Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, and following my story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Felicity later thought she would have spent the next few hours staring into space, unseeing, if it hadn't been for Diggle. After shaking her a few times, he lost his patience.

"Felicity, you gotta snap out of it! Right now!"

"I'm here . . . I mean, yes. What . . . what do we do?"

The expression on his face turned into sympathy, but then hardened again.

"We have to find out where he's taking them."

A horrible thought struck her.

"What if – what if they're dead? What if he killed them?"

But Diggle was shaking his head.

"Listen – if this Slade guy wanted to just kill Oliver and his family, he had plenty of chances before we even knew he was in Starling. No, we have to assume he's taking them somewhere."

"But where?"

Felicity felt like she was stuck in a fog. Her brain wasn't working right anymore – it kept replaying the car smashing into the limousine, over and over. And Oliver's last words to her, which were hardly the stuff tragic love stories were made of. An angry huff made her look up at Diggle, whose expression indicated that he was holding on to his patience with both hands, as well as his teeth.

"Felicity . . . what about the trackers? The ones you used on Oliver during the Undertaking? "

Of course! What was wrong with her, that she'd forgotten them?

She immediately pulled out her tablet and started the app. Diggle frowned.

"Though Slade might be savvy enough to take Oliver's watch and shoes – his cell will be gone too."

Felicity snorted.

"As if I'd hide them somewhere that obvious."

Diggle winced.

"Do I want to know where you hid them?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby. His pants have a hem, though I bet Hugo Boss will put out a hit on me if he ever finds out I unpicked one of his hems and resewed it. Is there a Hugo Boss, though? Or is it just a brand name? Oh, and Oliver's boxers have a waistband, which is very convenient. Serves him right for insisting on boxers, instead of boxer-briefs, which are much nicer . . . why are you making that expression, Digg?"

"While I'm glad you got your babble on again, that's more than I need to know about Oliver's underwear."

She gave him a shaky smile, and went back to the tracker app.

"I think we're out of range – we need to get to that intersection as soon as possible."

Diggle nodded, and got up.

"I don't know why I put half of the Mirakuru cure in the van, and loaded it into ammo for tranq guns, but I'm glad I did. All we need now," he said, as he went to the back of the foundry, where they kept extra weapons, "is the thermal imaging gun we liberated from those Army guys who went rogue last year. And Roy."

He came out of the back with some equipment which looked like it belonged in a science fiction movie, and Felicity grabbed her bag, shoved her phone in it, and raced towards the back exit. In the van, she texted Roy to meet them at the intersection, telling him it was a matter of life and death, that Thea had been kidnapped. When they arrived at the site, which was already surrounded by yellow tape, and police officers and CSIs, someone banged violently at the door of the van. Felicity slid it open, and a wild-eyed Roy in a red hoodie pushed his way in and slammed it shut behind him. Diggle exchanged a glance with Felicity.

"Listen, I'm going to tell Lance . . . what I can. We need to have him and the cops standing by, in case we need backup."

Felicity nodded, and Roy, who was vibrating with suppressed tension, pounced on her.

"You said . . . you said Thea was kidnapped! What's going on?"

When she explained that Oliver, Moira and Thea had been taken after their limousine was rammed, he interrupted her.

"What about the Arrow? Why didn't you call him? I thought you worked with him!"

Felicity looked around wildly, wishing there was another way. But there really wasn't. If Oliver survived this (no, when. Not if), he was going to kill her. She had to blink back the tears. Come back to me, Oliver, and yell at me for telling everyone your secret.

"Roy. The Arrow can't save them, because Oliver is the Arrow."

He gaped at her open-mouthed, eyes bulging. He stuttered a few nonsense words, and then tried again.

"Thea's asshole brother is the Arrow?"

Felicity narrowed her eyes.

"He's also my boyfriend, so watch your mouth!"

Roy raised his hands in a placatory gesture.

"Sorry, sorry . . . but Thea doesn't know, right?"

Felicity shook her head.

"They need our help, Roy."

Roy looked fierce.

"Anything, Felicity."

Diggle got back in the van, and they drove off. Felicity explained to Roy that they had to drive in concentric circles radiating outward from the intersection so that she could pick Oliver up on her tracker app. Her words exuded a confidence she didn't feel. But, wonder of wonders, it worked. They'd been driving for some minutes when something pinged on her tablet screen.

"Stop!"

The van screeched to a halt and Felicity held onto the tablet with an effort, then focused on the tracker map, which was overlaid onto a map of Starling City and its outskirts. Felicity told Diggle which direction he should be driving in, and Diggle explained to Roy how to use the thermal imaging equipment, to find out how many crazy Mirakuru guys were standing guard around wherever Slade had them.

"Diggle, turn the lights off! And slow down. Oliver's stopped moving."

Diggle stopped and parked, and climbed over the seats into the back.

"Let me see that. Tell me the distances – wait, I got it."

He enlarged a few areas, and then showed Roy how to use the thermal imager.

"So, this monitor should show us how many people are around, before we stumble over them."

Felicity looked at the map on her tablet. They were really close to a wooded area between Starling and Central City. When she saw Oliver's tracker start moving again, she nearly had a heart attack, but then she realised that the speed wasn't anything close to a car.

