adlernauseam - Tumblr blog

adlernauseam · 2 years ago

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paleolithic. i looked it up. | clint + oliver

@justlikethenamesays

He knew that there was only so long he'd be allowed to actively live in a fuck it all stage. When the Brooklyn Boys and Rhodey became staples in his life, he knew shit was about to get real different from it being Nat. But pure silence from who was supposed to be his best friend, when he knew she was talking to people around him? Nah, he wasn't waiting around.

When Bucky had talked to him about the archer over in Gotham, he hadn't even had to think about it. Rhodey was encouraging about it, and it soothed something rough in him. It would be nice to be around someone who understood the arrow thing and didn't just humor it.

Gotham was an absolute shithole and he fuckin' loved it as he made his way to the location Bucky'd given him. Looking around the streets around the gym, he was careful, even if the guy was trusted. Slipping into the gym, he automatically drew his bow at the creak of the board across the space. "Sup, dude?"

Oliver was glad to have Felicity and the Justice League here on this strange Earth, but he was having to face some hard truths about his team. Dinah was too much of an unknown quantity, Roy wasn't Roy, and it didn't look like Dig or Thea were turning up any time soon. He didn't enjoy working with the Bats, too used to running his own team in his own city, and while he respected what they did, it wasn't the same as wanting to be part of it. If Team Arrow had a chance here, then he needed some new people.

He liked working with Bucky whenever he and Steve passed through Gotham. The guy had a similar sense of humor to his, and his skillset was impressive, even for Oliver whose default setting was Not Impressed. Steve enjoyed staying behind with Felicity, and their two tactical brains together was enough to make his own start to overheat at times. He'd come to trust them both, but they had their hands full back in New York with the Avengers. Gotham was like a vacation for them. He needed someone more permanent.

He trusted Bucky enough to take a recommendation from him, and he could admit he was intrigued by the idea of another archer. The gym had become a kind of haven, even if Felicity insisted he was too mean as an instructor. Diana's all-women class was certainly a hit. He raised his hands, free of weapons, when the guy he assumed was Clint pulled his bow. Oliver didn't have his on him in what he considered his home, but he knew where every weapon in the room was stashed. "Not a trial by fire." The corner of his mouth pulled up in amusement. "I take it you're Clint?"

His eyes quickly catalogued the man in the space with him, recognizing the build that came with the constant use of a bow plus the extra work that just came with the secret identity. The corner of his lips quirked up in a grin and he shrugged a shoulder, loosening his draw and tucking the arrow back into his quiver. "Nah, but after running the roofs of the glorious shithole that is Gotham, do you blame me?"

He laughed as he slung his bow to his back. "But yeah, I'm Clint. Hawkeye, in the Avengers book of ridiculous codenames, but to be fair, I gave myself my own a long time before that," he grinned easily at him. "Nice to meet you, Oliver. Good spot you got here, but I've gotta ask... what kinda masochist is a vigilante by night and gym trainer by day? Do you never veg and just eat pizza all day?" The look on his face was clearly teasing, even if his face said truly appalled, because it really was both.

"Now that you mention it, *that* might have been the trial by fire. Believe it or not, it's actually a little worse on this Earth." He chuckled softly. One of the quickest ways to get in Oliver's good graces was to hate Gotham as much as he did, so it was safe to say Clint made an immediate good impression. He was surprised by how much it set him at ease just to see another archer who obviously knew what he was doing. His build, his stance, the way the bow was basically an extension of his arm. He ignored the familiar tug of missing Thea and their Roy.

"Oliver. Nice to meet you." He gave a nod instead of offering a hand in case he wanted to keep his distance until they were more sure of each other. Oliver wasn't quite that paranoid, but he fully understood and respected people who were. "My city named me the Green Arrow, so I can't really make fun of anyone's codenames. It's a little on the nose, but it's not as bad as Elongated Man or Captain Boomerang."

He shook his head as he glanced around the space. It was starting to feel more like home, but it was a work in progress compared to their headquarters at home. "Honestly? It wasn't really a calculated career move. We needed a base, and there's no record of this place having a basement. You'd have to really be looking for it. And the go-to fast food in Gotham is Big Belly Burger." He grinned, tipping his head toward the back of the gym. All the truly interesting stuff was downstairs.

Laughing easily, he nodded, "I mean, it's a good trial. Gotta avoid a few gunshots, really shitty building because holy hell those are some weak roofs in some places, but like... the rest of the building's good." It was a whole different thing than New York City, and he didn't go near Metropolis often. He stood out in a place that shiny.

Paranoia wasn't something he was really big on and he stepped closer, offering his hand properly. If they were going to work together, better to start now, and he trusted Bucky's judgement on this. "Hey, it's cool that your city named you though," he pointed out. "Elongated Man? That just sounds...." He trailed off and shuddered in disgust at the imagery conjured up from it.

He didn't mind the vibe of the place, really, and thought it was better than any S.H.I.E.L.D. gym because it at least had some character. "Nice! Oooooh Big Belly Burger sounds right up my alley. I passed a few on the way here and had to tell myself to wait. I had pizza on the way outta New York." He gestured for him to lead the way with a grin. "Good ole basement headquarters, I love it. My old crew ran outta a shiny ass tower and then a shiny big complex. Too lofty for me."

"No joke. I couldn't design a worse obstacle course. This city is a shithole on every Earth. Mine's under water though, so Gotham it is." He shook his head, a grim set to his mouth. He'd never love it here like he loved Star City, but he thought he and Felicity could do the most good here. If it was bad enough for Bruce to extend an invitation, it was bad.

He gave his hand a firm shake, the corner of his mouth pulling up in a smile. "It's as gross as it sounds," he confirmed. It was also, tragically, on the nose, and he'd never be able to unsee it. "Then we'll celebrate after our first mission." He often picked up food for Felicity on the way home, knowing she usually stayed up until he got in even when she wasn't working as Overwatch.

"That's Stark Tower, right? The big ugly one in New York City?" Felicity was right. All the billionaires and their towers. It was a whole thing. "Sounds organized though. Is that a good or a bad thing?" Oliver could admire the Justice League's organization and also be eternally glad he wasn't in charge of it. Running his team was more than enough for him. He led the way downstairs, which had far better equipment than the upstairs with Felicity's bank of computers and whatever training equipment he'd managed to find, including the salmon ladder at her insistence.

He winced at the idea of his favorite place being underwater and shook his head. "I mean, if you can't save the city you want to, going for the city that needs it most is probably the next best option," he shrugged. He'd never been particular on one city or another, never had a reason to be if he was honest.

After the heads up that Bucky had given him, that smile made him feel a little smug and proud of himself. It was also the first clue that he could actually fit well here, with this team, and not feel like he was on the outside of a glass wall. "Sounds like a good plan to me. But then, any plan involving food usually does, if I'm being honest," he chuckled.

