ROY HARPER
"FORGIVENESS IS THE BEST FORM OF LOVE. IT TAKES A STRONG PERSON TO SAY SORRY AND AN EVEN STRONGER PERSON TO FORGIVE"
I duck. I duck again. One more time.
Because I'm not an idiot who decides to punch Oliver Queen (A.K.A The Arrow), back when he is in what Felicity calls, 'bear mode'.
Bear Mode scares me to an extent where I'd rather face off an army of Mirakuru Soldiers than deal with Oliver Queen in the phase.
Actually, cross that out. I never want to see another Mirakuru Soldier or hear the name ever again in my life. Last year's madness was more than enough for me.
It has been a few months since the Slade fiasco. A few months since I was injected with a drug that made me go mad and hurt people with my insanely acquired strength. A few months since we (Team Arrow, as Felicity loves to call it, only to be glared at by Oliver. Sometimes, I think that girl has a death wish. Why else would she anger Oliver so much?) put Slade down, and locked him up in an Argus based prison on the very island that started it all. A few months since Thea left, and Moira died, and Lyla became preggers with a mini Diggle. A few months since Oliver decided that if he is going to have a team, then that team needs to be out in the field (with an exception of Felicity who Oliver won't let into the field even if his life depended on it, not counting that one time with Slade) performing to the best of their ability. And since John Diggle is a to-be-father, Oliver won't spend his day punching him when he's frustrated.
No, he'll spend the entire day punching me, pretending it's training, where instead; I'm really just anger therapy. Which makes no sense, since he's supposed to help me with my anger management.
I faintly hear Felicity's groan of frustration over my panting breaths and I can imagine her clenching her fists in anger before erasing whatever code she created to start a new one. Her diligence is impressive.
We've been tracking the same theft gang for the past week. They're small town; robbing local banks, and small retail stores, and the police aren't putting much effort in finding them, casting them away, and ignorantly believing that they aren't as big of a problem as the rest.
In fact, it turns out that this set of thieves have been around for a couple of years, stealing small amounts and covering their traces well enough to not be found immediately. After they are proven to be insignificant, they rob again, in a different manner and scenery, so that the crime cannot be followed back to any suspicions of them. However, Felicity, being the genius she is, found a similar set of coding they used to hack the security cameras, and now, the Arrow has been pursuing these bastards for a week.
And we've been given the slip every, single time.
Thus, Oliver's terrible mood.
My thoughts, Felicity's actions, and the arrival of Dig proves that I'm not a very good multitasker, because Oliver very harshly flips me over, growling (yes, I'm going to use bear references) out,
"Don't lose focus Roy. You can't be distracted in the field."
That's what I think he says, because I really can't hear properly over the ringing in my ears and the pounding in my head because of the fast, hard impact I made on the ground.
I'm pretty sure I lost my sense of sight along with sound because I (sort of) see Oliver peering down at me, his voice much toned down now,
"You all right?"
No, asshole. You just picked me up and threw me on the ground with all the pent-up anger and strength you had, and I'm just a man trying to get through one day.
"Yes," I say instead.
He nods, "Good," and suddenly, he's out of my peripheral vision (have I been on the ground this entire time?) and I hear the doors of the foundry shutting, indicating his exit. This means that I can openly groan, and complain about my injuries and no one will give a shit except for Felicity who will offer an ice pack or a look of concern (and if you're someone who hasn't received concern throughout the better part of your life, avoid Felicity, because her concern is blinding. Actually on that thought, seek Felicity).
Trying to muffle my groan, I slowly get up, muttering through clenched teeth,
"A sorry would help too."
"Oliver doesn't apologize."
Holy Shit! I sharply turn around to a Diggle, who somehow got from the top of the stairs to right beside me without moving, and I groan in pain once more, and thankfully accept Digg's outstretched hand and he guides me to the med bay. I'm about to protest that I wasn't hit that hard (although I probably was) when Digg continues to speak,
"Oliver doesn't do apologies well. His ego is big like that. He makes a mistake, he tries to fix it, makes it worse, broods, hits someone, and by then everyone will have forgotten about it. That's how things work down here." He states plain and simple, with an undercurrent of what seems like annoyance in his tone.
