A/N: Okay, I know I'm a day late, but at least it's not a week, right? I'm in my second week of nursing classes and there is so much work! I really like it, though!
We're in the final stretch! Just a few more chapters and this baby will be done! Whoohoo!
Anyway, dreamingofolicityrealized: that thing you asked me about, it's going to happen in this chapter! :p
Enjoy!
Chapter 28:
Felicity POV ~ 11 April 2003
"Just tell him your name, Katie," Oliver said urgently, inching closer as if to shield her.
Katie, of course. "I- Katie- Katherine McMillan," Felicity stammered, her heart in her throat. What if the man didn't believe her? What if he wanted proof? What if he killed her anyway?
The man regarded her for a moment, before he grunted, apparently accepting her lie. "You two, with me," he said, gesturing with the gun for Cassim and the girl.
Felicity wanted to protest as fear rose in her chest again. What were they planning? Where would he take them? But an almost imperceptible shake of Cassim's head shut her up. Oliver apparently didn't notice the exchange.
"What are you going to do?" he asked angrily, getting to his feet. Before Felicity could even think to warn him, Oliver was on the ground, a nasty gash above his eyebrow where the butt of the gun had hit him.
"Open your mouth unasked one more time and it'll be the other end of the gun you're dealing with," the man threatened in a low voice.
As Cassim and the girl – who had started shaking and sniffling again – followed the man out, Felicity crawled over to Oliver. "Let me see," she breathed, making sure that the light that came from under the door shone directly at his injury. It wasn't as bad as it had first appeared, but it was bleeding a lot. "I need to stop the bleeding. I don't suppose you have a handkerchief, do you?"
Oliver sat up and shrugged out of his jacket. That would do. As she balled up the fabric and held it to his head, he lay back down and closed his eyes, a gesture so unlike Oliver she was seriously beginning to worry about a concussion. Unfortunately, she had no way of checking his pupils, so she'd have to try the verbal checks. "Can you tell me your name?" she asked. It seemed like such a silly thing to do, but she knew that if he couldn't answer that question something was seriously wrong.
"It's Oliver. And I've been checked enough to know that you're looking for a concussion," he said, opening his eyes again and looking at her. "I don't have one."
"Would you let me determine that?" she said testily. She was worried and terrified, and she so had the right to be testy right about now.
Oliver managed a small smile and closed his eyes again. "Hey, stay with me!" she urged, gently shaking his shoulder.
Slowly, Oliver opened his eyes again. Felicity let out a sigh of relief. Strange sleeping patterns were one of the signs. "My name is Oliver Jonas Queen, I'm 17, and I'm a senior at FCA. What more do you want to know?" Oliver asked.
A smile tugged at Felicity's lips. "Jonas, really?"
He managed to glare at her. "Yes, what's wrong with it?" he asked, irritated. The smile dropped off Felicity's face; mood swings were another. Did this count as a mood swing?
"Nothing, I like it," she said quickly. She really did like it, though.
"What's yours?" he asked after a beat of silence. His eyes were drooping again, and he didn't seem irritated anymore. Yeah, reason enough to be worried.
"Meghan," she said.
"Pretty," he mumbled, falling asleep again.
"Oliver! Stay with me, please, I don't want to be alone here," she whispered. With the greatest effort, Oliver opened his eyes again.
"So… What were you really going to say to me? Out there by the fence?" she asked, hoping to keep him going. She was sure he had a concussion now, but she still needed to assess the damage.
"Out where?" he asked, confused.
"By the fence? We were at prom, remember? You said you wanted to talk, so went outside…" she trailed off. If he couldn't remember that, something was wrong.
"Right…" It took Oliver so long to continue that Felicity was afraid he'd forgotten she'd posed the question at all – another thing to watch out for with concussed people. She was about to ask again when he finally said something. "You're beautiful," he whispered.
Felicity sighed. "You said that already, twice actually, and–"
"No," Oliver interrupted. "Not just your dress, you are beautiful," he murmured.
