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.

29. Just A Guy

Chapter 29

Just A Guy

"Protecting your family is every person's basic instinct, it is why we would do everything to make sure the ones we love stay safe and out of harm's way."

-Unknown

---

Oliver Queen felt like public enemy number one in the Queen household. Fine, he's probably being a bit over-dramatic, but since Russia, and Robyn's health scare, it really felt like everyone in the house hated him.

He understood the reason behind their feelings. They needed him and he wasn't there, and he felt guilty about that. Now he just had to win them back over. It had been a few weeks since then and Oliver felt like enough was enough. This morning, he was going to make breakfast and they were all going to sit around the table and just be a family again. At least that's what he was hoping for. Once he was done cooking he had the plates and food all set on the table.

"Someone's up early." came the voice of his sister. Oliver turned to her with a smile. "And you made breakfast."

"I did." Oliver said turning back to the table to make sure he didn't forget anything. "Just another step to getting at least one person to not hate me in this house." he let out a sigh before turning to his sister. "You included."

"I don't hate you. No one in this house hates you. We're all just a bit..." Thea sighed. She actually got the call about Robyn sooner, but got stuck at the airport trying to get back home. She spent the majority of her stay in the airport trying to get in contact with Oliver who no one seemed to be able to get a hold of. With her frustrations with being stuck in a stuffy airport, her niece was seriously sick while Oliver was off in Russia, yeah, she left some pretty colorful voice mails for him. "It's just going to take some time."

"I get that, just like I get that I messed up." Oliver said walking over to her. "My daughter was sick, in a hospital and Katie had to deal with that alone and I hate myself for not being here, but I can't change it. As much as I wish I could, I can't. What I can do is prove that I am here and that I will be here whenever you guys need me."

"History has proven otherwise." muttered Ari who came into the dining room her eyes on her phone. She glanced up to Thea and Oliver before glancing over to the table of food.

"I thought we all could have breakfast together." Oliver said walking around to the teen. "A lot has been happening, and I thought a nice family breakfast could be a nice change from it all."

"I'm not hungry." she said glancing back down to her phone before looking over to Thea. "And I'm driving myself to work, so you don't have to wait around for me." the girl turned about to head back up to her room.

"Ari, wait," Oliver said and Ari let out an audible sigh before turning back to him. "You're upset with me, I get it, let's at least talk about it."

"There's not much to talk about."

"You quit the team."

"Yeah, well it's not that big of a deal, I mean no one has called or texted me to try to convince me to stay, so I'm guessing they don't really care." she said with a shake of her head before looking back down to her phone and because it was really annoying him that she wasn't even trying to have this conversation, Oliver reached forward and took the phone from her hand. "God, you're so-" she groaned turning her back to him.

"Ari, no one has called or texted you because I haven't told them that you quit." Oliver said and the girl turned back to him with a quirked brow. "I was hoping for a chance to change your mind." she shook her head. "You said you couldn't do this, because I wouldn't let you and a part of that is true. You have to understand that your safety, the safety of Katie and Robyn, that is my main priority."

"When you're around, anyway." she muttered, but he heard her.

Oliver sighed. "Ari, I will apologize as much as you would like for not being here when Robyn was sick. Believe it or not, I hate myself a lot more than anyone ever could for not being here for her, or for you and Katie. I know I should've been here, that you all needed me and I broke my promise. That promise that I would always be here when you needed me."

Ari folded her arms over her chest and turned away. The teen was so much like Katie some times. Oliver's realized how much she would just hold in her feelings, which made it equally hard to get through to her. She wouldn't make this easy.

"Can I have my phone back?" she asked turning back to him.

"No." spoke the voice from behind her. Ari turned and let out a sigh as she looked back to Katie who had Robyn in her arms. "Sit, eat breakfast because you're hungry."

"I'm not-"

"You are, so sit down and eat." Katie replied and Ari just rolled her eyes before stomping over to sit.

Honestly she was hungry, and the smell of waffles lead her to the dining room, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

Katie shook her head before turning to Oliver and Thea. Thea stood awkwardly between them before looking over to Robyn.

"Hello, my little peanut butter cup." Thea said walking over to take Robyn into her arms. "Are you hungry?" Thea placed a kiss to Robyn's cheek and the child giggled. "Lets go get you some breakfast."

"Thea, you don't have to do that, I can-" Katie said but Thea turned to her with a shake of her head.

"It's fine, I got her, you could use a break." she said before walking over to place Robyn in her high chair.

Katie stood there watching. Since they brought Robyn home, Katie found herself not wanting to leave the child's side. Every sneeze, every cough, Katie was there to make sure Robyn was ok. Even in this moment, with Robyn just a few feet away, she felt like she was too far.

"Hey," Oliver noticed the nervousness in her eyes and went over to place a hand on Katie's waist. "She's fine."

"I know." Katie pulled on a smile as she turned away to look over to Robyn. After a moment, she turned back to Oliver whose eyes were still on her. "So first day back to work, you ready?" she pulled from his grasp and walked around to sit. He let out a sigh.

Katie hadn't actually told him that she was angry with him. She'd done quite the opposite, assuring him that everything was alright and yet he knew otherwise. There were many moments like this, where she pulled away from him, or would leave a room to avoid talking to him. Katie usually took it easy on him with some of his bad decisions, but when it came to their family, she usually didn't bite her tongue. He didn't know what to make of her not showing her true feelings.

Oliver turned to take a seat at the table.

"I was thinking of maybe taking another week." he said and everyone stopped and looked over to him. "It's just everyone knows about Robyn, so they understand me wanting to be with my family now."

"You just said that she was fine." Katie replied and he looked over to her. "You've been gone a while and so was Thea, I'm sure the city needs you two." Katie glanced over to Robyn who happily ate her waffle.

"I know what the city needs, but my family needs me too." Oliver replied and Katie turned to him. "I know I've apologized over and over again, and I know an 'I'm sorry' isn't going to change anything." Oliver let his eyes trail over the faces of the women who made up his world. "I need you all to know that my first priority, is all of you and I hate that I've made you question that." he turned meeting Katie's eyes. "Nothing in this world is more important to me than the four of you."

The rest of breakfast was spent in silence before Thea brought up another sore subject.

"So...any idea how we're handling the Jacob situation?" she asked looking over to Katie who sighed as she sat back in her chair. "Have you talked to him or Martin?"

"No, and—and I'm not even sure I want to talk to him. He's just-" she shook her head. "He's doing it again. Making these chess moves that affect me and our family and he couldn't even have the courtesy to give us a heads up." she sighed as she turned to Thea. "I say our story is that we had no idea he was alive, and leave it at that."

"Ok, got it." Thea said before turning to Oliver. "And Katie's is right. With this whole Jacob thing, people are thinking you're hiding out to avoid facing this, which you have to." Oliver turned back to Katie before looking over to Robyn.

Later that morning, Oliver found himself watching as Katie got Robyn dressed for the day. Once she was done, Oliver walked over to stand in front of the child who turned to him. He remembered a time when she instantly reached for him when he was in sights. Katie called her a daddy's girl and Oliver didn't have a problem with it at all. Since he's been back from Russia, there were times when his little girl doesn't seem to even want him to hold her, though that didn't last very long. At some point, she just didn't cry when he held her, but he can't help but wonder if she remembers him not being here when she wanted him to be. Robyn just stared at him, not making a move, and so Oliver tempted her wrath by reaching forward and picking her up in his arms and pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"I'm sorry sweetie." he whispered to her as he held her to his chest. He knows she's getting older and becoming more aware of her emotions. Katie says she's too young to hold a grudge, and he knows that's true, but he also feels as though even his young daughter had an expectation of him that he just didn't meet when she wanted him to.

"You should stop beating yourself up." Katie says and Oliver looks over to her.

"I would probably stop if you would start." Oliver said and Katie looked over to him in confusion. "You're upset with me, but you won't show it." he walked over to her. "You called me and you told me to come home."

"And you did." she said turning away to gather Robyn's pajamas to put them in her hamper.

"I came back after all the scary stuff though." he said and she stopped and looked over to him. "You needed someone to lean on. You needed me."

"You know I thought I did." she said turning back to him. "I thought I was just going to go crazy when I was sitting in that waiting room. I just imagined some doctor coming out of that room and telling me-" she shook her head because she couldn't even say the words out loud. She smiled as she turned to him. "But I didn't. I held it together all on my own. For her, for Ari, I held it together because I had to, because there was no other option. You're not always going to be there, no matter how much either of us wish you were. You're not just ours. Some times you have to save the world and when you do, I'll be here, holding it together." she gave a smile before turning to Robyn. "I'm going to take a shower." she turned to Oliver. "You're good with her?"

"Yeah, we're fine."

Katie nods before turning back to Robyn. "Just come get me if something happens." she turned back to Oliver who nods before she heads out of the room.

Oliver stood there with her words lingering in the air. He didn't like them. He didn't want this thing with Russia to feel like something that was going to happen all the time. He didn't want her to accept a life that didn't expect him to be there every time she needed him. And he really didn't want it to be true even though he knows it is. He knew he wouldn't be there for every moment, but he knew for damn sure, he'd try his damnedest to try to be.

Suddenly Robyn's arms wrapped around his neck and she dropped her head to his shoulder. He dropped his eyes to her and smiled before placing a kiss to her head.

"You have no idea how much I love you." he whispered to her as he rocked her in his arms.

Soon Thea came in, and stole Robyn from his arms like she always did. Oliver went to get dressed as well. He pulled his tie around the collar of his shirt and turned to Katie who was brushing her hair.

"So I have an idea." he said and Katie stopped and glanced over to him. The moment she saw his hands around his tie, she came over to take the tie in hers.

"I'm almost afraid to ask." she said casting a glance up to his eyes before looking back down as she ties his tie.

"What if I go into work for half the day." he said and Katie looked up to meet his eyes. "And then the rest of the day, you and me do something, just the two of us." she finished tying the tie and placed a hand on his chest and shook her head.

"What about Robyn, we just can't go off-" she looked up to meet his eyes. "Maybe now isn't the best time." she turned and went over to grab her brush.

"I think now is the perfect time." Oliver said and she looked over to him. "If it's Robyn you're worried about, we have friends who would gladly watch her for a little while." she sighed before turning away to brush her hair. "But that's not it, is it? Robyn is just an excuse."

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said turning to him. "My concern is my daughter who just being away from her for too long just gives me anxiety. Like I'm literally forcing myself not to go to her right now because I know she's fine, and yet a part of me is still sitting in that damn waiting room and I can't-" she stopped and took a deep breath. She let emotions seep into her words and she didn't want that to happen.

"You can't what?" he asked walking over to her. It was the first time he got even a glimpse of what she was truly feeling and he didn't want her to try to hide it away. "Twinkie, you can tell me that you're not upset as many times as you like, but we've been together long enough for me to know when that's not true." she didn't say a word as she looked at him. He leaned into her. "I'm not letting you push this away, you're going to talk to me." he pulled his phone from his pocket and Katie watched him curiously.

"Who are you calling?"

Oliver turned to her, but didn't say a word until he heard the voice on the other end of the line. "Hey, it's Oliver. What would you say to a play-date with Robyn and JJ?"

"What are you doing?" Katie asked and Oliver just didn't respond.

"Sure, that's perfect. We'll pack up her things and meet you at the bunker." Oliver said before ending the call and looking over to Katie. "It's all set."

Katie opened her mouth to speak and yet she just knew if she did, she was going to say things she couldn't take back, instead she took a deep breath and looked back up to the man.

"No, my daughter isn't leaving this house without me." she said before turning, but he reached forward and grabbed her hand.

"Twinkie, wait-" he said as and she turned to face him. "Please, just-" he let out a sigh. "We've been in this storm of all this bullshit and we just need to step away. Just you and me." he brought his arms around her. "After your accident, you knew that I was holding onto something that I was keeping buried inside of me. You felt me pulling away. Right now you're holding on to something, and I'm asking you to just let me help you though it." he slid his hands to the side of her face and she let out a sigh. "You should know that I'm not taking no for an answer. I need you happy." he placed a kiss to her lips. She looked up to meet his eyes.

"Fine." she relented and a smile pulled at his lips. She placed her hands on his chest and looked up to meet his his. "You're right, there are some things I need to get out." he nods before placing another kiss to her lips. "I'm going to yell at you."

"I know. I've been waiting for it." he chuckled before pulling back.

When everyone was heading out to the cars, Oliver held back as he waited for Ari. When she opened her door, all dressed for her day at City Hall, she came to a stop.

"You're kind of relentless." she said as she turned and began walking down the hall. Oliver let out a sigh as he went to walk beside her.

"I don't want you to quit the team." Oliver said and Ari looked over to him. "I should clarify that, I do want you to quit the team, but under totally different circumstances. But right now, you're walking away because you think you're not important to the team, when you are."

"You don't have to say that when you know it's not true."

"It is true." he said moving to stop her. "Ari, you know I was hesitant to let you join the team because I was afraid of everything out there that could hurt you. But you've proven to me that you can handle yourself."

"Then what was the deal with Russia?" she asked and Oliver slid a hand over his face.

"A long time ago I was in Russia." Oliver said dropping his eyes back to the girl. "And I'd been through so much and I got caught up with some bad people and I made bad choices."

She looked at him for a moment. "You needed to turn to these people to help you locate Walker, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. It's just I'm supposed to be-" he let out a sigh. "How you see me matters to me. So I try my best to be the person you and Katie and Robyn will be proud of. And that version me, I left behind, but to find Walker, I knew I might have to become that person again, and I didn't want you to see that."

"No, you knew you wouldn't be able to become that person if I was there." she said before moving around him as she continued down the hall.

He thought of her words, and sighed because she was right. He turned and went to catch up to her.

"It still doesn't change the fact that you held me back when I thought I was a part of the team."

"You are a part of the team, but you're also more than that." he said and she looked over to meet his eyes. "You're my kid, and it's sort of ingrained in my DNA to protect you from the bad things in the world. But I will do better, you just have to give me a shot." she didn't say anything as she turned around. "So do you forgive me?"

"I guess." she said trying to hide a smile on her face. Her being upset with him was mostly out of worry. Him going to Russia and going radio silent freaked her out because they didn't know if anything was wrong or not. She swat his arm. "Just get a better phone, and don't go quiet like that again."

Oliver brought an arm around her, "I won't, I promise." he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I still owe you lunch, how about tomorrow?"

Ari didn't say anything at first. She still had yet to tell them about her testifying at her mother's parole hearing. She knows at some point they were going to find out, and she wanted to be the one to tell them, just so she could explain why she did it.

"Yeah, sure." she replied.

While Thea and Ari headed to City Hall, Oliver and Katie headed to the bunker. Moments earlier they'd met Lyla who had JJ with her. They smiled at the kids reunion. Katie and Oliver hadn't realized how long the two hadn't seen each other before that moment. Both felt guilty realizing that since finding out about Prometheus, they pulled her from day care, away from her friends and the ability to interact with kids her age. As they rode the elevator down, Oliver looked over to see the nervous look on Katie's face. He brought an arm around her and she let out a sigh.

"She's going to be fine." he said pressing a kiss to her head. "You're going to be fine too." she looked up to him. "I'll make sure of it."

She smiled up to him. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

The doors to the elevator opened before he could answer. He glanced back down to her and gave her waist a slight squeeze. "I have my ways Mrs. Queen."

Katie shook her head before turning and walking from the elevator. Her eyes first went to Felicity who sat behind her computer. Katie felt like she was borderline harassing the woman since Bruce went back to Gotham. She couldn't help it. She knew Felicity wasn't happy about him leaving.

