Chapter 36
In all her years with Team Arrow, Felicity's reasonably proud of the level head she's developed. Somehow she's managed to get over the paralyzing fear of coming face to face with mass murderers.
Is that good for her self-preservation?
Probably not.
But she's still here so that has to count for something.
Felicity knows enough about dangerous situations by now that she's able to recognize her predicament as soon as she walks out of the club. Lyla is telling her they can take the town car and Roy will drive John to her apartment to pick it up later, but Felicity's looking around at the dark night as her hand squeezes her phone.
She's gotten late night calls from work before. It's not unusual. If they hadn't finished the Markov device today, she might have been able to overlook the call. But there were no major malfunctions, nothing being tested: tonight is clear and calm. There shouldn't be any catastrophic meltdown that needs her immediate attention.
Ergo: It's a trap.
Felicity climbs out of the car and turns back to Lyla. Lyla can't save her from this. If Malcolm's finally coming for her, then she's not going to jeopardize her friend's future by dragging her along.
"Wait here," she says quietly, with as much of a smile as she can summon. "I'll be right back."
Lyla frowns at her. "Felicity..."
"I just have to run to my office. I won't be more than ten minutes. I'll be fine." She pats the car door and saunters over to the elevator. She smiles back from the elevator as Lyla steps out of the car, worry written in her face, but then her phone rings, successfully distracting her long enough for Felicity to quickly shut the elevator doors.
The ground under her feet lurches, and Felicity braces herself as she forces air in and out of her lungs normally. Felicity carefully pulls her phone from her pocket and stares at it for a moment. She might be imagining this whole scenario. It's not likely, but it's possible.
It could be just another normal work emergency.
Maybe if she says it enough, she'll relax a little bit...
"Leaving your bodyguard downstairs: not a smart move Miss Smoak."
Only years of having Malcolm emerge from shadows keep Felicity from shrieking at the assassin's appearance in what had been an empty elevator seconds before. Instead she glances sideways in what she hopes he'll consider disdain and not fear.
"I didn't want to get her killed. That's what you're here to do, right? Kill everyone involved in the project." Her hands are shaking around the phone. It wouldn't take long to call Oliver, just the press of a single button really. Even if they're fighting, she knows that if she calls, he'll always pick up. Always.
"Your phone, Miss Smoak." Malcolm's voice is far from menacing as he holds his hand out. Felicity hands it over. Her breath catches in her throat as she realizes he's dressed in his assassin garb. This could be it.
She's going to die in this elevator.
"I wanted to test the machine here," Malcolm says. The lightness of his tone is unsettling. It's always unsettling, but here, alone with him in an enclosed box, Felicity finds herself struggling to dig up her usual anger towards the man, if only to calm her fear. "But Moira made me promise the building would be unharmed. I thought it would be fitting: an invention gone wrong. Just to ensure you didn't succeed in sabotaging the device."
Felicity finally turns her head to look at him. "That would be smart."
Malcolm chuckles. "I agree. But I've come up with a solution."
She does not like that sly tone. Nope. She can deal with malicious, antagonistic Malcolm Merlyn, but not clever, plotting Malcolm. He's got a plan and Felicity's positive she isn't going to like it.
"I really do have to thank you, Miss Smoak. After all my planning, this last stretch has been a little anticlimactic. And then you came along. It's really put some life into this whole operation."
"You like to listen to yourself talk," she says dryly. Their reflections are blobs in the foggy metal doors of the elevator. Felicity refuses to give in to her heart-pounding fear. She's not going to stare at Malcolm with wide eyes. He's not going to kill her yet. And she's not going to give him the benefit of seeing how much the suspense is killing her.
"I really will miss you, Miss Smoak," Malcolm sighs as the elevator reaches the top floor.
The doors open just as Malcolm places a cold blade to her throat.
"Really. It's a shame you know so much."
...
Felicity.
Felicityfelicityfelicity.
Oliver's mind is too full to think of anything else. God, how could he have been so stupid? How could he have forgotten she was in danger?
Right. Because he was stubborn.
He should get 'Idiot' permanently tattooed on his forehead. If he'd agreed to talk to her, this could've been avoided.
Oliver spots a congestion of cars ahead as he enters the true heart of the city and veers off onto the sidewalk. Pedestrians scatter as he cuts the corner and he catches a few flashes from phones. A moment later, they're gone and QC looms on the horizon...and beyond that: the new Applied Sciences building.
