Forget-Me-Not

[Felicity Smoak]

Felicity was glad that he agreed to his place, and followed him down to the parking garage. She wasn't in the special places, but had to walk through them in order to get to her lot. When he handed her the helmet she paused and took it on automatic. After he climbed on she moved forward and put the helmet on his head. "I'll met you there!" Because with her skirt there was no way she was riding that.

Though it had always been a dream of her's to ride on the back of it, with him driving. Every time she saw it, she wondered if he would offer her a ride but he never had--NOW the one time that he offered she was wear cute and short, rather then anything suitable for bikes. Turning she begin to walk the long way to the non-VIP visitor parking, knowing it would put her almost half an hour behind him if not more (because Oliver wasn't going to just casually go the speed limit).

[Oliver Queen]

He was waiting for her to put the helmet on and get on the bike, but instead, she put the helmet on him, said she would meet him there and began to walk off. "Suit yourself," he said with a bit of a shrug. Weird. Most women were thrilled with the notion of going on a bike. He fastened the helmet and started the bike up, purposely passing her as he gave a little bit of a wave, before zooming out of the parking garage. It felt good, to ride his bike. To just cruise down the streets at a crazy speed and try to push everything else out of his mind. He had learned some heavy things today and he had a strong feeling that this was only the beginning of what he was going to discover about who he was. He weaved through the traffic, not wanting to stop and wait like everyone else. It didn't take him long to arrive home and as expected, no one else was there.

Thea was out -- either at the nightclub or with her boyfriend, who Oliver still needed to have a little chat with. And with his mother in prison, well, the house was empty. And Oliver felt it. It didn't feel as much like a home, but rather, a house. He parked his bike and walked inside. Had Felicity been to his house before? Probably. Apparently there was rather good friends. Knowing he had some time before she would arrive, he went to his room and changed out of his suit, dressing in more casual clothing which involved jeans and a shirt. He paused as he was dressing, looking over the scars on his body as he had done many times before. He supposed each one had a story, and ones that he may never come to remember.Trying not to dwell on it, he pulled his shirt down, put on some shoes, and then went downstairs to the living room. He turned on the TV to see if there was anything about his mother, as he waited for Felicity to join him at his house.

[Felicity Smoak]

She was walking to her car when the bike passed her, and he waved. Lifting her hand she waved back for a half second before she rolled her eyes at his antics. In some ways he'd really not changed, had he. She didn't know his number but she did know the one to the house. She called and had Raiza tell Oliver she would be a bit later as she was going to get a few things from her place (and change out of her dress that while was still clean she knew she'd sweated in from today).

Two hours after their first meeting, Felicity arrived at the Queen mansion, and as always was floored by the size of the place. It never failed to impress her, and she tried not to show it. She was lead into the room where he was, she noticed he changed too. Oliver looked good in a suit but he really looked good in jeans and his tight shirts.

Reminding herself not to stare, Felicity set down her long rectangle box on the table as she spoke. "Sorry, I wanted to get a few other things, since they might help you with . . . everything." She didn't want to say anything in front of his employees here.

[Oliver Queen]

Afer Oliver made himself comfortable and was flicking through the channels, Raisa had come in to ask if he wanted to eat something. Raisa was always someone he would remember. He had practically raised him. What surprised him about their interactions however was that . . . he spoke Russian. Since when did he speak Russian? Raisa had seemed used to it since she wasn't surprised, so Oliver just went with it. He knew questioning it would only make her suspicious. If he spoke it to her in the past, then acting like he didn't know he could speak it now would make her wonder. And he couldn't afford to let any more little mistakes like that slip.

Oliver rose to his feet when Felicity came in with Raisa following. She went to pick up the tray of food that she had prepared for him. Oliver wasn't sure why but he wasn't able to eat that much of it, despite how good it was. "Can I get you anything else Oliver? Or anything for you Miss Smoak?" She asked them. Oliver smiled at her. "Not for me Raisa, thank you." He turned to Felicity who had set down a large box on the table. Realizing Raisa still might be waiting for an answer, he looked to Felicity. "Did you want anything?" He asked, making sure so that Raisa wouldn't walk in on their conversation . . . since he wasn't sure how private what Felicity had to discuss with him would be.

