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smkkbert · 5 years

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Time for a story - Scavenger Hunt

Like so often, the first thought that crossed Oliver’s mind upon waking up revolved all around sex. He wanted sex right now like he wanted sex most mornings when he had just woken up. Since he was married to one of the most beautiful women who happened to be quite excellent at sex, he guessed that he couldn’t be blamed for it.

Oliver felt his cock twitching in his boxer briefs slightly. Today was his birthday which promised even hotter sex than he and Felicity had still almost every day though they had been married for years. He always got birthday sex and it was always something special.

Blinking through an eye, Oliver glanced at his alarm on the nightstand. It was only seven-thirty. With a little luck, the kids wouldn’t be waking up for an hour which would offer more than enough time to at least give him a little foretaste of birthday sex to carry him through the day. Felicity always said he was getting increasingly grumpy through the day when he feared that they wouldn’t make it into bed before midnight and might miss birthday sex.

Of course he knew that they would still have birthday sex even if they didn’t make it in time. He loved so pretend being a little grumpy about it though. He guessed there were too many marriages that struggled because sex was turning into a routine or even an obligation. Oliver didn’t want that to happen to his marriage. Ever.

With a sigh, Oliver closed his eyes and tried to bite back on his excited a smile a little bit. Pretending that he had just woken up, he turned around and reached out his hand for Felicity to pull her closer and rub himself against her behind.

When his hand only touched the cold sheets, Oliver opened his eyes with a frown. Propping himself up on one arm, he looked at the mattress thoroughly like he could find Felicity lying there if he just looked hard enough. She wasn’t there though and Oliver guessed he shouldn’t be surprised since he would have woken up lying on top of her if Felicity had still been in bed.

Frowning slightly, Oliver turned his head towards the en-suite bathroom. He listened closely, trying to hear her breathing the bathroom while she was getting ready for the day or even just for the first round of birthday sex. Everything behind the door was quiet though.

Oliver puckered his lips and sat up in bed. Immediately, his eyes fell on Hawk, who was lying on the end of the bed. The dog was waggling his tail as he was looking at Oliver.

“What kind of watchdog lets its mistress just get out of bed and doesn’t wake up its master to warn him?”

Hawk waggled with his tail only more and released a soft sound that almost sounded like the purr of a kitten. When Oliver chuckled and reached out his hands to pet the dog’s head, Hawk quickly lowered his head and grabbed something with his teeth before he lifted his head again. He had his ears turned forward, looking at Oliver alertly. He was holding an envelope between his teeth.

“What do you have there, Buddy?”

The moment Oliver reached out his hand for the envelope, Hawk jumped out of bed though. The dog looked at Oliver challengingly. He lowered his head to the floor, pushing his butt even higher up and waggled with it.

Oliver pushed his tongue into his cheek. Someone wanted to play this morning and though he had had some quite different game in mind for himself, he was still in for this fun.

With a quick movement, he jumped out of bed towards Hawk. Although Oliver knew that he had good instincts and good reactions – otherwise he would be long dead he guessed – Hawk jumped out of Oliver’s way and onto the bed instead. Oliver chased right after him.

They continued like that for a while until Oliver pretended that he didn’t want to play anymore. He let himself fall onto the mattress backwards and stared at the ceiling. He made sure to stay aware of what was happening around him though, so the moment Hawk jumped up onto the bed to see what his master was doing, Oliver rolled himself on top of the dog and ripped the envelope from his teeth.

“Ha!” he said triumphantly. “Now it’s mine!”

Instead of turning away from Hawk and seeing what was in the envelope, Oliver ran his fingers through Hawk’s thick fur. He kissed the dogs head and let him lick his face in a gesture of love.

Only when Hawk made himself comfortable against Oliver’s side with a deep sigh like he was carrying the weight of the world all by himself, Oliver applied himself to the envelope. He opened it and smiled softly the moment he saw Felicity’s neat handwriting on the letter. On another small piece of paper, the letter O was written. He held it firmly in his hand while he was reading what Felicity had written for him.

My beloved Oliver,

Oliver smiled at the way she addressed him. Writing letters to each other was not something they did particularly often. They were spending most of their time together anyway and they preferred video calls, phone calls or texts to make contact in case they were busy. He guessed everyone who was actively living in the 21st century did.

of course I gotta start with wishing you the best of birthdays. If there is someone in this world who deserves a perfect day, it’s you.

The smile on Oliver’s lips turned even warmer. If there was one person who had always seen him as a hero, even long before he himself had seen himself as one, it was Felicity. With everything she knew about him which was everything there was to know about him, she knew that he had had some bad birthdays.

To make this day particularly special and to challenge your gray matter a little, I have prepared a little scavenger hunt for you.

A scavenger hunt. That woke old memories of those times when he had still gone to her office in the IT-department to have her help with his mission. He had been smitten by her from the very first moment, but he had never thought they could be anything other than the Hood and the IT-girl that was helping him without knowing it.

Still, Oliver held the memories fondly.

I left you our five little partners in crime as well as our detection dog to help you. I thought it was only fair to leave you some help given your advanced age.

Oliver pushed his tongue into his cheek, making a mental note to prove to Felicity that his age was no obstacle in any part of their life. He knew she just loved to tease him about it.

Find the letters and you will find me.

He would always find her.

I love you.

He loved her too.

Yours, always and forever, Felicity

PS: You will find the next hint/letter with the most special lullaby in our house.

Smiling, Oliver lifted the letter to his lips and kissed it. He knew it was stupid and corny, but he couldn’t help it. He opened the topmost drawer of his nightstand and put the letter there. He would keep it to remind him of this day and the planning Felicity had put into this surprise.

Oliver was already halfway to the door when Oliver figured that maybe it was a good idea to take a quick shower and get dressed first. He couldn’t really walk around in boxer shorts all day. Who knew where Felicity’s hints were going to lead them?

When he left the bedroom ten minutes later, the O in his hand and Hawk right at his heel, the kids were already waiting for him in the hallway. They stood together side by side, waiting for him it seemed. The moment he had taken a single step out of the room, they – or at least everyone but William – threw themselves at him.

“Happy birthday!”

Bending down, so Oliver could wrap his arms around all four of them at the same time and hold them close, he chuckled. The kids were all talking across each other, telling him how much they loved him and asking for the hint he had found yet.

Listening without saying anything, Oliver kissed the kids’ head. Only Addie, who was holding her face towards him with puckered lips got a kiss right onto the mouth. She smiled proudly and flung herself at him, so Oliver wrapped an arm around her small body and lifted her against his chest.

“Happy birthday, Dad.”

William stepped closer and hugged his father too. Oliver wanted to tell his oldest son how grateful he was that he was here for another family day though he was sure that the teenager had better things to do. He wasn’t judging him as he had liked to spend most of his youth with his friends rather than his family too.

Right now, just didn’t seem to be the right moment for that, so Oliver would just wait a little longer until he had found the right moment.

“Okay, so here is our first hint,” Oliver said and recalled the words Felicity had written into the letter. Our next hint is where our most special lullaby is.”

“In Addie’s mobile!” Tommy exclaimed and already ran into his sister’s room. “She has the lullaby.”

“What’s special about Addie’s lullaby?” Emmy asked and perked up an eyebrow.

Millie was looking back and forth between her sister and where Tommy had just disappeared in Addie’s room. With a sigh, she turned towards Oliver and reached out her arms for him though.

“You too?” Oliver chuckled and bent down to pick Millie up into his arms like he had done with Addie already. He looked back and forth between his two youngest, who were keeping their heads leaned to his shoulder. “Today’s my lucky day I guess.”

One thing he knew already was that this scavenger hunt wasn’t really the gift for Oliver. The gift was the quality time he got to spend with his kids. Family time like this had just been cut short lately because there had been too much to do at City Hall and down at the bunker. He had missed this though.

“Nothing.”

Tommy looked disappointed when he came back from Addie’s nursery. He let his head hanging between his shoulders and his bottom lip was pushed forward slightly. Emmy, being the good sister that she was, crossed the distance towards Tommy and put her arms around his shoulders to comfort him.

“It’s alright,” she told him. “We will find it.”

Oliver smiled at how sweet she was. Everyone who knew Emmy knew that she was quite competitive. She was so generous and kind though that it seemed impossible sometimes.

“You know what I think?” Oliver asked the kids, narrowing his eyes at them slightly. “I think the most special lullaby is Disney’s Part of your world.”

“That’s not a lullaby,” Emmy replied, frowning. “It’s a great song, but it’s not a lullaby.”

“Yes, but I have sung it for you a couple of times when you were a kid.”

Oliver remembered that one time he had sung it right before he and Felicity had wanted to head out for a date. Somehow, Felicity had managed to record his singing. She had teased him with showing it to the rest of the team, causing Oliver to chase after her for fun. The fun had ended abruptly when Felicity had fallen down the stairs though.

“Come on, Tommy, we look for the DVD downstairs.”

Emmy grabbed Tommy’s hand. Together they ran downstairs, and it did manage to cheer Tommy up a little.

Oliver smiled after the two of them. Just when he was about to follow them, he saw William glancing at his watch briefly. Turning his head to his son, he perked up his eyebrows. William grinned in response.

“I served as a guinea pig for the rehearsal of this scavenger hunt,” William explained and his grin widened even more. “Felicity said you would need at least twice as much time as I did because of your advanced age. So far, you are good in time.”

“My advanced age.”

William chuckled quietly. “I think now that you are forty, you will have do endure a lot of her teasing about your advanced age.”

Oliver grumbled, shaking his head. “I have no ideas why I am still married to her.”

Of course it was a joke as everybody knew how much his marriage with Felicity and how much Felicity herself meant to him. If it was different, he wouldn’t be making this kind of joke. Their marriage was safe from any obstacle that was thrown their way though, so Oliver had nothing to fear.

“You are both competitive,” William said, “and teasing only cheers you on. She knows that you will rub it in when you succeed after all.”

Oliver smiled softly. William was a good observed it seemed. He knew exactly how things between Felicity and him worked.

Nodding towards the stairs, he said, “I guess I hurry up a little more then.”

→ → → → →

Indeed, the next hint had been placed in the DVD box of Disney’s Ariel. Emmy and Tommy came running towards him with the paper in his hand before Oliver had even reached the foot of the stairs.

The next hint is where we fulfill our unfulfilled dreams for our kids.

All of them went outside and searched every corner of the garden. Even Millie and Addie asked to be let down on the floor, so they could help. Oliver kept an eye on them to make sure neither of them was going to fall into the pool, especially with Hawk running around full of excitement.

Eventually, William showed heart and hinted that maybe the little playground they had created here for the kids was not what was meant. Oliver realized quickly that it had to be referring to the playroom upstairs then as it had been set up with an astronautic theme. It had been a surprise he had planned for the family because Felicity had once told him that she would have always liked to go to Space Camp.

They found the hint there quickly, but they had lost a lot of time nonetheless.

You find the next hint where I am not allowed.

All kids, even Addie, knew it had to be the oven. Felicity’s impossibility to bake was just a thing everybody in the family knew about and was warned about.

Indeed, the found the next hint on the griddle in the oven. So at least they had saved some time now.

Search the most extraordinary addition to the family to find the next hint.

When Tommy called out that he was extraordinary, Oliver started searching him though he was rather tickling him. He enjoyed Tommy’s joyful laughter and the way his son just stayed to hug his father’s legs and press his head to his stomach.

When a toy squeaked in the living room, Tommy let go of him quickly though and announced that it had to be Hawk. While he was already running ahead, Emmy whispered that she had known that already, but she had wanted Tommy to find it out too. Oliver told her how proud he was of her and kissed the top of her head.

The next hint is where it all started.

Emmy gasped for breath, looking at Oliver with deadly serious eyes when she explained that it had to be the island. While Oliver couldn’t quite argue with that he was still sure that Felicity wouldn’t chase them around the world for this scavenger hunt.

So instead of catching the next plane towards Lian Yu, Oliver sat all the kids down in the car and drove to Queen Incorporated. His story might have started on the island, but their family’s story had started down in the IT-department.

Indeed, two post-its stuck to the monitor of the computer where Felicity had used to work. One held the next letter they had to collect. The other told them where to find the next hint.

Go where red pens with will always have a place.

Tommy already started searching the pens on the desk down here, but Oliver knew that it was Felicity who would always use red pens. It was a corny, little thing, but neither of them would ever forget that she had been chewing on a red pen when they had met the first time. More importantly, neither of them would forget that he had pointed out the color of the pen during their first date. Two years after he had first met her, he had still remembered their first meeting in all details.

They took the elevator upstairs to the executive floor. Just like the rest of the building, nobody was there. Felicity had given everyone the day off. Only the security men were patrolling every once in a while.

Addie found the next hints in the topmost drawer between a hundred red pens.

Just for this game, I went where I never wanted to be to hide the next hint.

They started searching at the front desk as Oliver remembered very clearly that Felicity had never wanted to be his executive assistant. Since she had been absolutely overqualified for the job and he had forced her into it without asking her about it, Oliver understood that. It had been a mistake from the start.

While the kids were roaming Emily’s desk, William was standing at the window. He was trying to hide it which was all Oliver needed to know that they weren’t searching at the right spot.

Oliver recalled the morning Felicity had attacked him for making him his executive assistant. He had just stepped out of the elevator when she had come at him. She had dug her fingers into his chest and told him that she hadn’t majored in the secretarial arts, so she would definitely not fetch him coffee.

He headed over to the small kitchenette and found the next hints.

The next hint is where I always get distracted from work.

The Queen Family headed over to the bunker underneath Oliver’s former campaign headquarter. He guessed Felicity wanted them to visit all the important places of their lives.

Dangling from the bar of the salmon ladder, Felicity’s great love and archenemy at the same time, was the next hint.

Where the arrows rests, you find the last letter.

Immediately, the kids ran over to the mannequins. They tried to pull the quiver down from its shoulders, but they weren’t tall enough to do so. Only when Emmy put her arms around Millie’s legs and lifted her was high as possible, they managed to pull the quiver down. Five seconds later they held the last letter in their hands.

Everyone sat down on the floor in Felicity’s working area. Oliver put all the letters they had gathered between them for them to find the word. It wasn’t easy since he and Emmy were the only playing members that could spell and Hawk just alternated between trying to steal some of the letters and licking everyone’s faces.

Still, it didn’t take long to find the solution to the riddle. With Oliver’s suspicion that Felicity was leading them to some of the most important places of their lives, he knew that they had hit the bull’s eye.

He guessed they were meeting Felicity at the beach house then.

→ → → → →

Getting ready for the last item on today’s agenda, Felicity recapped the success of the day mentally.

She had started her day early by sneaking out of bed. It had actually been a first challenge as Oliver had refused to let go of her easily. Even in his sleep, he had tightened his arms around her when she had tried to move away from him. It had taken her five minutes of whispering soothing words into his ear before he had let go of her without waking up.

After she had woken up William, who had promised to take care of everything here, she had headed to the beach house where she had prepared everything for the day with the help of Raisa.

Right before noon, Oliver, the kids and Hawk had finally found her. She had waited for them at the door since William had already given her a heads-up on their arrival. The kids had been out of themselves, still completely hyped about the scavenger hunt. All of them had been talking at the same time until Oliver had put an end to it and demanded some silence and mommy’s attention because he wanted and really deserved a birthday kiss.

Thanks to the sun that had chosen that it was finally time to go into spring mode today, they had been able to spent the entire day outside. They had been swimming in the ocean for a bit and played there. Even Hawk had taken a short swim though he had rather watched from his safe place beneath the sunshade.

Eventually, they had packed their stuff to have dinner. The entire family which included Raisa of course had said down around the table on the terrace behind the house and had eaten together while they had been chatting. First, Felicity had raised a toast to Oliver though. If the warm expression in his eyes had been any indication, he had liked it a lot.

Even after years of being together, sometimes it was like Oliver still didn’t know how much he was loved and appreciated. All those years away from home and away from everyone he loved as well as those first years back when nobody had accepted him for the way he had changed had just left their marks on Oliver. For Felicity, it was only one more reason to tell him what a great husband, father and human being was as often as possible.

After dinner, William had said goodbye to them, mumbling something about not being interested in listening to them have dessert. Felicity had almost spit out her drink at his words, and her head had grown quite warm as she had blushed terribly. It still felt weird to know that one of their children actively knew that they were having sex, but it was just so much harder to hide something like that from a teenager.

Raisa had left with the rest of the kids as well as Hawk half an hour ago. That left only Felicity and Oliver at the beach house and allowed Felicity to go over to that last item on the agenda. Birthday sex.

All day Felicity had tried to remember when this tradition of birthday sex had started, but she really couldn’t remember. They had probably just had sex during one of their birthdays once, had called it birthday sex and the tradition had been born.

It didn’t matter where the tradition was coming from though. She and Oliver just enjoyed it a lot, so they would continue with it no matter what. She could see the two of them still longing birthday sex when they were in their nineties and recovering from their last hip replacements. They would just sneak into a room in their retirement home and screw each other’s brains out like they would do now.

Felicity tugged at a few strands of her hair before she turned to leave. Dressed in nothing but a dark red negligee made of fine silk, Felicity stepped into the master bedroom of their beach house to find that Oliver had already made himself comfortable on the bed, wearing boxer briefs and a white shirt. His eyes met hers immediately.

When Felicity took the first step out of the bathroom Oliver let his eyes travel down her body. Felicity took in the reactions on his face closely. She could see how much he enjoyed what he was seeing. His muscles tensed for a second and relaxed the next as he made himself comfortable in the sea of pillows behind himself. He pushed his tongue into his cheek and sucked in a deep breath.

There had been a short time when Felicity had considered just coming in naked as the negligee wouldn’t last on her body for long anyway. At the end, she had decided to just wear this little piece of nothing though. Obviously, that had been the right decision.

Stepping next to the bed where she had placed a bottle of champagne as well as two slices of Raisa’s special chocolate cream cake. She opened the bottle and poured each one of them a glass. She only glanced at Oliver briefly as she did so, seeing him grinning at her. With his head propped up onto his hand, he was watching her, a loving smile on his lips.

“What?” Felicity asked, perking up an eyebrow. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Oliver’s grin widened. He reached out his hand and stroked his fingertips up and down the back of her thigh. She shot him another brief glance that made him lean over and kiss her hip through the thin fabric of her negligee.

“Did I already thank you for today?”

Taking the two glasses of champagne, she sat down on the edge of the mattress. Oliver put his hand to her thigh and rested it there. His thumb was rubbing small circles into her skin when she handed him one of the glasses.

Raising her glass for a toast, Felicity said, “To you.”

“To us.”

Before Oliver could clink her glass with hers, Felicity pulled hers away. She shot him an almost pointed glare. Oliver, though he was rolling his lips in his mouth to show that he was taking her serious, was biting back a grin. It was impossible to miss that.

“This, my darling Oliver,” she said, “is your birthday. It’s your day, so we are toasting to you.”

She quickly clinked her glass with Oliver’s before he could correct her toast once more. They both took some sips, still looking at each other over the edge of their glasses.

“So,” Oliver said after putting his glass of champagne back to the nightstand and rubbed his hands together. “Last week, you said you have planned something special for birthday sex this year.”

Felicity smiled at how excited he was. Oliver loved sex, and he loved to be surprised during sex. He was creative and he liked to try new things. She liked that too, but she liked to plan surprises and to plan trying new things.

“You, my darling Oliver,” she said once more because she was just growing really fond of addressing him like that, “have to be a little bit more patient.”

Oliver groaned, sinking down in the pillows. “I have been patient all day.”

Chuckling, Felicity leaned over and kissed his lips shortly. He was always getting so grumpy when he didn’t get sex when he wanted it. It was something that had never changed since she had known him.

“Well, you might still want to see this before I tell you all the things you are allowed to do with me today.”

Like so often when Oliver was really turned on, he pushed his tongue against the inside of his cheek. His eyes drifted down her body once more. Soon, his eyes found hers again though and Felicity could see that his pupils were blown wide from desire and his iris turned dark by lust.

Smiling, Felicity lifted her arms. Oliver understood the gesture immediately. He sat up straight and grabbed the hem of her negligee. Ever so slowly, he lifted it and pulled the fabric off her body. Instead of just dropping it to the floor next to the bed, Oliver lifted it to his nose and breathed in the scent of her skin that was left on the fabric. Only then he dropped the fine silk to the floor.

His eyes had never left hers. Even now that she was sitting in front of his without any clothes left on her body, his eyes were still staying on hers.

Felicity wondered how long they could continue like this. She was sure that he wouldn’t be the first to turn his eyes away, proving to her that her eyes were more important to him than any other part of her body. Sex was an important part of their lives, but if they stopped having sex right now, their love for each other would still be the exact same.

