A/N: Thank you so much! You all are the best! Enjoy, and let me know what you think.
It had never occurred to Felicity that she would need to secure the lair. Her wide startled eyes slid to Digg. He'd heard it too. His gun was in his hand, but he could't pull himself up. He waved her over, and she abandoned the cart to get to his side as quickly as possible.
Oliver still lay on the table above them, Hood disguise evident to anyone who might come down.
"Who is it? Looters?" she asked, worried
Digg shrugged one shoulder, not wasting time with words. "Find a weapon." he ordered and she looked around, lost. When her eyes landed on Oliver's discarded quiver she pulled an arrow from it and held it up proudly.
Digg just raised an eyebrow, "What? It's one of the ones that explodes." she said, and showed him the pointy end.
He muttered something under his breath about weapons training, but she stopped listening when the person at the top of the stairs called out.
"Hello! Is anyone there? Is Oliver Queen here?" he sounded young and scared, and when she peeked over Oliver it looked like the person was holding something.
"Get down!" Digg hissed and pulled her back
"Is Mr. Queen here? His sister is hurt...please!" there was a break in the desperate plea and she was up and around the table before Digg could do anything.
"Felicity!" he hissed at her, but she ignored him.
She stuck to the shadows as much as she could, and tried not to make any noise, but her shoe caught a cable and sent a small avalanche of concrete falling down.
"Is someone there?" the voice called again.
Felicity was closer now and when she looked up she could see a vaguely familiar face holding Thea Queen.
"Oh my god, Thea!" Felicity exclaimed and rushed up the stairs, the arrow long forgotten.
"Is she alright? What happened?" she asked as soon as she reached them. Thea had a gash along her temple and blood ran down the side of her face. Felicity looked at the kid again and realized he was the boyfriend, the one Oliver had saved.
"Come on, bring her down here." Felicity led the way, all thought of revealing the biggest secret in Starling City having flown from her mind in an effort to help Oliver's sister.
"I'm Felicity. Felicity Smoak." she provided, stepping carefully around down electrical cables.
"Roy Harper." he said
"I remember."
He stopped short when he saw Oliver laid out on the table and Digg who had managed to get himself to one knee and had his gun leveled on the newcomers.
"Down, boy." Felicity commanded, "It's Thea, she's hurt."
Digg gave her an incredulous look and flicked the safety back on. "Oliver is not going to be happy."
"Oliver can yell at me all he wants if he wakes up." she retorted, panic and stress threatening to overwhelm her again.
Roy, to his credit, kept his mouth shut at the obvious reveal that Oliver was the Hood.
"Here, lay her down here." Felicity said and shrugged out of her thin sweater to put under Thea's head. When she went to pull it off her left arm she cried out. The injury she'd forgotten about had made itself known.
"Felicity..." Digg said, concerned
"I'm ok." she said, taking long slow breaths through her nose until the nausea subsided.
She gritted her teeth as she took it off the rest of the way, but couldn't bring herself to look at it.
Roy didn't move far after he put Thea down, his hand grasped hers and it took only one look to know that he truly cared for her.
"What happened?" Felicity asked gently as she pushed the girl's matted hair aside to get a better look.
Roy scrubbed a rough hand over his head, "She was supposed to be getting out of the Glades. I was helping some people, but I made her leave in a truck. I don't know what happened...I came across the truck later but the front end was completely smashed in. She was..." he hid his face in his hands at the memory, "she was on the ground...I don't know..."
"Ok, ok." she said soothingly and grabbed one of his hands in hers, "We'll do what we can here, but she really should go to a hospital."
"No! She can't go anywhere! She's a Queen! Do you know what could happen if people recognized her, or him!" he said, wildly gesturing towards Oliver. "The public would tear them limb from limb if they caught sight of them." he was practically vibrating with fear
The thought struck her and she realized he was right.
"Ok, then you're going to have to help me." she was starting to shake again. Somehow she had ended up with everyones life in her hands.
"What do I need to do?" he said eagerly "Are you a nurse or a doctor or something?" his eyes cut to the obviously treated Digg and Oliver and the ground around her that was littered with discarded supplies.
"No, I'm just IT." she said quietly
Digg actually harumphed at this "Just IT, my ass." he slurred, "Like I'm just the chauffeur."
Digg had meant his comment to be supportive, and any other time she would have taken it like that, but faced with yet another gravely injured person in her care, she could feel all resolve leaving her.
Tears flooded her eyes, and she could do nothing to keep them from spilling over. "I am! I'm computers, and hacking, and tracking the bad guy. I don't know anything about taking care of someone. I don't even have a gold fish! If I did it would be dead, I haven't stepped foot in my apartment in days. I don't know the last time I ate. I was interrogated by the police, and stopped one doomsday device, only to miss the second and get buried alive in a superhero's secret lair! So no, Roy, I am not a nurse or a doctor, or even a veterinarian. I'm just IT." tears choked her and she couldn't speak anymore.
