Chapter 2
Oliver had known that coming to Nanda Parbat was a bad idea. Nothing good ever came from anyone's visit to this godforsaken place, but he had been desperate. He had needed some information, anything to give him an edge on Darhk because as things stand right now, he's fucked. All they've got is Thea and her apparent ability to repel Darhk's magic, but they don't know how it works, don't understand its limits, and there is no chance in hell that Oliver is going to risk his sister's life on so little information.
Oliver throws back the sheets on his bed in the cell-like room and starts pacing the cold floor. He drops and does some push-ups, trying to push away memories of the last time he was in a room like this. It doesn't work and those memories mix with flashes of Felicity bleeding in the street, flatlining on a gurney, fighting back tears when they brought in her new wheelchair. Darhk did that. He did that to her, and Oliver hasn't been able to do a fucking thing about it, and it is killing him. He watches the way Felicity, his Felicity, fights to make everything okay for everyone around her while she is the one sorting through the ruins Darhk made of her life. He sees how when he walks into the rehab center, she plasters a smile over the pain that shows all over her face. And Oliver knows that if it weren't for him...Felicity won't let him say it, will snap at him if she even catches him thinking it, but Oliver knows and he is fraying at the edges. Stopping Damien Darhk is his only play.
So here he is in this fucking place he'd promised himself he'd never have to see again, and all it's doing is making clear just how frayed everyone else is too. Diggle has barely spoken to him since they arrived and Oliver sees the way his jaw clenches in Malcolm's presence. It's reopening old wounds, and Oliver knows that loyalty to Felicity and a desire to finish Darhk that mirrors Oliver's own is all that's keeping him here. Laurel looks like a zombie, and Thea's anger burns red hot in this place. They aren't allowed to see Nyssa, and Malcolm has been...uncooperative. Oliver can't tell if the man truly doesn't have the information he needs or if he's holding back, and he's pissed that he's back in this place of needing to depend on Malcolm. He doesn't have time for his games. He's been here two days, and he wants Malcolm to talk so he can go home. He needs to go home. He needs to be back with Felicity. Whatever deal Malcolm wants to make, Oliver is ready to settle.
He's just standing to go tell him so when a knock echos through the room. Dig doesn't wait for permission to come in.
"We have to go home, Oliver. Now."
"Did you get a message from Lyla? Is it Felicity?" Oliver can hear his voice rise in panic, but can't do anything to control it. "What's going on?"
"I don't know, man. All it said was that we have to come home. Plane leaves in thirty."
oOo
The flight back to the Star City is excruciating. Oliver can't stay in his seat, and he can't stop himself from asking Dig the same questions over and over.
"But how did she sound? Did she say it was Felicity?"
Dig doesn't snap at him, just looks at him with pity and gives him the same answers he's been giving for hours. "It was just a message, man. I didn't get to talk to her. She just said to come home." He motions for Oliver to sit down. "Look, I promise Lyla and I will have a talk about the downfalls of vague messages when we get back, okay?"
His friend's attempt to lighten the mood falls flat, because, yeah, they are sure as hell going to have a talk about this when they get back. Oliver wants to be furious with Lyla, but there's no room in head. It's too full of Felicity, of what might have happened to her- a fall, an infection, Darhk returning to finish what he started, there are too many possibilities and Oliver is going to be sick. He is actually heaving, and he barely makes it to the tiny bathroom on the Palmer Technologies jet. He finishes and rinses out his mouth, splashing water on his face, but he can't stay upright. His knees give out, and he's scrunched up on the floor against the toilet.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.
It's his refrain from the limo, the street, the hospital.
Please.
He wills the universe, whatever gods are listening, anyone. He'll never leave her again.
Please.
"Ollie? Are you okay in there? Open up."
He stands to face his sister, trying to look more pulled together than he feels. He knows from the way Thea flinches when he opens the door that he's failed on that front. She pulls him out and onto one of the chairs. She pulls up the leather armrest and curls into him, wrapping his arm around her shoulders the way she used to do when they were younger and were watching a movie alone at night while their parents were away at one of their endless function. She tucks her head under his chin and whispers, "Lyla said come home. Not, 'Go to the hospital,' or 'Meet me at the morgue.'" Oliver chokes at that last line, and Thea smiles up at him apologetically. "Too far? Sorry, big brother. But you know what I mean. If Felicity were hurt, she would've said. She would've."