He leans forward and pushes the throttle as far as it can go. The engine of his favorite bike starts to whine and grind. The noise grates his ears and makes him grind his teeth, but he has his destination. Right there in front of him.
He can almost taste it.
EEeeeeeoooOOOOooooooeeeeEEEEEEeeeoooooOOOOOoooo
Blue and red lights paint the buildings around them as the cop car peels out of a side street in a squeal of tires.
Cursing creatively under his breath, Oliver starts weaving between cars. He doesn't have time to deal with this. Right now, Felicity could be dying from an arrow to the heart and he's too far away to do anything. He needs to get there and he can't have the police interfering.
Felicity.
How could he have thought pushing her away was the answer?
She stood by him through all his ups and downs. She was there to support him when he lost everything. Just the thought of her brightened his day. No matter when she's from, that can't have changed that much. He loves her more than life.
Why did he let even a day pass without letting her know that? Angry or not.
Another motorbike growls beside his and Oliver spares a long enough glance to recognize the leather jacket before focusing on the building ahead again.
"THIS IS THE POLICE! PULL OVER TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!"
Oliver snorts at the loudspeaker and swerves around another car. Yes. The vigilante is going to pull over for a police car.
The motorcycle slides close to the ground as Oliver takes the turn around the QC building, going so low, the tip of his boots nearly grazes the pavement for a moment before he rights himself again.
And finally finally the Applied Sciences building appears. Without regards to property damage or practicality, Oliver adjusts his trajectory and runs the motorcycle up the million dollar sculpture his mother must have picked out to demonstrate the power and wealth of the company. He's sure she'll frown at his usage, but it provides the perfect ramp, catapult: sending Oliver – bike and all – crashing through the third story of the Applied Sciences building.
The police sirens increase along with the lights flashing outside the window, but Oliver turns his back on all of it, shutting out the noise and the lights to face the man he knows is here to kill everyone.
He can't allow that to happen.
...
"Do you think the Green Arrow will rescue us?"
Felicity turns to stare incredulously at Matt, the Markov tech crouched beside her. He's low-level, a gadget guy who got wrapped up in a project far bigger than him, a guy Malcolm decided wasn't worth paying off. So here they are, crouched in front of a work table as Malcolm – in full League of Assassins regalia – oversees the checking of the Markov device. She can feel the line of blood from Malcolm's knife still seeping down into the neckline of her shirt, a reminder of the dangerous situation she's in.
"No one's seen him in weeks," she says. Of course, if anything can pull Oliver from hiding, it would be this. If he finds out. If he's smart and thinking rationally..."He's not coming."
Not that he's ever thought logically when it comes to her.
"Now, Miss Smoak," the Dark Archer scolds, "You can't know that for sure. Unless you know something we don't..."
Felicity bites her tongue as she stares into Malcolm's black, soulless eyes. They both know the Green Arrow's not dead. Although Malcolm's probably only suspicious at this point. He can't know for sure. Oliver hasn't shown his face in that mask since he fought Malcolm when she was kidnapped.
His dark eyes challenge her, daring her to say something until Malcolm turns back to Eric working on the device. "Everything in order?"
The man nods nervously, smearing dirt and sweat across his forehead in that moment. "It's fine."
"Fantastic. Thank you for your cooperation."
Matt's voice rises in a screech as an arrow spouts out Eric's back. It slices through his body like a knife thought butter as Malcolm impales him. Felicity clamps a hand over her mouth to stifle the sob and keep herself from throwing up.
In that instant, it all comes rushing back:
She's in front of a computer, a doomsday clock ticking in red on one screen as she types line after line of code, her father by her side. People are screaming at her to DO SOMETHING!
Her heart beat echoes in her ears, her fingers ache from their race against time. The GPS shone as a mockery of her inability to hack another computer. She's losing, in a field that's supposed to be her domain. This should be easy for her.
Failure.
But there's no time to wallow: decisions need to be made. Now.
With a few taps of her fingers she condemns thousands to death. In a couple seconds, she kills more than Malcolm and Slade combined.
She's a murderer.
"Alright. Who's next?"