[Felicity Smoak]

"No thank you, I have some water in my purse." She told the wonderful woman, who always had a smile for everyone, before waiting for her to leave and speaking again. Felicity had wearing jeans this time--in hopes there was a bike ride offer again--and a sweater, her hair in a ponytail to make it easier for her to work. "Rule one, you can't look in this box until you've let me do a lot of explaining. I know that makes it hard, but please. It's yours but before you see it, you need to know a lot."

It was his bow. She'd brought it in hopes it pulled something out for him. She took a seat on the couch beside him, but still closer tot he box them in so he could TRY to beat him to it if he drove to try to open it. "Firstly, I thought I could explain who I really am--in context to you. I met you about a month after you came back from the island. You needed me to look into some computer thing you were working on. From there you came to me for help a few other times, and slowly I got more involved and more involved until you just . . . . brought me in to help on your work."

"So during the day, I was an IT girl--at least before I was fired." And he said rehired but she'd work on that in a moment. "And at night, I'd met you and Diggle at the bottom of your club were we did went through the names in your father's book to try to work out what was happening." There, a short summery of who she was to him.

[Oliver Queen]

Oliver gave Raisa another smile as she exited the room, leaving him and Felicity to speak in private. She then start giving him rules and he looked between the box and her, his gaze resting on her when he spoke. "You should know that the second you give me a rule, I have this, inherent need to break it." He was, only half kidding. He didn't exactly do well with authority and following rules. She semeed to understand that, acknowledge that it would be hard for him to not look in the box. But he forced himself to listen to her words and fight the urge to reach for the box. He instead, looked at her as she came to sit next to him. She was talking, but he wasn't sure he was truly understanding what she was saying. She was summarizing and Oliver was curious to hear the details. Starting with what was in the box! He felt like this was a Se7en moment where he just wanted to yell 'Whats in the box?!'. But he kept himself composed. He didn't want to go against her because . . . right now, she seemed to know the man he had become on and after the island. And he needed someone to be entirely honest with him. He didn't want to do anything to jeapordize that.

When she seemed done explaining for the moment, he remained silent, trying to take it all in and sort out which questions he should ask first . . . and trying not to look at her like she was crazy. "I don't even know who the people on the list are. Why are they so important? Why do I need two other people to go through them with me?" What was the point? The list had to do with his father's dying words but . . . why was Oliver working on it, and what did she even mean when she said they 'went through' the names in them? Did she mean they just reserached who they were and went on to the next name? It didn't make any sense, and Oliver's eyes fell to the box again, hoping that was the key that would tie all this together and help it make sense.

[Felicity Smoak]

He made the joke about wanting to break her rule, and Felicity laughed but didn't say anything else about it until he kept looking at it. That made her wonder if it wasn't a joke. He went on to ask about why, which was expected. "Well, on my part, I do a lot of things that you can't. I'm really good with computers. Like really good, Oliver." He was still looking at the box so she moved it to the edge of the table and then crossed to sit on the box to keep him from getting into it.

"You once brought me a laptop full of bullet holes and I was able to pull enough information off of it for you to work with." She was rather proud of that moment! She had taken that thing part and rebuild apart of it--oh crap! She'd given something away! Looking up at him, she wondered how's he take that. "And Diggle is there because someone the people on that list are not fond of you looking into them."

[Oliver Queen]

Oliver watched her as she moved toward the box . . . acting as if she was a solid shield from him getting to it. He could get past her and well, it certainly would be fun trying-- Focus, Oliver, Focus! She spoke of her skills with computers and then explained that he had brought a laptop with . . . bullet holes? He made a bit of a confused face at that. "Where would I get a laptop full of bullet holes? And why would I give it to you?" Why would he bother giving it to her to get fixed? What was the point of . . . anything he did?!

"The last guy who wanted to kill me was mad because I slept with his fiance on the night of their rehearsal dinner." Oliver had to hold back a smile, but he knew a bit of a smirk slipped out. This all just seemed way to crazy to be real. But he tried to put on his serious face again. "Who exactly are the people on the list?" How could he understand any of this, if he didn't even understand the importancen of the names on his father's notebook. He was asking a lot of questions, and needed more direct answers.

[Felicity Smoak]

This was hard to explain! Diggle needed to hurry up and get away from the client so he could come here and help! "I am not sure how you got it, I wasn't on the team then, but I do know you were trying to find out which guy had hired an assassin to kill someone, and the laptop was the key to that. You were able to stop the assassin, before he killed someone . . . . though it turned out he killed Diggle's brother and is still alive."

