Note: Thanks so much for your reviews, faves and follows! This chapter starts some minutes before the end of the last one, but from Oliver's point of view, this time.

Oliver only thought he felt helpless before, when he woke up, dazed, and completely immobilized, with Slade Wilson holding a sword over his mother and his sister. It had broken his heart to see his mother's despairing face, and Thea's shock, when Slade had listed all the crimes Oliver had committed. This new nightmare, though. It was beyond belief.

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

His first impulse was to ask the others if they heard it, or if he was hallucinating now. That couldn't be Felicity's voice. It couldn't. But Thea was looking past him with incomprehension on her face, and now Slade saw her too. Oliver breathed out her name as she walked (no, sauntered, and he desperately wished he was psychic so that he could ask her what the hell she thought she was doing) past where he knelt, but the look she shot him was pure hatred, and she screamed at him to be quiet. He would never tell Felicity this, but for a second . . . maybe a fraction of a second . . . there was, perhaps, a tiny bit of doubt.

But then she turned towards Slade, and he saw it – the syringe in the waistband of her skirt. And he understood everything, and wanted to scream in panic, because why was she doing this? How could Diggle let her do this? He was still reeling when she tore open his shirt to show Slade the Bratva tattoo. Then, when she accused him of not choosing her, he understood fully what her plan was. He waited for his chance to help her, and, when he realised that Slade wasn't buying it, took it.

"I can't believe I trusted you," he took a deep breath, "you lying bitch!"

I'm going to pay for that, later, he thought ruefully, as Slade turned to stare at him, in shock. He saw Felicity sigh in relief as she plunged the syringe into Slade's neck, but he should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. Time seemed to slow down as Slade whipped his sword back, almost on reflex, and sliced straight into Felicity's side. Oliver could never remember, afterwards, if he'd screamed or just stared in shock as Felicity sank to the ground, and the loud crack of a high-powered rifle shattered the silence.

Slade collapsed instantly, dead, but Oliver could only focus on Felicity as she sat on the cold ground, a puzzled look on her face. He called her but she didn't answer. His mother was the first to recover.

"Oliver, I think she's bleeding – we have to do something!"

His mother's voice was like a shower of ice cold water over his head. Right. There'd be time for shock, later. He couldn't get out of his ropes, Slade had made sure of that, but Thea and his mom had only been tied at the wrists.

"Thea! Thea, listen to me!"

She was shaking, like she was going into shock, but they couldn't afford this right now.

"Thea, you have to get your hands in front of you! I know you can do it!"

Thea's eyes were full of tears, but she nodded, resolutely. The seconds passed like hours as she brought her wrists down under her backside, and first slid one leg, then the other over them. She looked at him again, for further instructions, it seemed.

"Now go put pressure on the wound – can you see where he stabbed her?"

Thea scrambled over to Felicity and pushed hard into her side. Felicity cried out in pain, trying to shove her away, and Oliver felt his stomach churn. He tried to get his legs under him to get up, and had almost succeeded when Diggle came racing up, followed by Roy. What the hell was Roy doing here? That wasn't important right now, he thought.

"Diggle, untie me!"

Diggle assessed the situation with one glance, cutting Oliver loose while taking out his phone. He knelt next to Felicity and checked her pulse. Felicity slapped his hand away irritably, while Oliver lurched over, dropping to his knees beside her, taking over from Thea. Felicity gasped in pain.

"Oliver . . . what's going on?"

Behind her glasses, her eyes were cloudy and unfocused, and he wished he could hold her in his arms, but he had to keep pressure on the wound. Diggle had cut Thea's wrists free and now went to his mom to do the same. Oliver yelled at Roy to support her back while he pushed as hard as he could into her side.

"Felicity . . . honey . . . Slade stabbed you. "

He looked at her, and realised she was giving him a watery smile.

"You never called me honey before . . . "

He tried to return her smile, but his lips were stiff with fear. He could feel blood seeping out from between his fingers. She winced.

"Ow."

Oliver was starting to get frantic. Diggle crouched down next to them, trying to assess the damage, while on the phone to the police.

"I think it's superficial – she's losing a lot of blood, though. I don't like it."

Oliver couldn't hold back any longer.

