#ofhackeriisms

based on     this.

              he’d      been hesitant      --      at first.       after all,       they’d      gone down this      path before.      landed on        the idea that       they     would just be       friends.         /          but       he’d     recognized that       streak of     sadness in      her      eyes.       felt that      rush of       guilt     creep in.      after all,      what        kind of      friend would      leave     their       friend         to      go on       the    vacation that      would have     been their     honeymoon,      alone      ??          it wasn’t       so much the      vacation that       got to      him;      it was the          pretending       to be a       married     couple,    bit.       they’d      kissed       before,         but      now it     felt     different.      with the     expectant     eyes of      other people.      wedding    rings on     their    fingers,         &&        close     proximity,      it was stirring up       feelings he     wished to      god he      didn’t have.        iris’       death had       shredded him.       made him       believe that      he couldn’t       love again;        ever     again.           &&      in       some ways he       felt he     was betraying      oliver, by      even going    on this    trip.      but     felicity was      his friend      first.            /           he’d      come to       love her,      first.      in his       heart;       his soul,      he’d     always     love iris     too.       &&        it conflicted     with him;    deep down.

            even     now,      settled    on the      couch       in the      honeymoon     suite,      with      their     hair     drying,       &&      nightclothes on,      he could     still    smell a      faint     whiff of      the    beach on her.         /          it      felt natural      to be this      close,       &&        it should have      unnerved him;       but     it didn’t.          ❛       is this     honeymoon     all     you hoped it     would be      ??       ❜        soft     eyes     landed on hers,       that subtle     tingling     settling right       into his    lower belly.        he       didn’t     want to      ever release her.         &&       this     honeymoon      was     far from     over.        every     kiss they       shared brought him        closer to      the brink of       insanity.         every     cuddle,      every      whisper.          --         it kept       stirring these      old emotions.       kept       making him       crazy.       he’d     wiped     so many of      her tears       already      on this     honeymoon,       he’d     stolen       more kisses      than he’d     any right to,      but     right now,     he wanted to     steal more.         /        if only       to     take away      the sting she     must still     feel       from losing     oliver.

The automatic voice from Felicity security system announced his arrival. It was still something that was hard to get used to, and the apartment was quiet, even something that was harder to get used to. He missed William, a lot, but he had to believe that he and Felicity had made the right decision about letting William live with his grandparents. 

The week had been hard, and he could tell that there was something going on with Felicity, but he had no idea on what it was. “Hey,” he said, pressing a small kiss against her cheek, “I thought I could cook us some nice Italian dish and we could share a nice bottle of red wine,” he said, putting down a bag on the counter, “why don’t you open up the wine and pour us some and I’ll start with the food.”

     It’s strangely easy to take her. Felicity is fierce, but vulnerable. He’s learned the layout of the mansion and when his moment comes, it’s strangely easy. So very, strangely easy. 

     In his mind, this makes sense. It’s only fair to snatch the woman Oliver so clearly loves right from his grasp, to dangle her in front of him,and let the threat of death befoul Oliver’s mind. Only once Oliver had suffered as Slade had suffered, known that pain of loss, would Slade have peace. 

     He tugs her along by her bicep, his inhumanly strong grasp surely leaving bruises. 

     “It’s best not to struggle, Ms. Smoak. Otherwise this might become very painful for you,” he yanks her, jerking her around with little regard for her comfort. He only needed keep her whole and alive. Unharmed was not necessarily a requirement. After all, she didn’t need to be able to walk. Slade could easily carry her. Shado’s ghostly figure is in his peripheral, silent, steady, her face stony but encouraging. This was what would make the pain fade, this is what would put the ghosts to rest. 

     “Do you smell that?” he asks, inhaling the night air, “Take in the smells of home while you can. We won’t be staying long.”

     He stays in the city with her, just long enough to allow Oliver to mount a rescue, only to snatch her away again. Hope was disgustingly treacherous. Oliver would soon learn just how much so. 

     They board a plane the next morning, and their destination is a cruel joke. 

     “Here we are,” he says, pointing out the airplane window, “Welcome to your new home, Ms. Smoak.”

Sara had thought it had hurt when she’d lost Laurel, but she’d thrown herself back into her work with the Legends, and that had helped her deal with her grief. But coming back to Star City, only to be told that her father had already passed really took it out of her. She felt numb, felt like the smallest thing was going to set her off. She hadn’t felt this unstable in a very long time, and it scared her.

She stepped out of her father’s room, watching in horror as Oliver was led away by the FBI. If she didn’t know any better, then she’d think this was another anachronism, but it wasn’t. She felt Felicity’s hand on her shoulder, before she heard her, but she shrugged out of her reach, not ready for any sort of contact just yet. “How could you let this happen?” She asked, still refusing to look at Felicity, “I should’ve been here, why didn’t you call me sooner?”

“You know, this is a new thing for me.” Oliver felt comfortable in a black suit but disliked the feeling of the gun pressed to the small of his back. He would rather feel the quiver weighing down his back, pressing into his spine. This normally wasn’t something that they did, but with Felicity being the only one that knows how to really program, it made sense for her to go into the field. And well, Oliver couldn’t go in as his normal hooded self, he needed to be by her side and thus, the bodyguard position was created. “Now I know how Digg felt after all those years.”