Chapter Text
Epilogue
You are the only one
The only that sees me
That trusts me and believes me
You are the only one
The only one that knows me
And in the dark you show me
It's perfectly reckless
Damn you leave me defenceless
So break in
Break in
(Break In – Halestorm ft Amy Lee)
Oliver Queen had known many beautiful women in his life. So many, in fact, that he was embarrassed to admit, he had forgotten half of their names. Some he never even knew before taking them home, but if he was being completely honest, not one of them had managed to leave the kind of impression on him that Felicity Smoak has. Oliver leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest, considering the woman in question, a content smile on his lips. Felicity was dressed in pyjama bottoms and a tank top, on her tip toes, trying to reach something in the kitchen cupboard. Her hair was still messy from sleeping, and Oliver had never seen anything more beautiful.
It only took one day spent in her company to know he would never be able to forget her. As he watched her in their kitchen now, Oliver could not help to think about how they came to be here.
He could still vividly remember the adorable look on her face as she opened the door on that Wednesday morning. He remembers the way his heart had clenched at the sight of her looking lost as she received the news that the father that had abandoned her, had not only walked back into her life, but brought danger with him. He can still recall how impressed he was when she simply got up and informed him that she wanted answers. How instead of letting the weight of what her father was involved in drag her under, she took everything in stride and helped them, and as a result, closed a number of open cases.
All of that paled in comparison with what she did after.
Oliver spent most of the first weekend after returning to Starling, with Felicity. He showed up fifteen minutes early to their dinner date. They spend the evening talking, laughing, and watching a movie. And a very enjoyable half hour making out. He was back the next day. And the next. By the end of the weekend, Oliver knew he was done for. He had never been good at taking things slow, but with Felicity he cherished getting to know her even more. He relished it, storing every new piece of information away like a treasure. And the more he knew, the more he wanted to know. It was not long before he was spending most of his free time with Felicity. She had become ingrained into his life, and Oliver had never been happier.
So much happier that Thea started commenting on it, regularly. Introducing his sister to the woman in his life had never been important to Oliver before, as he never expected them to be around long enough for it to matter. That changed with Felicity. As soon as he realized how much he wanted Felicity in his life, Oliver could hardly wait to introduce the two most important women in his life. To say that Thea was surprised to meet a woman he was dating, was an understatement. But it was not long before Thea was as thoroughly enamoured by Felicity. By the end of their first dinner together, Thea had made plans with Felicity for lunch and their relationship had since grown into a true sisterhood. It made Oliver so much more content, if not a little bit scared, to see them together. In fact, Oliver is pretty sure his sister would make his life very difficult if he somehow managed to screw things up with Felicity.
About a month after Oliver dropped her back at the apartment, Felicity went to see her father. Noah had been offered a position as a consultant with the FBI as part of his sentence. Felicity had never told him everything that was said, but she did say that she had decided to forgive her father. It took time, but they started rebuilding their relationship. Even Donna seemed to accept it, not willing to stand in the way of anything that made Felicity happy. Thinking about Donna made his smile grow even bigger.
Two weeks after the last of the Hive members had been captured, Donna Smoak came to visit. Oliver soon discovered where the steel core he admired in Felicity came from. As much as Donna was smiles and cocktail dresses, she was not to be messed with. Raising Felicity as a single parent made her resourceful, caring and stronger than a lot of people Oliver knew. Felicity might share her love and talent with computers with her father, but her strength and determination came from Donna. Oliver grew very fond of Donna, very quickly and he came to really look forward to her regular visits.
That strength and determination helped in the following months. Felicity had not taken Lyla up on her offer to work for the FBI, but she did eventually work with them. Felicity spend another three months working before deciding to use some of the money Noah had given her as seed money for her own company. With the help from her partner, Curtis Holt, they started developing security systems and acting as IT consultants, but it was not long until their products covered as range of uses. Some of SmaokTech designs had even made their way onto FBI, SCPD and Army equipment. With their help, the Starling FBI electronic division became one of the best in the country.
Oliver pushed away from the door frame, crossing to where Felicity was still reaching into the cupboard. As he got closer, he could hear her mumbling under her breath. Reaching her, he placed his hands on her waist, making Felicity jump, a surprised ‘yelp’ leaving her lips. Chuckling, Oliver banded his arms around her middle, pulling her body against his. Felicity leaned into him as he placed a quick succession of kisses along her jaw before nuzzling his nose into her neck. Felicity crossed her arms over his and turned slightly to look at him over her shoulder.
‘What did I tell you about using those ninja skills against me?’
‘I have no idea what you are talking about. I was just coming over to see if you needed some help getting… whatever you were trying to get’ Oliver widen his eyes innocently, looking at Felicity with his chin resting on her shoulder.
