"Oliver?"
Her voice was weak and forced as it hit her ears. She struggled to open her eyes, but she just wasn't ready to. Felicity couldn't see him, but she knew he was there… She may have had a building drop on top of her, but she knew what had happened.
She and Oliver had gone to Verdant and down to the old Foundry. They'd been slowly, but surely, moving everything they had down there to the new Foundry location. With Isabel Rochev gone, they seemed to have more time, but they didn't want any of the equipment to fall into the wrong hands or for anyone to possibly connect dots. They'd been able to somewhat maintain the secret that Oliver was the Arrow for this long...though it seemed like more and more people were finding out everyday. It was still important to keep their secret.
They'd been going through and figuring out that they were going to have to run a second load that day when everything shook. Felicity still remembered Oliver clearly screaming her name and running towards her as things fell all around them.
"I'm here."
His voice.
Oliver.
"Oliver," she gasped.
"Stay still," he instructed calmly.
She could feel his hand run along the side of her face. Felicity opened her eyes only to close them again as dust hit them. She realized that her glasses were missing and that the brief moment her eyes had been open, it had all been blurry. It was then that she realized that she actually couldn't move and panic started to surge through her.
"Oliver!" she exclaimed and her mouth hung open, but no other words came out as his finger rested against her lips.
"You're pinned down," he told her. "I'm going to get you out, but I need you not to move."
It was dark. There was some bits of light here and there, but nothing substantial, so she couldn't see what was pinning her, but she could feel the weight of it. She thought about reaching up and feeling the best she could with her hands, but decided against it when she realized that that might only cause her to panic more.
She listened as he moved and would seem to be testing where to lift. She'd felt the weight lighten for a moment before it was replaced once again. "Digg-"
"We're trapped right now," he said quietly and seemed distracted.
A whimper escaped her lips. She'd been trying to keep from panicking, but that nugget of information really wasn't helping things. "But Digg knows where we are-"
"He'll come looking for us."
She knew he was right.
Diggle knew where they were and knew exactly how long it normally took. He would call- "Do you have your phone?"
"No."
She let out a breath and tried to steady herself. Felicity closed her eyes and concentrating on relaxing. Diggle would come for them and if he couldn't help get them out then he'd call for help...and they'd figure out some cover story that hopefully would be believable. Diggle was better at the cover stories…
"Do you remember when we first met?" he asked.
Felicity's eyes opened and she blinked for a moment as she tried to process what he'd asked. "Yes," she finally responded.
"You were so different…"
"I really don't know how to take that."
He chuckled and she could feel the weight on her shift, but it wasn't replaced. Felicity realized that he was trying to distract her. He really was his hero. As she thought about that first day they'd met, she knew that she would have never imagined being where they were now...doing what they did at night…
"You still are," he whispered. "You weren't swooning over me being Oliver Queen-"
"Oh, I was…" Felicity countered. "Just...mentally…"
He laughed. "Well, I guess… I guess I sort of knew that. I think I was shelving it more with fascination with returning from the dead."
"Oh yeah, /definitely/ that too."
Oliver laughed again.
She loved his laugh and she was sad that she wasn't able to see his face in the dark. She loved when he smiled and Oliver didn't smile that often.
Before she knew it, he was slipping her out of what had been holding her down. He carried her even though she was fairly sure she could walk. He moved her to a section that was open and seemed to be safer than where she'd been before.
They just sat there in the dark.
"Are you hurt?" he asked after a few minutes.
His voice...there was something different about it. Felicity worried and reached out to touch him. "Are you?"
"Felicity…"
"My left arm feels broken… I'm not moving it."
Silence.
"Oliver," she whispered. "Are you okay?"
"Diggle will come."
"That's not what I asked," she pushed as emotion filled her voice. She started to run her hands over him. Her eyes had adjust a bit in the dark, but he was wearing a dark jacket and dark jeans. Felicity turned to face him fully, she cupped his face and looked him over. Scrapes and cuts and probably bruising on his face… Her fingers found the zipper of his jacket, but he grabbed her hand. "Oliver…"
"I'm hurt," he blurted out weakly.
