Archive of Our Own

“How do you properly throw a punch?”

Oliver startled so much at Felicity’s question that he dropped the empty bowl he was carrying back to the kitchen. It luckily didn’t shatter when it hit the floor, but it caused Hunter to jump up with a yelp from where he was lying in his dog bed a couple of meters away near the coffee table. The service dog prodded the bowl, which had previously held chopped carrot and celery sticks, with one of his paws, muzzle wrinkled back in disdain, while the archer stared at his girlfriend in disbelief and slight dread.

They were enjoying a quiet Friday night in at Felicity’s apartment, watching Lord of the Rings together. Oliver had asked Diggle to cover Hood duties for him tonight, although Felicity wasn’t aware of that, as she still didn’t know about his vigilante status. All Oliver had wanted to do this evening was cuddle his girlfriend and service dog and watch movies with them. He hadn’t been expecting this question at all.

“I’m sorry, what?” he said dumbly, despite knowing exactly what Felicity had just asked.

The blonde rolled her eyes, shifting on the couch from where she was curled up underneath the blanket. She moved into the space that Oliver had just vacated and hugged one of the cushions he had warmed with his back to her chest, resting her cheek on it. “You heard me perfectly well the first time. You told me you know how to hold your own in a fight because of all the stuff that happened on the island, so you must know how to punch correctly.”

Bending down to pick up the bowl, he asked warily, “Why do you need to know how to punch correctly?” Horrible thoughts filled his mind and he immediately turned serious. “You’re not being harassed at work, are you? You weren’t attacked in the streets on the way home, or touched without consent -”

“Oliver,” she cut in gently. Felicity patted the couch, requesting he return to her. Oliver placed the bowl on the counter and returned to his spot, lifting her up so he could slide underneath her and hold her on his lap. “It’s okay. I wasn’t attacked or hurt in any way. It’s just there was a story in the newspaper this morning about women being followed home in the Glades and I want to know how to defend myself, even if I hardly walk around those more dangerous areas anymore. I think it’s good for everybody to have some basic self-defense skills.”

He exhaled slowly, blowing out of his nose. Hunter tilted his head and flicked an ear, as if saying She’s got a point, you know. And Felicity did - Oliver couldn’t argue with that. Despite all of Oliver’s work as the vigilante to lower the crime rate in the city by targeting the corrupt one-percenters and bigger name criminals, gang violence and street attacks still occurred frequently, especially in the Glades.

“I’ve been searching online for some local classes, but they all seem to be for specific forms of martial arts, not just simple self-defense, and they’re all really expensive,” Felicity continued. “I was just wondering whether you’d be able to teach me a couple of moves?”

Oliver was tempted to say no. As much as he knew it would be a good idea to teach Felicity some basic self-defense, he very much despised the idea of his girlfriend getting into any kind of fight, placing herself in danger of being harmed. If Felicity knew some fighting moves and got too confident, she might put herself into a position where she could get seriously hurt. But then again, if he didn’t help her, and she was helpless, she could end up worse than seriously hurt - she could get killed.

Hunter whined, sensing the archer’s inner turmoil. Padding up to the couch, the service dog propped his head on one of Oliver’s knees, big doleful blue eyes blinking up at him. The archer stroked over Hunter’s ears, debating with himself. Finally, he came to a decision.

“I’ll teach you,” he said. “But we do it on my terms..”

Felicity lit up. “Thank you!”

Rubbing her back soothingly, Oliver pressed a kiss to her forehead as Felicity snuggled up to his chest. “Don’t thank me yet. You might regret asking me tomorrow.”

“Why?”

Oliver glanced over at his service dog in amusement. Hunter huffed, pricking his ears and rolling over in his bed. The archer wasn’t going to tell Felicity he planned on waking her up at six am tomorrow morning for her first lesson because he knew she would immediately protest. “Oh… you’ll find out soon.”

Waking with the sun, the archer carefully untangled his and Felicity’s limbs, brushing his fingers over her hair fondly as he tucked a stray lock behind her ear. His girlfriend frowned slightly in her sleep; she curled up a little tighter when she seemed to sense Oliver slipping out of bed. Disturbed by his master’s movements, Hunter blinked groggily at him. He watched as Oliver began stretching out his sleep stiffened limbs, but the service dog didn’t move from his position at Felicity’s feet. It wasn’t uncommon for Hunter to want to stay in bed rather than go for a walk, especially when he could stay cuddled up with his master’s girlfriend.

