A/N: Spoilers for 2x19. Yes, another drabble for this ep before it comes out. This isn't a spec fic though. It's a 'what if' twist on the Slade attacking the lair scene. Just a little thing that popped into my head while I was watching a gif set of them jumping over the railing for the four hundredth time.

In hindsight she'd wonder how she'd missed it. There had been a white hot streak of pain across her left side but it was gone just as quick and then she'd been falling through the air with Oliver's arms around her. Again.

One second they'd been paused on the stairs, not even enough time for her stomach to drop or the terror to set in that Slade Wilson was in the lair before Oliver had grabbed her and thrown her over the side of the stairs with him. The sharp pings of bullets ricocheting off the metal railings rang in her ear. She'd known they were close but as she crouched under the risers with Oliver in front of her she wasn't thinking about that.

It felt like the fight had gone on forever, but in reality it was over in a matter of minutes. She had to watch, helpless as one by one her team went up against Slade and failed. Sara's body being thrown limply through the air, Digg crashing through the glass case, and Oliver laying prone on the floor after confronting the man who had trained him.

When she'd rushed over to turn the lights back on she wasn't sure what she'd find, and for a moment all she could do was stare in horror.

Slade was no where to be seen, but the evidence of his presence was everywhere she looked.

A soft groan from her left made her snap her head to see Sara trying to push herself up, one arm cradled to her chest. When she saw Felicity about to go to her she waved her off, "Go. Check on the others," she said weakly,

Digg was also stirring, covered in broken glass, but he didn't seem to be too badly injured.

It was Oliver that put her heart in her throat. As she crashed to her knees beside him he wasn't moving. A reddened area along his jaw let her know he'd have another unexplainable bruise, but she'd seen Slade strike him in the side.

One hand fell to check his pulse while the other pushed aside his shirt, ignoring how warm his skin felt beneath her palm as she searched for anything life threatening. When she pressed along his ribs his face contorted in pain, his body trying to move away from the pressure.

He groaned, brows drawing together as he shifted and then she saw familiar blue eyes blinking up at her.

"Are you okay? Tell me you're okay." she demanded, her eyes flying from his face back to where she'd moved his shirt and jacket out of the way. His side was red and angry looking, blood welling to the surface from one long abrasion and she suspected his ribs were bruised if not broken.

He couldn't hide the grimace or the way his breath caught as he tried to sit up. When he actually let her take some of his weight as he paused, half propped against her shoulder she knew he was hurting.

Her hands were shaking as reached out to touch his rapidly swelling jaw but he caught her hand before she could, wrapping his fingers around hers and squeezing, "Are you okay?"

All she could do was nod. How could she not be okay? He'd saved her, again, like he always did.

With a grunt he began to push himself to his feet and she slid under his arm to help, trying not to touch his side. When he tried to pull away and make his way over to Digg and Sara she grabbed a handful of shirt and directed him towards the med bay table instead.

"Sit, before you puncture a lung," she ordered, knowing her voice was more wobbly than she would have liked.

Sara and Digg were on their feet as well, Digg already inspecting Sara's obviously injured arm.

Oliver just sat, staring morosely at the floor, not even looking at the others.

Five minutes later Sara was on the way to the hospital with Digg to get her arm set while Felicity gathered what she needed to clean Oliver's injury.

She let him remain quiet while she worked, only having to give him a look at the beginning when he still sat there with his jacket and shirt on.

It took her longer than it should have because the adrenaline was wearing off, leaving her weak and shaky. She knew she needed a good few minutes sitting down with her eyes shut to regain her equilibrium but it would have to wait.

"Why did you do it?" she finally asked, not daring to look at him, but she had to know and asking him to explain why he grabbed her and abandoned Digg and Sara was a better thing to focus on rather than the fact that Slade Wilson had some how found his way into their home.

His eyes flashed to hers and she knew he understood what she was asking.

"I just reacted," he answered, voice low and affected by everything he was thinking but not saying,

"But Digg, and…Sara-" she let her implication fall flat, waiting for him to respond or not,

He shifted on the table and rubbed a hand across his forehead, "Digg and Sara can take care of themselves. You were in front. What did you expect me to do, use you as a human shield?" he cracked, getting louder as he spoke and she froze with gauze and tape in her hands, "There was no thought, Felicity, I just reacted."

The wobbly feeling in her legs was getting stronger, as well as the fluttery feeling in her chest. Echoes of that night in his office with the Count threatening to inject her flew through her head. 'There was no choice to make'

She swallowed heavily and dipped her head once, not trusting her voice just then. When she went to resume patching him up he suddenly spoke, halting her movements once again.

"Why is there blood on the floor?"

She looked at him in confusion and the followed his line of sight, stepping back to see three bright red blood droplets standing out starkly on the concrete.

"I dont…" a wave of fear crashed over her, "Oh my god, were you shot?" she exclaimed, gauze and tape falling from her grasp as she began running her hands over his back and shoulders, looking for what she'd missed.

"Felicity-" he said hollowly and something made her look down again, there were five drops now and she watched as a sixth slowly fell and splashed on the floor, directly next to her foot.

"Oh,"

Time seemed to freeze as a buzzing filled her ears and then there was nothing but frantic energy as Oliver sprang from the table and was now the one shoving her jacket and shirt aside.

