I am so sorry this took so long. I really don't have an excuse other than I have been playing Batman and watching Super Girl and studying so this has sadly fallen off BUT I will always continue this, this is going to keep going because I am building up to the chapter that this whole story was built around.

Please review! :D

Chapter 11 – Save Myself

"Oliver, you must learn. If you don't learn we will both die..." Yao Fe had spoken with such force that even Oliver had taken a step back. What was he supposed to learn? Quickly, Oliver followed Yao Fe's eyeline, finding it suddenly focused on the large wooden box in the corner of old plane. Moving towards it, Oliver opened it, his breath leaving him for a moment.

Spinning on his heels, Oliver looked closely at Yao Fe. "You want…you want me to learn how to use this?" He picked it up quickly, feeling the weight of the bow in his hand. It was a strange feeling, holding the weapon in his hand. Something he never thought he would do but here he was.

"Yes. You must. We must survive…" He rasped out, the gun shot would he had suffered days before was healing but taking it had been taking it toll. Yao Fe was weak, tired and barely conscious for most the past few days but the bleeding had stopped.

Turning back to the box, Oliver looked down again. Inside he found the matching quiver to the bow, packets of herbs and something he assumed was tea. As well as a half-cut hood. The stark colour green sticking out against the grey of the material keeping it all safe. He ran his fingers over the hood, wondering why and where it would be worn.

Yao Fe coughed deeply, his hand flying to his chest to try and settle himself, "Oliver you must learn, we must eat and so you much learn." Was his last words before he slipped into the darkness of sleep.

Sighing, Oliver placed the bow back into the box. He was right, they needed to eat or else it wouldn't take long before they both died. Closing the box, Oliver moved back to his side of the plane, laying down on the blanket that had been placed there.

The wind has picked up, howling through the trees, the rain blanketing the ground and thunder echoing through the hollowed out plane. The storm had settled in for the night, the lightning lighting up the dark sky. Oliver had never been sacred of thunderstorms but laying on the ground of this old plane, feeling the shaking of the ground around him as he tried to sleep, he was struggling with the thoughts that this was going to be how he slept now, the wind sprinkling the rain through the gaps in the metal, coating Oliver in a light sheen, his hands instinctively covering his face and ears as he tried to block out the storm.


He spotted the arrow sitting right at the top of the tree, almost as though it was taunting him with his inaccuracy and inability to use the bow and arrow. Yao Fe had always made the rule, that if he loses the arrows - he must retrieve them. He spoke about the patience and discipline that retrieving arrows helps to build but also as they were not is a large supply they must be utilised as much as possible.

Groaning, Oliver stood at the base of the tree and looked up, his head tipped all most the way back to look up at the arrow. Dropping his head and signing, Oliver began to think through his approach.

His pants were both torn at the knees, making them more into shorts, his shoes were ok, he'd stolen some off a guard that had left them lying around and his shirt was dirty and fairly torn - also something that he'd stolen from a guard who had left it around - but it was the only thing he had to protect his upper body.

Making his decision, Oliver slipped the long sleeve shirt from his body, he needed something to at least protect him from the colder elements - and it had been getting colder. As a habit he had gotten into, Oliver let his hands slowly slide down his torso, feeling each raised scar from his time of torture, the large knife scar under his ribs, the healed bullet hole in his left shoulder. Memories flashing back to him as

Slowly he took each step by step up the branches of the tree, making sure to have a hold onto a thicker branch before he moved because if he fell, there would be no one to save him now. Looking down through the tree, Oliver found himself sudden halfway up the tree, he hadn't expected it to happen that quickly but here he was, climbing a tree with no trouble.

Smiling to himself, he moved a little faster finding a confidence he didn't know he had, but that was until he placed his foot on a branch he had not checked, he'd heard the crack before it gave way but with no time to move, his foot gave way with it, his heart instantly stopping when there was nothing holding him up but his tired arms.

Gasping loudly, Oliver held on tight to the branch he had in his hand, his legs swinging freely for a second. Taking a deep breath, Oliver put all his strength into his shoulders and back, pulling himself up onto the next branch where he knew he would be more stable. After a moment, he continued, the taunting arrow getting closer and closer to him.