Felicity narrowed her eyes at him, but it wasn’t long before she gave it up. Turning, she clasped her hands behind his neck and reached up to lay her lips on his. Oliver hummed as her lips moved over his in a now familiar way. He had kissed Felicity a million times the thrill of it never dulling.
Felicity pulled back slightly, eyes still closed, a content smile on her lips.
‘Good morning’ she said, her lips still so close that he could feel the movement against his own.
‘It really is.’ Oliver placed another small kiss on her lips before remarking:
‘You’re up early’
Scrunching up her nose, Felicity dropped down on her feet and rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him.
‘I know. I think I finally figured out how to make the T-spheres interface with the chemical detection programming, and you know how I get when I get a breakthrough.’
Taking his eyes of her for just long enough to look at the cupboard before flicking them down to Felicity.
‘I know you’re the tech genius in the house, but I’m pretty sure the solution is not up there.’
Giving him a sheepish smile, Felicity wrapped her arms around his waist.
‘Not the solution, but a little help to get me there. I may have noticed a certain sugary goodness-filled cereal in the cupboard last week…’
‘Really. And how would it have gotten there?’
Widening her eyes innocently, Felicity shrugged.
‘Cereal fairies? Only, they must have miscalculated with their delivery and placed it on the top shelve.’ Felicity blinked up at him.
Oliver laughed and placed a kiss on her forehead. He stepped around Felicity, reached into the cupboard, retrieved the box and placed it on the counter. Turning to her, he leaned back against the counter.
‘Well, let it never be said that I stood in the way of progress.’
Felicity rose up on her toes again to place a quick kiss on his lips before snatching the box and practically bouncing back to the table where her laptop was.
‘Have I told you how much I love you, you wonderful, beautiful, tall man.’
She grab a handful of dry cereal and placed it in her mouth before sitting down at the laptop and typing.
‘Not today. Would you like some coffee to go with the sugar high?’
‘Hon, when it comes to coffee, just like with you, the answer will always be yes.’
Felicity’s eyes flew to him as she lifted her hand, wiggling her ring finger with her new engagement ring, before resuming her typing. Oliver filled a cup, added sugar and milk and placed it next to her.
‘In that order, huh? Good to know where I rank.’
‘It’s not a completion. I love you both equally.’
Oliver laughed and left her to continue working as he started making breakfast. By the time he was done, he could hear Felicity on the phone, explaining to Curtis what she had done. She hung up the phone as he placed a plate on the dining room table. He was refilling her cup when she wrapped her arms around his waist from behind, kissed his shoulder and accepted the cup from him. Oliver took his own cup and followed her to the table. They ate in silence for a while, Oliver enjoying the simple routine they had established.
Felicity was sipping her coffee when Oliver asked:
‘What time is your mom getting in?’
‘Her flight lands at 10. She’s heading straight to the mansion. I am not ashamed to admit that I am low grade terrified by the idea of an engagement party being thrown by my mother and your sister.’
‘You are not the only one. If it makes you feel any better, Thea did promise to keep it small, intimate and elegant.’
‘Elegant I believe, what worries me is that my definition of small and intimate is not the same as your sister’s definition.’
Oliver pushed his plate back and turned to face her. He got up from his chair, placed his hand on either side of Felicity’s chair and leaned forward. He laid a soft kiss on her lips before travelling down to her jaw and speaking between kisses, said:
‘We could always just skip the party. Celebrate on our own.’
Felicity put her cup down and wrapped her arms around his neck.
‘I like the way you think…’
‘Why do I hear a “but”?’
‘But, if we miss this party, we’ll have to move. Possibly leave the country. I like our house and we’ve just unpacked the last box.’
Chuckling, Oliver stopped his slow route down her neck and looked at Felicity. They had been living in the mansion until about a month ago. After discussing it with his sister as well, they decided they were going to buy a house of their own, that they wanted a place that was theirs to start building their new life in. The brown stone was one of the first they saw and Felicity had fallen in love with the place the second they walked through the double front door. Frankly, he didn’t care if they lived in a treehouse in the middle of the jungle, as long as Felicity was with him, but when he saw how her face had lit up he knew they were home.
‘Fair point. I, for one, do not want to be on the receiving end of either my sister or your mother’s bad side. Guess we’re going to have to go.’ Oliver sighed dramatically.
‘No choice really. However, seeing as the party is a good 6 hours away, and I now have nothing to do until then… ‘Felicity wiggled her eyebrows at him with a cheeky smile.
Oliver’s smiled grew as he placed a soft kiss on her lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and straightened, taking her with him. Felicity giggled as she tightened her arms around his neck. As he started walking them back to the room, Oliver said:
‘I am a fan of how your mind works, Miss Smoak. Big fan.’