A/N: Yes, another 2x03 drabble. This is due to humansrsuperior's fantastic artwork on tumblr. After I saw her latest sketch I got more 2x03 feels.

So enjoy another post Felicity gets hurt fic. Let me know you think!

Lance's command to leave still echoed in his ears as Oliver scrambled up a metal catwalk and across support beams that kept him out of sight.

When he peered down he saw Felicity still on the ground, Digg crouched over her prone form.

Fear swept through him and he didn't hesitate to flip off of his perch, landing only a few feet away from them.

"What's wrong?" he demanded as he ran over, once again kneeling at her side.

"I'm not sure we should move her, but you don't want the questions that are going to come her way if we don't." Digg replied, his fingers on Felicity's wrist taking her pulse.

Oliver's jaw tightened as the sirens got closer; he had to make a decision. Slinging the bow to his back he slipped his arms under her and stood. "Meet us in the alley between Lexington and Twelfth." Digg nodded once before he raced away, being careful to keep hidden.

Felicity's arms weakly wound around his neck and he felt her head raise slightly as she looked around. "Oliver…" her fingers dug into his jacket pulling herself towards him, her face coming close to burrowing under the hood with his.

"Shhh, just hold on." he told her as her cheek came to lay against his shoulder.

"My head…" her voice was slurred in a way that worried him and as he crept into the shadows he wondered if he shouldn't have let Digg call an ambulance for her.

Without the use of his bow it took longer than he liked getting out of the abandoned warehouse. By the time he reached the car she was no longer conscious, her head rolled back, blond hair falling over his arm.

He got in quickly and laid her on the seat, crouching on the floorboard as he reached behind him to slam the door shut.

"Go!" Oliver ordered as he brushed loose strands from her face, his fingers searching for her injury. He found the swelling, but there was no blood he noted in relief.

Her pulse was strong, and her eyes looked a little off when he pulled her lids back to check, but nothing to cause him to yell for Digg to head to the nearest hospital.

He caught himself brushing a hand over her cheek and moved it quickly to her shoulder, keeping her in place on the seat as they went around a corner.

Digg pulled as close as he could to the back entrance to the club and Oliver wasted no time in climbing out with her in his arms once again. The door was being held open as he hurried down the stairs, Digg racing ahead to hit the lights and start pulling supplies out of the cabinets.

He laid her gently on the metal table, hating the sight of her there. She'd never been hurt before. It had always been him or Diggle and that was somehow okay. Seeing her there was wrong and it caused a twisting in his gut that threatened to bend him double if he didn't push it away.

He let Digg take over as he stepped back, shedding his bow and quiver, placing them in their proper place as if he could feel her eyes on him, silently reprimanding him if he didn't. The hood fell back, his steps slowing as he made his way to her side.

"She probably has a concussion." Digg said tightly, rolling the pulse oximeter close and placing the monitor on her finger as he turned on the machine. The numbers were on the low side of acceptable but they weren't bad.

Oliver felt a slight loosening of the fist that had tightened around his heart the second he'd seen her go down.

"Should we take her to the hospital?" he asked, eyes never leaving her.

Digg shrugged, "Might not be a bad idea, but there isn't anything I see that looks too bad. And there will be questions."

Oliver scraped a rough hand across his face and braced his palms on the table at her side. "Okay," he said finally. An ice pack was pressed against her head and Oliver took over holding it while Digg cleaned the small abrasions on her hands.

Her pale, limp form scared him, a feeling he wasn't used to having. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach out and touch her, but he was overly aware of Digg's presence.

"Why don't you go get changed. She might not wake up for a bit." Digg suggested, and Oliver initially balked, his guilt at letting her even agree to do this and watching it all to go to hell while Mathis got away taking over.

"Go on."

Reluctantly he headed for the bathroom. He changed in record time, and when he got back she was on the couch. A flare of...something went through him. He pushed it aside. Digg should have moved her. She didn't need to be laying on that cold hard table.

Oliver didn't say a thing as he pulled up a chair and grabbed the ice pack. It was all he could do.

"How long do we wait?" he asked tersely, finally allowing himself the right to touch her as he brushed loose hair from her temple and laid the pack where he felt the swelling.

"Give her some time to wake up." Digg said, his tone light but with an edge of concern.

Oliver held the ice pack for fifteen minutes and then removed it to hook her back up to the monitor. Digg came to stand behind him as they watched the numbers on the screen.

"She's doing better." Digg said unnecessarily, and all he could do was nod as he turned his attention back to Felicity.

It was a long half an hour before she began showing signs that she was waking up. Her face twisted, brows drawn together and she turned her head into the pillow. Finally, she blinked open confused eyes and looked at him.

His hand found hers as she tried to raise it to her still hurting head. "What happened?" she said quietly.

