Discovery Devotion Destiny

by kayemen22

In the blink of an eye, everything changed. Oliver now had to figure out how to balance being the Mayor of Star City with being the Green Arrow. He had to do it all while being the parent to a crawling baby and a mischevous teen. New enemies would threaten all of it. He's going to need his wife...except she doesn't even remember he's her husband. Or that she has freaky powers.

8. Crossing the Line

Chapter 8

Crossing the Line

"Sometimes you just have to have faith. Sometimes you have to leap first to see if your parachute will open."

-Sonali Dev

---

Robyn Maisie Queen's short dark curls were a total mess over her head. Katie smiled as the girl attempted to push her hair from her face before she continued playing with her blocks. Her morning started early as she awakened from another nightmare that seemed to play her years of torture she wished she could forget. She decided to give up on sleep and when she peeked inside of Robyn's room, she found the other early bird in the house. So after a quick diaper change, a bottle and some cereal, Katie now found herself down in the den in a section off to the side that seemed to be made specifically for the little girl. In that corner was a toy chest filled with toys that Robyn crawled to immediately the moment Katie sat her down.

Katie's eyes lit up as she watched Robyn pulled herself up to her feet, reaching inside her toy chest and grabbed the handle of a box that was filled with her blocks. Katie sat on the floor, watching her, totally mesmerized by the tiny human. Katie couldn't help studying the girl, watching as she played and smiled as she stacked the blocks on top of each other before knocking them down and doing it all over again. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her, but she did turn when she felt someone now sitting beside her. She turned to see Oliver, who looked like he'd just woken up as he sat in his tshirt and pajama pants.

"You two are up early." he glanced over to Robyn with a smile as she turned and crawled over to the toy chest.

"Yeah, I didn't get much sleep and gave up after a while, so I decided to check in on her and found her awake as well." Katie smiled as she watched Robyn as she held onto the side of the toy chest while she moved around to search inside. A clear sign that they should probably be expecting a walking baby soon.

"Bad dreams?" Katie frowned a bit as she turned to him and gave him a nod. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly. It's just stuff I wish I couldn't remember," she turned back to Robyn to see the girl now holding a stuffed purple bear that sang the alphabet when she chewed on his ear. Oliver's eyes studied his wife as she watched their daughter and he smiled. "You know the last memory I have of her, she didn't have any teeth." Katie chuckled as she watched Robyn crawling back over to her blocks, her teddy bear still gripped tightly in her hands. "Her hair wasn't even an inch long and she couldn't crawl." Katie felt emotion rising up in her throat and so she dropped her head.

"Hey-"

"Five months Oliver," she looked over to the man. "Five months I missed. I missed her first words. I missed the first time she crawled." she turned back to Robyn who was once again stacking the blocks. "I missed the moment she began to hold her own bottle. I missed solid foods." she felt a tear escape her eye before Oliver's arm snaked around her, pulling her closer to his body. "I missed so much." she rose her eyes to him. "Moments I can never get back."

"But there are so many more that you will be there for." Oliver replied placing a hand on her cheek. He was there for each moment and each moment filled him with happiness, and yet they never felt complete. He always wished she was there. She was supposed to be there. "Twinkie, you can't make up for lost time, but you can make the most of the time you share with her now and she will love you all the more for it." Katie's eyes looked up to Oliver, finding herself being pulled into an emotion she didn't think she could pull herself out of. It's why she rose her own hand and placed it on the side of his face. There was something about this moment...something she thinks she's been waiting to feel. And so she lifts herself a bit, her lips needing to touch his, and he cranes his neck, bending forward to meet her half way.

"Hey, where is—" Thea came to a stop as she stepped into the den, and she instantly regretted her terrible timing. Oliver and Katie pulled a part and turned to Thea. "I'm sorry, I have the worst timing ever."

"No, it's fine, it's-" Katie turned, her eyes looking back over to the toys, and the stack of blocks..but no Robyn. "Robyn?" Katie frowned as she quickly stood to her feet and spun around to search the room. "Robyn, where—" she closed her eyes fear suddenly rising in her chest. Oliver grabbed her shoulder and she opened her eyes to him.

"It's fine, she does this." Oliver says before looking around the room.

"What do you mean she does this?" Katie says moving around the room in search of her daughter. "She just disappears?"

"Yeah, the second you take your eyes off of her." Thea says looking around the room as well. "She hasn't done it for a while though. I'll check the living room."

"Apparently, I also missed the stage of my daughter's life where she like to play hide and seek."

"I was supposed to get a few baby gates to prevent moments like this." Oliver says as he searches the room as well.

"Yeah, we're definitely doing that soon," Katie walks out of the den into the hall, her eyes looking down the hall before turning and seeing Ari now holding Robyn. Katie let out a relieved sigh.

"Look who I found coming up the stairs." Ari said as Katie reached for the baby. "She pulled a Houdini again, didn't she?"

"I wonder where she gets that from?" Katie says looking over to the unimpressed look on Ari's face as she shakes her head and heads into the kitchen. Katie glanced back, and called. "Found her!" when she walked into the kitchen she watched as Ari pulled the carton of milk from the refrigerator and went to grab a bowl.

"So what are you training me on tonight?" Ari asked as she walked over to the counter and glanced over to Katie who went to strap Robyn into her highchair.

"Nothing." Katie says and Ari frowned as she looked over to the woman who hadn't turned to her. She turned as Oliver and Thea walked into the kitchen.

"And the chances of an attack happening today are possible?" Thea asked and Oliver sighed, a sound that was answer enough. He walked over to place a kiss to Robyn's head and she giggled as he tickled her feet. "What's the plan?"

"I was just going to cover it on my own-"

"Which was a stupid idea, but Felicity was able to convince him to draft his team of wayward vigilantes to help out." Katie says and Oliver turns to her with a quirked brow.

"Seriously?" Ari says and they turn to her. "You're actually letting them out on a mission?"

"It's not a mission. They're just eyes and ears. None of them will be engaging this guy if he shows up." Oliver says before turning to Katie. "That goes for you too. If something goes down, and this guy makes an appearance, I want you to get out of there." Katie looked at him for a moment with a furrowed brow. "Twinkie, I'm serious."

"I know, which makes it even sadder." she says walking over to grab herself a mug for coffee. She turned to see him still watching her and she let out a sigh. "I don't run from fights."

"I get that, I really do, but we don't know what this guy is capable of and-"

"But you're bringing inexperienced people on a mission. That's a screw up waiting to happen," Ari says and Oliver turns to her now feeling as if they were now ganging up on him. "You should let me come, I can back you up." he actually let out a snort.

"That's not happening. You're going to school."

"Nope, I'm volunteering at the clinic. I got the volunteer day from school."

"You can't get that without a parent or guardian signature and I didn't sign anything," he glanced over to Katie who shook her head.

"Neither did I." they both turned to Ari who folded her arms and glanced over to the other adult in the room. Katie and Oliver turned to Thea who once again looked guilty.

"To be fair, I didn't know about the possibility of some guy using a clinic opening as a chance to make some kind of a statement. Plus I thought it was great that she wanted to volunteer."

"And you didn't tell us, because-"

"Because she said she would." Thea says turning a look toward Ari who now glanced nervously between Katie and Oliver.

"Well I wasn't talking to you at the time, actually, I'm still not." Ari says before turning to Katie. "I can be eyes and ears. Nyssa trained me using my senses to alert me to my surroundings. I can do this." Katie turned away at the mention of one of Nyssa's lessons and she had to fight the urge to throw the mug in her hand. She turned back to Ari and shook her head.

"No, you want to volunteer, then that's what you're going to do."

"But you said-"

"I know what I said, but you haven't shown me that you're ready for something like this. The fact that you're fighting in school, hiding things, sneaking out...none of them are signs that you're someone who can handle being apart of a team." Katie gave a nod. "Finish your breakfast and get ready for school." Ari scoffed, shoving the bowl on the counter before turning to stalk up the stairs.

"I'm not hungry anymore."

Katie slapped the mug on the counter, hard enough to make a sound, but not hard enough to break it. Ari, stopped and glanced back to see her cousin walking over to her.

"This is what I'm talking about. This teenager tantrum you throw when you don't get your way. That does not show me a person with the ability to make a sound decision not based in emotions." she stepped in front of Ari. "Fine, you're not hungry, but you took out a bowl and you took out the milk, all of which you will put back before you go upstairs and get ready for school." Katie placed a hand on Ari's shoulder. "I need you to do more than say you're ready for this, I need to see it. I need you to show me, got it?" Ari looked at her cousin for a moment.

"Yeah, I got it." Ari turned, grabbing the bowl and milk and putting them back where she got them before heading back to the stairs. She stopped before going up, once again turning back to her cousin. "I'm going to prove to you that I am ready." with that Ari turned and hurried up the steps.

Katie let out a sigh before turning to Oliver and Thea who'd been watching the entire encounter.

"You have no idea how much brother needs you." Thea says giving Oliver a pat on the shoulder before peppering kisses on Robyn's cheek. "I'm going to get ready too, I have to head in early to make sure everything is still on schedule."

Once Thea was gone, Katie walked over to grab her mug before taking a sip of her coffee. She glanced up to see Oliver still silently staring and she let out a huff before walking over to him.

"What has you struck in silence, now?"

"Thea's was right. You have absolutely no idea how much I need you." he sighs taking a step to close the distance between them. He grabs the mug in her hand, and sits it on the table behind him before turning to her. His hands reached forward, grabbing her waist, and she grew still in the embrace. This was definitely a new position for them. Her eyes on his, and his on her, as his hand tightened around her waist pulling her to him.

Katie could feel her heart ramming in her chest. She assumed she would have to be the one to make the first move, but she figures in this moment, Oliver had ran out of patience.

"Before, you said that you need to figure out when it's safe to cross that line, that three and a half years ago you figured it out and now you need to do that again, but I remember how we happened." he leaned in slightly. "I crossed the line first, so maybe-" he got closer, not expecting her to suddenly pull away.

"You crossed the line first?" she asked and Oliver looked back to her in confusion.

"Yeah, I kissed you and you kissed back."

"And then what, we decided to be together?" Oliver sighed with a shake of his head.

"Not exactly, it was sort of a spur of the moment thing. I kissed you and then we sort of freaked out about crossing that line. At the time, I wasn't sure about being in a relationship and I was scared to death of starting one with you and then messing everything up." Oliver frowned slightly. "And then we kissed again, but I-" Oliver shook his head because he wasn't helping his own cause. "I-"

"You were still too scared to take that chance." Oliver nodded and Katie looked at him for a moment before pulling out of his embrace. "Oliver I don't think we ended up together because you finally found the courage to give us a chance. I don't think I would've been able to cross that line just because you stepped over first. Something else happened. Something I really need to figure out." she glanced over to the wall clock. "I should go up and get changed-" she turned back to him. "You got Robyn?" Oliver silently nodded before watching the woman turn and head up the stairs. Oliver stood there for a moment before turning to his daughter who sat with her eyes up to the light fixture on the ceiling totally mesmerized.

"I need your help," Oliver says walking over and pulling the girl from her seat. "We need a plan to get mommy to let daddy kiss her." Robyn looked up to Oliver for a moment, and soon his hand felt warmer and he let out a sigh. "Dirty diapers don't help your old man, sweetie." he placed a kiss to her cheek before taking her up to change her.

It wasn't until Katie had arrived at the clinic and had been introduced to the other doctors and volunteers did she start to feel nervous. She actually realized that she hadn't actually interacted with anyone in a social setting like this in a while. It was mostly Oliver, and Thea, and Felicity and Bruce. There were doctors appointments, but those didn't really count she figured, and now people were looking at her with smiles wanting to engage in conversation and she couldn't help but want to find a hole and hide.

It wasn't until the doors opened and patients started filing in that she actually felt relieved. That's when she dove in. The system in place for seeing patients was working out perfectly, and everything seemed to be moving smooth.

Katie currently held a stethoscope to a young man's chest as she listened to his lungs.

"Take another deep breath." he complied, and her brow wrinkled at the sound of the slight wheezing from his chest. She pulled the stethoscope from her ears and brought them around her neck.

"So Justin, it sounds like your breathing problems may be asthma. We're going to run a few more tests to determine what type of inhaler we can get for you." Katie turned to the boy's mother. "This shouldn't take too long. We should be able to get you out of here soon."

"Thank you so much," the mother said with a smile. "And may I say, I'm so glad you're here and doing better."

"Thank you," Katie said before turning and walking from around the privacy screen as she pulled off her gloves and tossed them into the trash. She let out a sigh. She'd been getting a lot of similar comments through out the day. People she'd never met before telling her how glad they were to see her and how they were happy she was back in the city. She never truly knew how to react to such a sentiment and so she always smiled, and thanked them even though she didn't understand why so many people cared. She walked over to the sink and quickly washed her hands before going to grab a patient chart, when she came to a stop noticing the black eye of one of the volunteers. She doesn't remember seeing the man earlier when they were doing the introductions because she's sure she would've noticed. His eyes seemed to be darting around, and the moment he turned to her, she suddenly realized she knew who he was. He looked at her for a moment, noticing her staring before walking.

