Teamwork

Chapter 11 - Interruptions

Felicity's breath caught in her throat. What? Did he just say that he loved me? I can't believe he said that! She thought as she looked into Oliver's eyes. It was evident by the look on his face that he was telling the truth. She closed her eyes as Oliver leaned closer to her.

Oliver almost got lost in Felicity's beautiful blue eyes before she closed them. He was so close, gently holding her face in his hands, and suddenly he found himself leaning in closer. He closed his eyes just inches from her lips, ready to kiss his girl – again.

Suddenly the door at the top of the stairs flew open and the voices of Diggle and Sara could be heard as they made their way down into the lair. Oliver groaned as he leaned his forehead against Felicity's, but then he almost laughed at Felicity's groan in response. They had been so close to another kiss. Of course Diggle and Sara would walk in right this second! Oliver thought in irritation.

Diggle and Sara had finished with the errand that they had set out on and had arrived back at the lair. They chatted to each other as they came down the stairs before they both stopped suddenly at the bottom, speechless. Neither of them was expecting the sight before them. Oliver was standing, gently holding Felicity's face, their foreheads touching, and Sara had caught the groan of irritation from Oliver as he heard them descending the stairs. They were clearly interrupting something, and neither Sara or Diggle could help the chuckles that were threatening to come out.

Diggle cleared his throat loudly before walking farther into the lair, not missing the pointed look of annoyance from Oliver as the couple slowly pulled apart.

"We ran by the store to pick up something for you Felicity." Diggle said with a smile, continuing to ignore the flush of red on Felicity's face and the fact that Sara was laughing. "It looked like you didn't have the chance to enjoy your mint chip so we thought we'd bring you some, and then decided that we would make you share." He stated as he pulled the ice cream out of the bag as Sara went to get some bowls and spoons.

Oliver pulled Felicity's chair over to the table so they could all enjoy the ice cream that Diggle and Sara had brought. He was still irritated at the fact that they had been interrupted, but he also knew he would find time later to enjoy a real kiss and he looked forward to that.

"Oh goody!" Felicity said as she spied the rather large tub of Mint Chip. "I never got to dig in last night. Oh! I have a mess to clean up at home." She finished as her face fell at the thought of the mess in her kitchen.

"Don't worry Felicity." Sara said with a smile at the blonde. "I'll help you clean it up later."

They all sat in silence, contemplating everything that had happened that night, as they slowly enjoyed the ice cream. Each processing their own thoughts of guilt, anger, and sadness that they had to work through and each did so silently until the entire bucket of ice cream was gone.

Slade sat in the car, observing the apartment building, where he had been sitting quietly for the last several hours. He had watched as Sara left the building on her bike a couple of hours ago, probably going to go help Oliver rescue Felicity. He had thought with a smirk on his face. Now though it was just the Detective and his daughter that were left in the apartment. This should be easy enough he thought as he got out of his car.

Lance sat, watching his daughter sleep on the couch in her apartment. Laurel had left the Lair under Verdant quite quickly after the Team had come back from stopping the weapons dealers. She had not taken Oliver practically yelling at her very well. The two had been quite close before Oliver left on the Gambit and Laurel was obviously struggling now with the fact that there was yet another woman in Oliver's life and that woman was now closer to him than she was.

Lance smiled to himself as he thought of Felicity. The blonde had quite a lot of energy that she brought to the Team and they would probably be lost without her, Oliver would be lost without her he thought as he remembered what the younger man was like when Oliver first came home from the Island. Oliver had come a long way in the last couple of years and Lance suspected that it had a lot to do with Felicity and her place within the Team.

Lance heard something crash through the window and jumped up to grab his weapon. He spun around looking for the source of the sound when he saw a smoke grenade on the floor just before it began filling the room. Lance ran over to the couch to finish waking Laurel and rush her to her room before she started to breathe in the smoke that was quickly filling room. Just as they reached her bedroom the front door crashed open. Lance shut the door to the bedroom behind his daughter to protect her before he turned and raised his gun at the large man that had walked through the front door to try and protect her. Lance hit the floor when he passed out, but not before he recognized the intruder as none other than Slade Wilson.

Oliver had just finished his portion of the Mint Chip Ice Cream and was about to ask Felicity what she was thinking, because it was obvious that she was deep in thought, when Sara's phone rang. Sara was only on the phone a few moments before he realized that something had happened and his suspicion was confirmed when she let out a string of curse words in Mandarin. As she hung up her phone before turning and slamming a fist down onto the table.

"Sara?" Oliver asked concernedly as he stood and walked over to her, noticing the look of rage on her face.

"Dad's gone." Sara said, the emotions clear in her voice. "Slade threw a smoke grenade through Laurel's living room window. She was able to get to her bedroom before the front door was kicked down. When she came out Dad was gone."

"Are you sure it was Slade?" Diggle asked, wanting to make sure they looked at all the possibilities.

"Laurel didn't see him, but who else could it be?" Sara responded as she grabbed her bo staff before turning to the stairs.

"Let's go." Oliver said to Diggle as he turned to grab his bow and quiver before they left the lair.

"Oliver!" Felicity called as she quickly rose from her chair and walked over to him. "Be safe! Come back to me!" She said quietly, allowing the emotion to be heard in her voice. There was still so much she hadn't said to him yet and she wanted to be sure she would get the chance.

Oliver smiled as he gently caressed Felicity's face before turning to run out the door.

The Team moved so quickly up the stairs and out the door that they missed Felicity's quiet words, words meant for her hero.

"I love you Oliver!"