Strength

Sometimes you need someone else to be your strength.

Felicity gasped listening to Oliver, a silent tear fell down her face.

"Tommy, no. No!" Oliver moaned kneeling over his best friend's body. This was his fault. He hadn't made it here in time and now Tommy was dead.

"Oliver." The sound of low and soft, Oliver looked up at Tommy's face hoping that the sound had come from him and that this was all a bad dream. But, it wasn't.

"Oliver, I need you to listen to me." Felicity said. "You need to get out of the building now, before the rest of it collapses."

The channel remained silent except for the background noise of the building shifting. "Oliver, do you hear me? You need to get you and Tommy out of that building now."

"Okay." Oliver took a breath pulling his hood up over his head. Tommy deserved a proper burial. If it was the last thing he did, he was going to make sure he got them out of this building.

Oliver laid Tommy's body on the street on autopilot he switched on the voice modulator. He didn't care about getting caught now or Laurel or her father seeing him now. He didn't care about anything. How could he have let this happen? He was the one that was supposed to be risking his life not Tommy. He turned away from Laurel, taking a few steps away. He couldn't face her now. Not now. Not like this.

"Tommy!"

Detective Lance held onto his daughter's writhing form the best he could. . "Laurel. You don't want to go over there." He shouted to be heard over her screams. "Tommy!"

Laurel wiggled free of her father's grasp and ran over to Tommy's body. "No! No!" Laurel placed both of her hands around Tommy's face. "No, no, no, no, no"

"Why couldn't you save him?" Laurel asked. "You should have saved him."

The words hit Oliver like a knife through the heart. He turned towards Laurel opening his mouth to say something, but words wouldn't come out.

"He did the best he could, sweetheart." Detective Lance said approaching his daughter. "He did the best anyone could."

"Oliver" the same quiet tone came across his earpiece. "More police are coming to the area. You need to leave."

"I'm sorry." The words came out just above a whisper. Oliver looked up spotting Diggle in the shadows nearby.

"Come on. Let's go." Diggle said placing an arm around Oliver.

Felicity took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself. She was going to have to stay strong a little while longer. The guys were going to be coming in in rough shape. "Medical supplies, right. Stay focused on the task at hand. You can't fall apart yet."

Felicity turned off all the news scanners. It was too much to deal with at the moment. She gathered up the gauzes, blood, and other essential items just at the two injured men came through the door.

Diggle placed Oliver on the table and Felicity gave a cursory look over both of their wounds. A dark red stained area spreading across the dark green material. It looked like a through and through. She glanced over at Diggle. His dark shirt stained with blood as well.

"See about him first." Diggle said before collapsing into a chair.

Oliver head lolled to one side. He needed a transfusion. "Oliver, can you help me get your top off?"

Felicity started working the leather top off but had to pry it away from the wound, causing a small grunt from Oliver. With the top clear, Felicity got her first good look at the wound. Stitches were a must. She began cleansing the area. "Do you want any pain medicine before I start?"

Getting no response; Felicity noticed Oliver's eyes glazed over. She didn't know if it was from the shock of the blood loss of the shock of losing his friend but she had never seen him this out of it before. "Okay, I am going to start sewing you up now."

Oliver turned and faced her, his piercing blue eyes looking straight at her. "Tommy's gone." Felicity noted the tear stained streak marks on his face.

"I know." She said.

Oliver turned away and she lost him again. Diggle moved towards Oliver to hold him steady while she started and IV line and transfusion.

A few minutes later Felicity was sewing up Diggle's wound. She glanced over at Oliver stretched out, resting on a nearby table – staring out into space.

"You think he is going to be okay?" Felicity asked, turning her attention back to Diggle.

Diggle sighed. "Yeah. It's going to be hard, but Oliver's tough."

"He's not the only one that is tough." Diggle said. "You did good tonight. How are you doing?"

His praise broke her strength. The tears came. She looked down, focused on packing the remains of a gauge roll back into the kit until she could trust her voice. "I don't know you handle this kind of stuff on a regular basis."

"I know from experience that it is not easy. Not everyone can do it." Diggle said. "You did very well."

"I think it's a very good thing he has you."

Felicity wiped at her tears. "It's a good thing that he has both of us."

A/N: Thanks again to my lovely beta. Hope everyone enjoyed. Please review. Oh, and one more thing. *in best announcer voice* This story was brought to you by "Give Me Strength" by Snow Patrol.