Time for an Olicity Story

Felicity blinked through an eye, careful not to be caught in case the kids wanted to surprise her with breakfast in bed. They did something sweet like that from time to time. She never would want to ruin it for them.

Instead of the kids – unsurprisingly actually since the kids were sweet but they usually failed to be quiet enough for Felicity not to hear them before they had even stepped into the bedroom – Oliver was sitting on the free side of the bed. He was resting with his back against the headboard, looking at her with a soft smile on his lips. He was holding a mug of coffee in his hand. With her eyes on him now, he lifted it to his lips and took a appreciative sip.

“Mean.” Felicity frowned, propped herself up onto her elbow and reached out for the mug. “I need that.”

Before her fingers got hold of the porcelain where the delicious smell came from, Oliver held it out of her reach though. He turned away from her, and she could hear him putting the mug to the nightstand.

“Mean,” she grumbled again and yawned. “I need that.”

“Oh, I know.”

Oliver chuckled and reached down next to the bed. Felicity considered leaning over his back and stealing his coffee from the nightstand. The thought had barely crossed her mind when Oliver already straightened up again though, lifting a tray with a large mug of coffee, some croissants and some pieces of fruits and vegetables onto the bed.

“But I thought you needed a little more this morning.”

Felicity perked up an eyebrow at him, already reaching for the mug of coffee. Usually, when Oliver would say something like that, it was because they had made love all night and he wanted to make sure that she got a good breakfast after a workout like that. Since they had both fallen into bed early last night, just snuggling close to each other right before falling asleep, there had to be some other reason.

“Are you planning on keeping me in bed all day?”

Oliver grinned. “Most of the day, I’d say.”

Felicity hummed, sipping at her coffee. “And what will I owe that pleasure to?”

Gasping for breath dramatically, Oliver held his hand to his heart. “I cannot believe you would forget.”

Felicity perked up her eyebrows a smiled innocently. “Forget what?”

“You are a terrible wife.” Oliver leaned over and brushed his lips against hers briefly. “You are lucky I love you so much and cannot be mad at me.”

“Lucky me.” Felicity smiled and took another sip from her coffee. “So? Why do I get breakfast and a through workout in bed today?”

“Because,” Oliver said and tapped the tip of his finger against the tip of her nose, “this is our fifteenth anniversary.”

Felicity frowned. “No, it isn’t. It’s-“

“-been fifteen years since we have first met when I showed up at your office while you were chewing on a pen.”

A soft smile spread on Oliver’s lips, realizing that he was right. Exactly fifteen years ago, she had been working on some tech issues when a warm voice saying her name had changed her life forever. It had been the first time Oliver had visited her, showing her a laptop that had clearly been damaged by bullet holes despite his claims that he had just spilled a latte on it. He had come to her with the most absurd stories after that and the rest was just history.

“Fifteen years,” Felicity said reverently and grabbed his hand, “can you believe it?”

Oliver linked his fingers with hers and stroked his thumb over the back of her hand. He didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he allowed himself a moment of silence to think about it.

“I can’t believe it’s only fifteen years,” he said eventually, “given everything we have been through and everything we have built together. I can’t imagine a future without you, and I can’t really remember a past without you either.”

Felicity smiled softly, cocking her head. She remembered a time when Oliver hadn’t been able to talk about his feelings at all. Now he was so good at talking about his feelings that Felicity was sure that he was better at it than she could ever be.

“I’ve got a present for you,” Oliver said, filling the silence that her speechlessness had created, “and I think you want to open it before enjoying this delicious breakfast.”

Oliver pulled an envelope out of the back pocket of his sweatpants and held it out for her. Looking at him sternly, she put her mug of coffee away and took the envelope from him. Oliver chuckled at that.

“Why the grumpy face?”

“Because I didn’t get you a gift.”

“You being here with me despite everything I have put you through is my gift.”

Felicity sighed, a soft smile spreading on her lips against her will. “There is nothing you could have done that would have ever kept me away from you. I love you too much not work through everything we have to go through.”

“I feel the same way.” Oliver leaned over and kissed Felicity gently. “That is why none of the problems we went through ever stood the chance to really get between us. Now open your gift.”

“Someone’s eager.”

“To see your reaction? Absolutely.”

Felicity puckered her lips, wondering what he had gotten her. He had surprised her with quite some vacations during their marriage. He had translated a message into binary code once too. His nervousness told her that he had tried something new though, so she opened the envelope quickly and hurried to take out the one piece of paper inside.

There was a date written on it. December 7, 2027.

Frowning, Felicity turned the paper from in her hands again and again, trying to find some clue about the date’s meaning. But that was it. There was only the date, nothing more.

Felicity tried to remember if that date had some meaning to them too, but there was nothing that came to her mind. Oliver was much better with dates though. He would remember the smallest developments in their relationship by date. For a long time, remembering details had been a necessity to survive. Now it was just a habit that was hard to get away from.

“I don’t want to risk admitting that I forgot about another big event in our life,” Felicity said slowly, “but what exactly are we celebrating on December 7?”

“We are celebrating,” Oliver whispered, making a pause to increase the tension, “Mia’s adoption.”

Felicity felt her mouth go dry and her heart making a couple of stumbling beats.

For weeks, she had feared that Mia would never again be part of their family. She had missed her like crazy. She had felt like a piece of her had been missing. She had thought she could never be consoled. CPS had decided to place Mia back with them though, and now she had been with them ever since and it was great.

Still, Felicity had never really dared to think about a future when Mia would be truly theirs although they had talked about it to Mrs. Wheeler already. She just hadn’t dared to think about a future when nobody could just take her away from them as easily as she had been taken from them before.

She didn’t dare to speak, afraid that her voice would break and the tears that were burning in her eyes already would fall. So she just looked at Oliver, holding her breath, and waiting for him to confirm what she couldn’t allow herself to hope.

“It’s the date for our court hearing to adopt Mia.” He nodded his head. “I have the verbal confirmation already, and I was promised that we’d get a written confirmation by the end of the week. I just wanted to tell you already and not wait.”

Felicity nodded her head, breathing against the lump in her throat. She still didn’t really dare to speak, but she felt like she needed to. She needed one more confirmation.

“We are really going to adopt Mia?”

“Yes.” Oliver smiled, taking her hand and squeezing it. “We are going to adopt her this year already. She will be lawfully ours as she is our in our hearts already.”

It was a little corny, but Felicity couldn’t even care about that. They were going to adopt Mia, and she was going to be a legal part of their family. That was all she could think about.

With slightly trembling hands, Felicity pushed the tray with breakfast away to the foot of the bed. After only a beat of pause to really process this new piece of information, she threw herself at Oliver. Her arms wrapped around his neck tightly as she squeezed her upper body against his as close as possible. She had thought that a deep sob would come from her when she did so, but instead, what fell from her lips was an excited squeal.

“I cannot believe it!”

Oliver chuckled, turning them and letting himself fall into the mattress. Felicity used that new position to climb into Oliver’s lap and just pepper his face with thousands of kisses.

“I was a coincidence I got to know about it already. I ran into the judge’s assistant at City Hall, and she told me that she would send out the letter this week. I called the judge just to make sure, and he confirmed it. December 7, nine a.m.”

Felicity put her hands next to Oliver’s head and propped herself up onto her arms. She looked down on Oliver, who raised his hands to tuck her hair behind her ears.

“I know that we have talked about adopting her, but I always thought it wouldn’t happen. I don’t know, it felt so far away. And now…” Felicity said with a smile and sighed, “now she will become a legal part of this family before the end of the year.”

“It’s great, isn’t it?”

“It’s better than great. It’s perfect or even better than that. There needs to be a new word for how perfect this is.”

Oliver wrapped his arms back around her waist and tightened them around her body. He placed a gentle kiss to her jaw before looking at her once more.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Felicity nodded her head. “I love you too.”

Oliver dipped his head back, and Felicity put her hands to his cheeks. She let her fingertips brush through his short stubble gently. She knew how much he loved that feeling, and she couldn’t deny that she loved it very much too. Still smiling, she angled her head forward and brushed her lips against Oliver’s then.

The kiss started out slow and gentle. It held all the love they felt for each other. It was a symbol of cherishing this moment and the big change that would come for their family.

When their lips parted, Felicity couldn’t help but shift in Oliver’s lap though. She pressed herself more against the hardening bulk between his legs and moved her nose against his.

“I remember a time,” Oliver said slowly, letting his hands moved under the shirt she had been wearing for sleep and scratching his fingertips over her sensitive skin, “when the thought of having a baby join our family would make you very unwilling to have sex with me.”

Felicity hummed, puckering her lips. “I remember a time when having a baby made you very unable to have sex with me.”

Oliver pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek and cocked his head. “That’s not gonna happen this morning.”

“You better be right.”

With that Felicity captured Oliver’s lips in a searing kiss. Desire rushed all through her and made her move closer and closer to Oliver like she wanted to melt with him and become one. If there was a right way to celebrate that upcoming change in their life, she thought, it was that. At least for now.

→ → → → →

Once chased by the police, now chasing with the police.

The people behind the masks.

From murderer to hero.

The Hood. The Arrow. The Green Arrow. Our Hero.

One man for Starling City. Starling City for one man.

The world of Green Arrow and his team.

Oliver smiled softly, skimming some of the headlines that were painted in big letters on the wall of what had used to be his campaign office. Although the rooms were still recognizable from their structure, they didn’t resemble what they had looked like during the time of him running for mayor at all. At least not today.

Thea, who had been assigned head of the newly built Department for Vigilante Affairs, had created what the campaign office had turned into for the next couple of weeks. Accepting that position had been her way of leaving the street-duty permanently now and using her insight on the job to be the contact person at City Hall for matters concerning the new collaboration between the team, the city and the police. Her first action had been opening the doors of their hideout for the public, so the old campaign office and the hideout Felicity had set up years ago held an exhibition today. The city should once more reflect on the long way they had had come, and an exhibition like this also allowed the team to fulfill their promise of being more transparent.

With an almost reverent smile, Oliver looked at the first poster the SCPD had published when they had started investigating against the Hood. He had been faced with a lot of problems back then, problems that felt like they had been in another lifetime, especially regarding his relationship with the police. He could barely remember those days now that every police station in the SCPD had an own unit or at least a an authorized officer to manage the cooperation with the vigilantes.

There were new problems now, different ones. He wouldn’t say that they were easier, but he was lucky to have friends and family by his side. Facing those problems together made a lot of things easier.

Since Oliver had already visited the exhibition yesterday before it had been opened for the public, he turned away from the exhibition pieces and let his gaze wander to find Felicity in the crowd of people. He wasn’t surprised not to find her. He knew her too well not to assume that she was down in the bunker to explain some of her their tech features to some visitors.

Deciding to join her there, Oliver took the elevator down into the bunker and smiled when he found her right where he had been sure she would be. She was sitting in her chair on the platform, calling up the footage of some surveillance camera in the city on one monitor and all possible data she could call up about herself on another one. When a child in the audience raised his hand to ask a question, she only smiled and told him to ask away all he wanted.

When Felicity had suggested abandoning this hideout for safety reasons, Oliver had thought that it had to be hard on her. Back when he had been forced to turn himself in a couple of years ago after they had been blackmailed by that horrible reporter Susan Williams, they had been forced to give up their previous hideout. Felicity had been the one to design this new place under the campaign office. It had been a lot more efficient than their old place because they had already known what they needed. Oliver hadn’t truly known that when he had set up the hideout under Verdant yet.

The truth had turned out different though. Felicity had been kind of excited to set up something new. She had immediately pulled up plans and ideas. After presenting them to the team, they had made some minor changes, and she had gotten right into work. It would take a couple more days until everything was truly set up, a time during which they would have to improvise a little, but it would be great then.

Her plan was to use one of the abandoned subway stations as a new hideout. Thanks to the railroads the subway station was easily accessed from City Hall, Queen Incorporated, Green Doors and even some of their homes. Felicity was even installing some kind of small self-driving cars, so they could get their easily. She had been all fired up when she had been talking about the plans.

Oliver watched Felicity, once more feeling his heart warming for her in a way only she could do. He had sometimes wondered how his life would have gone if she hadn’t come to the loft he had shared with Thea back then and hadn’t just decided that they were together, no matter how many doubts he might have about it. He might have pined after her and regretted never being with her, but he probably would have cut his heart out before he would have asked her to be with him and deliberately pulled her into the darkness that had surrounded him back them.

Or maybe he would have just admitted that he had been powerless when it came to his feelings for Felicity. Who knew? The thought made a smile spread on his lips.

When Oliver noticed a movement at his side, he turned his head briefly to find John stepping next to him. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and followed Oliver’s gaze with his own eyes.

“I have just taken a look at the new hideout,” he said quietly, not looking at Oliver, “and it’s barely believable what was built there, considering how we started.”

“We started poorly. Felicity’s update was the first of many steps to the functional hideout we have now.”

“Crazily functional,” John said with a nod of his head, “and surprisingly well hidden.”

Oliver grinned. “Felicity will be happy to hear that. She wants to challenge Bruce to find the hideout.”

“That would certainly give us an idea of how secure the location really is. Lyla suggested the same for A.R.G.U.S. by the way.”

“Wouldn’t hurt to have more than one entity set on finding that hideout.”

“I’ll tell her tonight.”

Both men nodded and continued to stand next to each other in silence. They both watched Felicity still interacting with some visitors.

“I was lucky to find you and her,” Oliver said eventually, still not looking at John, “because none of this would have been possible without the two of you.”

The corners of John’s lips twitched, but he bit back on any humorous comment. He just nodded his head quietly and puckered his lips.

John had been put through a lot when he had been hired as Oliver’s bodyguard. No wonder that he had quit after a short time, especially after Oliver had basically just dumped his secret on him. He had saved his life before that, just to be fair, but it certainly had been heavy on Johne nonetheless, so it hadn’t been surprising that he had first rejected Oliver’s suggestion to join him on his crusade.

“I think we were lucky to find each other,” John said quietly, “all three of us.”

Oliver smiled at the kind words. For a long time, he had believed that he would infect everyone he let into his life with darkness. He had believed that all the bad things that happened to the people close to him were on him. He had believed that everyone was better off without him.

John and Felicity had proved that that wasn’t the case. They had showed Oliver that teammates, friendships, love and family were well in his reach. They had offered it to him, and he had taken it. And surprisingly the world hadn’t gone down.

“All of this” – Oliver looked around the room and the visitor briefly – “wouldn’t have been possible without you and Felicity. You helped me give my crusade more purpose. You helped me to give my life purpose.”

Now John turned to Oliver fully, and Oliver did the same in response. He looked in John’s soft eyes and saw nothing but truth there.

“So have you for me and surely for Felicity too. We gave each other’s life a purpose. You might have had the most issues when we first got together in all of this, but we all needed saving in our different ways. We gave that to each other.”

John – like so often – reached out his hand with a smile that told Oliver he knew exactly how he was going to react to it. Oliver spread his arms and they two embraced each other in a brief but firm hug.

As much as Oliver appreciated everyone on the team, Oliver was sure that he wouldn’t be where he was now if John and Felicity hadn’t been the first people to join his team. If it had been anyone else, his life would be different in uncountable ways.

He’d be grateful forever.

→ → → → →

“And what exactly are we going to do there?” William asked judicially and tightened his hold on Millie’s and Addie’s hand. “Because going to the rooftop of a skyscraper at night with four kids under ten years doesn’t sound like the best idea.”

While Felicity only bit back an amused grin, Oliver turned around to William and cocked his head at him. A heavy sigh fell from his lips.

“You are too sensible for your age. When I was your age, I-“

“Oh, don’t remind us of all the things you did when you were his age,” Felicity intervened now, shooting Oliver a long look back over her shoulder, “please.”

A silent conversation happened between their eyes. Felicity enumerated all the things Oliver had done when he had been about William’s age in her head, including sleeping with sisters, punching reporters and peeing at a patrol car. The last was her all-time favorite, she guesses. Oliver puckered his lips in response and admitted defeat.

“Just relax and have some fun,” Oliver said instead, squeezing William’s shoulder for a moment, “and everyone else remembers always to have one hand in one of the adults’.”

Oliver himself tightened his arm around Mia, but she was tightly tugged in her baby carrier and almost half-asleep. She certainly wouldn’t be able to go anywhere tonight. With his free hand, he quickly grabbed Tommy’s hand. Tommy quickly moved closer to Oliver, clinging to his side, and Oliver squeezed his hand reassuringly in response.

Felicity unlocked the door to the rooftop of the Queen Incorporated Tower. With the hand on the doorknob, she held out her other hand to Emmy. She hesitated only briefly before she put her hand into her mother’s.

Felicity and Emmy led the way outside onto the rooftop. William followed with Millie and Addie. Oliver, joined by Tommy and Mia, went last. They stood at the door for a moment before looking at each other reassuringly and eventually stepping closer to the edge. They stopped roughly five feet away from the edge, all standing next to each other.

When Felicity linked her arm with Oliver’s, he shot her a brief glance. He knew that she was afraid of heights. He had known since that moment in the elevator well when she had stood next to him, shaken. The memory brought a smile to his lips. Felicity, hold onto me tight. – I imagined you saying that under different circumstances. Very platonic circumstances.

Rolling her eyes, Felicity elbowed his side. She probably remembered this moment too because she did her best to bite back an amused grin. Oliver, knowing her as well as he did, noticed it nonetheless.

Taking in a deep breath, Oliver turned his head back to the city. It seemed to be a quiet night. There wasn’t much noise from the traffic. There weren’t much noises at all. It was indeed as quiet as it could possibly be. Most people seemed to be asleep already. There were barely any lights in the windows. The only light that was to be seen came from the streetlights. They traced the road network, drawing an outline of the city.

For so long this city had been damaged. There had been a rift between its people – between people in and beyond the Glades, between rich and poor. Oliver doubted that a rift like that could ever be truly closed, no matter the history of a city. But Starling was on a good way to build a real community where people helped each other, no matter where they came from and what they had. The night of Blood Rose’s attacks had brought them closer. Now they just needed to keep embracing that connection.

Even after Emmy and Tommy had been born, there had been moments when Oliver had thought this city was unsavable. He had thought hat nothing he or anyone could do would bring the people here closer together. The Undertaking and everything that had happened to make it come so far would have been too much to ever overcome.

Now that was different. Although everyone in this city new now that he was the Green Arrow and that he had been the Hood and the Arrow before that, he didn’t feel unsafe. He didn’t feel unsafe for his children. He knew that the people of the city wouldn’t let anything happen to them if they got a chance to prevent it. The city was on his side now.

Of course there were still criminals out there, but they knew that he knew they were there. Within these last weeks they had kind of come to an unspoken agreement. As long as they played by some rules by not endangering innocent people and by keeping their crimes away from children and other vulnerable groups, they wouldn’t be chased down by the Green Arrow and his team.

Oliver had come to the conclusion that no city would ever be truly without crime. There would always be drug dealers. There would always be robbers. There would always be people joining in petty-criminal activities. Every city had to deal with it, Starling City would be no exception, but the crime rate was so low that the police – with the help of the city’s heroes – would be able to handle it without an entire neighborhood of the city falling into darkness.

This was a city that he could raise his kids in and that he could give to his children eventually because he knew that the Queen Family would always have to carry a certain responsibility when it came to this city. His parents had made sure that the Queen Family would always owe something to this city, and he had made sure that this city would always owe something to them. Even if neither their family now Starling City would see it that way.

“This isn’t going to be a The Lion King moment, is it?” Emmy asked, looking at Oliver with a frown.

“A what?”

Emmy rolled her eyes, something she loved to do lately. “The moment where you tell us that everything the light touches is going to be ours one day.”

Oliver opened his mouth to reply, but be closed it again, unsure what exactly to answer to that. He had kind of planned on making sure that the kids knew this was their city too – that they would be protected by them as long as they helped protecting it too.

“You had planned something like that.” Emmy grinned. “I knew it.”

“Smartass.”

“Like mom.” Emmy’s grin widened. “So you love it.”

Oliver unwrapped his arm from Mia’s body for a moment, so he could smack the back of Emmy’s hand playfully. She only chuckled in response and leaned against his side for a moment.

“I doubt that I can promise you this city if we don’t really owe this city.”

“True.” Emmy puckered her lips and nodded her head. Angling her head back, she frowned at looked at Oliver again. “But?”

Oliver chuckled. Of course Emmy would detect the unsaid ‘but’ that was in his words.

“But,” he continued pointedly, “I thought it was right to come here and use this moment of all of us alone together to really come to realize that this is our home. There were moments when I felt like it wasn’t, but that’s over. I couldn’t imagine living our life together anywhere but here.”

“How about Bali?” Tommy asked.

“Well,” Oliver said slowly, “maybe there too, but that’s a whole different story.”

“I like Bali,” Millie said.

“Me too.” Addie sighed. “I miss Bali.”

“Oh yes! When are we going to Bali again?” Emmy asked.

“Soon,” Felicity replied, “I have already planned something, but it will take a little while longer and-“

“Guys, guys.” Oliver shook his head until everyone stopped talking. “Wrong moment to discuss Bali. This is a moment to think about Starling City and be grateful for how far it had come and the peace it offers all of us to live a safe and happy life here.”

“I’d be grateful if it was a little warmer,” William whispered, “like on Bali.”

Oliver glanced at him with pretended annoyance, and William turned to look at Starling City with a grin. One by one, all of the children turned to look at Starling, and Oliver watched his kids truly take in the city for the first time it seemed. Of course they couldn’t remember what the city had been like forty, thirty or even just fifteen year ago, but they knew more about its history and the darkness that had covered the city for quite some time than some adults probably did. They had watched the city change and experienced the changing views there had been on vigilantes too. So they knew how far this city had come.

While the kids were still watching their hometown, Oliver felt a gaze on him and turned his head to find Felicity’s eyes on him. She was smiling at him softly, and he knew exactly what she was thinking.

It wasn’t only the city that had come this far. They – as individuals and together – had come this far too. They, just like the city, had changed in ways they had never thought possible twenty or even thirty years ago.

Changing the city had changed them. To the better.

And right now, right here – although it seemed unthinkable – Oliver knew that they would change the city to become even better, so that they could become even better. He didn’t know how or when, but that didn’t matter. They had become the best versions of themselves just by being together, and Oliver was hopeful that they would still have a long future together to embrace that dynamic further and further.

As long as Felicity was with him and they had their kids and all of them had this city, Oliver knew that every challenge in life would only drive him to become a better hero, a better mayor, a better person, a better husband, a better father.

That, he thought, still looking at Felicity, wasn’t only his promise to Starling City, but also to all of the people he loved so much that were here with him now.

This entire journey had started with a promise. So, he guessed, it should end with one. And that was it.

THE END TO A STORY

* * *

I don't think I will ever find the words to describe what all of your support meant to me. Maybe one day soon I will find a way to let all of you know how much this story and all of you joining me on this loooong ride, especially since Arrow hasn't been on air for quite some time now...

As long as I can't, just let me say this:

Whether you read the whole damn thing or just read some chapters every now and then,

whether you liked and/or commented and/or reblogged some of it or not,

whether you followed from the start or joined in somewhere inbetween,

whether you told me your headcanons for these characters, suggested some ideas for the story or not,

this story wouldn't have grown into what it was if it wasn't for you.

All of her – from the color of her dress, his color, to the strained expression on her face at her inability to zip the back of her dress – made him want to take off his clothes. Before he could do so, Felicity’s eyes met his in the mirror, and she cocked her head in that scolding manner that made the corners of his lips twitch mischievously.

“Don’t even think about doing anything but zipping my dress,” Felicity told him stern voice despite the sparkle of humor in her eyes, “because we are already running late it is.”

Oliver pushed the tongue against the inside of his cheek, crossed the distance towards Felicity and zipped her dress as slowly as possible. His fingertips grazed against the soft skin of her back as he did so. His eyes were locked with hers in the mirror.

“I could think about better things to do than going to that charity gala,” he whispered into her ear, his breath eliciting goosebumps on her skin, “can’t you?”

Felicity turned around, cocked her head and perked up her eyebrows. “Can I think about anything better than going to that charity event, a charity event we are hosting by the way, and meet Chris Evans? Hell no.”

Oliver scrunched up his nose. He considered reminding her that the city was hosting this event, but the thought of meeting Chris Evans tonight just outweighed everything else. For a moment, he had suppressed that fact after he had thought about barely anything else since he had been informed that actor Chris Evans was actually coming to that gala tonight. Thinking about it again now, he felt his vexation growing back again.

“I still think that this entire thing is stupid.” He pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants and turned around to Felicity, who was sitting on the edge of the bed and putting on her shoes. “A Green Arrow movie? It’s-“

“-inspiring.”

“I was going to go with ridiculous or stupid or dangerous.”

Felicity smiled softly, but Oliver just frowned and crossed his arms in front of his chest.

Two weeks ago, he was called by a production company that wanted to work with him to make a movie about the Green Arrow. His first answer had been a hard no because he really wasn’t interested in a movie like that. His family was already too much in the interest of the media and the public as it was.

When he had told John about rejecting the production company, he had warned him that they might make a movie about it anyway and that movie could be entirely wrong and even let the viewers get wrong ideas. Vigilantism and heroism was a sensitive topic, especially with how newly accepted they were.

Oliver had gone back and forth with the idea. Eventually, he had called the production company and made an appointment to meet the producer. His ideas hadn’t sounded too bad, so Oliver had agreed to work out a deal that he could actually agree with. Laurel had helped with the legal stuff and Thea had decided to actively work in the production team, so they would get the important stuff right.

Although he had ultimately agreed to the movie, Oliver couldn’t say that he was entirely convinced of it. He had his doubts even now because seeing his life on a big screen felt wrong. Besides, even though the production team had committed itself to true storytelling with Thea having the right to interpose her veto, Oliver doubted that his story, the team’s story or his family’s story could be told in a movie. Even with excess length, how long could the movie be? Three hours?

With her shoes on her feet, Felicity got up, strolled over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She rested her chin on his chest and looked at his face.

“Everything will be fine. We will go to this event to celebrate the new Green Arrow Law where I will be flirting with Chris Evans for a bit before we will go home. And in a couple of months, we will go to the premier of the movie together.”

Oliver puckered his lips, wrapping his arms around Felicity’s shoulders and dipping his head down, so his forehead touched hers. He let her presence calm him down and relax him. He could almost feel the tension leaving his shoulders when he let out a long sigh.

“You forgot something.”

“Really?” Felicity asked, closing her eyes and letting out a sigh of her own. “What did I forget?”

“The hot sex we will have on our way home.”

“On our way home?” Felicity chuckled, throwing her head back. “Someone is feeling very honeymoon-y today.”

“I don’t remember us having sex in the back of a limousine on our honeymoon.”

“True.” Felicity grinned. “It might be the only place we didn’t have sex in our-“

“Gross.”

Snapping his head around, Oliver found William standing in the door with his nose scrunched up and an expression of disgust on his face. Oliver bit his tongue, while Felicity blushed.

“William,” he hurried to say then, clearing his throat, “I didn’t hear you.”

“Which you should have,” Felicity whispered, “or are you too old for ninja senses?”

Oliver pinched Felicity’s side playfully. She giggled under her breath before she stepped out of his arms and turned back to the mirror, so she could put on her earrings.

“I just wanted to let you know that the limousine is already waiting for you.”

“Thanks.” Oliver nodded his head. “We’ll be down in a minute. Are you sure you don’t want to join us?”

“Absolutely.” William’s face told Oliver that his son had never been surer of anything. “I’ll stay here and have a fun night with my siblings. I’ll show them all the good movies of my childhood.”

“They are going to love it.” Felicity grabbed her purse, stepped to William and kissed his cheek. “We are always happy when you use your weekends to visit us rather than hang out with your friends. And your siblings love it too.”

“So do I.” He shrugged his shoulders. “I can still go partying next week or whenever. Tonight, I am happy to spend time with the kids.”

Felicity shot him another smile before she turned back to Oliver briefly. “I’ll just check on Mia once more before I go down and make sure the kids have everything.”

“I’ll be right behind you.”

While Felicity was leaving already, Oliver pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants once more and strolled over to William. Just like Felicity had told William before, Oliver was quite happy to have his oldest son home this often too. When he had chosen to study at the other end of the US, Oliver had feared that they might grow apart like most kids and their parents did at least temporarily from time to time. He was glad to know that it wasn’t like that at all.

“Are you sure you are getting along alone with the kids? Raisa offered to stay home from her-“

William shook his head. “I’ve always gotten along well with the little ones, so no need for any help. Half of them is going to be fast asleep before ten anyway.”

“True.” Oliver chuckled. “But in case anything happens or you just feel like you’ve had enough or whatever, you-“

“-will definitely not call you and cut Felicity’s time with Chris Evans short. I could never be that desperate.”

Oliver puckered his lips. “She told you about Chris Evans?”

“In all details.” William grinned. “I guess you would like for her time with him to be cut short?”

Oliver huffed. “I’m above such things. I mean why would I care about Christ Evans and – yeah, I wish she wouldn’t run into him at all.”

William chuckled. “It’s fun watching you two, you know? It’s one of the reasons I like to come here.”

“Thanks.” Oliver smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”

A brief moment of silence passed as they seemed to be bonding without saying a word. Their relationship hadn’t started easily. They had missed out on a lot of time together, and Oliver had already had Emmy and Tommy when William had joined the family. Somehow, it had just worked out nonetheless. It had worked out even better than Oliver could have ever expected. He didn’t really understand it, but he was glad that things were just like that.

“Why don’t we go to Big Belly Burgers tomorrow for lunch before you go back to Boston?” Oliver asked. “We could… catch up…”

“Sure.” William smiled, nodding his head. “Sounds great. Besides, I-“

Oliver heard quick footsteps coming down the hallway, and a moment later, Millie appeared in the doorframe. She was already in her fleecy pajamas, her dark curls framing her heart-shaped face.

“Mommy says you need to hurry, or she’s gonna do things to you. It didn’t sound like it was going to be nice things.”

“Mom wants to see Chris Evans,” William said, wiggling his eyebrows towards Oliver, “so you should indeed hurry.”

“Chris Evans is looking yummy.”

Oliver frowned, looking at his five-year-old daughter. “Yummy?”

Millie shrugged her shoulders. “Emmy said it.”

“You have all conspired against me.”

Oliver tousled Millie’s hair before he went past her out of the bedroom. William picked up Millie and followed him downstairs where Felicity was already waiting for him.

“There you are, Mister,” she said, narrowing her eyes on him, “and I was thinking that you were trying to play for time.”

“I wouldn’t dare to.”

Oliver grabbed Felicity’s coat from the wardrobe and helped her getting into it before he grabbed his own coat and put it on. Doing so, he stepped into the doorframe towards the living room and shot a look at the kids. William and Millie had already joined Emmy, Tommy and Addie on the couch where they were tucked under blankets between bowls of snacks and a snoring Yumi as well as Hawk, who had stretched out on the couch. William had brought them to increase everyone’s enthusiasm about his favorite childhood movies.

“We will go now,” he said, “so William’s in charge. William, if anything is going on-“

“-he already know not to call us,” Felicity ended his sentence.

Oliver sighed. Why did he deserve that?

William chuckled. “I have all the security numbers, know all there is to know about the security system and it’s not the first time I am alone with all of my siblings.”

“Besides, we are not babies anymore,” Tommy added, “well, except for Millie, but she’s asleep already.”

“You have everything under control,” Felicity said, grabbing Oliver’s hand, “perfect. We will go now. Have a great night!”

“You too,” the kids replied in chorus.

“I won’t have,” Oliver mumbled.

Felicity turned around to him without stopping in her steps. She grinned mischievously.

“But I will.”

Oliver sighed. He had already feared that.

→ → → → →

Sipping at her champagne, Felicity looked around the room. Almost two hundred people had been invited to Grell Museum to celebrate the new vigilante laws and raise money for charity. There were no famous paintings covering the walls. Instead, there were amateur paintings – some by children younger than Emmy, others by teenage or adult amateur artists and even a few ones by elderlies – everywhere. They would be auctioned later tonight.

Felicity recognized most of the people. A lot of them had been to some of their charity events before. With the changes the city and therefore their family were facing, Felicity had run a security check on everyone on their guest list. It had just seemed safer this way.

Between all the faces she knew and didn’t know – there was one that she was still missing.

She knew that Chris Evans was there already. The atmosphere had shifted when he had entered the building. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one who was eager to meet that actor. Since he had asked to be treated as one of many guests instead of some kind of honorary guest or special guest, Felicity had decided to not go looking for him and to just wait until she was running into him instead.

That had been half an hour ago though, so she was getting kind of impatient now.

Straightening up onto the tips of her toes slightly, Felicity tried to get a better view on the people further in the back. Since Chris Evans, despite his godlike looks, didn’t come with a halo to shine down on him like a spotlight, she didn’t catch sight of him though.

Maybe if she just…

“Don’t even think about it.”

Oliver’s voice was a low whisper in her ear. His arm wrapped around her waist possessively, pulling her back against his side after she had moved like three inches away before. His lips brushed against her temple briefly, but she could see him scanning the crowd of people. One could almost believe that Oliver was just as eager to see Chris Evans as Felicity was. Felicity knew better than to ask him about that though.

Turning around to Oliver, Felicity leaned against his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck loosely. She angled her head, looking at him with a soft smile. Occasions like these were always busy. They had arrived here more than two hours ago, and this was the first moment they had all for themselves.

“What?” Oliver asked, wrapping his arms around her waist and swaying her from side to side to the rhythm of the music playing quietly in the background. “What are you thinking about?”

“Just you.” Felicity smiled. “Always you.”

Her smile was mirrored on Oliver’s face. He touched his forehead with hers and leaned in to kiss her.

“Well, you and Chris Evans.”

Oliver released a mixture of a groan and a chuckle. He shook his head and pinched her side playfully. It was the most relaxed she had seen him these last days. She knew that the experience of feeling forced to surrender himself to the police and the feeling of helplessness that he had experienced while they had been facing one disaster after the other had left its marks on him. Unlike the scars he had gotten during his five years away, these ones couldn’t be seen easily.

Felicity, however, did see them. She knew Oliver long enough to realize when there were new scars on him. It wasn’t the only reason though. She carried the same scars, so it was even easier for her to recognize them on Oliver.

Since he had been pardoned by the president and returned to their family, he had done everything possible to take back control and fix the damages Rose Blood’s attacks had left on the city and their family. For the soul, it wasn’t that easy though.

“You know what we should do for Thanksgiving this year?” Felicity asked.

Oliver perked up his eyebrows. “Shoot.”

“We should get away for a couple of days. You, me and the kids. And Hawk.”

Oliver nodded slowly. “That’s actually a good idea. I think we could all need some time away.”

“Absolutely. And we deserve it too.”

“That,” Oliver said pointedly and raised his glass, “is something we should definitely toast to.”

They clinked their glasses. Looking into each other’s eyes, they took some sips. Felicity could almost see them doing the exact same thing on Bali or somewhere closer since they would only be able to get away for a couple of days. God, they could just lock themselves in an apartment right out of town and that would be great too. They just needed to get out of Starling for a couple of days and just be private people. A family.

“I hope I don’t interrupt.”

Oliver and Felicity both turned their heads to see Bruce approaching them slowly. He had one hand pushed into the pocket of his pants, while he was holding a glass of champaign in his other hand.

“Bruce.” Felicity smiled, stepped closer and kissed his cheek. “I am happy you’re here. I thought you couldn’t make it.”

Bruce shrugged his shoulders. “I just paid more than I was originally willing to pay and took my jet to come here. I was feeling in the right mood for a party.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Felicity smiled, stepping back at Oliver’s side. “I know you have your parties in Gotham too, but everything’s a little more friendly here. I think you should spend more time in friendly environments.”

“Are you suggesting I should move to Starling?”

“Sure.” Felicity grinned. “Close Wayne Enterprise and come work for me.”

Bruce perked up his eyebrows and shot Oliver a glance. “How much has she been drinking?”

Oliver didn’t get to answer.

Chuckling about Bruce’s question, Felicity had looked around the room. She hadn’t really been searching for anything, but she had found something – or rather someone – none the less. Gasping for breath, she grabbed Oliver’s arm.

“There he is,” she whispered almost reverently. “God, doesn’t he look good?”

Felicity could hear Oliver’s heavy sigh, but she was even too distracted to be amused about it. Chris Evan looked even hotter in person than he looked in movies or photos or whatever. She wasn’t even very close to him yet, but he looked incredibly good already. She couldn’t wait to see him.

“Who… is she looking at?” Bruce asked, audibly confused.

“Chris Evans.”

“Who?”

Tearing her eyes open, Felicity snapped her head around to look at Bruce. “Did you just honestly ask who Chris Evans is?”

Bruce shot Oliver a brief glance, but he hid his grin behind sipping at his glass of champagne and didn’t help Bruce out of the situation.

“Chris Evans is the epitome of a handsome and yet perfectly down-to-earth and utterly nice guy,” Felicity explained urgently, “and he is going to play Oliver in the movie about his life.”

“A movie about your life?” Bruce asked, looking almost a little mockingly at Oliver. “Really?”

Felicity thrusted her glass of champagne into Oliver’s hand and moved her fingers over her dress to make sure there were no visible wrinkles. Pushing her shoulders back and eying her target, she started approaching him.

“You can discuss that while I will get to meet him.”

With that, she was gone. Oliver and Bruce watched her cross the room and approach the actor she admired so much. He had his back turned towards her, but Felicity didn’t even hesitate for the beat of a second before she bumped into him slightly. The next moment, they were both laughing, shaking hands and engaging in a conversation.

Oliver shook his head, downing the rest of his own glass of champagne before lifting Felicity’s glass to his lips. This was the stuff nightmares were made off.

“I didn’t know Felicity was that good at picking up guys.” Bruce frowned. “I don’t like it.”

“The fact that she is into him like that is bad enough, but the fact that he’s on her three-list is-“

“Her what?”

“Her three-list.” Oliver rolled his eyes. “The list of people you are allowed to have sex with, and it doesn’t count as cheating.”

Bruce looked at Oliver with utter bewilderment. “What?”

Oliver frowned. “I think you knew about the existence of that kind of list.”

“Certainly not.”

“I am sure Felicity even told you that you were on hers once.”

Bruce almost choked on his champaign hearing it. The bewildered expression on his face only grew more intense.

“I was on- How- Why-?”

“You were on it, but she crossed you off the list as soon as she knew that she was going to meet you and work with you,” Oliver explained with a sigh and shrugged his shoulders. “And I am still sure that she told you about it.”

Bruce turned his head to look at Felicity once more and shook his head. The bewilderment turned into disbelief now.

“I can’t believe she just crossed me off.”

“Had she met you this far into our marriage instead of a couple of years, she definitely wouldn’t have crossed you off.”

“That’s like twisting the knife in my chest.” Bruce scrunched up his nose before he turned to look at Oliver. “Did you recognize that list? I mean is there some kind of contractual agreement that Felicity can actually sleep with Chris Evans without it being counted as cheating?”

Oliver looked at Bruce like he had lost his sanity. Given the question he had just asked, Oliver would actually be more surprised if Bruce hadn’t lost his mind.

“If she as much as breathes too closely to him, he will disappear and never be seen again.”

“Good.” Bruce nodded sinisterly. “I will help if it comes that far.”

Oliver downed his glass before he put it away on the tray of a waiter that walked past him. He shot another look towards Felicity and Chris Evans and, yes, he was sure that this was cause nightmares for a couple of weeks.

“Do you think we should be jealous?” Bruce asked, leaning a little closer. “I feel like we should be jealous.”

Oliver looked at Bruce, who was looking at Felicity and Chris Evans like he was the husband watching his wife flirting with a guy she had a crush on. Oliver just shook his head.

He had said it to Bruce once and he still felt it now – He couldn’t blame any guy for falling for Felicity. He had fallen for her too because she was just stunning.

→ → → → →

The last guests had left and Oliver had even sent the staff away, telling them to just clean up tomorrow because it was already late and the staff had done such a good job, they certainly were tired and deserved their rest. Now there was only an intimate circle left – the heroes and vigilantes or Starling, Central City and Gotham.

Oliver looked around the people that had been with him on this ride for the past fifteen years. John and Felicity had joined first were still the two people closest to him. Thea, Roy, Laurel and Curtis had become part of the team one by one, and without them Oliver would have never had the time to be the dad or the mayor that he was. Tommy, who knew him the longest, had returned from the dead and found his way into the family too. Felicity had found her brother Dominic and he had joined the team. Then there was the Central City squad – Barry, Caitlin, Cisco and Iris – who had made vigilantism more than just a Starling City-phenomenon. And of course there was Bruce, who had been through his own trauma and somehow had chosen to step on a path quite similar to Oliver’s, just that Oliver had already left that path.

Tonight might have been another celebration for his victory and Starling City’s victory, but it was also a celebrity of the bond they had formed with each other and the work all of them had done in their respective homes. At least it should be a celebration of that, so Oliver would make it that.

Getting behind the bar, Oliver grabbed some bottle of champagnes and poured some glasses that he put on a tray. He was used to drinks being served to him since he was a child. Tonight he’d be the one to serve drinks.

Once everything was ready, Oliver clinked two glasses together repeatedly until he had everyone’s attention.

“Don’t worry,” Oliver said, “I won’t bore you with a long speech. I just wanted to take the time and thank all of you. None of this would have been possible without you, and I think this isn’t just my victory. It’s all of our victory. And more importantly, all of this wouldn’t mean anything if it wasn’t for the friends I gained on the way. The mission and what it had turned into is a big thing, but us – our friendship and family – is just as big a thing. And I think we should just take a moment to toast to that.”

Oliver grabbed the tray – holding it in both hands just to be sure – and offered the champagne to his family and friends. He took the last glass for himself and put the tray away. He then raised his glass, looking at his friends.

The abrupt ending of her dream had left her with a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction. She had been so close to have her husband give it to her in his office. Having that taken away from her so relentlessly had been just too much to take for a Sunday morning.

Of course Felicity had known an easy solution to her need of bringing her dream to a satisfying ending. She had turned around in bed under the blanket, willing to seduce her husband that never really needed much seduction anyway. When she had reached out her hand to touch his naked chest and start seducing him, the only thing her fingertips had touched had been the empty sheets.

So here she was now, lying in bed and staring at the empty side of the bed where her husband should be and hating him with every inch inside of her. She really needed Oliver right now, and he wasn’t here. She was sure that it went against the rules of marriage.

Felicity guessed she should have known that he had left the bed as soon as she had woken up. Usually, when she woke up, Oliver would lie on top of her with his head resting on top of her breasts. He always said that he loved listening to her heartbeat. She hadn’t noticed him sneaking out of bed though, so she hadn’t thought that he had actually left the bed.

Reaching out a hand, Felicity grabbed her hand from the nightstand and checked the time. It was eight thirty, a time Oliver was often out of bed already. He was probably out for a run. She got it, but it still wasn’t fair, and it definitely wasn’t okay.

Since she knew that she needed a quick solution to this problem, so she could solve the bigger problem of needing that damn orgasm, she started texting.

FQ: Had a special dream & am horny now. You better swing your ass back into bed before I take care of this myself in five minutes max or we might head into our first real marital crisis.

As soon as she had pressed ‘sent’, she swung her legs out of bed. After the terrible start into the day she had so far, she needed a coffee even more than she would need it after a good start into the day.

Felicity had just reached the door when a noise behind her made her turn around. Frowning, she looked around the room, but there weren’t any changes. Whatever she had heard must had come from outside. Someone had probably booted their trash can or something.

She was about to turn back to the door and get that coffee when a movement at the window made her flinch. She barely managed to bite back a screech, realizing that the movement came from a person that was right in front of their second-story bedroom window.

Within two seconds, she realized that the dark blonde hair and blue eyes didn’t belong to a stranger who would try to rob or kill them. Instead, they belonged to the very man that she had ordered to come here, so he could take care of her.

Felicity hurried to the window and opened it. She grabbed Oliver at the shoulders and pulled him into the room although she was sure that he didn’t need her help at all. The fact that he just landed on his feet easily and didn’t look stressed at all proved that. His shirt and forehead were sweaty and he was slightly out of breath, but Felicity doubted that it came from climbing up and in here.

In her hand, her phone started vibrating. The alarm for the unauthorized open window had gone off immediately. The system was exactly as reliable as it should be, Felicity thought, and typed in the code in before tossing her phone to the bed carelessly and turning back to Oliver.

A long moment of silence passed. Felicity was still looking at Oliver in disbelief, trying to understand what had just happened. Oliver, on the other hand, just grinned.

“And I thought this house was safe from anyone who would try to break in,” Felicity said eventually, “so much for that.”

“Of course it’s safe from people that want to break in.” Oliver’s grin widened. “I am living here. That doesn’t count.”

Felicity hummed and took a step forward, poking her forefinger into Oliver’s chest.

“For the record, if you had fallen down there and died, I would have killed you.”

Oliver grabbed her hand before she could poke his chest again. He lifted her hand to his lips and peppered sweet, little kisses to the tip of each finger. It made it impossible to even fake being mad at him.

“Whatever,” she told him, rolling her eyes and pulling her hand away from him, “I am need of some coffee.”

She turned around and took the first step to the door. Unsurprisingly, Oliver was faster than her. Within the beat of a second, he had pushed himself between her and the door, blocking her way out of the room.

“As far as I know,” he said slowly and waved his phone in front of her face, “you were in need of something entirely else.”

Felicity snorted. “That was before you scared the hell out of me, so if you excuse me and let me- down! Let me down!”

With a low chuckle and a shake of his head, Oliver had thrown his phone to the bed, stepped forward and lifted Felicity over his shoulder.

“Yeah, no way,” Oliver said, crossed the distance back to the bed and dropped her on it, “because you told me that you needed me to take care of you and your needs, so that is what I will do.”

He dropped her on the bed, so Felicity jumped up and down on the mattress a little. Within two seconds, he covered her body with his. His sweaty form pressed against hers. His lips started exploring the side of her neck.

Though she wanted to give into him instantly and continue where her dream had left them, she couldn’t resist the idea of teasing Oliver a little.

Wriggling underneath him, she tried to pull away from him. “You’re sweaty. And you stink.”

Oliver faltered, but she saw him roll his eyes. With a long sigh, he crawled back out of bed. Felicity had to admit that she was almost a little disappointed that he stopped so easily. There had been a time when he would have needed more convincing.