"Yep, that's the one, and this one isn't as bad as the one I'm used to," he snickered, shaking his head at the memory. "Depends on what part you think was organized. Central location to train together or meet up? Yeah, that was organized. Actually working well on a regular basis together?" He pulled a face that said all that needed to be said on that subject. As they made their way downstairs, he grinned at the sight. "Now this is a secret base! I dig it!"

"We tried walking away from it. Didn't take." There were times, especially since they'd gotten here, that he second-guessed that decision, but this world seemed to need heroes even more than theirs did. Oliver couldn't sit by and watch his friends in the League fight it out and not be part of it. It was also the closest eye they could keep on getting back home, and he still hadn't completely lost hope for that.

"Noted." Oliver might be the furthest thing from a soft touch, but he cared about what mattered to his teammates. If Clint was motivated by food, they could work with that. He was more for takeout, but he liked cooking with Felicity. "Is it a lot different, where you're from?" He wasn't clear on whether it was the same Earth as Steve and Bucky's or just similar to it. The Avengers sounded more fractured than the Justice League, and that would definitely do it.

"It's a work in progress. Better gear at home." He shook his head, only mildly irritated by the differences at this point. "Gotham's got a lot of rogues. Too many to keep up with, if we're being honest. But we can go over some of the main ones we know are here, places you'd never want to walk into without backup. They've been keeping to themselves for the most part, and I don't usually bother them unless they're actively hurting people." He didn't care if Harley Quinn wanted to blow up a fucking Starbucks, as long as no one was inside.

A soft huff of understanding laughter escaped him and he nodded his head, "Oh I get it." On his own Earth, he'd never really had a reason to consider it, but here? He'd considered walking away from all of it, more than once. This was the first night going out into any city that he'd felt like maybe he wouldn't be entirely useless here.

"I'm easily swayed by pizza or greasy burgers, just ask my partner," he snickered lightly. Neither of them did much cooking, but when they did they made it count. The question made him hum softly to himself as he worked through all the weirdness of it in his head. "It's slightly less environmentally apocalyptic, but no less full of shit to deal with, which is really saying something. And the Avengers... well..."

"Makes sense. The best gear and setups come with more time than a lot of us have had here, which is weird." The differences didn't really bother him so much, which probably made no sense to most people. It's just how it was when you weren't overly attached to much. "Sounds good to me. I'd rather know where I won't walk out of if I'm alone and not careful."

Clint would be far from useless if this worked out. Oliver wasn't an optimistic sort of person, but he was cautiously hopeful about this. He'd gone from insisting on working alone to needing the backup badly, and he knew it would be a weight off his and Felicity's shoulders if he wasn't out there alone every night.

"You'll have to bring them down sometime. I'm sure Felicity would like to have you both over for dinner." She'd taken easily to the League and the Avengers they knew, and he had no doubt she'd take to the rest of them. At its best, Team Arrow was a family. It wasn't easy to forge those bonds, by any means, but it was worth it. If he was going to trust people at his back, he obviously wanted them around in their downtime too.

"Ours too." He nodded. The flooding had been a gut punch. Still was, in some ways. "Not yours?" He'd had his own issues with that, hence the reaching out to other teams. "There's Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary. Self-explanatory. Iceberg Lounge is really the main one. It's a known haven for rogues. Anything with Wayne on it is probably safe enough. They're big philanthropists. Not sure Gotham would even be standing if it weren't for them."

There was something to be said for the comfort of having someone you trusted watching your back. He didn't often have that, but when he did, it was always something. There was something he liked about knowing he was protecting people who would protect him in turn. If this worked out, he could have that far more often.

He hummed at the offer and smiled, thinking about Rhodey in Gotham at all. He knew that he would come if he asked, made the offer. "I'll let him know. I'm sure he'd be happy to." That was the thing with Rhodey, he'd been nothing but supportive of him finding a place to fit. He'd support him through it.

He shrugged, "Some of them. But it's always been... complicated." That much was true with his time in any team of the Avengers he had been a part of. He reached up to fiddle with his aid, adjusting for the hum that always came with a space full of technology. "Alright, those make sense. So Gotham has it's like... daily villains?" The idea of it made him chuckle a little bit. "Yeah, I saw the Wayne name quite a bit on my way through."

"That's one word for it when you're a human fighting metas and aliens." He had a feeling a fellow archer could relate. It was a specific kind of pressure, trying to hold his own in the League alongside gods and other powered people. Oliver hadn't set out to save the whole world. It had been one thing, fighting white collar crime and ordinary criminals in Star City, but the threats only got bigger.

"Yeah, it's something." He shook his head. He got his share of weirdos in his city, but Gotham seemed to attract a specific brand. He leaned over the bank of monitors and pulled up some of the files on known rogues. He was no Felicity when it came to computers, but he knew his way around technology. It had saved his life more times than he could count. He gestured to the left side screens, where there were images of Catwoman, Harley, Penguin, among others. "These are some we know are in Gotham, but they've been pretty quiet, all things considered. The ones on the right are ones we're keeping an eye out for." Even Oliver knew it would be bad news if the Joker or the Riddler showed up.

He snorted lightly, "And Gods, don't forget those. Done all of the above." He fought alongside super soldiers, geniuses, gods, master spies (though technically he fell in that category himself). It had never been about saving the world, always about saving himself, until it hadn't been any more. Everything had grown from the moment aliens had become a part of the picture.

Leaning on the back of a chair, he let his eyes drift over the images that Oliver pulled up for him to see. Humming lightly in consideration, he shook his head slowly. "It's not usually a good thing when they're quiet for too long," he mused carefully. His eyes narrowed at the ones on the right, drifting over to look properly at them.

"Our token goddess is usually on our side, but never say never." The corner of his mouth twisted in a wry smile. Oliver didn't think he'd ever had cause to fight Diana. Her moral compass was far more reliable than his own, but if there was a daughter of Zeus out there, surely there were more gods and goddesses in the world. As long as they'd stayed out of Star City, he'd never cared that much.

"For some reason, they've been focusing most of their energy on Starbucks. I won't pretend to understand it, but saving corporations isn't really in my skillset." He shook his head. Oliver didn't give a shit if Harley Quinn wanted to blow one up, as long as no one got hurt. Starbucks could fight their own battles. "There's plenty of petty crime in Gotham to keep us busy though."

#chat: clint #justlikethenamesays #verse: deadlock #paleolithic. i looked it up.

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adlernauseam · 3 years ago

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come morning light | olicity

@arrowsoverwatch

Her mind had been racing for hours, building code and erasing it, replacing it. A part of her attention remained on Oliver, the way it always did when he was in the field. There were so many things about this Earth that she hadn't been able to work out yet and it was driving her insane. She hated not having the answers.

This, though, this program that Zee had given her the idea for, could help with that. At the very least, it helped track things that currently, they had no real way of tracking. It was like nothing she'd ever put together before, but she would be damned if she missed a single thing. It felt like college, a set of energy drink cans near her, alongside her tea to keep her from going totally over the edge. Ponytail up, glasses on, and her comfiest pajamas were the name of the game when it was overnight coding like this.