“Morning, bud,” Oliver murmured, leaning over to gently ruffle the dog’s fur. “Sleep well?”

Hunter snorted. He licked the archer’s fingers for a couple of seconds, nuzzling at his hand to return the good morning wishes. Standing and stretching out with a wide yawn, the husky mix shook out his fur before plonking his hindquarters down at the end of the bed. He didn’t look particularly happy about having to get up early, but he seemed ready for a day of service dog duties.

It was five forty-five am. It was still quite dark outside, although the sun was close to breaking the horizon. Oliver decided to take a shower quickly before waking Felicity up. When he returned to the bedroom shirtless and still damp, his girlfriend was still asleep, and Hunter was lying next to her, observing and guarding her. The archer grimaced; Felicity would no doubt be angry at Oliver for what he was about to do, but she had agreed for these defense classes to be on his terms.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, Oliver tapped his girlfriend’s arm lightly, whispering, “Felicity. Hey, Felicity. Time to wake up. First self-defense class today, honey.”

She mumbled under her breath that she wanted five more minutes, Mom, and turned away from him. Oliver tried to tug the blankets out of her strong clutches but Felicity refused to let go of them. Hunter huffed a chuckle and when the archer turned to glare half-heartedly at him, the dog slipped off the bed. You’re on your own, buddy, was the air Hunter seemed to give as he flicked his tail over Oliver’s leg dismissively.

“Felicity…”

“Go away,” she groaned. “It’s Saturday… s’too early to get up…”

“Do you want self-defense classes or not?” he reminded her.

She cracked one eye open and blearily peered at the bedside clock. “Come back in four hours or so and maybe I’ll answer your question then,” Felicity muttered unhappily, yanking the pillow closer to her so she could bury her face in it.

Oliver rolled his eyes. He bent over and wiggled his arms beneath his girlfriend’s body before sweeping her up into his arms bridal style. Felicity instantly awakened fully, squeaking and wrapping her arms around his neck. Plastering kisses all over her face and forehead, the archer swung around so the blankets which were still twisted around Felicity’s legs fell to the floor. He grinned when he heard the blonde laughing into his collarbone. She trailed her fingertips over a couple of the scars on his chest before dancing them over his shoulder blades, which caused him to shiver. Joining in on the fun, Hunter jumped up onto his hind paws with a joyous bark.

“Okay, I’m up, I’m up,” Felicity said, winding her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “You can put me down now, Oliver.”

“Don’t trust you not to get straight back into bed,” he teased. He began walking them out of the bedroom, towards the bathroom. Hunter tagged along at his heels. “I’ll put you down if you promise you’ll step straight into the shower and get ready to go out to the park.”

“The park?” Felicity repeated, glancing down amusedly when the service dog immediately perked up at the word, tongue lolling out of his mouth excitedly. “You’re teaching me self-defense in the park?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’. “Because we’re not going to start off with actual physical moves like punching or kicking. I’m going to teach you about awareness and vigilance of your surroundings and how important it is to analyze your opponent first.”

Felicity stared at him for a moment. The look on her face caused Oliver to halt over the threshold to the bathroom, gently setting her down on her feet there. “You mean to tell me you woke me up this early, and I’m not even gonna learn how to fight today? Please tell me you at least made me coffee.”

“You can have coffee after we finish training. The caffeine is surely bad for you this time in the morning.”

“You’re lucky I love you,” she grumbled but stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Oliver leaned back against the doorframe as Hunter scratched at the floor with a whine, anxious his favorite person had vanished.

“Also I’m not teaching you how to fight, I’m teaching you how to defend yourself,” the archer corrected.

“Is there a difference?” she called through the door.

“A very big one,” he replied. “I’m going to get changed, give Hunter his breakfast and make our protein shakes to take with us on our journey.”

“Can you fetch a bra and panties for me, since you didn’t let me grab clothes before dragging me in here?”

“Sure, I’ll leave them just outside the door.”