She knew she was getting off track so she shook her head and tried again. "Ok, what I know of the list is that you got it from your Dad. He told you to right his wrongs, and you took it as you needed to make sure everyone on the list stopped hurting people. Some stole money, some are killers, some are just sleazy thugs, but all of them did bad things and never saw jail time for it."

"It turned out the book was much more then that, but I will explain that later." Right now she needed to build up to that. "I know this is all hard to hear, but you were trying to make the city a better place. You helped a lot of people."

[Oliver Queen]

She lost him at the part where . . . alright, well she lost him everywhere! She was talking about how he stopped assassins, went up against murders, thieves, thugs and helped people . . . how on earth could he do that?! It all sounded so utterly ridiculous. And yet, Oliver felt deep down -- deep, deep down -- he somewhat believed her. Because when the Hoods stormed into his office, he had done things that he could not explain. And he had acted on instinct and reflex. But just because somewhere deep inside of him he believed her, didn't mean he was going to accept it. Deny, deny, deny. Wasn't that the saying? So instead, he chuckled, with sheer amusement.

"What am I, some kind of superhero?" He said sarcastically, finding the whole thing rather hysterical. "Do I also leap over tall buildings, and shoot lasers out of my eyes?" He asked, continuing with the whole being an ass sarcastic thing. "Look, I don't know who you think you're talking to, but allow me to let you in on something. I'm Oliver Queen. I don't fight bad guys, or try to save the world." That wasn't to say he didn't care about other peoploe, but . . . he wasn't exactly trained or equipped for that sort of thing. "So I just have one more question." Because he was too afraid to ask her anything else if these were the sorts of explanations she was giving. "What's in the box?"

[Felicity Smoak]

She officially wasn't a complete fan of the billionaire playboy, mostly because he was insulting the other Oliver--which raised her defenses. "No, you are Oliver Queen, playboy son who dropped out of four schools and made a D in math. You drink as had as you party, and you give nothing back to the world you think you rule." She told him, but also knew there was more to him. "The man I am talking about, is Oliver Queen, who after five years of being trapped on an island with his father's dying words ringing in his ears came back to the city who mourned hims death and fought to save it behind their backs in order to protect his family and friends."

"He gave everything to this mission in order to honor his father's memory, and he is a good man. You might have forgotten what made him who he was, but don't mock him--do mock you when I tell you what makes him great!" Because if there was ever anything that could push her too far, it was Oliver.

"And the box will come to you, when you are ready to know. If I open it now, you will either kick me out, or risk exposing something that the other you would kill me for exposing."

[Oliver Queen]

How . . . did she know all that about him? That was a bit disturbing. The partying part was common knowledge but his grades? . . . Weird. She then spoke of Oliver Queen. Well, in her mind the other Oliver Queen. No wonder she had talked about him like he was two different people before. A man on a mission. One who fought criminals. It all sounded, so far fetched. How did he manage it? Wouldn't people wonder where he was? He was losing the amusement though, and began to grow a bit more serious. "Well then, tell me something then, if this Oliver you know is so great, and protects and friends and family, then why is Tommy dead?" The memory of his friend was what had brought the seriousness back, and what caused all the humor to disappear from the conversation.

He had heard how Tommy had died: in an earthquake. Something that had apparently happened not too long ago. He rose to his feet, no longer able to give himself the comfort of sitting when he felt such pain over his friends loss. "Because a guy who let that happen to his best friend . . . is not a good man. And not a guy I want to be." Because, what good was he if he couldn't even protect a man who was like a brother to him. He would go after criminals and assassins but didn't even take the time to help or protect Tommy? Where were his priorities?

[Felicity Smoak]

Clearly her words stuck home, because he pointed out how he saw Tommy's death. "Because your not a superhero, Oliver. Your not invincible. You tried! You went into a building that was falling down on your head in order to find him, and we thought you died in there with him! He was your friend, and you loved him like a brother, and I while I don't know what happened in that building, I can't imagine you doing anything but trying to save him."

"What you do, at night . . . Tommy knew too. Toward the--the end. He covered for us a few times, but he didn't help. You two were good for each other, I think. I am sorry he died, Oliver. I didn't know him well, but he was funny and nice the few times we'd talked."

She stayed sitting on the box, so he could not open it but she wanted to go to him and comfort him. "Is that were you lost your memory? What's the firs thing you remember from . . . this."