Instead of continuing like this forever, Felicity turned her eyes away briefly. Getting up from the bed, she stood next to the bed all naked then.

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Felicity said, “I will turn around myself slowly like very, very, very slowly.”

Oliver let his eyes drift down her body once more, and she could see his cock twitch in his boxer briefs. The anticipation of being able to take her in while she was all naked appeased him a lot. Again, his tongue moved against the inside of his cheek.

“What is my part of the deal?” he asked and grabbed his glass of champagne once more. He took a sip. “Please say I am just supposed to sit here and do nothing else.”

Felicity chuckled. “I am not going to make it that easy for you.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think you would.”

“So, if you see anything on my body that surprises you or that you have never seen before, you will say so.”

Oliver furrowed his brows, and a small crease formed between his eyebrows. Felicity noticed how his eyes drifted down her body quickly. He was checking her through, making sure he didn’t see any scars of bruises.

The thought alone made Felicity shake her head with a chuckle. She knew that Oliver wasn’t used to too many good things happening in his life. Lately, a lot of those had happened, but he was always ready to face the next punch in the face. It was why he honestly thought that part of her surprise would be the marks of some fight.

Rolling her eyes slightly, she told him, “Don’t worry. The only madman I ran into while planning this was our dog. Hawk almost didn’t let me out of the room.”

Oliver smiled softly. “Remind me to get him a steak or something. I blamed him for just letting you go.”

Felicity smiled. She could see that scene in front of her eyes clearly as she knew how strong Oliver’s urge to protect her really was. After all, there was a good reason why he was sleeping on top of her. The fact that he could listen to her heartbeat was just a small part of it. He liked to fall asleep with his body covering hers from any dangers that could possibly come at them while they were sleeping.

With an intense lock of their eyes, Felicity made sure that Oliver was ready. She turned herself against the turn of the clock. She counted in her head as slowly as possible while she was moving. Inch by inch, she turned around herself.

Her heart was beating wildly. When she had decided to surprise Oliver with this, she had been sure that he would love it. Still, it made her nervous to know that he would see it now. She couldn’t really say why.

The moment her left side came to his sight, she could see Oliver tensing from the corner of her visual field. He sat up in bed, almost shifting nervously. His gaze was so intense that it almost burnt itself through her skin.

“Stop.”

Oliver’s voice was breathless. He barely got the sound out. Still, Felicity stopped. With held breath, she waited for him to do something.

There was a moment of quiet that the entire world seemed to stand still. Felicity’s mind was racing though. She wondered if maybe she had made the wrong decision and Oliver wouldn’t like this.

Soon, Oliver slid to the edge of the mattress though. He moved there so quickly that Felicity could barely see it.

When she turned around to Oliver though, he grabbed her hand and lifted her arm away from her body quickly. Put his other hand to her hip and moved her closer to him, so he could take in her surprise more closely. His fingertips brushed over the small spot of skin, making sure that it was really there.

Smiling, Felicity noticed that tears welled in Oliver’s eyes when noticed that the tattoo she had gotten was actually real. His fingers brushed against her skin once more and from the expression in his eyes, she knew that he was trying to detect any distinctions to the tattoo he had gotten for their last anniversary.

Just like under his heart, she had let a vertical eight being immobilized in her skin though. It was interrupted just at one spot, like his tattoo. Instead of using her fingerprint to interrupt the symbol of eternity, she had used Oliver’s fingerprint though. Beneath, the date of their wedding was tattooed into her skin, staying there forever.

For the rest of their lives, they would carry each other’s fingerprint right over their hearts just liked they were carrying them right on their hearts too. Oliver had left his fingerprints on her, transmitting his desire to save the world and be fearless no matter how many things there were to fear onto her. Felicity had left her fingerprints on his heart to, affecting him with her happiness and her positive outlook on life.

“You got a tattoo.”

“My first ever,” Felicity agreed. “I thought it was time.”

Felicity could see the sparkle of amazement in Oliver’s eyes. She didn’t need him to say anything for her to know that he loved the tattoo. He loved this symbol of their love that they shared now. Seeing it on her body would elicit a smile from him whenever he just thought about it for a long time.

Still smiling, Oliver leaned forward and brushed his lips against her tattoo gently. His fingers rested against her ribcage, and Felicity was sure that he could feel the goosebumps spreading on her skin. He could always feel them.

When Oliver’s hands started drifting her body slowly, stroking from the sides of her chest to her waist and her hips before moving towards the curve of her ass, Felicity took hold of his wrists gently. Oliver growled against her tattoo lightly. Angling his head back, he rubbed his stubbled skin against her sensitive skin.

“I want sex.”

Oliver’s voice was hoarse and filled with so much desire that Felicity felt a jolt of pleasure rushed right through her core. A part of her wanted to say they should screw the plans and just have sex now. It wouldn’t be birthday sex without that little extra though.

“And you will get sex, all the sex that you want.” Felicity framed Oliver’s face with her hands and brushed her lips against his. “As many times as you want, even if we will have sex all night.”

Again, Oliver pushed his tongue into his cheek. “Sounds good.”

Felicity grinned. Pushing at his shoulders slightly, she made Oliver move back until she could rest her knees next to his hips. She was hovering over him, her hands on his shoulders. Oliver rested his hands against her butt, and his fingertips brushed against the seam between her cheeks, reviving memories of their first anal experience not that long ago.

Today, they wouldn’t extend their experience at that tonight though.

“So,” Oliver asked, after a moment, “what have you planned?”

“Well, I thought that, since every good birthday shouldn’t miss champagne, cake and sex, we could just put all three of them together.”

A glint of desire flashed in Oliver’s eyes. “Does that mean that I get to lick champagne and cake off your body?”

God, how much she loved hearing his anticipation and excitement. Now matter how often he had licked every inch of her body, doing it against tonight would turn him on beyond belief. He would make sure to take his time and enjoy every little moan he would elicit from her with his lips and his tongue.

“What do you say?” Felicity carded her fingers through his hair. “Are you in?”

Taking hold of her hips, Oliver lifted Felicity and pushed her into the mattress. His body covered hers immediately. The feeling of his clothes rubbing against her skin lightly made her bite down on her bottom lip. She was sure that, if Oliver would slide his fingers between her folds now, he felt her that she was wet already.

Oliver grabbed the bottle of champagne from the nightstand and lifted it over her body. Almost like in slow motion he started pouring the liquid onto her body. The first drops hit the valley between her breath. A thin line of the delicious drink ran down the middle of her chest and gathered in her belly button.

It was an interesting feeling. The champagne prickled on her skin. As the liquid hit the valley between her breasts, some drops splashed over the top of her chest and onto her breasts. The way the liquid moved down her body tickled her.

When her belly button was filled, the champagne continued its path down her body. Oliver stopped. With a quick movement, he put the bottle to the nightstand and made himself comfortable between Felicity’s spread legs. His tongue caught the small flow of champagne right over her sex. The tip of his tongue brushed against her clit before his entire tongue come to lie flat against the sensitive skin right over her sex.

Felicity moaned out. No matter how often she had felt Oliver’s lips and his tongue on every inch of her body before, she would never get used to it. It would never feel less special to her than it had during their first night together or less special than it was still feeling now.

Slowly, Oliver licked up her body. The rough top of his tongue traced the path of the champagne. It gathered the sweet taste of the liquid on her skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.

When his tongue reached her belly button, Oliver stopped. Felicity lowered her eyes, finding his eyes already on hers. A somewhat mischievous smile flashed over his face for the break of a second. The next moment, his tongue dipped into her belly button and his lips sucked at her skin at the same time.

A forceful wave of pleasure and heat rushed through Felicity’s vein. Her heels dug into the mattress and she tried to bring her hips closer to anything that would release some of her friction. Before her sex could get into contact with anything, Oliver had already put his arm above her hips and was keeping her down.

Felicity groaned with frustration. She was so turned on already that she felt like just the touch of his tongue against her skin could be enough to make her come. With Oliver, it was always like that. Just the way he touched her and the way he kissed her made pleasure spread in every cell of her body.

Oliver’s tongue continued its way up her body. He licked the champagne from her body thoroughly and closed his lips around her skin to suck at it lightly. She didn’t know if he was trying to leave his marks on her. Whether or not he did, it didn’t matter though. She’d carry them with pride.

Felicity could feel how turned on Oliver was by this kind of foreplay too. She wondered what champagne would taste like mixed with the taste of his skin and she made a mental note to try it one day. Tonight, it was all about what he wanted though. She’d let him lick every inch of her body while she’d enjoy the way his hips shifted against the mattress.

Once Oliver had licked away every last drop of champagne from her skin, he peppered a path of kisses from the valley of her breasts over the top of her chest. He nibbled at her collarbone for a moment, his teeth grazing over her skin. The feeling made Felicity hiss as her heated skin felt even more sensitive as it usually was. When Oliver soothed the pain with his soft lips, she released a content sigh though.

Moving up her body, Oliver hovered over her. His hands were resting next to her head, holding his weight right over her body. The moment her hands moved to frame his face and pull him down towards her, he was already lowering himself onto her though. Their lips met in a searing kiss, tongue moving together in a surprisingly slow rhythm at the desire spreading in both of their bodies.

Oliver was still dressed way too much for Felicity’s liking. She wrapped her legs around his hips loosely, rubbing herself against him as she could feel the outline of his hard cock pressing against her through his boxer briefs. A low moan escaped her, being swallowed by Oliver’s lips, while she was tugging at the hem of his shirt.

She wanted to move her hands back into his hair and scratch her fingernails over his scalp like she knew he enjoyed so much. Before she got the chance to do so, Oliver was breaking the kiss though. She tried chasing his lips, needing to taste his lips on hers again, but Oliver was already sitting back on his heels.

A long hum fell from her lips when she watched him taking off his boxer briefs. His cock was already fully erect. Felicity wanted to reach out her hand and take hold of him. She wanted to brushed her fingers against the soft skin that held his firm member and stroke him until his eyes rolled into the back of his head and released a strangled moan, begging her to do with him whatever she wanted to do.

Since this was Oliver’s birthday, it was up to him to do whatever he wanted to with her. It was something Oliver definitely wouldn’t give up. With his hands at her hips, he turned her onto her stomach. He nudged her legs apart with his knees and kneeled between them.

Felicity rested her cheek against the pillow and tugged her bottom lip between her front teeth. With held breath, she waited while he was grabbing the chocolate cream cake from the nightstand. He used the spoon to part a bite of it and dropped it between her shoulder blades.

Oliver took his time to cover her body in chocolate. He dropped little bites all over her back and onto her butt. He added some more to the back and the inside of thigh, and Felicity shifted her hips in anticipation of feeling his tongue there later. He pressed the cream into her skin a little bit, spreading it onto her skin. The metal of the spoon was cold against her skin, but Felicity didn’t mind. She enjoyed it.

Once Oliver was satisfied with the setting of his birthday dessert, he put the last remains of cake back to the nightstand. He dipped his forefinger into the chocolate cream and led it to her mouth. Felicity opened her lips and closed them back around Oliver’s finger. Her eyes locked onto his as she licked the chocolate cream from his finger.

When her lips let go of his finger, Oliver lowered his lips to hers. He pulled her bottom lip between both of his lips for a moment, making butterflies wake up everywhere inside of her. A moment later, their tongues met in a slow dance. All the butterflies started fluttering around, making Felicity feel incredibly light like she could just fly away like that.

From her lips, Oliver moved down over the side of her neck. His nose nuzzled her pulse point while his stubbled against her shoulder, probably leaving beard burn all over her skin. Felicity didn’t mind. She just sighed contently and let her eyes flutter shut. It just felt perfect.

When his lips reached her shoulder blade right over where she could feel some of the chocolate cream on her skin, Felicity held her breath. Oliver peppered some more kisses to her skin before he licked a long stripe over her shoulder blade. His tongue scratched over her skin lightly and his lips closed around it softly.

Another content sigh fell from Felicity’s lips. She pushed her arms under her pillow and just relaxed. The feeling of Oliver’s lips and tongue against her skin just felt so good. It was wrapped her into a feeling of warmth like she was taking a warm bath.

“Felicity?”

Oliver whispered her name into her skin after he had licked the third bite of chocolate cream from her body. He rested his chin against her spine and rubbed his stubble against her skin, making Felicity squirm slightly.

“Are you falling asleep?”

Felicity smiled amusedly and released an indeed sleepy sigh. Having Oliver lick chocolate cake off her body made her feel so good that it would indeed be a nice feeling to fall asleep to. She’d know that she definitely wouldn’t have any nightmares.

“Just wake me for the main event. I-“

With her hands tightening in the sheets, Felicity hissed when Oliver just pushed a finger into her tight channel without warning. His thick digit with the calloused finger tip rubbed against her inner walls, finding her G-spot in an instant.

“Still sleepy?” he asked with a little growl and swirled his fingers. “Or are you with me?”

“With you,” Felicity replied with hoarse voice. “Totally with you. Always with you.”

“Always with me.”

Oliver repeated her words in a whisper before he went back to licking chocolate off her back and off her butt. His finger moved in and out of her in a slow rhythm. Whenever she tried to shift her hips to have his finger rub against her G-spot again, Oliver avoided touching it all the more. Only when she held completely still while his tongue stroked over her skin, he rubbed his finger against her center of pleasure.

Hot waves were running through her body with every time his finger entered her again. When he was turning his attention to her butt, he entered a second finger into her. His fingertips rubbed against the rippled tissue rhythmically now. Felicity was breathing heavily as she was so close to her relief already.

After he had licked the last bite of cream from her butt, Oliver dug his teeth into her butt cheek. The scratching of his teeth against her skin was all Felicity needed. Her pleasure exploded like a firework, filling her body with all kind of colors and beauty.

Oliver didn’t give Felicity any time to catch her breath. Apparently, her sleepy moment had hurt his ego too much to let it go easily now. With a quick movement, he turned her onto her back again, shifted down her body and dived right between her legs. His lips and tongue cleaned off the inside of her thighs from the chocolate cream he had spread there before.

Soon, his tongue was pushing into her core though. Felicity’s back arched off the mattress, pushing her sex closer to Oliver’s mouth. She almost expected him to put his arm over her hips and keep her from moving because he liked being in control of her orgasms. He liked being the one who increased her pleasure and pushed her over the edge eventually.

Maybe it was his desperate need for relief himself as he was thrusting against the mattress in the rhythm of his tongue thrusting into her, but Oliver just allowed her to keep moving. Pushing her heels into the mattress, Felicity made the best of it. She thrusted against Oliver’s lips, taking herself closer to a next high.

She was surprised by how quickly she was falling over the edge again. Felicity could almost still feel the prickling of her first orgasm in her toes when the next wave was already crushing her.

With a long moan, she pushed her heels into the mattress and thrusted against Oliver’s lips one last time. Her fingers carded through Oliver’s hair, anchoring herself to him. Oliver’s tongue cheered her on more and more, thrusting in and out of her relentlessly.

When he pulled his tongue from her core, he propped himself up onto his hands and quickly pushed himself up her body. His lips captured hers in a hot kiss that made Felicity moan out against his lips, allowing Oliver to slip his tongue into her mouth. It only made her moan out even louder as she could taste herself there.

She moved her fingers from Oliver’s hair down his back. Her fingers reexplored his body. His skin was soft, covered with a thin layer of sweat that made her fingers slip over his muscles easily. His scars felt rougher than the rest of his skin, but she liked that. Unlike other lovers, she had never resented his scars. For her, they had always been part of him and his story. So, they were a part of her.

While her fingertips were brushing against the burn scar at his lower back, Oliver moved his hand between their bodies. Positioning himself at her entrance, he pulled back to lock eyes with hers.

Only the sound of their heavy breathing filled the room as they were looking the other in the eyes. The tension between them was almost graspable with hands. They wanted and needed each other right now like, other than that, they only needed air to breathe.

Slowly, Oliver sank into her. His cock filled her completely, stretching her walls and rubbing against the most sensitive spots inside of her. Feeling him inside of her just felt like she was home.

They stayed like that for a long moment, just enjoying the feeling of being together like this again. It didn’t matter how many times they had had sex and how special or not special the setting was today, sex with each other would always be exciting. It would never be a routine.

Without breaking the lock of their eyes, Oliver started moving. He moved slowly, taking his time, as he pulled out of her. With just the tip of his cock still inside of her, he stilled for a moment, taking in her face. Eventually, he pushed back in just as slowly.

As they settled into this slow, almost lazy rhythm, Felicity met Oliver’s thrusts. She wrapped her legs around Oliver’s hips loosely and dug her heels into the firm cheeks of his ass. Her movements made her clit rub against Oliver’s pelvis, adding some more sensation to her already sensitive sex.

She had had two mind-blowing orgasms tonight. For the first, her pleasure had increased quickly, but she had been held on the edge for a long time, seeing the cliff to jump down from without taking the jump. Her second orgasm had taken her by surprised. Her pleasure had just increased so quickly and she had almost stumbled over the edge in a rush.

Her next orgasm, Felicity knew already, would be different. She could feel her pleasure increasing slowly. It was almost creeping up on her hiddenly. One moment it was far away and it only got closer slowly until she realized how close it was already. It was a slow development that she enjoyed a lot.

Their eyes stayed locked as the pleasure increased for the both of them. There were no loud moans, just erratic breathing. It was quiet as quiet as it had never been between them, but it only increased the intimacy. Hearing each other breathe and listening to the beat of each other’s heart created more intimacy than any moans or growls could.

They fell over the edge together. Felicity gasped for breath while Oliver was releasing a stuttering breath. The lock of their eyes connected their hearts. All the love they were feeling for each other was visible in their eyes, so there were no words and no touch and no kiss needed to prove that.

Only as the waves of pleasure were ceasing slowly, Oliver lowered his head and captured Felicity’s lips in another gentle kiss. She sighed in response, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and moving her fingers through his short hair ever so gently.

Oliver rolled himself off Felicity and onto the mattress next to her. His cock slipped out of her, making them both moan quietly. With his arms still wrapped around her, he pulled her against his chest and pressed a kiss to the crown of her head.

“That was amazing,” he whispered.

Felicity hummed in agreement. With a grin on her face, she angled her head back and tapped her forefinger against Oliver’s chest though.

“At least for someone of your age.”

Oliver grumbled, stealing a heated kiss from her lips. Against her will – because she just loved teasing him too much – she moaned into the kiss.

“I mean we both knew your advanced age was going to slow you down,” Felicity said and petted Oliver’s cheek when he grumbled in response. “I think it was nice enough to be a good memory for you, so you will always think fondly of the last time we had sex.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrow and propped up his head on his hand. “The last time we had sex?”

“Of course.” Felicity looked at him as serious as she could. “I’m not having sex with old men. It’s yuck.”

“Yuck?”

“Totally yuck. Old men like you shouldn’t have sex at all. Their hips-“

Before Felicity got to end her sentence, Oliver was rolling himself on top of her. His fingers were moving over her ribcage, tickling her at her most ticklish spots. He was the one person to know exactly where those were after all.

Felicity was squirming and kicking, trying to get away from Oliver, but he held her down with the weight of his body. Somehow, she managed to slip from the mattress though. She was about to run away, starting some kind of chase, but Oliver had caught her before she could do so. He put his arm around her knees and lifted her over his shoulder. Her head was dangling on the height of his butt which was a really nice view.

“I am going to prove to you how much you will enjoy sex with an old man.”

“Ha!” Felicity laughed out loud. “You admitted that you are old.”

Oliver slapped her butt lightly, but it only made her laugh more. She scraped her teeth against his butt cheek right before he carried her into the shower. He took her again, making a point of what she had already known before. Sex with Oliver, no matter how old either of them was, would never get boring.

Don’t forget to vote on a story-idea for my next multi-chapter!

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @muslimsmoak @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @arrowsalways @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @mysaudadespt2 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19 @alex-wesley @arrows-4ever @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @paarti12 @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @cutearrowgirl @mrt2501 @mecha1330 @arsipaci14 @mzminx @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafrancis-blog @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @navyaarsha @fandoms-breathe-life @simone4mcswarek @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @itsmagnoliagirl @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @javinancupil @tjmartinez98 @certainmentalityface @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @thats0klaroline @geemarie @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @peterpanslostgirl666 @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek @blondeeoneexox @monetsmark @soaring-cities @bb-olicity @mashamarty @rulerofsilence @erika-amber @felicity087 @i-claim-only-emily @pattid1 @westallenandolicityshipper @babyolicityandwestallen @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc @tonto16 @olicityfluv @olicitea1990 @olicity5ever @haahaaa2408 @pattid1 @faegal04 @24karatgem @wrldtravler @readerkas@valery6488 @lemmyeatspeaches

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#arrow #olicity #olicity fic #olicity fanfic #time for a story

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fereality-indy · 5 years

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Top five tropes (this can span all media types), and examples are welcome!