"He's being carried . . . I think . . . "

She murmured the words under her breath, but Diggle heard her, and nodded curtly, before going back to the Mirakuru, and loading darts into tranq guns. Roy was out of the van, and aiming the thermal imager as Diggle had showed him, occasionally looking at the monitor.

"Ok," he hissed at them. "I've got one guy dragging people out of a car." He swallowed hard, as he realised that one of the people being dragged was Thea. He clenched his jaw angrily and continued. "Then there's five others – they're standing up, and not moving. They must be Slade's guys, guarding the perimeter."

Diggle looked up.

"Just five? That can't be!"

Roy looked again.

"Five is all I'm reading, Dig!"

"Then you're not reading it right!"

Felicity sighed, impatiently. There was a time and place for movie trivia, and this wasn't it. Diggle checked the monitor himself.

"Huh. Just five. Where are all the other guys- never mind."

He grabbed two tranq pistols and loaded them, giving one to Roy. Felicity glared at him, and he stared back.

"Do you know how to shoot these things?"

She shook her head, giving him the look she'd perfected as a sullen teen. Dig ignored it, and opened the van door again. He and Roy crept out, and Roy had time for one last question.

"What if the sedative doesn't take them down?"

Diggle's grim answer was whispered as they crept into the night.

"Then they'll wish it had."

Felicity went back to the case holding the rest of the cure, and took out two syringes. It was weird. They looked like the ones the Count had held to her neck, that night, what seemed like a lifetime ago. But that had been the serum, and she held the cure. Heh. You're the disease, and I'm the cure! Where was that from? Now it was going to bug her all night.

She tried to shake off the crazy tangents her mind was going on, and focused on the syringe again. It looked small. Would it be enough for Slade Wilson? It would have to be. Her hand felt sweaty. She put the syringe down, and wiped her hand on her skirt, trying to calm her nerves. She could do this. She was the only one who could. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement on the monitor, and realised that the three people, who'd just been huddled shapes on the ground, were getting up on their knees. Come on, Diggle! Where are you? As if called by her thoughts, Diggle appeared, followed by Roy.

"Slade's men are taking a nap. Now-"

Felicity got up, the syringe gripped in her hand. "Now it's my turn."

Diggle's eyes widened.

"No!" He tried to stop her, while Roy raised his hands to indicate he was staying out of this one. "What if- what am I going to tell Oliver if Slade hurts you?"

"What am I going to tell Lyla and your baby if Slade hurts you?"

She swallowed a hysterical giggle when Diggle's eyes bulged in shock.

"Private browsing, dude. Look into it." She took a deep breath. "You can't do this, Diggle. The minute he sees you, he'll take you down."

"I'm not that easy to take down, Felicity-" Diggle started, and she interrupted him.

"Didn't you see Oliver's face when he was telling us about Slade? Oliver is terrified of that man. The only way we have a chance is if he doesn't see it coming. I have to do it, because he won't see a threat when he looks at me."

She swallowed, wiping her hands on her skirt again. And he'd be right, she thought.

"Here, take your earpiece," she said, handing it to Diggle. "The mic is in my bra." She resolutely ignored Roy's raised eyebrows and Diggle's pained grimace. Yes, I have breasts. Get over it.

"Just make sure you're ready," she continued, pointing at Diggle's prize possession, a sniper rifle with a night vision scope. Diggle nodded grimly. She got out of the van before he changed his mind, and got out her phone to follow the trackers to Oliver. She soon saw a car parked ahead of her, its headlights illuminating the scene. And what a scene it was.

Moira and Thea were on their knees, with Slade Wilson behind them, holding a sword – it looked like a katana, she thought. Oliver was also on his knees, but facing them, with his back to her. They all had their hands tied behind their backs, and Slade had made sure that Oliver couldn't get his hands free. She caught the tail end of a conversation, which proved to her that she was just in time – Slade Wilson moved from talking about Shado to talking to Shado, and Felicity shuddered. The man was insane. She put her phone in her pocket, and tucked the syringe into her waistband. She took few deep breaths, and then relaxed. She could do this. She could do this. She was the only one who could do this, so she had to do it. Now.

Felicity sauntered deliberately towards the circle of illumination cast by the headlights, and Thea was the first to spot her, tear-rimmed eyes widening, and her mouth opening in shock. Then Slade saw her, and he raised his blade, causing Oliver to try to turn around, to see what they were looking at. Always attack, she told herself. Come on!

"Is this a private party, or can anyone crash?"

No-one would ever know what it cost her to sound so light and unaffected. Her voice didn't even tremble. She made sure her hands were visible at her sides, open and empty. There'd been a moment when she'd been considering taking a gun with her, but she knew that Slade Wilson could cut her down before she blinked. No, she'd have to use her head tonight. Oliver and his family depended on it. Close up, Slade Wilson looked absolutely terrifying, his one visible eye full of anger, or insanity, or both.

"Felicity?" Oliver sounded like he didn't know if he was asleep or awake, and she brutally squashed any feelings for him that were threatening to distract her. Forgive me, my love.

