This is the first thing I've ever written.
It hasn't been edited, this is the first chapter to a fic I want to write. Any feedback would be great!
It had been a few hours since she was discharged from the hospital after The Count kidnapped and held her at Queen Consolidated. Oliver had been busy helping Moira get settled at the mansion and she hadn't wanted to bother him during his much needed time with his family. But it was 3 am and she couldn't get to sleep because every time she did, she got flashes of memories from the nightmare she had just experienced.
Before she could stop herself she picked up her phone and was dialing Oliver's cell, it only took him two rings to answer and she had never felt so relieved.
"Felicity," he said, not sounding at all surprised to see her name flash across his phone at that time of night. He said her name with such lightness that she could have sworn she heard a sigh of relief afterwards.
"Hi… I know it's late and you're probably trying to sleep and I know you need as much sleep as you can get- not that you need beauty sleep or anything, we all know you have that department covered, I mean have you seen you, you've never look-"
"Felicity, it's okay. I wasn't sleeping anyway, the adrenaline hasn't worn off yet. What's wrong?" he asked with genuine worry in his voice.
"It's nothing, it's stupid really. I haven't even fallen asleep yet and I'm having nightmares. I don't even know if that's possible, to have nightmares even if you're awake? But I just can't sleep and I can't stop thinking about him touching me, playing with my hair, whispering things in my ear…. I'm scared. I'm scared to go to sleep because even if he's dead, he's haunting me." As she finished explaining her voice cracked and she couldn't stop the sobs that wracked her body.
"Hang tight, Felicity. I'll be there soon."
"Oh, no, Oliver. You don't have to do that. I didn't expect you to come here. I just, I needed to tell someone about my day and you said that one time that I could tell you. I'll be okay tonight. I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"If you're sure," he hesitated for a moment to let her protest, "I'll see you tomorrow, Felicity. Goodnight." "Goodnight."
As he was about to end the call he heard a faint, "Oliver?"
"Yeah?" he said, waiting.
"I just wanted to say thank you, and that I'm sorry," he heard her voice break again as she uttered her apology.
"For what?" he asked, genuinely confused by what she said.
"I got myself into trouble again, and you… killed him," she whispered, "You killed again and I'm sorry that I put you in the position that you had to make that kind of choice."
"Felicity," he said, trying to find the right way to say everything that he was thinking. He didn't understand how she could be so selfless, how she could be held hostage and be terrified for her life but she was still worried about the toll that killing would take on him. "He had you and he was going to hurt you, there was no choice to make."
There was a silence at the other end of the phone and he hoped maybe she'd fallen asleep.
He whispered, "Goodnight," and hung up the phone.
He wished more than anything that she hadn't declined his offer to come over, but he checked her GPS tracker in her phone every twenty minutes to make sure she was still at home. By around 5 am he was so crazy with worry that he knew that he needed to see for himself that she was okay.
When he got to her window he couldn't see her at first, that was until he looked in the corner of her bedroom and she was in the corner with her knees pressed to her chest and she was crying. That sight hurt him more than any torture he had ever endured.
He never wanted to see her hurt ever again, he knew what he had to do. It wouldn't be easy and it would be the end of any kind of happiness he could ever know, but it was the only way to protect her.