A/N: Things get a lot more complicated on the island (and that's not even mentioning the murderous slavers) and Ray is starting to give up hope of ever seeing Felicity alive again.

Just a reminder, this is a movie AU and I state in the story description that it's a Six Days Seven Nights AU. If you haven't seen it, maybe give it a shot when you finish reading this. I like to think I improved on it (and I really enjoy the movie so...)

000

Felicity could hear her heart pounding in her ears as she struggled to keep up with Oliver's long strides. She could see, thankfully, as she'd barely managed to keep her glasses when they'd pitched off the raft and into the ocean. Vegetation lashed at their arms and faces and legs as they hurried up the side of the mountain. But she could also hear the men with the guns getting closer behind them and knew they needed to keep up the pace.

She also knew she was slowing Oliver down, but the way he'd refused to leave her behind and save himself had made her heart flutter in a completely different way. Maybe if she lived to see herself out of this mess, she'd think about the implications of that.

Suddenly, Oliver came to a halt and since he had a hold of her hand, he jerked her to a stop as well. He gestured behind a tree, clearly wanting her to go hide behind it and he ducked behind another tree, picking up a fallen branch from the ground. Felicity understood that he meant to ambush their pursuers and quickly obliged, hiding herself and holding her breath. This was a gamble, but she knew that it was their only hope right now.

Felicity held her breath as the noises of the men chasing them grew nearer. They weren't making any effort to be quiet, and she didn't know if that was foolhardy or confident. She watched where she knew Oliver hid, tree branch in hand, and hoped against all hope that he'd succeed, that he wouldn't get hurt. If something happened to him…

As soon as the men came into view, she crouched back further into the thicket she was hiding in. Oliver waited until they were just past his spot before lunging out and slamming one of the men, the one holding the AK-47, on the back of the head. The man went sprawling while the other two whirled around to see what had happened to their comrade.

For the fight being two against one, Oliver did amazing at holding his own. He proved that his muscles weren't just for show and that he had true strength as well as fighting skills. At one point, however, one of the men got around behind him and pulled a sidearm from his waistband, aiming it at Oliver's head. Felicity leapt from her concealed spot, grabbed the branch that Oliver had discarded and thwacked the man on the back of the head. He stumbled, not quite going down, but it gave Oliver a chance to turn and disarm the man.

Oliver almost had everyone down, knocked out, and Felicity was starting to feel like they just might get out of this mess. But then, she felt the cold press of metal to the side of her head. She froze, her breath leaving her in one giant gust.

"Hello, miss," a surprisingly cultured voice said. She turned as slowly as she dared and saw a tall man with sandy hair and an almost kind face pointing a gun at her head.

"Oliver," she said and it came out as a strangled sound. Oliver turned, the last man caught in a headlock, and his expression shifted as he saw the situation she was in.

"My name is Ivo. Anthony Ivo," he introduced, still calm and still holding the gun barrel to her temple. Felicity fought the urge to whimper. "You two have certainly thrown a wrench into my day."

"Let her go," Oliver growled. "Let her go or I'll snap this man's neck."

Ivo shrugged. "Go ahead, snap it. I have a dozen other men on my boat and—" He tapped at the walkie talkie clipped to his belt— "I can call them up here at any time. I will have no problem outnumbering you, but I'd rather this lovely specimen not be damaged in the process."

He was talking about her, Felicity realized. She recalled what Oliver had told her, about these guys being slavers. She hadn't put much thought into it before, but now, with reality pressing a literal gun to her head, she understood fully what could happen here.

And, frankly, what was looking likely here.

Oliver's eyes went to her and she could see the tortured expression there. He knew too. She could see it there, reflected plainly in the crease between his eyebrows. Oliver threw down the man he'd been choking and he lay in the dirt, gasping for air.

"Now, if you both come quietly, no one will get hurt. Or at least, this lovely lady won't get hurt," Ivo told them with a leering smile. Felicity no longer thought he looked kind.

Felicity noticed Oliver's hand twitch, wanting to grab at the pistol he'd acquired off one of the goons. She shook her head at him. If he made a move like that, Ivo would likely shoot Oliver without a moment's hesitation and then drag her back to his boat anyway.

If it was going to come down to that, she'd far rather Oliver be alive.

Still, he hesitated and Ivo turned the gun onto Oliver making Felicity cry out. "No! Don't shoot him!"

"Get moving, now, before I get trigger happy."