When he suddenly grabbed her hands, pulled her back into an upright position and lifted her over his shoulder once more, Felicity laughed though. Apparently, he wasn’t that easy to push away after all.

Without saying a word, Oliver carried her into the bathroom. He let her down on the floor right in front of the shower only to pull down her panties and drop them to the floor. Instead of taking off the shirt she had been sleeping in too, he pulled her close to him at the neckline of the shirt.

“Since I seem to be in need of a shower,” he whispered to her and leaned his lips so close to hers that Felicity could feel his breath against her skin, “I suggest that you come with me.”

Oliver didn’t leave her any time to object to his suggestion. He moved his hands to the back of her knees and lifted her into his arms. Her legs came to wrap around his hips, and her arms wrapped around his neck tightly. He carried her into the shower and pressed her back against the cool tiles. His lips started exploring the side of her neck.

Felicity loved it when they had sex like that. She loved it when it was somewhat rough but also very soft. Besides, since they had moved in here, the shower hadn’t been used properly, so it was about time, she guessed.

While Oliver was kissing and nipping at her neck playfully, Felicity just leaned her head back against the tiles and enjoyed. Oliver was very good with his lips and after all these years he knew exactly where to kiss, where to scrape his teeth against and where to bite down gently to bring her to the highest forms of pleasures.

This morning was no different. Felicity knew that she was wet and ready for him even before Oliver slipped a hand down her body and cupped his sex with his fingers.

“Oh god,” Felicity whispered and held onto the back of Oliver’s neck so tightly that her fingertips certainly dug into his skin there, “that’s so good.”

Oliver leaned his face against the side of her neck and hummed against her skin. The vibration made her skin tingle.

“And how good is this?”

Asking that, Oliver slipped two of his fingers into her tight channel. A long moan escaped Felicity’s lips, and she turned her head, so her nose pressed against Oliver’s temple. She breathed him in and dug her fingernails into his skin a little more.

“So good,” Felicity whispered.

Oliver started thrusting his fingers in and out of her. He curled his fingers inside of her while he was doing so. He just knew exactly how he got Felicity to where he wanted her.

It didn’t take Felicity long to feel a wave of pleasure washing around her. It was more of a splatter, but she could hear the loud roar of a giant wave. It was coming closer and closer and closer until-

“Ohhh!”

With a long moan falling from her lips, Felicity came. The pleasure rushed through her body and created little fireworks at the end of each nerve ending it seemed. She lost all sense for time and space. She couldn’t see or hear anything but Oliver. There was nothing but them and the way he made her feel.

Although the hot water from the shower caused steam to fill the air, she could feel Oliver’s warm breath against her ear. He had leaned his lips against the side of her face.

“Was that close to your dream?”

Felicity couldn’t say that she was really down from her peak of pleasure yet, but she knew that she would want and need more in seconds, so she didn’t want to waste any time.

“No,” she said with somewhat strong voice, “not yet.”

With quick hands, she hurried to pull down the zipper of Oliver’s jacket and pushed the fabric down his shoulders. She wanted him – all of him – and she wanted it now.

“I guess we have to continue until I have gotten it right then.”

Felicity chuckled and lowered her feet to the ground, so she could stand on her own feet. Doing so, she could push him a few inches away and make quicker work of his clothes. She took off his shirt and let the wet fabric fall to the floor. She hurried to unknot his sweat pants after that, hooked her fingers into their waistband and pulled them down with his boxer briefs in one go.

Stepping out of his sweatpants and boxer briefs that pooled around his ankles, Oliver took a step forward. He pushed Felicity back against the tiles at the wall and pushed one hand under her knee to wrap her leg around his hip and open him to her. Felicity could feel him hot and ready for her already. Obviously, she hadn’t been the only one that had been utterly turned on by the events this morning.

She moved her hands between them, took hold of his erection and moved her hand along it slowly. A guttural sound fell from Olive’s lips. His eyes went dark, and his jaws clenched together tightly. She could see it in the way his jaws tightened. His hips moved in rhythm to her hand’s strokes, pushing his cock into her hand eagerly.

As much as Felicity loved when Oliver took control and just took her, she also enjoyed moments like this very much. Oliver was so used to be in control over everything that it was good to see him give up all control and just hand it all to her. He trusted her so much that he would allow her to take all control. Just like that.

When his breathing quickened, he pushed away her hand and placed the head of his cock at her entrance. Raising his gaze to hers, so their eyes locked, he pushed into her and filled her completely. He only stopped when he was buried into her to the hilt. He paused then, giving them both the moment to adjust and enjoy.

Having sex with Oliver always felt so special. It didn’t matter how often they had done it already or where and how they had done it already. Every new time was special, and Felicity doubted that she could ever get enough. As corny as it sounded, it was simply because she loved Oliver so much. She loved him so much that every time felt like it was new and special.

Felicity moved the tips of her fingers through Oliver’s stubble. She started at his chin and moved them all the way to the lope of his ear and from there to the back of his neck. She placed her hand there and pulled him closer until they lips came clashing together. Oliver’s tongue slipped into her mouth, while his front teeth were scraping against her bottom lip.

Moaning into his mouth, Felicity wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could. Balancing on the toes of her left foot, she started moving her hips. Oliver chimed in with her movements instantly. He tightened his hand behind her knee and put the other hand against the tiles of the shower. His lips never let hers.

They both moved unhurriedly. Despite their need for each other and the way they had planned to ravish each other, they just took their time now. Lazy morning sex was what they were going for because the lazier they moved, the longer it would take for them to end this. There was no rush. They could take all the time in the world.

While the water kept pattering down on them, they kept kissing, touching and thrusting. It was a perfectly quiet Sunday morning. It was a morning to memorize for sure.

Time became irrelevant. Felicity had no idea how much time passed until she felt another orgasm approaching her. Her toes started tingling, and her breath became more and more erratic. She was about to get lost in Oliver, and she could feel that he wasn’t far from hitting his peak of pleasure either. His thrusts weren’t as controlled as they had been at the beginning. His fingertips were digging into her skin so much that they might leave marks there.

“You know,” he whispered, visibly trying to hold on to his self-control long enough to say whatever he felt he needed to say, “if that is my punishment for being absent without leave, I might do that more often.”

Felicity grinned as much as she could because her body was slowly stopping to listen to what she wanted it to do. She grabbed some strands of his hair at the back of his head and pulled at them firmly.

“Don’t you dare,” she pressed out between gritted teeth, “or I will show you how mad that can truly make me.”

“Oh, don’t tempt me.”

“Trust me. There is nothing tempting about it.”

Felicity scratched her fingernails down Oliver’s back, making him groan. His lips lost his rhythm at the same time, and Felicity felt her own orgasm being triggered by Oliver’s orgasm. Both of their bodies were shaking, still holding onto one another.

The tone of his voice told Felicity that he wasn’t entirely convinced yet. For him, she knew, it had to be even weirder to move back into the mansion. As different as the building looked with all the changes that had been made, it was still a rebuild of his childhood home. It was everything he hadn’t wanted for their children.

Felicity shook her head, turned around in Oliver’s arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. Straightening up onto the tips of her toes, she brought her lips as close to his as possible.

“It doesn’t matter what house we live in,” she told him with soft voice, “because we are all together. We will make this home just by all being there together.”

Oliver leaned his forehead against Felicity’s for a moment before he brushed a soft kiss against her lips. When he pulled back, he turned his head. Felicity let her gaze follow the direction of his eyes. Without talking, they both just enjoyed what their sight for a bit.

Tommy, Millie and Addie were playing with the colorful leaves, throwing hands of them at each other. Hawk was standing by and barking, obviously not sure if it was a game that he wanted to take part in or a fight that he wanted to end. Next to him was Mia, one hand clawed into his fur to keep herself steady on her wobbly legs. She knew exactly that she wanted to join in as her giggles proved.

Felicity had always known that she was lucky with her family, but moments like these proved it all the more. Her children had lost their home too, but they just adjusted to the new situation. They were already making new memories here.

“I think we will be fine,” Felicity said with a sigh, snuggling her cheek against Oliver’s even more, “we really will be.”

Oliver turned his head just enough to place a chaste kiss against the edge of her jaw. Felicity leaned back against Oliver fully and closed her eyes for a moment. She let her words take hold of her heart until she felt the truth of them in every fiber of it.

“We should go inside and-“

“No.” Felicity shook her head, “we should stay right here. We can still go inside in an hour. As long as the kids are happy and having fun here, we should stay here too.”

Oliver hummed. “You’re right. We should stay right here like this. All of us together.”

All of them together, Felicity thought, was really their favorite way of spending time. Once they would go inside, Raisa would have prepared a cozy dinner for them and after that they would all cuddle up to each other and watch a movie. That was how Felicity wanted to spend their first night together in their new home and-

Opening her eyes, Felicity frowned.

“What?” Oliver asked immediately, his muscles tensing as he had surely felt Felicity’s irritation. “What’s wrong?”

“Where’s Emmy?”

Oliver loosened his arms around Felicity, so he could look a closer look around. Felicity did the same.

She wasn’t really worried because she knew that Emmy had come into the front garden with them, and she had definitely seen them before the gate had locked fully. If she had left the property or someone else had, her alarm system would have signaled it to her.

Hence, it didn’t take long for her to find Emmy. She was sitting on the steps in front of the house, one of her schoolbooks on her legs and chewing on the end of her pen, a red pen.

“If that doesn’t wake good memories.”

Felicity flashed Oliver a smile. Of course she remembered their first meeting as well. She would never forget that she had been chewing on her pen when Oliver had showed up at her office. She wouldn’t have remembered that the pen had been red, but of course he had remembered a detail like that and reminded her on their first date.

“Why don’t you end… or join that little fight of these,” Felicity suggested, gesturing towards where Tommy, Millie, Addie and Mia were, “while I will go and check on Emmy.”

“Alright.” Oliver kissed her cheek. “I am sure that I will have more fun though.”

Felicity chuckled, squeezed his forearm once more and left to go to Emmy. Doing so, she heard Oliver mixing with the kids and joining into their little fight. When she shot a quick look back over her shoulder, she saw that he had lifted Mia in his arms and was kicking leaves around. He was already making new memories.

When Felicity had almost approached Emmy, she lifted her gaze and rolled her eyes slightly.

“Wow,” Felicity said, “that’s a reaction seeing me.”

Emmy chuckled. “It’s not because of you.”

“That’s comforting.” Felicity sat down next to Emmy and bumped her shoulder against hers playfully. “What are you doing here? Missing home?”

“No.” Emmy shook her head, but soon stopped. “Maybe a little. But this is our home now. We will like it.”

Felicity smiled about Emmy’s positivity. She knew she was lucky that the kids were taking their move so lightly. She would understand if they would rather like to live in their old neighborhood, surrounded by the families and friends they had gotten to know there. They were trying to make the best out of this situation as everyone else was though.

“So what are you doing here alone?” Felicity asked.

“Homework.”

Felicity raised an eyebrow. “Homework? Weren’t you supposed to do that yesterday?”

Emmy sighed as dramatically as only a child could. “I forgot it, Mom.”

With everything that had been going on in their lives, Felicity decided that a forgotten homework was really nothing to worry about and nothing to ruin these first hours in their new home.

“So, what homework did you forget?” Felicity asked. “Mathematics?”

“Nope.”

Felicity grumbled. It would have been too easy if it had been Math. She could have easily solved the homework right here in a couple of minutes.

“So, what subject is it?”

“It’s ethics.” Emmy held out her worksheet for Felicity. “Because of the new vigilante laws, we are talking about vigilantes and heroes now.”

Felicity smiled about Emmy’s excitement, skimmed the worksheet.

1) Who is your favorite hero? – My dad

“I’ll try not taking it too personally,” Felicity mumbled to herself, shot Emmy a brief glance and winked at her.

2) Why do you consider this person a hero? – He always does what’s right, and he risks his life to catch criminals although he could be killed and almost went to prison.

Emmy’s choice probably wouldn’t surprise anyone.

3) Is there anything your hero is afraid of? – My mom.

Felicity was skimming the worksheet so quickly that she almost missed this little gem. Reading it now, she pressed her lips together and did her best not to laugh out loud.

“You know, Sweetie,” she said, keeping her voice calm, “you should show this worksheet to daddy. I think he has a few good ideas for question four to seven.”

Emmy didn’t question her mother’s suggestion. She took the worksheet and quickly walked over to Oliver, who interrupted the game immediately and read the worksheet. Felicity could pinpoint the exact moment that he read Emmy’s answer to question three. Pushing his tongue against the inside of his cheek, he lifted his gaze. His eyes locked with Felicity’s, and she could see his amusement as well as his pretended shock.

“Mom said you could help with the rest of the questions,” Emmy said, and Oliver turned his attention towards her, “so can you please help?”

Staying where she was, Felicity watched Oliver and Emmy continuing to complete the worksheet. Emmy didn’t really need Oliver’s help though. She rejected half of his ideas, probably because those were ideas of a grown-up rather than a ten-year-old. Still, it was nice to watch their back-and-forth.

When the sun came out, Felicity closed her eyes and held her face into the sun, feeling her skin warming immediately. She loved a golden fall when all the leaves changed their colors and the sun was out and everything just looked golden.

Besides, in the middle of October you could already think about Hanukkah and Christmas. That was something Felicity was very much looking forward to. She loved that time of the year. It meant lightning candles and cuddling under a blanket while you were drinking hot chocolate and watching a movie.

An alarm on her phone interrupted Felicity’s thoughts of those cozy nights. She pulled her phone out from the back pocket of her jeans and frowned when she saw that her security system notified her of an unknown visitor. Within seconds, her system ran a facial search on the man and gave her some basic information about him. At the same time, the security guards notified her that a visitor wanted to talk to them.

“What’s going on?” Oliver asked, standing next to her now with a worried frown.

“We have a visitor,” Felicity said, cocking her head, “Mr. Martin Jacobson from the local animal shelter.”

Oliver perked up an eyebrow, but Felicity just shrugged her shoulders. She got up, grabbed his hand and pulled him with her towards the gates. Instead of asking themselves, she knew they should just ask Mr. Jacobson himself what they could do for him.

“Our first visitor here,” Felicity said, leaning her head against Oliver’s shoulder with a smile, “it’s almost a little exciting.”

Oliver kissed the top of her head. “For my part, I would just like to go back to spending time with our kids and make ourselves feel at home.”

“We will,” Felicity told him, squeezing his hand, “just give it a couple of minutes.”

When they reached the gate, Charlie, one of the security guards told them, “Mr. Jacobson is here with one of the dogs. He would like to talk to you.”

“Let him come in,” Oliver suggested.

Charlie opened the gate where one of his colleagues was waiting with Mr. Jacobson. The tall, haggard-looking man seemed to be nervous as he stepped through the gate and onto the property. He looked at the building, sucked in a deep breath and gulped heavily. When he turned to Oliver and Felicity, he did his best to smile, but it looked insecure and forced. He had a dog with him, a blue American Staffordshire Terrier with white paws and a white spot on the chest. The young dog waggled its tail and looked at the people surrounding it curiously.

“Mr. Mayor, Mrs. Queen, I am very sorry to interrupt. I am sure that you are busy with the…” He looked up the driveway and frowned slightly. “…the move.”

Felicity linked her arm with Oliver’s and leaned against him when she smiled at Mr. Jacobson and replied, “We made sure to have everything here before we moved in. With six kids, it’s just a lot easier that way.”

Mr. Jacobson smiled at that. “I can imagine.”

He let his eyes wander over the façade of the house, the wide lawns and the kids that had stopped playing with the leaves. Instead, they were throwing a ball to one another. Hawk followed the ball without showing any efforts to take it from the kids. Mia, who was sitting on Tommy’s feet, clapped her hands excitedly and squealed in delight.

When Felicity looked back at Mr. Jacobson, he was still looking at the kids. Although she doubted that there was any danger coming from him, she cocked her head and frowned slightly.

“Can we help you in some way?”

Looking back at them, Mr. Jacobson released a long breath. He tried to smile, but it looked nervous.

“I am not sure you can although I hope you- Yumi.”

He said the last word with soft voice, but it still sounded like a warning. It took Felicity a split second to realize that he was talking to the dog. Yumi had apparently caught sight of Hawk. She had lowered her head to the ground and was pushing her butt up in the air, waggling her tail. She was obviously in the mood to play. Judging from Hawk’s excited posture, so was he.

When Yumi suddenly jumped forward, the leash tensing, Mr. Jacobson had to take a large step to not stumble forward.

“Yumi!”

Yumi looked at him, whined and sat down. It wasn’t easy for her though. Her muscles were tense, ready to jump whenever she was given the go. Her head turned back and forth between Hawk and her handler.

“She looks friendly,” Oliver said, “is she?”

“Absolutely. She loves dogs and people. Cats are her weakness, but she can still be called back when she sees them.”

“Then just let her off leash,” Felicity suggested, shrugging her shoulders, “Hawk loves dogs too, and he is obviously in the mood for a game. And the kids know how to act around dogs they don’t know too.”

Mr. Jacobson seemed relieved at that although Felicity doubted that he would have trouble holding Yumi. He might look haggard, but something told Felicity that he was stronger than he looked.

He unleashed the young dog, who looked at him excitedly, but only ran when he gave his “Go”. Immediately, Yumi sprinted to Hawk, and the two dogs started their little game of chasing each other.

“They seem to like each other,” Oliver said, putting an arm around Felicity’s shoulders, “so it looks like Hawk is the first one who has made new friend in the neighborhood.”

“True.” Felicity squeezed Oliver’s hand before she turned towards Mr. Jacobson. “Yumi seems like a very good girl. If we can help in finding her a family, we would-“

“That’s… the thing.” Mr. Jacobson hunched his shoulders and pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I was wondering if you could take her into your family.”

Felicity perked up her eyebrows, shot Oliver a brief glance and discovered that he did the same. Apparently, neither of them had seen that coming. Before they could ask about it, Mr. Jacobson already explained the situation.

“Yumi has been abandoned by her owners. They just knotted her leash to the fence of our shelter a couple of weeks ago. We found Yumi there and discovered that she is a very gentle girl, always eager to please.”

“It should be easy to find a family for her then,” Oliver said, frowning, “wouldn’t it?”

“You would think so, yes.” Mr. Jacobson sighed. “Unfortunately, most people buy puppies from breeders nowadays and a lot of people shy away from dogs with unknown history in particular. Our shelter is full, and we were ordered to euthanize some dogs. Yumi was on the list because we have too many dogs of her breed in the shelter, and apparently the district office thinks that Staffordshire Terrier are not family-friendly. Some of them aren’t, I have to admit, but it’s only because they weren’t trained to be.”

Felicity got that. You could train most dogs in different directions. You could turn the nicest dog into a terrible thing if you wanted to. It was a shame, Felicity though, looking at Yumi, who was now carefully sniffling the kids, who were standing still, just like they had learned.

“I understand that the situation is difficult,” Felicity said, looking back at Mr. Jacobson again, “but I am not sure that we can help you. I mean-“

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” he said in a hurry, “but I know that you have a great family, and I know that Hawk is very much appreciated all over Starling City. If you adopted Yumi, you wouldn’t only give her a chance. All of our dogs at the shelter would have a better chance at being adopted. Starling follows your leading. If you adopt a dog from the shelter, so will a lot of others.”

Felicity didn’t know what to say about that. Of course she understood what he said, and she knew that he was right. It would be a good thing to do, the right and honorable thing to do, but could they honestly do that? Felicity doubted it.

“I-“

“I think we need some time to think about it,” Oliver hurried to say before Felicity could say anything, “so maybe we could just spend the day with Yumi and see where things are going.”

Mr. Jacobson smiled like they had already agreed to adopt her and nodded his head eagerly. He pointed his thumb back over his shoulder at the gate.

“I will… leave my number with these nice guys out there, so you can call me anytime if there is something wrong. I will come back tomorrow, so you can tell me what you have decided.”

Before they could change their mind of even say their goodbyes, Mr. Jacobson had already left. Felicity could hear him informing Charlie about his phone number, so Charlie could note it down.

Felicity turned to Oliver, cocking her head at him. He just looked back at her. Even when she intensified the expression in her eyes, he just shrugged his shoulders innocently.

“Oliver,” she said with a whine, dropped her head against his chest and chuckled lightly, “what are you doing?”

When she angled her head back to look at him again, he smiled innocently.

“Extending our family?”

“You do realize that we have six kids already, most of them pre teenage?”

Oliver nodded.

“And a dog of round about 100 pound?”

Again, Oliver nodded.

“As well as demanding daytime jobs and an even more demanding mission to keep this city safe which has recently taken new turns, so we need to find a new footing with it and the rest of our lives?”

Oliver puckered his lips. If he was feeling guilty for even considering Mr. Jacobson’s idea, he was doing a good job hiding it.

Grabbing her shoulders, Oliver turned her around and pulled her against him. While she was leaning back against him, Oliver rested his chin on her shoulder. Looking in the same direction, they observed how Yumi had rolled herself on her back and was letting the kids tickle her tummy now.

“I know it’s sweet,” Felicity said, “but are we sure it’s fair to Raisa or the rest of the family to take in someone new? We would all have one more soul to take care of.”

“True.” Oliver sighed. “But don’t you think it’s a sign? Mr. Jacobson showing up here on our first day with a dog named Yumi? You know, Yumi-“

“-means bow in Japanese, I know.” Felicity rolled her eyes. “I am married to an archer.”

Oliver gasped dramatically. “Am I supposed to be jealous?”

“Absolutely.”

They both chuckled quietly before Oliver put his hands to Felicity’s shoulders and turned her around to him once more. He kept his eyes on her shoulders when he looked at her intently.

“Look, we don’t have to do this.” He smiled softly. “I think it would be nice, but if you have second thoughts, we will call Mr. Jacobson and tell him that we don’t think we are the right family for Yumi.”

Felicity could see in Oliver’s eyes that he meant it. If she said that she didn’t think this was a good idea, they would call Mr. Jacobson and Yumi would go back to the animal shelter. To be euthanized if they didn’t find someone else to take her in.

Once more, Felicity looked at Yumi. Apparently, she was now learning to shake hands since Millie was repeatedly telling her to shake hands, grabbing her paw and shaking it. It took a couple of tries before Yumi just lifted her paw on her own and let Millie shake it. She seemed to be a quick learner.

Taking Yumi in would be great for the kids that was for sure. They loved Hawk and they already loved Yumi. Felicity could easily see that.

In some way, Yumi wouldn’t even make so much more work. They already had Hawk, who needed to be walked every day, so taking two dogs wasn’t much of a difference. Yumi also seemed to be very eager to please everyone she met, just like Mr. Jacobson had said she would.

Felicity leaned against Oliver’s body once more.

“Let’s try it.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows. “Really?”

Turning her head back to lock her eyes on Oliver’s face, Felicity nodded her head.

“We had so many changes in our lives, what’s one more, right?” She chuckled quietly. “So we will try this for a week and see if it works. It if does, we will adopt her. If it doesn’t, we will find someone who will.”

Oliver nodded, but he shot a brief look past her at the kids and the dogs. He puckered his lips and scrunched his nose slightly before he focused his gaze back on her.

“You do know that the children will have fallen in love with her within a week, right? We would break their hearts if we take her away after a week.”

“I know.” Felicity wrapped her arms around Oliver’s waist and rested her cheek against his chest. “Let’s pretend that we are taking a well-considered choice here.”

With a chuckle, Oliver wrapped his arms around Felicity’s shoulders and kissed her head.

Their family had overcome a lot of troubles in these past weeks. It was only fair that they helped a soul in need to rise from their ashes too. It was just that simple.

Admittedly, Oliver was feeling a little guilty for having Thea take care of everything. She had offered it herself, but he knew that she was still feeling guilty for not going into the field with the others the night of Rose Blood’s final attack. No matter how often he told her that he understood, she would only smile sadly and say that she wasn’t ready to forgive herself for it.

The truth was that Oliver was grateful that Thea was taking on the task of making this rebuilt mansion ready for them to move in. She was seeing things rather rationally and tried to make it a new home instead of trying to make it resemble the old Queen Mansion or Queens’ last burnt down family home. The first would have been difficult as Felicity had made changes when rebuilding the house in the first play, trying to make it lighter and more family-friendly. The latter had been difficult because the entire style of the house was different from the home Oliver had built for his family.

It had been weeks since he had been released from the prison and pardoned by the president. All that time, he, Felicity and the kids had still been living in the penthouse of the hotel that Bruce had bought, so Felicity and the kids had had a safe place to say. Although it was comfortable there and they had arranged themselves there, it wasn’t a real home. It was just a place to stay, and they all needed to get back into a real home and to their new normal.

Oliver looked around shortly. The foyer that had been covered in dark wood and old, dark furniture back when it had been the original mansion that he had grown up in, was almost unrecognizable. The paneling was simpler and lighter, so were the carpet and the furniture there. It was different than the mansion had been, and it was different than their home had been. But it was a style that he liked, something to get used to and something to feel at home in.

“The floors and walls in the offices are done, so you can choose what to do when you are ready. Since you said they aren’t priority-“

“They aren’t,” Oliver interrupted her, shaking his head. “We have our offices at Queen Incorporated and City Hall, and we can work everywhere. Our priority are the family rooms – living room, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms, bedrooms.”

“Raisa is currently filling the kitchen cabinets, and the bathrooms have been finished three days ago. There is only a little bit of decorating missing, but I found a nice local shop whose owner was so thrilled when I told her that I was looking for decoration on your house, and she immediately agreed to come here and decorate the rooms herself.”

Oliver opened his mouth to say something, but Thea lifted a hand.

“Before you say anything, I told her what you like and don’t like, and the ideas that she told me sounded great. And of course I called Felicity, who ran a quick security check on her. I wouldn’t let a stranger into your new home before I knew that the stranger could be trusted.”

He knew she wouldn’t. Oliver smiled gratefully, but Thea just turned back to her report.

“The bedrooms are a little bit more difficult.” Thea turned the page on her clipboard and skimmed the precise lists that she had made to always know where everything was at. “Your bedroom is almost done, but the bed is still not delivered. I checked back with the shop, and it should be here by Wednesday. The furniture for the dressing room is delivered, but the dressers and shelves aren’t set up yet. Even if they are – what would you put in there? You barely have any clothes.”

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “We can buy new clothes.”

“Again, not a priority,” Thea concluded from his tone and nodded her head, “understood. If Felicity is ready for a wild shopping spree-“

“-I am sure she will call you.”

“She better does.” Thea grinned, but she turned serious again quickly. “I took Emmy and Tommy here to check the progress on their rooms earlier this week. Unfortunately, Emmy’s room was painted in the wrong color, so we had to redo that one, but we were able to put in some of the furniture yesterday. Emmy will come by again tomorrow, so she can decide if she wants anything placed differently. She also needs to decide on some more decorations. Tommy was happy with his progress, but it turned out that we made a mistake measuring the room, so the planned astronomy corner wouldn’t have fit with the furniture. We sent the furniture back and ordered new ones which should be here by tomorrow or the day after that.”

Oliver nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

“William’s room is finished. We will have a video call later today, so he can make sure everything is the way he wants it to be.”

Again, Oliver nodded. He was glad that William had a room in their new house too. Although he wasn’t home that much anymore, Oliver was glad he still had a place in the house. It would feel wrong otherwise. He wanted William to know that he was always welcomed here and that they loved him like crazy.

“Millie’s and Addie’s rooms are still mainly undone. Neither of you has told me yet what the two really want. I sent you the drafts for the rooms, but… no reply.”

Oliver sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Millie and Addie can’t really decide on an idea, and Felicity and I just had so much on our hands lately and…”

Thea smiled at him sympathetically. “I know. I didn’t mean to reproach you. I’m just saying that I need a decision to continue my work.”

“I know. You will have our decision by tomorrow. I promise.”

When Thea was able to start working on Millie’s and Addie’s rooms by tomorrow, they might be able to move in by the weekend or maybe the beginning of the next week, Oliver estimated. That wasn’t too long away, but it wasn’t too close to feel hurried either. They didn’t have much stuff at the hotel as it was, so it wouldn’t be too hard to move. It could be done in a day.

Still thinking about the upcoming change in their life, Oliver caught the hesitant expression on Thea’s face. Perking his eyebrows, he cocked his head.

“Is there anything you aren’t telling me?” he asked. “A murine plague? Must? Safety defect?”

“John, Bruce, Felicity and you certainly turned this into another Fort Knox. I doubt that anyone comes in that isn’t supposed to. I am not even sure anyone will get out of here if you don’t want it.”

“Good to know,” Oliver said, thinking about the kids and the fact that they would grow up into teenagers. He knew the things he had done as a teenager. They had been stupid back then, for his children they could easily be dangerous. “So what else is there?”

Thea looked at her clipboard, pursed her lips and held it out for him.

“It has to be bad,” Oliver joked.

As soon as he took the clipboard from her and looked at the item on her list that was marked with three big question marks, Oliver felt his smile fading from his face though.

Mia’s nursery was written there in Thea’s neat handwriting.

He thought about the mobile he had found in the ruins of their homes. It was the only thing that had been left of Mia’s room, and it was almost the last thing left of her at all. They had their memories and photos, but every other evidence that she had been a part of their lives had been burnt with their house.

Well, of course there was the devastating pain they had been left with too. It wasn’t really visible to anyone else, but that pain was with them all the time. Mia had come into their lives unexpected, but they had loved her just as much as they loved all of their children. She had been left with them because they had been trusted with her.

“I watched the TV interview,” Thea said into the silence. “Felicity is still suffering, isn’t she?”

“We all are,” Oliver whispered, “but we have to move on.”

“There’s no chance you are getting her back?”

Oliver shook his head. “Apparently, our lifestyle is not appropriate for being foster parents.”

Thea shook her head. “It’s not fair.”

“No, it’s not.” Oliver sighed. “But they don’t want to take Mia out of her new foster family either. They think it’s necessary for her to have stability. I can’t argue with that, so…”

Stepping forward, Thea wrapped her arms around Oliver and hugged him tightly. Oliver wrapped his arms around Thea in return and sighed once more.

He remembered how hard it had been to learn how much time of William’s life he had missed when he had learned that he had had a son for years. In some way this was worse because he knew what a short time of Mia’s life he had been able to be a part of. There wouldn’t be more. At least with William, he had always known that they had an entire future to look forward to and to make up for the time they had missed out on.

With Mia, all they had was their past.

→ → → → →

“At the time Oliver turned himself in, we were fostering the little girl that was abandoned outside of the Smoak & Queen Science Center. We fell in love with her instantly. It felt like there was a reason why she was placed right where we would find her. The social worker that was responsible for her told Oliver that the little girl would have quite some troubles to find a family to take her in. Even in foster care, it wouldn’t be easy for her. The media had already taken interest in her, and her health issues might shy away possible adoptive parents too. That is how Oliver and I made the decision to take her in. It was a difficult process, especially emotionally. Living with the fear that she might be taken away from us because her biological family would want her back or because we would be seen as unfit to take care of her was difficult.” Felicity took in a trembling breath. “We were afraid of getting our hearts broken when she would be taken away. And she was. In the process of-“

The recording of the interview stopped on Felicity’s face. Her eyes were filled with tears, a single one rolling down her cheek. The stress and pain of talking about her loss was all too visible. It was a heartbreaking image, one she had seen a few times too often these last days.

Shaking her head, Felicity muted the TV and went back to cuddling Hawk. He was lying on his side in front of her, his back pressed to her front. Felicity snuggled her face into his fur and closed her eyes.

It had been a week since the interview had been broadcasted. Ever since she had seen herself crying about the loss of her youngest child at least five times a day. That snippet of the interview had been broadcasted on TV multiple times, and it was shown on every gossip website too. Everyone on social media seemed to be talking about it too. Since everyone in the city seemed to have watched the interview, she had been looked at with a lot of sympathetic expressions in the eyes.

All she had wanted to do was watching the news and of course the first piece had been about that interview. It should have been about a lot more than their loss. It should have been about the new beginning for the city, the new transparency about what they were doing and how they were doing. It should have been about Starling City’s future. Now that seemed to be a little, almost forgotten fragment of what that interview had been about.

Blinking through one eye, Felicity tried to figure out if any important local news had started yet. She found a reporter, an elderly man whose name she had forgotten, reporting from in front of the Office of Children and Family Service. Behind him, she could see protestors.

Felicity sat up and unmuted the TV.

“…since early this morning. We have talked to some protestors who explained that their main reason for gathering here is to show loyalty to the Queen Family. Oliver Queen, one of them said, was ready to give up his freedom to save this city. He thinks that the least people can do for the man that turned this city into a real union is to show up in support and fight a fight that he himself might be too tired fighting.”

The image changed. Instead of the reporter, a group of protestors were shown now. They held up signs, saying Bring Mia back! and He gave us our city. Now give him his baby. or We trust them with the city, why not trust them with a baby?

“The CPS did not respond to any of our requests for an interview so far and-“

Felicity switched off the TV and just stayed sitting on the couch without moving for a moment. Hope had sparked inside of her, and Felicity hated that. She had hated that Mia wasn’t with them, but she had accepted that there was nothing to be done about that. That was why hope was dangerous.

When the elevator that led to the penthouse opened with a quiet sound, Hawk jumped over the back of the couch and ran to welcome Oliver back home.

“Hey, Buddy,” she heard him say, “what would you think about a run? I could need a good run.”

Hawk barked in response, making Oliver chuckle.

Felicity lifted her hands and rubbed them over her face. The sooner she forgot about this report, the better. She would just have to pretend like she had never seen it in the first place.

Putting on a smile, she breathed out slowly once more and turned to follow Hawk to the specious entrance area where the elevator was. Oliver was standing there in his suit, the jacket tossed away and the sleeves of his shirt rolled up. Hawk had climbed up on him, his forelegs hanging over Oliver’s arms and his head snuggled against Oliver’s chest while he was petting him.

As soon as Oliver lifted his head and his eyes met Felicity’s, she frowned and cocked her head. He rarely ever looked tired. Today he did though.

“What’s wrong?”

They asked the question at the same time as Oliver must have seen the same tiredness in Felicity’s eyes. Chuckling softly, Oliver set Hawk’s forepaws back on the ground. He crossed the distance towards Felicity and wrapped his arms around her body tightly then. Felicity leaned her head against his chest, closed her eyes and breathed him in. With Oliver here, everything was easier and she just felt at home. Even in this still quite cool and impersonal penthouse.

She hummed contently, wrapping her arms around Oliver’s middle loosely. His heartbeat was slow and firm, just the way it should be. Whenever she took the time to listen to it, she realized why he had to like sleeping his ear pressed to her chest so much. There was something incredibly soothing about listening to the heartbeat of the person you loved.

“Are you okay?” he asked with whispered voice and placed a kiss to the crown of her head.

“I am now.” Felicity snuggled herself a little more into his arms before she leaned her head back to look at him. “You?”

“Okay now.” He smiled at her softly before dipping his head forward and placing another kiss on her forehead. “I’ll make dinner. You can tell me about your day in the meantime.”

He tightened his arms around her briefly before he let go of her. His hands moved to her back, back up and down her arms to her hands. He tangled his fingers with her and pulled her with him towards the kitchen. Hawk followed, surely hoping to be used as a tester for everything that would go into the meal.

While Oliver was already gathering everything he needed for tonight’s recipe, Felicity poured both of them a glass of wine.

“Where are the kids?” Oliver asked, getting a knife to chop the vegetables.

“Emmy is meeting with Priya and Rosalie. Tommy and Millie are in their rooms. Addie is at ballet.”

Oliver nodded without looking up. “So, how was your day?”

“Unspectacular,” Felicity replied with a shrug of her shoulders. She didn’t want to talk about it. If she said more, she worried that she’d tell him about the reports. It was the least she wanted to do. “How was your visit at the house?”

The house. Felicity wasn’t quite ready to call it a home. Back when she had decided to rebuild the mansion and maybe live there one day, everything had been different. She hadn’t been used to live in a home that was completely hers and Oliver’s. Now that she was, it felt a little weird to move into the old Queen Family Mansion, even if the changes she had made back then and the changes that had been done in the last weeks made it a completely different property.

“Good.” Oliver looked at her briefly and smiled. “I think we can move in ten days to two weeks.”

Felicity perked up her eyebrows. “Thea must have put a lot of work into it.”

“I think she has worked on it every free hour.”

Although Felicity hadn’t really expected anything else because Thea always put all the effort into things that were important to her and this was important to her.

“Great. I think it’s time that we move out of here and into a real home again. We need to settle a real new normal.”

“Agreed.”

Sipping at her wine, Felicity watched Oliver closely. He was very focused on chopping the vegetables which she found weirdly suspicious because she had watched him cook like a million times before, and she knew that he could chop blindly.

“You have heard about the protests, right?”

Now Oliver lifted his head and looked at her with a frown. “What protests?”

Apparently, she had been wrong, Felicity realized, pressed her lips together and rolled them over her teeth. Oops.

“Nothing.” Felicity shook her head and took a gulp of the wine. “Just forget about it.”

Oliver chuckled, putting the knife down and crossing the distance towards her. He came to stand behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. He swayed her from side to side lightly.

“What protests?” he asked.

With a sigh, Felicity leaned back against him and put a hand to forearm on her stomach. She was sure that telling him about these protests would ground her again. It would help her accept that each and every spark of hope that Mia could come back to them would only add to the pain of accepting that Mia wasn’t coming back. She didn’t want to make Oliver’s heart break though.

“Felicity.” He said her name slowly and syllable-by-syllable. It was his way of saying that she wasn’t getting out of this. She had to tell him whether she wanted to or not because he wouldn’t let it go. “Tell me.”

Another sigh escaped her lips before she turned around to him and explained, “Apparently, some protestors have gathered in front of the CPS. They want Mia to be given back to us.”

Although Oliver tried not to show any reaction to her words, Felicity could see the emotions flickering over his face. There was hope for a split second, followed by worry, pain and finally worry again.

“Felicity.”

“I know.” Felicity clicked her tongue, shook her head and turned away from Oliver. She went to the opposite side of the counter and continued chopping the vegetables that he had left there before. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’m sorry.”

With held breath and biting down on her tongue, Felicity continued to chop the vegetables and waited for Oliver to say anything. He was about to when-

“Is Mia coming back?”

Oliver and Felicity both turned their heads to see Millie standing in the door, looking at them with her soft eyes. Oliver shot a brief look back at Felicity before he approached Millie and kneeled down in front of her, so they could look eye-to-eye.

“No, Millie.” Oliver shook his head and reached out his hands to take Millie’s in his. “Mia is not coming back. She is with a new family who will take good care of her.”

“But it was my birthday wish.”

Felicity had to fight the tears that threatened to well in her eyes. Even without having Milie explain what she meant, she knew it.

“I wished for Mia to stay with us,” she explained anyway, “so why doesn’t she?”

Oliver pulled at Mia’s hands until she was in his arms. He hugged her tightly, just like he had hugged Felicity before. Millie snuggled into his arms and released a long, sad sigh.

“Mia is with a new family,” Oliver repeated, “and that’s okay. All we ever wanted was for Mia to be healthy and happy, didn’t we?”

“And to stay with us.”

True, Felicity thought, but they couldn’t tell Millie that. It was hard enough for her to understand why Mia couldn’t stay with them. If Oliver and Felicity added to the confusion, it would be even harder for her.

“If I was taken away from you, would you just let me go?”

Felicity felt the air being sucked from her lungs and her heart being clenched down on until it had no more room to beat. If she had thought that her heart had been broken before, it was completely shattered now. She had always thought of herself as a mother who had an eye for the thoughts and feelings of her children. Today she seriously questioned her opinion of herself.

Of course she had known that Mia’s sudden disappearance from the family had been hard on the kids. She had known that they were sad and that they couldn’t really understand why that decision had been made or at least why Mia wasn’t taken back to them now that Oliver was back with them. Until now, the thought that their reaction to Mia’s removal caused them to think such unthinkable thoughts.

“Of course not.” Oliver pushed at Millie’s hips lightly until she was standing in front of him, and he could look her in the eyes. “We would never just let you go and be okay with that. We would fight until you were back home with us.”

“But not for Mia?”

Millie looked at Oliver for a long moment. He didn’t have an answer for her. Neither had Feliciy. So Millie probably made her own answer of that, turned around and walked away.

The silence Oliver and Felicity were left in was deafening. Felicity doubted that she’d feel worse if Millie had cried and screamed at them and just told them that she hated them. This was at least just as bad.

→ → → → →

When the alarm went off, Felicity felt Oliver rolling onto his side and switching it off. With a sigh, he turned back on his back again and looked at the ceiling just like she was. She hadn’t caught any sleep last night, and there was no use asking Oliver. He had been lying in bed next to her and brooded at least as loudly as she had.

“We need to talk to Millie again today,” Felicity said quietly, still looking at the ceiling.

“I know.” Oliver sighed. “I have been trying to find out what we could tell her, but nothing has come to mind. Have you thought about anything reasonable?”

“We will tell her that we have tried to get Mia back, but that we just don’t have many rights because we aren’t her legal parents. With her, that is different. We have more rights and we would use them to fight until she was back home with us.”

Oliver didn’t have to say anything for Felicity to know what he was thinking. Was that really enough to convince Millie? Would she understand and accept this answer? Felicity doubted it, and she knew Oliver was thinking the same.

There had been a lot of impossibilities in their lives, and they had always fought against it until they had succeeded. This time, they had made a few calls, met a couple of people and that had been it.

“I will make breakfast.” Felicity rolled to the edge of the bed and put on one of Oliver’s large hoodies that had been discarded on the floor. “Take your time with the shower.”

It was her way of telling him that she wanted a moment for herself, and she knew that Oliver would agree.

Felicity went to the kitchen barefoot and headed right for the coffee machine. Smiling, she found that Oliver had prepared it before they had gone to bed last night already. He had known already that she would need that coffee first thing in the morning.

With the mug of hot coffee between both of her hands, she went to the kitchen island, rested her elbows on the counter and closed her eyes for a moment as she breathed in the smell of coffee. She wasn’t surprised that the scent didn’t relax her as much as it usually did. It was a lot to ask of coffee to take away worries like hers.

She was about to try and distract herself by preparing breakfast when one of the smaller alarms she had set up for the security went off. Frowning, she went over to the nearest display and found that the elevator was being used. There were no signs of a break-in, but since she hadn’t been informed of a visitor by any member of the security team, she guessed someone must have sneaked past them.

Well, at least that would get her mind off the conversation she would have to have with Millie later today.

Felicity took her tablet and called up the control panel for the penthouse. She was already about to stop the elevator when she decided to take a quick look at the footage from inside the elevator first-

and felt her heart stop beating.

The entire world seemed to stop around her. Time froze and refused to continue. Felicity felt unable to move, unable to think. She was unable to do anything but stare.

Only Oliver’s quick steps behind her made time go on again. She turned around to him, still feeling trapped in time, only able to move very slowly. Oliver was standing there in jeans and a white shirt, his muscles tense, his face worried.

“The alarm went off,” he said, “what’s wrong?”

Felicity opened her lips to say something, but no sound came out. She tried again, but the result was the same.

In that moment, the quiet pling! of the elevator made Oliver turn around and hurry to the entrance area to face the intruder. It took a moment until Felicity could convince her feet to follow Oliver.

And there they were. The elevator doors were already closing behind Mrs. Wheeler, who was holding a bouncy Mia in her arms.

Oliver and Felicity just stared at the visitors, neither of them able to speak. Again, it felt like time had been frozen though Mia didn’t seem trapped in time. She went back and forth between babbling to her stuffed sloth behind her pacifier and squealing at Oliver and Felicity. Mrs. Wheeler just smiled softly, not saying a word. She didn’t seem to be frozen in time either, Felicity realized, but rather just patiently waiting for them to process this visit.

“Mrs. Wheeler,” Oliver was the first to find his voice again, “what are you doing here?”

Mrs. Wheeler’s smile grew even softer. “You might have heard about the protestors that have been taking up position in front of our offices?”

“Yes, it was on the news.”

“Well, they called our offices at least a hundred times since early last morning to talk about this case, so my boss eventually decided to call in an emergency meeting and revisit this case.”

Only now Felicity realized that she wasn’t breathing and sucked in a much-needed breath. She believed that she understood what Mrs. Wheeler was trying to tell her, but she didn’t dare to hope. That hope she had felt yesterday when she had heard about the protests had already been too much.

“I- I don’t think I understand,” Oliver said, his voice shaking slightly. “What are you saying?”

As if she had understood what was being talked about, Mia leaned forward in Mrs. Wheeler’s arms, reached out her hands in on Oliver and Felicity’s direction and said, “Mama. Dada.”

“I couldn’t have said it better.”

Mrs. Wheeler crossed the distance towards Oliver and Felicity. Since Mia’s arms were still reached out for them, Felicity automatically lifted Mia into her own arms and held her against her chest. Immediately, Mia’s face brightened with a wide smile, and Felicity felt her breath getting shaky.

“Before you outed yourself to be the Green Arrow, we thought of you as the perfect family for Mia,” Mrs. Wheeler explained, “but after you turned yourself in, we had to react. The president pardoned you though, so the reasons for taking her away have actually been erased.”

“But you said-“

“I know.” Mrs. Wheeler’s smile turned almost a little sad. “We said that Mia needed stability more than anything, and we still think so. I was finally able to make everyone see that Mia finds stability in you more than in anything or anyone else though.”

Mia clutched her sloth to her chest and leaned her head against Felicity’s chin with a sigh. Felicity kissed her forehead and pressed her nose against the top of Mia’s head. Her arms tightened around her. Even if someone tried to take her away from her again, she wouldn’t let them.

“And her foster parents?” Oliver asked, taking a step close to Felicity and rubbing his hand up and down Mia’s back. “What did they say?”

“Their report about Mia’s time with them actually made most of my colleagues agree to bring her back to you. They told them about how restless Mia was. She didn’t like to eat much and she-“

“Mia!”

At the excited exclaim behind her, Felicity turned around to find Millie standing there. The five-year-old ran towards her parents and her youngest sister. When Felicity kneeled down on the floor, Millie hugged Mia tightly and peppered her face with kisses that made Mia giggle.

The loud noises seemed to wake the rest of the kids. One by one, they came from their rooms, saw Mia and joined the reunion on the floor of the entrance area until they were all sitting there. Mia was in the middle of it all, slightly overwhelmed, but obviously very happy. Only Oliver was still standing, looking at the scene before him like he couldn’t process.