"Mathis got away." he said sullenly, unable to keep the failure he felt from his tone.

Her eyes fell shut again, but her fingers closed around his, "We'll get him." she half mumbled, her voice still low and weak.

"How do you feel?" he asked

"My head's killing me." she replied, wincing as she tried to adjust her position. He responded immediately by slipping a hand under her neck and lowering the pillow some.

"Thanks," she said on a sigh, unknowingly bringing their joined hands to lay across her middle.

"How about some painkillers?"

Her eyebrows raised, "Yeah, those sound good." she said, but didn't open her eyes.

Digg handed water and two pills over his shoulder so quickly Oliver had to assume he had them at the ready.

He supported her head as she took the pills, holding the cup to her lips as she swallowed. When his thumb caught a small drop that escaped the corner of her mouth he felt her still beneath her. He lowered her back down as she gave him half a smile in return.

"Lance?" she asked

Digg was the one who spoke, "He got picked up. They're holding him for obstruction."

Oliver let out a long exhale as Felicity groaned. "That's not right."

"Don't worry about that now." Oliver cautioned her, knowing it would do no good.

She gritted her teeth and pushed herself up. Oliver's hands came up to help, until she was half sitting, half slumped into the corner of the couch. Her face had gone grey and her breathing was labored until she took a few good deep breaths.

He was out of the chair now, crouched in front of her, one arm draped across her lap as he waited to see if she was okay.

"So, can I go home, or do I have to stay here all night while Digg watches me with that always omniscient look of his?"

Digg let out a huff, "You can go home, but not alone. You need to be woken up every hour or so to make sure you haven't gone into a coma."

Oliver started forward at that, he couldn't handle the idea of her being hurt any worse than she'd already been. "I'll take you home." he said, before he realized what he'd committed himself to.

A bit of color entered her cheeks, "You don't…"

He dropped a hand over hers, "Yes, I do." the conviction he heard even took him by surprise.

Oliver pushed back and avoided the look he knew Digg would be giving him. But when he turned and looked at the man it wasn't there.

"Every hour for the first few hours. If she gets sick, or has any other symptoms you need to get her to a hospital." he instructed, and Oliver felt in a strange way like he was being tested.

"Got it."

"I can drive if you want." Digg offered

"No, I'll take her car, then she'll have it in the morning."

Digg nodded his agreement and Oliver looked back to see her sitting there with half opened eyes, studying him with a look he couldn't decipher.

Lights and computers were being shut down as he leaned over her. "You ready to go?"

She tried to nod but stopped and pushed a hand into her temple with a soft groan of pain. He waited, paused until she reached out her hands and he pulled her gently to her feet.

She wavered almost immediately and if he hadn't wrapped a quick arm about her waist she would have ended up on the floor.

"Can you walk?" he asked, knees already bent in preparation to pick her up.

"I'm okay." she assured him, one hand coming up to lay against his chest. She leaned into him for a moment and then took the majority of her own weight.

Digg passed over her bag which she took with a quiet thanks. She'd stepped away from Oliver, but he made sure to stay close enough to give her support if she needed it.

Keys were pressed into his hand and he looked over to see that Digg had already pulled them from her bag. "Take care of her." he said with a hard look. Oliver didn't quite know how to take it so he settled with giving him a steady look in return.

The stairs seemed to be a challenge, and halfway up he banded an arm about her and half carried her up the rest of the steps. She leaned heavy on the wall as he punched in the code. "Sorry, my head's all spinny all of a sudden." she said

"Come on, all you have to do is make it to the car." he said easily, hoping he wouldn't have to take her to the hospital. He wasn't sure he'd be able to handle it.

He held open the door and extended his hand which she took readily. By the time he got her in the passenger seat she was about to collapse.

"Do you want to go to the hospital?" he asked as he buckled her in and made his way around to the driver's seat.

She waved her hand dismissively. "No. I'm good."

As she slumped against the door he wondered if he should ignore her. "I'm okay. Just a headache. I promise."

They rode in silence. At a stop light he turned to look at her and was struck with a bolt of terror. She was propped against the window, eyes open, staring ahead and not blinking.

An image of the girls who had been killed flashed through his head. All he could see was her, taken by Mathis and made into one of his dolls left in an alley somewhere for them to find, posed grotesquely and dressed in white.

"Felicity!" her name spilled inelegantly from his lips, as he was unable to keep the fear from his tone.

She came to with a jolt, eyes blinking furiously in an attempt to keep tears from falling over her cheeks. She failed.

A jagged sob escaped her and he saw her turn her head away as she clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

The long blare of a horn brought him back to himself and he looked up quickly to see the light had turned green.

With a muffled curse he gunned the car harder than he should of, cursing again when he saw her thrown back and then forward again.

