"Oliver?"
Felicity practically threw her cup at the desk. Cisco managed to catch it with a 'Hey! Watch it!" before it spilt over the computers.
Diggle followed her as she ran to Oliver's side.
Oliver was attempting to sit up, his eyes half closed. He was swaying slightly on the bed and his muscles bulged with the strain of lifting up his torso, still half asleep. Immediately, Felicity and Diggle where helping him sit vertically. Caitlin wandered over to help as well.
"I think I'd better go." Said Joe, looking behind Cisco at the scene taking place. "Call me as soon as Barry wakes up."
Cisco nodded and waved goodbye to the detective as he traipsed round the corner, heading for the lift, mumbling something about Iris having a fit. Once Joe had left his sight, he stumbled over to where the others where still trying to support Oliver. Caitlin was lifting up his eyelids and shining a pen-light into them whilst babbling off medical terms. Looking over at the still form of Barry, Cisco was reminded of the conversation in the jewelers earlier that night. If it was anything to go by, Barry was going to be a little difficult. Crossing his fingers, he hoped Oliver took the whole memory-loss thing well.
'Wha-?"
Cisco's attention snapped back to the vigilante.
"Do you know who you are?" Caitlin asked quickly before anyone else could say anything.
Diggle and Felicity both looked at her with synchronised looks of disapproval at her haste to question their friend. Caitlin, however, ignored them and continued to pester Oliver for an answer.
"Do you know you're name?"
"Caitl-" Cisco said before he was cut off.
"Oliver Queen." A croaky voice answered. His eyes darted in every direction.
"Good. Do you know where you are?"
"N-" Oliver coughed to clear his throat. "No. Wh-"
"Do you recognise any of us here?"
Everyone held their breath as Oliver's eyes surveyed them all. His gaze lasted longer on Felicity and Diggle than Caitlin and Cisco. Then he leant back and peered round Cisco's side to look at Barry. Something in his eyes lit up briefly. Narrowing them, he returned his face to the onlooking crowd.
"I-I'm not sure. I feel like I should know you." As he spoke, he looked into Felicity's eyes. "And - and I have seen him before." He pointed to the bed beside him.
Caitlin nodded "Can you tell us any of our names?" she pushed.
"Caitlin!" Diggle snapped but Oliver waved a hand at him.
"No, no, it's fine. Umm ..." Concentration swept over his face. He closed his eyes and focused on the hole in his mind. Come on! I know who they are ... Come on!
"Oliver, it's OK." Felicity placed a comforting hand on his and frowned up at Caitlin, challenging her to say more. Getting the gesture, Dr Snow pulled away to give them some privacy.
"How you feelin'?" Diggle knelt beside Felicity.
"Well ... I don't know. Lost. Where am I?"
"At a place called S.T.A.R Labs. In central city." Felicity responded. A soft but sad smile on her face.
"I think I should be in a place called sta...star..."
"Starling City?"
"Yes! Starling City! Where's that?"
Diggle's brow furrowed. Man, this was so not good.
"Um, yeah. You live in Starling but, um, we are visiting some friends in Central City at the moment." Stuttering over her words, Felicity turned to Diggle for him to take over.
Oliver looked more bewildered than before. "What? I don't know you. Let me go home please. I must of hit my head or something 'cause I can't remember anything. Just let me go." He snatched his arm away from Felicity and began to swing his legs over the side of the bed when strong hands pushed him back down.
"Do you remember who you are?" Diggle asked.
"I've already told you! I'm Oliver Queen!"
"No, I mean, who else you are. What you do."
Oliver raised his eyebrows. Then he burst out laughing. Diggle and Felicity looked bemusedly at their best-friend on the bed.
"Pfft," Oliver said once he's stopped cackling. "How can I be two people. It's not like anyone can become someone else. Or something else! Which one am ?" He said sarcastically.
"Man, you really don't remember do you?" Shaking his head, Diggle stormed away from the bed and sat in a chair, the far side of the cortex. Confused by what he had supposedly done, Oliver turned to Felicity.
