Dental Hygienist 9

Eep! I'm sorry, this last...month, ha, has been hectic. Good things and bad things. But finally found some time to sit and write, and my muse agreed so yay! Thanks and much love to all who stayed to read this, especially those who've taken the time to review! That really does help to feed the muse lol.

Hopefully this chapter is worth the wait! (Cooper gets pretty creepy, so be warned.)

Enjoy!

Felicity slunk down the stairs, not caring about who she may be disturbing this time of night - she was exhausted and hungry, and she remembered McKenna saying something about there being chicken soup in the fridge. She was surprised to find a light on in the living room, the TV going with the sound turned down. She figured it was one of the rotating guards kept on duty, or Officer Hall herself. Felicity went on into the kitchen, found the large plastic container with the soup and carried it over to the microwave.

After setting the timer for a few minutes, Felicity decided it would be probably better to see what McKenna was watching rather than stare at the numbers counting down so she peeked into the living room again. When she saw that the TV was tuned in to some infomercial about treadmills, the first feelings of unease began to thread through her body. When she stepped forward and turned to see Officer Hall slumped over, head bowed low, that uneasy feeling struck at her heart.

"McKenna?" she warily asked, almost not daring to breathe as she crept forward, because...it almost looked like she was…

Felicity was not a cruel person. Maybe sometimes occasionally jealous, like the bout (of what she now considered to be rather petty) jealousy she'd experienced yesterday when McKenna had off-handedly mentioned how she herself had gone on a couple dates with Oliver about two years ago. She had then gone on to say how he'd not been ready for a serious relationship then - had compared him to a wet blanket, even, which was apparently why it had only been a couple dates - but how she could see a difference in him now. A liveliness in him that had not existed then. The timing, she said, had not been right. Or maybe - and here she'd given Felicity a meaningful look that the woman herself would later on ponder over at length as to whether or not there had been any ill feeling or intention there - maybe the person had not been right.

Whatever that meant.

Now, however, she was just hoping the woman had not been turned into another of those caught in Cooper's crosshairs. With unsteady steps and a shaky hand, Felicity reached out to see if the other woman was still among the living. When warm air brushed against her fingertips to the pattern of steady breathing, Felicity herself breathed a deep sigh of relief. Which was short lived when she heard someone messing with the front doorknob. The front door, which opened right into the living room.

"Kenna!" Felicity called urgently, shoving at her shoulder with all her might, which was, admittedly, not much, but still...there was no response. The sounds at the door were getting louder, and obviously, the person was intent on breaking in. Head spinning, Felicity bit her lip as she tried to figure out what to do. McKenna appeared to be the only one on-duty tonight. Felicity glanced over her figure but saw no gun to defend herself with, and if she were honest, she'd probably only end up causing herself more trouble had she tried to arm herself...but there was one thing she had, one thing she always kept with her.

But where was she to hide? She couldn't move that fast and the stairs weren't close, so running upstairs didn't seem the best option. However, downstairs there was only the living room, dining room, the kitchen and...a bathroom! With a door that locked!

In the next moment, three things happened almost simultaneously. First, there was the dinging of the microwave telling her that her soup had been heated up to satisfactory levels. Before it even got to its second ding, Felicity slammed the door of the bathroom closed and locked it with an audible click. Then, at about the same time as the second ding and the click of the lock, the front door burst open and thudding footsteps entered the house.

Felicity dug her phone out of her back pocket, clinging to it like a lifeline as she tried to listen to what was going on outside. There was several little thumps - it didn't sound like footsteps, but she really couldn't make sense of what it could be. Then, she heard the stairs creak, and she heard...she heard his voice.

"Oh Felicity, sweet. Daddy's come to take you back where you belong."

It was Cooper. And he was crazy.

Felicity inhaled to the count of seven, then exhaled to the count of eleven. She had been taught this breathing technique at the hospital, and as she contemplated the fact that Cooper had come for her, he was here, and she was effectively alone, well she was freaking out and needed a clear enough head to make a phone call. She performed the exercise once more, finding it starting to help already; but knowing she didn't have much time, she unlocked her phone, found his contact, and hit the green button.

On the second ring, he picked up.

"Hello?"

Relief flooded her veins at the sound of his voice, not realizing how much she'd missed it, missed him, until this moment. Just as she took a quivering breath to tell him what was happening, she heard a door upstairs slam. It caused her to jump and, well, forget how to speak for a moment.

