Felicity had tried her best to ignore it so she could watch Oliver's speech but the nausea had become too much. She had barely made it to the bathroom in time. She found herself in the familiar position of kneeling on the cold tile floor, dry heaving because at this point there wasn't much left in her stomach.
"Felicity, holy shit are you okay" Thea opened the unlocked stall door and poked her head in "Roy and I saw you run in here. He's waiting outside. Roy thinks your wasted".
Felicity laughed "Not exactly, must be something I ate.". She wiped her mouth and walked over to the sink leaning over on the counter sighing "I think I feel better now and I don't want to miss anymore..". Felicity was cut off by a loud bang which shook the floor. The lights flickered and went out. "Thea" Felicity reached her hand out and grabbed Thea's arm for security. The bathroom was pitch black. They heard panic running and Roy bolted into the bathroom knocking over the garbage can startling both woman.
"Thea, Felicity, are you alright. I think the gala is under attack, we have to find Oliver and get you guys out of here" the lights came back on and an expression of great concern showed over Roy's face.
"Well if the gala is under attack then I'm not leaving, and I doubt Oliver is either Roy. We can help" Thea said stubbornly.
Roy looked back nervously at the entrance of the washroom "We need our gear first, I don't like the sounds I heard back there".
"I have to call Oliver" Felicity interrupted "He doesn't know were here, he's probably freaking out". She grabbed her phone and pushed number one on speed dial. He picked up before the first ring.
"Felicity" He said in a strained panicky voice.
"It's me, I'm fine. I'm with Thea and Roy. What happened" she said quickly, trying to reassure him but a little too scared herself to sound confident. The baby changed everything she had to keep herself safe to keep the baby safe.
"The gala is under attack, several masked men. I don't know what their after but you're not sticking around to find out. Where are you, I'm getting you out of here now" Oliver's voice sounded gritty, she heard screams in the background and Diggle shouting at him to suit up.
"Oliver, I'm fine. You take care of this. I'll get Thea and Roy to get me out and then I will call you and support from a safe place" She wanted to tell him she could stay but she knew he wouldn't have any of that. They already had the very long no field work while pregnant talk. He told her that he wouldn't be able to concentrate knowing she was at risk and the last thing she wanted was for him to get hurt worried about her.
"Alright, let me talk to Thea" Oliver said gruffly, she imagined he was getting changed into his arrow suit at the moment.
"Be safe Oliver" She said quietly "I love you". She heard him sigh "I love you too, please just get yourself out of here. I need both of you safe". She handed the phone to Thea while Roy continued to watch the door nervously. Thea looked over at Felicity with a surprised expression for a second that almost seemed happy given the situation and then she hung up.
"Alright Roy, were getting Felicity out of here. Oliver's orders. But then I am definitely coming back and helping these guys kick some ass" She placed a reassuring hand on Felicity shoulders and Roy lead the way out of the bathroom.
The hallway lights were dim, Felicity guessed it was emergency lighting. Roy was leading them down towards the back emergency exits at the back. Felicity was flanked at both sides and had the amusing thought that it was like she was in some sort of Call of Duty simulation but without guns. She already knew that neither Thea or Roy needed guns to take someone down as she had witnessed that many times. She had her phone out and was looking at a map of the building was simultaneously scanning to see if she could get any information about what was going on. The creepy thing was that other than the occasional couple of people running down the hallways, it was deserted. There had been at least a thousand people at the gallery but the hallway was eerily silent, something in the pit of her stomach didn't feel right and this time it definitely was not the morning sickness. Then again it could be a combination of both she thought. "The emergency exit is the next left" She said out loud nervously "Starling city news is reporting people exiting from the front but there is no sign of any of the attackers yet or any demands. For some reason the police haven't responded yet".
"We'll have to have a word with Captain Lance about his response times" Roy said roughly as he reached for the exit door "What the hell". Roy slammed himself up against the door and then kicked it hard. It didn't budge.
Thea looked at it closely "It looks like someone doesn't want us to leave. The door's been welded shut". Roy shook the handles a couple times in frustration "Any ideas Felicity".
Felicity looked up from her phone "There's a patio garden on the second floor that has alley access. We can get out there I think. The sooner the better too, I have a bad feeling about all of this".
Oliver and Diggle raced down the hall, in pursuit of at least four armed men wearing all black and their face covered by masks. They had taken down a dozen in the hall already. He had no idea how many were in the building but the next guy he caught was going to tell him. The explosion had blasted out all of the windows and the dome roof, causing glass to rain down on all the guests. Then the masked attackers had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, but it didn't look like they had any interest in any of the guests because they were letting them leave. Oliver was at least thankful that it didn't look like there was going to be a hostage situation. He was still worried about Felicity though.
"Oliver" her voice came in through his earpiece, he felt almost instant relief as his chest felt a little less tight "Were still not out yet, someone welded the emergency exit doors shut. Were headed to the patio garden now. The police aren't coming Oliver, they were cut off a block away by masked assailants in armoured vehicles. Laurel is there. It looks like she is getting the situation under control but I don't think we can count on support any time soon. Be careful. Something weird is going on".
"Oliver" Diggle shouted as two men came at him from his right. Oliver ducked and slide behind them, shooting an exploding arrow at their feet and knocking them both down at once. Diggle took another guy out who came from the left.