Oliver nods, takes a few breaths and tries not to hate how his voice waivers when he asks, "But what is it?"
"Maybe Felicity snapped and turned on that crazy little physical therapist. Maybe Lyla needs you there to calm her down or bail her out," Laurel says from across from them. Oliver hadn't even noticed her coming over to sit with them.
Despite himself, Oliver grins. "Felicity likes Paul."
Laurel crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. "It's a love/hate relationship at best."
"The point is, man," Dig adds, "whatever it is, we're going to deal with it. We can't do anything now, but we'll be home soon, and we'll take care of it. Together."
"And it's not like we've lost anything by cutting our little spa trip short. My father was never going to help us."
Laurel squeezes Thea's shoulder. "And we'll figure that out too. We'll take care of Felicity, and we'll get rid of Darhk. We'll find another way."
Night is falling when they touch down in Star City. Oliver and Dig had tried calling both Lyla and Felicity from the air several times, but never got a response. Oliver tries again before the plane finishes taxiing the runway. When he hears Felicity's stilted "Oliver?", his knees nearly fail him again.
The team, each of whom had been grabbing their bags and preparing to exit the plane, stills when they realize he's got her on the line.
"Felicity, we just landed. What's going on. Are you okay?"
There's a pause, and Oliver dies a million times in the space of it.
"You need to get home now."
He's listening intently for signs of distress, clues that someone is there and preventing her from talking, a hint of pain, but if anything, Felicity sounds...cold. His blood turns to ice.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not hurt. Just, Oliver...hurry."
Oliver stares at the phone in his hand after she hangs up, feeling everyone else's eyes on him.
"Ollie?"
"Something's...Felicity, she didn't sound right."
"Is she hurt?" Dig's voice tightens and his fists clench.
"No, I don't think so. We have to go. Now."
oOo
They go straight to the loft. Oliver pauses at the door, fumbles over his keys. It's not like him, this uncertainty. It's just that the idea of what's behind that door scares him. He can admit that. Your life can only fall apart so many time before the idea of what's around any given corner becomes a constant source of dread. He's still worrying his keys when the door yanks open to reveal Lyla, with baby Sara on her hip. She looks like she hasn't slept in days, and he swears he sees pure disgust when her eyes meet his.
He's himself again, and he doesn't care to take the time to figure out what Lyla might have against him. He has to see Felicity. He's calling her name as he weaves around Lyla and the baby to enter the apartment. He finds her immediately, in her chair with Curtis at her side, both hunched over laptops that had been taken out of the apartment to keep Felicity from getting into too much trouble during her recovery. His eyes sweep over her, looking for places where she hurts. Her hair is wild and their are dark circles under her eyes. She looks thinner, but that can't be possible, it's only been a handful of days. He waits for her to look up at him, to smile and let him know that everything is okay, but it never happens. Instead, she cuts her eyes to the couch, and like always, he follows where she leads him.
And his world tips a little further off its axis. Because of all the trouble he expected to find, this was a possibility he hadn't imagined.
"Samantha?" The brunette raises her tear-streaked face to his. There are lines across her cheeks like she fell asleep on the throw pillows on the couch, her hair is matted, her clothes are wrinkled. And Oliver just cannot process this. Because this scene? Means that everything is wrong.
"Where's WIlliam?" He whispers. Samantha sobs and launches herself at him, and everyone else takes sides. Dig, Laurel and Thea step back from him, all questions, trying to make sense of what's happening. Curtis, Lyla, and by default, baby Sara, huddle around Felicity.
Like they're protecting her.
From him.
And that's when Felicity finally meets his eyes, and he sees everything swirling in them- pain, confusion, fury...but first and foremost, the steely determination he's learned to never doubt. "He's been taken. But we're going to get him back."
oOo
To Oliver, it feels like everything that comes next happens both all at once and in slow motion. They all take in the news that Oliver has a son. A son he'd kept a secret from them all, but there's not really time for anyone to react, because his son is missing, and nothing else can matter. There will be hell to pay later, Oliver knows, but it's going to have to wait.
Dig starts talking about the FBI, the local police and ARGUS contacts, which sends Samantha flying out of Oliver's arms to shriek at John.
"No police! They're working with him, they won't help."
