A/N: So you can thank President's Day for the quick update. The story could end here, though I do have some ideas for possibly expanding it, so we'll see what happens. Hope this makes up for the cliffhanger. Thanks for reading!

Incentives

Chapter Eight – I'm Here

He ached all over, which wasn't new, but still sucked. There was a buzzing in his ears, a fiery pain in his right leg, and in general he felt like he'd been hit by a truck. His mind raced to figure out how he'd ended up like this and then he remembered – bomb.

He jerked, forcing his eyes open, struggling to sit up. He felt gentle hands against the bare skin of his chest and heard a noise as if it came from a long distance. Then his eyes finally focused on Felicity's worried face. She looked exhausted. He could see her lips moving, shaping his name. That was the noise, his name, but muted and muffled by the ringing in his ears.

"The bomb?" he asked, blinking when he realized his own voice had the same sound.

A small smile broke over her face, and the sight of it took the edge off his panic.

"You stopped it." He saw the words as much as he heard them. One of the hands on his chest trailed up to his shoulder, and it was a relief to have at least one pleasant physical sensation to go with all that pain.

"Rest," she mouthed. "Please."

He let her push him back down and focused on the feeling of her fingers in his hair until the pain gave way to the exhaustion.

When he woke the second time, things were much clearer. Though there was still an annoying ringing pressure in his right ear, his hearing seemed more normal. He recognized Felicity's voice a slight distance away.

"That's right, detective, you'll need to replace the circuit boards in the towers with the ones you were sent," she said, an edge of impatience in her voice. "They've been specifically programmed to help you undo the damage caused by the Triad."

Carefully he turned his head, and saw a strange sight. Felicity leaned over her monitors with an old telephone handset in her hand. There was some sort of device clamped over the receiver and the long black cord was twisted around her body. In spite of still feeling like utter crap, he couldn't help but smile.

"Just do it," she growled, slamming down the phone. Then, grumbling, she picked up the handset and disentangled herself.

"You're starting to sound like me," he said, his voice grating against his dry throat.

She looked up. "Oliver!" her smile was bright and utterly perfect. "You're awake." She walked toward him, her hands moving nervously. "It's good I sounded like you because I was pretending to be you. You know, Arrow you, not Oliver Queen you."

It was so good to listen to her voice, especially since he'd wondered if he'd ever hear it again. The thought pulled some his foggy memories into place. He'd cut the bomb apart as Felicity instructed and then run with the piece containing the explosives. He'd been three blocks away on his bike when the control panel had lit up, indicating the detonation signal had been sent. Knowing he had just minutes he raced to docks…that's where his memories dissolved into a series of incomprehensible sensations – a bright flash of light, Digg's face, the cold mental of the table on his skin.

"How close was I?" he asked as Felicity came to stand next to him.

Her smile fell away and he saw a haunted expression fill her eyes. "Fifteen yards…if you hadn't ducked down behind the bike, or the bomb hadn't made it into the water…" she shook her head, choking on the last word. Her hand came out to touch his arm, fingers trailing down it as if to make sure he was really there.

When her touch reached his hand, he flipped it over, tangling his fingers with hers. "I'm here," he said.

She nodded quickly and spoke again, the words stumbling over themselves, revealing her anxiety. "The police recovered the canister two hours ago. There was radioactive material in it just like they feared. If you hadn't stopped it, a third of the city might have been contaminated."

He tried to take a deep breath and grimaced. "How did you find me if all the cell towers were down?"

She looked at the floor and flushed slightly. "I might have hacked and re-tasked a military satellite."

Letting out a gravelly chuckle, he forced himself into a sitting position. "That's my girl."

Her head came up and her eyes locked with his. Smiling at her, he watched the flush on her cheeks deepen.

Moving carefully, he pushed himself forward so he could sit on the edge of the table. When she would have backed away to give him room, he held on to her hand, adjusting his position so that his legs fell on either side of where she stood.

"Where's Digg?" he asked softly.

"At Q.C.," she said, her voice a little breathy. "Putting a cover story in place to explain why you're not going to be at work for a few days."

"Good," he said. He looked down at their joined hands and copied the gesture he'd made the other night, sliding his thumb slowly over each of her fingers. "Does that mean I can have my incentive now?"

She smiled, a sparkle entering her eyes as her other hand came up to gently touch the bandage above his knee. "I think the deal was you in one piece," she said, her voice teasing. "I'm not sure this qualifies."

"Technically everything is still attached," he pointed out, moving his face closer to hers. "And I did save the city."

"True," she agreed, and she took a quick little breath that he loved. "So, I guess the question is – what do you want?"

Giving her what he hoped was his most charming smile he sighed, "It's a really long list…but let's start with this." Slowly he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers.

He held the contact for a long moment and then pulled back just a fraction, lightly moving his lips back and forth against hers until she let out a gasp. Deepening the kiss, he reached around her, his calloused fingers catching against the silk of her blouse as he spread his hand across her lower back, pulling her closer. She tasted so sweet, and it was that sweetness that allowed him to keep a degree of control over the sensations that flooded him.

He nipped just once at her upper lip before leaning back and resting his forehead against hers. "Now that's motivation."

She let out a whispery laugh and tucked her head against his shoulder. She went to put her arms around him, and he flinched at a flare of pain from his ribs.

"Sorry!" she said, genuinely upset. She tried to pull back, but he held her firmly, reaching down to move her hand to a less sensitive spot.

"Stay right here," he said. The clean smell of her hair and her breath coasting over the hollow of his throat brought him a feeling of calm he wasn't sure he'd ever experienced.

If this was the reward for saving Starling City, he was glad the job was his.