1. The Child Genius - The teen or preteen character that is really too smart for their own good. 9 times out of 10 they will be my favorite character in the series. Examples: Negi Springfield from Negima! (10 year old magic school [college equivalent] graduate and teacher), Conan Edogawa from Case Closed (real name Jimmy Kudo, teenage genius detective trapped in his childhood body), Dipper Pines from Gravity Falls (socially awkward mystery hunter), & Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV aka Radical Edward from Cowboy Bebop (teen hacker and bounty hunter).

2. Friends To Lovers - Ah, my favorite shipping trope. And really some of the best relationships come from friendships first. Examples: Starco from Star vs the Forces of Evil, Shaggy/Velma from Scooby Doo, Kim/Ron from Kim Possible, Wendip from Gravity Falls (Wendip pic cropped from a @brunetta6 picture), and Phinbella from Phineas & Ferb

3. Cute, Intelligent, & Snarky Tech Heads - Ok, I'm Demi-romantic and well, intelligence is one of the things that I find sexy. A sweet personality with a touch of sass is another. Mix them together and there is a character that I could fall in love with. Examples: Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds, Felicity Smoak from Arrow, Abby Scuito from NCIS, Dr K from Power Rangers RPM, Nell Jones from NCIS LA, & Kendall Morgan from Power Rangers Dino Charge. Not shown is Velma Dinkley the Original.

4. Alternate Universes - Ok, anyone who has known me for any length of time could tell you that I love AUs. Seeing a different version of beloved characters and stories is a favorite. Examples: DC Comic's Elsewords imprint, Wendinella from Gravity Falls, Marvel Comic's What If series, Power Rangers' Lord Drakkon, & Zombie Hunter Velma & Scooby (can't remember artist on this pic).

5. Bas@$$ With A Heart Of Gold - The character that either look like they could kick your @$$ or could just do it, but they also have a soft spot for something (their friends, children, stuffed animals, etc). Examples: Ray Jackson from Bloodsport, Cordell Walker from Walker Texas Ranger, Wendy Corduroy from Gravity Falls, & Korosensei from Assassination Classroom.

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arrowdaily · 5 years

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Holy Smoaks! Arrow just revealed the true identity of Katherine McNamara’s character and we’re having a full-on family freakout!

Monday’s new episode of Arrow, “Star City Slayer,” dropped a bombshell in the show’s future timeline to reveal that the badass cage fighter Blackstar is actually Mia Smoak—the daughter of Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen. (We totally called it, by the way.)

Naturally, we hopped on the phone immediately to discuss the revelation with McNamara herself, who was just as excited as we are! “Oh my God, I’ve been dying to talk to someone about this,” she gushed to ET. “I‘m so glad that the cat is finally out of the bag!”

Read on for exclusive behind-the-scenes secrets about Mia Smoak’s script-to-screen reveal, whether or not Olicity fans should be worried about the fate of their favorite couple, and if McNamara is ready to take on the salmon ladder!

Entertainment Tonight: Take us back to the beginning, Kat. How did this role on Arrow first come to you and did you know all along that you were going to play Oliver and Felicity’s daughter? Katherine McNamara: So I knew before I started shooting. But when I initially auditioned, they, of course, did not reveal it to the people who were going up for casting. They [gave me] dummy sides and I believe it was a couple of scenes of a rookie cop or something, so I knew basically nothing. Then, after I was cast, I get a phone call from Beth Schwartz, the showrunner, and she said, “Oh yeah, congrats on joining the show! By the way, everything you know is a lie. You’re Oliver and Felicity’s kid—so congrats and have fun! Thanks, I’ll talk to you soon.” And I was like, “Wait, wait, wait! Hold on! Let’s press rewind—excuse me?” Immediately, my first thought was what a responsibility this is. I’ve seen the power of not only the Arrow fandom, but how much they love Olicity. How much this relationship is beloved by them and how passionate they are and how many opinions they have about it—so I know how important this is going to be for the fans if this is done right. Then I proceeded to watch all six seasons of the show and do as much research on the comic wikis and the show wikis and everything that I possibly could. Beth had said to me that they wanted her to be the perfect blend of the two of them—to be physically everything Oliver Queen and then intellectually everything Felicity Smoak, so I had my work cut out for me.

During your Arrow research, which Oliver and Felicity mannerisms did you choose to infuse into Mia? KM: Well, with Oliver’s physicality, obviously, I’m never going to look like Stephen Amell! [Laughs] No matter how much I work out or how much grilled chicken I eat—that man is on a whole different level. But what’s neat about bringing that into a character—especially a female character—is to find really interesting ways to bring those kinds of masculine physicalities and the very offensive and aggressive way of moving into this character. It adds a very interesting quality that we haven’t necessarily seen in many of the characters in the Arrow’verse yet. She is very much like him in many ways, but also, you have these qualities of Felicity in her: her wit and her tact and her intellect and the way in which she thinks about things and plans and strategizes. Something you’ll find about Mia that you’ll love, as time goes on, is she has quite the mouth on her. She’s quite snarky. We’ve seen a little bit, but it only grows and I think that comes from combining Felicity’s humor and wit with Oliver’s aggression and brutishness.

What are the chances we’re going to see you tackle the salmon ladder? KM: I have not done so as of yet, but I can only imagine that it’s going to be one of these days. That was my first question to Beth, by the way. “When do I have to do the salmon ladder? Because I have to start training, like, yesterday!” [Laughs] You know me well enough to know that I’m constantly training anyway, but that’s a new level of intensity.

In this episode, we discover that her name is actually Mia Smoak instead of Mia Queen. Can you elaborate on that a little bit and when we might be getting those surname answers? KM: I can elaborate in the sense that you will be getting those answers—but maybe not as soon as you’d like. In a few episodes, there will be an all-future episode where we really get to see a lot of Mia’s childhood and a lot of moments that really shaped her into who she became and why those qualities are the way they are, including her last name. But for now, it’s enough to know that she is Mia Smoak and she claims to be the daughter of Oliver and Felicity. So she knows that Oliver is her father, but does not take his name. Ultimately, the most important thing to know at this point is that this is indicative of how dire the world has become… To know that even having the last name Queen puts a target on your back.

You know that the Olicity fans are the best detectives of any fandom. They’re probably going to be worried when they hear that her name is Mia Smoak instead of Mia Queen and wondering what that means for Olicity’s relationship in the future. Should the fans be worried? KM: Maybe. I actually don’t know the answer to that question yet because we’re still shooting season seven right now, so I don’t even have all the answers… but, maybe. Even for me, that’s still a question mark.

Were you surprised when you realized that Mia Smoak and William Queen—who are half siblings— don’t know each other in the future? KM: I was surprised and that was another question I had for Beth. Thank god for Beth Schwartz because she has been such a lovely, collaborative wealth of information for me. There are many things that I don’t have the privilege of knowing yet, but she’s been so good to me in that I can call and ask her a question and she will give me some kind of answer to do my work off of that does not reveal what they still want to keep hidden. So thank goodness for her. But aside from my tangent, that is a very interesting question and one that we will get the answer to very soon. It all goes back to the ruin that Star City has fallen into and showing the real lengths that Oliver and Felicity had to go to to keep their children safe.

What was your first interaction with Stephen Amell and Emily Bett Rickards like? KM: Well, it’s very interesting. I met Emily a few years ago just in passing because she and [Shadowhunters star] Isaiah Mustafa are friends, so I had already adored her because she was just so kind to me and just such a fun human being. And then re-meeting her was, of course, lovely on set because she’s just an amazing, kickass human being. I’ve really loved getting to know her and kind of pulling whatever qualities I can from her and from Felicity, and putting them into Mia because it can be a challenge to find those sorts of lighter and interesting qualities. Emily has just got this inner strength that I love at her core and that’s something that I’ve fed off of a lot with Mia. Stephen, actually, was the one that I re-met first when I was coming onto the show. I was there for a meeting of some sort and Stephen was shooting the “Slabside Redemption” episode, so he was, of course, covered in blood and scars and [had] a million other things on his mind and [was] obviously exhausted. But he happened to pop his head into the hair and makeup trailer and he stopped everything that he was doing, jumped out of his chair, came over, gave me a hug and had a long conversation with me and really, really made me feel welcome. To me, that’s such a testament to his character as a human being, and just who he is as a person and why the show has such a positive environment on set.

It’s been really fun seeing these flashforwards bringing a new chapter to the Arrowverse. What does it mean to you to be a part of the next generation of vigilantes? KM: It goes back to the responsibility that I realize I have with this character and whatever it ends up being. Just even being a part of the future and being a part of this universe is really wonderful. I mean there are so many interesting facets to the Arrowverse with the future with Nora that we have now on The Flash, and with Legends everywhere and now with having Ruby Rose as Batwoman and all of these incredible characters. There’s just so much diversity and inclusivity and all of these things that are happening in the Arrowverse. I’m so thankful to be coming from Shadowhunters which had a very similar environment, vibe and mindset. It’s really wonderful to still be part of that and I understand the responsibility and I’m excited for the challenge ahead.

Oh my God. We need you and Nora to be together and hang out! KM: [Laughs] I’m down! You set a time and we’ll be there.

We know that Mia is not necessarily a fan of vigilantes but how ready is Kat to suit up? KM: Oh, I’m so excited! I mean that was always one of my favorite elements of Shadowhunters was when Clary really got to buckle down and kick ass, and yet we really didn’t get to see that as often as we would’ve liked because Clary was so new to the world and she was still learning so much. But now we have Mia who, we’ll see very soon, is well versed in fighting and suiting up in her own way. Getting to see this character who very often finds herself in these situations, it’s a real treat. I remember watching this show as I was gearing up to start shooting Arrow and figuring out who Mia was and what this would entail. It’s so exciting. As an actor, there’s certain moments where you’re on set—whether you’re in the woods with Seelies and vampires and running around the forest with swords, or you walk into the Arrowcave, even if it’s covered with vines and waterfalls—just knowing who you are in that universe and what a thrill it is is. There are moments that are really special and you just want to pinch yourself a little bit and wonder if you’re dreaming or if this is actually what you do for a living. It just really makes me eternally grateful to be part of such a cool and interesting project.

So where do we go from here? You mentioned that we are going to have an all future episode. Now that the team knows who she is, how does this change things moving forward? KM: Well, it definitely changes things and it definitely provides a lot more information to everyone and fills in a lot of the missing pieces for both parties. Mia doesn’t know everything about her past, William obviously doesn’t know everything and neither do the characters of the future, so as all of the pieces come together and as everyone combines their knowledge or at least reveals certain pieces of information—for better or for worse things will move forward and things will progress very quickly. As you will see, time becomes of the essence and don’t forget, they did find those bomb schematics very recently, as well, so the future [could have] explosive content if you will.

#katherine mcnamara #cast #s7 #interviews #news

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diannaphantomfiction · 5 years

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Karivarry LifeSwap AU Writing Prompts. Prompt 8/15: First Meetings

THERE IS NOW A LIST OF CHARACTERS: HERE

Prompt requested by an anonymous @mewwitch. Here’s the Prompt:

If you are still taking prompts for the lifeswapAU, how about their first meetings with each other? Or maybe the first time they introduced each other as romantic partners?

I actually ended up splitting this into two stories, so their introductions as romantic partners will come next!

Kara huffed as she waited for the detective in front of her to uncuff her hands. This, sadly wasn’t exactly an unusual experience. Ever since she had gotten home, Lieutenant Maggie Sawyer had it out for her. As an ex-girlfriend of Alex’s, Kara had sort of assumed it was a way for her to grieve. But it wasn’t that, not anymore. It had gotten insane. Whenever something happened near Kara, Maggie found a reason to bring her in, especially if she thought the Arrow was involved. Now, Maggie wasn’t wrong per say. Kara was the Arrow, but she didn’t have any proof. Kara had made sure of that.

Kara leaned back in the interview room chair, crossed her arms, and glared at the two way glass. “Is this just going to be another time you hold me for 48 hours and hope you get the evidence you need to put me in jail, Lieutenant Sawyer? Because if so I’d like to make some calls.”

They didn’t answer and they made Kara wait, she wasn’t sure how long (she hadn’t gotten a look at a clock as they pushed her through the station to count the time) but she was quickly getting restless. Being locked in a small room wasn’t exactly helping. As she paced the room, pulling her hair out of it’s ponytail and twisting it into a braid as she considered picking up one of the chair and throwing through the two-way mirror. That wouldn’t help her though. In fact, it would be a reason to really arrest her.

Then, the door opened and Kara shifted her stance, moving her arms and widening her eyes to make herself appear more innocent and open. She didn’t recognize the man that stepped inside. He was tall, dressed in a well fitted three piece suit, and clearly conveying openness with his body language.

“Hello Ms. Danvers-Grant. My name is Oliver Queen. I’m a psychologist who often works with the police.”

“You’re here to prove I’m crazy I take it?”

Queen shook his head and gestured to the chair. “I’m just here to listen.”

Kara gave him a flat look. “I know Lieutenant Sawyer is watching on the other side of the glass. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Then let’s prove her wrong.”

Kara glared at the glass as he sat down, but wiped her face back to the innocent face before sitting down. Queen asked her a lot of questions. About the island. About her family. About how she was re-accumulating. About her sleep cycles and her relationships. If she was making new friends. If she’d connected with old ones. How and if she relaxed. If she had nightmares. Kara gave away just enough to satisfy him, tearing up at the appropriate times, clenching her jaw and refusing to answer what she thought normal people would refuse to ask. Queen was kind, open, and understanding, not judging her or pushing too much.

He thanked her for her time and left the room as she wiped away fake tears. There. That should fool them.

“Well?” Maggie Sawyer asked as soon as Oliver closed the door.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at the Lieutenant. He was doing this as a favor to Lance and because he had a personal interest in the vigilante. But, he did not like Maggie Sawyer’s approach to finding out who the Arrow is. She’d gotten one thing in her mind and was harassing one person because she was ‘too different now.’ After five years of struggling to survive, torture, and being cut off from the world.

“Well, she’s a social chameleon with extreme PTSD that she is somehow functioning with and highly conditioned violent tendencies.”

“So, it’s her?”

Oliver snarled. “So, you’re attacking a woman because of completely understandable survival techniques and PTSD and I will be reporting you to your Captain and telling Ms. Danvers-Grant to take of a restraining order on you.”

He starts to walk away but she grabs his arm. “She fits your profile.”

“And I’m sure she’s not the only one, but I fully believe that if Ms. Danvers-Grant was the Arrow, with all the harassment she’s been undergoing at your hands, she would have snapped and attacked you as your tried to arrest her by now. I did my job. I gave you a profile as a favor for my father. Now do yours, Lieutenant.”

Oliver doubled over, breathing heavily as he tried to look around. The device Felicity and Mac had thrown together to speed him up in a last ditch effort to stop Zoom felt heavy against his chest and he was pretty sure the grass under his feet was smoking. Well, it had worked, because he was pretty sure he wasn’t in Central and it had only been about five minutes.

He was in the middle of a park, one in a city most likely judging by the amount of people in it, looking at him.

“Is that the Flash?”

“What is he doing here?”

“I’m sure Super… will be here soon.”

Wait, which Super? Had he run all the way to Metropolis? What the fuck? There was no way he’d gone that fast. Was that even possible? Seriously, that seemed like the type of thing that should rip even his body apart.

“Hey, Flash!” A man came running up and held a bottle of water out. Oliver just stared at the man in confusion. “You look like you need this.”

Oliver just blinked at him.

“What they don’t take care of you in Star?”

Aside from occasionally pulling him out of the way when he was injured, the citizens stayed out of his way. He didn’t mind, it was a safety thing. If he slowed down long enough for them to interact with him, there was a high chance he was about to get attack. When he was just on patrol, he just moved to fast to interact with. There were the kids that left drawings outside the lab and Felicity always brought the drawings inside to tac on the walls, but that was the most interaction he really got.

Oliver slowly took the water. “...Thanks.”

People started to point up at the sky, parents lifting their kids so they could get a better look, and Oliver saw a red and blue shape. Superman? No, there wasn’t a cape. Superboy. Central City. Okay, that actually made some sense. Central wasn’t on the other side of the country at least, just 600 miles away. ...no, it wasn’t any better. It was still way to fast.

Superboy landed gently and with more grace than Oliver had ever come to a stop with in his life. He was... gorgeous, with wide, green eyes that sort of sparkled and nice looking light brown hair. His body was proportioned just right, thin and tall, but not lanky or awkward. He moved like he had complete control over every cell.

“Flash, welcome to Central City! Sorry it took me some time to get to you. I heard you coming, but I didn’t know you could move that fast.”

And then he smiled at Oliver; a bright, wide smile that reached his eyes and shined like the sun. Oliver felt his heart drop to his stomach and a warmth spread through his chest and arms. He found himself smiling back, the idea of doing anything else seemed wrong. He recognized this feeling. It was the exact feeling he’d had the first time he’d seen Kara take down a thug in five seconds and then turn all her attention to him to make sure he was alright.

Shit.

Barry was probably more excited about this than he should be. He was a grown adult. He really should be this excited about being invited for a training exercise in Star City, but he didn’t really have superhero friends of his own. Diana and Bruce were Kal-El’s friends, and while Diana had always treated him like a beloved nephew, they didn’t exactly consider him an equal.

No, outside his team, Barry only had Oliver, the Flash. And Oliver had been nothing but kind and welcoming, often running to Central just to give Barry a hand or to get lunch with him. Barry reciprocated in turn, and he enjoyed their friendship. He wanted more than friendship, but he was willing to settle, because a life without Oliver sounded impossible. Oliver talked about the mysterious Arrow as much as he did everything else in his life put together. Barry knew love when he saw it. He’d seen it in Clark’s eyes when he spoke about Lois, and Diana’s when she spoke about Steve or Bruce and Oliver got that same look in his eyes when he spoke about the Arrow.

Oliver’s base was bursting at the seams. The teenagers had managed to huddle in one corner, masks off and phones out as they exchanged numbers and social media and funny pictures with their masks and hoods off. Felicity and Winn had grabbed Cisco and pulled him off to the tech and the three of them seemed to be having a grand time. The Black Canary and Siren were talking to Caitlin, all three of them still in their masks and seemed to be having some sort of subtle badass off. Diggle and John were standing next to each other and pretending they weren’t wearing the same exasperated expression.

Finally, Barry saw Oliver, standing off to the side with his domino mask hanging around his neck and suit unzipped just enough to make it a little more comfortable. He was smiling and laughing and Barry had to stop himself from happy floating. Nope. Not here in front of everyone. Not while Caitlin could see him and she would tell everyone. Iris would never let it go. Oh Rao, Len would never let it go. No happy flying.

“Hey, Barry!” Oliver smiled when he caught Barry’s eye and waved him over.

Barry headed over as slowly as he thought he could, wishing his suit had pockets so he’d have something to do with his hands. Then he saw who Oliver was talking to. She had to be the Arrow and yes, it turned out she was as gorgeous as Oliver implied. Her green suit was somehow both practical and completely feminine at the same time. Her long blonde hair fell down between her shoulder blades in a tight braid. Her eyes were so blue and just full of intelligence and determination.

“...warrior goddess…” Barry whispered.

Then the Arrow turned to look at him and Barry promptly tripped and cracked the concrete under him.

#fanfiction #Writing Prompts #Karivarry Life Swap AU #Arrow #The Flash #Supergirl #AU #prompt #Karivarry #Life Swap AU

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glassrain · 6 years

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Oliver Queen

*First Impression: Very favorable. It probably helped that Arrow’spilot episode was intriguing, well-laid out and artistically crafted.But even as far as Oliver as a character and a person, I fell in lovewith him right off the bat. I found his violent yet calculatingapproach to Star City’s crime bosses fascinating, especiallyconsidering that Arrow isn’t really a dark show (or at leastit wasn’t - I haven’t watched recent seasons, so I can’t attestto those). It dealt with Oliver’s murders seriously, without losingit’s optimism and dipping into “edgy” territory. I thoughthis mindset was interesting, as well as realistic. I was very excitedabout this fascinating and complex character in a relativelyfamily-friendly show.

Ialso loved his humility in that first episode - he could have madevery realistic excuses for what happened all those years ago, butinstead he chose to own it and try to make things better. I respectedthat.