"Did you need something, Dr. Robins?" She quirked a brow. He was the first person to call her by that name.

"Call me Katie, and no, I'm just looking at your gnarly black eye," she tilts her head slightly. "How did that happen?"

"Oh, it was just fall down a couple of steps," he chuckled and Katie met his eyes with a look he figured meant his story didn't sound too believable. "I'm good though."

"Yeah, well be careful, and the next time you see those steps, remember to duck." she said giving the man a pat on the shoulder. "We can't have our volunteers looking like we beat them to make them help us." the man laughed and Katie gave a nod before going to grab a chart.

"Uh—Rene-" he said and Katie turned to see the man gesturing to himself. "My name, Rene."

"Well nice to meet you Rene. And thanks for volunteering, your service is much appreciated." with that Katie turned and Rene watched her with a smile until Curtis appeared in front of him.

"Uh, what the hell was that?" Curtis asked and Rene turned and walked away in annoyance and Curtis followed.

"It was nothing, she asked me about the black eye Mr. thinks he knows everything gave me. We were just talking."

"Kind of sounded like more than talking from that change in tone." Evelyn teased from her spot across the clinic through the comlink. "Dare I say, Wild Dog has a crush on the first lady of Star City."

"Hey, focus, heads on swivels." came the voice of the Green Arrow through the comlink and they all lifted their eyes. "Remember do not engage."

"Copy that," Evelyn responded as she moved around the clinic.

"Yes sir, I mean Ol—" Curtis caught himself. "I mean Green Arrow." he shook his head before heading off to his section to patrol.

They all waited for a response from Rene, who still stood near the entrance, but didn't say anything.

"Did you copy that, Wild Dog?" came Felicity's voice.

"We got to talk about this code name."

"Not now, stay focused." The Green Arrow replied.

"You know it would help to know-" Rene is suddenly bumped from behind, and he stumbles forward, nearly falling, but he catches himself on a chair before turning to see the cause.

"Hey watch where you're going," said the red headed teenager and Rene just shook his head.

"Seriously, you bumped into me," he countered and she just rolled her eyes before stalking off.

"You do know who that was, don't you?" Evelyn asked and Rene just shook his head as he scanned the room.

"I don't care who the spoiled little brat is." he replied as he lifted his eyes.

"Eh-hem, uh maybe we really should focus," Curtis says hoping to shift the conversation from the name calling of teen.

"Man, it would take one major asshat to make a move against all these people." commented Evelyn as she stood off to the side. From her spot she really could see just how many people had come out to the clinic's opening and it was a lot.

"Something I've learned recently is the city is filled with them." Curtis said.

"Starts at the top, you know?" Rene says, his eyes looking out the window as Oliver appears surrounded by his security and reporters. "Pretty boy Queen here thinks he's actually saving the city."

Oliver had to force himself not to say anything to the comment as he walked inside and smiled as he shook the hand of the officer guarding the door. He smiled and waves as he walked through the clinic, but he couldn't help that his eyes seemed to be searching for her. It was instinct really whenever he entered a room she was in. He needed to see her. Soon his eyes happened upon his wife, and his smile widen as he watched her helping a young girl who was holding her arm.

Oliver watched how comfortable she looked, how her eyes were focused on the girl, smiling at her, comforting her and it was amazing. He always found her amazing when she was practicing medicine. She was always in the zone, always focused without a worry in the world it seemed. He knows this is probably a welcomed distraction for Katie. Something she could pour herself into and not have to think about the craziness that is their lives. He walked over to her, stopping himself from reaching out to touch her. She turned a smile to him, that slightly faltered when she saw his entourage of security guards and reporters behind him. She moved to step in front of the child and her parents.

"Hi, if you all could step back a bit. We want to keep our patient treatment areas as sterile as possible." she turned a look to Oliver who knew he'd probably be hearing about this later. He turned and held out a hand to the reporters to stand back a bit as he walked over to stand beside Katie.

"So what do we have here?" Oliver asked smiling down to the little girl who couldn't be no older than nine or ten.

"Well we have a broken bone that hasn't set." Katie says smiling down to the girl who seemed to be smiling up to Oliver.

"Oh, you'll be alright," Oliver said placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I've had some experience."

"And I think what Mayor Queen would also like to add is that it's very dangerous to ride your bike without a helmet and knee pads, isn't that right dear?" he turned a smile to Katie and he had to remember that they were being watched and that she was helping a patient, because the smile on her face right now was just too tempting to not kiss.

"That's right," Oliver says turning to the girl. "Just take my advice, and listen to whatever she says. It's gotten me this far." the girl laughed and Oliver once again turned back to Katie who lightly swat his arm with the chart.

"Alright, Mayor Sweet talker, off you go." she said and Oliver laughed. "You still have a job to do," Oliver gave a nod actually glad for the reminder that he should be focused on the possible attack that could be happening. But focusing on the main objective was always hard to do when she was in the same room. He looked around the clinic at the sound of distant laughter and that's when he spotted Bruce surrounded by a small group.

"Bruce is here?" Katie glanced over to him, before looking out to see Bruce as well.

"Huh, he must've just gotten here." she said and Oliver turned back to her with a smile.

"I'll see you later, Mrs. Queen." he said, his hand subtly sliding across her back and she forced herself not to just melt into a puddle on the floor. Instead she turned a smile to her young patient.

"Alright, lets get you fitted for a sling Missy. We actually had some cool ones donated, did you want to take a look?" the girl nodded. Katie grabbed a temporary sling and slid it around the girl's shoulder. "Great-" she looked over to child's parents. "We have them set up over there, so we're going to take a short trek across the clinic if you'll follow me."

Bruce looked over to see Oliver heading over before turning back to the small group of civilians that headed over the moment he walked inside the clinic.

"If you all would excuse me, I think I will go catch up with my pal the mayor," Bruce shook hands as he sifted through the group until he reached Oliver who smiled an obviously fake smile. "You look happy to see me."

"Nah, this is for the cameras." Oliver muttered through his teeth. Both turned as a few reporters took their picture before dispersing to get more shots of the clinic. Once they were gone, Oliver turned a glare back to Bruce before nudging his head and walking off. Bruce let out a sigh, but turned and walked over to follow Oliver to a far corner away from the crowd. "What are you doing here?"

"What? I can't come and show my support for such a impactful and much needed clinic in Star City. I'm actually a bit offended you didn't ask for Wayne Enterprises to back this since you're avoiding RI."

"I'm not-" Oliver shook his head trying to remain calm. "I don't have time for this. There was an attack on-"

"Evan Wender, vice president of Amertek, we know. It's why we're here as your back up."

"And who the hell is we?" Bruce turned, and scanned the clinic and Oliver turned to follow his line of sight his eyes going wide. "Is that Diana?"

"Yeah, Clark and Kara were supposed to be here, but they both got tied up with work, so it's just me and Diana."

"And who asked you to be here? Felicity, because she never-"

"This wasn't Felicity. She mentioned the possibility of the attack was by a meta and we knew your only back up was a couple of vigilantes in training and thought you could use a bit more help." Oliver looked at the man for a moment in confusion before letting out a sigh.

"No, this is you and Diana here to watch Katie. They want to see her."

"They just want to be sure," Bruce replied and the look on Oliver's face told him he wasn't going to get far in this conversation. "They want to see her. Constantine and Zatanna may have a way-"

"It's not happening," Oliver turned dark eyes to Bruce. "You should leave, and you should take Diana with you. If I see either one of you near my wife, I will kill you." he turned and stalked away leaving his threat for Bruce to interpret on his own. Bruce turned to see Diana looking over to him and he just let out a sigh.

Oliver walked across the clinic, glancing down to his watch.

"Felicity switch to a private connection." he ordered.

"Oh boy," she muttered. After a few moments she spoke. "Alright, let me have it."

"At what point were you going to tell me about Bruce and his team being in Star City?"

"Believe it or not I was going to tell you later today if Bruce didn't do it himself. They're all just a bit on edge. I've told them, Bruce has told them that we don't see any signs of that darkness inside of Katie, but they seem adamant. Especially Diana. I think she knows more about the darkness than she's letting on."

"Well I don't care about how they feel or their fears. None of them are to come near my wife or talk to her about any of what happened."

"Oliver I get you want to protect her, but they're all just being cautious. None of us want that thing to come back, so maybe it's a good idea to hear out Constantine and Zatanna. See what they can do."

"The last time I trusted Constantine and Zatanna with my wife I lost her, I will not make that mistake again." Oliver said turning and looking across the clinic to see Katie speaking with the young girl and her parents and laughing at something that made him smile. She was happy and she was here and he would not risk that. "Felicity, the next time you have information about plans that include my family, I expect to be told. That has to be how it works with us."

"Oliver, I'm sorry, I really thought Bruce would be more upfront with you with all of this, but you're right. I'm still on this team, and I promise to be more upfront."

"Thank you, you can switch back to the team link. I'm going to head up now to get a better view of the clinic."

While Missy and her parents flipped through the book of sling designs, Katie stood nearby filling out the girl's chart.

"So, how's it going?" Katie looked up from the chart to see Ari who hopped up on the examination bed beside her.

"It's going pretty good I think. I saw you actually looking like you were having fun with your friends. Did you guys volunteer together?" Katie asked looking back down to the chart.

"It was Jamie's idea actually, and we all thought it would be cool."

"And Jamie is the cute brunette boy you keep giving goo goo eyes to?"

"I am not!" Ari squawked unintentionally. She glanced around to make sure no one had heard her before turning back to her cousin with a lowered voice. "I am not giving anyone goo goo eyes. We're just friends." she shook her head and glanced over to Jamie who was sweeping up trash. "Plus he doesn't even look at me in that way."

"Take this from someone who was the most unpopular girl in her high school who never thought the most popular guy in school would ever look at me as more than his dorky fat friend. Don't sell yourself short Ari, you never know until you know." she nudged the girl's elbow. "Now go, I can't be seen hanging out with my teenage cousin, it's so not cool."

"You know you're still a dork." Ari says hopping from the bed when suddenly a blood curdling scream filled the entire clinic. Katie and Ari turned to see a man wearing some sort of suit made of dark rags pinning Janet Carroll to the wall. They watch as the rags from his clothing begin wrapping around the woman's face and body. The room erupted in chaos as everyone ran for the door. Ari, took a step forward toward the man, but Katie grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

"Not today, out!" Katie says pointing for Ari to leave with everyone else. Ari looked angry, but the look her cousin gave her told her now was not the time to argue. The teen glanced over to the Ragman once more before turning and running for the door.

Katie turned, looking up to the attack, actually able to hear the strained breaths coming from Janet and she knew the woman wouldn't last much longer. She needed to do something, but she had no idea what. What she was seeing was completely out of her wheelhouse and definitely not something she'd been trained to handle. She'd only taken a step before an arrow is shot from somewhere up above hitting the Ragman. He turns not expecting it and when he goes to run, he's bumped. Katie's eyes turned to see it was Missy, and the man in frustration grabbed her by her sweater and flung her across the floor.

Katie runs for the girl to get her out of the way, but the Ragman sees her and assumes she's about to attack and without hesitation, he sent one of his rag-tentacles toward her, wrapping around her neck. Katie pulled at the rags as it tightened around her neck making it hard her for her to breathe. In those few moments a lot happened as she felt the air slowly leaving her lungs. She closed her eyes, suddenly an image of a smiling Robyn struck her, and then it flashed to Ari who was laughing, and suddenly the image changed to Oliver and he was staring at her with that look that always made her almost forget the monster she felt she was. She wonders if this is the 'life flashing before her eyes' moment people usually have before they die. She hopes this wasn't it. That she didn't end right here, not when there was so much she wanted to do. Soon her salvation came when someone-she thinks it's the guy she met earlier-tackled the Ragman, and in the fight, Katie is flung against the wall, before dropping to the floor.

Katie lays on her back, coughing as the oxygen assaults her lungs quickly. There's a commotion still happening, but for some reason she can't move. She lays there, allowing reality to seep back in. And she realized just how quickly her reality changed in just those few moments. Death was usually an accepted entity in every battle, and yet this time she didn't want to accept it.

Suddenly there is a hand in hers and when she turns, her eyes look up to see Oliver staring down to her, now dressed as the Green Arrow. She glances over to see a small crowd still standing around and she turns back to him and tries to sit up.

"Hey, easy, are you alright?" he whispers.

"I'm fine. You can't be here," she whispers back as she sits up to meet his eyes. "You know you can't be here right now." It's as if he doesn't even hear her as he looks her over. "I'm fine, but you have to go." She turns meeting his eyes and gives his hand a squeeze. "Later." he gave her a nod before standing to his feet and sending a zip-line back to the second floor and shooting up and disappearing.

Katie pulled at her sore muscles before turning and seeing Missy now being cradled by her parents.

"Hey," Katie says sliding over to the girl. "Are you ok, are you hurt?" she brought a hand to the girl's arm to make sure dislocation wasn't any worse. The girl hisses in pain at Katie's touch. "Ok, you're going to the hospital." she looks up to Missy parents. "Don't worry about anything, I will take care of everything. Why don't you all head out, and let one of the security know that I've instructed you to go to the hospital."

"Thank you." Missy's mother said before her and her husband grabbed their daughter and left.

Katie sat on the floor for a few moments, rubbing her sore neck when she heard footsteps. She looked up to see Rene who knelt down in front of her.

"Can you stand?"

"I think so." she took his hand and he helped her to her feet. The moment she was standing it felt as if the world had tilted and she went with it.

"Whoa, Dr. Robins, can you hear me?" Rene caught the woman in his arms before looking up and seeing eyes on him and the unconscious woman. He looked over to the wide eyes of Curtis and Evelyn, "Can I get some help over here?!" soon more doctors rushed over.

The clinic was cleared and all patients injured or in need of medical attention were moved to SC General. Katie was included in that group. She'd been given a private room, Steve standing outside of her door standing guard while Ari paced back and forth in front of Katie's bed, the woman still unconscious. Ari glanced over to her cousin and let out a sigh. She was angry. At herself mostly. She shouldn't have ran off, she should've stayed, she should've fought. Ari's eyes turned to the door when it opened, and let out a sigh at the sight of Oliver who looked to be out of breath as if he'd ran here. He looked over to Ari as he walked into the room before turning to Katie.

"How long has she been like this?"

"Since they brought her in." Ari says turning back to her cousin. This moment so reminiscent of so many days she sat at her cousin's side while she was in her coma. "What if she doesn't wake up?" Oliver turned to the teens eyes, seeing the fear she attempted to hide. "What if-"

Oliver brought his arms around Ari and placed a kiss to her head. "Hey, she's going to wake up," he looked back over to his wife hoping those words were true. "Were you the only one here?"

"Uh, yeah, Bruce and some woman were here, and that weird British guy was with them, but I guess Steve didn't want a lot of people in the room and Dr. James agreed so they just let me stay."

"Good, I'm actaully going to go talk to Christian to see what's happening. I don't want you to leave this room." he turned to leave.

"Oliver, wait-" he stopped and turned back to Ari. "This guy...the one with the Rags."

"I'm meeting up with Felicity and the others to figure out a next move. I almost had him, but-" Oliver shook his head at the other problem he'd have to deal with later. "It's fine, we'll figure it out."

"I want to help." Ari said and Oliver looked at her for a moment before he glanced over to Katie. "He almost killed her, I want to help take him down." Oliver brought his eyes back to Ari and he could see the look in her eyes. That determination.

"I'm sorry Ari. If today has taught me anything, it's that there are just some things I have to handle on my own." Ari frowned with a shake of her head. "Ari-"

"That's not today's lesson Oliver," she said looking back over to him. "I think that's the opposite of what you should've learned today." she turned and walked over to drop in to the seat beside Katie's bed. Oliver took a moment before he walked out the door and turned to Steve.

"No one who isn't a doctor or nurse goes into that room, I don't care who they are." Oliver ordered and Steve simply nodded.

"Yes sir." Oliver turned to leave, "Uh sir, the doctor didn't tell me much about what's happening with Mrs. Queen since I'm not family. How is she doing?" Oliver glanced back to that door and shook his head before turning back to the man.

"She's a fighter." with that, Oliver headed down the hall. He was pretty sure that Bruce didn't heed his warning from earlier which was a very stupid thing to do.

Katie suddenly appeared in front of the familiar door to her house. She looked around the neighborhood that looked as it always did before she turned and walked inside of the house. Her eyes went wide, the place looked different, but it was also a wreck as if there was earthquake or something. She lifted her head at the sound of voices coming from the living room, and she walked until she found them.

"I couldn't save him," Katie moved into the door way, now able to see the source of the voice. She looked over into the living room in confusion as she stared over to Oliver and herself sitting on the couch. Neither turned to her...it was as if she weren't standing right there watching them. "I couldn't stop the destruction Malcolm was so intent on inflicting. I failed this city."

Katie stood there for a moment, suddenly realizing he was probably talking about Malcolm Meryln and his Undertaking. It was a plan to blow up the Glades, and though he was stopped, he still ended up leveling half of the city and killing hundreds of people. Katie thinks she's now witnessing the aftermath for a hero who felt as if he didn't do his best at stopping the man.

"Look at me." Katie said and Oliver opened his eyes, their faces only inches apart. "Failure only happens when you do not try. You tried-hell we all tried to stop this. What happened yesterday does not fall on your shoulders, the only one to blame is lying cold in a freezer right now. You saved more lives than you realize yesterday, and I'm not saying that justifies the ones lost but it's something." Katie moves in closer, a sudden prickling of her skin as she watches what she feels is probably an important memory. Maybe what she's been looking for. "Yesterday I saw hell, I saw one evil man bring hell to our city and it made me realize something. It can all just end-" she snapped her finger for emphasis. "like that. If yesterday was my last day I would regret a lot of things, but my biggest one would be that I didn't tell you how much I love you Oliver Queen." Katie lets her back fall back against the wall as a smile comes to her face. This was the first time she told Oliver that she loved him. She bet neither one of them realized how important this moment was for her. For years she was trained never to be vulnerable, never show emotions...and in this moment she thinks she freed a part of herself from things that were done to her. She finally broke some of the chains that kept her linked to her torturous past. Katie suddenly knows what happens before it plays out in front her and she smiles. Oliver didn't say anything right away, and fear twitched inside of her in that moment and then something happened. A smile pulled at his lips as he looked up to her. "I hate when you do that. Just talk." Oliver pulled Katie's lips to his in slow, deep kiss filled with so many emotions...Love...Passion...Sadness...Hope.

And then they were gone and Katie pushed herself from the wall to look around only to find that she truly was alone.

"You're back." Katie turned at voice, this time to see her familiar league doppelganger, her white league clothing stained in blood. "

"You showed me that didn't you?" Katie asked and the woman turned away before picking up a fallen picture and placing it back on a nearby table. "You're the one who's giving me these memories. Why not just give me them all?! Just come back!"

"I told you I can't do that." she said turning back to Katie. "You're doing fine."

"I'm not doing fine! Every damn day I have to work to feel like this is my life and I shouldn't have to feel that way. No matter what I do, it will never be the same because something is missing..you're missing. You're-"

"I can not go back until it's gone!" she snapped angrily as she stalked over to Katie who stumbled back. "I have stay here, to protect you and to protect them, so I don't care how you feel because I've felt it before, and I got over it. I pulled myself out of the darkness that tore us apart in those three years and you will too. Oliver will help you. I have to stay here because with me comes pain, and suffering, with me comes heartache and danger. They're better off with you." They both looked up to the ceiling at the sudden sound of something crashing upstairs. Katie looked back over to the double, who now suddenly held a katana in her hand. She let out a sigh before looking back up to Katie. "You have to go now."

"Wait, I can help you!" Katie says as the woman inched closer to her. "I can be the one to stay here and fight and you can go back." the double stopped in front of Katie and smiled, but shook her head.

"You don't see it, but you're better for them than I ever could be." Katie looked down to the woman, her hand once again glowing. "This is the life I chose, and nothing can change that." and with that the double pressed her glowing hand to Katie's chest.

Katie's eyes cracked open to a pale ceiling of a very bright room. With consciousness came the sudden ache of her head and she couldn't help the groan that escaped her throat.

"Oh thank God," a hand suddenly grasped hers and when she turned she looked up to Ari's concerned eyes. "You're such an idiot, you know that! You scared me to death. How do you feel?" Katie's brain still felt a bit fuzzy as she attempted to regain her focus.

"What happened?" she her voice rasped.

"That Rag guy attacked the CEO of Amertek at the clinic. I guess some kid got in his way and he shoved her and when you went to check on the kid he grabbed you." Katie turned away, the memories of what happened to her floating back to her as she reached up and touched her neck. "You were up, talking and then you passed out. You've been unconscious for like an hour. I thought-" Katie turned to Ari, seeing the emotion pass over her eyes and she gave the girl's hand a squeeze.

"Ari I'm ok." Katie turned, and sat up from the bed. "Was anyone else hurt?"

"I'm not really sure. I rode with you here and I haven't left since we got here." Katie nodded as she looked around the hospital room. "We're at SC General. It was the closest hospital to the clinic." Katie slid a hand over her face and Ari continued to watch her cautiously. "Are you sure you're alright? I should get the doctor-" Ari tried to pull away, but Katie held onto her hand.

"Ari, I'm ok," she repeated knowing it was something the girl needed to her. "I'm just trying to understand what happened."

"Well I should at least call Oliver. He's in the hospital. He went to talk to your doctor."

"Has he had any leads on finding this guy?"

"I don't know, but I don't think he would tell me if he did." Ari said with a shake of her head. "He still doesn't want me involved and I have no idea how to prove to him that I could do this."

"Oliver cares about you Ari. You may not be his daughter, but he loves you as if you were and he can't even fathom the idea of your life in danger."

"But you can?"

"No, I can't, but what I can do is let you prove to me your ability to get yourself out of dangerous situations."

"You know I never thought I'd actually hear you say that? You've always been as overprotective as Oliver." Katie smiled at the girl before placing a hand to the side of her face. Ari had no idea that this little opportunity Katie had given her wasn't just to prove her abilities, but to also stop her reckless behavior. Ari didn't see it, but Katie was protecting her.

Oliver stalked down the halls of the hospital, letting his eyes scan over every face that passes him. It wasn't until he walked passed one of the family waiting rooms did he stop. He let out a sigh before turning and walking back to the room to see someone familiar standing alone in front of a coffee maker.

"Zatanna," Oliver spoke and the woman turned to him and held up a finger.

"You have no idea how badly I need this coffee." the woman said turning back to the cup and smiling as it finished. She grabbed the cup, and brought it to her lips before taking a sip, instantly grimacing at it's bitter taste. "Oh, this tastes like something I should kill." she shook her head before tossing the cup in the trash and turning to the dark glare of Oliver Queen. "So I hear you're being a pain."

"You shouldn't be here." Oliver said walking over to the woman. "Actually none of you should even be in this city. Go back to them, tell them all to leave or I will make them." Zatanna smirked as she looked up to the man amused as she looked into his certain eyes.

"I'm sorry Oliver, we can't do that. Not until we verify that that darkness that inhabited your wife's body is gone." Oliver sneered turning and stalking away from the woman. "You know burying your head in the sand and pretending that what happened just a few months ago...what your wife almost did-" Oliver scoffed before walking over and closing the door to the waiting room.

"I don't need you to recap it for me Zatanna," Oliver turned back to the woman. "Because I was there for the entire thing. I also specifically remember it all went bad when you and your friend Constantine thought poking at that thing would stop it. I'm learning from the past. My wife is fine, that thing is gone and I will not let any of you near her to change that."

"Oliver your wife was fighting an unwinnable battle before me and John attempted to get rid of that thing. And maybe we sped along the process-"

"Maybe! We were fine. We were away from the city and we were going to be fine, but you had to show up and ruin it."

"You were never fine. It was never just going to go away on it's own. Taking her away from this city wouldn't get rid of something that lived inside of her...that could still be living inside of her." Oliver shook his head.

"You're wrong."

"Well there's a possibility that I'm right. And if I am right, tell me all the ways this could go bad for you and your family." she took a step toward him. "Oliver, your wife could possibly have the ability to end the world." he looked over to the woman. "We need to figure out if that's still a possibility." Oliver turned away from the woman, sliding a hand across his face.

These past couple of months, he's tried to move past what happened. He's tried to forget it and not think about the sadness and fear that twisted around his heart. He knew Zatanna was right...he knew they were all right, but in his head he imagines this all just poking a sleeping bear. At the moment, everything was fine. He couldn't—wouldn't risk the happiness of his family by changing that.

Oliver turned back to the woman and shook his head, "No," he walked for the door to leave.

"It happened, Oliver." the woman repeated. "Every moment of pain and sadness happened and pretending that it didn't because she's back won't change what she did...or who she is." Oliver turned back to the woman. "Damien Darhk." that was one name Oliver wished he never had to hear again. "The fact that he could be her-"

"Damien Darhk is not her father. That bastard's blood isn't in my wife or my daughter." Oliver walked back over to the woman. "Stay away from my family. All of you." Zatanna saw the seriousness behind Oliver's eyes as he held her gaze for a moment before turning and heading for the door.

