A/N Alright enough of the feels, let's get to some action. For the record, this was finished on Friday and I tried to upload it unsuccessfully a number of times. Terrible. Sorry. I was really stressed out and my family made fun of me so I stopped trying. Also, Wednesday's ep. was freakin awesome. THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the support! The end.
I don't own Arrow.
CHAPTER 10 "LET'S GET TO IT"
The next time Felicity woke up, it was a couple of hours later. The pain was more than when she fell asleep, but not as much as when she first woke up. She felt a lot more focused than before. Looking up to her IV, it probably had something to do with the blood bag still hanging attached to her good arm. Diggle would tell her later that he added one more because he wanted to see her blood pressure back to normal.
She glanced over. Moira was still holding her hand and sleeping. She felt a little weird about it, not quite sure whether or not she was comfortable with Oliver's mother yet. As she slipped her right hand away from Moira's, Felicity noticed her wake up immediately. Maybe she wasn't sleeping after all.
"Felicity, how are you feeling? Any better?" Moira meant 'less high?'
"I'm alright, a little more sore, but more focused thank god. My glasses?" she asked, noticing her vision had stayed fuzzy.
"Right here. What else do you need?" Moira asked standing up and hovering. Clearly her guilt over what happened to Felicity was ever present.
"Just pants. And my computer. What have they been doing? Any leads?" She jumped right into it. She had been asleep for too long and they needed her help.
"You should really rest. You don't want to…"
"I'm fine! (she paused) I'm ok. I just need to help Mrs. Queen. Please." She said sternly and intent on looking Moira straight in the eye.
"Ok, I'll go grab some of Thea's yoga pants for you and help you."
"No." Felicity said sternly again. She figured out pretty quickly that she was still very much on edge around Moira.
"I'll just…can you have Sara come over to help please?" She tried to be as polite as possible.
Moira just gave her an understanding look and nodded, silently walking over to, where Felicity now noticed, the whole team was dressed in Team Arrow attire. Moira said something to Sara and Sara hurried over with the yoga pants.
"Hey, good to see you up, well sort of. Need some pants?" Sara tried to keep things light.
"What's going on?" Felicity would have none of that, she was going to help.
"Felicity…"
"No, I'm good, I can help. I just need to know the details." She said as Sara started to help her into a seated position. It was much easier than last time, she was no longer dizzy. But it hurt a little more due to less pain meds, but she could handle it. Sara started to help her into the yoga pants and explained the mission.
"We split up a couple hours ago to do some recon on the few locations Moira had pointed out. Roy came back with some activity on the west side of the Glades at an abandoned warehouse that Merlyn used to use as a front for elicit meetings. We were going to mobilize and confirm Merlyn's presence and decide whether to go in." Sara explained.
"You were gonna go in blind? Did everybody eat their crazy flakes this morning?" Felicity chastised.
"Well we had a decent idea that their would be security and we were going to decide after we had more information on…" Sara defended.
"Stop. I'll hack into the thermal imagery satellite, and get locations for you before you go. I just need help getting to my chair."
"Felicity, I don't think.."
"Ugghhhh! I'm alright! Just let me help!" Felicity yelled in frustration, which actually didn't help her case because she winced at the effort in raising her voice.
"Except for yelling, I shouldn't yell. Obviously. So don't make me mad, just help me." Felicity breathed out.
Oliver had heard her yell and rushed over.
"Felicity, are you…" He stopped speaking immediately when Sara put her hand on his chest and Felicity gave him an angry, frustrated look over her glasses.
Sara was the first one to speak.
"I'm going to help her to her desk, she's going to get us thermal imagery to get a handle on the guards at the warehouse downtown." The look Sara gave Oliver told him to keep his mouth shut and let it happen. Every muscle in his body tensed.
"Can I help you?" He said quietly after a long pause.
Felicity saw he was trying, and started to feel a little guilty at her reaction. She was just frustrated and worried about them.
"Sure, just watch my left. Obviously." Felicity half smiled apologetically.
As him and Sara helped her stand, she got the full extent of the effect her injuries had on her body. She still felt weak, and tired. Her shoulder and chest were throbbing. Her left hand was tingly and her arm was pulsing if she tried to hold it below her heart. She learned in just a few seconds to hold it up to her chest to relieve the pressure. They sat her down in her chair, which was uncomfortable and it was definitely more painful to sit up. She could handle it though, she needed to get them the information before they did something reckless. She was already uncomfortable and guilty with the fact that they had recon'ed the preliminary locations without her scoping them out first.
"OK, you guys didn't hurt anything major on my babies. You're lucky." She glanced at them sternly.
One-handedly she logged in and all her programs blinked active and 3 more screens all the sudden lit up.
"Oh thank god…" Sara sighed. Thankful, that their tech support was back up and running.
