Chapter Text
There were a few times in John Diggle’s life when he really questioned what he was doing with his life. When he first joined the Army and experienced his first taste of combat, was one such example. When he followed in his late brother’s footsteps and became a personal security specialist for the elite and began working for the recently returned from the dead, Oliver Queen, was another. However, once he found out who Oliver Queen really was and spent the next two years growing closer with the man to the point where he called him brother was not one of those times.
Being a bodyguard to a man whose secret life was a fearsome vigilante, often left him bored, as he was today, since there generally wasn’t much to ‘protect’ his charge from, although the position was maintained to keep up appearances. Most of the day had been spent with Oliver in meetings as he prepared to return to the office as the full time CEO of Queen Consolidated after taking paternal and injury leave from the company. They had been on their way home when a phone call from Oliver’s newly discovered half-sister Emiko, had diverted them to her mother’s house so that Oliver could pick up a package from her mother at his sister’s request. While Oliver got out of the car, he motioned for Dig to stay put and he went to talk to Ms. Adachi, Emiko’s mother. Diggle was content to try to finish that day’s crossword puzzle, while still being attentive to his surroundings. He only had a few more words left to solve, when something caught his attention. Looking up from the crossword he could only watch in horror as one of his worst nightmares came to life. A motorcycle was hurtling down the road, but it wasn’t the speed of the oncoming bike that had caught his attention, it was the machine gun that the rider had raised in front of him and aimed at the house.
Diggle quickly looked over at Oliver who had also clocked the imminent danger and had immediately jumped into action, pushing Ms. Adachi into the house while shielding her with his own body. Dig was in motion, jumping out of the car and drawing his gun, as he watched as the spray of bullets hit Oliver in the chest more than once. The gunman stopped shooting as soon as Oliver had gone down, but Dig was already firing several shots at him. The bike jerked as the shooter fled, indicating that he had hit the gunman at least once. Looking at the plates he committed them to memory as he ran to help Oliver.
Terrified that he would find Oliver, his brother in everything but blood, dead on the porch steps Diggle quickly ran to where Oliver’s body was sprawled. He looked over his friend who was lying motionless on his back, his eyes open and gazing vacantly up at the sky. Blood was quickly spreading across Oliver’s while shirt and his breathing was labored. Yanking off his suit jacket Dig folded it and laid it across both of the bullet holes that he saw and began applying pressure. “We’ve got to stop the bleeding.” He told Oliver as he firmly pressed down on the wounds with all the force that he could muster, pulling out a soft moan from Oliver. Dig felt a moment of relief wash over him, Oliver was still alive! He leaned over Oliver to reassure and encourage him to fight to survive, “You’re going to be okay Oliver. Just keep fighting.” Then Oliver’s body went limp. Fearing the worst Dig replaced one hand with his knee to the maintain pressure on the wounds and fished out his cell phone and to dial 911.
“911, What’s your emergency?” Came the calm voice of the operator.
“My name is John Diggle I work personal security for Oliver Queen; he’s been shot multiple times.” Dig rattled off the address to the 911 operator and requested that police and ambulances respond. Then leaning back over Oliver, he said, “You’re going to be okay. Just hang in there.” He dropped the cellphone beside Oliver’s still body ignoring the voice coming from the device.
Emiko’s mother appeared with towels in her hands. “He saved my life,” She tearfully said. “How can I help?”
“Use that towel and when I lift off of this wound, you press it there, hard. We’re need to slow the bleeding down and apply as much pressure as we can.” Diggle explained as he nodded at one of the wounds that he was currently pressing on. Emiko’s mother smoothly took his place, so they were both applying as much pressure as they could to stop the bleeding. As they worked the sounds of sirens pierced the air, and Diggle sighed in relief; help was on the way.
