Author's Note: This is my first venture into the Arrow fic-fandom, and I apologize because it's not my best work. It's unbated, but I'd like to hear any thoughts, advice, etc from readers on how I could improve with this one (Maybe I shouldn't have rushed it so much, but man that trailer was just too fantastic). Please read & review! Oliver's meal is Italian black truffle shavings, homemade spicy sausage, pecorino, garlic. Felicity's meal is: Pasta stuffed with spinach, ricotta and pecorino, butter, safe, and parmigiano. Their appetizer is Bread, olives, and taralli. All three dishes come from the Terroni Adelaide Restaurant in Toronto, ON. I don't own Arrow, or the Terroni Restaurant and I'm making no profit from this (Although, I wish I was some days haha!)
In retrospect, choosing the location of Frank Bertinelli's former restaurant for their first date, clearly wasn't the best decision Oliver had made that day. Terroni had opened eleven months after the Bertinelli's restaurant had been the stage for Oliver's previous date with Helena Bertinelli, which had ended in gunfire and bloodshed.
"Lightning rarely strikes the same place twice." One of his elementary school teachers has said once, during a lesson on weather. "If you see a lightning strike, it's best to move in that direction, as it'll be safer from further strikes." He'd believed her, or at least he tried to. Tommy had been bugging him all day about their after school plans, and Oliver's attention had been elsewhere.
Maybe his teacher had actually said that it's more likely for lightning to strike the same place twice, as compared to dying in a plane crash.
Their date had been going well. Very well in fact. She looked beautiful with her blond waves spilling over her shoulders. Her choice of dress was perfectly suited to her style and personality. Wide flaps with a v-neck, and flowing softly down her frame, in an elegant shade of red. When she'd first stepped out of her brownstone earlier that evening, he couldn't help but smile at the memory of Felicity in a similar red dress, when they'd taken down Dominic Alonzo.
"I'll have the Agnolotti alla Lilli please." Felicity's attention turned to the server as she handed him her menu. He nodded and glanced at Oliver.
"For you sir?"
"The Tonnarelli alla Norcina would be fantastic." Oliver smiled as the server plucked the remaining menu off the table.
"I will put those in momentarily for you, and then bring your wine and signature Pane, Olive e Taralli for you both as well." With a smile and a tilt of his head, their server disappeared back towards the kitchen. Felicity's hand wrapped around her water glass and she took a sip. Oliver fidgeted slightly as she set the glass down, and he folded his arms across the table. Now or never, he thought.
"The five years that I was away… I wasn't always on Lian Yu." He began. He's not surprised that her expression doesn't waver as he opens up to her about his time on the island. He can see the calm, understanding look on her face, and Oliver knows he won't judge her, and will listen intently.
"Where were you?" She asks softly, after a moment. His breath catches in his throat, and it takes him a minute to respond.
"Once I tell you, it changes things." Her head tilted slightly, her eyes questioning. "The island was hell, but when I think of what else happened, when I wasn't there…" He trails off and closes his eyes. A warm hand slides over his and squeezes softly.
"It's okay." Felicity encourages with a smile as he opens his eyes. "You don't have to tell me if you're not ready." Oliver shakes his head.
"No. I want you to know." Comes his firm reply, further increasing her smile. Oliver takes a breath and nods. "Felicity… I…" His story is cut short by a loud crash in the kitchen, and the sounds of gunfire filling the air, along with the screams of patrons. The pair look at each other briefly before the swinging doors are kicked open and six masked gunmen file into the room, attempting to avoid the chaos of the panicked patrons, trying to escape. Without thinking, Oliver stands and reaches for Felicity's hand before they begin to run.
"Oliver wait!" She tugs on his hand, forcing him to stop. The gunmen are headed to the exits, and they only have a few precious seconds before this entire situation goes to hell even further. "I need my purse." Dropping his hand, she sprints back to their table, dodging people and finally squats next to their abandoned table. Oliver's eyes flick to one of the gunmen standing in front of the restaurant doors, who has just opened his jacket.
"No." He breathes as the gunman drops his weapon and pulls a deadman switch out of his pocket. "Felicity!" His shout barely reaches her, and she turns to face him just in time to see Oliver pushing people down under abandoned tables, and motioning for her to do the same. Just as she turns back around to crawl under the table, the explosion goes off.
The silence is deafening.
Oliver comes to sometime later, covering an older woman, a table pining them down. It takes him a brief moment to move the offending object, and quickly examine the woman, before he stands. Stumbling towards where he'd last seen Felicity, he stops to help a middle-aged man with a wooden chair leg embedded in his calf. Pulling his tie loose, Oliver quickly creates a tourniquet for the man, and departs again.
"Felicity!" His voice is drowned out over the sounds of approach sirens, and the fire alarms going off. It takes Oliver longer than he cares to think about to push through the debris to where their table had been. He shouts her name again, in hopes that she'll hear him. Moving a table slightly, he spots a pair of black high heels poking out from under a fall chair, and his breath catches in his throat. Darting over and pulling the offending object off the woman's torso, Oliver lets out his breath and closes his eyes. It's her.
"Felicity." He murmurs softly, and he gently pushes the hair off her face, and quickly checks her over. She has a cut reaching into her hairline, very close to where she'd had one eight months prior when their van crashed, and some minor cuts and bruises down her torso. Carefully, Oliver pulls her into his arms and unanimously makes the decision to take her to the Foundry instead of the hospital. When she had been shot, she'd turned down their repeated offers and requests for her to go to the hospital.
Getting out of the restaurant, while avoiding the approaching police, EMS and firefighters is a feat in and of itself, but it's one that Oliver has a natural talent for. Even if he's carrying his unconscious date. He adjusts Felicity in his arms as he unlocks the Bentley, and he takes extra care when situating her in the backseat, even ensuring that her seatbelt is locked in. Oliver calls Diggle on the drive back, his tone tense as he has to brake for traffic and wait for lights to change, wishing he had his bike to weave through traffic faster.
Diggle and Roy are waiting outside when the Bentley speeds into the parking lot, and they have the doors open even before Oliver shuts the car off. Diggle carries Felicity into the Foundry, and places her on the med table, before stepping away to find the medical kit. Roy shifts from foot to foot before sitting down in front of Felicity's computers, and Oliver stands next to her, bracing himself against the table, just watching her. When Dig returns, he sets to work quickly on clearly the blood off her face, and applies a butterfly bandage to the wound on her forehead. He assures Oliver that most of her injuries are superficial, and she'll be okay when she wakes up. As he steps away, he hears Oliver express his thanks, and then more quietly,
"I'm sorry I failed you Felicity. I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe."