"Count Vertigo, that's all we know!? Still!?"
Oliver was furious. Beyond furious, actually. It had been a week of this... Working endlessly trying to find who was circulating vertigo into the system, and yet there was nothing to show for it.
"This guy is practically a myth." Felicity sighed, looking at her computer absolutely defeated.
"We'll find him." Diggle responded, standing up from his chair.
"We have to find him. Now." Oliver growled, paving the foundry, getting anxious.
"Oliver, we will." Diggle looked at him.
Felicity didn't say a word, she just nodded. She didn't want to argue with him. She was trying her best... And, obviously her best wasn't good enough right now.
Oliver just kept pacing until eventually he couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed his quiver and filled it with more arrows. He turned around to face Felicity and Diggle, and just nodded at them, almost disregarding them entirely.
"I'm going to question more of these well-known druglords. I'll be back later." Oliver said, not really caring about their responses as he walked out the door.
Felicity and Diggle shared a look before he walked out of the foundry. Felicity sighed to herself. She hated seeing him like this... Tearing himself up from the inside out. It just hurt her heart, and it didn't seem right. Like, he seemed almost inhuman.
"He's just worried about Thea and the trial. He doesn't mean to take it out on you." Diggle sighed, giving Felicity a look of sympathy.
Felicity just glared at him.
"I appreciate that, John. But, I'd rather hear him apologize." She spit out, not meaning to sound rude, but the last week of Oliver pestering her about this and hounding her... It was just unacceptable.
And, frankly it hurt like hell.
This past week had been hell... Thea's trial was ludicrous. Her charges were true, yes. But, the fact that she was looking at jail time for a mere accident was shocking. The judge in charge of her trial didn't necessarily care for the Queen family. And, Moira was barely helping. Even after three years, Moira is still barely living. But, this trial is getting her back out in the open, so maybe that was a good thing...
Diggle just nodded, and went back to being silent in the background. Felicity turned around back to where she was facing her computer, and she studied the information even more. None of this made sense. How could someone that was so heavily involved in the city be invisible?
"Well, Lyla is sick, so I have to go. You okay staying here?" Diggle asked, causing Felicity to turn back around to look at him.
"Yeah, I'm just going to try and see if I can find anything." Felicity sighed, almost defeated at the fact that had yet to find something based on this guy.
"Don't stress yourself out, Felicity." Diggle smiled at her before leaving.
Felicity smiled at him as he left, and then turned back around to face the stupid computer. She put her face in her hands, thinking of anything that seemed off or odd about this guy, or in the system that overuses drugs.
Was there anything going on that seemed off right now?
That seemed weird?
And then she remembered what Diggle had said. Lyla got sick. Lyla never gets sick. She always stays extremely healthy. Maybe that wasn't some big clue, but it was something to go off of. She quickly called Lyla, not wanting to bother Diggle.
Felicity knew that it probably had nothing to do with anything, but it would be something to get her mind off of her failures.
"Hello?" Lyla coughed into the phone.
"Hey, I have a quick question. Where were you before you got sick?" Felicity blabbered into the phone.
"Ahem, what? Why?" She coughed into the phone, again.
"Something just seems off about you getting sick. I don't know." Felicity shook her head, suddenly feeling very dumb for even calling.
"Yeah, I don't usually get sick, but that doesn't mean something's fishy..." Lyla laughed.
"Yeah, you're right." Felicity sighed.
"Well, I did get a shot. I don't normally get shots." Lyla coughed.
"What? Where?" Felicity asked, suddenly grabbing a notebook and pen to jot down stuff.
"It was a... ahem, a bus. It has a route around the... ahem, city." Lyla struggled to get out.
"Okay, I'll look into it." Felicity responded.
"Do you need John? Felicity, I don't want you getting into trouble..." Lyla coughed, but Felicity interrupted her.
"It's probably nothing." Felicity laughed into the phone.