"Felicity?"

Until he said her name. She gasped, then winced, but was completely awed that he could tell it was her on the other end of the line. She hadn't given him her number, had she? Mentally shaking herself, she latched onto his voice and finally found her own.

"...h-he's here."

She got out the important bit, hoping he could understand her as she dared not speak above a whisper for fear her voice would carry in the quiet midnight air, even inside the house. She could hear thumping going on upstairs, and she knew it wouldn't be long before Cooper realized she wasn't up there and would come looking for her down here. She heard Oliver exhale loudly before he started to speak, urgency in his every word.

"Get in a closet or bathroom if you can. I'm on my way. Where is McKenna?"

"I think...she was...drugged." Felicity put a hand to her head, trying to think through the increasing pressure in her temples. And her throat ached, which didn't help matters.

"Ok, just stay where you are. I'm on the way." he paused, and she heard the revving of some sort of engine - probably a motorcycle, she thought idly, unaware that he owned one.

"Did you call 911 yet?" Oliver asked, quite a simple question. She cursed herself, because seriously...she had thought to call him before emergency services? Though really, he was a cop, so…

"They can direct any closer units to you...Felicity, you're going to need to hang up, and dial 911. Tell them where you are and what's happened. Can you do that for me?" Oliver had gone on to say, taking her silence for what it was. Felicity gulped and nodded, then remembered she was on the phone.

"Y-yeah...yes. I can." She said quietly, looking at her reflection in the mirror over the sink but only seeing what little the light from her phone offered, not having dared to turn on the bathroom light.

"Then call me right back. Understand?" Oliver again reiterated the steps she needed to take quickly, including the address of the safe house, and then told her again to call him back right after.

"...Ok. I am...now." she took a shaky breath, holding her phone out in front of her and for some reason hitting 'end call' was about the hardest thing she'd ever had to do. But she did, because he'd asked her to. Then she went back to the keypad and hit '9' and '1,' before the door to the bathroom unexpectedly burst open and she dropped her phone as a scream tore from her lips.

Oliver didn't care anymore about waking up his sister as he tore through the house, reaching out to grab the Ducati keys off the table before slamming the door behind him as he left. He barely stopped to switch his phone to the Bluetooth in his helmet, jamming said helmet on his head. Quickly started up the bike, he sped down the street, talking to his girl the whole while. He counted the seconds after he told her to hang up - which had been logical, just difficult - and after two minutes and two more unanswered calls to her phone, he decided to call his station to see what was up.

Iris, who worked dispatch some nights to be closer to Barry, answered. She said they'd received no calls, but she was sending their closest units now. Which were still five minutes away. Even with speeding, Oliver was two minutes away himself. That was one hundred and twenty seconds too long.

Finally, after far too long, Oliver whipped his bike around the corner that would bring him into the neighborhood of the safe house. He skidded to a halt in front of the driveway, ripped off his helmet and ran for the door. It was partially open, but that's not what made his heart stop. The reflection in the windows…

The interior of the house was burning. Flames licked at the windows, but hadn't quite reached the ceiling yet, let alone the outer walls. Not caring for his own safety, Oliver barreled through the doorway, stopping just inside to try to see through the blaze.

"Felicity?!" He yelled out, taking a step forward. The heat was uncomfortable, but not quite unbearable, yet. But he would bear it, he would bear anything, if it meant saving her life. Had Cooper knocked her unconscious, left her somewhere? Tied her up? Or… Oliver swallowed, unable to continue that thought. The living room couch came into view, and on it he saw a body slumped over. The floor was so hot and already burned out and crumbling in places, but all the same, he navigated it and dove for the couch.

The body was McKenna. But he could not just leave her here, not even if it meant a delay in getting to Felicity. He'd never, ever be able to live with himself if he didn't try...so, heart heavy but determined, he hoisted her over his shoulder, turned and, coughing, headed back towards the door.

There was a scary moment when his foot started to go through the floor, but he was able to catch himself before he fell, shook it off, and kept going.

They made it out. He moved several steps away, then laid her out on the grass, hacking from the smoke caught in his lungs. He wasted only a moment to wipe around his eyes with his undershirt, then he headed back towards the house.

Felicity was trembling. But it wasn't from the cold - it wasn't solely from fear, either. It was a mix, of fear and anger, and she wasn't sure which was winning out.

