None of this was supposed to happen. It was supposed to be a simple mission. No actual danger, not in a vacant house. Just a quick in and out mission, gather some data, in and out, done. No big deal, no real threat, a piece of cake. Yeah. Not so much. Felicity had always planned for the worst and then nothing would surprise her, but then this happened.
However, this wasn't the worst she had expected.
The force had knocked her senses out of proportion, as she felt nothing. Oliver looked back at her with a look of his face of pure terror which then quickly turned into pure rage.
The sting of the bullet made her entire body numb, she had felt a strange piercing feeling vibrating her shoulder, looking down to see one of her favourite jumpers turning crimson red. Her first thought had been well that's not good and heard Oliver bellowing her name followed by a roar of fury towards the person that had shot her, high in her left shoulder. The sound had been loud and sudden and from nowhere. The house was supposed to be empty. They had watched every corner, made sure it was empty. I guess we missed something she thought, strangely rational and strangely calm unlike Oliver, who was absolutely freaking out but trying the best to keep calm.
Her entire body stopped working as she began going into shock. She stumbled backwards, hitting the wall, sliding down to the floor as Oliver took care of whoever had fired the gun, which sounded like a hand pistol. The world around her grew quiet as rhythm of her heart thudding echoed in her mind. Everything seemed to reach out to her as she slowly took in her surroundings; the moonlight was streaming in through the window, as the moon raised high in the sky almost singing to her.
Then Oliver's face completely filled her vision, his hood pushed back revealing his face, which was a battleground with emotions at war with each other. His gloved hands cupped her face, forcing her to focus on nothing but him. One of his hands was being used to stanch the bleeding of the gunshot wound with what seemed to be her discarded cardigan that she had somehow ditched during the whole scene that was unfolding. Sounds echoed through her head, it was like she was drowning.
"Felicity!" his voice was one of the many things she was trying to focus her mind on. "Look at me Felicity!" his voice wasn't the one he normally used around her, this one was different almost desperate. "Please hold on, Felicity….hold on" he pleaded with her, and she swore that she saw tears brimming in the corners of his eyes. She hated herself for having to put him through this again, already having to just sit on the side lines while his best friend died in his arms and the harsh fact of knowing that there was nothing he could've done to save Tommy from that tragedy. But in Felicity's mind that was one of the best ways he could've died, dying to save the woman that he loved and in the arms of somebody that always loved him, that was like a brother to him. Not realising she had closed her eyes, Felicity heard Oliver almost crying out her name, begging with her to open her eyes and look at him. Struggling to open her eyes, she revealed two deep blue eyes looking down at her with such emotion within them it almost sent her into tears.
"Hold on, okay….you hear me Felicity! You are NOT allowed to leave me!" Oliver had tears gushing down his cheeks. Lifting up her right hand, she whipped away the tears away and he heavily leant into her touch, using it to ground himself that she's still there and wasn't going anywhere. She'd fight for as long as she could but from the way her body was slowing down, she didn't have long before the end and the darkness claimed her as another victim.
"Oliver…. sorry…I-I…" her voice was hoarse and it was becoming hard to talk. Her breathing was becoming shallow with every breath she took. Right now she was so grateful for adrenaline because now she couldn't feel the bullet wound in her shoulder, it was completely and blissfully numb.
"Shh…..it's okay, you're not going anywhere, okay, focus on me Felicity" Oliver said, he was seriously affected by this because it was all in his voice right then. Leaning her forward into his chest slightly, he glanced at the back of her shoulder, stating it was good that it was a straight through before gathering her into his arms and holding her as tightly, as he could without hurting her, to his chest. All this felt so wrong, he shouldn't be losing his cool over this, and he should be staying strong, being himself.
"It's going to be okay, Oliver you'll see….it'll all be okay" Felicity tried explained to him. As soon as the words had been said, his eyes flew open and his head shot up.
"No! Don't you dare say goodbye to me, you are NOT leaving us - you are not leaving me" Oliver snapped raising his voice a little.
"Thank you for everything that you've done for me…you're my hero Oliver, nothing will ever change that…promise me that you will never change, you'll always be yourself…don't let anybody pull you down, you're a good man with a compassionate heart" she said with a smile when she mentioned he was her hero and he always was and always will be. Nobody could say a damn thing to change her mind.
"I promise but you're not leaving me Felicity, I-I need you, I can't live a day without you, I don't want to live a day without you by my side like you always are" he stated. With fading strength from every passing second, she knew that she needed to say it to him, to let him know. Gazing into those two deep blue eyes, Felicity found the courage to push further.
"Oliver….I-I….I love you….." she gasped out leaving her breathless. The task of keeping her eyes open for him was beginning to prove quite difficult for her. Barely hanging on, she clung with everything she had to that last thread of consciousness.
To say he was shocked would be scarcely scratching the surface, seeing her struggle to keep her eyes open he knew she wouldn't hold out much longer. She neededmedical attention A.S.A.P. He responded by drawing her into his arms, lifting her easily with him. Carrying her out of the building, Oliver was holding her quite tightly to his chest and wasn't planning on letting go anytime soon.
