Chapter: 6 - Resurgence
Word Count: 6401

Notes: Hello, all! In case you were wondering, I survived a crazy-as-hell week at work. I haven't answered all your lovely reviews yet, but I'm working on it.

I'm really excited about sharing this chapter with y'all. This has to be my favorite one in the entire fic, so I'm looking forward to seeing your responses to it. If you just want to read, I appreciate that, too! Thank you! :)


As he watches Thea and McKenna go at each other in the training ring, he knows this option isn't going to work for her either. He remembers Digg saying something about McKenna being too soft for Felicity, and the same seems to hold true for Thea. His sister attacks with a merciless brutality he didn't expect when he threw her in the ring for her first fight. It's been three months since he selected her for the ring the first time, and it gave him something to focus on beside his own failure to Drift. The least he can do is give his sister that chance.

The memory of that disaster three months ago—when he nearly killed Felicity—sours his mood, making his mouth turn down in a frown. Some days it's harder to accept that his his job is to train novice Rangers because he had that taste of possibility. He can't pretend nothing happened because that Drift was everything. Despite that, he's still training potential Rangers and Felicity is still sighing over her designs of Jaegers while dreaming of something more.

She tries to hide it, but it's impossible to keep secrets from someone you've Drifted with.

Because he knows thinking about it will only make it worse, he turns to his assistant. Sin is typically quiet and task-oriented, but somehow they've managed a professional friendship—albeit a sometimes rocky one. "This isn't going to work out, is it?" he asks her, motioning between the two sparring partners. As if to emphasize his point, Thea takes that moment to put an elbow in McKenna's stomach. It puts her down, allowing his sister to put the poor woman at the end of the staff.

The teenager scoffs. "It's going about as well as my only date with a guy," she replies with a frown, eyes never leaving the match. "As much as I like to watch beautiful women kick ass—especially Thea—I'm not sure McKenna will be able to walk again if you let this go on." Sin shrugs. "Not to tell you how to do your job."

Nodding once, he calls out, "That's enough." Both women turn to look at him, and Thea opens her mouth to protest. Oliver doesn't let her. "Finding a Drift partner isn't about winning, Thea. It's about finding someone who presents a challenge, who compliments your style." He motions between the two of them. "And you two don't work."

After three months of trying unsuccessful partners, he's starting to think that Thea is just as much of an oddity to the Drift as he is. All of the logical candidates have failed, and he's running out of options. According to Digg, two new Jaeger designs have been approved for construction, which means two new sets of pilots need to be ready for a trial run. Because Felicity made their Marshal feel terrible about stopping the Green Arrow's resurgence, he even promised Oliver that Thea could have a shot at one of them.

Provided they can find her a Drift partner, of course.

Running a hand over his face, he calls out, "Grant." Ted Grant turns to face him, eyebrows narrowed in confusion. He isn't the only one; Sin arches an eyebrow at him and Thea's face contorts in disbelief. To her, Oliver explains, "The obvious choice isn't working, Speedy. We need to switch this up some."

"For the love of God, Ollie," she growls with a sigh, "would you please stop calling me 'Speedy'?" She waves around the room, full of Drift pilots and wannabes. "It's hard for people to take me seriously if my brother is still calling me by a nickname he gave me when I was five."

He wants to retort that he is a veteran Jaeger pilot, but yet she calls him Ollie. Before he can, the kid with the Kaiju tattoos—the kid who's gotten awfully cozy with Speedy over the last four months—laughs. "It's accurate," he counters. "You have to be one of the fastest people on these mats. Maybe that's what they should name your Jaeger. 'Speedy' has a nice ring to it."

For the first time, Oliver doesn't immediately dismiss the kid's words. He might be automatically inclined to dislike anyone who presents a romantic interest in his sister, but Roy's observation hints at a critical eye for Drift partner combat. He's in the training area almost as often as Oliver himself, but yet the kid never steps foot on the mats.

As Thea grudgingly relents to the fight, the veteran Ranger turns to the kid in the red hoodie. Though he's seen Harper almost daily for the last four months, he realizes he knows nothing about him. "Have you ever thought about taking a turn in the ring?" Oliver asks.

"Me?" Roy answers immediately, brow furrowing. It's followed by an immediate shake of his head, and the remnant of a smile left on his face from teasing Thea slips away. "I just like to watch the fights. I've listened to Blondie babble on about Drift mechanics for years. I don't get the science, but I do get two people beating the hell out of each other." He shrugs. "Not that I want to pilot one of those things anyway. I'm no hero."

