "And that my opinion doesn't count-"

"That's not true-"

"I'm proud of you," Samantha told him. "It's not just the Green Arrow, but it's Mayor Oliver Queen...and all I can do is thinking back and think that I would have never imagined you as either when we were just kids. Your parents would have been so proud, you know that, right?"

"I hope so," Oliver said.

Samantha looked like she really wasn't stressed about the conversation that they both knew they were about to have compared to Oliver who felt torn up inside. "When William and I were gone and in hiding, it wasn't the same...and I don't want him to feel like he's not safe."

Oliver wanted nothing more than for his son to feel safe. Being his son, though put a target on him, and there really was no way to ever take that target off of him. He honestly didn't know what was the best option, what was the best compromise, but Oliver did know that he wanted to be part of his son's life. The chance for him to be a father to William basically up until this point in his life had been stolen from him. He knew that it had been done under the best intentions and maybe it had been for the best...but it was still a huge chunk of time that Oliver hadn't been able to be a dad and now had so much catching up on. It wasn't just about doing father/son things, but learning about William.

"We're going to go back to Central City," Samantha blurted out. "The Flash and Kid Flash are there, so it's not like the city is totally unprotected." She kept going on, keeping Oliver from getting a word in. "I know it's not super close, but that's where William's grown up, that's where his school is, and that's where his friends are."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

Nodding, Oliver knew that that really was the best decision. "Okay," he vocalized again. "I wouldn't want you to both uproot your lives any more than you already have. Central City really isn't that far… I have friends there-"

"The Flash?"

"Actually, I do know him," Oliver said with a smile.

"Of course you do."

"But I hope that this means that I can still come and visit?"

Samantha nodded. "We'll work out a schedule. Something that'll work, but where we can still be flexible." There was a beat. "And I hope that Felicity can come...even your other friends. They'll all really nice."

"I'm sure they'd like that."

"I wish I could have gone back and not brought up keeping William a secret from Felicity-"

"Maybe it was for the best."

"You broke up."

Oliver smiled and looked down for a moment. "We're engaged again," he admitted as he looked at Samantha. "She was really hoping that she'd be able to get to know William too."

"Later on, once we all get settled, maybe we can talk about sleep overs or three day weekends...if that's something you'd be up for?"

"Definitely," Oliver blurted out, feeling overjoyed.

"The one thing I'm really worried about is the media."

"Why?"

"You're the mayor, Oliver," Samantha said. "I know that Thea thought about pushing the story about William being your son-"

"It wasn't her call-"

"But she had a point," she stated. "You're in the public eye. If William comes here for weekends, then we have to decide what's said."

"We can come up-"

"Maybe we don't need lies or stories, that hasn't gotten us anywhere good so far," Samantha told him. "Maybe it's time for the truth."

"Are we ready for that?"

Samantha shrugged. "I don't want to tarnish the memory of your parents any further than it might already be."

"I appreciate that," Oliver said.

"We could say that I just kept William from you because I was worried," Samantha said with a shrug. "Really, that's a good deal of the truth."

"That puts a lot on your shoulders."

"You'll have to release some kind of press release or an article or something, right? So, just put in it that you and I met and it came out. That we're on really good civil terms, which we are. That we're working out what's best for William. It's all true."

"You're really sure?"

"I think we should talk to William about it," Samantha said. "But do you really want to continue to lie about the important things in your life?"

"No."

Home.

It was considered that once again.

It was an amazing feeling.

Just walking through the door was enough for Oliver in that moment. It felt like he could leave at least part of the weight of the world at the door. He took off his suit jacket and folded it over a the couch. Curtis was sitting there reading. Oliver started to loosen his tie and crunched up his face as he read the title of the book. "Torch...wood?" Oliver said slowly and even more confused as the words that should really be one (if the lack of spacing was any indication) felt foreign as they poured from his mouth.

"Yeah, Torchwood, haven't you heard of it?" Curtis questioned as he put his book down and looked over at Oliver.

Oliver shook his head.

"You haven't watched it with Felicity?"

He shook his head again.

"Captain Jack?"

"No idea."

"Doctor Who?"

"Doctor what?"

Curtis sighed. "Torchwood is a spin-off of the Doctor Who series. It's about Captain Jack Harkness who's a smoking hot immortal time agent who runs a group called Torchwood that keeps the world and generally Wales safe from alien threat."

"It's a TV show?"

"Yeah. BBC. British television."

"And there are books?"

"Yeah…"

Oliver was just more confused at that. "But there's episodes…"

"Well, it's sadly cancelled now except for radio shows and books, so I don't care what form I get my fix in at this point."

"Alright." He waited a beat and then decided that it was time to switch topics. "How's Felicity been?"

"She's been sleeping so far," Curtis said. "I made sure she took her pain meds." He motioned to the pad of paper on the coffee table in front of him. "I've written down the dose and the time, so you can keep track of it."

"Thanks."

"I was also thinking about reaching out to Paul, seeing if he might be willing to see Felicity again-"

"As much as I appreciate that, especially because I know that must be difficult for you...the doctor said-"

"I know," Curtis said as he got to his feet. "But maybe he could give me more insight about the chip...especially with the swelling. Felicity had requested a digital copy of her scans and files. I just figured that having another set of eyes on it, maybe Paul would see something else-"

"If you think it's a good idea and you're willing to reach out to Paul, then I'm behind it...and I appreciate it more than I can express," Oliver told him. He hated to think that Curtis had to chose between his husband whom he had been happily married to and being Mr. Terrific. Oliver just hoped that they could maybe work things out.

