A/N: Thank you so much for the amazing response to the last chapter you are all so amazing! I have included more of Oliver's POV as requested and have touched upon one of you guys' awesome ideas of Oliver teaching Felicity how to fight but will include more of this in the next few chapters. Hope you enjoy!
The thick grey smoke drowned Felicity's lungs. She felt like she was coughing up her insides whilst struggling to breath underwater. It was hopeless. The flames fingers scratched her, tearing at her skin. The heat torched her clothes and her vision became darkened. She freed her bleeding wrists from the ties and staggered towards the window. The sound of crushing bone mixed with the shattering of glass became a distant sound as parts of the ceiling began to collapse. The world was falling in on Felicity, the sky turning black. Still, struggling to breath she clutched her broken arm and began to climb through the demolished window. Her clothes tore across the shards of glass and her bleeding hands and legs throbbed in pain. Terror rang through her, apparent in every movement she made. Struggling to move, her body became wedged in the small window. She was stuck. Black dots formed in her vision before the cool air could hit her. Sweat stuck her clothes to her body which was now violently shaking. This was it she thought. This was how her life would end.
Oliver jolted upwards, startled. Leaping out of bed he positioned his body ready for the attacker. Frantically searching the room his ears pricked to the sound of a girl's screams. Recognising it as Felicity's, Oliver lurched forward, swinging the door open. He raced across the corridor panic flowing through him as he crashed into the wall, still disorientated from his sleep. Flinging open the door to Felicity's room with a force that made the whole mansion vibrate, his eyes lay on the frightened girl. Felicity was hunched in the corner of the room, pressing her back into the wall. Even with her hands covering her face, Oliver could clearly make out the tears streaming down her face. His throat hurt, forcing back a sob as he watched the helpless girl scream, terrified for her life. Rushing to her side, Oliver placed his hand onto the shoulder of the violently shaking girl. Felicity pushed away Oliver's hand with a force so strong it made him topple over. Terror sliced her eyes as she scrambled backwards, further into the wall, trying to get away from him. Oliver bit back another tear as Felicity curled into a ball, rocking herself backwards and forwards, screaming for somebody to help her. Holding his breath in hope that his method would work, Oliver wrapped his arms securely around her body. Gripping onto her he winced as she struggled to get out of his grasp, hitting and kicking at him. Her eyes wild with panic saw him as a monster, and her frantic screams grew louder. No matter how much she struggled and hurt him, Oliver kept his arms locked around her. They stayed in this position until he felt her body begin to relax and soon she was limp in his arms. Once he was sure she had calmed down and fallen back asleep he picked up her body and paced over towards her bed. Fire soared through him as he tucked the covers around her, his hand falling against the curves of her body. Retracting it quickly at the sudden fluttering in his stomach, he turned towards the door. The words Felicity muttered caught in his throat; 'please don't leave me alone'. Oliver stood by her bed, unsure what to do. Eventually he gave into his temptations and gently pushed back the covers. He rearranged the pillows and leaned his back against the wall, sitting next to her in bed. It took all of his strength to avoid looking at the girl, trying to get rid of this tingling he was feeling. Felicity moaned gently in her sleep rolling over. Her head landed on Oliver's lap as he desperately tried to ignore his feelings towards this girl. Oliver was left helpless as his whole body fell on fire, her bare skin touching his. He became very conscious that he was only in his boxer shorts and bit his lip as strands of her hair gently brushed against his chest. Licking his throbbing lips he tasted blood and quickly realized that through the struggle, Felicity had cut open his lip. Oliver sat there for hours, feeling her chest rise up and down calmly, soothing her when her sleep became restless.
It was in the early hours of the morning as Oliver drifted to, cursing himself for dozing off. Rays of soft sunshine shone through the gaps in the heavy curtains, warming up the room. Gently lifting Felicity's head from his lap, he snuck out of the room, afraid of waking her up. Judging by the panicked state she was in last night, he doubted she would remember asking him to stay. So Oliver silently closed the door behind him, sighing at the sight of her sleeping so peacefully.