"Felicity..."
"Lyla, I'm probably just being paranoid! I've had nothing to really look into since Thea's accident, and I just want a chance to just get my mind off of it." Felicity sighed, knowing that this probably was really nothing.
"Okay, but if something's up--"
"I'll call John, I will." Felicity interrupted Lyla.
"Good." She coughed again.
"Get some rest Lyla." Felicity smiled into the phone.
"You too." Lyla responded, and then she hung up.
Felicity sighed loudly, swiveling her chair back to the computer where she furiously typed away. She was trying to locate where this bus's route would lead next. When she found the site that listed the credentials for the bus and what they stood for, it seemed extremely off.
"This is strange." Felicity muttered to herself, scanning page after page.
Finally, she got into the database of the sight, and located an IP address. Once she had the location of the bus, she packed her purse together.
Felicity was just about to leave when her comm went off.
"Felicity, have you found anything new?" Oliver's voice sounded through the signal, and of course he still sounded angry.
Felicity mentally groaned to herself before answering him back.
"Nope, nothing. I'm going to work." She said snappily.
"Give Palmer my best." Oliver growled through the comms.
Felicity was about to smartly reply back to him when she heard the click of his comm go offline. Of course he would tune her out. It was so like him.
Angrily, Felicity trudged to her car. Fine, if Oliver wanted to do this, she was more than willing to play along. Oliver wanted to shut her out? Well, she could shut him out just as easily. She would do this on her own.
She had been on her own for three years.
This would be a walk in the park.
Felicity quickly drove to an abandoned site near where the bus was going to be. Hiding her car, she swiftly parked it and walked towards the van. It looked like any other mobile medical van, but it wasn't a name of any hospital or association near here.
She quietly opened the door, surprised that it had been left unlocked. Once she was inside the small van, she felt weird. Nothing about this seemed right. Why had she come here by herself? That wasn't smart of her. At all. But, she was too stubborn to radio Oliver. She wanted him to realize that he really did want her. And, maybe, just maybe, he needed her.
I mean, he went to Laurel for advice.
Laurel.
He hadn't done that since before him and Felicity were together. It made Felicity furious that he would even think about going to her. She hated it. And, she wanted to hate him. For leaving her. For not wanting to be with her. For all of that.
But, she couldn't. She absolutely couldn't.
She looked around the bus, and everything looked normal. Other than it being sketchy, but that could just be that it's a bus for people in the Glades. But, they why would Lyla go to it?
So, maybe she should just check the cabinets. Just in case...
She quietly began opening the cabinets, and when she saw the tubes and viles of a strange liquid, she gasped. This wasn't liquid for shots.
This was Vertigo, in liquid form.
That's why Lyla was sick, and that's how he's been making people in the city sick this week. It seemed at random at first, all of the people getting sick, but now it made sense.
"Gotcha." She whispered, reaching for the Vertigo.
"Funny. That's what I was just about to say."
Felicity gasped, turning around to see a man that she had never seen before. This must be the Count...
"What shall I do with you?" He creepily smiled, tilting his head.
Felicity didn't answer. She just stood there, looking at him. She was trying to calm her breathing, but it wasn't working. She had already been kidnapped once, she knew seeing their face was never good. She was either going to die by the hands of him, or Oliver was going to have to come and save her, again.
Which she really didn't want. Oliver was already mad at her. (For no reason, but mad, nonetheless.)
"Felicity... Where are you?" Oliver growled from the comm.
Oh, crap.
She meant to turn the comms off, and when she looked up at the Count, he was just grinning.
"So, you work with someone, eh? Maybe a certain green-hooded vigilante?" He cocked an eyebrow.
Felicity just stood still, widening her eyes in terror. And, then the next thing she knew, there was blackness.
~•~•~•~•~•~
"Felicity!" Oliver yelled through the comm.
But, the click of the comm meant that she had turned it off, just as he had done not too long ago.