[Oliver Queen]

He had been joking about the superhero bit -- sort of -- and she continued to defend him, explaining why he had not saved Tommy. "For a guy who you claims to take down assassins and criminals, seems a bit careless to not save his best friend." The one person who Oliver knew he could count on. His brother. They had been through so much, enjoyed life together and . . . he was gone. Had he been alive, Oliver felt this all would have been a lot easier to deal with. Somehow. He didn't know how to react to her words . . . though she seemed to understand the nature of his and Tommy's friendship. She appeared to know how close they were and . . . Tommy knew? Tommy knew and Oliver still couldn't save him. Did he blame him in his dying moments?

"The first thing I saw when I woke up was Tommy's body lying next to me." He knew it was a bit blunt, but he was trying to hold back the emotion in his voice . . . knowing that some of it slipped out despite his best efforts. "I saw that and, needed to get away. I needed to deal with everything." Because he didn't know what was going on. Tommy's death had been enough, but more and more had come out. About his mother mostly, and so many other things. "Who exactly am I?" He asked, pausing and realizing he should rephrase that question. "What exactly am I?" Because, a lot of people in the city would recognize his face. How did he go hunt down bad guys as Oliver Queen?

[Felicity Smoak]

"Because your still a human! You could not lift the building from him." She told him after he continued about Tommy, but then he kept going, and she wanted to magically make things better but she knew she could not. Part of her felt heartbroken for the friend who woke up and found his friend dead, and needed time away from everyone to heal. The other part wanted to yell to him that ONE phone call to anyone, even Thea, would have told everyone he was alive and not hurt them twice over.

"Oliver in your office you took on armed men. You knew how to fight, and knew when to run." She stood up and looked down at the box, then looked up the the ceiling, before moving to sit back on the box. No, not yet. When her eyes found him again she stood up and again reached for the box ended up sitting down again on it. "I'm afraid to tell you." She admitted, "Because it's not my secret, and I've not told a sole. Oliver's rule. Don't ever tell a sole. . . . but it's you. And you need to know but . . . It's still hard."

Looking into his eyes, she spoke. "Swear to me. On something important that no matter what you believe it will not leave this room. If you think I am crazy then kick me out but never speak of it again. Please. On something important, Oliver. I need to know you wont jeopardize this. I need to know I can trust you." With his own secrets.

[Oliver Queen]

He still didn't buy it. If he had the ability to save other people, why not Tommy? Or at least Laurel since Felicity had mentioned that he had gone there to help her. He grew distracted when he noticed her movement. He had come SO close to having her show him what was in the box, but she stopped from revealing anything and instead, spoke of how she was afraid to tell him because . . . it was not her secret to tell. He didn't care if it was her secret, his secret, or this Diggle man's secret! He wanted to, needed to know. She asked for him to swear on something and he knew it had to be serious. He knew it wasn't something he could about, or shrug off later.

He may think this all was a bit crazy, but something also made it . . . believable. And it was that 'something' that he clung to. That something that intrigued him and made him need to find out more. "I swear on Tommy's memory," he stated. That was a vow that he would never break. "That whatever you tell me, or show me here, won't leave this room." He repeated all she had asked him to say, hoping that it was enough to convince her that in this moment, he could be trusted. Whether it was an Oliver she was familiar with or one she was not, he needed her to trust him enough to show him what was inside the box and give him the answers to the questions he had asked.

[Felicity Smoak]

Tommy was a very powerful swear, and one she believed. He would not dishonor Tommy no matter what Oliver he was. So she nodded her head, and then gestured to the seat before her. "Alright, I trust you." Once he was sitting she stood and put the box in his lap, but kept her hand on the lid so he could not open it. "Below the club was where we worked, and there was a password on the doors to keep everyone out. The noise from the club would keep everyone from hearing what we were doing . . . or so you once said."

"It served as where you trained, and were I worked to look into things. It was a safe place to talk, and close to where all the crime happened so you could go to and from with ease." She was explain things, while keeping her hand over the box so he could not open it just yet. "You spent your time helping everyone you could. Using your father's list of untouchable men, and did what the law could not."

"When you died, the second time, I moved everything to my place to hide, because it would be the last place anyone would look, and the only way I knew to protect your secret. The one that I only knew about because when you were shot, you came to me and I got to play doctor with you.--HAD to help you." Damn it! Don't babble now! Not now!

"Oliver . . . " She removed her hand and stood up, so she could see him over the lid. "You are the vigilante that the cops can't find. Also known as the Hood." She paused, while just looking at his face. "Please don't freak out! . . . or laugh and kick me out."

