Chapter 5
Family Reunions
"In every conceivable manner,
the family is link to our past,
bridge to our future."
-Alex Haley
Oliver Queen sometimes think he has a super power. Not one that could save lives, but one he finds use for. It doesn't matter how deep in his sleep he is, or how tired he'd been, he can feel the moment Katie's side of the bed is empty for more than a few minutes.
He opens his eyes suddenly, turning and noticing the woman's empty side of the bed, before he sits up. He glances over to the bathroom, noticing the lights are off. He stands from bed, instantly worried. His mind went back to that night, a night his heart stopped and didn't beat again until he saw her.
"Son of a bitch!" he hears her yell and Oliver rushes out of the room, stalking through down the hall in search of the voice, but stopping when he hears movement from the guest room. The man takes a step forward, pushing the door open to see Katie sitting in the middle of the room surrounded by boxes.
"Twinkie, what are you doing?" the woman lifted her eyes to the man. He glanced over to the clock against the wall, now able to see how ridiculously early it was. "It's three o'clock in the morning-" he turned back to the woman. "Why are you awake?"
"I couldn't sleep, I thought I would actually unpack this room." the woman replied glancing around the room. "But there's so much stuff, and not a lot of space and it's getting frustrating."
"Twinkie-
"I'm fine, just go back to sleep." Katie turned to the box beside, before turning back to Oliver. "Wait, did you pick up the paint?" Oliver dropped his face to his palm and sighed.
"I'm so sorry, I forgot and-"
"It's fine." Katie replied closing her eyes and letting her head fall back against the wall. Oliver walked over and crouched in front of the woman, placing his hands on her knees.
"Twinkie, I'm sorry I've been looking into the whole public office thing and then there was another run in with the ghosts and-"
"You forgot the paint." Katie said looking back to the man. "The paint for our daughter's room. That's just great-" The woman attempted to stand up, and Oliver quickly grabbed her arm to help her, but she pulled away from him the moment she was standing. The woman stalked out of the room, and Oliver stood there for a moment unsure if he should follow her. He's suffered the wrath of the various moods of pregnant Twinkie, and he feels like this one might be a doozie. He let out a deep sigh, before turning and heading out to the hall. He heard her downstairs and decided to dive in because he loved the woman no matter what mood she was in.
When he found her, she was standing at the sink filling a tea pot with water.
"I will pick up the paint today." Oliver spoke and she looked up to the man and just shook her head. "This isn't about paint-"
"Aren't you the bright deductionist." Katie muttered turning and bringing the tea pot to the stove. "Oliver, it's fine. I will get the paint, and I will choose a crib and finally unpack that room because you know there's gonna be a baby here like really soon." she looked back over to the man. "You just focus on running for Mayor, and catching ghosts. That's what's important." she stalked out of the kitchen, but Oliver caught her arm and brought his arms around her. She turned her eyes away from his, almost defiantly avoiding his gaze.
"You want to tell me what's really going on?" Oliver asked, but Katie didn't say anything. She didn't bring her arms around him or even pretend that she wanted to be in this embrace right now. "Is it the Mayor thing? Do you not want me to run?" she still didn't say anything and Oliver wasn't sure how to fix this or even where to start. "Twinkie, tell me what do you need?" she finally turned back to the man, meeting the seriousness in his eyes and she felt something inside of her break. Something she'd been trying to hold inside, but it was cracking inside of her. "Twinkie-" Katie dropped her head to Oliver's chest. "Twinkie, talk to me-" she wanted to spill her guts, to tell him how angry she was, and how scared she was, but she was afraid he would do what he always did. Try to protect her. But she knows he's never gone against a person who can stop bullets with a simple wave of a hand.
"I'm just-" she lifted her head and let out a heavy breath. "I'm just not feeling like myself." she shook her head before the whistle of the tea pot tore through the room. Oliver turned, rushing over to take the pot from the stove, when he looked back up, Katie was gone. He stepped out of the kitchen to see the woman heading back up the stairs leaving him completely confused, and worried.
It would seem after that moment, Oliver couldn't go back to sleep. And neither could Katie who just laid in bed, her back to him. He stuck by her side, hoping that at some point she would tell him what was going on.
It was later in the morning when Katie's phone beeped, and she reached over to read the text, letting out a sigh.
"I forgot Felicity and I were supposed to go shopping today." Katie muttered sitting up from the bed. "She's on her way here, and that means I have to shower and put on clothes." she stood from the bed and headed for the bathroom. "Might as well solve world hunger while I'm at it." Oliver stood as well, and followed her to the bathroom, stopping at the door. He crossed his arms and leaned against the frame as he looked over to her. When she turned to him, she quirked a brow. "Did you need something?"
"Actually I do. I need for you to tell what's wrong?" Oliver asked and Katie shook her head before turning and twisting on the shower. "This...us, it only works when we're honest with each other. We've learned the hard way what happens when we're not." Katie turned back to the man. "Twinkie, I know something is upsetting you, and I hate that you won't tell me what it is." It was the buzzing of the doorbell that saved Katie from an answer in that moment.
"That's Felicity and Lyla, you want to tell them I will be down in a minute?" Oliver stood there for a moment, not ready to let this conversation just go.
"We've been in this moment before, Twinkie. You bottling up the things you think I can't handle, but I can."
"Hey, I have a key, and I'm coming in!" Felicity's voice carried up the stairs. "So stop with the hanky panky, because we are going shopping today!"
Oliver groaned turning back to Katie, who just stared back at the man.
"Twinkie-"
"It's different. Being back here." she turned away from his eyes. She knew he saw things in her she wanted to remain hidden and she thinks not looking in his eyes helps keep some things to herself. "And yet is the same." she looked back to the man. "I'm just getting back to who we are and the type of lives we lead."
"Guys, seriously, no one's that in love!" Felicity's voice called.
"Twinkie-"
"A nice day of shopping. That's what normal people do and it's what I need to do today." Katie said with a slight smile. "I need to feel like a normal person who goes shopping for baby clothes. That's what I'm going to do, now I have to shower."
"Fine." Oliver said, before walking over to the woman and placing a hand around her waist. "I am going to figure out what's going on, and when I do, I'm going to fix it." Katie looked up to the man, placing a hand on his cheek. "I like happy on you, and right now something is not letting you be happy."
"Well you know, you make me happy, and this little girl really makes me happy. The other stuff just annoys me." Katie placed a kiss to the man's lips. "Now go, let them know I will be down soon." Oliver placed a final kiss to her lips before turning and leaving the bathroom. When he came downstairs, he found Lyla standing near the door as Felicity peeked in boxes they still had yet to unpack.