"Damn it, Felicity." Oliver muttered to himself.
He was angry, beyond angry that she had gone off and done something without letting him know. She wouldn't have taken her comm to work; that's how he knew she was off galavanting.
Lord knows what she was getting herself into now.
Oliver had just returned from his questionings, which had been a complete bust. No one knows anything about this "Count" guy, and it was getting more than frustrating. He had only run across the one guy that gave up his name.
But, that had been it.
Oliver heard his cellphone vibrate on the table, and quickly went to retreive it, hoping that it would be Felicity. But, it was Diggle.
"Yes, Diggle?" Oliver answered.
"Have you seen Felicity? She isn't answering her phone. And, she went out an hour ago." Diggle sighed into the phone. He sounded extremely worried.
"Well, she turned off her comms. She's probably just ignoring me, Diggle." Oliver muttered, shaking his head.
"I would too if you treated me like you've been treating her this week. Hell, you've been an ass." Diggle laughed into the phone.
"Hey!" Oliver laughed into the phone, knowing that Diggle was right, but not really wanting to make it serious.
"But, in all seriousness, man... Felicity should be back by now. She was just going to check out something." Diggle responded.
"Wait, you let her go by herself to check something out?" Oliver's voice started to rise.
"Well, Lyla didn't decide to tell me what was going on until after Felicity went." Diggle sighed.
"Where did she go, Diggle?" Oliver rasied his voice once again.
"Some van that's been distributing shots around the city. It seemed off to her, so she went to check it out." Diggle responded.
"Shots? In a van? That just sounds weird." Oliver mumbled more to himself than to Diggle.
"Maybe you should scope out the place. Just in case." Diggle sighed, not wanting to think the worst possible scenario.
"I doubt she'll want to see me, Diggle." Oliver grumbled.
"Oliver, she wants to talk to you. No matter how much of an ass you are. She loves you." Diggle responded.
"Fine. I'll go see what's going on." Oliver sighed, hanging up, and grabbing his quiver and arrows.
As he was grabbing everything, and getting ready to walk out the door, his comm beeped.
"Arrow? Vigilante? Whatever you want to be called... Hello, there! Surprised to hear from me?"
It was a man's voice, one that Oliver didn't recognize.
"Not as surprised as I was. You see, I find this not unattractive blonde getting all up in my business."
Oh, Felicity. Not again. He couldn't go through this again.
"What do you want? Where is she?" Oliver growled through the comm.
"Oh, your not unattractive blonde? I found her snooping inside my van. Mr. Viglilante, I don't do too well with people that invade my privacy." The voice sneered.
"What do you want?" Oliver repeated, growling deeper this time.
"I want to know who you are, Arrow. I want to know your deepest darkest secret." The voice laughed evilly, making Oliver's hairs stand on the back of his neck.
Before Oliver could reply, the voice laughed.
"Come find me, or your precious blondie gets a dose of Vertigo."
And then, the comm went dark.
Oliver brought his hands forcefully through his hair, tugging at it in frustration. He let out a yell, a scream of desperation, and flung everything off the table that was nearest to him. Everything crashed onto the floor, and it didn't make him feel any better. Not at all.
He turned to the computer, and tried to find the location of the comm. Fortunately, he knew how to track it. When he finally pinpointed it, he saw that they were in Queen Consolidated, or Palmer Technologies now. Either way, he ran to his bike and sped there.
He ran into the building as soon as he got there, running up every step as quickly as he could until he was at the top floor. He heard rattling, so he followed the noise. Then, he quietly walked in, automatically seeing Felicity tied up in a computer chair.
She was crying, and obviously panicked. And, he was touching her.
Oliver automatically wanted to kill him. Or at least take off the hand that was touching her. He was playing with her hair, and she was cringing. Seeing her like this, it pained Oliver. It made him wish that they had never fought.
"Pretty swanky offices." The Count sneered.