Felicity's gaze caught Oliver's eye, he had been silent the entire car ride to the foundry. She gaped at his cut, swollen and bloodied lip. The dark colour of rings under his eyes stood against his pale skin. Felicity had tried to ask Oliver where he had got his lip from but he had just shrugged her off. Looking at the person sitting next to her, Felicity felt sympathy. He looked worn out, a shadow of his former self. Before Oliver had the chance to punch in the code for the foundry door, it slid open causing both Felicity and Oliver to jump backwards in alarm. A red hoody grabbed Felicity's arm, pulling her down the steps and over to the computers. 'It won't stop beeping. For God's sake PLEASE make it stop beeping! That noise is driving me insane! I am seconds away from smashing the thing.' Felicity winced at the potential threat to her babies but a rush of hope filled her as she saw what was on the screen. 'Yes! I cross-referenced everyone The Reaper Brothers have talked to in the last three months and left facial recognition scanning last night. And it look like we got a hit!' Pushing Roy aside so he was not within touching distance of her computers, Felicity began to frantically type away at the keys. 'Right' she started, pointing at the screen. Oliver knew her by now and started to expect a long line of computer jargon to come sprouting out of her mouth. Zoning out, he watched her facial expressions, smiling to himself at how passionate she got.
'Oi Oliver, what are you smiling at?! I just said Demartis was spotted in Starling City.' Felicity's sharp elbow in the ribs brought Oliver back to reality. 'Wait what? Who's Demartis?' Oliver stuttered, making a mental not to ever annoy Felicity. Dig and Roy smirked as he rubbed his side, a smug grin sat on Oliver's face as he eyed the two men. This reaction however, did not sit well with Felicity. Sighing angrily, she repeated; 'from the surveillance footage it looks like Demartis and The Reaper Brothers are working closely together. I have pinged his phone and am tracking his GPS'. Felicity leaned back in her chair and smiled proudly at Oliver; 'from the latest of his dodgy texts it looks like he is meeting someone tonight in the abandoned building off Welsh Street.' The blonde turned back to the computer screens, shaking her head jokingly at Oliver's ignorance.
'Great, well looks like The Arrow is going to be paying him a visit tonight' Oliver teased, trying to cover his awe of the blond.
'Dammit!' The sound of her fist banging against the table caused the others to jump in shock at her violent outburst. 'I have pulled up the building's blueprints and it looks like they have installed the KABA In-Sync deadbolt lock on virtually every door wired up to a bio-lock fingerprint reader'. The look of utter confusion on Oliver's face paralleled the rest of the team. 'It's a battery-operated electronic lock paired with an RFID key' Felicity continued, but after noticing the comical looks on their faces she paused. Sighing with frustration, she tried to explain again; 'basically you need to crack both locks at exactly the same time otherwise they will trigger an alarm, it's impossible for one person to break in alone. But the fingerprint reader is really Hi-Tec, I would need to psychically wire up my device to be able to break it. Maybe if I could re-write that computer algorithm that Barry gave me I mean he didn't really give it to me. It's a long story; I hacked his computer. Huh I guess it's not that long…'
'Haha! Aww you're still cute!' The group followed the voice to find Sara leaning against the railing on the top of the foundry steps. 'Is there any good news?' she chuckled shaking her head at the now crimson faced blonde's babbling.
'If we can hack one lock I can disengage every lock in the building' Felicity finished, trying to hide her burning cheeks. She had a habit of getting lost in her own thoughts which usually meant her getting side-tracked.
After many heated discussions planning out their strategy, the team finally agreed and started to split up. One by one the members disappeared with various excuses, agreeing to meet up again an hour before their plan was to take place. Before she knew it, Felicity was left alone with Oliver in the foundry. Noticing the others had left, Oliver gently leaned the bo staff he was using against the wall and made his way over to the girl. Oliver felt his emotions swirl and mix inside him, threatening to take over. He didn't know why but the idea of Felicity being in the field made him furious. He didn't want to express his concerns in front of the others as he knew there was no other way to break in but he couldn't help himself. Why should his girl be put at risk because of him? Oliver felt his cheeks redden as something unexplainable churned in the pit of his stomach realising he had just referred to Felicity as his girl. Shaking the thoughts away he reached the blond, offering his smile to warm the tension. After making three false starts, Oliver gulped, he had no idea how to word this without the girl thinking he was overprotective and that there was something else going on. Felicity looked at him sympathetically, she reached upwards and gently squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. Oliver desperately tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach as he felt her warm hand on his shoulder, he gave up trying to word his confession and blurted it out. Oliver didn't know how she would react, whether she would think it was weird he cared as they had only just met or whether she would be angry at him for being overprotective. Her reaction took Oliver by surprise. A smile lighting up her face, glints of happiness dancing in her eyes teasing him. 'No-one's ever cared about what happens to me before', Oliver stared helpless at the girl as he watched her high spirit crush around her. She was standing centimetres from him yet she was distant as distressing memories flooded through her. Oliver wanted to reach out and fight away whatever it was that made her look like her life wasn't worth living but he knew that he couldn't fight away her ghosts. 'Trust me Oliver, nothing will happen I will be perfectly fine' she said reassuring him.