Our conversation (or the makings of one) is put to an abrupt end, when Felicity's monitors start to beep rapidly, and Digg leaves his place near the medical cabinets to what would have been Oliver's place behind Felicity.
"I've been looking through the security footage of all the heists and guess what? This vehicle was at every single one of them. I've tracked the GPS of the van and every time there has been a robbery by these guys, the van goes back here every single time." She explains without a prompt and points at the red dot on her screen. "Problem is, it's the middle of nowhere, no record of any buildings or anything in the past 10 years."
I look closely at the satellite image provided on the screen and trace the familiar patterns with my eyes.
"No, but there was 20 years ago. Was a small butcher shop, demolished, but I remember a friend telling me about his dad who would hide in the basement of the shop, where they kept all the animals. So..."
"If there's a basement, then the Argus satellite would have picked up on it." Felicity finishes for me, and she rapidly clicks her fingers on her keyboard, and before I say, "Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow", she's pulled up a blueprint of the basement.
"I'll have to run some searches and upgrade some schematics to access the digital blueprint of the basement now, but I guess it's worth looking into." She tells me, and the two of us look at Digg for clarification.
"Alright then, we'll check it out tonight. Get ready to suit up." He says before walking away, presumably to tell Oliver, who will come running in a matter of seconds.
Meaning that I need to go out patrolling or something in an attempt to avoid Oliver's training sessions.
My body cannot take it anymore.
Later That Night
"I know that they're bad guys and all, but I really got to give them points for thinking of this. I mean, if Roy didn't point the basement thing out, I would have never found him. And by I, I mean we but, really it's me who does the finding and figuring out and you guys do all the arrowy stuff. Apart from Digg, who does the gun stuff. And I will shut up, because you want to do your work."
As always, it's always an amusement listening to Felicity's babble. It makes doing this, going out every night and essentially hurting human beings (however bad they may be) a bit more tolerable. Usually, Oliver seems to think so too, but this time, his face seems devoid of any amusement, and his jaw is clenched.
We make a pause at the end of a corridor, the two guards with guns confirmation that our little thieves do live here.
"Guys..."
Felicity starts to say, but before she can finish, the two guards are already moaning in pain from the two arrows that hit their arms and legs. At Oliver's signal, we move closer to the big metal doors, which in my opinion, is way too obvious for what I have once considered a fairly intelligent crime group, because big, barricaded metal doors scream 'villain'
"Arrow," Felicity's voice crackles over the comms and we all pause at the slight shakiness of the tone.
"Felicity." Oliver growls with impatience, probably not understanding that his voice modulator makes him sound scarier than necessary.
"Maybe you guys should wait and think of a plan. I'm reading way too many heat signals, right outside the door, which means that this whole thing could be a trick and there could be men with guns waiting behind that door to shoot you all right now." She hastily warns us, and I can hear the clicking of her keyboard in the background.
"We can't stop now Felicity. We can't lose them. We'll be okay. We've handled worse." He assures her, drawing his bow back and aiming his arrow (a super cool, exploding arrow) at the door.
"Doesn't mean we pretend we can take everything else. This is a really bad idea. Oliver. Oliver, are you listening. You might want to think of what you might do if there is a swarm of people with guns in there. Oliver..."
The faint click is all the sound I need for my eyes to go wide and to send a panicked look to Diggle (whose face mirrors my panic along with exasperation).
Because Oliver, just disconnected his comm link to Felicity.
And as the door explodes from the bomb on the arrow, the only thing I can think of is the fact that Felicity Smoak, is sitting in the foundry with no connection to Oliver, and her fear will eventually morph into anger.
Oh. Shit.
