Oliver kicked the door hard; he pushed and shoved until the wood snapped and he practically fell through it. Felicity followed close behind, clutching onto him.
"What do you think you're doing?" a steward asked as the pair glanced around. "You'll have to pay for that you know, that's White Star Line property-"
"Shut up!" they both shouted in unison, turning their heads. The man stopped dead in his tracks as they continued to rush down the corridor. They came to a staircase full of the third class passengers, the stewards clearly having locked the gates to keep them all in.
"For God's sake, there are women and children down here!" Barry shouted to a steward holding a gun. "Let us out so we have a chance." The man said nothing as Barry dropped his head turning around. He rushed down the steps towards Felicity.
"Felicity!"
"Barry." The pair embraced.
"Can we get out?" Oliver asked.
"It's hopeless that way." Barry replied.
"Barry, Felicity." Iris shouted coming from down the corridor. "What's going on?" she asked, her life jacket around her.
"The whole place is flooded; we gotta get out of here," Barry added, wrapping an arm around her. Her eyes widened in shock as she looked around, but no one even batted an eyelid.
"Well... that direction's busy." She pointed a hand behind her.
"Well, I guess we'll go that way," Felicity said, pulling them all down the corridor beside them.
They rushed by several passengers all running around and seeming lost. Felicity turned down various corridors before she stopped, looking up a staircase. They made their way up, the sound of a steward echoing around.
"Just go down to the main staircase and they'll sort everything out there."
Oliver pushed to the front. "Open the gate."
"Go back to the main staircase," the steward repeated.
"Open the gate right now," Oliver repeated, his voice rising.
"Go back to the main stairwell like I told you." Oliver turned to Felicity, the disappointed look reflecting in her eyes. He spun back around, grabbing the gate and shaking it violently.
"God damn it you son of a bitch!" He turned, heading back and looking around. His eyes landed on a wooden bench attached to the floor. "Barry help me!" he shouted, pulling at it. Felicity and Iris exchanged a look.
"Move back," Iris said.
"Quickly, move to the sides!" Felicity shouted.
"Put that down! Put that down," the steward shouted as the guys picked up the bench, all the people having moved.
"One, two, three," Oliver shouted and they ran at the gate, ramming it hard. "Again." They pulled back and the gates crumbled. Barry jumped over, helping Iris and taking her hand. Oliver was next, helping Felicity as the rest of the waiting third class passengers managed to get out, too.
Laurel looked at Malcolm as the scene around them descended in chaos.
"I can't find him," Malcolm said, looking around. "Aren't you getting aboard?"
"Not without him," she replied.
"After everything?"
"I won't be made a fool of," she said, pulling her coat tighter around her. "I need a boat that will take men, too."
"Murdock is your man, on the other side of the boat," Malcolm supplied. "He's a man who can be... practical."
"Thank you, Malcolm." She nodded as they made their way round the ship.
Oliver, Felicity, Barry and Iris stood at the edge of a crowd before a lifeboat. The crewman in charge fired his gun in the air to keep the men at bay.
"Get back! Women and children only!" he shouted, waving the gun around. Oliver and Felicity looked at Barry and Iris.
"I know they won't let me on," Iris whispered, taking a step back. Barry tighten his grip on her hand.
"We'll check the other side," he said softly, and Felicity nodded in understanding.
"I love you Barry," she said, staring at him.
"I love you, too," he said, quickly embracing her before they rushed off. Oliver wrapped himself around Felicity as the crowd pushed and pulled. Felicity stared at the family in front of her, the father saying goodbye to his wife and children. She thought of the inevitable pain that separation will cause, of the lives that will be lost on this boat tonight. She felt the fear overtake her as she spun in Oliver's arms.
"I'm not going without you," she whispered.
"No, you have to go! Now!"
"No, Oliver."
"Get in the boat, Felicity."
"No, Oliver," she said, her voice louder.
"Yes, get on the boat."
"Yes, get on the boat, Felicity," Laurel said, standing beside them. "God, you look a fright," she said, staring up at Oliver. He pulled Felicity to the side.
"Go, and I'll get the next one."
"No. Not without you."
"I'll be alright. Listen, I'll be fine. I'm a survivor. Don't worry about me, go on!"
"I have an arrangement on the other side of the ship. Oliver and I can get on, both of us." Laurel stepped forward, staring at the pair.
"See, I have my own boat to catch."
"Go on, they're almost full," Laurel added. Before Felicity had a chance to react, the crewman grasped her arms pulling her aboard the lifeboat. Oliver helped as much as he could. Felicity grasped his hand tightly - it was so large in her small hand - and she watched as her fingers slipped through his and he stayed behind. She sat down facing him, the boat shaking as it was lowered. She looked up at Laurel and Oliver, watching the future she so desperately wanted slipping away from her with every drop of the lifeboat.
"You're a terrible liar," Laurel mumbled.
"About as good as you. There's no arrangement, is there?" Oliver asked, turning towards her.
"Oh, there is."
"So what? We all live?" She turned to him, snickering. She slipped her hands into her coat pockets before pulling out a box and cash; she stuffed them inside his coat pockets.
"You live with me; that money, that ring is all insurance for me... You will come back with me or I will tell the world you robbed me. You are nothing but a family of liars, whose reputation is like that of a common whore." His jaw clenched tightly as he glanced down at Felicity. "I always win, Oliver, one way or another." He could see the tears in Felicity's eyes, watching his future disappear and the life he never wanted paved out in front of him. He swallowed thickly as the boat lowered, Felicity's beautiful eyes and face lit up by the flares still being released above, and he knew he could live knowing she was alive, that she was out there living and breathing even if he couldn't.
