Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Oliver was numb. Samantha was dead. Thea was dead.

Unlike before, Slade remained silent; but even without Slade's urging, Oliver knew the time had come to stand up and carry on.

Oliver wearily swiped at his soot-streaked face with his hand. He had only found Slade, Thea, and Samantha. Slade had said Nyssa and two others were elsewhere seeking survivors. The rest of his friends were still on this island and Oliver had no intention of leaving until everyone was accounted for.

The thought struck Oliver like a lightning bolt that Oliver had sent a group off together: a group that included Thea and Samantha. Dread pooled in his stomach. Felicity, Curtis, and Malcolm. Malcolm wouldn't have left Thea alone in danger, and Oliver had told Thea to keep them all safe. If Thea and Samantha were here …

Oliver stood up suddenly, decision made. "Get my sister. I will take Samantha. We need to find the others."

Slade watched Oliver seriously, brow subtly furrowed, like he was trying to understand what he was being asked. "There are no others," Slade finally announced.

Oliver's stomach plummeted. Felicity. Oliver stared back at Slade in shock, feeling light-headed with this new blow. "No others?" he parroted breathlessly.

Slade appeared to grasp Oliver's assumption and quickly corrected it. "The others are back at the plane. The blonde with glasses and your bodyguard are with your cop friend." It was like Oliver could breathe again. Felicity, Diggle, and Lance were alive. Thank god. He wasn't sure he could take any more loss. "Everyone managed to take cover."

Relief leached away again as Oliver looked over the crackling flames lingering around the two bodies resting on the forest dirt. "Then what were Thea and Samantha doing here?"

"I wasn't with your friends. I left and returned after the explosions ended."

Oliver glanced down at Samantha's rapidly paling face. And suddenly he knew: Samantha would never leave without William, and –

- and Oliver had made his sister promise to protect Samantha. With a hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach, Oliver realized that Thea had died following Oliver's orders. The last words his sister would ever hear from her older brother would be Oliver ordering her to her death.

Oliver's eyes snapped shut at the flood of pain in his chest. Oh Thea. Forgive me.

Trying to set the cloying guilt aside for the moment, Oliver slowly took a breath, steeling himself and asked stalwartly, "Is everyone okay?"

Slade shrugged slightly. "Cop's fine. Your lady-friend looked banged up, but was on her feet. Your bodyguard … your friends stayed with him while the others went to the boat. He can't be moved."

The faintness returned. John.

No – Oliver couldn't lose someone else today. They would head directly to the plane. Find a way off this island.

Oliver stood up resolutely before leaning over to pull Samantha's body into his arms. "Slade," Oliver repeated, disregarding the shaking of his voice as he said, "Can you please get Thea?" Oliver ignored the insistent voice in his head that told him that Thea would have hated being carried by their mother's murderer. But what else could he do?

Oliver watched as Slade approached Thea's body, dropping to a knee and settling an arm under her head. And just as his other hand cradled underneath her knees, -

All Thea could hear was screaming. She saw and felt nothing – she was floating somewhere in darkness. And as she tried to allow herself to slip away into that darkness, she was sharply drawn to consciousness by that incessant wail.

With a sudden shock, Thea realized she knew that voice – the screams were hers. And trying to be heard above the sounds of her own shrieks was the voice of her brother, saying her name over and over, voice high and panicked.

And at once, Thea was no longer floating. She was on fire.

Thea paused, purposefully trying to calm herself and halting the cries. In their place she released gasped squeals as her body flamed with agony.

Pain is inevitable - suffering is optional, she reminded herself. And the next moment, she thought, like hell it is.

Thea's body twisted up, back arched as she was gripped by stabbing spasms along every inch of her legs, stomach, and hands. She tried to open her eyes, but could gain no more than a thin line of bright light through her lids. God, even her face felt aflame with stinging pain.

Thea tried to draw in a deep breath to loosen the tightness in her chest but was shocked to discover that her lungs ached and her throat felt like it was being stabbed by hundreds of needles. She coughed and yelped and coughed and gasped.

Thea was shocked by the sensation of being lifted into the air and she jerked her arms and legs out reflexively. Entering her pain-muddled thoughts, Thea latched onto a voice. "I've got you, Speedy," Oliver said, voice rough with emotion. Thea felt her body being pulled against her brother's chest. "Can you hold onto me?"

Thea wasn't sure she could even control her body at the moment – the only sensation that broke through was the throbbing roar of pain. But Thea, determined to try, lifted her arm to try to wrap it around Oliver's neck. When it fell heavily back down, Thea whined in distress.

"It's okay," Oliver reassured her quickly. "I've got you."

The next thing she felt was Oliver's steady footfalls, quick and urgent. Thea tried to unsuccessfully choke down a wail of agony. Oliver whispered, "I'm sorry, Thea. I am so sorry."

"You saved my life," Felicity said softly to Quentin from where she sat, gripping Digg's hand in hers.

Quentin nodded listlessly, not bothering to stop his pacing.