Oliver's jaw was clenched hard and he kept his eyes on Felicity as he finally moved, headed back the way they'd come. Ivo returned the gun to Felicity's head and marched her ahead of him. She could feel the man's breath on her neck and it made her want to retch.

How on earth had things gone from bad, to awful, to even worse so quickly? Would they ever catch a break?

000

Oliver walked steadily down the mountain, scenarios running quickly through his head as he tried to think of a way to get themselves out of this mess. As usual, their options were running out and nothing sounded like a perfect plan in his mind. However, getting taken aboard Ivo's boat didn't sound like a great idea either.

A few minutes into their trek, Felicity complained about being winded and asked to stop to catch her breath and to get a drink of water. Ivo had a canteen which he passed to her and they all stopped and waited. Oliver recognized that she was stalling for time. While she was drinking, the men he'd subdued up the mountain caught up with them, having finally roused. They glared at him as Ivo filled them in quietly on the plan to bring them both to the boat.

"Why not just kill the man now?" one of the men asked, not caring if Oliver overheard.

"Because, Jimmy, I have a plan," Ivo explained, patiently. "And I'd thank you not to question it."

"Excuse me," Felicity began, her voice meek. Oliver had never before heard her use that tone and he realized that she was making a show. "Can you maybe let me walk down myself? Having a gun at my head is really making me nervous and I really don't want to trip and fall."

Ivo looked at her and Oliver just knew he was about to deny the request but then he looked around at the other men and shrugged.

"Fine. Ron, you pull up the rear. Take the AK-47 and keep it on them while we walk."

So when they started walking ahead, Oliver was able to walk next to Felicity while Ron, the man Oliver had initially knocked out up the mountain, walked behind them. Jimmy, the other man and Ivo all walked ahead of them, but kept a close eye.

Oliver watched the terrain, looking for the best opportunity. He knew now what he wanted to do, he just needed the perfect moment to do it.

About five minutes later, the opening presented itself. Ron was still behind them but not paying them very close attention. He seemed more interested in listening in on what the other men were saying. And those men were more absorbed in their discussion about where they were taking their "shipment" after leaving here. Oliver spied a gully, not unlike the one that he and Felicity had tumbled down the day before.

Before he could talk himself out of it, he grabbed her around the waist and threw the both of them over the edge of what amounted to a steep ravine. Felicity shrieked in surprise as they tumbled through the heavy underbrush. Oliver tried to control his fall as best he could and he could hear the shouts of the men above them growing fainter as they fell further down the mountain. As soon as he was able to steady himself, Oliver grabbed for Felicity and steadied her as well.

Then, they were off running.

While it had felt like they'd fallen forever, it had only been about a hundred feet or so and he could already hear their captors chasing after them. He pulled Felicity along until they burst out into a small clearing.

It ended up being a clearing that overlooked the ocean from about fifty feet up. He ran to the edge of the small cliff and looked over; it was a steep drop into the ocean below. There was no other way to go but back the way they came. And the shouts of Ivo and his men sounded through those trees and bushes. There was no going back.

"Felicity," he gasped, grabbing her by the arms.

"Oliver, what are we going to do?" Her ponytail was wrecked, her face was smudged with dirt and she looked to him with such faith that it made him actually want to be the man she thought he could be. For the first time in five years, he wanted to be responsible. For the first time in all his life maybe, he thought he could actually be that man.

Well, the first step in being responsible was making the tough choices.

He pulled her to the cliff's edge and watched as she peeked over. Then, she screwed her eyes shut and turned her head. "Oh god, that's high up."

"We go on three," he told her, his voice as calm as he could manage.

Felicity's stormy grey-blue eyes got huge behind her glasses. He reached up and slipped them off, handing them to her so she could tuck them into her shorts pocket. "Oh."

"One…. Two…."

"Oliver! I can't!" She grabbed his arms. "I can't jump. I'm terrified of heights."

"You can do this," he assured her. He took the glasses back and pushed them into his pocket instead.

Felicity was shaking her head. "No, I can't. You go. Save yourself."

Like hell that was going to happen. The sounds of Ivo and his men grew closer and he knew this time, he'd be shot. They were out of chances. It was now or never. "I'm sorry," he told Felicity earnestly.

She looked confused for half a second before he yanked her to him and pressed his lips to hers. Felicity froze for a moment before relaxing, ever so slightly, into him. Oliver was finally kissing her and it might be his last and only chance to ever do so. Damn shame too, because her lips were soft underneath his as she kissed him back, her fingers working up towards his shoulders as she tightened her grip on him. She tasted and felt like heaven and Oliver knew, he knew in this moment… he was falling for her. And probably had been since they'd gotten stuck on this godforsaken rock.