"Hey Smoaks." Katie greeted to the blonde who held up her hands with a shake of her head. "I'm not here for you. We just did a drop off with Robyn. She's going to be hanging out with Lyla and JJ today."

"Oh, good, because I can't take more of you turning into Donna Smoak and mothering me to death." she said and Katie just laughed when she looked up to see John and a woman she assumed was the infamous Dinah Drake sparring.

"So, is that her?" she asked glancing over to Oliver.

"Yeah, that's Dinah." he said before taking her hand. "C'mon, I'll introduce you." Katie reluctantly let him pull her with him. "Hey!" Oliver called and the pair stopped and turned in their direction. "Dinah, there's someone I would like you to meet."

Oliver brought his arm around Katie who walked over. She'd seen pictures of the woman, read the dossier that Felicity and the team had drawn up. She'd actually read her file. Knew her history with the police. She knew she was a good cop, and knew she was good at what she did, but she also knew she was a victim of that ugly beast that was revenge.

"This is my wife Katherine Queen. Katie this is Dinah Drake." Oliver introduced. Katie pulled on a smile as she met the woman's eyes finally getting to see her in person. She lifted her hand and Dinah took it and they shook hands.

"Good to finally meet you, Ms. Drake. I'm sorry we haven't met sooner."

"Please, call me Dinah, and it's no problem. I know you've been going through a lot with your accident and then your daughter." Dinah dropped her hand as well, sizing the woman up. Rene, and and Curtis had told stories of the woman and she was trying to fit their descriptions into this normal looking woman. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Queen."

"Call me Katie." she said and then neither said another word. They just stood there staring at each other. Oliver looked between the two women before glancing over to John who just shrugged.

"You know I kind of feel like I know you already. The guys have been telling me about you. I've been told you're the one who has the final say in whether I become an official member of the team or not." both women laughed.

"Dinah was a detective in Central City." Oliver said and Katie turned to him. "She worked undercover. " Katie quirked a brow. Oliver didn't know she'd already dissected every piece of information about this woman that Felicity could get her. "After the Star Labs explosion, she developed a sonic scream." Katie just nods before turning back to the woman.

"Cool." Katie said. "Uh, we're going to talk soon." Dinah quirked a brow. "About Sean Sonus." the smile fell from Dinah's lips as she glanced from Katie to Oliver who turned to Katie a bit confused as well.

"I'm not wasting my breath talking about that bastard. All you need to know is that I killed him and I don't regret it one bit. He killed someone who meant everything to me and so I returned the favor. If that factors into your decision on whether you want me around here or not, you should probably tell me now." Dinah said.

"Lets just take a beat here. I'm sure that's not what she meant." Oliver said looking between the two women. He turned back to Katie. "What exactly is this about?"

Katie kept her eyes on Dinah. "This is about me getting to know the woman who has been given the very important responsibility of ensuring she is doing her part to make sure she is backing up this team. I'm not here to judge you because honestly I don't have that right, plus I never would. But I met you five minutes ago and the only thing I know about you are words I've read in a file. I need to know a hell of a lot more if I'm going to trust you enough with my husband's life and the lives of the people on this team." Katie shrugged. "So later, I'm going to ask to talk to you, just to hear your story, and to get to know you. You can say yes, or no, that's totally your choice."

"And does a no get me kicked off the team?" she asked

Katie shook her head. "No, your story is your story. You tell it when you want if you want. Your place on the team is dependent on a lot of things, but trust is the main one." she gave another nod. "It was nice meeting you Dinah." Katie turned to Oliver. "I'm going to check out medical to see if we need a restock." Oliver just nods before watching Katie walk off.

"You know I sort of get the scary as hell vibes the guys were talking about." Dinah said turning to Oliver.

"That was definitely not her scary side." John chuckled. "That was the caring wife and mother, wanting to know about the new team member who's going to be watching her husband and daughter's back." Dinah looked over to him and gave a nod. "If you see her scary side, you'll know it, trust me."

"I've got something!" Felicity called and they looked over to her. Oliver went over to check it out.

"Right, well I'm going to head home." Dinah said gathering her things.

"You finally found a place?" John asked and the woman shook her head.

"Uh no, the place you guys set me up at."

"HIVE? That's not a home. That's barely livable."

"It's fine. I don't need much." Dinah grabbed her bag and pulled it over her shoulder. "So honestly, how do you think I did with the first impression with the missus?" she turned to John who just laughed. "That bad?"

"Look I know the guys have told you about her, but all you need to know is that she cares about this team. She also doesn't trust easily and after Evelyn, she barely trusts at all, so your first impression with her was never going to be great. But she's a good person, and she'll give you a chance to prove she can trust you and when that happens, you're locked in." Dinah glanced back to the far corner where the woman had disappeared. "Trust me, you two are more alike than you think."

Dinah let out a snort. "Given what I've read about that woman, I find that hard to believe." she gave the man a wave. "I'll see you later, man."

"What do you guys got?" John asked walking over to Felicity and Oliver.

Felicity explained that she'd been searching for Claybourne's mistress, Prometheus' mother hoping to get the man's name. Unfortunately the woman had gone off the grid, she assumes the woman found out that her son was a serial killing nut job. For the longest, Felicity had been unsuccessful in her search, but with her recently acquired flash drive, she was able to narrow down a location on the woman. She didn't go into specifics with the guys, just that she'd narrowed the location to Illinois and that in a couple of days she could have an address.

"That's fantastic work." Oliver said. This was a real lead that could get them closer to Prometheus

"Thank you. Curtis will be here soon to help with the search." Felicity said. "I was also thinking of drafting the third member of our brain trust, the newly released from her grounding Ms. Locke. Have you talked to her?"

"I did, this morning, and everything is good. I promised to do better with the whole over protectiveness and she agreed to come back." John and Felicity looked over to him with quirked brows. "What?"

"You getting better with your over protectiveness." Felicity said. "That's what one would consider an oxymoron." John chuckled but Oliver was not amused.

"I think what Felicity is saying is there's no way in hell you're going to be less protective of that girl."

"Whatever." he said before turning to Felicity. "It's fine. Text her. She has this idea that no one missed her around here and that she wasn't needed."

"Seriously?" Felicity asked and Oliver nods. "Well then me and Firelight are going to have a little chat."

They turned when Katie came back around, writing something down in a note pad. She looked up to the eyes on her before noticing the absence of Dinah.

"I didn't scare her off did I, because that wasn't even me scary." she said and John laughed.

"She just went home." John said.

"So do you want to tell me what that was all about. I didn't know you knew about Sonus." Oliver said walking over to her.

"Yeah well I do." she said looking back down to her note pad. Oliver looked from her before looking over to Felicity who suddenly avoided his gaze and he let out a sigh. He turned back to Katie who looked over to him. "Look I'm sorry, but I'm going to need more than Laurel's seal of approval with this." she held up the note pad. "I have stuff to keep me busy until you're done with work." Oliver walked over to her and plucked the note pad from her hands and looked it over before sitting it down on a nearby table.

"I was sort of thinking that you would come with me to City Hall." he said turning back to her. "It's only a half day and when I'm done, we can just leave."

"You honestly think you can get away with working a half day after being gone for weeks?" Katie asked and he turned away and shrugged.

"I don't know and I don't care." he turned back to her and placed his hands on her arms. "I need you, me, and uninterrupted time alone and I'm going to make it happen, because I'm the boss."

"Yeah, you're the boss alright." she said before grabbing the note pad, only for him to take it from her hands again and toss it over to John. She scoffed as she looked between the two men while Oliver just tugged her back toward the elevator.

During the drive to City Hall, Katie decided to make one thing clear before they arrived.