Oliver held his breath, he knew it was stupid but he had lost so many people, he couldn't think how he would carry on if he lost this girl. 'But what if it does?' Dread filled his gut as he waited for a reply. Felicity caught his eye and responded quietly; 'Then it doesn't matter. I was no-one before so it doesn't make any difference what happens to me. It just means there will be one less stranger roaming the streets picking up others leftovers to survive. If something happens and I die there, then at least I die doing something good'. Horror flushed through Oliver at the sound of her words, each tearing at the girls wound, bring her closer and closer to the ground. Without thinking, Oliver wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and stayed there, not wanting to let her go. 'Don't you dare say that again Felicity. You do mean something, maybe not to those who were around you before. But you mean so much to me. I know I have only known you for a few days but it feels like a lifetime. You are the only person who has made me smile genuinely since the island. I know it sound cheesy but you brought back the light in my life which I thought I wouldn't feel again since the island.' The weight of Oliver's confession dug at him but he didn't care. The pain of seeing her so broke pained him. She nuzzled her face into his chest so that the sound of his heart beating rhythmically was all she could hear. She filled her hand with the soft material of his shirt and smiled at his words through her tears. Breaking apart, Oliver tried to return the conversation to normal in order to drown his longing to kiss her. 'Will you at least train with me so I know you can handle yourself if something were to happen?' Oliver started to make his way towards the matting at the brief nod of Felicity's head.
Hours went by timelessly and when the others returned they were confronted with a strange sound they had never heard before. Oliver was laughing. Roy's eyebrows rose, giving Sara and Dig a look that could have meant a thousand things. It wasn't just a small chuckle like they had heard him use in reaction to Felicity's babbling. Curiously, the three figures slowly stepped down the foundry steps. Sara gasped quietly at the sight, Roy's eyebrows rose even higher and a huge grin broke onto Dig's face. Oliver was doubled over, wheezing for breath, since the island he had never cried in front of anyone yet tears streamed down his face. His body was desperately trying to entrap oxygen but he was too busy clutching at his side laughing at the fiercely blushing girl in front of him. Despite the girls embarrassment the smile alighting her face could not be broken. Reaching towards The Arrow's shoulder, Felicity jokingly nudged him to stop. The group observed the interaction with wide eyes. The pair were standing central on the training mats, Felicity dressed in an over-sized top and shorts, presuming Oliver's. Oliver straightened up, the smile permanently painted on his face and the duo went back to training. Oliver threw controlled punches towards the girl as she ducked and moved her body weight and position to avoid the attacks. The trio could clearly see that Felicity didn't have the best coordination and was not used to drilled footwork. She stumbled over Oliver's feet, tripping over, her arms flailed about alarmingly and the look of quick fear spread through her expression. Oliver quickly dived forward, throwing himself onto the floor to catch the falling girl. Felicity landed heavily on his chest, her body sinking into his. She blushed furiously, her heart pounding into her eardrums. Her body fell on fire as she felt Oliver's sweaty chest underneath her hands. Their eyes drawn to each other, lost in the moment his gaze followed the girl's lips as she moistened them lightly. A hot flush erupted through his body, aching to move even closer to the girl. The sound of somebody clearing their throat made Oliver's body stiffen as he realised the others had returned. Quickly breaking apart, he pulled the girl effortlessly off the ground. Stepping backwards, Oliver tried to put distance between himself and Felicity, to calm down the intense heat flowing through his body. Oliver brushed himself down to give his hands something to do as he walked over to the others. Eyeing the duo, Sara began to speak; 'So are we ready for tonight?' she asked still trying to break the tension. 'Yep, umm... I have packed what we need here I think we are ready to go' Oliver held up a plain black sports bag. Reaching for his Arrow suit, Oliver led the way out of the foundry, putting more distance between him and Felicity.