He released her and noted her dazed but flushed appearance. "You're sorry for kissing me?" she mumbled confusedly.

"No. For this." And with an enormous shove, he pushed Felicity off the edge of the cliff, giving her momentum so that she'd fall as far away from the cliff face as possible. Then, immediately after, he launched himself after her. She screamed bloody murder the whole way down and disappeared into the water an instant before he did.

Oliver opened his eyes, searching the frothing water for Felicity and found her a couple feet away, thrashing for the surface. He swam to her and grabbed her hand. She looked to him immediately and he tried to communicate with his eyes and hands… they needed to stay down under the surface and swim somewhere safer. She nodded and so he, continuing to hold her hand, pulled her along.

Before they'd jumped, he'd seen an outcropping of rocks to the west where a few palm trees hung out over the water. That would provide them with adequate coverage in case Ivo and his men were looking for them from the top of the cliff.

They broke the surface at the same time and Felicity gasped for breath. Oliver did what he could to help keep her above water as he paddled towards the shore. There was a small cove there with a sandy beach and as soon as they crawled up on it, they each collapsed.

Felicity lay on her back, her chest heaving, her breath shuddering. Oliver lifted his head and realized just how lucky they were to both be alive right then. They weren't out of the woods, not by any stretch of the imagination, but they'd gotten away for now, against all odds. Felicity was alive and so was he and that kiss, on top of the cliff, had been amazing.

It was thoughts of that kiss that drew him to her. Getting up on his hands and knees, Oliver crawled to her. He hovered over her, checking for any obvious injuries. Felicity focused on him and lifted a hand to cup his cheek. Her palm felt soft against his rough stubble and he leaned into her touch unconsciously. Her lips were parted, droplets of water running down the sides of her face, down her neck, into her clavicle…

With a groan of surrender, Oliver leaned down and slanted his mouth over hers. Unlike before when he hadn't had a chance, he wasted no time in tasting her and she let him. Her tongue stroked his as he delved into the warmth of her mouth. His blood pulsed with instant arousal. Oliver banded an arm around her waist and Felicity arched her back to accommodate him, bringing her chest into fuller contact with his. Her tank top was just as soaked as his t-shirt was and he could feel her pebbled nipples through both layers. She moaned into his mouth, her fist grabbing at his cropped hair and Oliver felt nearly overwhelmed with how badly he wanted her.

He lifted his head with great effort and nearly groaned at the sight of Felicity's darkened, half-lidded eyes and swollen lips. She was petting at his jawline with her hand and he turned his head a little and saw…

Her engagement ring glinted from her third finger, a most unpleasant reminder that Felicity wasn't his girlfriend. Oliver had no right to be ravishing her like this, to be wanting to take her, right here in the sand. She had a fiancé. A man who was probably, right now, out of his mind with worry about her.

Felicity seemed to realize all of this at the same time and she dropped her head back onto the wet sand with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," she whispered to him.

"I'm the one who should be sorry," he said.

"No," she replied, her voice full of regret, "you aren't."

He didn't have time right then to wonder what she meant by that. Ivo was surely still looking for them and they needed to find some place to hide for the night. The sun was already descending in the east and he wanted to find them a secure place to rest for the night. Surely, tomorrow, Ivo would have his men all over this island, looking for them. They both needed to be rested, ready to face whatever came.

Oliver got to his feet and helped Felicity get to hers. He continued to hold her hand as they made their way into the jungle together, only dropping it when he had to on account of the narrow path through the bushes. They each still had their boots, which was a godsend as they hurried over the rough terrain. They were going to be hampered significantly by the loss of the backpack and their water jug. All the more reason to find a safe place to make camp before it got dark.

"Do you think they gave up?" she asked him at one point. They'd been silent since the kiss; not an uncomfortable silence, but a companionable one. But he was glad for the break in the tension that was building, and the small sign from her that she wasn't too upset by everything that had happened. If she had been, he doubted she'd be speaking at all.

"I honestly don't know," Oliver answered, wishing he had more to give her. "I don't want to take the chance that they haven't."

"Me either."

"We shouldn't go back to the plane. It's too easy to spot, out there on the beach."

Felicity nodded and he noticed her biting her lip. He stopped and cupped her shoulder, feeling the warmth of her skin underneath his palm.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded but her eyes looked a little glassy. "I'm so scared," she whispered.