Felicity looked up the address, half way slower than normal. Very much annoyed at her type speed. Sara and Oliver, on the other hand, were astonished at how fast she could type with one hand and drugged.
"OK, 4 guards outside, 2 at each exit. 1 at the roof entrance." She paused trying to navigate one handed.
"I've got 5 people inside, 3 scattered on the 1st floor and 2 on the 2nd floor in the same room. We have to assume that if this is Merlyn, that's where he is. I'll stay on comms and keep you apprised of their movements." She looked up at them and they just stared at her for a second, then looked at each other.
Felicity was already annoyed and had no patience.
"Oh for the love of Alan Turing, GO! Moira and Thea are here if I need anything. Can we get Merlyn take care of please? So that Thea doesn't kill Moira." She covered her hand with her mouth with her right hand.
"I didn't mean to say that, I'm still on drugs and bitchy I'm sorry." She said to Oliver.
"Don't worry about it. Please rest if you have to, and ask for help if you need it." He put his hand on her right shoulder and she touched it with her own gently. As fleeting as it happened, they were leaving, Felicity sitting at her desk with the bothersome butterflies that always happened everytime he did something like that.
Before she knew it, it was just her, Moira and Thea. Thea had finally left the couch and come closer to Felicity and her computers to keep an eye on the action. Felicity assumes it was more so she could watch over Roy, whom she had been fairly clingy to in the lair over the past 16 hours when he was there. Thea made a point to stay at least a few feet away from her mother at all times and not speak to her directly. She wasn't doing much speaking at all really. Felicity can't imagine what it would be like to have to process everything she had, then watch the mission on a screen that could possibly kill her biological father. In her head, she knew he was a killer, but she was confused and had conflicting feelings about the whole thing in general. Let alone coming to terms with the fact that it was her brother that would probably execute the murder. That he would execute ANY murder was mindblowing.
Felicity was secretly hoping they would hurry there, get it done and get back so she could lay back down. This chair was killing her, and she was just hoping to make it through the mission without falling over, or something equally as embarrassing like passing out.
"So…" Moira chimed in to fill the silence. Felicity and Thea both whipped over to her with surprise. They had both been lost in her thoughts.
"Do you guys…do this type of thing…often?" She was asking if Oliver was still a murderer. He had said he changed, but she wanted some extra reassurance that her son wasn't as much like her as she feared. Not that she'd ever kill anyone willingly or on purpose, but let's face it, she was partially responsible for 503 deaths in the Glades.
Felicity just looked back at her computer and focused on the mission at hand.
"We do what we can to help. WITHOUT killing people….usually…." She was referring not only to today, but to the worst day of her life (prior to the night before), when Count Vertigo was killed on her behalf. She'd never forget that feeling of sorrow that Oliver had done that for her. His words after were sweet, but did little to assuage the guilt.
They finally popped on her thermal screen. She glanced at her GPS and watched them get into position.
"OK, same positions as when you left 3 on the first floor, 2 on the second."
"I'll take the roof, and head to the second floor. Dig, Roy, take care of the downstairs guards through the front. Sara, take the back and head up to back me up with Merlyn." Oliver ordered quietly over the comms.
Felicity and the Queen women sat and anxiously listened to the take downs and watched the thermal imaging one by one. All if the flinching at each loud grunt or noise.
"Sara, are you in position?"
"Right behind ya"
"Copy…."
They heard the door crash open and heard arrows whipping through the air. They heard the distinctive "clack" of Sara's bow staff and a grunt from her with a thud.
"Oh no…" Felicity said as quietly as possible, she didn't want to distract Oliver from the fight. She one-handedly moved the thermal image closer to get a better look. They saw one person on the second floor not moving, and two moving too fast to keep track of. They were flying back and forth into furniture, whipping arrows at each other.
"What's the matter Oliver? Having a hard time believing your sister is the daughter of a murderer? How about her brother. You thought you murdered me. Doesn't make you any better does it? I'll find her, you'll be dead, then I'll make her exactly. Like. Me." They all shuttered at Merlyn's words over the comms. Thea turned around unable to watch, or look at anyone in the face. Tears falling from her eyes to know her biological father was such a monster.
They heard Oliver grunt with force and saw on thermal that one figure had suddenly viciously attack the other with such speed and force that had trouble keeping up. Felicity was having trouble focusing more and more as the pain in her chest and arm started gradually getting worse. She wouldn't show it, but a sheen of sweat and a paler complexion would have given her away if anyone was observing. Right now that were all focused on the fight at hand.
