And here you have it, all wrapped up. Hopefully, this was a bit like an episode to help tide us over during the hiatus. Thank you for each and every kind review.

Chapter Six

Oliver startled awake and immediately frowned. He was back in the hospital, in a room this time instead of the ER and once again, he was clearly drugged. He didn't like the drugs. Drugs made a person sloppy, they lowered response time, and they made a person vulnerable. Oliver had no place in his life for lowered inhibitions or slower reflexes.

Oliver struggled to focus his tumbling thoughts. "Felicity." The name fell from his lips before he could call it back.

His eyes roamed the room desperately and finally landed on a sofa up against the wall beneath the windows. Felicity was lying on the sofa, stretched out under a blanket, fast asleep.

"She's ok, Ollie." Oliver's eyes snapped back and he realized Thea was sitting in a chair a few feet away. "They released her a few hours ago, but she wouldn't leave until she knew you were ok. She said you saved her life at the mansion, that it's how you got hurt." She stood and came closer to the head of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Oliver frowned. "Confused. What happened? How did I get here?" It wasn't a lie either. He remembered leaving the warehouse, but nothing after that.

"Mr. Diggle had to work overtime thanks to you two." When Oliver just frowned uncertainly, she added, "He followed the men who took Felicity. When he brought her here, he found out you'd managed to wander out of the ER with nobody any the wiser, and went looking for you. And don't think Mom didn't threaten the hospital with every type of lawsuit imaginable for letting you get out. I thought she was gonna have a stroke."

"Not their fault," Oliver said, mentally reorganizing to account for Digg's cover story. "I don't really remember… Must've been the pain meds…"

"You were bleeding internally, Ollie." She grasped his hand and Oliver could see the fear still lingering in her expression. "We heard about the hostage thing on the news, but by the time Mom and I got here you were missing… Then Mr. Diggle brought you back and…" Thea frowned at him, trying to look stern, which on her was just kind of… cute. "You're not supposed to get shot, Ollie. Or die. Ever again. Got it?"

Oliver smiled. "Got it. Mom still here?" He tried not to let it show how much he hoped the answer was no. He could barely bring himself to be civil to her since he'd learned about Thea's true parentage and with the drugs in his system, he wasn't sure he could keep his mouth shut in front of his sister.

"She left a little while ago. Campaign stuff." Thea shrugged as if it didn't matter, but Oliver could tell it bothered her that she'd chosen her political meetings over her children, one of whom was hurt. "Visiting hours are almost over anyway. She said she'd be back tomorrow."

Oliver nodded. "How long have I been out?"

"Since yesterday."

That got his attention. "Yesterday?"

Thea just rolled her eyes. "You were shot and bleeding internally. You expected to just hop out of bed and go back to work?"

Oliver just raised an eyebrow. Wouldn't be the first time.

Thea huffed. "I am surrounded by morons. I swear testosterone makes men dumber. Maybe by the time you and Roy are old, and your testosterone levels drop, you'll be smarter. Nice, sweet, smart, old men who won't make me crazy."

Oliver squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, Speedy. I'll be making you crazy 'til we're both old and gray."

Thea narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"Have you slept at all?" he asked. His sister looked exhausted and worn, and he was sorry that he was once again the cause.

She shrugged. "Knowing your brother was shot by a bunch of crazy people kind of takes precedence."

Oliver nodded and gave her hand another squeeze. "You should go home then. Get some rest. I'm just gonna lay here and sleep for a while."

"Sure you're not going to wander off again?" she asked accusingly.

"Not on my watch," came a deep voice from the doorway.

Oliver and Thea both looked up as Diggle walked into the room. "I'll make sure he stays put this time," he promised her.

Oliver realized Thea must have been even more tired than she looked, because she didn't even argue. She just smiled at Digg then turned back to Oliver. "I'm glad you're ok." She leaned down and hugged him. "I'll be back in the morning."

"Get some rest," he urged.

"You, too." She smiled tiredly and then left, nodding and quietly thanking Diggle again as she passed.

Digg waited for her to leave before closing the oversized hospital room door and stepping closer to the bed. "You ok? Cause I had to carry your heavy ass after you passed out outside the warehouse."

Oliver grimaced, but said, "Just helping you out. You could use some work on your upper body strength."

Digg grunted and shook his head, his expression clearly offering his thoughts on that. He quickly sobered, however, and said, "Had to make up for letting those jerks get past me in the first place."

Oliver frowned. "You did the best you could."

Digg glanced toward Felicity. "Not good enough."

"She was standing right next to me when she got hurt. That's on me," Oliver countered.

"Well, you're both idiots," Felicity muttered. "So there's that." She struggled out from under the blanket and sat up, groaning and holding a hand to her head which was obviously hurting her. Oliver was pleased to note all traces of blood were gone from her hair and she'd been able to change clothes. Felicity had set her glasses on the arm of the sofa while she slept. She grabbed them and put them on, her eyes moving from Oliver to Diggle and back again as the world came into focus. "Pretty sure I got hurt because a bunch of slack-jawed militia types decided to cause problems. I'm also prepared to blame Adrian Michaels for all the stainless steel in the panic room. If those cabinets had been wood, we wouldn't have had the ricochet problem."

"Felicity-" Digg started, but she immediately shushed him. She rose from the sofa, only slightly unsteady, and walked across the small room before reaching up and placing a kiss on his cheek.

"Thanks for coming after me."

"Always," he said seriously.

"Especially since we both know Oliver never would have figured out the message I sent. He's great with the shooting people, but so-so with the electronics."

Digg just snorted. "I put him on phone duty."

"You are wise beyond your years," she said smiling up at him.

