breathing in lightning (tonight's for fighting)

pairing: olicity

rating: T

summary: Oliver Queen was good at lying, perhaps better than he wished to be.

Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow of any of the characters, no matter how much I would like to.

The only sound in the dark night was that of the rain pattering on the concrete road. Occasionally, the calm was disturbed by the sound of a foot splashing in a puddle as a terrified criminal ran, or by the twang of a bowstring as Starling City's vigilante struck down said criminal.

He still tasted her on his lips.

The man let out a cry and fell to the ground, arrow lodged in his leg. His blood mingled in a puddle nearby, and his tears were lost in the torrent of rain that splashed upon his face. However, Oliver could hear his sobs clear as the raindrops' symphony on the ground.

She had tasted like oranges and her obscenely bright pink lipstick was smeared across her lips.

"Where is he?" the Hood roared. "Where is Sebastian Blood?"

He could only assume it was smeared on his own lips as well.

"I-I don't know, man," the criminal blubbered. "P-p-probably out saving the G-glades or something. Y-you know, m-mayor s-s-stuff." His hands were wrapped around his leg, but blood was seeping through his fingers. Blood. Where was Sebastian Blood?

Her glasses were slightly askew on her face, her eyes wide with shock. But what terrified Oliver was her silence. No avalanche of words or accidental innuendos. Not even a squeak passed those bright pink lips. Just one word.

"Don't lie to me! Where is the mirakuru?" His voice inflector was on. He didn't want to hear his own voice. He didn't want to be Oliver Queen. He didn't want to have made an oath over Tommy's grave. He wanted to be the Hood and he wanted to kill.

"Why?"

"Mira-what? What the hell are you talking about?"

If anyone found out…if anyone knew... God, if anyone discovered that he loved Felicity Smoak as much as he did, she'd be a target for both Queen Consolidating's enemies and the Hood's. She'd be dead within a week. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let her get hurt (or die) because of him. So, he did what Oliver Queen did best.

Ripping the arrow out of the criminal's leg, the Hood listened to his screams with stony indifference.

He lied.

"I swear to God, I don't know anything about Sebastian Blood or any 'mirakiru' thing, you psychopath!" the man screamed through clenched teeth.

Putting on a playboy grin, he replied, "Curiosity. Come on, Felicity. You don't think anything could actually work out between us." He leaned in close, "Unless you'd be willing for just one night."

The criminal was telling the truth. He knew nothing about Sebastian Blood. So the Hood went a different route. "But you know where Slade Wilson is, don't you? Deathstroke?"

He still felt the sting of her slap hours later. That, and the taste of her lips.

The man's eyes widened with fear. "No, no, no, no, no," he said, his head shaking back and forth. "You'll kill me. He'll skin me alive, rip out my fingernails, hang me up by my feet for a week, and then kill me. Put an arrow in my chest right now, man, because there is no way am I telling you anything about Deathstroke."

He made sure she saw him kissing Sara the next day. And he did his best to ignore the tears in her eyes and the slight tremble in her hands.

"He can't kill you if he's already dead," the Hood hissed, drawing another arrow. Time was running short. "I'd be more worried about the guy ready to kill you right now."

She should've known that he'd never do something so foolish as kiss her without reason. She knew him better than that. And she definitely shouldn't have gone out into the field alone on such a dangerous mission. A mission that wasn't even her mission.

"I thought the vigilante gave up killing."

"I'm willing to make an exception."

Stupid.

He let another arrow fly into the man's leg. A string of curse words accompanied a scream of pain.

Stupid.

"He said he was taking something important to a secure location! That's all I know, I swear!" the man screamed, the puddle around him was full of blood and his jeans were soaked with it. "Why do you care so much?"

Stupid Felicity.

"He took something of mine," was the Hood's only reply before he turned to walk away. Slade and himself thought the same way. And they both knew there was only on 'secure location' in Starling City.

He guessed he was a better liar than he thought.

As he headed towards Starling City's National Bank, lightning flashed along the horizon and Oliver Queen, the Starling City vigilante, breathed it in.

(A/N First fanfiction. Thought I'd give it a go.)