“I will give a moment to enjoy as a family,” Mrs. Wheeler said, “if you could just tell me where to wait, so we can discuss the next steps for Mia’s adoption.”

“The kitchen,” Oliver suggested, gesturing towards it, “there is coffee and-“

“I’ll be fine.” Mrs. Wheeler smiled once more before she turned and left to go.

While the kids were still telling Mia how much they had missed her and how much she had missed in these last weeks, Oliver just watched them. Felicity knew how he felt because she was feeling the same. If she hadn’t felt Mia’s heartbeat against her chest a couple of minutes ago, she wouldn’t be able to process this at all either. Even now she was scared that she would just wake up and all of this had just been a dream.

When Felicity reached out a hand for Oliver, he took it and let himself be pulled down on the floor with the rest of the family.

“This feels like a dream,” he whispered what she had thought before and finally turned his head to look at her. “Is it?”

Felicity shook her head and squeezed Oliver’s hand. “This is real. Mia is back with us.”

When he had been younger, Felicity knew, his relationship to the media had been messy. As a white, rich boy he had been followed by paparazzi a lot, and they hadn’t always approached him in good moments. He had been drunk most of the time as he had been drunk most of his young adult life, so they hadn’t really caught him in a good light. He still felt like they saw a little bit of that man in him now which was why he disliked talking to the media most times, even when he was wearing a suit after he had invited them to come to his territory and he decided what he would talk about.

After his return from the island, not just the media but everyone really that had had a little too much interest in him had been a threat or a target. The last words echoed through her mind with Oliver’s voice as he had said those words during their first date back at that little Italian restaurant that had blown up while they had been there. It was why he had kept everyone at arm’s length and made sure nobody got to know his secret.

Nobody had been allowed to know his secret.

Then he had told John because he had needed to save him and he had seemed like a reliable person that he could trust.

Then Helena Bertinelli found out because she had been a lost soul like him, and they had thought that they were the only ones that could truly understand each other.

Then he had been left injured and bleeding after confronting his mother while he had been wearing the hood and suddenly found himself in the back of her car. Well, she had found him there, Felicity thought with a smile, and he had revealed himself to her and the rest was history.

Well, their history at least.

“It’s a good thing.”

Felicity looked at the small set where the interview would be filmed. Two leather armchairs were waiting for Oliver and her. On the opposite side of the small table, another armchair was waiting for woman anchor Marisol Marroquín. She had sent them some of her questions beforehand, but she had also made clear that the interview and especially their answers in it would decide about how she would continue with her interview.

Of course Felicity had did her research von Marisol Marroquín before she had agreed to do this interview. She was known to be a tough reporter, asking the right questions at the right time. She wasn’t going easy on the people she interviewed, but she wasn’t unfair. She accepted boundaries, and she didn’t just try to dig for gossip or whatever. She really wanted to inform people which had made Felicity know that she was the right person for this interview.

“I got a good feeling about this,” she told him once more and turned her head to smile at him, “I really do.”

Oliver smiled back at her, reached out his hand and squeezed her fingers. They held onto each other for a brief moment before they let go.

“We are ready,” one of the set people told them, “so we’d like you to take your seats, so we can check the lighting and the microphones before we start.”

Felicity had given quite some press conferences, she thought while five people from the set checked the microphones, the headlights and the camera positions. Nothing had been quite like this. It was a little much, nothing she could possibly see herself doing more than once.

Eventually, Marisol Marroquín joined them from her dressing room backstage. She looked incredible in her steel blue dress. It made her long, slim legs look fantastic. Her dark hair fell around her face in thick curls. Her full lips were painted in a bright red. Felicity wasn’t surprised that she was such a desired reporter for TV. She didn’t only do a great job, she also looked the part too.

“Are you ready?” she asked them with a smile when she sat down in her arm chair and crossed her legs. “Is there anything you need? Anything we need to talk about before we start?”

Felicity shot a look at Oliver, who looked back at her. He perked up his eyebrows, directing Marisol’s questions right back at her. Felicity shrugged her shoulders. They had talked about the most important issues beforehand, so there wasn’t much more she could possibly ask or say now.

“I think we are as ready as we can be,” Oliver replied.

“Great.” Marisol smiled at them and then turned to one of the people from set, nodding in their direction.

Three minutes later, the cameras started rolling.

“Three weeks ago, Starling City’s greatest secret was finally lifted,” she started directly, looking into the camera. “In a night of citywide fights against criminals, all of our heroes, formerly known as vigilantes, finally let us see the people behind these masks. In the center of this development is a well-known couple that is here with me now.”

She turned towards Oliver and Felicity now.

“Mr. and Mrs. Queen, why did you decide on giving this interview now?”

“After we were forced to reveal ourselves to the public, we were positively surprised about the support the city offered to us. We felt like we owed it to the people who decided to trust us to give that trust back. We want to let people in on the full story of how we came here and also be very transparent about where we are planning to go.”

“The city was in the dark about what we were doing and why we were doing it for a long time,” Felicity added to Oliver’s answer, “and that led a lot of people to doubt the vigilantes at the start. We want to make sure that there won’t be any doubts anymore.”

An almost natural conversation progressed. Marisol asked them how everything had started, so Oliver told her about the sinking of the Gambit and the revelations of his father. He told her about the list and his desire to right his father’s wrongs and how he had tried to find out what his parents had been planning on. He told her about how he had needed help and how he had used the skills of the blonde, babbly IT-girl at Queen Consolidated until he had eventually ended up bleeding in her car after he had interrogated his mother and she had shut him. That was when Felicity chimed in and told her how she had learned for sure what she had known already – that Oliver Queen was the Hood.

Oliver reached out his hand when Felicity said that, and she laced her fingers through his, squeezing his hand. Their love story had always been special. There had been a time that Felicity had wondered if some of that specialty had come from the fact that their love story had been a secret to most people. Since she had had children, she had known that their love was only more special when they could share it with others.

They told her about how the mission had changed, how the team had grown, how Oliver had turned from the Hood to the Arrow to the Green Arrow. They told her about Blood Rose and Ruben Midas, her many attempts as taking revenge and how that had led to Oliver outing himself as the Green Arrow, followed by the team revealing themselves too.

Marisol listened carefully and let them talk. She just asked some questions if Oliver and Felicity were about to forget that they were telling their story to strangers instead of sharing it with each other. She asked questions to fill in some blanks and redirect their focus.

“Looking back from where you are now, would you do anything differently?”

“A lot, I guess.” Oliver smiled regretfully. “I think if we could turn back time, I would try to do things differently from the start.”

“Like killing the people on the list?”

Felicity could feel Oliver’s fingers tightening around hers briefly. It was one thing to talk about the people he killed to her or to the team. Talking about them on national TV, knowing it would probably be broadcasted internationally and the kids as well as their friends would see it, was something entirely different. Fact was that the moment he had outed himself, people had known about it though. They just hadn’t heard why it had started that way or how much Oliver still suffered knowing what he had done.

“I guess it is my biggest regret,” Oliver said slowly, nodding his head. “I wanted to right my father’s wrongs and created my own wrongs along the way. My own trauma from everything that happened in the night of the storm and all those years after that made my blind to the trauma that I have caused. How couldn’t I regret that?”

He made a pause, and squeezed Felicity’s hand once more.

“I know that I don’t want to recreate that devil’s cycle though,” he added then, “so I don’t want my children to feel like they need to right my wrongs when I pass. I want to do it myself, so I am. I hope I am righting my wrongs.”

“Is that your new motivation?” Marisol asked. “To right your wrongs?”

“Partly maybe,” Oliver replied, “but it’s more than that.”

“Starling City is our home,” Felicity explained, feeling like Oliver could need a little break to refocus, “and our children’s home. We love this place, and we love the people here. We want to make this a safe place for good people, a place of fairness and chances. I think that plays a big role in why we are doing this.”

“Safety in vigilantism, fairness in rebuilding the Glades and chances in offering jobs and working charities,” Marisol concluded, “a busy life.”

“Indeed.” Oliver sighed, but he chuckled lightly as well. “It is worth it.”

Marisol, being indeed as good at her job as Felicity had predicter her to be, seemed to sense the need for a little lighter detour too. She certainly knew that it was easier to get the information she wanted if she didn’t press for too many too sensitive information too soon.

“Before the recording of this show, we have been to three of the local elementary schools and gathered questions that some of Starling City’s youngest have for you.”

Felicity was surprised. She hadn’t known about this, and she didn’t think that the show had ever done it before. It was kind of sweet though, and she really liked the idea. The kids were in her children’s age. These kids would grow up with the vigilantes protecting them.

Marisol grabbed for a small basket that had been placed behind her armchair. Dozens of letters were in there. She grabbed one, opened the envelope and read out what it said.

“Elena Kravicski, eight, asks what’s the worst injury that you ever got.”

“I was shot in the shoulder once,” Felicity replied immediately, “so I’d go with that.”

Oliver already opened his mouth to reply, but he fell silent instead. There were so many moments that he could name now, but they were all very intimate. Felicity doubted that he wanted to relive the worst of his injuries on TV.

“I was once bitten by a shark,” he replied eventually, “and although I am not sure that it’s the worst injury, I know it’s the craziest.”

“With everything you have told us today, how does a shark fit into that story?” Marisol asked and chuckled.

Oliver sighed. “That’s a long story.”

Marisol seemed to silently agree that there was no time and no reason to tell this story now. She turned to the next card in her hands.

“Zirui Ling, seven, asks how much you usually work out.”

These lighter questions were actually fun to go through, Felicity realized. Kids knew a lot of superheroes from TV. Their questions proved that they were trying to match their views of superheroes with the city’s own heroes. They asked about their kryptonite, about how they got their outfits, about their possible retirement and their advice for aspiring superheroes.

Felicity was sure that most of these questions could have come from their own kids if they hadn’t grown up knowing about their parents’ secret identities.

“One child, Cristóbal Suarez, eight, asks what makes you the best candidate for the job. He writes, Dear Mr. Queen, when you ran for mayor, you told us why you are the right person for the job. Why are you and your friends the right person for this job, too? A clever question.”

“Indeed,” Oliver replied, nodding his head. His thumb stroked over the back of Felicity’s hand absentmindedly. “I have to say I am not even sure that I am the best candidate. I think everyone who says they are probably prove that they are not. In this job you have to be very self-reflective because if you don’t, you will abuse the power you have eventually. You have to be sensitive with the information you are working with because if you don’t, you will break the trust the people you are trying to serve have in you. You have to put back your own thoughts and needs on the back sometimes because if you don’t, you don’t do what you promised to do.”

He made a long pause, nodding to himself. Felicity knew that he would never say that he was the best candidate for this position. She, on the other hand, could just say it. She knew he was the best heroes this city could have.

“You won’t hear me say that I am the best candidate for this job because it would be easy to say it, but I think it would be wrong. There are people out there that I am sure would do great in this job, some maybe even better than me if they had the same experience and the same skills. So I can promise that, if I ever find someone who could lead this team better than me, I will step down and make room for that person to take over.”

“So you would be open to applications for a spot on your team?”

“This team is based on deep trust as few people ever show themselves able to handle correctly,” Oliver replied, “so it was always hard to let someone new in. I know that some people will read about us or watch this show and think to themselves that they want to be part of this too, but being a hero is not as easy or as glamourous as it might seem.”

“People often forget that it takes a lot,” Felicity added with a nod of her head, “to do what we do. We have all gone through terrible experience. You do a lot of good and you earn a lot of gratitude, but you have to face a lot of losses, too. Sometimes, those sides aren’t balanced. It’s easy to forget that when you see pictures on the news of heroes jumping from roof to roof or whatever.”

“We have talked about some losses and traumatizing experience you and the rest of your team had to face,” Marisol responded to that, “but what you say, in your personal experience, what was the hardest and maybe least expected of the losses that you had to face? Or maybe even a recent one that you had to go through although your team has already been well-established for a while.”

Felicity felt that question forming into a thick rope and wrapping around her throat. It tied off her airways all of a sudden and made her heartbeat quicken.

She had known that a question like this would come, well, or at least she had expected it. The Queen Family had been a family that had been formed by losses as it was. With these new revelations about who they were, the number of losses they had faced in the last fifteen years had just increased even more.

They had indeed suffered a lot of losses. They had lost people. They had been through terrible things, gaining them visible and invisible scars. It should be hard to say which of these experiences had been the worst, but it wasn’t. At least for Felicity it wasn’t.

Oliver, who could feel her grief instantly and would know what loss she was thinking about even if she wasn’t sitting next to him, tightened his hold on Felicity’s hand. He was trying to comfort her, and in some way the way his hand squeezed hers did comfort her. At the same time, she was sure that they both knew that nothing could truly comfort either of them over the loss they had suffered recently.

“When we decided that Oliver had to reveal himself to save the city,” Felicity whispered, “we knew we were giving up on a lot. We knew that he might have to face a lifetime in prison. We knew that our family might have to hide from the villains that we have fought before and even knew ones. We knew that we might have to say goodbye to each other forever, so the kids and I could get to safe place or even just the kids could.”

The truth was that they had known that they had to make that decision, but little had they known what the consequences of that decision might be. They had had so many worries about what might happen. That Oliver had turned himself in could have meant that she would have been arrested too and that the kids would have lost both of their parents. It also could have meant that she and the kids would have been forced to go to same safe house, so nobody could hurt them.

Although Marisol was looking at Felicity intently, definitely looking like she wanted to push for more, but she stayed silent.

“At the time Oliver turned himself in, we were fostering the little girl that was abandoned outside of the Smoak & Queen Science Center. We fell in love with her instantly. It felt like there was a reason why she was placed right where we would find her.”

Oliver had felt that connection before her. He wouldn’t have suggested taking Mia in, not necessarily at least, but she had felt that he had fallen in love with her. Letting go of her after he had stayed with her at the hospital would have been impossible for him.

“The social worker that was responsible for her told Oliver that the little girl would have quite some troubles to find a family to take her in. Even in foster care, it wouldn’t be easy for her. The media had already taken interest in her, and her health issues might shy away possible adoptive parents too. That is how Oliver and I made the decision to take her in.”

She turned her head to look at Oliver briefly. She saw the same pain in his eyes that she felt in her heart. He smiled though, and she knew that he would still make the same decision again now. So would she.

“It was a difficult process, especially emotionally. Living with the fear that she might be taken away from us because her biological family would want her back or because we would be seen as unfit to take care of her was difficult.” Felicity took in a trembling breath. “We were afraid of getting our hearts broken when she would be taken away. And she was. In the process of-“

Felicity’s voice shook and then broke completely. She took in a trembling breath, but she felt her eyes filling with burning tears. She tried to look at the ceiling to will the tears to do anything but drop.

“If you need a break-“

“Mia is in good hands,” Felicity said instead, looking at Marisol again. She needed to get it off her chest. “She was placed in a new home, and I am sure that her foster parents love her very much and take good care of her. But she was part of our family. We miss her like crazy, and she will always be part of our hearts.”

A single tear slipped from her eye now, and Felicity wiped it away quickly.

“I would like to take a break now,” she said then, got up and left.

“Felicity really, really loves this suit.”

John snorted, rolling his eyes and shaking his head. The grin on his face told Oliver that he hadn’t been wrong to tell him the truth. After all these years, John had certainly known why Oliver was late even before he had arrived.

Felicity had just been in a really, really good mood this morning. As soon as she had seen him choosing the grey three-piece suit from his limited wardrobe, her eyes had started sparkling. From the bed she had watched him putting on the suit and listened to his endless rambles about the upcoming meeting today. When he had eventually knotted his tie and turned around to her, asking for her judgement, she had crawled to the edge of the bed. She had wrapped the tie around her hand and pulled him close, telling him that he looked so hot in that suit that she just needed to take if off of him.

Oliver still had to smile at how playful Felicity had been this morning. After everything they had been through, they had finally found their footing again. This morning their first conversation hadn’t been about wondering how Mia started her day. It had certainly been their first thought, but it hadn’t been the first thing they had talked about.

“Laurel isn’t here yet, either?”

John shook his head. “She texted me five minutes ago and should be here any minute though. She was at the DA’s office.”

“Is she getting her job back?”

Oliver knew that he shouldn’t feel guilty about it, but Laurel had left her job, so she could defend him in court. The entire team had experienced some losses these past weeks. Blood Rose had really managed to wreak havoc for a while. Luckily, she hadn’t met her ultimate goal.

“They offered it back to her, but she didn’t accept.” John shrugged. “She wants to do her own thing and will rebuild CNRI. Since she had good connections to the DA’s office and judges, she thinks she can serve as a connection between wrongfully accused and the legal entities.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Oliver looked up and down the street, then glanced on his watch. “What about McKenna?”

“McKenna was snatched away from Starling City.”

Oliver perked up an eyebrow, wordlessly asking for more information. John looked rather relaxed, so Oliver assumed that she wasn’t kidnapped against her will. His choice of words didn’t sound like she was on a spontaneous get-away with her boyfriend either though.

“The government decided that, since McKenna did a good job leading the SCPD through Rose Blood’s attack, she was someone worth keeping. President Harrison sent her a jet to take her to Washington DC where she will work from now on. There are half a dozen men at her apartment as we speak to pack up her stuff and take it to DC. That is how good the government’s offer had been.”

There was so much to say about what John had told him that Oliver didn’t even know where to start. All these changes came a little too quickly for him. He wasn’t good with changes.

“How do you know all of this? About Laurel, about McKenna?”

“While you and Felicity have been figuring out whether that suit looks better on you or on the floor” – John pursed his lips and shot Oliver a mockingly strict glance – “I was the second person everyone called to spill the news.”

Oliver felt for his phone in the inside pocket of his suit jacket, but it wasn’t there. It must have fallen out when Felicity had tossed the jacket to the floor and pulled him into bed, so she could ravish him.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Oliver shook his head. His family and the team had gone through a lot these past weeks. So had the city. It seemed like they all needed to accept more changes.

With a frown Oliver looked at John. “Who will take over? We need someone who doesn’t only accept the vigilantism but supports it. It will be difficult to find a joint footing. With McKenna, I was sure it would work out because we know her long enough and-“

“Don’t worry. Your brother-in-law will take her place.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows. “Dominic?”

John shrugged his shoulders. “He is a good fit, and Lance wanted him to follow in that position anyway. Nick just wasn’t ready. Now he is.”

“At least there is one good thing about this entire thing then.”

“Two good, I’d say,” John reminded him, “because this is going to be good too.”

Oliver wasn’t sure yet. He hoped that the meeting today would help him see everything a little bit more positive, but he wasn’t entirely convinced. They didn’t have to hide anymore which was good, but the team and the police still operated very differently. It would be difficult to actually agree on some key points of their collaboration, and it would be even more difficult to get the government’s blessing on those.

But he shouldn’t be this pessimistic. John was right. There were good things happening here.

“Have you and Felicity already decided on-“

“I’m so sorry,” Laurel hurried to say as soon as she stopped next to them, being quite more out of breath than Oliver had been at his arrival, “I got stuck in traffic and-“

“It’s fine,” Oliver interrupted her, “let’s go.”

They entered the foyer of City Hall and went up the stairs towards the conference room. Some spokesmen of the city and McKenna – or rather Nick, Oliver reminded himself – had gathered there two hours earlier already to gather some ideas that should be discussed with the representatives of the vigilantes. Oliver and John as the team’s half-official leaders and Laurel with her legal knowledge had seemed to be the right people for that.

Felicity had planned to attend to, so technical issues wouldn’t be overlooked, but the kids had whined about the lack of clothes and other stuff they had already – rightfully even. They only had what they had taken when they had left their house and moved to the penthouse. It should have been a couple of days. Not it had been weeks. The penthouse was nice, but it wasn’t a home. It was just a place to stay. It was time to change that because Oliver and Felicity knew it was probably a matter of weeks rather than days until they had found something else.

For now, staying at the penthouse was the safest option, and it meant the kids didn’t have move again and again until he and Felicity had agreed on a solution.

“There you are!”

As soon as they had set foot into the hallway, Becky, his personal assistant that Felicity had chosen for him yeas ago, hurried in their direction.

“They had finished their discussion about fifteen minutes ago. I suggested that they take a little break, offered coffee and donuts, but I think they are a little impatient for the next step to be taken. I mean… this is big.”

Oliver smiled at Becky. “Thank you for taking care of everything.”

“There should be coffee left. If there isn’t, just let me know.”

With that, she went back to her desk, sat down behind it and dived back into work. Oliver watched her for a moment, grateful that she had agreed to work for him years ago and still continued to do so. He guessed she could have easily have an easier job, but apparently she liked challenges.

When Oliver, John and Laurel stepped into the conference room, everyone’s eyes immediately looked at them. The two spokesperson – a man in his sixties and a woman in her late thirties, Oliver estimated and believed he hadn’t met them before – looked them up and down thoroughly. Nick, who was sitting at one of the long sides of the conference table and drank his coffee, seemed to be watching for Oliver’s reaction to his promotion.

“Good morning,” he said to the two spokespeople first, then turned to his brother-in-law, “Captain.”

Nick scrunched up his nose and nodded his head. With a shrug of his shoulders, he leaned back in his chair then, again taking a gulp of his coffee. Eventually, he tore his gaze away, having seen what he had needed to see. Oliver approved of his promotion.

They all sat down around the large table, Nick and the two spokespersons for the city on one side, Oliver, John and Laurel on the other side.

“Before we start,” Nick said, naturally taking the leading for this discussion, “we should first learn what interest we all have in this project. I think that offers a little more transparency to the discussion.”

He looked at the woman to his right, who smiled and nodded her head. “I am Annelies Weston. I am the daughter of Tom Weston, who was saved twice by the Arrow.”

So she was someone who had personally experienced the good vigilantes could do, Oliver thought with some relief.

“I’m John Diggle,” John introduced himself next, “vice-mayor and the vigilante Spartan.”

“Oliver Queen. Mayor and Green Arrow.”

“Dinah Laurel Lance.” Laurel smiled politely. “I was District Attorney until a couple of weeks ago. Now I am planning on rebuilding the CNRI to its full potential.”

When the spokesman was to introduce himself, Oliver looked at him closely. His eyes showed dismissal. He wasn’t eager to be here or looking forward to a good discussion, Oliver thought. He rather looked like he wanted to make sure that this would be as hard as possible.

“Roger Meltzer. You once saved my son,” he said, his eyes completely focused on Oliver, “and that turned him into a vigilante fanatic. He thought he could prove the city that he could be just as good, but he wasn’t mentally stable. We had to commit him to a psychic ward.”

So Oliver’s feeling about him hadn’t been right. Mr. Meltzer had good reason to hate vigilantism. It had saved his son only to make it lose him in a different way. He certainly would have some things to say during this discussion.

Nick cleared his voice, breaking the awkward silence that had settled. “As you know, we have met here earlier to already discuss what parts of this approved vigilantism are needed. Although I am part of your team, I am here today in my position as Captain of the SCPD and the citizens of Starling City mostly.”

“We are all here for Starling City,” Laurel replied. “This city is why vigilantism was started and why it’s still going.”

Nick nodded his head, but didn’t say anything. Of course he knew what their goal was, but Oliver guessed he wanted to make it transparent to Mr. Meltzer and Ms. Weston too.”

“We think that we need to talk about your obligations as vigilantes, the limits of your work, possible penalties if you cross those limits, finances, communication, the evaluation of your work and the collaboration and your personal safety are what needs to discussed,” Ms. Weston explained, “or do you have other ideas?”

“I think those are the main issues,” John agreed, “so maybe let’s start with the easy topics that can be worked through quickly.”

“Is there anything easy about this?” Ms. Weston asked with a half-hearted chuckle.

“The finances are easy,” Oliver said, “because the team financed itself through years, and it will continue to do so.”

“With your private wealth?” Mr. Meltzer asked.

Oliver nodded his head. “Yes.”

“But isn’t a privately financed institution always in risk of being compromised?” He cocked his head. “Who says that you don’t hide evidence that could incriminate one of your friends or people that you like, while you fake other evidence to people that… bother you?”

If it was anyone else who would offer to finance a project like this, Oliver was sure that he would ask the same question. He knew that he was loyal to his obligations as the Green Arrow, but that wouldn’t be enough to convince people that doubted his sincerity.

He moved to the edge of his chair, folded his hands on the tabletop and looked at Mr. Meltzer. “I investigated my own mother when I learned that she knew about the Gambit. I couldn’t stop Blood Rose earlier because although she challenged me in the mayoral race, I only did shallow research on her, so I knew she wasn’t another person that would ruin this city. I could have figured out something was wrong with her way before I did if I had used the team’s full abilities. I didn’t do so because she didn’t appear linked to criminality until the attack on the city.”

Mr. Meltzer didn’t say anything. He just looked back at Oliver with intent eyes before he released a noise Oliver didn’t know how to interpret and leaned back in his chair. Apparently, his words hadn’t been too bad.

“I think we should offer a leap of faith here,” Ms. Weston said slowly, “and agree to the privately financed project.”

“We could offer insights to the money we spent,” John offered, “thought it wouldn’t surprise anyone what we pay for.”

Fuel for the van and motorcycles, computer equipment, medical equipment, weapons and everything that increased their safety. There wasn’t much more.

“Our personal safety will also be taken care of.” John took a sip of his coffee. “We will take care of it personally and maybe just add some security from a governmental division.”

A.R.G.U.S. had already sent some officers to the house of each and every one of them. They would offer added security to their homes and their families night and day. The team could hold their own, but they did needed some sleep eventually. And the kids should grow up as save as possible. If that meant that there had to be A.R.G.U.S. officers patrolling the house and accompanying them whenever necessary, Oliver would have to live with that.

Nick took some notes and then nodded his head. “Two issues down, five to go.”

It turned out that their obligations and limits were quite less easy to discuss, but Oliver wasn’t surprised by that. John and Laurel explained how the team usually worked and what they did – the patrolling, the investigations, the arrests. Nick and Ms. Weston both agreed that the team should continue with that since it was what had saved the city so many times.

Mr. Meltzer, who had stayed quiet, angled his head though. “How can it be sure that these investigations are fair? There is a reason why there are judicial decisions needed for some steps in an investigation or why not all data in the world is available for the police. In these days, the data gathered on servers are too sensitive.”

“If we can’t access the same data as we did before,” Oliver said quietly, “we cannot work the way we did before. We get a shot of doing something new. That means that we have to go new ways here.”

Leaning back in his chair once more, Mr. Meltzer crossed his arms in front of his chest and looked at Oliver with puckered lips. “I am not convinced.”

Of course he wasn’t

“Mr. Meltzer,” Laurel hurried to say before Oliver could say something he’d regret later, “I know that it seems weird that we are asking for your allowance to access data that isn’t legally accessible for the police. Here is the thing though – the police are not us. We all outed ourselves as the vigilantes we are despite the possible penalties we could have faced. President Harrison thanked us for that by pardoning us and offer us this great chance. The city showed its support by voting Mr. Queen back into the mayoral office because they trust him to do what is best for this city in whatever capacity he can.”

Mr. Meltzer turned his head slowly to look at Oliver, then dipped his head down slightly. “That is something that does convince me.”

“Maybe the team could write reports like the police does,” Ms. Weston suggested, “so their investigations are documented too. They only supply those reports to the police though that can indeed been used for an arrest or a trial. Everything else is saved and evaluated by trusted people to make sure that the investigations are really appropriate. Maybe you could ask your wife to write those reports as she seems to be on office duty, right?”

From the corner of his eye, Oliver could see John hiding an amused grin. When John turned his head towards Oliver, he still kept a straight face. “Yes, Oliver. Maybe you could ask your wife to write those reports.”

Oliver bit down on his tongue and lowered his eyes to his hands on the tabletop. He was sure that if he looked at John, Laurel or Nick now, he wouldn’t be able to keep a straight face of his own. He could basically feel Laurel’s body shake from a chuckle next to him and Nick, who was sitting right opposite of him, was suddenly very busy reading his notes once more.

Felicity did save important results of their investigations, but he was sure that she would never write those reports. He could already see the way she was laughing if he even suggested that. She would certainly provide reports on her parts in their crime-fighting activities, but everything that happened out in the field would have to be written by someone out in the field.

He guessed it was something they just had to live with. When they worked with a department, they had to, at least in some ways, work like a department.

Some more obligations – passing on of information to the police, discretion towards other people, the registration of all of their weapons and more were discussed.

So were their limits. They weren’t allowed to torture anyone or to ignore orders from the police. They also couldn’t kill someone if it wasn’t for self-defense. Of course there was more, but Oliver’s head was spinning. Discussing all of this still felt incredibly surreal.

He didn’t listen to the possible penalties they would face if they acted in violation of this contract. Oliver didn’t plan on doing so. He had done this job as best as he could in the shadows. He would only give more in the broad daylight.

They also agreed on communications. The police would contact the team if there was a case they needed help with or had important information that the team might need. On the other hand, the team would do the same. That way the two shouldn’t barge into something the other party was doing. Felicity would also log the team into the police radio over the comms for joint operations.

“Last but not least – evaluations.” Nick tapped his pen on the table a couple of times and puckered his lips. “The team should participate in police-intern evaluations after operations if they took part in it.”

John nodded his head. “Sounds good.”

“And we should evaluate the final contract that we will agree on in… half a year?”

Mr. Meltzer, who had been suspiciously quiet, snorted at that. “Six months? Not to start with.”

“I agree with Mr. Meltzer here,” Oliver said, making all eyes turn on him, “because this is too new and too sensitive to wait too long if things aren’t working out for either party. I suggest we will meet back here monthly for the first half a year at least. If we feel like we are on a good way then, we can still decide on a different rhythm.”

Nick, his eyebrows still perked up, nodded his head slowly. He looked at the face of the others. When he didn’t find any protest, he noted it down.

“We should also meet and edit the terms of this collaboration sooner than one month in if one of the parties thinks it’s necessary to make changes quickly,” Oliver added. “I assume that everyone on this table agrees when I say that we need to be very careful to do this right.”

Again, everyone nodded.

“We should also think about how we will communicate our terms of working together to the city,” Laurel said, “because it’s important to let them in on it. The safer they feel, the better the team can work.”

“A friend of mine works for Channel 52.” Ms. Weston smiled. “She told me that the channel prepares a request for an interview with Mr. and Mrs. Queen to talk about the Queen’s family role in shaping Starling City, especially with the new vigilante contract and Mr. Queen’s reelection as mayor. I think the contract could be presented there.”

“If the government has already approved to it already by then.”

“They will,” Nick said firmly. “I will make sure of that.”

Oliver nodded. “I will talk to my wife about this, but I think that we will agree on this.”

With that, the discussion was over. Three hours, six heavy heads and all the key points for a collaboration that had never existed like this before. Despite Oliver’s doubts three hours ago, he did feel cautiously optimistic that maybe this could work.

While everyone was getting up and gathering their stuff to leave, Mr. Meltzer was already on his way towards the door. As soon as the discussion had been finished, he had gotten up and turned to leave without another word. Oliver hurried after him and reached him before he could disappear through the door.

“Mr. Meltzer,” he said and waited until the man turned around and faced him before he continued, “I am very sorry about your son.”

Mr. Meltzer sighed, his stiff posture suddenly turning into something tired. “Kevin was always a good boy, and he always wanted to do something great. When he was saved by you, he just thought it was a sign. He wanted to be just like you, no matter how much we told him that’s not possible.”

Oliver nodded his head slowly, not saying anything yet. He knew what it was like to lose a child although it hadn’t died. Mr. Meltzer couldn’t have helped Kevin, and Oliver wouldn’t be there to help Mia through her struggles.

 “I am sure that Kevin meant no harm to anyone,” Oliver assured him, “and I am sorry that vigilantism had such a bad influence on him.”

“It wasn’t just the vigilantism,” Mr. Meltzer said, “but it was the final push that made him tumble over the edge of sanity completely.”

“I understand.” Oliver nodded his head once more. “I also understand your hesitation to allow vigilantism legally. People could get the wrong idea and just start going on the streets and attacking criminals without special training or anything like that. I know it’s not much, but I can assure you that I know the responsibility that comes with being part of this team and leading this team in particular. I know that we are dancing a dangerously thin line, but I promise we will do our best.”

Mr. Meltzer looked at Oliver for a long moment. When he smiled eventually, an almost grudgingly soft smile, he looked ten years younger. A little part of him, maybe the way he smiled, even reminded Oliver of Moira. There had been times when she hadn’t wanted to smile and still had because she had just loved her children and had, despite her occasionally hard appearance, been a true softie. At least for her family.

“I know you will do your best,” Mr. Meltzer replied eventually, “and what you said and promised is a lot more than you are giving yourself credit for. You proved today that you are willing to do things right and know the chance you were given here with all its difficulties. That’s all I wanted to know.”

He held out his hand for Oliver, who grabbed it and shook it.

Without another word, the man turned back towards the door and opened it then. He had already taken a step out when he looked back over his shoulder once more. The reluctant smile he had shown before turned into an amused grin now.

“By the way, I voted for you, so I guess I had been right about you already.”

He closed the book quietly and put it on the nightstand. Turning back to the two sleeping girls, he allowed himself to just look at them for a moment longer. They looked incredibly peaceful. All the events of the last week hadn’t harmed them lastingly. At least it seemed like they had recovered from it mostly.

With a quiet smile on his lips, Oliver kissed first Millie’s and then Addie’s forehead. Petting Hawk’s head briefly, he got up and tiptoed to the door. He didn’t want to wake them up again like he had had when he had finished reading to them without reading the epilogue. When he turned around at the door, the girls as well as Hawk were still peacefully asleep though.

Oliver switched off the light and had already taken a step out of Millie’s room when-

“Daddy?”

It would have been too easy, he thought to himself with an amused smile and turned back. The light from the hallway fell right onto the bed, so he could see Addie’s big eyes on him without switching the light back on again.

“Yes, little wildflower?”

Addie smiled brightly at that. Back in her room at their house, there had been a picture with the words In a field full of roses, she’s a wildflower on it. When Oliver had visited the ruins of their home today, he had found that some rare items had remained maybe not untouched but at least they had appeared savable in the entire wreckage. That picture had been one of those items. It needed to be newly framed, but that was a small price to pay given the meaning that picture had for them.

“Will you be here tomorrow?”

Oliver cocked his head, smiling sadly. Maybe these past events had left more harm on the kids than they were letting on sometimes. They seemed okay most of the times, but the kids had never asked him questions like that because they had always known that he was here. Even when he wasn’t here in person, he was here. They could call him, videocall him, text him, anything. He was present, but he hadn’t been as long as he had been in remand.

As quietly as possible, Oliver stepped back towards the bed and kneeled down at the bedside. He crossed his arms on the edge of the mattress and leaned close to Addie.

“I swear to you,” he whispered solemnly, “that daddy will always do everything that he can to be here.”

“But what if it’s not enough?”

Oliver reached out a hand and moved his fingers through Addie’s blonde hair. She didn’t look scared necessarily, but rather interested. She wanted an honest answer because even at only four years old she had already learned that you could give your best, and it still wasn’t enough. She knew Oliver would always want to come home, and yet he hadn’t been able to come.

“The police is working with us now,” Oliver explained to her, “so we have a giant team and you know what’s good about a team? Everyone has each other’s back when they are on a team.”

Addie didn’t seem quite satisfied with that answer. They had been working in a team already, and he had still been arrested. They had worked with the police, unofficially at least, too. That hadn’t prevented his arrest either.

“I love you,” he whispered, “and whenever I can, I will be here. If I can’t, you can be sure that you, your sisters and your brothers as well as mommy are always in my heart.”

Addie nodded slowly. When she spread her arms, Oliver hugged her as tightly as he could and placed a firm kiss on her cheek. Luckily, when he looked into her face this time, she was smiling. Oliver pushed his nose against hers playfully and kissed her cheek once more before he pulled back.

“Now do me a favor and sleep,” he asked, tugging the blanket tightly around her, “so you can help me making breakfast tomorrow morning.”

“Pancakes!” she screamed in a whisper, shooting a quick look at Millie, who was still fast asleep. “Please!”

Oliver winked at her and nodded. “Tomorrow morning, you will get everything you want for breakfast.”

That prospect seemed to be to Addie’s liking. She turned onto her side, snuggling up to Millie, and closed her eyes. Oliver was sure that she was asleep before he even straightened back up.

When he left the room this time, neither of the kids woke up. They stayed fast asleep. He left the door ajar, so a chink of light would help them to orientate themselves in the room when they woke up. Even after a week at the penthouse, everyone was still waking up confused about where they were.

Rubbing his hands over his face, Oliver made his way towards the bedroom. He and Felicity would have to think about what to do now. They couldn’t stay at the penthouse forever. Life here was comfortable of course, but the penthouse just didn’t offer the domestic atmosphere that they were used to. Even when they decorated everything to their liking, he couldn’t see their family living here for longer.

“Millie and Addie are finally asleep.” Oliver stepped into the master bedroom, already taking off his shirt. “I think we might have to keep an eye on Addie. She was-“

Only now that Oliver looked up, he realized that Felicity was not waiting for him in bed already. Frowning, he looked around like he was expecting Felicity to be somewhere he hadn’t seen her yet, but the room was indeed empty. The door to the bathroom had been left ajar, but the light there was switched off, so he doubted that Felicity was there.

Thinking that she was probably just getting something to drink or maybe checking on Emmy or Tommy, Oliver went into the bathroom and got ready for bed. He brushed his teeth, washed his face and was actually ready to just drop his sweatpants and get into bed. Since Felicity was still not there though, he figured that he should begin to search for her after all.

The penthouse consisted of a lot of different rooms. They didn’t even use all of them, mainly because they had preferred to stay together these past days after they had been separated involuntarily. Apart from seven of the bedrooms, they only used the kitchen, the dining room and the living room. Now they were using one of the storage rooms too as Oliver had put the few things that he had been able to save from their house there.

The latter was where he found her. The light that came from the room was what gave it away. Oliver thought he would find her working on the safe that he had found in the wreckage of their home. He hadn’t been able to open it. Apparently, the fire had caused some defense mechanisms to take effect. Felicity had told him that she’d take care of it. The safe held mostly family photos, so they had kept true treasures in it. Oliver couldn’t even remember how it had started that they had put family photos in there. Now he was glad that they had.

When Oliver opened the door a little more and looked inside the room, he didn’t find Felicity in her element though. Instead, he found her standing there with her head lowered, holding the mobile that had decorated Mia’s crib in her hands. Oliver wasn’t sure why he had decided to take it. One of the sloths had been ripped off, another one singed. Some of the plastic had been smoldered. It wasn’t really usable anymore, especially not in a nursery. He guessed it was the memory it held that had made it savable to him.

Felicity kept her face down, looking at the sloth. Her hair was falling in her face, so he couldn’t see it, but he was almost sure that she had tears in her eyes or was crying already. Her fingers were trembling slightly when they moved over one of the sloths. She took in a deep, trembling breath.

Oliver felt his heart break into a thousand different pieces. After the had reunited, he and Felicity had tried to be optimistic. They were still sad, but they knew that they had a lot of things on their agenda now. They had to take care of a lot of things to reorganize their lives, and they should do so as soon as possible. Their kids needed stability.

It was the crazy thing as a parent. You often had to stand back and do what was best for your children. You didn’t want to worry them, so you tried to offer stability and security even when you were feeling like the ground you were standing on was crumbling away. They leaned on each other, but with a world this shaken, there were moment when even that wasn’t enough.

When Oliver moved closer, Felicity noticed him. She flinched, hurried to put the mobile down and wipe away her tears. She cleared her throat and put on a smile.

“Have Addie and Millie fallen asleep?” she asked. “I checked on Emmy and Tommy. They are fast asleep already. William went to see some friends for his last night here before he leaves tomorrow. I thought we could-“

When Oliver simply approached Felicity and wrapped his arms around her tightly, she stopped talking. For the beat of a second, she tensed. She didn’t want to be hugged. She didn’t want to be held. She was scared that she would break down if she was.

“I miss her too,” Oliver whispered and snuggled his cheek to the top of her head, “every minute of every day.”

Felicity stayed still for a moment. Oliver was sure that she was holding her breath and biting her tongue. She didn’t want to fall apart. Even now that it was just the two of them and she knew that he had seen her crying already, she hesitated to show her feelings to him openly. He placed a comforting kiss to the crown of her head, and that was what finally made her take in a sniffling breath, wrap her arms around his middle and start crying.

Oliver had held Felicity multiple times while she had been crying, and it had broken his heart every time. This time was no different. His heart broke for Felicity, who was feeling so sad. His heart also broke because it had been cracked before. He missed Mia just as much as Felicity did. He tried not to think about the fact that she was not with them anymore too often. Of all the pain he had ever felt, the one of losing a child – even though he knew that she was alive and well – was the worst of them.

When they had taken Mia in, they had always known that this could happen. They had known that Mia’s biological parents or at least family of them could be found and Mia would be taken back. It was why Felicity had been hesitant to take her in at the start. Then she had found out about the fate of Mia’s biological parents – their doppelgängers on some other earth – and that had allowed Felicity to relax and allow her love for Mia to fill her without any worries. It hadn’t even been about the genetic connection they had, but simply about knowing that Mia’s biological family would never ask for her back.

Felicity snuggled herself closer to Oliver’s body, and he felt her breathing growing slower and deeper already. Oliver continued to hold her anyway and rubbed his hands over her back soothingly.

“I talked to Ms. Wheeler today,” she said eventually, her voice still shaking slightly, “about what happened during her vacation. She called when she came back and heard that Mia was taken away from us.”

Oliver’s muscles tightened slightly. When Mia had been taken from them, a complete stranger had been the one picking her up because Ms. Wheeler, the social worker that had been in charge of their case, had been on vacation. Felicity had tried to called her a hundred times, but she had been unavailable.

Realistically, Oliver knew that even when Ms. Wheeler had been here, Mia would have been placed with someone else. The home of a supposed criminal wouldn’t have been right even in her eyes. Ms. Wheeler had been very nice to them though, and she had been very supportive of them becoming Mia’s foster parents. She had even suggested it to him. Maybe together they could have found a way for Mia to still be part of their lives. It was a farfetched hope, but it had been all they had had.

“What did she say?”

Taking in another deep breath, Felicity pulled back slightly. She pusher her hair behind her ears and adjusted her glasses. She rested her hands on his chest then.

“She said we are not getting her back.”

Oliver nodded, unable to speak. They had known that they had no chance of getting her back, but hearing it from Ms. Wheeler let it sound so incredibly irrevocable. That hurt despite knowing it before.

“Of course not,” Oliver whispered, “there are still too many questions unanswered about how the team can continue in its new way. Then it’s still dangerous, not just for us, but the kids too now. Everyone knows who we are and who they are. It’s-“

“Even when we offer the answers to that.” Felicity took in a sniffling breath. “We are not even getting her back then. Ms. Wheeler talked to come of her colleagues because she thinks that Mia’s case is very special. Apparently, most of them think that Mia needs stability. The back and forth of being taken from and then brought back to us wouldn’t be good for her development. She said she could maybe place a different child in our care once everything is settled, but-“

“It’s not the same.” Oliver shook his head. “No.”

Although Oliver thought that it was very honorable of people to take foster children in, he knew that they couldn’t take in another child. Knowing they could feel the pain they were feeling now again would make it impossible. They would live in constant fear. Besides, when the social workers thought that they couldn’t offer stability for Mia, Oliver doubted that they could offer it for any other child.

Felicity took in a breath, about to say something. Her eyes met his for a brief moment, and she looked away and shook her head. A small crease formed between her eyebrows.

“What?” Oliver asked quietly. “What are you thinking?”

“What if we demand a DNA test? It would prove that she is our daughter. It’s how we found out where she came from.”

Oliver brushed his fingers against Felicity’s cheek. It was a desperate attempt, and Oliver was almost sure that Felicity knew it too. The desperation was right there in her eyes, right behind that sparkle of hope.

“And how do you want to explain to them that we put her in a dumpster right in front of one of ours buildings and then found her there in a way that caught the attention of the media and then even took her in?”

The story sounded like out of some terrible TV drama, and Oliver felt like he and Felicity were the bad ones in that one. He had an idea what people would think about them when they told them that. They would think that Oliver and Felicity had tried to use their own child to make themselves saints in the eyes of the city. It would be seen as a terrible attempt at manipulating the city.

“We could tell them the truth,” Felicity said, “about the other earths and the doppelgängers and-“

“Felicity.” Oliver shook his head. “Staring might be ready to accept vigilantes now, but different earths and doppelgängers? Even if they believed in it, it would only create panic. We can’t do that.”

There was a beat of silence. Felicity looked at him intently like she was thinking about a good response, something to change his mind. When she released a long sigh, her shoulders slumped and she shook her head though.

“You’re right.” She rubbed her hands over her face. “I am tried and belong in bed. I can’t think clearly anymore.”

She placed a shallow kiss on Oliver’s chest and went past him towards the bedroom.

Oliver took a brief look at the saved stuff. His fingers stroke over the mobile that he had caught Felicity looking at before. That, dozens of photos and all of their memories were what was left of Mia. They had been a part of her life for a short span in her life. Somehow that had to be enough.

He switched off the light, closed the door and followed Felicity into the bedroom. She was already lying in bed when he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Instead of joining her in bed already, Oliver leaned back against the bedroom door and watched Felicity for a moment.

It didn’t take long for her to notice. She cocked her head and frowned, patting the empty side of the bed next to her.

“Come here,” she told him, “or I can’t fall asleep.”

Although she was smiling and trying to make her voice sound light, Oliver could still hear the heaviness of their conversation before coming through. Heaviness and sadness would accompany them for a while, Oliver guessed.

“I think I should schedule an appointment with Dr. Rosario.”

They had made good experience with Dr. Rosario. She had helped them through some troublesome moments. Although she barely said anything now, she sometimes asked a question or helped them redirect their conversation to what was important. They had made incredibly progress in communicating though. They had been quite good at it for a while, but they had become better.

Felicity pushed an arm under her head, so her head was a little propped up and she could look at him more intently. She frowned worriedly.

“Is it your time in prison?” Felicity asked. “Are you having trouble processing it?”

Oliver shook his head. “No. No, it’s not that. It’s… I need to say a few things and I think that professional help could be useful.”

At that Felicity sat up. “I think you need to tell me now, or I won’t sleep again before I know what you need to say.”

He hesitated briefly, but soon had to agree with Felicity. He guessed he had wanted to tell her tonight, but he had wanted to hear if she was ready to hear it. Now he knew that she was.