[Oliver Queen]

So their secret hideout was the bottom of Verdant? Wasn't that a bit . . . obvious? She seemed to clarify his concern without him even needing to ask, by saying that it was well concealed, and the sound didn't travel. Well, apparently that was what he had said, but of course, he had no recollection of that. He could feel that she was building up to something, to whatever she had to tell him or whatever was in the box. Though he assumed that both things were tied together. He . . . trained there? Trained for what? What did he do that the law couldn't? What secret did he have to protect? He was shot?! He offered the box to him and he found himself hesitant. But eventually, he slowly raised the lid and saw what was inside at the same time she told him that he was the vigilante: The Hood. As she finished off her sentence -- her little addition about not kicking her out or laughing or anything -- he reached into the box and held the bow in his hand. It felt, oddly natural. Oliver couldn't explain it.

While he didn't think she was crazy, he didn't know how this was possible. "No," he quickly argued, dropping the bow back into the box as he rose to his feet. "That's impossible!" He added, unable to comprehend this. "I've seen that guy on the news." Which was apparently him! "He hunts people! He kills people! He's a Robin Hood wannabe!" Thats how Oliver had made fun of him, and apparently, he had been making fun of himself. He was pacing, clearly rejecting this news she was giving him. "I don't kill people!" Did he? "I've never killed anything or anyone in my life!" Not that he remembered anyway! And here she was telling him that he was someone who murdererd people. All because of his father's list? No. Just . . . no.

[Felicity Smoak]

He lifted it and for one moment she wondered if it all was coming back to him, but then he dropped it down and stood up, while telling her it could not be. "I am not sure what all happened on the island, but you came back very determined." A man with one goal and he did it the best way he knew how. "I know this is hard to believe, but this is what you were hiding, this is why you needed my help and why we spend the nights working."

"You took on the men in your office today, Oliver. How did you do that? It's your training. You might have forgot the last few years but somewhere you know! Somewhere you know this is the truth." Picking up the bow she held it out to him, and reached for an arrow. "Try. Just pull it back and see if it feels even a little familiar." Maybe that feeling would let him believe her even a bit.

[Oliver Queen]

Determined. Determined?! Is that what she called going around in a hood and killing people?! How could she be so loyal to him when he did that? What possible justification was there for being a psycho?! But she began to ask a question that he had no answer to, because it was something he had wondered about as well. How had he taken on those people in the office. He had thrown things at them and hit exactly what he was aiming for. He had convinced himself that it was a lucky shot but . . . he knew that was denial. For there was something within him that had allowed him to specifically hit his target. And it made him aware that it was more than just luck. It was some sort of skill. One unknown to him. Or well, apparently not. From the way she was talking . . . it sounded as if she knew him better than he knew himself. And that worried him.

She handed him the bow and that same something within him, took it from her. As he did with the arrow she picked up too. She was encouraging him to try and fire an arrow and . . . he didn't want to. Not because he thought he couldn't, but because he feared what it meant if he could. It was as if he had turned off his mind though, and began to act on instinct. The only time he acted on instincts was when he was flirting with an attractive woman! Who would have thought his instincts would transform to . . . this. He armed his bow, aiming the arrow at the wall. There was a small hole where there was once a nail for a picture hanging there. Oliver focused, taking proper aim, and quickly released the arrow. It hit the target. He had hit that small hole from the other side of the room. He looked at amazement. He had not only hit the target but something felt . . . very natural. Very familiar. "What have I become?" He asked, meant as a legitimate question but it was also partly rhetorical. Because after this, after knowing who he was and seeing just some of the things he was capable of . . . he was afraid of himself.

[Felicity Smoak]

Oliver hit his target. When she had not even been sure if he would take it or not, he'd made a shot. Running quickly to pull the arrow out before anyone saw, Felicity grabbed the arrow and pulled. Only for it not to budge. Agian. Nothing. Finally on the third pull with both hands it pulled free. She walked back toward him and tossed the arrow on the couch.

"Your someone who's seen bad things, and used it to protect others." She reminded him, not about to loose Gauguin him just yet. "I know it's hard Oliver, when I found out who you were I didn't like it ether--I even quit once." For like 12 hours. "But you aren't what the papers claim you are. Your not the mindless serial killer. You only do it when you have too. And because of that, I came to believe in you and your cause. Because it was a good one, that helped people."

