Small AU to 4x16 "Broken Hearts". I can't really come back to watching the show after 4x11, but made an exception in that one case and tuned in for Carrie, as she is one of my favorite characters.

I found the scene with Felicity reasoning with Cupid working surprisingly well given the circumstances. But then I started to wonder what if Oliver tried to reason with Cutter? What he could do in that situation? What he could say to her to calm her down? And then that idea appeared. Overall it's quite simple story. Also an opportunity to finally introduce (one-sided) Carriver to the fandom.

Many thanks to supercode for beta-reading this story. :)

Walking on Thin Ice

"You know, you don't have to do this," Oliver said to Carrie Cutter. She was standing in front of him and Felicity, holding the detonator in her hand. It was so bizarre to face her here, in this empty ball room. The plan to lure her into a trap while posing as another celebrity couple about to get married had worked. Now the more complicated part was taking her down without anyone getting hurt in the process.

Cupid's gaze focused on him instantly. Her eyes were full of tears, and everything indicated that she was close to a break down. Oliver knew how unstable she was. At one moment she could be determined and focused on her objective, in next distracted and frightened. And then she could be defeated. Enraging her and going into a brutal brawl, while she was driven by blind fury, would be the worst possible option. As much as it seemed to be nonsensical when it came to dealing with a mentally ill person, he needed to try to reason with her. Somehow. But talking to her was as risky as walking on a thin ice. One wrong step and it will crack beneath his feet. Cold waters will swallow him up and he will never reach the surface.

While he was considering various options, Cutter come closer to him and Felicity.

"I do," she said with determination, replying to Oliver's statement. "The two words that start every marriage: I do." She broke off for a while and then went on. "True love. People need to see. They need to know what a joke that is..." she said with deep conviction in her voice.

Oliver kept a steady eye contact, as if he could intimidate her that way. She was dangerous. She had nearly killed him just moment earlier. The left side of his chest slightly above heart level still hurt. He was sure he was going to have a really bad bruise. Cupid's arrow had hit him with enough force to knock him over and didn't kill him only because he had been wearing a special vest. He would need to thank Cisco again for that polymer Kevlar weave later. An arrow would cut through an ordinary fiber like a knife through butter. Bulletproof vests, as their name indicated, were meant to stop bullets, not objects with sharp tips.

Cupid swallowed hard and spoke, her voice trembling: "I have loved two men in my life with all my soul. They're both dead now. No matter what, love always ends in death," she stated firmly.

The situation was becoming more and more tense. It seemed that she was about to blow all of them up in the air. Oliver remembered himself what that shrink, Doctor Pressnall, had told him about Carrie. "Give her honesty. If you lie to her, she will know." He made a quick calculation in his mind. What he was about to do was a very risky move, a gambit probably, but worth trying since it was the least bad option of the whole wide range of really awful ones, which would probably end up in a disaster.

"You're wrong, Carrie," said Oliver, stepping a bit closer to her. "For thinking that the Arrow is dead."

Cutter titled her head, looking at him piercingly, like a hawk which was about to swoop on its prey from a high branch. He got her attention. That was a good sign.

"The Arrow is still alive." he added.

"Oliver, what are you doing?" he heard Felicity's hiss behind his back, her voice full of surprise. In an instant, she guessed what he was about to do.

Cutter narrowed her eyes. Her sharp glance shot to Felicity for a brief moment, than back to Oliver.

"And they say I'm crazy." she scoffed. "What're you playing here, mister? Stalling, I see. Trying to buy some time. But it won't save you..."

"The night you finally meet the Arrow face to face... You told him about your feelings," Oliver said slowly. "He remembered that your special spot was that alley next to Northgate station, where he had saved you."

Carrie gazed at him suspiciously, probably wondering how he could know all of those details. Oliver noticed that what he was doing apparently worked, because she seemed to be slightly distracted and lowered the hand holding the detonator.

"He turned you down, which made you so furious that you attacked him. You fought and fell down to a tunnel... You cuffed the Arrow to the train track, and wanted to kill both yourself and him. Saying that you didn't want it to turn out that way." he said, approaching her step by step. Finally he was no further than three feet away from her.

