Arrow: Visceral Barrage Part 1

The door slid shut as the final board member entered the room and found their way to their seat. Felicity cleared her throat and glanced around the table to make sure everyone was present before beginning.

"Well, now that we're all here let's get started." She brought her tablet closer to bring up the first order of business, only to be cutoff by another board member.

"So I assume we're not waiting for Mr. Queen? Or is he returning to his old ways and decided to avoid meetings all together?" The older man arrogantly asked, staring directly at Felicity. The others shared a similar look, each looking toward the CEO for a response. Felicity paused, looking up from her tablet. A look of shock overtook her face, she quickly remembered that the board members had no idea who Oliver really was and what he risked for this city every night. Her fingers unknowingly began to strum against each other as she fought the urge to explain why Oliver was really absent, wanting to proudly announce his true identity. Felicity breathed in a calming breath and quickly formulated and excuse as best she could.

"Oliver...Mr. Queen has taken ill and," She began glaring directly at the outspoken board member.

"And he's going to be a little late." Oliver finished for her, slowly limping into the room. Diggle stood directly behind him, ready to assist him in a moment if need be. Felicity snapped around and couldn't believe that Oliver was attending the meeting in such a weakened state.

"Mr. Queen. You really should be healing after that nasty fall you had." Felicity suggested, her tone clearly aggravated and concerned for her wounded friend. Oliver slowly walked past her, clearly favoring his right leg.

"Nonsense. Besides, I had some...herbal tea that helped." Oliver replied, smiling to her as he sat down. Felicity stared at him, unable to focus on his warm gesture toward her she played back the images of him thrashing in her arms the night before.

"Shall we?" Oliver happily asked, glancing toward the speechless board members.

The meeting went much faster than expected, as the board members cleared out and moved toward the elevator in a group. Felicity quietly collected her belongings as Oliver uneasily pushed himself out of his chair, nearly collapsing back into it. Felicity sprang towards him, grabbing ahold of his arm to help support him.

"What are you doing?!" She finally asked, doing her best not to appear too emotional. She had managed to go on with the meeting in a professional manner and only found herself checking to see if Oliver was okay about a dozen or so times. Oliver began to reply but was interupted by her.

"You have a serious knee injury Oliver! You shouldn't even be walking around right now, let alone attending a meeting!" Her worried tone was blatantly obvious, bringing a smile to his face as she helped him stand.

"The doctor specifically told us that you needed to stay off your knee for as long as you could." She explained, placing his arm over her shoulders for support as they walked toward the door. Oliver honestly didn't need her help, but he didn't refuse it.

"Felicity." He began, but was once again interupted by her rambling.

"Out of all the dangerous stupid things you do and you're willing to risk further injury because of a board meeting?!" She furiously stated, unknowingly tightening her grip on his arm that was currently slung around her shoulders.

"Felicity." Oliver tried again, as she continued talking.

"Don't get me wrong, it's nice to see you at a meeting for once...even if you were late but did you really think that was a good idea? I mean you can barely stand and the first thing you wanted to do was sit in a room with a bunch of old jackasses?!" She babbled walking the two of them towards the door, silenty noting to herself how much lighter Oliver seemed compared to the last time she had helped support him up.