AN: Another HUGE thank you to everyone for your wonderful reviews. Particularly the guests who I am unable to thank personally! I am sinceriously thrilled that you all enjoyed the last chapter, including the little treat provided courtesy of Captain Amell. :D
Mic RiddyBanon, thank you, as always, for your beta assistance. I don't know what I'd do without you!
Note: Be aware that there is detailed descriptions of torture in this chapter.
Disclaimer: And again, not mine. It still belongs to the CW! :(
Felicity turned to Oliver and locked eyes with him as she continued. "I don't know exactly what happened between you and Slade before, and I don't have to know. I do know this though. You did everything that you could. You can't keep feeling guilty for something that was out of your control. You did the best that you could with the circumstances that you were in. You couldn't see the future and there was no way for you to know that this would or even could happen. You don't have to apologize to us. We will always have your back. We're a Team and we all look out for each other. No matter what comes along."
The Team all looked at Felicity in silence. They knew that what she had said was true. They all struggled with feelings of guilt over things that they shouldn't. Each member of the Team decided to remember to always simply do the best that they could and look out for each other. The rest, well, that would all fall in to place eventually.
"Jeez blondie, when did you get so smart?" Roy asked, teasing Felicity and lightening the mood in the room once again. The rest of the Team all laughed at the glare that Felicity directed at Roy.
"Roy, you know I've always been a genius!"
Chapter 49 - Felicity Meghan Smoak
The Team enjoyed the teasing that came so easily. It was how they managed to keep the events of their night life, their missions, from taking over and plunging them all into darkness. This time was no different. They all sat and relished the happiness and camaraderie that they all shared, despite recent events. It was only after another half hour of talking and laughing that the Team realized that Oliver needed rest, and he wasn't the only one.
"Felicity?" Diggle turned to his friend, suddenly serious again. "How long has it been since you've gotten some sleep?" He asked as he could see the lack of sleep evident in the shadows under her eyes and in the way she was leaning, exhausted, against the headboard, much as Oliver was doing again.
"Um..." Felicity thought carefully. She was afraid of what everyone was going to say when she admitted just how long it had been. "Well the last time I remember sleeping at all was the night before Lance went missing." She finally admitted. She knew that there was no way she would be able to keep the truth from the Team. They are like human lie detectors. She thought to herself as she saw the looks of worry on the Team's faces.
"You both need some serious sleep." Sara said as she rose and placed the dirty dishes on the trays. "We'll get out of here so you two can rest."
Diggle and Roy stood as well and Diggle stepped over to check Oliver's bandages once more before he left them alone for the night.
"We're going to need more supplies." Diggle said quietly, mostly to himself, as he finished redressing the wounds on Oliver's back and chest.
"They should be in tomorrow." Felicity stated tiredly from her place next to Oliver.
"What do you mean tomorrow?" Roy asked the blonde, a look of confusion on his face.
"What?" Felicity said in mock offense. "I wasn't playing Solitaire at the Lair you know."
"That's why you went." Oliver said quietly, finally understanding why she had had to leave him, if only for a short amount of time.
"Yep." Felicity said with a smile, ending the word with a pop. "That's not all I did either." She was clearly pleased with herself at that declaration. "In case you all were wondering, the Queen and Lance families were on a joint vacation on the Queen's private yacht in the Bahamas for the last several weeks. There are pictures leaked to the tabloids and everything."
Felicity was so exhausted that she busted up laughing at the looks of shock on her three Teammates' faces. It was a good three minutes before she could breathe fully again. Once she had stopped laughing she wiped the tears from her face and took a deep breath.
"Are you okay Felicity?" Sara asked as the other blonde worked to bring her breathing back to normal.
"Yeah. I just couldn't help it. You should have seen the looks on your faces!" Felicity answered before grabbing a drink of water. "You guys forget. That's part of my job on the Team. After all, you all have horrible luck with cover stories!"
"Felicity..." Diggle said, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "You. Are. Remarkable." He said with a huge smile.
"Hey!" Oliver said with a mock glare directed at Diggle. "That's my line!"
The Team laughed again. It felt so good to be able to laugh once more instead of worrying if they were going to survive the next hour.
"Come on guys. Let's go." Sara said as she handed one of the trays of dishes to Roy before turning back to the couple. "You two get some sleep. We'll find beds here at the mansion tonight in case you need us." She then followed Roy and Diggle out before quietly closing the door behind her.
"Do you think they will actually sleep?" Roy asked as they walked down the stairs.
"I don't think they'll have a choice." Sara said thoughtfully. "They're going to pass out from exhaustion soon. Besides, Oliver's injuries won't heal if he doesn't get some sleep."
