A/N: Hey guys, another chapter before I head off on my travels, as promised. After this chapter, the action is going to heat up, so hope that will be a nice change of pace for you all.
To that end, I've made a decision about this story. I don't think it'll work posting chapters once a week with the action heating up. I'm going to stop posting now until I'm basically done with this fic, and then just post a chapter every other day until it's finished. I think that will ultimately be a more satisfying way to read this, because it's just gone on so long, everyone can't remember what is going on with all the details… and I'm having some issues too. Now, I really don't know how long that will take me, but I'd love to think I could get this story done and dusted by the end of the year. That would make me very happy. But I can't give you a time because I'm pretty confident I'll be way off.
Anyways, for those of you who might find it's too long and you lose track of this fic, thanks so much for coming this far with me. I am absolutely going to finish this… unless it sends me insane in the process, but yeah, I'm going to give it my all to get it done. So thank you again to all who've hung in there with me. I hope to give you an ending which will make it all worthwhile for you… but we've got a few very important things to get through before that happens.
So, as I pack the car to head off on my work travels, I'll leave you with this chapter where Olicity clear the air somewhat. Hope it satisfies and all things being equal with my travels, I'll see you in a little bit…
Cuddles…
CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR
Jimmy Franconelli whistled a little tuneless ditty as he stepped out into the alleyway of the well-known gambling club. It was early in the evening, but day and night didn't have much meaning within those walls. Serious gamblers would routinely play their game of choice practically non-stop for twenty-four hours or more. Franco had a few extra thousand in his pocket from when he walked in. That was enough for him. The trick with gambling was always knowing when to stop. He had that ability. Franco prided himself on never getting in too deep with anything he did. He inclined his head at the obligatory heavies guarding the side entrance and then strolled back down the alley towards the street. Climbing into the driver's seat, he settled back into the padded leather seat and inserted his key into the ignition. Instantly, there was something cold pressed against his neck. He froze, eyes flicking up to the rearview mirror which was currently being filled with the image of a large man, dressed in black and wearing a balaclava. "This is a mistake," he informed the man calmly. "You don't want to mess with me. I have powerful friends."
"I know," came the rumbling answer from the man. "That's why I'm here."
"So, let's negotiate then," said Franco.
The man lashed out and struck Franco in the side of the head, stunning him.
"Good negotiation," said the man, and then struck him again and Franco knew nothing after that.
#
Felicity parked her car in the alley beside Verdant and turned off the engine. She glanced at her watch, seeing that it was after seven and should be done by now. Felicity activated the coms in her ear. "John, is it done?"
Diggle's voice was suddenly in her ear. "It's done. We have the package and are enroute back to the Cave. We'll be there in a few minutes."
There was the sound of coughing and then a distressed-sounding Roy was on the coms. "How did we get this job? This guy smells so bad."
"It's just a cologne, Roy," said Diggle dismissively.
"Then why are your eyes watering?" asked Roy accusingly.
"Allergies."
Roy snorted. "Whatever."
"Is Oliver there yet?"
Felicity looked out her window to see Oliver pulling up on his bike in his full Arrow garb. "Yes."
"We'll be there soon."
"Why haven't I passed out from the fumes yet?" asked Roy in anguish. "That seems really unfair."
"Ignore him," said Diggle. "We've got the jump on Ross and Gutz now that we've got Franco. This is going to work."
Felicity wrinkled her nose. "I hope so. We're taking a big risk."
"Which is going to pay off. Don't worry, Felicity, we've got this."
She nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "See you soon."
"Two minutes away."
Felicity collected her bag with her laptop and the box sitting on the seat next to her and climbed out of the car. She walked down the alleyway and stopped in front of Oliver who was leaning against his Ducati. Felicity smiled. "Hi."
"Hi," said Oliver. Even with the hood up, it was possible to see he was searching for the next thing to say. "How are you?"
Felicity couldn't help but give a little laugh at his formality. "I'm good, how are you?"
"Frustrated."
"Me too."
"I'm not talking sexually." Oliver hesitated. "Although, don't get me wrong, I am definitely that."
"I hear you," said Felicity ruefully. This mission couldn't come to an end soon enough for her. They'd been waiting to be together for what felt like forever. It really didn't help that she knew she was the reason why that was.
"I signed my name earlier," he blurted out.
