The one in season 3
Hi everyone!
I am new in Arrow community, not so much on .
So first arrow fiction so far, and I hope you will enjoy!
English is not my native language so I have spent the last days on Linguee and wordreference (for those who know) to avoid as many errors as possible.
So... I am really sorry for all the little mistakes in here. For the biggest ones, please tell me and I will correct them ASAP.
This first chapter is not really funny or fluffy (this story is in "humor" plus Friends references), but I hope the real season 3 will countain a scene between Oliver and Diggle about that, so... I have included in my story.
disclaimer: I don't own arrow characters.
Chapter 1
The one where Oliver understands the significance of his actions
New day. New beginning. New lair.
The Verdant being shut down, the Arrowcave has become dangerous. No more cover means no more safety. Not to mention the fact that too many people know its location. Too many unwanted people.
It took the team two days to move the headquarters from the Glades to the secondary lair. They clearly have work to do to make it… liveable. And it has become Felicity's mission.
Yes, it is a little sexist the only woman takes care of the layout. And yes, she told them.
Two years ago, she would have tried to lift up boxes, spit on the ground like a real man and let Oliver choose the bathroom towels color. But then she decided to reform the Cave during Oliver's exile. She actually tried to lift up anything, she had a backache and she finally wisely let Diggle deal with the heavy equipment. All the equipment, actually. Okay screw feminism, removal men are men for a good reason. Especially for superhero stuff. Besides, she knows Oliver's tastes in decoration and she doesn't want to inflict herself this again. Nobody wants green towels. Nobody. Plus, she has never spitted in public. Men are disgusting.
And maybe… yeah, just maybe… a small part of her is thrilled to watch her three very (very) muscled team-mates sweating in front of her while she gives them orders. And that isn't sexist at all.
The new cave has slowly begun to look like the old one. The training area is workable now, so is the medical space. But what matters most to Felicity is her own cyber-superhero section. She is the bitch with WIFI. And today, she is going to unpack her electronic babies. And by today, she means now.
She almost runs where all the electronic tools boxes have been moved over this morning and opens the first one. It reminds her Chrismukkah. Well, her childhood Chrismukkah. She still celebrates (best tradition in the entire world), but obviously she doesn't rush anymore… in public.
Anyway…
…
"What the hell… Oh my…"
She can't help herself from screaming, in shock. Very (very) loudly.
In less than five seconds, Diggle and Oliver rush into the room, obviously alarmed by the female shouts. The archer voice comes out, anxious. "Felicity, are you okay?"
She totally could have been harmed by the salmon ladder, which has not been put in yet. It is her style. Dropping things. On her. Heavy things. Not surprising. At all. But she hasn't. She is still standing, except they can't see her face because she has turned her back on them.
Oliver pronounces her name, more firmly this time.
Then she starts mumbling."This is so not happening… This is SO NOT happening… am I drunk or something?"
And she turns around. Still shocked, but ecstatic.
She points the box at her feet.
"What is this?"
The guys smile. She has finally found her surprise.
Oliver opens his mouth to explain "this" but she answers her own question.
"I know what this is… This is a computer with an XK-15 processor."
She practically whispers it, with her hands covering her mouth, as she doesn't dare say it out loud. It could self-destruct.
Oliver can't wipe the smile off his face while staring at her, being so… nerd. "Two, actually."
Felicity grabs the corner of her desk. "I'm going to get sick."
Diggle' smile turns into a loud laugh. "You remember you told me you wanted one, right?"
Of course she remembers. Oliver missing. A.R.G.U.S. XK-15 processor. Perfection.
She is so excited right now that she begins to jump up and down. Still reminds her Chrismukkah by the way.
She knows that technically, John can't be the acquirer because he is a normal guy, and normal guys technically can't afford yet-to-be-commercialized equipment. But he remembers. And she loves him, so much.
"Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"
Felicity comes to hug him, still jumping, but he takes a step backward.
That's confusing.
She stops jumping.
"Don't thank me."
Well, that makes sense that Oliver is involved, because he is the least normal guy – financially... emotionally also works - in here, but even if he used to be billionaire, he is mostly broke now, so…
So she doesn't care. She has to hug someone. Did she say she is very (very) happy right now?
"Oh my God!"
Oliver doesn't step back when she literally throws herself into his arms. She has taken a short run-up with her skipping so she can grab him by the neck and lift her feet off the ground. Felicity's weight doesn't even make him move an iota, but the girl feels his arms wrap firmly around her waist.
She also can feel his chest vibrating when he laughs.
Best place ever.
"Felicity…"
He whispers her name right in her ear, making her shivering. She hopes he has not realized it. This would be so embarrassing.
But his breath in her ear, his whisper in her ear… really? Doesn't help.
"Don't thank me either."
"Wait, what?"
"I wish I could have given you all the processors in the world, believe me. But even when I had a business jet, I couldn't have gotten those things."
