Hello my lovelies...
I am soooooooooooo sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I suffered from this develish thing called "writer's block"! I hope it's over now, I hate that!
Anyways, I hope you still read my story and like what my writer's-blocked brain did with this chapter.
Have fun...
************************
Oliver huffed and looked up at the ceiling. "Now is like the worst time EVER!" He looked back at her again and smiled a soft smile.
"But the timing is never right…" she said, biting her lower lip.
He couldn't stand it for one more second. She looked so hopeful. He could see her love and her desire for him clearly written all over her face. In this moment – his brain stopped working.
Oliver lifted his hands up without ever letting go of Felicity's and intertwined his fingers with hers. He started to push Felicity back a few steps until she was trapped between the fridge and Oliver's body.
Both of them were breathing hard and both their hearts were racing. Everything around them became blurry… the only thing that stayed in focus was the person right in front of them. Oliver let go of Felicity's hands to cup her face and let his fingers run over her cheeks.
They lost track of time while being so close to each other. Drowning in Oliver's eyes, Felicity leaned into his touch. The trace his fingers left on her cheeks was burning in the most pleasurable way.
Oliver let his right hand wander along her jawline until he reached her chin. He ran his thumb over her lower lip before he slid his hand around the back of her neck, tipping her head back to create a better angle.
Felicity was glad she was trapped between the fridge and Oliver. Her legs felt like jelly. Her body was trembling and her hands were sweating. After Oliver had let go of them to capture her face, she put them on his shoulders and let them slowly glide down to his elbows, tracing every scar they found on their way.
Slowly, Oliver bent his head down and after what felt like hours to both of them, their lips finally met. The second they touched, Felicity arched her back to press herself flush against Oliver's body. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Her right hand ran across his head to keep him in place. Oliver pushed her tighter against the fridge. There was no space left between their bodies.
Despite their obvious passion the kiss wasn't fierce or violent. It was still tender and cautious. Like they were scared their tiny bubble of happiness would burst if they wouldn't be careful enough.
Felicity welcomed the cool feeling of the fridge's steel doors on her back. Her whole body was on fire. This wasn't their first kiss. But this one was way more important than the one they shared in the hospital a few months ago. This one wasn't a goodbye kiss. It wasn't an 'I'm so sorry but I love you too much to be with you' kiss. It was the beginning of something, not the end.
When they both ran out of air and broke the kiss, Oliver let his forehead rest against Felicity's. "What if something goes wrong in Nanda Parbat?" he whispered.
Felicity smiled. She knew he had doubts about this. She knew he was scared something out of his control could hurt her or destroy their relationship. Or worse – something that he did could destroy it.
"Than at least I can remember this as long as I live!" she answered and pressed another gentle kiss on his lips. His expression was still slightly pained because he didn't want her to get hurt but he couldn't be happier. Oliver took a step back and slid his arms around her shoulders. He let his chin rest on top of her head after pressing a kiss on her forehead. Felicity wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his bare chest.
One week later
Team Arrow, along with Thea and Merlyn, was standing on a private airfield, next to the airplane that was supposed to bring Oliver and Merlyn to Nanda Parbat. Diggle, Roy and Laurel hadn't been thrilled about Oliver going to pretend to join the League, but neither one of them could come up with a better plan.
When they were done saying their Goodbyes it was Thea's and then Felicity's turn. Thea hugged her brother and told him to be careful, before she stepped aside to let Oliver and Felicity have another private moment.
Neither of them said a word. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Felicity walked up to him slowly and wrapped her arms around his neck. Oliver pressed her tight against his body. Both of them took their time. Cherishing every second of just being close to each other. When Felicity started to unwrap her arms from his neck Oliver moved his hands up to her face, stroking his thumbs over her cheeks and kissing her with everything he had.
"Um… do we know about that?" Roy asked under his breath and only got disapproving glances from Diggle and Laurel who were glad Oliver and Felicity seemed to have finally come to their senses.
"Please be careful and come back to me…" Felicity told Oliver when she took a step back.
"You know I won't be able to contact you, right? Do you think you can manage NOT to freak out?" he smiled at her. "I need you to keep the team together, to be their eyes and ears when they are out in the field. They need your sharp brain and you fast hacker skills. Do you think you can do that?"
"I'll do my best…!" she answered while squeezing his hand. Glaring at Malcolm she added in a cold and demanding voice "This HAS to work. You better hope Oliver comes back unharmed or I swear I will torture and kill you myself!"
