Human Shield

Untitled Part 16

Oliver woke with his arm around Felicity's waist, her back against his chest, and he smiled. He nuzzled her hair, and she settled more against him before slowly blinking awake. Felicity turned in his arms, and gave him a lazy smile.

"How long was I asleep?", she asked.

"Not long.", he smiled and kissed her softly.

Felicity placed her hand under her cheek and just looked at him. He was relaxed, and Felicity let her eyes roam over his face, taking in the lines, and curves.

"Tell me more about your family Oliver.", she said softly. It was as if they were in their own cocoon. The outside world did not exist and it was just the two of them.

Oliver turned on his stomach and clutched his pillow, looking at her. "What do you want to know?" She could hear the hesitation in his voice, but he wasn't shutting down. He was trying.

"What about your Mother?", she asked, curious.

"My Mom died a few years after my Father. She had a bad heart.", he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I do have a sister named Thea, who is 10 years younger than me and I don't get to see her as often as I would like. She works in fashion and is constantly traveling. She loves it, so I don't mind not seeing her. We usually get together for Christmas, but that is about it."

Felicity softly played with the scruff on his jaw. He wanted to tell her that his sister would love her. But he didn't want to get ahead of himself. They needed to take care of her Father before they could start looking at the future. And he was slowly finding that he did want a future. With her!

"Well you know about my Mom and Dad, and I didn't have any siblings.", she said. "School was my saving grace. I was good at it and it kept me busy. So I graduated early at 19."

Oliver was impressed. He knew she was smart, but the more he learned the more he realized there were many layers to Felicity Smoak, and he wanted to peel back every single one.

"How did you meet John?", she asked still absently playing with his scruff.

"We were deployed together on our last tour to Afganistan and we stayed in touch afterward.", he said simply. "When I joined the CIA we tried to get together at least twice a year. He became my best friend and when I retired, he convinced me to move to Starling City."

Felicity smiled as she imagined two soldiers bonding far away from home. The looked at each other in silence, their gazes soft on each other.

"Oliver would you teach me some more self-defense?", she asked out of the blue. "I mean we have plenty time while we are out here." She gave him a hopeful look.

"Well, I guess I could do that. Are you sure?"

Felicity nodded. Oliver thought for a moment and then he agreed. "Ok, after dinner we can work on some moves. But Felicity, I am not going to go soft on you. If you are going to learn then I want you to learn so you can defend yourself against anyone."

She kissed him. "Perfect."

They both got up and Oliver headed to the kitchen to start some dinner while Felicity got dressed. She went ahead and put on her workout clothes. She was excited about learning some more self defense. The move that John had taught her had come in handy and she was eager to know even more. Just in case.

Felicity walked into the living room and sat down on the couch pulling out her tablet. She finished off some documents that Carol sent to her and sent her an email asking for an update on the vest prototype. She was looking forward to presenting it to John and the SCPD.