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Oliver Queen was an idiot. A selfish, chauvinist, idiot. Oh sure, he had his enlightened moments. Most of the time he was capable of recognizing that she was the one who excelled at hand to hand and while he could hold his own, he was better with a bow than anything else. He was safer shooting targets from a vantage point than entering the fray on the ground.
They worked best when they both played to their strengths. When one of them didn't dive into the path of a supervillain's attack to save the other because he was stupid and noble.
It was only in the moment when Gorilla Grodd threw him off that cliff that she realized just how much of an idiot he really was. That moment when she thought that she'd never see him again that she hated him for being so willing to put himself in harm's way rather than let her handle it.
And it was only hours after the League had neutralized Grodd and retrieved Oliver safe and sound and whole that the anger really set in. She'd disconnected her comm and ignored the calls from him on her cell and she'd just taken off on her motorcycle. Just the open road and her bike. It was supposed to clear her mind and calm her nerves. It didn't help.
Eventually she ended up back at his place. She knew that he'd probably still be up. She'd checked her phone to see the missed calls but she didn't return them just yet. Instead she just turned up on his doorstep.
He was a little beaten up but alive. He looked worried but stepped aside to let her come in.
"And here I thought that we didn't have a date for the night. Good to see you, Dinah."
His eyes betrayed that he'd been worried but he didn't say a word as she crossed the threshold. In fact, he didn't say a word until she whirled around and threw a punch. He caught it easily, just as he would have if they were sparring. She'd pulled the punch and didn't actually intend to hit him, even if she was suddenly very angry at him.
It was only once he caught her fist and pulled her close that the dam broke and a few tears leaked out as the anger melted away just as quickly as it had come.
"Hey," he said softly, reaching out to tip her chin upwards so she was looking at him. "What's this about, pretty bird?"
She pulled out of his hold and looked away. The words that were on the tip of her tongue weren't words that she said lightly. They were the sort of words that signed a person up for a whole lot more heartache than she'd ever thought she might want. And yet, she couldn't hold it back any longer and she sure as hell wasn't going to stay away from him.
"I... I love you."
She didn't look until Oliver's arms wrapped around her and turned her to face him.
"I love you too, pretty bird."
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, his arms pulling her tight to him. It was then that she realized that no matter how scared she was of losing him, there would be no running. Not tonight. Not anytime in the foreseeable future. And, she realized, that was a very good thing indeed.