Don't get too close

It's dark inside

It's where my demons hide

It's where my demons hide

At the curtain's call

It's the last of all

When the lights fade out

All the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave

And the masquerade

Will come calling out

At the mess you've made

Don't wanna let you down

But I am hell bound

Though this is all for you

Don't wanna hide the truth

~ "Demons" Imagine Dragons

. . .

When she woke, it was like she was in a void. Darkness and cold surrounded her. There was no bit of light and no memory of where she was. Felicity gasped suddenly and then coughed violently. The rush of water drowning her hit her consciousness and she struggled to move. It was then that she realized that one of her legs was pinned and her flailing was rather painful. She pushed herself to keep her head up above the water, which seemed possible at least.

She screamed out, terrified of her circumstances.

Had she been in an accident?

Why would she be in water?

Felicity's tears mixed with the water as she struggled to keep still to quell the pain, but keep her head well above water as well so she could breathe. She was able to find something to hold onto to, to cling to, to help her keep her upper half above water. It pulled on her legs, but not too much, the pain she could manage.

When she woke, it was brighter but still dark. Felicity let her eyes adjust as she looked around. As far as she could see right ahead was ocean. That's all she could see… Panic rose in her as she started to look to the right. Tears streamed down her cheek as she tried to contain her level of panic. More ocean as far as she could turn her head. To the left, she started slow but the ocean wasn't helping her with feeling at ease with what would happen to her. Before she could make it as far as she could turn her head, someone came into her line of sight.

A dark figure.

"Please," she pleaded. Felicity was terrified. She didn't know who it was or what they could want. She still wasn't sure exactly where she was. What if this person had to do with her being in that position? What if they intended on hurting her? Who was it? Where was she? What was going on? Why was she there?

"Shh… It's me, you're okay."

Tears still fell, but this time she was happy to know that she was okay. It didn't answer all of her questions, but at least she had comfort in knowing that Diggle was there to help her. She hoped that he could help her. She still wasn't sure what was pinning her legs in place.

"I'm stuck," she cried.

"Don't move…" he told her.

His hand was on her back and she looked around to see that he was only a little more than waist deep in the water. Diggle was supporting her and she wasn't panicking any longer, but she would feel a lot better if she was finally freed from whatever was keeping her in place.

"What—what is it?" Felicity asked.

She could feel his hand along her leg and she wondered how bad it was. She knew that Diggle had medical training, so at least there was that. Felicity was quiet as he continued to move his hand. She tried to keep her calm as he continued to feel around. Felicity just wanted out. Everything else could be sorted out once they got to shore. She was still waiting for him to tell her what had her pinned and she also wanted to know how bad it was.

"It's a build up of debris," Diggle finally said. "Probably from shipwrecks."

"Where are we?"

"Lian Yu if I'm not mistaken," Diggle told her. "We were dumped here last night. I think Oliver and Sara are somewhere…"

"Lian Yu? Really?" Felicity felt sick. She really hated this island. She would be overjoyed if they never stepped foot on that island again. "It took us days to get here last time," she said and then let out a sudden scream. Diggle had moved something.

"Sorry, sorry…" he said quickly.

Tears were falling a new and she tried to keep as still as possible. She sucked in breath and tried not to think about the pain. "How did we get here?"

"He drugged you, I'm sure," Diggle told her. "We were on a ship… He was telling Oliver to choose… I don't know what he meant exactly… He had me pumped full of stuff, but I was awake for a lot of it. Sara would argue with him." Diggle was quiet. "The last time I saw you, he'd just dropped you into the middle of the floor… He told Oliver to choose, but he kept pleading with him. He said that would be the last time anyone saw you." He was very quiet suddenly. "I thought you were dead."

"I don't remember," she told him. Felicity wondered if it was for the best. They were on a ship? She didn't even remember when they'd been taken from Starling City. "Last thing I remember… Mrs. Queen and Isabel were making a scene at the benefit… You and Oliver were trying to break it up…"

Diggle shifted a few things. It wasn't as painful as it had been before, but she tried to keep her cries and screams inside. "I'm sorry," he said as he moved another thing. "Your left leg looks bad… I'm trying to minimize the pressure on it. I'm hoping that there are still some supplies stowed somewhere…"

"Do you know who has us? Or had us?" she asked. She realized that she wasn't thinking clearly or at least not as clearly as she normally would.

"Slade Wilson," Diggle said. "He was on the island with Oliver."

"Didn't he…hallucinate…about him?" she barely managed to get out. "And—and just to let you know… I'm not feeling so great…" Felicity had already felt numb and cold, but now she felt like ice… She felt so much pain. She felt like she could pass out and throw up at the same time.

"I was afraid of that," he said. "It's going to hurt, Felicity, but it's no longer got the pressure on it, it had before…" He didn't wait for her okay; he just did what had to be done. Diggle scooped her up and was heading back towards shore. He tried to keep her hand in place, to keep pressure but she just couldn't.

"Slade…has…Mirakuru…" she mumbled.

