Chapter 10
A Quiet Home
"Nothing can bring a real sense of security into the home except true love."
-Billy Graham
Sometimes there's nothing stranger than being alone. When you're alone you're forced to pay attention to things you usually ignore. Up until this point , Katie had successfully ignored the empty hole in her heart since her father's death. She successfully ignored the anxiety of being in dark rooms alone. She even tricked herself into believing that she truly wasn't afraid that at some point she would realize that this was all a dream and that she was still in that cold dark cell. When you're alone, there are no distractions from reality and it was moments like this that Katie actually wished for Oliver's return.
Oliver was gone. Not really gone, he'd be back later, but for the first time in a week she didn't know where he was. Once Oliver left, Katie realized how quiet her house really was without her overbearing friend. Since he moved in, they'd practically been attached at the hip. They went grocery shopping together, ate together, watched horrible shows. It was ridiculously weird, but she didn't hate it. When her father died, Katie's greatest fear was that she was just going to be alone. After everything she's been through her only solace came from knowing that one day she would come home, to her family. And even though her father's gone, she can't help but feel that she's still got a chance at that.
At the moment, spent an an embarrassing amount of time staring at a pile of take out menus trying decide which one was more preferable when the doorbell rang. Katie quirked an eyebrow as she stood to her feet. She rarely had any visitors lately, so someone showing up at her door so late in the evening was very unusual. Of course Oliver would tell her to call him, but this was still her house and she could do something as simple as open a door. She stepped in front of the door, making sure to pause before opening it.
"Who is it?"
"It's your friendly neighborhood serial killer who's kind enough to ring the bell before chopping you into small pieces." a familiar voice sounded from the other side and Katie rolled her eyes before reaching forward and pulling open the door. The moment she did, she was engulfed into hug. "Aw, Twinkie, I'm sorry I didn't come sooner."
"It's fine Tommy." Katie said returning the hug. "You're a busy man and-"
"That wasn't it." Tommy replied pulling from the hug. He met Katie's eyes and she could see that there was something he wanted to say, but he just wasn't. "I just-"
"Hey, it's fine. I'm alright."
"But I'm the reason you were even in the car-"
"Hey, it's not your fault some crazy bastard tried to kidnap me." she said before slapping his arm and waving him to come in. "I was just about to order some take out-"
"Take out, no" Tommy interrupted dramatically with a shake of head. "I'm taking you out. It's the least I can do."
"Is this another ploy to unleash drunk Twinkie, because Tommy I-"
Tommy rose his hands to stop her. "I'm offended you think so little of me. Look, Laurel's working late and I'm not really into the club scene tonight so how about a nice meal with a friend." Katie looked him suspiciously before finally giving in.
"Fine, but no alcohol, just food that you're paying for."
"Dude, you have more money than me, why am I the one the paying?"
"Well it was your idea and I take a sick pleasure out of making the guy who was the bane of my existence for so long actually buy my dinner." Katie said with a wink before turning and heading toward the stairs. "Let me change and I'll be right down."
"Bane of your existence is a little over dramatic, don't you think!" he called up the stairs as he let his eyes drift over the pictures on the wall. He'd been to this house a few times with his dad when he was younger and he usually hated it. When he was younger he wanted nothing more than to be like his father, and for some reason not explained to him, his father just didn't care for Jacob Robins and so neither would he, or his chubby daughter. It was stupid now when he thought about it. Jacob Robins really didn't seem like a bad guy. Tommy always remembered after his mother's funeral, Jacob sat beside him in their backyard and gave him one of those green army guys and he told him that when his own mother died his dad had gave it to him. He said that he thought he'd lost the little toy, but his father said this little green army man was like his mother. The things you think are lost and gone for ever, never really are. Tommy still has that little green army toy. He still looks at it and smiles always feeling closer to his mother when he does.
Oliver Queen was a man who knew the risks of distraction. When he dawned his hood, and carried his arrow, he knew that his mind had to be totally focused, and sometimes that meant forgetting about the Oliver Queen part of his life. Tonight seemed different. He'd been semi focused on finding the drug lord Felicity had located. Even though the guy wasn't there, he wasn't upset as he usually would be.
