"What was that for?" he questioned her right after their lips parted.

"Just in case…"

"We're going to make it through this."

"You can't know that for sure." Her voice trembled, "I didn't want to regret not kissing you. When it comes to the two of us - regret enough as it is."

It had only been a couple of days since their return from Lian Yu. That morning, Felicity woke up in her plush oversized king bed, tucked under the thick, comfortable duvet. The taste of Oliver's kiss still lingered on her lips. She remembered his haunting blue eyes that held so much hope…. and his smile…

"We'll discuss this when we're off the island."

A year before, on the same bed, she and Oliver used to lay and talk about their future plans. Then life happened. She learned about his son William, and she ended their engagement. They had remained good friends, but both of them moved on with their lives. She met Billy and Oliver met Susan. Another twist happened, and both of them ended up single again. Then before she knew it, she was on Lian Yu, kissing Oliver and telling him earnestly that there was already enough regret between them.

Unlike her many other failed relationships, their connection was interweaved closely with friendship. They had spent years weathering many trials together before she had even considered him as something more. And during the course of time, he'd let her see beneath his public mask, the side of him which many people seldom see. Felicity had seen Oliver both emboldened and vulnerable; cheerful and broken-hearted. He had confided his darkest secret and told her his worst nightmare. She had seen the real Oliver Queen and what kind of man he truly was.

Now that they had escaped from the island, she wondered when exactly that conversation would take place - not that she had encouraged it. She wasn't sure that she was ready to confront the truth, especially considering the repercussions of William's presence in their lives. The news of the illegitimate child of the Mayor who was kidnapped by city's attorney flooded the media. Oliver's days had been filled with press conferences, preparing statements for the police, and taking care of William, all at the same time. He had a lot on his plate. Any one of these things would have been a valid reason to postpone a discussion about their complicated relationship.

One particular conversation with her mom during the period she was dating Ray Palmer, surfaced in her memory.

"What's wrong with me. Ray is brilliant. He knows the plot of every Doctor Who episodes - all 34 seasons. He looks like a Disney Prince…. I mean - He is practically the perfect man," she told Donna.

After her billionaire hunk boyfriend had escaped imminent brain damage, the CEO of Palmer Tech had taken the opportunity to confess his unconditional love to her. Felicity should've been thrilled. She should've been rushing out of Ray's hospital room dancing the Macarena or some other happy dance when she broke the news to her mom. But instead, she felt nervous and guilty.

"You don't love Ray because you are in love with Oliver," her mom countered knowingly.

"You don't even know Oliver, Mom," Felicity scoffed softly. "You've met him like for ten seconds."

"I knew it in five," her mom smiled. "Honey, you lit up like Christmas when he walked into the room."

Deep down Felicity knew this, but she didn't dare to admit - to herself, or to anyone else. She won't allow herself to hope, and to dream of something so unattainable.

"But he is…. terminally unavailable."

Shaking off the bitter nostalgia, Felicity ran her hands over her face as she made her way into the bathroom. Her throat was sore, and her head throbbed with pain.

"Darn flu," she cursed under her breath.

Once in the bathroom, she grabbed her cup and took one experimental sip. The water stung as she swallowed. The subsequent mouthful was better. After a few rejuvenating gulp and taking a few Tylenol and a spoon of Benadryl, she turned towards the mirror, catching the reflection of her tired, pallid face. Her hair piled haphazardly with looming dark circle under her eyes to complete the look. She thought she saw the ghost of her mom after a night of binge drinking at the casino. No, even her hangover-mom would look better than this in the morning.

But, she couldn't rest and recover from the flu when her mind was reeling. The dream from the island kept recurring, coming back like stubborn plagues. Before the explosion, Slade had shepherded most of them into the A.R.G.U.S bunker where he had been held prisoner. Thea ran after Samantha, who was adamant that she couldn't abandon William. Diggle followed and found Thea just in time to return to the shelter. Samantha wasn't that fortunate.

Felicity had only recently begun to fully understand the emotional baggage the island had brought to Oliver's life. The trauma changed him and had emotionally crippled him for many years. The island was the origin of so many horrific things. She was glad that damned place was gone for good, hopefully never to haunt anyone again with bitter memories.

Right now, the team was all acclimating to their normal lives. For the most part, the rest of the team easily bounced back into their usual routines. Dinah, Rene, and Curtis were all already back to work in their respective jobs. The team had met in the bunker for the first time last night. Diggle struggled the most. Losing one arm in the climactic explosion meant that he could no longer fight as before. Regardless of Oliver's reassurance that Diggle would remain an indispensable part of the team - with arm or no arm - Diggle continued to be adamant that he was a hindrance - a liability for the team.

As for Thea, the memory of Malcolm Merlyn's selfless sacrifice affected her profoundly. On top of that, she couldn't help but to feel guilty witnessing Diggle's daily struggle after his debilitating injury. She felt responsible for his condition. While she was glad her nephew emerged from their Lian Yu episode relatively unscathed, a thick cloud of remorse still loomed over her. She had failed to save William's mother.

And Oliver - after Samantha's death - he had to shoulder the additional responsibility as William's sole parent. The Division of Social Services was in the process of reviewing the permanent custody arrangements, but for the time being, William was placed in Oliver's custody.

