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.

28. Away

Chapter 28

Away

"Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it." -Thomas Fuller

---

"Maybe we should take a break."

Katie breathlessly pushed the blindfold from her eyes and looked over to Rene who held the strike pads.

"What, you tired?"

"No, but you're barely recovered from your accident and the first thing you want to do is spar. Does Oliver even know you're here right now?"

Katie huffed as she stalked over to grab her water bottle. She reached out to Rene to help get her get back into fighting shape, so she told him to meet her at the bunker early this morning. She thought she'd be lecture free, but she was wrong.

"I'm fine." Katie said turning back to him. "Right now, I just need-" she turned when she heard footsteps and let out a sigh before turning back to Rene. "You called him?"

"No, he called me and I was all set with a lie, but he already knew." Rene said glancing over to Oliver who seemed to be dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of shorts as well. "He didn't say he would just show up though." Oliver and Katie just looked at each other for a moment and Rene pointed behind him. "I'm just going to-" he nudged his head before turning and walking off.

"You know I thought we were past you lying to me." Oliver said and Katie folded her arms over her chest.

"I didn't lie to you. I told you I was going for a run outside."

"Outside the house!"

"I didn't specify where I was running and you shouldn't have assumed. Because when you assume you make an ass out of you and yourself."

"That's not how that goes." he sighed. "Twinkie, it's too soon for you to be doing this."

"Oliver, I've literally seen you beat to shit one day, and back kicking ass the next. I'm fine, I just need to get back into shape. With Prometheus and Malice, you can't afford to lose me."

"Twinkie, we just recruited Dinah and-" Katie's eyes went wide and Oliver just knew he just opened a can of worms. "wait, I didn't mean—" she turned to walk away and Oliver quickly moved to block her from leaving. "She's not a replacement for you, but her being here does mean that you don't have to rush this." Katie didn't say anything before she shoved him back. "Twinkie, don't, we're not doing this." she threw a punch that he had to quickly dodge. "I'm not fighting you."

"Fine, then I'm going to go get Rene and-" she took a step to walk away and Oliver groaned with a shake of his head and Katie just smiled.

"Fine, we're going to go easy and if I think it's too much then we're stopping." he turned and pulled off his shirt and turned to see Katie looking over to him. "What?"

"I know what you're doing and it's not going to work. You can't distract me with your body."

Oliver laughed as he began stretching his arms while flexing his muscles, and Katie just rolled her eyes. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't." she said before walking over and retying the blindfold which would not only help train her senses, but keep her from getting too distracted by her husband. She turned and began stretching as well. She took a few steps forward, raising her fists as she slightly tilted her head to listen to his breaths.

"You know I doubt you're going to go into many fights without the ability to see." Oliver said and Katie smiled as she turned in the direction that his voice came from. "I'm sure there are more appropriate places to use that blindfold."

Katie shook her head, but couldn't stop smiling. "Stop flirting with me." she threw a punch, but Oliver dodged it and pushed her arm away with a chuckle.

"I'm not flirting, if I was flirting, you would know it." His voice came from a different direction. He was moving and so Katie began moving as well. She tossed another punch, and he grabbed her arm and pulled before spinning her around and pulling her back to his chest. His lips placed a soft kiss to the skin on her shoulder and she turned her head.

"There's no kissing in sparring." she said and he smiled as he looked at her blindfolded face before leaning into to capture her lips, but she pulled back, twisting out of his grasp and kicking him in the stomach. She smiled at the grunt he elicited as he stumbled back. "I'm starting to remember why we don't spar together. You get handsy."

"You like it when I get handsy. As a matter of fact, I believe you said you especially like it when I slip my fingers inside-"

"Ah ah, you can't distract me with your seductive words either!" Katie said and Oliver just laughed. "You might as well give it up." she rose her fists.

When she threw a punch, he dodged it quickly, before reaching out to grab her, only for her to grab his arm before folding her leg around his and knocking him to the floor on his back. She pushed up the blindfold and let out a laugh when she saw him on the floor.

"Aren't you going to help me up?" he asked holding out a hand to her.

"I know this game Liver. I grab your hand, you pull me down with you and it will lead to sex."

Oliver laughed. "You think I would do that?"

"No, but I probably would." she said with a smile backing away from him, but he slid a leg underneath her feet knocking her on her back as well. "Oh, ow, ow-" he quickly went crawled to her.

"I'm sorry, are you ok?" he placed a hand on her side. "Is it your ribs?" he tugged up the side of her shirt and slid a hand along her skin but didn't see any bruising. When he looked back up to her face, he saw the smile. "You're messing with me?"

"I am messing with you. I'm fine." she said. His hand was still sliding across her skin under her shirt as he brought himself above her. "Rene is still here, so keep that look to yourself." she placed her hands on the sides of his face. "Plus you should be getting back home to get ready for your first day back as Mayor Handsome."

"Or I can just stay with you." he replied dropping his lips to hers. "I mean the doctor said you could return to doing normal activities, and there's an activity I'm very interested in."

"Me too." she said her eyes looking up to his. "But tonight, we really should get home. I swear every time Robyn's left alone with Ari she learns a new word. I mean the other day, I swear she called me lame." Oliver laughed and Katie pinched his arm. "That's not funny."

"Ow, and yes it is." he replied bringing his lips back to hers, totally blocking out the world around them. That's why they didn't hear the sound of the elevator, or the footsteps that neared.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, I didn't-"

Oliver and Katie pulled apart and looked over to see Curtis standing at the edge of the combat mat, his back to them. Rene walked over to see what was going on and his eyes went from Curtis to the couple still lying on the floor.

"Ugh, really, other people fight on that too."

Later that morning, Ari stood outside of Oliver and Katie's bedroom door waiting for Oliver to come out. She'd been grounded for two weeks and today was the day she was hoping she could get out of the last two. When the door opened, Oliver stopped and looked at the girl with a furrowed brow.

"Whatever it is, no." he said walking around her down the hall, she moved to catch up.

"We need to talk about this punishment." she said and he glanced over to her. "It's kind of excessive, I mean it's not like I killed anyone."

"No, you just lied, snuck out to a party, drank alcohol and was found in a room alone with a boy. I think a month was taking it easy, don't you think?"

"And you're saying you never did any of that?" she asked and he didn't say anything only because he knows he's done so much worse when he was her age.

"Doesn't matter what I did or didn't do. This isn't about me." he said as they walked down the stairs. "This is about you. You have two more weeks. No phone, no car, no team. Just School and work, that's it."

"Look, fine, I get the other stuff, but no team, that doesn't just hurt me you know." she said as they walked into the kitchen and glanced over to see Katie and Robyn. "If Prometheus strikes today, you don't want to be a member short."

"We're fine, and with Dinah-" Oliver stopped and turned to the wide eyes of the teenager and damn it, he did it again. "Wait, before you even start—I didn't mean she was replacing you."

"No what you're saying is, I'm not needed because you have her." Ari said before stalking out of the kitchen.

Oliver sighed. "Car, five minutes!" she didn't say anything and he just shook his head before walking over and placing a kiss to Robyn's head. "I don't see what the big deal is with bringing in Dinah."

"You wouldn't, would you?" Katie says standing to her feet as Robyn continued eating her fruit. Katie walked over to grab a mug to pour herself coffee.

"What does that mean?" Oliver asked and Katie turned back to him. "You know I assumed you would be alright with me getting more help on the team. She's a former cop, so she has the experience."

"She also just spent the last three years hunting down a drug dealer who she found and murdered not too long ago." Katie whispered.

"So you don't think she should be on the team."

"That's just it, I don't know. I only found out about this woman not too long ago. I mean Laurel tells you about some woman she thinks would be good on the team, and you just agree to it without even talking to me about it."

"Twinkie, you're right, I should've talked to you about this sooner, but I really think this could work out, Laurel seems to think-" Katie rolled her eyes and turned to grab a mug. "That's what this really is about isn't it. You know I thought you and Laurel were fine."

"We are fine. I have no issues with Laurel." Katie said as she poured her coffee.

"Who do you have issue with?" Oliver asked and Katie turned to him with a glare. "Me? What did I do?"

"You know instead of telling you, I think I'm going to let you take the day to figure it out." Katie said as she walked around him. He used his arm to catch her waist and pull her back to him and she just sighed as she lifted her eyes to him.

"What did I do?" he asked again. She simply turned away and took a sip from her coffee, to which he plucked the cup from her hand and placed it on the counter.

"Hey, that's mine." she said as he brought both arms around her and she let out a sigh.

"You can't be mad at me. I can't leave here with you mad at me. I had a plan. I go to work, and then I come home and I lock you in a room that we won't leave until the next morning. So we have to fix this now." he lifted his eyes and thought about everything. "Ok, so I made a big decision regarding the team and I didn't include you and that was wrong." he looked back down to her. "Adding someone to the team was big, and we don't make big decisions without talking to each other. I'm sorry." she just looked at him for a moment. "You forgive me?"

"I don't know yet." she replied pulling from his grasp and grabbing her cup of coffee. "Shouldn't you be getting to work?"

"You know I might call Maddy, and tell her that I'm not coming in today." Oliver said reaching up and loosening his tie.

Katie let out a huff before putting down her mug and walking over and grabbing his tie. "You're so dramatic. You're going to work today because you're having a press conference, and since you sent Thea off to Hub city, there is also no chief of staff and I doubt the mayor's office can function properly without either of you." she smoothed out his tie and looked up to his eyes. He brought his arms around her and pulled her closer.

"You know you got a dog and didn't talk to me first."

Katie laughed. "That's the same thing, huh?" she felt her phone vibrate and pulled it from the pocket of her robe. "Son of a bitch."

"What's wrong?"

"RI's board called a meeting today to discuss Annabelle."

"They didn't invite you?"

"Well according to Claire, Annabelle is claiming that I've been harassing her and that she doesn't feel safe around me. She announced that she has a restraining order against me and that I'm not even allowed in the building." Katie shook her head as she looked over to Oliver. "She literally threw a glass at me, and yet she's the one who feels unsafe. This is ridiculous." Katie pulled out of Oliver's grasp and slid a hand over her face as she began pacing.

"Twinkie, just take a breath ok. Look she's not going to get away with this. The board can't argue with facts."

"They can't, but they can be bribed and blackmailed which is the only reason I believe she's still in that seat." Katie shook his head as she continued pacing. "There's got to be-" she stopped and turned to Oliver. "I got to talk to Lucius. Wayne Enterprises still has a stake in RI, they're allowed in that meeting."

"Hey," Oliver walked over and placed a hand on her waist. "Did you want me to stay? Help you with this?"

"No, go, right now I'm just making phone calls. You go to work, give John my best." she said and he placed a kiss to her lips before heading over to say goodbye to Robyn. "Don't recruit anymore team members on your way to work." he stopped and looked over to her. "I forgive you Liver, I just don't want to be in that place again. We have to talk about the big stuff." Oliver walked back over to her. "And I get being so afraid of your emotions that you feel you have to lock them away, but we're married. We got to take the bad with the good." Oliver brought his hands to the sides of her face and brought his lips to hers.

"I love you." he whispered before kissing her again. When his hands went for her robe, Katie realized she had to stop him before he could pull it open and once he did that, she knew there would be no turning back. She grabbed his hands and pulled back. The man let out a groan. "Don't forget the plan. I'm locking the door."

Katie laughed. "You forget about your kids? Where are they supposed to be when we're locked in that room?"

"Ari can babysit. I'll tell her I'll reduce her punishment by a week." he replied kissing her again.

"Well then you better go so you can hurry back." replied Katie with a smile and Oliver found himself not even wanting to leave.

"I'm going to the car!" Ari yelled and Oliver glanced over his shoulder with a sigh. "So hurry up!"

"Maybe we should think about adding a week to her sentence." Katie said and Oliver laughed as he went for a final kiss. "Go, before I never let you leave." Oliver pulled back and placed a hand on her cheek before turning and heading over to Robyn.

"Goodbye sweetheart." he placed a kiss to her chubby cheeks before he leaned in and she placed a wet kiss on his. "I love you sweetie." he glanced back over to Katie who gave him a wave. "You know you don't make walking out of this house easy."

"It's not supposed to be easy." she replied before nudging her head. "Now, go, we'll see you later Mr. Mayor." Oliver dropped his head and let out a sigh before walking back over to her and bringing his arms around her and capturing her lips. "You're so dramatic." she laughed as she kissed him back.

"Ugh, fine, I'm going to call you later. " Oliver said and Katie gave a nod before he finally pulled away.