"Dammit, Felicity!" he cried, hand pressing hard just above her waist and pain suddenly made itself known.

Her mouth bobbed open and shut with nothing coming out as she tried to understand what was happening. Before she could even speak however, Oliver was lifting her in one easy move and turning to deposit her on the table he'd just been sitting on.

The world spun dangerously and all she could see was the bright overhead light and hear banging and clanging of drawers and things being shoved out of the way around her.

She'd been shot? When had she been shot?

"How? What?" she managed to get out, leaning right and then left automatically as he pulled the jacket from her arms and then dropped it to the floor without another thought. When he pressed his hand over her side again she cried out, back arching at the sudden flare of pain that once revealed now couldn't be ignored.

"You were shot," he mostly growled, not looking at her and she could almost feel the guilt pulsing off of him,

"I didn't feel it." her right hand gripped the edge of the table while her left found his arm,

"Adrenaline," he replied as he swapped out one soaked pad for another. She made the mistake of looking down and seeing the bright red stain causing black dots to dance in front of her eyes as her stomach flipped,

"Lay back and stop looking," he ordered, a hand coming out to press gently against her forehead,

She swallowed down the bile and licked her lips, forcing herself to breathe through her nose all the while holding onto him tighter, "Is it...is it still in there?"

The tension in his arm became even tighter as he stilled, "I don't think so, I think it just nicked you,"

"Good. That's good." she said breathlessly, hating how lightheaded she felt, and knowing that if Digg was there he'd have her hooked to the monitors, but Oliver seemed to only be able to focus on fixing her as soon as possible and she couldn't fault him for that.

His head bowed and she felt an overwhelming need to run her fingers across the back of his neck but she caught herself just in time and just ran her thumb over his bicep instead. "I'm sorry," he muttered so low she almost didn't hear him, "I was trying to keep you safe,"

"You did," she replied immediately, his head shooting up to give her an incredulous look, "You did. If you hadn't grabbed me and jumped I'd probably be dead right now and you know it,"

All he did was shake his head and straighten up, she didn't miss the way his eyes narrowed in pain.

"I didn't finish fixing you up," she protested, and once again he was staring at her,

"It's nothing," he said firmly and she knew he'd push his own pain aside to tend to her,

A whimper caught in her throat as he peeled off another soaked gauze square and touched around the wound, "Not enough to stitch, it's too wide," he told her, jaw clenched tight even though she knew it had to hurt him, "Looks more like a burn," she winced at that, knowing it would hurt for days,

After that he was silent as he worked. When he injected the numbing medicine she slammed her eyes shut so she didn't have to watch. She also felt how he had to push her shirt further out of the way, stopping at her bra. She hoped he didn't notice the catch in her breath when he did.

When he was finished he pulled the shirt down and then there was nothing but silence. Felicity stared up at him, unable to look away from the broken, forlorn look that plagued his face.

His hands slipped around her as she fought to sit up, clasping his forearms when everything spun. But her side didn't hurt, it was pleasantly numb. When the lair was still again she used him for blance to slide off the table before motioning for him to resume his place.

Immediately he balked but she narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, waiting. A stony expression settled over him but he did as she asked.

She was dabbing ointment over his abrasion when she finally spoke, "He's trying to get into your head. Just like with Thea. He's trying to prove what he can do, where he can go. He shouldn't have been able to get in here, but somehow he did," That more than anything bothered her. Those were her systems and Slade had seemed able to slip in and out like a ghost,

"It's not your fault," he said immediately,

"It's not yours either," but the way he pulled back and looked purposefully away from her let her know he wasn't listening.

She was taping down the last bit of his bandage when a wave of dizziness washed over her. Oliver caught her by the hips and she gasped.

"You need to rest," he said gruffly, not letting her go,

"I need to figure out how he got in," she countered, but she couldn't deny she was feeling worse by the second,

"Not right now," he was getting more agitated, and when he sat her back and landed on his feet in front of her she knew it was to try and use his height as an advantage,

"You stopped intimidating me about five minutes after I met you," she informed him but he just leaned in closer,

"It's not up for discussion!" he almost bellowed, control slipping, and she could see the emotions that warred behind his eyes, "This is too much!"

She saw it all then. He'd gladly sacrifice himself to end this. He may even concede Sara or Digg because they were both soldiers. But Felicity was never supposed to be a pawn, she was never even supposed to be in play on the board, and his ability to handle the fact that Slade had walked into their home and put her into play was something he was failing at.

"Oliver-" she breathed out, hand coming up to rest along the inside of his elbow. She knew there was nothing she could say just then. He was struggling to process what had happened and until he had there was no point in talking.

Without protest she let him lead her to the couch, where he stood stoic above her until she laid down on her uninjured side and tucked a pillow under her head.

She let her eyes fall shut and he waited a long beat before he moved away. When something was laid over her shoulders she startled and saw him laying his leather jacket over her shoulders, the one she had been wearing still in a pile on the floor.

Their eyes locked and she let him know without words that they'd figure this out, they'd fight Slade, and they'd win.

Heavy lids fell shut as he took a moment and then he was smoothing the jacket one more time and squeezing her shoulder, "Just rest, I won't be far,"

She watched through her lashes as he righted her desk chair and rolled it over until it was only two feet from the couch. He settled into it almost gingerly and let his head fall back, determined to sit sentry until Digg returned.