It was easy to get lost in what she could do to help the world while her other half was actually out doing the saving. It helped, knowing that other members of the Justice League were helping too, but the fact that people just disappeared made her uncomfortable. She had set an alarm a little ahead of when she knew Oliver would be done (no fights making him late), but she'd turned it off and kept working, in the middle of a string that she was finally almost done with.

It was the grimmest patrol Oliver had been on since he'd arrived on this Earth, if he even wanted to call it that. They might have said they were patrolling, but the truth was that they were scouring the city for any sign of Damian Wayne and turning up nothing. He knew from experience that people didn't just disappear without a trace like that. Someone always left a fingerprint, physical, digital, or magical, and there was nothing. It was the kind of thing that made him want to go home and hug Felicity, but he had a duty to his friends too.

True to his word, he'd picked up her favorite breakfast burritos with the extra spicy salsa and coffee from the place they liked, even if it meant making two stops. It was worth it to make her happy, and Oliver did his best caring through actions. He needed her to know, especially on a night like this, just how important she was to him. He could see how much Bruce was hurting, and he thought he was showing remarkable restraint, all things considered. If Felicity had vanished from this Earth, Ollie would have been burning shit down trying to get her back.

He didn't want to interrupt her in the middle of a thought when he got in, so he set the bags on the counter and headed for the shower. It was almost mandatory after being out all night, and he felt downright grimy after a solid stretch of hours in Gotham's version of nightlife. He figured by the time he got out, she'd have smelled the coffee or noticed the noise and had time to wrap up whatever she was doing. He wanted to hear about the Zee project, and judging by the number of empty energy drink cans around her, he was going to hear about it at a speed that only Barry could understand.

Slowly, as she finished the code piece she was writing, the sounds and smells of the house started to creep in through that intense concentration. The smell of coffee hit her first and she took a deep breath before finally blinking and starting to turn away from her screen. She turned just enough to see the bag and two coffee cups and a smile slid over her face before she turned back to the screen. She saved the files to her encrypted hard drive and for once, just shut her computer down.

Now that Oliver was home after a tense night, she didn't want any reason to be distracted by anything but him. And really, he was the best kind of distraction. Her heart ached for Bruce and she hadn't blamed Oliver for going out to help however he could. She feared the worst, that there was absolutely nothing they could do about any of it. But at least he could be a friend, he could support. She loved that about him, the way he showed his care and affection. The words weren't always there, but the actions, the things he did for the people he loved and cared for? Those could move mountains.

Turning her chair completely around, she smiled softly and went to meet him. Sure, she could wait for him to come to her, but they'd been apart enough. Plus, fresh out of the shower Oliver was one of her absolute favorites, right after in the middle of a workout Oliver. For science, of course.

He kept the shower brief. He was still running on adrenaline and needed the wind-down, but the energy crash was going to come eventually. He wanted food and time with Felicity before that happened. It had gotten easier in the time since they'd been together to leave Arrow outside and just be Oliver when he was at home. Felicity gave him that. A home, a safe place, the room to just be a person and not a hero or a villain or a vigilante. Her person. They'd had that in the months they lived outside of the city, and it was a small measure of that peace that they were able to bring back with them.

His heart ached for Bruce, but he was trying to leave that outside for the night too. Worrying wouldn't bring Damian back any faster. He'd thrown on a pair of sweatpants and was pulling a shirt over his head when he heard her come in. All he'd wanted all night was to wrap his arms around her and keep her close, and he didn't hesitate to do it now, some of the tension he always felt when she wasn't there easing out of him. He tipped his head, brushing a soft kiss to her lips. "Hi. How was your night?"

The sight of him fresh out of the shower, home safe and unharmed, instantly helped her relax. She knew he could take care of himself, he'd been doing it for a long time now. But it didn't stop the worry she felt every time he was out there without someone watching his back. She was glad that when he came home, he didn't have to worry about being the Arrow. He could just be her Oliver and nothing else really mattered.

She went and wrapped her arms around him, pressing close and tipping her head back to meet that soft kiss. "Mmm, not too bad. Building a code from scratch is fun," she chuckled, tiptoeing up to kiss him again softly. "Let's eat, I know you're hungry," she murmured, that soft need to make sure he was taken care of rising.

In Gotham, on a strange Earth, without his team, Oliver couldn't blame her for worrying. Even he worried a little, and the more apparent it became that their teammates weren't showing up here, the more he entertained the idea of looking for new ones. It would help if he had the first idea about where to start. Bucky wasn't in need of a full time gig on Team Arrow, and he was the only person outside the League he'd met that he trusted that much.

"Smart girls are sexy," he murmured with a grin, tightening the arm around her waist and lifting her easily into his arms. She'd have been beautiful anyway, but with her brain and her heart? He'd never stood a chance. "Starving," he admitted, keeping his hold on her as he moved back into the kitchen, grabbing the takeout bag on his way to the couch. They had a table and even occasionally used it, but he was after comfort tonight. Make that this morning.

Every day, she missed the comfort of knowing that Dig had Oliver's back, that she was never sending him out into danger where he might not get brought home to her. It was terrifying. A part of her was tempted to prod Bucky for ideas, since he clearly didn't need or want to be with them all the time. She adored him, and Steve, but they needed someone to watch Oliver's back more often, if it was possible. But that kind of trust didn't come easy.

A happy bubble of laughter escaped her as he lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around him, her arms around his shoulders, pressing kisses to his face. He always made her stomach swoop in the best way when he did this and it was her favorite use of all of those absolutely perfect muscles. She was happy to stay as close as she was wanted, even while they had their breakfast. "Then let's feed you," she murmured softly.

Oliver would start wars for that happy laugh out of her. There had been a lot less of it since they got here, but they were slowing finding their footing. Before they'd returned to Star City, he'd had a ring he planned to give her. Darhk had put a wrench in those plans, and obviously he hadn't had it on him when they wound up here, but the idea still lurked in the back of his mind. Maybe waiting for them to have a moment's peace was the wrong call.

He chuckled softly at all the soft kisses and almost let himself be distracted by them. He hadn't expected to do a lot of laughing on a night where the overall mood was so grim, but she had a way of making everything brighter for him. "I love you," he murmured, tucking her in close as they settled into the couch and started unloading food. "How was your night?" He knew she'd started some sort of project with Zatanna, but he hadn't had time to get all the details earlier.

Slowly, she was finding some of that joy in her life again, some of that peace. Oliver was the biggest part of it, and finding their way together went a long way. She loved him, so much that some days she wondered if it was unreasonable, but then he did something that just made her feel so loved and she knew that it wasn't. There were times she wondered if he wanted the rest of his life with her too, but she'd learned to be patient where Oliver and love was involved.