The words startle a laugh out of Oliver. Finally he understands why he initially wanted to hate the kid. "I said the same thing when my dad right before he threw me into the ring the first time," he admits. Roy's eyebrows shoot up, and, out of the corner of his eye, he watches Sin's eyes leave the ring for the first time since they started today. "He reminded me that Drift compatibility is rare. He said it's a gift and, if I could Drift, I had a responsibility to use it."

Roy is quiet for a moment, his expression distant as though pondering that. Finally he asks, "What did you tell him?"

"I think my exact words were 'go to Hell,'" Oliver responds with a grin. Harper returns it slowly. "I wasn't easy to get along with in those days." He ignores Thea's comment of still aren't from the ring, in between matching blows with Grant. "Neither was he. Before we learned to Drift together, most of our fights took place outside the ring."

There's a soft touch to his shoulder, and a small hand curls around his arm. Even without looking, he knows who it is, and it makes him lock his arm a little tighter around hers. "To be fair," Felicity allows, "you were kind of an asshole back then, and I think he knew that you could do something more with your life than wreck Maseratis."

Everyone else seems surprised by her statement, but she's been inside his head. Of course she knows all the gory details about his life—just as he does hers. Usually there's an unspoken agreement between co-pilots of what happens in the Drift stays in the Drift, but it isn't the first time she's mentioned it. Oliver doesn't mind; she never mentions the traumatic memories, and there's never any judgment in her voice.

"This coming from the woman who hacked into the Pentagon for fun when she was fifteen," he counters with a smile, turning to face her. Though Felicity tries her best to throw him a scathing look, the slight uptick of those fuchsia lips softens it somewhat. Knocking his shoulder against hers, he asks, "Did you come to find a Drift partner?"

He's been trying to convince her for three months to try again as a Ranger, but she's probably the only person on the planet more stubborn than he is. Even Diggle has been trying to wear her down, all to no avail. In fact, he thinks she might be wearing them down. "I already have one," Felicity replies, the smile slipping off her face as her lips press together in a thin line. Despite that, she still nudges him with her shoulder, returning his gesture.

"Felicity…" he starts, but pulls to a halt. It isn't a look or her words that stop him; the irritation bleeding through their connection makes him close his mouth. They've had this conversation countless times, but it only seems to result in shouting matches that Diggle has to break up and headaches for both of them. He doesn't want to begin that again today, not when he's barely seen her in the last week.

"They finally released me from the dungeon," Felicity says with a partial smile. "I finally managed to convince everyone that my designs were our best option, so I thought I would reward myself by watching combat trials." She pulls a folded set of papers out of the pocket of her jumpsuit. "We approved the construction of two new Jaegers. I have designs for you to look at." With an eye roll, she adds as she pockets the papers again, "But they're digital because, apparently, the nuclear reactor in the Green Arrow is dangerous. Not as dangerous as an EMP during a Kaiju attack—ten-million-dollar equipment turned into really impressive statues."

She continues further into the science of it, and while he tries to listen, Oliver doesn't understand a bit of what she's saying. He nods anyway, letting her explain while throwing the hand not on his arm around so wildly that Sin has to dodge to avoid being hit in the face. It brings a smile to his lips to watch her speak so passionately about something that probably no one in the room understood when she said it in the meeting.

Diggle wasn't kidding the first day they met: it takes an incredible person to keep up with Felicity Smoak.

When the blonde finishes her speech, the motion of Sin shaking her head catches Oliver's attention out of the corner of his vision. Pointedly, she meets Roy's eyes as she says, "Remember when that rumor started and you asked me how everyone got it so wrong? This is how."

"What rumor?" Oliver asks.

The feel of the room changes faster than if he had argued with Felicity over her nuclear… thing. Roy makes a hasty exit while muttering something about Barry, and Sin suddenly finds her clipboard to be the most interesting thing in the world. Even Felicity won't look at him, a dusting of pink slowly creeping across her face. When she pulls her arm out of his, the loss of contact makes it harder for him to feel her mind through Ghosting.

Sin is the first to break, rolling her eyes as she explains, "After you two Drifted for your trial run and never went into the field, everyone started wondering why." It's one of the best-kept secrets of the Shatterdome; usually the gossip spreads faster than a live update from Channel 52, but Diggle is the only one who knows the details.