"I'm not going to wait for you in your office while I'm there." she said from the passenger seat. Oliver glanced over to her in confusion. "I would actually like to look around City Hall and your last tour doesn't count." Oliver smiled because the last tour he gave her, they ended up not making it out of a conference room. He can say they've had sex in City Hall, but that wasn't the place he wanted. He was still waiting for this spontaneous moment she was planning. "I'll get Rene to show me around." Oliver sighed. "What's that sound?"

"I didn't say anything." he said and Katie looked over to him with a quirked brow. They drove in silence for a while before Oliver spoke again. "So tell me, how did you and Rene even meet?"

"I told you, I met him when I worked at GMH."

"So was he like a patient?" he asked glancing over to her and she just looked at him. "What?"

"Doctor/patient confidentiality doesn't permit me to reveal that information, and that's not me saying he was actually a patient. It doesn't even matter any way."

"Well I think it matters with the amount of time you're spending with him." Oliver said turning his eyes back to the road. "I just want to know how exactly you two know each other." she didn't say anything and he looked over to her and sighed. " I know how I sound right now."

"Don't worry, Rene isn't my next husband." she laughed and Oliver turned an unamused look to her that made her laugh ever more.

When they appeared outside of City Hall, there were already reporters waiting.

"My father is such a bastard." she muttered as she looked out of the window.

"I'm going around back." Oliver said, deciding it was safer to come through the parking structure entrance. When they arrived, there were two guards waiting by the elevator.

As they rode the elevator, Katie looked over to Oliver who still had a sour expression on his face.

"You're not seriously mad right now."

"I just don't think it's funny." he said and she just looked over to him. "Why won't you tell me the truth."

"Because the truth is inconsequential. Because you love me and you trust me and your brain going to this jealous place is a total you problem." when the doors opened Thea was there waiting. Her eyes turned to Katie with a quirked brow.

"Don't worry, I'm leaving. You won't blame me for a distracted mayor." Katie said before turning to Oliver. "And if you have a problem with me asking Rene to give me a tour then I'll just go wander around." she glanced over her shoulder to the guard standing behind her and held out her hand. "I'm Katie and you are?"

"Uh, I'm Louis Baker ma'am." he replied.

"Oh, first order of business Lou, never, ever call me ma'am. Just call me Katie." she gave the man a smile. "We're going to go for a walk around City Hall." she turned back to Oliver before placing a kiss to his cheek. As she backed up into the elevator, Oliver began walking toward her. She held up her phone. "I'll text you."

"Fine. Text me. Like non stop."

Katie just smiled as she waved before the elevator finally closed.

"You finally made it." Thea said and Oliver turned to her. "I was starting to think you weren't going to show."

Oliver felt his phone vibrate, and he looked down to see a text from Katie.

Twinkie: How do you make a tissue dance?

Oliver lifted his head and let out a sigh. "She's going to make me regret telling her to text me." he responded to her message.

Me: No Jokes, I beg you.

Twinkie: We could try sexting, but I doubt you'd be able focus on important city stuff.

Oliver's brows rose at the suggestion.

Me: I'm good at multitasking.

"Any you're no longer listening." Thea said and Oliver looked over to her. "I'm not sure the constant texts was a good idea either."

"It's fine, I'm-" his phone vibrated and he quickly looked down to his phone to see a picture of Katie and Louis standing in front of his picture.

Twinkie: I'm giving serious thought to mustaching you. Lou is trying to talk me out of it.

Oliver lightly laughed.

"Ollie?" Thea said and he looked over to her. "Seriously?"

"Ok, I'll tell her to just check in." he said sending the quick text.

Me: Thea's yelling at me now so we have to tone back the texts. Just check in. And also thank Lou for me."

Oliver slipped his phone into his pocket and turned to his sister.

"Better?"

"Yeah, with Russia, and then the additional week to be with Robyn, you have a lot to catch up on." Thea said.

"What are the chances I could be all caught up by this afternoon?" Oliver asked and Thea turned to him with a quirk brow. "I was kind of hoping that I could stay for just half the day and then could spend the other half with Katie." Thea stopped and turned to him.

"You're not serious?" she asked searching his face for just the slightest indication that he was joking but there was none. "Oh God, you are serious. Ollie, I'm going to say this in the nicest way possible, but hell no. We have to do damage control on your recently resurrected father in law and we need to ensure the people of this city that your absence was only due to you taking care of your family after your daughter's illness."

"That was why I was gone and I get we need to deal with the Jacob situation, but I thought for now, we could just ensure everyone that we are just as surprised as everyone else." Oliver sighed. "Speedy, Twinkie and I need this. With everything going on, we haven't been able to just focus on us."

"I get that Ollie, but you've been gone too long for it not to be noticed and you ducking out early your first day back is definitely not going to go unnoticed. There's just too many fires happening here and right now we need the Mayor."

Oliver turned away, because he knew she was right. He knew that this job required a lot of his time. When he first had the thought of running for mayor, he knew fitting it into his life would be hard, but he also understood the importance of the role and the type influence he would have. Oliver was taking inventory of his life, and the hats he wears. The Mayor and the Green Arrow and the Husband and father. He imagined he would be able to balance them all, that it would be hard, but he would do it. He's now witnessing reality not quite living up to the idea in his head.

"I'm sorry Ollie." Thea said, honestly feeling guilty. As his sister, she totally understood his desire to want to spend all of his time with his family, but as his Chief of Staff, she had to remind him that this job, was very important and he couldn't duck out any time he wanted to. "Let's just figure out this Jacob crisis, and once it quiets down-"

"No." Oliver said turning back to Thea. "Speedy, I respect your opinion, but right now, I have to think about what is most important to me in this moment, and it's my wife. I just need today, and I promise I will deal with everything tomorrow." Thea didn't say anything. She knew in situations like this where he needed to make a decision like this, the outcome was always the same. It also meant she'd have to work overtime on damage control.

"Whatever you say Ollie." she said before turning and walking into his office.

Oliver stood there for a moment. He wasn't helping himself in redeeming himself with Thea, but right now he had to choose his battles and there was no way he could tell Katie that he was breaking another promise.

Before Oliver became mayor, Katie couldn't actually say she's visited City Hall. As she walked down the halls of the historical building, she can't help but notice how beautiful it was. She waved and smiled as peopled passed her. She was still trying to get used to being the mayor's wife and even though she wished she could just walk past everyone without a word, she knew she couldn't. It was nearing lunch time, and Katie figured this was when Oliver would tell her that he really couldn't take off early. She didn't expect Thea's text that he actually planned to go through with it. It was the fact that Thea was coming to Katie about it, because she knows that at this point only Katie could change his mind. The truth was, Katie didn't really want to change his mind. She was looking forward to spending time with him and maybe opening up to him about everything she's been trying to deal with on her own. And yet, Katie told Thea that she would talk to him and she'd ensure that Oliver stuck around to deal with anything that needed his attention.

Katie was currently on the elevator, heading back up to Oliver's office for a conversation she's going to hate. Her eyes were down to her phone, as she sent a text to Ari. Before she left she wanted to shadow the teen to see what she did here. Ari wasn't interested. When the elevator opened, Katie glanced up, but it wasn't her floor, and so she dropped her eyes back to her phone as people exited and entered. She leaned against the wall, Lou standing close at her right when she got a sudden chill. Katie lifted her head, glancing over to Lou, before trying to look at the others in the elevator, which was hard, since Lou was standing so close, she couldn't really see anyone. When the doors opened once again, she stood up straight, about to walk off, but before she took a step, a maintenance worker exited first, and her eyes dropped to the duffle bag he was carrying. Katie frowned, as she pushed past Lou.

"Hey," Katie glanced up to see Quentin stepping into the elevator. "I heard you were somewhere around here."

"Uh, yeah, we're going to talk, I just-" she was walking and talking with the man, and just pointed in front of her before turning back to follow the man.

"Ma'am-"

Lou followed behind her, but 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 sound of gun fire.

