I finally decided I needed to add one more chapter to wrap this story up before I could start writing more Arrow fan fic that picks up after the final episode of Season 2. This is somewhat of an epilogue for this story, and you'll note that the follow up of the key characters deviates from the actual show. I'm anxious to pick up after the whole "I love you" twist, so hopefully this does not come off as too rushed. Please review and let me know how you liked it...

It had been over six months since Slade and his army had been brought down. Unfortunately the collateral damage suffered by the city had been devestating. Despite Sebastian Blood having been elected mayor just prior to Slade Wilson's reign of terror, his death had allowed for Moira Queen to be able to step in and finally give back to the city that she had taken so much from. Although Oliver had learned too late that Sebastian had been part of Slade's plan to bring him and the Queen family down, he chose to protect Blood's secret after his death, knowing it would do more harm than good for the residents of Starling City if they learned of the truth. They had been through too much already.

Perhaps what had been most surprising to Oliver had been Isabel Rochev's involvement with Slade. Although both Felicity and Sara had claimed that they knew she had been evil to the core, Oliver had been blind-sided with Isabel's betrayal when she tried to take over Queen Consolidated. After the dust had settled and Slade had been taken into custody, the decision to put QC into Isabel's hands was unanomously overturned by the Board of Directors after her past relationship with Robert Queen was discovered, putting the company back in the hands of the Queen family. She had disappeared before she could be taken into custody for federal charges involving falsifying legal documents and mail fraud, and despite the team's best effort to track her down, she was no where to be found.

Moira, given her new role with leading the city's government, signed over her share of the company to Oliver and Thea, with Oliver being named the sole CEO and President of QC. He had tried to convince Thea to take on a more active role with the company, but she had decided she needed to work through the knowledge of her parentage and figure out how to forgive her mother and brother for keeping it from her. Although Malcolm Merlyn had helped Oliver bring down Slade's goons, Oliver still wasn't happy that Thea had decided to go off with him, but he trusted his little sister was smart enough to know what she needed. That didn't help Roy come to terms with Thea's departure, but he tried to keep himself busy as the newest addition to Team Arrow while Thea was away.

Speaking of Team Arrow, they had been working diligently to bring peace back to the city, and had seen a major turn around in the last month, thanks to the help of A.R.G.U.S. It was the least that Amanda Waller could do since she had almost blown them all to smithereens with her planned drone attacks the night that Slade and his men had taken over the city. Luckily they had been able to execute their plan to allow Felicty to be captured by Slade that night to get close enough to him to inject him with the Mirakuru cure before Waller could bomb Slade's army, and the city. It had been a plan that Felicity had brought to Oliver that he had rejected vehemently at first, until she finally pointed out to him that they were a team, and the longer he tried to resolve the conflict with Slade on his own, the higher the body count rose. Where he had gone off script that night in the Queen Mansion, knowing Slade was watching, was telling Felicity that he loved her. She had known he cared about her and wanted to take things to the next level eventually, but the plan was for him to tell her, for Slade's sake, that it was Felicity, and not Laurel, who he cared about the most, and needed to keep safe. There had never been any discussion about a declaration of love. Felicity's comments about it being very convincing, and almost having fooled her stated after the fact made Oliver realize that she had thought it was part of the show for Slade, and didn't realize that he had actually meant it.

He was replaying that moment in the mansion as he sat at his desk on the top floor of QC headquarters when the object of his affection walked in, her tablet in hand. Diggle had left earlier, heading home to a very happy and pregnant Lyla, so they were the only two in the office. "Oliver, you need to approve these wire transactions that we're sending to Starling City General. It's for the final funds they need to complete the rebuilt Trauma Center that's scheduled to open next month. I've already added the official opening to your calendar; your mother sent over the information a little while ago," she finished, bringing the tablet over to him for him to enter his approval codes. Once they were entered she started to pull the tablet from his grasp, but he held it tightly in his grip, causing her to look at him questioningly.

Once he had her undivided attention he smiled at her. "Thank you," he said, locking eyes with her.

Felicity, never one to beat around the bush, replied, "you're welcome, but it's part of my job duties to set this stuff up for you to approve. There's no need to thank me." She again tried to pull the tablet out of his hand, but was caught off guard when he pulled it harder towards him, causing her to fall forward, allowing him to pull her easily into his lap.

"Oliver!" she exclaimed, looking around to see if anyone was looking. It was well past 7 PM and even the janitorial staff had left for the night, so she knew the likelihood of someone seeing them was minimal, but it still had her looking around.

"Have you had dinner yet?" Oliver asked, holding her firmly on his lap, despite her best efforts to try to pull away.

"No, and why can't you ask me this while I'm standing up and you're sitting down like two normal people," Felicity asked. She could feel herself blushing from her neck all the way up to her hairline at being in such close proximity to Oliver. Neither of them had talked any more about the night she had been training with Sara, or what had been said in the Mansion. Things had just been too busy for any of them to catch their breath trying to bring order back to the city and regain the trust of the QC stockholders.

Oliver, seeing the unease on Felicity's face, couldn't help but smile at her. She had no idea how she affected him, and he thought it was time he let her know. He reached up and brushed back a lose strand of hair that was against her cheek, then brushing the back of his fingers along the side of her face. She froze at the unexpected gesture, forgetting about making any effort to get off his lap.

"Felicity Smoak," Oliver started quietly, never breaking eye contact, "would you do me the honor of going out to dinner with me tonight?" After a short pause and no response, he added, "as my date?"

Felicity was dumbstruck. They had been so busy as of late that she hadn't found time to talk to him about their relationship. The scene at the mansion had been something she replayed in her head over and over almost every day, but with everything else going on, she had been viewing it as more of a fantasy than anything, not wanting to push Oliver about anything he had said to her previously for fear that he may have changed his mind.

Before she lost her nerve, she responded, "I would love that."

He skimmed her lower lip with his thumb, caught off guard by her use of the word that he had just been thinking. Without hesitating, he blurted out, "I love you, Felicity."

"What?"

Oliver wanted more than anything at that moment to kiss the look of confusion off her face, but instead decided it was time that she really knew how he felt.

"I think I've loved you since the day you brought me the book of names that Walter had given to you, when you told me you felt you could trust me for some reason. No one had ever been so open with their faith in me before that day, and here was this amazingly smart, beautiful woman in front of me putting her complete and total trust in me, even though you knew I hadn't been completely honest with you up to that point. You saw something in me that was good and trustworthy when I didn't even see it in me," he finished.

Felicity put the tablet down on the desk behind her and reached up to caress Oliver's cheek. "It's always been there, Oliver, you just needed a reminder," she stated simply.

He pulled her into him then, first gently covering her mouth with his, then deepening the kiss as he felt the love and passion building up inside of him.

Felicity took it all from him, giving back just as much. She often questioned if that kiss in the Verdant parking lot had been real or not, but after the reminder she was receiving, she realized that it was indeed real, and something she wanted to be reminded of often.

It wasn't until hours later, after their romantic dinner and their love-making at Felicity's apartment that Oliver finally heard the words he had been hoping against all hope to hear. He was just drifting off, feeling a level of peace and contentment that he realized he had never experienced before, his arms wrapped tightly around Felicity, a light breeze floating in from the partially opened window when he heard the faint whisper.

"I love you, too, Oliver."

He had finally found his light after the years of darkness on the island. He was finally, truly home...