A/N: Will Oliver get to the warehouse in time to save Felicity's life? What is Helena's plan in all of this? How awesome can Dig possibly be?

We're really getting down to it. Thank you again to EVERYONE for your outpouring of support for this story. All the tweets, reblogs, likes, kudos, comments ... they mean the world to me. I've been working on this story for SO LONG, and I wasn't even sure I'd ever be able to share it with you all so THANK YOU.

Biggest thanks goes to mersayseh because besides doing me the great service of beta reading, she also compelled me to finish and post this.

Two more chapters left after this!

John Diggle had been with the Queens ever since he'd returned from his fourth tour in Afghanistan. He'd known that war was over for him; he couldn't go back there again. Most of his original company that he'd first deployed with had either been killed, wounded or not re-signed with the Army. He couldn't go back without his men. Plus, his heart wasn't in that fight anymore.

No, not since his brother, Andy, was killed by the Chinese Triad in Starling City.

So he'd left one war for another. Two weeks back home in Starling had taught him that while he'd spent the last several years of his life fighting as a decorated soldier, he was in no way prepared for the battles that awaited him in his home city. The Triad worked him over good his first night home, left him with some scars that he wouldn't ever forget. It was lucky for him that his initial failures not only didn't get him killed but got him an in with the Queen family.

Robert Queen had come across him during one of these confrontations with the Triad and had taken him in, stitched him up, gave him a purpose within the family. He'd always be grateful for that.

Back then, Oliver had been a careless young man, disinterested in the mob business beyond what his father insisted he take part in. Even so, he developed a rapport with him right away. Diggle could see there was more to him than the selfish playboy that everyone else saw. He was proven right when the war with the Bertinelli family blew up and Oliver stepped up to do what had to be done.

Diggle was devoted to the Queen family. What's more, he thought of Oliver as his brother in arms. As such, Felicity was immediately important to him as well, by extension. Now, Dig had spent a good deal of time with the young woman in the last couple of weeks since Oliver had assigned him to be her bodyguard. He learned that Felicity was warm, intelligent, caring and loyal. So, while following her when she left the Queen mansion was his job, the concern he felt when he saw she was meeting someone at a warehouse was genuine.

He'd hidden around the corner from the warehouse door and made one last call to Oliver and God must have been smiling on him because finally the man had answered. While they talked, Dig found another door that looked like it was used for freight transport. It was standing slightly ajar and he slipped in, using the cover of crates to hide behind while he got a good look at just who Felicity was meeting. That was when he told Oliver he better get his butt down to the warehouse pronto.

The Bertinellis were bad news. Helena, especially so. Diggle continued to crouch behind the crates. He'd been on the front lines of the war between the families, had fought by Oliver's side, had been with him the night the assassination on Frank Bertinelli took place. Knowing what he knew, Dig couldn't quite figure out what Helena was doing with Felicity's father.

That is, until it became clear that Jerry Smoak had just been used as bait to lure Felicity out. Oliver was the real target and Felicity was the real bait. It was twisted and convoluted but that was Helena's wheelhouse, after all. He shouldn't have been surprised. But the problem was that now Dig had done Helena's work for her and Oliver was on his way. It was a trap. He tried to send a text as he watched the situation heat up, but Oliver remained silent. Dig knew that meant he was already on his way and probably was getting close.

He debated the merits of rushing out into the warehouse. As the situation obviously worsened, he wanted to rush out and save Felicity from what he could clearly see was coming. But the fact was that with three armed men, not to mention Helena who wasn't a bad shot herself, Diggle didn't stand a chance. It would be suicide. He didn't have much choice besides waiting for Oliver to show up. Hopefully this meant more backup from the rest of the Queen family wouldn't be far behind but he wasn't at all sure that Oliver would have thought to send out that particular beacon.

Out on the floor, Felicity was tied to the chair and Helena was taunting her. Jerry was starting to get worried and Diggle could read the writing on the wall. Quickly, he thumbed out a quick text message to Slade and Roy, asking them to marshal some forces and get down to the docks as soon as they could.

