Arrow: Visceral Barrage Part 1

The More Things Change

The team stomped their way into the Foundry, one by one exiting the stairs. Felicity swiveled in her chair to check the condition of her friends, her eyes traveling to Oliver first.

"Uh oh. You have angry face." She began, satisfied that no one was injured. Diggle and Roy moved toward the center, ignoring her comment with stone expressions.

"You all do." Felicity added, rising from her chair and moving toward her team. Oliver soberly placed a single blood crusted crossbow bolt onto the center table, filling Felicity in on the reason behind their sour moods.

"Visceral." She muttered, examining the bolt with her eyes.

"He wasn't in the old subway maintenance tunnels." Oliver explained, dissapointment clinging to his words.

"That's impossible. The dirt you found from one of the crime scenes had traces of brick sediment that was used in the construction of the old Starling City subway network." Felicity countered, confident in her work.

"Well he wasn't there! And instead of being where you said he'd be he was murdering Carter Blocke and his men in a parking lot in the Glades." Oliver explained, replacing some of his gear keeping his back to her.

"You know Oliver we've been through this before so if wanna say something than just say it." Felicity replied, her voice deepening at the thought of Oliver blaming this failure on her. Oliver snapped toward her, fighting every ounce of him that wanted to speak. His stone expression cut into her, painfully stinging.

"What? You think I'm distracted because I actually have a social life now?" Felicity asked, not backing away from the subject that had been boiling for several months now. Diggle and Roy both straightened up, both eager and somewhat affraid to see the oncoming fight.

"No I think you're distracted because you can't keep your social life seperate from here!" Oliver stated, letting loose of his words and emotions. Felicity forced a laugh as she edged closer to him.

"That's grand, coming from a guy who slept with atleast two different women in this very room!" Felicity countered, feeling proud and regretful at the comment. The statement caught Oliver slightly by surprise, he hadn't expected Felicity to bring up memories like that.

"Atleast I kept things professional when they needed to be." He replied through his locked jaw, standing inches away from her.

"Yeah and with no regard for who you hurt!" Felicity barked, tears now running from her eyes. He honestly hadn't expected that comment, he wouldn't have imagined Felicity would have gone there to hurt him. His jaw dropped slightly from the shear shock of what she had just said, referring to his last words to her before his duel with Ra's Al Ghul. The same words that had pushed them further apart once he had finally returned. The pain of finally hearing him admit his feelings for her and then going off to his death was a feeling that Felicity had never felt before. She hated him for doing that to her, telling her that he loved her almost certainly knowing he was going to his death. Oliver stood speechless and dumbfounded.

"Alright that's enough." Diggle announced firmly as he stood and moved toward the two. Felicity wiped away her tears and tried to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"I need a minute." She muttered, moving toward the stairs and not looking back. Oliver moved to follow her but was stopped by Diggle's gentle grasp on his arm.

"Give her some space." He not so ordered as recommended, trying his best to get through to his hurt friend. Oliver fought back the tears in his eyes as he watched Felicity ascend the stairs, the sound of her sobbing fading away.

The sunlight gleamed down through the giant windows, reflecting off every surface. Oliver shielded his eyes as he walked up to Felicity's office.

"She's not here." Diggle began, sitting at the desk loosely paying attention to the broadcast on the monitor before him. Oliver sighed, half relieved and half dissapointed.