It turns out that Felicity was right (when is she not). The whole thing was a sabotage of men and women with guns who put up a hell of a fight. But in a way, Oliver was also right, because when you've gone through Slade Wilson and his army of enhanced soldiers, then a bunch of incompetent fools who look at the Arrow with a sort of admiring glint, wasn't really bad.
No one got hurt. Dig was panting as he got into the car, and I actually wished to be back in the training room with Oliver to punch me, but the two of us were fine.
Oliver wasn't.
Despite the fact that it was the three of us that went in, most of the shooters aimed for the Arrow, because he is the Arrow. In the process, Oliver was shot, and despite the fact that he was shot, and is bleeding buckets, I wonder if maybe we should take him somewhere else other than the foundry.
In all honesty, I think he has a lesser chance of survival if he goes down there, to where Felicity is probably sitting in anger awaiting his arrival so she can spend a good five minutes yelling at him and Digg and I will get to spend the next ten minutes of Oliver and Felicity arguing and wait until it all cools down until we can make a move. God forbid they drag us into their problems. How the hell am I supposed to choose between mom and dad during a divorce?
We reach the old steel factory and I help Oliver out, internally cringing at his intense teeth gritting, and preparing myself for the explosion to come. I pause and turn around when I fail to hear the car door open after me, and I turn around (ignoring Oliver's groan) to see Diggle still in the driver's seat, giving me a smug smirk.
"I'm going to go check on Lyla. She said she wasn't feeling very well today. You alright on your own man?" He asks Oliver and I don't know what he replies with over my panic.
How can Diggle play the pregnant card and bail on me! He's going to leave me alone with Mom and Dad arguing and I'll have to stay there with no support, all by myself! I want to drop Oliver, and run to Dig, maybe beg him to take me with him. Or maybe I can play the pregnant card. Oh, shit, I'm supposed to be dating Oliver's sister. I can't get her pregnant! Or another girl!
"Roy, are you okay?" Oliver's voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I realize that I've been standing here internally panicking while holding a bleeding Oliver who might need some help.
"Ya, Ya. Great." And we both walk towards the metal doors of the club, into our impending death.
Felicity is waiting at the end of the stairs; arms crossed and face eerily devoid of emotion. She murmurs a quick 'goodbye Digg' and I'm thankful that Digg informed her of everything that's happened but then I remember that the bastard ditched me and my thankfulness is gone immediately.
When she catches sight of Oliver's shot wound, I don't miss the way she blinks back tears (Felicity doesn't like any of us getting hurt, but I'm not fooling myself into believing that she doesn't have a particularly special fear for Oliver) before walking without a word to the medical bay.
Oliver, sighing loudly, forgoes my support, and trudges himself behind her, and I seriously contemplate getting a bag of popcorn, because as scary as this is, it would make a good scene for a TV show.
I purposely hide in the backgrounds as I watch Felicity (silently. She is absolutely silent. No rambling or murmuring or yelling) nurse Oliver's wound. They foundry is devoid of any noise apart from the sharp breaths that come from Oliver and the shaky ones that come from Felicity.
Felicity has always had a special way of patching up all of us, especially Oliver. She'll constantly ask whether it hurts, look as if she's the one in pain, and will spend half the time lecturing Oliver about his unconcern for his safety. This time, however, she stays silent, ignoring Oliver's occasional groans of pain, and I can almost see her barely constricted babble of words that threaten to come out, but are held in by a scary emotional dam she's managed to build in 20 minutes.
Eventually, Felicity finishes stitching him up and turns to leave, but is stopped by Oliver's grip on her wrist.
"I'm sorry."
It's at this moment that I'm so glad that I'm not eating popcorn or drinking soda like I had previously wanted, because I'm sure I would have choked to my death at the sound of Oliver Queen apologizing.
The action is apparently not a wonder enough for Felicity because instead of her eyes widening and her face morphing to one in shock, she stares at him, emotionless and brusque as ever.