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

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

"Ma'am!" Lou caught Katie's arm, and Katie turned to him. "I need to get you to safety,"

"And I need to find my daughter!" Katie snapped pulling from his grasp and running through the crowd, and inadvertently toward the gun fire.

Katie kept her eyes scanning the faces that past her looking for Ari. The popping from gun fire getting louder the further she walked. She wasn't armed. She wished she was, but she knew she'd be coming to City Hall, and there were metal detectors and she knew if she came with her normal arsenal, then it would be hard to explain.

Katie turned down a hall, but came to a stop, because just a few feet ahead was the gunman. She watched as he just aimlessly shot anyone in his sights. Without a second thought she began moving toward him.

"Hey!" she yelled. This was stupid, she thought as she was doing it. He didn't hear her. It was too loud with gunshots and screaming. "Hey!" she screamed again, and this time he turned to her with his gun, and he didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. An arm wrapped around her and pushed her. Katie hit the floor hard enough to make a sound when she landed. She landed on her wrist and felt the pain on impact. She cursed before turning at the sound of the thump beside her. "Lou!" the guard was on his back holding a hand to his chest. Katie pushed herself to her knees before placing a hand over his wound and glancing up at the sound of gunshots, but no gunman. She glanced around once again looking for Ari and the fact that she hadn't seen her was making her nervous. Katie just shook her head before looking back down to Lou. "I'm here Lou, I'm here." she tore open his shirt to get a look at his wound.

Oliver's eyes frantically scanned the floor.

"The shooter's MIA. He's exited the building." a guard informed Oliver as he walked over. Oliver just nodded as he looked at the wounded people lying on the floor, still searching for Katie, Ari and Thea.

"Let's get ambulances here, immediately!" Oliver said, his heart ramming in his chest as he turned the corner.

"Ollie!" Thea said, running over to hug her brother.

"Are you ok?" Oliver asked before pulling back and Thea nods. "Have you seen Katie or Ari?" Thea shook her head, and Oliver let out a huff before turning to the guard. "I need every guard here to search this building from top to bottom. I need to know where my wife and daughter are right now!" they turned and headed for Oliver's office, hoping that maybe Katie or Ari went there. What they found was Adrian on the floor, his hand pressed against a gun shot wound.

"Adrian!" Oliver called as the man collapsed to the floor.

EMTs soon arrived and got Adrian conscious and onto a stretcher. Oliver stood beside the man.

"You're going to be alright" Oliver said.

"Just catch this son of a bitch." Adrian said before the medics wheeled him out of there.

Oliver slid his hands through hair as he turned around. He couldn't stand here any longer and moved to leave the office.

"Sir, it's safer if you wait here while we complete the search of the building." a guard said appearing in front of Oliver.

"I can't just stand here when—"

"Oliver!" the voice came from the hall. It was Ari. Oliver pushed his way out the door. The moment she saw him, she pushed her way past the guards in front of her to run to him. Oliver let out a relieved breath before moving to meet her. As soon as they were within reach, they threw their arms around each other.

"I saw him." Ari said. She was shaking. She couldn't stop seeing it. Couldn't stop seeing that man as he shot all of those people. She was standing with Adam when the shooting started, and she just stood there frozen as she watched the man shooting innocent people. In the next moment, she knew she needed to do something, but when she took a step toward him, Adam grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She attempted to pull away, but soon they ended up in a empty office, where he locked the door and turned off the light and waited until they were found. "There were so many people—I didn't stop him." Oliver pulled back and looked down to her and she looked up to meet his eyes. "I didn't stop him."

"Ari, it's ok." he placed a kiss to her head. "There was nothing you could do." he brought an arm around her and brought her in his office, but stopped at the sight of Adrian's blood. Ari saw it too and gasped.

"Katie!" Ari said turning around attempting to pull away, but Oliver held on to her. She turned back to him. "I saw her, I saw Katie after the shooting started. She was running toward the shooter." that made Oliver more nervous.

Oliver looked over to his sister who brought Ari into a hug. Thea just gave a nod to Oliver who placed a hand on Ari's back.

"Hey, Ari, stay with Thea. I'm going to find Katie, alright?" Oliver said before turning to Thea. "Take her somewhere quiet." Thea nods before pulling Ari with her.

Oliver stepped into the hallway, and walked over to one of the guards.

"Have you found anything on my wife?" Oliver asked and the guard turned to respond, but stopped when he heard the call come through on his ear piece. He gave a nod before turning back to Oliver.

"We got her. She's safe." the guard said before nudging his head. "She's not too far."

Oliver followed behind the guard, trying to look up a head. Just needing to see her face.

"I don't give a shit! I need to find my husband and daughter!" he heard her voice before he saw her. He rushed past the guard, turning the corner where he finally saw her. His eyes went wide at the sight of blood on her clothes as she gripped her wrist.

"Twinkie!" he called and Katie turned. When she saw him, nothing else mattered. She ran down the hall toward him. "Hey," he brought his hands to her shoulder. "Are you hurt?"

"No, this isn't my blood. Lou was shot, but he's on the way to the hospital." she said. She lifted her hands slightly. "I was pushed to the floor and sprain my wrist, but I'm fine. Have you found Ari?"

"Yeah, she's with Thea. She's fine." Oliver said and Katie let out a heavy sigh before Oliver brought his arms around her.

"Did they catch him?" Katie asked, her head against his chest.

"No, he left the building." Oliver said before pulling back dropping his eyes to hers. "We need to have someone look at your hand."

"It's fine." she said before turning and looking around. "I should-" she shook her head as she watched the EMTs checking around to see who needed help. "I should help." she pulled back, but Oliver just pulled her back to him. "Liver-"

"We're going to have someone look at your hand." he said once again and she just knew there was no point in arguing.

Soon Katie sat in a chair in a conference room, as an EMT wrapped her wrist. She looked over to see Oliver talking to Thea and Rene. Ari was standing behind her chair, the girl's hands on Katie's shoulder.

"She's going to be alright, right?" Ari asked and the medic looked up to the girl with a slight smile.

"She's going to be fine, just a sprain." he said before looking to Katie. Once he was done wrapping her wrist, he took out his flashlight and shined it in Katie's eyes. "Are you sure you're not experiencing any sort of disorientation, Mrs. Queen. Any light headedness, double vision."

"No, I didn't hit my head." she replied as she lifted her hand and attempted to move her wrist, but she felt the pain instantly. "I'm fine."

"Still, these sort of things are a lot for anyone." the man said looking over to Ari before looking back to Katie.

"Like I said, I'm fine." she said standing to her feet. "Are there anymore injured that need treating before transport?"

"I think everything is being handled." he said as he picked up his bag. "You should get home, and get some rest." he gave her a nod before turning to leave. Oliver glanced as the medic left and went over to Katie.

"I'm going to take you two home." he said and both Katie and Ari turned to him.

"Were there any casualties?" Katie asked and Oliver let out a sigh.

"Twinkie, I want to take you home." Oliver said and Katie just rolled her eyes before moving around him to Rene and Thea.

"Were there any casualties?" she asked. They both looked over to Oliver before turning to Katie.

"Five dead, twenty four injured, and eight critical." Thea said and Katie let out a sigh as she shook her head.

"I saw him on the elevator. When he walked off, I saw something in his bag, it looked like a gun, but I wasn't sure, so I followed him." Katie said.

"Twinkie, there was nothing you could've done." Oliver said and Katie looked over to him.

"He had an AR-15 assault rifle. Military grade." she said as she turned away, still seeing the masked man with the gun aimed at her.

"You saw it?" Rene asked and Katie looked over to him.

"Yeah, when he pointed it at me." she replied before turning to Oliver who brought his arms around her. "Lou pushed me out of the way and took the hit." she let out a sigh. "I should go to the hospital to check on him. Probably check on all of them."

"Twinkie, you don't have to do that." Oliver said and Katie shook her head.