'So how did training with Oliver work out?' Roy, Oliver and Sara had gone to check out the parameter and take out any guards around the place, leaving just Dig and Felicity in the car. 'It was alright' Felicity chatted back awkwardly, she hadn't held a conversation alone with anyone other than Oliver in the team.
'Just alright? It looked like you two were rather enjoying yourselves!' Dig chuckled under his breath.
Felicity began to blush for the third time that day 'He wouldn't let me throw any punches or do any attacks, I just had to block constantly which is nowhere near as fun if you ask me. I lived on the streets in the Glades, I can handle myself pretty well but no, he still wouldn't let me attack. I swear I was going to hit him if he said defence is the best form of attack one more time!' Dig laughed at the girl's statement, shaking his head softly at the similarities between her and Oliver; patience was never one of Oliver's best qualities. Dig's smile soon vanished as he recognised the signal from Roy. 'Looks like you're up next Felicity'.
It had taken Felicity two minutes thirty seconds to sneak into the building and reach Oliver on the third floor; exactly as planned. Hearing the sharp intake of breath Oliver grabbed the girl's wrist tightly, pulling her back into the shadows. Spotting an alcove in the wall he pushed Felicity into it, his body pressed up against hers and his hand covering her mouth trying to silent her gasp of surprise. The pair watched silently as a uniformed guard walked just steps away from them. Terror rung through her body, if they were caught now the mission would be done for and what was stopping The Reaper Brothers setting off the bomb trail now? A wave of emotions flooded through her; the feelings she was getting from the proximity of Oliver's body and the fear of being caught. Oliver carefully removed his hand from her mouth, ignoring the moist marks her lips had left on his palm. Placing his hand at his side it brushed against her thigh, he tried to retract it but in the tight space he was limited to places, so he left it awkwardly resting against her outer leg. Felicity knew they were in danger yet all her mind think about was his hand pressed against her leg. Oliver looked up trying to distract himself from his hand position, but this was even worse. His eyes rested on hers, blue against blue. Their faces were centimetres away, their lips a hairs width apart. Oliver resisted the urge to just grab and kiss this girl. He struggled, fighting the urges in his body. His lips parted, Felicity's eyes followed them in a trance, trying to work out what he was going to do. 'I think the guards gone now' his warm breath fell against her skin, her stomach twisting into knots. They stayed in that position, not wanting to move, it was only Dig's voice on their earpieces that finally tore their bodies apart.
Gulping, Felicity told her mind to focus as she worked her magic on the locks to the main frame's room. Her hands were trembling but not from fear but from the intense moment with Oliver. Finally breaking through Oliver instinctively took Felicity's hand and guided her through the room. Realising he had taken her hand, Oliver quickly dropped it, pretending it had never happened. Suddenly the door slid shut and electronically locked behind them. Noticing a small red flashing light reflected off the plastic desk chair Oliver kneeled on the floor beside it glancing under the table, to search for what was causing it. He stumbled back abruptly, grabbing onto Felicity in panic. 'It's a trap, the computer is wired up to a bomb'. Dread flooded through Oliver as they rushed back towards the door. Felicity furiously tapped away at her tablet connected to the door, her hands violently shaking and her vision blurred but it was no use. 'Oliver I can't do it! Somebody's blocking my hack!' Dread pulled at Felicity again, fear making her dizzy. Reacting purely on instincts, Oliver pushed over the heavy metal computer desk and pulled it in front of the door. Pushing the trembling blond down with him, Oliver wrapped his arms around the girl, her head sinking into his chest. They braced behind the table and waited for certain death.
'OLIVER! OLIVER PLEASE ANSWER ME!' the sound of Dig's pounding voice woke Oliver with a start. Oliver pushed himself up onto his elbows painfully and looked at the wreckage of the room. His vision was disorientated and the ringing in his ears drummed through his skull. The moments seemed to play in slow motion, the sparks flying off the computer monitors. The light half hanging from the ceiling creaked and Oliver watched helplessly as it crashed to the ground, sending flames up to engulf the ceiling. The heat of the explosion tore at Oliver's skin, the air becoming a dead weight, thick with dust. Blinking away the blurriness the room became alive with oranges and yellows licking away destructively at the wall. 'I'm fine Dig there's no visible injuries on Felicity but she is still out cold' Oliver quickly explained whilst attempting to stay calm and plot their escape route. Pressing his hand into the burning wall for support, Oliver hauled himself into a standing position. Grunting in pain he searched the room for a window or breakable glass but found none. The only way out was the way they came in but it all depending on whether Felicity's IT skills were better than whoever had set up the trap.
