A/N: So... Yes. I'm still alive. As is this story! I got caught up in my own novel and just sort of put this on the back burner. I'm so so sorry. I hope this chapter makes up for it in some ways.
I want to thank you all again for your investment in this story, for giving me the courage to move forward in my writing.
*happy tears* Y'all are wonderful.
XOXO
Oliver sized the men up through the bars, noting each of the weapons on their respective person. He took a step back, showing his willingness to comply. The cell door opened and the closest guard to it stepped inside to secure cuffs around Oliver's wrists.
He was then led down a myriad of halls, mentally keeping count of all the people they passed on their way. When Alan took a door at the end of the hall, harsh rays of sunlight flooded the area, momentarily blindsiding Oliver. It was already midday, he realized anxiously. The seconds were ticking away on Waller's deadline. He had to get Felicity off of this island, and fast.
Oliver kept a comfortable distance between Alan and himself as he followed the man across the open area between buildings, furtively glancing around the now sunlit compound. He counted thirteen inhabitants roaming about the base in addition to the eight he'd passed inside, not including the five bodies shadowing him currently.
He wondered how many were merely hired guns versus Mordecai devotees; if more were in it for the money, he might find unlikely allies with those more concerned with avoiding the desolation of Battleship Island (which is how he'd been mentally referring to it). On the other hand, if they were actually committed to the "cause" or worse – brainwashed - they might all be more than willing to go down with the ship alongside its captain.
The posse approached the watchtower and Oliver was ushered inside the circle room once again. This time the area was abuzz with activity. Personnel filled it - each performing unknown tasks at various workstations - but Oliver's eyes immediately landed on Felicity where she sat completely in her element at one of the computers. If she'd noticed their arrival, she didn't show it, so entranced was she by the screen in front of her.
In fact they all were, as had been the dozens of others he'd seen on the base – completely focused on the work at hand that there was no way to know the inherent danger they were all in. Brainwashed or not, these people must still possess the instinctual will to live. At least, Oliver hoped as much.
"Listen to me," Oliver announced to the room. When only Felicity turned toward his voice, he repeated it louder. "You're all in danger. A.R.G.U.S. knows where you are. They're going to take out this entire island very soon. You need to evacuate. Now."
Around the room, there was a collective lack of reaction to Oliver's warning. Alan - who'd had a hand resting atop one of the desks while reading over its computer screen - straightened slowly, clapping the shoulder of the young Indian man sitting there in approval before turning toward Oliver. His face was unconcerned.
"I'm serious, Alan. Mordecai," Oliver corrected. "I'm guessing I've been here, what, 13 hours? Four hours before that Amanda Waller told me they'd be sending a missile to this location. That leaves you more than enough time to pack up and leave. Get your people out of here," he urged, growing anxious.
"Actually, son, you have your time table a little wrong. A.R.G.U.S. is prepping their missile for launch now. Set to deploy in," he dramatically raised his arm to read his watch face. "20 minutes."
Black spots entered Oliver's vision as the blood rushed from his head. "How long have I been here?" he asked solemnly.
"Just over six hours." The answer came from Oliver's right, where Felicity regarded him with sympathetic eyes from the chair she'd swiveled to face him. He met her gaze, unwilling to accept the revelation.
"I guess Waller wasn't being entirely truthful with you," Alan stated. He sounded smug, pleased even with that fact. Oliver's hands twitched in the cuffs in front of him, fingers aching for an arrow to drive through his heart.
"Then why are you still here?" Oliver seethed, tearing his eyes away from Felicity before she could see the murderous glint behind them.
"Do you really think one missile concerns me?" Alan asked with a laugh. "Look around you at what I've built. Look at what I've done. That missile is only able to launch thanks to computer commands that I developed; can only find its intended target thanks to tracking algorithms that I wrote! I'll be able to change its trajectory the second it launches. That missile, and all of A.R.G.U.S. for that matter, belongs to me!"
The god-complex was not lost on Oliver. "The world will be at the mercy of whoever possesses the smartest computer," he quoted, meeting Alan's half-crazed eyes. Alan's features changed, recognizing his words from Oliver. He approached and squared off with him, despite the difference in height. "And I knew it would be me even when I wrote that," Alan replied low enough for only Oliver to hear. "You think you know me because you can quote my thesis? Would you like to guess to where I'll be retargeting the missile?"