Oliver, without his eyes leaving hers, or his hands moving from her wrist, tugs her in closer, and she begrudgingly follows,
"I'm so sorry for turning off my comms. I know I should have listened to you, I didn't and now I'm facing the consequences, but I'm truly sorry for scaring you like that."
Man, this guy is killing me with all his apologies.
Felicity's face slowly starts to crumble and the emotional dam she built breaks, and I watch tears stream from her eyes.
"Never, ever turn your comm off like that. Ever. Oliver, Do you have any idea how hard it is to send you to the field every day? Let alone have no connection to you when I know for a fact that there was danger awaiting you. I told you that it was a trap. I told you and you didn't listen!"
Oliver rubs his thumb over her pulse point gently, "I know. And I can't apologize enough. It's just that these thieves really put a toll on me. They were supposed to be easy, and after everything we faced, I needed something easy, so the minute I found their hiding spot, I couldn't let the opportunity pass."
"But you got shot." Felicity points to the recently stitched bullet wound.
The laugh Oliver emits sounds scratchy and tired, but it's a laugh nevertheless, "That was punishment for not listening to someone with a higher IQ of me, Diggle and Roy combined."
"And for turning off your comm." Felicity adds, despite the small smile stretching on her face.
"And that. Which I promise to never, ever do again. I'm sorry Felicity." Oliver looks at her with his stupid heart eyes, and I decide to quietly walk out of there, in fear of throwing up all over the floor.
To give the two lovebirds some alone time (maybe they'll get their shit together and decide to kiss and admit their feelings for each other because I'm not sure how much more of this I can handle) but mostly to sort out my thoughts, now that I have witnessed a truly intimate moment between two quarters of the team, something I have never seen before. It caused me to come to a few conclusions as well as some realizations.
Oliver Queen doesn't apologize to anyone, because as a leader of a team of vigilantes, he can't afford to look as if he has something to lose. His requirements are for him to be tough, ruthless, and driven to his mission. Showing too much emotion can cause him to be considered merciful; a human trait. Oliver Queen's primary mission is separating The Arrow from Oliver Queen. What he doesn't realize, is that in his attempt to distinguish the two figures, he's just making them merge together into one. So, when the Arrow is required to be ruthless and merciful, Oliver Queen takes up some of the tendencies even after he takes the Hood off. A prime example of this is the events that happened this morning. Oliver didn't apologize to me because he is not willing for me to consider myself a vulnerability to him. He doesn't want to vocalize that fact that he needs me. He doesn't need me, but by not apologizing, it proves to him that even if I leave, he'll be able to continue his crusade, because his value for me is silent.
With Felicity, it's different. With Felicity, it's always been different. Even a blind man can see that to Oliver, Felicity is the most important member of the group. And it's not only because her tech skills have repeatedly saved our asses, and put away most of the criminals we catch, but it's because she, as a person is extremely important to Oliver.
She makes him a better person. He listens to what she has to say, because she'll find a way to make him listen if not, but also because she inspires Oliver to do better, to be better. She makes him smile, and I haven't known him for so long, but I've known him long enough to pinpoint the fact that the man rarely smiles.
Oliver apologizing to Felicity is not just a gesture of how sorry he is, but also a gesture of how much he needs her in his life. He's not willing for something such as an unresolved argument, come in the way of whatever they've been building in the past few weeks. He's not willing to let Felicity walk out on him because he couldn't apologize and fix the mistake he made. Because, Oliver can continue his crusade without me, but he can't do any of it, be the Arrow or be Oliver Queen without Felicity.
It's one of the wonders of working in this team; Oliver and Felicity.
"APOLOGIZING DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN THAT YOU'RE WRONG AND THE OTHER PERSON'S RIGHT. IT JUST MEANS THAT YOU VALUE YOUR RELATIONSHIP MORE THAN YOUR EGO."
Roy Harper knows that Oliver Queen will always apologize to Felicity Smoak because he values her more than anything else.