OH, AND WE COME UNSTUCK
A/N: The plot bunnies just attacked me after 3x08 when Diggle declared he wanted to marry Lyla. Lots of Dyla and Olicity ahead! It's pretty fluffy because I can't take the pain of all the other episodes this season and that freaking midseason finale! Argh! For the purposes of this fic, that didn't happen. So this is AU I guess. Maybe it will put a little smile on your face. Title is inspired by Vance Joy's Riptide lyrics. As always, comments/reviews are dearly appreciated!
The wedding of John Diggle and Lyla Michaels started with a bang, Felicity would later reminisce. Literally. An ex-A.R.G.U.S. agent with a vendetta against the couple blew up the wedding cake and tried to shoot Diggle in the chest before "Here Comes the Bride" even finished playing.
Luckily Lyla, in the most elegant way a special operative bride could under ten tons of tulle, rushed the stage and shoved Digg away in time so that the bullet only hit his shoulder. The blood, however, made a nice splattering stain all over the ten ton expensive Vera Wang wedding dress.
Oliver managed to jump an impressive ten feet from the stage to the aisle to tackle the guy before he could get another shot in. Felicity would later raise an eyebrow at him, to which he would reply with, "I did long jump in track and field back in high school."
After the scuffle Oliver smoothed his hand over Felicity's disheveled hair, tucked the flower that blew off in the blast back behind her ear, and grumbled about not being allowed to bring his bow and arrow for the ceremony. Felicity couldn't help but agree as she touched the scorched flower Oliver had replaced in her hair. The room was in utter chaos.
Even with the culprit apprehended and escorted out of the building (and into a maximum security prison cell) by five wedding attending A.R.G.U.S. agents, led by Amanda Waller herself, the wedding ceremony was simply put… a disaster. The cake was history, the decorations destroyed, and the groom was injured (though he would loudly protest that it was a mere flesh wound as Felicity and Caitlyn tried to tend to it). Not to mention the absolutely terrified civilian guests, priest, and musicians who knew nothing of the bride and groom's extracurricular activities. All of whom seemed hysterical and drenched in cake, but otherwise mostly unharmed.
Watching the hotel manager babble and sob incoherently into his hands, Felicity had a feeling that Lyla and Digg were not going to get their deposit on the ballroom rental back.
Barry, predictably, arrived late after everything was over with a sheepish smile, a shrug, and a non-reassuring "Is there any cake left?"
When baby Sara let out a deafening wail and wouldn't stop after what was only fifteen minutes, but felt like fifteen years, of cajoling, Digg and Lyla shared a look and decided to call it quits. There would be no wedding to be had that day.
With the dust settled, the Arrow and Flash team reconvened in the Arrow Cave. Not that anyone called it that. Well, maybe Felicity. But only in secret, out of Oliver's ear range.
Aside from Digg's bullet wound, the others only sported some ruffled formal wear, but the weariness in the air felt heavier than a long sparring match with Ra's al Ghul's league of assassins would.
"So much for getting married," Diggle lamented with a sigh as Lyla bent over his shoulder. She was in the middle of suturing the bullet wound and Felicity was trying hard not to cringe visibly.
Lyla finished bandaging up Digg's wound and sealed it with a light kiss on her not-yet-husband's shoulder. Digg took his not-yet-wife's hand in his and drew it to his mouth.
"I'm sorry, sweetie," he said softly, so softly that Felicity, who was trying very hard not to eavesdrop but couldn't help it, barely caught the words.
"You only call me sweetie when you want something," Lyla teased.
"I want to marry you," Diggle said with a sigh that felt much too heavy. He leaned forward and rested his head against the crook between Lyla's head and shoulders, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Lyla pulled her arms around him and squeezed.
Felicity couldn't take it. Her heart was shredding at the sight of the two of them. These two people who so very much loved each other deserved their special day and the hell to who ever tried to stop them.
"No, I can't accept this," Felicity declared, standing up. "Come on. We can't give up yet. We can do this. Let's get you two married."
Everyone's eyes were suddenly on her. She noticed from her peripheral vision that Oliver was looking up from where he had been broodily polishing his arrows.
"We can have the wedding right here," Felicity proclaimed proudly.