Suddenly he found himself straddling the highest branch of the tree, the arrow in reaching distance but that was not what caught his attention. What caught his attention was the view. The endless ocean around him, the dark clouds and the pleasant breeze he could feel. If it weren't for the situation, he would almost call is beautiful in a way.

But what he did feel, even for a moment, was the sense of being free. It as a strange feeling considering where he was and what was going on around him but knowing that he had pulled himself up to the top of the tree, used his own muscles and achieved something fairly extraordinary for himself, it was freeing.

He stayed there for what felt like forever, letting the wind blow around him, the trees move and really the only sounds he could hear were that of the ocean below. Looking out over the ocean, Oliver noticed the heavy clouds coming their way, clouds he had become all too familiar with over the last almost 18 months, clouds that meant storms, rain and cold. Finally, Oliver found his way back down the tree, arrow in his hand and a small smile on his face.

It was a short walk back to the plane and that was where Oliver found Yao Fe sitting in front of the large bowl of water that Oliver had been 'training' with over the last few weeks. Yao Fe had explained it to Oliver, he had told him how slapping a bowl of water was going to help him get better at using the bow.

But the moment he had picked up the bow and was finally able to draw it back, the ease of which he did it with had surprised him. He felt a moment of pride in himself.

"What, more slapping a bowl of water?" Olive huffed as he took the seat opposite Yao Fe, instantly hearing the downpour of rain on the outside of the plane. Good timing Oliver thought.

Yao Fe shook his head, dropping both hands into the bowl, cleaning off his hands from the dried animal blood. Yao Fe had slowly been spending more and more time outside of the plane, his gunshot wound had been heeling and he was getting a little stronger. That afternoon, Yao Fe had taken Oliver out to start showing him how to line up prey and their movements as well as how to aim and track the wind. In that time, he had killed three rabbits that had been too slow to get away from Yao Fe's arrows.

Oliver on the other hand had tried his hand at aiming for targets he had scratched into the tree's around him. But his aim had been way off, missing all the trees except for the one that he had hit right at the top.

"This isn't working!" Oliver was angry and frustrated. He had been spending the last two weeks lining up and aiming at trees, breathing deeply, drawing back the bow, releasing and the arrow – and missing. Every single time he tried, he missed. Turning to Yao Fe, Oliver groaned, "Look maybe this is just something I'm not meant to do ok!" Oliver shoved the bow back to Yao Fe, who didn't even bother reaching for it.

Shaking his head Yao Fe moved from Oliver, "You are thinking too much."

But Oliver scoffed, turning away from the other man, "No one has ever accused me of that before…" He was being self-deprecating; he was angry at himself and the situation. He couldn't even shoot a tree let alone a moving target.

"Oliver, you must feel the variation in the wind, hear the bow string tighten and then you must let go…" He made it sound so easy, but then at the same time, Oliver thought back to how quickly Yao Fe had taught him to fight in such a short amount of time. Maybe there was something in what he was telling him now.

Yao Fe was a man of very few words, causing Oliver to really focus on his body language and mannerisms. Something that Oliver was learning very quickly.

He could pick when something changed on Yao Fe, even the slightest change he could see it, reading him easily. Oliver hoped that one day, that newly obtained talent could come in handy to him.


His feet thumped harder on the ground as he ran, each step bringing him closer to his target, each arrow he let fly hit a tree, most hitting the target but none hitting the bullseye. But still he ran, something that Oliver had found a fondness for. Over the last four weeks of being on the island with just him and Yao Fe, Oliver had found that running and climbing had become his escapes.

It wore it his body, gave a sense of freedom and discipline he had begun to thrive for. It had also tired him out so the days would move on without slowing down.

He had run the length of the island, using the trees around him to climb and jump, finding branches that helped with his pulls up, trying to find ways of working almost every muscle he had. Each track around his targets, his aim would improve, maybe not by all but by one or two.

And so he ran, each day for the next two weeks, pushing himself faster across the waterline, through the trees, over the logs, arrows whistling through the leaves, thunking as they finally landed middle target, each more precise than the last.

He was smirking to himself, getting cocky, but who could blame him? Oliver was able to pick off a target from over 500 meters away, he was able to track the wind, his hand was steady and calm and by now each rapid-fire arrow he let fly hit its target, he never missed. His speed increasing exponentially with each day that passed.