"I should go find somewhere to sleep." Felicity said quietly as she started to get off Oliver's bed.
"Why? This bed's big enough that we can both sleep here and not bother each other." Oliver said as he reached for her hand. "Besides, I sleep better when you're with me." He admitted quietly. He was afraid he would have nightmares again if she didn't stay and he most certainly didn't want his family and friends to hear him suffering from one if he could help it.
"Are you sure?" Felicity asked cautiously. She was afraid that Oliver would change his mind, however she wasn't sure she could make herself move much more right now even if she wanted to. Besides, she would feel better sleeping beside him, safer.
"I'm sure." Oliver said, giving her a sincere smile.
"Okay, let me go freshen up in your bathroom then I'm going to sleep." Felicity told him as she walked to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her hair. Thank goodness some of my stuff was still here from the last time. She thought to herself, happy to find a few of her things had been brought to Oliver's bathroom. She didn't know who had done it, but was extremely thankful. Once finished she went back to the bedroom and helped Oliver up so he could do what he needed to in the bathroom while she changed. Once they both were done freshening up they laid down in the bed and Felicity rubbed Oliver's head to relax him until his breathing evened out and he was asleep again. It was only a few minutes later that Felicity fell asleep herself. Then the dreams started...
Felicity sat, transfixed on the screen in front of her. Her heart had dropped when she heard that Oliver had removed all his trackers as that was the only way that she could keep track of him. When he appeared on the screen in front of her she felt as though she was going to be sick because she knew what Slade had in store for Oliver. Slade had been sure to thoroughly explain exactly what he intended to do to Oliver as payback for the death of Shado.
She watched, unable to look away from the screen, as Slade walked in with the whip at his side. Despite the detail that Slade had given her in his description of what he was going to do, there was nothing that could have prepared her for what really happened next. She could feel her dread growing as Slade walked up to Oliver and punched him in the jaw. She felt a brief flash of pain in her own jaw as she heard the crack of Slade's knuckles making contact with Oliver's face. Felicity held her breath as Oliver pinned Slade with a glare hoping that this wouldn't cause Oliver more pain.
When Slade mentioned that he had told her what was going to happen Felicity could feel both Sara and Laurel both look at her, wondering what she had been told. When she was asked about it she told the truth, at least the part of the truth that pertained to the issue at hand. She knew that Slade was going to whip Oliver until he passed out. She simply hoped that that would end up being sooner rather than later. Moments later she flinched again as she watched Slade hit Oliver in the side with the cane handle of the whip, knowing that it would cause Oliver quite a large amount of pain and leave him with a very ugly bruise.
Slade then moved to stand behind Oliver and Felicity gripped the armrests on her chair as she awaited what she knew was coming next. She held her breath as she watched Slade pull the whip back. He paused, for just a moment, before then swinging his arm forward quickly causing the whip to make contact with Oliver's back with a resounding crack. Felicity could have sworn that she heard the flesh on Oliver's back ripping apart as the whip made contact. The effect of the first lash was instantaneous. She could immediately see blood dripping down Oliver's back from where the whip tore open his flesh and the infinitesimal look of pain that crossed his face for only a moment. She couldn't help the cry that escaped at the sight. She knew that she would forever remember the look of Oliver's back, still healing from the effects of the whip lashes from Malcolm Merlyn, as Slade repeatedly inflicted more pain and cut open Oliver's back more with each lash from the whip. It only took a few lashes before Oliver's back was half red and half blue, blood dripping from each cut. It was only due to the cool rag that Laurel had given her that she didn't lose the contents of her stomach at the sight.
There were no words to describe the relief that Felicity felt when Slade stopped after only ten lashes. Oliver's back had ten fresh, deep cuts due to the lashes, and she could see the hint of pain in his face. However, he had somehow managed to remain silent during the whole ordeal and she couldn't have been prouder. It was at that moment that she heard Diggle return, however she refused to turn her eyes away from the man that she loved. She noted, as Slade talked to Oliver, that there was blood dripping from the end of Slade's whip, Oliver's blood. The thought churned her stomach yet again and she had to swallow several times to keep from having to make a dash to the toilet to vomit.
Her shakes started when Slade moved back around Oliver to begin the torture again. She could see the effort that it took for Oliver to keep silent, the amount of pain he was in due to the look on his face that most others would not have even noticed, the amount of blood that he was losing as it dripped off the end of the whip and splattered around the room as Slade pulled the whip back for another lash, and the puddle of blood that was collecting under Oliver's boots. Her body shook with rage, and fear, and with the attempt to keep the nausea at bay. This time, however, the lashes didn't stop. Slade kept going, the whip landing deep in Oliver's flesh, ripping it open, time, after time, after time. She realized that Slade really was going to kill Oliver with that whip.
