So here's another story that probably was only supposed to be a long one-shot but is now a multi-chapter. I just had this crazy thought the other night and then I heard this song and Voila! It's probably a bit OOC but Oliver does keep a lot of secrets...sometimes because he thinks it's for the best and it just isn't. This is mostly in canon up until where we left off tonight.

There's more to this fic, I'm about half-way through the second chapter. Anyways, let me know if you want to read more. Enjoy!

I own nothing.

It's so loud inside my head

With words that I should have said

It took him too long to realise she was gone. By the time he figured it out, it was too late. He had no one to blame but himself.

"So nice of you to join us, Kid." Slade mocked from his place behind the two women.

Oliver stepped forward and threw back the hood. Laurel shook with fear, her eyes pleading to be saved from a criminal she didn't understand. His gaze moved to the stoic blonde who knelt next to her. Tears stained Felicity's cheeks but she remained quiet, staring stonily past him.

"I don't understand." Oliver admitted, eyes never leaving Felicity. "You already did this. Why them?"

Slade chuckled and Laurel choked on a sob. "I told you one more person would die."

Oliver shook his head. "No."

"Please, Ollie. Please." Laurel begged and Oliver ripped his attention from Felicity to look at her. She was a mess, begging for him to save her over Felicity. He resented her for it, he realised suddenly. Sara and Shado hadn't begged him for their lives. His Mother had willingly sacrificed herself so that he would never need to choose between herself and Thea. None of those women would have valued their life above another's. His grey eyes snapped back to Felicity.

"Anything to say, Miss Smoak?" Slade asked as Oliver willed her to look at him. He needed to see her blue eyes. He needed her, selfish as it was, he needed her right now.

Felicity jerked her head from left to right, eyes never raising to meet Oliver's. Her defiance only spurred on Laurel's pleas and Oliver closed his eyes.

"Tick tock." Slade's chuckle turned into a growl and Oliver's eyes popped open. "I told you to come alone."

Oliver pivoted on his heel and saw that the League had followed him, flanking him from all sides. Several arrows containing the cure were now pointed at Slade's chest. Sara scrambled forwards and pulled Laurel to her feet and away from Slade.

"Felicity?" Confusion filled him as she remained on her knees. She closed her eyes and he watched as several tears escaped. She moved slowly from her knees and stood to face Slade. Oliver stepped forwards, desperate to get her away from Slade. Slade's face split into a grin just before the League loosed their arrows. Oliver reached Felicity's side in time to watch his former friend fall.

A harsh laugh escaped Slade's lips as the cure began to wrack his body in spasms. "I win, Kid."

Oliver shook his head. The Mirakuru really had warped his brain. He felt Felicity move away from him and he turned to follow her.

"Ollie!" Laurel cried out, mere moments before she launched herself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her waist and breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn't hurt. His eyes however, followed Felicity as she moved away from him and through the various members of the League. A frown crossed his face as she disappeared into the crowd. He pulled away from Laurel and made to follow the Blonde but Laurel wrapped a hand around his and pulled him to a stop. "Ollie, we should talk."

"What?" He glanced over at her quickly before turning his attention back to searching for Felicity through the crowd of black-clad assassins.

"We should talk, I know you aren't with Sara anymore and I'm just so relieved that-" Laurel trailed off. "Ollie, are you even listening to me?"

"I have to go." He replied, pulling his hand from hers and limping away from her. She called after him but he ignored her as the assassins parted for him. He reached the back of the group but Felicity was already gone.

"Give her some space." Dig advised for the fourth time. She hadn't responded to any of his texts but she had responded to one of John's. "She went through a lot last night. We all did. I'll go by tomorrow to see her."

Dig clapped him on the shoulder before turning to limp out of the Foundry. The three of them would need to start moving things to the secondary lair the next night. Roy had retained his super strength after the single dosage served only to temper his rage. His skills would be necessary to move some of Felicity's super computers.

Oliver thumbed the lock on his phone again.

He needed to talk to her. He needed to find out if she was okay. He hadn't seen her since she'd left that rooftop and he needed to.

Give her some space.

He blew out a long breath and limped towards his cot. He'd call her the next afternoon if she didn't come by.

She'd come by. He was sure of it.

It took him too long to realise that something was different. He'd brushed the changes off as being a by-product of her absence the day before. But as he walked through the lair the next morning he realised that things weren't normal. He narrowed his eyes as they swept over every surface of the lair meticulously.