Felicity tried again. "I can't even imagine how you are feeling right now, but – that wasn't our Laurel. And Black Siren, she – she was going to kill me. You had to. To save me."

"I don't want to talk about it, okay?" Quentin said sharply.

Felicity nodded in agreement. Instead, she dropped her gaze to her friend.

Digg breathed in and out steadily through the oxygen mask Quentin had located in the ceiling and his eyes blinked steadily. Felicity was grateful. Digg was most likely in shock and had no doubt lost plenty of blood, but he appeared at least somewhat stable for the time being. Felicity was beginning to allow herself to hope that he could survive this.

Felicity's gaze shot back to Quentin when he froze to stare out one of the plane windows. "No -" Quentin said in a voice low with disbelief.

Felicity jumped up and looked out towards the charred forest to see two figures headed their way. "Oliver -" Felicity breathed out. The next moment, she was out the plane door with Quentin at her heels.

As the figures solidified through the smoke, Felicity was now certain. Slade Wilson and Oliver were walking steadily towards them. Each carried a body.

The shock froze Felicity's steps and she stared, even as Quentin continued on towards them. They had found Thea and Samantha.

The next moment, Felicity realized that Oliver was here and William was not. Her heart pounded with the realization of what the loss of his son would do to Oliver.

Quentin had reached Oliver and Slade and seemed to be offering Oliver to take Thea from him, but Oliver staunchly shook his head no.

Oliver was now near enough that Felicity could see the blue of his eyes and Felicity realized that everything – finding out what had happened to William, burying Thea and Samantha, finding a way off this god-forsaken island – could be worked through, because she had the thing she needed the most: Oliver had survived.

Tears prickled at her eyes as she met his in awe and read the same gratitude in his at finding her alive. Once he was within speaking distance, Felicity choked out, "Oliver, I thought you were …" She trailed off, still unable to voice it. Especially when the bodies of two of their friends were right there.

Oliver's eyes held identical emotion. He paused in front of her and leaned his head over Thea's form to press a kiss onto her hair. Felicity reached out a hand to brace herself against his bicep. Oliver murmured, "I know. I did too."

That was when Felicity was startled by the body in Oliver's arms spasming and whimpering. Felicity's eyes flew wide as she looked down at Thea. Thea was alive?

But how was she alive? Felicity blearily realized that Thea was burnt nearly beyond recognition. Felicity was shocked to realize that the reason Thea's cry was so muffled was because, clamped in her teeth, was a small strip of something. Tears leaked from eyes that were swollen shut.

"What's in her mouth?" Felicity demanded in horror.

"Leather from my quiver," Oliver said seriously. "Where can I put her?" He asked, eyes darting past Felicity to their plane.

"We have Diggle inside," Quentin stated. "C'mon." He took off to catch up with Slade who had not stopped his pace during Oliver and Felicity's reunion.

Oliver resumed a quick clip forward and Felicity followed, gasping out in horror, "How is she alive?" Her eyes drifted downwards to find Thea's legs covered in crusting and flaking chunks of burnt skin. Felicity noticed Oliver's shoulders stiffen at the words and she quickly back-pedaled. "That's not what I meant. I just meant – god, how do we even help her?"

As their feet tamped onto the metal of the plane, Felicity saw that Slade had already deposited Samantha off to the side. Quentin directed Oliver to place Thea next to Digg, before Quentin tucked his shirt under her head, leaving him in only a white sleeveless undershirt.

Digg opened his eyes and watched Oliver, mouth and nose enveloped by the yellow cup of a plane oxygen mask. "John," Oliver said, kneeling beside his friend. Oliver's eyes darted over Digg, seeming to quickly catalogue Digg's injuries. "Glad you're still here," Oliver said in a low voice to his friend. "You just hang on, okay?"

Digg nodded wearily. Oliver gently patted his shoulder, then stood up. He turned back to Felicity.

"Are you alright?"

Felicity's brow furrowed. Oliver stepped forward and gingerly touched at her temple. Felicity flinched away at the spark of pain. Oh.

Felicity quickly minimized, "It's fine. Doesn't even hurt." Oliver released a breath, looking relieved. "Where's William?" Felicity asked, voice sharp with worry.

"He's fine," Oliver said. "I need to get back to him. I left him on the beach. I didn't want him to see …"

Felicity swallowed and looked past Oliver to take in Samantha's body, and Digg and Thea bloody and burnt. She asked stiffly, "Chase is dead?"

Oliver nodded, eyes haunted. "Shot himself to trigger the dead man's switch."

"Figures," Felicity said sharply.

Felicity and Oliver's attention was pulled back to the ground by Thea's keening. Quentin rested on his knees beside her.

"I've gotcha, Thea," Quentin was murmuring gently as he tried to delicately pull away Thea's shirt, which looked like it was fused into her burned stomach. One particularly rough tug left Thea wailing through teeth gritted around the quiver strap in her mouth and arching at her neck and back.

"Sorry, sorry," Quentin apologized quickly, releasing the fabric in his hand. Felicity watched as Digg's hand slowly moved along the ground until he hooked Thea's hand within his.