"Shut your mouth!"

She sensed the shock in everyone except Slade, who just gave her a quizzical look. That wasn't a tone anyone who knew her had ever heard from her. But Slade didn't know her. He pointed his sword at her, and even in her terror, she was glad it had moved away from Oliver's mother and sister.

"You . . . you're his little pet, aren't you? Always trailing after him, like some lapdog." He sneered over the last word, stressing it. Oh, you don't know who I am, Slade Wilson. You're about to find out.

"I'm the one who just spent two years . . . two years," she repeated, her voice rising as she put all she could into the performance, "getting close to this piece of shit, and you mess it all up!"

Thea and Moira stared at her, visibly stunned. She couldn't risk a glance at Oliver, but she hoped he was doing his best to look pained and betrayed. Slade still looked sceptical, and moved a bit closer to her.

"I know everything he's done – what's it got to do with you?"

Oh thank you, she thought. She'd just got her opening.

"Everything?" she repeated, her incredulity, she hoped, not overdone. "Did you know about this?"

She managed to bend over sideways so that he wouldn't see the syringe, and tore open Oliver's shirt, exposing the star tattoo on his chest. Her fingers were trembling and she hoped Slade didn't notice. Oliver was breathing fast, but she didn't dare look him in the eyes. This had to work. Slade sucked air in through his teeth, and gave a startled bark of laughter.

"The Bratva? No wonder the old man refused my deal!"

Keep going, Felicity, you've got him, she thought, and used the opportunity to take a step towards him.

"Do you know what the Bratva do to women who get in their way? Do you?"

Slade shook his head, not because he didn't know, but because he didn't buy it, and for a moment she worried that she'd overplayed her hand. But he was still moving closer, and she didn't think he'd noticed that he was doing it.

"Look. I know the kid's a killer. Because I made him one. But there's no way I buy him as a rapist-"

Felicity interrupted him.

"He didn't choose me!"

She wailed the words into the night, and Slade's eyes widened. "He could have saved me! But instead, he left me there. In hell."

"And then," she added, moving closer to Slade, "when I found him again, he didn't even recognize me. It was so easy to get close to him," she said, injecting so much scorn into her voice she barely recognized it. With every word she inched her way closer to him, until she was between him and Oliver.

"And now I have him where I want him, where he trusts me, and you want to make his mother pay? And his sister? More women have to suffer because of him?"

She'd said the wrong thing, she realised that immediately. Slade's attention went back to the women kneeling at his feet, and he was back on his guard. I messed up, she thought. Oh, Oliver, I'm so sorry. But then she heard his voice. And, at first, she thought she was only imagining it, that her wishing it had made it real, that he'd know what she was doing, and that he'd try to distract Slade.

"I can't believe I trusted you," Oliver yelled, his voice cracking with fury, "you . . . lying . . . BITCH!"

Slade's head snapped to the side, his sword lowered, and he was finally, finally off guard. It was like she stood outside herself, and watched, detached, as her arm rose, the syringe in her hand, and sunk it into his neck. He turned to her again, and the look of betrayal in his eye almost made her feel pity. Almost.

It was weird, though. Her mind was going fuzzy. What was the next part of the plan? Oh, right. Get down, so Diggle can take his shot. Her legs folded up, and she collapsed faster than she'd expected, landing painfully on her ass. She looked up and caught the moment when Slade's head snapped back, and a loud crack made her jump, as his body fell to the ground at her feet.

It was done, she thought, sighing in relief. Slade was dead. Now they could . . . they could . . . she couldn't remember what they were going to do next, and Oliver yelling at her wasn't helping, she thought irritably. Was he mad about all the stuff she'd said? Didn't he know it was just part of the plan? He needed to come over and help her up, not just yell at her. She was sitting in something wet, and she wanted to get up, but her legs weren't working. And her side felt hot and cold. And the ground was getting colder, and the buzzing in her ears was getting louder. She must have lost a few seconds, because Thea appeared next to her, and pressed her still bound hands hard into her side. The pain was unbearable, and Felicity tried to push her away. She just wanted to rest. Why wouldn't they let her?

"You have to stay awake, Felicity, do you hear me? Felicity!"

Oliver's voice sounded hoarse with fear. Why was he so scared? The plan had worked. She just needed some sleep. Just five more minutes, mom. Then I'll get up, I promise.

NOTE

I really hope the last paragraphs are not too unclear.

It always annoyed me on the show, when Oliver slowly explained to Slade that he'd missed something, and then gave a sign to Felicity, who then got up from the floor, injected Slade, and took all the time in the world to get away.

And the guy who was hopped up on Mirakuru and had been shown to have lightning-fast reflexes just stands there and lets all that happen.

(That's all apart from the fact that in Unthinkable, Oliver paints a target on Felicity, leaves her to be captured by a crazy person with a sword, and goes off and has an adventure with all his buddies)

So, in my story, Felicity injects Slade with the antidote, but the man is very, very fast. He's holding a sword. And sometimes, when you've been stabbed, you can't even tell.

In the next chapter, Oliver will tell us what happened from his p.o.v - I hope it'll be clearer then.