"Are you trying yoga or something?" a voice spoke from the comlink in his ear. "You're usually a little more gurrr, when we lose a bad guy"
"We didn't lose him Felicity, he's just out of town" Oliver replied as he head toward his bike from the police station. He'd found the hide out, and only found a hand full of John Nickle's cronies, who easily spilled that their boss was in Central City and would be returning in couple of days, and for some reason Oliver didn't mind waiting. "It's hard to tell someone they've failed their city when their not actually in the city. When he comes back, we get him and then we cross him out."
"Pilates?" Felicity asked and Oliver simply chuckled to himself.
"Maybe his head is somewhere else" Diggle said as Oliver walked over to the van the man was leaning against.
"My head is here and fine, thanks" Oliver replied heading for the passenger seat.
"Aww, he has Twinkie on the brain" Felicity teased when a few beeps sounded from one of her computers. She swiveled her chair around, leaning in slightly to read the message that had popped up. "That's strange."
"What's strange?" Oliver asked and Felicity wanted to kick herself for saying that out loud.
"Nothing, it's just uh-" she'd known Oliver long enough to predict certain reactions, and she just knew he wasn't going to like this. "Speaking of Twinkie, uh does she get many late night visitors?"
"What, no." Oliver responded his tone losing it's playful demeanor. "Is someone at the house?"
"Some of the sensors have gone off, so I would guess yeah."
"What do the surveillance cameras show?"
"Oliver, that's not how this works remember. The cameras are Katie's security measure, not for you to be a stalker."
"Felicity!" he hissed angrily. "She just made a deal to sign over her father's business assets to QC today, so if any time was perfect for someone to stop that from happening, it would be now. Now check security footage!"
"Or how about we call her and see if she's in any danger?" Felicity said quickly. "Hold for a sec."
"Felicity, don't-" he didn't even get to finish before the woman was putting him on hold.
Tommy heard the footsteps behind him and turned just as Katie was coming down to stairs toward him.
"Alright, I'm ready-" Katie was halfway down the stairs when her phone rang in her hand. She glanced down to see a familiar number before answering it and bringing it to her ear. "Felicity Smoak, what's up?"
"Don't hate me."
"No good conversation starts like that Ms. Smoak." Katie replied and she heard the woman on the other end of the line sigh. "Just come out with it."
"Well when we were putting in your security systems, Oliver may or may not have asked to have access to them."
"Excuse me?"
"Look he was doing that big scary guy thing. And then he looked at me with those eyes he knows that gets every girl and-"
"Felicity, what are you trying to tell me?"
"He knows someone is at the house now and he's kind of freaking out and so-" the woman stopped speaking and Katie heard the woman mutter something under her breath. "I'm going to patch you through to him now."
"Felicity, wait, what-"
"Who is at the house?" came Oliver's very serious, and from what she could hear very angry tone.
"None of your damn business." was Katie's just as angry reply. This was getting way too out of hand and this big brother act Oliver Queen was playing at was getting old very quick. "I can't believe you would violate my privacy and-"
"Katie!" he snapped and Katie's eyes widened at his tone. "A sniper tried to shoot you, and then someone tried to kidnap you and now someone is at your door in the middle of the night. Tell me who it is right-!" she hung up the phone before he could even finish that sentence that was starting to sound like an order.
"Is everything alright?" Katie looked over to Tommy who'd been standing there watching her the entire time.
"Everything's fine. I'm just-" her phone rang again, but she didn't answer it.
"Are you going to answer that?"
"Nope."
"Is it Oliver?"
"I like to call him asshole, but yes it is."
"Answer it." Katie lifted her eyes back to him. "Look Oliver Queen isn't the best guy in the world, trust me, but I know the moment he found out someone took you, he freaked out in a way I've never seen before. Just answer it." Katie let out deep groan before answering the phone and bringing it to her ear.
"I'm fine Oliver" she said it so calm and sweet, that she could practically feel his annoyance radiating from the phone. "Tommy showed up and offered to take me out to dinner and I accepted."