A loud, solid knock on the door down stair follow by a door bell snapped her from her stupor. Her clock indicated it was still 6 a.m in the morning. Who would visit her this unsociable hour in the morning? A few random scenarios ran through her head. Potential criminal activity? But thieves didn't normally knock. They would just barge in. Perhaps, Curtis had set Palmer's lab on fire?

Felicity frantically ran her fingers through her hair while descending the stairs, hoping it wasn't anyone from the team, the press or a police officer demanding another statement. She felt like princess Fiona from Shrek when she emerged as an ogre. Dying of embarrassment wasn't an option now, not after she survived being kidnapped by the psychotic Prometheus and escaped the fires of Lian Yu.

She opened the door and gasped loudly. Her mysterious visitors were worse than the sight of her colleagues or police officers. Outside the door stood a child and a gentleman with a black eye patch. Felicity's mouth went dry as if someone had just shoved an expensive Prada scarf down her sore throat.

"Hi Ms. Smoak," the man noted with a grin. "You seem surprised to see us."

Of course, seeing Slade Wilson, the man who killed Moira Queen and nearly took everything from Oliver was the last thing Felicity expected to see at this time of the morning - especially seeing him with William. Apparently, Oliver was crazy enough to entrust his son to a man that had killed his mother.

"I think you've officially ruined pirate Halloween costumes for me, Mr. Wilson," Felicity replied with a hint of sarcasm. She knew she'd been rude to remark on his physical traits, perhaps a drop of alcohol in her Benadryl had loosened her tongue. But again, considering what this man had done, he could tolerate one disparaging remark.

Instead of feeling insulted by Felicity's offensive joke, the man's smile grew even wider, "Shall I say Arrrr… Miharty?'"

Felicity crossed her arms and gave him the most vicious deadpan look, ignoring the boy in front of her who looked utterly puzzled by their interaction.

"You are surprisingly quiet for a nervous talker. Oliver told me you babble a lot."

"I'm not nervous!" Felicity snapped. Either Slade was ignoring the look of smoldering fury in her eyes, or he was genuinely oblivious, he just stood there and continued to smile.

When the man continued to grin, Felicity moved to slam the door shut in his face. He grabbed the handle to keep the door open. "Is that how you treat the man who saved you and your buddies' life from the fires of purgatory, Ms. Smoak?"

"On the second thought, I might have rather been an instant kebab."

"I believe the words you are looking for are 'thank' and 'you.'"

Felicity bristled. "Why are you doing here?" she did not ease her grip on the door handle.

"Oliver asked for your help to watch William for a little while," he said matter-of-factly.

Felicity sighed. She knew one of these days that Oliver would ask this favor, for her to babysit, but not this soon, and not when she was ill. She didn't possess any experience dealing with kids, safe it from admiring Diggle and Lyla's baby. And just to make her task a little bit harder, perhaps William also knew that she was his dad's former fiancé. Talk about awkward.

"I thought he knew that I am…-"

Slade raised his hand and interjected. "...That you came down with a cold? Yes, sure. But the situation in the bunker was a little bit… graphic for a nine-year-old. So, he asked me to bring this fellow here to you."

Her stomach knotted on the word 'graphic.' She could feel the unpleasant taste of the medicine climbing up her throat. "What...what happened?"

"Nothing serious," Slade clarified calmly. "Your buddy - Mr. Terrific - wasn't so terrific when he mishandled his own gun and shot himself in the foot. Oliver and Diggle tried to patch him up in the bunker while Rene went out to get more medical supplies. Apparently, your friend is quite squeamish and has very low pain tolerance."

There was a good amount of derision in his manner. "Oliver couldn't mend him without local anesthesia, so Rene had to get some."

In a different situation, Felicity would have debated Slade's opinion. But right now, she just wanted the man to deposit William and leave as soon as possible.

"...but I'm afraid William had already witnessed half of the ordeal," Slade confirmed, looking at the boy who blanched at the recollection of the sight.

"Oh…" was the only thing she could say.

Acknowledging there was no introduction coming from Felicity, Slade put forward his hand towards her. "William, this is Ms. Felicity Smoak. She is an almighty tech girl and also your father ex…-"

"...personal assistant," Felicity jumped into the sentence and shot a murderous glare in his direction. "You can call me Felicity," she said, forcing a sweet smile at William. She pushed the door fully open and ushered the boy into the apartment. Slade followed quietly behind.

"Who said you were welcome to stay?" she seethed.

Again, Slade was undeterred by her reproach. "I've invited myself in," he said, grinning. "Besides, it looks as though you could do with a little bit of help, to prepare breakfast and all that. Right?"

Felicity groaned, but she knew Slade was right. There was no way she could entertain William single-handedly in her current condition.

Oliver, you are so dead!

Note: this is my first Olicity fiction! The story is my take on what happened after the end of season 5.

Oliver was struggling to juggle his responsibility as the Mayor, the Green Arrow, and a Father. Meanwhile, Felicity contemplated whether she should bring up the question of their relationship back on the table. When the trial for William's custody intensified and Oliver was almost certain he would lose the battle, Slade came right in to offer a surprising solution. Future cross over with Flash.

Also, I am looking for a beta (I'm a non-English speaker, please forgive me for any grammatical slip-up.)

I normally post the snippet of my next chapter in Tumblr: user 3431jessica