The sounds of the surrounding room muted at Mordecai's whispered threat. Oliver didn't have to guess, he knew with sickening assurance what he intended. "You should have never left Starling City."
Oliver stared at the man before him in shock. Of all the judgments he'd made against Felicity's father, he'd never considered him capable of mass murder. "The people of Starling aren't a threat to you! Don't do this."
Alan sneered, no traces of his earlier jovial demeanor remaining, "No one is a threat to me. And I'm not doing this. A.R.G.U.S. and Amanda Waller are." He turned away to once again glance over a nearby work station, peering above the rims of his glasses at the coding displayed on the screen. "It's unfortunate, I'll admit. I never intended for this to happen, but it'll actually turn out to be just the catalyst I need. Happy accidents can lead to perfect timing," Alan said, throwing Oliver a wink over his shoulder. Oliver made to move toward him, his body reacting on its own accord with his mind only catching up when two sets of hands firmly clamped down on his shoulders.
"Just after the rest of the world receives word that Starling City has been attacked, global communications will go dark. Any and all devices linked to an outside network will be rendered useless – phones, computers, tablets, cars, planes, TVs, you name it! The world insisted on having the internet at their fingertips, staking their entire lives on its functionality. A World Wide Web they've constructed bit by bit, taking them to new heights, expanding their limitless scopes... but everything has limits – a beginning and an end. And now they'll look back on this web they've built only to find they've entangled themselves in a snare of their own making, offered as the meal to the spider that not only knows the ins and outs and limits of the entire design, but calls it home." Alan paused, his own words seeming to surprise him. "Pretty damn poetic, don't you think?"
But Oliver's mind was reeling. Could he really have the means to send the whole world into a blackout? "It's a virus. That's what you've been working on all this time? Improving, creating, a computer-based world just so you can be the one to tear it down?" Oliver asked, sneaking a glance at Felicity, whose wide eyes darted around the room's work stations, a mixture of disbelief and terror marking her expression.
"I consider it more of an anti-viral cocktail – cleansing the world of the deadly disease they willfully contracted. I'm saving them with this! I call it 'Hadassah,'" he spoke the name as a father who's proudly introducing his daughter, causing Oliver's gut to twist in disgust.
"You said Hadassah was just a pet project." Felicity could apparently hold her tongue no longer. She stood from her chair to move closer to Alan. "A last resort, if worse comes to worse, and ALL else fails type of thing! You can't level an entire city full of innocent people. That's not who you are! Hadassah isn't even finished yet. You told me that." She gripped Alan's arm as she spoke, forcing him to face her. Oliver could see in her face that she wanted it all to be some kind of misunderstanding, wanted the father she still looked at with trust to set her mind at ease. He was also fairly certain she hadn't seen the look of disdain and outright contempt which had flashed across Alan's face as he turned toward her. But Oliver had, and his hands clinched into fists in front of him at the sight.
"I didn't lie to you, Felicity. Hadassah is not finished. But I couldn't tell you that she was the ultimate goal because I doubted, and it seems rightfully so, your resolve."
"Of course I'm not on board for this!" she exclaimed. "It's mass murder. Initiating Hadassah is one thing, but this… stop the launch and let's just leave. You can finish the program somewhere else, somewhere safer," she pleaded, voice firm and as unyielding as Oliver remembered.
"I'm finishing it right here, right now. There's only one final piece."
"What's that?" she asked him worriedly. Alan locked eyes with two of the guards across the room briefly before raising a hand to touch her cheek. "You," he answered at the same time the men began moving toward her.
They hadn't completed their first step before Oliver threw his elbow into the gut of the man flanking his left. The guard on his other side didn't have time to react before Oliver whipped his enclosed fists across his jaw, catching the rifle he released and slamming its butt against the left guard's temple. He tossed the rifle in the air again, catching the handle in his still cuffed hands and letting the back portion rest on his forearm, and trained the weapon on the approaching guards.
Felicity had barely moved at all during the scuffle save for releasing Alan's arm and moving away from him to watch the scene unfold. The rest of the room's occupants watched, frozen in their seats. "Nobody move!" Olive yelled anyway, kicking the rifle away from the unconscious guard and toward Felicity. She planted a firm foot on top of the weapon, but didn't move to pick it up off of the floor. The guards on the other side of the room had pulled their side arms, but Felicity and Alan stood between them and Oliver.