While Felicity showered, Oliver poured Hunter a bowl of kibble from the spare bag they kept in the apartment and changed into a pair of black shorts, a t-shirt, and a green hoodie. He set up a banana, strawberry and protein powder mix to blend as he pulled some sneakers on and checked his phone. He had a couple texts from Thea and Tommy to respond to, but none of them were urgent, just asking about his plans for the day. Walter had actually messaged asking him and Felicity out to dinner next Saturday, so he replied to that saying he would ask his girlfriend whether she was free. There was also a text from Diggle, who said he was going to arrive at the apartment around eight; he agreed to meet Oliver and Felicity at the park at that time for coffee later. He trusted Hunter to be able to keep them safe.

Emerging from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her, Felicity initially yelped when Oliver swooped in to anchor her to his hips and properly kiss her good morning, but soon sank into his embrace, kissing him back just as eagerly.

“My towel is slipping,” she breathed into his mouth, not letting up in her soft nipping of his lower lip. “Hunter’s gonna get an eyeful.”

“Pretty certain he’s seen both of us naked before,” Oliver managed to answer between kisses.

Felicity pulled back, wrinkling her nose. “Doesn’t mean he has to see me naked again. Give me ten minutes and then we can leave. I left Hunter’s leash and service vest on top of the umbrella rack.”

“Thanks.” He gave her one last peck on the lips before drawing back so she could head into the bedroom.

Hunter must have heard Felicity mention his leash and vest, because he dropped them at Oliver’s feet only a few seconds later, gazing up at his master seriously. Oliver fitted the dog’s service vest on comfortably and clipped on his leash so they would be ready to go at a moment’s notice. The archer had learned the hard way that some of the people at the dog park near Felicity’s apartment complex didn’t respect Hunter’s service dog status, and tried to pet and play with him despite the husky mix being on duty when they took their runs in the early mornings. Ben Wicksaw, Hunter’s special forces trainer, had originally given the Queen family a service vest for the dog, but they hadn’t used it very often. Oliver could tell Hunter didn’t really like wearing the vest so only made the dog wear it when he had to.

“Please remember I am not the epitome of perfect form and fitness like you are,” Felicity said. She tied her hair up into a ponytail as she marched towards Oliver, who was now pouring their smoothies into water bottles. She was wearing black running leggings with bright pink stripes down the sides and a matching pink t-shirt. “You may be able to parkour and run like a gazelle, but I can’t.”

“We’ll match pace,” he reassured her. He handed her her smoothie and leaned around her to pick up one of his black hoodies he’d left on a kitchen chair. “Here, you might want to wear this. It’s cold and usually windy this time in the morning.”

“Thanks.” Felicity shrugged it on. “I’m ready to go when you are.”

Oliver nodded and turned to his service dog. “Hunter?”

The husky mix rushed to the front door with a thrilled yip.

“Then let’s get going.”

“Please remind me what I’m meant to be doing again?”

Oliver almost laughed aloud at Felicity’s bemused and slightly petulant tone. Upon reaching the park, he’d let Hunter off his leash to search for a quieter area. They’d found a small clearing surrounded by trees and had decided to begin their self-defense class there, leaving their hoodies and Hunter’s leash by a tall oak as it was beginning to get a little warmer. He’d centered his girlfriend in the middle of the space and ordered her to begin to relax in order to tune in the environment around her. Oliver had cataloged the vicinity within a matter of minutes when they’d first arrived, but he guessed Felicity was having a little more difficulty.

“Breathing,” he informed her quietly. “Using your senses to examine your surroundings. Feel the wind on the face, scent the wood and vegetation on the breeze and listen to all the sounds of nature and beyond. Allow yourself to become aware of anything and everything. What do you feel?”

There was a brief pause.

“I can feel Hunter sniffing my ankles,” Felicity said.

Oliver rolled his eyes. The service dog raised his head from where he’d been nosing around at the blonde’s socks and peered up at his master with an innocent look. “Hunter, go and lie down, please. As much as I love you, you’re distracting Felicity.”

Hunter shot him a dirty look but trotted off a few meters away and collapsed down in the grass, batting a paw absentmindedly at a daisy nearby him. The archer turned his attention back to his girlfriend, who was now staring at him incredulously with her arms crossed.