Felicity swallows thickly. This Malcolm...He's playing with them. He wants to sow fear. She doesn't remember that last time. Last time this was a means to an end. Now, he's trying to draw Oliver out into the open. It's like a cat pawing at an already-cornered mouse.
Legs shaking, Felicity rises to her feet. Her limbs almost give out under her, like her first attempt at walking after the accident. She needs to use the work table to keep herself upright as she faces Malcolm. Matt's scared out of his mind. And she's not going to let an innocent man die.
"Why don't you stop beating around the bush? You're going to kill me, right? So just do it!"
Even with his hidden face, Felicity can make out Oliver's reluctance in the way he slowly raises his bow. "The world needs more courageous people like you."
He draws back the black arrow and Felicity closes her eyes in preparation for the death blow.
I am so sorry, Oliver.
Except the arrow doesn't find its home in her chest.
...
Oliver doesn't contemplate the elevator, opting for the stairs. He takes them at a run, surprising himself that he knows exactly where Felicity's office lies in the building. He knows the corner of the building, the floor, the layout of her office. It's all deeply seated in his memory.
"They're in the lab on the fifth floor," Sara says.
He veers, changing course without a word.
"I can't fight him with you," she cautions. "The League won't allow it. Not until he acts against their code."
He grunts in acknowledgement and skids to a stop outside the door to the fifth floor. Sara holds out an earbud for him. Oliver reluctantly takes it. He stuffs it in his ear and Sara grabs the handle of the door, preparing to yank it open for him as Oliver pulls out his bow.
The hallway is empty, every third light lit to save electricity overnight. Frosted glass hides offices and tech labs from view. He steps slowly down the hallway. He moves as quickly as he dares while staying silent.
"Down the hall. Second door on the right," Diggle directs in his ear.
He pauses in a doorway. "Lyla?"
"At the other end of the hallway. Felicity ditched her in the parking garage."
"Do you have eyes?" He's going in the room one way or another, but he could use all the advantage he can get.
"Negative."
Oliver adjusts his fingers on the arrow and his grip on the bow. He takes a deep breath, the silence not sitting well with him. There should be some noise coming from that lab. And he refuses to believe they're already dead, that he's too late to save them.
"I'm going in."
The still-healing injuries on his chest ache, but its nothing compared to the heart-wrenching feeling of spotting Malcolm Merlyn with an arrow resting against Felicity's jugular. He's been Malcolm's position, knows exactly how much pressure he needs to apply to slice through skin and puncture the jugular. If Malcolm gets that chance, Felicity could bleed out in seconds.
And he's trying not to think about the other two bodies in the room and the black arrows sticking out of them.
He keeps an arrow aimed true at Malcolm's eye over Felicity's shoulder as his gaze finds hers. Her bottom lip quivers in fear, her hands desperately grip Malcolm's arm that holds her in place in front of him.
Felicity's eyes, however, were clear. He saw the same conviction in them he had when Cooper held her hostage. But Malcolm isn't Seldon. She can't disarm him and easily rip his weapon from his grasp.
If the cut on her cheek is any indication, she tried to get away already.
"Hmmmmm...Seems I was right: the Green Arrow is alive after all."
The mask covers Malcolm's face, but his eyes crinkle in a smile, the kind that means bad news. "I knew it would just take the right pretty face to bring you crawling out of your dark hole. You seemed fond of this one last time."
Felicity simpers as the tip of the arrow nicks her skin. Blood wells around the point, an almost black bubble that then starts to run down her neck. The red stands out brilliantly against her pale skin. She should never be in danger like this.
If they hadn't been fighting...
Oliver's fingers clench reflexively on the bow as he tries to control his emotional reaction.
"You okay?" He asks gruffly. Relief seeps through his system as he realizes his voice modulator is still on.
"Been better." Her voice is breathless as she squirms away from the point of the arrow, but it's doesn't waver.
"A heartwarming reunion." Malcolm takes a step forward, pushing Felicity to advance at the same time. "So this is your lover, the one released from Ra's Al Ghul?"
Oliver blinks. What?
Released by Ra's Al Ghul? What the hell does that mean?
"I have an offer for you."
That's unexpected. Oliver watches Malcolm blankly. The only thing to be said for the man I that he only cares about himself. Any offer he has...Oliver's only listening because he can't risk Felicity and Lyla needs time to get into position.