His heart was pounding in his ears as precious seconds ticked by. "Everyone get on the floor. NOW!" he roared, causing several of the technicians to comply immediately.
"What's your plan?" Alan asked, seemingly unbothered by the interruption. "Any second now more of my men will come through that door. Are you going to cause a fire fight, one that will inevitably kill you and leave Felicity in the cross hairs?"
Oliver could plainly see the fear in her eyes as her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths. Then, surprising them all, she dipped to the ground to retrieve the gun at her feet in one fluid movement. The sudden action distracted the guards long enough for Oliver to send two bullets over Felicity's lowered frame into each of their arms, causing their guns to drop to the floor. Someone screamed, but the noise was drowned out by the spray of automatic gunfire coming from Felicity's hands.
The remaining seated technicians along with Alan dove to the floor as she fired upon the computers on the left side of the room. Oliver followed suit by taking out the ones on the other side. Sparks flew from the machines and smoke filled the room. He saw Felicity go down in his peripheral vision and rushed to where Alan was now wrestling the weapon from her hands. Oliver was about to plant a boot in his face when the door behind him burst open.
He managed to shoot the first two in the kneecaps before the third rushed him, knocking the precariously balanced weapon from his arm. Oliver head-butted him before thrusting his knee into the man's groin. Arms wrapped around him from behind, he threw his head back into the unseen assailant and rounded to finish him off when Alan's voice rose above the commotion. "Stop."
Felicity was on her knees in front of Alan, blood smeared across her quivering lip. A sight that would've had Oliver's hands around Alan's throat, cuffs be damned, if not for the gun he had trained at the back of her head. "You fool! All you succeeded in doing was ensure that the missile destroys this island. It won't stop Hadassah," he spat out, motioning the other guards forward with the gun. "Kill him."
"No! Oliver!" Felicity screamed, starting toward him before Alan's hand clamped down on her shoulder. Then she stilled, not because he had stopped her, but because she now wore the same stunned expression on her face as her father. Oliver hadn't told her his name. And judging by Alan's reaction, neither had he. She'd remembered it on her own. Her wide eyes met Oliver's in amazement.
"Wait," Alan spoke to the guards surrounding him. He considered Oliver for a weighted moment, something akin to unadulterated hate in his eyes. "I think I'd rather he behold the fruits of our labor first." A technician was busy setting up a laptop behind him. He instructed her to link directly to the satellite, as there was not time to breach A.R.G.U.S.'s mainframe security manually.
Oliver hadn't taken his eyes off of Felicity since she'd spoken his name. Until Alan's next command filled the room. "Hold her down." Panic overwhelmed Oliver. He shook off the holds on his arm and kicked a nearby shin hard enough to hear the bone shatter. A blow to the back of his neck sunk him to his knees, discombobulating his senses, but not making him lose consciousness. A knee in his back forced him to fall forward onto his chest. He managed to keep his head up though and found himself eye level with Felicity, whose own chin was propped against the floor as two men held her limbs down. Tears pricked at her eyes as she struggled against them to no avail. Oliver fought against the blurriness forming in his vision.
"This will only take longer if you struggle, baby. Relax. It will all be over soon." Alan's attempt at comfort fell flat on his lips as he opened a box of surgical tools beside him. He retrieved a scalpel and Oliver again attempted to rise. Several sets of hands held his limbs to the ground as another knee and 200 more pounds of weight was added to his back. "I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch! Do you hear me, Alan Smoak? I don't care who you are, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Felicity closed her eyes, tears spilling over and puddling on the floor in front of her face. Alan pressed his fingers along her shoulder before finding the intended spot and held his left thumb against it. He pointed the tip of the scalpel against her skin, drawing a whimper from Felicity's firmly set mouth, before driving it fully in. She screamed into the floor as Alan made the incision, a sound that was sure to haunt Olier for the rest of his life, however long that may be. He couldn't help it, he fought against the weight holding him down despite its futility. The knees in his back dug deeper, pinning his hands painfully underneath his body. He felt a pop and knew that his left wrist had just broken.
"Felicity, look at me. Look at me," he commanded, ignoring the searing pain in his wrist. She opened her slightly unfocused eyes at him. "Focus on me." Above her, Alan finished the incision and set the scalpel aside to retrieve an abnormally long pair of tweezers. "Focus on me, Felicity. Focus on my voice. Nothing else."