Oliver fought the urge to hug her tightly, to try to ward off that fear and replace it with only good feelings. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm a little scared myself."

Felicity huffed a little laugh. She still had her humor. Good. "No, that does not make me feel any better," she said, her voice wry.

"Why not? I thought that's what women wanted."

"What's that?"

"A guy who's not afraid to cry, who's in touch with his feelings and his feminine side." It felt good to banter with her again. Damn good.

"No, not when they're being chased by slavers," she told him but he could already tell that her fear was receding. "Then they like them mean and armed."

Oliver chuckled. At least she was honest.

After they walked a little ways, Oliver noticed that Felicity was looking at him a certain way. He smiled. "What?"

She shrugged, smiling too. "Nothing. Was just thinking about what you told me before, about the woman who ended up with your best friend."

"Ahhh, yes. Her." Oliver was surprised when he didn't have the old familiar pang when Laurel was mentioned. "We were engaged, actually."

Felicity's mouth popped open. "Seriously? Oh, wow. Oliver, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, me too. Our wedding was going to be in six months. I mean, I guess it's a good thing this happened before we were married. Before we had kids."

"Small mercies," she agreed. "Do you still want that someday? Marriage and kids?"

Oliver considered that. Did he? He'd spent so much time purposefully not thinking about it but now… he let himself picture it, a sunny morning with a little girl perched on his lap, sharing his bowl of cereal with him. She had springy blonde curls and wore little glasses on her pert nose. He swallowed thickly.

"Yeah, I do," he admitted hoarsely. "What about you?"

Felicity nodded and shrugged. "Yeah. I mean, definitely marriage. But a family would be nice too, someday."

Oliver wanted to ask her if Ray wanted kids but he couldn't get the words past his throat. He didn't want to bring up Ray into this conversation.

Deeper in the jungle, they found a cave opening near a spring. There was good tree cover, good to hide them. The cave would give them shelter in case it started to rain. They had no blankets or anything but Oliver was pretty good at starting a fire in wilderness conditions so they should be able to stay warm. The slavers didn't have a plane, that he knew of at least, but it didn't hurt to be hidden from overhead, just in case.

"Does this suit you?" he asked her as they checked out the site.

Felicity nodded. "I mean, it's not the Ritz, but it'll do."

Once again, Oliver found himself immeasurably grateful that Felicity was meeting the challenges with dignity and strength. He'd known many women that would have fallen to pieces over half of the things they'd gone through and Felicity had done the opposite. If anything, she grew stronger as matters devolved. He never would have predicted that from the day he met her. Not in a million years.

000

Ray sat at the bar, nursing a drink. Sara sat next to him, doing the same. The searching hadn't gone well and that day; not only had they found no signs, but the pilots had seemed especially discouraged. They'd widened their search area, looking further than they had so far, but there was a gut-sinking lack of any sign of the plane, of Oliver or of Felicity. Ray was beginning to lose hope.

He couldn't help but think that If Felicity were still alive, they would have found her by now.

"You know how some people say you don't know what you had until you lose it?" Ray mumbled.

"I've heard it before," Sara said before taking a long drink.

"It's a bunch of lies. I knew what I had. I knew exactly what I had. I loved her." Ray paused and winced as he heard the past tense in what he'd just said. "Damn. I love her. Still love her."

Sara just snorted. "I don't mean to insult you but, I don't think men know what love truly is."

"I do," Ray insisted. He'd been the Van Gough of romance, dammit. Felicity had always been impressed with his large gestures, the flowers, the wine, the fancy dinners, the jewelry…

"Yeah?" Sara sounded unconvinced.

"Yeah, I do."

"Well, in my experience, guys tell me they love me all the time. Like it's nothing."

Ray peered at her. With her pretty blonde hair, her aqua eyes and dimpled smile… not to mention her incredible body… it wasn't hard to believe. But he'd also learned the last few days that she was a genuinely nice person. "I'm sure many of them meant it," he told her.

Sara snorted. "Thanks, but no, they don't. They just want to get in my pants."

Ray nearly spit out the mouthful of drink he'd just sipped. "Well, maybe there's that too. But Sara, don't sell yourself short. You're beautiful and you're fun and you're giving. What's not to love?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "I'm not the sort of girl guys want to settle down with. And, you know, that's fine. I'm young, I like my freedom."

"You sound like me, five years ago," Ray mused.

"Oh yeah? When did you and Felicity meet?"

"Three years ago. It was three years from the night I proposed to her, actually."

"Oh, wow. So before her you were…?"