As he lined up his last arrow, Oliver heard the sound of a helicopter engine overhead, it was not like he hadn't heard the sound of planes in the distance, never close enough to see the signal he wanted to build but a helicopter had to be close for him to hear it.

Turning on his heels, Oliver sprinted off through the trees in the direction of the helicopter, the arrow going back into the quiver but the bow held tightly in his hands. It didn't take him long to make it to the clearing, his body working harder and faster than it had ever been. It was a helicopter, someone who was there to bring them home.

Home.

To Thea, his mother, Tommy and Felicity.

He wanted to smile at the thought of Tommy and Felicity but he needed to move faster.

Skidding to a stop, Oliver found himself back at the plane camp site, the wind from the helicopter bowing his now long hair around, making it harder for him to see. But what he did see what Yao Fe, on his knees and the guards around him, their guns drawn.

Instinct took over and Oliver drew his arrow and nocked it in a flash, aiming at the guard who was closest to Yao Fe. "Move and I will put this arrow through your eye." His voice growled out deeply. But the men didn't move, barely even flinched as the sounds of the rotor slowed in the distance.

Who the hell were these people and what the hell did they want?

"I said…put the guns down!" his voice was louder this time, the movement to his left catching his attention and he turned, aiming his arrow at the figure coming towards him.

A woman's voice found his ears, "Mr. Queen. We have been watching you…"

Tipping his head slightly, he was shocked to hear his last name but the world started to tip instead, his vision blurring and his knees buckled. He had no idea how it had happened but Oliver was suddenly laying on the wet ground, his eyes trying to focus on Yao Fe being taken away before the figure appeared in his eyeline. "We could use a man of your…talents…"

But the world slipped away and darkness took him.


Tommy sighed happily when he saw Felicity's face coming towards him. He had been sitting at the table for about 10 minutes already and he had been nervous, nervous to see if Felicity was ok and to see if there were any more signs.

It had been about 6 months since he had seen her at her place with the bruised eye, Laurel had said she'd spoken to Felicity the week later and talked about her wrist but that was it, that was the only time that anything was brought up between the friends and Felicity seemed to do everything she could to just keep her life going as normal.

Anytime the two saw each other, Felicity would ignore any questions or just brush them off vaguely, Laurel was right, Felicity wouldn't talk about it until she was ready and there was no point pushing her until that time. It had finally gotten this point that Tommy would either say something to her now or he was going to straight to the police. Either way, things were going to change.

But when he saw her coming his way, a bright smile on her face, his thoughts left him for the time being, he honestly just wanted to enjoy his lunch with his closest friend. She seemed happy and bright, more like her usual self. Sure, he noticed that she was wearing less make up than she usually did and her lips weren't as bright as they normally would be but her smile was wide and her eyes shone.

"Tommy!" She called out, hugging him tightly, "How are you?" She genuinely seemed happy today.

Tommy was shocked, he had not expected this from Felicity. Sure, he hadn't seen any new bruises or anything over the last few months but he had seen her demeanour change significantly but this, this was almost the old Felicity. "I'm good Felicity, how have you been?" He was weary to watch her movements as she sat or moved or spoke but there was nothing that was standing out to him. Maybe she had broken up with Cooper and not said anything to him?

Grabbing her glass of water, Felicity took a sip, "I've been good, busy with work and stuff, Walter is keeping me super busy with new programs he wants written and operating systems, but it's been really nice to be busy. How about you? How is Laurel?"

They talked for over an hour, just enjoying the sunshine on the nice Wednesday afternoon, they conversations staying light and happy. Until Felicity spoke, "Have you, ah…have you seen Thea around? How is she?" There was an instant change in Felicity's eyes and Tommy's mood when Thea was brought up. Something that hung over the two of them.

Sighing, Tommy moved closer to the table, suddenly finding his glass very fascinating. "She is alright, I think. I try to see her a couple of times a week but she had been avoiding me recently. I know she has it really tough, losing Ollie and then her dad. Moira has thrown herself into her charities but Thea is just…alone." Felicity looked away, she hated knowing that Thea was struggling, but there was not much she could do about it.

"Maybe you should go and see her or give her a call. She could use you right about now…" Now that was a statement he really shouldn't have said.

