Arrow: Reckoning Part 2

Falling from Grace

The increased beating of Oliver's heart nearly blocked out every other sound but Felicity's frightened voice on the other end of the phone line. The mostly plastic phone crackled beneath his grip, his other hand already balled into a fist.

Felicity frantically jabbed the Stop button, hoping that the unresponsive action would magically work again.

"None of the buttons are responding." She relayed as calmly as she could, doing her best to contain her fear.

"Is there anyway you can stop it?" Oliver asked, motioning for Diggle to assist him by manually opening the elevator door beside them.

Felicity snapped her head back and forth, searching her mind for any logical thought that could help save her. She reached down and grabbed her tablet, realizing that she did have an understanding of the program that had sabotaged the elevator and perhaps that would allow her to access it somehow. Her fingers danced across the screen, issuing commands and darting through various systems that could help her hack into the program that was currently in control of her elevator.

"Felicity?" Oliver grunted through his teeth as he and Diggle slowly forced open the doors leading to the elevator shaft.

"I can't stop it, but I might be able to slow it down." Felicity replied, focusing on her work as she rested on her knees beside the control panel.

Oliver pushed the doors wide open and peered into the open shaft, searching for the rising car. The cables moved steadily but not as fast as they should have been, the echo of the car climbing towards bounced around the vacant shaft. Diggle scanned the immediate area, searching for anything that could assist them. Oliver glanced up and spotted a maintenance opening above them.

"There." He stated, grabbing onto the railing above him and pulling himself toward the small opening. Diggle assisted as best he could, pushing Oliver upward toward the small railing above him.

Felicity blazed past the firewalls protecting the program that was currently in control of her elevator, moving straight into the aspects that she could alter. The brake systems and all other emergency systems were unreachable with her current tech, but there were ways around tricking the program that could buy her more time. Felicity quickly rewrote a section of the program, ordering the system to slowdown as if it were about to stop at the next floor. The program wouldn't simply stop but it wasn't smart enough to protect itself from slowing down for each floor as if it were preparing to stop. Felicity instantly noticed the speed reduction of her ascent, giving her a momentary victory.

"Okay, I got the elevator to slowdown so...you know, that's good. I sure hope you have an idea because I'm too hungover to think of anything else." Felicity jokingly said, attempting to ease her rapidly racing mind.

Oliver carefully placed his feet along the sliver of railing beneath him, pressing his back against the wall as much as he could as he took in his new surroundings.

"Just hang tight." He replied into his bluetooth headset. The cables reached their ends just above him, the machinery over his head roared silently as he examine it closely.

"Digg, I don't see anything that can stop it from here!" Oliver announced, glancing down toward the darken shaft. Diggle poked his head through the opening and spotted the beam above him. The single strut reached across the shaft, acting as added support for the rising cars.

"Then we'll get her out of the car." Diggle replied, nodding to the support beam across from Oliver.

"Guys, you know I can hear you right?" Felicity asked, watching the numbers chime as the car continued to rise.

Diggle rushed across the hall and found a supply closet located past the restrooms. He searched for any type of rope, his eyes scanning every shelf around him in the dimly lit room. His gaze stopped at a large cable drapping off a shelf on his right.