Cutter opened her eyes wide in shock. She trembled and asked, her voice shaking:

"How... How do you know this?"

Oliver wondered if he should add something about her wanting them to be together for eternity or meant for each other, but he didn't want to go over the top and tick her off. She might got furious if he reminded her about that particular part.

"Because I'm him." Oliver said firmly. "I'm the Arrow."

She approached him warily, closing the distance between them. Studied his face slowly, then looked deeply into his eyes. Oliver gazed at her calmly, waiting till she figured it out. It was dark when they met, but before they got into that fierce brawl, she had a chance to take a good look on the face of the man hiding under the green hood.

"It's true..." she said, her voice full of exhilaration. "It's you... It's really you," she said gleefully. Her eyes again filled with tears, but this time they were caused by joy. "You came back to me, lover, you really came!"

She dropped the bow and the detonator, which fell on the floor with a loud clatter, and moved in one swift move to embrace him. She snuggled her face into his arm and got all sloppy. Oliver wrapped his left arm around her to hold her and stroked her back gently with the other arm. At the same time, he pushed the detonator with his foot, sliding it on the floor discretely towards Felicity. They communicated without words. Felicity glanced at Cutter, who was crying silently with her face still snuggled into Oliver's arm, and picked up the device, gathering the hem of her dress in the palm of her hand so it didn't rustle. She studied the detonator for a while, then deactivated it and sighed silently, wiping the sweat from her brow. It seemed that the worst part was over.

"It's okay, Carrie," Oliver said reassuringly, holding Cutter firmly. It didn't seem as if she was able to pull herself together and attack again, but nothing could be taken for granted with this mad woman. He needed to be careful, just to be on the safe side. "Everything is going to be okay."

"I had no idea that... that was you... I wanted to kill you," she said, choking on tears and shivering uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..." she whimpered.

"Shhh... That's fine, no harm done..."

"Thank goodness you were wearing that vest... You're always so thoughtful, lover. Always thinking three steps ahead."

Oliver was also glad that he had worn that extra protection. It seemed, however, that it wouldn't save him from some more bruises. Carrie held him so strong, that he felt as if his ribs were about to crack.

"I... I'll never let you go, lover." uttered Cupid, sobbing. "That night... You touched me. You kissed me." She looked at him, tears dripping from her cheeks. "Those moments were coming back to me in my dreams... Keeping me alive. I wanted to be a hero. Like you. For you. Are you proud of me, my dear, dear Arrow?"

"I'm very proud of you, Carrie," he answered, hoping that he managed to make it convincing enough.

Her face lightened when she heard those words. She was so thirsty for any sign of his appreciation that it was really disturbing and awkward.

"So... Green Arrow..." she said slowly. "It was you, as well. I should have known. I should have recognized that ass. And that chin." She touched his face gently and stroked his cheek. "But sleeveless is kind of distracting, you know..."

She closed her eyes, and rested her head against his chest. Her hand slid on his back again.

"Please, never let me go... Never..."

Oliver stroked her head, barely brushing her flame-like red hair, as if merely touching it could burn his fingertips. He raised his eyes and noticed Dig and Thea, who appeared silently at the entrance to the ball room. He gave John a silent sign. Maybe there was a chance to stun Carrie without turning it into a regular fight. And probably destroy half of this ball room in the process. He was not sure if he had enough money left in his bank account to foot the bill for that... The furniture looked really expensive.

"Calm down, Carrie," he said to her, trying to keep the tone of his voice steady. "Everything will be fine."

She raised her eyes to look upon his face. She smiled lightly. Her mascara was smudged, leaving dark streaks on her cheeks, but she was not crying any more.

"It's so sweet of you to say. A so sweet... So sweet lie," she said suddenly with a harder edge in her voice, and half turned to look over her shoulder. She apparently had a very sharp sense of hearing. When she noticed Spartan and Speedy, she immediately become alarmed. Something in her behavior reminded him of a frightened animal. A wild leopardess, which realized that she was cornered and had nowhere to escape. He felt all her muscles tense, as if she intended to break free from his embrace and rush to fight to defend herself. But instead of doing so, she clung back to him hastily and said pleadingly, with a voice full of terror:

"Don't let them hurt me, lover, please..."

