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“If everyone thinks you’re dead, then what happens to Roy Harper?”
Oliver’s arms were folded, but inside, he was still shaking. Roy was alive. And though, of course, first and foremost, Oliver was relieved, he still could not believe they had done all this behind his back. To think this was Roy’s idea, too – Oliver didn’t know whether to be disapproving or impressed.
“I leave Starling,” Roy replied, “make a fresh start someplace else. As someone else.”
“With what money?” Oliver said.
“I’ve already taken care of Roy’s ID, and Ray said he can get him a car and some cash,” Felicity said. “We’ve got it all worked out.”
“I can see that,” said Oliver, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice. “I just – I can’t let you do this, Roy. This city is your home. You can’t leave.”
“I have to,” Roy said. “And I’m not saying it’s going to be easy, but I know it’s for the best. For everyone.”
Before Oliver could reply, though, the sound of footsteps descending the stairs of the foundry interrupted them. Thankfully, it was only Ray, and Oliver watched him reach the final step before he looking around, a curious expression on his face. “Nice place you’ve got here,” he remarked.
“Welcome to the Arrow Cave,” Felicity said, and Oliver immediately shot her a look, so she hastily added, “Although we don’t call it that. I do. But we don’t.”
Ray stepped forward and extended his hand to Roy. “Nice to meet you,” he said, and Roy nodded. “And, er, BTW, sorry for, you know, electrocuting you.”
“For what?” Felicity said, alarmed, but Roy shook his head.
“It’s fine,” he said, shrugging. “If it makes you feel any better, Oliver once shot me in the leg. No big deal.”
Eyebrows raised, Ray looked up at Oliver, but Felicity put her hand on Ray’s arm and mouthed, “Long story.”
“One of many, I’m sure,” Ray replied with a smile, and as he filled Roy in on the plan of his getaway, Oliver found himself turning away, heading outside the foundry via the side entrance. It was only a minute later that he realised Felicity had seen him leaving and had followed him, because he could suddenly sense her presence behind him.
“I’m sorry,” she said, “for not telling you.”
“You promised.” His back was to her as he spoke.
“I know I did. But… when we thought you were dead, and you came back, I made a promise to myself, too. That I would do whatever I could to make sure I didn’t – that we didn’t lose you again.” Oliver couldn’t help but notice the way her voice shook a little when she said this. “And we would have told you, but we had to keep your hands clean in all this. If our plan went sideways, we couldn’t have you implicated in it. Not with Lance on your ass.”
“I get it,” he said wearily. “I just don’t want him to go. Not for me.”
“He’s taking one for the team,” Felicity said softly, “just like you have, so many times.”
“And are you sure Ray’s okay with helping us in all this?” Oliver asked. “I already feel like we’ve involved him far too much.”
Felicity smiled. “Well, just like when you were a billionaire, money doesn’t really mean much to him. That, and he’s said from the start that he wants to make the city a better place. To help people. I’m sure that includes Roy.”
“He’s a good guy,” said Oliver, and he managed a smile too. “You know, I didn’t really see it before, but… after today, I can see how much you two have in common. You’re practically made for each other.”
At this, though, Felicity’s smile got a little smaller for some reason. “Yeah,” she said. “I guess we are.”
His hand went automatically to her shoulder. “Felicity… thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, and her eyes were warm when she reached out, touching his arm.
But he shook his head – it was important for him to get across what he really meant. “Not just for being there for me. For reminding me… of who I am.”
She smiled. “Ray told me what you said to him. About being a hero. He said that if it wasn’t for you, he and I would probably have been toast by now.”
“I guess, every now and then, I can be a hero-whisperer too,” he said, and his heart soared when her smile got wider.
“That’s my line,” she said, but a moment later, the playful expression on her face became more serious. “Honestly, though, I know it can’t be easy for you. None of this is easy for you – standing on the sidelines while others are out in the field, not being able to suit up and save the day, and even –” She hesitated for a moment, before continuing, “– even seeing me and Ray together – but the truth is, even if you can’t be the Arrow anymore, you can still inspire people. And not as the guy who lives under a hood and risks his life and sacrifices everything for the good of this city – I mean as the man you are, the man I know, behind that mask.”
