Preserving the Glint In Her Eyes:

Oliver took in the perimeter of the building and scouted the windows. And that's when he saw her, her blonde ponytail could never be mistaken. They always reflected the sunshine off them making it look like sunrise. Oliver let out a sigh of relief and a small smile spread on his lips when he saw that Felicity was unharmed. In fact, she looked like she had not been touched at all. What a relief! But he had bigger problems then. Isabel was the one guarding Felicity while Slade seemed to be talking to her. Oliver was not counting on Isabel to be there. One of these days, that bitch seriously had to die. This was becoming ridiculous. Sarah was besides Oliver as they looked over the reinforcements in the building from the one opposite.

"Ollie, you get yourself over to Felicity. We will rake care of the rest."

"Ya, man. We will take care of the rest. Go get her. We will lure out Slade and Isabel."

"Digg, we need to come up with a plan. We can't go in blind..."

"If I may?"

"What do you want, Merlyn?"

"Down boy. Let's not bear our fangs here, shall we? I think that i might have a better plan."

Oliver did not have a clue why he was following the words of a mass murderer but right then he did not see any other way. So he went ahead with it. They had only two vials of the Mirakuru cure left and they had to make it count. But Slade's hideout was infested with 12 Mirakuru soldiers. Not a great odd. So Oliver did what Merlyn told him to. That's how he found himself dressed as Oliver Queen, former CEO of Queen Consolidated walking up to one of Slade's knuckleheads and confidently declaring himself. As soon as the message was relayed to Slade through the communication links, Oliver was escorted inside to Slade's makeshift office. He stepped inside and locked his eyes on Felicity. Her face and arms showed scar tissue and blood clots like she had been through an enormous form of torture but somehow survived. Seeing that, all Oliver saw was red. His vision was clouded by the anger he felt and only God knew how he refrained himself from choking Slade. Oliver looked into Felicity's eyes and tried to convey that he was going to get her out, that she was okay but she remained blank with no expression. She did not betray any emotion and that had Oliver more worried than ever.

"I am here, Slade. Let her go."

"I am afraid you are too late, kid. The Felicity that you knew and loved might be too far gone."

Slade stood up behind his desk and walked upto Oliver bearing a smug grin. And that's when the truth dawned on Oliver. Slade had injected Felicity with the Mirakuru. No, that cannot happen. That would explain her lack of when he was so close; she was so close. Oliver was not going to accept this fate for her. He would bring her back with his love. This was Felicity he was talking about, she could not even hurt a fly let alone turn into a monster. Oliver could not let Slade get the upper hand on him so he composed himself and replied to him in a calm voice, even surprising himself.

"She could never be gone. There is no force on this earth that can take her away from me. I know what you have done to her but i also know that she will come back to me. So let her go. It's time we end all of this."

"Oliver, I need you to know true despair. The pain I felt when I lost Shado. For one life, you need to take another. That's when everything ends. For my Shado, I have to take away yours."

Slade walked upto Felicity and Oliver started forwards but was held back by two of Slade's soldiers holding on to him. He made her stand up by her arm and twisted it until Oliver could hear the crunching of bones. Felicity's scream pierced through the air and Oliver fought even harder against his captives. Felicity collapsed on her knees with her arm at an awkward angle but to Oliver's surprise after a few minutes she got back up but this time her arm was no longer broken. There was a bruise along the length of the arm but other than that she looked fine. But it was her eyes that looked harrowing and hollow. She neither had an expression on her face nor a tear rolled down her cheek.

"So you see, kid, if she dies it's true that you will know pain. But when she is pain, you will die bit by bit. A fate that you deserve. Slowly, when I get enough Mirakuru in her she won't feel a thing and then I can kill her and you can see that right in front of your eyes."

"You son of a bitch. I will rip your head off."

"For whom, Oliver? For her? The girl who is no more than a flesh with no soul."

And that's when Oliver lost his control. He started throwing punches and kicks at his captives and that's when arrows came crashing through the windows. The first arrow which contained the Mirakuru cure struck Isabel followed by a string of Arrows impaling her one after another. Slade growled when he saw Isabel fall and that's when Sarah, Digg and Roy walked into the office. Slade's soldiers were on their heels but all of them were being slowed down by one injury or another. Oliver left his team to deal with them minus Isabel and he turned all his attention to Salde. But he saw the man dragging Felicity away with him so he picked up his bow and quiver and marched off behind them.

Felicity saw Oliver catching up to them crumpling his suit, a very expensive one might she add, on the way. She wanted to get out of here and take Oliver with her but more than anything she wanted to show him that she was still the girl he knew. But she had to keep a straight face on for Slade to believe that she was too far gone, that she did not care. That's how her plan was going to work. Slade led her in into what she would call an artillery room which could fund an entire army. He picked up his mask and swords from the corner of the room and right before her eyes he transformed into one of the most scary men she had ever laid her eyes on. Deathstroke, that was his name. Oliver came up at the entrance of the room with his bow ready with a dangerous glare in his eyes.

"Its all over, Slade."

"It's over when I say it's over."