The teenager shrugs. "You know how it is around here: if there isn't a story, someone will make one up and air it around the Shatterdome. The two of you seemed to Drift well, but they didn't clear you and Marshal Diggle acted like nothing ever happened. Because Felicity is beautiful and you have a bit of a reputation, they seem to think you're together romantically." She waves a hand. "Or having sex or whatever. I don't really get the whole sex thing."

Oliver glances between her and Felicity to make sure he heard that right. The blonde still won't look at him, and he releases a breath as it hits him. She knew about this. She knew and she didn't try to correct them or explain the true reason why they failed. Instead, she kept her mouth shut and elected to take the whispers and rumors—and didn't want him to know about it. She chose to protect him—not to throw it in his face later, but because she wanted to.

It might be one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for him.

When she finally meets his eyes, Oliver has no idea what to say to her. Words have never been his strength, and now they've failed him entirely. Instead of grasping for words, he simply places his hand on her shoulder. Between the gesture, his expression, and the Ghost that builds at the contact, he hopes she can decipher it.

The slight smile that follows lets him know she does. Responding to Sin's explanation, she says, "People are going to believe what they want. As long as I continue to do my job to the best of my ability, what I do is none of anyone's business."

While Felicity might want to protect him, he feels the need to protect her, too, even if it is from something so insignificant as a reputation. "The reason we aren't Drifting is me," he explains to Sin. "I'm a risk because I don't Drift right anymore. I'd be a danger in the field, so I'm benched." He cuts his partner a look, and Felicity's eyes narrow before he can even get the words out. "Felicity could go again, but she refuses to find another partner."

She's unapologetic when she turns to a wide-eyed Sin. "Oliver and I pulled a ninety-seven-two on our first Drift. That's a game-changer. And it isn't something you throw away because of a little red tape."

Though he'd classify Diggle banning him from a Jaeger because it nearly killed her as more than a little red tape, a smile crosses his face anyway. Felicity returns it with a wink, and they say nothing because their emotions speak for them.

Sirens cut through the moment, sending everyone into red alert. Oliver takes a moment to glance at Felicity and then they're both running toward the control tower. Diggle is already there, nodding to him as Felicity takes her seat and one of the computers. "Sit rep," the Ranger instructor calls to them.

"Two signatures emerging from the Rift," Cooper answers. They've grown more receptive of his command since he started regularly coordinating successful Jaeger defenses. So far, they've deployed the Jaegers three times against Kaiju, and three times they've been successful without storming Starling City. "Codenamed Otachi and Leatherback, both Category Four. We have three Jaegers ready to go: Romeo Blue, Striker Eureka, and Black Canary. Otachi confirmed to have flight capability."

It's easy to formulate a plan of what to do. All three Jaegers are deployed in the Breach from bays near the sighting. Two Category Fours with three Jaegers should be impossible, but he's seen them do more with less.

The fight seems to be going in their favor when the other shoe drops. "What the hell is that?" Felicity demands, pointing a sapphire blue fingernail in the direction of the HUD in front of her. Before Oliver can do more than get a good look at it, the screen fizzles out—along with pretty much everything. Slowly the control tower goes dark.

"Miss Smoak, I need a situation report," Diggle calls out in the darkness. Despite their lack of lighting and the general sense that everything is going to hell in a handbasket, he remains oddly calm.

"I'm grabbing the back-up gear, John, but it's kind of hard to find the kit while we're temporarily in the City of Ember." No one responds for a moment, and Oliver can feel her rolling her eyes. "In the world of endless night, ladies and gentlemen. Give me a moment."

There are some exclamations of surprise that cause Felicity to reply sorry, but finally a faint, yellow light casts a glow on Felicity and her corner of her room. With an ancient-looking radio in her hand, she yells into it, "This is tower control calling Canary, Romeo, or Striker. What the hell is going on out there? We just went dark."

Laurel is staticky when she responds. "There was a circular discharge of some sort from Leatherback and we went dark. The Kaiju left us here to start rampaging in the city."

Felicity swears in Mandarin—a skill Oliver didn't even know she had. Maybe she picked it up from him. "Barry warned us about this," she declares out of nowhere. "He told us that they weren't dumb beasts." She turns to the Marshal. "They're adapting, John. That had to have been an EMP. They're studying us the same way we're studying them, which is why they just threw out an EMP at us."