Later that morning Katie found herself sitting at the kitchen table in front of her laptop waiting for Lucius and Bruce to join the video conference and of course Bruce's face appeared first.

"I half expected you to skip this call." Katie said looking at the man who just gave a slight smile. "What are you in hiding or something? I was going to hire you for a hit, but I wasn't sure I should."

The man laughed. "Who did you need to put a hit out on?"

"My husband."

"Everything alright?"

"Now, yeah it is. After the accident it was just a bit tough. So many emotions we weren't dealing with, but we're working on it."

"So you don't need me to beat him up?"

"Not anymore, you missed your chance." Katie laughed. "We're good. What about you? You and Smoaks sort of went offline for a while. Everything going alright in the Wayne household?"

"Well it's-" Bruce sighed as he slid a hand over his face. "It's something alright." he looked up meeting her eyes. "Just something we're trying to work through ourselves." the man smiled. "Look at us. Having a normal, friendly conversation. I knew I would wear you down sooner or later Robins."

Katie just rolled her eyes when she heard another ding before Lucius' face appeared.

"There's the old man!" Bruce greeted and Lucius just chuckled.

"Good to see you too Bruce." the man said before looking to Katie. "You too Katie. I wasn't sure if I should reach out after-"

"I woke up from a coma. It's fine. There was a lot for me to catch up on and it was a lot, I'm not going to lie."

"How's that going?"

"I'll let you know when I know." she laughed. "I actually wanted to meet with the two of you to talk about RI." Lucius let out a sigh as he sat back in his chair. "What's up?"

"Wayne Enterprises is currently engaged in a legal dispute with RI." Lucius said. "It's fairly recent. Ms. Grey is trying to dispute the contract in place that gives WE the ability to step in if we deem necessary."

"Can she do that?" Bruce asked. "I would imagine when Jacob had it drawn up he made it ironclad."

"That's her main argument. The contract was drawn up years ago by a former CEO. She's trying to argue that the circumstances at which the contract was created shouldn't apply in a different economical climate, or under the leadership of a new CEO."

"How are we looking?" Katie asked.

"Right now, the contract doesn't leave room to be broken, but she's looking for a loophole somewhere. At the moment, until a verdict is reached, our hands are tied. We're unable to make any moves on RI." Katie sat back in her seat and closed her eyes with a sigh. "I'm sorry Katherine."

Katie opened her eyes and shook her head. "Don't. This isn't on you." she let out a sigh. "I called for a meeting to discuss some of the issues that have been going on with the company since she took over, but I can't even attend it. She put a restraining order against me, so I'm not allowed in the building." Katie folded her arms and turned away. "I'm afraid that if one of us isn't in that room during that meeting-"

"She's going to manipulate them." Bruce said and Katie turned to him and nod. "What are our options Lucius?"

"Well legally we can't boot her from the seat, but W.E. is still a stockholder." Lucius replied. "And if a meeting with the board is happening-"

"Then Bruce can go." Katie said with a smile. Bruce didn't seemed to share the feeling. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I uh, just a thing that I'm keeping an eye on that I can't really leave alone."

Katie looked at him with a furrowed brow.

"Ok, well then I'll watch it while you're in the meeting." she said.

Bruce didn't say anything for a moment but then just gave a nod.

"Alright. I'll see you in a bit."

Oliver made a promise to himself that when Thea came back, he was going to buy her something. Just spending the day without her, he was starting to realize just how much she'd done that he didn't even know about. He was barely keeping up.

"So is this the Orchard Bay Facility or the Downtown rebuild?" Oliver asked looking over to the associate who just gave him a look. He's sure she already answered that question. He turned at a knock at the door to see Ari. He let out a sigh before turning to the associate. "Could you give us a minute?" the woman gave a nod before heading out of the office.

"Oh, I didn't need anything, I'm just up here to give you flyers to the City Hall employee picnic." Ari said as she walked over to hand him the flyer. "Because this is the hard hitting, intellectual work that I get to do as an intern." she put on a sarcastic smile that changed into a frown before turning to leave.

"Ari?" he said and she stopped and looked over to him. "How would you like to help me today? With Thea gone-"

"You're totally and completely lost?" she said with a smile before heading back over to his desk.

"Not totally and completely." he muttered looking over to her as she came over and started looking at the documents on his desk.

"Ok, uh, sign this. I made the copies for Thea before she left, and I may or may not have read it over." she handed him the form. "So cliff notes version, it's the Orchard Bay facility, expanding it's affordable housing program. They need your approval to begin the deep dive into financials, and to develop a business plan for the next quarter." she went sifting through the forms and picked one up and just shook her head. "Sit on this one until someone can translate or get it redrawn in English." she handed it to Oliver who looked it over could see the numerous technical terms he just didn't understand. Oliver looked over to her with a slight smile as he watched her. "The rest of this stuff, needs a second look. This one is dated incorrectly and needs to be redrawn, this one requires the signature of Mayor "Olivre" Queen, and this one-" she laughed. "This one is a card from Oscar's Hotdog stand outside." she turned it to Oliver and he read 'Sun's Out, Buns Out." she opened it up. "To our favorite customer. Hope to see you soon." she pulled out a slip of paper. "Oh, they even included a coupon." she laughed before placing it in the tray on his desk. "I think that's it." she said before turning to him. "So you good?"

"I think I am." he said with a slight laugh. "Thank you." she gave a nod before moving to leave. "And your help is worth a week off your sentence." She turned to him with wide eyes and smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you also have to babysit later."

"Fine, whatever, so one more week and I've paid my penance?"

"Yeah, one more week. Ari I hope you've actually learned something from all of this. What you did-"

"I get it. It was stupid and dangerous. I won't do anything like that again." she said with a smile. "That actually just turned this craptastic day around for me." she turned to him. "I might actually let you buy me lunch."

"You don't have any money for lunch, do you?"

"I mean, I don't but that has nothing to do with it." she laughed before turning to the familiar face of Quentin Lance.

"You know of all the places I thought a kid your age would spend their Saturday, City Hall isn't one of them.

"I'm serving community service." she said as she moved around the man toward the door. Before she left she turned to Oliver. "And no Oscar's Hotdogs."

"But I have the coupon." he said pointing to it. He laughed at the unamused look on her face as she left. He turned to Quentin before walking around to the man. "Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you today."

"Yeah, well you know, that's the thing about rehab, it's a long process and then it ain't." he said before nudging his head back toward the door. "And by the ringing of Maddy's phone you need me back bad."

"How are you?"

"You know I'm better than I've been in a long time."

"That's great."

"Yeah, I actually ran into Susan Williams, talked to her about maybe doing an interview about everything. Be as transparent about everything as possible."

Oliver looked at him for a moment not sure an interview was the best thing to do right now.

"I'm glad you're doing better, but uh maybe-"

"What, not press my luck with an onscreen interview."

"Well no, just maybe wait a bit. Let Thea come back and prep you."

"Oliver if I were anymore dry, I'd be dust." Quentin glanced down to his watch. "Aren't you supposed to be at a press conference."

Oliver let out a sigh, but gave a nod. "Yeah."

Ari pushed her cart down the hall when a conference room door opened and out came one of the assistants, but she glanced inside to see a familiar face. She glanced around before sneaking over inside.

Ari smiled when John turned around and finally spotted her.

"The suit is a nice change up from the orange jumpsuit." she said walking over and hopping on the table in front of him.

"Tell me about it." he said looking over the girl. "So this is intern Ari. How does it feel to be in the workforce?"

"I make copies and deliver them. Maybe fix the occasional slow computer, but those are few and far between. I spend my days just trying not to jump out of one of these windows." she looked over to the man. "I'm glad you're out. Now I can file away that jail break plan I came up with."

"Well I'm glad it didn't come to that." John chuckled as he looked over to the girl. "So did you talk to them?" Ari turned to him with a quirked brow. "The parole hearing Ari, your mother. It's tomorrow." Ari was another regular visitor he had when he was in Iron Heights. It was one of the only places she could go beside school and work during her punishment. John thinks he's the only one she's told about what's been going on with her mother. "You need to tell them."

"I know and I'm going to, it's just-" she shook her head. "It's not easy." she let out a sigh before turning back to the man. "I mean I'm having lunch with Oliver today, I should just tell him, right?"

"Ari, I know you're worried about how they're going to react, but they've told you countless times, they will support whatever decision you make about your mother." Ari turned away and let out a sigh as she looked out the window.

"Fine, I'll tell him." she said turning when the door opens and in walks Oliver and Quentin.

"Ari, off the table." Oliver said and the girl rolled her eyes before hopping to her feet. Oliver turned to John. "It's time. You ready?"

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

Ari wasn't sure interns were even supposed to be at the press conference, but that didn't stop her from hiding in the back behind the reporters.

"Looks like I'm not the only one crashing." whispered a voice from behind her.

Ari turned, a smile coming to her face to see Adam. Since their meeting in the elevator, they'd only seen each other in passing. He worked mostly on the top floors and was usually chained to his desk. He gave her a smile, and Ari couldn't help but return it as she tried to ignore those stupid butterflies she's definitely not supposed to be having for this much older guy. She knew it was just a crush. She also knew that it was nice to have a guy this cute, smiling at her the way he was. She still wasn't sure if he actually knew how old she was and it never really came up in conversation. At this point, there really wasn't even a reason.

"Uh yeah, I heard about the conference, and wanted to see it in person." she said glancing back over to where Oliver stood beside John and Quentin and Adrian. She still couldn't get over that he was really the mayor.

"He seems like a cool guy." Adam said and Ari looked over to him. He nodded up to the front. "Mayor Queen. He seems like a cool guy. I haven't actually met him, but the things he's been doing-" he looked back up a head. "He may actually be a decent mayor."

Ari smiled as she looked back over as well. "Yeah, he's alright."

When the conference was over, the reporters began clearing out, and that's when Oliver spotted Ari in the back of the room. She seemed to be laughing at something. He took a slight step until he was able to see who was standing beside her. It was a man, and even from the distance, Oliver could tell he was older than her.

"Congratulations Mr. Diggle."

Oliver turned at the voice to see Susan Williams. He looked from the woman, back over to Ari and the guy who seemed to be leaving together. He had to fight the urge to go after them.

"I was wondering if the D.A has a second to chat."

Oliver turned his attention back to the woman who looked over to Adrian.

"Save your energy, Ms. Williams." Adrian replied shaking his head. "I know you're doing a story on the death of Michael Carroll. I have no comment for you."

"And yet everyone I spoke to you said you were the man to speak to. It's a little odd for a D.A. to be so involved in a police matter."

Oliver felt he should say something. "The victim was the COO of Robins Incorporated." he said. "Given the sensitive nature of this crime it's been assigned to the ACU to investigate and that office is monitored by city hall, not by the SCPD."

Susan's phone vibrated and she glanced down. "Oh, my God."

"Not what you wanted to hear?" asked Adrian.

"The military police just took General Walker into custody." Susan said looking back up to the eyes on her. "Walker and his men just shot their way off of Fort Zerillo. 30 dead, and he and his men are in the wind, and the nuke trigger he stole in Chechnya is still missing."

Oliver and John returned to his office after learning the news.

"I'll call Felicity, give her a heads up, see what she can find out." John said and Oliver gave a nod.

"And I'll—" the door to his office opened and in walked Ari who stood with her bag over her shoulder and sunglasses on. She pushed them down her nose and looked over to the two men.

"Why do you two look so serious? I thought this was a happy occasion." she said.

Oliver dropped his head and let out a sigh. "I was supposed to take you to lunch." he looked back over to her. "We just found out that General Walker just shot his way off a military base and has a stolen nuke."

"Oh." was all Ari could say. "Do you know where he's going?"

"Not yet." John said after hanging up the phone and looking over to him. "But Felicity is already digging into it."

"Ari—"Oliver turned to her and she just shook her head.

"No I get it, stopping the crazy old general definitely more important than lunch." she nudged her head. "I'm going to tell the boss that I'm taking off early with you and then I'll head over to the bunker with-"

"No." Oliver said and Ari turned to him with a quirked brow. "Stay, finish your work and Hank will get you home. You still have another week, remember?"

"Seriously? Crazy general with nuclear weapons doesn't warrant all hands on deck?"

"Right now we have enough hands on deck-"

"Right, you have Dinah now, and don't need me anymore." Ari shook her head before turning to leave.

"Ari, that's not-" he let out a sigh. "About lunch, I'll make it up to you."

"Don't bother!" she called back as she stalked out of the office.