***ARROW***
Felicity Smoak was at the Queen mansion, the place that she and her five-month-old daughter Esther Queen were currently calling home. Felicity had spread a blanket out on the floor of Esther’s room, and they were having tummy time, which Esther wasn’t really enjoying. She preferred to be held upright so that she could see what was going on around her, especially if it was one of her parents or Roy who was doing the holding. For a reason that Felicity didn’t understand, Thea’s boyfriend, Roy Harper was one of Esther’s favorite people. Setting a timer on her phone she said, “Five more minutes little one. Then Mommy will rescue you from the big bad floor and we can go get a snack before Daddy gets home.” At hearing the word, Daddy, Esther squealed and kicked her little legs excitedly. “I know, I love Daddy too.”
Felicity smiled at her daughter fondly and then looked the heirloom ring resting on her finger. When Oliver had proposed a few weeks ago with his grandmother’s ring she had been surprised, but had said yes because it felt right. She loved the man with everything that she had, and even though the actual thought of marriage scared her, she truly wanted to be married to him and couldn’t imagine her life without him.
Once the timer went off she stood carefully, groaning at the dull ache in her ribs as she slowly stretched. After five very long months of recovery and rehab Felicity’s injured ribs were healing and were finally giving her less problems every day. Just the week prior the doctor had released her so that she could pick up Esther and to start working out again. The pain was still there when she moved her torso too much or too quickly, however she and pain had come to an understanding. As a result, there were still a few things that she was dependent on Oliver for since putting her arms above her head was still too painful, such as pulling things, including her bra, over her head and brushing her hair, however every day she was able to raise her arms just a little bit higher, so she was finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Felicity picked Esther up and had just finished securing her in the baby wrap that helped take the pressure off of her ribs when her phone rang. Seeing that it was Dig she figured that Oliver wanted to know what they wanted for supper and answered it as she got the baby secured. “Hey Dig, picking up Big Belly? Although if we continue to eat that, I will get a big belly.”
“Felicity,” The way that he said her name made her heart sink and ice flood through her veins. She stopped dead in her tracks, her hand tightly clutching the phone.
“What happened?” She asked, her voice sounding deceptively calm, but inside she was anything but.
“He was shot multiple times.” Dig took a deep breath and let it out. “He’s en route to Starling General. You need to get there as soon as possible, it’s bad.”
Shocked by the news she stumbled to the rocking chair before she collapsed into it, grateful that Esther was in the carrier so she didn’t have to worry about dropping her. “What happened?” She could feel Esther pick up on her mother’s distress, and start to squirm and whimper, but she was focused on what Diggle was saying.
“This guy came outta nowhere and just started firing.” He paused and she could hear voices in the background. “I’ve got to go; the police want to question me. Promise me that you’ll get someone to drive you to the hospital, and make sure that you take some security with you?”
“Alright. Have Moira or Thea been informed?”
“You were my first call.”
“Is it…?” She left the rest of the question of if it is related to Oliver being the Arrow unspoken.
“I don’t know. I’ll meet you at the hospital as soon as the police are finished questioning me.” Dig said and then he hung up.
Slowly Felicity lowered the phone, leaned her head back and blinked away her tears. With one hand she rubbed Esther’s tummy and gave her the pacifier that was hanging on a clip from the little girl’s onesie, while the other still gripped her phone tightly. Her mind whirling, she tried to focus in order to figure out what she needed to do next, Thea was currently at work and should be getting off soon, while Moira was in her office at the house. Taking a deep breath, she decided to go and tell Moira first, then they could tell Thea and have her meet them at the hospital. Rising on shaky legs she walked down the hall to Moira’s office the door was open she knocked lightly and then entered the spacious room.
Moira looked up from the paperwork she was filling out and smiled at Felicity. The smile quickly slid off her face when she took in Felicity’s expression. “What’s wrong?” She immediately asked.
Her voice flat, Felicity responded, “Diggle just called. Oliver’s been shot multiple times and is currently being taken to the hospital. He doesn’t really know what’s going on.”