"Hi Oliver." Lyla said and Felicity whipped her head up, her eyes going wide as she takes a step away from the box. "Felicity was just snooping."
"I see that." Oliver said turning back to the woman.
"I wasn't-" the woman shook her head, but sighed, there was no point in hiding it. "Fine, why haven't you guys unpacked yet?"
"It's been a very hectic couple of weeks." Oliver replied through a yawn. "Sorry, not a lot of sleep."
"You know I didn't think pregnant women could go at it as much as you two have been." Felicity replied looking up to the stairs. "So where's Twinkie, I've already scoped out a couple of shops I want to check out."
"She's in the shower, she should be down soon." Oliver replied looking over to Lyla. "You two want some coffee?" Oliver was already heading for the kitchen. Felicity and Lyla shared a look before following behind the man, both taking a seat at the counter and watched as he made coffee. Once he was done, he turned to see two pair of eyes studying him in a way that made him nervous. "Ok, what is this?"
"What's going on?" Felicity asked. Oliver looked between the two women, before looking toward the stairs to make sure Katie was still out of sight.
"There's something going on with Twinkie. Something she's not saying, and that worries me." Oliver replied turning back to the women. "Has she said anything to either of you?"
"Nothing. I have noticed she seems, I don't know distant lately." Felicity replied before turning to Lyla who frowned slightly. "Do you know something we don't?" Oliver turned to the woman as well.
"Nothing I feel comfortable saying to either of you. We had a conversation, she confided in me." Lyla turned to Oliver, knowing that's not what he wanted to hear. "The thing is Oliver, for some reason she doesn't want to tell you something. You need to understand why."
"Alright!" they turned at the sound of Katie's voice as she came down the stairs. "Let's go spend money." Lyla and Felicity glanced once more to Oliver before slipping from their seats to meet the woman at the door. She looked over to Oliver and smile. "We shouldn't be gone long, and-" she pointed to Lyla. "I'm pretty sure this one has a small artillery on her person."
"I'm not saying anything, but maybe we should avoid places with metal detectors." Lyla replied heading out the door. "I'll pull the car up."
Oliver walked over to Katie, sliding an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him.
"There has to be a second in a day you two aren't making out." Felicity said snagging Katie's arm and pulling her out the door. "Don't worry Oliver, I will take good care of her and baby Twiver."
"Have fun!" Oliver called to the women as they left.
Katie didn't really like shopping, but there was something about these stores and their tiny baby clothing that just pulled a smile to her face. She had this image in her head, of this tiny baby girl in all these cute little outfits. Felicity was no better, cooing and awing at every outfit and toy she touched. Lyla was more reserve, the level headed one of the three. She's the reason Katie didn't literally buy an entire baby store. After a few hours of shopping, the women finally took a break and decided to grab some lunch. They were walking, bags in hand when Katie glanced over her shoulder. There was that instinct she thought had just went away.
"Here it is!" Felicity called and they turned to see her opening the door to the restaurant. "This place has the best burger and fries. Maybe even better than big belly, but I will let you judge for yourselves." They walked inside the small restaurant that actually looked a little too fancy to even serve burgers and fries. "I know, but Bruce brought me here and the food is great." They walked over to the hostess who was looking down to something on the small podium in front of her. "Hi, I know we don't have a reservation-"
"You need a reservation for a burger, Felicity?" Lyla asked and Felicity turned a glare toward the woman before she turned back to the hostess who still had yet to even look at them.
"I'm sorry, as I was saying, we don't have a reservation, but your food is awesome and we're really hungry." Felicity tilted her head, annoyed with the hostess' customer service skills since she was still just reading something.
"I'm sorry, we are reservation only. If you would like to make a reservation, I can grab the waiting list for you." the hostess rattled off as if she'd say this same line dozens of times. The women looked over to the restaurant at the numerous empty tables and shook their head.
"These burgers better be good, Smoaks." Katie said before taking a step forward. "Hi, is your manager here?"
"My manager is handling important business in the back, is there something I can help you with." It was getting ridiculous that the woman was still not even looking up to them as she rambled off her sentence.
"Well me and my friends would like to eat here and since we don't have a reservation, I would just like to buy the entire restaurant. Can you help me do that?" it must've shocked the hostess because she finally lifted her eyes and Katie gave her a smile.
"You're-" the hostess seemed at a loss for words as she looked between Katie and Felicity. "You're-" she looked out to the restaurant, before turning back to the three women. "I'm so sorry, I believe we have a table for you. Please follow me."
The three women shook their heads at Felicity as they sat at the nice, private table toward the back of the restaurant.
"Well when you walk in with Bruce Wayne, everyone looks at him and act like you're royalty." The woman replied as she looked down to the menu. "I didn't really know they were assholes."
"I'm just glad I have rich friends who can offer to buy places so we can get inside." Lyla says glancing over to Katie who took a sip of her water.
"No one stands between me and my food." Katie replied when she spotted a man in tuxedo talking to the hostess. "And now prepare for part two of the apologies." the man rushed over and as expected, the word, "sorry" was in every other sentence. He offered them anything they wanted on the house and promised the perfect experience. Once he was gone with their order, Felicity looked down to her phone.
"Bruce still hasn't called?" Lyla asked and Felicity let out a sigh.
"I don't know why I'm expecting him to. I gave him a choice and I guess he decided." the woman shook her head at the thought. "Why is honesty so hard? Is it really that bad?"
"What if it is?" Lyla asked and the blonde turned to her. "What if he's found out some very dangerous information, information that could put your life in danger."
"Or he has a secret wife and kids on an island somewhere that he doesn't want me to know about." Felicity muttered turning away.
"You don't believe that, do you?"
"No, I just-" Felicity shrugged. "Knowing there is a secret is actually worse than not knowing. There something so important he feels the need to keep it from me and that scares me, because I know that means it's big."
"John has this thing about boats." Lyla states. "Like he hates boats and it's not a fear or anything because he will get on them. It's just there is something about boats that trigger something that has happened to him and he refuses to tell me what it is." Lyla glanced down to her wedding ring with a slight smile. "You have no idea how many times I've asked him to just tell me what it was, but he won't." she looked back to the woman. "When I was a recruit with ARGUS, one of our trainers once said, with this job you will catch bad guys, kill them maybe, but their presence will forever be with you. John is holding onto something, and it's hard for him to let it go, but me pushing him to tell me won't help him realize that it's fine to tell me. Look I'm not telling you to forgive Bruce, that has to be your choice, but I see not being with him is making you miserable. So maybe you have a choice in front of you as well." Felicity simply nodded glancing down to her phone before they both turned to the woman who was quiet this whole time. They watched as Katie stared down to her water as she slid a finger along the rim of the glass.