"Of course the moment she actually likes me and wants to hang out with me, crazy general with nukes." Oliver sighed before looking over to John. "Now she hates me again."

"She doesn't hate you man. I just think she was looking forward lunch." John said and Oliver deflated even more. "Hey man, she's a teenager. Just give her time, she'll talk to you."

Oliver nods before nudging his head. "We should head over to the bunker."

When the doorbell rang, Katie held the baby monitor up for a moment. Robyn was down for her nap and she wanted to make sure the sound didn't wake her. When she didn't hear a sound, Katie let out a sigh before heading over to the door and pulling it open.

Bruce stood there wearing on of his many perfectly fit business suits.

"Good, you're here. Now what exactly am I watching? Is it a dog, because-" she heard the clicking of paws before turning at the sight of Harry who appeared beside her. "We already have one." Harry growled at Bruce who just chuckled before looking up to Katie.

"So it's not a dog." he said before a boy stepped from behind him. Katie turned to the boy, and it didn't take long for her to realize who he was. He was just a mini Bruce, standing there. Katie didn't want to freak out, so she just calmly turned back to Bruce. "This is Damian, and he's—"

"Your son."

Bruce just nods. "It's kind of a long story, and I'll tell you about it later, but I have to get to this meeting. Is this uh—ok?"

Katie looked over to the boy who seemed to be watching her as well. She smiled before reaching out a hand.

"Hello Damian, my name is Katherine, but you can call me Katie. It's nice to meet you."

The boy didn't say anything as he seemed to look at her, still sizing her up. Katie looked from him to Bruce.

"Nice to meet you." Damian finally said and Katie turned to him with a smile before stepping aside.

"Uh you can head inside, I'll be in, in a minute, to show you where everything is."

Damian turned to Bruce who just gave him a nod. With that, Damian turned and walked inside past Katie.

Once he was gone, Bruce turned back to Katie and sighed.

"This kind of explains a lot." Katie said folding her arms over her chest.

"Like I said, I'll explain later. Thanks for doing this." Bruce said glancing back into the house. Katie looked over to him and she smiled. Bruce was a dad, and he had that concerned parent look already.

"We're going to be fine."

"Right, just uh, watch him. He gets into trouble easily."

"Yeah, I got one of those. She's older and likes to call me lame." Katie said and Bruce just laughed.

"Alright, I guess wish me luck."

"You're Bruce Wayne. You don't need no stinking luck." he gave a nod before turning. "Hey Bruce." he stopped and turned back to her. "Thanks for doing this."

"You never have to thank me Robins. I always got your back." he gave her a smile before finally turning and heading back to his car.

Once he was gone, Katie stepped back inside of the house. She looked around but didn't see Damian anywhere.

"Uh, Damian?"

"Yes!" his voice came from behind her, startling her. She turned to face him and let out a sigh. "You hungry?"

"Not really."

"Ok. I don't have any toys or games. We have girls. One and sixteen, so I'm not sure we have much to entertain you with." she glanced around and shrugged. "We can watch TV." she turned back to him. "Do you watch cartoons?" he just shrugged. "Right, uh, ok, follow me. I'm sure we'll find something."

The Bruce Wayne persona wasn't something Bruce used that often lately, but walking into to RI, it was just like riding a bike.

Charming smile.

Wave.

Kind words in passing.

They loved him. He knew they loved him which made all of this so easy. When he stepped off of the elevator, Claire was already waiting for him.

"Where's the meeting being held?" he asked and Claire just shook her head.

"There is no meeting." Claire said and Bruce looked back over to her in confusion. "We should talk."

They ended up in an empty conference room where Claire pulled a small device with wires sticking out.

"I was having issues with my phone, so I called IT, and they found this." she handed it to Bruce who took it and looked at it closer. "The IT guy thinks it may be some sort of listening device. He already reported it. Since apparently I'm the only one who uses the phone, I'm somehow a suspect." Bruce looked over to her. "I'm being placed on administrative leave until the investigation is over." she shook her head. "I didn't bug my phone, but no one seems to believe me."

"You mind if I keep this?" Bruce asked.

"Sure, I snagged it from his cart before he could take it. I just knew something funky was going on and if he took it, I knew the truth would never come out."

"So what about the meeting?"

"Ms. Grey canceled it because of this. Apparently to focus on the bigger issue. The possibility that our phones are tapped and we don't know by who. The board agreed."

"Of course they did." Bruce said looking at the device once more.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. If this investigation points to me, I could go to jail."

"You're not going to jail Claire. I believe this a prop." he said. "There's this big problem, and then Annabelle can swoop in and save the day while winning over the board."

"You think Ms. Grey is behind this?"

"I think she needed a win, and when she couldn't find one, she created a situation to get one." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card and handed it to her. "Call W.E., get in contact with legal, tell them I referred you and explain what's going on. They will help you."

"Wow, thank you Mr. Wayne."

"Call me Bruce, Claire, and don't thank me yet." he lifted the bug. "If this is Grey's doing, then hopefully we can find something that ties her to it." he slipped it into his pocket before moving around her to walk out of the room.

Claire came out behind him, but they both stopped when Annabelle appeared.

"Mr. Wayne, funny running into you." she said before looking over to Claire. "With Ms. Hastings. You know for a woman being accused of leaking company secrets, you're not making any of the right moves. You were supposed to be off the premises."

"I was, I just ran into Mr. Wayne and-"

"You know Annabelle, I feel like we haven't really gotten to know each other." Bruce interjected, with that charming Bruce Wayne smile.

"Well given that our companies are in a legal battle right now, getting to know each other doesn't seem plausible at the moment, you understand?"

"I do." he said with a nod. He glanced back to Claire before turning back to Annabelle. "I was here for the meeting, but apparently it's been canceled."

"It has. We have more pressing matters to tend to, so that ridiculous meeting will have to wait." Annabelle glanced over to Claire. "you should be clearing your things. Security will be up shortly to escort you out of the building. We don't want anymore company information finding it's way out of the building, now would we."

Claire was about to say something, but Bruce took a step in front of her.

"You know I don't believe you have proof that Ms. Hastings has done anything, so until you do, you should hold off on throwing those kind of accusations around." Bruce said and Annabelle just gave him smile before taking a step to the side. Claire stood there for a moment before rushing off to her desk.

"So Mrs. Queen called you to attend the meeting?"

"Well you were able to get that bogus restraining order against her, so I was the only option."

"Mrs. Queen made her bed, now she will have to lie in it." Annabelle gave a nod. "I will have someone communicate when the meeting will be scheduled, but until then, you have no business here Mr. Wayne. You should leave before I ask security to escort you out as well." the woman turned and began walking.

"You have to feel it." Bruce said and the woman stopped and looked back to him. "The walls are closing in. All those secrets and all those lies are seeping from under that rug."

The woman quirked a brow before letting out a chuckle.

"Well I'm not the only one with secrets and lies, now am I?" she slid her fingers through her hair. "You know a little birdie told me that you're no longer Gotham's most eligible bachelor." she looked over to him with a smile. "For the first time in a long time, there is a Mrs. Wayne out there. It would be a shame if she shared the same fate as her mother in law, now wouldn't it." Bruce took a step toward the woman just as two security guards appeared at Annabelle's side.

Bruce let out a chuckle as he held up his hands before he turned and headed back to the elevator.

Oliver stood with his back to Felicity and John. Moments earlier Felicity informed them that from the information she got from Lyla and ARGUS, Walker was planning to sell the stolen nukes in Russia. ARGUS nor the US military could go to Russia.

"Oliver-" came John's voice and Oliver turned back to him. "This one's personal. I got to take that murderous son of a bitch off the grid right now, whatever it takes." Oliver looked at his friend who he knew nothing would stop him from doing this. He couldn't let John do this alone, and so it meant the one thing that he didn't want to do, he would have to do.

"City Hall gives me access to a private plane." Oliver said and John nods.

"I'm coming too!" Felicity interjects. "This is personal for me too. Even though the whole Havenrock was an illusion, I still remember it as if it were real. I remember that feeling of failure when I couldn't stop it. This time I have to stop it."

"Walker will have his whole unit with him, maybe even some Markovians." John said. "We need the whole team for this."

Oliver dropped his head and sighed. "Agreed, but Quentin just got out of rehab, and with Thea out of town, I-I need someone to keep an eye on him."

"Who'd you have in mind?" John asked.

"The one person I don't want causing trouble in Russia." Oliver said before turning to Felicity. "Rene will stay and keep an eye on Quentin, call Rory and Curtis, tell them what's going on." Oliver looked down to his watch and let out another sigh. "And I have to tell my wife."

"Oh my gosh." Felicity suddenly said and they turned to her. She looked over to Oliver. "I have to tell Bruce." she pointed to them. "Neither one of you tell him that I agreed to do this before talking to him." she stood to her feet. "I'll call the team on the way home." the woman rushed off toward the elevator.

John looked over to Oliver who turned away once again.

"Hey, man-" Oliver turned to him. "You're sure you're good to do this?"

Oliver kept thinking about the fact that since learning that Prometheus knew his identity that he hadn't left his family for too long, and definitely hadn't left the country. Leaving made him nervous. Not being able to come back quickly if something went wrong, worried him.

"We have to stop Walker before he can sell those nukes." Oliver said before nudging his head. "We need to move. I'll call you with the details for the plane." with that Oliver went hurrying off, already trying to think of how he was going to explain this to Katie.

Damian was odd, Katie thought as she looked over to the boy as he looked at the television. There was some cartoon playing, and yet his expression was completely void of any emotion. She smiled slightly as she looked at the boy who she still couldn't believe that this was Bruce's son.

"So a kid who doesn't like cartoons." she suddenly says and he looks over to her. "What do you like?" he turned away in thought, a sudden smile coming to his face as he turned back to her. Before he could respond, the doorbell rang. Katie quirked a brow before standing to her feet and heading for the door.

Damian sat there before hearing the sound of tiny whines. He stands to his feet and looks over to a playpen in the corner of the room. When he walks over and peeks inside to see a small child whose eyes look up to him. He tilts his head as he looks at her as she sits up and stands to her feet, walking over to grab the edge to look back to him.

"Hello cousin." he whispers before reaching over and patting the top of her head.

Katie sighed after Bruce told her about the cancelled meeting. She stood with her back to the door with her eyes closed.

"This isn't over Robins. I'm going to check out this bug, and if it's tied to her, we got her."

"And if it's not?" she asked opening her eyes looking back to him. "If it's not, we have nothing. She's beaten us at every step, so what's even the point in trying?" she shook her head.

"When do you lose Robins?"

Katie scoffed. "Don't quote that bastard to me."

"You know the demon was a sadistic kind of bastard, but very rarely he would actually say something wise and profound." Bruce said walking over to stand in front of the woman. "When do you lose, Robins?" she looked up to meet his eyes.

She closed her eyes and dropped her head back against the door. "When I stop fighting."

"That's right, and I don't even think you have the capability to just stop fighting." Katie opened her eyes. "Let's see where we get with this bug and if something comes of it, good and if nothing comes of it-"

"We keep trying." Katie said and the man smiled with a nod.

He nudged his head. "So how was the kid?"

"Not the big talker, but I'm also pretty sure he knows every door he's past and every window." she said before turning to Bruce. "So you want to talk about those details now?" Bruce opened his mouth, but his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to see a message from Felicity telling him that she was on her way home and needed to tell him something.

"We got to go." Bruce said before looking back up to Katie.

"Everything alright?"

"Not completely sure, but I guess I'll know soon enough." Bruce said before heading down the hall, stopping at the entrance to the living room where he saw Damian with Robyn in his arms. Bruce didn't say anything for a moment as he watched the boy who seemed to have let his guard down for the first time.

"So you like kids?" Bruce asked and Damian turned to him. He placed Robyn back in her playpen. "You didn't have to stop. You looked like you were enjoying yourself." Damian glared over to his father. "C'mon, let's go." Damian walked over to him as Katie came over, her eyes spotting Robyn.

"She's awake." Katie said walking over to pick up Robyn. She turned to Bruce and Damian. "Ok, I guess I'll just wait to see what you've found."

"We'll figure this out Robins." Bruce said and Katie gave one final nod.

"Nice to meet you Damian. You weren't much of a talker, but I'm sure with time, I'll get you to open up." she said giving the boy a wink. He just chuckled before turning to his father who chuckled as well before the pair turned to leave.

Once they were gone, Katie turned to Robyn with a smile. "I guess we will wait. Until then I should get you fed, huh." she turned away with a smile. "Probably get ready for when daddy gets home."

