A/N: Spoilers for 2x19!

I'm sure by now most people have seen the still photos and screen caps from the trailer that show Oliver, Felicity, Digg, and Sara coming down the steps of the lair only to get ambushed by Slade. I had a need to work that scene out.

Just a little 'what might happen' fic to tide us over until the show airs.

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

"Nice digs, kid. Quite the step up from a bombed out fuselage,"

They were only halfway down the steps when the low, accented growl greeted them and they froze.

Oliver's hand dropped to her shoulder, fingers digging in and making her rock back, the tension flowing through him so quick it felt almost electric.

No one moved. No one spoke. And then Felicity could see him.

He looked massive. A giant, impenetrable machine covered head to toe in armor and weaponry. The two-toned mask he wore only enhancing the deadly image he portrayed.

She wasn't sure who move first, Slade or Oliver. All Felicity knew was that one moment she was certain she was about to die and the next Oliver's hands were grabbing for her and they were moving.

They were in the air before she realized he'd thrown them over the side of the stairs. There wasn't even time for a shriek to leave her throat. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her tight to his chest as bullets pinged around them and then they were on the ground, his body absorbing most of the impact as they landed.

The breath was knocked out of her, but before she could even open her eyes he was picking her up and shoving her beneath the steps. Oliver was crouched in front of her, one long arm stretched in front, blocking her as much as he could. Her fingers gripped the steel of the riser above her as she looked around the lair in shock.

Digg and Sara had been behind them but she didn't know where they'd gone when Oliver had reacted. Her heart was thudding so rapidly she thought it might explode. There were still sounds of guns firing and small explosions.

A sound must have finally made it past her lips because Oliver's head whipped towards her, his hand dropping to her knee, "Stay out of sight," he said, low and fierce and all she could do was nod, "If you see a chance to get out, do it!"

She shook her head at that. She wasn't going to leave the team. She wasn't going to leave him.

A look of anger flashed across his face and suddenly his hand was cupping her cheek, "He will kill you, Felicity! Get out if you can!"

She saw it then. The total and complete fear in his eyes. Swallowing heavily she blinked back tears, "Okay, just...be careful, Oliver,"

She'd swear his thumb stroked once over her skin, and then he was shoving her further into the darkness before he went to join Digg and Sara.

With her heart in her throat she made herself as small as possible. She could see between the slats in the steps and she knew it wasn't the best hiding spot. If Slade wanted to he could rip the bolts from the concrete and expose her in an instant.

Everything moved too fast. Sara was being tossed like a rag doll, the sight of her landing on the unforgiving floor making Felicity cringe. Digg's bullets didn't seem to affect Slade and Oliver hadn't been able to reach his bow, his only weapon Sara's dropped bo staff.

Oliver tried to keep the fight as far back into the lair as possible she realized and she knew it was because he was trying to give her a chance to get out. But every time she thought she had an opportunity he'd lose ground and the moment was gone.

She didn't know how much longer they could last. Slade was besting all of them even when they came at him together. A cold dread settled within her. He'd kill the others and then finish her off and there wouldn't be anything she could do to stop him.

When she saw Slade's blade slice into Oliver's side everything went numb. He fell to the ground out of her sight, as a sob became lodged in her throat.

Sara made an attempt to attack from behind but Slade merely reached out and snapped her wrist like it was nothing more than a twig. The sound ricocheted throughout the lair along with Sara's cry and Felicity's hands came up to cover her mouth as she stared horrified.

None of them were moving. She hadn't seen Digg fall and she didn't know if he was dead or not, the thought too terrifying to consider.

Slade stood still, observing the damage he'd wrought as he sheathed his blades, then he walked forward to where Oliver lay slumped against a pillar.

"I see I've miscalculated, kid." Slade said drolly as he stood over Oliver's prone form, Sara weakly tried to struggle to her knees but collapsed before she could, "I picked the wrong woman." even though Felicity couldn't see his eyes she felt his stare as the mask turned to look directly at her hiding place and her head filled with static as her stomach dropped. "I won't make the same mistake next time. Live with that."

Slade was five steps across the lair heading straight for her when she realized what he was doing. She startled backwards so frantically she bumped into one of the tool chests, banging into it harshly but not feeling a thing.

"NO!" Oliver roared as he rolled to one knee, hand clamped across his bloody side.

Slade just let out a low chuckle and kept walking the same steady pace.

Felicity staggered two more steps and then froze.

"Don't touch her!"

But Slade didn't slow, he kept moving until he was at the stairs, only five feet from her, and he kept going.

His boots stomped on each step, making the sound ring out in the space and each one made her jump until she heard him at the top and the door banged shut behind him.

She couldn't breathe, couldn't move. She had been certain he was going to kill her.

