Oliver felt the bullet rip through this shoulder and he fell to the cold floor with a thud. His mother, the shooter, was calling for security.
"Well, this is a whole new level of family dysfunction."
He had to get out of there. He pulled himself up off the floor and grabbed his bow. He ran toward the broken window, but he couldn't escape via the zip line he had used to enter. Quickly, he grabbed a repelling arrow, shot it into the floor the office, grabbed the line and jumped.
As he fell toward the ground, he knew he needed to break his momentum by crashing through one of the windows. It was late - most of the offices should be vacant.
Sharp pain and flashes of white hot heat surged through him as he shoved his body into a window pane and rolled to a stop on the office room floor. He lay in silence for a fraction of a second and took in his surroundings. Empty. No footsteps approaching. Security was probably headed toward his mother's office. But security cameras would find him soon enough.
He bolted to his feet and groaned as he grabbed his bow and headed for the hall. In full health, he could easily get out of the building and escape into the city. But his clarity and energy were quickly failing. He was losing a lot of blood.
Thinking of Diggle, he whispered to himself, "I picked a hell of a time to not wear a comm."
He checked his phone...broken. Brilliant. He couldn't call Digg from a phone in the building - it could be traced. He needed a way back to the foundry and fast.
There was only one option.
"Felicity."
He was planning on bringing her further into the mix since she had trusted him with the information about Walter and his mother, but he hadn't planned on doing it so soon. But hey, the same thing happened with Digg.
"Guess you get initiated tonight, Felicity."
He made his way to a stairwell and peered over the railing. 10 more floors. He needed to get down there fast. He quickly judged his strength and took a deep breath. Slinging his bow over his shoulder, he climbed over the railing.
"Here goes."
And he jumped.
It wasn't a pretty display, but he made it to the sub-ground floor in one piece. As he fell, he grabbed railings to break his momentum. He had missed a few along the way and could feel the throbbing in his shins, thighs, and arms. After a deep breath, he made his way to the parking garage.
He knew what she drove. It was in her file for Queen Consolidated, which he had read several times. He thanked the stars that Queen Consolidated had a departmental system for parking. She would be somewhere in the northwest quadrant. He made his way to the area and searched for her red vehicle.
Upon finding it, he proceeded to pick the car lock and crawl in the backseat, closing the door behind him. He lay panting, praying that Felicity would leave work on schedule, since she tended to keep an organized schedule.
After a few moments, he heard footsteps approaching the area. He hoped she didn't look in the backseat before getting in the car. Running off to find security before she realized it was him would be...messy.
But, he'd have to talk to her about always minding her surroundings.
He heard the electric locks click and listened as Felicity crawled into her car and began situating herself in the driver's seat.
He immediately realized he hadn't really thought about how he was going to reveal himself to her. He really hoped she didn't have a weapon in her purse. Or pepper spray in her hand.
He'd talk to her about those things too. A woman walking alone in a parking garage in Starling City? She should be armed.
In the brief second it took for Oliver to realize he didn't have a plan, Felicity had turned to back out of the space, immediately noticing the vigilante in her back seat.
"OH!" she exclaimed, startled at the sight of him.
He quickly grunted and tried to pull himself up a little, "I'm not going to hurt you Felicity."
"How do you know my name?" she asked, fear flooding her words.
"Because you know my name," he croaked out as he clumsily removed his green hood.
"Mi...Oliver...Oh...wow," she spoke, trying to process the information, "Everything about you just became so unbelievably clear."
Oliver struggled to stay alert as he watched her take in everything.
"You're bleeding!" she suddenly noticed.
"I don't need to be told that."
"You need a hospital!" she started to turn to drive, but Oliver quickly stopped her.
"Wait. My father's old factory. In the Glades," he barely articulated, breathing heavily.
"You...you need a doctor, not a steelworker."
"Felicity. You have to promise me that you will take me to my father's factory and nowhere else."
She considered the situation for a second and then answered, "Promise."
"Something tells me blood stains are not covered under my lease!" she exclaimed as she drove out of the parking garage and turned onto the street.
Oliver felt his clarity slipping away, "Felicity," he coughed.
"What? what? Should I stop?" she said panicked, as she spun her head back to look at him.
"No. The code. 141."
"The code for what?"
"Door."
He was barely keeping it together.
"South alleyway. Diggle."
"Okay, okay. 141. South alleyway," Felicity listened to Oliver's raspy breathing as she headed toward the Glades, "Oh my god. Please don't let him die."
As Felicity drove, Oliver faded to black. The last thing he thought was how much he prized this kind woman.
"At least, if I die, the last thing I experienced was kindness."
Okay! There will be a resolution in the next chapter. I thought about also giving Felicity and Diggle's points of view in Odyssey, but I don't think I will in this story. I'll just skip to when Oliver wakes up. :)
Thanks for your reviews! I'm so glad you are enjoying Oliver's POV. I'm really enjoying writing it! :)