*Impression Now: … Well, I suppose that depends if we’rediscussing “real Oliver” or “Canon Oliver.” While Ihaven’t watched past season three, Oliver went through a radicalpersonality shift after season 2 - he stopped caring about thingslike his family company and legacy (which was very importantto him during seasons 1 & 2), he became surprisingly comfortableexpressing his personal feelings (???), he stopped being Star City’ssilent guardian as theArrowand became some beloved figurehead (Since when?). Oliver stoppedplaying up his billionaire alias and essentially became … a hobo?Yep, when you stop to look at it, he became a hobo and wasperfectly content to remain so. And you expect me to believe thatthe man who allowed Felicity to dangle herself as bait for a serialkiller would refuse to teach Laurel how to defend herself in orderto “protect” her? I don’t think so.

So,yeah. I’ve got some issues with what the guys up top have done withmy beloved Oliver’s character, but then I hardly consider that tobe really Oliver anymore, you know? I don’t know, maybe he’sgotten back on track since season 3. I still adore Oliver, butI think that the Exec’s have not done justice to either hischaracter or his story.

*Favorite Moment: So hard to pick! I’m probably going to miss some since it’s been a while since I’ve watched Arrow. Tommy’s death is definitelyway up there - oh my gosh, it broke my heart! Stephen Amell’sacting was gut-wrenching, along with the whole aspect oflast-minute “I forgive you”s - plus, Tommy! Not Tommy,please, anyone but Tommy! I also loved that flashback scene in season1, when Oliver is confronted with a “hostage” and he has tochose whether or not to free him. I feel like this, even more thanthe torture or the bird scene, is the major turning point for Oliver,when the drive for survival really starts working it’s way into hisblood. This moment is so good, so simple and sympathetic andchilling, as we get to see the innocent child that Oliver was die alittle before our eyes. and his answer to why he won’t cut the manloose: “Because I don’t know you.” It’s quiet and simpleand only half-remorseful.I really do enjoy this scene.

Or,oh! His dinner scene with Helena. Now that was a good scene.

Andlet’s not forget Diggle’s introduction scene. That was pure gold(not to mention that it led into that epic montage of Oliver buildinghis base).

*Idea for a Story: I’m actually in the process of writing anintrospective one-shot. It’s pretty much just Oliver, shaving andwashing properly for the first time in years, then looking in themirror and thinking, “Who is that?” Not very exciting, butcharacter studies are how I roll. I also want to write a series thatjust kind of … explores the unaired scenes between Barry and Olliethat may have taken place during all the Arrow/Flash crossovers.Like, Barry equal parts fussing and fangirling over Oliver while hehas the rat poison in his system, the actual conversation in whichBarry tells Oliver about the Lightening, the fight scene between thetwo which Oliver apparently lost - that sort of thing. I just want itto showcase the friendship between Barry and Oliver, because I loveit and need to see more of it!

*Unpopular Opinion: I don’t know how unpopular this is among thefans so much (though I think it’s not too favored) but Ihonestly don’t think Oliver was much of a jerk when he got backfrom the Island. I mean, he could be a little thoughtless, sure. Hehad trouble opening up to people, he struggled to adjust to thechanges in his life and his loved ones, he was suffering from majorsurvivor’s guilt and PTSD … but a jerk? Are you serious? That boy was not a jerk. He was kind and considerate and forgiving and polite, he was protective and just wanted his loved ones to be happy. If that’s your definition of a jerk, I wish that all guys were jerks.

*Favorite Relationship: Gonna have to go with Oliver and Slade forthis one. Their dynamic is so good! I love their development, from leery and reluctant allies with a common goal to brothers-in-arms … to ultimately, enemies who both wish that it hadn’t come to this. Remember Moira’s death scene? If you watch Manu Bennett (Slade) during this whole scenario you’ll see that he’s actually crying after he runs her through and Oliver collapses. The whole mentor/student eventually turn on each other thing is one that I just adore, and this one in particular is played out so well! Their interactions are great as both friends and enemies … plus, doesn’t Slade come back in like, season 6 or something (I think that’s what I’ve heard)? And he and Ollie are working together? That would be amazing.

* Favorite Headcanon: I headcanon that, when Ollie finds himself slipping into a dark place, or just gets stressed out being the Arrow or whatever, he goes and visits Tommy’s grave. And he talks - he doesn’t talk about his problems or his struggles, he doesn’t ask for advice, he talks about, like, girls and movies and how stuffy those business people can be. Normal stuff. “You ever think Detective Lance and I would be on speaking terms, Tommy?” Because Tommy was the only person who never really got tied up in all the vigilante drama, and it’s only with Tommy that Oliver ever really gets to feel normal.

Thank you for the ask! And thanks for sending Ollie in particular, since I adore Oliver Queen and am thrilled for any excuse to rave about him.

#hurtbyintensejourneys #asks #answered #ask game #thanks for the ask!#oliver queen #oliver queen analysis #I love Oliver #arrow #cw arrow

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ao3feedflarrow · 7 years

Text

Dear Daddy…

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2wvzINP

by panofaar

Barry was orphaned at the age 11, and again at the age of 17. So he considers himself as a person born with a bad luck when it comes to having a family. Being an orphan not just once, but twice. Even his Foster Dad Joe got into an accident during a detective mission. Will his dream of becoming a brilliant CSI will shatter into dust? Or will he be saved by a mysterious benefactor?

Words: 3265, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 1 of My Beloved Ollie and Bear Series

Fandoms: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Cisco Ramon, Caitlin Snow, Roy Harper, Thea Queen, John Diggle, Lyla Michaels, Joe West, Iris West, Moira Queen, Robert Queen, Slade Wilson, Eddie Thawne, Felicity Smoak, Original Characters, Sebastian Smythe, Sara Lance, Laurel Lance, Quentin Lance, Captain Singh

Relationships: Barry Allen/Oliver Queen

Additional Tags: Barry Allen is Sebastian Smythe, Oliver is the Arrow, there might be some OOCs, Barry Allen loves to write letters, Barry is still a teenager, Love at First Sight

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2wvzINP

#Olivarry #Flarrow #The Flash #Arrow #Barry Allen #Oliver Queen

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bushlaboo · 7 years

Text

DotN: Chapter 5

Note: Hello one and all! Apologies for the long break, I had a crazy family spell that is mostly resolved. (Fingers crossed, knock on wood, and all that stuff.) I hope to get back to my every 2 week posting schedule but besides flushing out the 2 sentence outline I originally had for chapter 8 I haven't actually written anything of substance in almost a month. I hate making promises I can't keep, so no guarantees on when I will be posting again. I can, however, promise that we'll get to the finish line; even if I end up being more tortoise than hare.

Mirror (AO3)

15 Months Ago

The world was wrong and had been wrong for centuries as far as Helena was concerned. At the center of the storm, infecting the planet was humanity. Her kind would have been better off if they had kept their existence from the humans, certainly her clan, who’d been destroyed by the greedy machinations of Hakon with Slade's assistance would have been. As she had done for millennia, Helena denied her culpability in the horrible events of that night – both she and Slade had been certain she’d be able to convince Oliver into removing the clan from the castle, leaving them safe while Hakon’s forces attacked. The castle would have been theirs, as it was meant to be, if only Oliver had listened.

Her cursed existence, living to see her kind all but exterminated along with her clan demolished and her beloved turned against her – it stung bitterly, Oliver favoring a pitiful human female over one of their own. Whenever Helena thought of Felicity Smoak her stomach turned and her heart burned with rage.

All she longed for, the reason she’d persisted, had been for the chance to restore her remaining clan.

Then the magical Weird Sisters put her in the path of Macbeth, casting a spell that bound them together; it had returned her youth, but condemned her to a lonely unending life. At least it had until she found Tommy Merlyn. He thought himself something special when he was a merely a pathetic human so caught up in proving himself in his father's eyes that she could manipulate her greatest desire from him.

For the briefest, sweetest of moments all that Helena longed for had been hers. The younger gargoyles: Roy, Barry and Curtis had not truly mattered; but Longbow, Diggle and Oliver. Her Oliver. To feel his arms around her again, his hand on her cheek, to soar through the clouds with him … it had been a dream. A wondrous dream, turned nightmare because Helena had forgotten how blind her beloved was to the true threat facing their kind. Once again humanity came between them … or rather one particular human had.

Felicity Smoak.

Just thinking of the blonde haired detective made Helena hiss. That she had the confidence of her clan, their friendship and worst of all Oliver’s affection -- it twisted a heart turned cold by millennia alone. Seeing that preference displayed over and over again since before the clan realized she’d survived her fall at Merlyn Global grated and burned through Helena stronger than all the hate she’d spent centuries carrying.

She could rectify that now having acquired Titania's Mirror and the enchanted restrains needed to force Oberon’s most troublesome child to doing her bidding. Helena was certain the trickster thought he was being so clever with his disguise, but thanks to her encounter with the Sisters Three, guardians of Avalon - Nyssa, Talia and Tatsu - she knew how to see beyond the ordinary visages members of the third race wore. Cisco Ramon was such a bland mask for Puck to wear, but considering the activities of Tommy Merlyn she was certain there was amusement in the choice for him. He had alluded to that much when he appeared in his natural state – his hair silver, unbound and flowing freely though that did nothing to hide his long pointed ears – when he denied her initial demand to serve her with the tart reply of, "Serving humans is fun. They have a sense of humor. You have none!"

It irked Helena that her threats did not faze the imp, instead he managed to unbalance her by proving that her heart’s desire had not changed. No matter how disillusioned she had become, Helena wanted Oliver. Watching him with Felicity, seeing that human at his side – her rightful place – in Titania's Mirror had her spewing the demand that Puck rid the world of all humans. He balked at the order, feigning limits on his powers that in her hazy of jealous anger Helena did not think to question; instead she spat, "Fine! If you cannot get rid me of all the humans, then at least rid me of that human: Felicity Smoak."

Puck titled his head and pouted, "Did you say 'that human' or 'that human' ... oh, never mind," he waved off his own musing. "I'll figure it out. This just might be fun after all." He grinned at her then and as he spoke of the words of his spell his eyes turned yellow and he began to levitate. "Thy sight Helena doth offend, so Puck will hasten to amend. Begone Felicity, human born, and be no more as you were formed."

"It’s done?" Helena demanded. "She's gone?"

"The human Felicity Smoak is no more," he assured.

“The what now?” Felicity asked looking completely perplexed by Curtis’s offhanded comment about the Third Race. Oliver was not accustomed to seeing such a look on his ally’s face, but he found himself charmed by her wrinkled brow. He stifled that thought immediately and went back to working out Helena’s possible intentions with the mirror while the others talked. Oliver hated to speculate what she planning, but he knew whatever action she took next it would not be benign. Helena by herself was a formidable foe, her near corruption of Roy and just failed attempted at dividing the clan after she resurfaced following Macbeth’s attack on them was proof enough of that. Adding magic to the mix … it made Oliver uneasy. He had been wary of magic before battling beside Diggle against the villainy of the Archmage. Their defeat of man felt more fortuitous than skillful and had not come without a price. The scar across Diggle’s left eye, a wound that took almost his entire ability to see from it, was a permanent reminder. Oliver’s misgivings of magic were furthered after experiencing the harm it could do in the hand of a decent man like the Mage. The wisest thing in his estimation was to contain magic as best they could and keep objects of power from the likes of Helena.

“You know, gargoyles, humans and Oberon’s children,” Barry supplied helpfully.

When Felicity continued to stare at them wordlessly Curtis added, “I thought everyone knew that.”

“Apparently not,” she grumbled. Diggle chuckled at her frustrated tone. Finding something that Felicity didn’t have even a cursory knowledge of was a rarity, so of course Roy had to chime in, his tone playful, “That guy Shakespeare even wrote a play about them.”

“That Oberon?” she queried. “Like king of the fairies?”

“That be the one,” Diggle confirmed.

“Wait!” she said sharply, throwing up her hands – Felicity had a way of talking with the whole of her body that was hard to ignore, drawing Oliver’s full attention back to the discussion happening in the clock tower. The living space was still snug, but had over the last months come to feel like home. “You’re saying that shapeshifters, elves, fairies – they’re real?”

“As real as us,” Curtis replied, causing her eyes to widen as that reality began to sink in.

“I think I need—” whatever Felicity intended to say next was cut off by a sudden cry of pain. The force of it had her hunching over and wrapping her arms around herself as she whimpered. Her distress tore through Oliver, all through her rehab, even in those first days in the hospital after her shooting, Felicity had never responded in such a manner.

Instinctively he reached for Felicity, seeking to comfort her, but before he could touch her a faint blue light surrounded her. Oliver watched horrified as the shade of blue deepened and the light got brighter. More sounds of distress were wrenched from Felicity as she began to float.

It was magic, which meant it was Helena. Oliver bit back a snarl knowing that his anger would not serve him in this moment. He needed to think clearly and find a way to help Felicity. His brothers had circled her, all wanting to help, but none of them knew how to confront what was happening – leaving them to stand helplessly before their friend. The light continued to brighten, getting so intense that it was impossible to see anything through it. Though it was blinding Oliver forced his eyes to remain open, glued to the spot where he’d last seen Felicity’s face.

Just as suddenly as the magic had washed over Felicity, it exploded silently around them; leaving them to adjust to the normal light levels of the room which seemed to be fuzzy, spotted darkness on the heels of the radiance that had engulf them. That was why Oliver heard the thud of Felicity connecting with the ground instead of seeing it.

“Are you alright lass?” Diggle called out.

There was a terrifying moment of silence before Felicity wheezed out, “I think so.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Curtis remarked, his voice slightly awed. Oliver didn’t know how to take the younger gargoyle’s comment, he fought back the panic of not knowing and rubbed his eyes furiously, trying to force them to work properly again.

Finally able to make out shapes again Oliver’s gaze fell to Felicity and what he saw made him gawk much as his brothers were. Felicity stood before them, seemly unharmed which was a relief, however, her form was no longer human. Felicity had been transformed into a gargoyle.

Her creamy skin tone remained nearly the same, though there was dusting of freckles, in the shade of pink her cheeks turned when she blushed, all along her exposed dermis. Her legs had elongated some with the arch of her gargoyle feet giving her another two inches in height. Oliver could make out the pointy tips of ears just peeking out from around the flowing mass of her now freed and wavy tumble of blonde hair. Her eyes, a shade of blue that he’d always found compelling, were now tinted towards purple, reminiscent of heather that had been so prevent in their old homeland. But what truly held Oliver’s attention were Felicity’s wings. They sloped delicately off her shoulders and the underside dermis was a deeper hue of pink than her freckles.

Oliver struggled with sight before him; he knew he should be concerned about what happened to Felicity and figuring out how to correct it, but instead he was distracted – thinking how lovely Felicity was in gargoyle form, making it impossible for him to think straight. In fact he was so flummoxed that Oliver barely reacted when Felicity’s flung herself at him exclaiming happily, “Oliver you’re a gargoyle!” It took a moment for her words to register because he was too overwhelmed by the feel of her wings coming to rest over his shoulders.

It wasn’t Roy’s deadpan response that, “He’s always been a gargoyle,” that got Oliver to snap out of his haze. It was the confusion on Felicity’s face as she leaned out their embrace to look him the eye to tell him, “You were human.”

“No,” Oliver corrected, “you are.”

Felicity released a snorting laugh at his assertion. “That’s ridiculous Oliver. I’ve always been a gargoyle.”

A new wave of indignation swept through him. Manipulating Felicity’s physical form was bad enough, but messing with her mind, altering who she was at her core. For that Helena would pay. Oliver’s eyes went white in his fury, startling Felicity who jumped back from him. “I’m not mad at you Felicity,” Oliver assured her, though he could not keep the growl from his tone. “It’s the situation.”

“The one where you think I’m a human?” she queried closing the distance between them. Oliver knew it was a move meant to reassure him that she had merely been surprised by his anger and not truly afraid him. The narrowing distance between them alleviated his flush of anxiety, beyond that first night of discovery Felicity had never been fearful of him and he hated to think she would be even for a moment. Though it occurred to Oliver that fear could give him away to counter her mistaken belief.

Felicity didn’t like heights and a gargoyle learned early on not to be bothered by them. “Come?” he asked, offering her a hand. She took it without hesitation, her touch making his heart flutter, and nodded. Oliver signaled the others to follow and led Felicity to balcony outside the clock tower, out to the ledge where they took their places for their daily rest. He jumped up on it with easy. Felicity followed his lead, but wobbled as her feet landed and she took in the edge and drop down to the street below.

“Ready to fly?” His question brought her anxious eyes to his steady ones.

“Fly?” she gulped.

“Well glide,” Oliver corrected, his voice going soft an effort to calm her nerves.

“I don’t – I don’t do either,” she replied.

“But gargoyles do. That’s what our wings are for,” Oliver reminded her as he unfurled his own and allowed them to billow in the wind that danced around them. Felicity’s gaze drifted to his wings and then over the city’s skyline before fastening to his eyes again. Oliver could feel her trepidation, but a look of fierce her determination settled over her face. “Felicity,” her name was imbued with tenderness. “You’re afraid and you wouldn’t be if you’d always been a gargoyle.” To prove his point, he allowed the wind to lift him up and pulled Felicity with him. She let out a squeak and tried to dive into his arms.

“Your wings,” he reminded her. Felicity looked skeptical, but slowly expanded her wings. Delight washed over her face as the wind rippled through them. She laughed again, a carefree sound, though she never loosened her grip on his hand as they soared over the city, his brother’s swooping around them offering Felicity encouragement whenever she appeared to get nervous.

Oliver allowed himself to get lost in the moment. To enjoy it; gliding through the air with Felicity at his side, her growing elation and confidence as she started to master her wings. It was one of the most striking things he’d ever seen. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Before he could think better of it, Oliver closed the distance between and told her as much. “I’ve never realized just how beautiful you are Felicity.”

Her rosy cheeks flushed more and she offered him a smile before playfully inquiring, “You mean you thought I was ugly?"'

"Well, uh …” he sputtered before a well time gust allowed him to warn, “careful, updraft!” Oliver used the sudden draft to direct them to the rooftop of a nearby building. Reality had reared its head. It was way past time to deal with the issue at hand, which meant he had to bury the longing he had for Felicity to remain a gargoyle. Her life, her family, her calling – they all required human form. He wouldn’t deny her those things or allow Helena to take them from her.

He perched on the building’s ledge, while settling Felicity securely on the rooftop, forcing distance between them and was grateful for the presence of his brothers as they swooped in on their heels. Their compliments on her quickly picking up the nuances of flight kept Oliver from saying more things he shouldn’t. He was just about to break into their excited discussion and remind them that they had Helena induced magic to deal with, when pain sliced through him. Oliver howled, as every cell in his body morphed. The excruciating torture ended with a whoosh moments later and he found himself falling.

Oliver let out a yelp, his arms and legs flailing, when a pair of clawed hands caught his eye. Relief flood through him at the sight of Felicity diving towards him. She caught his hands and yanked with all her might. His descent slowed, but she had trouble countering his weight and they landed roughly on a roof, tumbling over each other before their skid finally halted. Oliver’s heart was pounding rapidly as they untangled themselves and got carefully to their feet.

They both took a moment to look over the other, making sure that there was nothing more serious than a few bumps and bruises from their fall before it occurred to Oliver. “You’re a gargoyle again,” he said his relief evident.

Felicity titled her head and eyed him warily. He glanced down at his bared toned chest. A few of the scratches were bleeding, but otherwise his toned muscles looked as they always did. Felicity’s hushed “Human,” had him glancing up again. She said it as if his humanity surprised her.

Before he could question her distress she said, “There something wrong here. Do you remember the Third race?”

Oliver frowned not understanding the correlation but answered her anyhow, because it was Felicity and she had asked. “Oberon’s children, yes. They have magic.”

“That explains a lot,” she replied. For her it might, but Oliver was confused as to why it mattered. Again before he could press for answers, Felicity spoke again, insistent: “Please tell me you know how to stop them.”

He was still buzzing from the night’s events. It had been so long, too long really, since he’d been able to use his powers. Though Puck hated being bound, Helena’s schemes had given him the opportunity to circumvent Oberon’s degree against using magic, save to disguise themselves, upon banishing his children from their rightful home and to life in the mortal world. Truthfully, there was very little Puck missed about Avalon, save for his magic. Humans were such an interesting distraction, particularly the ingenuous Tommy Merlyn whose craftiness felt very much like his own and why he’d taken up the guise of Cisco Ramon. He was denied magical mischief but in aiding Tommy he found other means to satisfy his true nature.

Plus Tommy’s romantic entanglement with Laurel Lance, former leader of the Pack and unaware of Halfling, held promising potential for future fun. Still he hadn’t been able to stretch his wings, so to speak (making puns was a small pleasure he’d never deny himself), in a very long time.

He was still giddy over his feats. Willfully misinterpreting Helena’s demand and turning Felicity into a gargoyle had spun out in such a delicious unexpected way … turning the gargoyle clan human and then the entire population of Starling City into gargoyles, all to the great displeasure of Helena. Puck reached long forgotten peaks of elation at the ensuing chaos.