"On those Tellman Inc. papers?" said Felicity with relief. "Finally. Thank you. You'd think I was asking you for a kidney on signing off on that contract."
Oliver was regarding her steadily. "Nope, didn't sign those papers." He leaned closer to her. "I signed my name."
"What does—" Felicity suddenly stopped. "Oh, right, you signed your name, got it." She couldn't help it. "I thought you didn't do that kind of thing?" she teased him.
"I didn't, but then you happened and well, after that whole kitchen thing today, there was a definite need to sign my name."
Felicity wondered how she could find something equally funny and hot. "And how was that for you?" she asked playfully.
"Lonely," said Oliver a little morosely.
"That's because I wasn't there."
"Kind of my problem to begin with," said Oliver in exasperation.
"If it makes you feel any better, I may have signed my name today after I got home as well."
Oliver's eyes went wide. "How is that meant to make me feel better? We could have been together, doing—"
"Our paperwork together?" said Felicity ruefully. "Yes, I know, but when we do get down to pulling out the pen and paper, it's not something that is going to take five minutes. It's going to be more like five days, and we didn't have that kind of time, with this mission tonight, to spend… you know… balancing each other's books." Felicity knew she sounded particularly forlorn about that fact.
"Oh God," said Oliver unevenly, "now every time someone talks to me about accounting I'm going to get a hard on."
Her lips twitched. "You'll probably have to give the Johns from accounting a bit of a heads up about that little issue."
"Trust me, it's not a little issue," grumbled Oliver.
Felicity couldn't help her gaze from drifting down to Oliver's crotch.
He immediately straightened up and held out a warning hand to her. "Don't," said Oliver unevenly, "you know the problem I have when you look at me like that. The only reason I could get into these pants is because I signed my name multiple times before even attempting it."
"Multiple times?" Felicity was suddenly concerned. "You haven't worn yourself out, have you? I mean, I have big plans for you and him for tonight. I'd hate for one of us to flag halfway through." Felicity pursed her lips. "She said, apparently abandoning all pretense of being a lady."
"Trust me, Felicity," said Oliver wryly, "there is going to be no flagging from my end tonight."
She smiled knowingly up at him. "Good." The taste she'd gotten of what it was like to have Oliver inside of her had whet what was already a pretty voracious appetite. Felicity just needed for them to be truly intimate with one another without any more interruptions.
"What I was originally trying to say before about being frustrated, I meant about how we left things between us." He shook his head at her. "I don't want us to fight about this Felix thing."
"That thing is you trying to take over my life completely. That's not something I'm prepared to just blow off, Oliver. What you did stepped over a line, and I have the higher moral ground on this one." Her look became pointed. "I don't care how magical your fingers are, That hasn't changed."
"Magical fingers, you say?"
Felicity rolled her eyes at how intrigued he sounded by that. "How is that the most important part of what I just said?"
"How is you thinking I have magical fingers ever not going to be the most important part of anything?"
Felicity stepped closer and put her hand on his chest. "Oliver, I love you, and we'll work this out. We just have to negotiate the terms of this new relationship into something we can both live with."
"I don't know if I can live with you co-habitating with your ex," said Oliver without hesitation.
"Aren't I going to be living with you?"
"You still want to do that? I thought, maybe, after what happened, you would think that was me taking over again, and you might have changed your mind."
"Oliver, I haven't changed my mind about wanting to move in with you. I knew who you were before I agreed to that. Nothing's changed except now we've just got to figure out how to make your foibles and mine into something workable." She tilted her head and smiled up at him. "I know we can do that. I have faith in us." Felicity shook her head at him. "And I wouldn't have asked Felix to move into my place if I was still intending to live there. Not because of any lingering feelings between us, but out of respect for you and Claire and not wanting to make either of you feel uncomfortable."
"Who's Claire?"
"Felix's girlfriend."
"I didn't know he had a girlfriend."
"No, because you were too busy shipping him off to Siberia."
"Beijing."
"I know, I remember. So, what you did, with offering Felix a job so far away from a woman he really cares about, was really unfair. Felix hasn't done anything wrong. It's not right for you to punish him for my mistakes."
"We don't know for sure that Felix hasn't done anything wrong," said Oliver quickly.
"What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"
"That's not a thing in our line of work."
"Really? You think?" she said somewhat sarcastically. "Okay, I'm willing to admit there are a few blank spots in Felix's past—"
Oliver stiffened. "What kind of blank spots?"
