Chapter 7: the charge

From the moment They found out Felicity was gone everything happened in a whirlwind. They had each silently come to the conclusion that Slade must have taken her, and at the only way to get her back was to take him out.

They charged into QC, arrows knocked and ready to go- this time Oliver was flanked by Roy and Nyssa to the right, Lance and Sara to the left. There were only two guards before the elevator, easily taken out between cure arrows and gunshots to the head.

The bigger concern was getting out of the elevator at the top floor. Just as the elevator dinged to signal it had reached it's destination Oliver heard 3 shots ring out, quickly followed by 3 loud thumps and Dig's voice- " Lawton just took out the 3 he could see- bullets are full of the cure and curiari- might want to check them just to be sure."

As Oliver stepped out of the elevator they saw 3 masked men, clearly not recovering from fatal head wounds, "well I guess that's why they call him Deadshot..."

The five of them quickly got back into a flanking position and headed straight for Oliver's former office. Isobel was waiting with goons to protect her and the curtains wisely drawn. As the battle ensued it was obvious that the men left as protection detail were not just at a Mirakuru advantage, but had also had combat training. Sara stayed close to her father, keeping him from the center of the battle, but still allowing him to be part of it. After a few minutes of bodies flying through the air, Roy was on the ground, Lance quickly turning his hoodie into a tourniquet to stop the bleeding from a gash to his leg. The last of the masked men lunged for the two while they were seemingly unprotected, only to receive a green arrow through the heart and Sara's staff to the face, several times. With one final blow the man slumped to the ground just as Isobel Rochev, the last enemy standing, gracefully and gymnastically round house kicked Oliver inn the face, landed into a back handspring, and ran her blade through Sara's side.

Before even Sara could react Nyssa had Isobel by the hair, flipped her across the room, and in one swift motion had her on her knees, mask removed, with a knife to her throat. As Sara fell to the ground she screamed, "Wait!"

Nyssa stopped cold and looked at the bleeding blonde with a breaking heart, she knew why she wanted her to stop, that she was concerned for the missing team member. That one word though, broke her heart. She knew then that even if Sara made it out of here alive, she would never return to her, not fully. It was time she admitted the truth- Sara had seen the light and would now seek it, there was no place for her in the darkness that surrounded the league. While Nyssa had stopped cold, the other team members jumped into action.

Even though he could hardly move Roy had crawled to Sara, placing pressure on the wound while Lance dressed it the best he could. Oliver called out to Dig, "there are no more threats in the building- get up here with medical supplies- Sara and Roy are down- hurry!" His emotions were thick as he locked eyes with Sara, "I will not let you die again!"

"Already in the building, elevators are turned off, we are on floor 15, got the supplies." Dig's response was choppy, indicating he was running the stairs as fast as possible. But there was also a heaviness to his voice, Oliver knew it was the not knowing, that he desperately wanting to ask about Felicity, but couldn't bring himself to utter her name.

Isobel watched the team in action, still unable to move from Nyssa's grip and spat at Oliver, nodding toward Sara "Was this why Russia only happened once Oliver- I'm not blonde enough for you?"

The roar that followed drew everyone's attention from the current task of triage, "Where is she?!"

"Who, you're whore? By now Slade has killed them both-"

"Both! Where is he and who does he have?"

"Oh, poor little Ollie, you don't even know and you never will- I only wish I was going to be there to see it when you have to identify the bodies."

"He won't kill her, not until I'm there to see it- he'll want me to watch her die- just like my mother, just like SHADO."

"SHADO?"

The sick laugh that came from Oliver's core surprised even him, "he never told you? Did you think he was in love with you? That he wanted you? Just the same way you thought my father wanted you? SHADO was on the island- taught me to use the bow. We were together and Slade had fallen for her, but didn't admit it until after she was killed. He blames me for her death, this is all to avenge her! You are nothing but a tool for him!"

"Why wouldn't he kill her then, before you had a chance to play the hero"

"Because just like you, he wants to see the look on my face." He moved to plunge a cure arrow through her heart, but he had none left, neither did Nyssa. He quickly caught Nyssa's eye, "break her arm, it will heal, then we'll break it again, over and over."

With a quick snap Isobel was writhing in pain, attempting not to let it show, "he will come for me."

"He will Never come for you, the only woman he sees is SHADO, in his head she is the one who designs each move, she is the one in charge." Oliver looked to Nyssa, "again, the other arm."

As he heard the next snap and swallowed cry Roy spoke up, "haven't you started having the hallucinations yet?"

Isobel's eyes went wide, she was seeing Leaving her on a Tarmac for some other woman, just like Robert did, and as Oliver said, "again" she could have sworn it was Robert speaking, Robert standing in front of her.

"Enough, she screamed- "you can torture me all you want but you can't kill me- I still own this company and I will have revenge!"

Sara's voice rang gout, "wanna bet, bitch?" She tossed the blue serum toward Oliver, she had one dose and the injector that He had used on Roy hidden in her boot.

He quickly caught it and stabbed her in the heart, releasing the serum and allowing the pain really sink in- her broken arms no longer healing, scars no longer fading. Nyssa knocked her out just as Sara got to her feet. Everyone looked around in disbelief, unwilling to ask the necessary question of, what next?

Roy turned on his comms and let out a single, emotion filled word, "Thea?"

Thea's voice broke over the com link. "Oh my God Roy, are you okay? I've been trying to get hold of all of you, Some alarm just went off on Felicity's tablet." His eyes widened a he motioned for Oliver to turn on his comms, as slowing down Thea's manic words didn't seem to be an option.

"Speedy, what is it?"

"It's a message from Slade," she gulped, "it says one more has to die, sub-level and then it gives some numbers, um, 37.1833 and 122.8732. Ollie I don't know what It means!"

"Coordinates"