Ari made up an excuse that she wasn't feeling well to get out of work early. She headed back to the mansion in hopes in running into Oliver to convince him to let her help with this finding Walker. When she stepped into the house, she dropped her bag on the floor and hurried inside in search of anyone home.

"Anyone here?!"

"In here!" Katie's voice called.

Ari navigated toward the voice, finding her way into the small dining room they didn't usually use. She walked in to find Katie lighting candles before she looked over.

"Either I've been in here longer than I've thought, or you're early." she said walking over before peeking around to the door. "Is Oliver with you?"

"Oliver isn't here?"

Katie turned a quirked brow to the girl. "He's not." Ari visibly deflated. "What's going on?

When Oliver walked into the mansion, his foot nearly tripped over Ari's bag. He looked down with a sigh before reaching down and picking it up. He continued down the hall when Katie stepped from a room, that she closed behind her when she saw him.

"Twinkie, hey, I-" he glanced back to the door. "What-"

"Did Ari drop her bag in front of the door, again?" Katie asked taking the bag and letting out a sigh as she headed to the kitchen. Oliver frowned slightly glancing over to the door before going to follow her. They found Ari changed and waiting in the kitchen. "Someone is going to hurt themselves if you don't remember to hang this bag up." she handed the girl the bag.

"Twinkie, there's something-"

"Ari told me." Katie said turning to Oliver. "General Walker has escaped with nuclear weapons and is planning to sell them. You find out where the sell is happening?"

There was a sudden ring and they turned to Ari who looked over to them nervously as she pulled a cell phone from her pocket. She found one of her hidden cell phones that even she forgot about.

"Wait, Russia?" she asked with a furrowed brow as she looked back over to Oliver. Katie turned to him as well and she didn't need him to confirm since the look on his face seemed to do just that. "We're going to Russia?"

"No, you're not." Oliver said looking over to the girl before turning to Katie. "There's no one else that can. Me, John, the team, we have to try to find Walker before he can make this sell."

"What do you mean I can't go?" Ari asked and Oliver sighed. Katie didn't say anything as she turned away at the sound of Robyn's whines from the baby monitor.

"I should-" she grabbed the baby monitor, and without a word went upstairs to check on the baby. Oliver turned to follow.

"Oliver!" the man stopped and turned back to the teen.

"Ari, you're not going to Russia."

"Why not?"

"Ari, you're sixteen. I'm not taking you to Russia to hunt terrorists." Oliver shook his head. "Russia is dangerous."

"And Star City isn't?" Ari asked walking over to the man. "Why can't I go? The real reason this time." Oliver didn't say anything as he looked at her. "It's Russia isn't it? Something about Russia." Oliver didn't say anything and so the teen just scoffed before turning.

"Ari-" Oliver called and she stopped and turned to him. "The phone." she rolled her eyes before slapping the phone on the counter before stalking out of the kitchen.

Oliver let out a sigh before grabbing the phone and heading upstairs. He found Katie in the nursery where she sat in the rocking chair, gently rocking Robyn back to sleep. She glanced over to Oliver before standing to her feet.

"Twinkie, I'm sorry-"

"For what?" she asked as she walked over to lay Robyn back down in her crib. "You have no control over generals who steal nuclear weapons." she turned to the man. "You just stop them, which you have to do now." she moved around him out of the nursery and headed toward the bedroom.

Oliver followed behind her, a bit surprised at her reaction. He expected her to be more upset.

"Do you know how long you will be gone?" she asked as she pulled her hair up into a bun before she headed over to their closet and grabbed the duffle bag.

"No, and you don't have to do that." Oliver said walking over to grab the bag. She stopped and looked over to him. "Twinkie, I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing Oliver. This is the life we signed up for, right?" she moved around him to walk over to stand near the window. Oliver tossed the bag on the bed, before walking over and placing his hands on her arms, but she seemed to slightly recoil from the touch. She was definitely upset, and yet she wasn't showing it.

"Twinkie, I'm sorry." Oliver said again. He felt the need to keep saying it, hoping she believed him because he really was sorry. She sighed before turning to face him. He placed a hand on the side of her face. "If you tell me to stay, I will." those words were true. This was big, this was Russia, and if she was not comfortable with him leaving, then he wouldn't.

"You know I once thought those words were just utterly romantic." she dropped her eyes from his. "That you would give me such power over you." she looked up to meet his eyes. "But the truth is, I don't know how to have that power. I don't know how to be selfish with you when I know you're going out there to do something important that could possibly save so many lives." a tear she tried to will not to fall came down her cheek and Oliver sighed, feeling more guilty. "You have to decide if you believe you actually have to be the one to do this." That was a choice Oliver never wanted to be presented with. Not choose to stay or choose to leave. She placed a hand on his chest and sighed. "Which of course you do. John has to find the man who nearly ruined his life and you have to be there with him to make sure he comes out the other end of this." she looked up to meet his eyes. "Just make sure you make it out of the other end of this as well."

Oliver nods as he drops his head to hers and closed his eyes. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to leave her and the kids. Prometheus was still out there and if anything happened, he wouldn't be here to protect them. She pulled out of his grasp, and placed a kiss to his cheek.

"You should pack." she turned to leave the room and for the life of him, Oliver didn't know what to say. Everything she said was true. He knew nothing was going to stop John from going after Walker, and Oliver knew he needed to have his back like he's had his for all these years.

"Twinkie-"

She sighed and turned back to him. "Don't apologize again." she shrugged. "This is our life." she nudged her head. "I should go let Harry out." she didn't say anything else as she turned to leave the room.

When Oliver changed and had a bag all packed he paused for a moment as he looked at the bag on their bed. This part was never easy. Leaving his family always felt like he was leaving a little part of himself behind. That part of himself that belonged to them and it was the worst feeling.

He sighed before grabbing the bag, and heading out of the room. He came to a stop outside of the nursery, dropping the bag to the floor before going inside. He peeked inside of the crib to see Robyn still asleep. A part of him wanted to wake her up to say goodbye, but the coward in him couldn't bear to see her eyes looking back at him when he walked away from her. Instead he settled for a kiss to the top of her head before he quietly backed out of the room.

He appeared outside of Ari's door, hoping for...well he wasn't sure what he hoped for with the encounter. He knocked on her door and waited for a response.

"Ari, I'm—I'm going." he said, but didn't hear anything. He sighed as he dropped his head against her door. "Ari, I just-" the door pulled open and he took a slight step back as he looked down to the girl. "Ari-"

"My first day as an intern, we're told that we have just became members of the City Hall team. Each of us, a vital member with a purpose." Ari shook her head. "When I heard that, I thought, huh, that's what our team is like, right?" she looked up to meet Oliver's eyes. "And yet I've been benched for weeks and it seems the team has been functioning just fine without me." she scoffed. "I guess that's because of your new member, right?"

"Ari, it's not like that. You've been benched as part of your punishment, you know that. That's all."

"Oliver, you're about to go to Russia to stop the sale of nuclear weapons and you're taking the entire team because you know you need them. The fact that you're not bringing me only means you don't think you need me." she shrugged. "Maybe you don't want my hippie hero thinking on your Russian trip, huh?"

"That's not true. This is just about this dangerous place with dangerous people that I don't want near you."

"That's just it Oliver, dangerous places and people, they come with the mask and you can't shield me from that." she said and Oliver sighed. "Which is impossible for you." she shook her head. "I can't do this Oliver. I can't be on this team when you keep trying to protect me from danger when danger is all around. You don't know how to let me be a hero, and I don't know how I can convince you even more than I have." she let out a sigh as she nods. "So I think I should do us both a favor." she met Oliver eyes. "I won't ask you anymore about letting me be a part of this team Oliver. I quit." she took a step back and slammed the door.

Oliver closed his eyes and dropped his head against the door. He expected to feel differently at those words. The truth was, he always hoped she would say them, but not because of him. He wanted her to want a life beyond the mask, he wanted her to want to create change without it. He didn't want her to quit because she thought he was a bad leader. Oliver clenched his jaw before grabbing his bag and heading down the hall.

Oliver came downstairs and dropped his bag near the door before he heard Harry's barks in the distance and figured they were still out back. He was about to head their way when he passed that door Katie had came out of earlier. He remembered her stepping out and closing the doors behind her. He walked over, and pushed open the door and stopped to look around the dining room. There were candles, and from the dried wax, they were recently lit. His eyes went to the table that held two plates and glasses near an ice bucket with a bottle of champagne. He closed his eyes, suddenly remembering this morning. Tonight was supposed to be their night. Tonight they were supposed to block out the world and live in their own for a little while. That was the plan. A plan that was now broken.

Oliver turned and headed down the hall, stepping out back just as Harry ran over to Katie and dropped a stick in front of her. Katie reached down to pick it up.

"I don't get it Ms. Harriet. I've been throwing this stick for the past couple of minutes, aren't you tired of it?" Katie asked, but the dog just kept her eyes on the stick, her tail wagging in anticipation. That is until she sees Oliver, and immediately starts growling.

"I see she still doesn't like me." Oliver said cautiously walking over as he watches the dog. Katie tossed the stick further in the yard, and Harry turned and ran after it. Katie glanced back to Oliver.

"Is there a plan?" Katie asked turning back to him as he walked over to stand in front of her.

"I saw the dining room. The candles, the champagne." Oliver said and Katie just turned away. "Twinkie, I'm-"

"Will you please stop apologizing?" she turned to him with a shake of her head. "I don't want an apology right now. Tell me, what is the plan when you get to Russia?"

Oliver sighed. "Right now we get there, figure out where the sale is happening and then stop it." Katie looked at him for a moment with a quirked brow. "I know it's not much now, but Felicity and the team are coming, we can figure this out." Katie turned away and slid her hands through her hair. "Twinkie-"

"You know it's the missing parts of this plan that makes me nervous." she said turning to him. " You get to Russia and find out where the sale is happening. How exactly?"

"I know someone in Russia. Anatoly Knyazev. I met him years ago and he's been a friend."

"Well if this Russian friend can help you locate the sale of a nuclear weapon, I have to assume he's not a good guy?" Katie said, and Oliver didn't say anything. She scoffed. "That's what I thought." she slid her hands over her face.

"Twinkie I know you're worried."

"Seriously Oliver?" she turned back to him. "Russia, nuclear weapons and Russian thugs, of course I'm worried." she shook her head turning at the jingle of Harry's collar as she ran over with her stick. Harry dropped the stick at Katie's feet and the woman reached down to pick it up and once again tossed it. "I thought it would get easier." she turned back to him. "We've been together for so long, I thought this part would get easier, but it hasn't." she shrugged before walking over to him and placing a kiss to his cheek. "Be safe, and come back to us." with that she turned around. "C'mon Harry!" the dog came running back, following Katie inside of the house.

Oliver stood there for a moment, feeling that tug inside of himself that made him follow her. He found her in the kitchen, sitting on the counter her hand in a box of cookies.

"It's not easy for me either Twinkie, it never is easy leaving you." he walked over to stand in front of her. "But I feel stuck, because this choice in front of me right now, stay with you, or stop a man from selling a dangerous weapon that could kill thousands of people."

"That's just it Oliver. There really isn't a choice. You're the hero. You stop the bad guys and right now you have to stop Walker." she shrugged. "And I have to stay here because Prometheus is here and my children are here and we both can't leave them here without protection. So you go, be the hero, I stay and worry about you until you come back. That's how this works. It's not easy, but it's just the way it has to be." she reached inside of the box for a cookie, but Oliver took the box from her hand and placed it on the counter beside her. "Oliver, I don't know what you want from this moment, but I-" Oliver brought an arm around her waist, and placed a hand on her cheek, locking their eyes on each other.

"I love you." he said simply. "And I know this isn't easy for you, I know you're scared, but I promise that I will figure this out as quickly as I can and I will come back to you." he placed a kiss to her lips before bringing his arms around her in a hug that she returned tightly.

"You have forty eight hours." Katie whispered and Oliver pulled back. "If you're not back to me in forty eight hours, then I'm coming to Russia to get you and I promise it won't be pleasant for anyone involved."

Oliver saw the seriousness in her eyes and he believed every word of her mouth. He gave a nod before bringing his lips to hers once more.

Damian was trying his best to hear Bruce and Felicity, but the walls in this place were thick and all he heard was their muffled yelling. It got quiet for a moment and he looked over to the door with a quirked brow before it suddenly opened and out appeared Bruce who looked right at him.

Damian nervously chuckled. "I just came down to get some water."