“Look, Oliver, I’m all for learning and everything, and I’m sure you’re gonna be a great teacher… but this does feel ever so slightly pointless,” she admitted.

“This -” Oliver waved at her and then their surroundings, “Is what kept me alive on the island.”

Felicity looked panicked for a second. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to -”

“No, it’s okay,” he smiled. “It’s fine you don’t understand it yet. I guess that it’s more difficult to entirely perceive how important inspecting and adapting to your environment is when there’s no real survival pressure on you.” An idea came to mind, which prompted him to walk back towards her. “Maybe a more practical demonstration would show you? To prove to you that I’m not just a nature whackjob who likes to listen to trees and insects, and I do actually know what I’m talking about.”

“Hey, I never said you didn’t,” Felicity raised her hands defensively.

“I’m going to stand here with my eyes closed,” Oliver told her. “Give me sometime between ten seconds and a minute to center myself. And then I want you to try and hit me.”

Felicity’s eyes widened. “While you have your eyes closed?”

“Yes.”

“Um, no thanks. I’m not gonna do that.”

He couldn’t help but grin at her. “It’s okay,” he said. “You won’t actually connect with me.”

“But you’ll have your eyes closed, you won’t be able to see the strike coming.”

“Just try and hit me,” he repeated. “I promise you, it’s fine.”

Although the blonde looked apprehensive, she agreed with a nervous, “Alright. Are you sure Hunter is gonna be okay with it though?”

That was a good point. “Hunter,” Oliver addressed the service dog. “Stay. No matter what. Okay? You stay there. Felicity is not going to hurt me. It’s okay.” The husky mix flicked an ear at him to acknowledge the command, but kept his gaze beadily fixed on the human couple. “Now we’ve established Hunter won’t get angry with you… whenever you want, you throw a punch. Aim wherever.”

He took a step back and shut his eyes, exhaling slowly. The archer focused on the sensation of the ground under his shoes, the faint wind brushing at his clothes and the smell of freshly cut grass. Feeling how the air moved around him and how the breeze sounded, Oliver relaxed and waited.

A minute must have passed when he felt the disturbance in the atmosphere, the almost silent noise of a limb flying towards him. He tensed and lunged back, grabbing the fist being swung at him within one firm hand and stopping it before it could gain enough power to hit his chest.

Felicity’s gasp of shock triggered Oliver to open his eyes. She was staring at him in amazement. “How did you do that!? You had no idea when I was swinging at you!”

“I was so in tune with my surroundings that when the environment changed, when you moved yourself to hit me, that I could feel the air moving and hear you shifting,” the archer explained. “And because of that, I was able to anticipate what you were going to do.”

“That’s why it’s so important,” she said, in awe. “Because you can determine how a fight is going to happen before it’s even really started?”

He beamed at her. He could already tell Felicity was going to make a great student. “Exactly.”

Hunter barked from where he was lying in the grass, his ears flat to his skull. He did not look happy and was gazing at Oliver with sheer worry in his eyes, needing his master to reassure him that he was okay.

“I’m fine, Hunter,” the archer said. “I swear. It was a training exercise.”

The service dog knew what that was since Oliver and Diggle had them frequently, so he set his head down on his paws, grumbling but content that Oliver wasn’t harmed or in danger.

“Sorry, Hunter,” Felicity called over to him. “I promise I wasn’t trying to hurt Oliver.” She wheeled back around to face him, her eyes alight with curiosity and determination. “Let me try again. I want to learn how to do that.”

“Let’s move over to one of the trees,” he suggested. “It might help you to be in contact with a solid surface. I trained on Lian Yu by sitting on a rock.”

They found a nice oak tree for Felicity to lean back against, while Oliver stood a fair distance away, observing her. Oliver could see from her expression and body language that after a few minutes of using all of her senses except sight to connect to the nature around her that she was focusing. He was proud of her. It had taken him a couple of months to get to grips with this awareness technique, but barely taken Felicity an hour.

Pleased at how much progress she was making, Oliver decided to test her. He took a measured, silent step towards her.

Felicity inhaled sharply. “I sensed that. You moved. Towards me?”

