A/N:Hi guys. I'm sorry I couldn't update until now, but sometimes RL interferes too hard and I can't spend the time I would like to write fanfiction.

Once again, I want to thank you for all the reviews and new favorites and follows. And thanks also to my beta; luvtheheaven, only you know how much your support and help means to me.

Tori: I completely understand how you feel, even though I have a soft spot for Henry. Despite how he's acting, he's a good person. I think. =P

A brief note: I'm going to bring up Sophie from chapter 2 again in this chapter. I'm mentioning this just in case you don't remember her and you would like to revisit that chapter.

Enjoy the reading!

And don't forget, when you're bored, take some paper and your favorite pen and enjoy writing!

Chapter 10. Mistaken Guilt

Henry looked at his brother. Mike was very nervous, especially now that he'd shot Oliver Queen. Despite Felicity's efforts, his blood was seeping through the jacket with which she was pressing the wound, creating a puddle on the floor. Hang in there, man. My brother won't get over it if you die. Henry checked his watch. It had only been six minutes. Why does time pass so slowly? he he looked at the hostages. They were very scared, but he knew that was normal. They were being held by who they considered to be two crazy armed men, and a fellow hostage was bleeding out. Henry knew that if he was in their situation, he also would be scared. It was then that he first saw one of them: a little boy. His hand was holding his mother's hand so tightly that his knuckles were white. Tears were streaming down his face profusely. That sight made something stir in him, and Henry wondered if maybe it was time to do something good.

Henry knelt before him and asked, "Hey, are you okay?"

The boy nodded and looked at his mother for approval. She gave him a watery smile.

Henry got up and went to talk to his brother. They spoke low enough so that no one else could hear them, and then Henry made his announcement with his gaze fixed on the kid's mother.

"Listen carefully, because I'm only going to say this once. We don't want anyone else getting hurt, and as a gesture of good faith we're going to release some of you."

Henry knelt beside the kid and told him, "You're going to get out of here now, okay?"

"And my mom?" the boy asked, still with teary eyes.

He couldn't say no. Not after all he had put the kid through.

"Yes, your mom too. And take that old couple with you," he added, looking at the kid's mother as he gestured toward the couple to which he was referring. "Come on, hurry!"

The mother took her son in her arms and saw that the elderly man was using a cane to walk; so she waited beside the door until the couple was beside her before leaving the bank. When they opened the door, everyone inside the bank could hear cop's screams ordering not to fire, but when the door closed, they were isolated from the noise again.

Henry then approached Felicity. He saw that the jacket with which she was trying to plug the wound was completely soaked, so he took off his own shirt and offered it to her, leaving him wearing just his tank top.

She was so concerned about the billionaire that she didn't even notice him doing this from a foot away, so Henry crouched beside her and placed the shirt on her hands. At first she startled, but she quickly realized what he wanted.

"Thank you," she muttered.

She pulled out her hands from between the two garments before again putting pressure on the wound, her hands now on top of the new shirt. This caused a grunt of pain from Oliver. She felt guilty about it, but it was necessary.

"Hey Oliver, it will be over soon. Just hang in there a bit longer, okay?"

"Felicity?" he said, shakily.

"Yeah?"

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine, but you will be. As soon as the safe's door is open and they have the money, they'll free us."

"Felicity."

"Mm hmm?"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? I don't understand."

"For this situation. If it wasn't for me, none of this would have happened."

"Oliver, you can't be serious. I know you have a tendency to blame yourself for everything bad that happens around you, but this?"

"If I hadn't come, Diggle wouldn't have called me in the middle of the robbery, the woman wouldn't have screamed and Mike wouldn't have fired, so the building wouldn't be surrounded by police." Oliver's voice grew weaker as he spoke so he stopped to catch his breath, so that he'd be able to finish his explanation. "If I hadn't come, the robbers would have gotten the money and would already have been gone."

"You are completely wrong. If you hadn't come, I would have been so scared during the robbery that I wouldn't have been able to help Sophie, the robbers would have gotten very anxious, Mike would have shot anyway, and the building would be surrounded by police with the difference that I would be alone and very frightened, so I wouldn't have been able to offer to open the safe, and therefore they would have had to bring in the bank manager." Felicity then lowered her voice so much that Oliver had to strain to hear her. "Plus, the police wouldn't have known why they are doing this."

"What did you say?" he asked, thinking he had misunderstood her.

Felicity looked back at Henry and Mike, making sure that neither of them was paying attention to her conversation with Oliver. They weren't, so Felicity explained what she had done very quietly so that no one but Oliver could hear her. "Yeah, well... Let's say that Detective Lance received an audio gift when I was working on the safe."

"You're remarkable."

Felicity blushed; she couldn't help it. That phrase had a special meaning for her since the first time Oliver had said it.

"So don't ever say this is your fault, because if you hadn't been here the situation would be worse, although you've been shot, and that's obviously bad, and if you hadn't been here you wouldn't have gotten shot... So I don't know if I should be glad you're here... You probably think I'm a bad person for being glad, don't you?"

Oliver found the situation curious. Both were glad to be in the company of the other, and both felt guilty about it.

Felicity was waiting for Oliver's reassurance that she wasn't a bad person, but as it didn't come, she thought that Oliver preferred to stay silent rather than give her an answer she wouldn't want to hear.

"Oh, God, you're right! How can I be glad about this? I must be the meanest person that's ever existed. Even worse than Snow White's stepmother!"

Oliver chuckled at her comment, but it became a coughing fit that made his whole body shake. The sudden movement triggered a new and intense wave of pain through his body, making him gasp and close his eyes.

Felicity gently pushed his shoulder to make him lie down again, still pressing the wound with the other hand. Oliver became increasingly pale and sweaty. Moving her fingers to his neck, she checked his pulse. It was quick and weak and Felicity worried even more. She'd expected these symptoms; she just didn't expect them so soon. This was why she was now thinking that an organ must have been affected. That, or the internal bleeding was extreme. Oliver, please... Hold on, just a little longer... She wanted to ask Henry, to beg him if necessary, to let Oliver out, or at least to allow someone from the outside to give him medical assistance.

Felicity looked at Henry. He was talking on the phone, she assumed with Lance. She had been so focused on Oliver that she hadn't even heard the phone. She looked back at Oliver, who still had his eyes closed.

"Oliver, do you hear me? You have to open your eyes. I need you to stay with me."

He obeyed and fixed his gaze on her blue eyes.

"You're doing great, Oliver. Stay awake, okay? You can do it. I know you can."

A/N 2:Thanks for reading! And please don't forget to leave me reviews so that I'll know what you think. Thank you very much!