Oliver left his spot at the door and approached the bed. He sat down at Felicity’s bedside. She grabbed one of his hands and held it between both of hers. She continued to look at him intently, waiting for him to be ready to talk.

“I am sorry.”

Felicity frowned. “For what?”

“For everything.” Oliver let out a long breath. “I’m sorry for everything that I put you through, especially these last days. You had to deal with all of this by yourself. I couldn’t be there for you or for the kids after all the struggle I pulled you in.”

Felicity shook her head and squeezed his hand. She moved her fingers through his stubble, allowed them to move down and settled them over his head eventually. Oliver felt goosebumps follow her touch.

“You have no reason to apologize to me,” she told him firmly, “because we made that choice together. We both decided that you had to turn yourself in, or so many innocents would have died. We had no choice but to give in to Blood Rose at that point.”

How often had Oliver told himself the same thing? How often had he not believed it?

“We have lost our home and our daughter.” Felicity’s voice trembled at the words. “We lost them, but we saved so much more. So many people survived thanks to you turning yourself in. The house, as much as I loved it, is just a house. Mia, as much as I will miss her for the rest of my life, will have a good life by loving foster parents.”

The house he had built for her and their family had held so many precious memories, and it had offered so much safety and comfort. At the end of the day, just like Felicity had said, it was just a house though. Thinking about it, it did not even hold the memories. They did. And maybe the stone, wood and glass that it had been made of wasn’t what had offered the safety and comfort. The people in it had.

Mia was alive and well. They had made sure that she had had a couple of really great months after her troublesome start into life. Now she moved on without them, but she would still grow to be a wonderful human being. If anything hinted to it to be different, Felicity would know it, and they could still decide what to do.

The house and Mia were gone from their lives and that hurt despite all the comforting thoughts.

“We wouldn’t have been able to look ourselves in the eye if we had let that bomb go off,” Felicity said, “and the city would have never trusted us again. So we made the right choice.”

Oliver lowered his eyes to their entangled fingers. His thumb stroked over the back of her hand.

“Still,” he whispered, “if I wasn’t the Green Arrow-“

“I have fallen in love you when you were a vigilante. I was working with you when we got together. I may have not known what I was getting into in all detail, but neither was you. We did what we could to make a happy family and make this place a better place for our children. I think all in all we succeeded.”

Oliver looked into Felicity’s eyes and found no sign there that she didn’t mean what she was saying. She really meant what she said.

What had he ever done to deserve her? Oliver doubted that he would ever understand.

Felicity smiled softly and squeezed his hand once more. She lifted his hand to her lips and placed a kiss to his palm. Her gaze never left her eyes.

“I love you,” Felicity whispered almost solemnly, “and I love us together. I love our family. I love our life together. Not everything worked out the way that we had hoped it would, but I would always decide to be with you again and again and again. I love you.”

Oliver felt his throat getting soar and tears pricking in his eyes. He had never doubted Felicity love for him, but in hard times like these, it meant the world to him that she still would choose him. In a world where people divorced for the smallest reasons, it meant the world to him.

“I love you,” he whispered, “I love you and the kids more than anything in my life.”

Oliver looked around the hundreds of people that were celebrating. He felt pride for everything they had achieved. When he thought about how all of this had started – his one-man mission that he hadn’t wanted to let anyone in on – and what it had grown into now, it was unfathomable. And it certainly was a reason to celebrate.

But as much as he wanted to celebrate with the people of the city here, there was one thing that he definitely wanted more. He wanted to see his children, hold them in his arms and tell them that everything would be okay. He knew how much he had suffered the past days without them, so he knew that it must have been worse for them. They weren’t even old enough to really understand what was going on. They had just lost their baby sister, their dad and their home in the blink of an eye.

Turning to Felicity, he found her eyes already on his. He didn’t need to ask her to leave. She knew that he wanted to go, and she was sure that she felt the same way. She took his hand and nodded her head. Oliver pulled her close and kissed her forehead.

With Felicity’s head resting on his shoulder, they shared another long gaze. Oliver realized that there was something else that he wanted more than to celebrate here. He wanted to connect with Felicity. He wanted to know how she was feeling. He wanted to comfort her over the losses that she too had experienced. He wanted to tell her how turned on he had been by everything she had done tonight. He wanted to hold her and make her forget that she had been forced into a situation like this.

Oliver could almost hear his blood rushing in his ears at how much he wanted Felicity right now. The kids came first though. Once they were peacefully asleep in bed, he’d be able to take that idea up again.

When he lifted his head, he took a quick look around. As soon as he found John, Roy and Laurel standing together, he beckoned for them to come closer. Tommy, Curtis, Lyla, Nick and Bruce followed from different directions.

“I know I don’t have to thank you,” he said to them, “because all of this is a part of you as it is a part of me, but I still feel very grateful that you all were here tonight. I know how much you risked and I know how hard that decision must have been for you, but it was worth it.”

Since he had started being the mayor, Oliver had become used to giving speeches. You couldn’t be a mayor and not get used to it. With his team that was more than just a team but friends and family even, he knew he didn’t have to say much though. They knew what he was feelings, and they didn’t expect him to spell it out for them.

“We need to see what changes there will be for our work with the new law and how we as a team adapt to that.” He smiled softly. “But not tonight.”

“I guess you are going to see your children?” John asked.

Oliver nodded his head. “Nothing could stop me from seeing them now.”

“Then go and celebrate with them,” Nick suggested, putting a hand on his shoulder, “you deserve it.”

“And you celebrate a little longer. You deserve that too.”

The team obviously didn’t need to be told twice. The last days had been hard on everyone, so they all felt the need to catch their breaths. They all deserved that.

While most of the team mingled with the rest of the partying people again, Bruce moved away a couple of feet but stayed for himself. Oliver didn’t miss that.

“Hey, can you make sure we get back to the kids as soon as possible?” Oliver asked, turning to Felicity. “I’d be there in a second.”

Felicity frowned briefly, but she shrugged her shoulders and nodded her head. “Sure. The van is still over there in that alley. The fight didn’t leave any marks on it. Curtis checked. We can take it to the hotel.”

Oliver nodded. “Just give me a minute. I’m right behind you.”

“Okay.” Felicity shot him a smile and straightened up on her toes to peck his lips. “I’ll be waiting.”

Oliver squeezed Felicity’s hand before he let her go. He watched her moving through the crowd and disappearing into an alley. Only then he turned around and strolled to where Bruce was standing, still in his full gear and with his mask on.

“I thought you wanted to go.”

Bruce didn’t look at him when he said that. He continued to let his gaze search through the crowd instead. Oliver knew what that meant and how that felt. Bruce was still highly alerted. He couldn’t yet see when an immediate danger was indeed over. It hadn’t been too long since Oliver had felt the same way.

“I will, but I wanted to thank you first.”

That made Bruce turn his eyes away from the crowd after all. Even under the mask, Oliver could see that he was almost smirking.

“Didn’t you say a minute ago that you knew you didn’t have to thank us?”

Oliver chuckled and nodded his head. Bruce was right. He had said that, and he had meant it. Although Bruce wasn’t at home here, Oliver knew that Bruce would always come here and help if he had the chance.

“I did, but I thought you deserved a thank you nonetheless. You came here all the way from Gotham City. You fought here tonight despite the crime in your own city. You took care of my family.”

Bruce didn’t say anything for a long moment. He just looked at his boots. When he lifted his gaze eventually, there was an expression in his eyes that Oliver knew all too well. He couldn’t say that he was surprised to find that expression there although he might have hoped that the feelings that were expressed that way had ceased by now.

“You know why I am here. Why I had to come.” Bruce looked into the direction of the alley where Felicity had disappeared. He then turned to look at Oliver again. “Did you think it was different?”

“I guess not,” Oliver replied honestly, “but I might have hoped so for you.”

Bruce sighed and nodded his head. Oliver knew that Bruce himself was certainly hoping for his feelings to change. For a time, he had closed himself from the idea of getting to know someone and risking falling in love. Lately, Oliver felt that Bruce had closed himself to that idea again.

“Felicity told me that you were thinking about dating someone.”

“I did. Didn’t work out.”

Oliver was about to say something more, but Bruce put a hand to his shoulder and looked at him intently.

“You should come over to Gotham one day soon and we drink a nice glass of whiskey. When we do so, we can talk all you want about whatever you want.” Bruce squeezed his shoulder. “But now you should go and reunite with your family.”

Bruce was right, so Oliver nodded his head.

“If you ever need help or someone to talk to whatever, you know I will be there. We all will be.”

“I know.” Bruce nodded his head. “And I might come back to that offer one day soon. For now, you will go home to your family, and I will go back to Gotham tomorrow morning too.”

Oliver nodded his head. Since there was nothing more he could say, he turned around and left. He felt sorry for Bruce because, having been where Bruce was now, Oliver knew that he needed someone that he could trust and someone he could lean on. Oliver didn’t know where he’d be now if it hadn’t been for Felicity.

Probably still hidden in the foundry, killing people from a list, he thought to himself and quickly shook his head. That was definitely not the right thing to think about now. What he should think about now was that Felicity had become a part of his life, and had turned his mission into what it had become and they had built a beautiful family together. That was where he wanted and needed to go now. So he did.

→ → → → →

While the elevator rode up to the penthouse, Felicity rested her head on Oliver’s shoulder and closed her eyes for a moment. Adrenaline had been rushing through her veins these last hours. Now that the fight was over and she had found some rest, the tiredness threatened to crush over her.

“I’m gonna sleep like a baby tonight.”

“I hope better than Tommy when he was a baby,” Oliver whispered, “because he refused to sleep.”

“Only until I was home.” Felicity chuckled and angled her head back to look at Oliver. “He’s always been a mama’s boy.”

Scrunching up his nose, Oliver touched his forehead with hers. “True. Lucky me, we have four daddy’s girls though.”

“Three,” Felicity whispered, “we have three daddy’s girls as it is.”

The pain of losing Mia returned with a force that robbed Felicity her breath for a moment. It had been inside of her since the moment Mia had been taken from them, but her worry about Oliver’s arrest and the attack on their home had pushed her grief for Mia further into the background. It had still been there, but she had tried to comfort herself, knowing that Mia was in a safe and loving home.

When the doors of the elevator opened with a quiet pling!, Felicity remembered why she wasn’t allowed to wallow in self-pity. She had lost a child, and she doubted that she could ever be consoled about it. At the same time, she still had five perfectly healthy children with them and that was something she had to be eternally grateful for. Just seeing these five children made her realize how lucky they really had been.

There was silence for the beat of a second. Then everything went incredibly fast.

“Daddy!” Tommy screamed out.  

Emmy, Tommy, Millie and Addie ran into Oliver’s arms. He took a step out of the elevator, spread his arms and caught them. His arms wrapped around all four of them, and he hugged them tightly. They seemed to be hugging him back just as tightly. Felicity felt tears pricking in her eyes at the sight. Hours ago, she hadn’t been sure when she would see her kids again or when they would see their father again.

“Thank God you’re alright.” William, who had approached her, said and pulled Felicity into a tight hug. “I was so worried.”

Felicity hugged William back. “What are you doing here? How did you even get here?”

When she had talked to William earlier today, she thought that she had convinced him not to come here. Since Oliver had turned himself in, he had suggested that he should come back to Starling again and again. Felicity, though, had told him again and again that he was safer in Boston, far away from all of this here and with some of Bruce’s men looking out for him. Apparently, he had decided to not be convinced tonight.

“After we hung up, I called Bruce. I told him that I needed to be here with my siblings. If things had gone differently tonight, they would have needed me. And I needed them.”

Hearing the pain in his voice, Felicity cocked her head and pulled William into another big hug. Because he was so much older than his siblings, she sometimes forgot that at least a part of him was just a scared, little boy too.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered to him, “I didn’t want to keep you away from them or us. I just thought-“

“It was safer,” William ended her sentence. “I know, and I understand, but I just needed to be here.”

Felicity nodded her head, took his hand and squeezed it. “I am very glad that you are here. You would have indeed been missed tonight even after our success.”

“Once the news proved that everything was alright, I told Thea that it wouldn’t be long until you showed up. She took Sara, Connor, Robbie and Louis to the loft. Getting eight kids to sleep had been only impossible. With only four of them, it might get easier.”

“I wouldn’t be sure that anyone is getting any sleep tonight,” Oliver said. He had let go of the four kids, who were now occupying themselves with Hawk, and approached them. He immediately pulled William into a big hug. “I am very glad that you are here.”

“Not half as glad as I am that you are here,” William replied, “this family isn’t the same without you.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Felicity whispered.

Her gaze locked with Oliver’s while he was still hugging William. She didn’t need any ability to read minds to know what he was thinking. His eyes were telling her that he felt the same way about her. They felt the same way about everyone in this family. This family was only whole when it was together.

This was as together as they would ever be again, Felicity thought with another stitch of missing Mia. She doubted that she could think about her family without thinking about Mia anytime soon. Or ever.

Oliver, who hadn’t missed the change in her facial expression, loosened himself from the hug with William and clapped in his hands. “Okay, this calls for celebrating, so who is in for a midnight snack?”

“Me!” Millie and Tommy exclaimed in chorus, raising their hands.

“What midnight snack?” Emmy asked.

“I was thinking about crêpes?”

“With Nutella?” she asked.

“Of course.”

“I want mine with lemon jam,” Addie exclaimed.

“You can have your crêpes with anything that’s in the fridge,” Oliver announced. “Who’s gonna help me?”

The kids all raised their hands at once and even Hawk lifted a paw. Emmy had taught him to lift his paw like that on the command Who’s gonna? because she had been sure that it would lead to some funny moments. She had been right.

“Alright,” Oliver nodded his head, “then you go to the kitchen already. I will follow you in a minute as soon as I have changed into something… more casual.”

He gestured down his body. Since he was still wearing his suit, he was indeed not really dressed for cooking a midnight snack.

“No,” Addie said, grabbing his arm and lifted her feet from the floor, so Oliver was carrying her entire weight on just his forearm, “leave it please.”

“Yes, leave it,” Tommy agreed, “it’s cool.”

Although Oliver didn’t seem to fond of the idea to keep on the leathers, he had also always been very bad at denying the kids any wishes. He pulled down the zipper of his jacket and tossed it on the armchair in the corner.

“In that case I am ready.”

Millie already grabbed Felicity’s hand to pull her into the kitchen with her, but Felicity stopped her.

“Go ahead. I really have to get changed,” she said, “because I am so sweaty that I am sure nobody will enjoy their crêpes when they smell me.”

“Ugh.” Addie scrunched up her nose. “Crêpe with smelly arms.”

Oliver wrapped his free arm around Addie and lifted her higher against him. He whispered something into her ear that made her giggle. She then turned in his arms, wrapped both of her arms around his neck and snuggled her head against his shoulder.

“We will go ahead and make the crêpe. I guess you want one with a scoop of mint chocolate-chip ice cream?”

“This is a hotel, Oliver. This might be a fully equipped kitchen,” Felicity told him, cocking her head, “but why would you think that we have something like that here?”

“Because I know that it’s your comfort food,” Oliver replied very matter-of-factly.

Although he didn’t say it, an addition to the sentence filled the silence nonetheless. They had her comfort food here because she had certainly needed a lot of comfort in the last days. He wasn’t wrong with that.

“So go ahead,” Felicity agreed, “and I’ll follow in a minute.”

While Oliver and the kids went towards the kitchen, Felicity headed towards the bedroom. She took of Oliver’s old leather jacket and just dropped it to the floor. She let her pants follow and just kicked them onto the same pale as the jacket.

She had already turned towards the bathroom door when she realized how seductive the bed looked. She hadn’t had much sleep these last nights and days. If she maybe just lay down for a couple of minutes and caught some rest, she’d be ready to spend the rest of the night with her family, celebrating their success.

She crawled into bed, lay down on her stomach and hugged her pillow under her head. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. She knew immediately that she had made a terrible mistake. There was no way that she would just lie here for a couple of minutes. She was almost passed out before her eyes were even fully closed.

→ → → → →

She woke up from a wonderful smell that she couldn’t quite match to its source. She cautiously opened an eye to check how much light could possibly blind her. When she found that the room had been left in some dimmed half-light that wasn’t too unpleasant for her tired eyes, she opened her second eye too.

Oliver was sitting on the edge of the mattress, holding a plate of crêpe with mint chocolate-chip ice cream and a cup of what Felicity realized had to be hot chocolate out for her. He blew the steam in her direction. When he found her eyes on him, he smiled.

“I thought you could need a little refreshment before you go back to sleep.”

Felicity rubbed her hands over her face and sat up. Scooting back until she could lean against the headboard of the bed, she took the plate and the mug from him. Although her nose was already filled with the wonderful smell, she lifted both to her nose to take it even more.

She had already begun pitching into this midnight snack when she frowned and lifted her gaze to Oliver.

“The kids?”

“Passed out on the couch.” He chuckled. “They barely made it until they were done with their crêpes. William is with them in case they wake up.”

Felicity nodded her head and took another fork of the crêpe. It had been a while since she had eaten a lot, never mind enjoyed any of it. She only realized now how hungry she had really been. The events of the night and everything that had happened before that had cost a lot more of her energy than she had realized before. She probably needed a lot of food and sleep these next days.

Oliver moved further onto the bed until he sat next to Felicity. He waited a moment before he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. Felicity forgot about her hunger almost instantly. She put the mug and the plate to the nightstand and snuggled up to Oliver instead. She turned onto her side, wrapped both of her arms around his middle and pushed her face against the crook of his neck.

A long moment of silence passed as they just took each other in. Oliver’s hands moved up and down Felicity’s back and thigh, while her hand rested on his chest and felt his heartbeat. She pressed her nose against his skin and breathed him in. She had missed this smell of home and safety. She couldn’t imagine what it had felt like if she had been without that smell forever.

“How have you been?”

The question came from both of them simultaneously. Felicity angled her head back, so she could look at Oliver and they both chuckled. Of course each other’s wellbeing had been on their minds the entire time.

“You start,” Felicity asked in a whisper, her head resting against Oliver’s shoulder again, but her gaze was still on his face, “please.”

Oliver sighed, tightening his hold on her. He looked at the ceiling for a moment. Felicity realized how tired he had to be too. She lifted a hand to his cheek and stroked her fingertips through his short stubble. He sighed once more, snuggling his face into her touch as he always did.

Felicity realized that she didn’t need an answer. She had needed to ask him because that was who they were. They communicated, especially when they had been through bad times and even more so when they had been apart for a while. By now they knew each other so well though that they didn’t need to talk about how they felt they knew it.

In his face, Felicity could see that Oliver was tired from everything that had happened the last days, and he was worried about how that would affect their family’s future. When he had been in prison, he had told himself a thousand times that he had had no choice but to turn himself in. Too many innocent lives would have been taken if hadn’t. At the same time he had feared what would happen for his family. He had felt helpless at the fact that he had been locked away while they had lost their anonymity, then Mia and finally their home.

She also knew that Oliver understood exactly how she had felt. She had worried about their family falling apart with Oliver being away. She had worried for the safety of their children, especially since Mia and William had not been with them where she could personally do everything possible. She had been heartbroken about losing Mia and losing their home. She was overwhelmed by everything that had happened these last days, and she would need days to truly process everything that had happened and weeks to recover from it.

They both would.

With their eyes still locked, they agreed that now wasn’t the time to wallow in self-pity. Now was the time to reconnect.

Felicity moved on top of Oliver, straddling him. With her hands still on his cheeks, she leaned down and captured his lips in a gentle kiss. For the break of a second when their lips just touched, she wondered if kissing Oliver would feel different now. They certainly were different people since they had kissed the last time. You didn’t go through what they had gone through and come out of it unchanged.

In their hearts, Felicity realized there was one thing that hadn’t changed though. They still felt the same kind of strong love as they had felt before. They felt this love for their jobs, for this city and its people, their friends. They felt this love for their family, and they felt it for each other.

As their lips opened up to each other and their tongues met in a familiar slow dance, Oliver put his hands to Felicity’s hips and pulled her closer to him. At the same time, he sat up, so his chest was pressed against hers too.

This was how she had always felt safest. Wrapped in Oliver’s arms and with their children somewhere nearby where she knew they were safe too, she felt as safe as she ever had. Nothing could happen to her or the people she loved and every pain she knew was only half as hurtful as long as it was like this.

Oliver moved his hands up and down her back slowly like he wanted to explore her body for the first time. He grabbed the hem of the shirt she was wearing and pulled it over her head. Their lips met again immediately, just like his hands resumed exploring her back. They stroked up and down her skin like he was searching for any changes. The traumatic experiences they had been through had rarely left physical marks on her though. His body was covered with those, but not hers.

Felicity sighed. She didn’t want to think about that now. All she wanted to think about was them in this very moment.

Frowning slightly, Oliver pulled back. “Everything okay?”

“Yes.” Felicity moved her hands up and down his chest. “Why?”

“You were shaking your head.” He cocked his head, rubbing his hands over her back slowly once more. “We don’t have to-“

Felicity broke him off with a kiss. She took hold of the hem of his shirt, pulled it over his head and tossed it into some corner of the room. Putting her hands on his chest, she looked him straight in the eyes.

“It’s just… thoughts.” She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “But I don’t want to think right now.”

Oliver looked at her intently for a moment. He seemed to weigh whether she was saying the truth or if there was some deeper truth that he needed to bury for first. Since he knew her better than anyone else, he found his answer rather quickly.

“Oh, I can make you forget all thoughts, my dear.”

With those words falling from his lips, he turned them effortlessly. Felicity’s back pushed into the mattress, and Oliver let his lips travel from her lips to her cheek and further down her neck. Felicity closed her eyes, leaned back and just enjoyed. He would certainly make her forget everything else that wasn’t them in this moment.

Peppering a trail of kisses over her collarbone, Oliver pushed his hands under her back and unclasped her bra. He took it off and dropped it to the floor. His lips never left her body as he did so. They continued their way down her body now, leaving more kisses on her right breast before they first kissed her nipple and then wrapped around it. A long moan escaped Felicity, and her back arched off the bed, bringing her body closer to Oliver’s lips.

Oliver had been right. He did make her forget all the other thoughts that occupied her mind minutes ago. All she could think about now was how good his lips felt on her skin. The tip of his tongue flicking over her nipple made goosebumps spread all over her skin. His body pressed against hers just made her feel like her skin was on fire in the best way.

When Oliver’s lips continued their way down her body, Felicity’s fingers found their way into his hair. She scratched her fingernails over his scalp lightly and enjoyed the way his hair tickled the skin between her fingers.

While his lips and tongue explored her belly button like he had just discovered for the first time that it was there, his fingers hooked into the waistband of her panties. Felicity lifted her hips off the mattress and wriggled out of it. Oliver left no time now though. He finished the path down and settled between her thighs, hooking her legs over his shoulder to give him better access.

Felicity, although already lost in the pleasure of her fantasy of what it would feel like to have his lips cover her center, opened her eyes. She lifted her head off the mattress, so she could look at Oliver. His eyes were wide opened and darkened from pleasure. The sight alone threatened to make a moan fall from Felicity’s lips. Oliver grinned. He knew the effect he had on her, and he enjoyed it. Felicity kicked his shoulder lightly, but Oliver only caught her foot at the ankle, kissed it lightly and placed it back on his back.

“Lean back,” he whispered, “and try not to think.”

Without any further warning, Oliver dove in. He licked a long path from her center to her clit, starting and stopping right before the most sensitive parts. He was a tease like that. Still, that touch of his tongue alone made her back arch off the mattress and a moan fall from her lips. Her thighs tightened around his head. She couldn’t have stopped it if she had wanted to. Oliver simply put his hands on her knees and gently pushed her legs a bit further apart again.

There had been countless times and occasions when Oliver had teased her like that for what had felt like an eternity. He had heightened her pleasure without taking her high enough to make her fall over the edge again and again. It had been maddening in the best way possible. Tonight she was sure that she wouldn’t be able to take it.

Luckily, Oliver seemed to feel the same way. He didn’t seem willing or able to deny her or himself the pleasure that they both needed so much right now. When his tongue touched her sensitive skin the next time, it thrust into her core.

“Oh God!” Felicity moved out her hand to hold onto anything that would anchor her to this time and place because she felt like she was falling out of it. Her hand found the sheet, holding onto it tightly. “Oliver.”

His name falling from her lips in a whispered plea, spurned Oliver on even more. He thrust his tongue into her in a slow rhythm, while his thumb closed over her clit. He stroked it gently, bringing her small waves of pleasure that ran over her smoothly like the ocean water when she was lying at the beach and the flood was coming closer.

Her nerve endings felt like they had been set on fire. Everything was prickling and tickling and felt so incredibly good. Oliver’s tongue and thumb were so very gentle. He knew how quickly he could take her how high without overstimulating her. His stubble scratched the inside of her thighs, certainly leaving nice little marks there.

When Felicity’s breathing quickened, the one of Oliver’s hands that wasn’t occupied between her legs made its way up her body over her stomach to the valley between her breasts. Felicity caught it there, laced her fingers through his and held onto him.

Oliver’s movements quickened. His tongue switched between circling her entrance and thrusting in now. His thumb flicked over her clit in a quick rhythm that took her higher and higher with each and every movement. Her fingers tightened around Oliver’s, and her back arched off the bed even more. The familiar tightening in her stomach announced that she was close.

“Oliver,” she whispered his name once more, saying it like a prayer, “yes. Oh!”

A long moan escaped her when the pleasure reached its peak. Waves of trembles ran through her body, making her blood boil with desire for more. It was crazy. She was on a peak of pleasure, her head filled with nothing but all the good ways Oliver made her feel right now. Still, she wanted more. When it came to Oliver, she would always want more.

As the waves of pleasure ebbed away, Felicity lifted her head off the mattress slightly, so she could look at Oliver. She wasn’t surprised to find his eyes on hers already. He was resting his cheek on the inside of her thigh and just looked at her. He looked content, at peace. Underneath that, Felicity could see his hunger for more though. He felt it just as intensely as she did.

Even in moments like this, moments of intense desire and pleasure, he managed to look at her like that. It was an expression of love, one that proved that she was her home. Felicity reached out her hand and touched his cheek. He snuggled his face into her touch like he always did.

“I love you,” Felicity whispered.

Oliver grinned. “You only say that because of the good sex.”

“Possible.” Felicity matched his grin. “And I feel my love cease. Maybe you should… put more wood on the fire, preferably after you have taken off your clothes.”

She stroked his back with his foot suggestively. Oliver dipped his head down and placed a terribly innocent kiss on her clit. It made a shiver run through Felicity, but she giggled at that. It was so typical of Oliver to tease her just a tiny bit more after she had teased him.

Pushing an arm under her head, Felicity watched him wriggling out of bed and coming to stand at the foot of it. He didn’t make much of a show of it, but Felicity liked to watch anyway. Everything Oliver did was worth watching. That man could advertise toothbrushes, and it would look sexy. When he was unbuttoning his pants and pulling them as well as his boxer briefs down, it was one of the sexiest things Felicity had ever seen. His abs flexed slightly. His cock bobbed free, already ready to put more wood into the fire.

Oliver just stood there for a moment, letting Felicity watch him. He enjoyed that as much as she did. When she lifted her hand and beckoned him to come closer with a movement of her forefinger. He didn’t hesitate. He crawled onto the bed until he hovered right over her, his knees next to knees, his hands next to her shoulders, her face over hers.

Felicity reached out her hands and framed it with her hands. Slowly she pulled him down to her. Oliver bent his arms until his nose touched hers. He lowered his body onto hers, careful not to crush her. He stroked the tip of his nose over the back of hers before he lowered his lips onto hers.

With a sigh, Felicity opened her lips to the touch of Oliver’s tongue. He deepened the kiss instantly and shifted his hips until his cock rested against her still sensitive sex. A moan escaped Felicity, and Oliver swallowed it eagerly. Pushing his arms under her arching back, he turned them around and sat up, so Felicity was sitting in his lap.

Pulling away slightly and moving a hand through his hair, Felicity looked at Oliver’s face intently. She had already taken in the changes the last days had launched on him. This time she just took him in without anything that had been or hadn’t been these past days. She just looked at the face of the man that she had fallen in love with so long ago and that she had built this wonderful life with that she never wanted to give up.

Felicity got up on her knees and reached behind her. She took hold of his cock and couldn’t stop herself from grinning when Oliver took in a sharp breath at her touch. She considered teasing him, but now was just not the time for that. With that thought in mind, she placed the tip of his erection at her entrance and slowly sank down on him.

Her forehead dropped against Oliver while she was taking him in inch-by-inch. He stretched her in that perfectly arousing way. It made goosebumps run over her skin. Her lips fell open in a silent pant. Her fingernails dug into the skin of his shoulders slightly.

When he was fully inside of her, Felicity moved her fingers down Oliver’s back slowly before she lifted them again. Oliver angled his head back and straightened up as much as he could, trying to steal a kiss from Felicity’s lips, but she kept them right out of his reach. They breathed the same air. She could feel his breath on her chest whenever he breathed out too, but she didn’t let him kiss her. Not yet. She wanted to watch him like he had been watching her before.

Felicity shifted her hips cautiously, just enough to cause some friction. Oliver’s lips fell open and he left out a little moan. The sound made Felicity’s stomach prickle with arousal. She loved to know that she could make him release those sounds. She could offer him just as much pleasure as he could offer her.

Slowly Felicity lifted herself onto her knees, held her position for a moment and then lowered herself just as slowly. Oliver’s body was trembling, his hands digging into her hips hard. His breath was strangled.

“You are driving me crazy,” he said between gritted teeth, “I hope you know that.”

Felicity chuckled slightly. “Oh, I know.”

When Oliver tried to kiss her this time, she only avoided his kiss for a moment. Oliver was about to release a grumble when she gave in. She lowered her lips onto his and kissed him hungrily. Her fingers moved into his hands and grabbed some strands. Using her hold on him, she pulled his head back gently, offering her even easier access to his warm mouth.

They settled into a slow and even rhythm. They moved together in perfect synch, letting their bodies meet in a way that offered them both the pleasure they had been missing out on for days. While their hips were meeting again and again, their hands roamed over each other’s body, and their lips met in gentle and intimate kisses.

Felicity wished it could stay like this forever. The intimacy and closeness of this moment was something she didn’t want to let go easily. She wanted to keep just as close to Oliver as she was now for as long as possible. The burden of these last days didn’t allow Felicity to hold onto her self-control as much as she would like to, and she could see that it was the same for Oliver.

“Oliver.”

It was all she needed to do. She whispered his name, and Oliver knew immediately that she needed more. He tightened his arms around her waist and thrusted up harder and more quickly. Felicity matched his rhythm.

She was so close, but something was missing. She couldn’t say what it was, but something was keeping her from falling over the edge. Her entire body was filled with tension, her skin feeling like it was poked into with sharp needles again and again. She knew that her orgasm was close. Just a little something she couldn’t put her finger on, and she’d just fall over the edge and bathe in pleasure, but her body wasn’t entirely ready. Not yet.

Oliver moved his lips to the side of her neck and sucked at her pulse point. And that was enough to send Felicity over the edge. Her body trembled when the tension left her muscles and nerves. She moaned and let her head fall back, just letting the pleasure wash over her and take her to a blissful height.

When she noticed that Oliver’s movements lost their rhythm, she locked her eyes on his. The expression in his was hazy and cloudy. She knew that all he could see was her, and just like she had troubled before, he troubled to fall over the edge now.

Putting a hand on his cheek, she whispered, “I’m right here, Oliver.”

That was all he needed. He thrusted into her twice more before he came. She felt him stilling inside of her, his cock twitching between her soft walls. Made a warm shiver run down her back. Her name fell from his lips in a passionate whisper.

Still moving slowly through the last sensations of their pleasures, they held onto each other tightly. Sex had always been an important way for them to communicate. Only now they really knew that they both were really whole and okay.

With their foreheads still touched, they continued sitting there for a while, enjoying the continued intimacy. Once again it had been taken from them by separating them from each other, but they had fought back until they had been reunited. They had always done so, and they would always do so again.

→ → → → →

For a split second while waking up, Oliver wondered why he was feeling so peaceful. These last nights had been filled with tension. If he had found any sleep, he had woken up repeatedly and not caught much rest. When he woke up this morning, he felt well-rested and didn’t feel even a spark of panic.

He opened his eyes, frowned at sat up. The unfamiliar room made his head spin for another split second. Then the memories of the last night came back to him, and he allowed himself to fall back into the pillows and just smile for a moment.

A lot of the worries that had bothered him these last days and nights had gone away. He wouldn’t be charged with any crimes. His work was officially acknowledged. He was back with his family. He could look into a brighter future.

Looking around the room once more, he puckered his lips. One problem was left. They didn’t have a home. Their beautiful home had been burnt down and from what Oliver had heard and seen on photos, there was nothing left to repair. They could either rebuild the entire house from scratch or think about something else. Given the changed circumstances with their identities uncovered, Oliver knew there was a lot to think about.

But not now, he decided and rolled out of bed. He looked around briefly and found that Felicity had put some clothes – boxer briefs, sweatpants and a T-shirt – for him on one of the armchairs. He put them on, wondering how Felicity had managed to sneak out of bed without him noticing. He must have been passed out.

He left the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen, thinking he would find his family there, but only Raisa was there. She smiled when she saw him.

“Good morning,” she said with happy voice, “coffee is just ready. Ms. Fe- I mean Felicity would certainly like to have a mug.”

“Not just her. Thank you.” Oliver brushed a kiss to Raisa’s cheek as he walked past her. He then poured two mugs of coffee, turning his head back over his shoulder towards Raisa. “Where is everyone by the way?”

“In the living room, watching TV.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows. “TV for breakfast? When did that start?”

“Today. You… will see why.”

With that mysterious hint left, Raisa left the kitchen. Oliver took the two mugs and followed the noises he could hear, assuming that had to be the direction where the living room was. Indeed, he found a door that had been left ajar and when he pushed it open, he found everyone gathered in front of the TV.

Without paying any attention to what they were watching, Oliver sneaked his way to Felicity, who was sitting on the backrest of the couch. He wrapped an arm around her, offering her one of the mugs of coffee. His lips found their way to her pulse point and placed a gentle kiss where he had left a nice little red mark.

“Oliver,” Felicity whispered and flinched as she hadn’t heard him coming.

He was about to whisper something in her ear, but the sound of his name seemed to make chaos erupt. The kids jumped from their seats, ran towards him and talked insistently to him all at the same time. Oliver wasn’t sure if it was the stress of the last days or the excitement of the kids, but he couldn’t follow what they were saying.

“Okay,” he said, lifting his hands, “how about you choose who talks first, so I can understand anything you say?”

“William,” Emmy suggested, and her siblings nodded.

Oliver looked at William, perking up his eyebrows. William hadn’t been as over the top as the others, but even he looked excited.

“The elections take place today,” he said, “I mean the mayoral elections.”

Sipping from his coffee, Oliver frowned. “Who would they vote?”

“Well, since one mayoral candidate was taken out,” William replied, gesturing towards the TV, “there is only one left. You.”

“Me?”

“You never dropped out of the race,” Felicity reminded him, “and even if you had, after last night a lot of people wouldn’t care.”

“The elections have already started, and apparently voter turnout is quite high,” William continued, “and first counts prove that people haven’t come to spoil their ballot. They came to support you.”

Oliver looked at the TV and found this information confirmed there. People had come to vote, and they were voting him. They didn’t have much choice since there was no other candidate, but they had still decided to come and vote him.

Maybe, after everything they had done and everything they had been put through, they had really saved this city. In more than one way.

* * *

She probably shouldn’t see it that rationally, Felicity thought, still staring at the knife. She and Oliver had both been induced with Vertigo already, and they had been caught in those hallucinations. Even after they had known that those weren’t real, the feelings they had had then had been real nonetheless. For Blood Rose it needed to be the same. She knew that her thoughts and her physical reaction was a part of the code that Midas had written to make sure that she was exactly the woman that he wanted at her side. It didn’t make it any less real.

M + BR. Felicity read those initials again, letting them to remind her how serious this was. She was human, and she truly believed would do everything to avenge Oliver if it had been killed. Because she was human, she knew that it wasn’t that easy though. Ethics and her own inhibition level as well as other factors would weigh in if she was ever faced with the need to avenge Oliver. Blood Rose didn’t have those. That made her so much more dangerous.

Felicity turned around slowly. Her eyes found Blood Rose immediately. She was wearing her usual black and red leathers as well as the long red gloves. She, just like everyone else tonight, had chosen not to hide her face either.

“You came here alone,” Blood Rose said, her voice sounding like chalk scratching over the board, “which people might think was brave. I think it’s just stupid.”

“You came here alone too.”

Blood Rose was carrying a sword on her back and several knives along the outside of her thigh. She had chosen her weapon for the night it seemed. Felicity on the other hand had her tablet. It probably looked like an uneven fight, but knowing that Blood Rose was a robot told Felicity that it wasn’t that uneven. Her table would be enough to take down Blood Rose.

“I have always been able to handle my own though.”

Because you have been programmed to fight for Midas. The words ran through Felicity’s mind, but she kept them inside. She couldn’t give her trump away just yet. If she was lucky, Blood Rose didn’t know that Felicity knew that she was a robot. Maybe that way she could take her by surprise.

“I was taught to fight too.”

Blood Rose threw her head back and laughed a whole-hearted laugh that sounded so evil that Felicity was sure it could be used to synchronize the next Disney villain. Felicity briefly considered attempting to hack into Rose Blood’s system, but she got a feeling that it was too soon. Indeed, only a couple of seconds later Blood Rose stopped laughing abruptly and looked right at her again.

“You really think Ollie’s little self-defense classes make you fit enough to compete against me?”

“Oliver,” Felicity said pointedly, “taught me a lot more than just self-defense.”

Blood Rose didn’t look convinced. She walked around Felicity slowly, circling her the way a wild animal circled its prey before it attacked. Felicity trouble to resist the urge to turn around and watch her watching her. Blood Rose wouldn’t attack this early on and this easily. She wanted to play a game, and she wanted to take her time.

When Blood Rose arrived in front of Felicity again, she didn’t stop though. Instead, she continued walking, going into another circle. Felicity just stood still, taking deep breaths.

If she wanted to distract Blood Rose, she needed to flick the right switches. Since Blood Rose was programmed around Midas, he was the key. The trick was to flick the right switches. Felicity knew that wouldn’t be easy. One wrong word, one wrong switch flicked, and she would be fighting for her life.

“Midas shouldn’t have invented those soldier robots,” she started, testing the waters.

“Then Oliver wouldn’t have killed him?” Blood Rose asked, decreasing the distance between them, so Felicity could almost feel her leathers brushing against her when she continued circling he.

“Oliver was forced to kill Midas after he attacked us,” she replied calmly, “and I am sure we never would have searched for him in the first place if it hadn’t been for those robots. He took his inventions too far.”

Blood Rose just hummed and clicked her tongue. She didn’t agree, and she didn’t like what Felicity said, but it didn’t upset her too much. Midas probably hadn’t thought that he could possibly die, so he hadn’t programmed too much around that scenario. He had made sure that Blood Rose would avenge him, making him the ultimate winner of the battle, but he hadn’t thought it would happen, so why put too much effort into it?

“Midas was a genie. Nobody could have done what he has done. His potential was endless, and you knew that. You were scared of him and what he could have done. You knew he and his inventions would have been so much more popular than you and your ideas have ever been if he had just been given the same opportunities.”

“That is what he told you?” Felicity asked. “That I am scared of what he could achieve?”

“Why else would you refuse to work with such a talented man?”

“Because he refused to handle his talent with responsibility. Because he just did whatever he wanted without thinking about others. Because his inventions, though advanced, weren’t implemented too well. They-“

Felicity barely saw the movement. She only really understood what had happened when another knife ended up in the wall behind her with a loud thud. Apparently, she had found out what really upset Blood Rose. She hated to hear someone talk negatively about Midas’ work. Being a true narcissist, he should be appreciated and praised. Nothing else.

“He was a genius. And he would have exceeded everyone if it hadn’t been for you husband.”

The expression in Blood Rose’s eyes was full of hatred now. She hated Oliver as much as her system allowed her to feel something similar to hate. He had destroyed Midas, the only thing her life had been about.

Felicity remembered once again how much she had hated Malcolm Merlyn for everything that he had done to Oliver, and he hadn’t even killed him. He would have for sure, but they had stopped him before she could have gone through with it. Felicity had never been so close to killing someone as she had been when they had tracked down Malcom Merlyn on Lian Yu, and she had seen him torturing Oliver.

“Your husband,” Blood Rose continued and resumed walking around Felicity like a wild animal eying its prey, “killed Midas. He took my love away and robbed the world of his genie. Now I will do the same to him. I will take you away from him.”

Pushing her chin up a little, Felicity pursed her lips. She got the feeling like it was better to let Blood Rose talk. The more she talked and the more she talked herself into a frenzy, the better were Felicity’s chances to catch her by surprise and take her down.

“You know, this is actually not how I wanted to do it,” Blood Rose said eventually, “because it’s too boring. I mean I like that the entire city is involved in the fight, but I really wanted Oliver to be there to watch it all.”

She sighed almost reverently. Midas had really been good. He had programmed her behavior so close to human behavior that it really was hard to tell the difference. Even now that Felicity knew that Blood Rose was not human, she found it hard to detect the signs for it in her behavior.

“You know, it’s not even the first time that I am trying to get back at Oliver for what he has done.” She came to a stop in front of Felicity and cocked her head. A wide smile full of evilness spread on her lips. “A friend of mine agreed to help me with getting Oliver’s heartrate up a bit. I think I inspired him to give him a very special birthday gift.”

Blood Rose didn’t need to say it out loud. Felicity already knew what she was talking about. There was only one very cruel birthday gift that Oliver had received lately. It had been a chase for her life, one that he had almost lost.

“You might remember the Clock King?”

Felicity knew that Blood Rose didn’t need an answer to that. She needed to know that Felicity remembered. How could she not? That man had abducted her and buried her alive for Oliver to search but not find her. It had been a team effort, and that had been the only reason why they had managed to find her just in time. The earth she had been buried under in a coffin had been soaked since a strong shower of rain had come down. The water had found its way through small cracks into the coffin she had been buried in. The water had filled more and more room until there had been no air left. Felicity had lost consciousness, so she couldn’t remember anything after that, but she knew that Oliver had been burying through the wet air with his bare hands until John had pushed him aside and used a shovel to bury her out. They had opened the coffin, and Oliver had pulled her out and performed PCR until she had finally breathed again.

Despite everything she had gone through, Felicity had gotten out of it rather mildly. Her face had been burnt from the lamps that had been installed in the coffin. Oliver had eventually won a reward for finding a helpful trace. That way he had been able to see her, but whenever he had called up the video stream, the lights had been shining right into Felicity’s face and burning her skin. Because of the water that had filled her lungs, she had also suffered from pneumonia. Still, she felt like it could have been so much worse.

“You gave him the idea?”

“Guilty.” Blood Rose shrugged her shoulders. “Or whatever to call it.”

For a long time, Oliver had been determined to find out who was behind that brutal attack on their family. He had questioned the Clock King. So had Dominic. Oliver had tried to find any possible trace. He had looked into a hundred different directions, but nothing had brought him any closer to finding out who had done that to her. Eventually, he had needed to agree that it was pointless to continue with a search that led him nowhere.

“I guess you decided to do it yourself this time,” Felicity said, her voice sounding raspy since her mouth had become completely dry at the memory of what her entire family had been through while she had been taken, “to get the job done properly.”

“And maybe have a little fun at it too.”

Blood Rose’s grin grew even colder if that was possible at all. Her system was probably running different scenarios through. She considered her options and the possible endings, all of them including Felicity’s death by her hands. It made Felicity wonder if she could actually see it in her head. Part of her was longing to disassemble Blood Rose once she was taken out. She had seen some plans of how Midas had constructed his robots, but seeing it with her own eyes was something else. She wanted to read the codes, especially since Blood Rose wasn’t just programmed to obey or to do a job. She had a real personality. She was developing own thoughts. She even had a sense for enjoyment. It was impressive though still absolutely irresponsible.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Felicity asked, turning around to Blood Rose. “Why don’t you kill me yet?”

“Because I am still not entirely sure how I can make Oliver suffer the most, you know. I want him to feel the pain that I have felt, knowing that he couldn’t save you. It’s why my plan with the Clock King war just so good. Oliver was so involved in that plan. This is… almost a little boring compared.”

Boring, Felicity thought. There was a lot of things that she had expected her death to be. Boring to her killer wasn’t really it.

Felicity knew that she couldn’t focus on that though. She had pushed her tablet behind her back, pretending like she was just holding it there. Instead, she was trying to hack into Blood Rose’s system. From this proximity, she had to be able to hack into her system. Midas had been too arrogant. He hadn’t thought that someone would find out that she was a robot, so he certainly had made sure that he could control her when he was somewhere close to her. In a fight for example, it certainly had been nice to know that he could just program her to throw herself in front of him or whatever was needed to save him.

“Well, I doubt it gets more interesting,” Felicity said, her thumb hovering over the display of her tablet, just waiting for the right moment, “so maybe-“

Blood Rose grabbed one of her knives from her thigh and lunged out to throw it at Felicity. It went so fast that Felicity barely knew what was happening while it was happening. She tried to press finalize the code, so Blood Rose’s right arm would hopefully stop moving, but the tablet slipped through her fingers a couple of inches, making it impossible to reach the right key in time.

Felicity could almost see the blade of the knife flying into her direction. She barely resisted to squeeze her eyes shut, cursing herself for actually going alone. Before the knife left Blood Rose’s fingers, her hand was suddenly pinned to the wall behind her by a green arrow.

Her eyes wide open, Felicity turned her head around and found Oliver in his entire Green Arrow gear standing at the top of the stairs that led up to this room. He was already aiming another arrow at Blood Rose.

A thousand questions were running through Felicity’s mind. How did he come here? Did he escape the prison? How did he know that she was here? Was this part of Blood Rose’s plan? Was that why she hadn’t just killed her the moment that she had arrived here?

Felicity knew there was a time that she would find the answers to all of these questions. Now was not it. Now was just the time to feel grateful and relieved and safe because Oliver was here with her, and together they would take down the one person that had made their family feel truly unsafe for the first time in a long time.

