Well this was certainly not going well for Felicity tonight. Gasping down deep breaths to try and aid the raging pain that was coursing over her left side. She had to try and hide her injury to the rest of the group and they couldn't find out, because then they would only see her as some weak, pathetic I.T girl that always sat behind the computers with that as her only use. Making her way down the stairs of the Foundry, she found it was completely empty. YES, so now she was alone and she could tend to her wound. Fingers crossed it wasn't infected or anything.

They had been on an undercover mission, Oliver and Digg were outside waiting in case something went wrong, Sara and Roy were amongst the crowd while Felicity had the task of getting to the main office and collecting the necessary information needed to bring Lawler to justice. Everything had been going smoothly until there had been a guard waiting outside the room Felicity was currently occupying. Without alerting the rest of the team, Felicity was able to take him down thanks to some self-defence moves Digg had taught her. However, she hadn't seen the knife swung at her until the last moment but she managed to prevent the knife from hitting her square in the face but he still managed to get her side, causing quite a deep gash running down her left side Although she wasn't fazed by it at first, she had felt something sticky, looking down to see her blouse slowly turning crimson red. Swaying slightly Felicity was able to make it back to the Foundry. How she was able to pull off a strong enough voice with her fading strength to the rest of her team over the comms was beyond her.

"Dammit" Felicity cursed when she peeled the material of her blouse away from her side. She had dressed it with gauze after putting in a few stitches, which she hated every second of, but it continued to bleed out a little.

"Felicity? Are you down here?" Oliver's sudden voice broke her out of her train of thoughts. Hurriedly tugging the hem of her hoodie down, which she threw on in case something like this would happen, she greeted Oliver but what she failed to notice was how pale she was.

"Felicity are you okay?" he asked curiously taking a couple of steps towards her before stopping short just in front of her.

"Yeah course I am, why do you ask?" Felicity asked, trying to mask the pain in her voice.

"Because you look quite pale" Oliver answered hesitantly. She knew he was getting too close to figuring out the truth. Making up a quick and realistic lie, Felicity tried to divert the conversation to another topic preferably one that would able her to leave quickly because right now she could feel her strength fading.

"Actually I'm feeling a little under the weather, I think I might just head home" Felicity said, praying he brought her act. She forgot to register just how weak she would be though. Standing, she moved towards the stairs but wasn't able to take another step because the world suddenly began to spin, making it impossible for her to stand up so the next minute she was collapsing. Some part of her brain heard Oliver yelling her name as he lunged forward, catching her just before her head smacked against the floor. As soon as she was in his arms her eyes snapped shut.

Shifting her body into his lap, he was startled when he felt a familiar sticky substance on his left hand, pulling back his eyes widened at the sight of blood coating his hand. Shouting her name again, his heart seized when he saw her eyes had closed; Oliver moved her hoodie to the side revealing the shocking site of a deep gash that looked like a knife-inflicted injury. It also revealed a gauze tapped over the wound, gently removing it he saw the temporary stitches Felicity put in to stop the blood. Acting on instinct, he cradled her against his chest before easily rising to his feet and moving to the med-bay. Connecting her to a heart monitor, just to give a peace of mind, Oliver cleaned her wound before stitching it up redoing all of Felicity's work then replacing the gauze. Within mere seconds, he came up with the obvious conclusion that she couldn't stay at the Foundry because it wasn't the best place to rest and heal. It got cold at night and truthfully it didn't feel that safe. He didn't want to take her back to the mansion because she'd be faced with too many questions so that left taking her home. Carefully scooping her up into his arms, Oliver made his way to the staircase.