"Just some work history stuff," she said dismissively. "It's going to turn out to be nothing."
"But it might be something," pushed Oliver. "I'm telling you, Felicity, something is off with him. I just know it. He's lying to us both."
"You lie to everyone all the time, and there are plenty of blank spots about your history that I have no idea about. It's not a reason to totally write off the guy."
"I don't lie to you, and I'm not writing him off, I'm giving him a fantastic job which he's going to love."
"On the other side of the world," said Felicity flatly.
"It'll be like an adventure."
"And what about Claire?"
"If it's serious, they'll work it out."
"You're being pretty cavalier about other people's lives," she said disapprovingly.
"I'm simply doing containment until I can lock down just how big of a threat Felix is to your safety."
"Let me help you with that risk assessment – he's no kind of threat."
"You keep saying that, but you can't give me any proof."
"I can't give you proof of him not being a threat," said Felicity in exasperation. "The proof is there is no proof, because he's not doing anything."
"That you know of."
"This conversation keeps on chasing its tail," said Felicity in frustration.
Oliver blew out a long breath. "I know. It's just... this is your safety we're talking about Felicity. I'm not willing to take any shortcuts with that."
"Oliver, if something bad happens to me, it happens. I'm okay about that." She wrinkled her nose. "I mean, I'm not thrilled at the thought of something like that happening, but this is a dangerous world we live in, and sometimes things happen. I mean, there was that Congressman in the early 1900s that died because of shaving."
Oliver tilted this head. "How?"
"His shaving brush was infected with anthrax."
Oliver's brows knitted together. "Seriously, and again, how?"
"That's not the point. The point is that life can be really random and so can death." She laid a hand on his arm. "I know you want to protect me from ever getting hurt, and believe me, I understand because I feel exactly the same way about you."
"Then understand about what I feel I need to do when it comes to Felix."
"Felix isn't the issue here, Oliver," said Felicity calmly. "It's you thinking you can take on the universe when it comes to something like this. I don't want you to see yourself as my protector because if something does go wrong, I don't want you to take on all that guilt." She squeezed his arm. "I know that you love me, that you'd do anything to keep me safe, and I love that about you. I just need you to understand that if one day that isn't enough, that's not your fault. You're only human, there are limits as to what you can do, and that doesn't make you a bad or careless person."
"I keep surviving while people around me die," said Oliver grimly. "Why is it I can keep myself alive and not everyone else? It's not all just fate. I can impact on things, Felicity. I've learned things. I have skills."
"We all have skills we can use to help others," said Felicity softly, "but if the worst happens out in the field with you one day and you're seriously hurt or worse, do you really want me to spend the rest of my days blaming myself because I should have given you different intel sooner or seen something and given you a heads up? Do you want me to take on that kind of responsibility for every variable that happens every time you go out in the field?"
"Of course I don't," said Oliver unsteadily.
"Then is it so hard for you to understand I don't want that for you either?" Felicity looked up at him, letting him read the sincerity in her face. "You're not responsible for every bad thing that might happen to me, Oliver, and you can't try and preempt every potential danger you perceive. It's no way to live, for either of us."
"I don't know how not to feel like this, Felicity," he said in frustration. "It's like I'm watching you drowning, and you're asking me not to save you."
Felicity stepped back. "Look at me, am I drowning?"
"Potentially," said Oliver painfully.
"Potentially I'm also going to be the next Miss Universe. It's just not very likely."
"You could be if you wanted to be."
Felicity half-smiled. "Yeah, don't really want to be, but thanks for the vote of confidence. What I'm trying to tell you is that you have this tendency to get obsessive about things."
Oliver opened his mouth and then closed it again, clearly thinking better of arguing with her.
"You get an idea in your head and you let it overtake you. I don't want this fear for me to be one of those things. In the past you've been able to see me in danger and trust I could get out of things. What's changed now? Don't you think me as capable as you used to?"
"What's changed is me," said Oliver painfully. "Admitting to myself I was in love with you and in a way I've never loved anyone else, it's equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. Maybe you're right. Maybe I am obsessing over keeping you safe, but I can't stop because trying to picture a world without you in it—" He made a helpless gesture with his hand. "I can't, Felicity." Oliver's voice cracked over her name. "I'm literally paralyzed with fear at the thought of losing you."