→ → → → →

Oliver felt like his body was on fire. His anger was burning through him so hot that his blood was boiling in his veins and his skin felt like it was melting off his bones. He needed to remind himself to breathe evenly because he knew that, if he didn’t, his hands would start shaking from the anger rolling though him.

All this time, he had wanted to know who had taken Felicity and buried her alive. He had wanted to know who had been working with the Clock King to take someone so precious to him. He had always sensed that this person would come back and finish the job that it hadn’t been able to finish before.

Now Blood Rose had come back and she had come back with a big boom. She had made sure that Oliver turned himself in to the police. She had involved the entire city into a fight. Now she had hoped for her final one-on-one with Felicity, the great finale to her attack to avenge her lover.

After he had shot the arrow and pinned Blood Rose to the wall, he shot Felicity a brief glance. She was looking right back at him, surprised to see him there. He wanted to run to her and hug her and never let her go, but they needed to take Blood Rose down now. They wouldn’t get another chance. If she got away, she would start a war that they wouldn’t be able to win. This needed to end tonight.

Blood Rose grabbed the arrow with her free hand and pulled it out of her hand, freeing her from the wall. Felicity rushed to hide behind some old shelves carrying books that looked even older. Oliver shot the next arrow, aiming for Blood Rose’s other hand. She caught the arrow before it hit her with the hand he had hit before.

“What?” she asked, cocking her head. “You thought you were the only person who could bare a little pain?”

Oliver wanted to tell her that she didn’t have to play any games anymore. He knew that she was a robot. She could stop pretending that it was different. Felicity hadn’t told her though, so Oliver was sure that she wanted to use the moment of surprise. Thinking about it, there was something else he would like to do anyway.

He lunged out for Blood Rose, and she didn’t shy away, telling Oliver what he needed to know. She was in for a fight, and that meant that he would finally have a ventil for all the anger that was still coiling inside of him.

Although Oliver was in a fight with skilled fighters on a quite regular basis, this fight was particularly thrilling. It had been a while since he had felt this angry the last time. He couldn’t even remember when he had been so eager to throw himself into a battle like this. Though, thinking about it, he guessed that the last time that he had felt this full of rage and this willing to break a skull with his own hands if necessary had been when he had visited the Clock King and tried to find out who he had been working with.

Blood Rose was a very skilled fighter which didn’t surprise Oliver at all. This wasn’t the first time that he was going against her, so he knew that she was strong and swift and skilled. Knowing what he knew about her now, he could go at her even harder than he ever had before. No matter what he did, he wouldn’t kill her. You couldn’t kill something that wasn’t alive.

The problem was that Blood Rose was good. Oliver remembered that Felicity had once told him that Midas’ robots had been programmed to adapt to the fighting techniques and skills of their opponents. They adapted to them and used that to take down their opponents, but Midas had certainly not counted on someone like Oliver – trained to fight like this under torture with a lot of different teachers helping him to gain all these skills.

As needed this fight was and as liberating it felt, Oliver didn’t miss the smell of danger that was in the air though. Within seconds after this fight had started, it got even more heated. The intensity increased so quickly that he could almost feel how high the stakes were. Whenever he lunged at Blood Rose, she hit back even more quickly and even harder. Oliver was good at ignoring pain, Blood Rose didn’t feel any at all.

When he glimpsed at Felicity, who was still crouching behind the shelf, she lifted her gaze. Their eyes locked for a second. Felicity quickly returned to her tablet though, lifting just one hand and circling her forefinger. Apparently, she hadn’t managed to hack into Blood Rose’s system yet.

Returning his full attention to the fight, Oliver made use of Blood Rose’s aggressive style. When she threw herself at him, one of her knives in her hand to stab him right in the heart, Oliver let himself fall back, so Blood Rose actually flew halfway across the room. The knife slipped from her fingers, landed on the floor and slithered over the floor towards the book shelves.

Blood Rose recovered from the fall rather quickly. She threw herself at Oliver again. When he tried to hurl her away from him this time, she made sure to take him with her. They rolled around twice before they came to a stop. Blood Rose kept him pinned down. She held another knife in her hand and used both of her hands to try stab him with it.

If Blood Rose wasn’t a robot but a woman of her physique, it would be easy to take the upper hand in the fight. Even though she’d be swifter than him, she wouldn’t be as strong, and her reflexes would be at his level at best. With the way things were, Oliver had trouble to regain the upper hand though.

Blood Rose put even more effort into stabbing him. She leaned all her weight into it, while Oliver was using both of his hands to try and push her away. Still, the knife hovering over his left eye came closer. Damn it!

A noise, a low hum right of him, made him turn his head. One of Curtis’ T-spheres was close to his ear.

“Oliver,” Felicity’s voice came from it so incredibly quiet that Oliver could barely hear her, “you need to attack the right side of her neck. There’s an automatic back-up system positioned there. Whenever I hack her, this system just reboots her in seconds. The moment that thing is destroyed, I can turn her off for good.”

Oliver knew that they still needed that moment of surprise to attack Blood Rose, so he couldn’t possibly ask Felicity how she thought he should do this. He was barely keeping Blood Rose from taking his eye. He couldn’t see himself getting his fingers on one of his arrows in his quiver. No matter how hard he tried, Blood Rose’s strength required his full attention.

Before Oliver could think about a possible way to get his quiver anyway, Blood Rose froze briefly. Looking past her, Oliver found Felicity standing behind Blood Rose. She had stabbed her with the knife that Oliver had hit out of her hand before, ramming it into the back of her neck. Blood Rose’s freezing lasted only for a moment though, the next she was already back in fighting mode.

“I don’t think that was deep enough,” Felicity said, her eyes widening.

Blood Rose let go of Oliver, turning to Felicity, who took a step back quickly. It took Oliver the break of a second to realize that Blood Rose’s focus had shifted to the new attack. Instantly, he grabbed an arrow from his quiver, sat up and rammed the arrow into the right side of Blood Rose’s neck as deeply as possible.

A scream of fury filled the air. It sounded like the screech of a raptor, high-pitched and angry. It made goosebumps spread all over Oliver’s back, but he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted by the feeling. Blood Rose pulled the arrow out and let it fall to the ground next to her, turning towards him again now. Her eyes flashed. The arrow must have hit something sensitive. She was having technical lapses.

Reaching out her hand, Blood Rose went right for his throat. Oliver managed to catch her hand and turn them around though. He pinned her to floor and was about to just pull at the wires that had been revealed when he had hit the arrow into the side of her neck. Before he could do so, Blood Rose’s eyes rolled back and her entire body just went limp.

It took Oliver a brief moment to understand what had happened. He turned his head back over his shoulder to see Felicity staring at Blood Rose with wide eyes, her fingers still on her tablet.

“It’s done,” she said almost dignifiedly. “She’s… turned off.”

Oliver knew that Felicity knew what she was talking about. She was the one of them two who could assess that. Still, Oliver kept starting into Blood Rose’s dead eyes for a moment longer. His body was so full of adrenaline that his brain needed a moment to process that the immediate danger they had been in seconds ago was truly over.

Once the thought really found its way to Oliver’s conscience, he tore his eyes away from the lifeless robot at his feet. His eyes found Felicity’s gaze instantly. A whirlwind of emotions ran through him. It had been a while since he had been apart for Felicity for so long. It had been even longer since it had felt this hopeless.

With a quick motion, Oliver crossed the distance to Felicity and wrapped both of his arms around her tightly. He lifted her feet off the ground, pressing her as close to him as possible and burying his face against the side of her neck. He breathed her in, the sweet smell of comfort and home. Felicity hugged him back as tightly as he held her. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and almost robbed him of the ability to breathe. Oliver didn’t mind though. If he could melt into Felicity right now, he’d do so.

“How did you manage to come here?” Felicity asked with whispered voice, still holding onto him tightly. “I thought you were still in prison?”

“The prison was attacked,” he answered, starting to sway Felicity from side to side in his arms gently, “and they let me take care of the attackers. I returned to be locked away again, but some of the wards agreed that the city needed the Green Arrow.”

Oliver knew he didn’t have to say that he would have to go back. He had promised to do so, and he didn’t want to disappoint the trust people had put in him. He had come here to make sure that Blood Rose couldn’t spill any more blood and that the city and his family were safe again.

Closing his eyes, Oliver pressed his nose against the side of Felicity’s neck again and tried to let the scent of her skin wash away his knowledge of what would happen. Soon enough they would have to go down and make sure that the rest of the city knew what had happened to Blood Rose. Knowing that she had been taken down would be enough for the others to run away. Oliver was sure of that since the city was fighting back well as far as he knew, and the criminals hadn’t tried to take over the city like they had done tonight in years. They had become bolt, but that would change. Once the fights had stopped, Oliver would have to go to prison and so would the team probably.

“You should have disguised your face,” Oliver whispered, finally putting Felicity back down and moving an inch away from her, just enough so he could look at her face, “because now you are all targets for the police.”

Felicity shook her head. “It wouldn’t have been right. The city stood up for itself tonight. They needed people to help them do that, not masks.”

Oliver shook his head, lifting his hands to Felicity’s cheeks and holding her face gently. He felt so much love for her right now, and he was sure that he looked at her like she had personally hung the sun, the moon and the stars right now. She couldn’t be of more worth to him if she had done so. Dipping his head forward, he touched his lips to hers. It was a sweet and brief kiss, not nearly what he needed, but all there was time and room for right now. Everything else would have to wait until later although he knew that later might never come.

“We need to end the war on the streets,” he said as soon as he had pulled back, knowing that if he allowed himself to say anything else, he would kiss her again and again. They weren’t allowed to enjoy their time together when everyone else was still in danger. “Now.”

Felicity nodded her head. She put her hands over his on her cheeks and snuggled her face into his touch for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, she needed her head and pulled away then.

“Okay,” she said, nodding towards Blood Rose, “we should take her down and then make sure the entire city knows that she’s out.”

Oliver nodded. He grabbed one of Blood Rose’s arms and threw her lifeless body over his shoulder. Turning to the door, he reached out his free hand to Felicity. Hand in hand they climbed down the stairs of the clocktower.

The streets here were quiet, not a single soul around. That was exactly how it had been when Oliver had arrived here. It was even what had tipped him off on the clock tower. With fights in so many places all over the city, it had seemed weird that nothing was happening here. Something that told him that Blood Rose must have made sure that she was alone with Felicity.

“We should go further downtown and-“

“No.” Felicity shook her head firmly and started running her fingers over her tablets, preparing commands. “We will have to make sure the entire city knows instantly. We will use Blood Rose’s methods and just hack into the broadcasting system as well as the digital billboards all over the city to make sure everyone knows it’s over.”

Without any word of warning, she lifted her tablet and angled it until she was satisfied. Then she gave him a nod.

“Three, two, one-“

Felicity pushed a button on her tablet and signaled him to go. In the corner of his eyes, he saw an old, damaged billboard in the distance showing his face. Felicity hadn’t been kidding. He was sure that his face was all over the city right now.

“Starling City,” he said, “Blood Rose is out.”

He lay her body on the floor and wiped some strands of her hair away, so her face was well visible. Felicity followed his movements with the tablet, catching Blood Rose’s face, so everyone could see it.

“You might recognize Blood Rose, the person that organized these attacks on the city, as Rose Obold, a candidate for the mayoral position. The truth about who she really is, is even more complicated though.”

Despite everything Oliver had been through and the crazy things that he had seen, he knew how crazy this truth sounded. Blood Rose had seemed so real. He had shook her hand, talked to her and fought against her numerous times. If Felicity hadn’t found out that she was a robot, he wouldn’t have come to that conclusion. He also knew the problems a truth like this could bring. People would distrust others, worried that they might be a robot like this too.

“Blood Rose is a robot.” He twisted Blood Rose’s arm around until he heard a quiet clicking. He then ripped at the arm and all the wires that connected the arm to the rest of the body became visible. “She was created by Ruben Midas, the man who created robot soldiers and attacked the Smoak & Queen Science Center before. She was here to avenge him, and she almost succeeded.”

Oliver straightened back up and turned towards the camera.

“The only reason she did not was because of you. You worked against these criminals united. You showed these intruders that Starling City is our city, and you do not allow anyone to take it from you like they have tried. You stood together as one and that is how we all are the strongest.”

Pride rushed through his veins. What had happened tonight was all he had ever wanted for this city. He had wanted them to become one after the long time that people in the Glades had been treated like people of second-class citizens. His parents had been part of forming that gap between the Glades and the rest of the city. Now that gap seemed to be closed. The city was truly united.

“Everyone who had come here tonight to wreak havoc should listen closely now.” His voice deepened, the anger he felt underneath that pride taking over now. “If you leave now, we will not hunt you down. If you cause any more damage though, I will personally make sure that you are hunted down and you are brought to court – whether it’s the court of the city or the court of the people. And trust me, neither is going to be good for you.”

→ → → → →

“It doesn’t look too bad,” Roy mumbled, stepping towards Oliver, Felicity and John who were standing on the plaza in front of the Smoak & Queen Science Center, “considering the risk they all took tonight.”

Felicity cocked her head and scrunched up her nose. Once more she let her gaze wander around. Most of the people that had gathered here a couple of hours ago to go into battle with the Green Arrow’s team, had come here again now that the fight was over. Some just stood together and talked about what they had experienced. Others helped those who had been injured but hadn’t needed or wanted to go the hospital. Some even just sat on the ground and seemed to process what they had gone through tonight.

“According to hospital records, eighteen of our people are in the hospital,” Felicity said, looking at her tablet, “one of them in surgery for multiple injuries.”

“Could have been worse,” Roy replied, shrugging his shoulders, “I mean nobody’s dead, right?”

Felicity couldn’t possibly argue with that. The damages to the buildings and property were terrible, but there hadn’t been any casualties. That was indeed a reason to be happy.

What wasn’t a reason to be happy was the small group of police officers that had gathered close to one of the alleys. They seemed to be in discussion, sticking their heads together and talking. The expression in their eyes was nervous when they shot brief glances to where Oliver and Felicity were standing or any other members of the team were working.

This wasn’t good, Felicity realized and grabbed Oliver’s hand instantly. It was bad enough that she had to say goodbye to him again as he certainly had to go back to prison. Now she would get to know what consequences her actions would have for her, the entire team and all of their families. Felicity felt a sudden wave of nausea washing through her.

“I will go and talk to them. Maybe if I-“

Oliver had already taken the first step, but Felicity tightened her fingers around his hand and shook her head. She wasn’t ready to let Oliver go again. Since McKenna had just stepped to the uniformed cops, she also knew that they had another minute. Maybe she would know a way to… to do whatever possible to help them.

Felicity knew their chances weren’t good. The police hadn’t wanted to arrest Oliver in the first place, but they had had no choice. At the end, even if they refused to arrest them, others would. All of the cops of Starling City could refuse to arrest them, but that would only mean that higher authorities like the FBI or whatever would do so. It was what had turned this terrible situation into the mess it was now.

Indeed, it didn’t take long until the group of cops approached them. McKenna stayed back for a moment, hands on her hips and her head lowered. When she followed the others, she didn’t look hopeful.

Oliver turned his head back over his shoulder to look at Felicity. Their eyes locked, and they exchanged an expression of love. Felicity knew that Oliver, although he had disagreed with her decision before, wouldn’t hold it against her. She had done what she had thought was right and what she actually still believed had been the right decision for the city. There was nothing to argue about.

When the cops stopped in front of them, Felicity noticed that everyone’s attention had turned towards them. People had stopped what they had been doing and were watching them now. The rest of the team stopped with their tasks and joined Oliver, Felicity and Roy.

“I am very sorry,” a police sergeant – Sergeant Smitterson was to read on his nameplate – said, “but we are obligated to arrest you. I wish we didn’t have to, but I… I have children, you know?”

Felicity wanted to tell him that she as well as the others had risked a lot, including ever seeing their children again outside of a prison, but she knew it wasn’t fair. Ultimately, their children were taken care of. Lyla couldn’t be arrested and could still raise Sara and Connor. Thea wouldn’t be arrested and could still raise Robbie and Louis. Felicity and Oliver’s kids would have two great aunts, their Uncle Bruce, a pair of grandparents and a lot of money to live from. It wasn’t ideal, but they would be taken care of. Not everyone had the same opportunities.

“We could let you go and-“

“No.” Oliver shook his head. “We have gone through this before. It doesn’t make sense. We would just be forced to hiding.”

“There had to be another way,” McKenna said, shaking her head, “because after everything you have achieved tonight-“

She gestured around herself. Felicity looked at all the worried faces that looked back at them. After an attack like this, there was always the fear for more. The city had been strong, but it had suffered tonight. Suffering only attracted more criminals.

“I’m sorry.”

The voice that broke the silence was quiet and shy. A young woman who could barely be older than twenty years had stepped forward from the crowd. Her face was covered with dried sweat, dirt and even a bit of blood. Although she had certainly tried to look like she knew what she was getting into – wearing tight black jeans, a leather jacket and boots – Felicity was sure that she had never been in more than a school fight maybe.

“If you arrest them, you have to arrest all of us,” she said, her voice a little stronger and louder now, “because we all participated in vigilantism tonight.”

There was a murmur of voices. People started talking to the people right and left to them. Some looked worried, the others nodded their heads in agreement.

“She is right!” one of them called. “All of us worked to protect the city tonight! So just arrest all of us already!”

“Yes! Let’s see how you handle that many arrests!”

The tensed atmosphere from about twenty seconds ago changed into something entirely different. People were back to being excited and militant. If they needed to fight a second battle tonight, they would.

Felicity could feel Oliver’s fingers tightening around her hand once more. She could imagine how emotional this moment had to be for him. For so long, not only the police but the citizens too had been scared of him. Now they were standing here, willing to be arrested with him. They had been standing by each other through this battle, and they were standing by him now.

McKenna released a long sigh and turned to look at Oliver and Felicity again.

“What they are doing is honorable, but it doesn’t change the law.”

“Then it’s good that someone who is lawfully allowed to pardon people is here.”

Felicity turned her head back over her shoulder to Lyla, who had been standing behind her this entire time. She still held her phone in her hand. When Felicity looked at her with a hundred questions in her eyes, Lyla nodded towards one of the alleys that led away from here. Felicity followed her gaze to see a group of maybe twenty Army officers surrounding president Nia Harrison, who approached them.

Although Felicity was seeing it with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it. She knew that the videos and photos of this night must have spread on social media like wildfire. The news must have caught wind of that and informed the US citizens too. President Harrison must have seen all of that and decided to come.

Still, Felicity couldn’t believe it.

“What is she doing here?” Felicity asked Lyla, knowing that if anyone knew the answer to that question it was her.

“When she was informed about what was happening here, she flew to Seattle to coordinate help. She wanted to send the military in case the criminals really attacked and took over the city. If they didn’t attack, she could have visited tomorrow and prove to be sensitive to the fear everyone had gone through. The Secret Service was against it. They thought it wasn’t safe. They would have liked her to stay in DC instead.”

“But she’s here now.”

“She insisted on going to Seattle. Once Blood Rose was down, I confirmed that news to her. She said she would come here instantly.”

Everyone watched as President Harrison approached the group of heroes and cops. Lyla pushed past the rest and approached the president. One of the Army Officers was about to stop her, but President Harrison stepped forward and held out her hand.

“Agent Michaels,” she said with a beaming smile, “thank you very much for the message you sent me. I wasn’t sure if I could trust the news.”

“You are welcome. We are glad to have you here, Ms. President.” She made an inviting gesture. “May I introduce you to the people who have initiated the fight back?”

Lyla didn’t wait for an answer. She started pointing at one person after the other and introduced them. While most of them just nodded their head in greeting, Roy seemed a little overwhelmed with the entire situation, causing him to bow to President Harrison like she was a queen.

When Lyla was about to introduce Oliver, President Harrison stepped past her like she had before when the Army Officers had wanted to stop Lyla from approaching her. She shook Oliver’s hand and looked him straight in the eyes.

“It is an honor to meet you, Mr. Queen,” she said, “and I congratulate you to your success tonight.”

“That was hardly my success alone,” Oliver replied and looked towards the people watching them, “because none of this would have been possible without any of them.”

President Harrison smiled a somewhat knowing smile. Although Felicity couldn’t say that she understood what was behind that smile, she got the feeling that maybe there was hope for a happier future after all. As close as this hope seemed, Felicity didn’t dare falling into it.

Turning towards the crow of people, President Harrison looked at the face that were staring back at her. Some looked suspicious and glanced at the military officers every now and then like they feared the president would just order the soldier to shoot the people in the crowd. Others looked hopeful or at least interested in what was to come.

“Mr. Queen is right,” President Harrison finally said, addressing the crowd, “none of what happened today would have been possible without you. All of you gathered here together to unite and fight back against the people that threatened to take over your city. All of you showed the power ordinary people can have if they come together for a good cause.”

Felicity noticed that most people relaxed. Obviously, President Harrison had to say some rather nice things rather than a firing order. Still, the tension was palpable.

“A strong group like this wouldn’t have been possible to operate if it wasn’t for a strong leader. These people here with me have risked their freedom and their lives for the last years. They didn’t let themselves be stopped by personal threads. They didn’t let them be stopped when the police was hunting them. They didn’t let themselves be stopped by anything.”

She turned her head back to look them one by one. Nodding to herself, she turned back to the crowd.

“Fifteen years ago, Mr. Queen started something that grew into this powerful union of people. Starling City might have turned into a criminal nether land if it hadn’t been for guidance and his leadership both as the Green Arrow and the mayor or this city. It was carried on in his absence by his team mates, who managed to encourage you all to do the same.”

There was a heavy pause. Oliver turned his head to look at Felicity. She could see the same spark of hope that she was feeling mirrored in his eyes. Everything President Harrison was saying sounded like a hymn of praise. Either it was going to end with a big but, or she was going to announce some really great news.

“Because of these selfless acts and the way these benefited this city as well as the entire United States, it wouldn’t be fair to punish Mr. Queen and the other members of his team. Since the news of Mr. Queen’s arrest had reached us, we have been working on a new law to rightfully acknowledge the quiet deal between the heroes of this city and the police that is working here. If that law is passed, the heroes of this city will be accepted as their own entity that works with the police and has its own rights and obligations.”

The president’s words made people whisper with excited voices. Oliver turned his head back to look at Felicity once more, and she squeezed his hand. So many things had happened these past days that she felt like she was just living through them without really processing them. She had heard what President Harrison had said, but she was sure that it would take a few more days until she really believed and understood the full meaning.

“Hereby I pardon every crime that has been committed by this group of heroes in order to keep the city safe. I, personally, as well as in my position as the President of the United States, thank you for your service. We are in deep debt towards you.”

The military officers saluted, and after a moment of hesitation the police followed suit. A single pair of hands started clapping into the silence. Soon enough, it was joined by a hundred more. Thunderous applause chased away the silence.

Fifteen years, Felicity thought to herself. Fifteen years of doing what they could do for the city despite the strenuous opposition of its citizens and the police. Fifteen years of hiding in the shadows, always balancing on the edge of being caught and arrested. All that was ending tonight.

Here they were in the Glades, the very neighborhood where all of this had started, and they got official approval and acknowledgement for what they had been doing. They were allowed to do it now without having to fear consequences from any authorities.

Oliver had started this mission in an attempt to punish those who had betrayed it. Along the way, he had noticed that his mission, their mission had to be more than this. Now this was what it had become.

“Felicity?”

Turning her head to Bruce, she saw him holding out a tablet to him. She took it, finding live footages from half a dozen places within the city there. Those six places, all central to the city and yet somewhat spread all over it, were where Blood Rose and her henchmen would wreak havoc tonight. Their opponents were already gathering together there.

“We have to split in seven groups.”

Felicity said it quietly, so only Bruce and John who were standing next to her could hear. Lifting her gaze, she looked at John’s face, seeking his approval. Only when she nodded, she felt like this was indeed the right move.

“Time’s running,” Felicity said out loud, addressing the people that had come to fight with them tonight, “and Blood Rose has made sure that there will be attacks all over the city, so we need to split.”

“Lyla and Curtis are leading a part of you to St. Walker’s Hospital in South Boulevard.”

Although the crowd of people wasn’t easy to overlook, a part of the people just followed Lyla until they felt like it was like a seventh of them. Felicity wondered how they would make it to South Boulevard. It would take them too long to walk. She instantly remembered that Lyla was an A.R.G.U.S. agent though and knew that she would know what to do.

Everyone on the team would find their ways to their destinations. With so many heads working together, there was always a way.

“My brother Nick is joining the next group to North District.”

Felicity continued to split the group. She sent Tommy to Pennytown. Laurel joined a group at the Warehouse District. Roy was sent to The Triangle with another one. There was one more group that had to go. The rest would stay here with her. Here was where Blood Rose would attack, the seventh location.

“B-“

Felicity needed to stop herself. After she had called everyone by their real-life names, she needed to remind herself that Bruce still wore his mask. Everyone who could count to three could probably tell that he was behind the mask. He was the one link that they had to Gotham City. As long as there was no definite proof, nothing would happen to him though.

“Batman will-“

“-stay right here with you.”

Turning her head back over her shoulder, Felicity looked at John. She had thought that he would stay by her side here in the Glades.

“When Blood Rose really comes here, you need help with the tech,” John said, “so I’ll go.”

John was right. Taking on Blood Rose by herself was too dangerous. Felicity needed technical assistance, and Bruce could offer that. She nodded her head in agreement and turned back to the crowd that was left.

“John will go with you to Lamb Valley. The rest of us will stay here.”

As soon as John and his group were gone, the others stepped closer towards her. They gathered around the truck she was standing on. They looked at her, expecting to give directions and tell them what to do. It was so much easier doing so when she was behind her computers and the people that received her directions were well-trained vigilantes and not just the common people from the street. With her team, Felicity knew their strengths, their ways to go, their limits. She knew who she needed to assign which task because she knew what they were capable of.

The people she was looking at now were strangers to her. She didn’t know how much they could take. She was scared to tell them something, knowing it could lead them into their deaths.

“Blood Rose is dangerous,” Felicity told them, “very, very dangerous. We aren’t completely sure yet what she is capable of, but we know that she is a mastermind when it comes to technology. She will try to manipulate it, so make sure to stay away from it and certainly don’t rely on it. Other than that, we are just as clueless as you are. Everyone needs to be careful.”

A young man stepped forward. He was holding a baseball bat in his hand and twirled it around playfully. He didn’t look too worried about what was going on. He looked like someone who was ready to fight.

“What can we do to help you take her out for good?”

He definitely understood that tonight’s motto was all or nothing. They needed to go all in and stop this once and for all.

“Although we don’t know who Blood Rose will come with, we are almost sure that she won’t come alone. If you make sure that we can focus solely on Blood Rose, that would be great.” She made a brief pause. “If you need us, we will be there though. Keeping you safe is more important than taking her down. We will find a chance to do so anyway, so please tell us when you need help.”

Felicity hoped that they got the chance to take down Blood Rose tonight. If she escaped and disappeared, it would be incredibly hard to track her down again. Who knew what terrible things she would be able to do when they weren’t on to her.

They needed to take her down tonight. Felicity could only hope that they achieved that without losing anyone on their very large team tonight.

→ → → → →

They didn’t have to wait very long for the fight to start. Soon enough, alarms from cars and houses had gone off. The noises of shattering glass and shots being fired had broken the silence. The team they had left here had spread to fight the people that attacked the city. Since some men and women from the military and the police were on board, Felicity hoped that everyone was somewhat safe.

Bruce had gotten into the active fight too. Felicity had asked him to, so the people in the Glades knew that this neighborhood hadn’t been left to fall yet again. She knew that she wasn’t much of help going into a physical fight because her training had been meant to defend herself and not to go into the offense too much.

She knew a lot of people that were out there tonight didn’t have any training and they threw themselves into the fight nonetheless. Felicity couldn’t say that that thought didn’t bother her. It did bother her that she had asked people to help while she was crouching in some dark alley, working on her tablet.

Their main goal for the night, she told herself though, was to catch Blood Rose. That was her primary task, so that was what she needed to be working on, even if it meant staying out of the battles that were fought all over the city already.

Felicity switched back and forth between all surveillance cameras in and around the city. She looked for everything that looked even the slightest bit unusual. Doing so, she could also get a look at the fights that had started everywhere now. Right now, it looked like making their team this big for the night had been the right decision. They were holding their own against Blood Rose’s henchmen.

“Where are you?” Felicity whispered to herself.

This was personal for Blood Rose, especially tonight. Oliver was locked away where he couldn’t help. The city was a battle zone. Felicity was right in the middle of it and in the Glades. Oliver had put so much time and heart into making this neighborhood into what it was now. Blood Rose had to attack here.

For a split second, Felicity wondered if she was wrong. Blood Rose wanted to make it as personal as possible. She could attack the kids too. Then again, Felicity doubted that Blood Rose could possibly understand what being a parent felt like. Felicity doubted that Midas would have wanted kids, so he certainly hadn’t programmed a motherly attitude to Blood Rose’s character.

No, everything about Blood Rose had been formed around Midas.

Felicity continued to switch between the footage of the different cameras when one of the alarms that she had set up went off. She checked the alert message and perked up her eyebrows. Her system had noticed a particularly high use of electricity in Brook Street, near the clock tower. Calling up a map, she located the spot even more thoroughly and frowned. The increased use of power could be tracked back to an ice rink. That wouldn’t be too suspicious if Felicity didn’t know that the small ice rink was closed from April to September.

Blood Rose needed to be there to charge her batteries. Every once in a while, those robots needed to charge despite the super-battery that Midas had provided for them. Before a fight like this – a fight that she would possibly need all her energy for – she had definitely felt the need to recharge her batteries.

Felicity needed to get there. Even if Blood Rose wasn’t actually charging her batteries there, Felicity was sure that she wanted to bait her. She wanted her to come there and end this fight just between the two of them which was good because that way nobody else would get hurt.

Of course Felicity wouldn’t go there all by herself though. She was smarter than that.

Pushing her tablet under the leather jacket, Felicity hurried to the plaza in front of the Science Center. Bruce was involved into a fight with a dozen of armed hulks. He handled himself well, not that Felicity had doubted that. She was just glad to see that despite the enormous number of people that Blood Rose had recruited – even more than they had suggested – things were still going alright.

Pressing her lips together, Felicity considered her choices. She could stay and wait until Bruce was free to join her. She could also call him and risk that he got distracted talking to her, but he might also be able to free himself from his opponents and come with her. If she waited too long, Blood Rose might change her plan and come here though. That would endanger everyone that had agreed to come here and help out even more.

Felicity knew it was dangerous, but sometime you had to take risks. This one was a risk she could take because she could calculate it. She was a good hacker, a great one even. She trusted her abilities when it came to tech, just like everybody else did. When they went out on the field blindly, relying on just her abilities, she could do the same.

Although she was already turning around and heading towards the clock tower with quick steps, Felicity couldn’t help but think about what she would be thinking and doing when Oliver would head into a battle alone. She had watched from behind her monitors how he had done that uncountable times. When he had had good reasons, she had always understood it. She had always told him that it was okay and that he had no choice. If there had been another way though, she had asked him not to go alone. She had begged him to accept help.

Without stopping in her steps, Felicity checked her tablet and made sure that the unicorn emoji that was supposed to show her position did indeed move on the map. Seeing that it did, she pushed the tablet back under the thick leathers and quickened her steps once more.

She wondered what Oliver would say if he knew what she was doing. Would he understand it? Would he support it? Would he trust her abilities to keep her safe like he knew they kept him safe?

Felicity pushed that thought away. She couldn’t think about that now. She needed to focus because whatever Blood Rose had in store for her, Felicity knew that it would require her entire focus.

Once Blood Rose was taken down and the city safe again, Felicity would think about how to get Oliver out of prison. There was no way that she would just go on with her life and allow the love of her life to be locked away without her. There had to be a way.

→ → → → →

“They said it might go all down tonight.”

“My source outside told me the fights are worse than ever.”

“Look, I don’t give a crap about this city, but my family is out there.”

“I bet you a hundred bucks that the people out there are our people. The Richie Rich guys certainly won’t move a finger to save this city.”

“I wish I was out there to mingle in all of that. Sounds like a lot of fun.”

“Apparently that Bloody Rose Girl brought a bunch of henchmen into the city. My brothers are out there tonight. I hope they spank her ass.”

Oliver walked up and down in his cell nervously, trying to take deep breaths. With all the trauma he had been through, his senses were advanced. It had saved his life a lot of times. The open structure of the prison block did the rest. Oliver could overhear almost every conversation that the inmates had. Tonight, it was all about what was going on in Starling City while they were being locked in here.

He didn’t know if he should be grateful that he had been relocated to this block where he had contact to others, or if he should hate it. Most people here weren’t hostile towards him. They didn’t even seem to be too interested that he was here, so it didn’t really bother Oliver to be here. Tonight, overhearing all those conversations, he almost wished that he was back in his solitary cell where he was only tormented by his own thoughts and fears, not everyone’s around him.

At the end, Oliver guessed it didn’t make much of a difference which cell he was in. He hated that he was in prison tonight, knowing so many were out there right now. That Thea, John, Felicity and basically all of their friends and family were out there only made it worse. He had always been the first to throw himself into a battle, knowing that he couldn’t ask of them to do something that he wasn’t ready to do. Now he couldn’t help at all.

There had been a couple of times before, a quite small number of them really, when Oliver hadn’t been able to get out in the field. He had been hurt most of those times, and he wouldn’t have been of much help. Back then he had at least been involved by pacing up and down behind Felicity’s chair and offering advice when it was needed.

Tonight all he could do was pacing up and down in his cell while everybody else was out there, risking their lives. They could handle themselves, but-

A loud bang made Oliver’s thoughts stop. It had sounded like an explosion and judging from the alarm that went off somewhere in the building, he was sure that it hadn’t only sounded like one. It had been an explosion. The prison was under attack.

Oliver stepped to the bars of the cell, looking down towards the room where the prison guards were usually sitting and overlooking the security cameras of the block. One of them was on the phone right now, looking over the other guy’s shoulder at the monitors. The expression on their faces told Oliver that he was right. They were indeed under attack.

Taking a quick look around, Oliver noticed that he wasn’t the only one who had caught up on this. In most cells, the prisoners had stepped forward to the bars and were watching what was happening while more and more of the prison guards were gathering together. Whatever they were seeing on the monitors, it didn’t seem to be too good.

Another bang. Another explosion. While the first explosion had just drawn attention, this one called for panic. The guards were starting to run into different directions, most of them towards the door to the south block. Oliver guessed that was where the attacks were taking place.

At the same time, the inmates were showing their panic in form of anger. They jolted at the bars of their cells, shouting in anger.

“Let us out! Let us out!”

“If they come here, we need to fight them! We can help!”

“Yo, we don’t deserve to die here! If there is a fire, we need to get out!”

They were ignored though. That only made them angrier. Their shots grew louder. Some of them started throwing their toilet paper after the guards. Others just shouted or even screamed. It was bizarre.

Oliver continued watching what the prison guards did. Most of them were moving, talking on their radios while they were doing so. One of them – Officer Lewis, a young guard that Oliver had encountered a couple of times and that had appeared rather nice to him – wasn’t moving though. He was standing on the lowest area, speaking into his radio. His gaze was flicking back and forth between the floor and Oliver.

Whatever he had been talking about on the radio, Officer Lewis obviously wasn’t satisfied with the result. He looked at Oliver intently for a moment longer, then he turned away and hurried back down in the direction he had come from. He had barely taken five steps when he suddenly stopped. He clenched his right hand to a fist, opened it and clenched it again. When he turned around, he had scrunched up his nose and his forehead was wrinkled into a deep frown. He had made a decision.

Oliver wasn’t surprised when Officer Lewis stopped in front of his cell. He grabbed his keys from his belt and started looking for the right one to manually open the door. Doing so, he didn’t look at Oliver.

“Look,” he said, still looking at one key after the other although Oliver was sure that he had already checked each key at least once, “I might lose my job with what I am doing here because I was specifically told not to do it. I know that we need help outside though because these guys are trying to break out the prisoners in block C, and we don’t want those back on the streets. So I am letting you out… to help us.”

He eventually lifted his gaze, looking at Oliver. He hit the key against the palm of his hand repeatedly, waiting for Oliver to agree with him. He needed Oliver to confirm that his feeling was right, and he could trust him.

Oliver nodded his head. “I am helping you and you can lock me back up. I promise.”

Officer Lewis hesitated for only a moment longer. He then nodded his head and unlocked the cell door. Beckoning for Oliver to follow him, he hurried into the direction of block C. Some other officers they saw, shot them glances, but neither of them said a word.

“There are seven people. They carry guns and explosives. The explosives aren’t too strong, but the two explosions did damage a wall at the north side of block C. They are trying to get in through that.”

“I need my bow and arrows,” Oliver said.

“They aren’t here. They are-“

“One of the prison guards will have a quiver and a spare bow,” Oliver said.

Officer Lewis looked at him doubtingly. “Why would anyone-“

“My brother-in-law gave one to one of the officers,” Oliver said, “in case there was an emergency.”

“I doubt that anyone-“

When they stepped through the double door system into block C, Officer Gemmings stepped into their way. He straightened his shoulders and looked Oliver up and down pejoratively. Oliver hadn’t missed that Gemmings wasn’t a fan of him.

“Look,” he said, lifting his hands, “I don’t want to cause any trouble. I just want to help keeping the prison safe.”

Gemmings narrowed his eyes at Oliver slightly, chewing on his gum. He nodded his head slowly and nodded his head towards one of the doors.

“It’s a good thing, Nick gave me a bow and arrows for you then. You will need them.”

Oliver guessed he should be surprised that Nick had trusted Gemmings with that. On the other hand, Gemmings looked like someone who just came here to do his duty. If he could make some extra money, he’d take the chance.

“Come on.”

Officer Lewis led Oliver to the room that Officer Gemmings had shown to them. It was a small storage room with cleaning materials. The quiver and bow as well as one of Oliver’s suit were barely hidden in one of the shelves. Oliver put on the jacket for a little protection, put on the quiver and grabbed the bow.

He looked at Officer Lewis. “All I need is a door out, and I will chase them away and cover the damage.”

“Chase them away?”

“We can’t wait for the police to pick them up. With what’s probably going on in the city, they will have their hands full.”

“Well, we have some nice cells,” Officer Lewis replied, “and I think it’s safer to have them locked up here than out there in the streets.”

Officer Lewis was right. If they needed to be held captive for a while, they could just get a taste of what was ahead of them.

“I will take them out, so we can lock them up,” Oliver said, “and then I’ll get back to my cell.”

This time Officer Lewis didn’t seem to have any doubt that Oliver meant what he said. He grabbed the right key instantly and pushed it into the lock.

“According to the cameras, these guys are at the fence to the yard. They are probably trying to get in through the back.”

“The watch towers?” Oliver asked.

“Unoccupied. We are short-staffed tonight.”

Oliver nodded his head. “Don’t worry. I will take care of it.”

He let Officer Lewis let him out. Oliver stepped out of the prison building, his muscles tense and his fingers wrapped around the spare bow tightly. The people of the city where out there, protecting the city against the attackers. Now Oliver would make sure that they wouldn’t have to handle even more of those than they had to already.

→ → → → →

Blood Rose was nowhere to be seen, but Felicity could feel her presence. It was just a feeling, one she couldn’t even describe. She didn’t know where it came from or what it felt like exactly, but she knew it was there.

Using the binoculars that she had taken with her, Felicity looked around. She had taken up position in the clock tower. From there, she could overlook her surroundings. No matter how thoroughly she looked, she couldn’t find Blood Rose though.

Felicity shook her head. She knew it was irrational, but she trusted her feelings more than she trusted her senses. Blood Rose just had to be somewhere.

She lowered the binoculars and grabbed her tablet, checking the footage of the local security cameras. None of them showed Blood Rose which didn’t surprise Felicity. Her alarms would have gone off if she had been on the records.

The increased use of power that Felicity had noticed in the ice hall had stopped shortly before Felicity had arrived here. She was sure that Blood Rose was keeping an eye on her and had noticed that she was on the way to meet her. If that was true, Blood Rose would come here eventually. Felicity could just wait.

Hugging the tablet to her chest, Felicity just looked out of the window. From here, the city looked almost calm. Apart from the faint noises that could as well come from a construction area, there was no sign of the fights that were happening everywhere.

Sometimes it was still weird how much this city meant to her. It had never been supposed to be like that. Starling City had always been supposed to be just a little stop on her way to greatness. She had wanted to work here for a couple of years, gather experience and then leave to take the next step in her career.

All of those plans had just changed when a blood-covered vigilante had been hiding in the back of her car. With that, she had found another purpose. She had found love. She had found family. She had found a home.

Starling City was her home, and she wouldn’t allow anyone to hurt it. For all it had given her, she needed to give the city that protection. She-

Then again, it was so different to be here. Apart from the obvious differences in the conditions, it felt quite different too. On the island, as hopeless as he remembered he had been, he guessed there had been a spark of hope left.

That was different now too. He wasn’t hopeful because there wasn’t any hope. Even if the team took Blood Rose down, he’d still be facing prosecution. He had admitted to being the Green Arrow. There was no way of talking himself out of it.

For the first time in so long, Oliver couldn’t see his future which felt surreal. For the last fifteen years, he had known that his future was a life shared with Felicity and their kids. Everything else had been unthinkable.

Oliver shook his head. He missed his family like crazy, and he wondered where they were and how the were feeling. The kids had to be scared, being away from their home. They were old enough to understand that things had changed drastically and they probably got that they were never going to be back to how they had used to be.

Again, Oliver shook his head. His family was well protected and in good hands. Raisa would make sure that they were distracted and, knowing Bruce, he had probably brought Alfred, who would offer his own ideas of how to distract the children. They would be looked after and protected.

Felicity was certainly doing her best to find Rose Blood and put an end to all the crimes that were currently happening in the city. The number of crimes had risen a lot since his first arrest. The riots had only become worse since he had been locked away again. He was isolated here, but news about the riots and crimes had reached him nonetheless.

These last days, Laurel had always informed him about everything that had been happening. She had been his link to the outside world, but he had sent her away. Of course her skills were needed by the team more than he needed them right now. Laurel was a good lawyer, but Oliver’s situation was just hopeless. There was little that she could do here, so-

“Queen.” The door opened with a loud noise and one of the wards, Gemmings, the least friendly one of the wards Oliver had met so far, leaned into the frame of the door. He looked Oliver up and down for a moment, chewing his gum quite obviously. “Your lawyer is here to see you.”

Well, Oliver thought to himself, he guessed he could get some more information on his family again. As much as he wanted Laurel to help the team rather than waste her time on him, he couldn’t resist a chance at knowing how his family was holding up. He probably knew already because he knew them so well, but he wanted to hear from them.

Just as Oliver had gotten used to in these past days, he turned his back towards Gemmings. Facing the wall, he got down on his knees and interlaced his fingers behind his head. He heard Gemmings stepping forward. He gripped his hands a little too tightly, turned them onto his back and handcuffed them.

They passed through the long hallways without saying a word. Gemmings led him to the same small room where Oliver had met Laurel the last time. When he opened the door for him, Oliver’s gaze found Laurel standing in front of the small chair with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

“You can take off Mr. Queen’s handcuffs and wait outside.”

Something in the tone of her voice told Oliver that she wasn’t a fan of Gemmings. He couldn’t hold it against her. He wasn’t a fan either.

Gemmings took off the handcuffs, puckered his lips and looked first Oliver and then Laurel up and down. He pushed his hands into the pockets of his hands and bobbed back and forth on his heels.

“I will wait right outside in case something goes wrong.”

“It won’t be required, but whatever.”

Laurel waved her hand dismissively. She waited until Gemmings had left the room and locked the door from outside. Shen then scrunched up her nose and shook her head.

“Such a slimy person.”

She shook her head, telling Oliver she didn’t need any kind of response. She took a step aside then, revealing an old telephone set.

“Felicity couldn’t come. Things are crazy outside.” Laurel launched into saying more, but she stopped herself and shook her head. “Anyway, she wanted to talk to you, so this should help with that. I arranged for you to be able to make the phone call here rather than outside in the hallway.”

Oliver nodded his head, feeling his heartbeat quickening. It had been so long since he had heard Felicity’s voice. Only now he realized how much he had missed the sound of her voice.

“Thank you, Laurel.”

Laurel shrugged it off, but she smiled and gestured towards the phone. She stepped away from it then, briefly squeezing his shoulder when she walked past him.

Oliver wasn’t feeling like sitting down. He’d rather stand or walk up and down the room. He wanted his focus to be on Felicity in entirely though, so he took a deep breath, pushed back his shoulders and sat down. His fingers trembled slightly when he dialed Felicity’s number.

With held breath, he waited until the dial tone sounded. The phone only rang twice before the call was taken.

“Oliver?”

Oliver’s eyes fluttered shut, and he released a long breath. Relief flooded through him. Although he could hear the tension in Felicity’s voice, he also heard some nervous excitement. She was in just as much need of talking to him as he was in need of talking to her. His hand tightened around the phone, holding onto it tightly.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, of cour-“ Felicity stopped, held her breath for a moment and then breathed out slowly. “We are managing alright.”

“Are you sure?”

Long ago, they had promised to always be honest with each other, and they were living up to that promise. At least they did so most of the time. Sometimes, when they felt that they needed to protect each other, they did choose to lie, well, or at least to underestimate some things.

“Yes, I’m sure.” Felicity took in a deep breath. “What about you?”

“It’s… not Bali here, but I am managing too.”

Oliver didn’t know how much time they had. As much as he wanted to talk about how they were doing and just listen to Felicity’s soft voice, he also needed to know what they were up to. He wanted to know their next steps, so he knew what she would be doing. If he couldn’t be with her, at least his thoughts should be. For that, he needed to know what she was doing and when she was doing it.

“What have you found out about Blood Rose?”

“Crazy story,” Felicity said, her voice suddenly sounding a lot more than herself, “but we actually believe that she is a robot.”

If he hadn’t been in so many crazy situations already, he would have thought of that to be a crazy story too. With the way his life had gone so far, he had experienced too many crazy things for a robot lover to seem exactly crazy.

“You mean one of Midas’ robots?”

“Exactly. I guess he created his own Stepford Wife to make sure she’d really be the perfect fit.” He could almost hear her shudder at the other end of the line. “We can’t really be a hundred sure until we are close enough to her to really confirm it.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Blood Rose has called all criminals to arms. She wants them to take over the city tonight. She must have built quite a few relationships since she has come here. We have a list of at least eighty-four people that will be joining her. We know we are outnumbered, but we will not surrender the city to them without a fight.”