Digg leaned down conspiratorially. "You might want to go thank Oliver now. He's actually trying to burn a hole in my skull with his glare," he stage-whispered.

Oliver could almost swear he saw a twinkle in her eye, because she very purposely kept her attention on Diggle. "How do you feel?"

John just smiled. "Better."

Oliver's brow furrowed, and not just because they were ignoring him. "What happened?"

"He dislocated his shoulder," Felicity said as if Oliver weren't too bright.

"When?"

"At the mansion," Digg answered. "One of those guys was nearly as mean a fighter as you."

Oliver's eyes narrowed. That meant Diggle had gone into the warehouse, he'd climbed the fire escape, with a bad shoulder to save Felicity. "You told me you were fine," Oliver said, tone accusatory.

Digg smirked. "Pretty sure I said I was better than you."

"But…"

"No buts, man. We both had a job to do."

Oliver looked at him for another second before finally nodding. They'd vowed to protect her and that's what they'd done, injured or not.

"Awww," Felicity cooed. "You may be big, macho idiots, but you're good guys."

Digg put an arm around her and pulled her in close to his side. "Just glad you're ok."

"Me, too." Felicity looked up at him. "Now go home. We're both ok."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Digg sighed, suddenly looked older and tired. "Sara and Roy are holding the fort tonight, so I'm going home. I'll be back tomorrow though. You two think you can stay out of trouble that long?"

Felicity nodded. "He's drugged and I'm going to take another nap."

"You should go home, too."

Felicity just smiled at him. "I will," she glanced toward Oliver, "in a bit."

Digg snorted and shook his head and muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "I'm not the only idiot around here."

Once he was gone, Felicity turned back toward Oliver. She smiled self-consciously and walked closer to the bed. Before his drug addled brain could think better of it, he held his hand out toward her. Felicity hesitated but finally grasped it in her own and for the first time since the gunmen entered the mansion Oliver felt like he could breathe again. "You ok?"

"Thanks to you two."

"Your head?"

"Concussion." She used her free hand to brush her fingers over her hair which was down. "They had to shave a little bit, but I've got enough extra to cover the bald spot until it grows back in. So, in short… Headache, a really bad haircut, but not dead… Go team. Although, I lost my shoes somehow… Don't really remember that part. But I loved those shoes. Kind of Cinderella, isn't it?"

Oliver's lips thinned into a smile and his hold tightened on her hand. "I'll find them for you once the police tape's gone."

Felicity let out a nervous laugh, pulling her hand from his grip. "Nah. That would make you Prince Charming. I mean we all know you're kind of charming despite the whole GRRR… side of your personality," she actually included the little clawed hand gesture, "and I guess since you're the heir apparent and all to everything Queen related… but I mean you're you, so, umm…" She finally looked at him and seemed to realize what had been coming out of her mouth. She let out a quick puff of air and tried to reel herself back in. "Yeah… no. I'll hack the SCPD database, and get them released from evidence. Unless there's blood on them. Did I get blood on them?"

Oliver shook his head. "They seemed to be in good shape when I took them off."

Her eyes widened. "You took them off?"

"You asked me to."

"Ok…" Felicity looked down and away. "Awkward."

Oliver decided to take pity on her. "Barefoot or not, I'm just glad you're all right." He'd rarely been that scared and Oliver had five years of nearly unending disaster and horror to measure it by. The sight of Felicity unconscious and bleeding had been more than enough to terrify him. "Did they… When we were in the warehouse, I saw him hit you…" He raised his arm slightly and pointed toward her cheek.

"It's ok." Felicity laid a hand against her slightly bruised cheek. "They actually let me clean up a bit. After that they watched me, but they couldn't really tell what I was doing on the computer. They didn't get mad until the end… just left me alone to do the job as well as draw you in. So… at least they appreciated my mad hacker skills."

"You don't have to get kidnapped to be appreciated, Felicity." Oliver could feel his eyes beginning to droop.

"Does that mean I get a raise? Cause this was on company time, buddy, and it should totally qualify for combat pay."

Oliver huffed out a tiny laugh. "Of course, Ms. Smoak."

"Oliver?"

Her worried tone brought his eyes open. He hadn't even realized they were closed. "Hmm?" He didn't like the frown on her face. Felicity should be smiling, and light-hearted.

"I'm sorry they took me to get to you."

"Other way around," he replied solemnly. "I'm sorry they took you to get to me."

Felicity cocked her head to one side, eyeing him. Finally, she said, "Call it even?" although Oliver could tell she was still unhappy, which he supposed was only to be expected since he was just as unhappy.

"No," he said softly. "I expect to get hurt. It's never ok for you to be in harm's way." He closed his eyes, physically blocking out the idea of her being hurt because of him. "I don't even want to think about it."

Oliver tried to open his eyes again, but they refused to comply. He vaguely registered when Felicity stepped closer and placed a hand on his forearm. "Get some rest, Oliver."

His brain wanted to say all kinds of things. "Don't leave." "You should go." "I'm glad you're all right." "It's my fault you were hurt." "I want you here when I wake up." "You should run as far and as fast as you can." "Stay. I'll keep you safe." "It's dangerous to be anywhere near me."

As usually happened, he said nothing. Felicity would make her own decisions anyway.

As he slipped into sleep, he heard her return to the sofa, followed by a bit of shuffling and then the soft, almost inaudible plinking noises of her typing on her tablet. She was going to stay and it settled something inside him to know it. She would leave before visiting hours began in the morning. She wouldn't want to be there when his mother or sister returned. For the time being, however, she was there and it was enough.

Hope y'all enjoyed it. Been a pleasure and thanks for reading!