The sound of that laugh, however soft and barely there, lifted her spirits and she smiled happily. "I love you," she responded, soft and loving as she curled up where he tucked her. "Not too bad. Building a new program from scratch is always fun, this one just presents a unique challenge. I'm trying to build an algorithm to track what seems absolutely random. I can't tell any kind of rhyme or reason for people appearing or disappearing outside of being heroes or hero adjacent."

He could understand it if *she* was hesitant. Oliver knew he wasn't the easiest person to love. But there was nothing he held back from Felicity. Before they'd left Star City together, when they'd decided to give this a real try, he'd known he couldn't do it in half-measures. Even putting everything into it, he wasn't sure he deserved her, so there was no place for less than one hundred percent of himself. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and probably everyone was aware of it but her.

"That's already a pattern, at least as far as appearances." It was downright uncanny the way all the people who had been showing up were heroes or their people. They'd gathered quickly that this world didn't seem to have any of its own, but Oliver had no idea what that meant, aside from the fact that it made it seem more intentional. If it was, no one was claiming credit for it though.

"I hope you find something on the disappearances. It might make things easier." There was enough friendship and respect between him and Bruce that he never wanted to see him as defeated as he'd been tonight. He wasn't sure anything could actually help with that, aside from Damian's return, but having a reason for it was a start. People were reassured by things that made sense, even if those things were terrible.

Loving Oliver was so natural she had slid into it like breathing, it felt like. He made her happy and believed in her in a way she hadn't had before. There had been times he had believed she could do something before she knew that she could. He helped her grow more than anyone, with the way he had faith in her.

"There is, it just... even that doesn't make sense," she grumbled, frustrated at it. She hated when even adding more information didn't answer a single question. It was always supposed to add to the solution eventually but nothing was doing that for her here. She didn't like not having the answers. She wasn't sure she would be able to get them here.

"I'm trying. Maybe my program will give me a better idea where to look. I don't know," she sighed heavily, her head flopping onto his chest. "I just want to help them, Oliver." Her words were soft and a little defeated, but he would recognize the quiet steel in them.

#chat: felicity #arrowsoverwatch #come morning light #verse: deadlock

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adlernauseam · 3 years ago

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wolf & arrow | oliver & bucky

@redeemablesoldier

Running missions in Gotham was nothing like working in Star City, and he couldn't begin to count the differences. Learning the layout wasn't the worst part, since he had Overwatch to guide him, but Oliver was sorely missing their team. There was far too much corruption in this city for two people, and a part of him was tempted to take Felicity to Metropolis where it was safer and let the Bats handle this. If he thought he could live with himself after, he would.

Tonight had gone sideways--of course, everything always went sideways--but he was good at thinking on his feet and adjusting the plan to fit his needs. He'd also, unexpectedly, had help. He hadn't gotten a good look at whoever it was, but if he had to guess, he'd say it wasn't one of the Bats. There was no cape and no mask that he had seen. His brain kept trying to supply 'metal arm,' but that didn't make sense. As far as he knew, even Ray Palmer's technology wasn't that cool.

Oliver had ducked into a warehouse to update Felicity and make sure nobody was following him back, but he'd take a roundabout path anyway just to be safe. Their base was under a ramshackle gym that he was slowly restoring during the day. Teaching archery and defense was a new one for him, but his skillset was rather limited. His job history was basically billionaire playboy, secret government agent, Russian mafia, club owner, CEO, and vigilante, and vigilantism had never paid the bills.

He felt more than heard someone else inside the warehouse, and he had an arrow strung and aimed before he knew whether they were friendly or not. When he recognized the figure, he still wasn't sure, but since the guy had just helped him out, he aimed the arrow at the floor instead, his gaze lingering a second on the glint of metal fingers. "Thanks for the hand." Let it never be said that Oliver didn't have a sense of humor, deadpan though it was.

Bucky didn't do well being idle, even now with Steve being around. No mandated therapy, no list of amendments to make, he'd been at something of a loss for his sleepless nights which had led him to venturing to Gotham often. Metropolis was... shiny and too much for him. It was like breathing to slide back into the shadows of the world, and that thought should have been more concerning to him if it wasn't helpful now.

He'd familiarized himself with the worst areas of the city, had taken note of the green arrows he'd seen flying on occasion. When it went sideways, he couldn't not do something to help, not when he could. There was still that nerdness in him, the one that was fascinated by someone in the modern era choosing to use a bow and arrow over a gun. He'd thought Clint was strange, but he was damn good. So was this guy.

Inside the warehouse, he wasn't actively trying to be quiet, it just always sort of happened like an instinct. Smirking at the arrow aimed at him, he waggled his shiny black fingers at him. "Not just pretty, but functional too," he drolled out, "and I'm not just talking about myself. If you would feel better taking a shot, go ahead. I'll just catch it and throw it back."

-- Some people were suited to the shadows. Much as he'd enjoyed the idea of having a normal life with Felicity, they'd both been drawn back to this one even before they got here. A part of him thought that meant they would never fully leave it, and for now, that was fine. He'd lived in sunlight once, and he'd been a much worse person then. Shadows reminded him that there was always something to fight for that was bigger than himself.

Oliver was almost as good with a gun as he was with a bow, but guns were pretty much only good for killing people, and he didn't do that anymore if he could avoid it. "You'd try." The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile, but that wasn't a question he needed answered today. It was good to know what kind of person he was dealing with though. He resheathed the arrow and tucked the bow away in easy reach.

He'd never mastered the art of introducing himself while he was still wearing the hood. People in his city recognized him with or without it, but he'd been pretty anonymous in Gotham so far, and that wasn't the worst thing. Asking his name seemed pointless if he wasn't willing to offer his, and he studied him briefly before settling on a safer topic. "You don't look like one of the Bats. Don't they usually wear capes?"

-- There was something to be said for the shadows, the safety of them. Not everything in them was always bad, he'd learned, despite what people thought. Bucky rolled his shoulder in a deceptively lazy shrug. "There's no try," his words were blunt but lacking in arrogance. He caught the quick of his mouth and couldn't help but give one in return. Loosening his stance when the bow and arrow were put out of immediate use, he let himself study the other man.

A snort of disbelief escaped him at the mention of the Bats. He'd gotten familiar with the comings and goings, watching them in careful silence and staying out of the way. That was nothing he wanted to get involved in if he could help it. "Capes are a good way to get your ass handed to you," he scoffed. "And I'm definitely not one of the Bats. Not even from Gotham." His Brooklyn came through loud and clear in displeasure at the idea of it.

If people knew anything about corruption, they'd know some of it positively sparkled from the outside. Gotham's rogue problem was bad, but they had their own code, in a way. The real problem had always been the organized crime. He wasn't sure yet how much of that he was going to make *his* problem, but he'd help out where he could. He'd yet to find more members of his team or the League, so in the meantime, he appreciated the help from a stranger.