There was a part of Oliver that wanted to tell her not to fight against Blood Rose. He didn’t want her anywhere near her. Their children had lost one parent. They couldn’t lose the other. As much as he hated the thought of having Felicity around Blood Rose, he knew it wouldn’t be fair to ask that of her. It wouldn’t be fair to the city that needed her, and it wouldn’t be fair to Felicity herself because she was a true fighter and heroine. He couldn’t ask of her to forget about that. She had never asked him to do so either.

“You have to unite all forces. The more, the better.”

“I know. We are already contacting everyone we can, but Blood Rose made sure that not only Starling City’s vigilantes will be busy it seems. She has planned this for God knows how long. I don’t know how we have missed that.”

Oliver would agree, but he did have an idea how they had missed that. They had been blissfully happy. Their lives had been going great. The crime rate in Starling had been as low as ever. They had been happy in their jobs. Their family had just grown a little more. They had looked forward to their future. They hadn’t thought that everything could be taken away from them that quickly. At least they hadn’t expected it to happen.

“What’s done is done,” Oliver simply said, “we can’t change the past, so all we can do is dealing with the future. You have to be careful around Blood Rose. Midas was taken from her. If she really is a robot that was created by him, she knows that she is lost without him. I am sure that he gave her a lot of tech knowledge, but he wouldn’t give her enough of it to-“

“-exceed him or control herself,” Felicity finished his sentence, “because he wanted her to admire him and do everything he wanted her to do. He knew that she’d choose to find her own way if she had an opportunity to take control over herself.”

“At the same time, he had to be the center of her being. That was part of how he controlled her and protected himself. So she is furious that he was taken from her and will not stop at anything to take her revenge.”

There was a long pause. Oliver wished that he could see Felicity’s face, so he would know what she was thinking. He missed having that connection.

“Well,” she said eventually, her voice sounding almost cool, “then we do have something in common because I will not stop at anything to stop her.”

→ → → → →

Staring at the empty mannequin that usually held Oliver’s suit, Felicity felt her heart fill with even more sorrow. He had done so much to protect this city, and he had worked so hard to create a life for his own. If they didn’t succeed tonight, he would lose both.

A cold shiver ran down the length of Felicity’s spine. In a lot of ways, she knew she wasn’t carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she did carry quite some weight. If she didn’t succeed tonight, she wouldn’t only disappoint Oliver and lose the city. She’d probably lose her children, and her friends would lose the lives they had built and their families too.

Felicity noticed a movement next to her and saw John approaching her slowly. He had already dressed up. His guns were in place too. Only his helmet wasn’t on his head yet. He carried it under his arm. When their gazes met, he put it down on the table where Oliver usually sharpened his arrows and approached her further until he was standing next to her. His eyes took in the mannequin like Felicity had before.

“Sometimes I think back to how it all started.”

Smiling sadly, Felicity looked at the empty mannequin once more and nodded her head in agreement. She thought about the beginning of all of a lot of times too.

“Back when it was just the three of us.” Felicity shot John a brief glance. “Original Team Arrow.”

“I don’t think I will ever forget the day that I decided to join his crusade.” John crossed his arms in front of his chest and frowned. “That boy was so lost, thinking crossing people off a list was what the city needed to save it. All the walls that he had built up and all the lies that he told…”

“You mean like bullet ridden laptops that coffee was spilled on allegedly or energy drinks in a syringe?”

John chuckled under his breath. “Yes, something like that.”

A lot had changed since this beginning. Not only the mission, but all of them had changed. Their lives weren’t what they had been. They weren’t just a bunch of people, brought together by coincidences and the joint hope for justice. They had grown into much, much more. They were family.

When John turned around to Felicity, letting his arms fall next to his body, Felicity turned towards him too. Only now she realized that he looked very much worried too. It wasn’t a look that she had seen on him very often. John was usually the calmest one on the team, calm and overall rather optimistic.

“In moments like this I always wonder how Oliver is carrying all that responsibility,” he said with low voice, “because I am standing next to him whenever he decides to take up a new position – whether it’s in the mission or at City Hall or whatever – but whenever I have to cover for him, even for a short while, I feel how heavy the weight of these tasks really is.”

Felicity nodded her head. She guessed that they all forgot about what Oliver had suffered through for so long and how much he was willing to carry on his back because of that. Although he knew that they were all on the team because they had chosen to, he still felt like he had brought them into all of this, so he felt like he had to take the majority of the weight.

“The last time that there was a big mission like this and we had to do this without Oliver, for Oliver, I failed. I failed him. I failed you.”

Frowning, Felicity looked at John. She was about to ask what he meant when the regretful expression in his eyes brought her back to the dark times when she had felt like John hadn’t been on her side. Back when Oliver had been held hostage by Malcolm Merlyn and he hadn’t believed her, she had felt like he had failed her and Oliver.

“That’s a long time ago, John.”

“Still.” John shook his head. “I think the fear of making the wrong decision will drive me to make the wrong decision. I can see what is right clearly when I am not the one in charge. When I am, it’s not that easy.”

Felicity nodded her head. Filling Oliver’s footsteps wasn’t easy. It might even be impossible. She reached out her hands and took both of John’s in hers.

“You will make the right decisions, John,” she said firmly, “at least tonight you will. I have no doubt because we have all make mistakes a couple of times. Tonight we all want the same. We all know what we need to do. We need to make sure the city will not fall to the share of Blood Rose.”

John nodded his head and squeezed her hands.

“We are pretty much outnumbered.”

“I know.”

Felicity nodded her head. Blood Rose had made sure that indeed all the people they had asked for help were well-aware that they were needed at home tonight. Even Bruce was actually needed in Gotham, but he had made sure that his backup was well-prepared to keep the city safe without him for a night or two.

“I know we are on our own, but this city still needs protection. These last days, people have riot because they thought this was the way of fighting for Oliver’s justice. They have protested and they have rioted. Now it’s time to show them that Oliver and the rest of us didn’t forget them. They need us and-“

If her brain was a clockwork, all those little cogs would probably be turning widely now. She could almost feel the movements in her head as the thoughts were rushing through her brain.

John cocked his head, frowning. “What are you thinking about?”

“I think I know how we can keep the city safe tonight.” Felicity narrowed her eyes slightly as the thoughts were still running through her mind and she was trying to create a full picture of what they needed to do tonight. “We need to ask the city for help. There are a lot of brave people living here. At least some of them will help us, and that way might not be outnumbered.”

Oliver’s goal had been to unite the city. He had wanted to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. That gap had almost caused the city to fall into complete and utter darkness. It and its consequences had caused Malcolm Merlyn to create the Undertaking. It had almost destroyed the city. Oliver had known that the city could only be strong when it was united.

The picture was just gelling when Felicity noticed John’s scrutinizing gaze.

“You think this idea is crazy.” Felicity lifted her hands to her face and rubbed her palms over it. “I am tired, so this might be crazy. If you think-“

“What I think,” John interrupted her gently and put his hands to her shoulders, looking at her intently, “is that I know who should lead the team tonight.”

Felicity frowned for a moment before she got it and quickly shook her head. “No, John. I can’t do that. When Oliver isn’t there, you are the one that leads us. You have been in this the longest and-“

“That few months.” John shook his head determinedly. “You are an original member of this team just like Oliver and I are. You can do this, and you should do this. Especially tonight. If someone can convince the city to use all their rage against Blood Rose and the criminals that she teamed up with, it’s you.”

Felicity took a deep breath, allowing herself to process that thought. She was passionate about this mission in particular as it hit as close as home as it possibly could. She could also feel the same rage that the rest of Starling City did. Maybe she could indeed get through to them.

Without saying anything yet, she looked at the empty glass case once more. When she had joined Oliver, she hadn’t thought that this mission would grow into what it had become. She also hadn’t thought that she would grow into what she had become. She had given this city a lot by being a vigilante, but they had given her back a lot too.

Taking in another deep breath, Felicity turned to John and nodded her head. “Okay, I’ll do it, but you will be-“

“Right by your side.”

He used his hold on her shoulders to pull her close against his chest. His strong arms wrapped around her, holding her tight. Felicity closed her eyes, wrapped her arms around John’s middle and allowed herself to relax for a moment. Since Oliver had turned himself in, she hadn’t been able to really relax for even a second. Here in John’s arms, that was a lot easier.

Only when the rest of the team, Lyla included, joined them, Felicity took a step away. She and John shared another brief glance. She could feel him trying to encourage her and strengthen her confidence.

Felicity gave him a quick nod, pushed back her shoulders and looked at the others.

“We should head out already. The sooner we are out there and know what’s happening, the better.”

Nobody questioned her decision to call the shots. They just nodded and moved over to the area where their motorcycles and the van were waiting for them.

While John took his helmet and followed them, Felicity stayed back for a moment. She could feel her heart beating a little too quickly. She was nervous because there was so much at stake right now. Tonight, it might be all or nothing which couldn’t be taken lightly.

Felicity’s gaze fell onto the glass cases once more. Oliver had been able to take this responsibility because he had shared it with his friends and because he had leaned on her and the rest of his family. She could do the same, at least for a night.

Grabbing one of Oliver’s old hoods, no matter how big it was on her, she slipped into it and pulled up the zipper. When Oliver couldn’t be with them in person, at least she had a part of him with her. His spirit would be with her and that would give her exactly what she needed to fill his shoes for the night.

Felicity nodded to herself, telling herself that she was ready. She grabbed her tablet, pushed it under her arm and made her way to the back of the van where Thea and Curtis were already waiting. She slammed the doors shut and sat down on one of the benches in the back of it.

“Let’s do this.”

→ → → → →

The city was almost quiet as the sun hadn’t set completely yet. There was something in the air, though. There was a tension that seemed to fill the people with fear. They walked crouched, turning their heads back over their shoulders repeatedly, while they were hurrying through the streets. Something was brewing up.

While John was directing the van closer towards the heart of the Glades where they expected Blood Rose to start her attack, Felicity noticed that the number of police patrol cars decreased more and more. She had talked to McKenna earlier today, so she knew that she was doing her best to keep the city safe with her resources, but these last nights had charged a high price. Most officers were exhausted, some hurt, others scared. Tonight would take a lot from them too.

The thought brought back the struggle Felicity herself would have to face tonight. She took in a deep breath, trying to be as quiet as possible. She didn’t want to raise any attention. They all knew how bad it could become. It was always dangerous, but with the trial against Oliver it was even more dangerous and-

Turning her gaze away from the small window in the backdoor of the van, Felicity’s attention was caught by Thea. She was sitting on the bench across from her, the hood already pulled over her head that she had lowered to stare at her hands in her lap. Felicity could barely see her face. What she saw of it, made her know instantly that something was wrong.

Felicity shot Curtis a brief glance. Getting that he was not supposed to be included into the coming conversation in any way, he grabbed his tablet and started working on it. Well, at least he seemed like he wanted to appear working on it. From the movements of his fingers, Felicity guessed that he was actually playing a game.

Putting aside her own tablet, Felicity moved over to sit next to Thea. She grabbed her hand and held it between both of hers, looking at Thea intently. It took a while until Thea lifted her gaze and looked at Felicity with an expression, the meaning of which Felicity understood easily. Thea was scared, and she was fighting with herself because of it.

“It’s okay, Thea,” Felicity whispered, “I understand and so does Oliver.”

Tears were welling in Thea’s eyes. With her lips pressed together, she looked at Felicity for a long moment. A single tear slipped her eye when she turned her gaze away and shook her head. She released a shaking breath.

“Oliver has always been there for us,” she said, still not looking at Felicity again, “and he would have moved heaven and earth to save each of us, no matter what danger we were in and no matter how high the cost would be for him.”

Felicity nodded her head in agreement. Oliver would go through fire for all of them. He would risk whatever he had to risk to save them.

“You don’t have to feel guilty.”

“How could I not?” Now Thea looked at Felicity again, more tears rolling down her cheeks. “He has saved me so many times. I doubt I would be here and have the life that I have if it wasn’t for Oliver. Now he needs my help and I feel like I can’t help him because I am scared of what will happen to Robbie and Louis.”

With a soft smile, Felicity squeezed Thea’s hand once more.

Thea’s childhood and her youth had been shaped by a lot of loss. During most of her childhood, her parents had been very busy and with that almost absent. Then the Gambit had gone down and she had lost her father and Oliver. Her mother had suffered so much that it had seemed like she had lost her too in some way. Then her brother had returned, but she had found that he was nothing like the brother that she had lost. Walter had left the family. Her mother had been arrested. She had found out that Robert was not a father which must have felt like losing him again.

Felicity was sure that this was only scratching at the surface. There was so much more that Thea had to endure. She knew what it meant to feel lost, so she didn’t want her children to experience that too.

“All Oliver ever wanted for you was that you found where you belonged. You have a family of your own, and you need to protect that. If you want to go to the hotel and make sure that all of our children are taken care of, you are making your contribution to this mission. You will make sure that all these children have someone that will love them and take care of them if this goes wrong.”

Thea took in a trembling breath. “You are putting a lot of responsibility on me.”

“I know.” Smiling, Felicity wiped away a tear from her cheek. “Because I know that you can handle it. I trust you.”

Thea didn’t respond instantly. Instead, she just held Felicity’s hand and watched her face intently. She wanted to make sure that Felicity really meant what she said.

“Are you sure you don’t think it’s cowardly and selfish of me?”

“If you didn’t have kids-“

“I would be there,” Thea interrupted her instantly, answering the question before it had been asked, “of course I would be there.”

“Then what you are doing isn’t selfish. You are doing it for your children.”

Thea nodded her head slowly, allowing Felicity’s words to sink in. She was still feeling guilty. Felicity could see it in her eyes. She accepted that Felicity was telling the truth though, and she knew that she did have to go home or she wouldn’t be of any help tonight.

Felicity stayed next to Thea, holding her hand, during the rest of the drive. Only a couple of minutes passed before the van came to a stop. Felicity looked at Thea, who was still crying silent tears. With the way Felicity looked at her, Thea nodded her head though, and Felicity let go of her hand.

Curtis opened the doors. He and Thea got out. Felicity followed right after them and found herself standing in a small alley right behind the Smoak & Queen Science Center.

“Blood Rose will surely start with a big boom, and she wants it personal,” John said, getting out of the car, followed by Lyla, “so I thought we should start here. I already informed the others, they are checking the nearby area.”

Felicity nodded her head and shot Thea another brief glance. “Speedy will leave and take up position at the kids.”

Although Curtis, Lyla and John glanced at Thea with confusion briefly, neither of them said a word. They just nodded in acknowledgement of the decision. Felicity beckoned Thea to leave with a quick movement of her head and then turned back to the others.

“We should gather the people,” she said, “and let them know that we all have to work together tonight. We should try to gather in front of the building. Mister Terrific, you go down this way and bring everyone that wants to join to the front of the Science Center. Harbinger, you do the same going up this way. Spartan, you come with me.”

There were no questions asked and no pleas being made. Everyone accepted Felicity’s command and followed through. While Lyla and Curtis disappeared to where Felicity had told them to go, John took a step closer to her.

“You should put on your hood and a mask,” John suggested.

Felicity shook her head. “No. This city has relied on faceless vigilantes for too long. They need to know who I am, so they know how much I can lose when this goes wrong.”

John didn’t hesitate. He took down his helmet and put it on the driver’s seat. He pulled the earphone out of it and put it into place. Turning back around to Felicity, he nodded his head. If she had decided to go unmasked, he would follow suit. They were all in this together tonight, so it had to be that way. Felicity knew John well enough to know that these thoughts had to run through his mind. She wouldn’t question his decision.

They walked to the front entrance of the Smoak and Queen Science Center. Some people had already gathered on the space in front of the building, waiting for what was to happen. More and more people came to join in. Although it shouldn’t be any different than all the other times that Felicity had already given a speech here, she knew it was very different.

A shiver ran down Felicity’s back when she remembered that not even a year ago, she had given a speech here that had ended abruptly when Oliver had found a newborn baby girl in the dumpster. Felicity lifted her hand to her neck and formed a tight fist around the pendant of her necklace. The arrow-shaped pendant had been a gift that Oliver had given to her. Their kids’ names were engraved in it in Cyrillic letters.

While they were standing there, Felicity started to realize that people were staring at her. They called each other’s attention, elbowing each other and whispering, while they were still looking at her intently. They knew who she was, and they could guess why she was here, especially since she had come with an unmasked Spartan.

This city needed guidance, so she would offer it to them.

Felicity took in a deep breath, pushed back her shoulders and started walking right in front of the building. John stayed right at her side, being the perfect bodyguard that he had been long ago.

So many people, Felicity thought, looking at the faces of the people that had come here to either inflict chaos or secure safety for the night. No matter why they had come, they were open to defending the city. Otherwise, Felicity was sure that they wouldn’t have come when the vigilantes had asked them too.

As soon as Felicity saw Laurel, Tommy, Roy, Nick and Bruce, she knew it was time. They, on the other hand, saw her and took off their masks, hoods and scarfs as well. Only Bruce kept his on. Gotham City wasn’t ready for that.

A murmur went through the crowd as they people realized who had protected them for so long now. Felicity didn’t see any fear, anger or even amusement on their faces. They saw who had been behind the masks and they accepted it. They even respected it, maybe even more so now that they let them in on who they were.

The calm reactions made Felicity realize that

“Citizens of Starling City,” Felicity said, her voice even louder than she had thought it would be, “you have come here tonight to protest the arrest of the Green Arrow as well as protect the city and the people that live here from the people that are using the Green Arrow’s absence to wreak havoc over our city.”

Looking into the face of the people that were looking back at her, Felicity also noticed the damages that had been done to the area. The glass of some street light had been shattered, so the area was darker than it should be. Only Curtis T-Spheres spent some light. Some of the building around had also been sprayed. One looked like a bucket of color had just been thrown at it. Some windows were shattered. A bench that had been sitting between the two trees at the right side had been dismounted violently, as had been the garbage can that had been installed next to it.

Felicity remembered the horror she had experienced, just listening to the chaos in the city from her home far away. Standing here made it all more real. And she at least know how to defend herself.

“Tonight, we know that it will get bad. Rose Blood will try to take over this city with the help of criminals that she gathered to attack.” She made a brief pause, taking in the worry she saw in some of the people’s faces. “This city has been broken for very long, but we have been united for the last years. Since we have been united, the city has been the strongest it has ever been.”

Only now Felicity realized that several people were holding their cameras of their phones at her. They were filming her. There was even a news reporter team with their camera that was filming her. While his was certainly bad when it came to the aftermath of this, for the outcome of this night, it was exactly what they needed.

“As someone who has lost a lot, trying to help this city to be safe, and someone who is willing to risk even more to save this city, I am asking all of you to join in on this fight. There more of you that are out here and ready to defend the city with us, the less is the chance that these criminals will reach anything. We have bulletproof vests for everyone that is willing to join us in the streets tonight. We will be here with you. We will be here, whether you come or not. We understand if you can’t. If you have family to take care of, if you are scared, if you are not willing to risk it, you are not a coward. You are not an egoist. You are human.”

Did they need help on the streets tonight? Yes.

Could they blame people for not going against these criminals themselves? No.

“We don’t want a civil war to start. We don’t want things to get even worse. We just want to keep this city safe and make sure these criminals understand once and for all that they are not welcomed here.” She looked at the people urgently. “So this is not a plea to self-justice of a call for brutal violence. All we are asking for is for you to stand with us against the people that threaten to take over this city. When they see that it’s not just eight against all of them, they will eventually admit defeat. This is a moment to show to the world that no matter how hard the crisis, Starling City stands united.”

→ → → → →

Oliver couldn’t count the many moments that he had thought he had fallen in love with Felicity all over again. Tonight was definitely one of those occasions.

He was worried because Felicity was getting herself in harm’s way in more than one way, but he was also so very proud. She was carrying on what he had started. She had shaped this process all these years to what it was now, and now she saw that change was necessary and she brought it.

How could he not love her endlessly for that and everything else?

“Hey, Queen.” One of the other prisoners leaned closer towards him, still looking at the TV in the edge of the small room. “That’s your wife, isn’t it?”

Oliver nodded his head. “That she is.”

Felicity wasn’t sure how much more her heart could take. It was in pieces already, and every new blow that it needed to face just shattered the pieces into even tinier pieces. It wouldn’t take much longer before there wouldn’t be anything left.

Lowering her gaze to her shaking hands in her laps, Felicity’s gaze fell on her engagement ring and her wedding band. How was she going to tell Oliver that the house he had built for their family had been set on fire – at least that was what she had overheard some people of the fire department say to each other – and destroyed?

It would hurt him as much as it hurt her, and they wouldn’t be able to comfort each other. For the first time in what felt like forever, they both needed to live with their pain and grief separately. They couldn’t lean on each other and endure it together. They-

Another noise of cameras clicking behind her, made Felicity close her eyes and take in a deep breath. She had heard the reporters from time to time. They were lurking close, trying to take the perfect picture of devastation. Someone – John or Bruce or some firefighter – had always chased them away quickly though.

“Have some decency guys,” she heard Bruce’s low voice just a moment later, “and stop taking photos.”

“With all due respect, Mr. Way-“

Whatever protest the reporter had planned on voicing, he didn’t. Either Bruce had offered him a lot of money, or he had just shot him one of those ice cold looks that made everyone shut up instantly. Bruce was powerful. Nobody with a sane mind would pick a fight with him. It was good to have a friend like him here. He would block everyone from approaching her because he knew that she wasn’t in any state to talk to anyone.

Felicity glanced at her watch briefly. She had lost all sense for time. It could have been seconds or hours since she had kneeled down at the side of the driveway where she wouldn’t be bothering anyone and just started staring. She felt utterly lost in time, space and everything else really.

She couldn’t stay here forever. The kids were in some hotel, distracted by Raisa and Alfred for sure, but certainly in need of their mother to show up and tell them that everything was going to be alright. Emmy might have already caught wind of what had happened to their house. She did know how to stay updated on the news, and she also had friends that might have heard about it and would text her.

There was a part of her that didn’t wat to leave though. Leaving felt like accepting that all of this was true, and Felicity wasn’t sure if she was ready for that yet.

“Felicity?”

John’s voice was gentle. She could feel him right behind her.

“I’m not ready to leave yet,” she whispered, still looking at the ruins of he home, “not yet.”

“There is someone who wants to see you.”

Felicity frowned, still not looking back. “I don’t want to see anyone.”

“I disagree,” John said.

When Felicity turned around to protest, John had already turned his back on her and was walking away. She frowned, wondering what exactly that conversation had been, and was already about to turn back to the house when she noticed the little standing a couple of feet away. The girl – maybe four years of age – looked a little shy. She was holding a stuffed unicorn clutched to her chest and looked at Felicity with her big, hazel eyes.

Despite the emptiness Felicity was feeling in her chest, she cocked her head at the little girl and flashed her a smile. She was rewarded with a smile in response.

“Hi,” Felicity said and quickly cleared her throat when she heard how much it croaked, “did you want to talk to me?”

The girl nodded her head. She looked Felicity up and down hesitantly before she took some cautious steps into her direction.

Looking at her, Felicity cocked her head a little more and narrowed her eyes at her slightly. She had seen the girl before. Although there were a thousand different possibilities where and how she had met her since Felicity had her own children and was often in places for children because of that, Felicity knew exactly where she had met her.

Somewhere in chaos that she had faced when she had arrived at

“I saw you at Rainbow Bridge-House, right?”

The girl nodded her head. She angled her head back for a moment and looked at the sky. She smiled cautiously and mouthed some words. Felicity’s heart ached at the sight, knowing that the little girl’s brother or sister must have died.

Despite all her rage and all the hopelessness, Felicity also felt warmth spreading in her chest. This little girl had come to see her. Despite the pain she had to be feeling, she had come here. It was admirable.

“I’m Felicity.” She held out a hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“I’m Nayeli.”

She shook Felicity’s hand, releasing a long breath. She seemed a little nervous.

“That is a beautiful name.” Felicity shot her a smile and did her best to hide her own pain. “I am not sure that this is the right place for you. The firefighters said new fires could start. It’s dangerous.”

“I want to give you this.” The girl held out her stuffed unicorn for Felicity. “Maybe you need it comfort you.”

Felicity looked at the unicorn. It was white with a mane and tail in all colors of the rainbow. Just looking at it had something comforting to it because of its bright colors. Felicity knew that her kids would love the unicorn.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to keep it?” Felicity asked. “I am sure you need some comfort from time to time too.”

“You helped when Avila died.” She took a step closer and urged Felicity to take the unicorn. “Now I want to help you.”

When someone wanted to help, especially at this young age, Felicity felt like you shouldn’t reject the help. Empathy and willingness to help were rare in adults because they had learned as kids that those competences weren’t appreciated. Felicity didn’t want to be responsible that this happened to Nayeli.

She took the unicorn, lifted it to her face and breathed in its scent. There was some smell of hospital left in the fabric. The toy had certainly been disinfected thoroughly. There was something else though, its own smell or the smell of the children it had comforted. It stuck to the fabric as well as the disinfectant did.

“That is very kind of you.” Felicity clutched the unicorn to her chest like Nayeli had done before. “I am indeed in some need for comfort.”

Nayeli smiled and looked back over her shoulder. A woman – not the one Felicity had seen her with at Rainbow Bridge-House, but some other adult woman – was standing a couple of feet away, shooting Nayeli a proud smile.

“A friend of yours?” Felicity asked.

“My aunt.” Nayeli turned back to Felicity once more. “I need to go now.”

Felicity smiled at her. “Thank you for coming here and giving this to me. I will cherish it.”

Nayeli, unsure what more she could say, just smiled once more before she turned around and ran over to her aunt. The young woman smiled at Felicity before she took her niece’s hand and took her away.

If Nayeli was so strong that she could stand here just days after her sister had died, maybe there was still hope that Felicity’s kids would be able to get through the losses that they had to face. At least Felicity knew that she herself needed to be strong through it. If Nayeli could be strong, so could she.

Shooting one last look to the ruins of her home, Felicity released a long breath. She clutched the unicorn even closer to her chest and got up onto her feet slowly. Her legs were trembling slightly since she had been sitting on the for so very long. Standing still for a moment, she felt the sensation returning to them though.

Although it felt so incredibly hard, Felicity turned around and took the first steps away. Just as she had taken two steps, a car stopped at the edge of the driveway. Lyla got out from the driver’s side, followed by Roy at the passenger’s side and Thea from the back of the car. Thea’s face was almost white. Tears welled in her eyes and she shook her head in disbelief.

John, Bruce and Tommy all joined the three. Felicity approached them too.

As soon as she was close enough, Thea crossed the rest of the distance to her and hugged her tightly. Felicity wrapped her arms around Thea just as strongly and closed her eyes for a moment.

There had been a time when they had been very close. As sisters-in-laws they still were of course, but things had changed through the years. When Felicity had first gotten together with Oliver, Thea had been very close with the two of them. That had only increased when Emmy had been born. Thea had taken her job as a godmother very seriously. Of course she had gotten married then and had had her two sons, so her focus had, understandably of course, shifted to her own little family.

Holding Thea in her arms now, Felicity realized how hard all of this had to be for Thea too. Just like Felicity, Thea had lost Oliver before too. He was the one part of the family that she had grown up with that had been left. When he wasn’t around, a lot of memories they had created together in their childhood weren’t present for her either.

When they released each other from the tight hug, they were still holding onto each other’s hands. Their gazes locked for a moment, sharing a moment of pain and comfort at the same time. They let go of each other completely soon though.

“We need to do something,” Felicity said, her voice as firm as she managed it to be, “because all of this has gone too far. Blood Rose needs to be stopped, and the city needs to be reminded that Starling City is at its best when everyone is united.”

“That is certainly true,” Bruce replied, looking at her intently, “but you need to sleep first.”

Felicity shook her head. “There are more urgent issues. I can deal with a couples of sleepless hours. We need to stop this craziness before people get hurt even more. Starling-“

“-needs to be you second priority,” John said softly.

“They are right, Felicity.” Lyla took Felicity’s hand and squeezed it gently. “You need to be at your best form to face this, so you need some rest. And I am sure your kids would like to see you too before you face the struggle of the city.”

Releasing a long breath, Felicity nodded her head. When Lyla thought this was right, it had to be. She was a crime-fighting working mother too, so she knew what she was talking about.

“Fine.” She tightened her hold on the unicorn and rubbed a hand over her tired face. “I will go to the hotel, see the kids and sleep for three hours. Then we will work on putting an end to this.”

“Five hours,” Bruce replied, “but agreed on.”

Since Felicity knew that there was no reason in arguing with Bruce, especially given how tired she was, she nodded her head. She probably wouldn’t sleep at all, but five hours of rest might help her.

“I will get you to the hotel,” Lyla suggested.

“And I will drive you two home,” Bruce said to Thea and Roy.

“I will stay here.” Tommy shot a look towards the house. “Just in case there’s another emergency."

Felicity nodded and followed his gaze once more. It still felt unreal, but the thought of reality started so sink in slowly. Her home was no more, but it was time to look to the future. If she wanted a safe home for her family then, she needed to do something about it.

“Alright. Let’s say we will meet at the bunker at nine.”

“Are we sure the bunker is safe?” Thea asked.

“I will talk to McKenna and check on that,” Tommy offered.

They parted ways. Bruce, Thea and Roy went to his car down on the street. Tommy and John went to talk to some firefighters. Lyla nodded towards her car. She and Felicity went towards it, and Felicity had already grabbed the doorhandle when she heard a noise that she couldn’t really say what it was yet.

She turned her head back over her shoulder, trying to find out where that noise came from. There was nothing that caught her attention though.

“Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” Felicity turned back and looked at Raisa over the roof of the car. “I just thought that I heard-“

Again, Felicity heard that noise, and this time she knew exactly what it was. She turned around fully, scanning her environment for what she was sure she was hearing. It only took her a couple of seconds to find the source of the noise.

Hawk came running towards her between the trees that surrounded the estate. He was barking and waggling his tail in excitement. Felicity had never seen him like this before. He was shaking from nervous excitement.

“Come here, Buddy!”

Felicity let herself fall on her knees just when Hawk come to an abrupt stop only to jump up and put his front paws on her shoulders and lick her face. He was whining while he was doing so, and his entire body was still shaking.

Petting him and hugging him, Felicity laughed with relief and excitement. She didn’t know if Raisa and Alfred had left the door unlocked and Hawk had just opened the door for himself and escaped when the fire had been set or if, whoever had set the fire, had let him go first. It didn’t matter anyway. Hawk was back with her and the family. She didn’t have to tell the kids that they had lost their home and their dog. They would never know what sorrow Felicity had felt, thinking that Hawk had been lost in the fire.

Hawk was back and that was probably the best news that Felicity had received in a while.

→ → → → →

The moment Laurel stepped into the small room Oliver knew something had happened. Despite the smile that she flashed the guard that had opened the door for her, Oliver could see the tension on her face. He felt his muscles growing tense in response.

As soon as the guard had closed the door from outside, Oliver looked at Laurel intently.

“What is it?”

Laurel didn’t seem surprised that he knew something was up. She placed her briefcase on the table, sat down on the chair at the opposite side of the table and released a long sigh.

“Before I tell you, you should know that everyone is safe.”

Oliver clenched his hands to tight fists, trying to swallow the wave of rage that swashed through him. Laurel wasn’t to blame for whatever had happened. She was just the messenger. Given how much she had been willing to give up to get him through this situation he had gotten himself in, she was one of the last people that deserved to be at the receiving end of his anger.

“What happened?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Someone set your house on fire.”

The words felt like a punch into the stomach. He didn’t know what he had expected. Maybe what he had expected had been worse. Maybe it had just been different. Either way, he felt terrible at the thought that the house he had built for his family had been damaged.

“Nobody got hurt?”

“Nobody,” Laurel assured him, sitting down, “I promise. Raisa, Alfred and the kids were already at the hotel. Felicity wasn’t at home. It looked like Hawk was in there, but apparently he got out soon enough. He is unhurt and with Felicity now.”

Oliver nodded his head slowly. Nobody had been hurt. That was what really mattered. He let his face sink into his hands and groaned.

“How bad is the damage at the house?”

The long silence that followed from Laurel made Oliver’s heart sink even more. He lifted his head, his shoulders sinking.

“Is there anything left?”

“Nothing that can be lived in.” Laurel shot him an empathetic glance. “Sorry.”

Oliver nodded his head once more, not saying a word. It wasn’t even the worst message that he had received in the last days, but it was bad even within all the others bad news. He had built that house, not with his own hands, but in his head. It had been built with his ideas because he had wanted to have a real influence on how the house that his kids would grow up in would be.

Once he had Felicity had gotten together, it had all happened so very fast. He had proposed to her in the early stage of their relationship when there had still been so many insecurities and so many unanswered questions. They had gotten married a year into their relationship, and they had had Emmy eleven months into their marriage. Presenting that home to Felicity had been his way of taking the next step. He had wanted to give his family what he had never had – a true home rather than a giant house you lived in incidentally.

Everything he had tried to give to his family – love, safety and privacy – seemed to be gone.

Well, the love wasn’t gone, but he felt like he couldn’t give it to his family the way that he had used to and the way he had always intended to do. As long as he was here, he couldn’t.

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut for a moment a released a long breath. If this happened so early while he was imprisoned, who knew what else would happen. He had never planned for something like this to happen. He had tried to do everything to not make it happen. Now it was time to discuss other options.

“I need to talk to Felicity,” Oliver said, “and Lyla.”

Laurel looked at him intently. “Felicity won’t agree to that.”

“She has to for her own safety and the one of our children.” Oliver dipped his head down slightly. “Can you arrange that.”

“Yes.” Laurel sighed. “It will take some time, but it shouldn’t be too long. Felicity will be focused otherwise, anyway.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows. “Which means?”

“Lyla convinced her to go to the hotel and catch some rest, but Felicity is determined to take down Blood Rose as soon as possible. She wants to put an end to the madness. Understandably.”

“In that case,” Oliver said, “you should be there too. The team needs all hands on deck. The fight for the safety of the city is more important than the fight for my personal freedom is right now.”

Laurel cocked her head slightly, looking at Oliver with slight disagreement. She didn’t seem to be willing to start a fight though because she didn’t say anything.

“You need to go,” Oliver insisted once more.

Although Laurel didn’t look like she agreed, she shook her head and leaned back in her chair. She was giving in to what he wanted because she knew that she didn’t really have a choice anyway. If he wanted her to leave, she would have to leave, or he would be the one leaving.

“Just let me tell you this,” Laurel said, getting up and grabbing her briefcase, “it’s not looking too well. Perrez was on your side. He doesn’t dislike the Green Arrow per se. He is worried what this case will do to his career though. He feels like he needs to take a stand, especially since you aren’t willing to name who you are working with.”

“I will never tell who I am working with.”

“I know.” Laurel shot him a smile. “People you love are well-protected. You wouldn’t give them away for anything.”

“I started this,” Oliver explained, “so everyone else just joined in because they wanted to support me or the mission itself. I won’t give away their identities to save myself.”

Laurel nodded her head slowly. “Like I said, I know these people are well-protected. I am sorry that you are losing so much because of that though.”

Oliver lowered his eyes. He was losing more than anyone would ever be able to truly understand. With the way he had been brought up and after these five years away had shaped him, he was losing more than he could ever put into words.

“I’ll go now,” Laurel said quietly and went to the door where she turned around to him once more, “but I will make sure that Felicity and Lyla will come to visit you and that you stay somewhat updated in here.”

“Thank you, Laurel,” Oliver said, smiling sadly. “I appreciate it.”

“I wish I could do more.”

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “Everyone is doing what they can. As long as Felicity and the kids and all of you are safe, I can take whatever will happen.”

He needed to believe that. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if he could take it all.

→ → → → →

Felicity arrived at the bunker, accompanied by Bruce, she was happy and relieved that the entire team had already gathered in the bunker. Roy and Thea, Tommy and Laurel, Curtis, John and Lyla – they had all come because she had asked them to.

When all of this hard started, it had been Oliver’s mission. Then it had turned into a voluntary service for the city. Eventually, it had become a calling for all of them. Somewhere in that process they had grown from strangers to friends, and now they were a family.

As soon as Felicity had joined the others in her working area, she opened her mouth to speak as everyone was looking at her to say something anyway. She wasn’t sure how to start though. She had considered thanking them for coming, but she knew that it wasn’t necessary to do so.

They just needed to jump straight to action.

“We need to stop Blood Rose,” she said, “now.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Thea mumbled, massaging the back of her neck, “but how?”

“Did the bug in Rose Obold’s office do any good?” Felicity asked, turning to Curtis.

“Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p’, “because the bug is defective.”

“The bug was produced by Wayne Enterprise.”

Bruce’s voice was low and dark. Although he had simply stated that Wayne Enterprise had produced the bug, he could have as well just insisted that products by Wayne Enterprise never showed any defects. Admittingly, Felicity too found it hard to believe that Wayne Enterprise had failed producing a bug.

“Still, it does not work as it should,” Curtis said even more quickly than he usually did, sitting down in front of the computers, “because most of the times, there are glitches. The sounds are blanketed by noises. You can hear it yourself.”

“I will.”

Bruce shooed Curtis away from the computers with a gesture of his hand. Curtis lifted his hands in defeat and made room for Bruce to take over. He hurried to play some of the recordings that the bug had made. His facial expression darkened when he realized that Curtis had actually been right.

“That shouldn’t be possible,” Bruce mumbled through gritted teeth, shaking his head, “so why does this happen?”

“She probably noticed that we are intercepting and uses a jammer on us, don’t you think?” John asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest and stepping behind Bruce’s chair.

Lyla shook her head, stepping next to him. “The bugs Wayne Enterprises developed are almost impossible to jam. We used some prototypes at A.R.G.U.S., and only the strongest of jammers achieved anything and nothing like this.”

“So a malfunction.” Roy shrugged his shoulders. “Happens. We need to find another way and-“

“It is not a malfunction,” Bruce insisted. “It has to be something else. Something is jamming it, but I wouldn’t know how Rose Obold could have produced a jammer that would be strong enough to create a disturbance like that. Even if she was Mida’s girlfriend.”

“Well, Midas was a good and skilled inventor,” Felicity said, “otherwise we probably wouldn’t have needed to take him down in the first place and-“

The words died on Felicity’s lips. One of the monitors showed the recording of the press conference Rose Obold had given. Something – something so small that Felicity wasn’t sure that she had really seen it – had caught her attention. She narrowed her eyes, taking a step closer towards the monitors.

“She didn’t say anything interesting,” Laurel explained, shaking her head, “I watched the entire press conference on their website. A lot of empty phrases mostly. She plans on making an anti-vigilante law. It’s been discussed ever since and-“

“It’s not that,” Felicity interrupted her, and beckoned Bruce to get up from the chair which he did, “it’s something else.”

She called up the video on the central monitor and wound it back for a couple of seconds. Moving her face even closer to the monitor, she fixed her gaze on the spot where Obold’s jaw joint her neck. She narrowed her eyes, forcing herself not to blink, so she wouldn’t miss the moment when-

There it was. A glitch. It was barely there, and it only lasted the blink of a second. For Felicity, who might have known – even if only subconsciously – what she was dealing with, hadn’t missed it though.

She turned her head back over her shoulder to look at the others, who were frowning at either her or the screen.

“Did you see it?” she asked them, unnecessarily though as she could read their answers in their faces. “Look closely.”

She wound the video back a couple of seconds once more and zoomed in on the spot that she had watched so intently before. She even slowed down the video then. At a little more than five minutes, the glitch showed again. Something on her skin opened like a hatch, revealing small wires and some blinking button. Obold lifted her hand quickly, pushed the hatch back into place and tightened her scarf around her neck. This time it was visible for everyone.

“Is that-?” Tommy started without ending the question.

“And does that mean that she is-?” Thea leaned forward and stared at Obold. “That’s not possible, right?”

In some way, it felt like a lot of puzzle pieces suddenly fell into place. Felicity didn’t know if she just felt that way because it seemed to her like there was real proof that Rose Obold and Blood Rose were the same person or because she felt like she was finally back in her element. Everything that had happened lately had felt uncontrollable to her. Now this was different. This was something she could, at least in parts, take control of.

Felicity turned in her chair, so she could face the team. She looked at them one by one and nodded her head, confirming all of their suspicions.

“Back when we went after Midas the first time, he was experimenting with robots. He had started with helping, human-like robots that could be used in different professions like housekeeping and at reception desks. His latest experiment back then were solider robots. He needed to be stopped.”

“But his ideas had made him a loner,” Bruce added, nodding his head, “so he used his skills to create the perfect partner for himself – someone he was attracted to and who could be useful to him.”

John angled his head and looked at them incredulously. “You want to tell me that Rose Obold isn’t only Rose Blood but a robot, too?”

Felicity nodded her head slowly. “That is exactly what it is.”

“But that means that she has someone she is working with now, right?” Roy asked. “I mean she couldn’t have planned all of this by herself if she is a robot.”

“Why not?” Felicity cocked her head at him. “Robots today are smart and programmed for problem solving in their field. Midas was good at what he was doing.”

“But I shook her hands numerous times and she felt like a human,” John said.

Just a couple of hours ago, she had thought to herself that she needed to be strong for the kids. She needed to keep going as well as she could to make sure that they knew there was still hope, and everything was not lost yet.

But how could she possibly pretend that there was hope when Oliver was taken from them yet again?

If the District Attorney decided to arrest Oliver to keep up appearances, who else would turn their backs on them now? Felicity had really believed that the times when the city was so much against them was over.

It wasn’t the city she should blame for their situation though. Blood Rose was to blame for all of this. Who knew what else she was planning while they were trying to not lose their footing?

“Mama?”

Felicity looked at Addie with a sad smile that she was sure didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes, Sweetie?”

“I’m not hungry.” Addie put her fork away and pushed her hands under her butt. “Sorry.”

Reaching out a hand, Felicity combed Addie’s blonde hair with her fingers. She looked at her own untouched breakfast for a moment before she leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Addie’s temple.

“It’s fine,” she whispered then and looked at one child after the other, “you don’t have to eat if you don’t want to. I don’t really feel like eating either.”

“Can we go and watch some family albums?” Tommy asked.

Felicity shot him a smile and nodded her head. “Of course.”

The kids dropped their folks, slid off their chairs and left the kitchen quietly. Addie grabbed Emmy’s hand when they walked out. Not for the first time Felicity was more than grateful that her children had a connection like this. At least they could comfort each other a little when Felicity couldn’t do it.

With a glance at Hawk, who was resting in a corner of the kitchen, Felicity put her plate on the floor for at least him to enjoy it. Hawk only lifted his head briefly and sniffled the air before he rested his head back down with a sigh. Even his hunger seemed to have vanished, and Felicity couldn’t hold it against him.

“Just leave this to me,” Raisa said when Felicity started to clear the table, “I am sure you have things to do.”

Felicity puckered her lips. She did have things to do. If they wanted to bring Oliver back as soon as possible, she should certainly be working on finding out whether Rose Obold and Rose Blood were indeed the same person and what Blood Rose was planning on doing. If she wanted to wreak havoc over Oliver’s life, she certainly wasn’t done yet.

“Thank you,” Felicity whispered, “we will make it up to you someday.”

“You already did.” Raisa smiled warmly. “I was caught in a job I didn’t like with people that didn’t appreciate me. You hired me, gave me a home and made me part of your family. I can never thank you enough for that.”

“We can never thank you enough for everything that you have done for us.” Felicity reached out her hands and took Raisa’s. “My children got a second grandmother because of you.”

Raisa smiled gratefully and just held Felicity’s hands for a moment. In some way, Felicity felt at least a little comforted by Raisa’s presence. It was good to know that she wasn’t the only adult left to keep the family going. Raisa was here, and she’d do everything she could do to help her with that.

Before any other word could be said, the doorbell rang. Hawk started barking and howling, already running to the door. Felicity felt her entire body tense. Whenever someone had come over or called recently, there had always been bad news. She didn’t even want to think about what else could be coming next.

Felicity and Raisa exchanged a long gaze. Without a word being said, Raisa nodded her head and followed the kids to the living room, closing the door behind herself. Felicity pushed back her shoulders and took a deep breath before she turned towards the door.

She tried to see someone through the glass in the door, but whoever was in front of the door, stood where she couldn’t see anyone. For a split second, Felicity considered not going to the door at all, but that turned out not to be an option. Before she could made up her mind about it, Hawk had already jumped up at the door and used his paws to push the doorhandle down and open the door.

“Hawk!” Felicity shouted, hurrying towards the door now.

Just when she reached out to grab him at his collar, Hawk pushed the door crack further open and escaped outside.

“I knew we could rely on you!”

Bruce didn’t loose his balance in the slightest even when Hawk jumped up at him excitedly. He simply petted the dog’s head and pulled his body a little closer to his chest, so he could whisper something in his ear.

“Felicity.”

Using Bruce’s momentary distraction by Hawk, Alfred stepped forward and put his hands to Felicity’s shoulders. He didn’t say a word. He just looked Felicity straight in the eyes. When she flashed him a weak smile in return, he pulled her into his arms and hugged her briefly but firmly.

Felicity breathed in the comforting smell that came from Alfred. He smelled like cookies which felt a little weird, but it also made Felicity smile. She could picture him in the kitchen, baking cookies to place in various rooms all over the house and maybe send away to hospitals and children’s homes when Bruce had come in and told him that they needed to go to Starling City.

When Alfred let go of Felicity, he kept his hands on her shoulders for a moment longer and looked at her intently once more. Felicity just nodded her head, letting him know that she believed him when he promised her that everything was going to be okay even if she wasn’t entirely convinced.

“Hawk,” he said then, turning to Hawk, who stood at Alfred’s feet instantly and looked at him, “you’ll show me where I can make myself useful.”

Felicity was about to protest, but Alfred waved it off before she could say a word. Hawk didn’t seem to see any problem with that either. He ran ahead only to look back and bark at Alfred, so he would follow him. Alfred winked at Felicity before he did indeed follow Hawk to the living room.

The kids would certainly be happy to see Alfred. They had grown quite fond of him after he had taken care of them for a couple of days while Felicity had been traveling to Lian Yu to find Oliver. He had been just as lost to them back than as he seemed to be now, Felicity thought and felt goosebumps spreading down her spine in response.

“Hey.”