Something twisted in Oliver's guts, when he felt how strong was that embrace. How she seemed to seek protection in him. And he actually felt a bit sorry for her, although he shouldn't, especially since she had started to target innocent people and slaughter them without batting an eye. She had to be taken down. But something in her brought to him a memory of Helena. And he couldn't help that he felt bad about what he had to do. Again danger was about to come from the direction Carrie didn't see coming. She didn't pay attention to what he was doing, glancing with a corner of her eye at two costumed vigilantes.

Oliver's left arm was still wrapped around her back. But at the same time he put his right hand into the pocket of his tux and took out a tranquillizer dart. He stuck it into Cutter's neck before she noticed what was happening, using the fact that her attention was still focused on Spartan's stun gun and Speedy's bow to his advantage. He dealt with her in almost the same manner as on the night of their duel in that underground tunnel.

She immediately realized what he had done. Her hand flew to her neck, to brush off the dart as if it was a bee. The small green arrow fell on the floor, but the tranquillizer had already gotten into her system. She glanced at him, her eyes again full of tears.

"You're... incorrigible. You've... betrayed me again." She tried to break free from his embrace but he didn't let her. She went limp in his arms, her glance dulled, as strength was quickly getting sucked out of her body. "And I love you so much... How could you... How could you be so cruel..." she muttered half-consciously and after a while passed out. She would fall, if he didn't hold her.

Oliver heard Felicity exhale loudly. Speedy, still eyeing Cutter suspiciously, relaxed the string of the bow, lowering it. Dig put the gun back into the holster.

"Now, that was unexpected," commented Felicity. "Bold move. But for a while I thought that you'd lost your mind... That was really risky, Oliver."

"And what would you do?" he asked, placing Cutter delicately on the floor.

Felicity shrugged and sat down on the nearest chair, apparently feeling weak at her knees. Oliver couldn't really blame her. He broke some sweat as well. The direct approach was more of his way of dealing with dire situations. A subtle way was much trickier and could become unpredictable. He couldn't be sure how Carrie would react. Nothing was sure when it came to that woman. But sometimes an archer needed to wait a long time with a bowstring drawn back before releasing an arrow and making that one perfect shot... Talking to Cutter, giving her the connection she craved so much, and then taking her down... It was similar.

"I don't know," said Felicity finally, answering his earlier question. "Probably tell her what true love is. That it's the life itself. That I was one of those fortunate people, who experienced it... How I became a person that I didn't even know I was capable of becoming. How it made me feel really happy. For a while." She smiled sadly. She looked Oliver straight in the eye, turning away her gaze from Cutter. "It was like a most beautiful dream. But one can't live in a dream and denial forever..."

Oliver didn't say anything. All of that situation and what had happen between them was complicated and hurtful, since the wounds were still fresh. He didn't want to think about it right now, since they still had a problem called Cupid on their hands. He waited a while, kneeling next to Cutter, making sure that she really was out and not only pretending. The last time she resisted his tranquillizer a surprisingly long time, probably because she was enraged and running on an additional shot of adrenaline the anger had given her. But her breathe was steady and her eyes tightly shut. The only time when she looked peaceful was, apparently, when she was drugged to unconsciousness. Once again he had that depressing thought slip into his mind—how could such a terrible mental illness be hiding behind a so innocent looking facade?

He glanced upon Dig. "I guess calling Lyla would be a good idea. Ask her if she will take Cutter onto the Squad again."

Dig only nodded curtly and walked outside to contact the Director of A.R.G.U.S.

"I would suggest calling a psychiatrist first. A good psychiatrist," cut in Felicity, again looking down at unconscious woman with a strange expression on her face. As if she saw a venomous viper. "The way she clung to you... God, it was rather embarrassing. Ugh, why are red-heads always so crazy?"