"Oh…" This IS embarrassing.
Felicity clears her throat, hoping that she could die at this moment. She is in Oliver's arms… for no reason. She remembers Sara telling her she is cute, because of her monolog about her scars… in her mouth. Same feeling as today. Just, you know… shame.
She removes her arms from Oliver's neck, as if he has burnt her.
"You want me to put you down."
Actually, that doesn't sound like a question. He sure has felt the woman in his arms freezing the second he has confessed.
"Sure."
As soon as her feet touch the ground, Felicity takes three steps back, while she is doing her best to avoid blushing. Fuck. She fails. She knows, she feels.
Oliver scratches his hair with his right hand with a light smile on his face and points the boxes.
"Courtesy of Amanda."
This is weird. Felicity crosses her arms, showing her skepticism.
"Amanda… my high school BFF?"
Diggle smiles, Oliver looks more… irritated.
"The only Amanda who knows that you saved this city. Unless you told your high school BFF…"
"No way, I haven't spoken to her since our senior year. Weird night, alcohol, love triangle, long story."
Both guys raise an eyebrow but she is staring at her shoes and she finally shakes her head. That doesn't make any sense.
"I haven't done much…"
Except having been tricked.
She looks at Oliver. Yeah, he knows what she means, right?
"… so what did she offer you? A castle? Actually, it could be useful, since you're homeless…"
Rambling, always and forever.
Felicity's lack of tact doesn't overcome his smile apparently.
"You saved the city, Felicity. And Amanda knows it. By curing Slade from the Mirakuru, you prevented her from bombing Starling City, wipe it off the map and kill millions of innocent people."
Oliver comes closer to her, softly touching her cheek by the tip of his fingers.
"You are a hero, and I hope you know that."
He whispers his sentence, putting all the warmness he can in his gaze, but he doesn't want to send her an inappropriate message. He has already done that, resulting in a devastating feeling of guilt. Good choice man.
He steps back and reaches Diggle.
"Amanda does."
Felicity puts her hands in her jeans pockets. Pencil skirts and high heels are prohibited from moving an Arrowcave.
"So… I guess I have to thank her for that. I just need to avoid hugging her. And comparing her to Stalin by the way…"
Oliver seems a little bit lost at Stalin mention. He has missed that. Diggle hasn't. So when the archer turns to him, he just keeps smiling. Pure Felicity style.
"Because she's scary, but not that scary. And she doesn't have a moustache. I think."
She clears her throat again but this time, she adds a glasses pushing up. End of discussion.
"Who wants some Big Belly Burger ?"
She takes her bag, perfectly aware that she has made an offer they can't refuse. And she is talking about food. Not some creepy horse slaughter.
"I thought you didn't want burgers anymore."
Felicity is silently grateful to Diggle for having keeping her "big belly" issues secret.
She shrugs.
"Yeah, but some recent events put me off my food so… more margin."
Oliver is staring at his dusty shoes.
"Anyway… same as usual?"
He lifts his head, "yes, thank you Felicity" whereas John nods in agreement and they both watch her leaving the room, with her bag and her ponytail.
Diggle is the first to break the silence.
"God forbid that she ever thinks before speaking."
Oliver smiles sincerely in response but keeps his eyes on the exit.
"She could have died out there."
Oliver was wondering when this conversation would come. This is not surprising it will come now actually. This is the first time guys are alone since returning from Lian Yu.
He swallows, for two reasons. He knows this will be unpleasant because Diggle has not been involved in the syringe plan. If he had, we would have put a veto on it. And he also knows this will be unpleasant because thinking about Felicity these days is a torture.
As Oliver remains silent, John repeats. He owes him an explanation.
"She could have died. With Slade."
He stops a second, then speaks again.
"We have not spoken about it yet. You and me. And I think it's important, Oliver. Felicity is important. And she could have died."
Oliver expels all the air contained in his lungs.
"I know."
"This is exactly my question: did you know?"
Finally Oliver looks at Diggle. But all the former soldier can see in his friend's eyes is hurt… and indignation.
"Look man, I don't judge you. You saved this city. Again. You did what you had to. You're the Arrow. You're a hero, ok? All I am saying is that I haven't seen you both talking about it. Neither on Lian Yu, or here in Starling. And it's a pretty big deal, even if you both avoid the subject. She could have died. He could have… He could have slit her throat, and she would have bled to death."
Still not a word from Oliver. But John can see the joints of his hand going white as he is holding tight on the slide of a table. This conversation, or monolog whatever is painful, he knows it. He hates it. But he needs it. They need it. Like he said, Oliver owes him an explanation.
"If she had pushed the needle wrong, or if he had just decided to kill her without warning, she would have died in your arms Oliver."
A reaction is all he wants. He can keep talking.
