"You are lucky, " Felicity was furious. He could tell by the set of her jaw as she worked on his arm. "That thing could have killed you, Oliver!" She tugged at the catgut, pulling the stitch too hard in her frustration. Oliver winced with a slight hiss of pain. "Sorry.." Felicity muttered. "I just don't understand why you won't let us help you."
"I let you help me.." he protested.
"No you don't. If you let us help you, you wouldn't have went into an unnaturally dark alleyway without calling for back up."
"Look, Felicity, I..."
"NO...save it. I'm tired of the excuses, Oliver." She carefully bandaged his arm to protect the stitches. "That wolf could have crippled you. It almost did...twice!" She glanced up at him, her eyes frustrated and serious. "Oliver, she could have killed you."
"She won't hurt me..."
Felicity sighed and set down the bandages. "She already has..."
# # # # # #
Oliver stood with his arms crossed in front of one of the containment units that STAR labs had installed. Inside the wolf lay on her side, motionless, Thea's arrows still embedded in her. They had managed to tranquillize her in order to bring her into the base but when Felicity tried to remove the arrows, the wolf had tried to attack. He wanted her to try to remove them once more with him holding the wolf but he had been out voted 4 to 1. Instead John had tied her mouth with rope so that she couldn't bite them as they moved her to the containment cells.
He sighed in frustration, rubbing his hand over his face. He disagreed with leaving her as she was until they could figure out where to place her. John wanted to ship her off to STAR labs where they could seal her way. Thea suggested the prison on the Island. What was he supposed to do? He wasn't their leader anymore. He wasn't the only person who had changed since he and Felicity had been away.
Something was wrong. He KNEW it. He could feel it in his bones. Yes, she attacked him. Yes, she had injured him. He had seen her fight before. Truly fight. And what she had done back in that alley was not fighting. She also wasn't healing. She had been struck with arrows before. She had still been able to fight despite the fact. It usually wouldn't have slowed her down. When he had stopped his sister, She had barely been able to stand.
His mind made up, Oliver turned on his heels and walked back to their Med lab. He rummaged through the drawers, pulling the things he needed and laying them on the table that stood in the center of the room. ** Bandages, Iv, Saline Solution, cat gut and a suture needle. Bolt cutters...* His eyes roamed over the items before him.
"What are you doing?" Felicity leaned on the door frame. "Oliver, you are NOT going into that cell."
He didn't even look up at her. "Yes, I am." He said it softly but resolutely.
Felicity walked over and grabbed Oliver's arm. "I will not le..."
"I'm not asking." He turned to look at her, the love in his life. His eyes were hard and cold. The look made her release her grip on his arm. It was the first time she had ever truly seen a hint of the man he tried to tamper. "She is a friend. I'm not going to let her die ." He walked past her without another word.
# # # # # #
(Lian Yu, 7 years ago)
Nikita crouched down behind a thick clump of grass, her eyes tracking the human's progress as he tried to chase down a runty hare. She had accidently stumbled upon him a few weeks ago after she had left her shelter in the forest to find food. She had been watching him for a while and she couldn't help it. She was curious about him. He didn't seem like the other humans she knew. She slowly and silently crept after him, following him as he progressed up the mountain. She quickly ducking back behind the sparce grass that grew in the area as he stumbled over an exposed root. He slammed into the ground before he knew what had happened. The human pushed himself up until he was sitting on his heels, watching the Hare scamper into a thick clump of thorn bushes. Screaming in frustration, she watched as he slammed his fist into the ground. **Why did he do that? ** She wondered as he yelped and pulled his injured hand to his chest. **Humans**
"I can't...I can't ..How? How am I supposed..." His voice was cracked
Nikita glanced around to see who he was talking to but there was no one. No. This human was defiantly not like the others that she knew. She turned and quietly slipped away. A few minutes later, she returned to where she had left the unusual human. The hare that he had been hunting was hanging limp between her jaws. The human was still sitting where she had left him, looking as defeated as the hare she was holding. Sweat streamed down his face, his skin burnt and peeling. She hoped that she wasn't wrong about her decision. Carefully, quietly, she moved from her hiding place and moved towards him. He didn't even seem to realize she was there.