"How bad?" she asked, trying to remain calm.
"Bad."
"Let me see," she pushed and unzipped and opened his jacket just the same. He had a white t-shirt and she could see where it was stained with blood. Felicity gasped and tears fell down her face. Without really thinking about it, she pressed the palm of her hand over the wound. "We have to stop the bleeding."
"Diggle will come for you."
"For /both/ of us."
"Felicity."
"You're not leaving me… You're not leaving us…"
All of her focus was on stopping the bleeding. She didn't realize it right away that he'd passed out. The bleeding didn't feel like it was gushing, so she'd taken that as a good thing. She really wanted to be able to help him more, but she couldn't think of anything. The medical gear had all already been moved to the new Foundry...so there wouldn't be any of it to look through the rubble for.
"Oliver!" she screeched as she realized he was unconscious. His eyes didn't open and her hands both went up to his cheeks. She stained his cheek with his own blood. "Oliver! Wake up! Open your eyes!"
Felicity moved her hand back to the wound and pushed. The bleeding had slowed, but it really needed to stop. He needed a doctor...a hospital...at the very least he was going to need Diggle. She knew that they had blood at the new Foundry. It was a necessary thing to keep on hand with Oliver.
"Please! Please! Don't leave me alone!" she begged through her tears.
"Shhh…"
"Oliver!"
"I'm here."
His voice was a whisper and Felicity suddenly felt guilty at the idea that he'd spent precious time getting her to safety...he'd lifted things that probably only made the injury worse. He'd obviously not put pressure on it before… But she wasn't going to lose him. Diggle was coming. He had to be.
"Do you remember when we first met?" she asked.
Oliver let out the quietest laugh.
"You threw ridiculous lies at me about spilling a latte on a laptop that wasn't yours...and riddled with bullet holes...which was because your coffee shop was in a bad neighborhood," Felicity reminded as she watched him. His eyes were open and his breathing was steady but weak. She didn't like it. She just needed to keep him still, awake, and alive until Diggle came to help.
"You babbled."
"I still do," she said all too proudly.
"You do."
"I never knew then just how important you would be...to Starling City," she said. Felicity closed her eyes for a moment and then pressed her forehead lightly against his. She opened her eyes and held his hand with her free one. "I never knew how important you would be to /me/." They weren't going to die, she told herself, but she still needed to say this...just in case he didn't know it. "You made me believe that I could be something better… That I could do a difference… You might have ruined my chances of a functional social life, but I wouldn't trade you and Diggle for anything… The last two years… I wouldn't trade them. Even knowing everything that happened and everything that could...all the danger… I would do it all over again."
Silence.
"I would happily walk through the world ending with you Oliver… You wouldn't even have to ask, I would gladly volunteer."
"You shouldn't say that," he whispered.
"I would," she told him and pulled back just an inch. Tears were still falling down her face. She moved her hand from his and pressed it against his face. "Oliver, I love you… No matter how much I tell myself not to love you, I do. You make me better...and I /think/ I make you better… We're more than friends, right?"
He smiled just the faintest. "We're partners," he whispered.
Felicity smiled at him before leaning in to kiss his cheek. "And I'll always be here…"
. . .
"Oliver! Felicity!"
She didn't know how much time had passed, but it had to have been too much. Felicity looked at Oliver, his eyes were open and he was still breathing. She was fairly sure the bleeding had stopped, but she wasn't going to move her hand. Diggle's voice was amazing to hear.
"Help! Oliver's hurt!" she yelled. She didn't know if Diggle could hear her, but she figured if she could hear him then he should be able to hear her. "We're trapped!"
"I'm going to get help!" Diggle called back.
She looked at Oliver. "Digg's here…"
"About damn time," Oliver barely whispered.
She blurted out a laugh.
"About damn time," she repeated.
. . .
The End.