"Hey." Felicity placed a hand to Katie's shoulder, pulling the woman from her thoughts. "You ok?"
"Fine." Katie replied with a slight smile. Neither woman believed the answer. "So where are we going after here? I need to look at some cribs, because Oliver is-" the woman just shook her head. "Busy I guess." Felicity and Lyla shared a looked before turning back to the woman.
"So how are things between you and Oliver?" Lyla asked and Katie sighed. "Did you talk to him about all those things you told me about?"
"What things?" Felicity asked with a quirked brow. "I want to know about the things." Katie chuckled but turned away slightly. "Hey, Twinkie, this is the sanctum. Anything spoken here, stays here."
"I didn't want to stay." Katie finally said turning back to Felicity. "I wanted to go back to our house in Coast City, and paint our daughter's room and wait for Oliver to finally work up the courage to propose." She noticed the slightly sad look on Felicity face and she quickly took her hand. "Smoaks, I love you, I love all of you, but this place its-" she shook her head. "Here our realities are too real. Here I have to see that I was taken from my home because my father was a crazy person and my mother's last name was Al Ghul." she shook her head. "Here I have to realize that the father of my child feels some sort of obligation to put himself on the front lines of criminals wanting to hurt this city." Katie dropped her head slightly before turning away. "I didn't feel the darkness anymore when I was gone, but I'm back and it's-" she shook her head.
"Twinkie, tell us, what's going on?"
"Damian Darhk." Katie finally said after a few moments of silence.
"I know you're worried, but from what we've seen so far, Darhk's attacks seems to be focused on the city." Felicity replied in an attempt to be optimistic. "Maybe he doesn't even know you're Grace's daughter, or maybe he does and just doesn't care."
"He knows." Katie says looking over to the woman. "And he seems to care very much."
"You went to see him?" Lyla asked and Katie looked over to her and shook her head.
"More like he orchestrated a meeting between the two of us. One that included men pulling me out of cars and pushing me into empty restaurants where the only guest is our pal Damian Darhk."
"Does Oliver know about this?" Felicity asked and Katie turned to her with a quirked brow. "I mean of course he doesn't know or he'd be on a war path. That's why you haven't told him."
"We don't know what Damian Darhk is capable of and it's a fact that everyone has agreed upon, and that until we know more we attack him through stopping his attacks on this city. If Oliver knew this man has even looked in my direction, not once but twice then-"
"Wait, twice. You've seen him again?" Lyla asked.
"Yeah, he-" Katie shook her had. "He made an investment in RI, a substantial investment that pulled the company out of it's hole and now he wants a chance to hang around and give his input."
"We have to tell Oliver. This is seriously dangerous for both you and the baby and he deserves to know so we could do something." Felicity shook her head. "Like not take you shopping without a whole army to protect us."
"Well there you go, we do have an army." Katie replied and Felicity turned to her waiting for her to continue. "The ever present army of my father. I figure he and ARGUS are attempting to track Darhk as we speak."
"I don't think so." Lyla said and Katie and Felicity looked over to her. "When you and Oliver left, your father attempted to find you using ARGUS resources. Waller wouldn't allow it."
"What do you mean she wouldn't allow it? I thought she was the boss only by title." Katie replied and Lyla sighed.
"So did a lot of people, including Jacob. She put her foot down and then he left."
"What do you mean left? Where is he?"
"No idea, but chances are if you're here, then he's here as well." Lyla replied. "Look, your father does still have resources, and I'm sure there is probably eyes on us, just probably not enough I'm comfortable with, when someone as bad as Darhk is concerned." she looked over to Felicity. "Maybe we should get these burgers to go."
"Agreed." Felicity said standing to her feet, when suddenly they heard the sound of people screaming.
"Everyone on your feet!" a voice yelled and the women turned to now see two people waving around semi automatic weapons. Their faces were covered, but their guns were not and so people were listening. "If I have to ask again, you won't be happy!"
"I would really like to see that small army now." Felicity muttered as the three women stood to their feet. "At what point does the whole rescue Twinkie and her friends usually happen?"
"You!" one of the gunman pointed a gun at the hostess. "Lock the doors and place the close sign." The gunman turned to two men. "I want you two to move these tables out of the way and I want every on the floor, right here!"
Once the tables were moved, people nervously moved to sit on the floor. Katie, Felicity and Lyla hesitated for a moment as they began walking. The moment they neared the crowd, the shorter of the two gunman, met them before they could sit.
"You three actually get the VIP section." the female voice spoke, and all three women took note of the fact. "Where is the boss?!" the man from before in the tuxedo rose his hand and the woman walked over and jerked him to his feet. "Is there a basement?"
"Uh, yes, our cellar is accessed in the kitchen." the man replied nervously. The woman simply shoved him back to the floor before turning back to the three women.
"Let's go!" she pointed the gun at them and gestured for them to move toward the kitchen.
"Uh, I have allergies, so basements are usually a no-no for me." Felicity said slightly raising her hand. The woman with the gun stalked over, and it was Lyla who took a step forward to stand between the two.
"We will go down the basement." Lyla said before glancing back to Felicity who gave a nod.
"Good, now, I need cell phones." Lyla reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone before handing it to the woman. They turned back to Katie and Felicity.
"Mine is in my bag, back on the table." Felicity replied nudging her head back to the table. The woman than turned her gun to Katie who sighed.
"Phone, now princess!" Katie reached behind her, snagging her phone from her back pocket before handing it to the woman as well. "Thank you all for being so agreeable, now basement. Move." Lyla turned, giving the woman a nudge of her head before they all turned and began walking.
Once in the basement, the gun-woman forced them to sit against the wall. They all watched as she moved to stand a couple of feet away from them, her gun still pointed in their direction.
"Is this about money?" Felicity asked and the woman looked over to her. "Because if it is, I can assure you no one from my company is going to give you a dime." the woman laughed as she looked over to the woman.
"It used to be about money. Hell everything use to be about money, but then one day it just wasn't." the woman then reached inside of her bag and pulled out a small device that all three women in front of her recognized the moment they saw it.