Oliver chuckled at her commanding tone. Thea smiled at her father. The smile was only half genuine. Labeling their relationship as 'complicated' would have been the understatement of the century. She hugged him, told him goodbye and when the two men were about to enter the plane she called "Oh, and dad…" Malcolm stopped to turn and look at her and she added "…what Felicity said!"
A few hours later the plane touched down in Nanda Parbat. Malcolm disappeared as soon as the "Fasten your seatbelt" signs went off. Oliver helped him open one of the emergency exit doors when the plane was still moving so he would not be seen by members of the league.
Ra's' men led Oliver to the League's headquarters and showed him his room. They told him to change and to meet Ra's for dinner in 30 minutes. Oliver did as they told. He didn't want to make Ra's or any other member of the League suspicious.
The evening was quite uneventful, given the circumstances. Ra's told Oliver how he would be inaugurated into the League over the next weeks. He would be trained in fighting, in heightening his senses, in survival and some other creepy League stuff.
Over the next few days, Oliver observed everything. Every habit, every talk… he had to know their routines. Had to know when the Lazarus Pit waters where unguarded. Which was – NEVER. But then, he learned about something that could be of help.
Every evening at 11 p.m. sharp, Malcolm paid Oliver a visit. Tonight, they could finally start making plans.
"Anything helpful for a change?" Malcolm asked when he appeared in Oliver's room.
"As a matter of fact – yes." Oliver answered and Malcolm's interest was piqued. "The day after tomorrow another candidate will be inaugurated into the League. During the ceremony – which will be held at the beach – the waters will only be protected by one man."
Malcolm smirked. "So I just take him out, put the serum into the waters, get rid of the body and take his place?" Oliver nodded. "That's almost too easy…"
"We have to wait till Ra's uses the Pit again. We have to be sure that it works. Besides – without Ra's dead I can't leave the League anyways."
"You are right. So I keep pretending being one the guards. I'll wait for an opportunity to hurt Ra's so he has to use the Pit."
"Yes, but it has to look like an accident. If he gets suspicious – it'll get bad."
"I know… don't worry, I got it handled." And with that, Merlyn was gone again.
Two days later…
Oliver was attending the inauguration ceremony of another new member of the League. He hoped Merlyn would be successful. He missed his city, his friends and his sister and most of all - Felicity. It's been a week and a half now and he wanted to go home desperately. He was nervous about whether or not their plan would work out but he had to keep calm. Every member of the League had trained senses so he had to be extra careful not to show any signs of nervousness.
Merlyn was lurking in the shadows in the corridor that lead to the Lazarus Pit. He waited for the new guard to arrive. Finally, he heard footsteps coming from afar. The guards were facing each other for a few seconds then nodded their heads before the one whose shift was over now, left the chamber.
Malcolm waited about ten more minutes to make his move. He had to be sure the other guard had left for the beach. Without making a sound, Malcolm sneaked up on the new guard and snapped his neck with one swift movement of his hand. The guard's lifeless body sagged to the ground instantly. Merlyn grabbed his hands and dragged him behind a projecting rock on the far right side of the chamber. He robbed the guard of everything he needed to look like one of them before putting the serum into the pit's waters.
He took a deep breath… "Phew… that was almost too easy…" he mumbled under his breath. Now he had to pretend to be guarding the Lazarus Pit for another two and a half hours. After that they had to figure out a way to hurt Ra's and letting it look like an accident.
About one hour after Merlyn had put the serum into the water, two men approached the chamber. One of them was upholding the other, who was bleeding heavily through a huge cut on his neck.
"Help us! We have to use the Pit's waters. He got hurt during training and will die if we don't put him into the water."
Ra's told the members of the League and the ones who wanted to join, that they had to learn to endure pain. That the pain was only a physical reaction which could be ignored by psychic strength. But if one of his own was hurt so severely that he'd die from the wound, he'd let them use the Lazarus waters.
"I got him!" Merlyn answered and carried the man further into the chamber. "You can go back to the inauguration. I'll take care of him."
The other man nodded and left for the beach. Malcolm threw the bleeding body next to the dead guard and took his place in front of the pit again. He really couldn't care less if the man lived or died.
When the inauguration was over, two other guards arrived and started their shift. Merlyn went to Oliver's chambers to discuss what to do next. He entered without knocking and Oliver would have almost beheaded him.
"Are you insane? I almost killed you!" he hissed and closed the door behind Merlyn.
"You weren't even close…" Malcolm answered and went to stand in one of the room's windows. Looking into the nothingness that stretched out around the League's headquarters he added… "We have to change our plan."
**********************
Thank you everyone for reading... Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated!
Love, Nina