Teamwork

Chapter 33 - Hard to Kill

Diggle drove as quickly as he could back to Verdant. It was slower going than their trip out as he was trying not to jostle Oliver in the back any more than necessary since he knew his partner was already in a massive amount of pain. He focused on getting them back as quickly as possible, however, he didn't miss the quick conversation that Roy had with Thea over the comms.

"Thea, we're headed back." Roy said quietly into his comms.

"Are you okay?" Thea asked, relief evident in her voice. "How is Oliver?"

"The Team's good." Roy responded, being careful of how he relayed the information. He didn't want to scare her with unnecessary details. "Nothing but a couple new bruises. Oliver's going to need some medical attention though. Can you and Laurel get the medical bay ready?"

"Sure, what will you need?" Thea asked. However, Roy didn't miss the concern in her voice.

"We are going to need a lot of bandages, the suture kits, warm water..." Roy said as he tried to think of what all would be needed. He looked to Diggle for more instructions.

"We will also need the antiseptic and some ice for some bruises." Diggle continued as he continued to carefully maneuver the car through the streets to the lair. "We'll be there in two minutes." He updated them as he could hear the women getting things ready through Thea's comms. He glanced into the rear view mirror to see how his teammates were doing. He saw Felicity, still running her hands through Oliver's hair, with tears in her eyes and murmuring softly to him. He couldn't hear what she was saying and didn't bother to try and listen in either as he was sure it was not meant for anyone but Oliver. I just hope we got to him in time. He thought, knowing how bad it would be for everyone, especially Felicity, if Oliver didn't make it.

Felicity sat in the back of the car with Oliver's head in her lap. They were headed back to the lair, slower than she would have liked but she knew that Diggle was being careful not to jar Oliver any more than necessary. As she continued to run her hands through his hair she felt a huge mix of emotions. She was happy that they were now free and that Oliver would soon get the needed medical attention. She was scared that they hadn't gotten him out in time and that he wouldn't make it after having lost so much blood. She was relieved that he finally knew how she felt about him, but was also worried that they wouldn't be able to do anything about it now that they both knew how they felt about each other. She had never experienced so many emotions at the same time and it was overwhelming. As she looked down at the man that she loved she couldn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes as she saw the multitude of wounds on his body, knowing that he would now have a whole new set of scars.

"You're going to be okay Oliver." Felicity whispered to him quietly. She didn't care that he was out cold and probably wouldn't hear what she was saying. She wanted to make sure that he knew she still loved him and would do anything that she could to help him get better. "Diggle and Sara are going to take good care of you. They are going to patch you up all over again and then, in a couple of weeks, you'll be good as new. Oh Oliver, please hang on. Don't give up on me yet, okay! I need you! You hear me! Don't you dare leave me now, especially as you know how I feel. Come on Oliver, fight. Fight to come back to me. I love you so much and I can't lose you, not now!"

"Felicity." Diggle said quietly from the front seat, breaking her out of her thoughts. Felicity looked up and met his eyes in the mirror. "We will be at Verdant in 60 seconds." He updated her. She nodded her head before looking back down at the man that she loved, unable to tear her eyes away from his unconscious form for more than a second until she felt the car come to a stop.

Sara and Nyssa made quick work of going back through the warehouse. They zip cuffed and moved all of Slade's goons to the front room for SCPD to pick up and take to Iron Heights Prison. There were about twenty in all and as all were still unconscious it was easy to move them. Once they were done with all of Slade's men they moved back to the room where Oliver had been kept and Slade was still out cold on the floor.