"How long will it take to get things running again?" he asks instead.

She shrugs. "Control tower is Coop's baby, not mine." She turns toward her ex expectantly.

"We'd have to re-wire every electronic in the place, Marshal," Cooper responds. "It will take thirty minutes just to re-route the power source, and then we'd have to plug everything back up. Maybe two hours?"

"That's not fast enough," Diggle answers.

Oliver and Felicity exchange glances, and he can feel her enough through their Ghost that he knows they're thinking the same thing. "Marshal," he starts in a low tone, "the Green Arrow has a nuclear reactor. She's analog, not digital. The EMP can't take her down the way it can the others."

Digg sighs. "Oliver, I'm not putting you two in a Jaeger again," he declares. "The last time you two got in a Jaeger…" He trails off and the others seem to pay more attention. "Both of you nearly died that day."

Felicity takes a few steps forward. "If you don't put us in the Arrow," she counters, "an entire city is going to die today. Potentially two lives versus millions, John. That isn't a hard call." She crosses her arms. "In two hours, Starling City is going to be a parking lot. We're the only defense you have right now."

It's clear he doesn't like it, but he points to the emergency kit. "Mr. Seldon, get the emergency backup system online so we can have some light in here. Mr. Ramon, take a lamp and get these two in Drivesuits. We need them in the Green Arrow yesterday."

Cisco does as he asks, leading them down to the Drivesuit room in relative darkness. Felicity throws Oliver his circuitry suit from a locker that he thinks might be hers, already shedding her jumpsuit on the floor unceremoniously. He turns to pull his own on, and a team fits them in their respective armor shells with a speed and efficiency that resembles a NASCAR pit crew.

In twenty, minutes, they're docked in their bays of the cockpit. Felicity reaches for the controls between them with an ease he's never seen. "It's a good thing I included manual Drift controls in this thing," she comments to him. After pressing a button for the comm, she adds, "Hey, John, do you remember when you told me manual Drift controls were a bad idea?"

"You can gloat later, Miss Smoak," Digg replies tersely. "Millions of lives are on the line."

"She's multitasking," Oliver informs him while smiling at his partner. "She's trying to initiate the Drift and gloating at the same time." Felicity grins back, though she's focused on wires. Through the Ghost, he can feel her emotions jump all over the board, mirroring his own. The one she seems to focus on, though, is complete elation. That definitely wasn't his primary emotion going into his first Kaiju fight.

Felicity finally looks up at him, and they share a grin. No words are needed because they already know what the other is thinking. All those moments of wishing for this, of wanting to see what they could do together. For three months, Oliver wrote it off as a pipe dream, but now they're here. They may never get this chance again, but he's wanted to fight a Kaiju with Felicity for every damn call-out in the last three months.

"Initiating neural handshake," she informs the tower before flipping the switch.

Entering the Drift isn't pretty, but, then again, it never is. Oliver can feel himself trying to grab a breath, to normalize through the series of his own horrible memories. They trap him at times, but finally he makes it through the assault of old nightmares—the kind that aren't imagination, but are real.

From Felicity's thoughts alone, he knows he went out of alignment. Her concern for him is clear, but he sends her a quiet assurance that he's fine. "Ready for launch," is all he says, speaking to the support team.

As they give the orders to launch, Felicity whispers to him, "Is it weird that I'm a little nervous about this? I've never wanted anything else, and now that I'm here, I'm scared."

In spite of the seriousness of the question, Oliver laughs, the action twisting her lips upward in a reflection of their link. "Felicity," he starts slowly, "we're about to take on two monsters the size of skyscrapers in a giant robot with no backup." He lets that sink in for a moment before adding, "If you weren't afraid, I'd be worried." After a moment, he whispers back, "I'm scared, too."

The machine shakes slightly as the helicopters attach docking cables, but Felicity breathes a sigh of relief instead of tensing. "I'm never sure if you're feeling something because you actually feel it, or if you're reflecting me," she admits. "You're so subtle that it's hard to tell sometimes. Except when you're mad. Because when you're angry, I know it because I have this sudden urge to go punch things. It's like being randomly attacked by bouts of PMS."

Because the conversation seems to be distracting her from her fears, Oliver remarks wryly, "Thanks to you, I know what that feels like now."

