A/N: Hey guys so I know I said in the last author's note that the story would be on a short break because of exams, I honestly did not expect revision and A levels and everything else to take up this much time so I am so sorry for the huge delay. On the plus side I have now properly finished school (which is kind of scary) but my plan for the summer is basically binge writing so hopefully updates will be quicker now. Thanks to my beta Rebekah99 and to all you guys for sticking with the story so far! Enjoy :)

The first thing Felicity noticed was the throbbing pain erupting from the back of her head. Reaching behind, she gently touched the spot, wincing as her fingertips came away stained red. Fear gripped at her as she wearily blinked her eyes open to the darkness surrounding her. Her body lay at a painful angle, her arms strapped behind. The dull rotten aroma distracted her from the tight alien space she had woken up to. As the fog of unconsciousness started to clear, Felicity began to feel around, only pulling back when her hand brushed up against something wet trailing a thick sticky coat along her skin.

As the feeling of claustrophobia began to climb, she closed her eyes and lashed out, kicking upwards. The top rattled above her, a small beam of light now slipping through the gaps. Kicking out again more forcefully, she managed to break open what looked like a lid, causing a ray of light to scorch her eyelids. Blinking several times she glanced upwards, taking note of what looked like the side of an apartment building leading upwards. Placing a shaking, bloodied hand onto the plastic side, she wrenched her body upwards towards the opening. The motion caused a wave of nausea to sweep over her and she barely made it over the top, collapsing onto the wet floor as she emptied the contents of her stomach.

By the way the rays of sunlight drifted from beneath the clouds she guessed it was the early hours of the morning. Looking back at the dumpster in disgust, she shivered at the thought of what could have happened had she not woken up when she did. The hazy memory of Moria's icy threat circled her thoughts, making itself known.

Quickly checking in lost hope that her phone was still intact and on her, Felicity came up disappointed. Catching a glimpse of her reflection in a dirtied window, she shuddered, quickly setting about to wipe down her outfit despite knowing the stains and strong odour were two things she couldn't hide.

Being mindful of her throbbing head, Felicity stumbled towards the edge of the alleyway. Immediately recognising where in the Glades she was and began to make her way towards the foundry, hoping the team were absent.

As the familiar club came into view she slipped quietly in through the alley entrance to the foundry and tiptoed down the steps, breathing out a sigh of relief at the deserted area. Immediately she set to work, peeling the dampened, stained clothes off her itching body that was aching in need for an hour long soak in boiling water.

The sound of a throat clearing threw her balance and only the firm placement of large hands on her shoulders managed to steady her. She gaped at Oliver, before grabbing the abandoned top she had strewn to the side and covered herself.

"Don't you knock?"

The sarcasm that would have once been met with a small quirk of the lips was met with an unshaven pale, sleepless face. She found her eyes glued in place and watched in awe as ripples of anger spread, his expression transforming before her eyes. When the hurt and lost gaze in his eyes became flames etching for release Felicity knew there wasn't even a point retelling the cover story she had come up with.

Oliver strode towards her, taking huge strides with such a fast pace she had no idea how he didn't fall over. Taking in the clenched fists by his side vibrating in rage, the stone shape of his mouth and the burrowed lines crinkling between his eyes, Felicity, for the first time ever, felt afraid. When Oliver reached her though, he threw his tree trunk sized arms up and wrapped them around her tightly, crushing the air from her lungs. Judging by the way he was embracing her, Felicity was convinced he had no intention of ever letting her go again.

When Oliver finally let go, his gaze bore deep into her, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN FELICITY?"

Glancing downwards as the guilt rippled through her, Felicity began to mumble an answer.

"FELICITY! Hey, look at me." Oliver reached upwards, gently tilting her chin away from the ground. "Where were you? And don't try and make up an excuse."

"I'm sorry" Felicity spoke quietly.

"You're sorry?! Felicity, the past few hours have been hell. You didn't come home last night. Do you have any idea how worried I was, how worried we were? You've been kidnapped before, how do you know it won't happen again?"