"It's like they've never even seen The Incredibles," he agreed, deadpan. He'd never understood the cape thing. It wasn't practical, even for jumping off rooftops, but he'd seen Bruce do some interesting things with the technology in his. Oliver was pretty sure it would just slow him down. He had no particular love for Gotham either, and it made him like this guy a little more in spite of himself. "Pretty sure it's a shithole on every Earth. What brings you here then?"

-- Corruption was always a difficult thing, the depth and organization of it always a question not easily answered. He'd dealt with it through multiple regimes, even if he'd been a part of it at the time, however unknowingly. He was hard pressed to sit by and exist in an area, or even near one, that was slowly being eaten away by corruption.

"No capes," he mocked Edna, as deadpan and gruff as he was capable of. The only people he knew who wore them were Asgardian and built of sterner stuff than a normal mortal. "Sounds about right," he mused. "I get bored staying in New York all of the time, and I can admit to curiosity about the Earth I've found myself living on."

Oliver recognized the problem, as much as he didn't like to admit it to himself. He'd spent most of his life in privilege, watching as things got worse for other people. He couldn't let it go anymore, not when he could do something about it, not if he wanted to live with himself. Gotham had enough corruption that even a billionaire and an army of Bats couldn't fully stop its spread. He could do the most good there, since Star City was gone.

He huffed a quiet laugh at the impression in spite of himself. "No Gotham where you're from? Doesn't sound so bad." If there wasn't a Gotham, he doubted Star City meant anything to this guy either. "What do I call you? Never really figured out introductions when I'm wearing the hood." The guy wasn't the one wearing the mask, but hell, maybe he had a superhero identity too.

-- It was interesting to see how people reacted to the darkness in an area. The question of who ignored it, who tried to make it better, who added to it, was something to be seriously considered. The worst part of it was when none of it was very clear. From what he could see in Gotham, it at least looked like it was easy to tell the difference.

The quiet laugh made his lips twitch in return. "Nope, but I've got Jersey, which I'm pretty sure is the equivalent," he snorted with a shake of his head. The question made him arch an eyebrow slightly. He could be whoever he wanted to be here, his life as the Winter Soldier could be left behind for the most part. The people who knew him here wouldn't hold him to it. "Name's Bucky Barnes," he offered.

He could say that much for Gotham. It was usually pretty obvious who was trying to kill you. He wasn't sure it was a good thing that its rogues were that comfortable committing crimes out in the open, but he couldn't exactly fault the Bats. He knew how hard they were trying to save it, and he knew firsthand that even a billionaire and a team of vigilantes could only do so much.

"From what I've seen," he agreed. Of all the places to survive on this Earth, he had no idea why Gotham and New Jersey made the list. But then, Gotham was a bit like a cockroach that way. All the times it could have died, it just kept coming back. "Green Arrow. Nice to meet you, Barnes." He nodded. He'd have preferred to meet this guy without the mask, as Oliver Queen, but he didn't know whether he could risk that yet.

-- A quiet snicker escaped him when he agreed with him about Jersey. It was good enough reason to have helped him, even knowing he didn't know at the time. The reality of the difference between this earth and his was unpleasant on a good day, and the places lost were painful for a lot of people. "Can't even say 'maybe it'll get better'. Places like that rarely can," he sighed and shook his head.

His eyebrow raised, though he really couldn't blame the guy. He was obviously running around in a hood and mask for a reason, and having seen the bats, he guessed it was just a thing. "Yeah, I'm not sticking with anything I've been called in the past. Bit on the nose though, don't ya think?" The teasing was clear in his voice, since his most well-known title wasn't really much better. An assassin kept on ice called the Winter Soldier? Yeah, definitely keeping a lid on that one.

"Maybe not. But I know what it's like to not be able to give up on your city. No matter how bad it gets, it's still yours." He sighed softly, the ache for Star City rising briefly. He'd fight to protect Gotham, or anywhere that needed it, but this wasn't his home. He'd accepted he might never see it again, and as long as Felicity was at his side, he was at peace with that. But that didn't ease the hurt. More than that, he missed their team.

"Fair enough." He was interested in spite of himself, but he wouldn't pry, at least not directly. If he knew Felicity, she was listening to this conversation and already pulling up everything she could on Bucky Barnes. If he wasn't from this Earth, which seemed likely, there might not be much. "Slightly better than 'The Hood.' Not a significant improvement over 'Arrow.' It's been a journey." He shook his head, a wry smile on his lips, but there was genuine amusement in there too. The people of his city had named him. It definitely wasn't the most creative, but he thought that was probably a good thing.

"I take it you've things like this where you're from?" He didn't seem new to the crime fighting, but he had no idea what they called themselves elsewhere. Even his world couldn't settle on a term. Vigilantes in Star City, rogues in Gotham, metas in Central City, aliens in Metropolis. Superhero when he was with the Justice League, menace to society when he was at home depending on the whims of public mood. It was a broad spectrum.

-- Bucky shrugged, his sentiments on him a little different purely out of circumstance and necessity. "Seems like you and the bat have that in common, then," he shrugged. Brooklyn hadn't been his home in so long, it wasn't even the same place. He didn't have the attachment to it others had to their hometowns. There was no real reason to. He'd only gone back in the hopes that maybe, if Steve came back, that would be where he went. He hadn't been wrong.

His eyebrow quirked with the previous iterations of his name and he chuckled, shaking his head. "I guess nothing's perfect," he said dryly, his eyes dancing with amusement that he really didn't feel the need to tamp down. Winter Soldier, White Wolf, neither of them had ever settled on him. The first for very good reasons. The second because he had never felt like he'd deserved the kindness Wakandans had shown him.

"Oh yeah," he nodded, "Whole group of 'em in New York called the Avengers." Well, there had been. He didn't always know exactly what they were doing here, if they were going to keep doing anything at all. They hadn't been much of a team in a long time.

"Among other things. But my suit doesn't have ears, so I feel like I'm winning," he chuckled, shaking his head. He enjoyed teasing the Bats, but strip away the costumes and the over-the-top Gotham rogues, and there wasn't a lot of difference. They were all vigilantes, and they were all fighting for something that possibly couldn't be saved.

"Avengers? That's a much better name than the Justice League. Quicker off the tongue too." If Bruce had named them--and Oliver was pretty sure he had--that was grounds for further teasing. They shortened it to the League, which didn't really help. It either made them sound like a bowling team or like something much more sinister, like the League of Shadows. Very unoriginal.

-- "You're not wrong there. Why would anyone choose to wear ears and a cape? Unless you're just... extra," he shook his head in disappointment. It was all so theatrical in its way that he couldn't fathom it. Admittedly, Stark's suit was as shiny as shit got, and Steve's cap suit had always been spangly, but. He'd never been among the ranks of the outrageously dressed, preferring to keep to his subdued leather and tac gear.

"Definitely quicker off the tongue," he agreed. "Justice League sounds a little on the pretentious side if you ask me," but that was speaking as a person who found justice to be a very hard concept for most people to understand correctly.