"Guns, bombs and hostages." Katie spoke looking over to the woman. "If this isn't about money, then what is it about?" the woman lifted her head and once again laughed before walking over. Lyla and Felicity sat up a bit straighter as the woman squat down in front of them and removed the bandanna covering her face. Katie gasped the moment she saw the woman. "Heather?"
"You took everything away from me, and now I'm going to do the same." the woman gave a wink before standing up and walking back over to the bomb. Katie felt Lyla move her hand and knew she was going for a weapon. She quickly grabbed Lyla's hand and just shook her head. Lyla looked at her like she was crazy, but complied, moving her hand from the gun strapped to her ankle.
"You want to tell us how you know the crazy woman holding us hostage?" Felicity whispered over to Katie.
"She's-" Katie turned back to the woman who now pulled out a laptop and a tri pod. "Heather Locke." Felicity looked over to Katie with a quirked brow before it finally hit her.
"Locke as in-"
"She's Jeremy's wife."
"Alright!" Heather said and they all looked up to see the woman had set up her tablet to the tripod and had it pointed on them. "You ladies ready for your close up?"
Oliver found himself in the nursery, actually recognizing Katie's frustrations. Her due date was right around the corner and this room wasn't even close to being ready for the baby. There was a knock on the door and he let out a sigh before heading downstairs. The moment he opened the door, a smile came to his face.
"You know I never figured I was your go to friend in a time of crisis." Ethan said walking into the loft. The man pulled off his jacket and turned to Oliver.
"Yeah, well your girlfriend and my sister are off on a spa weekend I guess, Felicity, Katie and Lyla are out shopping and John-"
"Still secretly trying to kill you for kidnapping his wife?"
"No, wait-" Oliver looked over to the man. "He's not really trying to kill me, is he?" Ethan simply laughed with a shake of his head. "Well in a time of crisis, you're all I have which is sad, but whatever. I need help getting back on Twinkie's good side and I think that starts with having a room for our daughter. You pick up the paint?"
"It is in the car." Ethan said looking around the loft. "So this is like the permanent place, now?" Ethan turned back to Oliver who quirked a brow. "Like this is where you're going to raise the baby?"
"For now, yeah. Why?" Oliver asked and Ethan just shook his head.
"No, I just-" the doctor just shook his head with a slight look before pointing to the stairs. "Nursery up there? I want to see if I got enough paint. No offense, but it was hard for me to believe you're good with estimating how much paint a room needs." the man didn't wait for a response from Oliver before skipping up the stairs. Oliver followed behind the man, wanting to know what that look was about. Ethan was already snooping inside boxes when Oliver walked inside the nursery.
"You know when you said the nursery wasn't quite ready, I assumed maybe a couple of boxes, but not the whole damn room." Ethan looked over to Oliver with a shake of his head. "Your baby could literally be born today and where would you put her?" he looked around the room before pointing to one of the boxes. "Well maybe that box. It looks quite comfortable."
"We've been a bit busy with the city being over-run with these ghosts and people slipping things under our door." Oliver sighed looking around the room. "For some reason we thought we had more time to get to this part, but apparently-"
"Why don't you just hire people to do this?" Ethan asked and Oliver looked over to him. "What? I thought that's what rich people did when they didn't want to get their hands dirty." Oliver just shook his head at the man. "Well if you would like to know, you did underestimate the amount of paint you needed."
"Seriously?" Oliver asked and Ethan couldn't hold in his laughter. "You're an asshole."
"I know." Ethan says rolling up his sleeves. "I am going go grab the paint and the brushes, and you can start moving these boxes." he looked over to Oliver who gave a nod before going to work. Ethan was about to walk out of the room before his phone beeped.
"Please don't tell me you got to head to the hospital?" Oliver said looking over to the man who chuckled. He really did need help getting this room straightened out before Katie came back home.
"Well I'm on vacation, so if they're calling then-" Ethan frowned down to his phone. "What the hell?"
"What is it?" Oliver asked and Ethan turned to the man. "Ethan, what is it?"
"It's one of the nurses at GMH. We need to get downstairs."
Soon Oliver and Ethan were seated in front of the television watching something neither expected to see.
"If you're just now tuning in, we along with multiple news stations in the city have been informed by an unknown party about an impending video that they would like to be broadcast live. This is something we do not usually do, but the party has threatened the lives of numerous people if their demands are not met." the reporter turned slightly, listening to someone through her ear piece. "Oh my God." she turned back to the came. "The video is now streaming, and we will show it soon, but we have no idea what this is and advise you to please take your children out of the room." after a few moments the reporter gave a nod and the moment the screen changed, Oliver felt his heart stop beating.
"My name is Dr. Katherine Robins and I am a murderer." Oliver watched as Katie looked up from the papers in her hands. She let out a sigh before looking back down to the paper. "It is time I finally let the world know who I really am. I am not a savior, or a hero, I am a monster and until that truth is finally proven every half hour a-" she stopped and looked up, with a frown. "No! You're not doing this!"
"Read the paper or people start dying now, starting with your friends here!" Oliver's jaw clinched, seeing the anger in Katie's eyes as she shook her head slightly before turning back to the camera. "Every half hour one of the many hostages here will be killed until evidence is found that will lock me away. Please find something, I don't care, whatever will lock me away and lock me away for good. The clock starts now." the video ended, and the screen switched back to the reporter who stood in shock for a few moments before actually speaking.
Ethan grabbed the remote and turned off the television before turning to Oliver whose eyes were on the black screen.
"Oliver?" Oliver's phone rang and he quickly pulled it from his pocket. He looked down to the number before standing to his feet as he answered it.
"Bruce, tell me you got something." Oliver rushed for the door, grabbing his jacket and not even saying a word to Ethan as he stalked out.
Once the man was gone, Ethan pulled out his own phone and dialed a familiar number. He nervously waited for someone to answer and soon the wait was over.
"Dr. Mills, I wasn't expecting a call from you today." Martin Ellis answered.
"I wasn't expecting to make this call." Ethan replied looking back up to the television. "You may want to turn on the news."
It was the sound of glass breaking that made the man suddenly halt before knocking. He was about to deliver news he doesn't think will please his boss and he'd been tempted every second to turn and just run. The temptation isn't that strong because he knows who his boss is and what he's capable of. He wouldn't be able to run far, so he took a deep breath, swallow his nerves before finally knocking.
"Get in here!" the order caused the man to quickly step inside, and the moment he did his boss turned to him. "The next words out of your mouth is, we've found her, Mr. Darhk sir and a team is already in route to save her." the man dropped his head because those were not going to be the next words out of his mouth. Actually he feared the next words out of his mouth would be his last. "Speak!"