Felicity took hold of Oliver's outstretched hand and squeezed gently. "I'm sorry. I really am … but I can't tell you where I was. "

Oliver's expression softened visibly, calm frustration running through his features. "Can you at least tell me why?"

Felicity gulped, guilt swamping her for the lie that fell from her lips, "I just needed some time to think for myself."

Biting down on her immediate need to soothe Oliver's reaction that had crumpled before her eyes, Felicity swallowed.

"I know that everything has been a bit full on recently but I didn't realise you needed space. I just got excited I guess, so I'm sorry for going too fast, I will back off a little."

She could feel tears stinging her eyelids, and she deserved them, she deserved so much worse for lying to Oliver. But there was no way on earth she could even think about telling Oliver about Moira. As much as she hated it, Felicity knew that whatever pain she had caused Oliver, it was nothing in comparison to the agony he would endure if he found out his mother's role in all of this. So Felicity took a deep breath to compose herself and made her way towards the foundry's bathroom without glancing backwards at Oliver as it would only take one simple look to break her.

The next few hours passed slowly with Oliver hardly sparing her a glance. The rest of the team had piled in, placing greetings as normal and acting as if nothing had happened. Divesting herself in code as a means to escape from the inevitable talk she needed to have with Oliver, she found herself gazing off more than once, lost in her thoughts. Unable to understand the writing on the screen any longer, it was only the clearing of a throat that diverted her gaze. It was the first time that Oliver had actually acknowledged her since this morning.

"Felicity?" Oliver called softly, noting that she hadn't responded to the instructions the team had given out.

Her mind slipped back into itself confusion and what ifs slowly turning around in her head.

"Felicity!"

"What?!" She asked, her voice sounding abrupt from being dragged harshly away from her relentless thoughts. Her eyes laid on Oliver's features as he came to stand next to her chair, his eyebrows frowning in deep concern. "Sorry" She immediately corrected herself then responded trying to sound a bit softer this time but failing, "What?"

Sensing that something was seriously wrong, Oliver spoke gently, all anger from this morning long forgotten as he emphasised each word, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah" Felicity responded quickly, trying to draw away any suspicion. "I'm fine", glancing around at the others in the room she sighed in exhaustion, still tied up with what to do. Wincing her eyes shut in disgust at herself for telling yet another lie, she played it off, "just things", then quickly added "in here" gesturing towards her head in an attempt to sound more convincing.

"You know, sometimes talking helps", Oliver smirked.

Felicity let out a huff, "Who taught you that?"

"My IT expert" Oliver shrugged, his eyes glinting at the small smile now playing upon Felicity's lips.

Swivelling round to fully face him, she noticed the genuine concern igniting his eyes and in that moment decided that she couldn't keep something like this from him anymore. So, running her hand through her hair nervously she blinked once, then began.

Unsure how on earth she was even going to begin this conversation, Felicity fumbled over her words.

It was Oliver's hand on her shoulder that made her pause. "Is this about your family, your dad?"

"No" she shook her head, swallowing loudly, her nerves alight, "it's about yours."

The moment the words left her lips, a ringing sounded throughout the lair. The abrupt noise splintered the tension, Felicity's eyes rising from the floor to meet Oliver's apologetic gaze. Reaching into his jean's pocket, he brought out his illuminated phone and held it to Felicity's view.

"It's just my mom. I can call her back later."

All of a sudden the intensity of the situation hit her. What the hell was she doing? Was she really about to blurt out that his mother's a supervillain? Moira was all kinds of evil, a manipulative liar for sure but this was still Oliver's mother.

She stood up so suddenly that she was forced to grip onto the side of the desk to steady herself. Regaining full balance she pushed past Oliver's outstretched hand and made her way towards the foundry steps, "I need some air".

The second Felicity made it to the alleyway she sunk to the floor, the cool bricked wall was harsh against the thin layer of her top. A light breeze chilled her flush cheeks as she let out an exasperated sigh. Exhaling loudly as she remained trapped in her own tumult, she pulled her knees up to her chest feeling the tears slip down her cheeks.