“Very good,” he praised her. “Keep paying attention, I’m going to keep moving around. If you sense me near you or about to touch you, you can lift your arm up and stop me, okay?”

“Yeah.”

He moved again to the left, making sure his steps were light and he was moving slowly enough not to create too much of an air shift. Felicity, however, still felt it and tilted her head towards him.

“You went left,” she whispered.

“And now?” he asked, once again walking quietly towards her.

“Closer to me.”

“You’re getting the hang of this.”

Hunter stood up and strode towards them so there was less distance between them and it was easier for him to watch.

Felicity raised her head a little, frowning and squeezing her closed eyes. “That wasn’t you who moved. Was that Hunter?”

“You’re scarily good at this already,” Oliver said.

“Good enough for you to start teaching me how to throw a punch?”

“Nice try, honey.”

“Didn’t hurt to ask.”

Oliver slunk towards her until he was only three meters or so away from her. Felicity lifted her shoulders and chin a little as she tracked his movement. He could tell she was itching to raise her hand to reach out to him but was resisting the urge, because she could sense he wasn’t near enough to her yet.

“You’re so close,” she murmured. “Very close.”

“Mmhmm.”

He shifted forwards again.

“And you came closer.”

“Close enough to kiss you, yet?” he purred.

Her breath hitched in her throat. “You’re teasing me.”

“Am I?”

He gradually shuffled closer and lifted his hand tantalizingly slowly as he moved his fingers towards her, planning on stroking over his girlfriend’s cheekbone. To his immense delight, Felicity’s hand shot up and caught his wrist. Her eyes flew open in complete astonishment and she broke out into a wide, pleased grin. Giving in to his urge to kiss her, Oliver pushed her back onto the tree and met her in a bruising kiss, winding one of his arms around her waist while the other hand slipped around to the back of her head, tangling with her ponytail.

The heat that erupted between them was intense. Oliver pushed one of his knees between her thighs, kissing her deeper and more intensely, her breathy moans only encouraging him. Before the archer knew what was happening, Felicity was jumping up to fully wrap her legs around his hips. He gripped her thighs tightly, holding her flush against him as he growled, his tongue lapping at hers. Her back was plastered to the tree as she dug her hands under his hoodie and shirt, fingertips skimming his burn scars and eliciting shudders of arousal from him. He so desperately wanted to slide his hand lower down and graze his fingers against her belly - and perhaps even lower than that. They had to break apart to gasp in oxygen, their gazes locked as they stared at each other hungrily.

Suddenly, Oliver wished they were back in the apartment in bed rather than out in the park.

A whine of confusion from behind him caused Oliver to turn his head, glancing around. Hunter was sitting on his haunches, watching them with a look of utter bewilderment. He had one of his ears perked forwards and the other back, his brow furrowed as he tried to understand what his two humans were doing.

“Oh god, we’re in public,” Felicity breathed.

“Yeah, we should probably stop,” he said.

Hunter barked at them, as if in agreement.

“He disapproves,” Felicity noted.

Oliver shrugged. “He just doesn’t want us to get arrested for public indecency.”

He helped her return to the floor, making sure her feet were firmly on the ground before stepping back and rubbing his throat sheepishly. Both of them hadn’t expected the kiss to go that far, but neither of them regretted it. In fact, Oliver was already planning what he was going to do to Felicity when they got back home.

“So did I pass the test?” his girlfriend questioned, as they headed back into the middle of the clearing.

“With flying colors.”

“So…. can you teach me how to throw a punch now?” Felicity asked hopefully.

“What is it with you and punching? I will teach you how to block a hit, and maybe use a jab,” he said, “Which is a form of a punch you can use in self-defense, in order to try and incapacitate your attacker.”

They spent their last hour at the park doing some more training. As he taught her how to utilize her body and weight to gain an advantage during a fight, Oliver soon came to notice that Felicity was lithe and quick. She calculated her moves carefully and listened to his advice to improve. Soon, they were properly sparring, with the archer throwing a couple of hits towards her so she could practice deflecting them. Although he was hitting slower and much weaker than he would when he was out on the streets, it was a good way to build up Felicity’s reflexes. Hunter seemed to be impressed too, his head swiveling between the two humans as he winced whenever they made contact.