A thank you gift seemed in order, or rather one last excuse to use his magic before the night came to an end and further use caught Oberon’s attention. He appeared in a puff above a sullen Helena. Paying no heed to her dour mood he preened, “Oh but what fun that was! Seeing gargoyles run from your human friends. What delight! A boon I think you’ve earned for Puck’s revelry.”

“Wretched sprite,” she spat at him, lunging with her claws to take a piece of him. Puck easily floated out of range, grinning as she leapt unsuccessfully a few more times, at him. She cursed him the whole while, her eyes glowing red in her rage. Panting, she gave up, flicking her tail at him in dismissal. “Be gone with you,” Helena seethed. “I am no mood for any more of your games.”

Puck’s merriment morphed into irritation. He’d come with good intentions – well mostly – and Helena dared to brush him off. To dismiss him. Him. Oberon's most powerful child. Oh that was an insult he would not let stand. He’d talked Helena around a demand for days earlier in the evening, but now that request would be her punishment. Helena would have her days. Only not in a way she’d appreciate. She’d be what she loathed most and Puck could find no more fitting retribution for her slight.

“Fearsome creature who would stay unchanged by the light of day,” he chanted his spell, “remain you thus throughout the night but be thou flesh by dawn's fair light.” As his words came to an end, Helena charged him again, but he merely disappeared flashing her a malevolent grin, before leaving her to discover her new form come sunrise.

“I would like to have seen the sun just once." Diggle lamented as the clan stood on the balcony of the clock tower. There was a wistful expression on his face as he looked out over the city that was coming awake as the lighter hues of sky announced the nearing of sunrise.

“That’s what movies are for,” Roy remarked though Felicity could see yearning in the red gargoyle’s eyes. Even their momentary chance of fitting in with the world around them had been marred when the humans of the city had turned gargoyle. There were others, she was sure who would accept and befriend them, but she’d grown accustomed to having them to herself and the notion of sharing them … it was hard to contemplate.

Discretion wasn’t in her mother’s vocabulary but Rory would benefit knowing the clan and vice versa. Her partner, McKenna Hall, would be a good ally. She was already curious about her random disappearances during shift; though her belief that there was super-secret government spy agency manipulating events gave Felicity pause. Still the sense of guilt she felt as all but Oliver wished her goodnight and headed to their rests made expanding their circle something she could no longer put off.

“Felicity,” Oliver said her name, in that soft meaningful way he had, drawing her attention to him.

She’d been trying for a while now to deny that she found him appealing. They were different species and liking him was one thing, but like-liking him. Talk about impossible. But the way he’d looked at her when she’d been a gargoyle – the way he kept looking at her now.

The only thing that spelled more trouble for her was remembering how Oliver looked in human form. All that strength and power had been compacted into a little over six feet of mouth-watering glory with scruffy jaw that did things to her. Felicity released a strained laugh, desperately hoping to play it off, “Yeah I know. You're relieved,” she said with a weak smile, “as I am that things are back to normal."

Disappointment flared in his eyes and his brow furled. "That's not what I was going to say—" Felicity put a hand up to Oliver’s mouth, ending his words just a moment before the sun could. She watched sadly as his searching blue eyes froze on her.

“I know,” she sighed, tracing his now stone cheek, “but that's the way it is."

Tagging: @almondblossomme

#my fanfiction #arrow #olicity #arrow fic #olicity fic #dotn #ofbb2017

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weekendwarriorblog · 6 years

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The Oscar Warrior: Analyzing the Ridiculously Overcrowded Lead Actress & Actor Fields

For whatever reason, I’ve been biding my time on doing any significant writing about the Oscar season, maybe because I took the early festival and awards seasons off and also, maybe because somewhere inside me, I hoped someone might actually pay me to write something again.

By now, I feel like I’ve seen every movie of any significance for awards season with only two movies still-to-screen (The Mule, Welcome to Marwen). The fact these two movies are not screening for BFCA members before the Critics Choice nominations (and possibly not the HFPA who vote for the Golden Globes) makes me think their respective studios would rather focus on stronger films.

What I’ve always found interesting is that sometimes voters, including critics, have a tough time distinguishing a great performance from a great script and even a great make-up job. There are a few cases every year where an actor’s transformative look and performance are hailed for awards, when much more credit needs to be given to the screenwriter and make-up departments. That’s also partially the case this year, but not entirely.

LEAD ACTRESS

The Top Contenders

So far there are only three actors I feel are definite Oscar nominees in this category, which leaves two slots for a LOT of other possibilities, as well as room for a few surprises.

Likely to be one of this year’s many first-time nominees with her amazing leading role in Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born, pop superstar Lady Gaga already has such a huge fanbase from her music, concerts and videos. The fact she excels playing a role not to unfamiliar to herself – a songwriter-turned-pop-star--will make it easier for Oscar voters to accept her as an actor worthy of a nomination. If Gaga is nominated, it will be the first time an actor has been nominated for a role that’s previously been played by Liza Minelli and Judy Garland, and considering the film’s success at the box office (close to $200 million domestic) will make the movie and Gaga both very popular choices among voters.

With six Oscar nominations but no Oscar on her mantle yet, Glenn Close is the epitome of a well-deserving acting veteran respected by her peers. Her title role in the drama The Wife got many Oscar prognosticators excited that this might be her year to win an Oscar. The movie itself didn’t have the type of vocal fans that might get the movie into any other nominations, although it made almost $8 million, which is decent for Sony Pictures Classics, who also released Julianne Moore’s Oscar-winning film Still Alice. Close is also fortunate that there have been quite a few recent winners in this category that didn’t necessarily appear in a Best Picture nominee with Moore being a good example as well as Meryl Streep in The Iron Ladyand Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine. It’s almost guaranteed that Close will win some of the precursors, such as the corresponding SAG category, but she has tough competition in Lady Gaga.

The third actor who has impressed critics and early voters is British actress Olivia Colman, star of Yorgos Lanthimos’ costume drama The Favourite. Colman has been acting mainly in England for decades, only getting to these shores with movies like Edgar Wright’s Hot Fuzz, The Iron Lady and a few others, and she’s scheduled to take over the role of Queen Elizabeth in the next season of Netflix’s The Crown. There’s a lot of people questioning whether her role really should be considered the film’s lead, as opposed to Emma Stone, but Fox Searchlight are wisely pushing the never-nominated Colman over the film’s two previous Oscar winners, Stone and Rachel Weisz, who may both get nominated in the supporting category.

The Strong Competitors

If we assume the three above are nominated, that leaves two more spots for somewhere between three and five possibilities.

One of the performances that got a lot of attention out of the September festivals is Melissa McCarthy playing Lee Israel in Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and with an amazing 98% on RottenTomatoes, the critics certainly got behind her (even Rex Reed!). It’s only grossed $6.6 million at the time of this writing although it never went particularly wide. Although McCarthy was previously nominated for Bridesmaids, people who see this movie are impressed by the way she downplays the role to create an even funnier character. That said, McCarthy’s appearances in other bad movies this year, such as The Happytime Murders, might hurt her chances to win an Oscar, at least this year. (I feel the film is still a comedy but for some reason, it’s being pushed to the Golden Globes as a drama.)

Arriving later in the game, Emily Blunt’s performance as the title character in Mary Poppins Returns follows in the footsteps of Julie Andrews, who won her only Oscar in 1965 for playing that role. Blunt is a joy to behold whether she’s singing and dancing or just teaching manners to the three kids in the movie. Shockingly, Blunt has yet to be nominated for an Oscar despite having five Golden Globe nominations (and one win) thanks to the HFPA’s “Comedy/Musical” category. It shouldn’t be too big a surprise if she wins that Golden Globe this year, especially with Lady Gaga (and maybe even McCarthy) shifted over to drama. Blunt also impressed many with her “supporting” performance in hubby John Krasinski’s thriller A Quiet Place, but that performance might be too far into genre territory, as is the case with…

Previous nominee Toni Collette is pretty amazing in Ari Aster’s directorial debut, the chilling horror film Hereditary, and people have been raving about her performance since the movie debuted at Sundance. Even so, there’s still a stigma surrounding genre films, despite the fact Collette received her first nomination for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense, and she should get a ton of support in the coming month from critics groups.

Viola Davis already won an Oscar for her role in Denzel Washington’s Fences, but she’s front and center for Steve McQueen’s star-studded heist film Widows, and she gives an amazing performance among an ensemble cast all giving great performances. The movie hasn’t really taken off at the box office, so one wonders if the Academy’s acting branch will accept it and Davis more than the moviegoing public has.

Also Worth Noting…

We’ll start with the other big newcomer to Oscar season, and that would be Mexican actor Yalitza Aparicio, who shines in the primary role of a pregnant maid in Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma. Some might feel she’s at a disadvantage not being a known name, but Aparicio has been out doing the rounds more than any other actor this season, and audiences/voters love her and the movie! I wouldn’t be surprised if the L.A. Film Critics pick her in this category and she sneaks into a few other nominations, but she has tough competition to get into the Oscar category. I’m thinking she’ll get a Critics Choice nomination in this category, but bolstering it with a SAG and/or Golden Globe nomination will help awards voters take her seriously.

Last year, Saoirse Ronan received her third Oscar nomination for Lady Bird, but she’s even more amazing in the title role ofMary, Queen of Scots, more of a traditional costume drama than The Favourite, but playing an amazing royal who has often been a mere footnote in other movies about British royalty.

Another previous Oscar winner getting a lot of attention for a new role is Nicole Kidman as the lead in Karyn Kusama’s crime-thriller Destroyer, playing an extremely glammed-down police detective trying to find a murderer. The Academy loves Nicole, but this is a tough film and role, and some might credit much of what impresses to the make-up artist.

There’s something to be said about Felicity Jones playing beloved Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Mimi Leder’s On the Basis of Sex, yet another biopic, and Jones is past due for another nomination, but sadly, this might not be deemed as strong as some of the other performances.

The Outliers

Things aren’t looking good for a number of fantastic actors getting into the Oscar race when you already have eight of them vying for two possible slots in the category, and yet… there’s even more!!

Another previous winner, Julia Roberts gives a stirring performance as the mother of a drug addict in Peter Hedges’ Ben is Back, which is a much stronger drama on the subject than the recent Beautiful Boy. This premiered at the Toronto Film Festival where it received decent acclaim, but Roberts is getting more attention for her new show Homecoming, which might take away from her Oscar chances.

One of the most impressive performance of the year is Rosamund Pike’s take on war journalist Marie Colvin in Matthew Heimeman’s A Private War, and though many say she’s better in this than she was in her Oscar-nominated role in David Fincher’s Gone Girl, it feels as if the movie isn’t getting as much attention as some of the others above.

The same can be said for a few movies and performances that premiered at Sundance way back in January: Keira Knightley in Collette, Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Kindergarten Teacher and Kelly MacDonald in Puzzle, all great performances that received great notices out of Sundance but seem to have been forgotten in recent months. (Only The Kindergarten Teacherhas been getting a big awards push by Netflix, including screeners and even subway ads!)

Lastly, I loved Emma Thompson’s performance in the drama The Children Act, feeling like it’s one of her career bests, but the movie premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2017, and distributor A24 has been giving it a limited theatrical release focusing more on its DirecTV partnership. The exact same path was followed by Jessica Chastain’s Woman Walks Ahead, which didn’t get nearly as much attention in the year since its TIFF debut as it should have. Chastain is so overdue for an Oscar!

The Nominees: Gaga, Close, Colman, McCarthy and Blunt with possible spoilers from Davis and Collette.

LEAD ACTOR

This category is starting to become a little clearer as films are screened (or not screened) and a couple favorites come to the fore, so I guess this isn’t nearly as overcrowded as I once thought.

The Top Contenders

Until people had a chance to see Adam McKay’s political biopic Vice, there was some uncertainty whether Christian Bale’s transformation into former Vice President Dick Cheney would be worthy of awards. As the film was screened over Thanksgiving weekend, voters have been so blown away by his performance that he quickly moved into the frontrunner position. Sure, a lot of credit can be given to the make-up and McKay’s Oscar-worthy script – similar to last year’s winner Gary Oldman -- but Bale seems to get so lost into the role of the former VP that you almost forget you’re watching an actor.

Before Bale came along, people were wowed by Bradley Cooper’s performance in A Star is Born, opposite Lady Gaga, while also directing and performing music. Cooper is such a favorite among Oscar voters with three consecutive acting nominations between 2013 and 2015 that he’s guaranteed another nomination and could move closer to frontrunner status considering that he’s doing more schmoozing with press and voters than Bale has been doing.

Speaking of another performance that seems to make you forget it’s an actor and not the real person, there’s Rami Malek’s performance as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie has been doing huge business despite mixed reviews, but even the negative reviews can’t deny the powerful performance given by Malek as he vanished into the role performing Queen songs. The only problem with Malek winning is that there’s a stigma to Bryan Singer getting the only directing credit despite being fired from the movie (on top of other allegations of wrongdoing), and that could hurt Malek’s chances among voters.

Another Academy favorite is two-time nominee Viggo Mortensen, whose performance as Italian-American bouncer Tonylip in Peter Farrelly’s Green Book has won over many fans. Mortensen let a N-word slip during a press conference which could hurt his chances, as could the backlash against the movie being a “white savior” story which will keep Mortensen from coming anywhere close to being a frontrunner, especially with the Academy’s recent push for diversity.

The Strong Competitors

It’s kind of crazy that the four actors above are almost guaranteed nominees, which means there’s only one place left for EVERYBODY ELSE!

Ethan Hawke has impressed the critics with his performance as a priest in Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, and there’s a good chance he might get his third Oscar nomination for the role, although it’s a movie that didn’t get as much attention as it deserved when it was first released and Hawke was busy promoting his own movie Blaze over this until fairly recently. Wins with the New York Film Critics Circle and at the Gotham Awards last week will get more people watching the movie, including Oscar voters. Watch for Hawke to win the Independent Spirit award the night before going to the Oscars, and he’ll continue to be the critical fave.

One of the performances that burst out of the gate with notices at Venice, Telluride and Toronto was Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of Neil Armstrong in Damien Chazelle’s First Man, but the movie has fallen out of favor in the months since, not doing particularly well in its theatrical release. Gosling’s performance is also fairly unemotional (deliberately so), so that might hurt his chances at getting a third nomination.

Willem Dafoe was nominated last year for his supporting role in The Florida Project, which he lost despite being the frontrunner for many months, but his performance as Vincent Van Gogh in Julien Schnabel’s At Eternity’s Gateis a much more impressive feat. Unfortunately, Schnabel’s gone for an artsier take on the biopic (more in the vein of Terrence Malick) which might turn off Oscar voters. It hasn’t really made waves in theaters either.

The Outliers

Previous supporting actor nominee Lucas Hedges (for Manchester by the Sea) gives two strong performances in dramas released this fall, Boy Erased and Ben is Back, and it’s clear Hedges is an actor who is going to continue to have an impressive career.

Another actor who has had an amazing career and will be retiring soon is Robert Redford, who starred in David Lowery’s The Old Man and the Gun and received some nice notices. If the Academy isn’t going to nominate him for All Is Lostfive years ago, it’s highly doubtful they’ll nominate him for a film that quickly got lost in the shuffle of festival season.

Another actor who had quite a breakout year was John David Washington, son of two-time Oscar winner Denzel Washington, who carried Spike Lee’s latest BlacKkKlansman but also gave a strong performance in the lesser-seen Monsters and Men. Again, I don’t think Washington got enough raves for his performance in Lee’s movie as much as the movie did itself.

Still Unseen (By Me, At Least)

Clint Eastwood’s The Mule was thought to put him back in the Oscar game, but Warner Bros. has decided it’s not an awards contender, and the same can be said for Universal, who don’t feel as strongly about Steve Carell’s performance in Robert Zemeckis’ Welcome to Marwen, which won’t be screened for awards groups before their deadlines.

The Nominees: Bale, Cooper, Malek, Mortensen, Hawke with Gosling as the possible spoiler.

Over the next couple weeks, we’ll be seeing the Golden Globe, Critics Choice and SAG nominees that might paint a clearer picture of which actors will be nominated at the Oscars. I probably will write one or two more features about this year’s Oscar race.

#Oscars OscarWarrior BradleyCooper AStarIsBorn BohemianRhapsody ChristianBale TheFavourite LadyGaga

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smkkbert · 6 years

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Time for a story - Fundamentals

More than twelve years had passed since Oliver had stood at the very same edge of the rooftop he was standing at now, watching over the city the way he was watching over it now. Still, he remembered it as clearly as if it had been yesterday.

It had been during his third night back in Starling City after being lost for five years. He had snuck out of his family’s mansion, unable or unwilling to fall asleep. After he had choked his mother in his sleep the night before, he just hadn’t felt safe enough to lie down and rest. That was why he had run around the city for several hours before he had found himself on the top of this building and watching over the city he had vowed to save. His city.

I’m so sorry. I thought I’d have more time. I’m not the man you think I am. I didn’t build our city. I failed it. And I wasn’t the only one.

His father’s words had echoed in his head that night, reminding him why he had come back and what he had to do. The memory had pushed the aching emptiness inside of his chest away and had helped him focusing on the responsibility he had for this city and the people living here now.

You can survive this, make it home, make it better, right my wrongs, but you got to live through this first. You hear me, Ollie? You hear me, son?

He had heard his father the first time, and he had heard him all those times his words had echoed in his head ever since. He had heard the words. He had taken them to the heart. He had built his entire life around them.

Survive.

Even now Oliver flinched as the shot that had killed his father echoed through his head. He had to squeeze his eyes shut and take in a deep breath to regain control over himself and push past the terrible memory. His father’s suicide, alongside his mother’s death, would forever be two of the most traumatizing moments of his life.

Just like his father had told him to, he had survived. He had actually done a lot more than just that though. If he had just survived, he was sure that everything would be the same it had been that night twelve years ago. He hadn’t just survived though. He had allowed himself to live again, and that had been the key to change.

This wasn’t the same city it had been twelve years ago. He didn’t have the same mission he had had twelve years ago. He wasn’t the same man he had been twelve years ago.

Oliver stroked his thumb over his left ring finger and smiled when he felt his wedding band under the leather gloves. Even when he was out as the Green Arrow, he always wore his it. It reminded him of the person he was today – a man that wasn’t an island, but a man that was a beloved husband and father.

As a husband and father, he knew that his place was actually at home with his family. The times he had escaped his home to hit the streets to silence his conscience and make sure one or two less criminals were out there and able to hurt his family eventually were long over. Only after his latest near death experience, Oliver felt himself being pulled back into old habits though, especially when Felicity, who always anchored him to the present, wasn’t around.

The clock of the church in the next block struck twelve. Oliver knew that Felicity’s conference call with Moscow and Peking would only start now. He would busy himself out here for another two hours before he would head home, so he could sneak into bed just before Felicity would come home. That way, he could delay the conversation about why he was out here alone in the middle of a cold December night to tomorrow when Felicity would hear about it from Raisa.

The fingers of his hand rubbed together nervously when he thought about that conversation they would have tomorrow. He knew that she’d be worried about him if she heard that he had snuck out of their home to patrol in the city alone. She would be worried because he was alone and without back-up. Even more than that, she’d be worried about his need to leave the house and go out as the Green Arrow in the middle of the night. Felicity knew him better than anyone else did, so she knew exactly that he wasn’t alright if she found out.

Oliver squeezed his eyes shut and took in a deep breath. He was sure that Felicity knew that he wasn’t alright already. She would just get a clearer idea of how being abducted by Malcolm Merlyn and almost being killed by him had affected his wellbeing. While he knew she would be worried he also knew it was best if she knew. The more open they were about how they were feeling, the better.

When the phone he used as the Green Arrow rang, Oliver touched his suit right over his heart to take the call. A couple of years ago, he would have wondered who would call him as only a handful of people had had this number. Now, even most of the SCPD officers had the number, so they could contact the team whenever they needed help. They didn’t do so often, especially since the Green Arrow was usually informed about everything that was going on in the city already, but they did sometimes.

“Yes?”

“It’s me,” Quentin replied, his voice lowered to a whisper. “You got a second?”

“Always. Did something happen?”

“Do you remember the report of our drug crime department I gave to you earlier this week?”

Oliver’s fingers tightened around his bow, and his muscles tensed. If it came to crimes in the city, he had quite the good memory.

“You can be sure that I don’t forget a report about a new drug that drove ten people to commit suicide in less than a month.”

Oliver’s voice was lowered to a dark growl, and it had nothing to do with the voice modulator. That report had angered him when he had read it the first time since this new drug was highly dangerous and sold near the school district. If that drug gang wasn’t stopped soon, it was only a matter of time before the first youth would die from the drug.