She sat outside, pleading with anyone that would listen that Oliver would let her have this moment alone as she just couldn't face him right now. She was left with an impossible decision, stuck in the liminal state between right and wrong. If she told Oliver the truth it would rip his family apart, as well as placing them in danger. Unless Moira was lying? But was it really worth the risk? Running her shaking hands through her hair she sighed once again.

Sending a quick text to let Oliver know where she was going, she began to make her way towards the front of the club. In the minute it took to arrive in Verdant's car park, a black sedan had pulled in front of her, the window rolling down and revealing Dig's smirking face.

"To the mansion?"

Felicity stood, shocked. "What? How did you even know? And how did you get here so fast?"

Dig just raised his eyebrows in response expressing the obviousness.

"Right – Oliver. Of course. But let me tell you, he better not have ordered you to do this, otherwise we will be having words. I mean not you and me but Oliver and me, well Oliver and I. Whatever. The point is, is that I refuse to be manhandled from one person to another. I can take care of myself, you know. Unless you are just offering me a lift then, that's really kind so umm thanks."

Sighing at Dig's interchangeable expression, she climbed into the car, "one of these days I'm going to be able to control my own mouth."

Pulling up the large driveway, the guards waved her in. She stood in the large entrance hall and said her good-byes to Dig. She began to trek up the never-ending stair-case, her feet dragging and legs heavy by the top. Making her way towards Oliver's room, she collapsed on the bed, sighing as the soft mattress moulded around her tense body. The exhaustion from the day finally hitting her, the stress and secrets piling up. Allowing herself a moment of relaxation, Felicity forced herself up, stripping off Oliver's oversized hoodie and making her way towards the wardrobe in search of something comfy to sleep in.

Opening the wardrobe door lazily, she blindly reached for her sleep shorts, her hand fumbling around when she couldn't find them. Using her full attention now, Felicity peered into the wardrobe, confused. Blinking twice she gazed perplexed at the emptiness, she could have sworn Raisa had just washed them a few days ago. Giving up she started searching around for a substitute and after a minute she froze. Where the hell was all her stuff?

A chilling thought appeared, a sense of dread seeping through her as she pushed it to the back of her mind. Frowning, she pulled out the empty hangers, throwing them behind her. A single thought playing on loop; this couldn't be happening. Reaching towards the back of the wardrobe, she shoved aside the hanging items, violently tearing out the folded shirts. But it didn't matter where she looked because everything of hers was gone.

Spinning around to the sound of small footsteps walking past the room, Felicity called out. "Hey, Thea can you come here a sec?"

The footsteps stopped and grew louder until the door swung open, turning around to face the door she began to speak; "Hey, do you know what's happened to…" Felicity trailed off as she took in the sight of Thea's tear stained face. "Hey what's wrong?" Placing a gentle hand on the younger girls shoulder, she pulled her downwards till she was slumped on the bed next to her. Waiting for Thea to talk, she began rubbing her thumb in a circular motion, offering any form of comfort she could give.

After a couple of minutes Thea buried her face in her hands, smudging her eye make-up with the backs of her palms. Running a trembling hand through her hair, she looked up and accepted the crumpled tissue from Felicity's outstretched hand.

"Do you keep anything from my brother?" Thea asked, her voice still shaking.

Confused at the topic Felicity paused for a moment, considering the question. "Not really. He doesn't know everything about my past but if he wants to know then I'm not going to keep it from him. Why the sudden interest?" After a moment or two she began to realise what Thea was implying. "Did something happen with you and Roy? Is there something you're keeping from him?"

At Thea's silence, she continued, "I'm not saying you have to tell me whatever it is but maybe if you tell me what it's roughly about then I might be able to help."