Everything felt numb, and she couldn't bring herself to look at Digg or even Roy just then.
"Then I guess IT means a lot more than I thought it did, because you seem pretty badass to me." Roy said
She couldn't help the half smile that crossed her face. She used blood and dirt stained hands to wipe her face and was sure she'd be a mess, but it didn't matter.
"Thank you, Roy." she said sincerely
"Anytime, Ms. Smoak." he replied and she wrinkled her nose.
"No. Only Detective Lance gets to call me Ms. Smoak." and although Roy didn't understand he tilted his head in acknowledgment.
Felicity took a deep breath and looked back at Thea. Other than the head wound she didn't appear to have any additional injuries, but her breathing was shallow and there seemed to be a long time in between breaths which Felicity didn't like.
"Roy, see that space over there where half the nightclub landed? I need you to dig out the rest of the medical cart and wheel it over here." if she could get Thea hooked up to the monitors she'd feel better about what was going on.
Roy didn't hesitate, and he was stronger than he looked if the way he tossed aside concrete was any indication.
"Grab that back up generator as well." she said over her shoulder.
It didn't take him long to do as she had asked. "Here, clean up her head while I hook all this together, alright."
She felt more at ease with cables and plugs than saline and gauze, and she gave a sigh of relief when the monitors came on just like they were supposed to.
Thea's heart rate was slow, and her oxygen levels weren't so great either. Felicity didn't want to worry Roy, but she didn't know how this was going to play out.
"What are you going to do?" he asked nervously, once again clutching Thea's hand in his.
"Start an IV and stitch closed that gash on her head before it can get any worse." she said evenly and missed his look of astonishment
"You are so not just IT." he declared
"Careful Felicity, I think you've got a groupie." Digg said and she leveled him with a look overtop her glasses.
She gave Roy the job of holding the bag of saline as it dripped steadily into Thea's arm. Her head only need a few stitches after Felicity got a look at it without the dried blood everywhere.
Thea opened her eyes only once. She was very groggy and obviously confused. Roy had called her name and she'd tried to look at him but it seemed too difficult. Her eyes kept falling shut, but the last time they opened Felicity noticed the girl's gaze fell onto the table behind them.
"Ollie?" she managed to breathe out and then she was gone again.
Felicity kept a close watch on the monitors and Thea's heart rate steadily improved. She instructed Roy to grab the oxygen tank and mask, which made his face pale, but she assured him it was just a precaution.
When Thea's oxygen levels went up he relaxed a little.
Roy's eyes kept flitting from Thea to Oliver, and the green hood that was still so obviously laid out beneath him.
"I never guessed. He saved me, and I've been trying to find him..." he said finally, "I even called him a wuss once." and Felicity actually choked when she heard that. Wuss was the last word she would ever use to describe Oliver.
"Definitely not a wuss." she clarified
"How'd you become a part of this. I mean, you didn't just learn about him, right?"
Felicity placed the last piece of tape to keep the dressing down on Thea's head, "It's a long story. And no, I've been working with him for months." her gaze settled on Oliver's slack, bruised face and a wave of emotion struck her so forcefully it took her breath away.
When she turned back Roy was very deliberately not looking at her.
"Here, I'll hold that for a bit, you get yourself cleaned up." she offered, and reached to take the bag from him but he wouldn't relinquish it.
"I'm fine." he insisted
"Rule number one of being a hero: Take care of yourself or you can't take care of anyone else."
"Is that really rule number one?" his eyes cut between her, and the prone forms of Oliver and Diggle and she could see the disbelief sketched across his face.
"Well, it should be!" she protested, and shoved some of her supplies into his hands. "With that attitude you'll fit in great." she grumbled
"Doesn't look like you follow your own advice too well." he countered, and looked pointedly at her numerous injuries.
She opened her mouth to respond and then snapped it shut, opting to glare at him instead. "I'm not a hero, so the rules don't apply to me." she threw back at him.
"What do you call the person who takes care of the heros then?" his lips tugged into half a smile accompanied by a cocky tilt of his head.
"Kid's right." came a voice from behind her and she spun so quick she made herself dizzy.
Oliver was awake.
She practically stepped on Digg in her haste to get to him. "Oh god! I didn't know if you were going to wake up!" she exclaimed, as she peppered his face with kisses, and brushed her own tears off his cheeks.
He hissed through his teeth when she leaned to heavily on his left side and she shot up, apologizing and smoothing her hands over his chest. One large hand captured hers and he brought it to his lips. "Thank you." he said, and she wondered if he could tell how close to losing it she really was.
Roy cleared his throat and Oliver's eyes shot over her shoulder. He took in the bag of saline the boy held and then followed the line to it's owner.