"Digg, I know…"
"You needed a plan. And it was brilliant. It had to work. For the city. For Felicity. For both of us. For Roy, Sara. And it had worked. But what if it hadn't?"
Oliver is running out of patience.
"Diggle, I said I know…"
"And I don't think you do… well, you did. You're avoiding the subject, Oliver. Avoiding it with her because you feel guilty is one thing. But I need you to tell me that you understood what you were doing when you left her at the mansion. I need you to tell me you knew you could loose her. That I could have lost her that night. That you clearly assessed the risks she had to face… It would haunt me forever but I could face up to the guilt for sacrificing a person that I love to save a country. Even a whole town. This is what sacrifice means, I know that. I'm a soldier, I can live with that. But I could never accept loosing this person because I would have simply minimized danger and not looked for other ways enough. I could never loose a person that I love without having prepared myself for this. Did you… prepare yourself for this, Oliver ?"
A reaction is all he wants, and Diggle knows he can stop talking right now.
He pushes him as far as he can, not because he hopes Oliver will tell him what we wants to hear. John knows Oliver did not assess the risks. He is his brother, he knows him completely. He trusts him completely. But he also knows Oliver made a mistake that night. He put Felicity in danger at a point he didn't imagined, and her survival is a miracle.
He pushes him because he hopes Oliver will finally talk to somebody for his mental health. Usually Felicity makes him talk, she has this capacity. But Felicity is actually the worst choice in the world to make him talk about that specific topic. Her.
"Every time… I try to get some sleep… I do this dream. Everytime… I…"
Oliver's gaze is stern. All his body is contracted, but he tries to contain the shaking in his voice.
"I just see her."
Of course he sees her. He sees her dying. John already knows it, even if they are talking about it for the first time.
"You're right, I didn't think about consequences because I didn't want to. If this plan had not worked, we all would have died anyway. So it had to. It couldn't be otherwise. But if something had happened to her that night, I would have died…"
His voice breaks.
"I would have died, Digg. We both know that. She's the only one who doesn't…"
True. Felicity has always underestimated her importance for the team, and for Oliver.
"Of all people I have lost… My father, my mother… even Shado, even… even Tommy… Her purity, her innocence, Digg… I would have died that night"
John feels sincerely sorry for his friend for all he has endured so far. This isn't new. But he is also sorry for that night, where he wasn't there to support him. Well, he supported him anyway but… he wasn't there. And because of that, Oliver had to make a choice alone. A risky one which, in other circumstances, could have cost Diggle his two best friends lives.
He puts his hand on Oliver's shoulder as a compassionate sign.
"I know."
Oliver closes his eyes a few seconds before he can speak again.
"I wanted to apologize on Lian Yu, you know. For having silently asked her to die when I gave her that syringe, because I would never have the guts to ask her directly. That's what I did. I asked her to sacrifice herself. And I wasn't even realizing it…"
Oliver's laugh rumbles in the room. It's a dark one, cold, joyless. So different from those he saves for Felicity. This man's laughs are pretty rare but they are almost everytime for her.
"I wanted to apologize but actually I hoped for I wouldn't have to. Her trust… that was all I had left those days. If I apologized, I would have confessed that I've played with her life. That I couldn't protect her against him. That she couldn't trust me anymore. I didn't want her to take it back. And then… on that beach, she started to talk about what I said in the mansion…"
Oh yeah, the "I love you" case.
"I put her life in danger, and all she cared about was if I meant what I said. Can you believe it? This is so…"
Diggle frankly smiles when he tries to fill the blank himself.
"Felicity ?"
The obviousness of this answer softens Oliver's facial features. He can't help himself from smiling at the blondie reference. Of course it is so Felicity.
"Exactly."
"Maybe you should have apologized for that too."
Oliver shrugs.
"Yeah, I know…"
"But you didn't…"
The back pocket of his jeans starts to vibrate. It's nothing more than his phone but that little distraction makes him loose the thread of the conversation. Which is a good thing actually, because this second topic is even more unpleasant than the first.
"Yeah, I know…"
He looks at his screen, thinking maybe Felicity needs help with the food. But this is not his girl Wednesday. Or Friday. Or whatever.
"Because… why should you apologize for telling her nothing but the truth?"
Diggle raises an eyebrow when Oliver looks at him, resigned. John knows he has heard him. He also knows Oliver pretends he hasn't.
But he didn't care. John is not looking for any confirmation.
"It's Laurel. I have to take the call."
Diggle doesn't even try to hide his irritation and rolls his eyes. He refrains from making any comment because the girl's father is in hospital and no family in Starling can support her.
"Of course she is…"
Okay… maybe one comment after all.
"Saved by the bell huh ?"
Oliver doesn't even blink but Diggle detects a slight tension in his jaw when he unlocks his phone.
Your feelings, thoughts about this? anyone?
Title of newt chapter: The one where Oliver and Felicity find out