This was when it got interesting because the only mode of transport that he had was his bike, he should've brought his car. Cautiously settling himself on the bike with Felicity cradled tightly to his chest with her head nested on his shoulder, Oliver accelerated, being careful not to jolt her injured form. To his advantage there wasn't any traffic, streets barely empty. Rapidly making his way to her house, Oliver stole a glance down at his I.T girl lying cuddled up unconscious against him. At that sight before him several feelings seemed to rise to the surface. Why didn't she let someone know that she was hurt? It hurt him in every way possible that he didn't know the answer to that question. A possessive feeling swamped him and Oliver found it hard trumping it back down again. Finally getting to her house, Oliver used the key she had given him and Diggle, in case of emergencies, to unlock the door. Getting Felicity settled comfortably in her bed was his first priority, next he would worry about the questions that followed. Tenderly placing Felicity in her bed he covered her with the bed sheets, tucking the duvet up right against her chin then permitted his mind to be flooded the picturesque scene in front of him. She looked stunning. Whether he allowed himself to he knew that Felicity was his light, she was his reason that kept him fighting and not giving up. But observing her sleeping form made a bolt of protectiveness flare through him for her. She didn't even realise the effect she had on him however, he didn't let himself show it otherwise she would be harmed. Removing her glasses and placing them on the bedside table, Oliver couldn't control himself so making one last thorough check that everything was alright, her stitches, the bandage and the pillows cushioning her head and etc. He propped up the pillows and settled himself down beside Felicity. As if she sensed his presence she suddenly shifted, turning her head towards him. Why she hadn't come to him sooner he would never know but it wouldn't stop him from finding out though. Didn't she realise how special she was to him? If anything were to happen to her, he wouldn't know what to do. With all the crap going on in his life, he could always trust Felicity to brighten his day and give him a sense of freedom. Whenever he was with her, she was the key to escape his life and go somewhere that he didn't have to worry about Oliver Queen or the Arrow, he could be himself. Sometimes she didn't even realise she was doing it. Before he even registered the action, his left hand reached out to Felicity's waist and tugged her towards him like she was as light as a feather. So here they were with Oliver laid out of her bed with Felicity sprawled out across his chest and his left arm locking around her shoulders, securing her to him. Listening to her gentle intakes of breath and exhales he soon found his eyes beginning to feel like lead, becoming increasingly harder to keep open. With the feeling of Felicity in his arms he allowed the dark to claim him and floated off into his new dreams of a life he could have.

Her body ached badly, why did it feel like she'd just gone through an intense training session with Digg again? Eyes fluttering open, Felicity took in the sight she was met by like she was still in her dream. Oliver was in a deep and peaceful slumber. Then she realised how intimate their position was. At some point during the night he must've pulled her close because now she was cuddled against his chest with his left arm protectively fastened around her waist and looking down she saw that their legs were tangled together. Felicity could feel the heat rising to her cheeks and if he was able to see her now she would probably be looking redder than a tomato. Ignoring the pain flaring in her body, she pushed all inappropriate thoughts to the back of her mind; she focused on extracting herself from his sleeping form which, by the looks of how tightly he was clung onto her, would prove to be an extremely difficult job. Untangling their legs slowly and careful not to put too much pressure on any of his limbs in case his grip tightened because then escaping his grasp would be impossible, Felicity managed to retain possession of her own limbs working her way up to her upper body. When Oliver suddenly shifted, she froze her attempts at separating herself from him, his face now came to nuzzle her hair and she felt him move closer to her- great! After a good ten minutes, Felicity finally had separated herself from Oliver and while she stood at the foot of the bed she got a stunning view of him still sleeping. Making her way into the bathroom the first thing she did was inspect her injury. Pulling the gauze away slightly to see the gash, the stitches that were clasping her skin together were much neater than they had been. Dammit, Oliver must've seen it after she collapsed. Great and now she has a bow-wielding vigilante with a very bad temper problem, and was extremely possessive not to mention over-protective, keeping an eye on her. Brilliant just bloody brilliant. Having a quick shower, Felicity exited the bathroom and saw that Oliver hadn't moved a muscle while she was gone. In the space it took her to extract herself from him, take a shower and dry herself Oliver had barely even twitched. Should she wake him up? No, no, no bad idea. Having a sleeping vigilante in her bed that already knows about her pathetically-hidden injury is bad but having an awake vigilante knowing about her injury is worse. So no, under no circumstances was she to wake him up. Instead she settled for making herself comfortable on her couch and watching some episodes of her favourite TV series that she'd missed. About forty minutes into the third unwatched episode, noting that each one was around forty five minutes long, she heard shuffling coming from upstairs. Great, well this is going to get interesting she thought when she heard him coming down the stairs.