Felicity knew this was her chance and she had to work fast. So when Oliver let go of his arrow from the bow, it did not pierce through Slade. Instead, it pierced through her shoulder when she stood in front of Slade protecting him from Oliver's arrow. She did not even flinch when the arrow cut through her shoulder, instead she took the Arrow out and kept it a encloses in her palm at her side. She could sew the look of betrayal on Oliver's face but more than that she could see the remorse he was feeling thinking that his girl was not human anymore. Just hold on, Oliver. It will all be over soon and then you will understand my actions.

"Did you see that, kid? She took an arrow for me and here you are still believing that she can be saved. You are wrong."

"She is still the woman I love."

Felicity's breath hitched when she heard Oliver declare that he loved her. How was this possible? She always thought that Slade was mistaken about her role as Oliver's love. The Oliver Queen she knows is the one who would never love her. But here he was saying those words like they were fact rather than fiction. But she did not have time to ponder on it just then.

"Is she? Should we try it out?"

Felicity then felt metal against her throat. It was Slade's blade. He held her in a death grip as he put the sword against her throat.

"You see, kid. Not even a flinch. She is not even giving you the whole its-not-your-fault lecture. It looks like she has given into this fate. A fate which you carved out for her the moment you kept her at arms' length and even if I die today, you will never have the one you loved. You will only lover her shadow."

The next few seconds were a blur to Felicity. Slade held her with the blade to her throat and while he spewed nonsense, Felicity took the arrow that was bathed in her blood and plunged it into his thigh. She whirled around and shouted towards Oliver to let his arrows loose as she got out of the way. And after Oliver had fired all the arrows in his quiver, Felicity approached Slade. The man did not stir and as his last breath left him he closed his eyes and disappeared into oblivion. Felicity stood up on shaky knees and was engulfed into an embrace by Oliver. And that's when the tears and the pain that she had been holding back came loose like a dam had been broken. She collapsed into his arms as she cried while Oliver ran soothing circles on her back and through her hair all the while whispering that she was okay. They were okay but she still had a hard time believing all of it. When her sobs were reduced to nothing but short breaths, she looked into Oliver's eyes. Be looked like he had just been through hell and back so Felicity placed her hand on his cheek noticing how he turned into her touch and started into one of her classic rambles.

"I am sorry, Oliver. I did not know what else to do. He injected me with the Mirakuru so many times that I lost count and when I came to know that I was the cure to all of this madness, that my blood can end this I had to do something. That's why I took the arrow to the shoulder. I had to get my blood in his system and that seemed like the only way to do it. I am so sorry. You had to kill him and make a choice again. I didn't know what was going to happen and I was so scared. I didn't know if I was going to see you again, see the people I loved again. Oh God, how is Thea? I so totally forgot to ask about her..."

Oliver placed his hand reassuringly on her shoulder to let her know that she was okay and gave out a hearty laugh. If Felicity was rambling, it meant that she was still Felicity. The woman he loved and the one he would never let go of. Oliver still needed answers but just then having her there wrapped in his arms was an anchor to him, keeping him connected to the rest of the world. So he checked her shoulder again to make sure the Mirakuru had done it's job of healing her and picked her up in his arms. There was no other option. She tried to protest but he brought her even closer to his chest as he carried her out to the place where the rest were waiting for them. Digg, Sarah, Merlyn and Roy had done a spectacular job of keeping the Mirakuru soldiers tied up in iron chains. Oliver brought Felicity to the room and set her down on her feet. The first one to hug her was Roy who looked thrilled to have her back. That was a huge step for the kid because Oliver always thought his face was permanently creased with frown lines. What surprised Oliver more was Felicity placed a tiny kiss on Roy's forehead and called him a hero. Next up came Digg who literally crushed her in bear hug. Sarah was happy to see her too and so was Merlyn.

Felicity glanced through the whole platoon of men in chains and bonds. They could be saved.

"Oliver, I need you draw my blood and administer to these men. It will cure them."

So Felicity found herself relaying her tale of nightmare to her team, including Merlyn which was very weird for her. She surely needed to ask Digg to fill her in on what she had missed especially with the whole Merlyn scenario. When she was done, she could not help but give a small laugh at everyone's expressions. They all looked awestruck and dumbfounded.

"So you mean to say that your blood is the cure to all of this? And that's why Mirakuru just helps you heal and doesn't make you into a blood-thirsty human?"

"No, Merlyn. Repeated that part twice already."

"Wow, so Blondie was the one who saved the day in the end. Well done, lass. A job well done."

"Let's first get out of here, Oliver. And then called Detective Lance. He can take care of the rest."

"You are right, Digg. Let's cure these men and leave them for the police."

As Sarah took out a vial of her blood through the syringe and injected into Slade's men, Felicity could not help but notice the way Oliver held onto her hand the entire time. And when it was time to go, he once again swept her into his arms even after Felicity told him that she was capable of walking he simply grazed his lips over her hair and forehead as he told her to hold onto him as long as she could.

A relatively short chapter but I hope it entertains. I felt Slade's death was like a release from his pain especially since his downfall is the girl he considered to be equivalent to his Shado. There are a few more twists and turns ahead not to mention some great Olicity moments. Thanks for all the kind reviews everyone.