"I was pretty bitter about romantic relationships. Since I own my own company and have more money than I know what to do with, I had a lot of women interested in me. Or rather, interested in my money. That was the problem. All those relationships were so superficial."

"And Felicity was different?"

"Felicity was the definition of different. At first, I could barely get her to agree to go out with me. She kept saying that it wouldn't be right, us working together and all. She didn't want to be known as the girl who was dating the boss."

Sara made a face. "I can't blame her for that."

"Eventually, she said yes. And we've been together ever since." Ray swallowed thickly. "I'm not sure what I'll do without her, actually."

Sara's hand covered his own. "You'll be fine. I know you will. You're a brilliant man with a lot of love in his heart."

He sighed. "And what about you? I mean, I know you said you and Oliver weren't together, but…"

"I don't like to think about it, actually. Because I'd have to call his family and I can't bear to bring them that news. I can't bear the thought that I'll never have him to joke around with again. He really was a great friend to me."

"We have another search in the morning," Ray reminded her. "We're not giving up just yet."

"Yeah, I know." But her chin trembled a bit as she finished off her drink. Ray did the same with his and signaled the bartender to bring them another. It looked like they were going to need to get good and wasted tonight.

Several hours later, Ray definitely felt sufficiently wasted. Sara was laughing over something that he couldn't quite remember what it was. She hung off his arm to keep from falling over and her face was red with laughter. Ray was laughing too, simply because it felt so good to laugh.

He was walking her back to her bungalow, he knew that much. And she kept telling him where to go and he worried that she was too drunk to know but he was definitely too drunk to care.

"Oop! This is me," Sara cried out, stumbling to a stop.

Ray nearly crashed into her. He peered at the bungalow that looked just like all the other staff bungalows they'd just passed. "How can you tell?"

She giggled and pulled him up the steps to the door. "Because I live here, silly."

Ray followed her inside, glancing around the small room. It was basically like a studio apartment, with a small kitchenette and a bed, with a bathroom in the rear. It was littered with her clothes and other personal items and Ray tried not to snoop too much as Sara turned on the lamp next to her bed and walked into the bathroom.

"We're meeting the helicopter at 6am tomorrow, right?" she called out to him.

"Yeah but… I may be too drunk to wake up at 6am," he called back.

Sara emerged then and she was shimmying out of her dress. Right there in front of him. Ray stood frozen, transfixed, while her dress slipped over her curves and pooled at her feet.

As she straightened, wearing just a matching bra and panties set, she cocked her head at him. "Are you okay? You look— a little upset."

"I—I'm not upset. No… not upset. Uh…"

Sara smiled at him. "I'm going to take a shower and get into bed," she announced and Ray was nodding his head.

"Yeah, I should go do the saaaa—" He trailed off as Sara turned back to the bathroom and he got a good view of her ass. Yep, that was thong underwear. Oh, holy shit. He heard the shower turn on.

"What was that?"

"Mm? Nothing! I should actually go." He began to back towards the door and stopped when Sara reappeared back in the room.

"Do you want to stay here? With me?" she asked him, and the look she gave him was pure innocence. Innocent was not what he was feeling.

"Stay?" He was having a hard time forming words and he knew that the alcohol was only part of the reason.

"Yes. Here, with me." She regarded him, amused. "Sex, Ray."

He felt like his face was on fire. "Oh. Wow…" Say no, say no, say no…

"You probably think I'm being a slut or something but… I'm feeling pretty bad tonight. Even after all that alcohol. I feel lonely and I know you do too. I just thought that maybe, you and I could help each other out. I'd like you to stay."

Oh, god, he was tempted. "I just— I'm still clinging to hope," he explained. "And if I slept with you, and then we found them, I would feel…"

Ray trailed off as Sara reached behind her back and unclasped her bra, right there in front of him. She tossed the scrap of black lace aside and he was gifted with a full view of Sara's breasts.

All the blood in his body ran south just as all the air was immediately sucked from the room.

"Are you sure?" she asked him, still sounding so innocent. Damn, it was turning him on.

"I'm sure," he replied, not feeling remotely sure at all.

Her lower lip poked out in a pout and Ray had to turn away. He headed towards the door before he lost all his nerve and went to her like a dog in heat.

"I'm leaving," he announced over his shoulder, not daring to look at her again. "I'll see you in the morning."

"See you soon, Ray," Sara called back.

As Ray stumbled down the path towards the guests bungalows, he realized Sara made it sound like she expected to see him a lot sooner than 6am tomorrow morning.