Oliver had arisen later than he intended to because when he woken up he didn't feel the welcoming warmth of his blonde partner, instead he was met with nothing but cold air. Searching for her, he heard faint sounds of the TV coming from downstairs. Promptly taking the stairs two at a time, he made his way to what he thought was the living room.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Oliver asked, taking the cup of coffee she had already made and had left on the breakfast bar for him and taking residence beside her on the couch watching what seemed to be Teen Wolf, she had always loved Stiles, Scott and Derek.

"Because you looked too peaceful and besides I've rarely seen you sleeping so I decided not to wake you"

"And why didn't you let anyone know that you'd been hurt?" his tone carried the slight hint of anger, irritation and something else she couldn't place, probably the fact that she was hurt.

"Because it wasn't that bad, you lot get hurt all the time and patch it up like it's nothing and besides you think that was my first time that I'd gotten hurt?" she countered with another question, never once taking her attention off of the TV screen where a fight was happening between Stiles, Lydia, Kira, Scott and Oni.

"We're a team Felicity-" grabbing the remote and stopping the scene so he'd have her attention instead of it being on the screen "-and no matter what happens, we always tell each other"

"So what would you have done if I'd told you that I'd been hurt? One of you would drop everything and come and find me and treat me like some fine-wound china or something, which always annoys the hell out of me"

"Well sorry for trying to keep you safe"

"Nobody acts that way when any one gets hurt" she claimed crossing her arms, this really starting to get under his skin.

"Because you're not like us Felicity, you're different"

"Different how?" she was pushing his buttons in all the correct ways, pushing him over the edge.

"Because your innocent alright….you haven't seen the things the rest of us have" he snapped. "You're the light of the team Felicity and without you none of this would be the same, so if you ever get hurt we always make sure that your light's not going to be extinguished.

"Oliver…everyone has their dark secrets and sure some aren't so nice at all but it doesn't make it any different though"

"What do you mean?" he asked while Felicity crossed her arms, protecting herself and facing the frozen TV.

"Which one; the fact that your mother makes you think you're the reason your dad left you every waking second of your childhood or the fact that you still have memories of an experience that you've tried to bury for years on end only for it to haunt you at night noun and again?"

"Nobody should be blamed for that and sometimes you just have to push through it, but you know you can always talk to me though right?"

"Yeah I know…it's just hard because I mean I want to get it out but it always puts me back in that position again, seeing the things I did…feeling the way I did, that feeling where you know you're going to die and you can see it but you keep fighting for a chance to break through the surface" during her explanation, Felicity had shut her eyes tight and Oliver could see tears brimming in the corners, threatening to fall. Shifting her head to the side away from him and nudging her shoulder, he could see that she was on the verge of a breakdown. Wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and tugging her into his side, on his first tug she seemed hesitant but he was insistent and on the third tug she rested her head on his shoulder. Altering their positions slightly, Felicity's head came to rest in the crook where his neck met his shoulder, laying his chin on her head gently he offered whatever means of comfort he had to her in that moment.

"Maybe someday I can give you the comfort needed to make the experience lighter on you"

"I'd like that but for now….could I continue watching Teen Wolf?" she was rewarded by a deep laugh from Oliver, who did then finally give her the remote. Before she even got the chance, Oliver pulled her back into his chest and enveloped her in his arms. This is how they stayed even as the remaining members of Team Arrow began piling in and before long they were all asleep in her living room. Roy was on the double couch with Thea's head in his lap while his legs crossed at the ankles and rested on her coffee table, Sara took up the other seat also having Thea's feet in her lap. Digg and Lyla shared one of the armchairs while Oliver took up the remaining one with Felicity resting on his lap, cuddled up to his chest. Laurel came in a little later and found them all like this, taking a picture then another one of each person and remembering to hide them and use them as blackmail later also remembering to keep them away from the reach of a certain sleeping hacker secured to the sleeping vigilante, she joined Sara on the couch and Thea then used her as yet another pillow to rest her body on. They would always be a team and nothing in this world could ever separate them.