"Thea?" he said in confusion as his eyes landed on his sister
"Shhh, it's ok. She's alright. But we've got to get back to the mansion." she tried to keep him down, but he sat up under her hands.
He made to get off the table but she pushed harder, and he stayed put. She saw him narrow his eyes at Roy, and then glance down to see that he was still in his Hood disguise. "Felicity." he said, his tone low
"I didn't have a choice! Thea was injured, and I had to help her. But Thea doesn't know, ok. And we can keep it like that." she failed to mention the moment when his sister had opened her eyes and seen her brother, but Felicity was hoping her disorientation would keep her from remembering.
"I know you told me to stay away from the Hood, I mean, from you, but I really do want to work with you. I don't care if you're Thea's brother." Roy said haltingly, clearly overwhelmed at finally being in the presence of the man he idolized.
"Now is not the time." Oliver ground out, and slid off the table with Felicity's help. She wrapped an arm around his waist and let him lean on her for support.
"Digg." Oliver said, his eyes never leaving Roy.
"Yeah," Digg replied
"You mobile?"
Digg's response was to pull himself to a standing position, even if he was swaying some on the spot.
"Good, take the kid and go get the car." It wasn't a request
Roy looked torn, he clearly didn't want to leave Thea. Felicity took pity on him and steadied Oliver against the table before she took the bag from him. "Go on, Diggle can't drive with that leg. He'll show you where the cars are and then you can come back and get Thea."
He handed the bag over slowly and crouched low to brush hair from Thea's face. Felicity risked a glance at Oliver and he was glowering.
"Wait!" Felicity called out before Roy had gone two steps, he turned and looked at her in confusion. "Give me your hoodie."
His brows crinkled, but he started to shuck his jacket.
"He can't go out there looking like that." she said, and tilted her head towards Oliver, "His street clothes are buried under half a ton of rubble."
Roy's face cleared as he understood and held the red jacket out hesitantly to Oliver, who took it without a word.
"Thanks." Felicity said for him
Digg hadn't even made it to the stairs, and Roy caught up to him easily. She was glad to see him offer assistance, and was ever more glad to see Digg accept it.
"How is she?" Oliver asked, his face a mask now, and his tone that closed off one she hated.
"I'm not sure...I think it was a car accident. Roy said he had told her to leave, and she did, but then...he found her..." his eyes darkened and she trailed off, more frightened of the look on his face than she was of the earthquake.
"Oliver..." she said slowly and took one step towards him but he jerked back. Her breath caught in her throat and she tried not to be hurt. Felicity knelt next to Thea and busied herself with shutting off the IV while they moved her to hide how much Oliver had affected her.
When she faced him again, he was staring at the floor, avoiding her and his sister. She approached him slowly and took the hoodie from his hands and laid it on the table next to him.
Felicity reached for Oliver's top and slid it off his right arm. "Don't shut me out." she pleaded, hating how desperate she sounded, but something was screaming at her from the inside telling her this was big.
He started speaking and she had never heard him like that before, it was more than defeat, it was complete and total forfeit. "You were bright... so bright, and I thought it was enough to drag me out, and burn away all the darkness, but...it still has a hold on me. Maybe it always will." this hollow, dead voice could not be Oliver's.
She invaded his space then, chest to chest, toe to toe. She grabbed hold of his face and made him look at her. "I'm so sorry about Tommy." she blurted out, and he visibly flinched at her words. "I'm so sorry Thea got hurt." he tried to pull away but she held him tighter. "But you saved this city. We saved this city! You can't give up now."
He shook his head slowly and pulled her hands away, his fingers encircling her wrists. "No. I failed this city. I failed Tommy." the hard tone broke and she could see him fight for control.
"Stop it! People were saved because of you. They got out in time because of your actions. Half the Glades is still standing."
"And half isn't!" he roared, but she didn't back down. He was trying to intimidate her, but she saw through it.
She tried to pull her hands away but he held her tight. "It's too soon. You can't make any decisions right now." she didn't care if she sounded like she was begging, she felt like everything was slipping through her fingers and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
Her head and her heart were pounding, "Don't do this." she whispered "Please"
Roy came running down the stairs but neither of them moved.
"Big guy passed out in the car, but I think he's ok." He said and came to a skidding halt when he saw what he was walking in to. "Uh...sorry..."
They ignored him.
Their eyes were locked together and she wasn't going to back down for anything. "Please," she repeated, tears finally spilling over in complete abandonment of any humility she may have once had. Because she was all in. Not having him in her life was no longer an option for her.
His hands loosened slightly and she wasted no time in wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him as if the world depended on it. And maybe it did.
He didn't respond at first, and horror grew within her until, like a switch had been flipped, he kissed her back. One hand twisted in her ponytail, and the other clutched her hip to hold her solidly against him.