Felicity bit her bottom lip, finding it hard to hear the amount of pain in Oliver's voice as he said that. He'd lost so many people he'd loved, she understood his fear, but it was no way to live. "You say that now, but I know you, Oliver. If-if something bad really did happened to me, I'd like to think remembering me would inspire you to keep going, not to stop."
He looked away abruptly. "I never want to find out," he rasped.
"Well, me either, if there is a choice about it all, but sometimes there are no choices to be made. Life begins, life ends – it is the immutable fact of drawing your first breath, that one day you'll draw your last. In the end, though, it's not your last breath that is important, it's all the ones you take in between. It's the ones that make up your life, and I don't want our life together to be lived in the fear of what ifs." She held his gaze unflinchingly. "You're amazing and brilliant, and you've changed my life so much I can hardly believe it, but, Oliver, you're not responsible for my life. I just want you to be a part of it and to love me."
He took a quick step towards her. "Making sure you're safe is part of the way I love, Felicity. I can't help that."
"I know, and I can live with that, as long as you know if one day I'm not safe, it's not because you didn't love me enough," she said earnestly. "You have to find a way to let yourself off the hook about other people's lives, Oliver. You can't take on life and death for everyone you care about and make it about you and what you can do. That will destroy you. The last thing I want is thinking that our love might one day destroy you."
The sudden glare of Diggle's van's headlights had them both squinting as it turned around the corner and into the alleyway.
"Felicity, I know what you're saying to me, I do, and I want to be able to flip that switch and worry over you in a healthy way—"
"But?"
"But I'm not exactly sure how to do that," said Oliver unevenly.
"I think once we have sex - well, really, really have sex - everything will be a lot easier."
"Oh really?" said Oliver in amusement. "Is that what you think?"
"I read somewhere that sex uncomplicates everything in a relationship," said Felicity, tongue in cheek. She knew that this was something that didn't have a simple answer. Oliver was scarred in more ways than just physically. He'd lost so much in the last eight years. Making him feel like he could truly relax into another relationship was something which wasn't going to happen overnight. Felicity knew that. She understood. She just needed Oliver to know that as well.
"I like the kind of books you're reading," said Oliver, straight-faced.
"Thought you might," said Felicity in amusement.
The back of Diggle's van opened, and Roy jumped out, sucking in noisy gasps of air as he bent over, hands on knees. "Fresh air," he squeaked. "I almost forgot what you smelled like."
"Overly dramatic much?" said Diggle wryly as he climbed out of the driver's seat to stand beside the heaving younger man.
In the back of the van, Felicity could see the prone body of a man with his hands and feet tied and a bag over his head. The decided smell of Old Spice told her they'd gotten the right man.
"You were up front," complained a red-faced Roy as he scrubbed at his nose. "I was right beside Mr. Stinky. I was at ground zero. My sense of smell might be permanently damaged. I mean, what's the point to putting that much cologne on? Is he meant to stun women with it so he can drag them back to the Old Spice factory where he obviously makes his home?"
"Given the company he keeps, probably," said Felicity. She glanced around them. It was still early in the evening. Nobody was lining up to get into Verdant yet, but they still had an unconscious man in the back of their van. "We need to get Old Spice inside, or at least close the van doors."
Diggle closed the van doors. "We'll take him to our secondary hideout until we need him." He looked at Roy. "You want to grab—"
"A gas mask?" suggested Roy. "You bet I do."
"My black bag."
"And I'm now your lackey because—"
"Fine, I'll grab my bag, you stay in the back of the van with Old Spice."
"I'll be right back," said Roy without hesitation, trotting off into the lair.
Diggle looked between her and Oliver. "You two good to go?"
"We're fine, Dig," said Felicity. She looked at Oliver. "Right?"
"I'd call it a work in progress, but we've got this," agreed Oliver.
"So, the whole testicle thing—"
"Oliver's working on it," said Felicity confidently. "We're not fighting."
Diggle regarded her steadily. "Are we fighting?"
Felicity smiled up at him. "Of course not, John. I know you did what you did from a place of love, for both of us."
"Same as me," protested Oliver.
"Yours was more of a deranged, maniacal kind of love."
"Deranged and maniacal?" huffed Oliver.
"Fine. Overly zealous love then."
"Mm, only slightly better, but I'll take it."
Diggle's gaze drifted to the box sticking out of Felicity's bag. "What's that?"