"There's a fridge with water in your room, upstairs." Bruce said before moving to the side. "Go." Damian sighed before walking past Bruce, glancing inside of the office to see Felicity who seemed to staring out the window her back to him as he headed for the stairs back up to his room.

Bruce stepped back inside of the office and closed the door behind him, his eyes looking over to Felicity.

"Felicity-" the woman turned to him. "Russia, really?"

"I didn't choose the place where the crazy general decided to make the sale."

"But you're choosing to go to Russia to help stop him. And Oliver is ok with this?" he shook his head. "Because I highly doubt he'd be ok with me drafting his wife on some terrorist hunt to a foreign country."

"Oliver isn't my boss, we're a team and I told him that I wanted to go." Felicity walked over to Bruce. "You know what Havenrock did to me Bruce."

"And you know that nothing ever happened."

"I do know that, but the memories, an illusion on not. I remember it. I remember that feeling of failure when I thought those people had died when I should've saved them. Right now I can't let that happen."

"So you're going to Russia?"

"I'm going to Russia, but I'm coming back." she placed her hands on his chest. Bruce looked down to her and just gave her a nod, but the look in his eyes let Felicity know that it wasn't going to be that easy. "Bruce-"

"I know you're coming back. I'm going to ensure it." he placed a kiss to her cheek before turning and leaving the office. Felicity groaned before following after him. "I'm coming with you."

"What about Damian?" Felicity asked following him up the stairs.

"All of his documents arrived this morning. Passports, social security card, birth certificate." he said before pushing open Damian's door. The child stood to his feet and turned to Bruce. "Pack a bag, we're going to Russia."

A smile came to Damian's face as he took a step. "Are we looking for bad guys?"

Bruce let out a sigh and shook his head. "No, we're all taking a nice family vacation to Russia, now go, pack a bag." Bruce closed the door and continued toward their room.

"So your solution to this is to pack up your ten year old son and follow me to Russia?" Felicity asked and Bruce stopped and turned to her.

"Pretty much." he replied with a shrug. "Felicity, you want to help save the world from terrorists, then Oliver, that team, it's not good enough." he said looking over to her. "Your life means more to me than my own and in that case, I trust no one that isn't me to keep you out of danger. So we're going to Russia." he gave her a nod. "Call Oliver, let him know I'm coming with, but I'm taking my own plane."

Felicity let out a sigh as she watched him begin packing knowing there was absolutely no use trying to stop him.

Oliver should be sleeping. Hours on the plane to Russia, with still a few to go, and yet he couldn't close his eyes and go to sleep. He couldn't get out of his head about leaving and that look in Katie's eyes as he left.

Dinah walked over and dropped into the seat in front of Oliver, but he was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice her.

"I know that look." she said, finally snapping Oliver from his thoughts. He sat up a bit as she turned to her. "That's the look of a guy with woman troubles." Oliver chuckled with a shake of his head. "I'm assuming your wife wasn't thrilled about your unexpected trip to Russia to find nuclear weapons?"

"She definitely was not." Oliver sighed turning away to look out the window. He kept remembering that look in her eyes and it only stirred the guilt inside of him.

"You know I have yet to meet the infamous Twinkie." Dinah said and Oliver looked over to her. "Mostly because everyone on the team has described her as either very caring, or scary as hell." Oliver laughed. "I'm curious how such a woman can be both and be alright with being called Twinkie."

"If you want to be on her good side, definitely don't call her that when you meet her."

Dinah once again saw that far away look on the man's face as he turned to look out the window.

"I don't see how you do it." she said and Oliver turned to her with a quirked brow. "As A cop, relationships were impossible. Before Vin-" she turned away and sighed. "It was like I was trying to be two people, you know?" she looked over to Oliver who silently nodded. "I didn't know how to have that balance. " she sighed. "It never worked."

"For me it has to." Oliver said looking over to the woman. "I have to make it work, because the alternative is that I have to make a choice and I wouldn't hesitate." he gave a nod. "So I make it work until I can't anymore."

Dinah looked over to the man and from the look on his face knew the truth behind his words. The man was holding on to a life that he wouldn't hesitate to leave behind for his family.

The next morning wasn't easy for Katie. Robyn woke up crying and though Katie was able to calm her down, the child would just wake up and start back up again. At the moment, Katie gently rocked Robyn in her arms, the girl calmed, but still whimpers as they walked into the kitchen to find Ari.

"She still at it?" Ari asked looking over to Katie who wore her exhaustion on her face. "You look terrible."

"Thanks for that." Katie sighed as she walked over to put Robyn into her chair, but the girl clung to Katie tightly. "What's wrong, baby?" Robyn just whimpered as she held onto Katie and so Katie sighed as she secured the girl to her chest and placed the back of her hand to her forehead. "You're still warm."

"She's sick?" Ari asked and Katie looked over to her and gave a nod.

"I think it's an ear infection, but every time I try to check she just goes crazy." Katie sighed as she placed a kiss to the child's head. "I'm going to give a call to her doctor."

"Should I go with you?" Ari asked and Katie turned to see the concern on Ari's face as the teen came over and took Robyn's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"No, we shouldn't be there long. They'll prescribe an antibiotic and she'll be good as new." Katie said and Ari turned to her as Katie reached in her pocket and pulled out Ari's cell phone. "Here, you can have this back."

"Seriously?" Ari took the phone. "I thought I had another week."

"Yeah, well since Oliver and Thea aren't there, I need to be able to get in contact with you, so you're still grounded, and you're not allowed to call anyone but me on this. We pay the bill and can see if you call or text anyone." Ari just sighed as she looked down to her phone. "You can head to City Hall. Without Oliver or Thea, it might get crazy. Go, and call me if I need to be there to do something." Ari gave a nod before turning back to Robyn.

"Feel better Stinker." Ari said before placing a kiss to Robyn's cheek before going to grab her bag and heading out of the kitchen. When she pulled open the front door, she stopped at the sight of Hank who gave the girl a smile. "Since when do you meet me at the door?"

"Today there won't be any funny business, got it?" Hank said and Ari sighed as she walked out past him toward the car.

"Fine, no funny business, but I need a favor." she walked over to lean her back against the car as she turned to the man. "And it's nothing crazy, just—just something I have to do today." Hank looked over to her with a quirked brow. "C'mon, I'll explain on the way."

The only reason Felicity chose to ride with Bruce on his plane was simply because of the tech and that was all. The man's massive plane was equipped with high functioning computers that allowed Felicity to begin her search for Walker. At the moment, she was coming up with nothing. She let out a sigh before standing to her feet and stretching a bit before walking out into the adjoining section of the plane. Bruce stood looking at a screen while Damian laid sprawled out in a row of seats behind him.

Felicity chuckled as she walked over to the boy and pulled the blanket covering him up a bit before turning and walking along side Bruce. Her eyes went to the screen to see a newspaper article from Gotham.

"Somebody tried to break into Arkham Asylum?" Felicity asked looking over to Bruce whose eyes remained focused on the screen. She turned back to the screen. "But they were unsuccessful, and they caught the guys. That's good, right?"

"Yeah." Bruce said. Felicity once again looked over to him and could see that look on his face.

"What are you thinking?" she asked and he turned to her and shook his head.

"Nothing, just-" he glanced over to the sleeping boy and sighed. "I got us a room and-"

"John set us up in an ARGUS safe house." Felicity said. "That's where the team will be held up while we here, and me being a part of the team-"Bruce didn't say anything as he turned away. "Are you going to talk to me? Tell me what all of this is about?

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bruce said simply. "You want to stay in the safe house, fine, I'll make other arrangements that will get us nearby."

"Or you and Damian can stay in the safe house too." Felicity said turning to Bruce. "John said the place will have more than enough room." Bruce turned once again to look over to Damian. "Maybe it's time to tell them." Bruce looked over to her. "I mean you told Katie and it's only a matter of time before she tells Oliver. You can't hide him away forever."

Katie had only pulled into the parking lot of the hospital after having to listen to Robyn's cries the entire time.

"You're alright sweetie." Katie says as she turns off the car about to get out, but her phone rings stopping her. She groans before pulling her phone from her pocket to see Oliver's number. She lets out a sigh for a moment before answering and bringing it to her ear. "You finally made it?"

"Yeah, just landed and—is that Robyn?" Katie sighed as she glanced back to a crying Robyn. "Is she alright?"

"She has a fever and she's been crying off and on for the better part of the night and morning." Katie said slipping her purse on and stepping out of the car. "We're at the hospital now to see her doctor. I think it's an ear infection, so hopefully they can get us something and we'll be in and out."

"Right, just call me either way when you know something more." Oliver said.

"I will." she stood there for a moment before turning back to the car to see Robyn still wailing. "I have to go, I need to get her in there."

"Ok, just call me, ok?"

"Ok, Oliver," she quickly hung up the phone to finally unstrap the child from the seat into her arms. "You're ok, sweetie, mommy's here." she kicked the door closed before placing a hand on Robyn's head. "Are you warmer?" Katie looked down to the puffy eyes and flushed cheeks of the child and shook her head before hurrying inside.

Oliver stood near the door of the airport looking down to his phone. His daughter was sick and he was thousands of miles away from her.

A hand touched his shoulder and he turned to the concerned look on John's face. Oliver had headed over to call home and John assumed it would be a quick call, but when Oliver didn't come back he came to check on him.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I uh talked to Twinkie. Robyn's sick. She's thinking it's an ear infection. She's taking her to see her pediatrician." Oliver looked back down to his phone before slipping it in his pocket. He grabbed his bag and turned to John. "I heard her crying on the phone and she sounded like she was really in pain, and Twinkie sounded completely exhausted."

"Ear infections happen man. Trust me, I know, but she's going to doctor who I'm sure will give her something to help her feel better." John said and Oliver nods. "That's not going to help you not feel guilty about leaving, will it?"

"Nope." Oliver said but shook his head. "You're right. She's going to be fine, I just hate that she's feeling badly and I'm not there for her. I've always been there when she's sick and this will be the first time I'm not."

"I get it man. Being a dad is tough. You want to protect them from everything that hurts them and it's even harder when you realize that's not possible."

"Let's just hope we can find Walker quick." Oliver said before nudging his head before the pair walked over to the rest of the group. He glanced between Dinah, Curtis and Rory. "Where's Felicity and Bruce?"

"I think they landed before us and are on their way to the safe house." John said and Oliver looked over to him and John just shrugged. "Yeah, no idea what's going on there, but I guess we'll find out when we get there."

"Right, let's go." Oliver said before turning and walking while the others followed. He'd only taken a couple of steps before he spotted the familiar face of Anatoly along with two unfamiliar faces, probably security just behind him. Oliver walked over to the man, expecting a friendly greeting, but instead Anatoly decked him right there in the airport. Oliver grabbed his jaw and turned to man in confusion.

Ari thinks Oliver may have told someone about her boredom with her intern duties because today instead of the usual make copies and pass them out, she was told to report to their tech department. When she first got the direction, she was actually excited to change up her monotonous days, and then she got to the floor and her eyes went wide at the sight of all the cubicles with monitors all around. Her excitement lasted until she got stuck with some IT guy who barely said a word to her.

At the moment she was watching, weird IT guy, Gus, fixing a lady's computer. Ari stood off to the side, mentally criticizing the guy who'd just done a bunch of unnecessary scans. If she didn't leave now she was going to scream.

"I'm going to go grab some water." she said. Gus muttered something without turning away from the computer. She just shook her head before leaving the office. She definitely planned on killing time until lunch. She pulled out her phone and sent a text to Katie, trying to see how it was going with Robyn. She texted earlier, but didn't get a response.

"Funny running into you here."

Ari lifted her eyes from her phone a smile coming to her face when she sees Adam. The man stares at her with that charming smile that causes those stupid butterflies.

"Uh yeah, I'm shadowing IT today. It was kind of painful so you just caught me in the middle of my escape plan." Ari said and the man laughed. "I'm probably going to wander around a bit until lunch."

"I'm taking a break from my desk for a bit. Want some company?" he asked.

Ari smiled, but she was also slightly nervous. Until now, her an Adam were just work buddies that had short conversations in passing each other. Now they would spend an extended amount of time together. She still doesn't think he knows how old she is, and at this point she doesn't know how to tell him without it being weird. She shook her head figuring she was overthinking.

"Uh sure." she said before the pair went walking.

Rene was annoyed as he sat outside the boardroom. He wanted to be in Russia, not playing babysitter to Quentin Lance. He looked down to his tie and straightened it a bit before standing to his feet to go inside when he heard laughter from down the hall. He turned his head not expecting to see Ari walking with some guy who looked his age if not older. Rene looked over to the pair with a furrowed brow. He glanced over to the boardroom door, before turning off and heading over to Ari and older guy.