It was the gasping exhale that ended on a sob, doubling her over as her knees went weak that pushed life back into the room.

Oliver's half desperate call of her name had her moving and then she was dropping to her knees beside him, tears rolling down her face that she couldn't wipe away because her hands were covering his and pressing down on his wound.

"You're okay," he breathed out, and then repeated the words almost like he was saying them to himself.

"You're not. None of you are," she said raggedly finally looking up and scanning the space. Digg was slumped near her desk but he was starting to sit up with a groan and the knot in her gut eased some. Sara looked grey, her arm clasped tight to her chest as she tried to stand.

"I don't know how he got in. None of the alarms went off. I have them sent to my phone, but nothing went off. But he was here. Waiting and…." one of Oliver's hand slid out from underneath hers to wrap around her wrist, halting her words.

"It doesn't matter,"

"Of course it matters! We're supposed to be safe here. I keep us safe here!" panic was starting to fill her and she could feel the way her hands shook and hear the way her voice wavered,

"It's not your fault," he said between gritted teeth and she realized he was trying to push back on his shoulders so he could stand.

Unable to stop him she scrambled to her feet and grabbed hold of his waist, one hand still putting pressure on his wound.

He let his head fall back shutting his eyes for a moment and she felt him list to the side some. When he was more stable she risked pulling his shirt up to see the gash. Hands trembling she almost expected to see a stab wound that went through him. To her relief it was a long slice along his side.

"You need stitches, but it doesn't look too bad," she managed to get out and he nodded once,

"You guys okay?" Digg asked as he used the desk for support once he was standing,

Oliver grunted back a response and Digg took a second to wipe the back of his hand across his bloody mouth.

Grabbing handfuls of his shirt Felicity tugged and pulled Oliver off the wall to guide him to the chair where he more collapsed than sat.

Digg was already inspecting Sara's wrist, "It's broken. I can't set it here, you'll need to go to the hospital."

She nodded stiffly and carefully made her way over towards Oliver, "What the hell is he playing at, Ollie? He could have killed us but he didn't."

Oliver didn't speak though. All he could do was shake his head.

"Come on, I'll drive you to the hospital," Digg said as he limped to Sara's side, "You got this?" he directed at Felicity who could only mutely nod.

She didn't move again until they were out of sight then she turned to the supply cart and began pulling out gauze and antiseptic and a suture kit even though her hands were stained with his blood and they wouldn't stop shaking.

He'd hauled himself onto the med bay table and shed his jacket and shirt by the time she'd gathered what she needed. Propped up on his elbows he was half leaning over to get a better look at the wound as she approached.

"It could have been worse," he said lowly

"Don't say that," she snapped quickly, setting everything down before it could fall from her slack grip.

The silence between them grew as she poured antiseptic on a gauze pad and began to clean the bloody gash. Oliver clamped his lips shut and gripped the edge of the table as she worked. Other than a hiss of air being sucked through his teeth he didn't let on how painful it was.

"Sara was right though…" she said finally, not looking up as she pulled out the suture kit. "He could have killed us," she resolutely ignored Slade's comments about picking the wrong woman. There was no way she could even begin to consider what he could have meant just then. A quick flick of her eyes to Oliver though let her know thats all he was thinking about.

He didn't say a word, nor did he stop her as she injected the numbing medicine-something he usually refused. But as she went to cap the syringe his hand wrapped around her wrist and took it from her, laying it to the side. "I didn't think you liked needles," he said lowly,

"I don't, but I like you bleeding even less so…"

She was staring down, her gaze focused on where his thumb ran back and forth across the inside of her wrist, the blue veins standing out against the brownish red of dried blood that stained both of them.

"He's not going to touch you,"

The intensity and anger with which he spoke made her gasp and her head jerked up to see him staring at her with a look in his eyes she'd never seen before.

"He's not going to touch you," he repeated, this time softer but voice still full of steel to the point it sounded like a vow.

His name came out as no more than a whisper but she knew he understood everything she couldn't say just then. Words were stuck in her throat, clogged there by emotions, and implications, and acknowledgements that couldn't be voiced or heard. But their time would come.

When she blinked, tears spilled down her cheeks and his hand left her wrist to wipe them away. The breath caught in her chest and for one tiny second she let her eyes fall shut and allowed her head to turn into his touch. Then she opened her eyes and stepped back until he was forced to pull away.

"Lay down and let me finish," she said almost breathless, once again averting her eyes because there was too much between them just then. Everything was too close to the surface and they were both too close to the edge to risk saying anything else.

He did as she asked and she poured all her concentration into stitching his wound. She didn't let herself think about how Slade got in, or how he could have killed all of them in seconds, or how they were going to beat him in the future.

And she certainly didn't think about how Slade seemed to have identified her as the most important woman in Oliver's life.

She didn't think about that at all.