This was ridiculous. Oliver had a head injury, they were captured by criminals and stuck in a sealed room, while their friends were somewhere, doing who knows what, and yet… And yet. The moment, this moment, felt incredibly intimate. Felicity could feel her heartbeat speeding up as his breath ghosted over her face. When had he gotten so close? Had she leaned in? What…?
Oliver traced his fingertips over her cheek, trailing over to her ear, and eventually down her neck. She shivered. This couldn't possibly be happening, not now. He cupped her neck, and suddenly, she could see what was going to happen. She saw every flutter of eyelashes, every inch leaned in, every gasp of breath. And then it didn't matter that they were kidnapped, or that she might not survive the night, because Oliver's lips were on hers, and every stray thought she could possibly have went out the window.
She couldn't remember who had moved first, or if they'd move together, she could only feel his warm lips beneath hers, as her hair curtained around them. Oliver's hand was on her neck, holding her close. Felicity's own hand had found purchase over his heart, feeling it's rhythm beneath her fingertips, while the other cupped his cheek.
He tasted of chocolate and alcohol, and something salty she couldn't quite name. His tongue begged entry, and, against her better judgement, she let him in.
She should really have stopped the kiss there, this was Oliver for Christ's sake, but then again, this was Oliver, and she'd had feelings for him for so long, and she was tired of pretending she didn't care.
When they finally pulled back due to lack of air, Felicity kept her eyes closed. She couldn't bear it if this was another of her fevered dreams, another fantasy chased away by daylight.
But reality intruded again when footsteps approached the door. Oliver was frowning, and he looked confused. Not good.
Light poured in, blinding her temporarily as the man stood silhouetted in the doorway. A lump formed in Felicity's throat as fear clawed at her insides. Where were Cassim and the girl? What had they done to them? She kept her mouth closed, however, remembering Cassim's words.
The man trained the gun on her. "Up, both of you."
Silently, Felicity complied, but when she saw Oliver sway and hold his still-bleeding head, she had to say something. "He has a concussion, he needs help!" She protested, grabbing Oliver's arm to keep him from keeling over. The man grunted and stepped forward, grabbing Oliver by the scruff of his neck. Oliver didn't say a word, and looked pale. Felicity's worry for him was starting to overshadow her fear of her kidnappers.
The man marched them down a hallway, left turn, second right, first door on the left. Again, Felicity filed away this information in her mind.
When they arrived at the room, Felicity was surprised to see that it was well lit, and while there was another man with a semi-automatic, Cassim and the other girl were there, unharmed. They sat on plastic chairs on the side of the room, their hands bound with zip ties.
"Sit," the man ordered. Oliver and Felicity took a seat at the only table in the room. There was a cell phone in front of them, a burner phone, most likely.
Felicity was about to ask what they were supposed to do when the other man took Cassim and the girl back out the only door. "Where are you taking them?" she wanted to know.
The man cocked his gun and held it against her head. "Stop asking questions and maybe I won't shoot you in the head, deal?" Felicity sat there, frozen, her heart beating loudly in her ears. "And before you get any ideas, I don't need you. The others are worth more than enough."
Oh God. Felicity closed her eyes, feeling a tear escape from behind her lids. If she was worth only this to them while they still thought her parents were rich, what would they do once they figured out her mom couldn't even pay their rent most of the time? If they weren't going to get rescued soon, she would die here.
"Don't- don't touch her," Oliver said, weakly. Felicity's eyes flew open and landed on her friend. He was even paler, and he looked like he was about to throw up right then and there, but he still found the energy to glare at the man with the gun.
The man smirked, but put the safety back on his gun and walked to the other side of the table. "Pick up the phone," he said to Felicity. She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears and did what he asked. "Now, you're going to call your mommy and daddy and read that to them," he said, pointing to a piece of paper that was on the table in front of her.
Felicity glanced down. It was a ransom demand. Her hands trembled as she struggled to recall Katie's home number. She couldn't remember. Panic flooded her mind and made it harder for her to think. Oh God, she couldn't–
But there was another number she knew by heart. She dialed the number and waited for the other person to pick up. "Hello? Who is this?" Katie said when she picked up.