He'd only pulled it open before she would say her final words. "We can't do that." he stopped and turned back to her. "This meeting was a courtesy. She's your wife and this is your family and we wanted you to work with us, to have your blessing, but we certainly don't need it." the woman walked over to stand in front of the man. "We are all on the same side, with one goal. It is our duty to protect this world and to stop any threats. Oliver we just need to make sure." and with that the woman walked from the room and Oliver watched as she walked down the hall before turning out of his line of sight.

Oliver clenched his fist, wanting to punch something in this moment, when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the message from Ari, that Katie was awake and he quickly headed back to her room.

Katie's eyes followed the small light of Dr. James' flashlight as instructed. Oliver and Ari stood off to the side as the doctor completed his exam.

"Well all your scans came clean." Christian said turning off the flashlight and slipping it back into his pocket. "Your cognitive and motor functions seem to be fine as well. How are you feeling?"

"An array of things at the moment." she muttered before staring over to Oliver and Ari who were both watching as if waiting for something to happen. "I'm fine," she turned back to the doctor. "Really, I feel fine. My neck is a little sore, but that will heal."

"Ok, well then I don't see any reason to keep you here overnight if you want to head home." Christian gave the woman a smile before looking over to Oliver. "I'll go grab the release papers." Once the doctor was gone, Oliver came back over and took a seat on the edge of Katie's bed.

"You'd tell me if you weren't fine, right? If you felt strange or if something just didn't feel right?" Katie looked at the man for a moment. There was something about all of this that had him worried and she wasn't sure why. Here she was, fine, and yet he was looking at her as if he couldn't believe it. Katie looked over to Ari who seemed to hold the same look in her eyes and she let out a sigh.

"I'm fine, really," she turned back to Oliver and smiled. "Just take the words from my mouth at face value and believe them. So what have you found out about our Ragman?" Oliver looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"Uh, I'm not sure, I came straight here." Oliver said.

"Oh, well then you should go. This guy is obviously very dangerous and stopping him is more important-"

"It's not. Nothing is more important than me being here to make sure my wife is alright," Katie looked at the man for a moment. Hearing him refer to her as his wife always tugged on something inside of her. "I'm taking you home."

Upon arriving home, they found Thea who'd picked Robyn up from her day care. As soon as they arrived, Thea had to leave. She caught her brother's arm before he could go upstairs. He stopped glancing back up to her before watching as Katie and Robyn headed

"We need to deal with this Janet situation." Thea said and Oliver turned back to her. " And you need to be there."

"Thea, I-"

"I know you don't want to leave Katie right now, but we are in a bit of a crisis right now and the city could be on the hook for a big lawsuit." Thea looked over to the stairs and shook her head. "How is she? I just feel like all of this seems like-"

"Something that would've triggered the darkness." Oliver said and Thea nodded. "So did I. But it hasn't. None of it has. I truly believe it's gone, but my word doesn't seem to be enough for some people."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll tell you about it later." Oliver nudged his head up stairs. "I'm going to check on her." and with that the man hurried upstairs. Oliver walked down the hall stopping at the sound of soft humming coming from the nursery. He walked over, peeking inside, smiling at at the sight of Katie gently rocking Robyn in her arms. She looked over to him and smiled.

"I didn't know how much I would miss her." Katie whispered over to him. Oliver walked over and lowered himself to the floor to sit in front of her. Katie looked over to him, her mind going back to that memory of her telling him she loved him and she smiled. "You know I think I have to tell you to go." Oliver looked up to her in confusion. "Oliver this guy-"

"Twinkie, I told you-"

"And I heard you. But I'm fine, this guy failed today, and either he gives up or he tries again. I'm betting he's going to try again and your new team isn't ready to handle this on their own." Oliver shook his head.

"I told him not to engage and yet he didn't listen. He doesn't get it."

"I think it's your job to teach him." Katie says and he turns back to her. "None of them get it. Just a few weeks ago they were all doing their own thing and now they've been drafted on this team having to follow someone elses rules. It's uncharted territory. And trust me, I know how difficult it can be to navigate through uncharted territory." Katie looked down to her daughter who was silently chewing on the ear of her stuffed rabbit and she smiled. "But I'm sure at some point they will get used to it." she looked back over to Oliver. "So go. Find the bad guy, stop him and then come back. I think I have to talk to you about something." Oliver's brow rose. "Nothing bad or serious, just...a memory I think."

"You know I would much rather stay and talk about that memory," Oliver said and Katie chuckled. "But you're being my conscience right now."

"I am, Mr Queen, and as your conscience I am telling you to get out there and do something I think you're really good at. So do it, and then come back." he looked at her for a moment, truly not wanting to leave this house, but he knew she was right. Oliver stood to his feet before walking over and placing a kiss to Robyn's head. He looked up to Katie for a moment before placing a kiss to her cheek.

"Try to get some rest." he whispered before turning for the door. He stopped before leaving, turning back to her. He watched as she smiled down to their daughter in her arms, rocking back and forth and in that moment he couldn't imagine pulling the craziness of the past couple of months back. He wanted her like this. She lifted her eyes to see him standing at the door and she quirked a brow.

"What?"

"Nothing," he said with a smile before turning and leaving the room. There was this nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach that made him doubt not telling her the truth, but it wasn't strong enough for him to ruin this life that his family desperately needs. He had the feeling he would have to fight for that to happen, and yet it changed nothing. Oliver glanced over to Ari's door, hesitant to attempt another conversation he's sure won't go the way he anticipates, and yet because he hates when she's upset with him, he walks over and knocks on her cracked door before pushing it open. He finds her lying in bed, her back to him, but he can tell she's not sleep.

"Hey, I was going to head out. Did you need anything?" he asked, but she didn't say anything. Oliver slid a hand over his face, before looking back over to the girl. "Ari, I know you're upset, and you don't want to talk to me because you think I'm being unfair for not letting you risk your life by putting on that mask. The truth is that if I gave you my blessing to do this, and something happened to you, it would end me." she still didn't say anything and so Oliver let out a sigh before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

Ari's tears stained her pillow when Oliver left, but she quickly dried them before sitting up from her bed. She looked around her room, her eyes turning to her door. She thinks she's about to do something stupid, and yet she's going to do it anyway.

For what felt like their first mission, a team of amateur vigilantes didn't feel as if it were successful. They were ordered to return to their training hideout where they awaited the Arrow's return. Curtis sat on the steps, his eyes looking over to Felicity who had her cell phone pressed to her ear. Soon she pulled the phone from her.

"I'm almost afraid to ask- actually, I am afraid to ask- you know, maybe I'm just afraid." Curtis says as Felicity looks over to them. He comes down the stairs and walks over. "Is he coming?"

"He's on his way." Felicity said glancing down to her phone.

"And how's..." Curtis let the question linger knowing Felicity would know what he was asking.

"Fine. Home." they turned back to Evelyn and Rene. Evelyn had been glaring daggers at Rene since they arrived.

"You know he's probably debating on keeping us around after your stunt back there!" Evelyn said angrily looking over to Rene who didn't even look in her direction. "Why did you do that anyway? He specifically told us not to engage!" it was the big screw up of the whole day. It was Rene who attacked the Ragman and the squabble ended with the their target getting away.

"First, he's not the boss of me, never will be. Second, if he thinks I'm just going to stand back and watch some little girl get hurt, or watch a good doctor get choked to death, then he never should have recruited me in the first place."

"I think that's quickly becoming the majority opinion." Curtis muttered.

"Third, if I hadn't done what I did, I wouldn't have gotten this." Rene held up a piece of the man's rag that he was able to snag during the fight.

Felicity walked over, plucking it from his hand, "Wait, is that a piece- "

"Yeah, the Rag man. Now, I may be new at this and all, but isn't that what you guys call "evidence"?

"On the line!" came the Green Arrow's voice and they all nearly jumped at his sudden appearance. They all sighed before walking over to the line. Felicity walked over, hoping to stop him before he goes on a tirade.

"Hey, hi, before you start on them what-"

"My instructions were specific!" The Green Arrow said not even pausing before his expected lecture. "By not listening, you put every one of our lives at risk."

"You need to calm down..." Felicity once again attempted, but he wasn't listening and at this point she was getting frustrated. She knew there was probably a lot contributing to his mood right now.

"Now, I know that none of you are ready for this, but now I'm not sure if you're ever going to be, he turned to Rene. " because you are reckless," he looked over to Curtis. "you're useless if you're not behind a computer and then his eyes settled on Evelyn. "and you are just a little girl who should be doing something better with her life!"

"Ok, that's enough pep talk for one day!" Felicity said stepping in front of him and this time he finally looked over to her. "Can I talk to you for a second?" he let out a huff before turning and walking across the hideout where Felicity followed. "Ok, I get you're upset, but you need to calm down. Look I get what happened to Katie wasn't expected."

"That's an understatement. " Oliver said with a shake of his head. "Now, on top of a screwed up mission, I have to worry about Bruce and his team trying to fix something that isn't broken."

"First of all, they're your team too. When we needed them they were here, and right now they're just worried." she could see the argument wasn't something he care about. "But right now that's not the point. Your mood right now shouldn't be the reason you're physically and emotionally abusive." Oliver shook his head as he turned away. "You keep expecting them to do what you're telling them to do, and then you're not giving them any reason." Felicity continued. "You just keep jabbing them with a cattle prod, expecting them to perform, and the guy that you called reckless got us our only clue we have so far." Felicity held up the tattered rag, and Oliver glanced over to it and sighed.

"I need you to do a full workup on that."

"Yeah, well, I can't. I mean, not here. The Ghosts destroyed our gas chromatograph, but I have other methods."

"Good." Oliver said. "I have to get to City Hall."

"What about them?"

"The city just experienced the equivalent of a terrorist attack. Those 3 can wait." with that Oliver turned and left.

Felicity turned to the others who stood there for a moment, none looking happy at the insults that were thrown their way.

"You know, forget this. I came here to help, not to be pushed around and called names." Rene turned and headed up the stairs to leave.

"I can't help but to agree." Evelyn said going to leave as well, but stopped. "You know Rene isn't the only one who didn't follow the rules." Evelyn pointed in the direction Oliver had exited. "It was daylight, there was a crowd of people and police. When the mission fails you leave, but he stopped to hold a woman's hand instead of getting out of there. That was a risk and yet no one's calling him out on it." with that the girl turned and hurried up the stairs to leave.

Felicity let out a sigh before turning to Curtis. "He's just going through a lot."

"I get it, I really do, but it doesn't stop the words from hurting." Curtis replies with a shake of his head. "I'm going to get some air."

Felicity stood there unsure what she should do at the moment. She closed her eyes and thought really hard. Felicity opened her eyes when she realized what to do. She needed reinforcements and she knew exactly where to go.

The house was pretty quiet after Oliver left. After feeding Robyn, and giving the girl a bath, the child had went out like a light. Katie went about getting a shower and changing before stepping back in the hall. She glanced over to Ari's door for a moment. Earlier she asked her if she were hungry, but the girl replied that after the day they'd had she'd turn in early. She was about to check on Ari when the sound of the doorbell stopped her. Her brow furrowed as she went to see who it was.

When Katie pulled open the front door, she was a bit surprised to see Felicity standing there.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you all were searching for this Rag-guy before he attacks someone else."

"I was—well I am. There's a search happening now and I'll be notified once it's complete." Felicity said and Katie nodded before stepping aside to let her in. "First off, how are you doing?" Felicity said tossing her arms around Katie in a hug. "I can only imagine you didn't expect some weird guy with even weirder rags to try to strangle you."

"Yeah, that definitely didn't make it on my list of possible things happening today." Katie chuckled pulling from the hug. "Coffee?"

"Please."

Soon the two women sat at the kitchen table when Felicity finally revealed her other reason for being here. "Well besides making sure you were alright, I'm also here because I could use your help." Katie looked over to the woman in confusion. From what Katie knew about Felicity Smoak it was that she could usually do about anything. "It's Oliver."

"Is he alright?"

"I'm not sure. He's just been in a mood and said mood caused a very aggressive verbal lashing toward his perspective team and they all walked out." Katie frowned as she shook her head. "For some reason he's really been pushing them hard and when they don't deliver in the way he wants he-" Felicity shook her head. "If he keeps this up, there won't be a team."

"Which I don't think he'd be too upset about." Katie says sitting back in her seat and turning away. "He's keeping them at a distance for some reason. Once he figures out why, maybe he'll tone his aggressiveness down a bit."

"All things you should tell him in a way he will acknowledge and accept before changing his behavior." Felicity said with a smile. "He listens to you. More than the rest of us." Katie turned at the sound of tiny cries that sounded from the baby monitor.

"Ma! Ma ma!" called Robyn and Katie sighed before turning to Felicity.

"Looks like my decision has been made for me." Katie said standing to her feet. "I'm going to tell Ari that I'm leaving."