"We have not been able to get a location of where the video came from. No one we've questioned is taking responsibility. We believe this may be the work of a new comer. Someone trying to make a name for themselves."
"Well you really can't make a name for yourself if no one knows it." Damian says turning back to his television to watch what felt like the one hundredth replay of the hostage video and every time he sees it, something inside of him burns. There's no reason to feel as angry as he does in this moment, and yet seeing her face, the face so similar to his Minnah, it just stirs something inside of him that surprises even him. "Someone knows something-" he turns back to his henchman. "Someone knows something, so I don't care what you have to do to find that someone, but you will or your insides will become your outsides. Now go!" the man didn't hesitate to rush out of there. Damian's eyes turned back to the television, his teeth gritting at the sight once again and before he could stop himself, the television just exploded. He let out a growl before walking over to his telephone, and dialing a number. "I'm going to need another television, sooner rather than later."
Katie, Felicity and Lyla sat watched as Heather held her rifle firmly with one hand while doing something on her laptop.
"We need to take her out." Lyla whispered over to Katie. "I know she's family-"
"There's also another gun upstairs and until he's eliminated, then we can't touch her." Katie replied looking over to Lyla. Katie turned slightly to Felicity. "Smoaks, tell me if given the chance you can disarm that bomb?" Felicity tilted her head trying to look at the device as best she could from her place. She let out a sigh and just shook her head.
"I don't know. I can't actually see it from the other side of the basement." Felicity replied. "We need a plan."
"Fine." Katie replied before looking back over to Heather. "I'm sorry." the red head glanced up from her computer and looked over to her. "I can't imagine what losing Jeremy did to you-"
"But I didn't lose him. You stole him from me! Now you have the whole city falling at your feet like you're some sort of angel on earth, but you shot my husband through the head. Clean shot. That wasn't the first time you've killed, and all we have to do is wait until they find it."
"And then what? I go to jail and you go to jail and we can be prison sisters?"
"Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for justice." Heather replied looking back down to the clock ticking away.
"Even your daughter?" Katie asked and the woman glared over to her. "Is she worth losing? Because that's what's going to happen if you kill anybody today. You would've lost your husband and your daughter."
"Oh you sound so concerned." Heather hissed as she stood to her feet and took a step toward the woman. That's when she noticed Felicity take Katie hand and she laughed. "They don't see, but I do. This act you're putting on about me, about my daughter. Where were your thoughts of us when you had that gun pointed at my husband?" Heather shook her head. "No, the lives lost tonight will be on you cuz." the woman simply winked before walking back over to her computer.
Oliver rushed into the hideout where he found Bruce and John already waiting. The two men looked up, the looks on their faces matching his own.
"What have you found?"
"I tried pinging the signal used by the video footage, but it's being bounced around making it impossible to trace it." Bruce said looking down to the computer. "I'm going to try to girls cell phones, hopefully find them that way." Oliver simply nodded before walking over to John who seemed to be watching the video footage.
"Have you gotten anything from this?" Oliver asked and John looked over to the man and just shook his head.
"None of them are signalling anything, and if Katie is trying to say something other than what she's reading, I can't hear it." John replied, his eyes glancing over to Lyla who he notices has her hand resting on her hip. "What I can tell is that these guys aren't professionals." Oliver looked over to John with a quirked brow. "They didn't pat them down. You see that slight bulge there underneath Lyla's jacket. That's her glock." the man looked up to Oliver. "I don't think these are the Ghosts. It's too amateur." Oliver looked back to the screen, when his phone suddenly rang. He looked down to the screen and sighed before answering.
"Captain."
"Tell me you know what the hell is going on here?" Lance demanded. " Do you know who's behind this?"
"Not yet, but I will find out." Oliver replied his eyes focused on the screen that was paused on Katie.
"Well we need to find out something because I have less than fifteen minutes to find something to lock away a woman this city loves. Someone who wants to hurt her this bad, has to be an enemy."
"That's a long list." Oliver replied sliding a hand across his face trying to think of something. "Look, no one is going to die, she wouldn't let that happen."
"I'm more afraid of what she would do to make sure it doesn't happen." Lance sighed. "Let me know if you find something."
"I will, you do the same." Oliver replied before ending the call. He once again looked to Katie and just shook his head. "I can't sit and do nothing." the man pulled off his jacket and headed for the case that held his suit.
"And what are you going to do?!" Bruce snapped angrily following after the man. "Go driving up and down the street yelling her name?"
"I don't know, but I can't just sit here and do nothing. That maybe alright with you but-"
"Alright with me?!" Bruce took a very dangerous step close to the man. "Do you have any idea how much restraint it is taking me not to go out on these streets and knock around every low life criminal until they tell me who is behind this. Oliver, you're not the only one here who has someone to lose in there, so stop acting like a prick and start thinking smart. All three of those women are intelligent and resourceful and I have no doubt they're not sitting around waiting for us to save them. But because we love them, we're gonna try anyways."
"I think I got something!" John called and Oliver and Bruce lifted there heads before rushing over to the man. "I kept replaying Katie's message, and something seemed weird, here. Listen."
"Every half hour one of the many hostages here will be killed until evidence is found that will lock me away. Please find something, I don't care, whatever will lock me away and lock me away for good. The clock starts now."
"I don't get it." Bruce said looking over to the man.
"She says the words "lock me away" three times in that sentence." John says looking between the two men. "Maybe it's nothing, but I think she's emphasizing that phrase for some reason."
"Lock me away." Oliver mutters closing his eyes and repeating it over and over again in his head. "Lock me away, lock me away, lock...lock, wait." Oliver opens his eyes and looking over to the men. "That's it! Lock! Lock me away."
"Oliver, we're gonna need more than that." Bruce says clearly annoyed at the man not getting to the point.
"Lock." Oliver repeated. "Jeremy Locke." John looked up to the man in confusion.
"Jeremy's dead, I witnessed that with my own eyes." John says, the flash of the moment seeing that bullet in the man's head, still clear as day. "He's not behind this."
"Does he have family?" Oliver asked turning to Bruce.
"Yeah, a wife and kid." Bruce replied. "Wife was an attorney I think, but then she married Jeremy and had their daughter and became a housewife."
"What happened to them when he died?"
"With the investigation, all of Jeremy's assets were seized. They had enough to survive I guess, but they pretty much lost everything." Bruce replied with a shake of his head before going over to the computer and typing a few keys before an image from a newspaper article appeared showing a woman and her daughter, both dressed in black their heads down.