"Dinner?"
"Yes, it's a meal that people eat at night."
"You're infuriating."
"And you're annoying, so it balances out. Look I have to go now-"
"You can't-"
"Yes I can Oliver. I can do whatever I want to do because my driver's license says so." and with that Katie ended the call and looked over to Tommy. "I'm starving. Are you starving?" she headed down the stairs toward the door. "Let's go eat."
When the call ended Oliver huffed in anger. Diggle looked over to him from his place behind the wheel and shook his head.
"Not a good call, huh?"
"That woman is so damn-" he growled because he couldn't even think of a single word to describe how damn insufferable she was. "I'm trying to protect her and she won't let me."
"Maybe she isn't looking for someone to protect her Oliver." Diggle said and Oliver looked over to him. "Why don't you finally just admit what this really is about?"
"What are you talking about?"
"C'mon Oliver, we all see it. This change that's happening with you. That darkness that used to be in your eyes, doesn't seem as dark since Twinkie came to town and you know it." Oliver didn't say anything as he turned to look out the window. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. I think it good for you to have this light in yourself that you're holding onto. I just think if you want to keep it, then you're going to have to admit that it's there and who's responsible for it." The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, because nothing kills a room like cold, hard truth.
Tommy and Katie ended up at one of Starling's famous pizzaria's, Marlo's, where Katie hadn't been in a very long time. Tommy watched as her eyes seemed to glaze over the place in a subtle amazement. When she met his eyes she chuckled at herself.
"I'm being a dork aren't I?" she asked with a shake of her head. "Sorry"
"No, you're fine. So I'm guessing it's been a long time since you've been here?"
"You can say that" Katie said once again staring, this time her eyes falling on a booth that sat in a corner on the other side of the restaurant.
"Let me guess, Oliver used to bring you here?" a very unattractive snort slipped through Katie's lips, which caused her to just burst into laughter. "Was that a funny question?" Katie looked at him with an expectant look. "What?"
"You're joking" he still looked lost and the smile dropped from Katie's face. "No, Oliver has never brought me here. Me and Oliver never really hung out that often outside of our houses." Tommy quirked an eyebrow and Katie chuckled. "And not in the way you're thinking. We usually just hung out. Listened to music, watched old tv shows, talked about stuff nobody else seemed to want to hear." she looked around the restaurant again.
"So you were the other best friend."
"No, I was the secret best friend." Katie corrected turning back to him. "Oliver was too popular, too perfect to ruin his image by being seen with the weird girl whose mother committed suicide." she looked down to her partially eaten pizza trying to ignore the knotting of her stomach at the mention of her mother.
"You know I'm sorry, right?" he said and Katie glanced up in confusion. "I was a total asshole from middle school, to high school to you."
"We were kids, it's fine. Trust me, I'm not holding on to any of that stuff."
"No, you're just holding on to Oliver." Tommy replied and Katie looked as if she wanted to say something, but nothing came out. "You shouldn't" that she didn't expect and he could tell from the look on her face. "It's just since he's been back, he's not our Oliver."
"What do you mean?" Katie asked leaning in closer. Tommy turned away, which was the equivalent of Oliver rubbing the back of his neck. There was something he wanted to say, he just wasn't sure he should. "Tommy, what's up?" he turned back to her and opened his mouth, but closed it again. It was that moment that she realized what was happening. "Fuck me, you know don't you?"
"Know what?" he asked with a quirked brow as he too leaned in closer to the table.
"That a certain friend of ours has a Katniss Everdeen fetish" she replied and his eyes widened as he fell back in his seat. "You do know."
"Well yeah I know, I just didn't know you knew." Tommy shook his head. "I can't believe he told you before he told me."
"Well in all honesty he didn't tell me, it was either I find out or he was going to die." Tommy just stared at her with a look of bewilderment. "It's a long story, but yeah I know."