The world seemed to slow down, allowing her the view of the true beauty of it. She was met with a gentle breeze, inhaling deeply and closing her eyes, she allowed herself to begin to feel weightless. Thinking about how lucky she had been to live the life that she has, to meet somebody that she cared deeply for, to meet incredible friends that had helped her through her life and that could be more than she ever asked for. They were a family, always there for each other.
She wasn't afraid to die, what she was afraid of was leaving everyone and everything behind. Preparing herself for what could possibly be the last, she saw trees dancing in the evening breeze and just then she heard wolves singing to the moon. Glancing up at Oliver again, she saw his mouth moving but she heard nothing coming out of it like everything was muted to her. Only the rhythm of her heartbeat and it had begun to slow down. Looking around her again, she saw Oliver, Digg, Sara and Roy crowding her. Before she blacked out she was in the back of a car, still in Oliver's lap cradled against his chest with Sara beside him and Roy up front with Digg. Giving them one last smile, she closed her eyes; Felicity felt a tear on her cheek except it wasn't hers. Darkness swarmed her and she began floating in her mind, filled with her thoughts and memories.
A gentle beeping lulled her out of the darkness and into the light. She felt weird. Is this what death felt like? The insistent beeping began to force her to open her eyes. A blinding bright, white light is the first thing Felicity's met by. When her eyes focus Felicity looks around, instead of being in the 'Arrow Cave' as she liked to call it, she was in a hospital bed with an IV poking out of her arm while she was dressed in one of those stupid hospital gowns with her arse hanging out of the back of it. Her shoulder had a bandage dressed over the bullet wound, while her right side was attached to a heart monitor. So that's where the beeping was coming from. Taking a proper look around, Oliver was sitting in a chair next to her bed with a tight grasp of her right hand, their fingers entwined and his head resting on top so there was no escaping without waking him up in the process. Digg and Sara were slouched on the couch with her head on his shoulder and his on the back of the couch.
"You know they've all been here ever since you first came in, they haven't left your side since" a voice broke her out of her train of thoughts. Looking over to the doorway, Thea was leaning against the frame.
"Felicity Smoak, you're Oliver's EA at QC?" Thea asked well it seemed more of a statement than a question.
"Um….yeah, that's me…err, do you know how long I've been asleep for?" Felicity asked, trying to piece together what had happened.
"About a week, you got shot by someone doing a hit and run and apparently you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but don't worry Dig and Detective Lance took care of that idiot" Thea stated, while walking to the other side of her bed, that wasn't currently occupied by Oliver, and sat down. She had a feeling either Oliver, Sara, Digg or Roy came up with the cover story of her being an unplanned victim of a hit and run.
"A week…..hmmm…so that explains why I don't feel tired at all, because I've already gotten more than enough of sleep" Felicity murmured before looking back to Thea again. "So what happened while I was out?"
"Well apart from these three and Roy, who is currently in the café getting coffee, not getting ANY sleep at all, always keeping a close eye on you in case something went wrong. Also you might not be kept under Ollie's constant watch and most likely the others also…..because well you flat lined when the doctor's where performing surgery on you only damaged a muscle so you might be sore for a while but you should've seen Ollie….." Thea babbled on, motioning to her brother who still remained asleep with a tight grasp on her "….Digg had to literally hold him back when the machines went mental showing that you heart had stopped beating, he wanted to be beside you the whole time….nobody could get his attention off of you not even Laurel, who asked me to say hi when you woke up, and when we were allowed to come back into the room he took up residence right beside you and never left and he would send one of his famous death glares to whoever dared to tell him he had to leave"
So that's why Oliver's grip on her was so tight, she had flat lined and probably scared everyone out of their minds.
"So…how do you feel?" Thea asked again.
"Well better than I first did and kind of weird, but I guess it's from not moving in quite a while" Felicity replied, almost going into one of her famous rambles.
"But you do realise that when Ollie wakes up, he's not going to let you out of his sight for one second right" Thea stated with a hint of humour in her voice, obviously trying to hide a smile but it failed because a second later it was spread right across her face.
"Unfortunately, yes…. so yay for me" Felicity replied with such enthusiasm, earning her a giggle from Thea.
"I have a feeling we're going to be great friends" Thea said with a very wide smile.
"Good to know and thank you Thea" Felicity responded to her before the two women heard a low moan coming from the other side of the bed. Oliver was beginning to wake up and tighten his grip on her hand, which she still couldn't feel at all. Thank god for that.
"Felicity!" Oliver exclaimed and before she could respond to him, he had pulled her into a very tight hug but being careful of her injured shoulder (even at this point, she'd actually forgotten why she was in the hospital in the first place) and she couldn't escape his grasp even if she wanted to. Thea let out a laugh before exited the room, throwing a 'see you later Liz' over a shoulder. Well now she has a new nickname.
"Hi to you too" Felicity said.