"Heather Locke." John reads standing to his feet to read the article. Soon the screen changed to the woman's personal file, detailing her life that John was sure wasn't made public. "Worst thing on here was a parking ticket eight years ago." John looked back to Oliver and Bruce. "I can't see this woman orchestrating a hostage situation."
"No, but I can see him doing it." Bruce said and suddenly an image of a man with a shaved head and tattoos appeared on the screen. "Austin Riley. Heather's brother. His rap sheet is quite longer than hers. Probably would've been longer if his brother in-law didn't hire the best lawyers money could buy. He just got out prison a couple of weeks ago."
"Long enough to see Katie being praised by the media for her help in getting people out of the train station. " Oliver replied looking at the screen. There was a beeping sound from the computer and Bruce turned and both men appeared at his side.
"I got a location on Felicity's phone before it was shut off." Bruce says before typing a few keys. A satellite image appears and all the men's eyes go wide at the sight of a building with numerous heat signatures crowded in one area, while a person holding a gun paces back and forth. Oliver tilted his head, looking at the location and once he had it, the man turned and stalked off toward his suit.
"It's still daylight Oliver!" John called after him. "If you go out there now, you might as well not even wear the suit." Oliver stopped walking and turned back to the man.
"You're right." Oliver says before grabbing his jacket. "Call Lance, tell him the location."
"John, stick here." Bruce said turning to the man and the look John gave him let him know that was not an order he wanted to follow. "I need to keep an eye on Oliver and make sure this ends without anyone getting hurt, and I need someone here to keep an eye on this footage. I promise I will bring Lyla back to you."
"I am holding you to that Bruce." Bruce heard the man loud and clear, knowing anything else was ending up on John Diggle's bad side and that's just not a place he wants to be. John watched the man rush out to follow behind Oliver.
Three women nervously watch as the woman holding the gun glares at her computer screen and soon a buzzing sound plays.
"Welp, first half hour down." the woman says before pulling a walkie talkie from her bag. She bringing it to her lips about to speak, but is suddenly interrupted.
"Son of a bitch!" she looks over to see Katie clenching her eyes closed as she grips her belly and groans loudly. "Oh my Gahh-" she opens her eyes and looks over to Felicity who looks just as freaked out as Katie. "Felicity, it's happening."
"It, as in, it it, as in a baby coming right now?" Felicity asked her eyes growing wide with fear.
"I think so." Katie says dropping her head and letting out another pained moan.
"We need to get to hospital!" Lyla yelled looking over to Heather who just shook her head.
"That is not happening." Heather replied.
"Listen lady, you're upset I get it, but this baby is not being born in a basement!" Felicity snapped looking up to the woman. "This whole negotiation can happen from a hospital."
"I don't think so." Heather stalked over and the moment she was close enough, it was Lyla who quickly slid a leg underneath the woman's feet and quickly pulled the gun from her hand before straddling the woman's waist.
"Felicity!" Katie called and the blonde turned back to her. "The bomb."
"But-" Felicity looked at the woman for a moment before realizing what had happened. "You're not in labor?"
"No, but that's still a bomb?" Katie countered and Felicity only groaned before rushing over to the device.
"Hey, what's going on?" everyone stopped at the voice that came from the walkie talkie. "Have they found something?"
"No!" Heather screamed squirming underneath Lyla before looking back up to the woman. "If I don't reply he's not just going to kill one of them. He's going to kill them all."
"Fine." Katie says reaching for the walkie talkie before holding a hand out toward Lyla who reached behind her and pulled out her gun, handing it to the woman. Katie pointed the gun at the woman before holding up the walkie talkie. "Tell him the plan fell through and he needs to let the hostages go."
"This gotta be deja vu for you, right?" Heather asked looking up to the woman. "Your gun pointed at a innocent person. What gives you the right to pull that trigger? What gave you the right to take him away from me?!"
"Katie." Lyla looked up to the woman who silently stared down to the woman.
"Yeah." a voice that only Katie could seem to hear spoke. She lifted her head and looked over to a far corner of the basement to see him. Jeremy standing right there. A hole oozing blood, still in the center of his forehead. "What gave you the right?"
"Katie?" Lyla once again said, noticing the way the woman seemed to grow pale suddenly.
It was no surprise at all that during a crisis when the lives of the women they loved were at risk, it was Bruce who took on the role as the most level headed. It was he who had to stop Oliver from just bursting through the front doors of the restaurant. He doesn't know how he did it, but he convinced the man to survey the restaurant from the building just across the street.
"Bruce, I don't have time to wait and see with this!" Oliver snapped once again as they reached the roof. "You have no idea how many doctors have advised against stress during this pregnancy and I can't imagine the amount of stress happening in that building right now."
"Yeah, well I figure it will get a whole lot stressful if you burst through the doors and bullets start flying, don't you think?" Bruce asked as they headed over to the edge to try to see any clues as to what was going inside of the building. Neither expected there to be someone already there, a pair of binoculars pressed against his eyes.
"And here I was thinking you two had gotten lost." Martin Ellis says, not even turning to the two men.
"Martin, you don't even want to know the amount of patience I have right now." Bruce growled walking over to the man. "You're here, why the hell haven't you gotten them out?"
"Probably the same reason you're out here and not storming the castle." Martin replied finally turning to the men. "The surveillance video from inside the building was turned out moments after the hostage situation occurred. We have no eyes inside, and because of that all moves have to be smart moves. I've been told if anything happens to Katherine, there will be hell to pay." Martin turned back to the building.
"Well if anything happens to anyone in that building, there will be a lot worse than hell to pay." Bruce says snatching the binoculars from the man's hand and looking over to the building. "There-" Bruce turns to Oliver, handing him the binoculars and pointing toward the roof of the restaurant. "There's a vent there, will lead into the building."
"Ok, and how exactly are we getting over there?" Oliver asked turning back to the man. "Did you bring any of your gear, because I didn't." Bruce shook his head before the men turned to Martin who simply stood there. "Let me guess, you already made the roof as a point of entry?"
"There's a bag behind you." Martin says and the men turned to see the black duffle bag on the ground. "It's should have everything you need." Bruce bent down to unzip the bag, seeing the zipline shooter along with some gas mask and a couple of smoke bombs. Both men turned, only to find Martin was gone.