Digg gave her a wan smile, but shook his head. "I appreciate the thought, Felicity, but after everything-"
"After everything you've two have gone through you deserve to get married," Felicity said. "Right, you guys?"
Felicity glanced around and saw several heads nodding in agreement: Roy, Laurel, Caitlyn, Cisco and Barry were all bobbing their heads in the affirmative. Felicity's gaze caught Oliver's and she held her breath. His eyes were unreadable.
"Felicity's right," he said, breaking their gaze and leaving Felicity feeling unreasonably breathless from it. "If anyone deserves to get married, it's you two."
Oliver stepped out of his dark shadowy corner and joined the rest of them near the steel table.
"John, you're the one who taught me that even with all the things that we have to do, being with the ones we love," Felicity doesn't miss his quick eye flicker in her direction, "it's what makes doing what we do worth it."
Diggle breathed deeply, letting Oliver's words soak in. He and Lyla exchanged glances.
"This isn't exactly the big grand wedding that you envisioned," Diggle said.
Lyla smiled at him, cupping his face with her hands. "No, but I have you and our baby, that's all I ever wanted." As if on cue, baby Sara gurgled and squirmed against Roy's chest.
"I think that's an Amen," Roy declared, cuddling the baby against him.
The room rippled with agreeable laughter.
Digg exhaled once more, but this time a smile graced his face. "Alright! You heard the baby. Let's get hitched."
The lair immediately erupted into activity.
Caitlyn and Laurel worked on folding paper flowers to pin on Lyla's dress to cover up the blood stains and trimming the ruined train while Cisco and Barry rigged up string lights from various LEDs strewn around the club. They found some emergency candles upstairs in one of the club's closets and laid a trail of them right down the middle of the room for Lyla to walk down.
For the final touch, Felicity set up the fern at the very end of the makeshift aisle to mark where Digg and Roy would stand. Diggle's skeptical of Roy's internet officiating abilities, but Felicity told him she'd hack into the City Hall database later to assuage his unease.
All that left were the rings, which had been lost in the chaos of the psychotic criminal ex-agent who had destroyed the first wedding. The team was brainstorming ideas: aluminum foil (too tacky), tied string (too juvenile), key rings (dismissed completely), when Oliver coughed shyly and produced a pair of gorgeous handmade stainless steel wedding bands.
"I used some scrap metal left over from some arrowheads. They're not all that fancy… but-"
"They're perfect," Digg interrupted, clapping Oliver on the shoulder and squeezing lightly. "Thanks, man."
Oliver smiled one of those rare smiles that reached his eyes and nodded.
And then it was happening. It was really happening.
In hindsight, Felicity realized that there should have been music playing as Lyla walked down the path of lighted candles towards Diggle, but everyone had been just so amazed and in awe and busy watching Digg's face light up like it never had before for anyone to remember the detail.
"Wow," Digg whispered as Lyla reached beside him. "Just wow."
"It's better the second time," Lyla replied just as softly, smiling up at him.
Digg, looking softer than Felicity has ever seen him, took Lyla's hand into his and rubbed small circles onto the palm of it.
"Lyla, you and I both know we are not people of many words. We keep secrets for a living. We are people of action. We get things done. We risk our lives to protect the ones we love. I won't make flowery promises to love you until the end of time, because honestly, I don't know how much time I have on this earth. But the time I do have, I am not going to waste it. And so I will cut this speech short, so I can marry you. Because I can't stand another second not being your husband."
Roy coughed to clear the emotion swelling up in his throat, but it didn't erase the sentimental tremor in his voice as he said, "John Diggle, do you take Lyla Michaels, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"
And with absolute confidence and sincerity, Diggle said, "I do."
Roy inhaled once and turned to Lyla. "And Lyla Michaels, do you take John Diggle, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do you part?"
"Hell yeah, I do," Lyla said.
And before Roy could finish officiating, Lyla had pulled Diggle forward into her arms, sealing their vows with a kiss.
"And the bride may kiss the groom, I guess," Roy said, smile creeping into his words.