"I thought I was going to lose you" he was staring at her with such emotion in his eyes that it made her breath hitch in her throat.
"Hey you can't get rid of me that easily" she tried to make the whole situation light but it failed.
"Thea told me that I flat lined when they were doing surgery", his grasp on her hand tightened just a tad.
"You scared the hell out of me"
"I scared myself…..when can I go home?"
"When the doctor comes to check you out" Digg cut in. Felicity had been so focused on Oliver that she hadn't realised that both Digg and Sara had woken up. "How do you feel?"
"Weird, I can't really feel anything though maybe that will change when I start walking around" she explained.
"You're taking it steady until your wound has properly healed" Oliver almost growled out, earning him a scowl from Felicity. "You three get shot and stabbed all the time and you never take it steady so why should I? And I swear to God if you say what I think you're going to say I will punch somebody, take my word for it" earning a smirk from Digg and Sara while Oliver cut her a warning look. And with that the doctor came striding in and began explaining that he was there to check her vitals. After a few minutes the doctor had checked all her vitals, with Oliver sending Arrow-worthy glares at him to make sure he was doing his job properly, saying that she was in a good state but would have to have somebody to check on her every so often.
"So I can go home then?" Felicity finally asked.
"Yes, you can as long as one of your friends doesn't mind keeping an eye on you just in case" Dr Wood said, glancing towards the four people that had stayed stationary during the whole thing, then he scampered out of the room quicker than when he came in.
"Is this really necessary?" Felicity complained as Oliver carried her bridal style out of the hospital and carefully climbed into the black car with her in his lap.
"Yes, I'm not taking any chances" Oliver ground out, knowing that tone he used- one not to be trifled with but where was the fun in that?
"Oliver I got shot in my shoulder, my legs work perfectly fine" moving them to emphasise her point. By this point both Sara and Digg were trying desperately to hold in the laughter slowly building up. They were acting like an old married couple.
"Felicity, quit arguing with me, you're not going to win here" he growled, while she huffed clearly irritated that he was treating her like a baby.
"Fine you might as well buy a baby monitor while you're at it" she argued, both Digg and Sara snorted in laughter while Roy and Thea covered their mouths with the palms of their hands to keep from bursting out in laughter.
"No need because you're staying with us for a week" he retorted, secretly masking a smirk.
"What? Seriously now you're going over the top, I can take care of myself perfectly fine thank you very much"
"Felicity just stop, there's no way in hell that I'm letting you out of my sight again"
"You have got to be kidding me", Oliver didn't bother arguing back because he knew he had already won. Standing smoothly with Felicity cuddled against his chest he tightened his grip on her as he entered the Queen Mansion and began making his way up the stairs while Thea, Roy, Digg and Sara stayed in the living room.
Cautiously placing her on his bed, she could feel the hesitance when he set her down, then tucked the sheets around her as he sat beside her at shoulder-level on the bed.
"Oliver….stop it…stop feeling guilty, this isn't your fault alright….I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time" she tried to squash that guilty feeling that he always felt when somebody he cared for gets hurt and he blames himself. His reply was to lay flat on his back and reach out to wrap his arms around her waist, drawing her to his chest holding her securely to him.
"I could've lost you, during this week it's been hell on Earth and I promised myself that when you woke up that I wouldn't let you go again but I haven't forgotten what you said though" her eyes flew to his, surely he wasn't talking about those three words that had escaped, well obviously because he can't be talking about anything else she thought to herself.
"I didn't think you noticed, you know with my injury and everything…..then there was making up the cover story that you guys came up with, which was pretty realistic"
"It was Digg who came up with the story; I was mainly focused on you"
"I'm not going anywhere, you do realise that right?" she clarified.
"Yes…..I do" Oliver replied, closing his eyes briefly
"Good" she said as her eyes began to droop, because of everything that had happened and even sleeping for a week Felicity still managed to feel tired.
"Sleep" he murmured into her hair. It was then when she realised that it was night time, the moon was once again raised in the sky. Beside her, Oliver shifted and pulled her closer to his chest. His eyes closed and she felt the last muscle relax, showing her that he was asleep. Taking the chance to properly look at him, she could tell over the past week that he hadn't of gotten a decent night's sleep because of the bags under his eyes. Her head rested on his chest feeling the rhythm of his heartbeat, gently lulling her to sleep. Gradually closing her eyes, Felicity once again gave into the darkness as it consumed her but this time she knew she was safe and secure. The last thing she had heard was him murmur "I love you too".
She had woken at the break of dawn, daylight flowing in through the windows revealing a bright new day leaving the events of the past week behind and starting again. In that moment nothing seemed to faze her, not going through the experience of being shot or flat lining and scaring the living hell out of her friends but everything that she felt in that one moment. Shifting her glance to the sleeping form behind her, his front was pushed flush against her back with his arms both of which were banded around her waist like iron, holding her to him protectively and to tell you the truth. Felicity hadn't known a time when she's felt safer than when she woke up cocooned within his arms. And if you asked her what the best part of it was, her answer would be that he never let go.