He drew back with a ragged breath and let his head fall to the hollow of her neck, "Don't let me. You can't leave me."
"I won't." she promised over and over again until she thought he might be beginning to believe her.
She smoothed her hand over his head one more time, "Come on, we need to get Thea out of here."
He didn't answer, but he stepped around her and began to crouch down like he was going to pick Thea up.
Roy stepped forward at the same time as Felicity.
"Oliver, let Roy get her." he shot a look over his shoulder, "You'll tear your stitches out." she admonished, "And I worked hard on those." She slid Roy's borrowed jacket over his arms, taking care with the left.
With a sigh he stood straight but didn't back up to give Roy any space. She made a mental note that they'd have to have a chat about the overprotective big brother routine he pulled out far too often.
Roy lifted her easily, and Felicity hurried forward to lay the saline bag on Thea's stomach and detach her from the oxygen.
Oliver led the way. The car was waiting by the back entrance, and Felicity rushed forward to check on Digg.
"How is he?" Oliver asked from behind her
"Just sleeping I think." she said in relief
Roy looked around nervously. They could hear sirens from every corner and there were still shouts and screams as buildings continued to collapse.
Oliver reluctantly slid into the back seat, "Give her here." he ordered, and Roy transferred Thea to her brother. Felicity jumped in on the other side, and checked Thea's pulse as Roy pulled away from Verdant.
The roads weren't as clogged as she thought they would be, but there were so many downed power lines and cracked pavements it made it hard to navigate. Roy was doing his best, but both Digg and Oliver groaned when he swerved suddenly to avoid debris and caused them to be thrown into the windows.
A mile outside the Glades it didn't look like anything was wrong except the power was out. She was amazed that Merlyn had managed to create something that could do such devastating, but precise damage.
Once they hit open highway she sat back and let her eyes shut for the first time in so long she couldn't remember. Her head spun, and she could feel herself start to shut down. The pain in her head that she'd been able to ignore until now, made itself known and throbbed mercilessly.
The injury to her arm had never been bandaged, she realized, and it seemed like just acknowledging it made it flare to life. She hissed in pain and dropped her head to hide her face from Oliver.
His hand slipped out from underneath Thea and reached over to cover hers. "You alright?"
"Yeah," she assured him, but the look he gave her let her know he didn't believe her.
Digg had woken up and directed Roy to enter the Queen estate through a back entrance. They pulled up at a side door and Digg got out stiffly and talked to the bodyguard on duty.
Roy took Thea back and waited as Oliver and Felicity exited the car. She had to lay a hand on the door frame and shut her eyes for a long moment to get the world to stop spinning, but other than her head and her arm she was fine.
"Take Thea to her room." Oliver directed, and Roy looked at her for help.
"I'll show you the way." she said, and left Digg and Oliver to assist each other into the house.
"You've been here before." Roy couldn't help but look around in amazement at the opulence he had just stepped in to.
"Just once, and it was not one of my finer moments." she told him, a flush of embarrassment rose in her as she recalled standing in front of Moira Queen without any pants on.
She thought she had remembered spying what looked like a teenager's room when she had been trying to find her way out of the mansion all those months ago, and as they ascended the grand staircase, she directed Roy in the correct direction.
The room he pushed open had to be Thea's. Felicity rushed forward and pulled the covers back so he could lay her down.
Her breathing was even and easy and her pulse was strong to Felicity's great relief.
Roy was shifting from one foot to the other and looked around the room several times, but always came back to focus on Thea.
"I'm sure she'd like you to stay." Felicity said as she fashioned a makeshift IV pole out of a hanger and the bed post. He looked like he wanted to bolt; that the differences in their lives was too much. She could relate to that.
"You sure the Queen's won't mind." he asked, but she noticed he took two steps closer to the bed
"Oliver is the only other Queen here and I'll make sure he doesn't." she assured him. "Speaking of which, I should go make sure they made it in alright. Just...yell real loud if you need something."
Halfway to the door a bout of dizziness hit her and she staggered sideways only to catch herself on a chair.
"Hey, you alright, Ms...Felicity?" Roy called out
It passed just like it had outside, but the pain in her head had grown and she rubbed her temple to make it go away. Maybe Oliver wouldn't mind if she claimed one of the guest rooms, just for a little while.
"Felicity." Roy called again and she waved him off
"I'm fine, just tired."
She held her arm tight to her chest, any little movement made it scream in agony and she realized that before rest she was going to need to have that seen to.
She made it to the top of the staircase and saw Oliver and Digg only half way up. "You boys need a hand?" she asked
Two steps down her balance faltered as a roaring in her ears grew until it was all she could hear and her vision tunneled down to only the white spots that were now dancing in front of her eyes. She made a desperate grab for the railing and missed. The last thing she heard before she fell was Oliver yelling her name.