"I know, but I also can't do nothing. And since you're not going to let me help find this guy because we haven't figured out a way for the Guardian and the Green Arrow to work together, then I'm going to be somewhere I can actually help." she placed a hand on his cheek. "I'll be fine." she said and though he knew that was true, it didn't stop him from not wanting her to leave his side.

"Hank and a team will be with you. You don't leave that hospital without them." Oliver said and Katie nods before placing a kiss to his lips. "I'm taking you." he turned to Ari. "You're coming with me to the bunker."

"What about the gun? The security detail said the shooter dropped his primary weapon. We should probably find it before the police do." Rene said.

"I took care of it." Oliver replied.

Oliver really didn't want to leave Katie, but there was a team of guards with her and so he would trust that she would be alright. He told her to just check in with him throughout the rest of the day.

When Oliver and Ari arrived at the bunker, they rode the elevator in silence. Oliver looked over to Ari who he noticed staring up at the doors. When the doors opened, she didn't move.

"Ari?" Oliver said, but she didn't say anything, just kept staring. Oliver touched her shoulder and she practically jumped out of her skin. "Hey, Ari it's alright, you're alright." she still didn't say anything as she nods and just turns to let her back fall against the wall of the elevator. Oliver sighed before turning to the girl. He hated this. She watched as people were shot right in front of her. He wished to hell that she would never have to see anything so horrible.

"He shot Paula." Ari said dropping her eyes. "I remember seeing her walk past and she said hi to me like she always does. I fixed an issue with her tablet and whenever she saw me she called me little IT Ari. She was nice. She was really nice." Ari was crying before she could even realize it was happening. Oliver brought his arms around her. "Why—why are there people like that in the world? She was nice. Why would he shoot her?"

"I don't know Ari, I really don't know. We're going to find him and we're going to stop him before he can hurt anyone else." Oliver said placing a kiss to her head. This was the sort of thing he wanted to protect her from. He didn't want her to see this kind of evil. "Ari, I can call Lyla, and you could stay with her while we look into this."

"Maybe I shouldn't do this." Ari said. "Maybe I can't do this. None of you are freaked out about all of this." she said and Oliver pulled back to look at her. "You're all just—just fine."

"We're not fine Ari. We're sad and we're confused and we're angry just like you are. What you're feeling is normal and if you weren't feeling it then that would be a reason you shouldn't be on this team." Ari let out a shaky breath before giving him a nod. He took her hand and lead her from the elevator. She stopped after a few steps and turned to him.

"I just need a minute." she said before pulling out of his grasp. She turned and headed off, and Oliver stood there watching until she was gone before turning to find the others.

Oliver walked over to find Felicity, Dinah, John and Curtis who turned to him when he arrived.

"Where are we with the gun?" Oliver asked.

"I thought you were bringing Ari." Felicity said walking over.

Oliver let out a sigh. "She's here, she's just-" he shook his head. "She was there and she saw—she saw a lot of things I wished she hadn't seen." he looked back up to Felicity. "She says she needs a minute. I'll give it to her before I go check on her. Now, where are we with the gun?" they walked around to the computer.

"Nowhere. It hasn't been used in any prior crime." said Felicity before swiping up the information they had.

"Fingerprints?" Oliver asked. "The shooter wasn't wearing gloves."

"AFIS didn't kick back anything." Curtis said. "I don't think he's ever been in the system."

"Or he was smart enough to have himself erased from it." Felicity said. "

"Security cameras?" they turned as Ari walked over to stand beside Oliver as she looked to the computer before turning to Felicity who gave a slight smile before nodding.

"He knew how to avoid them." Felicity said before bringing up the security footage. "And before he opened fire, he upgraded to a ski mask."

"That looks like a utility jumpsuit." Dinah said and Ari looked over to the woman finally noticing her presence. This is the second time she'd seen the woman, and assumed she'd have more feelings on her replacement, but right now she just cared about this guy who just shot a bunch of innocent people.

"Forefather Repair." Felicity said. "It went belly up 6 years ago. I ran through the employee list, but I think our shooter just bought a uniform off the Internet."

"So he could walk into city hall." John said with a shake of his head. "

"This guy's real good at covering his tracks, whoever he is." Dinah said.

"So who is he?" asked Oliver, the question they just couldn't answer. Oliver looked over to Ari whose eyes were still on the screen.

"Ari-"

"I'm going to go through the surveillance footage. Maybe something caught his reflection." Ari said before turning and walking over to another computer.

Felicity turned to Oliver who let out a sigh before walking over to Ari who had already starting typing.

"Ari, you don't have to do this. You can step away and-"

"I don't want to step away." Ari turned to him. "I want to understand. " she shook her head before bringing up another shot from the surveillance footage. "I want to understand why he did it."

"Some times there isn't a reason behind it." Dinah said and Oliver and Ari turned to her. "I was a cop for a long time, and that's one of the many questions you have, but sometimes there isn't an answer. Some times bad people do bad things." Dinah walked over to Ari and held out a hand. "I'm Dinah."

"And I don't care. You're wrong. There is always a motive. No one wakes up and just decides they're going to be a monster." Ari turned to Oliver. "If we ever plan on stopping people like this, we need to understand the why." she turned back to the computer. "But first we need to figure out the who." once again the teen began typing. Oliver just placed a kiss to the top of her head before turning to the others and nudging his head for them to move away.

"Let her do this." Oliver whispered to them. "We're going to let her do whatever she needs to work through this. She's right. Shooting people is one thing, but he came to the Mayor's office. He wanted to make a statement, we just have to figure out why before he tries to make it again." Oliver turned to John. "I'm going to head to the hospital to check in with Katie and to see how everyone is doing. Ari doesn't leave this bunker." they all nod before watching him walk back over to the girl.

"I'm just striking out with my first impressions with his family." Dinah said to John who just chuckled. "I was just being honest. Some times we don't get an answer to the big 'why'. It's just an unfortunate truth."

"Maybe, but for Ari, right now it's just a question. A question she's determined to answer. We're going to let her try."

Katie had treated gun shot victims before. It wasn't anything new for her. When she came to SC General, she went to Christian who seemed to just know she was coming. He knew she was in the mayor's office during the shooting, and was a bit hesitant to grant her medical privileges to treat patients. As always, she was able to convince him. So he got her some scrubs and watched as she just jumped right in. Twenty four people were brought into the hospital, and she went to see each one, reviewing their injuries, and assisting their treating physicians any way she could.

Katie stepped out of an operating room, her heart ramming in her chest, sweat dripping down her forehead as she pulled off the protective cloths. A second victim just died on the operating table. It wasn't the first time Katie witnessed someone dying on that table. It was the first time she'd seen how they got there. It was the first time that she'd seen the perpetrator before he did it.

She turned to the surgeon who came out behind her. He pulled his mask off and looked over to Katie who stood facing a wall, her head on her arm.

"Doctor-" he said and Katie stood up straight and turned to him. "That woman's injuries were too severe. She'd lost too much blood. There was nothing we could do."

Katie nods. He's right. She knows he's right. She's been going over every possible solution, but there was nothing they could do.

"Paula Randall." Katie said turning to the man. "I'd met her before. She showed me pictures of her kids." Katie dropped her head. She and Paula were both in that building. That gun aimed at both of them and yet Paula was gone, and Katie was standing right here and she couldn't understand why.

"Did you want to come with me to inform the family?" he asked and Katie turned away.

She wanted to cry which didn't normally happen in moments like this. She always tried to keep a lid on her emotions when she was practicing. She couldn't fall apart because it didn't help anyone. She took in a deep breath, before turning to the doctor and gave a nod.

"Yes."