[Oliver Queen]

Seen bad things. That felt like an understatement if that was what led him to this path in life. She said he protected others, but who exactly did he protect if not his best friend? How could he just accept that this is who he was? A murderer. A protector. A vigilante. So many different explanations and not one felt better than the last . . . because he had no idea what his motivations were. How could he now fight for something that he didn't remember believing in? "Do I help more people than I kill?" He wasn't sure why or how that question came out . . . it just did. He supposed it was because he wasn't used to either. The man he was -- apparently it was the man before the Island -- didn't kill anyone, but nor did he really help anyone.

He had some sort of morals. There were people that he felt he would die for. His parents. Thea. Tommy. Even Laurel, despite what he did to hurt her. But now . . . that almost seemed literal. That he was going out risking his life and the lives of others to . . . save people. That seemed a bit extreme, especially for him. Yet, she seemed to really believe in him. Even claiming to have disapproved once. Hell, he disapproved of himself! He had only seen brief segments of the vigilante running around the streets of Starling in a hood. Apprently, there was so much more to that, and while he was aware that he needed to know . . . he was also afraid of what that truth would entail.

[Felicity Smoak]

"Do I help more people than I kill?" He asked and for once the answer was much easier to give. "My many!" That was what the paper's left out. "Oliver, I could not be standing here before you if it was any other way. I would never had worked for you. I would have turned you in, if I did not believe in what you were doing."

"But I do believe. Because you do help people. You save their lives, keep them safe, keep their streets safer. You've stop drug dealers, and bombers and snipers. You've saved so many people . . . so many lives." She needed to think of a story, one that she could tell him. Something to make him see.

"There was a case of Laurel's once, and an assassin killed her clients but didn't get to the son. He was scary, and very, very good. Tommy knew who you were and came to you for help. You not only saved the boy, but made sure the man who hired the assassin couldn't flee the county. He's in jail now, because you could do what the police could not."

[Oliver Queen]

Her answer came almost immediately after his question. And while he felt nothing could give him comfort, it certainly didn't hurt to help her so confident in him. It still sounded all too far fetched. To know that he was going around fighting crime, stopping bad guys, saving people . . . it all sounded a bit too heroic. He was the guy who partied too much, flashed around his lifestyle, hooked up with women, and just enjoyed life. What had he turned into? But hearing her speak so highly of him . . . and then even hearing that he had helped Laurel and Tommy once . . . that gave him some additional comfort. That he could at least help Laurel, even though he couldn't help Tommy. The fact that Tommy knew who he was and he still couldn't save his best friend . . . somehow made it worse. Did Tommy die believing Oliver had failed him? Because that was certainly how Oliver felt right now.

He continued to be silent, just absorbing everything that she was telling him. He had a million questions racing through his mind. He wondered if they would ever stop forming . . . or if Felicity would now be doomed to answer them all. His next question once again wasn't one that he had planned. For he knew he should ask about something along the lines of what he did, how he had stopped the assassin, what he could do that the police couldn't, whether Laurel was ok, who the boy was . . . so many questions, but instead, an unplanned one came out. "Am I . . . happy?" Because for whatever reason, he needed to know that. He had felt happy before, with no responsibility and living such a carefree life. But now, to have all this pressure thrust upon him . . . was he truly happy? Or, was this just him coping with whatever happened on the Island that had apparently been so horrible.

[Felicity Smoak]

"Am I...happy?" He would ask her that one. It caused her face to fall slightly. In truth, it was the one thing about Oliver that she wasn't sure on. Was he happy? He was strong. Heroic. Brave. Selfless. Honorable. Motivated. Determined. There was a host of words she could use to paint a picture of the man before her. Yet happy? It wasn't one that came to mind quickly.

"I'm not sure." She admitted, "There are times when you seem so. There are times when I think you look pleased with yourself--and you can get really pleased with yourself. If I had to describe you, as I knew you . . . . " Was he happy? "Weighted. Would be the word I would use. You see so much evil, sometimes I don't think you know how to let your guard down. You don't open to people with ease, and . . . I like to think I've gotten to see you more then others."

"I don't know how true that is." She paused for a moment. "Thea. I think you are happy when teasing her. When tormenting her boyfriend. I think you were happy with McKenna. Lighter. Not as weighted, or serious." She hoped that he was also that way with her and Diggle, but she didn't want to put a friendship he didn't know before him and make it sound great. They might never have that again. "I don't think you're unhappy, but I'm not sure you find happiness as easy as you did once."