"Need a rescue?" she smiled brightly as the door finished opening.

"Felicity, get down!" he commanded, grabbing her by an arm and yanking her into the room as he almost simultaneously drew his bow. An arrow fired through the air as a gunshot rang out. The hired help fell where he stood and Oliver turned, still standing just inside of the office. "Felicity?"

"Ow." She sounded and looked confused as he watched in slow motion as her right hand dropped the tablet, some wires still protruding from it. Her left hand moved to her stomach and she started to bend over slightly, stumbling a step away from him.

"Felicity?" He smelt it at the same time that he saw it, the blood that was already seeping over her clothing. Her right hand seemed to reach out as if trying to grab hold of something to steady her and he moved forward to try and catch her or take her hand. He was a fraction of a second too slow as her hand brushed against a shelf on a bookcase and then her knees buckled. Falling forward, he caught her as she fell and managed to gracefully turn her and lay her down on the floor. Her eyes were fluttering and there seemed to be blood everywhere.

"Ollie?" Sara said through their comms. He was too busy to even notice her voice. His first thought was to stop the bleeding, or at least limit it. Easily he ripped the sleeve off of her shirt and packed it over the wound before he moved his arms to underneath her neck and knees. He had to get her to medical help. As he began to lift her, Oliver turned and glanced at the door, motion catching his eyes. It was the door closing.

"No!" he yelled at an inanimate object. "Sara," he spoke into his comms. "Sara, we're locked in. Felicity's been shot." His hands returned to trying to stop her bleeding and there was only silence. "Sara?" he repeated. "Diggle? Roy?" He kept trying before he realized that with the system reset, the comms were blocked again. He shook his head and swore out loud, wishing for a reaction from the unconscious IT girl under his hands. She was the one who had broken through the communication black out, and she was the only one who could get him out of the panic room. Now, she was trapped in there with him and she was bleeding. She was dying.

ARROW-HOOD-QUEEN

There was only one thing that he could do. He was going to have to let go of her wound. Placing the tablet onto her chest and using his one free hand to remove his belt, Oliver then shook off his jacket, always keeping a hand applying pressure. He packed his jacket in over her wound and then slipped the belt underneath her back. She winced as she moved him and he took that as a positive sign. "Sorry."

"Yeah."

Tightening the belt over the top of his jacket, Oliver hoped it was tight enough to keep the coverings over her wound, but not too restrictive although he was not sure if there was any further damage that could be done at that moment. She was still in and out of consciousness, but there was nothing he could do without risking her even further. He had epinephrine in his kit, it might keep her conscious long enough to get the door open, but it would speed up her heart, cause more blood to seep out of her wound. He found his discarded earwig and put it back into his ear, filtering out any noise from it.

Gently picking her up, she cried out in pain and he hated himself. "You need to do this, Felicity." It was two steps to the door and she cried in pain the whole way. At the door, he lowered her slightly and raised his knee to support her lower body and keep her in a cradled position. As he stood there on one leg keeping perfect balance, Oliver used his now free hand to remove the panel by the side of the door. It fell to the floor with a clang and he ignored it. "Felicity, how do I connect the tablet to the panel? What do I need to do to the circuits first?" Glancing at her, her eyes were closed again. "Felicity! Don't make me use the epinephrine!"

Diggle's voice broke through the mental barrier Oliver had created to sound. "Oliver, if you give her that epinephrine, she will bleed out." Oliver squeezed his eyes shut. His fingers twitched and his breathing started to speed up, coming in short sharp bursts. She was going to die, he was sure of it, and she could either die through his inaction as he simply waited for her to bleed out and the pimp-drug-dealer to arrive or she could die because he gave her an injection.

"I'm sorry, Felicity."

ARROW-HOOD-QUEEN

"Shut up!" Sara and Diggle yelled at the same time at Roy. She looked at him furiously and the youngest member of Team Arrow glared back at her.

"This is my fault," he mumbled quieter.

"And you think she needs to hear that right now?" Sara questioned him with a hiss. "Oliver, what's happening?" There was no response. "Oliver?" Turning and beginning to pace, her hands on her hips, Sara spoke again, "DIggle, have we been cut off or blocked again?"

"Not that I can tell," he answered a few moments later. "I'd say he's gone radio silent."

"Brilliant." She stood still for a moment. "Roy, stay out and keep guard. I'm going to see if there is any possible way in."

"If there is, Felicity would have found it," he countered.

"Not everything is put on building schematics." She walked away, leaving Roy to sulk alone.

"Roy, this isn't your fault," Diggle said from the lair. "She knew the dangers."

"She expected us to keep the bad guys out."

"Even if she knew there were bad guys in there, she would have still gone in there for him. For any of us," Diggle added as an afterthought. All three of them continued their actions – Sara looking for anything that could be of help, as long as she was not useless, Roy watching everything around him, refusing to allow anyone to ambush them again, and Diggle trying to do anything possible at the computers – until a voice suddenly broke through the silence.

"You need to do this, Felicity." Then some muffled screams. Diggle shook his head and cursed at the sound. Roy punched, smashing through, the nearest object and Sara held her breath for a moment until they stopped. "Felicity, how do I connect the tablet to the panel? What do I need to do to the circuits first?" There was a pause, enough time for a collective heartbeat. "Felicity!" He sounded so desperate. "Don't make me use the epinephrine!"

"Oliver, if you give her that epinephrine, she will bleed out," Diggle declared pointlessly as they all knew that Oliver was well aware.

Another pause. Another heartbeat and then Oliver's voice: "I'm sorry, Felicity." He sounded broken.

"No!" Roy cried.

Diggle slammed his fist down on the desk.

Sara paused in her steps, her breath catching as she knew Oliver was making yet another impossible decision that he would have to live with forever. She was not sure how much more guilt that man could take.

"Roy," Oliver's voice croaked a few moments later. "Start the car."