The tweezers dipped and she bit her lip to muffle the sob coursing through her. She kept her eyes open to him though, gaze now unwavering. "That's right. You're okay. We're okay." Oliver repeated the mantra several times before Alan leaned back on his heels, studying the small object held by the bloody tweezers in his hand. He dropped it in his other hand and wiped Felicity's blood away before holding it up in front of his face. "Hadassah," he crooned, showing what looked to be some time of SD card to the others around the room.
Alan rose and handed the card over to the girl at the laptop, who began thoroughly cleaning it. "I started writing her years ago, but I was limited," he explained, wiping his hands with a towel. "Limited by the current technology, and by the always watchful eyes of my employers. By the time I finished her, Waller was breathing down my neck and I didn't have the means to implement her into the global network. I was forced to hide her until I was ready. Until the world was ready."
"You hid a computer virus inside your own daughter." Oliver hadn't the appropriate description to put into words the level of his disgust. Felicity had laid her cheek against the concrete floor, breathing through her nose and out her mouth, no doubt fighting her body's urge to pass out.
"She was going under for oral surgery. I took my chance. The doc did a fine job, no harm was done. Not even a scar." Oliver recalled Donna's slightly embarrassed telling of her almost encounter with the ghost of Alan Smoak at the hospital. But he hadn't been there as a concerned father like she'd assumed. He'd been there to hide his most valued creation inside his conveniently knocked out teenage daughter.
Alan bent down next to Felicity and laid his hand against her hair. "It's all right, baby. The worst is over."
"Get your hand off me," Felicity demanded with a startlingly amount of life in her. Startling to Alan, but not so much to Oliver. That was his girl, the Felicity he knew and loved. Her arms now free, she slowly moved her hand toward her side, gripping the fabric of her pants.
Alan rose and moved toward the laptop once again. "Where are we?"
Oliver didn't hear the answer though because Felicity had discreetly removed an object from her pants pocket. She drew up her chin to meet his confused eyes. Moving her hands in front of her, she switched the mysterious object over to her right hand, gripping it firmly in her fist before bringing her free fingers to Oliver's eyes, shutting his lids. He sensed her sudden pivot onto her side before a flash turned the black of his closed eyes red, followed by several startled yells.
The weight on his back lifted and Oliver opened his eyes to see the familiar commotion that was the after effect of one of his flash grenades. He rolled, knocking the disoriented guard into the wall, and rounded to his feet. A collective state of panic filled the room as he scanned over the frantic occupants and through the smoke, looking for Felicity. He spotted her by the technician's laptop just when another guard aimed his pistol at her back. Oliver easily seized the gun from his outstretched hand and reared his elbow into his nose.
Felicity had pulled the laptop off of the desk and whipped it across Alan's face before running back to Oliver. "Let's go!" Apparently she was in charge now, so Oliver let her lead him out of the smoky disarray. She closed the door behind them, quickly entering a code into the keypad above the knob which seemed to lock it. He opened his mouth to point out that there were two doors to the room, but she was already rushing toward the exit.
They ran through the open area of the compound which was now seemingly deserted. With the sea now in view, she stopped abruptly on the other side of the building where he'd been held earlier. "Give me the gun," she ordered. When Oliver didn't immediately comply, instead fixing her with a blank stare, she grabbed the gun from his bound hands. Muttering something under her breath that sounded something like "chauvinist males," she tossed the laptop to the ground and fired three rounds into it before turning to him once more.
"Hold out your hands."
"Felicity-"
"If you like the cuffs that much I'll get you some later. And no, that wasn't kinky. Hold out your damn hands!"
Oliver did so, looking purposefully away as she positioned herself beside his arm and fired. He looked down at the severed link between the cuffs and back up at her in awe. "Not that you aren't any with your hands cuffed, but I figured this would be better," she explained quickly, turning to run again. "Again, NOT kinky," she called over her shoulder.
They had just reached the edge of the building when a guard rounded the corner, pointing his automatic rifle at Felicity. "Drop it!" he yelled. Oliver made to shove Felicity behind him, but the splintering sound of automatic weapons fire filled the air before he could get there. "NO!"
The guard's body convulsed violently as bullets whizzed through him, blood splaying out around him in an eerie halo of red before he collapsed at Felicity's feet. Oliver's heart was hammering in his chest as he moved in front of her, checking her frozen form for bullet holes. She shook her head to answer his unvoiced question – she hadn't been hit.