"And you're alright with this?" he asked and Katie shrugged. "He's a-" he glances around the restaurant making sure no one was listening before leaning in closer to Katie and whispering, "murderer." Katie turned away from him, the term murderer not holding the same meaning to her as it once did. "I mean Ollie, our Ollie would never- could never-"
"Tommy!" Katie snapped unintentionally startling the man. "Did you ever think that our Ollie wasn't the best guy and that Oliver, the man who risks his life to do what he thinks is right, maybe is."
"Killing is never right, no matter the reason." Tommy said and his words hit her in a way she didn't expect. She turned away from him hoping he wouldn't be able to see the affect of his words. "You alright?"
"Yeah, I just-" the man sitting at the table across the restaurant met her eyes for a full minute before averting them. He glanced over to another direction which Katie followed to a woman, who too met Katie's eyes before looking down to her menu. Katie's fingers curled in to fists on her knees as she turn to look at Tommy.
"Twinkie, are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah, I just need to use the bathroom." Katie said with a smile as she stood to her feet. "I'll be right back."
"Alright."
Katie kept her eyes straight ahead as she headed to the bathroom, but she could see out of the corner of her eyes as the man across the restaurant stood to his feet. Once she pushed inside of the bathroom, she glanced underneath the stalls to make sure they were empty. It was when she verified that the coast was clear did she hear the sound of the door opening and closing behind her. The sound of a knife being unsheathed met her ears and so she stood up straight, inhaling a deep breath as she closed her eyes.
Her eyes were closed, but she could hear the dragging of the dirt underneath is feet as Lian moved around her. She remained completely still letting her ears be her guide. There was slight gust of wind as he swung his stick, and Katie quickly lifted her own to block the attack. He tried a couple of times after that, each hit she anticipated and blocked.
"Good." he said still moving around her slowly. A mischievous idea hit him and so he stopped moving and let the room fall in to silence. He swung the stick at her, which she blocked easily. He swung again, but stopped short, so when she went to block, he quickly swung a leg under her feet tripping her and sending her falling on her butt. "But there's still much for you to learn."
"You cheated." Katie said looking up to him from her spot on the floor. He shook his head before moving to stand above her.
"What's the number one rule of combat?" he asked holding up a finger.
"Never talk about fight club" Katie muttered to which Lian swung his stick to hit, but she rolled out of the way before the stick come come in to contact with her body. She tried to reach for her own stick, but he swung at her hand and she had to pull it back. "Are you crazy?" he simply kept swinging the stick at her, each swing getting closer and closer. She finally jumped to her feet just as the stick was swung again. He stopped just inches away from her head. "Never underestimate your opponent." she grit through her teeth as she sent a glare to him.
"That's right." he said dropping the stick to the ground before stalking toward her, so close that he was towering above her. "Never underestimate your opponent. When you fight, you don't fight to win. You fight to survive, and you better damn well believe your opponent is doing the same. You call it cheating, I call it surviving." he turned his back to her and stalked away. "Again!"
When her eyes opened, she was no longer Katie. She wasn't Twinkie. She wasn't a doctor. She was that monster that was created from those three years in hell. She heard the sound of the floor squeak as he took a step forward followed by rush of wind as the knife was push toward her. In a move too quick for the man's eyes, Katie dodged the knife before she trapped the offending hand underneath her arm. The man tried to pull it free, even pressing down causing it to tear through her skin. Without hesitations she snatched the knife from his hand and shot her head back, with full force, hitting him right in the nose, sending him stumbling back. Her hand tightened around the knife, ignoring the stinging in her side, as she turned to finally face her attacker who held his bloody nose while glaring at her.
"Big mistake." he growled through his crooked teeth.
"Come show me how big a mistake it was" Katie taunted and without hesitation the man came rushing toward her. She dodged out of the way quickly, and the man ran straight into the wall behind her. "That's just sad" she turned around to see him turn toward her. His fists closed tight and she knew he was going to once again try to hit her. She prepared to once again dodge him, when the sound of a familiar throaty laughter drifted to her hears. Distraction at this point was dangerous. She needed to be focused and able to expect anything, but as she stood there, that laughter that couldn't be wouldn't stop and so against every instinct in her body, she turned toward the mirror and there standing was the man who haunted her dreams.