Felicity could feel the tears stinging her eyes. Because though this wasn't the big hoopla wedding she helped Lyla plan, it felt right. It was quiet, and intimate, and everything that mattered was in place. It was the way it was supposed to be. She knew it when her eyes met Lyla's and the older woman mouthed "thank you" just before she kissed her new husband once again.
Felicity wiped at her eyes and suddenly a handkerchief appeared in her vision. She turned and saw Oliver was at the other end of it.
"Thanks," she said with a sniffle. "I always tell myself to not get weepy, but I always do."
He nodded once and replied, "I get it." And she noticed that his eyes were also especially bright and shiny, one might even call them wet.
They both smiled at one another for a moment before turning their attentions back to the newly wedded couple to hear Digg shout for cake! Little Sara, once again on cue, gurgled in the affirmative as she bounced in Laurel's arms.
A few minutes later, Digg and Lyla were in the middle of trying to awkwardly slice the store bought cake Barry produced from the grocery store down the street with a rather large dagger.
"We have a whole arsenal down here and you guys don't have a regular knife lying around?" Caitlyn commented.
"I offered them a switchblade," Laurel piped in.
"My question is, why don't we just send Barry to run back to the store and get one?" Cisco suggested.
"Hey, I'm not your fetching mule, alright?"
Felicity and Oliver stopped watching the spectacle when Roy came by with two champagne glasses in his hands. Because if there's one thing their lair does not lack, it's expensive alcohol.
"Thanks," Felicity said, taking one of the glasses as Oliver did the same with a nod of acknowledgment.
Roy nodded once in reply and left to rejoin the others hovering over the cake, leaving the two of them alone once again in companionable silence. At some point the Flash/Arrow team must have solved the issue of the cake because somebody started some music up and Digg and Lyla began dancing in the middle of the training mat barefoot. The sight of Lyla resting her head on Digg's chest as they swayed in unison made Felicity's heart swell tenfold.
Oliver held his champagne glass up towards hers and gently clinked the glasses, drawing her attention away from the dancing couple.
"Cheers to the first wedding in the Arrow Cave," he said.
A grin teased the corners of Felicity's mouth. "Arrow Cave? I thought we didn't call it that."
Oliver sipped his champagne and gave her a cheeky smile. "Only with you."
And the way Oliver said that made Felicity's chest clench.
He didn't ask her to dance, this was Digg's and Lyla's moment and there was just too many people around, exes included, and besides Oliver Queen simply didn't dance. But... he tapped his fingers to the music, the taps beating suspiciously close to where her hand was resting. Each time his fingers brushed against hers, she felt trills crawl up her arms. The brushes of his fingertips felt like morse code. Spelling out secret messages to her that she couldn't yet decipher. Inside her head, where her quiet daydreams lie, she imagined they whispered things like: you're remarkable, you're amazing, I love you.
Felicity hummed along to the music, albeit out of tune, but she didn't care. The little details don't bother her. The day had been perfect, despite all intents to be the exact opposite, and she couldn't be happier than she was right at that moment. Sitting there on the steel table, watching Digg and Lyla, and (not) holding Oliver's hand.
Once the party was over and everybody went home after congratulating Digg and Lyla for the millionth time, Oliver settled back into his workshop corner.
He didn't take to hobbies very often, vigilante work and maintaining a double life took up most of the free time he had, but he was feeling inspired. He grabbed some drafting paper and a pen and began to sketch. After hours of poring over sketch after sketch, he finally sat up, feeling a little tired, but satisfied.
He looked down at his handiwork, the design of a simple, but elegant pair of rings. Placing them on top of one another, the arrow designs would fit to form a single heart. With one last glance at the drawings he folded it up and locked it away in the safe behind his desk. He didn't want anyone to find them before he was ready. This was not a thing to be rushed, but he didn't want to waste time in limbo either. He was done with doubts. Done with uncertainty.
As always, John Diggle's words had resonated deeply with the Queen heir.
Oliver wandered back to the steel table, the place where Felicity had patched him up numerous times, where he patched her up one time (and hopefully the only time if he had anything to say about it), and where he had morse coded the words I want to marry you against her hand as they watched Lyla and Diggle dance. Laying his palm down on the cold steel, he closed his eyes, and recalled the feeling. His heart beating just a little bit faster at the memory.
In his daydreams, she always answered: yes.