A/N: First things first, this chapter, as I mentioned in the previous A/N's is a bit different. It is told entirely from Thea's perspective and covers the last two chapters plus scenes into the next one. So I really hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it so please let me know what you think :) Once again thank you for all the reviews and follows they mean a lot! and thank you to my beta Rebekah99! :)
Thick arms gripped her body tightly, a slight heaviness clouding her head, the feeling of nausea slowly deepening with every jolt. As Thea blinked open groggily, an immediate sense of panic set in. A new wave of dizziness washed over, her vision distorted somehow. It took Thea longer than it should to recognise that her world was upside down. Filtering through her cloudy mind, the last thing she remembered was going to find Oliver with Felicity. Coming to the conclusion that she must have passed out at some point and that Oliver was probably the one carrying her, she relaxed slightly in his arms, her stiffened body now limp and relaxed, her eyelids dropping slowly.
Thea could feel her body slipping despite Oliver's harsh grip. She could feel his rough hands grasp painfully to her top, catching a loose strand of her hair and her vision lurched as he violently tossed her body back over his shoulder. In this new position his surprisingly bony shoulder was digging sharply into her chest, her hair still caught in Oliver's fist. Despite the exhaustion sweeping over her, Thea knew that there was no way she could fall back asleep in this position. Bracing herself for Oliver's inevitable anger at her drunken state, she began to wriggle; twisting and turning in his tight grip. His hand twitched at her movement, registering that she was awake and, abruptly, they stopped.
Flickering open her heavy eyes in confusion, she glanced around the blurry corridor. Not recognising their location, she lifted her head only to regret it seconds later as a sharp blaring pain pulsated through her temple and a flood of nausea engulfed her. Forcing her vision downwards so the pain subsided temporarily, she concentrated on her restricted line of vision to try and work out why Oliver had taken her here, wherever here was.
The grey floor seemed worn, as if it had been walked upon for years and then abandoned. The next thing in her line of vision was the backs of male shoes, and, following their legs, she noticed their black combat trousers. Thea stilled, paralyzed as her eyes settled on a small handgun tucked into the back of the jeans. A freezing panic set in, her body no longer limp with exhaustion but now frozen with fear. Closing her eyes, she began wishing this was just some crazy dream and she would wake up safe in her bedroom. This failed to calm her frantic stomach.
The man, that was definitely not Oliver, wrenched his hand from behind her neck, and knocked loudly against the heavy door. Seconds passed and then the low sound of voices filled the air. The man strode into the darkened room and threw her body onto the ground as you would a bag after a long day of work. The first thing Thea felt was a blinding pain erupting from her wrist as it touched the stone floor. Gagging at the sound of crunching bone, she struggled to stand back up. Her clumsy, slow body movements seemed to elicit sickening laughter from the men. Gripping her trembling hand against the wet wall for support, she stood, watching the world spin around her. Her weakened legs were now numb and unresponsive as she willed them to move.
Tears clouded her vision, the two figures now blurs of black. One moved closer towards her, his arm outstretched. Thea slapped it away, distancing herself from him by falling further into the corner. Stumbling backwards, her fear only grew as the one figure advanced towards her.
Blindly pushing forwards, she lunged at the man scraping her nails across his cheek, a desperate attempt of escape. The man roared in anger, grabbing her throat between his hands. The air seemed to leave the room, white spots appearing in her sight. Then, just as suddenly as he had grabbed her, he threw her lifeless body to the ground, kicking her painfully into the corner.
A burning pain erupted in her side from his boot and sickening thump filled the air as her head smashed against the stone wall. The other man approached her now, holding something in his hand as he advanced her.
Darkness swept across her vision, slowly engulfing everything in her sight. Pain flared through her as she finally lost the fight to stay awake. The last thing Thea felt before she drifted into an unconscious bliss was the rough hand pushing aside her matted curls and a sharp prick in her neck.
…
As her eyes closed, Thea found herself back at the mansion, her father sitting at the table, his eyes concentrated on the newspaper in front of him, his arm around her mother's shoulder. Oliver was sitting across from them, smirking at Thea and pulling faces as their father placed sloppy kisses on top on their mother's head. The smell of pancakes drifted through the room and beams of lights filtered in. The sound of humming echoed around the room and Thea turned to find Raisa in the background cooking. This picture was the definition of perfection but Thea knew all too well that it wasn't real. Slowly, she felt herself being pulled away from the scene around her.