She glanced down at it. "Just some tech Lucius sent me. He thought I'd be interested in it. It's not important for tonight." It was the device Felix had created to track his nanotech. A courier had dropped it off at her place that afternoon. She hadn't had a chance to look at it properly yet, but it was on her list of things to do at some point.
Roy was suddenly running back out to them. "Bunny's gone," he declared. "He and Ladybug have cleared out. They're gone. There's a note."
"How long?" asked Oliver intently.
Roy glanced down at the note in his hand. "A couple of lines. Just says he's sorry, that he loves us, but he has to go to protect us."
"Not the note, Roy," said Oliver sharply. "How long ago does it look like he left?"
"How should I know that?"
"I last saw him was around three," said Felicity. "We talked again on the phone at five, but Bunny might not have been in the cave then."
"Okay," said Oliver grimly, "Bunny's in the wind. We're on a clock now, and I don't know how much time that clock has on it."
Felicity's stomach fluttered with that familiar feeling of adrenalin and a little dread that she always felt going into any mission. Bunny's life was at stake. They couldn't make any mistakes.
#
Pang looked at her watch and made a clucking noise of disapproval. "He late. Knew it," she said disapprovingly and then shrugged. "But on other hand, I get new island."
"Excuse me, ma'am?"
Pang turned around to see the nervous-looking pilot of their private jet.
"Our flight plan has us taking off in three minutes. We really need to stick to the plan otherwise I have to lodge a new one. Do you think Mr. Forbes-Hamilton will be here soon?"
"He be here," said Pang dismissively. "You just worry about flying plane." She looked past him to see distant headlights approaching along the deserted airstrip. "He here now. You go fiddle your knobs or whatever you need to do. We go now." The man scurried off to do as he was told, because everyone did what she said without hesitation… if they were smart. Pang folded her arms in front of herself as she stood directly in the beam of the car's headlights as it pulled up. "You late," she complained to the passenger she could see in the back seat. "We make deal. I get Tasmania."
The silhouette which climbed out of the car, however, did not belong to Bunny. The thickset, no-neck man hauled himself out of the car and pointed a gun directly at her head. "You got bigger problems than real estate, lady," he growled at her. "Where's Forbes-Hamilton?"
Pang recognized the other man immediately, having had dealings with him before. "How I know? I not seen Mr. Bunny in days." She stared back at him unconcerned as he approached. "You climbing up wrong tree, Mr. Putz."
He scowled at her. "It's Gutz, and you know it."
"I no good with names," she said dismissively. "You go now."
"I'm not going anywhere because I happen to know your boss is meeting you here, and my associate is very eager for a conversation with him."
Pang shrugged. "Not my problem. Mr. Bunny no here. I not know where he is."
Gutz pressed the muzzle of his gun to the center of Pang's forehead. "That's a shame, because that means you're no use to me, and if you're no use to me, I may as well do a little culling on useless freaks who don't know if they're Arthur or Martha."
"I know what I am," said Pang coolly. "And I know what you are, tiny dick man. You no frighten me."
Gutz pulled back the hammer of his gun. "In that case," he purred, "I'm just going to have to try harder to get the job done, don't I?"
"Bet that not first time you say that to a woman… or last."
Gutz gave a low growl and struck her across the face with the butt of his gun. "You shut your filthy freak mouth," he snarled. "You're not a woman. You're a deviant!"
Pang saw stars and one knee buckled a little, but she managed to stay upright. She looked back at him defiantly as a trickle of blood ran down the side of her face. "You… no… scare… me," she said, emphasizing each word and letting him see her lack of fear in her eyes.
Gutz's lips twisted into a cruel smile. "The night's young, freak. Plenty of time to change that." The gun was back at her forehead. "You better pray your homo boss turns up soon, because it's about to get real ugly here."
"It got ugly when you show your big fat head," said Pang blithely and was rewarded with another blow from the butt of Gutz's gun. This time she did fall to her knees, fighting against losing consciousness from the viciousness of the blow. "You-you hit like girl," she panted. "You want to know how to fight like man, fat boy?"
Pang launched herself from the ground in an attack which had Gutz howling in pain. There was nothing more satisfying than hearing a man scream when you were ripping his testicles from his body with your teeth, Pang decided. Sometimes there was a lot of job satisfaction to be had working for Mr. Bunny.
#Center a "#" character on its own line to indicate a scene break. To mark the end of your manuscript, center "End" on the last line.
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