Informing a family that their loved one was gone was never easy. She'd been in their shoes. Standing in a waiting room, praying, and hoping that the doctors on the other side of those doors could perform whatever miracles they could to bring them back. It was always so crushing when she had to reveal that they couldn't. Katie stood beside the surgeon who did most of the talking. Paula's husband and sons just found out that Paula was gone and Katie had to force herself to just stand up straight and not fall apart. They were overcome with grief and Katie felt the need to say something, even though she knows it won't make a lick of difference.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." she said, but they didn't even turn to her. After a few moments, the surgeon turned to her and gave a nod for them to leave. When they turned, Paula's husband stood to his feet.

"Dr. Queen?" he said and Katie stopped and turned to him. "Have you heard any news about how they're coming along with catching this bastard?"

Katie shook her head. "No, I'm sorry I have no new information, but I promise you, Oliver is doing everything he can to make sure this guy is found."

"How was he even able to walk in there with a gun!" they turned to Paula's youngest son Albert. "Why the hell does everyone have a gun?!" Albert turned to Katie. "If your husband wants to help, he can get these guns off the streets and out of the hands of people like this psycho!" the boy's father grabbed his arm and pulled him into a hug.

Katie and the surgeon turned and walked away. Thea walked over from her place in the waiting room to Katie.

"Hey," she said placing a hand on Katie's arm. "You ok?" Katie turned to her with a quirked brow.

"I mean I'm not dead so I'd say I'm doing better than most around here." she nudged her head. "I should go see how else I can help."

"Twinkie, you need to take a break from this." Thea said and Katie shook her head. "You were in this too. A victim of this guy. You should-"

"Thea, I'm a doctor. I don't need to take a break or to step away. I'm going to go back in there and do everything I can to make sure these people get to go home." she walked away, deciding to ignore emotion and focus on medicine.

After a few hours, she decided to grab some coffee. Katie stood and waited as the machine poured her coffee.

"Living dangerously." said a voice to her left. Katie turned to the dark haired woman who was standing nearby with her own cup of coffee. The woman held up the cup. "This is the most horrid cup of coffee I've ever drank."

Katie lightly laughed before turning when her coffee was finished. "Oh I know, but I need a pick me up and this terrible coffee is going to have to do." Katie grabbed the cup and turned to the woman with a smile before turning to leave.

"Katherine Queen." the woman said and Katie stopped and turned to her. "Sorry, you don't know me, but I know you. My husband was in the Mayor's office during the shooting." Katie sighed and walked over to her.

"Is he alright?"

"He's going to make it, but he's stubborn and wants to get back out there no matter what I say." the woman sighed.

Katie nods. "My husband is the same way. He usually responds to reason though. Did you want me to talk to him."

"That would be great." the woman said before holding out her hand. "I'm Doris."

"Nice to meet you Doris, and you can call me Katie. Show me to his room."

Katie followed behind the woman until they arrived at a door. Doris walked inside, and Katie went to follow, stopping before going into the room. She stopped at the door, her eyes going to the man sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Mr. Chase." Katie said and the man turned to her. Katie looked over to the woman. "Your husband is DA Adrian Chase?"

"Yeah, I believe you two have met." Doris said before turning to her husband. "She's here to tell you how stupid you're being. You need to be resting."

"Doris, I'm fine." he said before turning to Katie who still stood at the door. "You can come in." Katie pulled on a slight smile, but there was a still hesitance to actually go inside. She hadn't seen the man since that night she collapsed in the police station. Katie took a deep breath before taking a couple of steps inside of the room.

"Your wife is right." there was a tingling under her skin and a stray voice in her head telling her to leave and get as far away from this man as possible. She didn't understand it and yet she just couldn't shake it. "You were shot. No one is expecting you to get back out there." her phone vibrated in her pocket and she quickly pulled it out to read the message from Christian and she let out a sigh.

"Another shooting victim is being discharged." she said with a smile before looking back up to them. "I'm going to go see them off." she turned back to Adrian. "Word of advice. Your wife has the power to make you a very unhappy man. Listen to her, stay, get some rest." she turned to Doris and gave a wave before turning to leave.

"Mrs Queen." Adrian said and Katie stopped. She instantly noticed that he referred to her as Mrs. Queen and not Katherine as he's done before. She turned back around with a quirked brow. "Thank you." Katie just gave a nod before turning to leave.

When Oliver arrived, he didn't expect finding Katie to be too difficult and yet he couldn't find her in the large hospital. He ran into Thea who informed him of the status of the victims. She walked with him as he continued looking for Katie.

"Two of the victims who were in critical condition just passed away on the table." Thea said and Oliver stopped and turned to her.

"Who?"

"Kyle in commerce and Paula in accounting." Thea said and Oliver sighed as he dropped his head.

"Ari saw Paula get shot." he slid a hand over his face. He wasn't looking forward to telling her about this. "I need phone numbers for the next of kin." he continued down the hall.

"I already emailed them to you." Thea said as she continued along side of him. "Ollie?" he glanced over to her. "When you find Twinkie maybe you should talk to her about heading home."

"I would love nothing more than for Katie and Ari to just go home and step away from this, but they're stubborn and they're both determined to be doing something right now. Where is she anyway?"

"She's been everywhere." Thea said and Oliver turned to her. "She's been to the room of every victim, assisting their doctors, comforting families. It's taking a lot out of her and yet she won't step away." Oliver sighed as he turned away. "Look, you are gonna find whoever did this."

"No. I have to before he does it again."

"What makes you so sure this isn't just a one-time thing?"

"If it were a one-time thing, he wouldn't have concealed his identity and he wouldn't have fled the scene. He's..." Oliver stopped outside of Adrian's door to see the man dressed as if he was about to go. "Uh, Adrian? What are you doing?"

"Can you talk some sense into him, please?" Doris said looking over to Oliver.

"Mr. Mayor, Thea, meet my wife—Doris." Oliver and Thea looked over to the woman.

"Hi." Oliver said.

" Hi. He's gonna get himself killed." Doris said. "Your wife was in here earlier to talk some sense into him, but he's being bullheaded."

"And- I'm tougher than I look, and I need to be in the office." Adrian replied looking back over to his wife.

"You need to be in bed, Adrian. You were shot. Oliver said. "And if Katie was here to tell you the same thing, I'm even more convinced."

"I'm fine." Adrian attempted to stand but slightly trembled.

"You look like you're about to pass out." Oliver said. "Hey, listen, come on, buddy. Take- take a seat at least, please."

"All right." the man said letting out a deep breath. "What do we know?"

" We don't know much. It was a single shooter, AR-15 assault rifle. And it- it doesn't appear that I was his primary target because he just..."

"Blasted his way through city hall." Adrian shook his head. "If he wasn't going after you, then there's a larger agenda here." he turned to Oliver. "AR-15s are the Bertinelli family's weapon of choice. Over 90% of the hits they were involved in last year used them."

"Why would the Bertinellis target city hall?"

"Because your office oversees the Anti-Crime unit. And it is a softer target." Adrian said and Oliver turned to Thea before turning to the man with a nod.

"All right. We're gonna look into it under one condition- you listen to your wife and you stay here. Let yourself get better. Fair?"

Adrian hesitates for a second, but nods. " Fair. Just stop this guy." Oliver gave him a pat on the shoulder before walking back out into the hall with Thea.

"You think there's a connection between this guy and Bertinellis?" Thea asked and Oliver shook his head.

"No idea, but I'm going to find out." he said as they stepped into the elevator.

When they finally stepped off of the elevator, Oliver turned at the sight of Katie who disappeared around a corner.

"Twinkie-" he said before turning to follow after her. When he turned down the corner, he saw her at the end of the hall. He wanted to just yell out her name to get her attention, but he decided against it. She turned down another hall and he quickened his step to follow. When he got to the end of the hall, he didn't see her. Oliver frowned as he scanned the area before turning to a door marked stairs. He stepped through the door, coming to a stop when he found his wife just sitting there on the steps. Katie glanced up to see him, a smile coming to her face.

"Hey you." she said.