"What the hell is she doing here, Digg? How could you let her do this?"

Oliver happened to be looking at Roy at the time, and noticed him wincing. Thea shook her head, and Diggle rolled his eyes.

"Let me?" That was Felicity, and boy, was she mad. "No one lets me do anything, Oliver. If you're not careful, I'm not gonna be letting you –"

She bit back the rest, and looked around her, the anger waking her out of her daze.

"It was a plan, Oliver, and it worked."

Oliver stared at her in disbelief, involuntarily pushing harder on her side. He hadn't thought it was possible for her to lose more colour, but she did. He tried to control himself, though it wasn't easy.

"This is what you call 'working'?" He was pretty sure his voice went really high at the end. He could hear Diggle arguing with someone on his mobile, agreeing that yes, there'd been a gunshot, but the problem was neutralized, and in the meantime, someone was bleeding out, here. Everyone looked at him in horror, and he made a placatory gesture with his hand. Oliver understood – Diggle was overstating it. Though Felicity hadn't stopped bleeding. Her eyes were starting to lose focus, and he tried to catch her attention.

"Hey."

She looked at him, and tried to smile.

"Hey."

They were interrupted by a helicopter buzzing them, lighting up the scene with a powerful searchlight. Then, a few seconds later, police officers swarmed the scene, followed by EMTs holding a stretcher. They quickly and methodically pushed Oliver away and started working on Felicity, asking her questions, and seemed satisfied with the answers. Oliver let the jargon wash over him. He stared at his hands. They were covered with blood. Felicity's blood. He looked around him, fighting a sudden feeling of disconnect. The whole scene was like a movie set – his mother was at the side, talking to Lance, Diggle was giving the EMTs some more details about what had happened, and Roy was holding Thea, stroking her hair. It was what he wanted to do to Felicity, except he had to let her be taken care of by someone else. He looked at his hands again. So much blood. How could she be ok?

"Mr Queen? Mr Queen!"

It was one of the EMTs. His lips were moving, but Oliver was finding it hard to focus on what he was saying. Diggle was at his side, suddenly.

"Hey, man. You ok?"

"I don't know."

"They're taking her to hospital. Like I thought, it doesn't look like he hit any arteries. But it needs to be assessed by a doctor, and she's lost some blood."

Oliver nodded, and pulled himself together with an effort. The EMTs were carrying the stretcher to a waiting ambulance, and loaded her in with a minimum of fuss. He climbed into the ambulance and crouched next to her, stroking her face. She looked at him, dazed from the pain. Somewhere else, somewhere that wasn't here in the ambulance with Felicity, he heard a mobile phone ring. He ignored it, but Felicity tried to sit up.

"Oliver . . . "

Diggle handed the phone to Oliver, who at first wanted to give it back. Felicity's glare said otherwise, and she told him to put it on speaker. He grabbed it impatiently, wondering what could be so important right now. As soon as he heard Kalika's panicky voice, he realised something was very wrong.

" . . . they're coming in, Oliver! We're in the panic room, but they know it's here! I don't know what to do!"

Felicity's eyes widened in horror.

"Kalika, slow down! Who's coming in?"

"I don't know! We can see them on the security cameras, but they're all wearing strange masks. Though I think one of them's a woman – somehow they phoned one of the office staff in here with us. They said they're going to use explosives, Oliver!"

He had to go. He knew that. But how could he leave her? First things first, he had to reassure Kalika.

"Listen . . . the police are here. I'll explain everything, and they'll be on their way." He nodded to Diggle, who immediately headed towards Lance. "You need to calm down, Kalika. Listen, is Rosa there with you?"

There was an indrawn breath, like she was going to yell at him. But then she seemed to calm down. Oliver and Diggle exchanged a look, and Oliver took the phone off speaker. Rosa had been a sergeant in the army, and could be relied on to keep everyone calm if she was allowed to take charge. He gave Diggle the phone, and tuned out his muttered conversation, preferring to focus on Felicity instead, desperately wishing he didn't have to do this.

"Go, Oliver. "

"I can't leave you."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Are you a trauma surgeon? Did you get your medical degree on the island?"

"Felicity . . ."

She smiled at him through her pain.