The blonde managed to block one of his jabs, knocking his arm aside. It was different from the other blows he’d been aiming at her, which had been swinging wide to ensure she could catch them. Felicity noticed. Wiping the sweat from her brow and breathing heavily, she asked, “What was that?”

“That was a jab,” he replied.

She nodded. “Show me?”

He circled around so he was standing directly behind her, his chest touching her back. Felicity glanced over his shoulder at him with a faint smirk, leaning back against him. Taking hold of her hips, Oliver used his foot to kick her leg back and balance her. “Classic boxing stance first. Hands up.” Felicity raised her fists and the archer corrected her stance. “Elbows in a bit more. That’s it. Your hips should be weighted between your legs, knees bent a little and your back heel - yeah, just off the ground.”

She adjusted herself a bit so she was more comfortable. “This okay?”

The archer rubbed his thumbs in gentle circles over her waist. It seemed to help relax her, becoming more receptive to Oliver moving her to help. “Perfect. You’re fisting your hand correctly too, well done. Now extend your dominant arm, smooth and fast. No, you’re moving your shoulders - just your arm. That’s it! Now’s where it gets a little tricky, you need to rotate.”

“Rotate?”

“Like -” Enveloping her with his arms, Oliver maneuvered his girlfriend’s form until her fist’s palm was facing down and her shoulder rotated up to cover her chin. “Bring your elbow straight up instead of sideways. A straight elbow solidifies the jab and gives it a direct angle of attack. When you rotate your shoulder, it will rotate your fist to give you power at the same time. You also don’t want to tighten your fist or tense up until the exact moment of impact, otherwise it wastes energy, reduces the strength of the hit and slows it down.”

“Whoever would have thought hitting someone could be this complicated?”

He laughed. “If you want to do it properly, this is how to do it. When you’ve struck the person, you want to withdraw your arm very quickly and get back into the original boxing stance so you’re ready to go again if you have to.”

Felicity pulled her arm in, back to join the other. “So all of that but about ten times quicker?”

“Yep.”

“Where should I aim?”

Raising an eyebrow, Oliver commented, “Good question. Where do you think you should aim?”

“Um… the face?”

“Where specifically?”

“Nose and jaw?”

“Good. The neck and throat are good places to hit as well if you want to incapacitate. There’s a nerve called the vagus nerve in the side of the neck - if you strike down into it, that can cause dizziness, disorientation, or even knock your opponent unconscious. A punch to the throat is one of those hits that can really, really hurt someone, so you should only utilize it as the last resort. The larynx is about as fragile as tissue paper and it doesn’t take a lot of force to really hurt or potentially kill someone with a good shot to it.”

Felicity wrapped her arms around herself, eyes wide with horror. “I don’t want to kill somebody.”

“I know,” he smiled sympathetically. “Which is why you don’t really want to aim there unless you have to. The solar plexus might be the best place to hit somebody if you’re planning on running away afterward.”

“That’s here, right?” Felicity tapped on a spot just under her sternum but above her stomach.

Oliver nodded, inching his fingers towards hers and winding them together. “It’s one of the most vulnerable places on the human body. You hit somebody there, you will wind them completely. Gives you time to make your escape.” He twisted her around so she was facing him and added sternly, “But if your opponent has a knife, or a gun, or any kind of weapon, you don’t try to hit them, okay? You never start a fight or continue one if you can help it. It’s better to just run.”

“I know, Oliver,” she replied reassuringly.

He exhaled in relief. “Okay. Do you want to practice some more? You can hit me a couple of times to work out how much power you want to put behind the strikes and then maybe we can spar, try some combinations of jabs and blocks.”

Cocking her head sideways at him with a fond smile, Felicity nudged him in the side as she strode past to stand opposite him, and told him, “You’re an incredible teacher, you know.”

“Helps when you have an excellent student.”

Felicity tried a few different jab strengths, improving each time. She aimed for Oliver’s chest each time so that she didn’t hurt him too much, and the archer tried not to react to her hits, but his girlfriend was more physically powerful than she thought she was. After she’d perfected the technique, Oliver started blocking her jabs and throwing several of his own so they began to spar. Although this kind of light, playful sparring was what Oliver would do most days to warm up, it was quite grueling and difficult for Felicity, who wasn’t used to fighting. She kept up well, though, only allowing Oliver to actually graze her when it gave her the advantage to tag back at him.