"I can't stand that son of bitch, but I'm glad he's on our side." Bruce says grabbing one of the mask and handing it to Oliver. They both stood up straight, heading over to the edge of the roof. The sound of distant sirens let them know that their time clock was running out and so Bruce pointed the zipline shooter, and without hesitation pulled the trigger. Once the line was secure, both men grabbed the handles before zipping across the line. Neither stopped moving the moment their feet touched the roof. Their feet rushed to the vent, pulling it open before the slipped on the gas masks and jumped inside.
How could a man she witnessed die be standing in front of her? It's a question Katie wanted to answer even though time was not on her side at the moment.
"Heather, answer me!" the man snapped once again. They could hear the fear in his voice and they knew that fear would only lead to bad things.
"Ok, the bomb is off line." Felicity said before looking over to the two women. Her eyes went to Katie who sat her eyes looking over to something in the corner. "What's happening right now?"
"I don't know ,but we don't have time for it because soon people are going to start dying." Lyla says still straining to hold the woman down. "Felicity, help, please."
"Hey, Twinkie." Felicity spoke hurrying to Katie's side. She placed a hand on the woman's shoulder, hoping to snap her out of what ever was happening. "Twinkie, what's going on?"
"You know I didn't even know about this trick until your bastard of an uncle lead me through a door that landed me here and I have to tell you cuz, best damn fall I've ever taken." the man chuckled. "I mean look at yourself. Holding a gun to my wife's head. Was that the plan, wipe out your entire family. She's right you know? One day they're gonna see it. They're all gonna see the monster parading around like a hero."
"Katie!" Felicity snapped grabbing the woman's shoulders and giving her a good shake. Katie finally turned to her and remembered their situation. She looked back down to Heather, and opened her mouth only for the sound of gun fire above them to suddenly erupt. They all lifted their heads and the gun in Katie's hand just dropped to the ground.
"No." she said with a shake of her head as she backed against the wall and slid to the floor. "No, no, no-" she dropped her head to her hands imagining the innocent people above her being killed and it was her fault. She got distracted by things that weren't real and because of it people were dead. She really was a monster. There seemed to be commotion happening around her, screaming and yelling and she's certain someone is calling her name but she falls from the moment. She doesn't expect it to happen in some basement in some restaurant. But it did. Their faces, every life she's taken flashes behind her eyes, and it ends with Jeremy. He looked right at her the moment it happened. Square in the eyes and it's an image that will never be erased.
There were suddenly hands on her, touching her, attempting to comfort her, but she couldn't be pulled out of this hole she felt she'd dug herself.
"Twinkie-" Oliver's soothing voice seemed to break through to her and she lifted her tear filled eyes to the man and just shook her head.
"I'm sorry, I didn't-" she could barely talk before she dropped her head once again.
"What happened?!" Oliver demanded turning back to where Bruce stood now holding Felicity in his arms. He looked over to Lyla who at some point knocked Heather out and was now standing to her feet. "Somebody speak!"
"We don't know!" Felicity replied honestly with a shake of her head. "Lyla had Heather down, and Katie was going to make her tell the guy upstairs to let the hostages go. Then...then I don't know. She just zoned out and then the gunfire happened and we thought-" Felicity shook her head turning back to lay her head on Bruce's chest. Oliver turned back to Katie, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Hey Twinkie, look at me." she didn't move and Oliver brought his face closer to hers. "Twinkie, everyone is alright. All the hostages are out and they're safe." she lifted her eyes to the man once again. Suddenly the sound of multiple footsteps above them let them know the police were finally inside.
"Oliver, we can't be here." Bruce said, and Oliver sat there as if no one else was even in the room. "Oliver-"
"You came later." Felicity said lifting her head. "You were meeting us for lunch and you heard the commotion and came through the back. You hid in the bathroom until you heard the gunfire. That's when you found us." Lyla and Bruce both looked over to the woman who turned to Bruce. "I think you're making me a better liar."
Oliver didn't expect the numerous visits to the hospital would be because of people trying to hurt his girlfriend. He sat in a chair beside her bed, her back to him waiting for her to talk to him. They'd long gotten the news that she was fine, that the baby was fine, but the woman was still too quiet for Oliver not to be worried.
"Twinkie-" he spoke softly, sliding a hand along her back.
"She asked me what gave me the right to take him away from her." Katie spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "I didn't have an answer." she turned over and the moment she did, Oliver could see the sadness in her eyes. "I'm supposed to have an answer. I took someone's husband, someone's-" she placed a hand over her eyes and swallowed the lump in her throat. "I took someone's father. I should have an answer to that question."
"Twinkie, look at me." the woman dropped her hand and looked up to the man. "What you did, you did to save the life of your friend. That's the answer to that question. There are lots of things I wish I could take back, moments I wish I could change, but we can't. They happened and they are apart of us. They make us who were are, and I need you to believe me when I say you are a kind, loving, caring and beautiful human being." Oliver slid a hand across her stomach and smiled. "This little girl is going to be proud to call you her mother." the man leaned in, placing a soft kiss to her lips and to the top of her head.
"What's happening with Heather?" Katie asked.
"Her and her brother have been arrested. They will be going away for a long time."
"No." Katie replied and the man looked down to her. "We will get them lawyers. Get them help."
"You sure you want to do that after everything they did?" Oliver asked and Katie looked over to the man and sighed. "Of course you do. I will talk to Bruce, he can make some calls." Oliver took the woman's hand and smiled. "I was thinking, maybe now's not the time for this whole Mayor thing." the man shook his head. "If this whole thing has taught me one thing is that, I need to really focus on my responsibility to you and our baby and keeping you both safe." he glanced around the hospital room. "The next time I come here, I want it to be a happy occasion."
"Well-" Katie says sitting up. "If I have learned anything from this experience is that this city needs help. Heather was here, the anger inside of her festering and for some reason she thought guns and bombs were the answer." Katie looked down to her and Oliver intertwined fingers and she smiled. "You're meant to do more than just protect us." she looked over to the man. "I've known that since the day I met you. This city needs that good heart you have. So I think I can probably do a better job of not getting into dangerous situations, but sometimes I feel they just find me."
"Well they keep finding you, then I'm out." Oliver replied seriously. "We're out. You and that little girl in there mean more to me than this city. So when I feel it's too dangerous, we're gone." Katie gave a nod, a small part of her wanting to tell Oliver about Damian Darhk in hopes he would whisk her away. But the other part can't seem to do it. The one things she's notice since she's been pregnant is fear was starting to consume her. It was a lesson she thought she'd learned from the demon, a lesson she thought was ingrained in her. It's why she didn't say anything. She wasn't going to run. And she wasn't going to let Oliver run either. "The others are still out in the waiting room, I should go tell them they can head home." Oliver tried to stand to his feet, but Katie held on to his hand.