She was afraid; yes, terrified even, but it wasn't only for herself. It wasn't only because of the slimy arms of the man behind her, holding her tightly to him, his mouth next to her ear and his right hand clamped over her mouth. It wasn't just because he was holding her hostage, having overpowered her in the bathroom then marching her outside to where they now stood, at the corner of the house, looking out at the front door from an angle, but back in the shadows.

Her fear was for the man who rushed into the burning house without thought, thinking she was in there. Her anger was towards the man behind her, who had put this whole plot together.

"Tragic, isn't it?" Cooper whispered against her neck, the arm around her waist tightening slightly. "The young, lovesick police officer...dies in a house fire, believing his new love is inside." he paused, and pulled her back a step. She allowed it, because she had a plan, too. "Only later was her body found in the bushes under the window, suffocated." here he paused again to nose her neck slightly, which sent a repulsive shiver through her. "Aw, you're throat's already raw. Don't worry, babe, I'll be nice and slow."

Felicity closed her eyes, trying to prevent the tears from falling, as she waited. She had to wait for the right moment...she heard Oliver coughing, opened her eyes to see him bringing McKenna out. Good, almost time. Almost...he dropped her off at the edge of the yard, then turned around.

Now was her chance.

Cooper should have known her better, really. If she was being quiet and cooperative, she was up to something. His hold on her was a little slack because she hadn't fought much since he frog-marched her outside, so now she did. She chomped down hard on whatever part of his hand her teeth could reach, raising her leg and reaching back to bring the outside of her foot down hard on the inside of his leg, from as high up as she could reach down to his ankle, and threw herself forward. It worked; his hand disappeared from her mouth anyway which was all she cared about. She took the precious moments to inhale so she could belt out the loudest scream of her life,

"Oliver!"

Her momentum carried her forward, but Cooper tackled her to the ground.

Oliver was focused on the house, gearing himself up to go back in, so the scuffle off to his right almost did not register in his brain. The scream, however, did.

"Oliver!"

It was her, and she wasn't in the house! Oliver turned in time to see a body diving to the ground. The fast-approaching lights and sirens hardly impacted his mind as he ran for the shadows her voice had come from. He was now close enough to make out a lanky man, barely past teenage years from the looks of it, sitting on his girl with his hands wrapped around her neck. Oliver saw red.

Hauling the young man up by the collar of his jacket, Oliver one-handedly tossed him several feet away. The little snot had the audacity to keep his feet instead of land on his behind or back, as Oliver would've preferred. He did take some pleasure in seeing the fear in the other man's eyes as Oliver stalked towards him, no doubt doing a mighty fine impression of a hunter locked in on its prey.

This kid better be glad Oliver forgot his gun at home in his rush to get to Felicity, or else he'd be dead by now. A couple times over, probably.

This Cooper character took another step back, so Oliver took one big one forward. This is when Oliver felt a gentle tug on his shirt, startling him into awareness. He grit his teeth, knowing who it likely was and why, but glanced down at her anyway. There she stood, with a hand to her throat, but it was her eyes that held him. The message therein.

Don't do it, he's not worth it. Not for me. Please.

Oliver sighed, because she was worth everything to him, but at her request he started to relax his stance. And then, when Oliver glanced over to see back up had finally arrived in the driveway, he returned his focus to the jerk only to.. well, not see him. Anywhere.

Immediately on alert again, Oliver's arm shot out almost of its own accord and wrapped itself around Felicity, reassuring himself that she was still here. She was safe, she was still with him here. His girl released a shuddering sigh and then pretty much melted in his arms. Her legs weren't capable of holding her up any longer, and if he were honest, neither were his. So he sank to the ground with her, wrapping her up in his embrace when she started to shake.

"Shh, it's ok. It's over. It's over." Oliver repeated softly into her hair, drawing his nose down to it as she hiccuped. He held her tight, not minding at all when she clung tightly to him, wrapped around him, not even when she tried to hide in the crook of his neck as the medical team made their way over. He did, however, pick her up to carry her to the second ambulance that was called. McKenna went in the first one. Oliver held her hand the whole ride to the hospital, after having finally been forced to release her to lay her on the gurney and let them do their work. Not that she would've known, she finally passed out about halfway there.

Except, it wasn't exactly over, he later found out, as he waited for her at the hospital. Cooper Seldon had not been caught. He was still out there, on the loose; but now, Oliver was going to do whatever it took to protect his girl.