She winces as they fly them out to the middle of the ocean. "I'm still sorry about giving you mood swings, though." Wincing again, she corrects, "Actually, I'm more sorry for that fresh-faced friend of Thea's—Alex, right? He just wanted more time on the mats, preferably with Thea. He was out of line with what he said to her, but I don't think that justified throwing him in the ring with a stick and kicking his ass."

It wasn't one of Oliver's finer moments, truthfully, but the kid made a pass at his sister—an unwanted one, judging by the look on her face. It had earned him a dressing-down from Diggle later, but it had been worth it. "I'm a little protective of the people I care about," he admits quietly.

"Understatement of the century," Felicity remarks under her breath.

Before he can retort, he hears the signal that the helicopters are about to disengage. Though she's never done this before, his partner reaches for the HUD controls and starts bringing them to life. The shutter between them and the glass of the Jaeger's eyes slowly rises, showing the partially-decimated landscape of Starling below them. His heart sinks at the sight, wondering how many have already lost something in tonight's battle. Felicity's heart breaks a little, and his shatters right beside it. He's fought so long to protect this city, to prevent this kind of destruction. Felicity has lived this scene before, and he can feel how deeply this assaults her. This is their worst nightmare come to life.

The moment doesn't last long because it simply can't. The helicopters release them hundreds of feet above the city, and they have to prepare for landfall. Felicity follows his instinct to brace, but he knows they released from too high and it's going to be a rough landing. Despite that, there's nothing to do but brace and hope the docking clamps hold despite the abuse.

Momentum sends them rushing forward as they hit the ground, the Arrow stumbling with them. There's a groan of metal as they come to a halt, but it sounds like it comes from within the cockpit itself. Out of instinct, Oliver throws a hand out to catch himself, with both Felicity and the Jaeger doing the same in response. Finally the movement slows, and he takes a breath of relief.

Pain explodes in his face, so bad that he can hardly breathe. His eyes start to water in response to the agony, and he has to lift the visor of his helmet to wipe at them. Oliver touches his face tentatively to see if he's broken something in the impact, but it takes him a moment longer to realize it isn't his pain he's feeling.

Immediately he turns to look at Felicity, and he gapes in horror. Her visor is mostly in shards in the floor of the cockpit. Blood gushes from her face, and her watering eyes leave tracks of mascara down her face. Out of the corner of his eye, he catches a long, mangled rod of metal. A docking clamp. It must have snapped with the weight of the impact, and with only the right one to hold her, it must have sent her swinging into the emergency control panel on her side of the cockpit.

Oliver calls her name in a panic, but she holds up the hand that isn't on her nose. "I just broke my nose," she answers in a nasal voice. Her tone is calm and controlled, as if her nose isn't pouring blood and he's the irrational one for voicing concern about it. She rips her helmet off and throws it into the floor despite his protests. "Now let's go teach Godzilla a lesson for attacking our city."

"Felicity—" he starts to argue.

"You and I are all this city has to defend it right now," she practically growls at him, eyes narrowing. Blood and tears run down her face, but when mixed with that determination, it only serves to make her seem unstoppable. "I am not going to watch anyone die just because my nose is a little busted." Even in the heat of the moment, Oliver can't help but appreciate her divine gift for understatement. He can see—and feel—the evidence, and a little busted is like saying they have a minor Kaiju problem in Starling right now. Still, she's right. "I can still fight. You'll have to be my eyes until mine stop watering, but I can do this."

Oliver nods once before turning to the control panel on his side of the cockpit. Selecting the plasma arrows from the weapons cache, he declares, "Let's go hunting." The bow-like sights come out of either side of the Green Arrow's right arm as the robotic voice informs them, Plasma bow deployed. Felicity holds it up the way she does when she shoots in the derelict room under the Shatterdome, and he nocks a charged shot, ready to deploy. While a part of him was concerned that they should have practiced, there's barely any effort involved in the motion.

It surprises him how easily the action comes to them. When the Green Arrow prototype was discussed, his mother nearly vetoed it because of the concept of a the plasma arrow: one powerful burst of charged particles, fired in much the same way as an arrow from a bow. Firing requires both pilots to work in tandem, however—something not easily accomplished. They said it could never be done, but Oliver and Tommy were willing to practice. It took them months, but eventually they learned how to work together to use a weapon more powerful than any to ever grace a Jaeger before theirs.

And yet he and Felicity are manipulating the bow like they've been Drifting together for years.