“We got a location on their drug laboratory,” Quentin told him. “So far, the information is limited to me and one of my detectives that I trust a hundred percent. I am not sure how long I can hold back the information though, and I am almost sure that this new gang has connections to the police. As soon as I will circulate this information in the department, the gang will be gone before we get to catch them.”

Oliver’s muscles tensed even more. A new drug gang and corruption within the police were already two of the problems he couldn’t use and didn’t accept in his city. He would take care of both of it.

“Text me the address,” he said firmly. “I will take care of it.”

“I will.” Quentin faltered briefly. “Who’s with you?”

“Nobody. I can do this alone.”

“Maybe. Probably. If you survive that, Felicity will kill you though.”

A brief smile flashed over Oliver’s face at the prospect of being killed by Felicity. While he didn’t doubt for a second that she could kill someone if she needed to-

As soon as the amusement had come, it vanished. The bare thought that Felicity could be put into any position that would force her to kill someone made his chest tense so much that he had trouble breathing. The moment Felicity would have almost killed Malcolm Merlyn was on the more terrifying memories he had taken with him from his last Lian Yu experience.

“I can handle this.”

“In that case I will call backup for you,” Quentin said. “I’ll text you the address.”

Oliver hung up without another word, and it only took three more seconds for the address to be sent to his phone. As quickly as he could, Oliver made his way to the Warehouse District. Lately, the criminal activities had increased there. As the mayor, Oliver knew he had to do something soon, or the Warehouse District would turn into the same hotspot for crimes that the Glades had used to be.

It didn’t take long for Oliver to arrive at the Warehouse District. After a couple of minutes more, he reached the right address and snuck up onto the rooftop of the warehouse. Through the glassy roof, he could see the laboratory that was set up downstairs. He counted four people that seemed to be experimenting there. One guy seemed to supervise the work. From Oliver’s experience with Count Vertigo and Vertigo, he knew that guy was probably the boss.

Jumping onto the glassy roof, Oliver broke through the glass. He shot a grappling arrow to keep from falling several feet down. He landed on his feet instead and already drew the first arrow from his quiver. He pointed it at the guy at the other side of the room, who tried to reach the door and shut it at his leg, so he went down on his knee with a cry of pain. Without hesitation, Oliver shot another arrow that was attached with some technical device Felicity had developed. It would keep the electric door handle from opening the door.

A first guy went at him, trying to take him down, but Oliver fought him easily. As soon as he was down, he took another arrow from his quiver and tied him up with thick ropes. The other two guys that were left were taken down just as quickly.

With alerted eyes, Oliver watched out for the boss of the gang. It didn’t take long until he found them in the upper area of the warehouse. He was stuffing several papers into the inside of his leather jacket, probably trying to save the recipe of his drug. Oliver didn’t waste any time. He shot a grappling arrow to a beam at the ceiling and let himself be pulled up there.

The moment he took a first step towards the man, he knew he wouldn’t give up his fight as easily as the others had. With militant face, he crossed the distance at started fighting Oliver. There was no doubt that he had experience, but he stood no chance against Oliver. Within only a couple of seconds, Oliver had him urged against a wall with nowhere to go.

“Game over,” Oliver growled.

“Not yet.”

It took Oliver a moment too long before he realized what was happening. He had been so sure that he had succeeded in this fight already that he hadn’t noticed that the guy had moved. He had grabbed a tube from the wall. Holding it into his direction, thick smoke streamed into Oliver’s face, making it almost impossible to breathe. Oliver coughed, turning away to avoid being directly exposed to the smoke.

Even after he was out of the immediate reach of the smoke, it took another couple of seconds for Oliver to be able to breathe again. With his lungs still burning from the smoke, Oliver straightened back up and watched out for the boss of the drug factory. He was already at the door, trying to work against Felicity’s hacking arrow with a device of his own.

“Oh no,” Oliver whispered to himself. “Not on my watch.”

With that, Oliver pulled another arrow from the quiver. He aimed at the criminal’s feet and hit his heel at the first try. The guy went down with a grunt of pain, shooting an angry glare in Oliver’s direction. He didn’t let that stop him from shooting another arrow that tied the guy up with thick ropes.

Grunting in frustration, the guy tried to struggle against the ropes. Oliver just grinned to himself as he crossed the distance towards him. Instead of telling him that his fight was useless and would only hurt himself, Oliver waited until he was standing right over him and could make eye contact though.

“You think you have won?” the guy asked him, an evil glint in his eyes. “You are wrong.”

Oliver didn’t let that shake him. With one purposeful movement, he punched the guy into the face and knocked him out.

“I am not wrong.”

Oliver straightened back up and looked around the warehouse. All five criminals were down and unable to move. He knew he could leave them like that for as long as the police would take to pick them up after he had called Quentin.

Since there was still a scratchy feeling in his lungs, Oliver decided to leave the building before he called Quentin though. He needed to be able to take a few deep breaths before he could call his Quentin.

Deactivating the hack of the arrow, Oliver opened the door and stepped outside. With surprise or amusement or maybe a mixture of both, he perked up his eyebrows and almost chuckled.

“Are we late on the fun?”

Oliver waited until Tommy and Laurel, both suited up and masked, stood right in front of him. It still surprised him to see his best friend in vigilante gear sometimes as he had struggled with the thought of joining the team for some time. At the end, he had seen that putting his abilities to good use was the best way to deal with the trauma of what his father had done to him though.

“There was little to no fun to this,” Oliver replied, “but if there was, you missed it.”

“I will call my father to let him know that you took care of this then,” Laurel said.

Oliver nodded. “Yes, that seems to be a good-“

When a wave of dizziness washed over him, letting black dots dance in front of his eyes and making heat rush all over his skin, Oliver almost slumped forward. He managed to catch himself by the last second before he ended up on the floor.

“Ollie, are you alright?”

Worry was audible in Laurel’s voice though Oliver had trouble hearing it over the rushing of blood in his ear. He took in a deep breath. Though the freezing air felt like it was biting his lungs and grounded him to reality, it didn’t push his dizziness and nausea away completely.

“I am fine,” he said eventually, taking in another deep breath and squeezing his eyes shut until he really felt a little better. “I am just a little… dizzy.”

Oliver swallowed down hard, trying to push past his nausea that made his stomach cramp and the heat on his skin increase. Maybe the cold that had run through his family the last two weeks was affecting him now. He wasn’t sure if nausea was part of a cold though. He wasn’t sick often enough to know that.

“You should head home, man,” Tommy told him. “You look like crap.”

Oliver bit back any comment that he felt prickling on his lips and just nodded his head. He knew Tommy was right, and he wasn’t going to do any good as long as he felt like this.

“I will,” he said, nodding his head once more. “Will you take care of this?”

“Of course,” Laurel replied. “Like I said, I will contact my dad and let him know you took care of this.”

“And we will stay on duty for the rest of the life in case we are needed,” Tommy added. With a soft smile and Laurel, he asked, “Right?”

She smiled back at him. “Right.”

“Good.” Oliver sucked in another deep breath and nodded once more. “Thank you.”

“Nothing to thank us for.” Laurel shot him a brief smile. “That’s what a team is for.”

Oliver knew she was right. For a long time, he had fought against the thought of letting anyone in on his mission. He had let John and Felicity join in though, more because he had been forced to do so than he had really wanted to. Then he had included Roy, and Laurel had joined the team. Now they were collaborating with the SCPD through Quentin and Tommy had decided to become a part of the team too. They also had resources are A.R.G.U.S. thanks to Lyla, and their friends from Central City and Gotham were willing to help whenever they needed help too.

If it wasn’t for the expanded team, for everyone who had joined the team after Felicity and John, who he considered the founding members of this mission alongside him, he wasn’t sure if he had the family he had now. There wouldn’t be time to do so, and maybe he wouldn’t even be alive anymore.

The thought made a cold shiver run down his back. Without saying another word, he turned around and left. Taking the first steps away from the warehouse and his friends, he decided that he would make a short detour from the bunker to QI before heading home. Maybe he could convince Felicity to ignore work for the rest of the night and go to BBB with him instead. It felt like the perfect night for a nighty date with milkshakes and burgers. He could really need this tonight.

→ → → → →

As soon as the monitor went black, Felicity leaned back in her chair with a long sigh and closed her eyes. A part of her wanted to lift her feet to her desk, but her muscles felt so sore to do so. She loosened her hair from her ponytail und combed it with her fingers for a couple of seconds before she rubbed her hands over her face. She felt like every muscle in her face was aching, and her eyes were burning so madly that she had no idea how she was supposed to open them again.

It didn’t take long for Felicity to fell like she was slipping off into sleep. Since she knew that she needed to get back home if she didn’t want Oliver to go mad thinking something had happened to her, she quickly sat up and opened her eyes though. Trying to block out the pounding headache she had, she arranged the papers and files on her desk, so she could go right back to work if she came back to her office later this morning.

The prospect of getting only a couple hours of sleep before she had to be back at her desk to continue working made Felicity scrunch up her nose. As much as she loved her work because she knew how important it was, she couldn’t deny that she had enjoyed spending some lazy days in bed last week.

Shaking her head, Felicity pushed that thought away. There were only three more days of work before the holidays and the five more days before she’d go on another wonderful Bali vacation with her family. She was sure there would be plenty of time to spend lazy hours in bed during that vacation.

Until then, she would just have to work almost nonstop to leave Queen Incorporated behind for two weeks with a good feeling in the pit of her stomach. The cold she had caught last week had just frustrated her plans of spending only some light hours at work before heading back home to her family. There was a lot to work off before the end of the year.

Just when Felicity wanted to grab her purse and leave, so she could catch at least a few hours of sleep before she had to be back at the office for the last board meetings and conferences with the heads of her departments, her phone rang. Luckily, she decided to check for the caller’s ID instead of just taking the call. She was sure that it would have made for an awkward moment if she had just taken the call with a Hi, Hon, thinking it was Oliver as he was the only one who would usually call her at this time of the night.

“Bruce,” she said instead, a soft smile playing on her lips. “Hi.”

To say that her friendship with Bruce was tense was an understatement. Since he had confessed his love for her, Bruce had distanced himself from Felicity. They were still cooperating professionally as their companies were working together on a handful of projects. The phone calls she had received from him at least once a week just to chat about how she was doing had stopped though.

Felicity knew that Bruce needed time to adjust. He didn’t know how to deal with the fact that she knew about his feelings for her now. Admittedly, as much as Felicity missed Bruce and their friendship, she wasn’t quite sure how to deal with this either. She liked Bruce very much. He was important to her. She just didn’t see anything more in him than a good friend, and nothing would ever change that.

“Hi,” Bruce whispered back, and Felicity could hear a slight nervousness in his voice. “You’re still awake.”

“Yes, I just ended the conference call with Moscow and Peking. I was just about to head come to catch some hours of sleep.”

Bruce didn’t reply to that. He was all quiet though Felicity believed to hear a scratching sound at his end of the line. She was almost sure that he was scratching his thumb nail over the expensive wood of his desk. He always did that when he was nervous thought that really didn’t happen often. Bruce wasn’t the kind of man to get nervous often.

“How are you?” he asked eventually. “When I called last week, your assistant said you’ve been laid low. It sounded quite serious.”

“Well, as serious as a cold is,” Felicity replied with a chuckle. “It’s actually been more annoying than anything else. Did you receive my text? I thanked you for the bouquet of flowers you sent me.”

“I did, and you are welcome. I am happy you liked them.” Bruce stayed silent for a beat or two. “So, you are feeling better now?”

“Yes, I am fit again, at least mostly.” Felicity yawned. “I’m just a little tired.”

Bruce chuckled softly. “In that case I will let you get home and-“

“Actually, talking for a couple of minutes might actually help me to stay awake long enough to drive home without directing my car against the next street lamp.”

Felicity chuckled to herself quietly. Bruce didn’t join into it though, and it made Felicity sigh. She guessed that, just like Oliver, Bruce had lost too many people close to him already to think her little comment was funny.

“So, how’s the situation with your friends?” Bruce asked after a while. “Are you still in the middle of a civil war?”

“No, I actually took a step towards them,” Felicity replied. “We are on our way to rekindling.”

“You are a bigger person than I would be, you know that?”

Felicity smiled at the compliment though it made her heart clench almost a little bit painfully in her chest. It had taken her a long time to take this first step to John and, while she could see things from his perspective now, the situation was still complicated. She could deal with the team being around, but it still wasn’t easy.

“It was the right thing to do,” Felicity said eventually. “It couldn’t have stayed like that forever. I need to move past this and let go of the past.”

“If that is what you need, I am sure you are right,” Bruce replied. “How’s Oliver doing?”

Felicity sighed. “It’s difficult.”

Oliver’s life had always been difficult. He had experienced more trauma in life than most people would be able to deal with. Yet, Oliver, being the fighter that he was, always picked himself back up and tried to push past it and live on. Sometimes it was easier than other times, and Felicity knew that this time it was just that all the trauma of his life had come crushing back over him. He had picked himself back up like he always did, but he was still burdened by everything that had happened.

As long as Felicity had known Oliver, he had been traumatized. Over the years, she had gotten a better understanding for the depth of his trauma, for the ways it affected his life and for the triggers that made his trauma come back to the surface. For a long time, they had both believed that he had gotten better and that having a normal life with a family he trusted and loved was enough to overcome the trauma. Today they knew that he had just been better at finding mechanisms to hide what he was really feeling and even lie to himself about it.

Felicity doubted that Oliver’s trauma would ever be healed. She doubted that trauma could be healed at all, at least one as deep as Oliver’s, but she hoped that he would find ways to deal with it in a better and less destructive way than he had done so far. Therapy with Dr. Rosario was supposed to help him with that, and she hoped it would help her to support him in whatever way she could.

“I think this latest trauma just brought everything back to the surface,” Felicity whispered eventually. “It just opened up all the old wounds that have never properly healed. It’s why we decided to go to therapy and work on the deeper trauma rather than the shallow wounds. Maybe that will help him getting better.”

Bruce didn’t say anything, but Felicity could almost see him sitting in his chair and nodding to himself quietly. He had certainly experienced his own share of trauma and his own ways to deal with it.

“Sounds like a lot of work.”

“It is. It’s a lot of work actually, but Oliver’s worth it. We, I mean our marriage and our family, are worth it.”

Felicity made a brief pause, letting the words sink in. She felt warmth spreading inside of her chest, filling her with a feeling of contentedness and love. Whenever she thought about the depth of the bond she shared with Oliver, she felt this way.

“Being with someone who has been through as much as Oliver has can be difficult at times, but he has come a long way. When he came home from the island, he couldn’t trust anyone. Even when we got together, he still had problems trusting me. That’s different now. There are no secrets between us anymore, and there never will be again.”

A soft smile played on Felicity’s lips. She knew that neither she nor Oliver would ever be the kind of person to just share things immediately. They often needed their time to think things through themselves. After they had done that, they always shared their thoughts and feelings with each other though.

“Of course there are still struggles,” Felicity continued after a moment. “Oliver is often restless at night. He has troubles falling asleep, and he is haunted by nightmares. It got better through the years, but it’s still happening.”

Felicity remembered the night terrors he had had when they had first gotten together. Oliver had known how terrible his nightmares could be and how caught up he could be while sleeping that he hadn’t dared falling asleep while she had been lying in his arms. It had taken a couple of nights until she had noticed that, whenever she had woken up at night, Oliver had been awake already and had stared at her. When she had finally addressed it, he had admitted to being unable to sleep while she was sleeping, so they had taken turns at sleeping. She had been awake, holding him, while he had been sleeping and the other way around.

“Oliver’s trauma shows in a million different ways that affect his life and, in consequence, my life and the life of our kids too.” Felicity said. “It would certainly be easier to be with someone else, but it wouldn’t be half as wonderful. Oliver, despite every struggle that comes with his trauma, is the love of my life and the only person I can imagine spending the rest of my life with. No matter what happens, there is no struggle that could drive me away from him. Not ever.”

Maybe it sounded like she was challenging fate, but it wasn’t the way Felicity saw it. She wasn’t challenging fate. She was making sure that life knew there was no point in throwing more and more obstacles in their way. There was nothing life could do to them that would ever drive her and Oliver apart.

“Oliver can be really happy that he got you, you know that?”

Felicity smiled. “No, I can be happy I got him.”

Although her voice was soft, there was no doubt that she really meant it. She was lucky she had found Oliver because, despite every struggle, he gave her so much that only he could give her.

A moment too late, Felicity realized that maybe it wasn’t exactly fair to rave about Oliver to Bruce, not given the way he was feeling for her. She felt heart rising to her cheeks and quickly cleared her throat.

“I am sorry. I-“

“No, it’s fine,” Bruce said quickly though he didn’t sound exactly convinced. “You are both certainly lucky to have each other.”

Felicity nodded to herself without saying a word. Yes, they both were lucky that they had found each other in this crazy, crazy world.

“Okay, I will let you get home to your family now,” Bruce said eventually. “Bye, Felicity.”

“Bye, Bruce.”

With a little sigh, Felicity hung up the phone. She grabbed her purse and dropped her phone into it. Getting up from her chair, she grabbed her coat. She was just slipping into the first sleeve when she lifted her gaze and saw Oliver standing in the frame of the door. A smile spread on her lips immediately.

“Hey,” she said, quickly getting into the second sleeve and grabbing her purse from the desk. “If you came here to pick me up, you are right in time. I was just on my way home.”

As soon as she had crossed the distance towards Oliver, she straightened up onto the tip of her toes and brushed a lingering kiss against his lips. Usually, Oliver would sigh and wrap his arms around her as tightly as possible to keep her from moving away. He would tell her how much he had missed her all day and that she should never leave him alone for that long again. That he didn’t respond to the kiss at all right now, made Felicity pull back with a frown.

“Hey, is everything alright?”

Felicity looked at Oliver with worry in her eyes and lifted her hands to cup his cheeks gently. She stroked her fingertips through his stubble and watched his face thoroughly. He didn’t lean into her touch like he usually did when she cupped his cheeks like that. He just looked at her with almost dead eyes, his face stone-still and his body completely tense.

“Oliver?” she asked gently. “What’s wrong, Hon?”

Oliver took in a deep breath, and Felicity could feel his body trembling slightly. A thousand different scenarios of what had happened to trigger this reaction from him crossed her mind, and Felicity couldn’t help but worry even more about him. Usually, he was the most shaken when something had happened to his family which wasn’t helping Felicity to stay calm at all.

“Oliver?”

“Why are you leaving me?”

Felicity’s frown deepened. His voice sounded desperate and broken. He wasn’t teasing her like he usually did when he asked something like that. He was absolutely serious and a thousand percent convinced that she really was leaving.

“Oliver, I am not leaving you. I am-“

“I heard you.”

Oliver’s voice was whispered to a dark growl. Anger showed on his face, and he tightened his hands to fists next to his hips. It made every muscle in his arms tense, so they made the fabric of his Henley stretch over them. Shaking his head to make her hands fall off his face, he took a determined step away from her.

“You are going to leave. You are just going to take the kids and go, and I will never see either of you again. I will lose you. I will lose all of you and-“

“-Oliver, I-“

“-and I understand that it’s not easy with me. I know that. My life is complicated. My life is dangerous. I will get all of you in danger. It’s easier with someone else. I know that. I just can’t-“

“-Oliver, Honey-“

“-and I am broken, but I love you guys, and I- I-“

Felicity had tried to approach Oliver again, but he had taken a step back whenever she had taken a step towards him. His arms were lifted, trying to push her hands that were reaching out for his face away.

“Oliver.”

Her whisper was urgent as she could see that he was completely shaken. Tears were welling in his eyes and his voice had broken. Oliver tried to push her away again, not wanting her close, but Felicity didn’t let him move away this time. She took a step towards him, grabbed his hands and rested them against his cheeks.

“I am here,” she whispered a lot more gently now. “I am here. I am not leaving you. Ever.”

“I heard you,” Oliver insisted, shaking his head frantically. “I heard you. You are leaving. Why are you leaving? Why now? You promised you’d never leave. Now you leave, and you are taking the kids, and I will be alone.”

Felicity had trouble to keep Oliver from moving away from her yet again. Pressing herself as close to him as possible, Felicity could feel his racing heartbeat against her chest. She framed his hands with her hands once more, no matter how much he tried to distance himself. Her fingers clawed into his face slightly. It was the only way to stop him from moving his head and force him to look at her.

“Oliver, look at me,” he said. “Look at me please. Oliver.”

Oliver wouldn’t keep still though, and Felicity eased her grip as she was too worried that she was just tearing his hair out. He continued trying to fight against her though he didn’t put much effort into it. Felicity knew that he could hurl her across the room without even putting too much energy into it. That he wasn’t doing it just proved to her that he didn’t mean it as much as he tried to.