Sara was starting to stir, but it seemed she was too slow. Diggle and Roy were held up downstairs as the guards all had automatic weapons and had them pinned. Oliver was on his own and it had the hearts of his girls back in the lair pounding. Suddenly, they heard Malcolm gasp in pain and surprise. Oliver had picked up a large, sharp broken piece of furniture, and rammed it into Merlyn's gut as he charged. Thea turned back around to see one of the figures drop and the other standing motionless. She put her hands to her mouth and let out a choked sob as she stared at the screen. She had just watched her brother kill her father. Moira put her hand on Thea's shoulder and Thea met her eyes. Moira sighed and pulled her into a relieved hug. It was going to be ok, Oliver was OK and Malcolm Merlyn was dead. Again… Felicity stared at the screen, half still worried, half thankful.
"Oliver…? Are you…"
"I'm OK, nothing Dig can't fix."
"Sara?"
She heard a soft grunt, followed by "I'll be alright, I'm mobile." Felicity watched her get up and slowly move over to Oliver on the thermal screen. She was moving slower now. Having broke into a full sweat, trying to keep herself upright from the pain that was now pulsing through her entire upper body with every heartbeat. She finally was able to move the thermal imager to the downstairs where Diggle and Roy were pinned.
"Oliver! Diggle and Roy, pinned on the first floor. Guards are in good position if you take the south stairwell and take them by surprise. There are only two left." She noted.
"On our way" he said.
They watched and listened, as Oliver and Sara easily took down the final two guards and Diggle and Roy announced they were ok as well. It looked like Sara had taken the brunt of any injuries. How they all managed to walk out this easily was a mystery to Felicity. She hated mysteries. They needed to be solved. She followed a hunch and looked up the blueprints to the building again. There was a basement. She looked at the thermals again. Nothing, she couldn't see it.
"Oliver, do you guys see a basement door anywhere?"
"No, why?" he said after a long pause.
"Hmm…"
"Felicity, what's up?"
"Shh." Was all she could get out, she was breathing heavily through the pain, and as fast as she could looking up the electric lines for the warehouse. There was definitely a huge amount of energy going to an underground structure.
"Oliver, you guys should…oh no. Guys GET OUT! There's a bomb in the basement, it must've been triggered when Merlyn died or I would have seen it before!" She yelled, ignoring the pain it caused. Moira and Thea had turned around and were watching the screen anxiously as they saw all four figures moving out of the building as fast as possible. Oliver was helping Sara who was a little slower due to her injuries.
"Guys hurry, I have no idea how much time you have or how big this bomb is, but the amount of energy it's sucking up I'm guess it's fucking huge!" Felicity said breathlessly over the comm. Grunting in pain every so often.
One they were in the car she told Diggle to hang a left, it was the clearest way off of the block as the other had path had construction equipment blocking part of the road. Felicity checked the area buildings to make sure they were all vacant. All for at least 3 blocks were abandoned, condemned, or had already fallen from the Undertaking and hadn't been rebuilt.
Suddenly the warehouse exploded lashing the thermal screen bright white, startling Felicity and the other women. As Felicity flinched back she yelped in pain and grabbed her chest.
"Felicity, are you ok?" she heard Oliver over the comm. But couldn't respond. She just focused on breathing through and not moving.
Moira put her hand on Felicity's good should and slowly turned the chair around, seeing Felicity's pale, sweaty face for the first time in too long. She couldn't believe she missed this and that she wasn't keeping a closer eye on Felicity. The fight was just so much to take in and everything had happened so fast. How do they do this every day? And how did Felicity sit behind and watch and listen unable to do anything but help from here? It was torture.
"Hey…hey Felicity. Look at me." Moira said trying to meet her gaze which was glazing over pretty quickly.
Thea was running over to the med bay to find the pain medication Diggle had used, but didn't know which one to pick.
All Felicity could hear was buzzing in her ear as she tried to keep breathing in and out. As the pain started to subside she heard Moira and Thea's frantic voices again.
"….licity. Can you hear me honey?" "Felicity, snap out of it."
She grunted in response and looked up at Moira with a pained expression. She was in too much pain not to trust her right now. There was no choice. She knew she needed help. Having overexerted herself good and proper.
"Diggle she's not answering, I hear my Mom yelling. Hurry up." Felicity heard Oliver over the comm.
"I'm al…" Felicity started but then panted. "I'm al…right…..I'm ok." She whispered.
Moira just looked at her eyes.
"No your not. It's over now, they're ok. You need to lie down. Right NOW!" Moira exclaimed.
Felicity knew she wasn't going to be able to make it to the couch on her own. 'Son of a bitch' she thought to herself as she grabbed Moira's hand a little firmer and started to get up.
"Whoa." Moira said as Felicity stood on wobbly legs with her help.
"Thea, help me, she gonna go down any second…" With that Thea was around her left hip, trying to keep Felicity upright long enough to get to the couch. Why did have to be so far?
Just as they were finally laying her down on her good side and covering her with a blanket, they heard the door alarm sound and Oliver's voice yelling her name. The last thing Felicity remembered was seeing his face, bloody and brusing. He touched her face and kissed her forehead as she finally passed out.