# # # # # #
(Lian Yu, 7 years ago)
Oliver was done. Survive? How was he supposed to survive? He was starving. He had no food or water. No shelter. He didn't know where he was or how he was supposed to find his way home. ** I'm sorry dad..** he thought as he lifted his head. He instantly froze. Standing not three feet from him was a wolf with a rabbit...HIS rabbit in her mouth. What was he supposed to do? He didn't have any weapons ..just the rock in his hand. "Go!.." He threw the rock at the wolf but even as close as she was...it just bounced harmlessly to the left of her.
The wolf looked at him with her head cocked before looking to where the rock bounced. She lay the rabbit slowly on the ground and walked to where the it lay. She picked up the rock that had his scent on it and carefully trotted back over to him. She stopped where she had placed the rabbit and lay it down, using her nose to roll the rock towards him.
Oliver, confused, slowly reached out for the rock. "Thank you..." He muttered. The wolf cocked her head at him again. He didn't know much about dogs...or wolves...but it look like a puppy to him. He frowned, watching the wolf as she once more picked up the rabbit. He was surprised when she trotted up to him and dropped it at his feet before turning and disappearing into the bush.
The next time he saw the wolf was three days later. He had ventured further into the forest to find food. He had finally stumbled across some berries and he started to pick them, using his shirt as a basket. He glanced up to find the wolf watching him pick the berries. "Want some?" He asked tossing her one. She sniffed it cautiously then looked back at him. "Suit yourself." He said with a shrug as he raised one of the berries to his mouth. The wolf suddenly lunged forward, snarling and snapping at his face. Surprised, he dropped the berries he had picked and tried to skitter backwards away from her. Oliver's heart was hammering in his chest. He blindly reached for something to use as a weapon. His hands wrapped around a thick branch and he yanked it towards him. His hands shook as he held it between him and the attacking wolf.
**Wait. Why wasn't she attacking?**
The wolf was sitting, watching him with her head cocked. Oliver gulped in breaths as he struggled to get his racing heart under control, his eyes not leaving the wolf. "Ok ..What was that about?" His voice was a bit shaky as he shifted back into a seated position. Still keeping an eye on the wolf, he reached over to pick up a the berries. The wolf growled softly and stood, still watching him. He carefully pulled his hand away from the berries. As he did so, the wolf sat down again and watched him, her head once more cocked.
"YOU DIDNT WANT THEM!" He screamed in frustration at the wolf. He was starving and this was the only berry bush that still had berries on it. "Fine..." he just dropped the branch "Fine...you win. Take them.." The wolf stood up and moved over to the bush as Oliver just lay down on his back in the grass, his hand over his eyes. How was he supposed to fight a wolf over food? He heard the wolf moving but didn't even look at her. Maybe she would eat him and he could be done with this damn place. He about jumped out of his skin when a cold, wet nose pressed against his ear. He quickly rolled onto his knees. As he did so, the wolf backed away and sat down, still watching him.
"What? What do you want?" He asked in a sour mood.
The wolf walked over and butted her head into his arm before walking once more to the bush. When Oliver didn't follow, she huffed to herself and walked back over to him, grabbing his sleeve and pulling it toward the bush. "You said I couldn't have them!" The wolf dropped his sleeve and barked at him. "Fine!"
He got to his feet and followed the wolf. How much crazier could the idea be...he was already arguing with her like she could understand him. The wolf looked at him and took a paw to swipe at the dirt before looking pointedly at the berries. "I ..I ..don't ..I don't understand." If a wolf could look frustrated, this wolf was. She huffed at him and moved over to the bush, nudging at the grass to uncover a half decomposed dead bird. "I'm not eating that."
Again the wolf huffed and walked over to where he had dropped the berries. She carefully used her nose to roll one of them until it was sitting by the dead bird.
"I.. I. do..don't und.." He looked from the bird to the berry, confused. A few seconds later the realization hit him. He turned to find the wolf once more watching him. "The Berry!..it killed the bird, didn't it?" He smiled for a second, feeling some pride that he finaly figured it out but his smile faded when he realized what he had just said. "Oh ..OH! The berries are poisonous. That's why they killed the bird. And I almost ate o.." He turned to look at the wolf. "Thank you." The wolf walked slowly over to him and nudged the berry again before making a single claw mark in the dirt beside it. Oliver looked down at the claw mark. He had the feeling that the wolf was trying to tell him that meant danger.
** But that's stupid..** He asked himself as he looked at her. **... right?**