"Oh, and I will go check on Robyn." Felicity said standing to her feet as well.

Outside of Ari's door, Katie knocked. "Hey Ari," she didn't get a response and she figured the girl was still sleeping. "Ari, I have-" she opened the door stopping at the sight of the empty bed. She stepped further inside, glancing over to the bathroom that was empty as well. Katie searched the room for a any clues as to where she could've gone, and that's when she saw the slip of paper on her pillow. Katie walked over to pick it up, sighing at what it said.

"I can do this. I'm going to prove it."

"Robyn just needed a new diaper and-" Felicity stepped inside of the room, glancing around before turning to Katie who was looking down to a piece of paper before turning to her. "Again?"

"Yep." Katie says before stalking out of the room.

Arianna knew that if this didn't work that she would be in serious trouble. It had to work. She was going to find this Rag-guy and stop him, proving to Oliver that she truly could put on that mask. He didn't see it, but he would. But for this fight, she would need resources. And since going to the bunker wasn't an option, she would go to the next logical place.

Ari stood outside the boarded up clock tower that stood in the middle of the Glades. The building had been restored, but even all these years later, no one would buy it because of it's location. Her eyes scanned down both sides of the sidewalk, noticing no one standing out too much and so she reached into her pocket pulling out a key to unlock the door. Scanning the area once more, Ari hurried inside. The place was dark as it always was, as she climbed the steps. She slowed her pace as she neared the top of the staircase, noticing the shadows of flickering candles. She silently reached the top, glancing around at the sparse furniture that included a mattress on the floor near the window, a wardrobe beside it and a table and two chairs around it. There was a counter that sat a hot plate and a microwave and a few decorative scarves that hung around to give the place some color.

"You're not supposed to be here." spoke a voice from somewhere in the room. Ari scanned the room unsure where the voice was coming from. "Where am I?" the placement of the voice changed that time and Ari spun around closing her eyes in an effort to focus her senses on finding out where the voice was coming from. She smiled as she opened her eyes and looked up to the rafters, which was pitch black, but she knew that's where it was, and so she pointed up and soon feet plopped down in front of her. "That took you longer than before."

"Hi Nyssa, it's good to see you too." Ari said with a smile as she looked over to the woman. Nyssa looked at her for a moment before shaking her head and walking over to look out the large clock tower window. The glass of the window was made with some weird glass that allowed one to look out, but no one to actually get a good view inside.

"If our cousin finds you here, I doubt any of us will be very happy." Nyssa turned her eyes back to Ari.

"You're supposed to tell me that you missed me, and that you're happy to see me." Ari says walking over to sit at one of the chairs at the table. "That's what family does when they haven't seen each other for long periods of time."

"Well I haven't felt much like anyone's family these last couple of weeks." Nyssa walked over and took the seat across from the girl. "And you're not here because you missed me. You need something."

Ari let out a sigh before sitting back in her chair. "I asked Oliver to be a part of the team. I want to help stop the assholes who want to harm the people in this city."

"Let me guess, he said no." Nyssa chuckled with a shake of her head. "I could've told you that he wouldn't agree to it. Oliver has a tendency to think he can control everything by avoiding the inevitable. It's his flaw."

"Exactly, he can't see that I really can do this. You've trained me to do this."

"I never trained you to be some kind of vigilante. I trained you to protect yourself and to survive."

"What's the point of having these skills if you can't use them to help others?" Ari asked and Nyssa looked at the girl for a moment and rolled her eyes.

"Living with them is really starting to rub off on you, isn't it." Nyssa sighed. "There are some of us that choose the battles that directly threaten us and our power and then there are those who choose the battles that threaten others." Nyssa looked at the fire behind the girl's eyes. That fire that reminded her so much of herself when she was that age. But that fire died within herself after years of suffering the abuse of her father that she didn't even realize at the time. "Oliver has chosen his battle, and so has our cousin. And I guess now, so have you."

"I have, and I need your help."

Oliver left city hall after hearing from his sister what he already knew. Because of him and his promise, the city was now on the hook for the damages that occurred during the attack and also a possible law suit from Janet who'd just been released from the hospital. There was also the fact that Thea was considering giving Quentin a position in city hall when the man still battling his alcoholism, and Oliver just had no idea how to handle it. He needed to focus on one thing at a time, so after a text from Felicity he once again suited up and returned to the training hideout where he found Felicity and Curtis.

"Hey, what's going on, where is everyone?" Oliver asked walking over to them when suddenly he heard something he didn't expect. He heard his daughter's laughter and got even more confused when Katie walked inside pushing Robyn in her stroller. "Is everything ok? What are you doing here?" Oliver walked over to her, glancing down to Robyn before turning back Katie.

"I'm fine. Felicity came by house and told me about your little team speech today that ended with no team." Katie says and Oliver sighed, glancing over to Felicity who shrugged.

"That's not exactly how—"

"They quit," Curtis said and Oliver turned to him. "Which shouldn't come as a surprise to you."

"Well we chose the wrong people," Oliver said. "I was trying to teach an important lesson and they didn't get it."

"Including me, right?" Curtis asked. "Maybe there's a reason why you couldn't. We don't trust you."

"That's on you."

"No, man. That's on you. Because you don't trust us, because you don't want us. I tried to explain to the others. I told them all about how you, Guardian, Speedy and Spartan were a family, and even though you were tough and scary and even a little abusive, they clearly trusted you because they stood by you. But then it hit me. No, they didn't. They left, and now I know why. You don't respect people. You don't know how to have partners. You don't build people up. You tear them down. I thought I could trust you- we could trust you. I was wrong. And that's why I'm out, too." Curtis' words hit Oliver in a way he didn't expect. He watched as Curtis stalked past him to leave and he couldn't stop him because he knew his words were true.

Oliver couldn't get Curtis' words out of his head. He and Katie went to the bunker. He changed fully prepared to just go home, but he stopped in front of the team's suits and realized why this was so hard for him.

Katie walked over to Oliver, a drowsy Robyn, eyes barely opened as she lays on her mother's chest.

"I failed them," Oliver suddenly said and Katie turned to him with a furrowed brow. "As a leader, I failed them."

"I'm not sure if failed is the right word." Katie replies and Oliver turns to her, his eyes looking down to his daughter who seemed seconds away from going to sleep. He reached forward to pull her into his arms, letting her head fall to his chest in comfort for both her and him.

"Well they left, so I'm unsure what other word I should use." Oliver replies before placing a kiss to Robyn's head.

Katie let out a sigh as she turned to the row of suits all proudly displayed on the blank faces of mannequins.

"Do you remember our junior year of high school?" she chuckled as she looked over to him. "You'd already became this big shot, popular guy, and I had solidified my status as the school's dorky loser-"

"You weren't-"

"Ah ah, my story," she said and Oliver chuckled with a shake of his head. "I think I rarely saw you that year, we had no classes together, and with my mom gone, my dad just worked all the time so we rarely had any of those annoying Queen-Robins dinners." she smiled as she remembered. "One day during that year I got super sick. It was like a bug that would not go away and I felt like I was going to die. Apparently I wasn't sick enough for my dad to come home from wherever he was working. So I thought I was just going to have to tough it out alone. Until one day the doorbell rang." she looked over to Oliver who smiled as he turned to her. "This guy who I barely saw that year, showed up at my door with soup and an overnight bag."

"You missed two days of school, which I knew meant something was wrong. So I asked around and found out that you were sick. Also knew your dad was busy with work and that you were home alone, so I thought I would help you get better." Oliver said. "You know we may not have hung out much that year, but I remember always looking for you in the hallway in between classes. After a while I learned your schedule a bit and could coordinate at what times I could pass you in the hall." Oliver shook his head, still regretting that he wasn't brave enough to tell her how he really felt. He turned back to her and smiled. "It probably would've been a better year if I just told you that I liked you. It probably would've saved so much time if I did."

"That's it." Katie says reaching up and placing a hand on his chest. "I don't remember a lot about all of this, or this team you brought together, but I'm one hundred percent sure that it worked so well and they believed in you so much because they saw in you what I always saw. They saw your heart. They saw who Oliver Queen truly was." she slid her hand up to his cheek. "I don't think you gave those recruits that version of you. They got the guy behind the masks, who yells at them and beats them up." she dropped her hand and they turned back to the suits.

"I thought it would be easier."

"For them?"

"No, for me." Oliver sighed, glancing down to Robyn who had fallen asleep. He looked back over to Katie, her eyes on his. "I told you that I wasn't on that island the entire time." Katie nodded, remembering Oliver tales of his adventures after the sinking of his father's yacht. "Well there was a time when I was in the Bratva-"

"In Russia, right?" Oliver nodded.

"Nobody in the Bratva uses their real names. Nobody knows anything about anyone's life before they were Bratva."

Katie turns away, Oliver's story sounding eerily familiar. "Sounds like the league." she looks back over to him. "It was lonely."

"But It's effective. They teach you that the only person you can trust is yourself, that without personal attachment, there can be no loss." Oliver turned back to look at the suits once worn by his friends. "Laurel, Thea, Dig, even Roy. I let them into my crusade. I let them in...Then they left."

"So what you're saying is that if you keep that line drawn between you and the new recruits, that risk of being hurt never happens." Katie says and Oliver turned to her, realizing the comparison she's just made between what he was doing with the recruits and their relationship. "The Green Arrow, that guy behind the mask, I don't think that's the guy your friends followed. Not for as long as they did." she looked up to meet his eyes. "It's Oliver Queen, the guy who cares about his city, who loves his family and would fight for one as fiercely as he would the other." Katie's phone vibrated in her pocket and she quickly pulled it out to see the message from Felicity. She turned back to Oliver with a smile. "This is your conscience speaking Oliver. It's ok to let them in. It's ok to be afraid of being hurt and it's ok to hope you're not."

"It all starts with crossing that line." Oliver says now interested in the covert conversation they were also having.

"It does." she replies with a smile and Oliver can't help but to return it.

"What did you remember?" he asked and Katie smiled with a shake of her head.

"Sorry, you still need to focus on your mummy guy, and getting this little one home and to bed." Katie says looking up to the confusion in Oliver's eyes. "I sort of have to go somewhere that I can't tell you about because it will upset you more." Oliver turned to her with a quirked brow. "I'll tell you about it later."

"I think I want you to tell me about it now." Oliver said firmly and Katie let out a sigh but didn't say anything. "Ari-"

"Is fine. I will handle it." Katie says placing a hand on Robyn's back, before turning back to Oliver. "Trust me Liver, I got this." placed a kiss to his cheek before turning and heading for the elevator. Oliver stood there watching unsure if he was ok with being left in the dark.

Ari slapped a palm to the floor in frustration before standing back to her feet and tightening the blindfold around her eyes. This lesson was about agility, and spacial awareness when your senses are limited. Said lesson includes Ari having to evade being struck by the high speed tennis balls Nyssa was throwing at her. This was the lesson she would need to master to go up against someone like this Rag-guy. He was quick and she needed to be quicker.

"We should call it a night." Nyssa said. "It's getting late, and I'm pretty sure someone is looking for you right now." Ari pushed the blindfold from her eyes and looked over to Nyssa who stood across the room surrounded by tennis balls.

"We can't stop now. I haven't got it yet, and we don't stop until I do." she pulled the blindfold back over her eyes and waited for Nyssa to begin. "C'mon, just-" she pushed the blindfold up and looked back over to Nyssa whose attention was pulled to something else. Ari turned following her eyes, stumbling back at the sight of her cousin. "I—I didn't even hear you come in."

"Well our cousin always had a natural talent for stealth." Nyssa said eyeing Katie closely as she walked further inside and let her eyes sweep over the room.

"You know Nyssa, I could've sworn you were told to stay away from my family." Katie turned back to the woman.

"Hey, wait, this wasn't her. "Ari says walking over to stand in front of Katie. "I came here."

"Why?"

"Because she's the only one not afraid to actually teach me how to do this. I asked Oliver to let me help him stop this guy and he wouldn't even consider it. He looks at me like I'm some vulnerable child who can't take care of herself and I'm going to prove him wrong."

"So you snuck out, traveled all the way to the Glades for some hero lesson with your best pal Nyssa, huh?"

"You two gave me no other choice. This is happening, and I won't let you and Oliver stop me. So you either help me or I come here and let Nyssa help me."

"Or third option, I kill Nyssa, send you to boarding school and I never have to worry about my pain in the butt cousin sneaking out again." Ari frowned as her cousin stared down to her.

"You wouldn't-" without even being able to finish her sentence, Ari watch as Katie slipped a blade from behind her and shot it toward Nyssa, hitting the woman square in the shoulder causing her to stumble back. Ari gasped about to go over to her, but Katie grabbed her arm and pulled her back forcing her to turn back to her.