"You have to go. She's counting on you. They're all counting on you."

The EMT murmured something about them really needing to go to the hospital, and Oliver ignored him, and shook his head. Felicity grabbed his shoulder and shook it, then pulled him down so that she could whisper in his ear. He expected an endearment, or one of her speeches to psych him up. What he got was different, though he should have expected it.

"Remember, the needs of the many outweigh-"

He pulled back like he'd been stung.

"Felicity!"

She managed to giggle through tears.

"With great power comes great responsibility? No?"

He shook his head, mouthing 'no'. A hand on his arm made him jump, and he looked to his side. Great. Badass vigilante lets his mom sneak up on him – that didn't sound like a title which would sell a lot of comic books. He knuckled the tears away hurriedly.

"Oliver . . . darling. She needs a doctor. And you have to help . . . the company," she continued, raising her eyebrows and stressing the last word. He felt a sudden wave of affection for his mother. She had no problem coming across as Queen Bitch if it was for her family. When he looked at Felicity again she was nodding, and holding a hand out for him to come closer, whispering frantically in his ear.

"Don't leave me with her! Kidding, kidding."

God, how was she so brave. He put his forehead against hers, and then kissed her, a chaste kiss which grew deeper by the second, until someone cleared his throat behind him. He stroked her hair one last time and turned on his heel and got out of the ambulance, walking towards Diggle. Behind him, he could hear Thea asking why he had to go, and his mother murmuring something in response.

The doors to the ambulance slammed shut, and it drove off. He'd never felt so helpless in his life. Lance had watched the whole exchange, and now approached.

"We found some unconscious guys wearing masks – were they with the dead guy?"

Diggle looked at Oliver, but Oliver didn't trust himself to speak, yet.

"Yeah. The rest of them are mounting an attack on Queen Consolidated. They're all hopped up on the same stuff that guy was on, the one who put your men in the hospital last year."

Lance's face hardened.

"Then I guess that's where we're headed. You better tell your friend with the arrows to meet us there. And don't tell me he's coming along too," he continued, nodding at Roy, who was standing with his arms folded, looking determined.

Oliver was still thinking about Felicity, so he only waved distractedly at Lance as he moved towards Roy, who didn't even let him move a few paces before he spoke.

"Hell yes I'm coming with you-"

Oliver finally got close enough, and clapped a hand over Roy's mouth. Looking back, he saw that Lance had gone to get everyone moving, and was out of earshot. He grabbed Roy by the shoulders.

"I don't know what you know, and how you know it, but I'd really appreciate it if you didn't announce it to the world!"

Roy scoffed.

"You really think Lance doesn't know?"

"This is for him, Roy! He needs plausible deniability!"

Roy winced and nodded. He obviously hadn't thought of that.

"It's just . . . some of these guys were my friends, you know? And now they'll be going to jail . . . or dying, because this asshole used them for his science experiment."

Oliver clapped him on the shoulder.

"Let's see what we can do for them, then. Let's cure them first, and see if we can help them with legal problems later. And no-one's gonna die tonight, Roy."

They'd reached the van, and Oliver opened the lockbox where he kept a spare suit. Diggle raised his eyebrows as Roy gawked openly at the hood, the bow and arrows. Oliver shrugged. If he knew, he couldn't unknow it. Diggle shook his head, smiling, as he went to the front. They drove towards QC, and Oliver started getting changed. He had a moment of disconnect when he took his shirt off. It was covered with Felicity's blood. Just like his hands.

"Hey."

He looked up, and Roy was holding a box of wipes, which Felicity must have stashed in the van when she'd come along. He managed to put aside the fear, for now, and started cleaning himself off.

"Can you fight?"

Roy, who'd been lost in thought, started, and looked up at him.

"Yeah. I tranqed a few guys with that antidote stuff too – I mean, I can use a gun."

Oliver nodded as he started putting on the suit. Roy stared at him unabashedly as he put the hood on. The harness for the quiver came over it, and finally, the mask. He clipped the voice modulator on and put in the earpiece.

"I'll take all the arrows with antidote, you and Diggle share the tranq darts. Try to avoid fighting them unless you've shot them – I don't need any more of the team in the hospital."