The guilt he'd felt at letting her get taken gnawed at him. They should have been following her better. They should have reacted quicker. She should have never been in danger.

Her attempt to keep her breakdown quiet was unsuccessful and he felt wholly inadequate when he reached over and took her hand in his. It was the only comfort he could give her just then.

Her fingers wrapped around his, the strength somewhat surprising and he dealt with only be able to drive with one hand. He wasn't going to let go.

When he pulled into her parking garage her cries had quieted and her hand was loose in his. He quickly made his way around to her side of the car and opened the door carefully. Her eyes were shut and she seemed to be asleep, but he remembered Digg's warning.

One hand brushed over her cheek and slid to cup behind her ear. "Felicity...wake up." he said as carefully as possible.

Scared blue eyes flew open with a gasp as she sat back, chest heaving looking around frantically.

"Hey, you're safe!" slowly he laid his hand on her wrist and waited for her breathing to return to normal.

When her pulse didn't feel like it was about to pound out of her body he gave her arm a slight tug and moved back to give her space to climb out of the car.

She moved slowly, but seemed a bit steadier, it didn't keep him from leaving a hand on her lower back as they made their way to the elevators.

If she thought it was odd that he had her keys out and was unlocking her door she didn't say anything. The long beep of her alarm system greeted them and all he had to do was give her a questioning look before she told him the code and headed for her bedroom. He punched it in quickly, the light turning from red to green.

It felt like he'd waited for hours for her to emerge and he was about to push through the door when it opened. She wore leggings and what looked suspiciously like one of his pullovers. It hung loosely off her small frame, one shoulder exposed and falling to mid thigh. A swell of something primal and possessive rose in him and he found himself at her side in two long strides.

She looked down in surprise to see his fingers lightly holding the edge of the sleeve, a flush crept up her neck as if she hadn't thought he would notice. Her chin lifted as she met his eyes, "It gets cold in the lair sometimes. And don't think you're getting it back." her boldness surprised him, as did the length of her sentence. It was the longest she'd made since he'd heard her fearful ramblings as she'd walked out of the last store.

His lips turned up at the corners, "You can keep it. Looks better on you anyways."

He half expected her to blush again, but instead her hand rose to her temple with a long low groan.

"Come on, you need rest." he said decisively, turning her around and crowding behind her to make her head back the way she'd come. She gave him no resistance.

Without thinking about whether he was crossing any lines he pulled the covers back on her bed his hands unable to stop touching her as he guided her down to the mattress. Her eyes shut immediately, making no move to pull the duvet up so he did it for her. As he smoothed the pale blue fabric over her shoulder he pulled hair out of her face and let his palm rest lightly over her injury feeling the heat from the spot but noting the swelling hadn't gotten worse.

She hummed something in the back of her throat and it sent a shock through him, so unexpected and so strong he snatched his hand back like he'd been caught.

He noted the time as he stole from the room, leaving the door cracked behind him. The part of this he hadn't thought through was being left alone with his thoughts as he waited to wake her.

The first hour he just spent pacing, his body still too amped up on everything that had gone down. He relived the night over and over again, trying to find places where he could have done things differently and kept her safe.

When he went to check on her she hadn't moved. He shook her shoulder gently, hating to take her from any rest she could get but knowing he had to make sure she was okay.

She blinked open sleepy eyes and looked at him in confusion at first, "Oliver…" she mumbled.

"Sorry, just had to make sure you'd wake up."

She rolled to her back, letting out a soft sigh as she fell back asleep.

It took effort to make himself walk out of the room again. Almost another hour of pacing passed when he heard soft cries coming from her. He raced in to find her head thrashing and face contorted from the nightmare she was obviously having.

He didn't think as he sank on the bed near her hip, both hands taking hold of her head to keep her from hurting herself.

"Felicity! You're safe, wake up!" his thumbs coasted over her cheekbones as he continued to say anything he could think of that would settle her down.

Her eyes flew open and she looked at him with such stark terror it made his heart seize. She scrambled backwards until she hit the unforgiving wood of her headboard, arms coming out to push him away.

He saw the moment she recognized him. Relief flooded her face and instead of pushing him away, she was reaching for him. He didn't deny her, his arms banded around her back and pulled her flush against his chest. Nails dug sharply into him as she scrabbled to hold him tighter. Her sobs shook them both and all he could do was hang on to her as she broke, the anger and guilt gnawing away at him from the inside.

Making a decision he'd later question he stood up long enough to turn around, still holding her and settled against the bed. Her hands fell to clutch the front of his shirt as her cries gradually lessened.

The tension seeped out of her, until he could feel her soft, even breaths brushing against his neck.

He sat up the rest of the night, waking her when necessary, but never letting go. Every whimper she let out, or twist of her face as she relived the horror of that night made him that much more sure that he'd never let something like that happen again.