Bruce closed the door behind him quietly. Unlike Alfred, he didn’t approach her. He kept his position the length of an arm away from her. Felicity cocked her head at him.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“I was alarmed that Oliver would be arrested.” Bruce sighed and massaged the back of his neck. “I told Alfred that we were needed here. We got the private jet ready and came here.”

“You knew that he would be arrested?”

Bruce shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t shy away from a bit of corruption if necessary.”

Felicity perked up her eyebrows slightly. She guessed that she shouldn’t be surprised that he had a spy in the SCPD. It actually sounded exactly like something Bruce would do.

It raised a different question though.

“Why didn’t you-?”

“I thought you and Oliver could need the little normal time that you were given before he would be arrested. If running had ever been an option, I am sure you would have done that already. If you are angry with me, I-“

Shaking her head, Felicity crossed the distance to Bruce. She wrapped her arms around his middle and hid her face against his chest. When Bruce put his arms around her and gently rocked her from side to side like a child, Felicity felt like she could finally let go of the little thread of control she had been so desperate not to lose. Quiet tears were streaming down her face, and her body was shaking.

Her entire life had felt like a rollercoaster these past days, and Felicity had only allowed herself to feel this weak and sad in the little moments that she had been able to steal herself away from everyone and everything. She needed to be strong for the kids and for the fight for justice. But it was incredibly hard to just stay strong with everything that had been going on.

“I know,” Bruce whispered into her hair, “and that is exactly why Alfred and I are here.”

Felicity didn’t know if she had said any of that out loud, or if Bruce just knew what she was feeling. She didn’t care though. She knew that Bruce would do whatever was necessary to keep things going even if she broke down for a moment.

Grabbing her by her shoulders, Bruce brought an arm’s length of distance between them. He looked at her intently until she took in a deep breath and nodded her head. She was ready to hear whatever he had planned for them.

“I bought a hotel here in Starling City on my way here, and I made sure to cancel all bookings, so there will be nobody there but the staff that I found trustworthy. That is where we will take you.”

Felicity shook her head. “The children just lost a sister, and they lost Oliver for the second time in just a couple of days. They shouldn’t lose their home and-“

“That hotel is the safer option,” Bruce disagreed with a shake of his head, “and it will allow you to be involved in all investigations against Blood Rose without being away from your kids for too long. I already ordered to have an office set up near the penthouse. The bunker is no safe place anymore and neither is this home. The hotel will offer more safety and more distraction for the kids.”

Although it sounded like a good plan, Felicity still wasn’t entirely convinced. It just didn’t feel right to her to leave her home. She had done so before if necessary, but she really didn’t want to now. It felt like letting go of one thing too much.

“Oliver agrees with me by the way.”

Surprised, Felicity frowned. “Oliver?”

“I talked to him about this on my way from the airport.”

Felicity’s frown deepened. “How?”

Bruce shot her the kind of look that could be understood without a word. More corruption.

Massaging her temples, Felicity squeezed her eyes shut. “What did he say?”

“He says it’s a safe place and a good distraction for the kids, especially with Raisa and Alfred there to keep them company, just like I told you.” Bruce squeezed her shoulders. “I know it’s not easy, but it’s the right thing to do.”

Hesitatingly, Felicity looked around. Even just this entrance hall carried so many memories. Leaving this house felt like leaving the idea that Oliver and Mia would come back to them and they’d be the family that they had been for so long again.

If Oliver thought it was safer and better for the kids though, she couldn’t deny him his wish. She knew how hard it was for him to be away for his family. He was used to protecting them. Knowing that he couldn’t do so now had to be incredibly hard.

With a long sigh and a nod of her head, Felicity agreed. “Okay, fine. What’s the exact plan?”

“Raisa and Alfred will pack the suitcases for the kids and take them to the hotel already. We will make a little trip before we get back here, pack your suitcase and follow to the hotel with Hawk.”

Felicity perked up a single eyebrow. “We will make a trip?”

Bruce nodded his head. “Unless you don’t want Blood Rose to be brought to justice.”

The feeling of uncertainty and sadness that had formed in the pit of Felicity’s stomach turned into raging anger. Blood Rose was to be blamed for all of this, and she was still out there. It was time for her to be brought to justice before she caused more pain in their lives.

“What’s your plan?”

→ → → → →

Oliver didn’t know how long he had been staring at the grey ceiling now. It felt like it had been forever, but it could have been just a few minutes too.

After McKenna had arrested him, she had taken him back to the precinct, telling him that she would accommodate him in the watch-house for as long as possible. That way, she could secure that he was informed about everything quickly. She could make sure that he kept in touch with the people that he needed to stay in touch with.

Since luck seemed to have run out of the them, she had been ordered to take him to the pretrial detention center at the edge of town. McKenna had decided to ignore that order, but Oliver had told her not do so. As long as the city was in as many good hands as possible, hopefully it wouldn’t get back to what it had been after he had returned from the island. It should never be like that again.

So here he was now, waiting for time to pass. There wasn’t really much else that he could do.

He wondered whether Felicity would visit him here soon. She was allowed to if she registered as a visitor. Even the kids could come. Oliver wasn’t sure if he wanted any of them to see him here though. It felt wrong to bring them to a place like this. On the other hand, it might be his only chance at ever seeing any of them again.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Oliver took a deep breath.

If everything had worked out the way Bruce had planned, the kids should already be at a safe place with Alfred, Raisa and the army of security that had protected the house so far as well as even more security to make sure nothing would happen to them. Oliver was sure that Felicity hadn’t liked the thought of making the kids leave the house. It was the safer option though, and Oliver was sure that Bruce had managed to convince her of that.

With a sigh, Oliver opened his eyes again to stare at the grey ceiling for even longer.

Felicity and Bruce were probably on their way of making the next step to reveal Blood Rose and take her down. Maybe once she was taken down, they could find away to turn their fate once more.

The noise of a key turning in the lock made Oliver sit up on the thin, uncomfortable mattress. He put his hands to his knees, making sure whoever came in, wouldn’t see him as a threat.

“You have a visitor.” The guard looked him up and down briefly and nodded his head towards the door. “Come on.”

Oliver got up slowly and held out his hands, so the handcuffs could be put on. The guard only shook his head though and nodded for him to follow him once more.

It was weird how nobody seemed to exactly fear him or be intimidated by him, but he was still arrested and in custody because it was written on paper that it was necessary. Papers ordered it even though the people had already changed their minds about it.

Without saying a word, Oliver followed the guard through the long hallways to the visitation room. Oliver found who was waiting for him instantly. He thanked the guard and crossed the distance to where Nick was sitting and waiting for him.

“Have you heard anything of Felicity and the kids?”

“The kids are on the way to a new safe place with Raisa and Alfred,” Nick replied without hesitation, “and Bruce and Felicity are on their way to make sure once and for all that Blood Rose and Rose Obold are indeed the same person.”

“William?”

“Still at M.I.T., but Bruce organized him a different place to stay too.”

“Mia?”

“With her temporary foster mother, but protected by security too.”

Temporary foster mother. Oliver felt his heart ache. He hoped that it was only temporary, and at the same time he didn’t dare to hope that Mia would come back to be part of their family again.

“The rest of the team?”

“Is following their daily activities.” Nick sighed. “Nobody wants to, but doing anything else makes it look suspicious. You know that we’d all go to prison for you and with you, but-“

“As long as there is a way out for you, take it.” Oliver’s voice was firm. “It’s enough if one of us ends up at Supermax eventually. The city needs the rest of you now more than ever.”

Nick nodded his head and looked down at his hands for a moment. When he lifted his gaze, he looked at Oliver with a strict expression in his eyes.

“Have you thought about what will happen if you indeed end up at Supermax?”

Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t think there is anything to think about. If I end up there, whatever happens will happen.”

“Doesn’t sound like you.” Nick frowned. “You never give up control like that.”

“I don’t have control left,” Oliver whispered to him, looking at him intently, “so I need to trust that all of you take control over what you can. I will just try to trust that that will be enough.”

Oliver wondered if he sounded defeated. He probably did, but there really wasn’t much else left to say or do.

There was no running. There was no escaping. He wasn’t alone anymore though, so he knew that he could trust that his team would take care of his family and of the city. He would survive whatever would come as long as he knew that the city wouldn’t fall back into darkness and his family was safe.

Nick held Oliver’s gaze and nodded his head. “You can trust on that.”

→ → → → →

“Are we really going to Rose Obold’s campaign office?” Felicity looked at Bruce in disbelief. “Just like that?”

Bruce shrugged his shoulders. “Why wouldn’t we?”

Cocking her head, Felicity looked at him incredulously. “Well, maybe because she might be Rose Blood which means that she might attack us. If destroying Oliver’s life is indeed what she intends to do, she could just give up her cover and kill us. I am sure that her interest in politics is not real or at least not real enough to care about her identity as Rose Obold for longer than necessary.”

“If that was true, she wouldn’t have decided to give a press conference about the upcoming elections and the current developments around Oliver’s case.”

Felicity perked up her eyebrows. “She did what?”

“It’s a good thing for us though because she will be busy which means that Tommy can sneak into her office and place a bug there. Since the only two places she had been to regularly were her apartment and her campaign office, I guess that is from where she is operating.”

Felicity didn’t know what part she should be the most speechless about. She knew that the part where Rose Obold had the audacity to give a press conference to comment about Oliver’s arrest was the one that made her the angriest though. Whether she was Blood Rose or not – not that there was a lot of doubt in Felicity about that at this point – it felt insensitive to take her family’s pain and use it for her gain.

By the time they arrived at the campaign office, Felicity was so angry about the entire situation that she could feel the anger boiling in her stomach like she had barely ever done before. A part of her wanted to make a scene and scream and yell at the woman who had caused her family so much pain. She figured that if Blood Rose didn’t know that they knew who she was, it was best if it stayed like that.

When they reached the door, Bruce held Felicity back at her elbow. She turned around to him, noticing his intent, worried eyes on her.

“Ready for this?”

Felicity took in a deep breath. She was still feeling very angry. She was so angry that she could probably kill someone, Rose Obold preferably. But she needed to control herself. At least for now.

Nodding her head, Felicity released the air from her lungs. She could do this.

As soon as she opened the door, the flashlights of cameras hailed down on her. She was blinded by the lights in her face briefly, seeing echoes of them as colorful spots dancing in front of her eyes. Apparently, the reporters had been expecting her to come. They bombarded her with their questions, their voices combining to one noisy whirring in her ears.

Bruce put a warm hand to the small of her back and led her around the room, occasionally telling the reporters that she wasn’t answering any question yet and asking for some space. Eventually, the reporters seemed to get bored of the ever-same image of Felicity’s pale face and her eyes staring blankly. The flashlights died out, and she was finally able to see again. That way she noticed that Bruce was steering her around the room to where John and Becky were waiting.

John encompassed Felicity in a silent hug when she reached them. They both smiled at each other comfortingly for a moment before Felicity took her position next to him, their arms linked.

“Nick is seeing Oliver,” John told her with low voice, so nobody would hear them, “and Laurel is already working on finding out whether there is a way to get Oliver out of the detention center. She thinks that, with a little luck, there is a procedural error like a missing signature, something that wasn’t protocolled or something like that. She says it happens more often than you would think.”

Felicity nodded her head slowly and was about to answer when Rose Obold stepped onto the little platform where a lectern was placed for her. The flashlights were hailing down on her like they had been hailing down on Felicity before. She seemed to enjoy the attention. A confident smile was on her full lips. She moved like she was on a runway with large but elegant steps. She had chosen a tight-fitted costume in bright red and a matching scarf that probably destroyed the strict but sexy impression she seemed to be going for. When she stepped behind the lectern, she let her gaze wander around the room.

Although she tried not to let anyone see it, Felicity could pinpoint the moment when Rose Obold saw her. Her gaze lingered on her for a moment longer than they had lingered on anyone before. She cocked her head a little more, and the corners of her lips twitched into a hateful grin that Felicity guessed didn’t last long enough for anyone to see.

She lifted a hand until most of the flashlights stopped, making sure that the reporters’ attention would be all on what she had to say.

“I thank all of you for coming.” Her voice was soft, her smile grateful. “Starling City had lived through another night of riots, another night of crimes, another night of anarchy.”

Felicity tried to mentally compare Rose Obold’s speech pattern to the one of Blood Rose, but she couldn’t. Her computers usually did those things for her. She had caught up a lot of her computers ability just by watching them work, but she was too distracted by everything going on to focus on the speech itself rather than the content.

“Starling City needs a prudent management. The interest of a lot of different people with a lot of different needs have to be considered. Security and order need to be prioritized.”

Felicity looked around the room at the faces of the reporters. They absorbed each and every one of her words. They were hanging at her lips.

“Right now Starling City is missing the management that it needs, and I call upon all of Starling City’s citizens to raise their voices and vote in the upcoming election, so I can bring to Starling City what it needs to unfold its true potential – a strong and fair leadership.”

She tilted her head to the side slightly and flashed the reporters a smile, inviting them to ask their questions. They started shouting the question all at once, making Rose Obold chuckle in a way that made it sound like reedy screech in Felicity’s ears.

“Now, now!” She smiled widely once more. “I will answer all of your questions because I know that this is important to Starling City and to other cities as well. I will take all the time it needs to answer your questions, no matter how long it takes. But please be kind and ask one by one, so I don’t miss any of your questions.”

“I’d like to strangle her,” Felicity whispered more to herself than to anyone else.

“You and me both,” Bruce and John whispered in chorus at her sides.

Rose Obold addressed a first reporter, asking him to ask his question. The young man got up, said his name and who he was working for and then asked: “When you say that you will bring a strong and fair leadership to Starling City, do you imply that Mayor Queen wasn’t offering that to Starling City?”

Felicity felt her entire body tense in response to that question. Oliver had given so much to this city. He had endured so many sleepless nights, trying to figure out how he could do even more for the people living here. He didn’t deserve to have his name trashed like that.

“I think Mr. Queen favored certain people in the city. He tried to make up for what his family has done wrong, but he overgeneralized doing so.”

“Can you expand on that?”

“I can.” She smiled. “But I won’t.”

Some reporters chuckled, foreigners mainly. Others, the locals in particular, just looked like she had just made fun about something holy.

The next reporter that was asked to repeat her question was a woman in her forties. She was here for Channel 17, a local broadcasting station.

“A lot of people think that the riots are a result of Mr. Queen’s arrest. He has led this city with heart and mind for the past years – politically and in other ways.”

Rose Obold’s shoulders tensed and she tightened her scarf almost a little nervously. Her smile turned cold though. If she could, she would probably just throw her out of the office. She didn’t want to be confronted with the idea of how much Oliver was loved here.

“Is there a question in there?”

“My question to you is: do you really believe that you can raise the same commitment for this city as Mr. Queen did, knowing that he was willing to sacrifice his own freedom to make this city a safer place?”

Whoever that woman was, Felicity felt like she should send her a little gift of gratitude. It was good to know that there were people that were openly supporting Oliver even now. At least that meant that not all was for nothing.

“I think that Mr. Queen did what he did because he didn’t know how else to help. He was raised in a family that took power whenever it could, no matter the consequences. He did the same. His reasons might have been good, but the ends can’t always justify the means. What he did was wrong because he put his actions before the law. That cannot and should not be pardoned.”

There wasn’t anything to be pardoned. Oliver had done what had been necessary. If he hadn’t started what he had started, Felicity wasn’t sure if there would have been anything of Starling City left by now.

A reporter turned around to her all of a sudden. “Mrs. Queen, what do you think about your husband’s actions? Were they a result of his upbringing or a sign of his commitment to the city?”

Felicity felt hundreds of eyes on her. She was used to that. Leading a company like Queen Incorporated meant that you had to give a lot of speeches in front of a lot of people. This felt different though, and she really didn’t want to be here right now.

John’s phone vibrated in the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulled it put and glanced at the display. Felicity shot a brief look at it, and John angled the phone in her direction. Tommy had sent a text that should probably tell them that he had done what they had planned.

TM: According to a study, we eat around 140,000 bugs each year – gross!

Felicity just guessed that it meant he had placed the bug. She couldn’t think of a different reason why Tommy would text John something like that. And if Tommy had done his job, she could leave here.

“I stand with my husband no matter what.” She turned around and headed towards the door. “Now if you excuse me.”

Flashlights were following he to the door, just as the steps of three people, telling her that John, Bruce and Becky all left with her. The room was quiet except from their steps and the flashlights. Nobody dared to direct another question at her or to focus back on Rose Obold.

As soon as Felicity had stepped out of the building, she took in a deep breath. Her legs were shaking, and she felt like she was either going to break down and cry for hours or turn around and kill Rose Obold right now.

“Not here,” John mumbled before she could decide and linked his arm with hers. “We are still watched.”

Without another word being spoken, Felicity followed John to his car, while Becky followed Bruce to his. Felicity sank down in the soft passenger seat and released the long breath that she had been holding.

“Everything alright?” John asked, turning around to her.

Felicity grunted. “Nothing is alright anymore, but I’m okay. I won’t break down. Don’t worry.”

John shot her a smile, grabbed her hand with his large one and squeezed it comfortingly. “I wouldn’t blame you if you did break down. You are going through a lot right now, and I know that as a parent you always try to stay strong for kids. If you need to let down, you can so do with me here.”

Shooting him a grateful smile, Felicity squeezed his hand back. The last time that she had thought that she had lost Oliver forever, John hadn’t been on her side. Now was different, and she was grateful for that. For a long time, it had been John, Oliver and her. The three of them were the original team and because of that they were particularly close.

“I know,” she whispered, releasing another trembling breath, “but I don’t want to break down. Not now. I want to- I don’t know. I think I want to plan the next steps and-“

The ringing of her phone interrupted her. Felicity pulled her phone out of the pocket of her jacket and shot a look at the display. It was Laurel.

“Please tell me you have found a way for Oliver to come home until the trail.”

Felicity needed some good news after all the bad news that she had received lately.

“Felicity, I don’t know how to tell you, but-“

More bad news. Felicity felt her stomach drop. What was it this time?

“Your house is on fire.”

→ → → → →

All hope that Laurel had been exaggerating died the moment John’s car rolled up the driveway. Well, the last thread of hope that she had been holding onto had died that moment. Most of her hope had died when she had seen the thick clouds of smoke rising into the sky.

Felicity got out of the car before it had come to a full stop. She took in the flames that were coming out of the windows and the roof. She felt the heat that filled the air. She also noticed the stinging smell of her home and everything inside of it burning down.

“No, Felicity! No!”

She hadn’t even noticed that she had started moving towards the house. Only when John’s strong arms wrapped around her waist, keeping her in place, she realized it. She tried to fight against his hold for a moment, tried to get out of his arms and towards the house that had been her home for the past ten years. Oliver had built it for her and their family. They had raised their kids here. They had made this a true home with their kids and Hawk and-

Felicity’s heart stood still. Hawk. Hawk hadn’t left the house with Alfred, Raisa and the kids. Hawk had been in there when the fire had started.

“Hawk,” Felicity whispered, her voice not audible in her own ears, “Hawk’s still in there.”

She used the little strength she had to fight against John’s hold on her and try to get away from him. John wrapped his arms around her even more tightly though, making sure that she wouldn’t get a single step closer to the fire.

“Hawk,” Felicity whispered again, turning her head to look at John. “Hawk’s in there, John. He needs to- We need to-“

John tightened his arms around her once more and shook his head. His eyes looked as sad as Felicity’s heart was feeling.

“John, we need to-“

“We can’t help him anymore, Felicity.” John leaned his head against hers with a sigh. “We cannot help Hawk. He’s gone.”

Hawk was gone. Hawk, who had joined the family when they had needed someone to cheer them up and bring some new life into this family, was gone. Hawk, who had been a perfect addition to the family, was gone. Hawk, who had saved their kids and their family in more than one way since he had joined them, was gone.

Looking back at the house, Felicity felt her legs giving in and a feeling of utter defeat taking hold of her. They had lost so much already, and it seemed to get worse with passing each hour. Her family had already lost Oliver and Mia. Now they had lost their home forever, and they had lost their beloved and loyal pet.

As troublesome as their lived had been at times, Felicity and Oliver had always tried their best to keep their children protected and sheltered as much as possible. They had tried to offer support and comfort in hard times, and they had done their best to make things okay again as quickly as possible.

Hanging up the phone, she got up and already rushed past him. Oliver followed right after her, ignoring the video call they were still in. He caught up with her right outside the door and grabbed her hand. He turned her around to him gently.

“Felicity, what-?”

“It’s Mia.”

Oliver felt his heart stop. The one of their children that he couldn’t protect because he didn’t know where she was, was in the hospital. He had turned himself in, and she had been taken from them. Now she was in hospital.

“What about her?” Oliver asked urgently, taking a step closer to her. “What did the hospital tell you?”

“Not much.” Felicity used the link of their fingers to pull him out of the room with her. Her body was trembling slightly, her breathing was erratic and irregular. Adrenaline had to be rushing through her veins like it was rushing through his. “Dr. Manning said that Mia was in the hospital, and that I should come. Of course she wasn’t allowed to tell me, but she wanted me to come, so I need to go and-“

“Of course you need to go.”

For Oliver there wasn’t even a question there. When one of their children was in the hospital, they needed to go there. Downstairs, he grabbed her jacket from the coatrack while she was getting into her shoes. Well, she needed to go.

“I’d come with you, but-“

“I know.” Felicity straightened back up. She was breathless now, and there was regret in her eyes. “I know you can’t come, and I’m sorry, but-“

“You need to go,” Oliver said before she could say it and nodded his head eagerly. “You absolutely need to go. Now.”

Felicity nodded, grabbed her purse and her keys and hurried to the door. With the door handle in her hand, she turned back to him once more. Oliver smiled encouragingly although it broke his heart.

He wanted to go with her. He wanted to give a damn about the house arrest he was in and just leave the house and go to the hospital to find out what had happened to Mia. He knew that doing so would cause him to leave this house sooner than he had though. It wouldn’t be fair to Felicity or their other kids that were here and needed him here for as long as he could stay.

With two large steps, Felicity crossed the distance between them. She put her hands to his cheeks and pulled his head towards her face until their lips met in an urgent kiss that comforted him instantly.

“Tell our little girl that I love her,” Oliver whispered as soon as their lips parted, “I love Mia.”

Felicity nodded her head. “I will. I promise.”

She sucked in a deep breath before she let her fingers sink from his face. Breathing out slowly and nodding to herself, she turned towards the door eventually.

The door was already opened when she was held back once more. This time it was Hawk doing so. He had come running down the stairs and sprinted past Oliver right towards her. As carefully as he possibly could, he jumped up at Felicity, who managed to keep her balance despite Hawk’s paws resting on her shoulder.

“Hawk, stop that!”

Oliver took a step towards them, so he would be able to pull Hawk away from Felicity. He ignored the beeping of his GPS tracking device as he was close to the door. McKenna had warned him that that could happen. When Oliver grabbed Hawk’s forelegs, she saw that Hawk hadn’t come alone. He carried the stuffed sloth that Mia had gotten from her siblings when she had joined the family between his teeth.

“You’re right,” Felicity said to Hawk, taking the toy from him, “she will be happy to have this. Thank you.”

She placed a kiss on Hawk’s nose, who immediately got back on the ground and sat down next to Oliver at the swell of threshold. They both looked after Felicity when her car rolled out of the garage and down the driveway to the street.

Oliver felt his heart growing even heavier. He had been in the hospital with Mia during her first days on this earth. They had been with Mia in the hospital when her heart had needed that second surgery. They had planned on being there with her for her third and hopefully finally surgery. Now Mia was in the hospital again, and he couldn’t be there although she needed both of her parents.

“Where’s mama?”

Quickly wiping his tears from his eyes, Oliver turned around to see Addie standing at the foot of the stairs, looking at him with her big, blue eyes. There was a deep furrow between her eyes, proving how worried she was.

“Mama is… uhm…”

He didn’t want to lie to his children. After all they had been ready to sacrifice and everything they had endured, they didn’t deserve to be lied to. How much could these young, innocent hearts take though?

As if Addie had read his mind and knew that he was caught in some conflict here, she just spread her arms and came running towards him. Oliver lifted her easily and wrapped his arms around her tightly. Pressing his nose to her temple, he closed his eyes and breathes her in.

“It will be okay, Daddy,” Addie whispered and moved her hands up and down his back, “everything will be okay.”

Never had Oliver be more grateful that Felicity had given their children so much of her optimism because they would have certainly have an even harder time if they were as pessimistic as he felt right now. He could only hope for the good of his children that their optimism wasn’t shattered by everything happening right now. The little optimism he had, certainly was gone for good.

→ → → → →

Felicity tried to make the elevator go faster just by willing it to do so. It didn’t seem to work though, so she felt like she was spending an eternity in that tiny cage. She watched the number that was telling her which floor the elevator was on now on the small display over the door and could curse it for going so very slowly.

When the doors finally opened, Felicity rushed out and approached the desk in the large room. A nurse that was playing with her cross necklace looked up from the papers she had been reading in and smiled at her patiently. She exuded calmness that made Felicity take in a deep breath and breathe out slowly.

“How can I help you?”

“Dr. Manning called,” Felicity said, trying to let the nurse’s calmness fill her chest, “because my daugh- my-“

What could she possibly say? Mia wasn’t her daughter anymore, at least not legally. She didn’t have the right to see her and-

“Felicity.”

At the sound of Dr. Manning’s voice, Felicity turned her head back over her shoulder quickly. Dr. Manning was approaching her with fast steps. As soon as she was next to her, she nodded her head to one of the long hallways, gesturing for Felicity to come with her.

Felicity turned back to the nurse at the front desk once more and smiled at her gratefully. “Thank you.”

The nurse smiled warmly. “I believe everything will be fine, Mrs. Queen. It will be if there is a god, and I strongly believe that there is.”

Felicity wasn’t sure what to say to that. She, just like the woman in front of her, believed in a god. They might not believe in the same god, but they shared the believe that there was one. Right not Felicity felt a little left by him though.

Nodding her head, Felicity shot the nurse a slight smile and mouthed, “Thank you.”

She took three quick steps then until she had caught up with Dr. Manning. She looked at her worriedly.

“What happened?” she asked her with whispered voice, “where is she?”

“Mia was taken in half an hour ago by her new foster parents,” Dr. Manning explained, her voice just as low as Felicity’s, “after she passed out while crying. That’s actually not unusual for babies. Those breath-holding spells happen more often that you would think, but Mia’s heart rate is also accelerated. Again, it doesn’t need to be a reason to worry, but with Mia’s background, we need to calm her down to ease the pressure on her heart.”

Felicity nodded her head, unable to speak. Mia had been crying because she hadn’t been around her family. She had been taken from her home and the people she knew. Even at her age, she also must have felt the devastation that it had woken in the family that she had been taken from. She was a baby that had been through a lot and that had been traumatized once more. Life wasn’t really kind to her.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“She will be,” Dr. Manning assured, “which is why I wasn’t sure if I should call you at all, but-“

“I am very grateful that you did,” Felicity hurried to say, “because Oliver and I will do everything possible to get her back once our other problems have been taken care of.”

Dr. Manning stopped and turned to Felicity, who did the same in return. There was something in the doctor’s eyes that made Felicity frown.

“What is it?” she asked. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Dr. Manning turned her head to look down the hallway. It took Felicity a moment until she followed Dr. Manning’s gaze and looked into the same direction. A woman with dark skin and long braided hair sat in one of the chairs that, as Felicity knew, were terribly uncomfortable. She had her elbows rested on her knees, and her head was hanging down between her shoulders.

Felicity couldn’t see her face, but she felt sorry for her instantly. She could just see how devastated she was.

“That’s Lu-“ Dr. Manning interrupted herself, puckering her lips for a moment, before she cleared her throat. “That is Mia’s new foster mother, a very experienced foster mother. She has been fostering children, especially babies and toddlers, for seven years now. Several of them had special needs or medical conditions that required a lot of care. I have known her because of that, and I can tell you that she is very responsible and very caring. She is a great mother to every child that is brought to her. She didn’t leave Mia’s side until two minutes ago when I told her to catch a break. Even then she only did so because I insisted.”

Felicity didn’t know what to think about, never mind say to that. She guessed she should be happy and relieved because Mia had been brought to a good home with a good person. It didn’t feel right anyway because as good as Mia’s new foster mother certainly was, Mia belonged with the Queen Family.

“She was the one who suggested that I call you,” Dr. Manning told her, “because she knew that Mia was crying because she was homesick and missed the family that she had stayed with for the last months. She is risking her admission as a foster mother by allowing me to call you and supporting that you stay in touch with Mia.”

Now Felicity got it. Dr. Manning wanted to make sure that Felicity, no matter how much she loved Mia and wanted her to be back with her, wouldn’t risk that Mia’s new foster mother got in trouble. She would be allowed to see Mia now and to help her through her heartache, but she would also have to leave when Mia’s foster mother requested it or someone from child welfare would show up.

Unable to speak, Felicity nodded her head in agreement. Someone had done her a favor, so she would be grateful of that and not ask for more than she had gotten.

Dr. Manning started walking again and walked past Mia’s foster mother to the next door. Passing her, Dr. Manning shot the woman a look that caught her attention and made her lift her gaze. She looked at Dr. Manning briefly before she turned her head to look at Felicity and got up quickly.

Felicity approached her, already thinking about what to say, but nothing appropriate came to her mind. For a long moment, the two mothers just stood in front of each other and looked at each other. Neither of them said a word. Eventually, Felicity just reached out her hands and grabbed the one of Mia’s new foster mother. She just held them and hoped that the touch of their hands would be enough to say what words couldn’t express in this moment.

When Dr. Manning opened the door and Mia’s cries filled the hallway, Felicity broke the eye contact and looked into the hospital room. A nurse was carrying Mia up and down the room while stroking her hand over her back. It didn’t seem to calm Mia though as her cries were still jarring and loud. Thick tears were running down her cheeks.

Shooting a brief look back at Mia’s new foster mother, Felicity saw her nodding her head encouragingly. Felicity squeezed her hands in a final gesture of gratitude before she entered the hospital room.

As soon as Mia saw her, she reached her arms out for Felicity. Without even putting her purse down, Felicity reached out her arms for Mia too. The nurse handed her over, and Felicity clutched Mia to her chest like the treasure she was to her. Mia snuggled up to her just as urgently, pressing her face against her shoulder and forming tight fists around the fabric of Felicity’s clothes.

“I’ve got you,” Felicity whispered and pushed her nose against the crown of Mia’s head, “I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

Felicity didn’t know how many times she had whispered that and how long she had gone up and down in the room before Mia’s cries fell completely silent. Her body that had been so stiff when she had taken her grew soft. Tired sighs fell from her lips. The monitor that visualized Mia’s heartbeat showed that it had slowed down.

“My beautiful girl,” Felicity whispered, rocking her back and forth while continuing to carry her up and down the room, “my beautiful, little girl.”

Mia leaned her head back and looked at Felicity for a moment. When Felicity perked up her eyebrows and pushed her chin forward a little, Mia squealed and let her head fall against Felicity’s, who chuckled in return.

“I brought you something,” she said and reached into her purse to show Mia the sloth, “Hawk thought that you might miss this.”

As soon as Mia saw her favorite stuffed animal, she grabbed it with one hand and lifted it to her chest. She let her face sink into it the plush and released a content sigh.

“Sleep a little,” Felicity whispered and stroked her fingertips through Mia’s short, soft hair, “I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”

As if she had only now realized how tired she had been all along, Mia’s body relaxed in her arms even more. Within a couple of minutes, she was fast asleep. Felicity didn’t put her down though. She just continued holding her and carrying her up and down the room. For as long as she got to stay, she wanted to offer Mia all the comfort she possibly could.

→ → → → →

The night was just as loud as the last one had been. Sounds of small explosions, shattering glass loud, angry shouts were to be heard. They seemed to be quieter than they had been last night, or maybe Oliver had just grown used to it so very quickly. The chaos on the streets wouldn’t find any end soon, Oliver assumed.

Carefully stretching out one leg on the mattress, he looked around to find that the kids had all fallen asleep now. Emmy had tried to fight it for the longest time, but even she had been forced to give in to her tiredness. They hadn’t had much sleep last night, so it had been a hopeless fight from the start.

The sound of a car rolling up the driveway and the beam of headlights falling in through the window made Oliver lift his head from the pillow. He shot an unnecessary glance at his watch. He knew that is was shortly after midnight. Still, he checked his watch just to have it confirmed.

Felicity had been gone the entire day. She had texted him once, telling that Mia was better, but that she’d stay with her for as long as she possibly could. He had tried to call her and even just text her after that, but she hadn’t replied to any of his attempts at contacting her. Oliver guessed that her battery might have died.

He moved slowly and very carefully when to get out of bed. He didn’t want to wake the children. He tiptoed out of the room, but he left the door ajar, so the kids had the light in the hallway in case they woke up. He didn’t want them to be frightened, well, more frightened than they certainly were already. Hawk lifted his head from his paws, but Oliver put his finger to his lips, gesturing him to be quiet, and he rested his head back down.

Oliver walked down the stairs slowly, his eyes fixated on the door already. Felicity should have already reached the house, but he guessed that she needed time and a moment for herself. Everyone needed that sometimes, and she hadn’t had many of those since he had been arrested because she had needed to be strong for their children.

Waiting for her patiently, he sat down on the bottommost step of the stairs. He would give her that time that she needed until she was ready to come back inside – to their home without Mia.

The thought pained him, but Oliver felt like he needed to remind himself of the cruel truth again and again. It still felt unreal.

When the door eventually opened and Felicity stepped in, Oliver just stayed where he was. Even in the darkness Felicity’s red-rimmed eyes found him instantly. He could see that she had been crying, and she could certainly see that he was tired and exhausted.

A long moment of silent passed, while they were just looking at each other. Felicity closed the door, but she didn’t leave her spot at the door. With their quiet gazes, they agreed that they didn’t need to comfort the other right now. They were both tired. They were both sad. Neither of them could be comforted, not even by each other.

“How was Mia?”

“Good,” Felicity replied, her voice hoarse, “or at least better. I got to stay with her for a while, but someone from child welfare came to check on her, so I needed to leave. Her new foster mother would have gotten in trouble if they had seen me there.”

Oliver nodded his head. Apparently, they were a danger to Mia’s wellbeing now. All they had ever done was trying to protect her and give her a good life. That didn’t count anymore though. She wasn’t their child by blood or by law, so it had been incredibly easy to take her away from them.

“You met her?” Oliver asked. “The woman that Mia is staying with now?”

Felicity nodded her head. “She is very experienced with fostering, and she has fostered quite some kids with health issues before. Dr. Manning knows her, and she really respects her.”

So Mia had been placed into a good home at least. That had something slightly comforting to it.

“Are the kids asleep?” Felicity asked back.

Oliver nodded his head. “All upstairs in our bed.”

The corners of Felicity’s lips twitched into a tired smile briefly. With a long sigh, she crossed the distance towards Oliver then. She sat down on the step next to him, linked her arm with his and rested her head on his shoulder. Oliver put his hand over hers, and rested his cheek against the top of her head.

“How bad are things in the city?”

“They sound worse from here than they seemed to be,” Felicity replied, “but then again, I guess people are just keeping their distance from our house.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Even if it wasn’t as bad as it sounded, it was still so much worse than it had been in years. He wasn’t sure how long the city would be able to take this. Without a strong leading that gave the people hope and the willingness to form a strong unit, Starling City had always been bound to fail.

“Anything new from Blood Rose?”

“No.” Oliver shook his head. “John has been at Obold’s apartment, but he didn’t find anything suspicious.”

“Nothing at all?”

“Nothing at all.”

Felicity frowned. “Sounds suspicious.”

Oliver chuckled half-heartedly. “I said the same. Curtis is still at A.R.G.U.S. and will work all night to find out if there is any other place that Obold has been to repeatedly in the last months. Maybe she has some hideout like we have too.”

“I can do that,” Felicity said, “I won’t be able to sleep anyway.”

“You need to rest nonetheless.” Oliver squeezed her hand. “We both do even if we won’t sleep.”

He could feel Felicity melting even more into him. She knew that he was right. Instead of just going upstairs, they just sat where they were a moment longer. Right now, it felt like freezing time was the safest option because the more time passed, the more chaos was thrown at them.

If only time could indeed be frozen.

→ → → → →

Starling City riots: Who are the protestors and what do they want?

Second night of riots kill one and leave ten injured

“Higher than ever” – risks of riots all over the US increase because of Starling City

More criminal activity in two nights than in months

Mayor Queen, is that you?!

Felicity clicked the link to read the article – the umpteenth article she had read about what had happened last night. She didn’t expect much from this one, thinking it would probably just put all the blame for everything that had happened on Oliver. Apparently, the city was good at that.

When the website loaded and a photo of a Green Arrow on a rooftop showed, Felicity pulled her bottom lip between her front teeth to bite down on it nervously. This couldn’t mean anything good.

For Felicity, even if she didn’t know that Oliver hadn’t gone out last night, it was obvious that the person on the photo wasn’t Oliver. The suit wasn’t the same. It lacked a lot of the details that helped Oliver in the field and kept him safe. The stature of the person wearing it wasn’t Oliver’s either. The person’s legs were too long, the shoulders too slim, the chin a little too edgy.

Of course Oliver wore the GPS ankle bracelet, but he could have easily detached it. Everyone knew it which was why they had been so surprised that the attorney had agreed to this in the first place.

Skimming the article, Felicity went to the kitchen where Oliver was preparing breakfast for the children. When she came in, her face probably even paler than it had been when they had gotten out of bed this morning, he turned his head back over his shoulder at her.

“What’s wrong?” he asked immediately. “More bad news?”

“Apparently, someone dressed up as the Green Arrow last night.”

She handed him the tablet, and Oliver skimmed the article just like she had before. The furrow between his eyebrows deepened, and his shoulders tensed even more. When he put the tablet away, he sighed.

“That’s not good.”

“No, it’s not.” Felicity crossed her arms in front of her chest. “What are we-“

The doorbell rang, interrupting her before she could ask what they would do next. Without so much as looking at her, Oliver turned off the stove and walked past her towards the door. At the kitchen door from where you could see the front door already, he stopped for a moment.

Felicity felt her stomach sink. She couldn’t say for sure what was happening, but she knew it wasn’t good. Nothing good happened to them recently.

When Oliver left the kitchen to open the door, Felicity followed him. Through the glass in the door, she saw McKenna with two uniformed officers behind her. She looked like she was having a morning that was just as shitty as Oliver and Felicity’s.

“You cannot be serious,” Felicity said when Oliver opened the door, looking right at McKenna, “he was here all night.”

“I know.” McKenna sighed, shaking her head. “But Perrez thinks that he needs to show severity here. He thinks not doing anything is the wrong move.”

“So that’s it?” Felicity asked. “You are going to arrest him?”

“Felicity,” Oliver said softly, turning back to her, “they are just doing their jobs.”

Felicity wanted to answer to that with just as much anger as she was feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she swallowed it all bitterly. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and bit down on her tongue. She felt tears welling in her eyes, but she ignored that.

“You need to arrest me,” Oliver said, “I understand that.”

“I wish I didn’t have to,” McKenna said, looking back and forth between Oliver and Felicity, “and if you tell me that you want to run instead, I will just-“

Oliver shook his head. “I cannot run, not without making my family run too, and I don’t want that for my children.”

“What if Lyla organized a safe place for you to stay?” McKenna asked. “I mean she has resources that-“

Again, Oliver shook his head. “We cannot spend out lives hiding. The kids would have to leave everything and everyone they know and do what? Live in a cabin in the woods with just us? That would never work. I cannot run.”

McKenna nodded and shot a brief look at Felicity, but she just rolled her eyes and shook her head. This all felt more and more like a bad dream that she just couldn’t wake up from.

“Daddy?”

Emmy’s voice was small. She was standing at the head of the stairs, holding Addie’s hand safely in hers. Tommy and Millie were standing behind them.

So the kids could say goodbye this time. Felicity didn’t know if that was something good or something bad. It definitely was something that she was sure would eat her heart away.

Oliver shot a look at McKenna, who took a step back and looked at her feet. She wouldn’t be standing in the way of him when he wanted to say goodbye to his children. At least that was something that she could do for him.

Oliver beckoned for the children to come downstairs which they did. He got down on his knees and pulled all four of them into their arms.

“Look,” he said with soft voice, “daddy has to leave for some more time. I know you are sad and scared. So am I. I won’t ask you to pretend like everything is normal. I know you can’t because everything is not normal. But please trust mommy and I that we will do whatever we can, so we can see each other again as soon as possible. And please don’t give mommy too much trouble, okay?”

Felicity bit down on her tongue so hard that she could taste blood. She knew this memory would be burnt into her head and heart from now on. She would relive it again and again in her dreams. It would haunt her again and again.

When the kids nodded, Oliver pulled them into his arms for a long hug. Although the sounds they made were muffled, Felicity could hear that they were crying. Hearing that made it possible to bite her own tears back. They streamed down her cheeks now too.

Eventually, she caught Oliver’s eyes, and took in a sniffling breath.

“Come on,” she said with shaking voice, “daddy needs to leave now.”

Mia had come into their lives so very unexpectedly. Suddenly she had been there. Oliver and Felicity hadn’t felt like they had missed anything before they had met her, but once she had been in their life, they hadn’t been able to think about the future of their lives without her. She had become a part of them so very naturally like the circumstances would have never made it look like.

Still, all that had been needed to rip her away from the family had been a single document that had been signed by a person in the right position. Oliver had turned himself in to save innocent children, and child welfare had decided to take Mia back into their custody. With Oliver’s confession and all of its consequences, the Queens couldn’t offer Mia a stable environment any longer. That was what Mr. Jacobs – the man from child welfare had said.

Since Mia had been taken away early this morning, Felicity had called Ms. Wheeler at least twenty times. She had been the social worker that had been in charge of their case so far. She had been the one that had decided they were the right family for Mia. She had even mentioned it to Oliver before he and Felicity had considered becoming Mia’s foster parents. Unfortunately, she was on a vacation and didn’t seem to be available.

Felicity knew that they had hundreds of things to do. They had to find Blood Rose because the city wouldn’t be safe until she was locked away. The team needed to meet up and figure out how to continue keeping the city safe without coming into the firing line. She needed to make sure her children – the one that hadn’t been taken from her – felt safe and protected. They needed an opportunity to share their thoughts of sadness and fear. After all, their father and their little sister had been taken from them within a few hours.

For now, just a brief span of time, Felicity needed to bathe in her sorrow though. She needed to feel all the pain that the last hours had brought over her. Only after she had done that, she’d be able to move forward and focus on everything else that was to do. She needed to give herself this moment though, or she wouldn’t be of much help for anyone.

Had they made the right decision?

Since Oliver had left at the hospice, she had asked herself that question again and again. Back in that moment when they had been kneeling in front of the bomb and figured out that they could not defuse it, it had seemed like it had been the only choice, but had it been?

Closing her eyes, Felicity took in a deep and trembling breath. Then she shook her head without opening her eyes. She couldn’t think like that.

If Oliver hadn’t turned himself in, a lot of children and their parents had died. The parents that hadn’t died, would have lived, but they would have spend the rest of their life knowing that their terminally ill children had been killed brutally. The parents would have lived knowing so and Oliver and Felicity too.

Her personal pain that came from being separated from Oliver and Mia was probably pale in comparison to that pain. Oliver would live. He would live separate from the family, locked away and robbed of all the joy that he had found in life, but he would live. Mia would love. She wouldn’t be with them, and they would probably never see her again, but she would live.

Lives had been saved. The stakes had been high, and they had been forced to pay an incredibly high price, but at least nobody had died. That was what Felicity had to focus on. It needed to be enough to give her the strength to carry on. She could always find out where they were and how they were doing even if she couldn’t be near them. That had to be enough because it was all that she-

The noise of hurried steps in the hallway made Felicity snap out of her thoughts. She shot a glance at her watch. She had been up here for half an hour, only after she had comforted the kids of course. They had all cried together and held each other. Eventually, she had just needed her moment to break down without the kids being there, so Raisa had taken over for her. She had seen that Felicity needed a moment to herself.

Now it was time to gather the little strength she had to be there for the children, Felicity knew. They knew how much she suffered in this situation too because she hadn’t hidden it from them. She couldn’t have even if she had tried to. She just had to be strong enough to show them that she saw some kind of light at the horizon because if she was hopeless, they’d be even more scared.

Getting out of the rocking chair, Felicity wiped her tears away and turned towards the door in time to see Oliver stepping into the hallway.

Felicity’s knees felt like they had turned to jelly. They threatened to buckle under her, at least they were shaking like they could.

When Felicity had talked to Laurel this morning, she hadn’t sounded very confident. Of course she had promised to do what she could do to bring Oliver home, but she hadn’t believed that she’d be able to do so. So Felicity hadn’t thought she’d see him again unless it was for the trial.

She looked at Oliver’s face. He had dark shadows under his eyes, making him look tired and exhausted. His lips were opened slightly as he was panting. His eyes were opened widely. He was looking at her in shock, and underneath it she could see the almost unbearable pain that she had been feeling these past hours too.

He knew what had happened since he had left, and now he could see it with his own eyes. The nursery looked unchanged, but it had lost everything that had made it this perfectly cozy room. Mia was gone.

Felicity didn’t know who made the first step. Maybe they just started walking at the same time. One moment there were several feet between them, the next not even a piece of paper would fit between them. Felicity’s arms were wrapped around Oliver’s neck, while his had bent around her waist. He had pulled her against him so tightly that she could only stand on the tips of her toes. Felicity pressed her nose against the side of Oliver’s neck and breathed him in. Oliver had his nose buried in her hair to do the same.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” Felicity whispered, a sob almost drowning her words, “you’re really here.”

Her fingers clawed into the fabric of his shirt. She pressed herself against him even more tightly. She could feel every single one of his muscles against her body. It helped her believe that all of this was real.

“I’m back,” he whispered and kissed her ear, “at least for now.”

Realism, as much as it was needed, also lessened the joy. Oliver was here now, but he wouldn’t be here for long. At least neither of them expected him to.

Felicity shifted in Oliver’s arms, so she could put her forehead against Oliver’s. She lifted her hands to his cheeks and held his face like the treasure he was to her. They had both suffered a lot while they had been parted these last hours, not knowing whether the other was indeed safe. As short as this reunion might be, it gave Felicity back at least some of the strength she knew she needed.