Oliver turned away, but not before he saw the blinding smile on Roy's face. He had to hide a smile of his own. Good thing the kid seemed to live in hoodies, which would shadow his face a little. Though red was kind of showy.

They'd been driving for a few minutes, when Diggle braked hard, almost sending the both of them to the floor. When Oliver went to the front to ask him what was going on, Diggle pointed wordlessly at a figure dressed from head to toe in black, slinking through the shadows. It was clearly a tall woman with long blond hair. Or was it a wig? Her face caught the stray beams from a street lamp, and Oliver recognized the features under the black mask she had on. It was like a bomb went off in his head, and he propelled himself out of the van and landed in front of her, with no clear memory of how he got there. What was with the women in his life and putting themselves in danger? Her eyes widened as she saw the look on his face.

"What the actual fuck, Laurel?"

Laurel pouted and folded her arms.

"Thanks for telling everyone my secret identity, Mr Arrow, sir!"

Oliver sighed and almost rubbed his eyes. Just in time, he remembered the mask and the greasepaint.

"There's no-one here," he answered, gesturing to the empty street. "Just . . . what is this?"

Laurel leaned towards him, visible annoyed.

"You're not the boss of me. And you don't have a monopoly on dressing up in leather and fighting crime."

Oliver threw his hands in the air.

"Ok! Fine! Though if your dad finds out, you know he'll blame me, as usual."

Laurel shrugged, indicating that she was ok with that. Then she seemed to remember something.

"How is . . . how is she? I heard it on the police scanner."

Oliver gnawed on his lower lip, unsure how to answer.

"They took her to the hospital – mom and Thea are with her. She . . . she told me to go." He looked at Laurel, feeling like he was seeking her approval. Her eyes grew warm behind her mask, and she gave him a hint of a smile.

"Come on, Arrow. Let's save your people."

Oliver nodded, and they both climbed into the van. They were close enough to the Queen Consolidated building that they could plan for their entry. Oliver took charge, directing Diggle, Laurel, and Roy to go in through the parking garage.

"How are you getting in?" Laurel asked. Roy looked puzzled, too. Diggle only smirked.

"He's taking his shortcut."

Ten minutes later, Oliver observed the executive floor of the QC building through a night-vision scope, from his vantage point on the roof of the building opposite. It was as Kalika had said – the lobby which hid the panic room was full of men in strange, bicoloured masks, and one smaller figure. They clearly knew where the hidden recessed door was, and they were packing the opening with plastic explosive. Oliver gritted his teeth, and prepared his antidote arrows. He fired a zipline arrow into the wall, attaching the other end of the line to a girder. And away he went, tearing down the line at an ever increasing speed, and shooting through the window before smashing it with his boots. He landed on top of one of Slade's men, and stabbed him with an arrow instead of firing it. The others turned to stare for a second before rushing him, and the next few minutes were a blur – he nocked and fired, nocked and fired, trying to bring them down with kicks so that he wouldn't have to use his bow to punch them out. Throughout, Isabel Rochev was like a whirling dervish with attached blades, and he was thankful for his suit which protected him from the worst of them. Finally, he'd dealt with all the lesser thugs, and loosed his last arrow into her, feeling a certain satisfaction at her wounded cry when she realised that the arrow wasn't meant to kill. She ripped off her mask, gasping for air, and fixed him with a look of pure hatred.

"So, which one did he kill? Your bitch of a mother, or your whore of a sister?"

Oliver couldn't supress a smile, and didn't want to.

"You mean you don't know? You've lost, Isabel. Your mentor is dead. And he killed no-one."

"You're lying, you piece of shit!"

She launched herself at him, screaming, but without the Mirakuru fuelling her, she was no match for him. He felt a tiny pang of regret, though, when he punched her hard in the face, sending her slamming against a column.

Diggle ran through the stairway door, gun held in front of him, closely followed by Roy and Laurel. Oliver pointed to Isabel.

"Cover her – we need to have a look at those explosives." His last words were aimed at Diggle, who nodded and holstered his gun.

Laurel crouched down near Isabel's slumped figure, as Diggle looked at the C4, tracing wires and murmuring under his breath.