Felicity had no idea what was going on here, but her worry increased with each second that passed. She had seen Oliver breaking down a couple of times before, but she had never seen him like this. He was completely out of himself, barely responsive and completely caught up in a desperate way of thinking.

“Oliver, look at me. I am here,” she whispered gently. “I am here. I am not going anywhere. We are a family. We will stay together forever. I love you, Oliver. I love you.”

She said the last words slowly. It took her a moment to realize that Oliver had stopped moving. He was still shaking and still kept his head turned away from her, but he didn’t try to fight her as much as he had before.

“I love you,” she whispered once more and repeated the words again and again. “I love you. I love you. I love you.”

Finally, Oliver looked at her. He was breathing heavily, almost hyperventilating so much that his heartbeat only quickened more. Felicity was actually scared that his heart would just give out if it was going to continue at this rate. She pressed herself even closer towards him, trying to make him feel her heartbeat, so his heart could adapt to the rhythm of his like it usually did. It didn’t seem to work though.

“Oliver.”

As she whispered his name now, Oliver’s eyes focused on her. Felicity could see how exhausted and broken he was. More importantly though, she could see that his pupils were dilated unnaturally and the muscles around his lips were spasming slightly.

“Oliver,” she whispered his name again, “where have you been before you came here?”

“Why are you asking this? Why are you leaving me? Why-“

Felicity could feel that she was losing him again already, so she quickly leaned forward and leaned her forehead against his.

“I love you,” she whispered like she had before. “I love you. I love you. I love you. I need to know where you have been before because I love you so much. I love you, but I think you have been drugged. I need to figure out if that is true because I love you and-“

“I took down a drug gang.”

“Okay, that’s good.” Felicity stroked her hand over his cheek slowly. “Who has been with you?”

“I- I don’t remember.”

“That’s okay,” she whispered. “That’s okay. We will find out. I love you.”

Felicity took in some deep breaths to calm herself down and sort her thoughts. She was almost as shaken by this as Oliver was. If he had really been drugged, at least she knew what was going on with him and could work this out for him much more easily than it would be the case if he had a breakdown.

“Okay, can you sit down,” she asked him. “Please.”

Oliver released a sound of discomfort and his arms suddenly wrapped around her so tightly that Felicity almost had trouble breathing. She didn’t mind though as she took some broken ribs and trouble breathing over being pushed away by him anytime.

“I am not going anywhere,” Felicity promised him. “I will stay with you the entire time. I just think you should sit down.”

It took a moment before Oliver finally nodded. Not letting go of her, he took three steps back until the back of his knees hit the edge of the couch. He let himself slump into the cushions and pulled Felicity onto his lap. His arms stayed around her middle as his head lowered to the top of her chest with his ear resting over his heart the same way it did when they were sleeping.

Stroking one hand over his hair slowly, Felicity’s other hand rummaged around in her purse until she got a grab on her phone. She pulled it out and quickly dialed John’s number. With held breath, she waited for him to pick up, but it was only his voicemail answering.

“John, if you hear me, please call me back. It’s urgent.”

Without hesitation, she dialed the next number that came to mind. Before she got to press the green button to make the call, Oliver lifted his head from her shoulder and looked at her though.

“I am thirsty.”

Felicity nodded. “I’ll get you a glass of water, okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Just stay here,” she asked him. “I’ll be right back.”

When Oliver just nodded, she brushed her lips against his gently. As she hurried to the small kitchenette, she glanced back over her shoulder several times. She didn’t know how long Oliver would be able to focus on what was real before he would get caught up in the effects of the drug again. She knew she couldn’t leave him alone for longer than absolutely necessary, and she even had a bad feeling just taking her eyes off him for a couple of seconds.

As soon as she had reached the kitchenette, she grabbed a bottle of water from the small fridge. Just when she wanted to pour a glass of water for Oliver, her phone rang. Seeing John’s photo blinking on the display of her phone, she took the phone quickly.

“John, thank God,” Felicity whispered and took another look back over her shoulder to see that Oliver was still sitting where she had left him, his head lowered his hands formed to tight fists. “Where are you.”

“At home,” he replied. “What happened? Your call sounded urgent.”

“I think Oliver was drugged,” she told him. “He showed up at QI completely out of himself. He has small spasms in his face, and his pupils are dilated. He said he took down a drub gang and someone helped him, but he doesn’t remember and-“

“I will get the team together in the bunker. Can you get Oliver there or should I pick you two up?”

“No, I think-“

Felicity stopped when she turned back around and saw that Oliver was gone. With two quick steps, she stepped out of the kitchenette and back into her office. She took a look around, but Oliver was nowhere to be seen. She almost ran into the hallway and felt her heart giving out when she saw that the only openable window at the other side of the large window front was opened. A gush of cold wind came in through it.

“Felicity?” John asked. “Felicity, is everything okay?”

“No,” Felicity said. “I think we have a serious problem here.”

→ → → → →

Being with someone who has been through as much as Oliver has is just so difficult.

Oliver couldn’t get rid of Felicity’s voice in his head. Her voice had sounded so soft like it always did. It was why it had taken him several seconds to really comprehend what she had said. He wasn’t used to words like that spilling from her lips, but she had said them, and not even the softness of her voice had managed to hide the fact that her words had stung like a knife that was twisted in his stomach. Oliver had experience with that, so he knew what he was talking about.

He knew that life with him was difficult. He had always known that. He was a damaged man, a broken soul, an irreparable mess. He had been all of this since the day the Gambit had sunken, or maybe he had been like that even before when he considered that he had had trouble connecting with people before that already. He saw the monster he had become whenever he looked into the mirror, and it made him look away every single time, unable to take his reflection in the mirror.

So far, Oliver had always believed that Felicity could deal with who he was. She had been so determined in being able to take whatever struggle his life was coming with. She hadn’t let him push her away, saying that she was her own person and made her own decisions.

He had been wrong to trust her believes though. He had known that it would be too much, and he should have trusted that feeling. He knew himself better than anyone else could ever know him, so he should have known that he was no good for anyone, and he should have protected Felicity from the disappointment of seeing who he really was and how impossible life with him was.

Oliver moved his fingers through his hair, only barely resisting the urge to tore out his hair violently. He let his fingernails scratch over his scalp and let the pain ground him. It didn’t cheat the aching feeling in his heart though.

Of course it had had to become too much for Felicity to take. She was a patient person with a good soul, but even the most patient person and the best soul couldn’t take the life he was burdening everyone with forever. It was a miracle anyone had borne it with him for so long, and he knew, instead of being sad, he should be grateful for the time he had had with Felicity.

There was a time that I thought he had changed, but he really hasn’t. He is still the same man that came home from the island and didn’t trust anyone. He thinks he trusts me, but he doesn’t. He still doesn’t open up. He still doesn’t see me as a partner in life. I am his sidekick rather than his partner, someone to blindly follow his lead instead of someone to help him making a decision.

Maybe if he had changed, they would have had a chance. He should have gone to therapy sooner, give someone the power to change him and heal him sooner. He should have tried to confront his trauma rather than finding ways to cover his pain. Maybe then Felicity would still be able to live with him.

He trusted her, or at least he believed that he had believed that he trusted her. Apparently, he had been wrong though. If Felicity felt like he didn’t really trust him, he was sure that she was right. He should have been better. He should have opened up more.

Oliver wondered if Felicity had tried to tell him that she wasn’t comfortable with the way their marriage was going. If he had known, maybe he could have changed something in time. Felicity had probably not seen any point in addressing this problem towards him though. After all, he had never been a good listener, so he probably wouldn’t have noticed how serious she was anyway.

He felt like he had been living in his own little bubble these last years, thinking everything was fine and blocking out everything that could have hinted to it being different. Who knew how much damage he had done.

It’s just so exhausting with him. He is restless and has troubles falling asleep which always make him as clingy as a kid. Then his nightmares that make him only clingier keep me from sleeping. If he wouldn’t hold onto me so tightly every night, I would just leave the bed and sleep somewhere else, somewhere away from him.

His nightmares had always been a problem. From his second night back in Starling City when he had choked his mother in his sleep, he had known that they would be a severe problem. Through some miracle, he hadn’t killed Felicity in his sleep in all those years. That her nightmares still bothered and annoyed him, didn’t surprise him though. It had to be terrible to be woken up because the person you shared a bed with was haunted by nightmares regularly.

His clinginess was another problem. A part of him had believed that maybe Felicity had enjoyed his need for closeness and intimacy, but he must have completely misunderstood her. Maybe he had never really known her. He had just tried to project his own needs onto her, trying to make his life as easy as possible.

Oliver’s trauma shows in a million different ways that affect his life and, in consequence, my life and the life of our kids. It would just be so much easier with someone else. The kids would be happier, and I would be happier too. I just don’t know why I got married to him. Now I am forever linked to him, and I don’t know how to get rid of him. I wish I could just pack my stuff and pack the kids’ stuff and leave. God, I wished I could just be free from him.

He had always known that he didn’t deserve her. He had always known that Felicity deserved better than him. She deserved someone who could give her everything she wanted and needed in life, someone who could support her instead of someone who constantly needed her support. She deserved someone who didn’t make her life as risky as it was through him. She deserved someone better.

She had married him, and she had kids with him, and that was the one reason why she couldn’t leave him now. She felt like she was forever trapped with him, unable to go though it was all she really wanted and all she and the kids really needed.

If Felicity really believed that her life and the life of their children would be happier without him, he would let her go without putting up a fight to try winning her back. She wasn’t his prisoner, so it wasn’t like he had to set her free. If his approval was what she needed to attempt another path of life that promised more happiness, he would give that to her. All he had ever wanted was for his family to be happy, and if that meant that he had to leave them, he would.

Standing in front of the glass case that held his newest suit, Oliver lunged out and let his fist meet the glass. It shattered, a thousand scattered pieces of glass falling down on the floor. He released a guttural scream.

His life had seemed so perfect, too perfect maybe. He should have known that none of this could be real.

Pacing up and down for a couple of minutes, he thought about his first time back in Starling City. He had been focused back then, determined to just follow his plan of saving the city just like his father had told him. He should have stayed alone, not letting anyone in on his secret. Doing things alone had been when he had been most effective.

He had never been supposed to fall in love and have a family, and his experience with women during that first years back should have taught him better than to think that he could be in a relationship. Helena had gone crazy. McKenna had almost been killed. Laurel’s guilt had driven her into an addiction. Isbel Rochev had been a backstabbing bitch. Sara hadn’t been able to overcome her darkness at his side.

He wasn’t good for anyone. He wasn’t good for a relationship, and he certainly wasn’t good for a family. If Felicity hadn’t managed to live with the burdens his life had put on her, neither could his kids. Maybe they were all better off without him.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Oliver looked at his wedding band, the same wedding band that had been his anchor and his beacon of hope for the last years. As he looked at it now, he felt his stomach twisting painfully as it would now turn into a reminded of everything he had hoped he could have but just couldn’t have.

He should have known that all of this had been too good to be true. A moment like this, a moment when Felicity had finally had enough of him, was bond to happen, and Oliver was lucky it had only happened now. Maybe it had been easier if it had happened sooner because there would be less wonderful memories that would now turn painful. For the first time in his life, he had experience what real happiness felt like though, so he shouldn’t be ungrateful for it.

When Olive noticed the warmth on his hand, Oliver lifted his fingers and saw the blood running down his fingers. Some scattered pieces of the glass were still sticking to his skin. He didn’t mind though as he couldn’t feel any pain over the soul-wrenching heartbreak anyway.

With fast steps, Oliver walked to the back of the lair and opened several of the cabinets there until he found a familiar box. He pulled it out of the cabinet and opened it, pulling the green leather that was inside out and holding it in front of him, so he could take a thorough look at it.

The hood he had worn when he had come back from the island and started his mission as the Hood had experienced several alterations through the years. After Michael Foster had abducted Felicity and shot him several times, he had exchanged the original hood against a new model Cisco had designed for him. He had still kept the original hood he had gotten from Yao Fei as a reminder of how it had all started. With the holes the bullets had left when they had burnt through the fabric before hitting his chest, they even carried a reminder of everything that had changed.

As the Hood, he had been focused. He had known that his entire life had to revolve around his mission. Everything else had just been a distraction and a threat. Everyone who had known too much had just been too dangerous – too dangerous of himself and for his mission.

Maybe he hadn’t seen it before, but he had been distracted by having a family. They had been a wonderful distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. He had strayed far from the path he had sworn to take when he had come back, and maybe that was why there still popped up new criminals whenever Oliver didn’t watch out and why there was corruption within the police now.

Maybe it was time to go back to the basics.

Standing where he was, Oliver dropped his clothes to the floor and got into his old leathers. They still suited him well though the fabric seemed to span a little bit more around his arms. He had gained a lot more muscles since his first two years back. Raising five kids had forced him into improve his strength a little.

Oliver put some grease on his eyes and put on the hood. When he reached for his leather gloves, his gaze fell onto his wedding band. In the half-dark of the bunker, the platin almost seemed to shine. It seemed fitting since this small piece of metal had lighted his way for the past years.

It took Oliver a deep breath before he was able to take the wedding band off. A well-defined tan line showed where had carried that ring for the last years. Closing his eyes, Oliver dropped the ring to the floor, and, although the sound was actually really quiet, it couldn’t be louder if had caused an explosion. The ring hitting the concrete floor was just so definite as it rang in the end of the life as Oliver knew it.

Life as he had known and enjoyed it these last years was over. It was time to focus back on why he had come to Starling City and be that something he had changed into to achieve his goals.

It was time to go back to being the Hood.

→ → → → →

“Oliver?”

Felicity hadn’t had much hope that they would find Oliver here. She had been sure that, if Oliver had gone to the bunker, he would have left before they arrived here. As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, she knew that he had been here, and she knew that he was already gone again. She knew she should have trusted her intuition from the start.

“He’s not here.”

Despite stating the obvious, John kept his gun unlocked and aimed, ready to shoot. Felicity knew that she should be worried because John would hardly miss his aim, and his aim was actually her husband. If the drug that was probably in Oliver’s system was nearly as dangerous as she thought it was, Felicity was sure that being shot would be a better outcome for Oliver.

While John searched the lair, Felicity walked to the back of the lair. Oliver’s clothes had been discarded on the floor. They were lying next to a box that Felicity knew had held his first Hood. Although it had been ruined when her stalker had shot at him years ago, she hadn’t been able to burn it. It had carried to many memories, and she had always thought that it served as a good reminder of how far Oliver had come through the years.

Felicity took a step towards the cabinets, so she could check if anything else was missing. When she felt that she was stepping onto something and the sound of metal scratching over the concrete sounded through the bunker, she stopped though. Frowning, she took a step back and felt her heart stopping for a beat or two at what she saw.

Discarded like his clothes, Oliver’s wedding band was lying on the floor.

There were no words that could possibly express how painful the sight was for Felicity. She knew how much this ring meant to Oliver. He always took it everywhere. Even in the field where the ring could easily reveal his identity if he ever lost it, he took it with him. He always kissed it before taking it off or putting it on again, reminding himself of the promise they had made to each other and why he had to come home safe every night.

The fact that he must have taken it off just proved just how far gone he was.

Sucking in a deep breath, Felicity crouched down and took the ring. She rested it on the flat palm of her hand, looking at it closely. Some drops of blood were clinging to the metal, but given the condition of the glass box that held Oliver’s current suit, she really shouldn’t be surprised Felicity guessed.

“Found anything?”

As John approached, Felicity got up and lifted the ring between her fingers for John to see.

“His wedding band.”

John pinched his lips for a moment. Taking in a deep breath, he put his hand to Felicity’s shoulder then and looked at her with his calm eyes.

“We will find him,” he promised her, “and he will be okay. This is all going to get solved.”

Felicity wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince himself or trying to convince her. It didn’t really matter anyway. She was grateful for his words because the more often things like this happened to Oliver, the harder it was to hold onto hope. She knew that their luck would eventually run out.

As much as the thought wanted to paralyze her it seemed, Felicity knew there was no time for that right now. She couldn’t let this fear keep her from doing what she had to do to find Oliver.

“I will check if the tracker in his old boots still works.”

On the way to her desk, Felicity’s hand clenched to a tight fist around Oliver’s ring. The metal almost cut into her skin, but Felicity didn’t mind.

Sitting down at her computers, Felicity let go of the ring and switched on her computers. It only took a couple of seconds for the system to be ready for work. Felicity didn’t waste any second and just let her fingers dance over the keyboard quickly.

“The tracker is deactivated.”

“Can you reactivate it?” John asked, stepping behind her.

“If Oliver’s anywhere near a wi-fi hotspot, I should,” Felicity replied and already started working on that when several notifications of their alarm system popped up on screen. “Roy and Thea are coming through the elevators, and Laurel Tommy are coming from the back of the bunker.”

“You continue finding your man, and I will tell them what happened.”

John squeezed Felicity’s shoulder once more before he stepped away from her. Determined to focus on her work completely, Felicity tried to block out the team’s voices as they gathered together at the other end of her work station. She didn’t really succeed though.

“What happened?” Thea asked, nervousness in her voice. “Where’s Ollie?”

“We saw him earlier tonight,” Laurel said. “He seemed dizzy, but he was fine. We thought it was because he had taken out a drug gang all by himself.”

“Actually, it looks like he has been drugged,” John explained. “He showed up at Queen Incorporated, completely out of himself. Felicity tried to calm him down, but he got away at the first chance given to him. He’s gone with his Hood-suit.”

“Okay, we have to find him,” Roy said. “Any luck on that?”

“Working on it,” Felicity replied from her work station and was just about to add that it might take too long when the tracker she had never removed from the original hood when the signal finally responded. “Got him!”

“Where is he?” Thea asked, hurrying towards Felicity like the rest of the team.

“Oh no.”

“What?” Laurel asked.

“I think he’s on his way to the SCPD,” Felicity replied, following Oliver’s movements on the monitor. “This is bad, right?”

“Yeah,” John agreed and quickly straightened back up. “Tommy, Laurel, you take the motorcycles. Everyone else is getting into the van.”

“Without our suits?” Roy asked.

“We don’t have time for suits,” John replied. “We just get Oliver into the van and get him here as quickly as possible and hope that nobody will see us.”

Felicity knew as well as everyone else that it was risky to be in the field without any masks. If the team had to fight Oliver and someone caught that fight on video, the suspicion that they were the other vigilantes would be obvious. She also knew that John was right and there really was no time though.

Everyone else seemed to come to the same conclusion as no more word was said and everyone did as John had commanded. Felicity grabbed her phone and her tablet, already viewing the results of the tracking on her tablet while still running to the van. The doors of the car weren’t even closed yet when John already directed the van out of the bunker.

“Okay, I don’t want to cause bad luck,” Roy said carefully, “but what will we do if we don’t get there in time?”

“If we continue at this pace, we will make it,” Felicity replied, quickly doing the math in her head, “and if we don’t, Laurel and Tommy will.”

From Oliver’s movements, Felicity doubted that he had a motorcycle or any other vehicle. He was moving quickly, but not quickly enough for that. They wouldn’t stand a chance against him otherwise. Just like with archery, Oliver was just in his element when he was on a motorcycle.

Without looking away from her tablet, Felicity dialed the fifth number she had on speed dial and prayed to God that he’d take the call.

“Is he dead?”

Felicity felt her heart skip a beat. “What?”

“Oh, I thought you would kill him as soon as you found out that he took out this drug gang without backup.”

“I probably would have,” Felicity replied, but quickly shook her head to focus back on what was important. “Quentin, Oliver was drugged. He is on his way towards you now, and I don’t think he has the best intentions. He’s dug out his old suit.”

“What can I do to help?” Quentin asked immediately.

“In case he gets to the SCPD before any of us is getting there, you have to stop him.”

“I barely dare asking, but how exactly do you picture me stopping him?”

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut. She knew her husband. She knew Oliver’s abilities. He took out two dozens of cops at once if necessary.

“I don’t know,” Felicity replied honestly. “Shoot him if necessary. I really don’t care. Just stop him before he gets in too much danger.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

Felicity felt like the ride to the SCPD took an eternity. She watched the green dot moving through the map of the city while the yellow and the brown dots for Laurel and Tommy were slowly catching up.

By the time the van finally turned into the backstreet behind the precinct, Laurel and Tommy had already caught up to Oliver. Since there were hardly any movements visible in the tracking now, Felicity assumed that the three of them were either talking or, which was probably more likable, engaging in a fight. She didn’t dare to check the security cameras that were there to check. She made sure one more time that the cameras were hacked and wouldn’t save any video footage.