Oliver is trying to catch up, but it's not until Felicity quietly says, "Samantha believes Darhk is the one who took William," that he fully understands.
"It's him. I woke up in the middle of the night to check on him, like I always do, and he was gone, Oliver. He was just gone, right from his bed. And I knew. He couldn't get to you through her," she gestures toward Felicity, "so he came after my son. Oliver. This is why. This why I wanted you away from us." She's pounding on his chest now, and Oliver just takes it. All of it.
"I've spoken to Lance, and he's started searching quietly. Barry and friends are tearing Central City apart, Lyla has called in yet another favor, and Curtis and I are running every possible search. Wherever he is, whoever has him, we'll find him." Felicity's voice is frighteningly calm, and Oliver can't take any comfort in it.
"But none of it has worked yet! Oliver, what are you going to do? You have to get him back. He is my entire world, and I trusted you. What are you going to do?" Samantha is all frantic motion and desperation.
Oliver needs his bow. He will find Darhk this time. He will get his son, and he will end this.
"I told her you're the Green Arrow." Oliver whirls around to stare open-mouthed at Felicity who just shrugs in response.
"It seemed relevant."
"It is relevant, Oliver," Samantha jumps in. "Extremely relevant. You're the Star City vigilante, and you didn't think this was something that should've come up when you showed up at my door wanting to play a part in my son's life?"
"Our son's-"
"Yes, fine, our son, who as we speak is being held by a madman who wants to get revenge on a father William doesn't even know exists. You brought this into our lives, Oliver. You brought this into William's life." Samantha sobs. "God, I should've trusted my instincts on this."
Her words hit their mark. The biggest danger to the people he loves is Oliver himself. He can't defend himself to Samantha, and he's surprised when Felicity speaks up.
"Perhaps he who has not been holding onto giant bombshell secrets should cast the first stone. Besides, William doesn't need us blaming each other right now, and if you won't involve the police, then it's a good thing Oliver is the Green Arrow. There's a whole team of us, Samantha," Felicity comes over to rub circles on the other woman's back, and Oliver knows with certainty that he doesn't deserve her. "And we're going to find your little boy."
Felicity is looking at him when he says this, and he clings to her promise, to her strength. And then he's barking orders, because they have wasted enough time. He needs to get his son back. He needs to kill Damien Darhk, and he cannot fail this time. No one else will pay for Oliver's failures.
His team, though the shock at his secret is written all over each of their faces, falls into place. They go where Oliver sends them without hesitation, and he will never be able to be thankful enough.
"I'm going with you," Samantha is following him,
"You're not," he answers in a voice he wishes weren't so harsh. "I can't find William and keep you safe. Stay here. Felicity will keep you updated and Lyla will make sure nothing happens to you. You have trust me, Samantha. Just this once." The answering look in her eye says she will never trust him, but she takes a seat next to Lyla.
"Oliver, Oliver wait." Felicity takes him aside just as he's leaving the loft. "What are you going to do?"
"Find Darkh."
"Look-"
But he can't do this right now. "Felicity, I know we have to talk, and I can't even begin to say how sorry I am about...all of this, but it can't be now, okay? I have to go."
"Wait, listen." There's a urgency to her voice he can't ignore, even though he is practically vibrating with the need to get out there, to do something. "What I was going to say is that we have no real proof that Darhk is behind this." She must see the skepticism in his eyes. "We don't. Samantha came over here certain that it's him, but she didn't even call the police." He starts to interrupt, but she pulls on his shirt to make her face him. "Who else knows about William being yours?"
"No one." But that's not entirely true. "Barry."
He watches her collapse in on herself, and he wants die. He has fucked up so bad, but she looks up at the ceiling and blinks a few times, puts herself back together. "He's the only one?"
"Yes."
"Then, Oliver, how would Darhk even know? Did you run a paternity test, is there a record somewhere?" He shakes his head and she continues. "If it were Darhk, don't you think he'd be throwing it in your face? I mean, come on, obviously he loves the drama." She takes a deep breath. "Look, how well do you know Samantha?"
And no, no way. "Are you implying that she-"
"No, Oliver, what I'm saying is, maybe this has nothing to do with you or Darhk. Maybe we should at least explore other possibilities before-"
"There's no time, Felicity. It's been too long already. You want to explore possibilities, fine. Do that. But I'm going to actually find my son."
This time he doesn't look back to see how he crushed her.