"Whose going to save you now?" he taunted her, still laughing.
She knew he wasn't there. Knew he was part of the darkness inside of her, but for that split second she couldn't take her eyes off of him. And such a distraction allowed a fist to slam right into her gut. A curse hissed through her teeth as she turned back to her attacker and hunched over, her arms wrapped around her middle. The man reached to grab her, but she jumped back out of his grasp. Without a second thought, she turned and ran for the door, but he was fast behind her, slamming the door closed just as she'd barely pulled it open. He grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her from the door, and before he knew what was happening, Katie had twisting herself around and shoved her elbow into his gut repeatedly and until he finally let her go. The moment he did, she landed a kick right into his stomach shoving him violently back into the wall. She didn't give him the opportunity to recover before she was running toward him, and jumping on him. His fist were relentless as they punched her side trying to get her off of him, but she took each hit with a grunt, but never loosening. Instead she tossed herself around him, so her arms were hooked one of her arms around his neck from behind, while the other pressed his own knife to his jugular.
"Tell me who you are!" she demanded pressing the knife deeper against his neck. The man's response was to shove himself backward, slamming Katie's back against the wall. He took a step forward, about to do it again, when Katie realized how this story ended and after that, what she had to do was simple. The door opened, and appeared the woman who she pegged as her attacker's partner. Well at least she would have an audience.
Tommy sat glancing down to his cell phone as he awaited Katie's return. It was getting pretty late and he figured they should be getting home. He waved a hand for the bill before only for the clerk behind the counter to wave him off. A confused Tommy stood to his feet and walked over.
"Um, hey, I could I get the bill?"
"It's taken care of" the man said with a slight smile. "What would I look like charging the boss?"
"The boss?" Tommy muttered with a shake of his head. "Look, I think you have the wrong person. I-"
"Not you" the clerk replied. "Ms. Robins."
"Wait, Katie?" the man just nodded before nudging his head to a wall of pictures the were beside the counter. Tommy glanced up to the wall before spotting one in the center that held a familiar face. "Is that-" It was Jacob standing beside the clerk in front of a pizza, both with huge smiles.
"My restaurant was failing, and one day Mr. Robins came in with his daughter and sat in that booth right there." The man said pointing to the booth in the far corner of the restaurant. Tommy suddenly realizes Katie's wandering gaze when they arrived. "Him and his daughter shared a pepperoni and said it was the best pizza they'd had in Starling. I told him that it wouldn't last and that we were closing because of competition and he wouldn't hear of it." the man smiled. "My life changed that day. He looked me in the eyes and said that I was going to be alright and I was. He bought my restaurant and kept me in total control of everything. With the money he invested we were able to survive and able to show people how good we are. I was able to send my kids to college. A good college" the man looked back over to the picture and sighed. "Such a shame he's gone." he turned back to Tommy and smile. "So as long as that girl comes into this restaurant, she'll never have to pay for anything." Tommy simply nodded with a smile before turning and returning to his table.
He sat there glancing down to his watch, realizing that Katie had been gone for a while. He was about to check on her when he heard a vibrating sound coming from her bag. Maybe it was an invasion of privacy, but he didn't really care. He slipped a hand into her bag snagging her phone out.
"Oh, Oliver." he muttered seeing the man's number on the screen along with a message of numerous missed calls from him. Tommy decided to put him out of his misery and so he answered and brought the phone to his ear.
"Could you seriously not answer your phone!" Oliver snapped not bothering to wait for a greeting. "After everything that's happened, I mean everything, you can't do something as simple as answer your phone. Someone wants to hurt you and you-"
"Wait, what?" Tommy interrupted.
"Who is this?"
"It's Tommy. What do you mean someone's trying to hurt her?"
"Tommy, I didn't'-wait, where's Twinkie?"
"Bathroom. Now answer the question."
"Tommy, I don't have time. I need to talk to Katie right now."
The sound of a gun shot cut through the room and everything after that moment happened too fast. People were screaming and running trying to get out of there
"Tommy!" Oliver's voice yelled from the phone.
