The Emerald

Chapter 35 - Worry

"I don't know why. It's not like I've done anything." Roy said quietly as he moved his gaze away from Oliver.

"That's not true Roy." Oliver replied. "In the last four days you have talked to a man that you though was dead. You have endured a beating from your father, who also happened to abuse you as a child. You helped keep watch over the citizens of Starling City at the concert. You were in an explosion and ended up pinned under rubble because you wanted to save a man's life. Then just now you survived another beating, keeping silent and determined despite previous injuries to your ribs and back." Oliver explained.

Oliver needed Roy to understand that he really was proud of him. He knew that if Roy had been in top physical condition when they had been captured then the younger man wouldn't be doubting himself so much. He also knew that the combination of Roy's previous injuries, coupled with the way he was currently hanging, had to be putting his younger Teammate through a lot of pain. But, Oliver also knew that Roy was stronger than this, all he needs to do is to believe in himself.

"Roy, I know you're in pain and your bruised ribs aren't helping the situation. However, I know you can do this. You are so much stronger than you think you are." Suddenly Oliver realized just what he needed to say to give Roy the last bit of encouragement that he needed. "You need to look at this as any normal mission. Don't look at that man as anything other than another mark that we are here to take down. If you can do that, separate the man from the memories, then you can get through this. You can defeat him, once and for all!"

Roy hung silent for a moment, digesting everything that Oliver had just told him. He knew that Oliver was right, he usually was, and he realized that all he had to do was just believe that he could beat his dad and get Oliver home, in one piece, before the wedding. From this point onward Roy was determined to treat this as any other mission, and take the Dealer down!

"Thank you Oliver." Roy said quietly as he looked back to his mentor. "Thank you for always believing in me, encouraging me."

Oliver gave a brief nod in response to Roy's thanks. There really were no more words needed.

"How are you feeling?" Roy asked, realizing that he had neglected to check on his Teammate.

"Fine." Oliver answered simply.

"What are they giving you through that breathing tube?" Roy asked curiously, realizing that he wasn't going to get any more answers to his last question.

"A sedative." Oliver explained as best he could. "It's not messing with my mental awareness much, just my muscles. They feel like they are jello right now so I would be useless in a fight. I suspect, though, that some good, clean air would flush it out of my system pretty quickly."

"Well, we are both useless in a fight unless we can find a way out of here." Roy commented as he started to look around again, trying to find some way to get them both out of there.

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Detective Lance looked at his watch for the tenth time in the same number of minutes. It had been two hours since he had called Oliver with the tip on David Wilson. It didn't usually take Team Arrow this long to deliver the bad guy to his front doorstep, and that though worried him slightly. Finally, after changing his mind several times he called the Arrow's cell phone. When he didn't get an answer he tried the next hero in his list of contacts, Sara.

Sara was thoroughly enjoying her evening. Shopping for dresses and getting them altered wasn't high on this Assassin's list of favorite things to do, however, the sight of Felicity, beaming, in her wedding dress made it all worth it. She knew that Oliver would love Felicity's dress! As Felicity turned back to the dressing room to change out of the dress Sara's phone rang.