Nothing But Each Other
PenPatronus
Chapter 6
It Gets Better
"Stay where you are," Oliver ordered the women. He put his right hand on Barry's shoulder and rubbed it once. "Time for a piggyback ride, buddy." Barry groaned. He managed, though, to crawl behind Oliver, climb up to his knees, and put his arms around his friend's neck. "Put your legs around my waist when I stand up, ok?" Barry made an "M" sound in agreement. "Up in 1… 2… 3!" Keeping the gun still pointed straight, Oliver miraculously rose to his feet with Barry clinging to his back, growling loudly as he stood. Barry yelped when he interlocked his ankles around Oliver's bellybutton. Oliver did his best to wrap his one free arm under Barry's calves and take some of the extra weight.
"Go," Oliver said, gesturing with the gun for the women to enter the hallway. He followed after.
"Oliver…" Barry shifted. "Oliver, I don't… You're teetering, man."
"I'm fine," Oliver hissed.
"Give me the gun. I can handle it. Give me the gun."
Oliver hesitated, then handed the weapon over so that he could put both of his arms under both of Barry's knees, and distribute his weight evenly as he moved. Barry set his chin on Ollie's shoulder and aimed at the backs of the women's legs. The two women were whispering to each other and Oliver barked at them to shut up. They turned left at the beginning of the hall, outside of the cell, and continued down an even darker hall. A single light glowed at the far end and Oliver and Barry recognized it as an elevator when they approached. "We're 50 floors down," Young Liz said. "This building is adjacent to an old Gotham missile silo."
"Fascinating," Oliver growled. "Open the elevator."
Young Liz obeyed. All four of them entered the crummy, beat up elevator that squeaked as it ascended.
"This isn't over, you know," Dr. Sheets said as they neared the top. "We're not the only ones after you. And our Benefactor will see to it that we're not in jail for long at all."
Normally, either Oliver or Barry would have a smart comeback for that, but both men were just concentrating on staying conscious.
Oliver suddenly swayed on his feet. He fell backwards, slamming Barry into the wall with his full weight. The pair slid to the ground, and the gun was knocked out of Barry's hand. Dr. Sheets picked it up. She pointed it.
"Now, this is a happy ending," Dr. Sheets said.
"Sorry, Barry," Oliver mumbled, barely conscious.
Barry squeezed his friend from behind. "Sorry, Oliver."
Dr. Sheets cocked the gun.
Young Liz suddenly rammed into her clone from the side. The gun dropped again and rattled across the floor where it came to a stop in the far corner. "This is over!" Young Liz shouted with her hands around Dr. Sheets' neck. "We're not doing this!"
Dr. Sheets pushed back. "You crazy bitch! All that work, and you just want to give up?"
The elevator reached the top floor.
Dr. Sheets got the upper hand. She tripped up Young Liz, who fell to the floor. Again, the gun ended up in Sheets' hands. She aimed at Oliver and Barry.
The doors opened.
And there, staring back at them with shocked faces, holding guns and wearing stolen Gotham police and SWAT uniforms, stood Digg, Thea, Roy, Joe West, and Cisco. "Um…" Cisco stuttered, "We're here to rescue you…?"
Oliver stood and stumbled out of the elevator. "Take him," he begged. "Digg, take him before I…"
Barely a second after Digg and Joe lifted Barry off Oliver's back, Oliver collapsed forward to his knees, and onward to his side. The last thing he heard was his sister calling his name.
He woke up, and Felicity was there. He grinned at her. Wide. Before he could get a word out she swooped in and kissed his smiling teeth.
Oliver was in S.T.A.R. Labs. The lights were dim. A half-dozen machines surrounded his bed. Lights blinked and buttons beeped. "Is he ok?" Oliver croaked with a voice that hadn't been used in days. "Barry?"
Felicity sat on the side of the bed at Oliver's hip and took his left hand in both of hers. "He's all right," she said, sad, but smiling with pale lips. "It took a while…"
Oliver looked at her. He blinked tired eyes. "He's all right," he confirmed.
Felicity nodded. "Touch-and-go. That's the, um, the word, right? His kidneys shut down. Dehydration, Caitlin said. And his ankles took a couple days to heal. And you—we got you blood. Just in time. Did you know you and Cisco have the same type?"
Oliver's eyes widened. "I have Cisco's blood in me? Great." He rolled his eyes, but smiled at the end of the roll.
Felicity caressed his cheek. "You're going to have a couple more scars," she said. "But you'll be ok." She ducked her face, lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry we didn't get to you sooner. We retraced your steps, caught you on cameras, found you in that cell, then—that building, it had extra security because it was connected to the missile silo. It took us forever to break through the doors—"
"Hey," Oliver soothed, "we're ok. We escaped. That's what matters, right?"
Felicity sniffed. "You're all that matters to me," she said, looking down at their clasped hands. "All that matters."
Oliver brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. "Can I see him?"
"I'm here," said a voice behind Felicity. She stood and stepped aside to reveal Barry, who wore the same clothes as Oliver: sweatpants and a S.T.A.R. Labs sweatshirt. He nodded at Felicity as she stepped aside to leave the two men alone. Barry picked up a pitcher off a nearby table and poured water into a short plastic cup. "First thing I wanted when I woke up was a glass of water."
Oliver suddenly realized that he was wildly thirsty. The two didn't speak again until he drank four cups. Oliver sighed and leaned back into his pillows. "You're walking," he observed.
Barry chuckled and sat on the side of the bed. "I'm running," he corrected. "All healed up. And Caitlin says you can go home tomorrow."
"Good. What happened to those scientists?"
"Gotham police have them. All their research was confiscated, all their samples were destroyed. You'll be the only Oliver Queen as far as we know." "You did great," Oliver told him. "When we were down there." Oliver waited a moment, then said, "Proud of you."
Barry snorted. He looked at the wall beyond Oliver's head. He rubbed both of his arms, then hugged his stomach, then reached down and rubbed his ankles. "I feel different," he whispered. "I feel…" He shook his head, then concluded, "Different."
"I know," said Oliver. "I know why."
"How can you know when I don't?" Barry whispered.
"Barry, something horrific happened to you down there. You were tortured. You endured something no man ever should."
"It did hurt a lot…"
"I'm not talking about the pain," said Oliver.
Barry frowned. "What, the worst part of torture isn't the pain?"
"In the moment it is, of course. But afterwards…" Oliver shook his head. "You were in the presence of something evil. You witnessed a human soul doing something horrific. When you look into the face of pure evil… That changes you. Not the pain. The evil."
Barry nodded his head, then shook his head. "Feels like something was stolen from me… It's innocence, isn't it?" Oliver nodded. "Innocence." Barry looked down at his folded hands and sighed. "It gets better?"
"It gets better."
"Thank you," said Barry. "For taking care of me down there."
"We took care of each other," Oliver said.
"And hopefully we'll never have to again."
"Never again," Oliver agreed. He watched his friend for a minute. "You're about to ask me for a hug again, aren't you?"
Barry made a face. "Maybe."
"Come here." To Barry's surprise, Oliver sat up, leaned forward, and wrapped his arms around him. Barry relaxed into his friend's arms and squeezed back.
"Let's never do that again," Oliver said when they parted.
"Are hugs really that bad?"
"I mean getting kidnapped, tortured, and experimented on," Oliver clarified.
"Never again."
"No. Never again…"
The End
(Anyone want a sequel?)