Felicity sat in her desk chair, staring at Oliver's face on the screen, willing him to hold on. She almost jumped in her chair when she heard Oliver's voice calling out to her. "Felicity! Felicity, please, help me! Why can't you find me? Felicity, I need you!" Oliver called to her over, and over again. Begging her to do something, anything to find him and free him from this man who was once his friend.
Felicity woke suddenly to the sounds of Oliver calling her name. She was drenched in sweat and had tears running down her face. She had tried everything that she could think of to find Oliver and help to free him and it wasn't enough. Slade had whipped Oliver until there was no life left in the man that she loved. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and she spun her head around to see Oliver sitting on the bed next to her, concern clear on his face.
"Felicity?" Oliver asked tentatively. It was clear that she had been in the middle of a nightmare when he awoke to find her tossing and turning in the bed next to him. Her cries caused his breath to quicken and his heart to race. It must be something truly horrible for her to cry out like that. He thought as he started to call her name. He had to call to her several times before she finally awoke and the look on her face at that moment broke his heart. When she turned to look at him he finally realized why she had reacted as she had. "Felicity, look at me. I'm fine. I'm alive and sitting right next to you. We are safe and Slade can't hurt me anymore."
"Oliver!" Felicity cried as she wrapped her arms around him, pulling him close to her.
"Shhh." Oliver whispered quietly into her hair as he rubbed her back trying to calm her. "It was just a nightmare."
"I dreamed that he killed you. That he whipped you until you bled out from the cuts on your back." Felicity cried into his chest. "He was whipping you and you were calling out to me. Asking why I hadn't found you, saved you yet."
"It's okay Felicity." Oliver continued to talk to her quietly. "I'm okay. You did everything that you could to find me, and you know what..." Oliver leaned back, pulling her away from him so that he could look in her eyes, to try to make her understand. "You are still the one who saved me."
Felicity shook her head in argument. She hadn't done anything to save him. He still had cuts all across his back. It had been so bad in places that the flesh had hung off his back where some of the lashes had crossed. They had had to put in several stitches to simply hold the skin of his back together. No, she hadn't saved him from anything.
Oliver could see Felicity was arguing with him, even if it was silently this time. "Felicity, if you hadn't gotten out, found the cure, then Slade would have killed me. But you did it. You found his lab, you told the Team where we were, you found his cure and injected him with it. If it wasn't for you, and your remarkable skills, I would still be hanging there, dead. But I'm not! I'm right here, holding you, because of you. I owe you my life Felicity, again."
Felicity looked down to where Oliver was holding her hands. She guessed that he was right, in a way. She had found the cure and injected Slade with it. However, she had not been able to keep Slade from slicing open Oliver's back with the whip. She started to cry again as Oliver pulled her in for another hug.
Oliver simply held Felicity for several minutes. During this time the door to his room opened just a crack and Sara peeked her head in. She had obviously heard Felicity crying out. "Nightmare?" Sara asked in barely a whisper, only loud enough for Oliver to hear her. He nodded his head and noted the look of concern on his Teammate's face. Sara nodded her head before silently closing the door behind her, leaving him to comfort his girl.
"Felicity." Oliver whispered her name quietly after several more minutes.
"Hmmm." Felicity replied after she finally had managed to stop the tears. She still sat with her head resting on Oliver's chest, listening to the beat of his heart. It was one more reassurance that he was indeed still alive.
"I'm sorry that you had to watch that and I wish there was a way that I could erase those images from your mind." Oliver said to her quietly. "But I am not going anywhere. Do you want to know why?"
Felicity looked up to Oliver's eyes at his declaration. She was curious what he was going to say and couldn't miss the grin on his face. "No Oliver, tell me why." She stated simply.
"Because I love you." Oliver said, the grin growing on his face. "And because you're too stubborn to let me die." He couldn't help the laugh that escaped as she punched him in the arm. Apparently she didn't like being called stubborn. He pulled her in for a gentle kiss and when they finally pulled away he noticed a small smile on her face as well.
"I love you too Oliver." Felicity told Oliver, all her emotions and the depth of her love for him evident in the way that she said the words so softly. Suddenly her look of love morphed into a look of pure evil, including a wicked grin that graced her beautiful face.
"And if you ever scare me like that again... I will kill you myself!"
AN: Well... that was intense huh?! Please, leave me a review to let me know what you think!