Felicity didn’t wait for the van to stop. As soon as it slowed down, she got up and jumped out of the still driving car. She wasn’t the only one as Roy and Thea hadn’t hesitated either. While Felicity was still trying to process what she was seeing, Roy and Thea already joined into the fight.

Tommy, Laurel, Roy and Thea were all putting a lot of effort into the fight. No matter how much they tried, Oliver didn’t let himself be conquered by them. He had trained three of his four opponents for years, so Felicity wasn’t surprised that they couldn’t take him down. Besides, it was always hard to fight family and friends.

When Felicity took a step towards the fight, knowing that she was the only one who could help Oliver snapping out of this, John stepped in front of her. He looked at her with a worried frown and shook his head.

“You cannot throw yourself into that.”

“I have to,” Felicity replied firmly. She looked past John’s shoulder at where the fight was still going before she looked back at him again, locking eyes with him. “Oliver won’t hurt me. I know what I am doing. Trust me.”

Felicity knew there was probably a lot more determination in her voice than there should be. She remembered an incident a couple of years ago. Oliver had been drugged too, and he had tried to fight it. One wrong move and he hadn’t been able to control himself though. His hand had wrapped around her throat, holding her in a tight grip until she had been unable to breathe.

Still, she wasn’t afraid now.

“Trust me.”

John’s resistance wavered. With a brief look back over his shoulder, he drew his gun and finally nodded his head.

“Fine, but if he makes one wrong move, I will shoot him.”

Felicity didn’t reply to that. She didn’t even think any further about John’s words. She just nodded her head briefly and went past him towards Oliver. She had no idea how she managed to sneak past all the fighters and right into the eye of the hurricane of a fight, but she did.

“Oliver.”

As soon as she whispered his name, Oliver turned around to her and stilled. Only now Felicity realized how close she was to him. His chest brushed against hers whenever he took he took in a breath, and his breath ghosted over her face whenever he breathed out. A fine layer of sweat covered his face and almost made the grease around his eyes smear.

An almost deadly silence had spread in the dark alley. Only the heavy breaths of everyone present were to be heard. John and Quentin were the only exceptions as they were breathing slowly, their guns pointed at Oliver calmly.

“Oliver,” Felicity whispered his name once more. “It’s time to go home.”

There was something in his eyes, a glint of brokenness she hadn’t seen with this depth in a long time. Her fingers were tingling with the need to cup his cheeks in her hands, so she could hold him and protect him. She didn’t want him to suffer any more than he had suffered already.

Before Felicity could do anything, the expression in his eyes hardened though.

“I don’t have a home anymore.”

“That is not true.” Felicity wanted to scream the words, drubbing them into his head until this truth was really in his head, but she kept her voice lowered to a whisper instead. “As long as I live, you will always have a home. That home is with me and our kids. So please come home with me.”

Her words didn’t pass by Oliver unheard. She could see him processing what she had said. He might try to believe her, but Felicity doubted that the drugs were making it easy for him. His eyes showed that he was struggling to let the thought that she was not leaving him into his head, probably aware that it would kill him if this was a red herring.

“You want to leave,” Oliver whispered, and his voice sounded more desperate than angry now. “You want to take the kids and go.”

Felicity cocked her head. She lifted her hands, intending to touch his face. When Oliver wanted to pull away, she quickly pulled her hand back though.

“Oliver, I am not going anywhere,” Felicity whispered. “Ever. I will always love you, and I will always, always be with you. Don’t go in there and risk what we have built. This city needs you. I need you. Our kids need you.”

“I have to go in there, Felicity,” he told her. “I have to make sure there are no corruptions in the police. I have to make this city a safer place.”

“And you will. We will. Just not tonight and not like this.” Felicity smiled softly, hoping it would calm Oliver down. “We will go home, and you will sleep and rest. We can still think about what to do about this tomorrow after we had had breakfast with our kids. We don’t have to do this tonight.”

Oliver’s hand that was holding his bow tightly was shaking. Felicity could see how much she was struggling. While she wished she could just tie him up and throw him into the back of the van, so she could take him home. Instead, she did what she knew he needed. She gave him time.

“I don’t know how to tell if you’re real and if you mean it.”

Felicity felt her heart aching for Oliver. She hadn’t much own experience with drugs, but she knew that Starling City’s drug bosses were quite creative when it came to drugs that killed someone psychologically.

“Oliver, it’s just the drugs messing with you head.”

When she lifted her hand this time, Oliver didn’t back away. His eyes locked onto hers, and with held breath he waited for her to do something. Felicity hesitated only briefly, making sure he was alright with the touch, before she rested her hand right over his heart.

“Just focus on your heartbeat,” she whispered. “Just focus on this.”

Oliver still continued holding his breath, looking at her without moving. Felicity was sure this was one of the situations where it was now or never. If she didn’t reach through to him now, she didn’t stand a chance at reaching through to him at all as long as he was on drugs.

Slowly, Oliver lifted his free hand to his chest and rested it right over hers on his heart. It took him another two seconds before he seemed to process that this was real. A breath of relief escaped him as he smiled. His heartbeat evened out under the palm of her hand, Felicity smiled at that.

“There you are,” she whispered and spread her fingers on his chest. “Welcome back.”

→ → → → →

“This is for you.”

Oliver ogled the drink Felicity was holding out for him suspiciously. Even from the small distance between the glass and his face, he could smell the stinging stench. It seemed to reach from his nose right into his brain, leaving a sharp pain there That the color of the drink was a mixture of too many different colors to name – some weird mixture of brown, green, black, yellow, maybe a little bit of red and violet too – didn’t make it any easier to consider drinking that.

“What is that?”

“It will help,” Felicity told him. “Trust me.”

There was a part of Oliver that wanted to object because he wasn’t sure if trust should go this far. Since he still felt completely shaken after those hours of not knowing what was real and what to believe, he knew trusting Felicity would be his best choice. Trusting Felicity was always his best choice and his best chance.

Squeezing his eyes shut, he downed the liquid as quickly as he could. He tried to block out the taste as he had to admit that it tasted even more terrible than it looked or smelled. During his five years away, he had drunken and eaten a lot that had had tasted terrible, but this drink might cap it all.

“Salty.”

Oliver placed the empty glass on the small table before he lifted his gaze to Felicity again. She was standing only an arm length away from him, looking at him with a soft smile on her lips. She didn’t have to say anything for Oliver to see that she was just as shaken from what had happened as he was.

Without saying a word, Oliver reached out his hand. Felicity’s eyes glanced down to it briefly before she put her hand into his and let him tug her close. She sat down on his thighs, resting her arm around his shoulders and leaning his head against hers.

“How are you?”

Her voice was low, but Oliver was sure that the rest of the team could still hear it. He didn’t mind, and he knew neither did Felicity.

“Better now,” he whispered, “as always when you’re with me.”

Oliver closed his eyes, letting those words wash over him. Feeling her heartbeat against his rips, hearing her even breathing and smelling the scent of her skin just made him feel so much better already. Here, with Felicity right next to him, he felt safe and at home. As long as she was around, he knew exactly who he was and where he belonged.

Frowning slightly, Oliver pulled away and looked at Felicity. She held his gaze, perking up her eyebrows. He lifted his hand, brushing his fingertips over her cheek.

He didn’t remember everything that had happened while he had been on drugs. There were scattered pieces of memories it seemed, and he tried to put them all together, but he still knew there were little gaps that he didn’t know how to fill.

He remembered fighting Tommy, Laurel, Roy and Thea. Then he remembered Felicity suddenly standing in front of him. He had no idea who exactly she had gotten there though.

“It was quite crazy of you to throw yourself into the middle of that fight, you know?” he asked, his frown deepening. “I could have hurt you.”

Whenever Oliver was in fight-mode, it was hard to distinct between enemies and friends. With the drugs running through his body and taking away his control, it had been even harder. The thought that he could have just lunged out and hurt Felicity made his stomach twist even now that she was safe in his arms. Thinking that he could have easily done more than hurt her was unthinkable. He was unable to think that thought.

“I knew you wouldn’t.”

Felicity put her hand on his heart and smiled. There was no hesitation on her face. There was nothing but utter faith, and it made Oliver’s heart skip a beat.

After everything that had happened today, the words he had thought she had said, he wasn’t able to take it though. Clearing his throat to get rid of the thick lump that had formed in his throat, Oliver turned to John.

“And you just let her do that?”

For a second, John looked like he was about to chuckle. Instead of doing so though, he just smiled his Yoda-smile as Felicity would call it, the smile of a wise man. He glanced at Felicity briefly before he looked back at Oliver.

“Felicity knows you best,” he simply said then, “so I trust her judgement when it comes to you.”

The words were hanging in the air heavily, and Oliver wasn’t the only one who noticed it. He could feel it in the way that Felicity’s muscles tensed slightly that she didn’t miss the deeper meaning to those words. Of course she didn’t miss them.

It hadn’t been long that the team had been split because John hadn’t trusted Felicity’s judgement during his alleged death. Felicity had felt that he had been alive, and John hadn’t believed her, forcing Felicity to find someone else to help.

The team still wasn’t back to the way it had been before this latest tragedy had happened. There were still tensions running through the team, but they were all on their way to recovery and rekindling. They were just taking one step at a time, and the only reason they were able to do that was because of Felicity – because Felicity had this kind and forgiving soul.

Smiling softly, Oliver angled his head forward and pressed a kiss to Felicity’s shoulder through the fabric of her dress.

He knew there were a lot of things that needed to be said after what had happened tonight. The things he had hallucinated had shaken him, and he could still feel that in his bones. He knew that Felicity was shaken about what had happened and about what he had done too though. There was just a lot to be addressed when it was just them. They didn’t need any listeners for that.

“Well, well,” Tommy said eventually, breaking the silence that had settled. “You always had a proclivity to the dramatic, Ollie.”

Oliver smiled with amusement. “Me? Never.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, but I consider a suicide mission quite dramatic,” Thea agreed with her half-brother, well, her other half-brother. “Even for you it’s dramatic.”

Oliver wasn’t sure if it had been a suicide mission. When he had decided to go to the SCPD, he hadn’t considered it to be suicide. Looking back, it had been quite suicidal though. Walking into a building full of cops who didn’t all accept vigilantes running around the city had been crazy. It could have easily killed him if he hadn’t been stopped.

The drugs hadn’t let him see that at that time, but Oliver knew better now. Maybe he hadn’t chosen to commit suicide voluntarily, but, in his subconsciousness, it might have played a role.

“Well, I think what I did was a reasonable response to the prospect of losing my family.” When Oliver felt Felicity’s gaze on him and turned his head to see her looking at him with perked up eyebrows and eyes full of doubt, he quickly cleared his throat though. “My opinion.”

“That we will have to talk about,” Felicity told him, tapping her forefinger against his lips, “but not tonight.”

Oliver nodded slowly. He was sure Felicity had some things to say about that, but he was glad that they wouldn’t talk about it tonight. Maybe their next therapy session was the best place to address this. In the protected room of Dr. Rosario’s office and with her professional help, maybe that was what was best.

“Does anyone else feel the need for a drink?” Thea asked eventually, leaning back against Roy’s chest with a sigh. “Because I really wanna have a drink right now.”

“Yeah, let’s go to Verdant or Green Doors,” Roy agreed. “I could use a drink.”

“I will have to relinquish the drink, but why not.”

When Laurel yawned, Tommy chuckled and tugged at a strand of her hair, saying, “Maybe because you are about to fall asleep as we speak.”

Laurel shrugged that off though she visibly had to suppress another yawn. “No, I am fine.”

“John? Felicity? Oliver?” Thea asked.

“I’ll head home to my kids,” John replied. “Three-thirty is not the time for old men like me to be out in any clubs anymore.”

“Yeah, well, I will take my man home now too.”

Oliver chuckled, nodding his head. He angled his head back to look at Felicity’s face. He knew she was right and going home was the best they could do now. He was actually longing to fall into bed, snuggle up to Felicity and forget about this day as quickly as possible. Hence, he hadn’t meant to object anyway. If he had meant to, just looking at her face was enough for him to know that he hadn’t stood any chance.

He nodded slowly and linked his fingers with Felicity, saying the words he had longed to say all night, “Take me home.”

→ → → → →

“Sleep tight, baby girl.”

With a little sigh falling from his lips, Oliver leaned down. He bushed some strands of her dark, curly hair from her face and brushed a gentle kiss against Millie’s temple. Unlike her siblings, who had all stirred one way or another when he had kissed them goodnight, Millie just stayed unmoving. The only reaction that proved that she could feel that he was here was a deep sigh that sounded like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Oliver smiled, pulling back and watching her a little longer. Millie looked so peaceful, and Oliver hoped that she felt just like that – loved, protected and peaceful. It was what he wanted for all of the kids.

As quietly as possible, Oliver tiptoed out of her room and closed the door behind him. With another sigh, he leaned back against the door and closed his eyes for a moment. He lifted his hands and rubbed them over his face, trying to chase the tiredness away.

He hadn’t known how much he had needed to see the kids until now. Knowing that all five of his kids were safe in their home where they belonged was exactly what he had needed after his hallucinations. His kids were home. Felicity was home. He was home. They were all together, the way it was always supposed to be.

When Oliver felt the exhaustion taking over, he went over to his bedroom. He dropped the clothes on the floor carelessly and just climbed into bed with just his boxer briefs still on. As he leaned back against the pillow at the headboard, he reached out his hand to pull Hawk against his chest. Only after he turned his head to see it with his own eyes, he saw that the puppy was missing though.

Oliver frowned. Hawk was usually rolled together on Felicity’s pillow, waiting for her to lie down in bed, so he could climb onto her chest and try stealing Oliver’s spot. Tonight, he was missing though. As much as Oliver liked to complain about the puppy and the puppy sleeping in bed above all, he actually loved having that little bundle of fur around him. Hawk was a part of the family as much as everyone else was.

When Felicity stepped into the bedroom, Oliver lifted his gaze to look at her. She seemed to see his confusion because she perked up her eyebrows and nodded towards him, wordlessly encouraging him to speak.

“Where’s Hawk?”

“Warming Raisa’s feet,” Felicity replied. “I think he didn’t want to sleep here alone, and he was too tired to change his sleeping spot now.”

Oliver smiled tiredly. “I guess I have you all for myself tonight then.”

Felicity chuckled softly. “Yeah, apparently.”

Shooting him an exhausted smile, Felicity leaned back against the door. She pushed her hands behind her body, just looking at him instead of crossing the distance towards him and sliding into bed to him. She had taken off her shoes, but she was still wearing her dress and coat.

“I was really scared tonight.”

Felicity had whispered the words, but they sounded incredibly loud in Oliver’s ears. Knowing that Felicity had been scared because he had known that already was just something different than hearing it from her herself.

“As often as I have been drugged these last years, you should probably be used to it.”

Oliver smiled, trying to cover the ache he felt spreading in his chest at his own words. In his hallucination, Felicity had said that being with him was exhausting. It might not have been real, but he knew that those words were true nonetheless. A lot of what she had said had made sense and was probably true in some ways. It was why it had been so hard to distinguish between what was real and what wasn’t real.

“I’m not,” Felicity replied, shaking her head. “And I won’t. Ever.”

Oliver sucked in a deep breath, trying to block out the pain those words made him feel. He and Felicity had been together for a decade, and she had seen him hurt at least a dozen of times. As long as he would be the Green Arrow, she would see him getting hurt again and again. There was no way around it.

There had been a time when he would have given up on being the Green Arrow. Even now it seemed like the easiest way for a safer life that protected him and his family from certain kinds of pain that came from being drugged, being attacked or being abducted. While it was the easiest way out, he knew it wasn’t the right one for him or for his family.

“I am very sorry, Felicity.”

A mixture of a chuckle and sigh fell from Felicity’s lip. She cocked her head, looking at him with eyes that showed the deep sadness she was feeling. Oliver didn’t like to see that look on her face, but he was glad that she allowed herself to show it to him. Too often she was hiding her pain behind a smile.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she said eventually, shrugging her shoulders. “I don’t blame you. I was just scared.”

Oliver nodded once more and lowered his eyes for a moment. His gaze fell on his hands, and brushed his fingertips over the naked ring finger of his left hand. The itching he had felt there for the past hours already increased, and Oliver’s stomach twisted painfully as he was reminded of the reasons for that now.

“I think I lost my ring.”

He almost felt like he was choking on those words. His throat was burning, and his stomach only twisted more. Since the moment Felicity had slipped that ring onto his finger for the first time, he had protected it like a treasure because that was exactly what it was for him. He had only taken the ring off when he had been scared of losing it, and he had kept it close to him even then.

A part of him wanted to search the entire city to find it now, but he already knew it would be hopeless. He could have lost it everywhere. If anyone had found it, they had probably taken it to sell it somewhere already. His ring was lost to him.

“You mean this ring?”

Oliver’s head snapped up at her words. He looked at her desperately and released a sigh of relief when she pulled the ring out of the pocket of her coat and lifted it for Oliver to see.

“You found it.”

“It was in the bunker.”

Watching Felicity slipping out of her coat and walking towards him, Oliver tried to remember what had happened. Snippets of what seemed like memories of earlier this night flashed in front of his eyes. He had taken the ring off after he had put on the Hood, going back to the way it had all started completely.

As soon as Felicity was in reach, Oliver wanted to snap his ring away from her and put it on, Felicity didn’t let him take it. When he lifted his gaze, wanting to complain, Felicity shook her head.

“That’s my job,” she told him firmly. “Don’t even try to fight me on that.”

Despite his impatience to feel the ring back on his finger, Oliver couldn’t stop himself from releasing a chuckling sigh. He nodded his head and let Felicity climb onto his lap. When she held out a hand, he put his hand into hers. Holding his breath, he lifted his gaze and locked eyes with her. He wasn’t surprised that her eyes were already on him.

“I love you, Oliver,” she whispered, and Oliver felt his heart skip a beat, “and I promise you that you won’t get rid of me easily. If I ever leave you, you can be sure that I have a brain tumor or have gone crazy. Nothing you could do and nothing that could happen to us will ever change the way I feel about you. You are the love of my life, and nothing will ever change that. My place in this word is right here are your side, just like your place is right here with me.”

Slowly, Felicity slipped his ring onto his finger. Oliver didn’t even have to look at it for the feeling of wholeness to return to his chest. Just hearing Felicity’s declaration of love and feeling the weight of the ring on his finger was enough to him. The connection to Felicity was all he needed to really feel whole inside.

“For the record,” Felicity said and it made Oliver lift his gaze to her eyes once more, “if you ever take this ring off again and leave it on the floor, I swear to god I will nail it onto your finger or something.”

There was a part of Oliver that wanted to chuckle, but Felicity’s face was so serious that he didn’t dare to. He bit back an amused grin, the first really honest one in hours, but he doubted that he succeeded. Oliver laced his fingers with Felicity’s and lifted their joint hands to his lips. He kissed the ring on his finger before he turned their hands to kiss the ring on Felicity’s.

“Never.”

He breathed out the promise quietly before he kissed the ring on his finger again. Without any hesitation, he framed her face with his hands then. Straightening up as much as possible in his position, he captured Felicity’s lips in a kiss.

He had meant for it to be only a firm peck to her lips, maybe followed by a few more brushes of their lips. The moments their lips met, Oliver knew there was no way he was going to pull away again anytime soon. Sighing, he opened his lips. His tongue moved out and traced the seam between her lips until Felicity opened her mouth, and their tongues stroked together.

Oliver’s arms wrapped around Felicity’s waist tightly, holding her to him with all the strength he could. Those hours that he had thought he had lost her would count to the worst moments of his entire life and that meant a lot coming from him. Physical torture was nothing compared to the feeling of having lost the love of his life though. It had felt like someone had ripped his heart out of his chest.

Rationally, Oliver knew that he had never lost Felicity in the first place. Emotionally, it was a lot harder to process though as that feeling had been real for him. He knew he wouldn’t risk that anything like this ever really happened to him. He would put even more effort into making sure that Felicity and the kids would be happy. He’d do anything for a hallucination like that to never become true.

As the need for breath became too much to bear, Felicity pulled back slightly. Her forehead still rested against his though. She took in a deep breath, letting her fingers travel from his cheeks over his neck to his shoulders.

“Now take off my dress.”

Oliver didn’t need to be told twice. He was so exhausted that he felt like he could just pass out. If he wanted a peaceful night of sleep, he knew that physically reconnecting with Felicity was the best way to get him there though.

He’d make love to his wife. Then he would wrap his arms around her as tightly as possible and fall asleep for a couple of hours. After that, he had hopefully forgotten about everything the drugs had made him see and hear and everything they had made him do because the drugs had been wrong. Going back to the fundamentals didn’t mean going back to the roots of his mission. It meant going back to the fundamentals of his life, the basis he could not live without. His family.

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