Felicity huffed and sat back in her seat. "Tommy you know that I can't. I would love to be able to go and see her and just be there for her but I can't do that. We've talked about this before." The conversation had really shifted.

"I know we have talked about this Felicity but she is falling further down the rabbit hole and I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to pull her out. She need's you Felicity."

Tommy was really pushing it now. He was frustrated and angry with Thea and Felicity and the whole situation. "I told you that I can't Tommy, ok? Can you please just drop it?" Silence spread across the two of them for what felt like the longest time until Tommy relented, he knew better than to push. But that didn't mean wasn't annoyed.

Taking the moment, Tommy called for the bill, knowing that Felicity was meant to get back to work soon, he didn't want her to get into trouble for being late. He also knew that QC was only a 10 minute walk from where they had decided to have lunch so they needed to get back there.

While they walked, Felicity tried to calm the storm by asking Tommy more questions about his plans for the weekend with Laurel, although his answers were stiff, he allowed the questions. "What's on for you this weekend?" Was his eventual question back to Felicity, watching as her smile grew a little more.

"Cooper is taking me to a thing in Central City, some work dinner or something. He even bought me a new dress."

Tommy snapped, she was talking about happily joining Cooper – a man who had been abusing her – to a work dinner in another city and he had bought her a new gift. How could she keep this up? It had been almost 12 month that she and Cooper had been together but he had no idea how long the abuse had been going on for.

Tommy and Laurel had talked about approaching Felicity, sitting down with her and asking her what was going on with her and Cooper but for some reason they had wanted to wait a little more, having seen Felicity with more of a smile on her face than ever before, so Laurel and Tommy tabled their conversation for another day. Plus, as a lawyer, Laurel wanted more evidence that just a couple of injuries and stories that didn't match before they potentially ruined a friendship.

But Tommy had snapped, walking next to her as she talked about what she and Cooped had been up to, how happy she was with him, and so when they'd gotten back to the foyer of QC, he had asked her, more like fronted up to her, about the abuse she had been receiving, the abuse she had covering up.

"Felicity…I need ask you something…" Tommy placed his hands on Felicity's shoulders, forcing her to look at him expectantly. "You and Cooper…and I want you to tell me the truth, you know you can tell me the truth…what is happening? What is he doing to you?''

Felicity dropped her eyes from him, taking a step away. "Nothing is going on Tommy ok. He isn't doing anything to me." She rolled her eyes and laughed a little trying to ignore his comments. She didn't want to be have any part of this conversation, not now or ever.

Tommy huffed, his fists tightening at her lie, "I call bullshit Felicity. The story you gave me about your black eye, the two different stories that you told me and Laurel about your sprained wrist. He is hurting you Felicity. Can't you see that?" He tried to reach out for her but she just shook her head, huffing out a laugh.

"This dinner and buying you a new dress is just his way of controlling you. He is showing you off to the world, he is keeping you in line." He was angry now. He was scared for Felicity, scared of what Cooper was doing that he couldn't see.

Felicity's face hardened but he eyes held more pain than she was willing to give away, "He isn't doing anything to me Tommy ok. You're being ridiculous." She turned from him now, making her way towards the elevators to take her back to her cubicle. It infuriated Tommy even more.

He snapped, his voice carrying through the large foyer of QC, gaining people's attention. "Would you be lying to Ollie if he be were here? What would he say to you? What would he be doing! What would he want from you right now?" Tommy was getting frustrated; Felicity was pushing him away any chance she got. Would Laurel have rolled her eyes and sighed, knowing that Tommy was pushing her, knowing that he had brought this up now? Here?

Of course, she would. She would have slapped him upside the back of his head, just to prove her point that he was an idiot but she would also have approached Felicity calmly and softly.

Felicity spun on her heels, anger instantly taking over. How dare he use Oliver to try and get a reaction out of her, use Oliver against her, "But he's not here is he Tommy! Oliver is dead, ok! He is gone and he isn't coming back Tommy! Oliver is never coming back! So, he can't want anything. The dead don't want anything, it's one of the benefits of being dead." Her voice had raised enough to gather a crowd around them in the lobby of Queen Consolidated.