"Dig!" It was little more than a whisper but it felt loud to his ears. He whipped his head around to see Oliver creeping towards him, also using the crates as cover.

"Oliver, I shouldn't have called you. It's a trap," he whispered back.

When Oliver looked at him, confused, he pointed out at the Bertinelli's and Felicity. Just then, one of Helena's henchmen pulled out a gun and shot Jerry in the head. Felicity's scream rang out through the warehouse and Oliver clenched his jaw, clearly wanting to act. His tension increased a hundredfold when Helena turned a gun on Felicity. Now, he needed to act and Diggle understood that completely. But they needed a plan.

After a quick conference, they were as ready as they were going to be. There were about a million different potential holes in Oliver's plan but it was the best option they had on such short notice. As Dig sent up a quick prayer that the damn fool didn't get his head immediately blown off, Oliver stepped out from behind the crates, making his presence known.

"Helena!" Oliver barked. "Leave her alone!"

She turned towards him at the same time that Felicity looked his way. The three goons all turned on him, weapons drawn, waiting at the ready. Felicity looked shocked to see him, Helena didn't look the least bit surprised as she gestured for her men to lower their weapons. Of course she wasn't, this was a trap, right?

"I'm so glad you could make it, Oliver. I was waiting for you to show up."

"Great, so now that I'm here, you can just let Felicity go."

"Where's the fun in that?" Helena pouted. "After all, what better way is there to remove her from the equation than to just… ice her?" She twirled her gun around carelessly before pointing it at Felicity again.

He saw Felicity hold her breath, her eyes focused on the barrel of the gun. Tears were still running down her face and he felt a pang for her. Her father may have been a piece of shit but she it still couldn't have been easy to see him shot right in front of her. And now, the gun was clearly making her nervous and it made him nervous too. He needed to get Helena's attention off of Felicity and onto him.

"Because if you do that, then I'll have to kill you and all these men here." He delivered the line with a straight face, meeting Helena's gaze straight on. The men next to her tensed. She tutted at them to relax.

"You won't do that, Oliver."

"How do you know that? I killed your father, didn't I?"

A shadow crossed her face. "Yes, you did. I can't believe you did that, Ollie. That was my father. He was an imperious asshole, yes, but still."

"Don't give me that bullshit, Helena. You didn't care if he was dead or not. In fact, if I recall, you wanted him dead so that we could be together."

Her lips twisted. "You have a good memory."

"It was a fairly memorable time in my life."

"I was angry with him because he didn't think we should see each other," Helena pointed out. "That didn't mean I wanted him dead." He took a few steps to the side, around Helena's back and she turned to face him.

"If you'll recall, I didn't want us to see each other anymore either, Helena," Oliver reminded her. "That's what started your whole fit in the first place."

She visibly seethed at that. "It was not a fit. We were in love! He was keeping us apart! So was your father!"

"Please, that was just an excuse."

"No, it wasn't!"

"We are not Romeo and Juliet, Helena," Oliver argued. "We never were. You wanted more from me and I told you I wasn't looking to settle down."

"We both know I would have worn you down," Helena replied, smug. "You men are all the same and while you were quite the wild party boy, I knew I could tame you if given the opportunity."

"Says every woman who dates a bad boy," Oliver scoffed. "You never would have ensnared me, Helena."

"I could have. You were obviously ripe for the plucking as this one over here managed the job that so many before her could not."

Oliver grit his teeth at the mention of Felicity. "Felicity is different."

"She's weak. She came here to save her useless father, the man who'd given her up just like that. All over money. She's nothing."

"Don't say that," he growled.

She glanced over her shoulder at Felicity and stepped closer to Oliver. "We could still make it work, you know. Imagine, the two biggest families in Starling City, united. We would be unstoppable! We would rule this city! Together!" She gestured wildly and Oliver realized that whatever grip Helena had on her sanity was gone. "This is our opportunity, Oliver, right here! Just say the word—" She looked over her shoulder at one of her henchmen and jerked her head in Felicity's direction—"and I'll have your little wife 'dealt with'. Then, we can be together. We can get married and unite our empires as we should have been able to do two years ago."

