Oliver sat in the silence of the empty spare lair.
Silence was his friend. He came here after overlooking the lair and arranging with Diggle the necessary items to fix it. Diggle let him know that Felicity had used the money he gave her after the undertaking to update the lair and his bow, but to also invest it and create a nest egg of sorts.
His heart ached when thinking of Felicity. She always was making sure their future as a team was set.
He mentally listed off the injuries she'd gotten over the last two weeks. Malnourished, semi-dehydrated, bruises, the stab wound, a hair-line fracture in her skull, slight suffocation, and a spinal cord injury. Oliver closed his eyes, his mind replaying the images over and over again. Felicity's defiance stood out to him. She always stood up and spoke her mind. This time it was different. She had repeatedly shook her head, and even told the man 'Never.'
Felicity, what did they want? Oliver wondered, his mind escaping to happier thoughts of her. He was so lost in his thoughts he barely heard his phone ring.
He looked at the screen and saw it was Diggle.
"Dig?"
"Oliver, where are you?"
Oliver sighed. "I'm at home. What's wrong?"
Diggle was silent. "Save your bullshit for someone who believes it. I'm at the hospital."
Oliver bolted to his feet, automatically going for the door. "What's wrong? Is Felicity okay?"
"Felicity is fine, showing signs of improvement. But it's her visitor's records that bother me."
Oliver put his bluetooth in his ear, and shoved on his helmet. Hopping on his Ducati, he started towards the hospital.
"What's wrong with the visitor's records? Sarah or Roy should be there."
"I know. Oliver, Slade came to see her, along with Isabel."
The motorcycle sped up, racing through the city.
Oliver tried his best to calmly walk through the halls of the hospital.
Try being the key.
The thought that the two people responsible for kidnapping Felicity and Thea, and causing Felicity's injuries came to see her made him see red. Turning to the left, he saw Roy standing outside of Felicity's door, standing guard. Oliver nodded. Roy nodded back.
Before Oliver could go in, Roy spoke. "Listen, Oliver."
Oliver paused, and looked at the young man. The mirakuru poisoned him, but Oliver saw a lot of himself in him. Nodding, he stood still. "Okay."
"I broke Thea's heart. She still doesn't understand why, but she's mad at me, and you. I understand that. I won't go near her. But." Roy shuffled. "I'm not leaving. Not now. What happened to Felicity makes me mad, mad as when Thea was taken. I need to make this right."
Oliver reached out and placed a hand on Roy's shoulder. He gently squeezed it, assuring him. "I understand Roy. They'll pay. And we'll make Starling right again. As a team." Roy's eyes showed tears, and Oliver understood.
Oliver dropped his hand nodding, and walked past him into the room. Diggle moved up from the couch, Sarah looked up from her spot next to the bed. She held a brush, and was brushing out Felicity's hair so it laid out around her head. The room smelt like Felicity's perfume, and Oliver felt a faint warmth fill his heart. He sat in the chair next to her bed, and gently took Felicity's hand. Bringing it to his lips, he inhaled smelling the perfume, and feeling her pulse beat strongly.
"I stopped by her town home and picked up some of her pjs, her spare glasses, hairbrush, slippers, robe, toothbrush, her shampoo and soap." Sarah smiled. "I also picked up her tablet and charging cable. Knowing once she's awake she'll want them." She ran the brush through the blonde strands gently. Oliver watched, amazed that Sarah thought to bring comfort to Felicity. He looked back down seeing the clean guaze, the bruises, but noting the light blue v-necked tshirt, and looking at her legs he smiled seeing black pj bottoms covered in yellow smiley faces.
Oliver sat back, pulling Felicity's hand into his lap, he looked at his teammates. "When were they here?"
Diggle sighed. "They were here this morning. Around 10:30. They left a present." Diggle gestured to the bouquet of blood red roses wrapped in orange and black ribbon sitting on a shelf in the room. Oliver's anger boiled. How dare they.
"I came in about a half hour later. They weren't here long." Sarah said, placing the last piece of hair down on the pillow. She smiled at Felicity and looked up at Oliver. "Roy had gone home to rest, and Laurel stopped me with breakfast."
Diggle stood up, moving towards Felicity's bedside. "Doctors said that the inflammation has gone down. It's only been three days since the surgery. They see that as an improvement. Otherwise, we need to deal with Slade and Isabel."
Oliver nodded, his heart soaring at the news of Felicity's progress. He wanted nothing more than to see her awake and moving again, her spinning in her desk chair in the lair, or to fist pump at discovering a clue. What needed to be done about their enemies came before her healing.
"What do we do to take them down?" Oliver said. "They've proven that they have no qualms about attacking us. How do we attack them?"
Sarah nodded. "Diggle thinks that they're using the Applied Sciences Division to mass create the serum. We should take it down to weaken them. Then we'll look for the skull mask."
Oliver nodded. "Get the equipment we'll need. We'll attack tonight, stealth, no connection to us, and no deaths. Quick, clean, in and out."
Both of his teammates nodded. Oliver sat back in the chair. "I'll join you at Verdant around 1. See you then." They both nodded and left the room, leaving to gather Roy and what they would need.
Oliver looked at the bed, at Felicity asleep, untroubled by what happened around her. Knowing that Sara had seen to her comfort upset him a little. He wished he had thought of it. Oliver saw the roses on the shelf, and clenched his teeth. Gently placing her hand back on the bed, he moved over to the shelf, he gripped the roses. Oliver threw them into the trash can, shattering the vase, rose petals falling off, the roses breaking. A white card stood out in the pile. Hands shaking in anger, Oliver grabbed the card seeing his name written on the top.
His heart clenched as he read the card.
Broken is good enough.
Remember Arrow, one has to die.
Oliver's heart pounded. Slade was toying with him. Toyed with Felicity, broke her. He promised to kill two people, and he was unsuccessful. Felicity wasn't dead, she would heal. But one more had to die.
He moved back to the chair at Felicity's side. He slid the card into his pocket, making a mental note to have Diggle put more security on Thea and his mother. They may not be on the best of terms, but he would protect them.
Reaching once again for Felicity's hand, he traced his thumb along her knuckles. He sighed, wishing for this moment to be different. He pressed his lips to her hand again, inhaling the perfume of her body wash.
"I'll give you all the tulips you want. I remember you always said that roses were overrated. I'll fill your room with tulips. So that you'll smile when you wake. I'll wrap them in green ribbon, even add in fuchsia I know it's your favorite color. Anything to make you smile Felicity. Just don't heal too fast. No need to rush this. Just heal slowly and we'll work it all out when you wake up."
He saw her heart monitor flutter again, her heartbeat fluttering at the sound of his voice. "I'll keep this promise to you. Just come back and smile."