Moira took a few seconds to process the information that Felicity had just relayed and then took charge. “I’ll ask Raisa to look after Esther. We’ll call Thea and have her wait for us at QC, and the three of us can to go to the hospital together. You’ll need to call Tommy on the way while I’ll call QC’s public relations department so we can get ahead of the game.” She stood up and slipped on her shoes. “I’ll call and ask Jim to bring the car around, I don’t think that either of us should be driving, we simply aren’t in the right frame of mind to do it.” Moira stopped, took a deep breath, and laid a comforting hand on Felicity’s shoulder. “He’s going to be okay.” Felicity bit her lips and nodded.
“I, uh, I need to nurse Esther before we leave.” Felicity said woodenly. “And Dig said we shouldn’t go anywhere without security.”
“Of course, dear. I’ll just let Raisa know where you are and then I’ll call Thea.” With that Moira was out the door.
“Hey Baby, I know it’s not quite your supper time, but Mommy has to go check on Daddy so eat up.” She told Esther as she got the baby situated. While Esther nursed she texted Tommy and informed him of what happened, when that was done her thoughts bounced around like they were a ball in a pinball machine, trying to figure out what needed to be done and when. Once Esther had finished eating she went to find Rasia who was waiting for them in the hall.
“How’s my favorite baby today?” Raisa asked as she took Esther in her arms.
A small smile crossed Felicity’s face. “She’s doing good. Thank you for watching her.”
“I’m glad to. Don’t you worry Miss Felicity, Mr. Oliver will be okay, he is a strong boy.” She smiled and patted Felicity’s shoulder as she walked off quietly talking to Esther in Russian. Felicity smiled fondly after them, at this rate her baby would start speaking Russian before she learned English.
Felicity rushed around her room throwing a few things that she thought she might need into a bag, including her trusty tablet and her breast pump, then she headed to meet Moira in the foyer. The ride to QC was both quick and seemed to take forever, or it just seemed that way to Felicity. When they arrived at QC Thea was waiting for them at the entrance and quickly climbed into the back of the car with them. Tears streeked down the younger woman’s cheeks. She threw herself into Felicity’s arms and held her tight. Thea wiped at her tears, “I told Walter what was happening.” She took a deep shuttering breath to calm her nerves, “He said he would stay with QC and handle anything that needed handling there for us.”
At the hospital they found Diggle waiting at the entrance, he brought them up to speed. “Oliver’s currently in surgery. He took two rounds to the chest and was losing a lot of blood.” The big black man shook his head. “I wish that I knew more, but I’m not listed as family so that’s all I’ve got. But he’s a stubborn man, and I have faith that he’ll bounce back quickly.”
Moira laid a hand on his shoulder, “Thank you, Mr. Diggle.’
He nodded, “Let me escort you up to the waiting room. I’ve arranged for a private room for you.” He offered his arm to Moira who took it while Thea slipped her hand into Felicity’s and the four made their way up to the surgical waiting room.
About an hour after they had arrived Tommy burst into the room, his arms laden with food. “I know that none of us feel like eating, but we all need to. So, I got us comfort food; burgers and shakes.” Once the food had been distributed he enveloped Felicity in a tight hug. “He’s going to be okay.” He murmured into her ear, as she held on to their friend. “He has to be.”
“Thank you.” She said through the lump in her throat. She mechanically ate the food that she had been given, without enjoying it, jumping at every shadow that passed by the doorway. She had just decided to go ask at the nurse’s desk if they had an update when an exhausted looking doctor entered the room.
“Family of Oliver Queen?”
Moira, Thea and Felicity immediately stood and walked towards the doctor, Thea clinging tightly to Felicity, while Moira was hugging herself looking lost. “I’m Dr. Lockheart, I was one of the surgeons who worked on Mr. Queen. It was touch and go there for a bit. He had two penetrating trauma wounds. One in his upper chest and the other in his lower abdominal area.” As she spoke she indicated the areas on her own body. “Let me just say that Mr. Queen’s guardian angel was working overtime today. Don’t be surprised if some of the nurses want him to tell them the winning numbers for the lotto. While he has lost a lot of blood from both wounds, they miraculously avoided all of the major arteries and other no-no areas. We did have to remove Mr. Queen’s appendix as the bullet hit it but it avoided everything else. In his shoulder the gunshot broke his clavicle and slightly nicked the subclavian artery but both are stable. We have currently placed a shoulder immobilizer on him, to prevent anything from shifting. Right now, our biggest concerns are the blood loss and any risk of infection. We are quite optimistic that he will heal fully. Right now he is currently in recovery, and once he wakes up, we’ll move him to the surgical step-down unit. A nurse will come get you as soon as he’s ready for visitors.”