At Helena's gesture, the henchman stepped towards Felicity, a knife drawn. He'd just lain it aside her throat when Oliver growled, "Don't you dare touch her. You lay one finger on her and I swear to God, I will rip both of your arms off."

To think, he'd worried about Carrie Cutter making basically the same threats. That woman was small potatoes next to this group and he knew that right here, right now, Felicity was in real danger. The difference was that Helena could easily carry out her plan. He knew it, she knew it, and from the stricken look on Felicity's face, she knew it too. He tried to communicate to her with his eyes that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. Her concern didn't seem to abate and the way her eyes flicked over him told him that she was worried about him.

"Now, now, Oliver. No need to be so rude to my boys here."

"If any one of you hurts her, I will make it my personal mission in life to end each and every one of you. And I will take my time with it," he vowed.

Helena considered him. "You're starting to make me think that you have real feelings for her."

"More than I ever had for you," he told her. She looked stricken. "I'm sorry, Helena, but it's the truth. You said it, I was a spoiled, selfish boy back when we were together. I wanted my cake and to eat it too. You were a hot girl with legs a mile long and we had a lot of fun together. That's all I really wanted out of life back then was an endless supply of fun. Soon as it stopped being fun, I moved on. But you wouldn't have that."

"We were in love."

"Maybe you were, but I wasn't."

"But you said you loved me."

"Did I?" Oliver tried to think back to when he'd been that kid, carelessly sleeping his way through a list of socialites. He knew he'd never actually been in love but there'd been a few times he'd said it, just to get in a girl's pants. He wasn't proud of it, but there it was.

"Don't you dare deny it!" Helena shouted. Her lip was trembling and Oliver had to figure out how he should play this. He had to get her away from Felicity. He took another step to the side and thankfully, she followed him.

"Helena, I'm sorry. I was an idiot then. I was young and foolish. I only ever thought about myself. You said back then that you liked that about me."

She chewed her lip a little. "I did, I thought it was funny how everyone got so worked up over your antics. It was fun raising hell in the press with you."

"It was fun. But, Helena, I didn't mean any of it. It was just… having a good time. I'm sorry that you got wrapped up in real feelings and that I let you think I was right there with you but I just… wasn't."

"No…"

"How do you think I was able to just walk away from you? Don't you remember? You came to me, begging me to run away with you and leave Starling behind."

"I remember… I wanted us to drive off together, start a new life, start a new family." Her eyes lit up as she thought back.

"Yes, and do you remember what I said?"

The light in her eyes clouded over. "You said that I was crazy. That you weren't going to go anywhere or starting any family with me."

Oliver sighed. "I'm sorry. I was an ass about it. But Helena, I didn't want that life with you. I never did. I still don't."

Her gaze cut over to Felicity and Oliver stood between them so she had to revert her attention back to him. She was glaring now. "You said you loved me."

"I didn't. I don't." He was firm.

Her expression hardened further. "You humiliated me."

"I didn't mean to, Helena. I'm sorry."

"We were supposed to be this power couple together. And now I have nothing."

"Helena, don't be ridiculous. You are the head of your family. You got what you wanted, to run your business!"

"Oh please, ever since your family crushed ours, since you killed my father, the Bertinelli name hasn't amounted to shit. We have no power left here in Starling."

"So leave. Find a new city and start over. You can still do that, you don't need me to do it with you."

"I don't want to do it without you, Oliver, haven't you figured that out by now?"

The manic gleam in her eyes was back and Oliver's sense of unease grew. He glanced over by the crates, to where he knew Dig was. Had the other men shown up yet? If so, one should be covering Dig, with the other two positioned at the exits. He swallowed, unsure how to stall her any further. He was pretty sure he'd gotten her far enough away from Felicity…

"Helena…" he said, unsure what he could do, what he could say.