"I'll let you and your girlfriend here go. I'll promise you safety, if you work for me."
Oliver smirks under the hood, playing up his attitude. "And why would I do that?"
"Because if you don't, I'll kill you both. Slowly and painfully." To emphasize his point, Malcolm digs the arrowhead a little further into Felicity's neck. "One flick of my wrist and she bleeds out in seconds. We all know I can."
"You're planning to destroy half the city. I can't let you do that."
The Dark Archer scowls. "I'm going to rebuild half the city. Our city is diseased, infected. It needs to be purged."
"I think you're underestimating them."
"More importantly: I underestimated you." The assassin adjusts his stance. "I didn't think you would give up the love of your life for people you don't even know."
"Lyla's in position," Digg interrupts.
Oliver meets Felicity's eyes again, holding her gaze. He hopes against hope that the message is clear in his eyes. He needs her to move. He needs an opening, but only if she's willing to risk it. He's not going to do anything she's not comfortable doing.
Her head barely nods, just like with Slade, just like with Cooper. They've been in far too many similar situations for Oliver's liking. In this moment, it helps. But it never needs to happen again.
He'll make sure of that.
For now...
With quick, precise motions, Felicity moves just how Digg taught her, the same way she took down Cooper: her left foot stomps violently into Malcolm's instep. Oliver can't be sure from his angle, but it looks like the heel manages to embed itself in Malcolm's instep. He doesn't pause for a second look though. His arrow flies as soon as Felicity ducks out of the way.
It misses, flying past him. It lands in the wall and Oliver has another nocked.
BAM.
BAM BAM.
Felicity runs out the door in a crouch, passing Lyla as the bodyguard races into the room. It's all Oliver can see before Malcolm comes at him.
He ducks the first blow, swinging his bow out as a melee weapon. It connects with Malcolm's arm with a thwack!
Knowing Malcolm's got to be trying to kill him right now, Oliver swivels to protect himself from the black arrow now flying towards his eye. Felicity's blood still drips from the point as Oliver wrenches it from Malcolm's hand and turns it around to embed it in Malcolm's side.
"We've got company, Arrow. We need to move!" Lyla shouts.
Malcolm shoves Oliver back a couple steps.
BAM BAM BAM!
Lyla doesn't hit her mark. Her shots shatter the frosted window behind them, letting in the flashing red and blue and police sirens. They pause, distracted by the sudden interruption.
"THIS IS THE STARLING CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP OR WE BREACH THE BUILDING! THIS IS YOUR FINAL CHANCE!"
Malcolm pulls the sword from behind his shoulder. It's the same one that was rammed through his chest last time, the one that created the hole in his jacket currently being held together by hastily stitched thread.
Ducking down, Oliver yanks a hunting knife from his boot. It diverts the blade, but it's not going to last long.
"Get her out of here," he growls into the comms.
"What about Merlyn?" Sara asks.
"I'm handling it."
Malcolm's blade slashes towards his weak spot, the place he caught the blade last time. He prays to whoever's listening that he just told Sara the truth. He wants to have that talk with Felicity, about her future, about their future.
He just has to get out of this alive.
...
Felicity kicks off her heels as soon as she makes it out of the lab. She swallows more bile at the blood staining the bottom her left heel. She takes them in her hand.
Instinct kicks in and she ducks as the gunshots sound. It's not headed in her direction, but after the way she died...after Slade shot her...
She needs an out. A direction to run that leads to safety, somewhere out of here, a way for her to get back to safety, to the Foundry. She won't be safe until she's home again. The Foundry – Oliver – has always been home.
She's in the middle of the hall: an equal distance from one staircase to the other. She doesn't trust the elevator to get her out of here fast enough. She's stuck, until she sees a shock of blonde hair peeking out from the staircase to her right.
Her feet lead the way almost before her mind process what she's seen. Her stocking feet slip on the tiled floor as she races towards the opening. She hears shattering glass, gun shots, impacts of punches in the distance.
Felicity latches on to Sara's arm as she skids to a stop beside her in the stairwell, breathing harder than a short sprint should warrant. The hand not holding her soiled heels clamps down on the cut on the side of her neck. It trickles blood, not enough to be life-threatening but still more than she would like.
Sara brushes her hand aside and tilts her head to get a better look at the wound. She pulls a wad of cloth from her jacket and presses it to the side of her neck. "You're going to be fine. Won't even need stitches."