Through their connection he can feel how pleased she is with that. Smiling makes her nose throb painfully, but, to her, that rush of satisfaction is more than worth it. Oliver isn't as convinced, but he mirrors her grin anyway. They should never have had this moment, but yet they're here.

Breaking into a run, they push the Jaeger through the path of destruction in Starling, sighting the bow and turning the Green Arrow regularly, like a hunter stalking its prey. While his eyes are focused on the outline of Starling City, Felicity's remain on the HUD, tracking the Kaiju using electronics.

"Two o'clock!" she shouts suddenly, and both of them whirl the mech in time to watch the one they codenamed Leatherback come charging at them. Working as one, Felicity levels the Green Arrow's arm at the same time Oliver fires. In what is probably the luckiest shot of their lives, they manage to hit the Kaiju right between the eyes. It collapses on the spot.

Felicity crows, fist-pumping the air with her left arm. Because she's also the left hemisphere, the Arrow mimics the action, and her eyes widen a little when she realizes it. Oliver chuckles a little at the sudden burst of embarrassment that floods through their link. I forgot—left hemisphere, she tells him sheepishly through their neural link.

He only smiles, studying the Kaiju a little longer. Tower control can't read vitals for us right now, he notes, his mouth turning downward. I think we should check for a pulse, just to be safe.

She doesn't miss a beat, going through her her side of the weapons cache with a nod. She selects the left plasma cannon with a press of her palm against the interface, the handheld HUD buzzing to life as she aims it. He expects one shot, or maybe two, but instead she fires the whole clip—seven shots—into the Kaiju, the power of the blast separating skin from bone.

Who the hell messed with my designs? she asks, breathing out with a huff as she lowers the weapon. I did not make that automatic. And I know because I rechecked the blueprints for our test run. She growls under her breath, and he has to bite his lip to keep from smiling. Cooper's going to pay for this.

Pressing his lips together, Oliver simply answers, I think it's safe to say it doesn't have a pulse. The word she calls him in response is the kind that would make his mother stammer and declare her unladylike, but he just laughs at her colorful word choice. High from their first Kaiju kill, he adds, Next time, try not to use an entire clip.

"Oliver Queen," she growls in a voice that he's certain has struck fear into the hearts of many. When she's truly angry, he counts himself among them, but right now, it's more like watching a house cat hiss at a mountain lion. "I am in control of heavy machinery. Do not tempt me—"

Before she can finish the thought, a screeching goes through the air. The ground drops out from under them, and he makes sense of the situation at the same time Felicity does: Otachi has flight capabilities—and, apparently, the ability to lift Jaegers off the ground. He punches at it several times, but the Green Arrow's reach is too short.

While the rest of their experiences have felt familiar, this one doesn't. Never before has Oliver encountered a Kaiju that can fly, and he has no idea how to fight something with this kind of capability. The Arrow's weapons—all plasma—aren't designed to deal with enemies at close range. The only close-range weapons they have are the Jaeger's fists, and that isn't going to work here.

The Kaiju have adapted better than they have.

Just as he's about to suggest blowing both them and the Kaiju to hell, Felicity studies him with narrowed above a blood-covered nose and mouth. "Seriously?" she finally declares. "Oliver, this is your Jaeger. More importantly, this is my baby. Did you think I'd leave you unequipped to deal with a situation like this?"

Before he can answer, she flips through the weapons cache and slams down on the control panel. That helpful, robotic voice informs them, Sword deployed. He blinks twice; it must be a new addition because they didn't have that before.

Felicity snorts at the thought. "I installed this on the prototype," she corrects with a weary sigh. "If you didn't know about this, I have no idea how you survived fifty-one kills in her the last time around." She points at him with her right hand. "That's the only problem with you, Oliver: you think like a fighter." She grins, and something about it looks sinister—maybe it's because of the broken nose. "It's time to start thinking like a technician."

With that, she performs a beautiful slice with the thirty-feet-long sword, cutting off the Kaiju's wing. It lets out a shriek before dropping them, both Jaeger and beast falling. The Arrow lands on her knees in the middle of the ocean, creating a tidal wave, but Otachi plunges into the water gushing blue blood.

When it emerges, it does so pissed off and screaming. While Felicity has the sword, Oliver is without a weapon, and he glances over to his HUD for anything he can use. It picks up a small cargo ship, and he reaches out for it, grabbing it by the stern.