Her sweater wasn't hung up on the portable coat rack by the door. The bright pink one with the beaded decorative flowers. She left it there because she said the lair got cold at night when she was running searches. She'd started wearing it after he'd caught her wearing one of his hoodies for the umpteenth time. Not that he'd minded. But she'd clearly been embarrassed about wearing another woman's boyfriend's sweater.

He tried to remember if maybe she'd been wearing it during the mission but knew that she hadn't been. She'd been wearing all black, joking sadly that she needed to be more 'badass and less me'. Oliver should have told her that there was no one as badass as she was. He'd let it slide though and now he wished he hadn't.

He walked towards the coat rack and noticed that her fluffy socks were missing as well. He'd bought them for her months before when she'd complained about how sore her feet were each night after wearing 'secretary heels'. She'd beamed ear to ear when she unwrapped a pair of purple and pink slipper socks and sighed contentedly as she pulled them onto her cold feet.

Those socks never left the lair. She cleaned them in the back when she cleaned his hood uniform.

Something akin to panic began to bloom in his chest as he stormed towards her desk. The computers remained where they'd been since she'd first set them up, though the screens were off and they hadn't been when they left to fight Slade. Which meant she'd come here right after. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She wouldn't leave. She wouldn't.

His hand reached out and brushed along the cool surface of the desk, his eyes popping open. Her T.A.R.D.I.S mug was gone.

And that's when he knew.

"I win, Kid."

Slade had told her. Slade had found out and told her the one thing that Oliver should never have kept from her. Oliver had only lied to her once before. But his omission of truth in this instance was infinitely worse than that.

She would never forgive him.

Oliver's hands shook as he fought to get Diggle's key in the lock.

"Dig, just give me the key. I can't explain right now. I promise I will. Please." He added desperately.

His friend stared at him curiously before dropping the key in his hand and watching as Oliver ran up the stairs and out of Verdant.

The front door swung open and Oliver stepped forwards. He didn't call out because he knew that no one was home.

He'd never been in her home before. How was it possible that he'd never been there? Felicity was his best friend and his partner. She knew him better than anyone else. But he'd never stopped by to hang out, or check on her.

He moved through the apartment before walking into her bedroom. There were folded clothes on the bed and drawers hung out haphazardly. But it wasn't the signs of packing that held his attention; it was the framed photo that rested atop her bed. He swallowed thickly as he stared down at the family photo. His hand shook as he reached out and picked it up. The resemblance was actually uncanny, he didn't know why he hadn't seen it sooner. If he had-

She was gone.

Anger bubbled up from deep within his chest and with a roar he threw the frame across the room. He allowed the self-hatred to consume him as he watched it explode against the wall and shower the room with glass.

He had known. He had known and instead of telling her, he'd pushed her away. And now she was gone.

Oliver sat against the wall of her bedroom as he stared at the broken picture frame. His phone rang and he grappled for it, praying it was her.

It wasn't.

"Turn on the TV." Dig demanded before hanging up.

Oliver scrambled to his feet and left the room without a second glance. He sat heavily on her couch and turned the TV on. The regular programming had all been interrupted by the news reports of the Starling City Nightmare.

"- former Queen Consolidated employee emailed the evidence to the Channel 5 news crew just hours ago. The information proves that Isobel Rochev was in fact involved heavily in the events of two nights ago. She wrested control of QC away from the Queens' with the sole purpose of revenge. She allotted funds to help pay for the drug that Slade Wilson's army used to take out half of the city. She was also involved in the kidnapping of Thea Queen and the subsequent murder of Moira Queen." The anchorman told the camera excitedly. "Miss Rochev is currently in police custody with Slade Wilson. The QC board of directors have yet to comment on the situation. This is the second time in under a year that the CEO of Queen Consolidated has been involved in a mass murder plot."

The anchorwoman nodded. "Yes, but insiders are telling us that the Board of Directors are planning on reinstating Oliver Queen as CEO. Under his guidance the company managed to begin to rise from the ashes of the Undertaking. One insider tells us that Mr. Queen should be reinstated within the hour and his family fortune returned."

Oliver's jaw was slack as he stared at the television. Despite his betrayal, she'd put everything right before leaving. He clicked off the TV. Closing his eyes, he dropped his head back against the couch.

He didn't know what to do. And for once, she wasn't around to guide him.

And as I drown in my regrets

I can't take back the words I never said

So obviously Felicity running away is more Oliver than it is her, but I think she'd need time and space. I also think that she'd never be so angry that she wouldn't fix everything she could before leaving. I realise I was a bit vague about what the secret was, but if you haven't figured it out, it'll be in the next chapter.

Let me know what you thought? Thanks for reading!