Thea sighed dramatically, throwing the top of her body backwards on the bed so that she was lying down fully. "It was last week, around the time of the kidnapping. Roy, he... he told me something. Something big and I just don't know how to react to it. I mean I feel like I should be angry at him for lying to me all this time but in a way what he said made everything suddenly clear, why he's always sneaking off or making excuses. So I've just been avoiding him the past week, finding any and every excuse not to meet up but I know he can tell they are fake."

Felicity smiled gently, standing upright, "Right here's the plan; tonight we will have one of your famous Disney film sleepovers and then tomorrow you are going to arrange to meet Roy and just tell him everything you've told me, okay?" Watching Thea nod in response, Felicity linked her arm through Thea's and led her towards the girl's bedroom, the absence of Felicity's belongings long forgotten.

They were half way through the third film when the sound of a phone ringing interrupted them. Recognising the ringtone set specifically for Arrow missions, Felicity snatched up the phone, holding it up. Talking in hushed tones she glanced back at Thea, a wave of guilt striking her.

"Thea I'm so sorry. I have to go. There's a problem at the office and Oliver desperately needs my IT skills."

The smile fell from Thea's lips, a flicker of disappointment showed, quickly replaced by feigned happiness. "Its fine" she gestured at Felicity, "Honestly, just go."

Apologising once more, she raced towards the door, speed whispering strict instructions to the team.

Felicity arrived back at the foundry just as Oliver emerged from the attached shower room in full costume, so she sunk into her chair and began filling herself in. Oliver walked over, placing a quick kiss to her forehead before gesturing to the screen.

"Your scanners picked up an illegal shipment of acetone peroxide, an explosive compound the Reaper Brother's may have been using in their bombs. It's just a local gang involvement so Dig gave Roy the night off."

Nodding in understanding, she felt herself relax as Oliver wound his arms around her waist, perching on her lap. Leaning in, she felt Oliver grin as she pressed her lips to his. She let out a small hum in protest as he kept the kiss chaste and quick. All too soon the others finished changing and Oliver extracted himself from her with one last peck on the lips and led the vigilantes out.

Two hours later, the foundry door slammed against the wall in protest, signalling that the mission had not ended well. Wincing as the room fell silent to the sound of a bow crashing against the table, along with a set of arrows slammed down next to them, Felicity's eyes followed the few that had missed and fell against the ground. Walking up as the room emptied in record time, she sighed, whilst pulling herself onto the table next to Oliver.

As Felicity tried to find the words to console him, her gaze was countered with one of fire. Holding her hands up in surrender, she started to talk. "I'm not going to ask what happened because clearly that's not going to end well for me, but, when you want to talk just know that I'm here. Okay?"

Expecting to be met with resistance, shocked fuelled her as Oliver pulled her off the table into his lap, wrapping his arms fully around her. Pushing her hair off of one shoulder, Oliver inhaled deeply, finding comfort in the familiar floral scent. Oliver stayed in that position for several minutes, simply playing with a lock of Felicity's hair, his eyes shut tight.

"I'm officially the Queen teddy bear"

"What?" Felicity's ramble broke him out of his bliss, a small quirk playing on his lips.

"Well, first Thea and now you, all in the same day. I honestly don't understand what you guys did before me." She babbled on, oblivious to Oliver's (named by Thea) 'heart eyes'.

Silence drifted in once more until Felicity found the words slipping from her mouth. "There's something I need to tell you and you're really not going to like it."

Dropping his arms from her side, a serious tone masked his face. "Is this about earlier?"

Sighing loudly Felicity just opened her mouth, letting her words fly away in sync with her thoughts. "Okay, okay, before you say anything, just know that I never imagined her plans and her keeping something like this from you. I mean, sure, I could have imagined it. I actually have a very vivid imagination. Like cronuts! I had a vision of them before-"

"Hey" Oliver interrupted, "Relax. Take a deep breath." He breathed in deeply along with Felicity then continued, "Good. Now start at the beginning, who are you talking about and what secrets?"

