The Way We Talk

Safe (Little Talks #19)

Prompt:  "I'm not going to make it."

Officer Quentin Lance hears the gunshot go off, and dread instantly claws at his gut.  It changes from dread to panic, however, when he sees the person the papers call the Black Canary drop to the ground.  An arrow instantly follows, ending the gunfire, but by that point, it's far too late in Lance's opinion.  She's already down, and it doesn't look good.  He breaks into a run, toward the two masked figures who are the real heroes in the city.

The Arrow is already crouching next to her, saying her name.  Lance isn't far behind, dropping to the ground on her other side.  "Sara?" he asks, looking at the puddle of blood forming underneath her.  The wound is through her left shoulder, blood blossoming through the black fabric that looks like it's very near her heart—if not in it.  The Arrow is already starting to apply pressure, but blood pours out between his fingers, striking an odd contrast against the green leather of his gloves.  He's barking something into the comm at his ear, probably to Felicity, but Lance isn't paying much attention to it.

Sara chuckles, but the sound is strangled.  "Survived all that time on the island," she whispers, "only to die here."  She seems oddly at peace with the possibility of dying, and Lance can feel the desperation start to kick in.  They have to save her—he can't lose his daughter again.  Sara isn't paying attention to her father, though, and she grimaces before reaching up with her left arm and throwing it around the Arrow's neck.  She pulls him toward her with surprising strength and puts her lips to his for a brief moment before he pulls away.  Lance thinks it odd, since she's with Oliver Queen these days, but somewhere in his mind he admits he'd rather see her with him than Oliver.

"You're going to be fine," he assures her, his voice sounding hollow in a way that has nothing to do with the synthesizer.  Lance doesn't think he believes it, though.

"I'm not going to make it," she says, again too calm for the implication she's making.  "I know that and you know that.  There's no point in pretending—not after we've been through so much together."  She tilts her head to the side, finally noticing her father.  She gives him that charming brave smile she's perfected in the past six years.  "I'm sorry you had to be here for this, Dad," she says quietly, wincing in pain.  "I didn't want you to see this."  She takes his hand in hers, trying to convince him that she's fine—of something they both know to be a lie.

"It's okay, baby," he says to her quietly.  "You'll be good as new in no time—I promise."  He looks at the Arrow, and now they're partners in this.  "We're going to save her, right?" he asks quietly, so that Sara can't hear.

"I'm at least going to try," comes the response, as he pulls her up into his arms.

 ***

"You can take off the hood now," the Arrow says to Lance from a distance.  His voice is still synthesized, but at least the air is no longer cold and he doesn't have to be blindfolded any longer.

When he removes the black bag from his head, he's surprised by his surroundings.  He always thought they were working out of some abandoned building, sure, but he expected it to be a shoddy operation—at best.  Instead, he sees a myriad of combat practice equipment, an impressive display of arrows.  There's a glass case where the Arrow's distinctive attire goes when not in use, and then there's the computer systems.  He's impressed; they have a better setup than the more technologically advanced departments at SCPD.  Three top-notch computers sit on a desk in the middle of what he now recognizes to be the "lair" Felicity spoke of before.

Behind the impressive set of computers, the Arrow sets Sara on the metal gurney, Felicity hovering behind them, already starting to apply pressure to the wound with a white towel.  "This doesn't look good," the tech whiz says to the Arrow.  "Worse than either of mine, anyway."  She lifts the towel up, eyeing the wound more thoroughly.  "This looks a lot like the gunshot wound Moira Queen gave you last year, and I think you nearly died twice during that whole ordeal."  She leans over her shoulder at Lance, her concern written all over her face.  "I'm sorry, Detective," she says, her expression grim for a change.  "We're trying, but I'm not sure if this is going to have Disney ending or not."

Lance seizes the opportunity to talk about something else.  Though he knows they've been working together for quite some time, he's surprised to realize that she's been helping him so long.  He voices the thought that occurs to him:  "They lost that blood sample.  That was you, wasn't it?"  He asks the question slowly, so that he doesn't have to think about the knives and needles going into his daughter.

Felicity seems to find that amusing.  "Your Cybersecurity division was due for an overhaul that it never received—and that was two years ago," she explains, sounding modest despite her words.  "If I hacked into your servers and... say, ordered that sample destroyed, it would have been pretty easy."  Lance moves closer, all the while shaking his head.  He never quite expects the words that come out of her mouth, and she surprises him by the admission of guilt.  Before he can speak again, she points toward her computer chair and says, "Have a seat before you fall down, Detective.  We're going to be here a while."

He does as she asks, and he watches the two move around Sara to press down his panic—and other fatherly emotions.  Something in his posture suggests that the Arrow is at war with himself, and Lance isn't the only one to come to that conclusion.  Felicity puts her free hand on his bicep before saying, "I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong.  It's not your fault.  This is what happens, and you know that.  We all go out there knowing the risks, and every one of us has nearly paid the price.  We've all been shot, and we've all—"  She drops the phrase, but Lance knows how she's going to end it.  We've all killed before.

Before any other words can be spoken, the heart monitor goes into overdrive, indicating Sara's heart has stopped.  All Lance can do is rise from his seat, standing helplessly.  "Stay there!" Felicity commands him abruptly, and the Arrow is already pulling around an ancient, hopeless defibrillator.  He presses the paddles against her, but the charge doesn't go through.

Panicked and frustrated, his voice sounds even more menacing, especially as he demands, "Felicity!"

Lance doesn't quite understand what it is he thinks she can do, but she's already at the machine with a screwdriver in hand.  "You know," she says as she tears off the front panel, sounding calm other than her high-pitched voice, "there's no need to shout.  How about I stand over there yelling unhelpfully, and you try to rewire a defibrillator?"  He doesn't have time to respond to her question before she says, "Try again."

The charge fires this time, and the heart monitor starts beeping normally again.  The Vigilante's back is to Lance, but apparently Felicity sees something in his expression that bothers her, judging by the way her face falls.  She walks up to him and takes his hand in hers, the gesture too intimate for friends.  For not the first time, Lance is surprised by how freely she interacts with a man who gives half the people in the city nightmares.  "Hey," she says quietly, "she's going to be okay.  You were shot like this and you pulled through."  The corners of her mouth turn up.  "And we both know Sara's a whole lot tougher than you are."

He mutters a quick affirmation of thanks before she moves back toward Lance, and takes mercy on him, too, by saying, "She's fine now, Detective.  She's safe, and we're going to keep her that way."

She starts to continue, but the Arrow walks up behind her, putting a hand to her shoulder.  "Thank you, Felicity," he repeats quietly, with presumably different meaning, betraying more fondness for the girl than Lance would think him capable of.  Before she can respond, he's already moving away, back toward the training areas.

Lance sits back down in the chair, keeping vigil near his daughter, while Felicity moves toward the training area, watching the Arrow from a close distance.  His daughter is safe now, and that's all that matters.