"You were always a part of this package for me, Ollie. I can't have it without you. Now you tell me you don't want it. That you want to stay married to her?!" She hurled it like it was an insult.

"I do. Felicity is my wife… I— I love her."

For as much as his mouth had turned to sawdust in that moment, he knew he'd spoken the truth. He loved Felicity. He'd been falling in love with her ever since the day he'd met her at the Queen mansion and she'd put him in his place. He loved the way she stood up for herself and anyone else she felt needed defending. She wasn't fearless, but she didn't let her fears stop her and he wondered if she knew what an amazing quality that was. How rare it was. She was smart and funny and beautiful and somewhere along the way he'd fallen head over heels for his wife.

Oliver looked at her then, needing to see her reaction. Her mouth was open and the tears were still wet on her cheeks. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, if her blue eyes being as wide as saucers indicated disbelief or just simple shock. He wanted, no, he needed her to believe him.

Helena hissed, drawing his attention back to her. "How can you love her? She's nothing! She's not from a big family, she's just…" She sputtered incoherently.

"She's everything," Oliver finished for her.

Her face went red as she drew her brows together. "I'm not going to let you go just so you two can run off and play house together."

"You don't have a choice, Helena." Oliver spotted some movement out of the corner of his eye. Just a little bit longer…

"There is always a choice, Oliver," she told him, her voice patronizing. "And I think I choose… if I can't have you, then no one can."

The next heartbeat seemed to stretch forever. He heard Felicity's sharp cry echo off the warehouse walls, reverberating in his ears. He saw Helena pull up her gun, aiming it right at him. There was a rush of movement from all around him and he hoped maybe it was his men, finally making their move. His heart pounded in his ears in those last moments, drowning out everything else. His attention was focused on the barrel of that gun, pointed at him. He closed his eyes for a second, the same second he heard the sharp retort sound over Felicity's cry. Felicity. He remembered the way she felt had in his arms that night that they spent together, how perfect that was. They fit together like puzzle pieces.

What a shame he'd finally found his match right before he was going to die.

There was a loud bang, a sharp burning pain tearing through his torso. Then, chaos erupted.

Maseo, Roy and Slade all arrived while Oliver was making a plea for Helena to give up her crazy plans and let them go. Dig knew as well as Oliver did that it wouldn't work. He knew the boss was stalling for time. Drawing Helena further away from Felicity so he or one of the other guys could get a clean shot without endangering Oliver's wife. They had to wait for the right moment, get Helena lulled enough into a false sense of security, for her goons to relax their guard a bit… And yes, for the men to get into place.

Using a series of hand gestures, Dig indicated he wanted Slade on the main warehouse door and Maseo around back. Roy was to stick with him, covering his six, being his second set of eyes. The men complied without another word. They were a well-oiled machine, the five of them carried out many operations together. In a way, they reminded Dig of his old unit back in the Army.

He watched, with growing dread, as the situation out in the warehouse spiraled out of control. Oliver insisted he loved Felicity and from the look on her face, it was news to her. God help him, he hoped they were able to get her and him out of here alive so they could have what looked like a much needed conversation. But for now, he had to wait for the moment.

He should have remembered this was Helena and that the woman was batshit crazy. She never did adhere to any sort of logic or sense in situations like that. So when she pulled the gun on Oliver, it was the last thing Dig had expected her to do. Pull a gun on Felicity, sure. That's what he'd been prepared for. The shock of it threw him off guard just long enough for her to fire the shot.

He shouted, he knew he did because his throat was sore with it. There were bangs and shouts as Maseo and Slade rushed inside, picking off Helena's goons with precision. Dig went straight for the bitch herself. He raised his gun and without a moment's pause, aimed right for her forehead. She had just enough time to register a surprised expression before she dropped to the ground, dead.

Good riddance, too.

But Oliver…

Fuck, he should have moved on her sooner before she… his eyes drifted to where Oliver lay.

Diggle could hear Felicity screaming. But it wasn't fear he heard in her tortured voice; it was anguish.