Tommy stopped dead, whatever words he wanted to say stayed on his tongue. Felicity had never spoken about Oliver that way, never spoken about Oliver dying that way either. She had always been so caring when she talked about losing Oliver, always so heartbroken, nothing like this. "Felicity...I..." but she had already moved away from the elevator doors and past Tommy before heading out the foyer doors, the low murmurs of those around him as they went back to their own jobs or conversations, having overheard their outbursts.

All Tommy could do was watch her leave, so many words sitting on the tip of his tongue. There was a sudden heavy weight on Tommy's shoulder and it shocked him for a second, the voice though settling him down, "Thomas...is everything ok?" The thick British accent finding his ears. He hadn't even seen Walter in the foyer, standing there, watching them.

Tommy sighed and turned toward Walter, "How has she been? How has her work been?" He didn't want to ask too much of Walter, didn't want to give too much away of what Felicity was clearly going through but he knew that Walter cared about her deeply.

"Her work has been fine. She is a little quieter in meetings but her work is fine. What is going on?" But Tommy sighed, shaking his head. He looked out towards the doors that Felicity had just left from. He had really put his foot in it this time.


Felicity had somehow found her way home in the middle of the day, she had never returned to work, never called or emailed, her whole body just shutting down to everything that Tommy had said. "He's hurting you Felicity." She didn't want to dwell on that fact, she knew that he was hurting her some days, but other days he was everything she had wanted.

She loved him, she did. It was just that some days he would get angry or frustrated.

Climbing the stairs to her apartment, Felicity pushed open the door and stopped dead in her tracks, frozen for a moment. Cooper sat on the couch, his feet on her coffee table, beer in his hand. It was 2pm on a Wednesday, she had no idea that he would be here, in her apartment. "Hey…I didn't know you were going to be here…" She spoke softly, not wanting to startle him.

Cooper looked up from the TV, sculling the rest of the beer before placing it down on the table at his feet. "Hey, yeah I wanted to just hang out. What are you doing home so early?" He didn't even move to greet her, just watched her. Felicity was very unsure about how this was going to go and so she decided she would tread lightly, she wouldn't mention her fight with Tommy, in fact she wouldn't mention Tommy at all.

"I wasn't feeling 100% so I came home…" Cooper seemed to accept this, just nodding at her and watched as she came to sit on the couch by his side. He instantly put his arm around her shoulder and brought her into his side. Taking the chance that he might be open to talking, Felicity spoke, "I ah…I got into an argument with one of my co-workers. He just really upset me that's all." It wasn't the truth but it also wasn't a lie. Tommy had really upset her.

Cooper just sighed, "Well I'm sure you did something to upset him." It was an offhanded comment and it was all he said before reaching for the full beer that was on the floor, his eyes focused completely on the TV now.

Stepping outside of her bedroom, Felicity smiled to herself. Today was going to be a good day. She and Cooper had had a good night, dinner was lovely, the rest of the night even better. She was happy. For the first time in a long time, she was happy.

When she had woken up that morning, Cooper wasn't next to her, not like he had been the last month of their relationship but after 5 months of being together, she just let him do what he wanted. They were comfortable with each other, they were happy.

Stretching, Felicity made her way into the living room, stopping instantly when she watched Cooper closing her laptop suddenly and then turning her tablet over so it was face down. "Morning…" he mumbled, getting up quickly. They may have been comfortable with each other but Felicity had never let him use her laptop or tablet once.

Scrunching her brow together, Felicity returned the good morning before walking past him, not sure of how to take what had just happened. She moved closer to the kitchen, needing the coffee that she knew was waiting for her. "Whose Tommy?" Cooper's voice entered the kitchen, it was flat and lacking any emotions.

Felicity turned to face him, "Tommy? Oh, he is a friend, I've known him for years." Cooper just nodded, turning away from her, leaving her even more confused. How did he know Tommy's name? She had never mentioned him by name, just that she had a friend she was incredibly close with.


The phone. The bloody phone just had to be ringing in the middle of the night. Did these people not know that he was sleeping?

Groaning, Tommy rolled onto his side, placing a gentle kiss on Laurel's neck before he reached for the phone. Without even opening his eyes, Tommy answered, "Yeah…"

Sitting up suddenly, Tommy's heart rate sped up listening to the woman on the other end of the call.

Throwing the blanket off, he dressed quickly, throwing a quick explanation to Laurel before he rushed from the house.

Any love?