"She's shivering pretty bad," Quentin said softly to Oliver and Felicity. "She looks like she's goin' into shock."

"What do we do?" Felicity demanded.

"Find her a blanket or something to heat her back up," Quentin directed. "She needs water. And if we can find another oxygen generator, that might help some."

Felicity scrambled up to the front of the plane and grabbed a blanket from the compartment, handing it to Quentin who tucked it from Thea's neck down around her legs. Felicity returned to the front to grab the hatchet from the plane floor and, at the next passenger seat with a yellow mask hanging down, she began to chop at the ceiling. Once she had made one opening, she shifted and continued until a flap of the plastic ceiling panel hung down.

"Oliver," Felicity called. "Can you help?"

Oliver strode over and, with gloved hands, pulled at the flap until the ceiling gaped.

Felicity reached her hand in and grasped the water bottle-sized cannister, pulling the hanging oxygen mask with it. Felicity returned to Quentin, who carefully removed the leather from between Thea's teeth and placed the yellow cup over her nose and mouth. Once it was secure, Felicity leant down and gave the string attached to the cannister key a tug. The cylinder produced a hissing sound and Thea jerked in response to the change in air pressure on her throat and lungs.

Quentin patted gently at the hair atop Thea's head and then stood up to face Oliver. Felicity joined them, sensing Quentin had something important to say.

"I know my first aid training is pretty basic, but one thing I do know," Quentin shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Diggle and Thea need fluids. Diggle's lost plenty of blood and Thea's burns would've burnt off plasma. Both of 'em aren't gonna make it if we can't find some way to get fluid back in 'em."

Oliver shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "It's not like we have bags of saline in the middle of the ocean."

"No, I know," Quentin agreed. "But we need to at least keep them both drinking water."

"There's no water in here," Felicity noted, voice rising in pitch with desperation. "I checked!" She waved at the side of the plane facing the ocean. "We have plenty of salt water, but I am pretty sure that dehydrating them by having them drink ocean brine isn't going to help!"

"There should be water and rations at the ARGUS holding facility," Oliver said evenly. He shifted his weight. "Maybe they'll have first aid supplies. Pain meds."

Felicity turned to Oliver fearfully. "You just got back," Felicity noted with distress. "I don't think we should be splitting up again!"

Oliver looked at Felicity with an apology in his eyes and said, "I wasn't going to be able to stay anyway – I have to go back to get William."

Felicity demanded, "Then I am coming too!"

"No," Oliver said quickly. "I need you safe, okay? You stay and help Lance with Thea and Diggle."

"And what makes you think that I am okay with you going back into a flaming forest alone?" Felicity asked through a thickness in her throat.

Oliver's eyes were sympathetic and he mouthed, "I know." He then said aloud, "I'm sorry."

Felicity's eyes filled with panicked tears as she looked in his eyes. She had just gotten him back and he was going to walk out the door and back into the flames. Felicity leapt forward to clutch Oliver into a desperate hug. She felt Oliver pull her closer and rest a hand against the back of her head.

Oliver dropped a kiss to the top of her head and then pulled away from the embrace. He knelt between Digg and Thea. He rested a hand on Digg's shoulder and when Digg opened his eyes he said, "I'll be back soon, okay? I expect you to be here when I return."

Small crinkles formed around Digg's eyes as Felicity recognized Digg trying to shoot Oliver a smile around his oxygen mask. The hand not holding onto Thea's raised an inch above the floor and formed into a thumbs up. Oliver nodded in response.

Then he turned to his sister. Oliver didn't touch her – Felicity assumed that he didn't know where he could that wouldn't hurt her. Instead, Oliver called out gently, "Speedy?"

Thea's head lolled to the side as if she was trying to follow the voice. The motion seemed to upset Oliver and he said a little louder, "Hey Speedy – can you look at me?"

Thea's swollen eyes cracked open. Oliver shot her a shaky smile. "Hey," he said softly. He swallowed and then said, "I know you're hurting. But you have to hold on, Speedy. Promise me?"

Thea didn't respond. Oliver reached forward and delicately tugged the oxygen away from her mouth. "Thea? Please. Answer me."

Thea's mouth parted and faintly Felicity understood, "Ollie … love. You."

Oliver swallowed. "I love you too, Thea – so much." He carefully adjusted the mask back over Thea's nose and mouth, then stood up like the action caused him pain. He turned to Quentin and Felicity and said, "I'll be back soon."

Felicity took Oliver's hand and followed him out of the plane. She stopped, feet on the sand. With the somber atmosphere of the plane, it was shocking that the sun over Lian Yu was still high and warm.

Felicity gently squeezed Oliver's hand and released it as he began to walk back towards the burning tree line. "Be safe," Felicity murmured, knowing the words wouldn't reach him. As his form began to vanish into the smoke, Felicity turned. That's when she saw it. The boat.

"Oliver!" Felicity cried out, running after him. "They're here!"