As she started to come to, edges of the scene starting to waver, the light now rippling, a dull pain began to stir in her arm and the back of her head. Slowly, she felt herself being dragged from the blissful state, being thrown violently back into reality.
A panic started to set in her stomach as she tried to blink open her eyelids but found her eyes glued shut. Next she tried to wiggle her fingers but pure panic began to grow when she found them frozen still. Desperately trying to move any part of her body and, failing, a bolt of terror stung her, leaving her breathless. She could feel the damp trail of a tear run down her face; she was paralyzed and had no clue where she was.
Her heart beat furiously, trying to escape the confines of her ribcage. Her breathing became more rapid as she struggled to find air. The cold floor beneath her vanished and she could feel her body falling, faster and faster. Her arm screamed at her in fury, voices filled the room, laughing, screaming, voices of torture and pain. This was it, this was how she would die.
One persistent and somewhat familiar feminine voice stuck with her and she zeroed in on that. It was the cold hands that gripped on her shoulder, shaking her awake, screaming her name that finally brought her back. She could hear someone sobbing into her shoulder, begging for her to open her eyes. The fiery sensation of hope flooded through her veins as she recognised the voice; Felicity. A small whimper of relief left her lips, she hated herself for being glad that Felicity was in this mess with her, but Thea was just relived that she no longer alone.
Not being able to communicate with Felicity as she continued to call her name, frustrated Thea, but there was nothing she could do about it. She could feel Felicity move her hands towards the back of her head, she presumed to check for any signs of injury. Thea winced as Felicity came into contact with a particularly tender spot, but when she heard a sigh of relief, she relaxed a little, now knowing that whatever had taken away her movement was not serious. The sound of a man's voice broke the silence. Although Thea couldn't make out his exact words, the threatening tone was unmistakeable.
Fear began to set in again as she could feel Felicity wrapping her shaking arms around her body trying to protect her. The way Felicity gripped onto her, she knew that whoever had walked in laughed at the nightmares that made grown men cry.
A cold air filled the space around her, her hair stood on end as terror ripped away at her. She could hear Felicity let out a sharp intake of air and then a moment later her own cries filled the room as the strength died out in Felicity's arms and her limp body fell on top of hers.
Thick arms tore Felicity's body off of her and all Thea could do was let out a panicked moan. The sensation of something heavy whacking against her head set a fire of pain burning. Seconds passed by slowly as the now familiar darkness began to take over once again.
…
This time when Thea awoke, there were no light memories or Felicity's voice to support her. Instead she woke to the raw, aggressive shouts of a man. Trying to ignore the sound of blood rushing to her ears, Thea could barely make out two voices. Focusing on these, she could clearly distinguish Felicity's voice and the man's from before, their words were jumbled but from what she could tell the man was getting more frustrated by the second, his voice dropping in pitch and rising in volume.
The next sound that she heard made Thea wish she could move purely to clutch her hands to the side of her ears so she wouldn't ever have to witness it again. A scream of agonising pain echoed through the room, a humourless laugh following it. Tears once again sprung to her eyes, she was powerless and, to be honest, even if she wasn't paralyzed, there wasn't really anything she could do. Listening helplessly to her friend's scream was haunting.
Thea was expecting the sounds of muffled crying to fill the room next, or to hear Felicity's weakened voice begging the man to stop, but instead her voice, strong and vibrant as ever spoke out as if nothing had happened. As Thea tried to work out what Felicity was saying, her confusion grew. What the hell was Felicity doing? It sounded like she was taunting the man, but why on earth would she do that?
A surge of hope began to run through her veins as the heaviness strapping her body from the floor seemed to lighten. Forcing any part of her body to move, she found herself able to wearily blink open her eyes slowly. Still unable to move any other parts of her body, she stared upwards, her blurred vision targeted on the blackened ceiling above.
Listening back into the conversation, her heart lurched at the words; Robin Hood. Robin Hood? Did he mean the vigilante? Wait, how did Felicity know the vigilante? The sound of Felicity screaming in response startled Thea.
''HE WILL COME AND YOU'RE GOING TO WISH HE KILLED EVERY ONE OF YOU!'' The fact that Starling City's vigilante was coming to save them should probably offer comfort to her but Thea knew his reputation and couldn't help the fear that shook her.