The very second she opened her mouth, Oliver's phone started to ring. A wave of frustration flew over the pair, Felicity shaking her head in annoyance. Reaching backwards Oliver showed Moira's icon lighting his phone's screen.

"Ignore it." Felicity blurted out, adding a please on the end as an afterthought.

"Felicity what's going on?"

"I-"

The sound of the alarms from the foundry's computer sounded and a second later Felicity was at the screens, frantically typing at the keyboards. "Someone's trying to break into our network."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Nothing! Just – stay right there"

Her hands flew across the keys in a blurring motion, her teeth worrying over her bottom lip in concentration. Then, just as suddenly as the alarms started, they abruptly ended. Confused, she started scans to note what files the intruder was trying to access. One stood out in particular as she clicked on it, it led to an automated message. Unable to resist, Felicity clicked open the message;

I HAVE WARNED YOU ONCE ALREADY. DON'T TELL HIM AND MAKE ME FULFIL MY PROMISE.

A strike of nausea swept over her, ice prickling at her skin as the message became clear. Trying to feign her reaction, she quickly closed the message before Oliver could see. Her mind whizzed away, 100 mph, a speed too fast even she couldn't keep up with her thoughts. It had to be Moira. Who else would be threatening them? The timing was no coincidence either. Earlier that morning when the she devil phoned just as she was telling Oliver was a coincidence, just moments ago her phoning again whilst she was trying to tell Oliver was misfortunate, however, receiving the threat at the same time was deliberate. One dreaded thought took up Felicity's mind. But no, it wasn't even possible. Could Moira really be bugging Oliver or herself? Was this just audio recordings or has she planted cameras? If Moira was also the person behind the message then she must have some shady contacts to be able to infiltrate their firewall. But then did that mean Moira knows Oliver's the Arrow? That she's known all this time? No. But how could she not know?

Thoughts and theories buzzed through her mind but know she knew Moira wasn't bluffing, it meant she had to take her threats seriously, Moira was willing to risk the lives of her family by summoning her father. If she told Oliver everything now then it could end with the city being torn apart by her father's rage.

A small tear escaped her closed eyelids as emotions swirled inside her.

"I think I need some air" she breathed, walking towards the staircase.

Catching her arm, Oliver spun her around, "No. Not this again. Felicity just tell me, please."

"I can't do this anymore okay! There's just too many secrets and lies and it's too much" Shrugging away Oliver's hand from her shoulder, she made her way towards the exit. Glancing back, remorse filled her seeing Oliver's broken gaze. "I'm sorry. I just- I just need some time to figure this all out, okay?"

Lost within her thoughts, Felicity made her way into the back alley, losing her sense of surroundings. She didn't hear the dark footsteps behind her until it was too late. A sharp stinging sounded at the base of her neck, a cool liquid seeping into her. Reaching for her phone, she drew it out as her body crashed against the ground. Fumbling with the passcode as the blurred digits spun across the screen, her vision blackened in the corners, Felicity's hands started to tremble. She could feel the cold numbness slowly trail down her arms, her hands now immobile. Losing all control in her movements her eyelids drifted closer together, low voices intertwining.

The grogginess started to slip away, her body aching in every place possible. Not caring who heard, she let out a low groan because seriously what was with her and being kidnapped? A quiet shuffling stilled her body then a broken voice spoke out, "Hello? Is anyone there?"

Her eyes shot open at the voice, only to be met with blackness. The male voice sounded vulnerable and full of fear, a British accent shining through. Answering back, Felicity slowly crawled over to the darkened figure curled up in the dim light, the only break from the blackness. As she drew closer, the familiar figure turned towards her in fright. Shock hit her at once as she registered the man she had seen only in photos, the man she believed Moira had had killed, the man that was both Oliver and Thea's step-father. She saw a dead man, his eyes dropped low, his skin sagging and his body thin. His beard left unshaven and overgrown, hiding his features from the hideous world.

Reaching out, she brushed her fingers along the side of this familiar stranger's face, ignoring his flinch and breathed out, "Walter?"

A/N: Thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you think :)