"I would and wouldn't lose a wink of sleep over it, but I'm not going to." Katie said. "Ari you don't think we see you. You don't think we're listening, but we are. There is a fight inside of you and you want to use it to help people, but before you can, you have to be ready." Katie reached up and pushed the blindfold back over her eyes. "The reason you keep getting hit is because you're focusing too much on what you expect to happen. When you're out there, when you're in the middle of battle, there is only so much you can anticipate. Everything else is unexpected. The only way to prepare for the unexpected is to expect everything. Listen to everything." she pulled the blindfold up to see the girl's eyes. "Go downstairs and wait for me." Ari looked at her for a moment before glancing over to Nyssa who'd pulled the blade from her shoulder and now had a towel pressed against the wound. "She's fine. She's had worst." Ari turned back to Katie before walking around her to grab her bag and jacket and head downstairs.

Katie stood there and looked over to Nyssa who stared back.

"Did stabbing me make you feel better?"

"It did actually." Katie replied with a smile. "Why are you still here?"

"Maybe I had nowhere else to go." Katie rolled her eyes before walking over to look out the large clock window the looked out to the city.

"Nyssa, why are you here? " Katie asked once again before turning back to the woman. "Why did you help Oliver? Why did you protect my family?"

"Is it so hard to believe that I am not who I was as you remember?" Nyssa asked and Katie scoffed turning back to look out the window.

"It kind of is, because to you it's been years, something you probably can't quite remember, but to me-" Katie turned back to Nyssa before walking over. "To me, it's as if it happened yesterday." Katie glared before turning and stalking off.

"We were both prisoners of my father." Nyssa said and Katie stopped but didn't turn. "The only difference was you knew it at the time, and I had to discover it later. I saw him—saw who he was—I saw what he cultivated and molded within me. Your torture was nothing compared to my own." Katie turned to the woman. "You see cousin, most of my life was spent trying to please my father, the things I did, the people I hurt, it was all so he would look at me with pride, but he never did. I was just another one of his assassins. One he planned to use at his whim." Katie shook her head. "You want to know why I'm here? Well one day your husband referred to your family as our family." Katie turned back to her, and Nyssa dropped her eyes. "I began to realize that I never really had a family." the woman paused for a second as the realization once again hit her. She turned back to Katie who was still watching her. "I'm here because cousin, you are my family. Your husband, your children, they are my family, and I will destroy anyone who dares to try to hurt them."

Katie was speechless. She needed to make sense of this moment. The Nyssa Al Ghul she remembers was a brutal, cold hearted bitch, and would not make such declarations. Such declarations were a sign of weakness and it was something she knows the woman's father would certainly disagree with.

Katie simply nodded before turning to leave. "Clean that wound before you bandage it." Nyssa stood there and watched as Katie left and she couldn't help the slight smile the curled on her lips.

Arianna was confused. Katie didn't say a single word as they left Nyssa. When they walked through the door and Oliver walked in from the kitchen, she thought this was when the punishment would start and yet, Oliver quirked a brow as he looked over to Katie who simply nodded before turning to Ari and telling her to go to bed. She's sure there was a conversation about it when she left, but nothing was even spoken the next morning before she went to school. She had no idea what to think, but she knows that if she wants this to work then she's going to have to do it the right way. And that meant first making peace with the bullet magnet.

"And he knows you're coming here?" Hank asked as he pulled in front of City Hall. He turned in his seat to look back at Ari. "I didn't get any instruction to bring you here and any time I deviate from your designated route I have to get it confirmed from the boss." Hank pulled out his phone.

"Would you just not." Ari said glaring over to the man. "Fine, he doesn't know I'm showing up here, I'm going to catch him off guard."

"Why?"

"Because I have to be an adult and talk out my issues." Ari says turning back to the building nervously. "Also because I'm pretty sure I'm getting grounded soon and I'd like to smooth things over as best that I can and I don't need you ratting me out before I can do that." she looked over to him with a pointed finger.

"Whatever you say kid." Hank chuckled as he turned back around. Ari rolled her eyes before getting out of the car.

Ari quickly jogged up the steps, and pushed through the doors of City Hall. She hated coming here. Everyone was always smiling and waving at her and it freaked her out. She sped walked through the lobby, stopping at the security check in. She reached into her back pack and pulled out her visitor's pass and handed it to the guard. He looked down to it before looking over to Ari. He was new. The last guy usually just let her pass whenever she walked in, and now she was being overly scrutinized by some guy who probably took his job way too seriously.

After a couple of moments of the guard, silently looking between the picture on the pass back up to Ari, she started to get annoyed.

"C'mon, that's me!" she said a little louder than she intended and the lobby seemed to pause and turn to her. She let out a sigh before turning back to the guard.

"Ari?" the girl looked over to see a confused Thea walking over. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see Oliver, but apparently the fake cop seems to think I may be a terrorist." Thea walked over to the guard.

"She's fine, you can let her in." The guard nodded, handing the pass back to Ari who snatched it from his hand before brushing past him. "You know the whole rude teenager gag is getting old. That man has a job."

"I get that, but c'mon. I'm wearing a school uniform, I have a backpack, and he was looking at me like I came in here to blow up the place." Ari shook her head as they walked over to the elevator. Once the doors opened they walked inside. "So on a scale of one to ten, how is his mood right now?"

"Well the city is on the hook for that catastrophe that happened yesterday. The benefactor for the clinic has pulled out her investment since you know she was attacked, and he's here instead of being home with his wife who was also attacked." Thea looked over to the girl. "I'd say he's at probably a negative one." the elevator doors opened and Ari stared out in nervousness, not even taking a step. "Might as well get it over with." Thea gave the girl a nudge and laughed at the dark look Ari turned to her as the doors closed.

Ari let out a deep breath before continuing down the hallway. She stopped at his assistant's desk before going over to his office.

"Hey Maddie, is he free?" the curly haired woman turned a smile to Ari.

"Well for you dear, he is always free. Did you want me to tell him you're here?" Madeline asked and Ari shook her head.

"Nah, I think I still want a chance to actually talk myself out of doing this." Ari said and Maddy just chuckled as she watched the girl taking slow steps toward Oliver's office. Ari appeared outside of Oliver's door sooner than she would've liked. She wanted to turn and run, and yet she took one more deep breath of courage, reached forward and pulled open his door.

Oliver's phone was pressed to his ear when Ari walked into his office, and his eyes widened the moment he saw her.

"Ok, give me a call when you got something, Felicity." he quickly ended the call and moved around his desk to Ari. "What are you doing here? Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm cool." She said moving around the office and Oliver watched in confusion as she walked over to a plant in the corner and flicked one of the leaves.

"Ari?" she let out a sigh before turning back to him. "What's going on?" Ari walked over and took a seat in one the chairs in front of his desk and Oliver grabbed the other and turned to her.

"I'm here to do the adult thing and have a conversation like two adults." Ari said and Oliver looked over to her in amusement.

"Or how about we talk like you're Ari, and I'm Oliver." Oliver said and Ari simply nodded.

"Ok, fine, I would like to join your team." Ari said and Oliver dropped his head and out a sigh.

"Ari, we've already talked about this, and I've made my decision and you know that." Oliver looked back over to the girl. "It's too dangerous and I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you."

"Then what's the point of me coming to you to actually talk if you're going to pull the whole 'you're my guardian who tells me what I can and cannot do'" Ari shook her head as she stood to her feet. "I thought you would actually listen for once." Ari grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

"Ari wait!" the girl stopped and turned to him. "You're right. You came here for a conversation and I can at least hear you out. Not that what you say could change my mind, but I'm willing to listen." he pointed to the chair and Ari saw that this was probably her only chance, and so she walked over to sit.

"You're afraid that I could be hurt, and the truth is that I probably will get hurt." Ari sat back in her seat with a shake of her head. "You don't think I know what I'm asking, that I don't get what this life is, but I do." she looked over to him. "I've had a front row seat these last couple of months watching you. Watching how you go out there and stop these bad guys and you make this city a better place because of it."

"But Ari, you don't see everything. You don't see how hard it can be. You don't know how tough it can be to go out every night with the possibility that you might not make it home." Ari looked at him for a moment before she shook her head.

"And neither do you. You definitely never go out there thinking you might not come back home. You go out there and you fight, and you make sure you're back to see us in the morning. I know I can do that. I know I can put that mask on and be just like you." and those were the words that didn't sit right with Oliver. He stood to his feet, and let out a sigh before walking over to stand by the window.

"You being like me is the last thing I want." Oliver said turning back to the girl. "This life isn't my dream. It's not my fantasy and it's definitely not the life I ever imagined I would have."

"Then why do you do it?"

"I do it because I have to, but you don't. I do this so you don't have to. I risk my life so you can live yours and putting on that mask doesn't do that. Why do you think the team left? They realized that they would rather have a life outside of a mask and though it hurt me to see them leave, I completely understood it. I don't want that for you. I don't want you to hate this life so much that you would want to leave. I can not lose you to this." Ari looked over to him for a moment before once again grabbing her back pack.

"You're not being completely honest. You don't have to do anything Oliver, you've chosen this life just like you can choose another. You're here because you know you can help this city. I know I can help this city, you just have to give me a chance." she turned to leave but stopped and turned back to him. "And maybe you're right. Maybe I wouldn't be you, but maybe I could be better. You just have to teach me."

Ari left Oliver with her words that he didn't expect to actually make him doubt his decision and yet they did.

Felicity was completely focused as she typed away. Her back up plan for analyzing the rag was to use Bruce's shipyard hideout. She turned at the mechanical sound of the staircase lowering. Soon Bruce appeared and she smiled, but the smile fell when she realized he wasn't alone. Not too far behind him was Diana, and Zatanna.

"Hi Bruce." Felicity said through a clenched smile. "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't come home, and I got an alert that someone was here and saw that it was you and so I decided to check on you."

"And you thought you needed backup?" Felicity said looking around the man to Diana and Zatanna who moved about the hideout.

"Don't worry Felicity, we sort of invited ourselves." Zatanna said walking over to the woman. "We didn't want to be stuck inside your house and Bruce mentioned that you were helping with a possible meta and we thought we could lend a hand."

"Well I'm not the person you should ask to lend a hand. I've already gotten into hot water before by not being completely honest about your presence here in this city, and Diana and Bruce suddenly appearing at the clinic. I'm good, my test is almost-"

"What's that?" Zatanna asked, walking around Felicity to the tattered rag that was inside of the glass encasing where she was analyzing it.

"That is-" Felicity said, but Zatanna pulled the lid off the case. "Wait, what are you-" Zatanna didn't say anything before reaching inside and picking up the material. Suddenly the computer began beeping and Felicity turned to the screen the see the 'Analysis Failed' message and she turned back to the woman. "Well that's just great. Could you put that back, please? That was retrieved from our Ragman and I was trying to use it to find his location."

"Your meta was wearing this?"

"Well he's not my-" Felicity let out a frustrated sigh before turning to Bruce and swatting his arm and he turned to her to see the look he was familiar with and so he turned back to the woman.

"Alright, Zatanna, could you put the cloth back so Felicity can finish her analysis?"

"No need." Zatanna said and they all watched as the material began floating above her head. "I think I know what this is. It's emitting a very high frequency of energy."

"And by energy, you mean..."

"Magic." Zatanna said with a smile as she turned back to the cloth. She looked at it for a moment before uttering words that Felicity and Bruce didn't quite understand. Soon the rag goes flying and they watch as it freezes before white lights began shooting from it. At first the lights seem to be random, but soon they begin to take on the form of a suit. Suddenly the light flicker before becoming solid and appearing is the figure in the suit itself.

"That's the Ragman." Felicity says taking a step forward. She reached out a hand to touch it, but her hand just passed through. "Ok, that's cool." she says moving around it.

"I don't believe your guy is a metahuman, I think he just has a killer wardrobe." Zatanna says walking over as well. Diana walks over curious to see the hologram. "I think he possesses something called the rag of Devarim."

"Really?" Diana says turning to Zatanna. "I've read about the rags, but the stories seemed too odd to even be considered reality?"

"Odd how?"

"No just the whole mystical powers inside of this suit of rags that gives it's wearer those powers." Diana shook her head. "I always thought it was just a fable."

"Apparently not." Felicity said turning back to Zatanna. "Can your nifty magic trick tell me where the rest of the magic rag suit is?"

"Well it is very very old magic, so trying to create a link would take some time, but there is something else." Zatana moved her hand around the suit. "There's another type of energy here. Something not mystical, but also very strong." Felicity's brow furrowed as she looked over to the suit before going back tot her computer.

"What are you looking for?" Bruce asked coming up behind her.

"Trying to see if I'm lucky and that before Zatanna pulled the rag from the case it-" Felicity smiled. "And there it is. " Bruce leaned into the screen.