"She's kind of tiny, Ol- I mean, Arrow," she added, raising her eyebrows. Oliver did his best not to cringe.

"She didn't look that tiny when she was waving those swords in my face."

Diggle interrupted them.

"Hey. Nothing's connected here. You can open the door."

Oliver nodded, and quickly called Kalika, just as Diggle heard something on his earpiece.

"Cops are here, Arrow. Lance is asking if they can use the elevators."

Oliver had just finished reassuring Kalika that the coast was clear, and that she and the others could come out, when the hidden door opened. Kalika and Rosa came out, the latter calmer than the former, whose composure seemed to be hanging by a thread. Rosa had overheard the last exchange, and assured that the elevators were clear. Oliver turned to Diggle.

"Tell the Detective that he can bring his men up in the elevators." He directed the rest at the office staff who'd been trapped in the panic room for hours.

"The police are here to take you home." In a more normal tone of voice, he turned to Laurel and Roy. "We're going to take the stairs and check out the other floors. As head of security, Diggle can stay here and liaise with the police."

Just as Diggle nodded, a furious voice interrupted the muted hubbub. All eyes turned to Isabel, who'd woken up in the meantime.

"Do you think I'm going to keep quiet about who you are? You're going to jail-"

Isabel broke off with a gurgle, the black shaft of an arrow protruding from her neck. Stunned, Oliver looked towards the window, and saw the silhouette of another archer, this one dressed from head to toe in a strange black costume. Malcolm Merlyn's angry eyes met his, and Oliver was tempted to shoot back. They didn't need this right now. But Rosa had her eye on the cameras covering the elevator shafts, and hurriedly whispered that the police would be on their floor any second now. So he grabbed Roy and Laurel by the arms and dragged them towards the stairwell. Laurel just had time for one last breathless question.

"The Dark Archer?"

"A copycat," Oliver answered, grimly.

Walking through the darkened corridors of his own company, arrow nocked, was a strange experience. Everything seemed unfamiliar, and he wondered if he was doing this for nothing. But he couldn't be sure that stray Mirakuru soldiers hadn't rigged the place, and he wanted to be sure. When his earpiece came to life, he expected to hear Diggle telling him that the coast was clear, and that the police were gone. Instead, it was someone he'd never expected to hear while wearing his mask.

"Ollie?"

His sister's voice was shaky, as if she couldn't believe she was doing this.

"Thea?"

His voice almost cracked with disbelief.

"Felicity gave me her microphone before she was seen by the doctors. She said to tell you she's ok, she's being stitched up, and they want to keep her overnight because she lost so much blood."

Oliver swallowed, gritting his teeth. He should be there.

"She also said to stop worrying," Thea continued, with just the right amount of fond exasperation. "And then she said that it's just a flesh wound, and she started giggling. They must be giving her the good stuff."

Oliver had to clear his throat before he could answer.

"No, she's always like that. It's one of the reasons I . . . "

His voice petered out. Thea took pity on him.

"Yeah, I kind of got that. Listen, Ollie . . . are you . . . wearing green right now?"

She hissed the last theatrically, probably managing to be louder than if she'd spoken normally. Well, at least she was trying, he thought. And it wasn't like there was anyone in the immediate vicinity who didn't know he was the Arrow.

"Yes."

He could hear her take a few shaky breaths.

"Ok. Ok. Wow. We are going to talk about this, big brother. But, for the record . . . thank you."

He froze in shock. She was thanking him? For what? For almost getting her killed? She waited for a few seconds for him to answer. When he didn't, she continued.

"I gotta go – they're taking Felicity to her room. Mom's been playing the 'my son's fiancée' card all night long."

Oliver couldn't help a pleased smile.

"I told Felicity mom would love her – I don't know why she was so scared."

Thea sounded puzzled too.

"I know, right? Roy's the same – that last time I told him to come to dinner with us, he kept saying 'It's a trap!' in a weird voice."