A tsunami of panic took over at the man's next words; ''The dealer was very specific in his instructions for your life, but he never said anything about hers...''. The man was upon Thea before she could even blink, strong hands, that she imagined had taken so many lives, lifted her from the ground, shoving her painfully against the stone wall. From this new position Thea could see the whole room clearly, her attention immediately landing on Felicity as they locked eyes in comfort. Felicity was tied up by some form of chains, her arms hanging above her head, blood dripping from an angry gash in her arm. The look of sorrow and guilt shone through Felicity's eyes and all Thea could do was muster up a small movement in her still numb lips, telling Felicity that it wasn't her fault.
The fiery pain attacking her throat grew as his large hands squeezed the air out. A collection of tears pooled in her eyes, dripping slowly down her cold cheeks. Black spots appeared through her vision, the blurred room that had dangerously lurched from side to side now just a mess of different colours and shapes. The feeling in her limbs began to return, but it was too late. Thea started to struggle weakly against the man's strong hold, her pathetic attempts doing nothing. At least she would go down fighting.
A commotion sounded behind the man, steel chains falling to the ground, a low growl emerging from the darkness. The man's grip loosened slightly, his attention focused fully on whatever was happening behind him. Taking advantage, Thea gulped down air, the black dots beginning to fade. A second later, the man was pulled from her and thrown across the room, his head cracking forcefully against the wall. A small figure began to attack the men viciously, tearing apart the masses of soldiers storming through the door; a starved shark amidst a school of frightened fish.
Thea watched in horror as the armed men crowded around Felicity, one launching itself onto her back, digging a needle forcefully into her neck before Felicity threw the man off with ease. She tore at the men, knocking every last one to the ground in moments, blood coating the men's bodies that littered the floor.
Thea couldn't look away from the bodies, she had no idea if they were alive or not. The sick men that took her deserved to die but seeing their bodies together in masses upon the ground made her wish that they weren't. Cool hands on the side of her face, lifted her from her daze. ''Don't worry. They're not all dead.'' The deep sound of a voice modulator froze her to the spot.
Letting the figure's hand underneath her chin raise her vision upwards and away from the injured, she took in the masked man in front of her. Instead of the expected man of green, a man in red perched so he blocked the view of the bodies. In the corner of her eyes Thea could see a blur of green hovering where she had last seen Felicity. Fear fuelled her faltered movements as she crawled backwards, away from the masked man.
''I know you are scared, but we have to get out of here now! More men are on their way, the dealer is already here.'' His hand placed itself on her trembling shoulder, trying to offer comfort.
Shaking her head in panic, Thea stumbled to her feet, the room spinning before her. Strong arms reached out and caught her falling body.
''You can't walk on your own. I'll have to carry you ok?'' The figure in red placed his bow carefully on the ground.
The small quirk of his head and grimace as he noticed her clutching onto her burning arm seemed somewhat familiar.
''N-no'' Thea somehow managed to form a word coherently.
Touching something in his ear, the figure glowered; ''We have to go... now!''
He reached towards her, but there was something about him. Sure, she recognised him from the media, he's the vigilante's sidekick, but that wasn't it, it was almost as if she knew him and that revelation made Thea's skin crawl. He shuffled forwards, his expression softening at her fear.
''You have to trust me, there is no other way. We have less than a minute before the guards get here. If I pick you up, you can't struggle or scream, you have to be silent, otherwise they will hear us. Okay?'' The figure in red reached forwards, gently cupping her cheek, ''hey, we are the good guys.''
''How do I know you won't just kidnap me like the other men did? Why should I trust you?'' The words slipped from her mouth in a whisper.
The masked figure leaned forward, pressing something on the side of his suit, turning his voice modulator off. This time when he spoke, Thea could hear his true voice, the voice she trusted and loved so many times.
''Because you always have.''
The four words sent a chill down her spine, a part of her still believing this was some crazy dream. Roy leaned forwards, their foreheads now pressing against one another, their faces inches apart. His lips ghosted over hers and it was enough to know that this was real, Roy was really here, he really was, as the media called him, 'The Red Arrow'. A million questions rang through her mind but she was just too exhausted to even pick one.
Roy picked her up in one swift motion, cradling her exhausted body. Thea curled into his touch, pressing her tear stained face into his chest as they walked out of the horrific room that would forever torment her with nightmares.
The Red Arrow had saved her. Her boyfriend, Roy, was her very own hero.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and Thea finding out about Roy! Please let me know what you think, feedback is welcome :)