"That's Gotham for you. They get the weirdest of the weird." Admittedly, some of Barry's metas were also pretty weird. He'd met a couple and heard a lot of stories. But for the most part, Gotham got the claim on most of the strange. Oliver had already started to miss fighting his garden variety white collar criminals and organized crime bosses. The only costumes they wore were like his, designed to protect their bodies and identities.

"Doesn't it though? My goals aren't quite that lofty," he said dryly. He hadn't had a hand in naming it and suspected that was more of Bruce's influence. Then again, justice was part of Clark's whole schtick. Oliver's mission had never been so righteous, and he knew it. He'd started out wanting to right his father's wrongs and ended up fighting for the soul of his city, but he didn't know how much justice played a role in any of that.

"Someone has to, right? I mean, it could be more balanced out, but hey, I don't want 'em," he snickered and shook his head. The advantage to not being a 'hero' was that no one was really familiar with him and he liked it that way. He tipped his head in thought, "I know the Avengers deal with their fair of really ridiculous European accents, though." Between Hydra, Doctor Doom, and a few others, it was more than a little funny.

"Point in your column, then," he liked this guy more and more, and thought it was a shame with the mask, but he guessed identities were a thing. He'd done his share of being tucked under a mask, and could consider it if he really wanted to keep himself under wraps here.

#chat: bucky #redeemablesoldier #verse: deadlock #wolf & arrow

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adlernauseam · 3 years ago

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welcome to the fallout, part ii | olicity

@arrowsoverwatch

tw: canon-typical triggers, fear/panic, kissing

There were a lot of things that Felicity considered herself, and brave was only rarely among them. She could accomplish the things that she knew needed to be done, sure. And she never like the idea of letting Oliver or John down, not when they put so much of their faith in her that it was frankly terrifying sometimes. Sure, when it came to a computer or data, she had that in the bag and if she didn't, she could find who did, or learn the bag. Being on an Earth that she didn't recognize definitely did not put her in the feeling brave category.

She racked her brain for every lesson that John and Oliver had taught her and rigged the entire building around her. She knew that she, theoretically, could have done just the space she was in, but that increased her chance of personal injury exponentially. As a result, the whole building around her was rigged and she was sure that Oliver would know it. There were times she wondered if he knew how she would react because he's the one who taught her how to react in some of these situations.

She wished she could say it was patient waiting for the text that told her that he was finally there. Surely it was smarter not to trust just any old Earth. The theory of multiple Earths was still really cementing in her brain, knowing that time travel was real. There were days when she wished it was different, but then such a limited world view had never been her thing. The text made her call out, working at deactivating her own traps, knowing he would likely meet her in the middle. "Oliver?!"

Running across rooftops in Gotham was utterly strange, and not just because he wasn't in his own city. If Felicity was right, and she usually was, then they weren't even on their Earth right now. He was taking stock of his surroundings as he went, but it was less important than getting to Felicity as quickly as he could, and he felt safer up here than down there. He was only pausing to make sure nobody was following him and to text her back to keep her calm, which he had a feeling wasn't working as well as he hoped. If she was scared enough to say it more than once, then she was genuinely spooked. The whole thing made him uneasy, but getting to his girl? That was a thing he could fix.

He couldn't decide if it was lucky or not that he'd been yanked out of his world mid-mission, but at the moment it felt like a blessing. The suit was made for blending into shadows, and he always felt better when he was armed. If he'd known, he would have packed more weapons. More than once, he'd had the feeling he wasn't alone, and he'd taken a couple detours just to be sure he didn't lead a threat straight to her hiding place. Gotham had more than its share of villains, but it had plenty of its own vigilantes too.

He'd circled the building just to be sure it was clear when he got there, and he was watchful while he waited for her to lower the defenses. There was no surprise in it, but as always, he couldn't help but admire her ability to protect herself with practically no resources. He didn't know what she'd had with her besides her phone, but he was guessing it wasn't much. Her cleverness had blown his mind the first time they met, and it had never really stopped. Before Lian Yu, nobody had ever praised Oliver for his brains.

There *was* a little surprise that he managed to get inside with nothing exploding. They were both careful, but still. "It's me," he assured her. He'd pushed the hood back and tucked the mask away, no weapons in his hands, so she could see him clearly, but he was still hesitant to rush to her in case there were any final traps. He was drinking in the sight of her in the meantime, automatically scanning for any visible injuries. She was easily the best thing Gotham had to offer, no contest. He'd never choose to take her away from her life, but he was selfishly glad not to have to do this without her.

There was very little good about whatever was going on at the moment, and the one thing that she hated was a mystery. She supposed she should be grateful she had her tablet, since Oliver had been mid-mission and she couldn't just leave him without eyes on him. It meant she could multi task a little better and try to figure out exactly what was going on while she texted him and kept herself safe. The best thing that could have happened was Oliver being here too, and she was selfishly ecstatic about it.

The sight of him, hood down and mask off, made the tight hold she'd had on herself break. Pulling the wire on her last trap that was between them, her eyes were on him and she fumbled with it slightly before it finally slid out of the way. It hadn't even hit the ground before she was launching herself at him. Her arms went around his neck and she buried her face against his shoulder, taking a deep breath.

Remembering that they weren't on their Earth, and were in Gotham of all places, she pulled back quickly, looking him over and running her hands over his chest. "You're not hurt, right? I didn't miss anything?" The moment she didn't find anything, she went right back to where she'd originally thrown herself with a soft sound. "I need a computer so I can figure out where the heck we are," she mumbled against him.

He'd have been a lot crankier about this a couple months ago, when they were in the middle of "retirement" and hadn't yet decided they both kind of missed this life. He'd agreed to come back to stop Damien Darhk. He didn't regret that, but he hadn't missed it *this* much. He certainly hadn't missed all the additional fuckery that came with metahumans and aliens and multiverses and time travel and magic. Remember the days when he was only hunting down regular, white collar crooks in Starling City? Yeah, he didn't either.

He met her halfway, arms fitting easily around her and tugging her close, and he knew they were both drawing the first real breath they'd had since they got here. Oliver could never settle if he wasn't sure she was safe. It seemed like they were a long way from that right now, but she was here, and she was okay, and they could figure the rest out. He let her pull back reluctantly, fingers sliding through her hair as he did the same, checking more closely for injuries.

"I'm fine. Are you hurt?" His voice was soft the way it only ever seemed to get for her. His arms tightened around her again, and he pressed his face into her hair, breathing her in. "Then we'll get you to one," he murmured. He'd say surely Gotham had a public library, but he was taking nothing for granted in this city. Regardless, he didn't seem in any hurry to put that plan into action if it meant letting go of her.