Oliver hid a smile. He got that reference, now. Thea signed off, and Oliver patrolled the darkened corridors more light-heartedly than before. He'd given up on finding any more of Slade's men by the time he reached the lobby level, so he wasn't expecting the man who was hiding behind the door to the stairwell. Filled with rage, the Mirakuru soldier got in a punch which sent Oliver crashing into the railing. He managed to get the tranq gun out and shot off a dart – but this guy must have been an exception to the general rule, because it took the sedative longer to work than on the others. One of his last flailing kicks caught Oliver in the knee, which exploded into agony. Oliver's relief at the fact that none of his team was there to hear him shriek like a baby was lessened by Diggle's voice echoing down the stairwell.

"Hey, Arrow! You ok, man?"

Oliver moaned in response, hoping that Diggle understood him. The stairwell resounded with pounding footsteps, and Oliver felt better once Diggle was next to him. He opened his eyes to Digg's worried face, shaking his head.

"Oliver, we need to get those pants off," he hissed. "Otherwise we're gonna have to cut them off, and I don't have anything that can cut leather."

Oliver raised an eyebrow. Diggle rolled his eyes.

"Ok, some of those guys had sharp swords. Which I'm sure you want to have so close to your junk."

Diggle lifted Oliver up and helped him hobble to the van, where Roy and Laurel were already waiting. This time Diggle had a plan – they would put Oliver back in his suit, and take him to the hospital, with the story that Slade had messed up Oliver's knee when he kidnapped him. Oliver was in so much pain he only got bits and pieces of the plan, and almost fainted when they pulled his pants off. Putting his suit pants back on was even worse.

Getting in the emergency room was a blur, and Oliver was glad it was a slow night – he was embarrassed already at letting that guy get the drop on him, cutting in line at the emergency room was even worse. The admitting doctor hummed and hawed and injected him with something, Oliver didn't care what. All he cared was that the pain went and hid behind some cotton wool in his head, and Oliver felt he could think for the first time since it happened. He was put in a wheelchair and scheduled for an x-ray, after which he insisted on seeing Felicity.

She was asleep when he rolled himself in, and he quickly checked over the machines she was attached to – blood pressure seemed ok, and she seemed to be breathing normally. She looked pale, he thought. He gently took the hand which wasn't attached to the drip, and rubbed her fingers. They rubbed back. He quickly lifted his head to see her quirky smile – he could tell by the screwed up eyes that he was just a blur to her.

"They took my glasses," she pouted. Then her eyes widened. "Is that a wheelchair? Oliver!"

Oliver rubbed his face.

"When I was kidnapped," he stressed, with a look towards the door, "one of Slade's men kicked my knee."

She squeezed his fingers, and then her look of sympathy turned wicked.

"So, it's me on top for a few weeks, hmm?" she murmured.

"Felicity!" he hissed. "My mom could come in any second!"

Felicity raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, your mom's on tv!"

The television on the other side of the room was showing a live news transmission of a press conference on the steps of the hospital. His mother's press conference. At the edge of the screen, he could see Diggle staring fiercely into the camera, daring anyone to come after Moira Queen. He felt he could relax for a few minutes, and glanced at Felicity, who was looking at him fondly. He rolled the chair closer to the bed, and managed to lever himself up on his good leg. She used the controls to get her bed into a sitting position, and they met in a kiss, which started out loving and gentle, and quickly escalated until he desperately wanted to tear her clothes off and sink into her. They pulled apart, breathing heavily, staring at each other until a twinge from his knee sent him staggering back into the wheelchair. She sighed and made the bed recline again.

Oliver settled back and twined his fingers through hers. Later, he would tell her about Isabel, and the apparently eternal problem that was Malcolm Merlyn, but right now, they could rest.

Notes:

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," is, of course, a quote from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan (what, you thought I was going to say 'Into Darkness'? Look, the new guys are very pretty and all, but for real substance, we need to look elsewhere. Also, Ricardo Montalban).

See, one evening Felicity is browsing for a Starfleet uniform dress in her size, and Oliver is looking at the screen over her shoulder, which she hates, and he says, "Oh, I saw that movie - the spaceship goes underwater, right?" And Felicity glares at him and immediately downloads The Wrath of Khan and makes him watch it. She's pretty sure he's crying during that scene.

I like Moira Queen. A lot. And I hate when the show pits women against each other, just because. So, Moira Queen lives! Does she realise what Felicity means to Oliver? We'll see in the next chapter.