"Yo Ari," Rene greeted and Ari, startled, slightly jumped as she turned to him.

"Rene? What are you doing here?"

"Special assignment." he answered before turning to the guy beside her. "What's up man, I'm Rene." he held out a hand to the man who reached forward to shake.

"Adam." he replied grimacing at the Rene's grip. "Do you two uh—know each other?" Adam had to tug his hand back from Rene.

"No,"

"Yeah"

Their answers were said at the same time and Ari turned a glare to Rene before turning back to Adam.

"I mean, yeah, we're uh, in the same spin class." she said ignoring the glare from Rene.

"Oh, that's cool I guess." Adam chuckled before glancing up to the clock. "I should probably be heading back." he turned a smile back to Ari. "See you around?"

"Yeah, see ya." she said as the man turned and headed for the elevator. Once he was gone, Ari turned back to Rene. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"Who is that guy?" he asked instead turning to her.

"None of your business. Why aren't you in Russia with the team?"

"None of your business." he said mimicking her voice. He nudged his head toward the elevator. "And fine, you don't want to tell me what that was about, then I'll tell Oliver about you and the guy old enough to be your dad hanging out." he turned but she grabbed his arm.

"Seriously? You of all people—you barely like Oliver and there's nothing to tell. Adam is just my friend."

"I'm sorry, since when are guys that age friends with sixteen year olds?" Rene asked and Ari rolled her eyes. "Look it's messed up and if you're too doe eyed to see it then someone who can needs to do something about it."

"What are you even talking about? Nothing's going on. We were just talking, and if you tell Oliver he's just going to make a big deal out of nothing."

"And what if it is a big deal?" Rene asked and Ari shook her head. "Look, you annoy the hell out of me, but we're still a team, in the streets and off. I got your back."

"Except I don't need you to have my back. Not with this. I'm fine. Adam is just my friend, nothing more." Ari glanced over to the clock and sighed. "Look I got go." she turned back to Rene. "If you really want to have my back, just be cool and don't tell Oliver." Ari began backing away from him. "And you look weird in a suit."

"Bite me." he replied and she laughed as she headed over to the elevator. Rene watched as she stepped inside. He now found himself in a dilemma and he didn't know the right move.

Katie tried to comfort Robyn as best she could as she held the child to her chest to rock her. They just got into the room and told the pediatrician would be in soon.

"You're ok, baby." Katie cooed as she placed a kiss to her head. She turned and let out a sigh when the door finally opened and in walked her pediatrician, Dr. Eleanor Greene.

"Oh, someone's not happy." Dr. Green said walking over as Katie brought Robyn over to the hospital bed to lay her down. "What's been going on?"

"She has a fever and it's not coming down. She's been crying on and off since last night, and now she hasn't stopped." Katie said looking down to the child. "I think it may be an ear infection, but she wouldn't stay still enough for me to check."

Dr. Green brought the thermometer to Robyn's ear and gave a nod. "Yep, definitely a fever." she smiled down to Robyn. "Oh, I know, I know." she placed a hand on the girl's stomach and slightly frowned. Katie noticed to expression.

"What?"

The doctor looked over to Katie before lifting Robyn's shirt and sliding her hands against her stomach.

"Ok, we need to get to take her down to the emergency room." Dr. Green said and Katie looked up to the doctor in confusion.

"Wait, what—why-" Katie looked back down to Robyn before placing her hands on Robyn's stomach and that's when she felt it. "Wait—No, that-" she looked over to the doctor.

"Mrs. Queen, we really need to take her to the emergency room right away."

Katie gave a nod before following the doctor out of the room.

When Oliver and the team arrived at the safe house, they all looked around not expecting the large place to look so creepy. He shook his head as he slipped his phone from his pocket. He was hoping for a call by now from Katie about Robyn, but still nothing. He lifted his phone slightly noticing he didn't have a strong signal. He just hoped he didn't lose service all together and would miss her call.

"So do we want to know why your friend punched you?" John asked and Oliver glanced over to him.

"3 years ago, I used a Bratva contact when I was trying to track Slade Wilson. He asked me for something in exchange." Oliver said. "I refused. Slade killed him." Oliver glanced around. "Where's Felicity?"

"Here!" the woman called as she came into the room. "I couldn't help but to look around the scary mansion."

"Where's Bruce?"

"Uh, well—he's out back." Felicity said and Oliver looked over to her in confusion. "You'll see it."

"How long before we're up and running?"

"That I'm not sure. I'm pretty much starting from scratch here, and I have to hack the Russian server to see if we can find any chatter on Walker, and that might take no time, or it might take a-a lot of time."

"What about your Bratva friend with the good right hook?" John asked and Oliver sighed with a shake of his head. "You could try making nice."

"It's not that simple.

"Yeah? Well, simple or not, Oliver, we have to use every asset we've got." John said and Oliver gave a nod before turning to Felicity.

"Where's Bruce?" Oliver asked and Felicity just pointed a thumb behind her. Oliver glanced over to John before they moved around the woman toward the back of the house. Once they found the backdoor they stepped outside to see a large luxury RV.

"You know I thought Bruce Wayne couldn't Bruce Wayne any more than he already has, but this-" John said with a shake of his head. They both turned when the door slid open and out walked Bruce who walked over.

"Bruce, what the hell is this?" Oliver asked simply. Bruce just looked back to the RV before turning back to Oliver.

"It's an RV."

"I can see that, but why-" Oliver felt his frustrations rising and didn't even want to go down the road so he took a deep breath. "You know what, never mind. What are you doing here?"

"You mean, besides you dragging my wife to Russia to find a nuclear weapon?"

"I didn't drag anyone. I would've preferred if Felicity stayed home, but she insisted."

"Yeah well, if she's here, then I'm here." Bruce said glancing over to John. "Look I know I wasn't invited, so I'll stay out of your way. I'm here just to make sure Felicity makes it home in one piece." Bruce turned to get back on the RV.

"Bruce, wait." John said and the man stopped and turned back to him. "We could probably use some of your Bruce Wayne magic at some point." Bruce chuckled before looking over to Oliver who just shook his head.

"Fine. We're about to visit a friend of mine to see if he can get us a lead on Walker. You in?"

"Yeah, just let me-" they heard footsteps coming from the RV and they all looked back.

Oliver and John looked on in surprise as the child walked off to the RV and looked over to them before turning to Bruce.

"I thought you said we were going to Russia?"

"I told you not to leave the RV."

"I got bored."

"I don't care. Go watch a cartoon or something. Play with the game boy I got you. "

"Bruce." Oliver said, trying to keep his voice cool. "What—who-" Oliver was completely caught off guard by the appearance of the child, he didn't even know what question to ask first.

"Right." Bruce said before glancing over to Damian. "This is my son." he turned back to the stunned look on both men's faces.

"You have a son." John said and Bruce looked over to him and gave a nod.

"I have a son." Bruce repeated before turning back to Damian. "This is Oliver and John." The two men waved awkwardly at the child who just looked over to them before turning back to Bruce.

"Can't I just-"

"No, back on the RV!" he said and the boy grumble before stalking back inside. He turned back to John and Oliver. "So when are we leaving?" The two men stared at Bruce for a moment. "Look it's a long story that doesn't get told in Russia. I wasn't letting Felicity come to Russia without me and I couldn't just leave him, so he's here. " The two men just gave a nod.

"Uh, we're going to change and then we should be ready to go." Oliver said and Bruce gave a nod before turning and heading inside the RV.

Oliver turned to John who just shook his head before turning and heading inside.

Damian couldn't take it any longer. He'd been stuck in this stupid RV since Bruce left and that was hours ago. He needed to figure out what was going on. He stepped off of the RV and glanced up to the night sky before looking over to the house. He looked around before spotting an open window on the second floor, a smile coming to his face.

Felicity sat in front of her computer while Curtis, Dinah and Rory stood around her. Dinah had just said something that hit a neuron in Felicity's brain.

"If Walker's using a burner, odds are it's the same model he used in the states." Dinah said and Felicity turned back to her computer.

"And the only one making calls to the Markovians. " she turned, inserting the flash she got from the Helix hacktivist. She began typing. "Walker's flip phone of choice is an old model. The only network here that supports it is Detralink DST."

"Can you hack it?" Curtis asked.

Felicity unplugged the flash and stood. "I mean, I could, but it would take a lot of time. I think I know someone that could get us a short cut."

"You have contacts in Russia, too?" Rory asked.

"Kind of. Uh, he might need a little bit of convincing." she turned to Curtis. "Think you two could look like Bratva?"

"Bratva?" they heard a voice speak and they all turned to see the child standing at the entrance way to the room. Felicity took a step forward and let out a sigh.

"Damian, I'm sorry, I was supposed to come check on you." she said and he just looked over to her.

"You said Bratva. I know that name."

"You do?"

"Uh—Felicity?" Curtis said and the woman turned to him. "Care to introduce us to your friend?"

"Oh, everyone this is Damian...Bruce's son." Felicity said. It was still weird to say. She looked over to Curtis and Rory who both looked on in confusion. "Long story." she turned back to Damian. "I should get you back to the RV. You two should get changed." she walked over and brought an arm around him as she lead him out of the room.

"Ok," Dinah said and Curtis and Rory turned to her. "So I know I'm new, but I'm fully aware of Bruce Wayne, is he like a member of this team too?"

"I'm not exactly sure." Rory said. "I just know that he sometimes helps Oliver." they both turned to Curtis who just dropped his head to avoid their gazes. "Why do I get the feeling you know more than we do."

"Curtis?" Dinah said and Curtis just closed his laptop and stood to his feet.

"You heard Felicity, we should get changed." he turned to leave the room. He stopped and looked back to them. "Look it's not my secret to tell."

"I mean we just found out he has a son. What could be bigger than that?" Dinah asked and Curtis looked over to her with a shake of his head.

"You have no idea." he said before turning and walking out of the room.

Katie found herself forced to sit in a waiting room. Maybe she became too overbearing. Maybe she was getting in the way of the doctors trying to help her daughter, but then the word 'intussusception' came out of the ER doctor's mouth and Katie couldn't help it. She needed to help her daughter. That's when she was pulled to the waiting room where she sat, her leg bouncing as she chews on her thumb nervously.

She closes her eyes, suddenly hit with the memory of the first moment she held Robyn in her arms. Nervousness was twisting in her gut. She heard the sound of the doors and stood to her feet when Christian walked toward her.

"Where is she?"

"Calm down." he said and Katie just shook her head. "They're still running tests, I just wanted to come check in on you to see how you're doing."

"To see how I'm doing? I want to see my daughter!" Katie snapped about to move around him, but he took a step to the side to block her. "If I have to move you, you're going to hate it."

"Right now your daughter needs the doctors taking care of her to be able to focus on her and they can't do that when you're in there questioning everything they're doing."

"I'm a doctor, and if I feel that they're not doing their absolute best to care for my daughter-"

"And that's just it. When you're in that room, you're not thinking rationally, you're thinking like a mother. I promise Robyn is getting the best care possible." Katie shook her head as she turned away. "Is Oliver on his way?" Katie turned back to the doctor and sighed.

"No, he's—he's away for work." she said.

"Well give him a call. He should be here." Christian placed a hand on her shoulder before turning and walking back through the double doors.

Katie stood there thinking on his words. She agreed, Oliver should be here. She pulled her phone from her pocket and looked down to it for a moment before dialing his number. It didn't ring. Just went straight to voice mail. His phone was off, which she didn't expect. His phone was never off because he was always supposed to be reachable...at least that's what he told her. Right now he was in Russian, so she had no idea what he was doing or what situation he was in that he would cut off his phone. She let out a sigh before leaving a message.

"Hey, it's me, uh-" she didn't want to just say everything that was going on over voice mail and probably freak him out. She also wanted to convey the urgency of the call. "When you hear this, I need you to call me as soon as you can. It's important and I need—I need you, so please just-" she wanted to say more. She held the line not saying anything, unsure what else she should say. After some time, the line beeped and she groaned before ending the call and dropping back in her seat to wait.

Ari usually spent her lunch at one of the food trucks outside of City Hall. Today however she would be spending her lunch break in a court house. The girl sat outside of a courtroom, her eyes closed as her leg bounces in nervousness.

"Hey kid." Ari opened her eyes to see Hank standing in front of her. "You ok? I really feel like I should call somebody."