He closed his eyes, sighing. It was in moments like these that it hit him just how much he was in love with her.
“And Ra’s may have taken your mask from you,” she went on, “but the one thing he can’t take away and is completely your own is your humanity. And as long as you’ve got that, you’ll always be a hero.”
“Thank you,” he said gratefully. “I remember when I told Roy who I was. The whole time I had been training him before, as the Arrow, I couldn’t get through to him, but the moment I took off that hood, I did.”
“He’s come a long way since then,” Felicity said, “thanks to you. You should be proud of him. I definitely am.”
But Oliver shook his head. “It’s not just thanks to me,” Oliver said. “He wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for you. Neither would I, come to think of it.”
“Not to mention I kind of forced him to wash his hoodies more often,” she said, and he laughed. “And hey, look on the bright side. You’re innocent.”
“Not to Lance,” Oliver said heavily, his smile disappearing. “You know, right before I went to fight Ra’s for the first time, do you know what Lance said to me?”
“What?”
“That I was the closest thing he had to a partner. And now look at what he thinks of me.”
“He’s angry and grieving,” said Felicity, “and that changes people. I guess this is what Laurel meant.”
This last seemed to have been said more to herself than to him, but Oliver looked up. “What do you mean?”
“Laurel said she didn’t want to tell him about Sara because of his heart condition,” Felicity explained. “But she told me it was about more than that. She had seen for herself what losing Sara had done to him the first time round, and that so much of that was because he had never gotten any closure for her death. She said she didn’t want him to go through that again.”
Though Oliver had guessed as much, hearing Felicity lay it down for him only made him feel worse.
He gently extracted his arm from her grasp, turning away from her and putting several feet of distance between them.
“When we were in the van, on the way to Iron Heights, Lance reminded me of… all the people that have died because of me, all the things I brought back to Starling from the island, all the damage I’ve caused.”
“Oliver –”
“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “I deserved to be told that. He was right. There are plenty of people that should be alive right now but aren’t because I couldn’t save them.” He let out a short, humourless laugh. “Lance even told me that saving people isn’t my specialty.”
“He’s wrong,” said Felicity firmly, moving to stand in front of him. “And sure, Captain Lance might not see you as his partner anymore, but it doesn’t matter. I still see you as my partner. I always will.”
“Even though I’m not the Arrow anymore?” It pained him far more than he thought it would to say that out loud. And clearly, Felicity could see that, too, because she reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. His hand automatically went up to his face to push her away, but when their fingers touched, he could not find it in himself to let go.
“I get that,” she said, “really, I do. But you don’t have to be the Arrow to save people. Like today. You saved me – as Oliver Queen. And no matter how much of yourself you feel is missing… just know that I know who you are.”
Her fingers were still lightly touching his jaw, and up close, he found it impossible not to look at her lips, sensuous and a vibrant shade of pink. Her eyes were soft, warm, earnest behind her glasses, and it took every inch of his willpower not to close the distance between them, lift her off her feet and kiss her.
But then, all too soon, the spell was broken by Diggle’s voice.
“I hate to interrupt, you two, but we have to get moving if we want to lose the cops on your tail, Oliver.”
Felicity’s hand had already dropped to her side by the time Diggle was looking pointedly at Oliver, but she nevertheless smiled at Oliver as the three of them made their way back to the foundry. Diggle shot Oliver a look when Felicity wasn’t looking, eyebrows raised, but Oliver just shook his head.
“You know,” Ray was saying, “it’s a shame I didn’t get to see the Arrow Cave sooner. Looks like a cool place to work in. Minus, you know, the smashed glass and everything.”
“We don’t actually call it that, Ray,” Oliver told him. His tone was curter than intended, but Ray didn’t seem fazed.
“Yeah, to be honest, it doesn’t really fit, because caves don’t really have much to do with arrows. Caves are for living things, and arrows, while awesome, aren’t really living.”
“Do you have any suggestions?” Oliver said. Ray must have missed the sarcasm in his voice.
“Oh!” Ray clicked his fingers and Oliver was pretty sure Ray actually jumped into the air. “What about… the Quiver?”
