A/N: I'm back! Sorry it took so long - I just got made redundant at work, so between job searching and interviews, I haven't had a lot of time. I really appreciate your feedback on this story - I'm trying to broaden my repertoire from Merlin and Supernatural - and fan fiction is a great way to hone my writing skills for when I eventually publish my book. I may have a larger scale Arrow fiction coming, but for now I'll stick to one-shots!

Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any associated characters. Just having a little play is all. AU of 2 x 07

3 Seconds

Felicity came to very slowly. Her head pounded fiercely and her chest felt constricted as she struggled to draw breath. Loud clanging and grunts of exertion forced her to turn her head, and the resulting spike of agony in her neck and shoulders caused her to groan softly. Even without her glasses, she could see the blurry outline of a shirtless Oliver, climbing the salmon ladder - his brow furrowed in concentration as he worked through his frustration and probable guilt.

Testing her voice, she called to him - the cut on her dry lips splitting as they formed his name, but it didn't come out as strong as she wanted it to. Fumbling with the oxygen masked that covered her mouth, she tried to sit up, but nausea roiled in her stomach and she had to move quickly to prevent covering her self in vomit. Bile splattered to the floor and she was vaguely aware of Oliver dropping from the top of the ladder and rushing over to her.

'Felicity?' He called gently, pressing a large palm to her sweaty brow, his fingers brushing through her hair absentmindedly. She heaved again, but her stomach was empty and cramping painfully from the dry heaving. Her throat burned fiercely as she hung over the table, her eyes level with the muscled planes of Oliver's abs - which would normally leave her blushing - and with a ragged sigh, she allowed him to lay her back and adjust the mask to her face.

When she finally looked at his face, she was taken aback by the intense emotion swirling in his stormy eyes - she had never seen him look so vulnerable before and her heart ached for him, even though it was clearly her pain that caused his.

Felicity couldn't trust herself to speak, so with she took his hand and laced her trembling fingers through his. He squeezed gently and pressed his lips to her forehead, conveying his regret through the lingering touch.

'I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough,' he told her softly, the tone of his voice unfamiliar. She frowned and shook her head.

'Don't,' she replied, closing her eyes. She was utterly exhausted and all she wanted to do was sleep, but the pain was returning with full force.

She gasped and bit her lip, arching slightly to escape the pain. His hand pressed to her stomach gently and when he pulled back, she recognised the look on his face as fear.

'Relax,' he urged, reaching down to the rack beneath the table and retrieving a folded blanket. He draped it over her quaking form and tucked it around her. 'Diggle will be back soon - he's gone to get some good pain killers for you, OK?'

Felicity nodded, but couldn't stop the small cry of pain from passing her lips. She gripped his hand tighter as a distraction, but all she wanted to do was pass out; to escape the horrible cramping that worked its way up her body.

'Make it stop,' she panted, meeting Oliver's pained gaze. 'Please...'

He released a shaky breath, his lips trembling as he cupped her face with both hands.

'Hang in there, OK? I'm not going anywhere,' he assured, reaching into his back pocket for his phone.

As the cramping reached her stomach, a broken scream tore at her throat and Oliver nearly dropped the phone as Felicity slammed her head back - only half aware that she probably didn't need a concussion on top of everything else. Holding the phone to his ear with one hand, the other slipped behind Felicity's head to cushion the blows.

'Digg, where the hell are you!' He growled, his eyes not leaving hers. After a few moments, he nodded and hung up the phone. 'Hold on, he's coming.'

Pulling her up, Oliver pressed her to his chest and splayed a hand across her naked back. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,' he whispered into her hair as the door opened at the top of the stairs. Heavy footsteps echoed around the open room as Diggle approached and after a muted conversation, Oliver lifted her off the table with the blanket still wrapped around her and moved to the dark green sofa that she had purchased months ago.

It was far more comfortable than the table and Felicity relaxed a little as he sat, arranging her so that her head was pillowed against his thigh. 'I've got some heavy duty meds here for you girl,' Diggle explained softly, massaging the soft skin at the crook of her elbow. 'You're going to feel a little pinch, then you'll be as right as rain, promise.'