"Good."
Sara frowns and as she turns away Felicity spots the nearly invisible ear piece in her ear. "What about Merlyn?"
Felicity frowns. Oliver must give her some orders because she turns around and starts to pull Felicity down the stairs.
"What? What're you doing? Oliver's still up here!"
Sara scowl at her, annoyed. "And the police have this place surrounded. We've got to get out of here."
"I have to stay here. There were hostages. There are two bodies upstairs and I'm a witness. I have to stay here, give my detailed account. I can say the Green Arrow saved me. It's not even a lie." Felicity pulls back and turns off at another floor.
"Oliver told me to get you out of here!"
"But-"
"No!" Sara shouts, getting into Felicity's face. "We need to get you out of here. Consider this you getting taken into protective custody."
Felicity scowls. "Then take me to your father, on the other side of the police line."
Sara glances around and groans. "Fine. But we're going out the parking garage. Lyla will meet us there. She'll corroborate your story." She looks away. "Got that?"
Felicity turns and starts down the stairs toward the basement. "We'll still meet you back at the Foundry, but we have to do this. It's got to be official."
Sara doesn't like it, but she follows Felicity down the stairs. One step at a time, Felicity considers her plan. She's been here. She needs to talk to the police. She can tell them about the machine, tell them about the dangers of it being out there. She owes it to Matt and Eric to tell what happened.
It's a sound choice, right?
...
His world is a fight to survive.
And Oliver's a survivor. He always has been.
Right now his life is a haze of red, the pounding of punch after punch raining down, of slices of a sword and thin cuts decorating his skin. The pain has faded to insignificance in light of everything. He's barely living moment to moment. He's covering Felicity's escape, but he's also mindful of the machine behind him in the room, the machine that levels half the city.
He won't be able to fight much longer. His entire body protests the continued movement, screams for him to back off.
"SWAT's entering the building!" Lyla calls.
Oliver knows the warning his for him, but Malcolm backs up to the table and grabs the blueprints off the nearest worktable.
"Nice fighting with you, Green Arrow. Until next time." He doesn't know where it comes from, but suddenly there's a helicopter shining light through the shattered window.
It's not the police helicopter he thinks it is at first. He knows as soon the cable latches on to the Markov Device. He dives for it, aiming to disrupt that part of the plan, to stop the mass murderer from getting his hands on the device that destroys the city.
But he's too late.
The wire is too thick for his arrows to damage it and it swings out the window with Malcolm clinging to the side.
"Crap!"
Lyla runs up to the opening with him, her gun held at her side. "Damn."
"We've got to get out of here." Oliver falls back from the opening. "Where's Felicity?"
"We're in the parking garage," Sara says. "But we've got a problem: she wants to stay and give the police a statement."
"What?" Oliver yells, spinning on his heel as he heads for the stairs. "Why?"
"She says they need to know what's going on...it could work to our advantage."
He races down the stairs, headed for the basement. "I need to know she's safe. No questions about it."
"Oliver, she has every right to be here. She's the director. They're going to ask her about the event one way or another. It won't make a difference if she makes the statement now or later." Lyla's logic rolls right off him.
Oliver doesn't care one way or another about her logic. All he cares about is getting his eyes on her.
He just has to see her.
The metal door bangs open in the sublevel basement. He doesn't break his stride. He walks straight to the town car. Each step forward relaxes him a little bit more. Each step brings Felicity's face just a little more into focus. He feels his muscles uncoiling, the tension breaking. But it's not completely gone, not until he wraps her in his arms.
Oliver pulls her in close, pulling her in tight to his chest, a hand cupping the back of her head as he leans down to kiss the crown.
"You're okay."
"I'm okay," she agrees, voice muffled by his leather jacket. Then she pulls back, a shaking breath the only thing to hold back her tears. "But I've got this. You need to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving you alone." There's no way in hell he's going to leave her alone to deal with the fallout.
"Unless you brought a change of clothes, I don't think you can stay."
Oliver glares down at the green leather in distaste. "Or you could come with me."
"I'm not. I'll get to the Foundry as soon as I'm done here. Promise." She squeezes his hand. "Now get out of here."
Oliver scowls but nods. "Fine. But when you're done here, we need to talk."