"I'll text you and let you know," Curtis said as he made his way around the couch. "Felicity said I could take the extra key-"

"That's fine," Oliver said with a wave of his hand. Diggle and Thea also had keys. With Felicity unable to get around much on her own, he'd rather there be a few keys out there, just in case anyone needed to get into the loft for whatever reason. "I'll text you if we need you."

"Get some rest."

"You too...and thank you again."

"Of course," Curtis said as Oliver walked him to the door. "Good night."

"Good night."

Once Curtis was gone, he locked the door, and then looked around. The loft was silent and though he was certain that Felicity was fine, he felt like he should really go up and check on her before doing anything else. They needed to eat soon enough, so he would need to fix some dinner. When they'd been in ARGUS care, Felicity really hadn't eaten that much as far as solid 'real' food went. Moving up the stairs as quietly as he could, he stopped at the top and just stared at Felicity laying in bed. He pulled off his tie and set it aside and then sighed. "How long have you been awake?"

"The entire time."

"Curtis could have at least sat with you," Oliver told her as he moved to the edge of the bed, sitting gently on it.

Her eyes finally opened at this point and she sighed. "I just...I didn't want him to fuss over me."

"I know that this isn't easy-"

"I'm fine."

Oliver leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her lips. "I know, I just...I wanted to make sure you'd be okay home the first day. I wanted to be here-"

"How's the mayor's office?"

"Apparently I'm not needed there right now," Oliver told her. "Quentin and Thea's got everything handled there."

"Did you talk to Samantha?"

"Yes," Oliver said with a nod. "She and William are going to live in Central City again. I'll get to visit and see him. Samantha said that she'd like you, Digg, and the others to be able to know him too."

"That's good."

"We're going to release a statement about William being my son."

"That's big."

"Once things settle, we're going to talk about weekends here and extended weekends."

"Good. It sounds like things are coming together."

"I'm glad I'm home," Oliver told her. "Are you hungry? Do you need anything?"

Felicity patted the space next to her. "Come lay with me for a bit."

There was no arguing or hesitation. Oliver got up, stripped out of his suit pants and button-up shirt before crawling into the empty space next to her. He was careful as he moved to wrap her into his arms and press his lips to her forehead. This was where he'd wanted to be all day long. "I missed this."

"You know you don't have to be so strong here," Felicity whispered as she looked up at him. "You're home. You're safe with me. I know you, Oliver." He stared at her and there was no argument that she knew him best in the entire world. "I know you're spinning all of these things in your head. Being mayor. Star City. William. Us." She paused for a moment, his eyes didn't leave hers. "I know you've probably got ten thousand reasons for all of that not to work. I'm here to tell you that it's going to. It's all going to be fine."

He stared at her and wondered how she could be so calm with all that had happened. How could she continue to be so optimistic when it seemed like the world was always coming for them? Oliver just couldn't fathom how she could still remain so strong, he was so tired of holding it all...of continuing to be strong. It took so much for him to try to remain as stoic as possible and to hold everything inside. As much as Oliver always wanted to let his emotions spill out, there was a real worry that he'd break if he finally let it all crash out. "I don't know how to do that."

And she smiled at him. "I know you feel like you need to be convinced, to have some proof of the future, that you're scared of what could come...but Oliver, what we have...it's going pretty well."

"Felicity-"

"Honestly," she whispered. "Think about all that we have, all that we've done, and how beautiful our future could look like." This was one of those moments where her light glowed and it felt like it was trying to encompass him in that moment. "Don't hold onto any of the reminders of the past or anything that makes you feel like you're broken and need to be fixed inside." Felicity just continued to smile and tapped the side of his head. "Quiet the voices in your head and just listen to mine."

Her voice.

That was easy.

Quieting the other voices wasn't.

"I don't know if I can," he whispered honestly and he was barely holding it together, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence. Felicity pulled him so that she was more the other holding him now. His head rested under her chin and his ear pressed to her chest. Oliver closed his eyes and focused on her heartbeat.

"Just think about the future," she whispered as she ran her fingers through his short hair.

And he tried.

All he kept worrying about in that attempt to see their future was the worry over Felicity-

"Think about how happy we are," Felicity prompted, breaking his train of thought.

When they'd been together before, that had been the happiest he'd been in his life. There'd been other moments that had been happy for him, but it always seemed to be outweighed or darkened by the bad stuff. Even when they weren't together, she brought him light (even when he didn't feel like it was possible to have it in his world). "I keep thinking of when we were in Ivy Town...and how that doesn't feel like it works here."

"No, but it's a start," Felicity whispered. "You were so happy."

"You weren't."

"I was, just missed the action."

"What's the compromise?"

"I don't know."

"There's so many people-"

Felicity covered his lips with a finger, "Right in this moment, it's only us. Push away all of the other worry. Our family is there. Every single important person and they're just as happy as we are."

"I don't-"

"Only us," Felicity repeated. "Just like this except happy and perfect."

"Only us."

TBC…