The young Indian technician that Oliver had seen in the control room earlier came into view. "We need to get off this island. Missile is en route!" He told him in a heavily accented voice. Not having the time to judge man's motives, the trio took off toward the beach. Oliver was surprised to see several motor boats already fleeing the island. It seemed some still had their good sense after all.
A bullet whizzed past Oliver's head, pelting into the sea wall in front of them. "DOWN!" The Indian man yelled, turning just as Oliver shoved Felicity to the ground, and took aim. He fired and Oliver saw a man drop from the watch tower roof.
"You're A.R.G.U.S.," Oliver deduced, pulling Felicity to her feet beside him.
"Not for much longer if we don't keep moving."
Only one boat remained tied to the small dock. They set off toward it, feet clamoring in chorus against the weathered wood. Felicity climbed in first, followed by their new friend who immediately went to work cranking up the engine. Oliver had just finished untying the rope that secured it to the dock when a voice cried out from the beach.
"WAIT! Felicty! Please wait!" Alan was yelling as he ran toward the dock. Oliver jumped into the boat, tossing the rope aside. The engine roared to life and Oliver turned to Felicity, who sat watching her father's approaching form. He made it to the dock when she spoke firmly. "Go."
"Felicity-" Oliver objected halfheartedly. He wanted nothing more than to leave Alan Smoak behind, but he was still her father.
"I said go!"
Their Indian A.R.G.U.S. friend obeyed, accelerating the boat away from Battleship Island. Felicity kept her eyes on Alan's ever-shrinking form as they distanced themselves from the dock. Oliver watched her carefully; no signs of remorse showed on her face. Finally she turned away.
The ripped fabric of her T shirt flapped in the wind, revealing the amateur incision in her shoulder and the cascade of blood upon her ivory skin. Hate rose within him once more at the sight. Oliver couldn't blame her for leaving Alan behind, and couldn't blame her for turning away then. But when he saw the missile flying overhead toward the island, Oliver turned around.
He'd watch for the both of them.
They rode in silence across the water as the destruction slowly disappeared behind them, until only the cloud of smoke emanating from the island was still visible. Oliver had cleaned Felicity's wound as best he could with no supplies. Her lack of physical or emotional response unnerved him, but he didn't dare ask her if she was okay.
That had always been the question he loathed the most after his return from Lian Yu. He could only assume it would bother her as well, now having undergone her own island, both literally and metaphorically. He continued watching her anyway, looking for any signs that she was about to break. But there was nothing. Only the tense set of her shoulders, the hard line of her closed mouth, and the deafeningly loud silence.
He had just begun to wonder what exactly their plan of action would be once reaching Japan's coast with no papers, passports, or IDs of any kind when she finally spoke.
"So…" she began awkwardly, causing Oliver to let out a relieved breath of air. "Do you ever take that mask off or is it permanently grafted into your skin?"
His answering smile was fleeting, as he was hyper-aware of the additional set of eyes in the small boat. Jai, who'd introduced himself after the explosion, kept his eyes scanning the surrounding water from his position at the motor.
"Don't stop on my account. I've known who you are for quite some time," he told Oliver, shrugging nonchalantly. At this point was there anyone who didn't know the Arrow's true identity, Oliver wondered and shook his head, amused. Apparently he was the exception to the a-man-can't-live-by-two-names rule after all.
Felicity watched, intrigued, as he lowered his hood and removed the mask. He felt very exposed under her intrinsic gaze. Self-conscious as if he'd just stripped down naked in the boat rather than revealing only his face. "Huh," was all she said, leaving him frustrated.
"What?"
"What? Oh, nothing! It's nothing. I mean, it's not nothing. It's a good face, as far as faces go. Very good," she answered, looking down when her cheeks pinked slightly. "It's just that the mask, the hood…they don't make that much of a difference, do they? They don't really mask what's going on underneath."
He laughed at the deep layer of truth in her words. She tilted her head to the side, smiling slightly despite having missed the joke. "It's easier to hide from some more than others," he answered.
"Really."
He nodded, now studying her intently again. "Do you remember?" he asked hopefully.
"Sorry, no," she answered quickly, dropping her gaze.
"But you called my name. You took one of my flash grenades."
"I know," she admitted. "I can't explain it. It's almost like the name came out all on its own. Definitely wasn't a conscious decision on my part. And as far as the flash grenade, I don't know. I just acted on instinct, I guess."
