Teamwork

Chapter 26 - Intel

Oliver had been ready to give up, to accept his fate, to allow Slade to do whatever he wanted to him. That was until Slade brought Felicity into the room. The moment when he saw her, unconscious and at the mercy of Slade, he knew that he could not give up yet. He had to find a way to get her out of there. If he succeeded at nothing else he would succeed in this.

Sara was hanging on one side of the room and Felicity was occupying the chair on the other side of the room. It had been several minutes since the women had been brought in and Oliver was now doing the only thing that he could do. He was waiting for them to wake up. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he noticed a subtle change in Sara. He knew that she was starting to come to but that she was wary of the fact that Slade could be in the room.

"Sara." Oliver said quietly. "It's just us." He wanted her to know that it was safe to open her eyes and talk to him.

"Oliver!" Sara said with relief as she looked up to see her partner. She was happy that she was finally able to be close to Oliver and see how he was really doing. However, the sight before her made her heart sink. She could see that he was in an incredible amount of pain and was barely hanging on. She suspected, however, that having Felicity here would strengthen his resolve and help him to hold on until they could find a way out.

"Do you know what happened to your Dad, Roy, and Thea?" Oliver asked, hoping that she had at least a bit of information that she could share. He only knew that they had been moved from the room.

"They are all safe." Sara responded carefully, not knowing if Slade was listening in. "They were all dropped off at the Bank that we busted the dealers at. They are fine."

Oliver breathed a sigh of relief. He had hoped for the best, but could not help but suspect the worst had happened. He was happy to know that they were all safe, at least for the moment.

"Dad's pretty beat up but it's nothing that some rest won't take care of." Sara said. She had decided to give Oliver a quick rundown of how everyone was doing so that he wouldn't worry for at least a little while. "Roy is a bit weak right now, but he should be fine once he gets used to it. Thea is doing good. She's pretty shaken but being safe with Roy will help that."

Oliver nodded slowly. He heard everything that Sara was saying out loud, and some things that she wasn't. Lance was obviously injured, but nothing life threatening. His suspicions about Roy were apparently true and he had been cured of the Mirakuru, which left them with an interesting discovery. Thea was pretty shaken but she would be fine. Sara was obviously uninjured, for the moment, which meant she may be able to help him out of here. Diggle had not been mentioned so he had to be safe, and well too. The fact that she didn't mention Laurel, his Mom, or Walter meant that they were still safe as well. That left Felicity.

"Felicity?" Oliver asked as he looked towards her, knowing that Sara would hear all the unasked questions in that one name.

"As good as can be expected." Sara answered quietly. "She's been through a lot, knows more than any of us, and yet she still presses on. She hasn't once given up looking for you."

Oliver was about to respond when he noticed that Felicity was starting to wake up.

"Felicity?" Oliver called to her. He was afraid that she was going to freak out when she finished coming to and he didn't want her to hurt herself in any way.

"Oliver?" Felicity said groggily. She thought she had heard his voice but couldn't tell around the pounding headache that she had, again. She knew she had been taken by Slade for a second time as this was exactly how she had felt the last time he took her. "Oliver, is that really you?" She asked as she started to look around, taking in her surroundings.