A/N: For FF#14 Oops!

The Peril of Heels

It was the kind of thing that made a girl reconsider wearing high heels.

She had just sent Digg home and was humming to herself as she crossed the lair, heading to get a leftover egg roll. Hearing an odd rushing noise she looked up at the pipes that coursed across the ceiling. She had just enough time to register the drop of water that hit her face before she felt her right foot slide away from her body. Throwing out her hands she tried to maintain her balance, but four inch heels and wet uneven concrete were a disastrous combination. She felt the pop in her right ankle just before her hands slammed into the floor. The final insult was hearing several inches of the seam of her brand new pencil skirt rip as her left knee crashed painfully against the ground.

For a second she couldn't move, stunned by the fall. Letting out a groan as she started to pick herself up she heard Oliver's voice in her ear. "Felicity, you okay?"

Right, she was still connected to Oliver. He was out harassing the latest con artist to sweep through Starling and was on his way back. "I fell," she said, even as she tried to pull her right leg back under her she could tell something was wrong with her ankle.

"You fell?" Oliver said, sounding confused.

"There's a pipe leaking," she said, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice. "It made the floor slippery." She grit her teeth as she reached down to pull off her heels, but even still a hiss of pain snuck out between her lips.

"That's not good," Oliver said, sounding truly worried for the first time. "I'm almost there."

"It's not a big deal," she protested.

"I'm almost there," he repeated firmly, as if she hadn't spoken, and in the background she heard the sound of his bike engine growl as he apparently picked up speed.

Rolling her eyes, Felicity used her bruised hands and her left leg to climb unsteadily to her feel. Looking down at herself she grimaced, her light blue skirt was wet and grimy, the ragged seam split to mid-thigh which gave her a great view of her bleeding left knee. She reached up and muted the connection to Oliver. "Lovely," she muttered.

Hobbling across the room she made it to her chair and sat down. She wiped her hands on a cleaner bit of her skirt and leaned down to examine her ankle. If anything it was getting more painful as she sat, and it felt oddly squishy as she tried to move it. She was just about to Google sprained ankles when she heard Oliver pounding down the stairs.

He pushed his hood back as he walked toward her, a really adorable look of pure concern visible even behind the mask. "Are you alright?"

"Watch that spot," she said as he crossed the floor. "Though I suppose motorcycle boots are probably better for that kind of thing."

Ignoring her comment he set his bow on a table and came to stand in front of her, his eyes coasting over her quickly. "That ankle could be broken," he said, zeroing in on it. "We'd better get you to a hospital."

She leaned back in her chair, staring up at him. "Seriously? You're going to make me go to the hospital for a sprained ankle? I don't think so."

Pulling his gloves off, he knelt down beside her, and she had to swallow hard as he took her ankle in his warm hands. It was a fascinating combination having something hurt and yet feel so good at the same time. However when his hand pushed up on her heel she couldn't help but let out a little gasp of pain.

He looked up at her, his hand sliding up to squeeze her knee. "It really could be broken. We definitely need to have a doctor look at it."

Trying not to notice that his thumb was tracing little patterns against her knee, she attempted to sound indignant. "Well, we wouldn't if you'd agreed to that x-ray machine."

She was rewarded with one of his rare genuine smiles, and he gave a little shake of his head. "We have to be a little more frugal these days remember?" Pushing to his feet, he walked toward their first aid supplies and came back with antibacterial wipes and a bandage. "Why don't you take care of that knee while I go change."

He was back in minutes, by which time Felicity had managed to get her hands cleaned up and clamp the bandage over the goriest spot on her knee. Grabbing her coat and purse he handed them to her and said, "Get your keys for me, will you?"

"My keys?" she said, frowning.

He looked at her like she'd hit her head. "I don't think you want to drive with a broken ankle and I can't very well stick you on the bike like this."

Part of her wanted to protest, to insist that she could take care of herself, but he did have a point, and her ankle was really, genuinely starting to hurt. She handed him her keys as he came over to her and she put her arm up, expecting his help to stand. Instead she found herself being easily scooped up into his arms. "Oliver!"

"What?" he grunted, moving them toward the stairs. It wasn't the first time he'd carried her like this, but the last time they'd been in a life threatening situation and she'd had a concussion so she hadn't been able to fully appreciate, or be unnerved by, just how good it felt to have his arms around her. Even with the ankle pain and the ripped skirt, the main thought she was wrestling with was how easy it would be for her to lean up and kiss that perfectly stubbled jaw of his.

"I don't need you to carry me, you could just help me walk," she protested, swallowing as he moved his hand slightly against the bare skin at the back of her knee to get a better grip as he started to climb the stairs.

He looked down at her and the gaze was warm with the slightest tough of humor. "This is simpler," he said.

"There's nothing simple about being this close to you," she said, the thought coming out of her mouth before she could stop it. Oops. "I mean…"

To her utter surprise he leaned down and planted a kiss against her hair. "I know what you mean." When he pulled back he smiled and nodded toward the door. "Now, put in the key code so we can get out of here."

Felicity reached out and punched in the six digit code, then allowed herself to relax into Oliver's hold as he carried her out toward her car.

Maybe wearing heels hadn't been such a bad choice after all.