Considering they had remained reasonably stationary while sparring, the archer decided to mix things up a bit and sidestepped as he threw his next jab. His girlfriend, who hadn’t been expecting the sudden movement, was caught in the shoulder by the blow. Oliver flinched when Felicity stumbled backward and fell, landing on her butt with an Oomph! Hunter’s head shot up and he scrambled to his paws, sprinting over to check Felicity. He whimpered and licked her cheek anxiously, but Felicity petted his back, whispering that she was okay.

When Oliver reached a hand out to help her back to her feet, Felicity glowered at him and complained, “You moved and didn’t give me the change to adjust.”

“You could have anticipated it,” he replied, lifting her back up and hugging her until she was steady.

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Hunter!” she called.

Oliver turned to look at his service dog but as he did so, Felicity shoved him in the chest. He staggered backward and then tripped over Hunter, who bent down directly behind him so his master would lose his footing and topple into the grass. Exploding into laughter, Felicity praised the husky mix for his help in her prank before collapsing down on top of Oliver, who was laughing too now. The archer rolled them over so his girlfriend was beneath him, looming over her on all fours and leaning down to capture her lips in a searing kiss. Within seconds, they were grasping at each other's clothes and running their hands over each other's bodies.

Hunter bounded over and attempted to join in on the make-out session, licking both the humans’ cheeks enthusiastically, clambering underneath Oliver but onto Felicity so he could be included in the hug.

“I don’t even know if I want to ask what you two are doing.”

Oliver slid to the side of his girlfriend, lying next to her so he could peer upwards at Diggle, who had appeared from the trees and was watching them with an incredulous expression.

“Self defense classes,” Felicity replied, slightly breathless.

“Sure,” Diggle said, drawing the word out dubiously.

Felicity sat up and flipped her blonde ponytail behind her. The two of them aided each other in getting up but kept their fingers tangled once they were standing. The service dog swept up beside them, nuzzling at Felicity’s calf affectionately. “Hunter was helping me get back at Oliver for tricking me.”

“Oliver was teaching you self-defense?”

“Hey, don’t sound so shocked,” Oliver insisted.

Skipping to the bodyguard’s side, Felicity tried to sling an arm around his shoulder, but since Diggle was over a head taller than her, just ended up half hugging him. “I thought that after his, you know, experience in fighting, he would make a good mentor.”

Diggle looked alarmed. “Wait, you know?”

Felicity blinked. “Know what?”

“About Oliver’s - fighting experience - you just said -” Diggle cut himself off. Oliver immediately realized what was going on. Diggle thought that he’d admitted to Felicity that he was the Hood. “He seriously told you about -”

“We sleep in the same bed, Dig,” Oliver interrupted him, shooting the man a pointed look to shut up. “Felicity’s seen my scars. It didn’t take her very long to work out that I wasn’t alone on the island, and the people that were there with me weren’t friendly. I’ve told her about some of the stuff that happened on Lian Yu.”

Fortunately, the bodyguard caught on quickly. “Right. Sorry. It’s just - you don’t talk about those five years very often. I should have known you’d open up to Felicity about them.”

“We’re partners, we tell each other everything,” Felicity beamed.

Oliver cringed internally.

He hated the way that both Diggle and Hunter were looking at him now; Diggle in judgment and Hunter in disapproval and disappointment.

He wanted to tell Felicity about his vigilante-ing. He’d been debating how and when to tell her ever since they’d officially become boyfriend and girlfriend. But no matter how much Oliver pondered on it, he always came to the same conclusion - his life was the Hood was dangerous, and Felicity would either not be safe if she knew about it, or would want to break up with him. He loved his relationship with Felicity and was terrified that if she discovered his secret, she might break up with him. She’d been lovely and accepting ever since they’d got together, but Oliver was unsure whether or not he’d have her support concerning his crusade to save the city, especially due to how reckless, hazardless and filled with violence that side of his life was.