Tommy was already on his feet and turning toward the bathrooms. He had to push his way through the running people. When he finally made it through the crowd to the bathroom, he quickly pushed open the door with more force probably necessary, unintentionally bumping into something. It wasn't until he was actually inside did he see that what he hit was actually a woman holding a gun and at her feet was man lying face down surrounded by a pool of blood. The woman grabbed her head with one hand as she turned to her gun about to point it at Tommy, but before he knew what was happening, Katie was running toward the woman. Katie grabbed the woman's gun hand, holding it out trying to pry it from the woman's grasp. A few shots rang out in the struggle before Katie slammed the woman's hand against the sink, knocking the gun from her hand to the floor. In the woman's attempt to retrieve the gun from the floor, Katie grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back before grabbing the back of the woman's head and slamming it against the bathroom mirror repeatedly until the woman was knocked unconscious. The moment the woman's body fell to the floor, Katie bent down and rummaged through the woman's pockets before finding her phone.
"Katie!" Tommy yelled finally finding words. Katie glanced up to him as if just only noticing his presence. "What the actual fuck is going on here?!" she simply climbed over the woman's body and began rummaging through the man's pocket and snagging his wallet and cell phone, stuffing it all into the pockets of her jacket. With her hand she roughly pushed her ruffled hair from her face. "Katie, what-"
"You need to leave" Katie said her voice rough, something he didn't expect. She stalked over to him and grabbed his arm before pulling him from the bathroom into a small hall. When she spotted a back door marked exit, she pulled him with her. "You went to the bathroom, heard gun shots and ran out the back door."
"What are you talking about?" Tommy asked, glancing back down the hall when he hears sirens and loud voices. Before he could ask anymore questions, Katie was pulling him out the door out into a dark alley. They looked down one end, able to spot people along with the flashing lights of police and paramedics.
"Tommy look at me!" Tommy turned back to her as she grabbed the front of his clothes pulling him closer. "You went to the bathroom, you heard gun shots and then you ran out the back door." "Katie what is going on?" he asked almost pleading for her to tell him what was happening.
"It doesn't matter-"
"What do you mean it doesn't matter! I just saw-" he turned to the door and shook his head. "I don't know what hell I just saw."
"You saw nothing" Katie replied and he met her eyes. "You went to the bathroom, heard gun shots and ran out the back door. That's it. Nothing in that bathroom had anything to do with you and I will be damned if you get pulled into this any kind of way. Do you understand?"
"No I do not understand" He was confused and lost and getting angry at the lack of answers. He was tired of the lies and secrets from the people he thought of as friend. No, that he thought of as family. "What the hell happened back there?"
"That-" Katie turned to the door and let out a shaky breath. "That was me realizing that I should've followed my first mind." she turned back to Tommy who watched her closely as if looking for something in her. "I shouldn't be here. I'm sorry I brought you into this." she placed a hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry" and without a warning Katie turned ran down the dark end of the alley as fast as she could.
"Katie!" Tommy called about to run after her, but before he could the police came bursting out the door, their guns drawn. Tommy's hands shot up into the air as his eyes turned down that dark alley.
The wind blew her hair across her face as she ran down the darkened streets of Starling. She only stopped when her limbs began to ache, dipping behind a nearby alley. Her back fell against the brick wall of a building, her chest heaving as she hears the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. She suddenly feels a sting on her side, so she drops her head and looks down to a growing red stain in her shirt.
"Shit" she curses, placing a hand on the wound. She closes her eyes and takes as many breaths as she can knowing she's going to need them. She has to run again, she just doesn't know where she'll be running to. The only thing she knew for certain was that she had to get the hell our of Starling City. Katie peeks her head from the alley to see the streets are still clear. The distant sounds of sirens prove that they won't be for long, so she once again bolts down the street.