She had enjoyed their time of retirement for a while, but she was only good at being idle for so long. She hadn't missed all the rest of it, but she had missed doing something good and she had believed that what they did on Team Arrow definitely qualified. Everything now was a whole lot of "I didn't sign up for this" for all of them. Well, especially for her and Oliver now, she supposed. A part of her wanted Dig there, but the other part of her wanted him home with his family where he belonged.

Her eyes slid shut as his hands ran through her hair, one of the most comforting things she had ever felt. She didn't move away from him at all, only shifting enough to look at him long enough to be reassuring. It was the quickest onceover of her life because she needed to be held more than she'd realized while she was boobytrapping the place.

The sound of his voice, soft and just for her, made her melt with a soft sigh. "No, no, I'm not hurt," she reassured him. There were certain things she always knew were just for her: his voice soft and careful, the way he said her name. She'd never heard either out of him towards anyone else. Her arms tightened around him at the idea of having to move, "In a minute." She would happily admit to being weak and needing to be held.

Oliver wasn't sure he knew how to quit the vigilante life completely. It wasn't in either of them to sit out a fight that needed to be fought. If he knew anything about Gotham in any universe, it was always in need of vigilantes, but this wasn't his city. Gotham had the Bats (he assumed), they hadn't been invited, and he'd just as soon get back to Star City as soon as they could. Even on another Earth, it was the closest thing they'd have to home.

He couldn't relax fully while they were in a warehouse in some unknown dimension, but having Felicity in his arms and having it confirmed she was okay might be the closest he'd get to it. He was never that soft with anyone else. She'd always been the crack in his armor and he knew it, but they made each other stronger too. He'd never thought of Felicity as weak. "Maybe two," he agreed. He didn't see anything to be gained by leaving sooner, since they didn't really have a plan, but lingering a minute to comfort both of them was much needed.

Star City had its problems, but it had become her home. Gotham was definitely... not. From what she'd managed to start finding while she had been holed up and waiting, she wasn't feeling too hopeful about home here. She had known that every Earth was different, small changes that could make big differences. The possibility that Star City had never or no longer existed here was a hard one for her to process.

Knowing Oliver, he wasn't going to relax any time soon, even if they weren't in a warehouse on Earths Unknown. Knowing she was a weakness for him made her feel special and loved, even while it worried her sometimes. "Two," she agreed and pressed closer, tipping her head up in clear demand to be kissed. Without a plan, she didn't want to leave anyway. There were things she'd learned she'd have to tell him, but she really just needed this one moment of peace, of comfort.

Oliver was still adjusting to the fact that she'd been here for hours, when he'd been talking to her right before they arrived. Barely minutes had passed between the radio silence and texting their group. He didn't know how to account for the missing time. He didn't realize yet that there were much stranger things about where they'd ended up, but when it all came down to it, the only thing he really cared was that they were together.

He'd pretty much given up the right to relax when he went back to being the Green Arrow, but so far, it hadn't forced him to give up the rest of his life like it had the first time. He was determined to balance both, to keep doing good for his city without sacrificing everything that made his life worth living, namely Felicity. He tipped his head to meet that demand, some of the fear and relief of the past few minutes finding its way into their kiss. Oliver's feelings were always more evident in his actions than in his words.

That gap in time, when she knew she had just been talking to him, had been what truly set her fear off. Anything that caused lost time was nothing she wanted to mess with because there was no way it ended in anything good. The only thing that soothed her was the fact that she had Oliver and wasn't alone. She didn't know what she would have done otherwise.

She wondered how Oliver's balancing act would play out here, where it was possible Oliver Queen wasn't such a name for people to focus on. She'd always wanted him to be able to live a life, after all, and they'd done it for a little while. Meeting that kiss instantly made her relax in his arms, despite the fear still lingering. He would always protect her, she knew that. He showed her that.

Nothing about this seemed good, but Oliver would have been losing his shit a lot faster if she wasn't here. They could handle the rest together. They always did. He didn't care if people here knew who Oliver Queen was. Anonymity might make for a nice change. The important person was here, and she knew him better than anyone else ever would. He couldn't help lingering over those kisses, letting both of them take what comfort they could in each other.

He couldn't quite bring himself to let her go when they stopped, and he pressed his face into her hair, breathing her in and letting it calm him. "We need a plan." He could keep calm through a lot worse, and he felt his mind settle into that still, calculating place it went when he needed to think further ahead than just surviving the next fight. "What do we know?" She'd been here longer and had no doubt been compiling information the whole time. He was positive it was a lot more useful than anything he'd gathered on the way here, which was pretty much 'I think we're in Gotham,' and 'It's a shithole on every Earth.'

He was the most comforting person in the world to her, despite how the world might see the Arrow. All he wanted to do was protect her, to make his city better, and she couldn't help but support him. Ever since that first mess he'd brought her, she'd been in this with him. She had watched him grow, adjust his way of thinking as he'd been handed hard truths and started living for himself too.

She pressed her face into his chest, hoping he was getting as much comfort from this as she was. There was that moment where she could practically feel his headspace shift into something useful and planning. Taking a deep breath, she started going through everything in her head before pulling back enough to show him her tablet. She stayed leaning against him, unwilling to go very far just yet. "It is Gotham, but definitely not ours," she pulled up the internet to show him the year it was here.

Oliver couldn't afford to let everyone see him the way Felicity did. He needed that hard exterior to make the Green Arrow effective. He'd thought for a while that it meant he needed to make himself hard on the inside too, the way he'd had to in order to survive on Lian Yu. In order to continue his mission, to make his city safe, to protect the people who mattered, he couldn't afford any softness. It just showed that Ollie could be extremely short-sighted because he'd never been stronger than when he let his team and Felicity in. Love wasn't a weakness.

He listened carefully while she explained everything she'd learned, and he wasn't surprised that it was a lot for such a short time. His girl was quite literally the smartest person he'd ever met. He kept his arm wrapped around her waist even as she went through the tablet. He wasn't sure he was going to be comfortable letting her out of his sight for the immediate future. He swore softly at the year. Now he had to add time travel to the things he needed to wrap his mind around. "So we traveled through dimensions *and* time. Who do we know who could do that?"

When she had first started helping him, even when he'd properly formed the team, he had tried to resist actually getting close. She was glad he had let them in, that they had gotten to where they were. They were always better when they were together, when they protected each other, looked out for one another. She always felt safer when she could be in his ear, talking to him and having him talk to her.

The way he always actually listened to her when they were like this, when he knew that what she had to say could make a difference, it always made her feel loved. The strong arm around her waist made her feel safer than anything else possibly could. If he stayed close and didn't let her out of his sight, she'd be okay with that for a long while at the moment. "No one," she admitted softly, "Not that I'm aware of."

Felicity had more than earned her spot on the team, and she was one of the most valuable members even if she rarely went into the field with them. He'd trusted her with his secrets and his safety long before she was Overwatch, but he'd readily admit that every mission was easier with her help. Thanks to her, they always went in with a better plan and had multiple escape routes for when things went south.

