Technical Assistance

Chapter 25: Emergency Drive Repair

"But..." She can't even bring herself to ask it; the thought is too horrible. She forces it out, convincing herself it will hurt less if she does it quickly, like removing an adhesive bandage. "But you'll wake up again, right?"

She's surprised he's even able to hear her because she says it so softly, but he answers hesitantly, "I don't know." Part of her wishes he had lied to her, but part of her appreciates the honesty.

"Well, you'd better," she says flatly, letting the anger and frustration take over, if only to keep her from hysterics. "Because if you don't, I'm going to be royally pissed." He laughs like she's joking, but clearly he doesn't know her as well as she believed—because she's not teasing.

The rest of the ride is made in silence, and she sees him in her rearview mirror, his head tilted away as he lays limp against the seat. It causes Felicity a brief moment of panic as she realizes it might be too late by the time she reaches the location. Then she shakes her head because that kind of thinking isn't going to help her now. She has to think positive—to think that there's hope—or she knows it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

She pulls into the empty lot, surprised to realize it's behind Verdant. She thinks that might be awfully risky, to have a base behind an occupied building that functions primarily at night, but he didn't ask her when he decided to set up camp. Her headlights land on the piece of rusted tin lying there, and she stops the car, parking without cutting the engine before she runs over to it. Sure enough, she pulls it up to reveal a keypad of some kind. "Two five, four two," she says quietly as she punches in each number, and the light on it goes green and the hydraulic hatch releases to expose a series of stairs.

She tries to move him, she does, but he's way too heavy for her to carry him while unconscious, and she knows she'd probably dislocate his shoulder if she tried to drag him. That's the last thing he needs, with everything else going on.

Knowing she probably shouldn't charge in, she hesitantly unzips his jacket, trying to find his phone. She feels a little bad about digging through his stuff, but she figures he'll forgive her for it under the circumstances. She finds it and pulls it out, smiling when she finds two of her sticky notes stuck to it. She didn't expect him to be so sentimental.

She tucks the notes back in his pocket, then turns the phone over to find the screen shattered.  Frowning and trying not to panic, she turns it over, trying to find a way to crack the case.  With another thought, she checks his pockets again, this time going for his pants pockets to find the knife she used to cut that arrow out of his shoulder ages ago.  It's an awkward angle and motion, and she's glad he's not awake to see her face heat and make some comment about the fact.  All it takes is quick flick of the release lever on the switchblade, and then she's able to wedge the blade out of the back of the phone.  She pulls out the SIM card, grateful that her registered phone is the same model--even if hers is a little lacking on security protocols compared to his.

She frowns when she finds the PIN lock on it, but then enters the same numbers he gave her for the locked panel--two, five, four, two.  She doesn't expect it to work, but it does, and she does a small fist pump before she opens the phone's contact list.  She scrolls straight down to  "Associate," just like the last time.  She hears the moment it picks up, and she says into the phone before Diggle can say anything, "Mr. Diggle, this is Felicity. We're outside the underground entrance." She notices the twinge of hysteria to her voice, but she doesn't have time for hysterics. "He's unconscious, and I can't move him by myself. He was shot, and—" She chokes over the word as it finally sets in, then, quieter, adds, "And it's not good."

"I'm on my way out," is his only response, and the line goes dead. She notices how dark it is in the lot, and so she cuts the headlights and the ignition before anyone can notice.