Felicity could feel her body burning, the heat piercing her skin. The smoke coated her lungs and the flame's brightness burning against her eyes. Sweat poured through her clothes as she awoke. Taking one look around her, panic ate at Felicity; she had awoken in her nightmare, the worst memory she had. She screamed until her lungs fell raw, she thrashed her arms about trying to escape her nightmare. Tears blurred her vision and the air in the room had disappeared. She clawed at the man in front of her, fighting for her life. He had already caused her so much pain and he was here to kill her for seeing too much. It didn't seem to matter to the dark shadow leaning over her that he was her father. 'Please don't hurt me I promise I won't tell' she whimpered under her breath. Fear took over, beating her to the ground each kick and blow reinforcing the fact that she would not make it out alive. The figure loomed over her, placing his icy hand on her shoulder. His hand gently pushed back strands of loose blond hair from her face and he smiled sickeningly at her suffering.
Felicity pushed Oliver away as she began to shake uncontrollably, panic running across her eyes. Oliver watched, frightened, as the girl struggled for breath, murmuring desperate pleas of help.
The silhouette slowly ran the blade of a bloodied knife alongher cheek following down her neck till he reached her dress, leaving a trail of red where it sliced her delicate skin. Felicity let out a whimper of terror causing the man to violently slam the knife into her thigh. The unbearable pain erupted through her, burning her leg. 'That's what you get for being weak' the man smirked at her, taking joy in pulling the knife out of her leg and watching the oozing lava fall onto the floor beside her. Placing a light kiss on her forehead he fastened the plastic ties on her wrists until they drew blood. He reached to her ponytail and pulled out the pink bobble along with several strands of her hair. He adjusted her beach blond curls around her face and smiled; 'there much prettier'. He aggressively pulled her chin so that her face was facing his and dug the knife threateningly against her neck; 'YOU LOOK AT ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU YOUNG LADY' he screamed, saliva plastering Felicity's face. Her body was now shaking and tears erupted from her eyes, fear drowning her as she fought for breath.
Oliver didn't know what to do. He explained the situation to Dig and they had guessed she was having a severe panic attack but it was much worse than any Oliver had had from the island. Judging by her words that Oliver could make out, it seemed that she was afraid of the same thing that haunted her at night. Leaning over the terrified girl, Oliver tried to calm her down but she didn't recognise him. Any time he tried to touch her she would react even worse and Oliver really didn't know what to do. He called to her but she was distant, acting as if she was not even awake or in her own body. If he could get Felicity to realise that it was him in front of her then he should be able to get her to calm down. But Oliver couldn't get close enough to her and he was terrified at the girl's pain. Gulping away his fear, Oliver tried to work on basic instinct, it was what had worked on the island and had never failed him before. Fighting away her attacking arms he plunged his lips into hers. The breath escaped him as he realised the awfulness of this plan. Flames scorched inside his body and the explosion seemed a world away. He cupped her cheek slightly and saw that as soon as their lips touched she had frozen. Pushing the kiss deeper he smiled, seeing her body start to relax slightly. Another light crashed down into a filing cabinet, causing the two to break their short kiss apart. It seemed to work as Felicity jumped upwards, falling completely out of her trance and started frantically typing away at her tablet. Her frightened self had vanished without a trace, leaving the Felicity that he knew behind. It took her only a minute as Oliver watched the new determination in her eyes take control. The damaged door clicked open and Oliver rushed over to help pull it open. Relief washed over him as he noticed Sara and Roy the other side of the electronic door. Together the team managed to haul the door open and escape the burning room. Felicity collapsed in exhaustion but Oliver managed to catch her falling body before her head crashed against the ground. Oliver carried her lifeless body in his arms as the team walked away from the flames.
A/N: Ok so I did not plan their kiss at all but as I was writing the scene the Teen Wolf Stydia kiss kept replaying in my head so I had to put it in! Please let me know what you all think or if you have any feedback or ideas you want in the story. Please review! See you next time :)