Oliver was disappointed, but not overly. She had been acting just as Felicity would have before, memories intact or not.
"We've got incoming," Jai announced. Oliver followed his line of sight and spotted the inbound boat heading straight for them a couple hundred yards out.
"Any chance we can out run them?" Felicity asked.
"None," Jai answered gravely, placing the rifle beside him, partially hidden behind his right leg. Oliver checked the magazine in his own gun and confirmed his suspicion: only 3 rounds remaining. He'd have to make each one count.
When the approaching boat was close enough to hear, Jai and Oliver braced themselves. Felicity glanced down at her empty hands before looking across the water. "Guess I'll just keep my fingers crossed then."
Oliver was very aware of their limited space in the tiny vessel, they'd be sitting ducks. Short of throwing Felicity overboard, there would be no way of defending her. And he was actually considering doing just that when the boat got close enough for the two passengers to become discernible.
He let out a relieved breath again and touched Jai's shoulder to lower his weapon. "It's okay," he told him.
Oliver stood up, positioning his feet on either side of the boat to balance his weight as the other vessel slowed its approach. It coasted several yards next to them before idling near enough for Oliver to catch the rope Roy threw out toward him.
"It's about time you showed up!" Oliver called out as Roy laughed and pulled the rope. Diggle walked around the steering wheel of the sleek speed boat and grinned broadly.
"That's a cute boat you got there," Digg said with a laugh, reaching across the remaining space to grab Oliver's outstretched hand and pull them over. He hopped over to stand next to Digg, immediately clapping his arm across his back. "It's really good to see you," Oliver told him.
Diggle returned his hug before pulling away to glance back down toward the other boat. Felicity was standing, holding her arms out beside her in order to better balance, and Digg reached over to grasp her hand. "Looks like the mission was a success then," he said as he helped (or more accurately, lifted entirely) Felicity into the other boat.
Jai followed behind her, needing no assistance. Which was good considering that Roy and Diggle were now completely transfixed by the sight of Felicity Smoak standing before them. She smiled politely, tucking a short strand of hair behind her ear as she shifted nervously under their gaze. Oliver, sensing her discomfort, cleared his throat, garnering their attention.
"Felicity, this is John Diggle and Roy Harper. Friends," he introduced. Digg and Roy shot him an incredulous look. Roy recovered quicker, offering his hand to Felicity. Diggle held Oliver's eyes for a beat longer, conveying much more sympathy and sadness and support than could ever be said aloud. Felicity didn't know them, but she was alive. She was back with them. The rest of the stuff would work itself out later, Diggle told him all of this in that one look.
Oliver nodded, turning toward Felicity again. She held out her hand to John, meeting his eyes once more. After a brief hesitation he accepted it, smiling warmly at her. Oliver could see the glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes as he shook her hand, letting a full three seconds pass before he finally said "screw it," and enveloped her in a hug.
"Oh!" She exclaimed, reaching up to pat the back of his shoulder while he continued squeezing her. "I take it we're friends, too."
John chuckled softly, closing his eyes to rest his cheek against her hair briefly before releasing her and stepping away. "That's right. And I'm damn glad to see you, Felicity."
She genuinely smiled at that, some of the awkward nervousness seeming to fade away since Digg decided to break the ice all at once. Roy laughed. "I second that!" he said.
Felicity laughed too, reaching up to touch her temple as if adjusting the glasses that weren't there, before dropping her hand to her side.
John moved back behind the steering wheel. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready to go home."
"I second that," Oliver spoke softly, knowing that Diggle couldn't have heard him. Felicity glanced sideways at him though, a soft smile playing at the corner of her lips. Her eyes were sad, he noted, but not defeated. Not broken. Oliver felt immensely lighter all of the sudden, fully comprehending for the first time that they had made it out. And Felicity was right beside him.
She was here. She was safe. She was here. She was safe.
The chorus of words played over and over in his mind as he dropped onto the bench in front of the steering wheel beside Felicity. He stretched his legs out before him, completely relaxed in feeling the presence by his side.
She was here.
She was safe.
Everything else they could deal with. Together.
AAN: Not done just yet guys. One more chapter. And here's a hint... it's titled: Who in the world is Felicity Smoak? Which features the POV we've been waiting for all along.
:)
Oh and sorry for any errors. I was in a rush to get this typed and sent out for y'all to read!