“I figured since Oliver learned to fight on Lian Yu, he could teach me a couple of moves,” Felicity continued. “It’s been going really well so far!”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Diggle chuckled. “How long have you been training for?”

“Just over two hours,” the archer said. “We should probably stop for today. Coffee break?”

“He’s trying to make up for not letting me have coffee this morning when he woke me up at a godawful time,” Felicity whispered to the bodyguard. “Sure, honey, sounds like a great idea! We should go to the coffee shop we had our first date at.”

Diggle clapped his hands together. “Espresso Patronum it is.”

“We left Hunter’s leash over by that tree, I’ll just go and pick it up. Hunter, come on, I’ll race you!”

Felicity ran off with the service dog bouncing at her heels. Oliver watched his girlfriend and dog go with a small smile, his heart aching as he knew what conversation he and Diggle were going to have in his girlfriend’s brief absence. He cast a wary glance over to the bodyguard and bit his lip when he saw Diggle had an eyebrow raised at him.

“I know what you’re going to say,” the archer sighed.

“You’re an idiot.”

“And there it is,” Oliver muttered.

“She’s going to find out,” Diggle said, “Whether you tell her or not. She’ll find out eventually. And if it’s not from you, she’s gonna be pissed off, man.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“Then why haven’t you told her yet?”

“How exactly do you confess to your girlfriend that you’re the bow-wielding, hood-wearing vigilante targeting and attacking the city’s elite because you’re trying to right your father’s wrongs?” Oliver glared at him. Diggle opened his mouth to respond, but promptly closed it, not knowing what to say. “Precisely. There’s no way I can tell her that. She’ll think I’m crazy - crazier than I already am. She’s already putting up with me despite my mental health issues, Dig, I can’t ask her to put up with my night time activities too.”

“She doesn’t put up with you,” Diggle frowned. “She loves you.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes I find that hard to believe. I’m not a very lovable person. As damaged as I am, I should be happy Felicity is willing to spend time with me at all. Her being my girlfriend feels like a dream most days, one I’m terrified of waking up from.”

“Stop insulting yourself or I’ll have to tell Felicity.”

“You literally called me an idiot not two minutes ago,” Oliver deadpanned. “If anybody is insulting anybody here, it’s you.”

“Who’s insulting who?” Felicity questioned suspiciously, returning with the service dog trotting on his leash.

Oliver and Diggle exchanged looks.

“I told Oliver he was a little stupid to think I wouldn’t want to help him train you in self-defense,” Diggle said. “One of my ex-army buddies owns a gym down near the docks where I get free entrance, so maybe I could take the two of you there next week.”

Felicity raised a finger. “One, don’t call my boyfriend stupid, please.” She counted off the next one. “Two, that sounds great.” She waved a trio of fingers in front of him. “Three, I need coffee right now so we should get going before I completely lose it due to caffeine withdrawal.”

Stepping forwards, Oliver linked his arm with Felicity’s and took the service dog’s leash, ruffling Hunter’s scruff and scratching behind his ears. They began walking back through the park to the exit gate, where they could see Diggle’s black sedan parked in the distance. “Let’s get you your caffeine, then.”

“Thank you,” she sang, going up onto her tiptoes to kiss his jaw. He winced as it was where she’d brushed her fist against his chin earlier, which caused her to pout. “Sorry.”

He kissed her back, reassuring her, “It’s okay, barely hurts.”

“You actually managed to hit him?” Diggle asked, surprised. “Colour me impressed, Felicity.”

The blonde preened. “Thank you.”

“She’s good,” Oliver told him. “Very speedy and agile.”

“Don’t tell Thea you called me speedy, she might think I’m stealing her nickname. Can we practice some more tomorrow?”

“You enjoyed today?”

Felicity blushed. “A lot, actually.”

“Sure, we can practice some more tomorrow,” the archer agreed. “I’ll wake you up early again so we can come here before the crowds come, the park gets a bit busy on Sundays.”

Hunter growled, ears flicking the back of his head.

“I’m with Hunter on this one,” Felicity motioned down at the dog. “No more ridiculously early mornings please.”

“Even if I make it worth your while?” he whispered into her ear.

Felicity’s blue eyes sparkled with mirth. “You can try, mister.”