Oliver saw the guy on the ground stir and he grabbed him by his collar, he was wearing a bullet proof vest. Oliver pressed him up against the wall violently "Why are you here". The man looked up at him through the fogginess of waning consciousness and laughed. Diggle looked concerned. Oliver lifted him up higher and glared at him "I guess you didn't hear me the first time, why are you here". Diggle grabbed his mask and ripped it off the man's face revealing a greasy looking man who was balding and had a face tattoo down the side of his face.
The man grimaced and laughed again "Your easily distracted Arrow. My boss had a hunch, a hell of a hunch. I think he's about to find out if he was right". The man's phone made a noise and his faced change from his amused expression to a serious one. Diggle grabbed it from the man's pocket.
"Shit" Diggle said "Oliver we need to go now". Diggle showed Oliver the phone, he slammed the man against the wall again knocking him out cold and bolted in the direction of the stairs. On the phone was a picture of Felicity, Thea and Roy entering the garden reading "target spotted".
They were in the garden, it was hot and humid outside, still too quiet. In the distance Felicity could hear the police sirens getting closer, Laurel must have been successful. She was relieved that more support was on the way. As soon as she got out of here and she could grab a tablet or computer she would assist and get the help get the situation under control. Felicity saw the ladder exiting to the alley just across the garden, the lights were out here as well but the city lit up the garden well enough "Roy, Thea the exit is just ahead there". She was eager to leave, she didn't watch where she was walking and tripped over a bench "Damn heels" she cursed. Suddenly behind her she heard chaos. Roy and Thea were fighting several attackers from the sounds of it. As she stood up she felt something cold press against her temple and the garden lights went on. Roy and Thea stopped moving, several men lay motionless around them.
"No one moves" the voice from behind her said, it was going through a modulator like the one Oliver had. In fact the eerie similarity of it made her think if she got out of this she was definitely reprogramming his. Several more assailants came filtering through the door, training their guns on Thea and Roy. "If everyone behaves themselves, no one has to get hurt. We just need to borrow Mrs. Queen for a little while" the Oliver imitation said, his warm breath was touching her neck. She felt sick again. A mask individual, probably a woman from the looks of her came up in front of Felicity and zip tied her hands together then pulled a small vile from her pocket and opened it holding it up to Felicity's mouth. "Mrs. Queen if you would please drink the vile we can get going" the man said "It won't hurt you, just a little night cap to make sure our journey isn't interrupted. Grab her phone would you" he motioned to the woman who pulled the phone from her hands and crushed it on the ground.
The liquid smelled like sweet vinegar, Felicity heaved and turned her face away "I can't". Felicity looked up and Thea and Roy whose faces were twisted calculating their next moves. "Mrs. Queen, if you don't drink the liquid we will have to make you drink it" the man press the gun to her temple to assert himself. "I can't" Felicity said tears streaming down her face then she said quietly "It might hurt my baby".
"What did you say" the man yelled using his spare hand to grab her chin and forcefully tilt it up "Force her".
"Stop" Thea yelled "She's pregnant, you can't expect her to drink some chemical when she pregnant. Please". Roy looked at Thea and then Felicity. Felicity thought to herself that he almost looked as scared as Oliver did when she told him, different reason probably she thought.
The voice modulator laughed "We have a two for one deal then" he motioned to the woman who tossed the vile in the bushes "Take the sister also, she could be useful". Suddenly Felicity couldn't take it anymore, she bent over slowly and was sick on the ground. This startled the man behind her and suddenly everything was chaos again. Felicity saw Thea and Roy spring into action, grabbing the guns from the men behind her and taking out several of the attackers in the process. Felicity turned around to see and two arrows fly into the man who had been holding her. One right into the hand which held the gun and the other into his stomach, knocking him to the ground. Felicity thought grimly that he probably would ever be using that hand again.
As quick as it had started it was over, everyone was down and Oliver was rushing towards her in his green suit. He cupped her face in his hands gently, his eyes pleading "Are you alright, did anyone hurt you".
"I'll be fine, were both fine. Just a little shaken up and tied up I guess" She motioned to her hands.
Oliver grabbed a knife and carefully cut the zip ties then kissed both her hands "I'm taking Felicity home now, can you guys finish up here".
Diggle hugged Felicity and then patted Oliver on the shoulder "Sure thing, I'm glad your okay Felicity".
Thea was holding Roy's hand and looked over at her "Were definitely going to talk about this later" she smiled "All of this" motioning to her stomach.
Felicity laughed nervously "Secret's out now I guess".
Oliver helped her down the fire escape, not letting go of her hand for a second. When they were in the alley he looked over at her "I don't know what I would do if I ever lost you. They were after you today, it was too close" he said grimly.
Felicity grabbed both his hands in her "But you came for me, and you saved me. The baby helped also, I never thought I would be thankful for morning sickness". Looking at him now his face was very readable, even with the mask on. He was looked troubled and a little scared, it was only now that she could see it, his vulnerabilities. He let her see them and she loved him for that. She brought her hands up to his face and kissed him thoroughly. He rested his forehead against hers. "You saved us" She whispered, now let's go home". They were so absorbed in the moment, they didn't hear the click or see the flash go off on the other end of the alley.