"That's a lot of radiation. Something throwing off that much radiation-"

"Can be found by the great and powerful Felicity." Felicity replied her fingers rapidly typing on the computer. Diana and Zatanna walk over, their eyes all watching as Felicity easily navigated through satellite imagining until she finally stopped. "Gotcha."

"That was remarkable." Diana said looking down to the screen before turning to Felicity with a smile. "You are quite impressive Ms. Smoak. " she looked over to Bruce. "should we go pay this guy a visit?"

"No, you shouldn't." Felicity said answering instead. She looked over to Zatanna. "Thanks for your help and I will be sure to let Oliver know about your assistance." she turned back to Diana. "But this is Oliver's case, I take this information to him and he decides how to handle it. If you would like to help, you should go to him first."

"Felicity, with the power this man posseses, Oliver will be no match for him."

"Well I wouldn't count him out just yet. Oliver always has a way of surprising you." Felicity turned back to her monitor and began typing away. "Now where did this radiation come-" Felicity's eyes widened. "Whoa?" she turned to Bruce who met her eyes before looking down to the screen.

"Does that say-"

"Yes it does." Felicity replied before once again typing. She had a thread and needed to see where it lead.

Oliver sat at his desk as Thea sat in front of him recounting a conversation she'd overheard.

"So are you sure that it was them?" Oliver asked

Thea nodded, "Yeah, that son of a bitch leaves a pretty good impression. "

"Well, if Amertek is in bed with Church, then-"

"Then maybe that guy in rags isn't so bad because he's probably trying to take down Amertek."

"Still, why is the C.E.O. of a Fortune 500 company like Amertek willing to deal weapons to a -" The door to his office pushed open as Oliver was speaking. "crime lord?" it was Felicity who found that she had come at the perfect time.

"Because they are trying to avoid bankruptcy." Felicity handed the folder to Oliver. "My forensic workup was interrupted by I was able to obtain information from a secondary source." Oliver looked up from the folder to the woman. "And by secondary source I mean Zatanna." Oliver let out a sigh as he dropped the folder to his desk.

"Felicity."

"I know what you're going to say, but information is information not matter where you get it."

"Fine, what did she tell you."

"Well she did this cool magic trick where she took the rag and-" Felicity noticed Oliver's unimpressed expression and figured she should get to the point. "It's over 2000 years old, and has weird powers. I was also able to determine our Ragman is radioactive."

"Please tell me that's not what we're actually going to call him." Thea said looking over to Felicity who took a seat in the chair beside her.

"Ok, if it's radioactive, then that means trackable." Oliver says and Felicity nods. "If this weapons buy is going down, this guy is going to try to stop it."

"Leading us right to Janet Carroll and Mr. Church." Felicity added.

"Wait. What did you mean when you said that Amertek is going bankrupt?" Thea asked to Felicity

"The isotope that made the cloth radioactive is very specific." Felicity said before turning to Oliver. "I tracked it to one of the nukes Darhk obtained for Genesis day."

Oliver frowned. "But he never obtained any nuclear weapons. Katie-" he cleared his throat because the truth was it wasn't his wife at the time. "That thing tricked him into thinking he'd stole the weapons, but he didn't."

"You're right he didn't. But he did obtain access to a nuke before Genesis day that was never publicly reported." Felicity replied. "I think he was doing a test run. There was a small town just outside of Havenrock that was it. Whole town wiped out. That nuke was manufactured by a company called Atomic Defensive Systems."

"They're likely a subsidiary of Amertek. " Oliver said.

"Right, the bottom line is the subsidiary's connection with Genesis day has made Amertek's stock prices go..." Felicity waved her hands to imitate an explosion.

"Which explains why they were so eager to have a big public relations bonanza." Thea said with as hake of her head.

"And why they'd be willing to unload their excess ordinance on Tobias Church." Oliver said standing to his feet. "We need to find our friend in the rags and hope he leads us to that weapons sale."

"I'm already tracking him, just let me know when you're ready." Felicity said standing to her feet.

"Ready" Oliver said.

"Uh, they did just say that there was enough weaponry to take down an entire country, so I would think this would be a good time for you to test out your new team." Thea said turning to Oliver.

"There's no team anymore, Thea. If I'm going in, I'm going alone." Oliver said heading for the door.

"I'm not really sure that's a plan your wife would support." Thea said standing to her feet and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "Oliver you risk a lot going in there alone."

"What other options do I have?"

"Um-" Felicity rose her hand and Oliver turned to her. "I have a suggestion, but you're not going to like it." Oliver looked at her for a moment and it hit him that she was talking about the other heroes currently squatting in his city.

Oliver shook his head. "Absolutely not." he didn't wait for a response before turning and leaving.

Felicity turned to Thea who let out a sigh as she pulled out her phone. "He was warned."

The house was quiet as Katie sat in the living room, the only light coming from the glow of the television she wasn't watching. She glanced back over her shoulder. It was late and Oliver hadn't made it home yet and she finds herself worrying about him. It's a feeling she doesn't think will go away anytime soon since she's found out about the things he does at night.

She heard someone in the kitchen and frowned as she stood up to check it out. Katie walked into the kitchen where she found Ari's head inside of the refrigerator.

"Can't sleep?" Ari jumped before turning to Katie.

"You really are stealthy." Ari said closing the refrigerator. "Yeah, just can't seem to get to sleep." Katie walked over to one of the cabinets and grabbed a box of cookies before bringing them over to the counter. She hopped up to sit and patted the space beside her for Ari to do the same. Ari just shook her head before hopping up on the counter to sit beside the woman, reaching for a cookie as she did.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, just I talked to Oliver today about me joining the team and this time he actually listened and still refused." Ari took a bite of her cookie.

"So I guess that's it." Katie says turning away and taking a bite of her own cookie and Ari turned to her with a quirked brow. "That's one fantasy you can put to rest."

"What is this? Reversed psychology?" Katie chuckled when she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out to see Thea's number and quickly answered.

"Hey, what's up?" soon Katie heard of Oliver's latest plan to catch their latest bad guy alone and she sighed. "Alright, I'll handle it." Katie ended the call before hopping off the counter. "I have to leave for a bit." she turned to Ari. "You stay here with Robyn. I shouldn't be gone long."

"Is he in trouble?"

"Well he will be when I get there."

Oliver was pinned down. Just moments earlier he entered the warehouse, bullets flying as the Ragman tossed Church's men one by one before cornering his target. Janet Carroll. Oliver would've stopped him, but Church was currently trying to push an arrow into his eye. He could maneuver out of it, but he needed to confirm something first.

"Ragman!" he called and in just seconds, Ragman's rags grab Church and toss him across the warehouse. "Thank you."

"Thank me by not standing in my way." They turn at the sound of Janet's high heeled feet as she runs for the door. Ragman attempts to run after her.

"Let her go!" they heard the sounds of nearing sirens. Janet wasn't getting away. "It's over." The Ragman let out growl. Oliver glanced around and sighed when he noticed that Church was gone as well."We have to go, but we should talk." the Ragman turned back to Oliver. "Half hour, the roof of Bam2 Muay training." and without another word, Oliver shoots a zip arrow up and shoots up to the second landing. As soon as his feet touches the ground, he looks over his shoulder to see the flashing lights in the distance. He hurries to his bike.

"Do I want to know what this meeting is about?" Felicity spoke through the comlink.

"Well I'll tell you if it goes as planned."

"Oh, you think your night is going to go follow your plan?" Felicity asked and Oliver quirked a brow. "That's adorable."

Oliver came upon his bike and sighed. "Thanks for the warning Felicity."

"Thank your sister." Felicity laughed before ending the transmission.

Oliver walked over to his wife who was leaning against his bike.

"How long have you been here?"

"Long enough to see you and Tobias Church in a fight, the mummy guy save you from a move I don't think you really needed saving from, oh and then there's your meeting in an hour." Katie shook her head before walking over to the man. "You came out here alone." she shook her head before turning and stalking away from him toward her car.

"Twinkie, wait, I had the situation under control and I had a feeling about him." Katie stopped and turned to the man. "I understood his motives, and I hoped he wasn't as bad as we assumed."

"Oh, you came out here alone with hope in your heart."

"I did and I was right!" Oliver let out a huff. "I get it. I might not always be right, and I know I can't do this job alone. I'm meeting with him to ask if he would join the team and I will talk to the others tomorrow." They stood there for a moment, silently watching the other.

"Ok," Katie turned to leave and Oliver frowned before walking after her. After these crazy couple of days, the last thing he wants is any negativity between them.

"That's not—Twinkie, wait." she stopped and turned back to him. "I'm sorry." Katie walked over to stand in front of him.

"Don't be. I care about your safety. As long as you know how to keep yourself safe then I'm good. And hope or not, it was still a risk for you to come out here tonight." she shook her head. "Hell it was a risk for you to do this job alone when your team left months ago. But I can only assume that went on for as long as it did because your conscience wasn't around." the man quirked a smile and she couldn't hide her own. "But I'm here now, you should make your peace with the fact that I am going to do everything in my power to make sure you stay around. Even nag you like an annoying wife." she took another step forward and placed a kiss to his cheek. "You should be getting to your meeting, I'll see you when you get home." she made to pull back, but Oliver's arms wrapped around her waist keeping her in place pressed against him.

"Tell me what you remembered." Oliver asked again and Katie cracked a smile before placing a hand to his cheek. "You still not going to tell me, are you?"

"Not yet." she pulled from his grasp and turned and headed for her car. Oliver stood there for a moment, hope once again in his heart that whatever she told him, he was definitely going to like.

It was finally Friday, and Ari let out her normal sigh of contentment when she stepped into the house and smiled at the thought of sleeping in tomorrow. She dropped her backpack on the floor and kicked her shoes off of her feet before heading into the kitchen for a snack. In no time flat she had a sandwich in one hand, her cell phone in the other as she walked upstairs to change out of her uniform. She smiled as she read Jamie's latest post, a meme with some weird looking cat happy about the weekend. Of course she liked and commented a "LOL" before stepping into her room. Ari sat her sandwich down before she pulled a t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants from her drawer and tossed them on the bed. Her eyes happened to glance up to see a folded up piece of paper on her pillow.

With a furrowed brow, Ari reached over and picked up the paper, and unfolded it.

"Don't make me regret this." the note read with a time and an address written underneath. Ari smiled because it was Oliver's handwriting and if this note meant what she hoped it meant, then she was finally getting her shot.

Robyn Maisie Queen stared at the room filled with faces she'd never seen before. Her eyes lifted to her mother who smiled down to her before she too turned her eyes to them.

Katie took deep breath as she stared to the unfamiliar eyes of the people in the room in front of her. Well they weren't all strangers. She looked across the room to Michael who gave her thumbs up. She swallowed the nervousness in her throat opening her mouth, only to stop when the door once again opened and in stalked Annabelle Grey who cut her eyes to Katie with a look of annoyance as she took her seat at the head of the table.

"Sorry for my tardiness Mrs. Queen, but this meeting was last minute and quite unexpected." Annabelle said before turning to Michael. "And Mr. Carroll didn't really give me that much of a heads up." he simply shrugged.

"Well we're all here now." Michael says before turning back to Katie. "Why don't you go ahead." Katie simply nodded before turning back to the board members. She once again let out a deep breath, deciding to just get this over with so she could leave.

"First of all I would like to thank all of you for coming today. Like Ms. Grey said, this meeting was last minute and I am even surprised many of you would even show up. I understand you're all very busy making sure my family's company thrives and I want you all to know that you have my upmost appreciation." she let out a nervous breath as they all kept their gazes locked on her. "Oh, I also want to apologize for having to bring my daughter along to this meeting. I'm not sure if there are rules against babies being in here, but I had no one else to watch her."

"No apologies necessary, Mrs. Queen." Katie's eyes lifted to an older lady sitting further down the table. "You and your daughter are both welcome here and if you don't mind, I think a few of us would actually like to see just how big she's gotten later." Katie smiled over to the woman before turning.

"Right, well I asked you all here because I need your help. That being said, I'm not even sure if what I'm about to ask is possible or even if I can even make this type of request seeing as I'm not an actual employee of this company." she reached down and grabbed the remote control and pointed toward the screen behind her and soon a picture of the clinic appeared. "You all may have heard of Mayor Queen working on developing a free clinic in Star City." Katie turned back to the board members. "And when it came time to finding a financial backer for this Clinic that would help so many in this city, he decided to go with Amertek." Katie's eyes turned to Annabelle who sat back in her chair with a bored expression on her face. "Due to some...unfavorable interactions between the city and this company, the Mayor thought distancing himself from this company was the right course of action." soon eyes glanced over to Annabelle who still didn't react and she told herself she wouldn't. "I'm here today because I'm hoping those unfavorable interactions were just...misinterpretations. I know this company. I know what it means to this city and I also know that something as important as a free clinic would be something this company wouldn't hesitate to stand behind."