Once the doctor left Moira turned to Felicity and Thea, “I’ll make sure that he’s in the private wing, this way we don’t have to worry about security.” With that she walked out of the room looking every bit the infamous Moira Queen.
Tommy walked over and enveloped Thea and Felicity in a tight hug, “Told you he would be okay.” He said, taking a step back and with a twinkle in his eye, he added, “He doesn’t trust me to be your only big brother.” Letting go of Felicity Thea shoved Tommy as she rolled her eyes and then pulled him into another hug.
“I have the two best big brothers.” She murmured.
Felicity took a seat as her legs threatened to turn to jelly. She put her head in her hands and wished that she could call Quentin Lance, a captain in the local police department, for information but he and her mother had driven back to Las Vegas to finish cleaning out the last of Donna Smoak’s storage units and they weren’t due back until the following day.
“I told you that he was going to be alright.” Diggle’s deep voice said from beside her as his arm went around her shoulders gently pulling her to him.
“You were right as always, Dig.” She said and leaned her head on his shoulder taking all the comfort that she could. It wasn’t long before a nurse appeared to show the family back to Oliver’s room. He was hooked up to several pieces of equipment, but aside from his extremely pale complexion, he looked alright. The three women watched him breathe for a few minutes before finding places to sit to wait for him to wake up.
***ARROW***
It was the next day and Felicity was visiting Oliver with Esther. Esther was practicing sitting up next to Oliver on the hospital bed, on his good side, with Felicity reading them a book, when an angry voice shattered the peaceful moment. “You almost got my mother killed!”
Looking up Oliver and Felicity saw Emiko Adachi, Oliver’s half-sister, standing in the room looking like she was about to start breathing fire. Esther’s face immediately scrunched up and she started sobbing. With a roll of her eyes and a pained grunt Felicity reached over and scooped up her daughter, soothing her by rocking her gently and giving her a pacifier. She shot Emiko a withering glare, “Would you like to try that again, but in a more civilized manner?” Oliver said nothing, merely quirking an eyebrow at the firm tone that Felicity was using.
Emiko lowered her tone of voice, but the fury was still there as she continued, “I trusted you and you almost got my mother killed! I know all about your night jobs and everything, but it wasn’t supposed to effect my mother!”
“Are you done? May I have a turn to speak now? Or do you wish to continue throwing blame for something that you know absolutely nothing about?” Felicity asked as she pulled out her tablet with her free hand. During the night while she sat vigil by Oliver’s side she had hacked into the SCPD to see what they had on the investigation into the shooting. The police didn’t have much, but from what little they did have it was starting to paint a picture that Felicity didn’t like. One that Emiko really wouldn’t like. Emiko mulishly turned to glare at Felicity who said sweetly. “Thank you. Since you already know about our evening extracurriculars, I was doing some digging into what the SCPD has and from how Diggle described the drive-by, I don’t think that Oliver was the target.” Felicity paused, waiting for Emiko to respond and when nothing was said she continued. “I was able to find some footage off of a nearby security camera which caught some of the shooting. Watch it and tell me if you see what I saw.” Using one hand Felicity pulled up the video and handed the tablet to Emiko. She had already told Oliver all about it and how she would be meeting Det. Lance later that day to see what the precinct was saying that wasn’t in the file.
With a sigh and an even deeper frown line in her forehead Emiko handed the tablet back. “It looks like he is surprised to see Oliver and the bodyguard.” She ruminated on that for a bit, then whispered. “The real target was my mom?”