It was minutes until sunrise and Felicity was running so fast that at times her feet weren't touching the ground at all. The primal thrill of watching the trees fly past made her heart race and soothed her soul. She was so busy getting lost in herself that she didn't see the hunter, didn't hear him notch his arrow, didn't smell his excitement. She did however; hear the whistle and thunk of the arrow as it flew and embedded in her shoulder blade. She fell, wounded and frightened, but unable to move anywhere. Even as the hunter's footsteps were moving closer, she could feel the electricity of the change coming. He was mere feet away when the sun crested the ridge and she changed back into her human form. The arrow fell out as she shifted, but it left a profound wound.
"Shit." The hunter muttered.
She looked into his eyes as her world faded to darkness and she succumbed to the pain.
Oliver was disconcerted. He had heard of the man-beasts that changed between wolf and human with the moon, but he thought they were just a silly legend meant to scare kids. Now he had irrefutable proof of the creatures, but this was certainly no man. She was lying in the fetal position, naked as the day she was born, and bleeding profusely from her shoulder. He hauled the blonde wolf woman over his shoulder and moved as fast as he could back to his cabin. He knew his partner would know what to do. Diggle had been in the Army and had some combat medic training. So much for a relaxing guys weekend.
He made it back to the cabin just as the coffee had finished brewing. Oliver placed his cargo on the couch and called out "Diggle! We've got a situation in here. Bring your med bag." He covered her with a blanket and checked her vitals, only giving her soft flesh a cursory glance. The way she looked at him before she lost consciousness haunted him. It was a look filled with pain and betrayal and it hurt his heart.
"Did you fall down the mountain again?" Diggle joked before making his way into the room. His laughter stopped when he saw the blood soaked woman lying on the couch and the almost panicked look in Oliver's eyes. "What the hell happened man?! Who is she?"
"That's a long story, she needs help now."
"Ok. Grab some towels. We need to clean the area so I can see the full wound." After the area was wiped clean John exclaimed "What did this, it looks like she was shot and ripped open. This gash is at least three inches long and the puncture almost hit her lung. She's damn lucky it didn't shatter her shoulder blade."
"It was an arrow. My arrow." Oliver was warring between being angry at himself and emotionally detaching from the whole situation. It was his fault. Why did he have to go out for one last hunt? Why did he have to shoot at that magnificent wolf who was doing nothing but running. She was likely just running back to her den, but something told him to shoot. So he took out his bow and let an arrow fly. He didn't even need to aim, hitting his target was nothing but a reflex now.
"Are you sure it was an arrow? I've never seen an arrow wound like this." John Diggle was carefully stitching the muscle and skin tissue back together.
"It... it might have happened when she ch-changed."
"Changed what? Not clothes. Oliver, she's naked. And I know you wouldn't shoot a beautiful naked woman."
"She was a wolf."
"A wolf? Like Wolf of Wall Street Wolf? Or like 'sleep with you and steal your wallet' wolf?"
"Neither. Like howling at the moon, Van Helsing, silver bullets, wolf."
Diggle stared at Oliver in disbelief. "You're kidding. Did you snack on some mushrooms while you were out?"
"Unfortunately, no, I'm not kidding. I wouldn't believe it myself if I didn't watch her transform. I was on my way back to the cabin from the early morning hunt, and there was this wolf running for all she was worth. Without even thinking I shot her. I don't even remember reaching into my quiver. She fell and I rushed over to her just in time to see her shift her form from canine to human. The arrow fell out while she was changing. I just..." He ran his fingers through his short cropped hair, "She needs to be ok."
"She will be. At least if she heals anything like a human she will be." Diggle stood and stretched, he had done all he could now they just had to wait for her to come around. "A werewolf. Imagine that. Still, not the strangest thing we've dealt with. Working with ARGUS has opened up a whole new level of weird. Remember the guy who could shape-shift into anyone he wanted? Or the massive genetically engineered talking gorilla, Grood? At least she's not another speedster, God knows we already have one too many of those. Speaking of Barry, we should call him up here. He's the science-y one, he could be of use."