"So you're here because your financial backer is going bankrupt, it's CEO is going to jail and now your little clinic is caught in the cross hairs?" Annabelle asked and Katie turned to her. "I think that's what I'm hearing, is that correct Mrs. Queen?" Katie looked at the woman for a moment, before a smile came to her face.

"In more or less words, Ms. Grey. But what you missed was that, the city shouldn't have turned to Amertek in the first place. Mayor Queen's entire political campaign has been tied to Robins Incorporated and a goodwill venture such as this should have come directly to you, but it didn't."

"If only we all had learned that golden rule about keeping our hands to ourselves." Michael muttered and Annabelle turned a glare to him and he simply smirked.

"Even so-" Annabelle said turning back to Katie. "Having my company come in to pick this up after this Amertek scandal would mean-"

"Robins Incorporate saves the day once again!" Michael says. "It's the headline that will be posted on every newspaper in this city." he walked around the table toward Katie. "And with this company having ties to a clinic created by Katherine Queen, then-"

"No, this clinic was an idea of the Mayor. That should be clear. I am only offering assistance." Katie turned back to Annabelle. "The truth is Ms. Grey, you're not the only meeting I have scheduled today, I just figured I would stop here first to mend those fences between your company and the Mayor. The truth is this clinic isn't closing, I'm just giving you the opportunity to get the credit for why it doesn't." she turned, but stopped and turned back to the board members. "Oh, and just for clarification, no one from City Hall sent me here today. No one actually knows I'm here. This is totally me, so none of you will have to worry about the reputation of the company's name if you decide to not help. So, that's all I have. I'll let you discuss this amongst yourselves and anyone wanting to see one of the cutest babies I've ever seen, well meet me out in the hall." and with that Katie grabbed the handles of Robyn's stroller and headed for the door, a few board members following behind her. Michael moved to follow as well, but Annabelle, stood to her feet to block him.

"Aw, you should look more happy. The key to fulfilling that promise you made to the board just fell into your lap."

"You know, I know what you're doing and you should know it's not going to work. This is my company and if you try to take it away from me, then I would take that as clear sign of your disloyalty to this company." Michael smiled at the woman and gave her a nod.

"But Ms. Grey, you should know all of my decisions are made because of just how loyal I am to this company and if you're worried then I believe that's more on you than me." and with that the man moved around the woman for the door. Annabelle stood there for a moment before turning to see that the entire room was empty, all the members having left to see a baby. Annabelle slammed her fist on the boardroom table.

"No more waiting!"

That evening, Felicity met Oliver the moment he walked into the training hideout, once again dressed as the Green Arrow.

"So, you're still alive. I guess your wife didn't kill you." Felicity said and Oliver shook his head as they walked down the hall.

"She didn't, but I figure I don't have too many more chances to avoid her wrath if I don't fix this."

"And you didn't think drafting a stranger wasn't risky?"

"Yeah," Oliver said. "And I'm not done yet."

"Well if that's the case, you may have to actually share his complete story with Katie." Felicity said and Oliver stopped and turned to her. "Oliver, she somehow stopped Genesis Day, and yet she missed one nuke Darhk had squirreled away that wiped out an entire town. Look I don't know what happened or how that thing that was inside of her that planned out so much, missed that. It's just this entire story and it's link to Darhk, when she hears it then-"

"Then she won't hear it." Oliver said simply and Felicity looked at him in confusion. "I'm not going to say anything and you won't either."

"I won't?" Felicity asked and Oliver sighed. "Oliver I feel like at this point in your marriage, actually at this point in your entire relationship with Katie you have to realize that keeping her in the dark intentionally does not end well. Especially with you. When you keep things from her, it makes her feel as if she can't trust you. You need to talk to her."

"And what if I can't?" Oliver asked with a shake of his head. "What if I don't want to ruin our life by bringing up that terrible time I just want to forget."

"Because you know more better than anyone that trying to forget something is impossible. You also know that when you keep things from Katie, at some point she finds out. Let it be from you this time." they stopped at the steps and looked down to the recruits, but it's who'd just walked in did Felicity's eyes pop out of her head. "Wait, is that-" she turned to Oliver who looked down as well and let out a heavy sigh. "You're actually doing this?"

"I think I am."

Curtis was the first to look up and the moment he saw the red headed teen stroll in, his heart dropped. He looked over to Rene and Evelyn who turned, now seeing her as well and that meant getting her out of here unnoticed was now impossible.

"Wait, what are you doing here?" it was Rene who asked and Ari turned to him and just shook her head before going about to look around. The man turned to Curtis and Evelyn who both shrugged.

"So is this where you're training?" Ari asked turning back to them and they all just stared at her. "I don't know why, but I expected something a little bit more cool."

"Seriously, what the hell is going on, and why is the spawn of satan here?" Rene asked. They turned as they watched the Green Arrow and Felicity come downstairs.

"Thank you all for coming." came the Green Arrow's modulated voice.

"Well I'm only here because blondie said there would be an apology." Rene said looking over to the man who moved to stand in front of them, stopping with his back to them.

"Well blondie was right," The Green Arrow said. "you're not just joining the Green Arrow," With a deep breath, he pulled the hood from his head and removed his mask before turning to them and as expected they all looked shocked. "You'd be joining me."

"The Green Arrow is the Mayor." Evelyn said with a shake of her head.

"I had the same cognitive dissonance." Curtis said with a smile.

"I hope you don't think I'm going to apologize for the trash I talked about you." Rene said and Oliver turned him.

"No more than I'm going to apologize for the tough training, but I understand that you all need to trust me. This is as far as I know how to go."

"You're sort of asking without asking if we want to come back, right?" Curtis asked.

"Obviously," came the muttered voice from behind Oliver and when he turned, he saw Ari still nosing about before turning to see eyes on her. "What?" Oliver gave her that annoyed look she hated and she simply smiled.

"Well I'm in. " Curtis said with a smile.

"Me, too." Evelyn said. They all turned to the notably silent Rene.

"Wild Dog?" Felicity said and the man sighed.

"I'll fight any war as long as I trust who's leading me into battle... But we have got to rethink this codename." Oliver walked over to him and held out a hand. Rene reached out and shook it.

"No chance." they all turned at the sound of the loud ringing of the bell. All eyes once again turned to Ari who smiled innocently.

"Seriously, is this it?" she asked.

"Will you stop messing around and get over here." Oliver said and Ari quickly ran over to stand beside him. "Everyone I would like to introduce you to a possible-" he turned back to Ari. "And I stress the word possible, member of this team." he nudged his head for her to stand beside them and she nodded before going over to stand beside Curtis. "Ari will be training with us."

"Wait, she was the girl who tried to disarm the bomb." Rene said.

"And you were the idiot who almost blew us all up." Ari replied and Rene glared over to her.

"Well now that we're all friends how about we get back to training." Oliver said before turning and walking over to stand in front of the bell. Ari looked around and watched as the others sighed as they pulled off their jackets and walked over to stand on the line.

"You should go," Felicity whispered over to her. "Good luck." and with that the blonde looked over to Oliver. "I think I'm going to head home." he looked over to her with a smile before giving a nod and watching as she headed for the door.

Ari pulled off her jacket and walked over to stand beside the others as they all stood there and looked over to Oliver.

"Begin!" he called and without another word they all went running...well almost everyone. Ari stayed on the line and watched as Oliver took down all three of them before looking over to her. "Ari, the goal of this exercise is to get past me to ring the bell."

"Yeah, I got that."

"Then what are you waiting for?" he asked and she looked at him for a moment before she watched as the others stood to their feet and headed back over to the line. She turned back to him and just shook her head.

"Nothing, let's go again." Ari said moving to align herself with the others.

"Alright, go!" Oliver called and this time when they all ran, Ari quickly shot forward, and slipped a leg in front of Evelyn causing the girl to trip. Evelyn turned a glare to Ari who just shrugged.

"You should watch where you're going next time." Ari said and Evelyn angrily stood to her feet and shoved Ari to the floor.

"You did that on purpose!" Evelyn went to attack, but Oliver rushed over to stand in front of her and she just sighed before walking away. Oliver let out a low growl before turning to Ari who was still sitting on the floor.

"Do you want to explain yourself? I saw you, you tripped her on purpose. Why?" Oliver's answer came from the sound of the bell ringing behind him. He turned to see Curtis ringing the bell with a smile. Oliver looked over to him before turning back to Ari who smiled up to him brightly before jumping to her feet.

"Well you're kind of predictable BM, so what's the next lesson?" she bumped his arm as she moved passed him to stand beside the others and he just shook his head, unable to hide slight smile on his face. He turned to see her walk over to Evelyn and apologize, explaining her plan to the girl who simply nodded before they all turned back to Oliver.

"Well your tactic though successful, was still missing a crucial element." Oliver said folding his arms over his chest. "When you're on a team, there are no solo missions. Everyone goes in knowing their parts to play." He turned to Ari.

"You just can't take the 'L' can you?" Ari asked and Oliver let out a sigh when his phone suddenly vibrated. He turned, pulling it from inside his hood, before looking down to see a text from Katie.

"Now." it read and Oliver smiled because he knew the meaning behind the word and so he turned back to the others.

"I have to go, but I want you all to stay and think about what I told you. You know your mission, now you must come up with a plan to achieve it." with that, Oliver turned and hurried up the stairs.

After changing, Oliver hurried home. The moment he appeared at the front door, he rushed inside, about to head upstairs, but he stopped. He turned and went to the living room where he found Katie sitting on the couch. She didn't turn to him and so he walked over to bring himself into her line of sight.

"Twinkie?"

"You have to sit over there." Katie says pointing to the empty space on the couch beside her. Oliver looked over to her in confusion, but walked over and sat down.

"Ok, is everything alright?" he asked looking over to her and she turned to meet his eyes, but she didn't say anything.

"This is it." she said and Oliver stared still confused as he waited for her to say more. "The room is decorated differently, this couch is different, but this is where it happened."

"Where what happened?" Oliver asked and Katie smiled as she turned away from him.

"Did you know that the last time I saw my mother, I was just heading out for school. I had my bag about to leave, but she suddenly tossed her arms around me and told me that she loved me. And then I told her that I loved her too." Oliver reached over and took her hand in his, knowing that the topic of her mother wasn't something she spoke about often, but he knows the emotions that strike her when she does. "Then I came home and she was gone." she turned back to look at Oliver. "I never said the words I love you to anyone else after that day. Not my father, not boyfriends, not even the man I almost married. I just avoided the word and they never seemed to notice." she looked down to their conjoined hands. "And then one day a crazy man destroyed half the city and I found you in this living room." she looked back up to his eyes and she saw the emotions playing on his face. " And you were sad and angry and I had a realization." Katie removed her hand from his before she slid over into his lap, straddling him. "I couldn't avoid the word anymore because when I looked at you, no other emotion came even close." Katie placed her hands on both side of Oliver's face, and his hands snakes around her waist as they look into each other's eyes. "Oliver the moment I stopped being afraid of wanting more with you, happened right here in this room. This is where I trusted you enough to finally cross the line. And I know it's just one moment I remember, but it was a very important one and it made me see what I couldn't before." she leaned forward, dropping her forehead to his and she felt his grasp around her tighten. "I realized that it was ok to be scared, and it was ok that you might not reciprocate those feelings, I realized that it is ok to love you." she pulled back and her eyes looked down to his. "Which I do. I love you. I-"

The front door opened, and soon they heard footsteps that stopped. "Oh my gosh!" Katie lifted her head to see Thea standing at the entry way to living room, her back now toward them. "You know, I think now is the perfect time to tell you that I'm moving out. I figure it would save us all the embarrassment of my impeccably bad timing." Thea sighed before hurrying upstairs.

Katie brought her eyes back to Oliver and just laughed. He still hadn't said anything which she knew at this point he should have something to say.

"I hate when you do that silent thing. Just say some-" Oliver's hand snakes around behind her so he could capture her lips. And just like that same kiss that happened all those years ago in this very room, this one was also filled with so many emotions.

Love. Passion. Hope...And Devotion.

---

Author's Note:

What did you think?

Review Replies

Adela: Thank you so much! I'm so glad you like the story!

BlueBloodsSVUOrder: Yes! I couldn't wait to write the kiss. I can't wait to write other firsts! Thanks so much for the review!

Once again the thanks to everyone who has tagged along on this crazy story! Special thanks to those who have added this story to your fav/follow alerts. And all the virtual hugs and cookies to the few who left reviews. They're all very much appreciated. You all are awesome!

As always, here's your sneak peek...

It was the Queen mansion. It looked exactly the same, but different at the same time. The mansion clearly looked like it aged, but the flowers and manicured bushes still looked immaculate as always.

"I wonder who lives here now." she muttered looking around to see if there were any cars in the driveway.

"No one." Steve replied and Katie turned to him in confusion.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because you own that house, Mrs. Queen." Katie looked at the man with wide eyes before turning back to the mansion.