The story worked. Tommy couldn't believe the story worked, but it did. The cops burst out the back door with their guns drawn, he told them what Katie told him to say and that was it. He wasn't allowed to leave, none of the customers were. They all stood outside the restaurant being questioned. Tommy couldn't help but feel nervous. His head was still reeling from what he saw in that bathroom. He was starting to realize that he really didn't know the people in his life. A familiar car pulled up and Tommy simply sighed.
"You know when I got the call of shots being fired at my favorite pizza joint, I didn't expect my daughter's boyfriend to be involved." Detective Lance said as he walked over to Tommy. "I also didn't expect you to be the only customer who'd went out the back door."
"I was in the bathroom, and-"
"Yeah, I know your story." Lance interrupted. "What were you doing here tonight Tommy?"
"I wanted pizza and this place is the best in town." Lance looked at the young man for just a second and just knew he wasn't saying something.
"Sir!" an officer called and Lance tore his questioning stare from Tommy. The officer waved for the detective to come over.
"Call my daughter, tell her you're alright." Lance said turning back to the man. "But don't go anywhere. We're not finished." Tommy simply nodded before reaching into his pocket and pulled out two phones. He noticed the detective's suspicious look.
"One's personal, the other for business." Tommy said. It was the first lie he'd said and he just hoped it wouldn't bite him in the ass later. Lance just shook his head before heading over to the officer.
"What do we got Banks?" Lance asked as he followed the officer into the restaurant.
"I honestly don't know." the officer replied. Lance let his eyes scan over the restaurant for anything out of place. He spotted a few bags and purses that were discarded by customers as they ran for safety. Once they reached the ladies room, the officer carefully pushed open the door and revealed the gruesome scene. His eyes looked down to the body of the man who lay on the ground lifeless, to the gun that was on the floor and then up to the shattered mirror.
"Any ID's on the bodies?"
"Nothing. No driver's license, no cell phones. We're running their prints now to see if they're in the system" Lance simply nodded before moving closer to the man's body and tilting his head slightly to get a good look at the tattoo on his neck.
"Cause of death?" Lance asks the Medical Examiner who was bent beside the body.
"It's pretty simple. Our John Doe's neck was slashed and our Jane Doe-" he looked up to the mirror. "Her face was slammed against that mirror repeatedly."
"Jane Doe?" Lance asked and the ME nodded.
"She was found unconscious when we arrived on the scene. We shipped her to general right before you got here."
"I want to be informed the moment she's up and talking, you understand?" Lance's eyes went down to the man's body once again. "And I want to know who this is"
"Yes sir." Lance glanced around the scene once more before turning and heading out. The smell was getting to him and he needed to get some air. When he stepped back outside, his eyes looked over to Tommy, to see the man wasn't alone.
"Of course" Lance muttered before heading in their direction. "Mr. Queen, what are you doing here?" Oliver's face was serious, too serious as he stared at Tommy. "Mr. Queen-"
"I heard about the gun shots and thought I remembered my sister saying something about coming here." Oliver replied turning to the detective. "But I just talked to her and she said her and her friends made other plans."
"I'm seeing your face at too many of my crime scenes." Lance said staring between the two men. "And I don't like it."
"Don't worry, I'm leaving." Oliver said turning another look to Tommy before giving the detective a nod. They watched as the man turned and walked back toward his bike.
Oliver got on his bike, slipping his helmet on just as his phone rang. He pressed the button on the side of his helmet to answer it, before pulling off.
"Felicity, tell me you've got something."
"Oliver, I'm sorry. She hasn't gone home, or come here. The only thing I had was the GPS signal in her cell phone."
"And that led to Tommy." Oliver muttered angrily. "He said he walked into the bathroom after the gun shot and saw a woman with a gun aimed at Katie. Then somehow Katie got the gun from the woman's hand and knocked her unconscious."
"Whoa"
"Now she's running. Look, she's probably freaking out, and-" it suddenly hit him. What he would do if he were in her situation. "She's going to leave Starling."
"You think she would?"