While Felicity tries—unsuccessfully—to stab at the moving target the Kaiju presents, he uses the Arrow's right arm to take a swing at the monster with his new club. He makes contact, knocking it several thousand feet away. He can feel Felicity's hum of approval at the back of his mind at the choice, readying the sword for the next round.

The Kaiju comes at them again, slime dripping from its jaws and blue blood trailing in the water. "Brace," Felicity warns, and Oliver releases his hold on the ship. For a moment, their field of vision is filled with biting jaws and at least five rows of teeth as they try to gain the upper hand.

The thought runs through Felicity's head, but he snatches it out because it's a perfect way to end this: "Nuclear reactor." As they hold it off, the two of them confer details of a plan while waiting for the perfect moment.

It comes to them fairly quickly. The Kaiju pulls back in an attempt to take the upper hand, but when it tries to attack again, they force its lower jaw into the heat of the nuclear reactor. It screams in agony—a horrible, shrill sound—as it pulls back, making itself an easy target. Felicity swings the sword one last time.

Otachi's body hits the water first, and then its head.

For a long moment, there's nothing but silence. Both of them are breathing hard and sweating from the exertion of manipulating the Jaeger, and Felicity is pale from the blood loss. When she glances over at him, strands of wet, multicolored hair fall into her face. The purple skin under her eyes makes him suck in a breath; it's worse than he originally thought. Still, he makes sure to tell her, You did well tonight.

She rolls her eyes, responding to his emotions instead of his thoughts. I'm fine, Oliver.

Ultimately, the silence is broken by neither of them; Diggle's voice crackles through the backup comm systems. "Arrow, we lost you after you hit the air. Everyone else is in, but we need a sit rep."

Oliver and Felicity share a glance, and he motions to the the comm unit with a grin. "We bagged two kills tonight, John," she answers, her voice tired. She stops to spit blood. "We're coming home."

Before she can brush it off, Oliver adds, "Your pilots dropped too high, Marshal. Felicity lost a docking clamp in the impact, and she has a broken nose from it." She shoots him a withering glance, but he shrugs instead. I told you, he reminds her, I'm protective of the people I care about. It quiets her protests immediately. "Have medical standing by—it's a bad one."

Comparatively, their trip back to base is uneventful. Felicity mostly falls out of her dock when the Green Arrow is safely in the hangar again, and Oliver is nearly asleep on his feet, too. "Medical can check me out tomorrow," she assures him with a yawn as she stops to grab her helmet. "The only thing that's happening tonight is scrubbing the blood off my face and going to bed."

"Not going to happen," he growls back at her. It's almost as if she's trying to worry him with her situation. She glares, but it has no effect on him. "I'll carry you back to your quarters if you want, but I know how it felt, Felicity. You need to have someone look at it."

Her glare lasts only a moment longer before she softens. "You're not gonna let this go, are you?"

His expression must be answer enough, because she sighs. "My bones feel like pudding and this Drivesuit weighs more than I do. I don't feel like arguing tonight." She pokes his shoulder as they take the elevator to the ground floor. "But don't think you've won. I just elected to save my energy for walking back to medical." Tired or not, Oliver still laughs.

When they walk into the Shatterdome, it's to find everyone staring at them. All of the two hundred-odd residents of the Shatterdome have eyes on them in hushed silence. Felicity falters mid-step with her busted helmet under her arm, eyes widening in increasing alarm.

Before either of them can act on their mutual urge to run, the room bursts into cheers and applause. Felicity breaks into a wide smile, eyes sparking as though she's just realized what they've accomplished. Two Category Fours in one night, without any assists. Many of her friends are screaming, and Oliver notices that even Lance is clapping, even if it is with a grimace on his face.

Oliver smiles wider than he has in ages, throwing his arm over her shoulder. She beams up at him, and he kisses her cheek the way he did in the Shatterdome three months ago. "You were great out there, Ranger," he tells her honestly, causing that grin to grow and her emotions to flutter a little. "I don't think they'll underestimate you again."

She snorts. "I'm not the only one who will be taken seriously after tonight."


Playlist:

"All Together" - Stars in Stereo
"Where Do We Go" - Lindsey Stirling feat. Carah Faye
"Eva" - Nightwish
"Raise Hell" - Dorothy
"Missile" - Dorothy
"Whoever Brings the Night" - Nightwish