The world was quickly blurring. Felicity knew that she had to be losing blood. She could hear Diggle, but she couldn't understand him. As close as he held her, it didn't bring hr any warmth. The sun was trying to even warm her, it seemed higher, but it didn't penetrate the cold numb void she was in. She didn't last long before she was overtaken by darkness.

. . .

"I know this island."

"Well then I hope you know where there's a cache of medical supplies because we're going to need them."

"That's if Slade wasn't here first. He could have removed supplies before dropping us."

"How long do we have?"

"She needs a hospital is what she really needs. The sooner the better. I'm worried about infection… There's already been enough blood loss."

The voices kept fluctuating. They were either too loud or too quiet. There was no in between. Felicity felt like she was still in the water. Cold and floating. Diggle had pulled her out, hadn't he? Had it been a dream? A hallucination?

"John?" she barely breathed.

"She's saying something."

Felicity wondered where she was. What had happened? The voices, although clear, didn't seem to ring true with anything she could remember. She could hear sobs and it took her a while to realize that it was her. The sobs seemed so alien, but they were coming from her lips. It was then that she became aware of all the pain. Felicity remembered her leg being pinned and all the pain. She remembered the water trying to drown her. She remembered Diggle getting her out. That was it, though. She remembered knowing that she was safe before she'd blacked out.

"We're here."

"Open your eyes."

"You're safe."

The voices were worried, but familiar. She was sure that two of the voices were Oliver and Diggle. The female one? And then she remembered that Diggle had said Sara was there.

"Cold," she breathed.

Felicity tried to open her eyes, but they wouldn't budge. They felt far too heavy. She tried though, to push against it. She managed to open them only a slit before closing them again because it was too bright.

"I know we shouldn't move her, Digg, but I think it's going to be the best and safest spot."

"Slade knows that spot."

"I'm not saying it's the best plan."

"You're going to get us all killed!"

"If we don't do something, Sara, Felicity will die. I'm not burying anyone else on this island."

She knew that this argument was her fault. Felicity let out another sob. "S'ok…" she mumbled. Felicity didn't want them all to die because of her. Oliver, DIggle, and Sara…they were the survivors. She wasn't good at that and knew that and knew that she was in no condition for anything.

"We're going to move you."

"No," she whispered.

"Felicity—"

"Leave m—" she whispered.

"That's not happening," he said. And this time she knew it was Oliver.

She forced her eyes open again. At first the figures were blurred, but then she could make out Oliver and Diggle. Sara had to be around there too. Trees were overhead, but the sun still filtered through.

"I'm going to carry you," Diggle told her. "I wish I could give you something for the pain, but I just don't have anything. It's going to hurt, I won't lie to you about that."

"Just go," she whispered and tried to motion with her arm. She was fairly sure that it wasn't as big as she'd intended.

"We're going to be fine now that we're all together."

Felicity didn't believe Diggle. She could see the worry in him. "Oliv—"

His mouth was at her ear then. "You're not leaving, I'm not leaving," he whispered.

She closed her eyes and let the tears fall. No matter what, no matter where they were, the three of them were still a team.

. . .

Warmth.

It was almost an odd feeling to her. She woke up groggy and she had no idea where she was. It was dimly lit, but she was a tad bit warmed up, and she hurt. That was what she knew. Felicity closed her eyes, rolled her head to the side, and then opened them again. Right by her side was Diggle, he was curled up right to her. As she focused, she realized that his arm and possibly a blanket were draped over her as well.

She thought about saying his name. She didn't know how long it had been since she was last awake and no idea about how long he had been asleep. So, she let him sleep. Although she hurt, it didn't seem as bad as it had before. Felicity knew that Oliver had originally come back from the island with twenty percent scar tissue and definitely hadn't had painkillers. Felicity just wasn't that strong. She had no idea how Oliver did it.

So, she just lay there watching him. Felicity closed her eyes again; tired already of the strain of having them open. Slowly, she moved her arm so it came up along Diggle's and she tried to grasp his hand.

"Felicity?"

She opened her eyes and stared at Diggle for a moment. He was still asleep.

"Felicity?"

"Oliver?" she croaked out. She started to turn her face and then his hands were on her.

"You're okay," he told her, still a whisper. "We're safe…"

"Slade," she managed to get out.

"He's not been around," he assured. "Sara and I have been keeping a look out while Diggle fixed your leg."

Felicity closed her eyes. "You should leave me. I'm going to hold you all back—"

"Slade wants me," Oliver told her.

That didn't make it any better.

One thing that Felicity knew for sure was that Slade Wilson was dangerous. Once he and Oliver had been friends, but that was a long time ago. That was before Shado died. That was before the Mirakuru brought him back to life. That was before Oliver thought he'd left Slade dead on that island. Everything was different now.

"He can't have you," she blurted out. Her other hand slowly moved up and covered one of his hands on her face. Felicity didn't want to lose Oliver, not to Slade Wilson and not to Lian Yu.

Oliver just smiled at her. "Right now, I'm more worried about you."

"I'm breathing," she whispered.

"All we had was over the counter stuff…" he explained. "I know that's not enough."

