The Archer's Canary

Four

"I don't get it, Felicity," Oliver said, "You're making no sense!"

"I'm not making sense!? I explained it every way possible, Oliver!" Felicity shouted back.

"I swear to god if she has to explain it again" I groaned, leaning on the desk next to Dig.

"How long have they been having this argument?" Dig asked.

"2 days," I said, crossing my arms, drowning out their argument. 

"It's going to affect his missions, I know it will" Dig sighed, "Want to spar?"

"Hell yes, anything to get away from them," I said. We walked over to mats and prepared to spar. "10 bucks, their fight ends when someone gets injured"

"You're on"

~

A mission like no other, a mission that was supposed to be simple, get in, knock some drug dealers out, get out, but nope, Felicity had to be yapping to Oliver over the shared comlink.

"Canary, watch out!" Dig exclaimed. A sharp pain hit my neck and I felt paralyzed. I heard a chuckle and boots walking away. I hit the floor and began to lose consciousness. "Avery!" Oliver exclaimed. He ran to my side and held me in his arms. "No, no, no, Avery please"

"Ollie" I groaned. "It hurts"

"Stay with me," He said, holding me close, "Bring the van around front"

"Oliver, what's happening?" Felicity asked over the coms.

"Count got her with a syringe of vertigo" Oliver reported, "Avery, Ave, come on stay with me. Tell me a story, try to stay awake"

"The... the party in Vegas" I tried to say conscious, "When I fought that girl who tried to hook up with you"

"That was the night I knew you were irreplaceable," He said. 

"Or the time in Miami when..." I was spacing out, "When..."

"Hey, hey, come one" He pushed my hair out of the way. "What about the time in Miami"

"You told me you loved me... when you thought... when you thought I was asleep," I said. "I always wanted... wanted to tell you... I love you, Oliver"

"I love you, Avery"

Darkness.

"Avery?" Caitlin came over my coms.

"What?" I spat. I was sitting on the top of a building with Laurel who was trying to keep me calm.

"How are you feeling?" Cait asked, genuinely worried.

"Emotional," I said.

"Could you have been affected by the meta?" She asked.

"No... No, this is my bloodlust" I said, "I was able to avoid his eyes when I fought him"

"Okay, if you need help, just ask," she said. I turned off my link and looked at Laurel.

"Things were so much easier when it was just me and Ollie" I sighed.

"I can only imagine" Laurel sighed, pulling me close. "I'll one-up you, it was so much easier when I was Ollie's girlfriend and you were his mistress"

"God, our lives are insane" I huffed.

"Sara would love this moment" Laurel chuckled, "We were never really sisters, were we?"

"No" I sighed, "We were just 3 girls growing up in the same house"

"That's probably the only thing I want to change," She said, "I wanted us to be real sisters, the kind that always got each others back"

"I have your back now," I said.

"I know that, but back in school," She said, "I should've never let anyone compare you to me, not even dad. You were your own person, and maybe if I realized that, we wouldn't be in this mess"

"I wouldn't change my relationship with Ollie," I said, "I'm sorry, Laur, but I really wouldn't. I love Barry, I do. But Ollie has been one of the only ones I can truly be myself with, I mean, he held me on my deathbed"

"You two did bond over more things than I did with him" She shrugs. "Maybe in another life"

I chuckled, "That's usually how I say goodbye to him," I said, "Telling him in another lifetime, maybe it could've been"

"I can see it," Laurel nodded, "Moira and Robert welcoming you into the family, Thea your friend and sister, Oliver showering you with jewels and presents, a wedding at the Queen mansion, you going off to a honeymoon in Aruba or the Bahamas, coming home pregnant with a little girl. God, it would have been so much easier"

"Hey, we're Lances, we don't do easy" I laughed. My comms beeped, I turned them on. "What's happening"

"Wrong Comlink," Felicity said, "Arrow's trying to contact you"

I turned off the STAR labs one and turned on Olivers, "What is it?" I asked.

"Coffee at Jitters tomorrow with Barry, Felicity, and me" Oliver stated, "We have some stuff to discuss"

"Okay" I said, "Until then, no one contacts me, tonights a Lance Lady night" I stated, "I need this"

"Copy that, Canary"