Hi guys! So this is my first fanfic, I've actually already started posting the first few chapters over on ao3, but I decided I would post here as well. It's not finished yet, but I wanted to at least post the first chapter here to see if there was any interest. Let me know what you think! :)
Shaking.
It's all Felicity could feel and she couldn't tell if the shaking was coming from the tremors in the ground or the trembling in her hands quickly spreading to the rest of her body. Maybe a little of both, she thought as she tried to steady her breathing.
Oliver was off fighting for his life, hopefully with Digg by his side, and here she was in a basement in the Glades in the middle of a man-made earthquake.
"This whole area is Ground Zero. I want you out of here."
"If you're not leaving I'm not leaving."
Felicity tried to recall the determination she felt as she said those words to Oliver, but that was long gone. The only thing she could focus on was the flickering of the lights and oh god she was feeling a lot like booking it up those stairs and never looking back.
No, she told herself. You made the right choice. Starling City needs you here.
Oliver needs you here.
And it was true. She had already talked Lance through disarming one device, and she couldn't deny that they had already helped save hundreds of lives. But she would maybe feel a little bit better about that if she hadn't heard Malcolm divulge something none of them had expected...
There was a second device.
Fighting back the tears as she heard the distant sounds of destruction coming from above her, she tried to focus on finding out if Oliver was okay and how she could help. She pressed her comm to her ear and called his name, silently reveling in the sound of his voice as he asked if she was okay.
"Yeah," if you count terrified and alone and quite possibly on my way to being buried alive as okay - she shut that thought down as quickly as it came. She had to be strong for Oliver. She could do that. Yet even as she thought the words, it took everything in her not to beg him to come back.
"The damage seems to be contained on the east side," and Felicity knew exactly what his response would be as she finished the sentence, "...past Wells Street."
"Laurel."
She knew it was coming and yet it still hit her harder than she thought it would. Even after months of working side by side, Gorgeous Laurel still remained his top priority. As she thought that, she felt horrible for how selfish she was being. Not only was he needed there (great now she was thinking of Laurel trapped under a burning building or something and felt even worse), but it's where his heart wanted to be. With the woman he loved. She was terrified, sure, but in any immediate danger? Her mind quickly supplied a no, but the ever-increasing shaking around her was making her reconsider.
Distantly she heard a loud crash that jolted her back to her senses. Okay that's it. I think if I stayed here any longer it would officially turn from stupidly brave to just plain stupid. She hurriedly reached for her phone, tablet, and purse and had a brief second to wonder Oh God- is my car even still intact? before she heard a commotion coming from the other side of her earpiece that had her turning back to her desk.
Oliver.
And was that… Tommy she heard with him? Was he… crying? Why was he at CNRI? Was he injured? Was Oliver injured? What happened to Laurel? Her mind was racing with questions but it didn't stop her from overhearing one of the most heartbreaking conversations she would bet had ever taken place between the two billionaires. She didn't even pause to consider how much of a violation of his privacy this was.
Over the past few months, she had become a little too familiar with all the intricacies of Oliver Queen's life. Their partnership was an unusual one. For them, lines had been blurred and crossed so much- nothing was too sacred, especially when it came to the other's safety.
She stood there wide-eyed at her computer as if staring hard enough could let her actually see what was happening. She just had to make sure that he got out alright. That they both did. She knew how important Tommy was to Oliver. Losing him had the potential to damage him - maybe beyond repair. She had even met Tommy a few brief times, and even from those short encounters she knew he had this light about him... a light that she knew Oliver needed. Sure things between them had been strained since Tommy found out Oliver's identity, but that's exactly why Oliver couldn't lose him now. There was so much that needed to be resolved between them - Oliver deserved that much.
All of a sudden she heard more voices on the other side, it sounded vaguely like Laurel sobbing and Detective Lance barking orders for an ambulance. She didn't even realize she was holding her breath until she let out a huge puff of relief. Oliver had gotten Tommy out. She couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying right now but realized it was probably both. Tommy would be fine, he had to be-
Felicity's celebration was short-lived as she turned at the sound of a beam falling immediately to her right, realizing the very real danger she was in. She had been so caught up in making sure Oliver was okay, as if he needed her watching over him (like some sort of twisted guardian angel when he could very obviously take care of himself), that it took the world literally crumbling around her to break her out of her reverie.
That's when the terror kicked in. Her breathing quickened as she took sight of the damage that lay around her. Had she really been so consumed in her worry for Oliver that she failed to notice that Verdant was quickly turning to rubble? If she didn't hurry she really would be buried alive and god if that thought didn't just make her knees weak and cause her to trip and fall right there.
She eyed the stairs dubiously, they were half off the wall and she wasn't sure if she could actually make it all the way up. She could try to find a safe corner to hide out here in the Foundry until the aftershocks ran their course, but what if the damage was so extensive she couldn't make her way out? As she stood there deliberating, the dust grew thicker and she half coughed and half screamed as a slab of concrete fell on her desk cracking one of her computer screens.
Yeah, definitely risk it with the stairs.
She barely dodged a light crashing to the floor, but it did cause her to lose her balance enough to trip and fall right onto a large chunk of debris. It slammed into her shoulder and hurt like hell but she got right back up because she had to get out, she was so close, she had to find Digg, she had to make sure Oliver was alright, she had to-
All of a sudden an entire section of the ceiling rained down and Felicity couldn't dodge it all so she put her arms above her head as she tried to keep moving toward the stairs. But the weight slammed over her and caused her to fall, knocking her head on one of the tables near the exit.
The last thing she saw was Oliver's work desk crumpled under the weight of a concrete block - and then the world went black.