"No, don't—I'm fine. I'm just nervous." she said before turning when the door opened and out walks a court aid.

"Arianna?" the woman asks and Ari nods. "We're ready for you." Ari stands to her feet and follows behind the woman who stops and looks back to Hank. "Sorry, this is a closed court, you're not allowed inside."

"Well I'm not leaving her." Hank stated firmly. Ari took a step toward the man to calm him down.

"Hey, I'm good. Just wait out here for me and I'll call you if I need you." she said. "There's a bailiff in there with a gun, so I'm good."

"Fine, but I'll be right out here, ok?" he said and Ari gave a nod. Hank really was like her own personal guard dog.

Ari turned and followed the aid inside of the room, her eyes instantly going to her mother who stood looking over to her with a smile. Ari felt that twisting of nerves in her gut with every step she took.

Oliver just wanted to go home. He definitely didn't want to be in Russia looking for a bomb. Things were spinning out of control. Anatoly wouldn't help them unless Oliver helped him and Oliver wasn't interested in the doing the kind of help Anatoly was looking for. Anatoly wanted a thug and Oliver left that life behind. When they returned, Felicity had a lead for them, but he just wasn't quite sure how she got it, but it got them to a possible location on Walker.

The next morning, they found themselves dressed in all black, with masks inside of a church.

"Recon in position." Rory spoke from inside the church. "I count ten civilians in the church. No sign of Walker or his men."

"Backstop also in position." Dinah said looking over to Bruce who kept his eyes scanning the area. "No activity here."

"Are we sure this is the spot, Overwatch?" they heard Oliver ask.

"I hope this is the spot." Dinah muttered before looking over to Bruce who was still looking around. "You don't say much do you?" he looked over to her with a quirked brow. "It's just I've seen you on television and in newspapers and you always have this big personality and now-"

"You should keep quiet." he said turning away from the woman. "I'm going to check around the side." he was about to walk off, but Oliver said they were moving in on the target and so Bruce sighed and remained in position. Soon after they heard gun fire.

"Recon get those civilians clear! Backstop!"

"We're coming in." Bruce replied before kicking up a foot into the door handle and popping the door open.

Bruce and Dinah ran toward the sound of gun fire. They saw Walker's men shooting toward Oliver and John. Bruce reached into his pocket for a flash bomb, but he didn't expect one to go off before he could throw one. The hall filled with smoke and they heard the sound of fighting and by the time the smoke cleared they definitely didn't expect to see Walker's men unconscious on the floor, and the masked child standing above them.

John and Oliver walked over, their eyes going to the child before looking over to Bruce who didn't say a word.

"What's happening?" Felicity asked. "Did you catch him?"

They grabbed one of Walker's men hoping to get him to talk. While Oliver and John had the man tied in the basement, Bruce sat in the RV across from Damian who sat with his arms folded over his chest.

"What did I tell you?"

"I can help you." Damian replied. "I just don't get why you insist on treating me like-"

"A kid! Because you are a kid. Look I don't know what your mother told you about me or about my life, but I need you to understand that this absolutely can not happen again. What if something had happened to you?"

"I doubt it. Those men were slow and didn't even see me coming. None of you did."

Bruce let out a huff before standing to his feet. "You better not set one foot outside of this RV, or I swear, you're not going to like me very much."

"When did I start liking you." Damian muttered and Bruce turned a glare to him, but the boy just stood to his feet and headed to the back.

Bruce stepped out of the RV and took a walk around the house. He honestly had no idea how to handle this situation. He really wasn't prepared to just be a parent. He bumped into Oliver who stopped and turned to him.

"Before you say it, just don't."

"I'm sorry Bruce, but we just witnessed your unexpected kid take down two of Walker's men on his own and I can't help but think that long story you mentioned earlier had some details you probably should've shared. " Oliver walked over to him. "What's going on?"

"A whole lot that I'm honestly trying to figure out, so just back off." He nudged his head to the house. "Felicity in there?"

"Curtis said she came out here, I think she's in the van." Oliver said and Bruce nods before heading over to van.

Oliver shakes his head before reaching into his pocket, once again cursing under his breath. He didn't have a signal and he couldn't help but be afraid that Katie could be calling him and he wouldn't be able to answer. He held up the phone hoping to find a signal but it was no use.

When Bruce opened the back door to the van, he looked inside to see Felicity and Rory and from the looks on their face, there was definitely tension.

"Everything alright?" he asked looking between the pair.

"This might be none of my business, but I think she crossed a line to find Walker. " Rory said and Felicity turned a dark look toward him.

"Rory." she said, warning in her tone.

"What line?" Bruce asked, but before he got an answer, they heard the sound of Walker's man screaming from inside of the house and they all ran inside to figure out what was going on.

Ari eyes's snapped open and she quickly sat up. She let out a sigh as she looked around the hospital room. When Katie finally responded, Ari found out that Robyn was in the hospital, so when she left the courthouse she came straight here. Ari promised herself that day that she was going to tell Katie about the trial, and yet with everything happening with Robyn, it just didn't seem like the right time.

Ari looked over to the bed where Robyn was currently asleep. The doctors gave her something to help with the pain so the child could get some sleep. They were still running tests, so they still didn't know what was going to happen next. Ari looked over to Katie who was in the same chair next to Robyn's bed, eyes still open.

"You get any sleep?" Ari asked and Katie looked over to her and sighed before turning back to Robyn. "I can stay up and watch her if you want to get some sleep."

"I'm fine Ari." Katie replied.

Ari stood to her feet and walked over to the other side of Robyn's bed, reaching forward and taking her hand. When she heard that Robyn had been admitted, Ari was scared, and she didn't expect it. She didn't expect one little Robyn Queen to have wormed her way so deep in her heart that just the thought of losing her scared Ari to death.

"so this uh intussception, what is it?"

"It means there's a blockage in her intestines, and it's very painful." Katie said looking over to her daughter.

"Ok, how do they treat it?"

"It depends on how severe it is. There's a chance she could need surgery." Katie slid a hand over her face. "In less severe instances, there are less evasive measures which is what I'm hoping is the case now.

"Oliver still hasn't answered?" Ari asked and Katie looked over to her and shook her head. "You think something could be wrong?"

"I don't know. I don't want to believe something is wrong because worrying about my husband in Russia looking for bombs while worrying about my daughter who could possibly need surgery just can't happen at the same time. So I'm going to trust that Oliver is fine, that if he's offline it's because he has to be."

"That's bullshit!" Ari said and Katie shook her head. "Sorry for swearing, but c'mon. His daughter is sick, he's supposed to answer the phone no matter what's going on."

"That's just it, we don't know what's going, so we're going to give him the benefit of the doubt that whatever he's doing is-"

"More important than being with his daughter."

"Ari, please just—could you not." Katie let out a sigh before turning back to her daughter.

"Fine, I'm going to find something to eat. I'll bring you back something."

"I'm not hungry."

"I haven't seen you eat or sleep since I've been here." Ari said looking over to the woman. "You're eating."

Ari walked into the hall where she spotted Hank and two of his men as the secured the hall.

"I'm headed down to the cafeteria." she said and Hank gave a nod before turning and letting his team know that he would be headed down to the cafeteria. Ari walked along side Hank toward the elevator.

"So, how's the little bird doing?" Hank asked and Ari turned to him.

"They're still running tests, so we don't know what's going to happen." she said as they stood waiting for the doors to open. The girl chewed the corner of her lip before slipping her phone from her pocket. She dialed Oliver's number, and sighed when it didn't even ring. "Seriously? Your phone is off. You have an entire family thousands of miles away and you can't even be bothered to answer the phone. Things are happening here Oliver, you need to come home." she ended the call as she elevator doors opened. She shook her head before looked down to her phone and tried to get in contact with Felicity.

Oliver was out of options. John was becoming unhinged in his vendetta against Walker. He nearly beat Walker's man to death for answers. He was headed down a dark path and Oliver only saw one way around it. He needed to get answers so he would ask Anatoly for help, and do the one thing he swore he wouldn't.

Anatoly wanted a muscle man. Someone to knock a couple of guys around and so that's what Oliver would do. He brought Dinah along, with her experience, she was the only one on the team who could keep up. He couldn't help but feel like he was being pulled into a life he's tried to run from. He didn't want to be this guy again. He couldn't be this guy. Dinah was trying understand his mood when they stepped inside of the van.

"You know, the other guys said when you get in one of your moods I should just let you be, but, um, to be honest, brooding really kind of gets on my nerves." Dinah said and Oliver looked over to her.

"They told you about me? They tell you about Prometheus?"

"Yeah, they did. Why? Is-is this mood because you got pulled back into some Bratva drama?

Oliver shook his head. "No, it...Dinah, I'm trying to move forward, but I'm back here, I'm in Russia, in the Bratva, and it just proves to me I can't seem to do that."

"Prometheus got in your head. What was it, some crap about infecting the people closest to you?"

Oliver turned away, because he hadn't stopped hearing those words since Prometheus said them.

"Yeah, and tonight, I watched John torture a man, and there's something going on with Felicity." Oliver said.

"There's- You affect the people in your life, Oliver. That's hardly a revelatory observation. In-in fact, I think it's, uh- it's called living." Dinah said as Oliver turned to her. "Prometheus has you so fixated on what's wrong with you that you've completely stopped seeing what's right." Oliver didn't say anything. "And I know there's light in that life of yours. I mean, wife, kids. You had to have done something right to have gotten all of that. You know, John and Felicity, they'll listen to you because you have more to offer than just this. Your past is a part of you. There is nothing you can do about that. You can't change it. It doesn't mean it has to be your anchor."

Bruce felt like he was doing too much parenting. This time he stood in front of John and Felicity.

"Is there a reason we're getting that look?" Felicity asked looking up to Bruce. "That's your angry look. Are you angry?" They turned at the sound of the door opening and in came Oliver who looked from Bruce to Felicity and John. "Wait, were you watching us?" she turned back to Bruce.

"Where's Walker's man?" Oliver asked.

"Curis and Rory are keeping eyes on him." Bruce said.

"I think he's protecting him from me." John said as he angrily paced behind Felicity.

"I wonder why." Bruce said with a shake of his head. "I need some air." Bruce turned stalking outside. He headed inside of the RV to check on Damian. After a quick walk through, he didn't see the boy. "son of a bitch." he muttered before stalking out of the RV. He heard the sound of car doors from the front and went to go check out out. When he walked around, he saw Oliver and the team standing in front of Anatoly who was with a group of men.

"I have a location for Walker, and men to fight. But we must leave now."

There was a response, in impeccable Russian, "And why would we trust you?" they all spun around for the source, but Bruce knew who spoke the words. The team parted to see Damian as he walked forward, his glare on Anatoly who simply laughed.

"The child's Russian is impressive." he said before turning to Oliver. "But we really must go." he turned to his men and gave a nod before they all went rushing back to their cars. Anatoly glanced once more to Damian before going to his car.

"Alright, let's go." Oliver ordered and the team headed for the van. Oliver turned to Damian before looking over to Bruce before walking off.

Damian moved with the team, but Bruce caught him and picked him up and tossed him over his shoulder.

"What are you doing?! Put me down!" Bruce didn't say anything as he carried him all the way to the RV. Once inside he finally put him down. "You can't just lock me in here!"

"That's just it. I can." Bruce said before dropping down to a knee so he was eye level with the boy. "Look kid, I know you want to help, but I'm not risking you getting hurt." he placed a hand on the side of Damian's face. The words were there. Those three words he wasn't sure he should say to the boy, but they were in his eyes and he hopes Damian sees them. "You're going to stay here-" he sighed before reaching over and pressing a button that caused a the window to turn into monitors. "Just watch my back from here, ok?" Damian looked over to the screens before turning to Bruce and gave a nod.

When Bruce stepped off of the RV, Felicity was there waiting.

"You think he's going to stay put?" she asked and Bruce took out his phone and typed a few keys completely locking the RV down.

"He's got no other choice." he said before walking.

"Bruce-" Felicity said and he stopped and turned to her and she didn't know quite what to say even though she knows she should. She knows she has to explain that line Rory thinks she crossed. After that talk from Oliver, she's starting to agree.

Bruce didn't say a word as he walked over to her and took her hand.

"We'll talk later, ok?" she gave a nod before the pair hurried to join the others.

By the end of the night, and after a fight between Walker's men and a few angry Russians, Walker was finally apprehended and the bomb was destroyed. But at a cost. Rory used his rags to contain the nuclear blast. Some how, some way, the bomb affected his rags, taking the power they once had. He needed to figure out how to fix it. So that night, Rory left, with the promise that he would be back.