"Barry can time travel," he mused quietly. "Cisco can cross dimensions. Is it possible this is a Team Flash problem?" There was no real hope in the question. Even with their combined powers, seventy years was... a lot, and Oliver sure as hell hadn't stepped through any shimmery blue portals to get here. If it wasn't, though, that meant they had no starting place for solving this problem, no one they could even ask.

#chat: felicity #arrowsoverwatch #welcome to the fallout: part ii #verse: deadlock

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adlernauseam · 3 years ago

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#Q:#oliver queen #gifs #muse #olicity #felicity smoak #arrowsoverwatch

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adlernauseam · 3 years ago

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Missing Oliver Queen Edition ( 24 / ∞ ) | Arrow 1x01 “Pilot”

#Q:#oliver queen #gifs #muse

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adlernauseam · 3 years ago

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welcome to the fallout: part i | olicity

@arrowsoverwatch

Oliver Queen, Felicity Smoak have been added to a chat

O: Overwatch? F: There you are! I was wondering when you were going to turn your phone on! I've been pinging for HOURS O: I haven't been here for hours. I've barely been here for minutes. Wherever here is. Are you okay? F: I'm fine, I promise. Just minutes? That makes me feel less crazy. This place is dark and more than a little dirty, but I have to admit the service is amazing. O: Coms are down. It can't be that great. Have you heard from anyone else? F: About that... Coms are down because they don't recognize ANY network. It happens any time Kara comes to see Barry. I haven't heard from anybody else. I take it you haven't either, from your question. O: I take it that's bad? No, no one else. Where are you? I'm coming to you. F: Bad depending on which Earth we ended on. I don't remember Earth-38 being this...gross. I sent you my location. Just, make sure I know it's actually you so I can turn off some of the really, frankly sad, rickety defenses I have up. O: I think we're in Gotham. I'd put money on it being a shithole on every Earth. I'll let you know when I'm close. Sad and rickety for you probably means terrifying and deadly for anyone else. F: Gotham? Really. Like, Gotham with all the bats and the one bird? Weird. I mean, not if they're smart. Not that everyone's stupid, just...NVM. You know what, please just get here. It's creepy and I don't have enough cameras to not panic. O: Yeah. I'm pretty sure that's Wayne Tower. I'm on my way. Keep talking to me. F: Why does he have to have a whole tower? Does he actually do the flying thing? I don't pay that much attention. He's a little too broody for me. Not that I don't like broody. Well, I don't like broody. But you're cute when you brood. Not that you're cute but what I mean is that I like your brooding. It means salmon ladder, but that's bad for work. Not that I ogle you, but... None of this is really coming out well, is it? Did it really have to take so much after the Goth part of its name? I mean, honestly, does everything have to be so dark? Do not let my mother loose here. Or do. That could be entertaining. O: Queen Consolidated and Palmer Tech had towers. You just spent the last five months in my bed, and you don't think I'm cute? I think I'm offended. She would single-handedly clean up Gotham. Could be good for it. F: Well, sure, but I worked at both of those... wait... What does that say about me??? O: It says Wayne Enterprises would be lucky to have you. F: I mean, you're very cute, and I have a lot of ways to tell you that you are and plenty of examples, including a few pictures that I know you would never want to see the light of day, but that's okay! I saved them to a private server for that reason. O: I asked you to delete that. If people knew I went around smiling, I'd never get anything done. F: She would! But then everything would be sparkling, probably pink, and full of chutpah. I don't think Gotham would survive. But... it's so cute It's one of my favorites Are you flattering me right now? Aren't you supposed to be saving me? Can't the flattering wait? Wait... no it can't. Keep going, I need it. It's distracting. I swear, if I'm hearing noise and it's not you, I am going to explode all the parts of this building I'm not in. I don't have a death wish, hence the "parts that I'm not in" part of that message. Did I mention this place is dark and creepy? O: I'm multitasking. You're the smartest person I've ever met, Felicity. You're going to be just fine. No, but I hear it too. I'm close. Don't blow anything up while I check to make sure it's safe to come out. F: Am I? Wouldn't it make sense that the smartest person you know is the most trouble? Isn't that how it works for some people? We have a habit of getting ourselves into trouble. Especially because we talk, can't help it. Or is that just me? You know, I've never really paid attention. I won't blow anything up unless you tell me it's not you. Does that make sense? It doesn't feel like it does. O: Do you really think you're the most trouble out of our team? We didn't do this. Maybe someone did, but it wasn't us this time. It's me, and it's clear out here. Let me know when it's safe to come in. F: Well, no, I've had exactly one set of stitches. I've gotten ridiculously good at doing them on you and Dig. I think that makes you two the trouble. I happen to like trouble. Wait... no. Okay, let me turn these things off, it's going to take a minute. I didn't want to take the risk that they were smart with a computer. I mean, good luck being smarter than me, but it's possible, I think, since we don't know where we are. O: It's okay, I know you like me. Trouble and all. I'll believe it when I see it. No rush. I'd rather not get fried. F: Of course I like you. You make it hard not to. Sometimes. I don't want you to get fried either. Don't touch anything. There's a lot of little bits that would shock you and popcorn Oliver doesn't sound very enticing. O: I think you're in the minority with that, but as long as you think so. You want me to get inside without touching anything? That's going to be noisy. F: Well you don't exactly let them see the things I see. Which is not a bad thing. I mean, it is. I mean, there's some things I should see that they shouldn't, but if you wanted them to I guess we could discuss that. Is that weird? It reads weird. I mean, I'll tell you what to touch once I finish bringing all of it back down. Do you have exploding arrows?! HOW?! O: I love you. A couple. Just what I had on me at the time. F: I love you too. Oh, okay, that makes sense. I have no idea what happened, and I really don't like that. 90 seconds until everything's down. O: I don't either. I was hoping Barry or Kara would show up and explain it. Or better yet, get us home. F: Honestly, Barry or Cisco would be so nice to see right now. Do you think this Earth has them? I hope this Earth is the good guys... what do we do if any of the people we know about from our Earth are bad guys instead of good guys? O: I can't tell if this is regular Gotham shitty or extra Gotham shitty. But I think it would be worse if it were all villains. We'll stay together, we'll be careful, and we'll figure it out. F: How do you tell the difference? It's not like they hang signs... do they? We will. We always do better when we're together. Always have. O: Not literal ones, but there are signs. You've always been the best parts of me, Felicity. I'll see you in a minute. F: You'll have to teach me those. We'll just add it to the never-ending list. Literally a minute, Oliver. If I see anyone else on the other side of this stuff, I'm cranking it all back on and you'll love a murderer. I hope you're ready for that. O: You've loved one for years. It's the least I can do. If you see anyone but me, don't hesitate. F: I'll keep telling you, you're not a murderer. And I'll keep loving you while I'm at it.

#text: felicity #arrowsoverwatch #welcome to the fallout: part i #verse: deadlock

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