"Sooo... do you think it was smart to reveal your secret identity to certified nutzo, Ollie?" asked Thea skeptically, standing next to her brother and also glancing down on Cupid.

"It was the best way to calm her down. Believe me, engaging her in fierce brawl wouldn't work. What if she managed to activate that detonator? She would blow us all to hell," he broke off, still kneeling on the floor next to Cutter. "I did it before. Distracted her to catch her off guard. Used her... feelings for me against her..."

"Another woman which fell under your spell, bro, huh?" Thea teased him. "Okay... I guess it won't work a third time?"

Oliver shrugged, but answered: "I think it won't."

"And what if your insane ex-girlfriend starts to talk about you secret identity?"

"The Arrow is officially dead. I was suspected and arrested. She's crazy. Nobody will listen to her. Everyone will think that she confuses reality with fantasies... Has everything mixed up..."

They fell silent for a while. Then Felicity started to say: "Oliver... What did Cutter have in mind, when she..."

But she didn't have a chance to finish, as Diggle approached them and cut in: "Lyla said that she will send some agents here to pick up Cutter. They will set things straight with SCPD, although it will take some effort. Would be easier if you could reach Lance..."

Oliver only shook his head. "Not an option. He and Laurel have a lot on their plate with that business in the court with Darhk..."

He took a pair of zip cuffs Digg handed him and tied Cutter's wrists together. He hoped that this form of restraint would do. It was not very likely that she would be able to break free from them even if she regained consciousness sooner than was expected... But then he reminded himself again that she had managed to cut the cords of his trick arrow he used against her in their previous fight. With that though in mind he slid his hand under the flap of her coat, to find where she was hiding that flechette...

"Surely you are enjoying yourself..." Felicity commented tartly, apparently misinterpreting his intentions. "I know that she is a very attractive psycho, but pawing her seems to be a bit inappropriate, don't you think?"

Oliver looked at her askance, but moved back. How could Felicity think so little of him? He gazed at Thea. "Speedy, search her. We don't want any more surprises with Cupid... I'm sure she has a flechette hidden somewhere. "

He got up on his feet, glancing upon Carrie one more time. Her curly hair were strewn upon her arms and floor, dried tears caked her face with dark trails. He hoped that this time A.R.G.U.S. would keep her in their custody and never cut her loose again. Seriously, what was Amanda Waller thinking, letting her go out when she was so unstable? Carrie was like a famished vixen raiding a henhouse. She wanted to get one cock to satisfy her hunger, but she would strangle all hens so they didn't betray her presence, as foxes would in their customary manner, and break every single egg. And probably also set fire to the henhouse in the end, so nothing but ashes would be left. She had to be restrained. Neither Iron Heights, nor St. Walker's mental hospital could hold her, so the only option was A.R.G.U.S. prison. Maybe she would be able to find a new purpose in Task Force X. She had a huge debt to pay... She had taken lives again, and she wasn't even targeting criminals this time, but innocent people—and that he couldn't forgive.

Felicity also rose from the chair. She got rid of her high-heeled boots, which were apparently very uncomfortable. Without the extra four inches of height she seemed to be strangely small. She stood next to Oliver and asked in seemingly lightly tone: "Now, Oliver... Care to tell us how exactly did you took down Cupid the first time?"

Oliver heard some harder edge in the tone of her voice, and started to feel uncomfortable. He had never told anyone in detail what happened in that tunnel and preferred to not bring up that topic right now. But Dig already was looking at him curiously, and Thea, crouching next to Cutter, glanced up at her brother questioningly, turning over in her fingers a flechette with a pink heart-shaped arrowhead. The expression of her face was difficult to read; she looked as if she was trying to hold back a grin. Damn, she knew him too well and must have already guessed the truth...

"So?" Felicity pressed on, looking at him with a tense expression on her face. "Did you really kiss her?"

Oliver blushed slightly.

The End

Don't forget to review if you liked the story. The question is what exactly happen in that tunnel? ;) Well, to find out you will have to check a story "His Quiver", which I'll have posted soon.