Teamwork

Chapter 30 - The Dragon Tattoo

"What is he doing?" Thea asked as she leaned in to get a better look at what the man was doing to Felicity.

"Giving her a tattoo, what does it look like." Laurel retorted back.

"I can see that." Thea stated irritably. "What I meant was what tattoo is he giving her and why?"

"I guess we will have to wait and see." Diggle said. He was worried for his Team and not being able to do anything was about to drive him crazy. "Any luck Thea?" He asked, breaking Thea's attention away from the video feed.

"I think I almost have the traffic cameras up." Thea responded as she turned back to the other monitors and began to work furiously again. "Give me just a few more minutes."

Oliver watched as the man branded Felicity for life. He knew what tattoo she was getting and it made his heart ache. He had had to live with the knowledge of what he had done every day since Shado had died. Every time he saw his back in the mirror he was reminded of the decision that he had made. He questioned himself, always wondering if he had made the right choice, if there was anything else he could have done. He had realized though that it was pointless to live in the land of 'what if'. Every scenario that he thought of ended in either Sara or Shado being killed. It had been a no win situation, much as he was in now. He was relieved when Felicity had passed out, thankful that she wasn't conscious for this. He was unable to tear his eyes away from Felicity the entire time the man was branding her, because of him. He didn't deserve the luxury of looking away.

Sara really felt bad for Oliver. She had realized what Slade was up to the moment he touched Felicity's shoulder and knew that this would break Oliver's heart. I hope he can learn to look past her scars, the tattoo, just as she had for him. Sara thought as they both hung in silence, the only sound in the room being from the machine sitting by Felicity. 

It was quite a while later when the sound of the machine stopped suddenly. Sara looked up and joined Oliver in looking towards Felicity, looking to see what had just happened. It was only a moment after the machine was turned off that the door to the room opened and Slade returned. He walked over to Felicity and placed a hand tenderly on her shoulder, a look of longing then pain evident in his eyes.

"Perfectly done." Slade said after a minute. "Release her."

The man put away his tools before untying Felicity from the chair and laying her on the cold floor, her back to Oliver. He then left with the table of tools as two more men came in to remove the chairs in the room.

"She won't be a bother." Slade said as he turned to Oliver who now had a perfect view of the new tattoo on Felicity's shoulder. "Now you can enjoy the look of Shado's Dragon on your Felicity. Let her remind you of what you have done, of how you are responsible for Shado's death." He said with a smile, noting the look of pain and regret on Oliver's face. Slade took the opportunity that Oliver presented with his distraction with Felicity to land another solid punch to the younger man's face, earning Oliver what would turn into a black eye. Slade didn't stop there however, he continued to punch Oliver in the ribs and stomach repeatedly for about two minutes before deciding that he had had enough. "Don't worry kid, I'll be back soon." Slade said before he turned and left the room with a laugh.

"Hey, I've seen that tattoo before." Laurel said, pointing at Felicity's new tattoo as the man finished with her. "Doesn't Oliver have one just like it?" She asked as she leaned in closer to the monitor to compare the image of Oliver's back with Felicity's back in the four views from the room.

"Yeah." Diggle stated quietly. He really felt for Oliver as Slade explained why he had given Felicity the tattoo of the Dragon on her back, just like Shado. Diggle had never heard much about the woman, but he knew enough to know that Oliver felt responsible for her death.