"He may have his hands full with the team, but I'll try."
After Oliver called Barry, and convinced him to come up to the cabin, Felicity started to stir. She winced in pain and was suddenly very still.
Oliver saw and tried to reassure her, "You're safe here. No one is going to hurt you."
At the sound of his voice, her eyes snapped open and she glared at him, "No one is going to hurt me? You don't think that damn arrow hurt? News flash, it did! Does. Ow" She moaned and shifted trying to get comfortable. Realizing she was naked she squeaked and shoved her face into the couch cushion. "I'm naked! Why can't I just shift back into clothes? Ugh!" Her rant was muffled by the couch, but Oliver was finding it hard not to smile.
"I have a friend who should be here soon, he's bringing you some clothes. Are you hungry or thirsty?"
"Why?" She said, looking at him again and feeling combative, "Are you planning on poisoning me so you can sell my body to some lab?"
"Typically dead bodies are easier to autopsy." He said deadpan, "If I wanted you dead, you already would be." After staring at each other a while he asked "What is your name?"
"Felicity. Smoak. Yours?"
"I am special agent Oliver Queen. I work for an organization called ARGUS. We hunt down and apprehend extreme threats to national security and the safety of the general public." He handed her his ID.
"I know what ARGUS is. I work in their IT department. I pretty much run it, actually. Not that you field agents would notice us lowly computer nerds." She handed him back his ID looking less than impressed. "I'd show you mine, but it's in my other birthday suit."
Oliver felt slightly offended. He would like to think that if he ever had occasion to go to the IT department in person, he would definitely notice this woman. All spitfire and blue eyes. There is no way she would go unnoticed anywhere.
They settled into an awkward silence when he blurted "I'm sorry for shooting you. I didn't know that you were... well..."
"A woman? A werewolf? A computer hacking bad ass?"
"All the above. I am not even sure why I shot."
"So you just kill animals for the fun of it? Or do you like to have them stuffed and mounted?" She was feeling angry again. "Would you like to mount me?" She glared at him until she realized her innuendo. She turned her face back into the couch cushion. He could see her ears turn a deep red and hear her berating herself.
She heard a second man clear his throat from the doorway. She looked up and saw a large man with his arms crossed, fighting a smile.
"Felicity Smoak, meet John Diggle. My partner. John, Ms. Smoak says she runs the IT department at ARGUS."
"Nice to finally meet you, I have heard good things about you. You do good work." Diggle said, nodding at her from his position.
"You- you've heard of me?"
"My wife, Lyla has mentioned some of your more amazing feats. That time you tracked down the sick bastard running that child trafficking site and then hacked their personal security so we could go in and make the grab? Then hacked all his bank accounts and donated all his money to legitimate foundations that help disenfranchised children; pure genius."
Oliver stood, "That was you? We returned dozens of children to their families because of that op."
"Yup. I am that good. Those suckers never knew what hit them." A strong gust of wind brought in another man. "The Flash, I presume?" She said, still lying on her stomach, nothing but a blanket on.
"Y-yes. That's me. Barry Allen. You can call me Barry." He grinned
Oliver gave him a look that said are you serious?
She smiled back at Barry. "Not that I am not enjoying this good looking man parade, but I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable in clothes. So if you'd all be so kind as to give me clothes and get out, I would be grateful. Thanks."
"Of course. Here." Barry placed the clothes on the arm of the couch. "Oliver gave me size estimates. I hope they fit." He backed toward the door slowly.
Oliver paused on his way out and asked "Are you going to need help getting dressed? I don't want you to rip out those stitches."
She set her lips in a firm line and quietly pointed in the direction of the door. He took the hint and left the room to the sound of Diggle and Barry chuckling.