Oliver captured Felicity’s lips in a kiss. It started our slow and gentle, a gesture of their love for each other. It was a kiss to make sure the other was alright and safe. It soon turned into more though as both of them felt a wave of arousal and need for the other. They needed to feel that the other was really here with them.

When their lips parted, their foreheads still touching, they were both breathless. Neither of them had said a word yet, but Felicity already knew that they felt the same. They wanted each other now, but they knew that the time wasn’t right. Their desires had to wait.

“Do the kids now you are back?”

“Yes, I was in the living room before I came upstairs.” Oliver nuzzled Felicity’s nose, stroking the tip of his against the nose of hers. “We need to talk to them.”

Felicity nodded her head. Her fingers scraped through Oliver’s short stubble for a moment, enjoying the way the shot beard tickled against her fingertips. She took in a deep breath before she opened her eyes and pulled back, nodding her head.

“Yes, I know.”

She let her hands fall off Oliver’s face and used her hands to wipe away the tears from her face once more. She shuddered slightly, but ignore it. Instead, she reached out her hand for Oliver, and they laced their fingers together. Hand in hand, they went downstairs.

Raisa and the kids were still in the living room. Neither of the children was playing or talking. They all just sat on the couch or the floor, doing nothing it seemed. It was a picture of utter sadness. Only the fact that they were all holding onto each other in some way – Tommy had rested his head against Emmy’s knees, while Emmy was holding Addie’s hand. Millie was sitting at the end of the couch, Addie’s feet in her lap and her hands on her little sister’s ankles.

When Oliver and Felicity stepped into the living room, they all lifted their gazes. Addie sat up and reached out her free hand to hold onto Millie. Neither of them said a word though. Just as quietly, Oliver and Felicity stepped to the couch table and sat down on the floor. They were facing the kids.

“We need to talk to you,” Oliver said, “and to William.”

Felicity nodded her head, grabbed her phone and started a video call. It didn’t take William longer than three seconds to take the call. His face appeared on the display, showing worry and fear. As soon as she saw Oliver with the Queens’ living room in the background, his face showed relief though.

“Dad, you’re home. How is that-“

“I got out on bail thanks to Laurel,” Oliver replied softly and smiled at his oldest son. “How much of what has happened did you hear in Boston?”

“Much. Almost everything, I guess.” William shot a brief look at Felicity. “I wanted to come back, but-“

“Starling City is not a safe place right now,” Oliver told him exactly what Felicity had told him last night already, “so as much as I would like to have you here, I’d be grateful if you stayed where you are. With Bruce’s security men, you are in good hands.”

William looked maybe not disappointed but certainly not happy at this. Felicity knew that he wanted to be here with the rest of the family. All of them would like him to be here, but it wasn’t the most sensible idea right now. They had to do what was safe, and William coming here wasn’t safe. At least not for now.

“I actually think that it would be safest if all of you-“

“Don’t even think about it,” Felicity told him, shooting him a pointed glare, “because there is no way that will happen.”

Oliver pursed his lips, but he nodded his head. He knew there was no point in telling Felicity that she should leave the city. She wouldn’t leave him. After all the years that they had spent together, Felicity guessed that he should know that.

“We need to stand together in this,” Felicity said towards the kids, filling the silence, “and we know that we are asking the impossible of you, but you need to trust us that this was the only choice we could have made.”

“Although we will lose daddy?” Addie asked.

“And lost Mia?” Tommy added.

“Hey,” Oliver said softly, reaching out a hand for Addie, and she slid off the couch to let Oliver pull her into his arms, “you will not lose me. I might not be able to be with you every day, but you will not lose me. I will stay in touch with you in whatever way I can.”

Neither of them looked particularly happy about the idea that Oliver might not spend every day with them. Felicity couldn’t hold it against them. The thought was making her stomach cramp too.

“What is going to happen next?” Emmy asked cautiously.

“Well, I will have to go to trial eventually,” Oliver replied with a sigh, “and then a jury and a judge decides what will happen and-“

“No,” Emmy interrupted him, shaking her head, “before that. What about Blood Rose?”

Felicity flinched. She still wasn’t used to hearing Emmy talk about the villains they were chasing. At ten years now, she did notice a lot more of what was going on that Felicity remembered sometimes. Since they had left the house last night, Emmy had certainly done her own little research. Usually, she wouldn’t have come far because Felicity had made sure that the kids would only get childproof results when researching, but Blood Rose must have hacked her way around those barriers.

“The rest of the team as well as Lyla and her team from work are looking for her.”

“Why don’t you?”

Oliver and Felicity exchanged a brief glance. They hadn’t talked about it, but they both seemed to be thinking the same.

“We didn’t want to do so before talking to you first,” Felicity explained, “because the police is already watching us closely.”

“Could they figure out that you are on the team and hacking your way through all kind of databases?” William asked. “Could they arrest you too?”

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. “I am very good at what I am doing, better than the average police experts, but you never know. Blood Rose might damage my security measures to make sure that I am outed to the police as well.”

“But what happens when she gets away?” Emmy asked. “She’s dangerous.”

Oliver nodded his head. “Which is why we need to help the team as much as we can from here. We won’t do it without your support though.”

“And we want you to be honest,” Felicity added, “because we know that this situation is hard for you as it is. We don’t want you to be even more scared. We would never want to put you through that.”

The kids looked at each other. An almost awkward silence settled. None of them said a word. Felicity tried to read the children’s faces, but she couldn’t say for sure what they were thinking. It was fascinating to see how they seemed to have built their own way of communicating just through looks. Oliver and Felicity had their way for that too.

“You should do it,” Tommy said eventually, “but be careful.”

“We will be,” Oliver replied, “and I promise you that I will do whatever I can to make sure that there will be one parent with you while you are growing up.”

He spread the one arm that wasn’t tightly wrapped around Addie already. The kids didn’t need to be told twice. They fell around his neck, all hugging him tightly. Felicity wrapped her arms around Oliver and the kids from behind and rested her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were focused on William on the display, and she mouthed a silent “We love you”. He smiled and mouthed back, “I love you too, Mom.”

→ → → → →

“Blood Rose really is an evil mastermind.” Felicity’s fingers were sprinting over the keyboard of her computers at home. “If she wasn’t so evil, I’d actually be impressed.”

“Curtis tried to follow the trace of her videos back to her location, but even with the resources at A.R.G.U.S., he said it would take days if not weeks,” Lyla replied, “so maybe we should try something different.”

“Nobody seems to know where is either.” John was slightly out of breath. “I interrogated whoever would know something like that, but nobody seems to know anything. “Arsenal, Black Bow, were you successful at least?”

“Negative.” Dominic’s voice was low. “Nobody has heard of her or Midas before.”

“The Triad has heard of Midas, but they don’t know about Blood Rose.” Tommy sighed. “It’s like she is a ghost.”

Felicity was used to sitting behind her computers, while the rest of the team was out of the field. That was how they had worked for more than a decade now. Tonight, things were different though. She wasn’t in the bunker but in her office at home that Oliver had arranged for her. She wasn’t alone either because Oliver was pacing up and down the room behind her. The team had spread, so they were at different locations in the city, trying to gather whatever information about Blood Rose they could possibly get a hand on. Lyla had joined in on the mission tonight from the A.R.G.U.S. headquarters.

Everything was different. Everyone was more focused. They were using additional resources, and still it seemed like they weren’t getting closer to their goal.

Ruben Midas had been an excellent hacker. He had been so good that he had had a chance of being hired at QI. At least he had applicated for a job there. Felicity had had a bad feeling about him, so she hadn’t hired him. He had taken revenge by hacking into the bio-stimulants and causing terrible harm to the people that had trusted her and Bruce with their disabilities. He had been good, and he must have taught Blood Rose quite some things.

Maybe that was the way to find her, Felicity thought.

While the team was talking about where to go next, Felicity started looking into Midas. She needed to know where he had been in his life and who he had been with. Somewhere in that flood of information, she needed to find the trace that would lead them to Blood Rose.

Felicity only followed the ongoing conversation with one ear. John, Tommy and Dominic wanted to give it one more try before they would interrupt the search for the night. They would have their hands full then because there was no doubt that at least some criminals would use the Green Arrow’s absence to wreak havoc.

Midas was suspiciously unsuspicious. He had been when she had done her first research on him back when he had applied for the job at QI already. Back then, Felicity had thought that maybe her feeling about him had just been wrong. She had trusted that feeling more than the results of her research though, so she hadn’t given him that job. She hadn’t trusted that feeling enough to dig a little deeper though.

Looking back, that might have been one of the most terrible mistakes that she had ever made. She wouldn’t repeat it though. Tonight she would dig deeper.

So Felicity hacked herself as deep into Midas’ life as she possibly could. She followed his life from his birth and the places he had had lived to the schools he had been to and the companies he had worked for. Even now that she was digging deeper, Felicity couldn’t say that she was finding anything that showed how dangerous Midas had really been. The only time he had attracted the attention of the police was when he had received a speeding ticket.

“What’s wrong?”

She had barely noticed that something was wrong when Oliver had already noticed it too. The little reaction she must have shown, had been enough for him to. He could read her that easily.

“Something rings a bell here for me…” She frowned, looking at the time and date of that speeding ticket. “The speeding ticket is the only link I could find to his criminal activities. I mean apart from the traces that we used back when he was hacking the bio-stimulants.”

“It’s weird that that’s the only criminal record someone like him has.” Oliver stepped right behind her chair and rested his arms on the headrest. “Shouldn’t there be more?”

“There probably is,” Felicity replied, “and I might find it with a little more time, but it’s the speeding ticket that just reminds me of something. I just don’t know what it is.”

Letting her fingers fly over the keyboard of her computer once more, Felicity compared the speeding ticket she had found of Midas to all the data that she had collected in the last years since she had joined the team. It barely took three seconds for the computer to find a match.

“Is that-?”

Felicity nodded her head, staring at the match that was made with a frown. Midas’ speeding ticket should have indeed rung a bell. Her work had made her stumble about a speeding ticket that had been taken at the same place and at the same day with barely a few seconds between them. Just like with Midas, it had been the record of somewhat criminal activity that she had found when she had looked into the person that had decided to challenge Oliver on the run for mayor – Rose Obold.

Suddenly, a lot of pieces seemed to fall into place.

“Rose Obold and Rose Blood are the same person.” Felicity looked at the display, and she felt like she had done a simple IQ test and found out that she was the stupidest person on the planet. “Obold and Blood – it’s an anagram. She has been right under our noses the entire time and we haven’t noticed.”

She turned her head back over her shoulder to see Oliver. He looked at the display with just as much shock as she did.

“Are you absolutely sure?” Oliver asked between gritted teeth.

“There is barely any information to find about Midas and Rose Obold. Both of them left no traces in their lives other than their addresses, schools and work places. They are inexistent if it wasn’t for that. The only other evidence that they have ever existed is a speeding ticket. They got it at the same place with barely a couple seconds between.”

Oliver started pacing up and down again. He had to feel like a tiger in a cage. He was used to be out there. Now he couldn’t leave the house.

“Rose Obold showed up in Starling City months after Midas died here and announced her candidacy, but nobody had ever heard about her before that. Everyone was surprised because nobody expected that someone else would decide to run for the position. Maybe that was her way of staying as close to you as possible. She wanted her revenge, and this is it.”

Blood Rose’s life had been turned upside down when Midas had been killed. Felicity couldn’t imagine it any other way. She had decided to seek revenge by making sure that Oliver lost his family like she had lost his. When he was locked away where he couldn’t see his family and lost his purpose in life as well as the support of the city, he wouldn’t have anything left.

She had been attacking them all along, and they hadn’t seen it.

Oliver didn’t seem to be quite so sure that this was true though. Maybe the fact that some villain had been so close to them and he hadn’t noticed it was just as hard on him as the fact that she hadn’t made that connection between Rose Obold and Rose Blood was on her. While she had already accepted her mistake Oliver seemed to be in denial.

“Are you sure?” he asked again, coming to a stop in the middle of the office. Only a moment later he started pacing again. “All of that could be coincidences.”

Felicity called up Blood Rose’s video and extracted a single frame of it. Rose Blood was looking right into the camera. She then called up a photo of Rose Obold and showed the two of them side by side. When she had tried to use her facial recognition program on Rose Blood last night, it hadn’t worked because the scarf that covered the lower part of Rose Blood’s face hadn’t left enough of her face revealed to use it. With the direct comparison she could at least calculate the probability of these two faces being a match.

The probability was around eighty-three percent.

Oliver came to another stop. His fingers rubbed together nervously. His muscles tensed. Maybe he wasn’t ready to accept the truth yet, but he had doubts.

“We need these last seventeen percent,” he said with firm voice, “or we will attack the very person that Starling City will need when I go to prison.”

His words made Felicity’s heart ache. She had tried to ignore the impending unhappiness that would come over this family. It was there already, but they had been granted a little delay, at least in parts. Mia had already been taken from them, but Oliver had returned. If only for a short while.

“I will go to her home and-“

“No way,” Oliver interrupted her with a shake of his head. “Our children cannot lose both of their parents.”

“I have broken several laws while I have been sitting here in our home. What’s the difference when I-“

“The difference,” he said softly, stepping in front of her and putting his hands to her shoulders, “is that as long as we are here together, I can always say that it was me. That is if the police would ever find out because I know that you don’t leave traces when you are hacking. When you go out, one wrong movement, the loss of a single hair or whatever could leave a trace. We are taking enough risks as it is. Let’s not tempt our luck.”

Oliver’s eyes were locked with hers intently. He didn’t say it like that, but he was begging her not to go. As much as Felicity wanted to go and confirm this suspicion herself, she couldn’t deny Oliver her wish. She nodded her head.

“We need to tell the team,” Oliver suggested.

Again, Felicity nodded. She took a moment to orientate herself. She had lost her focus on the conversation of the team entirely and needed to be sure that they were ready to hear these news. Since neither of them was in a fight or needed their immediate focus elsewhere, she turned her comm back on.

“I think we found a lead on Rose Blood,” Felicity told them, “but we need to confirm it. The subject’s too sensitive.”

“What do you mean? Too sensitive?” Tommy asked back.

“Rose Obold might be Rose Blood.”

“What?” Lyla asked sharply. “The mayoral candidate.”

“Sensitive indeed,” John mumbled.

“That is why we need to confirm it before we do anything about it,” Felicity said, “so someone needs to make a little visit at Obold’s home and… I don’t know… find some link to Rose Blood or Midas. I would do it myself, but-“

“I will do it,” John volunteered immediately.

“I will join you,” Nick replied.

Felicity nodded her head. They could always count on the team. They would always take care of each other.

“Curtis is here now,” Lyla said, “so you should spend your time with the kids.”

Felicity looked back over her shoulder at Oliver. Neither of them liked the idea to sit back and enjoy the night. Too much could be happening tonight. The whole city knew that the Green Arrow would not come to save the people in need after all. Although there was a team of vigilantes now, it was the Green Arrow that held the most respect. Everyone remembered that it had started with the Hood, and that guy in particular hadn’t been to mess with.

With Curtis and A.R.G.U.S. at their side, the team had all the help that they could possibly need though. The city was in good hands, so Felicity and Oliver had to take a step back. It wouldn’t be fair to the children if they didn’t.

“Good luck, everyone,” Felicity said, “and be careful.”

She switched off her comm and turned to Oliver. He was standing behind her chair, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He seemed to be in the same conflict as she was. Felicity got up and approached him. She put a hand to his forearm and smiled half-heartedly.

“It’s not the first time they are out there without our back-up,” she whispered, “they will be safe.”

Oliver sucked in a deep breath and nodded his head slowly. Both of them could only hope that Felicity was right.

→ → → → →

“I am scared, Daddy.”

Oliver wrapped his arms around Millie even more tightly. She was almost completely hidden against his chest now. Dipping his head forward, he kissed the crown of her head. His lips lingered there, his nose pressed to her hairline, so he could breathe her in.

He had known that it wouldn’t be easy, but he hadn’t thought that it would be this hard.

For years, he had done everything he could to keep this city safe. He had spent his nights, putting on a suit and a mask and chasing criminals. He had taken a job in the politics to make a change. He had used his family’s fortune to help where neither the Green Arrow nor the mayor could. He had even given up his freedom and the life he had built to save innocent people from a villain.

Now the city was under attack once more. Their home was far from the centrum. The neighborhood was full of single-family homes on extensive estates. It was very quiet here most of the times. The bird in the trees, the barking of the dogs in the neighborhood and the kids playing were usually the only noises to be heard.

Tonight was different. Tonight was loud.

Two hours ago, Oliver had been standing at the window and taken in the chaos that Staling City seems to have fallen into. There had been smoke of fires that had been set in the center of the city. The noise of breaking glass had filled the night. People were running through the streets even here. There was a riot, and it seemed to be everywhere.

With what Oliver had heard and seen from the bedroom window, he could imagine what it looked like in the Glades or even downtown. It was too much for the team. They were good. They didn’t need him. They had saved the city for years too, and they knew what they were doing. With fires, demolitions and riots all over the city, they couldn’t be everywhere where they were needed. Oliver could just hope that they could be where they were needed the most, so innocent people didn’t lose their lives.

He had thought about contacting the team and offering help, but Oliver wasn’t sure how helpful he could be from here. Even if he was out there with them, he wouldn’t be of much help. It was just too much for them to happen. They would need hundreds of hands to help.

Before he could have come to that conclusion, the bedroom door had opened though, and Addie had stood in the door with her stuffed donkey clutched to her chest. She had woken up from the noises, and now she couldn’t fall back asleep. Oliver and Felicity had told her to come to their bed instead. They had snuggled up to her there and comforted her as much as possible for them. In the two hours that had passed since, all the kids had come here one by one.

There wasn’t much place left in the bed. Felicity was lying on one side of the bed, he on the other. Addie, Millie; Tommy and Emmy were lying between them. Hawk was lying at the children’s feet, his head resting on Felicity’s calves. Neither of them was sleeping.

“Do you think the team is safe?” Emmy asked quietly. “Uncle John and Uncle Roy and-“

“They know what they are doing,” Oliver replied in a whisper and stroked the tips of his fingers against her cheek, “and they will be extra careful.”

“Do you think Mia’s safe?”

Tommy’s question made Oliver’s heart break for the thousandth time in the last hours. Mia had been on his mind all day. The thought that she wasn’t here with them was almost unbearable. He hated it. That the kids were just as worried about Mia’s wellbeing in this chaotic night just broke his heart all the more.

She should be here with them, Oliver thought. Mia should be here with them. She was safest here. He hoped that she was protected and loved, but he doubted that he’d ever be convinced of that until she was back with them.

“I am sure she is,” Oliver whispered, but it didn’t sound convincing, “and so are we. I know that you are scared, but nobody is going to come here. Even if someone tried, Uncle Bruce’s friends are still out there to take care of us, and mommy and I are here too.”

“How long will it be like this?” Emmy asked.

“I don’t know,” Oliver replied honestly, “but I am sure this will be just at night. As soon as the others have rested after this night, we will think about what more we can do to keep the city safe.”

“You need more heroes, Daddy,” Millie suggested.

“Like Uncle Bruce and Uncle Barry,” Addie added.

Oliver smiled sadly although the kids couldn’t see it in the darkness. They had been raised to know what Oliver had learned the hard way. Life was easier when you had people that you could trust on, and you had to trust them.

“They have their own cities to protect,” Felicity replied, “and I am sure it’s not easy in Gotham City or Central City right now either. When one hero is questioned, all of them are questioned.”

“So what are you going to do?”

Oliver almost wished that the kids were all younger. They shouldn’t understand even a tiny bit of what was going on here. They should think that everything was alright.

“Listen,” Oliver said softly, “I know that you are worried, and I know that you want to help, but those are my problems and mommy’s problems and the team’s problems. They shouldn’t be yours. All you have to do is to make sure that you are okay, so tell us when you need anything. Mommy and I have a lot on our minds right now and you are certainly part of it, the most important part really, but if you ever feel like you need something and-“

“We know, Daddy,” Addie whispered and snuggled up to him even more, “we will tell you.”

Oliver felt tears welling in his eyes. Their children had everything they needed to live happy lives. They knew to trust on the help of others, and they knew to ask for the things they needed. Those two competences were what would make for a happy life, Oliver thought. They wouldn’t get the childhood that he had wanted for them. They wouldn’t get the life he had wanted for them, but they had gotten that.

That had to be enough.

→ → → → →

“Mister Tommy, you should eat your muffin.”

Tommy lifted the muffin and looked at it like it was a piece of eggplant, his most hated vegetable. He shot Raisa a glance who smiled at him encouragingly. He didn’t want to let her down, so released a long breath and brought the muffins to his lips. Before he had taken a bite, he put the muffin back to the plate though. Lowering his head, he pushed his hands under his butt and shook his head.

Felicity looked at her own untouched breakfast. She hadn’t eaten anything either. The bare thought of eating made her nauseated. For the benefit of her children, she took a fork of her scrambled egg and put it to her mouth. She had to chew long as her mouth felt dry.

“It’s very yummy, Raisa,” Felicity said with a smile, “thank you for taking the time and effort to serve such a great breakfast to us.”

Raisa smiled softly. Felicity could see in Raisa’s eyes that she knew what she was doing and why she was doing it. She wanted to make the children eat, so she made sure that they saw that she was eating too and that they knew that making this breakfast had taken time and effort to make. Even if they would just eat some bites, it would be worth it.

The kids shot each other cautious glances. Emmy, who probably suspected what her mother was doing, was the first to give in. She smiled at Raisa gratefully and took a bite. She looked like chewing was as difficult for her as it had been for Felicity before. She was doing this for her little sibling just like Felicity had done it for her children before.

When Emmy caught Felicity’s gaze, they both smiled at each other. Felicity mouthed a thank you, and took another bite of the scrambled egg. Eventually, the other kids followed her and Emmy’s lead.

“Where is daddy?” Millie asked eventually.

“He talking to the team,” Felicity replied with a sad smile, “to talk about what happened last night.”

“Shouldn’t you be there too?” Emmy asked.

“We thought that at least one of us should have breakfast with you. Daddy can tell me what they told him.”

“You should go.” Tommy took a sip of his orange juice. “It’s fine.”

Felicity looked at the faces of her children. She saw no disagreement. Smiling with gratitude, she got up.

“Promise me that you will keep eating.” She took her plate to take it upstairs. “You know that you don’t have to eat all of it if you are not hungry enough, but eat something, okay?”

The kids nodded in agreement. Felicity kissed Millie’s head and turned to Raisa. The woman who was a family member and not just a maid nodded her head slightly. She would make sure that the kids would eat and that they were taken care of after breakfast too. Felicity squeezed her hand when she walked past her before she went upstairs.

On the way to her office where she knew she’d find Oliver, she caught sight of Hawk. He was lying in the hallway in front of Mia’s nursery. His head was resting on her stuffed sloth – wherever he had found that. He was whining quietly. Felicity could feel his pain as it was an echo of hers.

“I miss her too, Buddy,” Felicity whispered, crouching down next to Hawk and petting his head, and put her plate to the floor next to him “but I need your help here.”

Hawk released another low whine, but he got up and started eating her breakfast. Felicity smiled in relief and kissed his head.

Letting Hawk enjoy the breakfast, she turned towards the home office and stepped into it. Oliver was sitting in her chair, taking to the team on video call. As soon as he noticed that she had come in, he got up and gestured for her to take the chair. He took position behind it, one hand on Felicity’s shoulder.

Felicity looked at the faces on the display.  Lyla and John were at A.R.G.U.S., just as Curtis though he seemed to be in a different room. Lyla and Tommy were at the bunker, Roy at Verdant and Thea at her home. Nick was sitting in a patrol car, McKenna Hall next to him.

“Nobody died,” McKenna reported, “but there have been damages of high cost. There have been several fires, luckily only in business buildings, so no family lost their homes. There have also been burglary, thefts and assaults. Around twenty people were taken to the hospital. Some of the riots, the least of them though, were created by people that demonstrated against the arrest of the Green Arrow.”

The city was on Oliver’s side. The law might now be, but the city was. It had already been proven when the police hadn’t wanted to arrest Oliver and when the Assistant District Attorney had agreed on letting Oliver go on bail.

“Riots only cause chaos,” Oliver said, “they never do anything good.”

“At least we know what you haven’t lost the city’s support,” Felicity said with low voice, “but we need to think about how to keep the city safer than it was last night. I know everyone did what they could do, but-“

“-it was just too much,” Roy agreed with a nod of his head, “so we need to do better.”

“And we need to stop Blood Rose,” Felicity said.

“She hasn’t done anything since you have turned yourself in,” John said, “which is suspicious. I thought the fact that you got out on bail would be enough for her to take the next big step. She’s been quite so far.”

“And Rose Obold wasn’t heard from either,” Laurel added, “which is already reported on in the media. This could be her time to shine.”

Felicity sighed. “That doesn’t sound good. As long as we know where she is and what she is doing, we might be able to keep her in check. If she’s somewhere in the underground, she could be planning… I don’t know… the next big thing.”

Lyla nodded. “We are keeping our eyes on her. If she makes any move, we will know it.”

“Maybe it is best if I join you tonight,” Oliver suggested, “because if the city knows that I am still there-“

“The Assistant District Attorney would go to the judge and make sure that you get back to jail,” Laurel told him firmly. “He agreed to the bail because he knows you did good for the city, but if you don’t stay at home as ordered, he will have no choice. The prosecution cannot lose its face.”

“Laurel is right, Ollie.” Thea looked at him intently. “You need to stay at home. Maybe when there is more time, we will find a way to get you out of this without being locked away for the rest of your life. Maybe there will be a way.”

“I-“

Felicity’s phone rang, interrupting the conversation. She hurried to pull it out of the back pocket of her jeans and look at the display.

“The hospital?” Oliver asked, looking at the display from over her shoulder. “Who could that be?”

“I don’t know.” Felicity shot him a brief glance before she took the call. “Felicity Queen.”

“Felicity, thank God.” Dr. Manning sounded honestly relieved at the sound of her voice. “Look, I am actually not allowed to call you. It’s even against law, and I could get into so much trouble when someone found out, but-“

“What’s wrong?” Felicity asked. “Why are you calling?”

He doubted there was anything he could do, at least anything good. The life as he had known it, as he had – despite everything he had been through – learned to love it was over.

There was only one thing that he could do and had to do now. He had to protect his family and his friends. The people that had joined him on his path and become a part of his life didn’t have to suffer the same consequences as he had to now. He couldn’t allow that. If he had one purpose still in his life it was that.

He was still kneeling on ground with his hands lifted in defeat. The police officers standing in front of him seemed to be unsure what exactly to do now. They looked at him, took him in like he was a rare animal in the zoo. Now and then, they shot each other nervous glances. They didn’t know what to do.

“I am unarmed.” He sat back on his heels slowly, making sure he seemed even smaller. “I am turning myself in voluntarily. I will not fight you. I am ready to be arrested.”

That made them look at each other even more hesitatingly. It took Oliver a moment to understand why they were doing that, but he guessed that they thought he was just turning himself in to save the children. They thought he was covering for whoever was really behind the mask because he feared that person wouldn’t turn himself in in time.

If it wasn’t Blood Rose that had made him turn himself in in the first place, maybe he would see a possible way out in this. Maybe he would try to use that thought as a way to explain why he had decided to turn himself in to the police when he wasn’t the Green Arrow. If the police officers believed this anyway, it would be easy to use it for his purposes.

It was Blood Rose that had forced him to do this though, so he knew he couldn’t use any way out. She was dangerous and reckless in her dangerousness. She had chosen a rhythm of ten minutes between the bombs because she had known that they wouldn’t be able to play this game for very long. She had wanted to show from the start that she was a serious opponent. She had decided to place the bomb in a hospice for children to up the stakes. The bomb hadn’t exploded, but children that had only wanted some peace to spend their last time on earth had been scared and stressed. So had their parents. Nobody that played fair did that. Nobody that played fair aimed at the weakest and most defenseless first.

So he knew that Blood Rose would find cruel ways of revenge when he tried to find a way out. She wanted to him to take responsibility. If he didn’t, she’d become unpredictable and certainly even more reckless than she had proven to be already.

It felt like forever until one of the policemen, a lieutenant as Oliver could tell from the one bar on his shoulder board, stepped forward. He took a quick look around at his colleagues. Whoever caught his gaze either nodded or lowered the eyes.

“If you leave now,” he said with low voice, “we haven’t seen anything. You could just leave, and we would forget about this. The cameras can’t see anything from here.”

How much Oliver wished that it was true. How much he wished that he could just get up and go home. He knew he couldn’t.

“The woman who is behind this, Blood Rose,” he said with a shake of his head, “will start attacking innocents the moment I take a single step away from here. Trust me, she is nobody that can or should be fooled.”

Lieutenant Frances – Oliver could read his name tag now – looked uncomfortable. He lifted his hand and massage the back of his neck. He didn’t want to arrest him. Oliver could see that. Just like Oliver had no choice but to insist on being arrested, Lieutenant Frances would have no choice but to arrest him though.

“Please,” Oliver said intently, “for the sake of the city.”

Lieutenant Frances shot a look back over his shoulder at another lieutenant. She looked at him for a moment before she released a silent sigh and shrugged her shoulders. At that, Lieutenant Frances turned back to Oliver and nodded his head slowly.

“Okay,” he whispered and stepped forward, “Mr. Queen, you are under arrest.”

He approached him and put his hand to Oliver’s elbow, helping him up. When Oliver turned around and put his hands to his back, Lieutenant Frances simply held onto Oliver’s elbow a little more tightly. He turned him back around and just led him into the precinct.

Oliver felt like he was caught in some dream. He could see, but his brain didn’t process the images his eyes received. He was sure that there were noises because he could see people talk, but all he heard was a whirring sound in his ear. He walked to the desk he was led to and sat down on the chair in front of it, but he couldn’t feel the ground beneath his feet or the texture of the chair. He felt numb, incredibly numb really.

Lieutenant Frances closed the door of his office. He walked to a corner of the small room and just stood there, looking at Oliver indecisively. There wasn’t much light in the office. The sun had almost set now, so the old lamp was the only source of light. It didn’t offer much. In that half-darkness Lieutenant Frances looked even more worried.

With everything going on, Oliver had too many worries of his own. He couldn’t calm him down. He couldn’t focus on anything but what was to come now. The thought made him feel nauseated.

“What will happen now?”

Oliver’s voice didn’t sound like himself when he asked that. He wished that he was at the precinct in midtown. At least there he’d see some familiar faces. Maybe that would help him.

“Lieutenant Banza is currently calling the FBI. They are in charge of… of you…”

The FBI. Oliver nodded his head slowly. He didn’t know any FBI agents, at least he didn’t recall. He guessed it wasn’t good when they came here.

“What will happen when they are here?”

He needed to focus on what was to come. The more he knew, the better her could prepare for it. He wouldn’t make any difficulties. He just wanted to prepare, and he wanted something else to think about than the fact that he didn’t know where Felicity and the kids were right now and what they were going through.

There was a part of Oliver that wanted to call Felicity. He knew it was no good idea though. Felicity had probably her hands full with either the kids or erasing all traces or even both. Probably both, he thought to himself.

“They will take you to midtown, I assume,” Lieutenant Frances said, “because they have more opportunities there. You will probably be brought before the judge as early as possible tomorrow morning.”

Oliver nodded his head. He guessed it was a good thing that it happened soon. He had no hope that he was granted a bail. He would probably be taken to a high security prison tomorrow, and he wouldn’t leave it for the rest of his life.

What other choice would they have?

“We haven’t read you your rights yet,” Lieutenant Frances said hesitatingly and frowned. “You do know that you have the right to call a lawyer?”

Oliver released a long sigh. “I don’t have a lawyer.”

It was probably untypical of someone like him – a person that was a figure of interest, someone with money and a job of many responsibilities – to not have a lawyer. Whenever they had needed legal advice, Laurel had provided it for them. She was attorney district now though, so she couldn’t possibly help him. Maybe he could call Jean Loring, but it had been years since he had talked to her the last time. He wasn’t even sure if she still worked as a lawyer around here.

Maybe he should get a lawyer, Oliver thought, but he wasn’t able to think quite clearly right now. He couldn’t choose a lawyer in that state. Besides, he had been through this before. He knew his rights. He knew what would make him look good and what would make him look like a reckless killer. He really didn’t feel like he needed a lawyer.

When Lieutenant Frances suddenly lifted his gaze and perked up his eyebrows, Oliver followed his gaze through the dirty window towards the rest of the precinct. He saw a man in a suit and a woman in a costume approaching. He didn’t need to ask for him to know who these people were.

“Never seen an agency working that fast,” Lieutenant Frances mumbled and shook his head before looking at Oliver. “I am not allowed to say that, Mr. Queen, but I wish you all the best. Everyone here does because we have seen the good that you have done.”

Oliver swallowed and nodded his head. He couldn’t say anything. He felt like he was choking as it was. If he tried to speak, he was sure that he’d just collapse here in place. He couldn’t do that though. He had his responsibility. He had to go through this arrest. That was his responsibility now.

→ → → → →

“Has Lieutenant Frances informed you about your rights?”

It was the first time that the agent – Special Agent Samanda Watson – was talking to him. Once she and her colleague Special Agent Daniel Harlington had taken him to the precinct in midtown, she hat put him into one of the interrogation rooms. They had left him alone there, pretending to have important things to prepare. Oliver was sure that they had just wanted to let him wait though.

That technique made sense when you wanted to build pressure for someone to confess his crimes. In his own case, Oliver wasn’t sure what the agents were trying to achieve by letting him wait. Maybe they just wanted to annoy him, or maybe they hope that if he was tried enough or hungry enough, he would tell them more.

Obviously, these people didn’t know what he had been through. He had experienced hunger and thirst and more pain than he could ever put in words. Oliver wasn’t sure if he had been at this low ever before because he had never had that much to lose, but he knew that he wouldn’t fall apart here and now. If there was something that would stop him from doing so, it was knowing what more he’d lose if he did.

“I know my rights.”

SA Watson cocked her head slightly. “That is not an answer.”

“He did not.”

Oliver sat on his chair stiffly. His back was straight, his forearms were resting on the top of the table, his hands flat against the surface.

“In that case I will.” She put her hands behind her back and looked at him with a stony face. “You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult a lawyer before speaking to the police and to have a lawyer present during questioning now or in the future. Have you understood your rights?”

“I have.”

SA Watson took two large steps to the chair at the opposite side of the table and sat down there. She waited without talking and just looked at him instead.

“Do you want a lawyer?”

“I don’t need one.”

Again, Agent Watson fell silent. She narrowed her eyes at Oliver slightly, but she didn’t show what she was thinking.

“So you are the Green Arrow.”

“I am.”

“Just the Green Arrow?”

“I have been the Arrow and the Hood before that.”

It felt like forever ago that he had been anything else than the Green Arrow. The Hood had been a terrible mistake. The Arrow had been a attempt at doing things right. He hadn’t given up that persona voluntarily. Looking back, it felt like it had come at the right time though. He had grown out of the Arrow because what had started as a mission and turned into a job had eventually become a calling.

He hadn’t asked for that calling, but he had followed it once he had understood it. Few people were able to do what he had done because most people lacked the abilities or the opportunities he had had. It had taken him a while to understand it and even longer to accept it, but it had been his calling.

“Someone else confessed it, someone named Lucas Barnes.”

“He was terminally ill and I saved his daughter in the chaos that erupted in February 2017 when some prisoners escaped.”

Special Agent Watson puckered her lips. “And you didn’t think about quitting once and for all after that?”

“No.” Oliver frowned. “Or yes. Or… I don’t know.”

He didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. No matter whether he had thought about it, he had proceeded with his work. He always would have.

“So why did you decide to turn yourself in?”

“Because Blood Rose, the woman that threatened to set off bombs in the city and that did set off the bomb at Magnuson Plaza demanded it. There would have been more bombs, and innocent lives would have been taken.”

Special Agent Watson didn’t reply to that. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in the chair. She narrowed her eyes once more and cocked her head just a little bit to the side. She looked at his face like there was a difficult movie playing there that she tried to follow.

“This city has a… kindness… for you.” She dipped her head to the side a little bit more. “Why is that?”

It was obvious that SA Watson did not come from Starling City or at least Oliver assumed so. She came from somewhere where there were no vigilantes. That was why she was so suspicious or whatever to call it. She didn’t know what to think about it. She didn’t see much good in it, but she saw what people here thought about vigilantes, and it made her curious.

The answer to her question was complicated though. It was the result of a long history. It had been a process. Just like it had been a process for Oliver to develop the Green Arrow. He hadn’t always seen it as a calling, so why would the people in the city have seen it like that?

“I think they have seen the good that it can do,” Oliver answered eventually, “because vigilantes are not bound by law.”

“You mean they break the law.”

“Yes.” Oliver nodded his head. “They break the law to find criminals and take them down before they can even more harm. They gather evidence and make sure that the police gets hold of it. They can do what the police cannot do. Once people found out that they could trust the vigilantes, they did trust that they would keep them safe.”

Something in SA Watson’s face told Oliver that she wasn’t satisfied with the answer. It probably seemed too simple for her. She wanted to know more. She wanted to hear all the little and big steps that it had taken. The people had been scared of the vigilantes and had wanted to be rid of them for a long time. Now they were accepting and protecting them. They came to them for help.

“What about the police?” she continued instead. “How did they come to accept you doing their job.”

“The same way,” Oliver replied, “as they came to see that the vigilantes could do what they couldn’t do. Once they saw that we were just doing their groundwork, the work that really they are legally prohibited to do, but that we do not hurt anyone innocent, they learned to trust us.”

She opened her mouth to speak again, but a knock at the door made her stop. She glanced at the door that didn’t open. Without another look at Oliver, she went to the door and left the room.

Oliver took in a long breath and released it slowly. He looked back over his shoulder at the door that was closed again now. With the silence and solitude he was in now, he allowed himself a moment of weakness. He lowered his head to his forearms on the table and closed his eyes.

He wasn’t focused, and he knew that. He had talked about them being a team repeatedly. He was only lucky that the agent hadn’t asked anything about it yet. Of course he wouldn’t say anything about them, no matter how unfocused he was. Still, he guessed he should avoid that subject as much as possible.

Taking in another deep breath, Oliver lifted his head and went back to sit in his stiff position. His gaze landed on the microphone on the table, and he realized that it hadn’t been switched on. He wasn’t sure if Special Agent Watson had just forgotten about it, or if she had done it on purpose.

He didn’t get time to think about it though because the door opened just a moment later. He felt his muscles tense.

“Hey.”

Oliver’s head snapped back at the sound of Nick’s voice. He had stepped into the room and leaned back against it. He looked at Oliver with worry.

“Have you talked to Felicity tonight?” Oliver asked immediately.

Nick nodded his head. “Yes. She’s home with the kids and… she… she was still awake when all this chaos started, so she stayed up and watched the news. She watched you turning yourself in.”

A cover story, just in case someone eavesdropped on them. Good, Oliver thought to himself, that was good.

“I guess she is in shock.”

“In shock, worried, scared.” Nick nodded his head. “All of it really.”

He left his position at the door and stepped further into the room. She shot a brief look back over his shoulder towards the door before he stepped closer to Oliver.

“Look, I can just… leave the door open,” he said, “and get you out of here. You-“

“-would be on the run for the rest of my life,” Oliver ended the sentence with a firm shake of his head, “and that would mean I would either make Felicity and the kids fugitives too, or I would have to leave them behind completely without any chance at seeing them again. Besides, Blood Rose is still out there, and she is certainly not finished here yet.”

Nick pressed his lips together. He knew that Oliver was right, but he didn’t like the answer nonetheless. He didn’t want to accept that there was nothing that he could do to stop what had started once Oliver had turned himself in.

“We are looking for Blood Rose,” Nick said, looking at him meaningfully to make sure that Oliver knew it wasn’t just the police but also the team that was looking for her, “but it’s difficult to find her. She has erased all of her traces, it seems. We are doing everything that can though.”

Oliver nodded his head. As long as the team had Felicity, they would be able to find Blood Rose. She had proved to be an expert with technic, but nobody was as good as Felicity. If Blood Rose was out there, Felicity would find her.

“I need you to watch after Felicity and the kids,” Oliver said firmly, “because they are without protection now and-“

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nick hissed, “that is already taken care of. Bruce sent an army of security staff to Starling as well as to Boston for William.”

Oliver felt a corner of his lips twitching. No matter what happened, you could rely on Bruce to know it and act immediately. Oliver was surprised that he hadn’t come to Starling City with a helicopter the moment that he had heard it. With Bruce and the team, his family was in good hands.

Oliver looked towards the door briefly. He wanted to ask how the team was and what safety measures they had taken. The police might not be able to arrest them even if they suspected them to be, but criminals might come to the conclusion and try to attack them. They needed to be careful too.

With the agents and all the other police officers in the precinct, Oliver couldn’t ask that question though. It was too dangerous. If he asked about the team, at least Nick could be linked to the Green Arrow. He couldn’t let that happen.

He didn’t need to ask though. Nick seemed to understand what Oliver needed to hear anyway.

“Everyone is safe.”

→ → → → →

“Docket Number 11-19-41-73. The people versus Oliver Jonas Queen.”

Oliver was tired. He had been up all night which wasn’t a problem. He was used to living with a lack of sleep. One night was nothing compared to what he had been through before. He felt like the happiness he had been so sure of these last years had been robbed from him now. It wasn’t like all light had been taken away. It was rather like he had been locked into a dark room that he tried to get out of because all light was out there, but no matter what he tried the door refused to open.

During those times that he had been left waiting in the interrogation room, he had had a lot of time to think about a metaphor to describe it. He feared it wasn’t really creative, and he wished it was the worst of his worries.

“Murder. Aggravated assault. Assault with intent. Menacing. Trespassing.”

Those were the same charges that he had been accused of all those years ago when he had returned from the island. Rightfully of course, Oliver should add.

Free the Green Arrow! Free the Green Arrow! Free the Green Arrow!

The voices from the protestors outside couldn’t be blocked out. They were clearly audible. When they had arrived here, there had been two dozen of them maybe. Now there had to be more. It had to be a lot more from the volume of those voices.

The judge, a man in his fifties, looked at Oliver with a deep frown. He had pushed his glasses to the tip of his nose to read some documents. Now he pushed it back into place though.

“Where is your attorney, Mr. Queen?”

“Already here, Your Honor.”

Oliver looked back over his shoulder to see Laurel crossing the courtroom with quick steps. She was wearing a black costume and carried a briefcase with her. Stepping next to Oliver, she put the briefcase to the table in front of them. She hadn’t looked at him yet. Even now her eyes were directed at the judge.

“Dinah Laurel Lance-Merlyn, Your Honor,” she introduced himself, “I am here to plead Mr. Queen’s case.”

“What are you doing?” Oliver whispered.

“Ms. Lance.” The judge cocked his head. “As a graduate of law study, you should know that you as District Attorney cannot plead in Mr. Queen’s case.”

“I quit my job last night, Your Honor. Former Assistant District Chief Victor Perrez is taking on the position until a final decision was made.”

Oliver gritted his teeth. Laurel had worked very hard for this job. It must have been hard on her to make this decision. He was grateful for it, but he felt sorry that she had done so.

The judge seemed to be taken aback by this news even more than Oliver was. He looked from Laurel at Oliver and back again several times before he nodded his head slowly.

“Well, then…” He cleared his throat and looked disorientated for a moment. Soon he found his footing again though. “Your plea?”

Laurel shot a brief look at Oliver. He could see the insecurity in her eyes. Everyone who was involved in this, it seemed, was forced to accept things that they didn’t want to accept.

“Guilty,” Oliver said out loud, looking at the judge. “I plead guilty.”

The judge looked at Oliver for a long moment. His face was still unreadable. Interestingly, even he didn’t seem to feel too comfortable to be here today.

Free the Green Arrow! Free the Green Arrow! Free the Green Arrow!

“What about a bail?”

Laurel and the assistant district attorney, a young man in a suit that looked like it was a little too large, looked at each other for a brief moment. When the assistant district attorney stayed quiet, Laurel turned back to the judge.

“Your Honor, Mr. Queen is a settled man. He has family in Starling City that he would not leave. He also turned himself in voluntarily, and he had pleaded guilty. There is no flight risk.”

Oliver looked at the judge intently. He doubted that he would get the chance. He was almost sure that the assistant DA would state that Oliver was too dangerous to leave and that his family’s money would give him every opportunity to run away if he wanted. The judge would agree, and Oliver would be taken to a high security prison to wait for the trail.

“I tend to agree to that,” the assistant DA said slowly, “but I think we should limit the risk of Mr. Queen leaving the city or… continuing his… crimes… nonetheless.”

“An ankle device?”

The assistant DA shrugged his shoulders. “Yes. And daily visits of the SCPD. Three times a day.”

“Both parties agree?”

“Yes, You Honor.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Then bail is set at 25 million dollars. 7.5 million dollars bond. Defendant to see Probation for the fitting of the device.”

Oliver couldn’t believe what had just happened. He hadn’t thought that he could possibly be free on bail. It hadn’t seemed possible just a minute ago.

Laurel and the prosecutor approached the judge. Laurel handed out what looked like a check. Apparently, she had hoped that things would end this way. At least she seemed like she had been prepared for this.

When she came back to the desk, she looked at him intently. “You can leave now. McKenna is going to drive you home and tell you everything you need to know about the ankle device and-“

“I already know that, so-“

“You need to go home now.”

Oliver nodded, getting back. He still felt like he was numb. He could barely feel his body. Everything hurt and felt disconnected at the same time, like it wasn’t part of his body. He had a thousand things to do – finding Blood Rose first and foremost – but he really just felt like taking his entire family and roll up in bed with them.

“Anything new on Blood Rose?” he asked with low voice.

“We are looking for her,” Laurel said back, “so is A.R.G.U.S.”

Of course A.R.G.U.S. was looking for her too. Thanks to Lyla, they would certainly share the information with the team. Joining forces seemed to be a good idea in this case anyway. Blood Rose had already made clear that she wasn’t playing around.

“Oliver, you need to go home.”

“Trust me, there is no other place I would want to go to more now. Thank you for your help by the way, and I am so, so sorry that you quit and-“

“Oliver.” Laurel’s voice was sharp, and she looked at him with piercing eyes. “You have to go home. Now.”

Oliver felt his heart skipping a beat or two before it started racing in his chest. His muscles tensed, and his breathing faltered. Something was not okay.