"It's okay," she whispered and then cringed. It hurt. It hurt a lot all of the sudden. Felicity kept telling herself that Oliver went through a lot more when he was on the island, she felt like that meant that she could get through this.

"You know…" he said so quietly. "I thought you were dead."

"I don't—"

"Digg explained that you don't remember that much…" Oliver said.

Felicity closed her eyes as pain shot up her leg. She bit her lip and tried her best to contain it.

"Felicity?"

It hurt too much to try to respond to Oliver. She knew it would come out as a scream.

"Felicity?"

She opened her eyes again and tears rolled down her cheeks. Felicity swallowed hard before attempting to open her mouth to say anything. "It's okay," she just whispered.

"Maybe we can give you more."

"Digg knows what he's doing," she said very slowly before closing her eyes again for just a moment. "He has the medical training," she continued and then opened her eyes again. It was going to be a long time, she knew…and the pain would likely only get worse.

"I'm going to get you to a hospital as soon as I can, Felicity."

"I know," she whispered with a sad smile. Felicity just wasn't sure how bad it really was and how long she could really last.

"Slade shouldn't have involved any of you."

"Digg and I would be out there looking for you if he hadn't," she pointed out. "Maybe it would have been different, but that doesn't mean better." All she knew was that no matter what. None of them were in it alone. They were still a team.

. . .

"You shouldn't really move so much."

Felicity stared at her for a long minute. Sara. Right, they were on the island. Lian Yu. She hated that island. "I just want to sit up," Felicity finally got out. She wasn't really sure if that was the best plan, but she felt like she'd maybe feel better. Or so she hoped.

"I really don't want to piss off Digg right now," Sara admitted. "So, maybe you should just wait a bit…wait until they get back. They should be back soon."

She wondered why it was Digg that she didn't want to piss off. She was sure that there was a reason, but she was pretty sure that she'd fear Oliver over Diggle. Maybe it was just their relationships or maybe it was just what she did know about Oliver's past.

"You guys…you should all be somewhere safe," Felicity told her. She knew that Oliver and Diggle weren't just going to leave her there, but she knew that Sara would be more truthful with her than the guys.

Sara stared down at her and then looked around before looking back at her. "We're...safe enough…"

"I'm endangering—"

"We're taking care of things," Sara insisted quickly.

"Even if I could move, you guys probably need to move fast. Slade is dangerous and I've seen Oliver on this island. He's flown out of trees like Tarzan…"

"He does like to show off…"

"I don't mind," Felicity said with a sigh. "Especially when the shirt's off…" She thought about making some comment about how she can never censor herself, but she had a feeling that Sara already knew that and from the smile on Sara's face…she didn't seem offended by her comment.

"He really does look good…but I'm sure so does Digg… You're a lucky girl," Sara teased.

She was lucky.

In so many ways.

"How's our patient?"

Felicity brightened at the sound of Diggle's voice. Maybe he would let her move… "Doing much better," she lied and winced. She was fairly sure that only Sara could see and she just hoped that she didn't say anything. "Sitting up would be nice... I could probably move if we need to move…"

"No moving if we can avoid it just yet," Diggle said. "I'd rather we not put much weight on it. The stitches I managed are crude and I'm afraid there's going to be an ugly scar…"

"The lack of being pinned and bleeding are worth it," Felicity told him. "But can I at least sit up?"

Sara moved away and Diggle moved closer. She watched as he examined her leg. He frowned and still didn't look too happy with things. Felicity really couldn't be sure if her lack of memory on the boat or the island were blessings or curses.

"No moving though," Diggle warned her as he helped her up to a sitting position.

He'd adjusted her slowly, but it had still been too fast. Her head started to spin and she started to feel sick. She was certain that if she'd eaten anything that she'd have thrown it up. Instead, she started to fall to the side; luckily Diggle had a firm hold on her a moment later.

"Hey, hey…"

"I'm okay," she said as she breathed. "Sitting up…just too fast…my head spun…"

"You lost a lot of blood," he explained slowly. "Fortunately, we already knew that Oliver and I were a match…and Sara is a universal donor… So, we've all taken turns trying to do blood transfusion…"

"Digg's been very cautious about it," Sara said.

"Rightly so," Diggle argued. "It's not like we're back at the Foundry with a locker full of Oliver's extra blood…and it's not like we had something to measure how much blood everyone was contributing. I had to be cautious…for everyone's sake."

She hadn't even thought about blood loss. It made sense though. It creeped her out a bit at the same time, especially since she didn't like needles. She suddenly felt sick again too. Crap, she needed not to think about all the needles going into her body while she was out of it.

"I really…didn't need to know about any of that…" she blurted out as she felt sick as Diggle continued to hold her in place.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Have I mentioned, I really hate needles?"

"Without them, you would have died," Diggle told her.

And she knew that. It just didn't make it any better. Best thing right now was probably that she didn't remember any of it. She stopped a moment and looked around. "Where's Oliver?"

"Brooding," Diggle responded immediately.

"I think he prefers the term: patrolling," Sara spoke up.

. . .

TBC….