The next morning, they were too wired to sleep, and so Anatoly invited them all to his club where they celebrated.

Oliver glanced over to the team as they laughed, all while he held his cell phone in his hand hoping for a signal.

"Hey," John walked over to him. Oliver turned. "Still nothing?" Oliver shook his head. "Maybe Anatoly has a phone around here, you can use."

"Right." Oliver said slipping his phone back into his pocket. "Any word from Lyla?"

"Walker's being escorted under military guard as we speak."

"Congratulations."

"You know, Oliver, Walker threatened JJ and Lyla just like Andy did." John said. "At first, I wondered why I didn't shoot him like I did Andy. Then I remembered what you said to me and Felicity."

"Well, I'm just glad that it took." Oliver said.

"But, you know, Oliver, you were wrong. Me and Felicity, we're no better than you. You, Katie, me, Felicity, we make each other better." Oliver smiled over to his friend. "You're my brother, Oliver."

Anatoly came over, placing a hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Oliver?" the man handed Oliver a drink. Oliver gave a nod to John before following Anatoly. "It's good being friends again."

Oliver took a sip from the glass. "I forgot how strong this is."

"I'll make sure and bring some when I come to Star City. Heh." the Russian chuckled. "Ahh. I hear you're mayor now. Big promotion, hmm?" the man continued to laugh as Oliver shook his head. "Now you Pakhan. Now you tell everyone what to do."

"That's not how things work in America, Anatoly."

"Hmm. Yeah. That's the way things work everywhere. I was hoping maybe you could repay me." Anatoly said and Oliver lost all amusement as he looked at the man.

"Thought we were even. "

"I thought you returned to Bratva."

"That was temporary."

"That is the thing about oaths, Oliver. They are never temporary." he said with a nod. "They are for life." Oliver watched as the man turned and walked away leaving Oliver with those words.

Oliver felt his phone vibrate and he quickly pulled it out. He must've stumbled into a signal. He watch as his phone beeped and vibrated with multiple missed calls, text messages, and voice mails. Oliver felt his heart sink to his stomach in nervousness. He played the last voice mail and brought it to his ear.

"I don't think I've ever called your phone this many times and not gotten an answer." Oliver heard Katie's voice. He heard more beeping and looked over to see the rest of the team as they pulled out their phones. "But I had to be understanding. I had to be the hero's wife who understands that sometimes the greater good comes first." Oliver heard her sigh. "I didn't want to say this in a voice mail, but I have no other choice. Robyn was admitted to the hospital." Oliver's eyes widen, and his hand caught the side of the bar. Felicity and John hurried over. "It wasn't an ear infection. She has what is call an intussusception. It's an issue with her intestines. Right now they've taken her to run more tests and I'm staring at an empty hospital bed unable to completely fall apart." Katie paused. "Because I can't fall apart. There's no one else here to put me back together if I fell apart. It's just me, here trying to take care of our kids."

"Oliver, is that Katie? Did you get her message?" Felicity asked, but Oliver didn't say anything.

"Which is why I'm calling. I can't do this Liver, I can't—you know I think I figured it out. I believed I couldn't be selfish, I believed I would never make you choose between us and the greater good, but right now Oliver, I don't care about General Walker, and I don't care about nuclear weapons. I just need you here. I need you here with me, because I'm scared and I just—I need you here. So when you hear this, I need you on the next plane home." the call ended and Oliver swallowed the lump of emotions in his throat.

"Oliver?" Felicity asked. Oliver looked over to the woman.

"I have to go." Oliver said and without another word, he hurried outside. He looked down to his phone, stopping when he once again had service and he quickly dialed. "Hey, it's Oliver Queen. I need your help."

It was late at night on the quiet pediatric floor of the hospital. There was a exhausted nurse sitting at the front desk her eyes drifting open and closed with every passing moment. Suddenly a bright light seemed to flash and the nurse thought she was dreaming. She jumped to her feet and walked around the desk in time to see Mayor Oliver Queen hurrying toward her.

Oliver stopped in front of the nurse, slightly out of breath. "Hi, my daughter was brought in. Her name is Robyn Queen." the man stood nervously before looking down the hall to see Christian and decided to rush toward the man.

The nurse glance back to him before turning back down the hall where she spotted a dark haired woman walking down the hall.

"Christian," Oliver said and the doctor saw the anxious man rushing toward him. Christian held up his hands. "Where is she? Where's my daughter?"

"Oliver calm down and-"

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Oliver felt the ramming of his heart. Right now he needed to see his daughter and he needed to know that she was alright. "Just tell me where my daughter is."

"Oliver, Robyn is fine. She was brought in with a fever and abdominal pain. After an examination, we determined that your daughter had what is called intussusception. Her bowel had shifted." Oliver let out a nervous huff as he took a step back. "After testing, we found that there was no need for surgical intervention. We were able to able to conduct a GI series that put her intestines back to where they belonged. She's going to be fine. We've been monitoring her reaction to the barium treatment, but everything seems to be fine. You should be able to take her home in the morning."

"What—Why did this happen?"

Christian shook his head. "It's not unheard in children her age. Outside of some sort of underlying condition, which we've determined she doesn't have—sometimes it just happens. Katie brought her in right away and allowed us to catch this before it got worse." Christian placed a hand on Oliver shoulder. "Your daughter is fine." Christian glanced over to the woman who walked over. He quirked a brow as he glanced from the woman to Oliver, suddenly assuming to understand the man's noticeable absence. "You know the tests-" he turned back to Oliver. "They took time. I don't think your wife has slept or eaten. Your daughter is fine, but to have to sit in the unknown before knowing that without any support. Look I don't know why you weren't here, but I'm going to just hope that it was worth it." he cast one more look to the woman before turning to Oliver. "She's in room three thirty." Christian moved around Oliver who didn't move right away.

"When you called, I kind of assumed that you were in a hurry to get here." spoke Zatanna. "I can only assume you calling me to portal you from Russia to this hospital meant you didn't have time to stand in a hallway and feel guilty." Oliver lifted his eyes to the woman. "At this moment you can't change anything, what you can do is walk through that door and just be there for your family.

Oliver nods before taking a deep breath and walking down the hall, and stopping in front of the door. He took another moment before reaching forward and pushing open the door. Walking in, Oliver's eyes first spotted Ari who was lying asleep on a couch. He turned to the hospital bed, his daughter looking too small for it. He walked over to the sleeping child who clutched her stuffed bunny in her arms. He let out a shaky breath before leaning forward and placing a kiss to the top of her head. At the sound of door opening, Oliver turned to the bathroom to see Katie walk out and stops the moment she sees him.

Oliver doesn't know what to say. He wants to apologize. To never stop apologizing. The words in her voice mail have been playing nonstop in his head. He looks back down to his daughter and listens to Katie's steps as she walks over to stand on the other side of the bed.

"I uh—talked to Christian." Oliver said looking up to Katie. "He said she was fine and that we should be able to take her home in the morning." Katie gives a slight smile and just gives a nod. "Twinkie, I-" she looked over to meet his eyes as he walked around to her. "My phone just-" he shook his head. "I promise you that if I had known what was happening, if I got your call sooner, I promise I would've been here." she looked at him, another small smile as she gives a nod. The fact that she hasn't said anything, didn't get past him. "Twinkie, I'm sorry. I-" his words were cut off as the woman tossed her arms around him. Oliver brought his arms around her, and letting out a deep breath needing this embrace just as much as she did. "I'm sorry." he whispered once again.

"I told you to stop apologizing." she finally said, her head against his chest. "This is our life."

With General Walker now apprehended and the nuclear weapon no longer out there, Felicity shifted her focus back on identifying the mystery woman Malice. She found herself once again sitting behind the computer of Bruce's plane. There was a search happening, but it still hadn't found a match yet. She pulled out the flash drive from Kojo, suddenly hesitant to use it after her behavior in Russia. She went to that dark place again, something she promised herself would never happen again.

With a sigh, Felicity stood to her feet, grabbing her phone as she walked out of the room. She was hoping for a call from Oliver or Katie about what was happening.

Inside the cabin, Felicity looked up to see Damian asleep. They had yet to discuss his behavior in Russia. She's sure she and Bruce would need to talk first. They were realizing that they may not completely know the skills that young boy possesses. Felicity continues through the plane in search of Bruce. When she found him, he was standing in front of a television watching a newsfeed.

"We have not been informed of much at this point. Gotham PD does seem to still be on the scene investigating."

Felicity walked over to stand beside Bruce who glances over to her before turning back to the television.

"What we know at this point, there has been a break in at Gotham's Arkham Asylum. Patients have escaped, but we have not been informed who."

"Oh my god." Felicity said before turning to Bruce. "The break in a couple of days ago."

"A test run." Bruce said with a shake of his head before a video call appeared on the holo computer to his right. He reached forward to answer the call and soon the bruised face of Richard Grayson appeared.

"Bruce-" Richard said before looking over to Felicity. "Blondie."

"Are you alright?" Felicity asked and the man gave a nod.

"It looks worse than it really is." Richard said turning back to Bruce. "You see the news."

"Yeah. You know who got out?"

Richard let out a sigh. "Yeah, and you're not going to like it." Bruce waits for Richard to continue. "I think someone has made a move to get the Batman back to Gotham."

"Joker?"

"Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy." Richard said. Bruce slid a hand across his face as he turned away. Felicity stood there in shock as she glanced from the screen to Bruce and she could see it. She knew what happened next. "Bruce-"

"I'll call you back Richie," Bruce said before ending the transmission. He turned to Felicity who silently stared at him.

"I guess you have to go back." she said with a shake of her head. Bruce walked over to her and brought his hands around her. "Gotham's bad guys club is on the loose, and right now Gotham needs Batman." she dropped her head and placed her hands on his chest and let out a sigh. "Bruce-"

"I know, Prometheus and Malice." he said and she lifter her eyes to him. "We will make this work. We catch our bad guys and then we find each other." Felicity dropped her head to his chest and he placed a kiss to her head.

The next morning, Katie smiled as Robyn laughed as Christian listened to her lungs with his stethoscope.

"Well everything sounds good." he said turning to Katie and Oliver. "You should be good to take her home. I'm going to bring in the discharge papers." he saw the nervousness on their faces as they turned to Robyn. "She's fine." he said and they turned to him. "Really." he gave them a nod before leaving the room.

"You hear that sweetie, we're going home." Oliver said walking around to pull the child into his arms. Robyn pulled away, her arms reaching out to Katie.

"Mama!" she called and Katie came over to tug the child into her arms. She glanced up to see the hurt expression on Oliver's face.

"Liver, she's just-" Katie's words were cut off from Ari suddenly running into the room. The teen had went down to the cafeteria only a few minutes ago. "I thought we went down to get breakfast?"

"Yeah, well something else caught my attention." Ari said walking over to the hospital bed and grabbing the remote and turning to television on to a news channel to the face of none other than Susan Williams.

"I don't think there's many words to describe how Star City feels right now." Susan spoke.

"She's outside of RI." Katie said stepping forward as she kept her eyes on the television. She glanced over to Oliver before turning back to the tv."

"Just moments earlier a ghost appeared at the steps of Robins Incorporated only he's not so much of a ghost as the world believed." Susan glanced over her shoulder to the doors of RI and noticed reporters rushing over. She turned to her camera man and nudged her head before she hurried over as well. The camera shakily followed her before stopping and turning.

"Oh my god." Katie muttered.

"Jacob why did you fake your death?!

"Jacob, does your daughter know?!

"Was Mayor Queen aware that you were alive and didn't say anything?!

"He did it." Oliver said turning to Katie who met his eyes. "I can't believe he did it."

Katie turned back to the television focused on her father. The man wasn't answering any questions, but he did turn and focus on the camera in front of him.

"I know a lot of you are confused, and my appearance here has surprised you, but before I answer any questions, I want to let this city know that I am back and I'm here to stay."

---

Author's Note

Wowzers!

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Adela: Thank you!

As always, you all are awesome. Thank you!!!

Sneak Peek

Katie was sifting through the people in the hall to keep up with the man, because she could've sworn she saw a gun in his bag, but she wasn't sure. Katie came to a stop when she heard Ari's familiar laugh. She glanced over to see the girl talking with some guy. In that next moment, she heard the unexpected sound of gun fire.

The moment the shots fired, people started screaming and running. When Katie turned once again, she didn't see Ari, and she felt her heart stop beating.

"Ari!" Katie yelled pushing past the mob of scared people.