"What do you want?" Oliver growled a third time to this man.
"World peace and personal satisfaction... Though, not necessarily in that order." The Count sneered, letting his hands drop to Felicity shoulders, squeezing them.
It took all of Oliver's will not to shoot him now.
"So, Arrow, who are you under the hood? Remember, I can kill your lady friend in a nanosecond if you answer incorrectly." The Count laughed at Oliver.
Oliver slowly pulled his hood off, revealing his face.
"Oh, Oliver Queen! You aren't dead! Oh, a miracle!" The Count laughed once more, but then his face turned to cold stone.
"But, dead or alive, I'm not fond of people getting all up in my business."
Next thing Oliver knew, he pulled out a gun, and began shooting. Oliver instantly ran, and hid behind a couch in the office.
"You're going to have to try harder." Oliver spit out.
"Done!" The Count yelled, shooting again.
Felicity was watching all of this unfold, scared for Oliver's safety. Scared for her own safety. And, then she felt The Count tug at her shoulders, grabbing his knife, and releasing her.
Then, he pulled her ponytail and yanked her out of the seat.
"Come on!" He growled, pulling her toward the window.
But, just went he was about to shoot her, Oliver was right there aiming a bow to his heart.
"So, now we move on to plan B!" The Count yelled, pulling the Vertigo vile to Felicity's throat.
"Oliver, don't! Not for me!" Felicity cried, not wanting him to take a life. He hadn't done it since Tommy got involved. She didn't want to be the reason for it now. She wasn't worth his pain.
"Quiet, please. I'm threatening." The Count whispered.
Felicity just contined to cry and whimper, hating herself for getting into this, hating herself for making Oliver come rescue her once again.
"Lower your bow." The Count commanded Oliver, and Oliver listened, dropping his arrow, but keeping ahold of the bow tightly in his hand.
"Your problem is with me, it's not with her." Oliver pleaded.
"Well, consider this your penalty for making me go to Plan B in the first place." The Count growled, drawing the vile back and getting ready to stab her with it.
Out of pure instinct, Oliver reached for his arrows in the quiver attached to his back in mere seconds, and drew back his bow and fired, aiming for his heart. He hit him three times, to make sure that he would die, but then the Count fell back and out the window, shattering the glass as he fell all those stories down to his impending death.
Oliver closed his eyes, and breathed, knowing that he had taken another life, but knowing that it wasn't a choice. It was him or Felicity, and he chose Felicity.
He instantly looked at Felicity, and went to her, kneeling down next to her, and grabbing her cheek, forcing her to look at him.
"Hey."
Felicity flinched when he touched her, but as soon as she realized it was Oliver, she leaned into him, completely scared, but now she felt at home, safe. But, he released his hold of her far too soon.
"You're safe." Oliver whispered to her, trying to calm her down.
Felicity was whimpering, still, but the red spot in his suit jumped out to her. He had been shot.
"You're shot." She whimpered, reaching out for him, but he grabbed her face once more.
"Hey," he whispered, "it's nothing."
She breathed in a sigh of relief at that, but as soon as he saw that she was alright, he got up from the ground, and looked outside the window. The Count was dead. He killed him. And, Oliver was mortified with himself.
"What were you thinking, Felicity?" Oliver whispered, turning around to face her.
Felicity just closed her eyes and cried.
"Felicity..." Oliver cooed, walking towards her to try and calm her down again, but she quickly and clumsily stood up, retreating away from him.
"No... no. I don't... I can't... I'm sorry." She cried to him, shaking her head and limping out of the office.
"Felicity!" Oliver yelled, but she kept walking away,
She always walked away.
I'm extremely sorry about the wait. My b. I've been so busy. It's been really crazy.
I'll try to update again this week to make up for it, but just be patient with me, okay? I'm really trying over here. :(
Picture is of Oliver saving Felicity :)
Now, back to homework...
Love you guys.
-- Alayna <3