"We need to talk." Oliver lowered himself back to his seat as he turned to Katie. "Jeremy and I were the only family we had and he's dead. And Heather only had a brother and now they're about to be put through the court systems." Oliver wasn't sure what this was about, but he continued to listen. "Arianna Locke. Jeremy and Heather's daughter. Apparently I'm the only family she has." Oliver quirked a brow finally understanding where the woman was going. "I've seen this dozens of times working in this hospital. With both parents gone and no relatives to take the child they end up in foster care and that system is so screwed up and I can't live with myself knowing I took that's girl's family and then just left her high and dry."
"You're saying you want to take this girl in?" Oliver asked and Katie looked at him before giving a nod. "That's-" Oliver turned away with a slight shake of his head. He'd been prepping for life with one child and now the thought of two only made him nervous. "That would be an adjustment." he looked back over to Katie. "But if it's what you want then we will do it."
"Thank you." Katie says placing a kiss to the back of the man's hand.
"I mean I'm sure a little girl will be fine." Oliver said and Katie turned away from him. "What? She's like five or six?"
"More like fifteen." Katie replied and the look on the man's face told her everything going through his head. "We can do this. She's just a teenager. We were teenagers once. It will be fine." Oliver couldn't even pretend to agree, so he just silently nodded.
The next morning when Katie was finally released from the hospital, the couple returned back to loft. Katie walked over, and plopped down on the comfortable couch, letting out a content sigh as she kicks off her shoes and stretches out a bit.
"You're eating something." Oliver says and Katie just waves the man away about to grab the remote when they suddenly hear movement from upstairs. The pair share a look, before Oliver holds a hand out to her, signaling for her to stay here and for the first time ever Katie was actually going to listen. The man carefully eased up the stairs, and silently stalked down the hallway until he heard sounds coming from nursery. He stood a bit straighter, before placing a hand on the door prepared to hurt anyone on the other side who was bold enough to break into their place. Oliver pushed opened the door quickly about to attack, but he quickly stopped himself at the sight of someone he didn't expect to see.
"Dude, you nearly gave me a heart attack." Ethan said with a hand on his chest. "I told the hospital to keep you two a little longer so I could beat you back here."
"Why?" Oliver asked and Ethan smile as he gestured to the room, and Oliver looked around finally noticed the fully painted room. "You did all this?" he looked back to the doctor who gave a nod. "Ethan, you didn't have to-"
"I know, I know. But I figure with the day you two have had, I could give you this. One less thing to worry about. It just has to dry and then you can start decorating and moving stuff in." Ethan says looking around the room, before turning back to Oliver who didn't look too happy. "Did I do something wrong? I know you wanted to do this, but I couldn't get the image of you trying to paint the room with one of those little artsy paint brushes in your hand." Oliver turned to him with a glare. "Because you grew up sheltered without having to do actual work."
"No, that's not it." Oliver replied with a sigh as he looked around the room and noticed how nice the color actually looked on the walls. "We didn't actually need to paint the room." he looked back to Ethan. "Turns out we're moving."
"Seriously? Where?"
No one was quite as surprised as Katie and Oliver a couple of days later as they stood in the walk way looking up to the familiar brick house.
"So it never sold?" Oliver asked looking over to Katie who let out a sigh.
"No, and I have a feeling my father had a lot to do with that." she replied looking over the house unable to get over the fact that it looked exactly the same. "It feels like we're going back in time."
"No, I think we're moving forward. We're definitely venturing into some uncharted territory." the man replied and Katie couldn't help but chuckle.
"You know I think that particularly true for you. The man about to truly venture into the land of women." the woman playfully slapped his chest before heading inside the house.
Oliver stood there for a moment, now realizing his life would be living as the sole male in a house surrounded by women. Once upon a time he thought such a life would be heaven, be he gets the feeling it won't be a life he's ever imagined.
The man let out a deep sigh before walking over and plucking the for sale sign from out of the ground and carrying it with him inside the house. He stopped before actually going inside, glancing up once more with a slight smile.
"Home sweet home." he muttered before finally walking inside.
Author's notes :
And we're back to where it all started. Home sweet home.
Favorite part was the glimpse at Jeremy Locke. It seems our favorite dead uncle is being mischievous...
Review Replies:
RoseBud1923: I'm so glad you've found us! Season 4 was an awesome season, and I'm having so much fun writing this story, because it was already packed with so much drama and action, and now I'm sticking in this relationship that's really trying to stay strong, and this baby that will change everything.
ImsebastianstanButter: I do too, but I also think staying could be a good thing as well. She wants to run, because she thinks it will be easier, safer and maybe it would. But I think staying will only make her stronger. Force her to face her demons...one in particular that I think she needs to face before she can truly move on.
ssjmrxi: Thank you so much! So what did you think? We're ending this chapter with a new development. A teenager. That's going to be a whole new can of worms for two people already stressing about raising an infant. And now they'll have a teenager, who no longer has her parents because one person.
Adela: That was a pretty shocking moment, but I think it was needed. Oliver and Katie are truly Thea's only family, so I can imagine how hurtful it can be when they left and decided not to come back.
As always, I can never end a chapter without showing my gratitude to everyone who's hanging on with me for this story. I appreciate every one of you. Shout outs to everyone who randomly discovered this series of stories and found themselves intrigue about where it goes next. Be prepared for the unexpected. Virtual cookies, and hugs for everyone who left reviews. I truly appreciate reading them, and having that connection to you, so please keep them coming.
With out further ado, here is your sneak peek...
"Is it the baby? Is something wrong with the baby?" Katie shook her head, unable to find a way to start this conversation without it ending badly.
"No, the baby is fine. Still perfect, still healthy." Katie replied before grasping her nervous fingers that just wouldn't stay still at her side. "A couple of weeks ago, during the whole Jessica, Madison thing something happened. You were working, trying to find the bastard who tried to kill her and I decided to head home. I took a cab, but he didn't-" Katie dropped her head, and Oliver closed the distance between them, something that was not going to make this easier.
"Twinkie, tell me."
"He didn't take me home." Katie replied looking back up to man. "He wasn't a real cab driver turns out. He was hired to bring me to some restaurant."
"Why?"
"Because-because that's where his boss wanted him to bring me. His boss being Damian Darhk." the moment the words came out of her mouth, she saw the man's eyes go dark, his jaw clenching. "Oliver-"