Hearing her best friend's voice was almost enough to take her breath away. Felicity was crying again, but she didn't care. "Dad? It's Katie," she said, hoping her friend would catch up on what was happening.
A beat of silence on the other side. "Keep talking Liss, the feds are here."
"Put it on speaker," the man said, narrowing his eyes at Felicity. She hesitated, and he cocked his gun again, but aimed it at Oliver this time. "Now!"
"Okay, okay, I'm putting it on speaker," she said, hoping Katie had heard.
"Now read the note," the man ordered, keeping his gun trained on Oliver. Oliver still looked sick, but at least he wasn't tilting over, and was still glaring at the man.
"If you want to see me a – alive again…" Felicity stammered, trying to keep her tears at bay, but it was getting harder and harder. She cleared her throat. "You will put 3 m – million dollar in a black bag and take it to the Bellagio fountains in two days at 3 pm. You will receive further instructions there. Do not involve the police or they will…" She couldn't say it. But she knew she had to. "Or they will kill one of us."
Biting back a sob, Felicity tried to focus on Oliver instead. He was still incredibly pale, but at least he seemed to be able to keep his focus on the here and the now. Maybe the concussion wasn't as bad as she'd thought.
A sob could be heard from the other side of the line – Katie probably. But before she could say anything, the man leaned over and ended the call.
"Your turn," he said gruffly, sliding the phone over to Oliver.
Biting her lip, Felicity watched as her friend managed to pick up the phone. His hands were shaking, and he was still pale, but there was a steely determination in his eyes that made her worry that he was going to do something stupid. Under the table, so the man couldn't see, she put her hand on his and shook her head slightly.
Oliver clenched his teeth, but dialed his parents' number and put on the speaker. It only rang once before it was picked up. "Oliver? Oliver, sweetheart, is that you?" his mother's frantic voice came from the cell.
Oliver held his head and had his eyes screwed shut. Something was wrong. "He can't do this, he's got a concussion," Felicity protested in a low voice.
"Oliver?" Mrs. Queen asked, sounding close to tears, however strange that was to imagine.
The man clenched his jaw and cocked the gun, pointing it squarely at Felicity's head. "No funny business," he ground out, gesturing to the phone.
Felicity hastily nodded and focused her attention on the mobile phone. "Mrs. Queen? It's Katie McMillan, Oliver's okay, but he has a concussion, he can't come to the phone."
Mrs. Queen made a strangled sort of noise, and there was rustling on the other end. "This is Robert Queen, go ahead." Oliver's father's voice was deep, and though it was steadier than Moira's voice, there was a slight tremor in it.
Felicity repeated the instructions she'd given Katie. She even managed not to start crying again. As soon as she'd finished speaking, the man hung up the phone and pocketed it.
Now all they could do was wait, and hope that help was coming. But something told Felicity that they were on their own…
A/N: Okay, don't freak out! I promised a bunch of you a kiss, so there you have it! And it *only* took me 28 chapters :p Talk about slow burn...
Btw, If you're reviewing as a Guest, I'd appreciate it if you signed it with a name, that makes it easier to respond, and I really love responding to all those wonderful reviews you leave.
review replies (sorry, I forgot to do this last time!):
jella.00: I'm not going to add Diggle in any time soon. He belongs in Team Arrow when they're all adults, so that's where I'm going to keep him.
Krissie: Thank you so much!
Stacey: Yes, he is definitely still going, but there will be some minor changes. Thank you! About this chapter; he's not very protective because of the concussion, even though he did have that glaring match with their captor, so that's something. I hope you liked it!
Johnny: I totally agree! And here it is! I hope you liked it!
Joe: I'm sorry, I'm evil, didn't anyone tell you? :p Anyway, I hope this makes up for it!
BugsBunny: I was wondering where you'd gone off to ;) And here's that kiss you wanted! I hope it was worth the (long, long, looooooong) wait.