"Yeah, this got close to Tommy and she wants to end it before it gets to anyone else. Search all airport, buses and trains for her. and-"
"I got something." Felicity Smoak never ceased to amaze him. "She just bought a bus ticket at Starling Transit to Central City. Her bus leaves in a fifteen minutes. Oliver-"
"I got it. Thanks Felicity." The call ended and Oliver pressed the gas as fast as it would go. He made it to the bus station in five minutes. He ran inside, letting his eyes scan the practically empty station for her familiar face. It wasn't until he saw the back of someone's head, sitting across the station with a baseball cap, did he realize it was her. Without hesitation he ran over her. "Katie-" her head was down. "Katie?" he dropped to his knees in front of her, snatching the sunglasses from her face to see her eyes closed. "No, no. Katie, what-" his eyes looked down to her shirt and the growing blood stain. "Fuck!" he placed a hand on her cheek and her eyes fluttered open but barely.
"Liver" she muttered looking into his eyes.
"Yeah, I'm here." he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, to press a familiar number. He placed it to his ear, "Diggle I need the van to Starling Transit, now" He ended the call and stood to his feet before reaching over and scooping her into his arms. "I got you."
Oliver doesn't think he could hold on to the woman currently in his arms any tighter. As soon as Diggle pulled up in the van, he hopped inside glad they hadn't drawn too much attention.
"Oliver-"
"Just drive the car Digg" Oliver said his tone leaving no room for argument. He already knew what Diggle wanted to talk about. It's what he'd been wanting to talk about ever since they found out about the incident at the restaurant. At the moment Oliver could only focus on one thing and that was getting Katie better. "So where are we going, the hospital?"
"No, hospital is going to ask too many questions. Take her to the foundry." Oliver glanced down to his hand that he held firmly against her side. "I think it's just a flesh wound, it doesn't feel too deep." It didn't take long for Diggle to get them to the foundry. The moment they arrived, Oliver carefully carried Katie inside.
"Oh my God!" Felicity said standing to her feet and rushing over. As Oliver laid Katie's body on the metal slab in the middle of the room, Felicity got a god look at all the blood that was on both of their clothing. "What happened?" Oliver didn't say anything as he stripped off his own jacket before reaching down and completely tearing open Katie's white t-shirt, exposing her polka dot bra and body full of bruise and scars. His eyes focused on nothing but the bleeding wound in her side.
"Felicity-"
"I'm already gone." Felicity said before rushing off to get the first aid kit.
"Diggle-"
"Weird healing herbs. I'm getting it." Diggle said before going over to the chest that was across the room.
Oliver pressed a hand against the wound before glancing up to Katie's face to see her eyes fluttering, and her mouth moving. He leaned in close to her and ran his hand over her hair.
"You're going to be alright." he spoke, when he caught some of what she was saying. He turned his ear to her lips to make sure he'd heard her right. When the words passed from her lips once more, his face scrunched in confusion as words not in English came out of her mouth.
"Oliver, here it is." Felicity's voice spoke beside him. He quickly stood up straight and went to work on cleaning and dressing the wound. He had questions and now he needed her to wake up so she could answer them. That's what he told himself, but in reality all he really needed right now was for her to just wake up and be ok.
Author's Note:
First off let me say how great tonight's episode of Arrow was. There are no words for me to express how awesome it was. Don't worry, no spoilers for those who still haven't seen it, but don't worry you won't be disappointed.
As for our story, we finally see our Twinkie in action which is going to create some mixed feelings in the next chapter. Slowly but surely that tight lid she thought she had on the craziness in her head is spilling out and now people are looking.
Response to Reviews:
ArrowTheaQueen: Patience. Patience. Patience. It's going to happen, sooner than you think. I promise.
highlander348: I guess if he actually has a chance to break in, but *spoiler alert* he won't have to. Aww, you want to see some hand to hand between Oliver and Katie...well I guess that can be arranged.
hayden: Thanks a million. I'm glad you liked it.
I want to thank all the support I'm getting for this story. It is actually really difficult to try to integrate this entity into this story that's already has a set story and a set cast of characters. I know I'm not the most eloquent writer, but I like this story and I'm glad you all do too. Thanks for the favs, follows and a special thanks for all who took the time to review. It is all greatly appreciated.