Sympathetic as always, she looked down at the man she loved who had no idea who she was. "Let's just say we have some explaining to do."
XXXX
"So you're telling me that I am a vigilante in Starling City after I came back from 5 years on an island. I'm an ex-millionaire, dating you, was best man at your wedding, and I occasionally work with him to fight people with super powers which your lab explosion created? But I've forgotten everything because some dude with super powers took all my memories after I shot him in the leg." He pointed to the individuals as he recited what they had told him.
"Pretty much." Said Cisco, handing him a glass of water.
Felicity frowned. "You don't believe us do you?"
Swallowing, Oliver shook his head. "Well, not really, no."
There was a collective sigh amongst the group.
"This is gonna take some time." Diggle said aloud.
XXXX
A few hours later, Oliver walked back into the cortex with Felicity. She had showed him around - well, back around - the building. Caitlin and Cisco were scanning for anymore break-ins or robberies to tip them off as to where the Meta was. But, much to their dismay, it seemed like he was keeping a low profile and no doubt recovering from the leg wound Oliver had inflicted on him.
Diggle wandered over and leaned against the glass.
"Any idea on how to get their memories back then?" He asked.
Caitlin answered first. "Well, it's more than likely our Meta knows how to reverse or return peoples memories. If we can get him here, we might be able to get some answers. Getting him here, however, might be a bit of a problem for us four." She sighed and rubbed her temples.
Cisco however, leaned forward and wore a wide grin across his face. "But we could definitely ask in a favour from Ronnie and Martin. Anyone from your end who can help?" He looked at Team Arrow.
Diggle shook his head sorrowfully. "Without me, Oliver and Felicity there, Thea, Laurel and ... Malcolm are having to stand watch. They can't leave in case anything happens. And trust me when I say, Oliver probably wouldn't want them knowing he's literally forgotten them."
"Wouldn't I?" Oliver chipped in.
Felicity chuckled and tapped his arm. "Nope."
"If Firestorm can manage to bring him in, then I'm sure we'll be OK from there. Ronnie will probably want to visit anyway." Cisco winked at Caitlin as she blushed a bright red.
"What if that doesn't work and we end up with another two memory-loss casualties?" Felicity asked.
"Well ... we haven't got to that part yet." Shrugged Cisco. "But I'm sure it'll be fine." He swiped a hand through the air and attempted the reassure them all.
"And what about when Barry wakes up?" Questioned Felicity. She liked to have a plan and so far, the one they had wasn't exactly as stable as she liked. "Oliver was a little easier to keep on top of. He took it better as well. If Barry suddenly speeds off then gets confused as to why he can run at the speed of sound - and faster, then we may have a crisis on our hands."
Diggle nodded and looked pointedly at the two scientists.
"If he flips out, we need to restrain him right away and take him straight to the particle-accelerator Meta prison we've got going on below." Cisco said, looking smug when Diggle raised his eyebrows in surprise. "We'll make sure we lock the place up as well, so if he does run, he can't go anywhere but the building. Oh, and if he keeps running, he'll soon pass out. His glucose levels won't stay up too long. With him forgetting everything, he's probably forgotten how to phase through walls and objects or vibrate stuff off of him so no need to worry about that issue."
"Wait, he can phase through walls?" Diggle's mouth hung slightly open. Cisco began to recite the many things Barry can do with his speed.
Ignoring the chatter in the background, and happier with a little bit more of a plan, Felicity turned to Oliver.
"You OK?" She asked.
He looked down at her. "When were you going to tell me that the boy could run faster than the speed of sound?" He pointed over at Barry on the bed.
"Mach two to be precise." Cisco butted in, proudly, before returning to bragging about Barry's abilities.
"It wasn't a priority." She answered.
Oliver looked at her with awe. You knew things were messed up when someone running roughly 680 meters per second wasn't a priority.
Wasn't a priority?!