Oliver had disapproval already in his voice before Ray had finished his sentence, but then he considered. “That’s – actually not bad.”
(For once, they agreed on something.)
“Okay,” said Diggle, “we have about ten minutes until the plainclothes tailing you undergoes a shift change. We should probably go up.”
“What about Thea?” Roy said. “I wanted to say goodbye. And, you know, let her know I’m not dead.”
Felicity looked uneasily at Oliver. “I wish you could, but you have to leave now, and Thea is being watched by Lance’s men. He could also be monitoring any calls she gets, so I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to call her until I can get a secure line for her, once you’re out of the city.”
“I’m sorry, Roy,” Oliver said, and he meant it. Yet another thing he would feel guilty about.
Roy shook his head. “It’s fine.”
Oliver wished he could say more to Roy, but he didn’t know what. So he stayed silent as the group gathered their things, getting ready to leave. But as Roy, Felicity and Diggle went up the stairs, Oliver noticed Ray hanging back. Oliver looked at him questioningly.
Some of Ray’s joviality had disappeared. “I, er, realised earlier that I never apologised to you. For, you know, accusing you of being behind the attacks.”
“It’s fine,” Oliver said. “And I meant to say,” he added, “good job today. Felicity wouldn’t be alive right now if it wasn’t for you.”
Ray smiled. “I had help. You must have been pretty good at video games when you were a kid, then.”
Oliver found himself smiling back unexpectedly. “Actually, I sucked. But my dad used to get them for me before they were released, which made me a pretty popular eight-year-old. No, I’m better with my bow than with computers.”
“Right,” said Ray, nodding, “I remember having a similar experience when I was a kid.” And to Oliver’s surprise, they shared a smile. “Also, I wanted to thank you. Not just for what you said when I was fighting that metahuman – for reminding me why I started this in the first place.”
It dawned on Oliver after a moment what Ray meant. “Your fiancée,” he said eventually. “I’m sorry.”
“Felicity told me you’ve lost people, too,” Ray said, and Oliver nodded slowly. Ray chuckled. “You know, at the beginning, she said she wasn’t going to help me on my suicide mission of becoming the Atom. She only agreed to help on the condition that I didn’t plan on dying.”
She had never told Oliver this. He tried to digest this as Ray went on.
“She said this a few months ago, when she came into work more upset than I’ve ever seen her. and when I asked what was wrong, she eventually told me that she’d lost a friend of hers. That this mission would one day kill me and she didn’t want to be part of it because she didn’t want to lose any more people in her life. And then, three weeks later, the Arrow made a televised return to Starling City after almost a month of his absence. That friend… was you, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Oliver said. “The person behind the attack on the mayor, and on the criminals you first heard about, the man he works for almost killed me. I was… nowhere to be found for a good few weeks, and Felicity received… evidence that I was dead.”
“Sounds like one hell of a guy,” Ray commented. He looked like he was hesitating, and Oliver had a feeling he wouldn’t like where this was headed. “Felicity also mentioned that this friend she lost… was more than a friend.”
“Nothing’s going on between me and Felicity, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Oliver said immediately, feeling his forehead crease into a frown.
“No, it’s not what I was thinking,” he said. “Felicity’s not that kind of person. I just wanted to say… I’m sorry things didn’t work out.”
“So am I.” Part of Oliver wanted to put this conversation to bed for good, but another part was curious to know what Felicity had said. “Did she say anything?”
“Not much,” Ray replied. “Just that someone came between you.”
Oliver scoffed. “That’s one way to look at it, I guess.”
And suddenly, Oliver didn’t feel in the mood talking to Felicity’s boyfriend about his own feelings towards her. “Anyway,” he said, extending his hand towards Ray, “thank you for all your help. With the meta, and with Roy. We couldn’t have done all of that without you.”
“No problem,” Ray said sincerely, shaking Oliver’s hand. To Oliver’s relief, he seemed to have accepted that Oliver had closed the door on the subject of Felicity, because neither of them spoke further about her.
He realised, now, that he was wrong in thinking Ray was just like him. The truth was, Ray was better suited to Felicity than he had ever been, and the only thing that assuaged the ache in his heart was knowing that there was someone else in her life that would make her happy – happier than he could ever make her.