Felicity stared into his piercing blue eyes, the world around them fading away, the flare backing him up and making him appear almost angelic, and her mind was made up. She jumped to her feet, rushing across the lifeboat.
"Felicity!" he shouted. She jumped from the boat, hanging from the deck railing by her arms as two men pulled her back on the ship.
People around her gasped as she heard Laurel scream, "Stop her!"
"Felicity, what are you doing?" Oliver shouted, unable to see her anymore. Instantly, he spun on his heels, running down the deck towards the grand staircase. He took the steps two at time until he collided into her embrace at the bottom of the steps. She was panting loudly, shuddering as she pressed herself into him.
"Felicity! You're so stupid!" He kissed her on the lips and she pressed into it, their hands on each other's faces. "Why'd you do that?! Why?" he shouted, pulling away from her.
"You jump, I jump, right?" She placed her hand on his cheek, her fingers caressing him gently. He leant into her touch, sighing.
"Right." He suddenly wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest, his heart pounding against his ribcage.
"I couldn't go, Oliver, I couldn't leave you, not after everything." Laurel stood on the balcony watching the pair, her blood boiling as Malcolm walked over to her. He gently took her arm, attempting to lead her away from the pair in admittance of defeat, when suddenly she spun in his arms. She grabbed the gun attached to Malcolm's side, pulling away from him as she ran to the stairs. Oliver's eyes widened as he saw her raise the gun.
"Come on." He pushed Felicity down as the bullet hit the bannister. They rushed down the steps, their hearts pounding as Laurel chased them a wicked look in her eyes. Her heels slipped on the marble floor, the gun falling from her hand. She jumped to her feet, grasping the gun and giving chase once more as the people around them screamed in terror. She leant over the rails, another shot ringing out as she pushed violently past other passengers. Oliver pulled Felicity into the water as Laurel fired again; this time the bullet hit the water beside them. They waded through the water as she let off shot after shot. Oliver never stopped moving as the bullets got closer and closer. He heard Laurel jump into the water and moan at the temperature before she shouted in frustration, as the gun was now empty.
"I hope you enjoy your time together," she shouted as the water rushed into the space. Laurel stepped out the water and Malcolm stood there staring at her, she started to laugh.
"What could possibly be funny?"
"I put the ring and the money in his coat... He's wearing it," she shouted as Malcolm stood there shaking his head.
Oliver pulled Felicity along, never stopping until they were hidden in a corridor.
"Shhhh," he said softly as they tried to catch their breath.
"Dada! Dada." The pair looked at each other and then they walked down the steps to find a small boy standing in the water crying.
"We can't leave him," Felicity said. Oliver glanced at the steps they'd just come down, the water cascading rapidly down them. He nodded at her.
"Come on." He grabbed her hand, guiding her towards the little boy. Oliver picked him up easily, the door behind him literally on the verge of bursting due to the pressure of the water being expelled through it. The little boy screamed as they ran down the corridor. More water blocking their path had them going back. A man came running from around the corner, screaming in a language neither knew, and he wrenched the little boy from his arms, shoving Oliver into the wall before running off with the child.
"Not that way!" Oliver shouted.
"That's the wrong way!" Felicity screamed, too.
"Come back!" Suddenly, the doors burst open, the water behind so forceful it took the feet from under the man as he disappeared under the water. Oliver and Felicity ran down a side corridor, the lights flickering on and off as they tried to get away from the freezing water, but it was too much. The water swept them away; they only stopped when they hit a locked gate. He stood behind her, allowing the brunt of the cold water to hit him as he pulled them to the wall.
"This way!" he shouted, pulling himself against the strength of it. He grabbed onto the banister of the stairs, holding his hand out for Felicity. "Take my hand." She grasped it tightly, allowing him to help, and he pulled with all his might, pushing her up the steps.
"Oh, god!" Felicity exclaimed, seeing the gate at the top of them locked, as the water rapidly rose. "Help!" She shouted as Oliver shook the gate as hard as he could. A steward rushed past.
"Sir, wait! Please help us!" Oliver shouted.
"Please!" Felicity pleaded, and the man stared at them, taking two steps up before he turned around.
"Bloody hell." He pulled the keys out of his pocket, ramming key after key in the lock.
"Hurry." Felicity shouted. The man was shaking violently as the water continued to rise. The lights above them sparked, making the man flinch, and the keys slipped out of his grasp.
"I'm sorry, I dropped the keys." They watched the fear overtake him as he spun around and rushed up the steps.
"Wait!" Oliver shouted. "Please! Don't leave." Felicity took a deep breath and dived under the water, her slender arms easily able to fit through the gaps in the bars. She could barely open her eyes due to the freezing water, but she reached and stretched until her hand latched onto something metal. She pulled back up.
"I got them!" she exclaimed. "Which one is it, Oliver?"
"I... I think this one," he said, clutching a long silver key. She nodded swiftly, searching for the lock in the rising water.
"Oh God I can't... It won't." She tried hard, the key moving with the force of the water.
"Hurry, Felicity!" Oliver shouted, and finally the key slipped into place and she twisted it.
"I got it!" Oliver grabbed the doors, pulling them open.
"Go, Felicity, go!" He pushed her through the doors, her head so close to the roof. She ducked under a pipe, taking deep breaths as she stood at the staircase, the water still rising. She turned her head around and Oliver was gone.
"Oliver! Oliver!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, and suddenly he surfaced.
"Go, go," he said, swimming towards her. They pulled up the stairs, both breathing heavily as they were soaked through to the bone.