The needle slid into her skin and she flinched, turning her head away with a whimper - but it was quick. For a moment she couldn't breath and her eyes snapped open, searching for Oliver. His lips were moving, but she couldn't hear him through the blood rushing in her ears.

The feeling of suffocation passed and she sucked in breath after breath as warmth flooded her body and replaced the agony that threatened to pull her under.

A lazy smile crossed her lips and she relaxed further, her lids fluttering slightly as the pain disappeared altogether, leaving her dazed and floaty.

'S'much better,' she murmured, turning her head away from the harsh lights above and closing her eyes.

'Rest,' she heard Oliver mutter, before she was lost to sleep.

→ → → ARROW← ← ←

As she passed out, Oliver slumped against the back of the couch and scrubbed a hand over his face. It had been a long night. He'd never even considered Felicity being in so much pain before, and now that he'd seen it, he decided he would do anything to stop it from happening ever again.

'You good man?' Diggle asked, sitting on the floor by Felicity with another dose of morphine for when she woke up again.

Oliver shook his head and threaded his fingers through the blonde hair splayed across his lap.

'This can't ever happen again,' he muttered, looking down at her now peaceful face. The fear of losing her had exhausted him and now that she was relaxed and sleeping, he wanted nothing more than to join her in the land of nod.

'I agree,' Diggle said, tucking the blanket more tightly around her. 'She's going to be OK, you know?'

Sighing, Oliver nodded, his fingers never ceasing their movements. He needed to hold her, to make sure she didn't slip away.

Diggle could feel the guilt coming off him in waves - he would take a lot of convincing that this was not his fault, because Felicity was in his care. He felt it was his mission to keep her safe and in his mind, he had failed her.

They descended into silence and soon Oliver was dozing, but the lines of stress in his face did not ease. Diggle let him go and watched Felicity for any signs of pain and after about an hour, she stirred.

'Hey girl,' he whispered so as not to disturb the sleeping vigilante.

She opened her eyes and offered him a tired smile. 'Hey Dig,' she replied, wincing as she shifted slightly.

'Need another hit?' Diggle asked, preparing the second syringe.

Felicity nodded slightly, nudging into Oliver's touch. The movement caused him to wake suddenly and he looked at Diggle questioningly as he injected the morphine into her blood.

'I'll leave you guys to it. Call me if you need anything,'

Oliver nodded and looked down at Felicity with a concerned frown. 'You scared me,' he admitted quietly.

She reached up and took his hand gently. 'It's not your fault,' she replied with a reassuring smile. If Oliver didn't know better, he'd say she was psychic.

'Yes, it -'

Felicity cut him off with a finger to his lips. 'Shut up, Oliver. I had a lead and I followed it. This was my mistake and you saved me.'

'If I had some sooner...'

Her eyes flashed, and even under the influence of morphine, she managed to look angry.

'You will not beat yourself up about this.' She said firmly. 'My life. My choice, End of story. Got that Queen?'

'But-'

'No. You are not to blame. The Count did this, so stop beating yourself up. I'm fine.' She said firmly.

'I almost lost you.' He whispered brokenly, bending down to kiss her cheek. 'You're very important to me and I can't lose you.'

She smiled. 'You didn't lose me. I'm right here.'

'You'll be more careful next time?' He asked.

'I promise. I'll stick to computers from now on, like a good IT girl.'

'Good. I will be very angry if you break that promise.' He murmured, causing her to smile.

'I'm not scared of you, Oliver Queen. You're a softy...well...you're actually pretty hard...oh god, I mean...not hard, hard...that would be awkward...not that I would mind making you hard, OK shutting up in 3...2...1,'

Her face was bright red and she wouldn't meet his gaze, but he grinned - loving his girl just a little more.

I decided to finish it there. I love Felicity - she's so adorably awkward around Oliver and I hope I did her little ramble justice...

Thank you to everyone who read this and feedback is always appreciated.