"Hi." Oliver said letting out a relieved sigh. The day had taken it's toll on him, and stress and anxiousness of the day was weighing on him and yet seeing her face seemed to bring him into a little pocket of peacefulness. He walked over to sit beside her on the step, his arm instinctively wrapping around her as her head falls to his chest. "How are you doing?"

Katie didn't say anything as she placed a hand on his chest. Oliver dropped a kiss to her forehead gently rubbing her back.

"You know when I heard those shots, and people screaming, it was like being back in Bosnia." Katie said. "Innocent people being killed like dogs. I just—I couldn't get use to it. My first week with doctors without borders, me and two other doctors and two locals were stopped by insurgents. I remember thinking that I was going to die after a week on the job." she let out a shaky breath. "They pulled us out of the truck and then lined us up along the road on our knees." Katie closed her eyes, the memory so vivid. "On the side of some dirt road is where I witnessed my first murder. They shot the locals first, called them traitors to their culture, and we thought we were next, but before they could even try, a team of US soldiers monitoring the area drove up, saving the day I guess. All the doctors with me that day, left, they went home and dropped out of the program."

"Why did you stay?" Oliver asked, his hand still mindlessly moving across her back.

"I don't know. I think I was at the point where I was tired of bullies and intimidation." she sighed. "Given what happened to me a few months later with ARGUS, maybe I should've just took it as a sign and got the hell out of there." she nuzzled her head against his chest. "How's Ari?"

"Refusing to step away from this, much like you." Oliver said. "Seeing people shot in front of you—nothing prepares you for that. Nothing can prepare you for that. She shouldn't have seen that. I shouldn't have made her intern. She didn't want to do it."

Katie pulled back and looked up to his eyes. "You gave Ari something she needed. Being an intern is preparing her for her future. It's shifting her focus from the mask and it's giving her skills she will use for the rest of her life. Her being there and seeing—it's unfortunate and it's going to haunt her, but she's going to be alright. We're going to help her be alright if it's the last thing we do." she dropped her head back to his chest. "I feel like you have more important things that you should be doing right now, and sitting in an empty stairwell holding me isn't one of them."

Oliver simply grasped her tighter. "Funny, because to me this is the most important thing I could be doing today."

"I mean besides finding this guy before he strikes again which is probable."

"I know. I have a lead. The type of gun he used is the weapon of choice for the Bertinelli mob family."

"Seems kind of loud for the mob. They usually like to conduct their criminal behavior under the radar." Katie said.

"It's the only lead right now. I got to find out who this guy is." Oliver said and Katie lifted her eyes to him. "I also don't want to pull myself away from you right now." she smiled as he dropped his lips to hers, searching for an escape from reality in the kiss. For a few moments, the world and everything happening disappeared. When they pulled back, their faces remained mere inches from each other as they held the other's gaze. Katie placed a hand on his cheek. "It's late. Let me take you home."

"I don't think I'd be able to sleep. Plus I already talked to Lyla and she said that she was more than happy to keep Robyn for the night. Apparently she's having the time of her life with JJ." she dropped her eyes. Even with all the craziness happening, Katie still had moments of worry for her daughter. "If you're not there, and Ari's not there or Thea, I'd just be stuck there alone." she lifted her eyes to Oliver. "It would turn into the breeding grounds for drunk Twinkie." Oliver laughed placing another kiss to her lips. "Everyone here is in stable condition. I could head over to the bunker to check on Ari and help out with the team, and come back here tomorrow morning."

"You know I promised that we'd spend at least part of today away from everything and everyone to just focus on us."

"I mean, we are away from everything right now, and no one is around." Katie said glancing around the stairwell before turning back to Oliver. "I didn't get to yell at you, given everything that's happened, I don't think I want to yell at you right now."

"Then don't yell, just tell me."

She sighed, "Oliver I've never had any preconceived ideas of how our lives would be. I didn't know how our marriage would be or how taking care of our family would be, I just hoped that whatever happened, would just work itself out at some point." she dropped her eyes. "I didn't like you going to Russia at all. I understood why you felt you had to go, and you were with the team which made it easier to not worry so much, but I still worried. And then Robyn got sick and then I had something else to worry about." she shook her head. "Like I freak when you're hurt badly, but this—this was our baby. Our baby was so sick she needed to be admitted to a hospital." she looked back up to his eyes. "As a doctor, my mind just went to worst places, and I sunk deeper and deeper into that hole the longer I sat in that waiting room. So yes, I was upset that you weren't there to pull me out of that place. I was angry at you for leaving." she let out a sigh,"I just wanted you there. I wanted you to be there holding my hand, and telling me that everything was going to be alright."

"Twinkie, I'm sorry, I promise-" Katie placed a hand over his mouth to stop him from talking.

"Stop apologizing Oliver. I know you're sorry, and I know you would've been here if you could've, but your apology can't change anything that happened. Oliver like I said before, I know you're not going to be there for every moment, I just need you to try your best to be there for the moments that matter."

"I can do that." he pressed his lips to hers. "I will do that."

Later that night while Oliver went to question a Bertinelli thug, Katie sat in the bunker beside Ari who was avoiding her gaze.

"Why are you staring at me?" Ari finally asked turning to Katie. "I'm fine."

"Is that what you're telling yourself?" Katie asked and Ari just rolled her eyes as she turned back to the computer in front of her. "How long have you been working on this? Quentin gave a sketch to the cops and Felicity is using it to run a facial recon." the screen in front of Ari beeped and Katie turned as the image froze. It was the shooter, but the image wasn't from inside of City Hall. It was from outside.

"You were saying?" Ari said as she blew up the image. "I got him!" she called and the team all came over. They looked at the screen.

"Where is this from?" Dinah asked looking at the man standing outside of a van.

"This is from the surveillance camera from the building behind City Hall. It caught him coming out of this van with-" she zoomed in on the plates while type on another monitor. She let out a sigh. "Stolen plates."

"Send that over and I can-" Felicity stopped when she realized that Ari was already initiating the facial recognition software on the image. "Never mind." she leaned over the girl's shoulder. "How could you ever think we didn't need you around here?" Felicity dropped her head against Ari's. "Your place is and will always be here with us, never forget it. Now go, take a break, I'll keep an eye on this."

"I'm fine, I can watch."

"Ari you haven't left this chair since you got here." John said and the girl turned to him. "Go, get your head out of this for a while."

"But-"

"Oh, you thought that was a request?" Katie asked and Ari turned to her. "Up, we're going to get some fresh air in those lungs." Ari sighed before standing to her feet and Katie did the same. She looked back to John. "We're going up to the roof, we'll be back soon." he gave a nod as he watched Katie bring an arm around Ari and pulled her toward the steps that lead up to the roof.

"You know when I was sixteen I was debating on whether to get highlights or not." Dinah said looking at the monitor showing the facial search. "This kid just found the single image of this guy's face and is now running it for a facial match." Dinah said looking over to John. "If she could do that in just a few hours, I can only imagine what she could do as Firelight." John nods.

"We should hit the streets. See if anyone knows this guy." John said and Dinah turned to him and nods.

On the roof, Katie kept her arm around Ari who laid her head against Katie's shoulder. Neither said a word, as they stood letting the wind blow past them.

"One guy with a gun." Ari said breaking the silence. "I could've taken him." Ari shook her head. "I just—I froze and by the time I snapped back, he'd shot so many people."

"You know even when you can do some of the things we can do, we still have moments like everyone else. No one expects to witness something like that and just know how to react every time."

"Well you didn't have that problem. You ran after him."

"Running after him was stupid. I was unarmed and anything could've happened."

"Yeah, but you still did it." Ari said pulling back. "Being a hero means thinking about others before thinking about yourself."

"No being a hero means making the smart move in the right moment. It's not all on the fly action. In a situation like that where lives are in the balance, there needs to be planning, there needs to be a thought process and most importantly you have to be in total control of your emotions. Ari, as much as you want to immerse yourself into this life of a hero, one thing is still true."

"What?"

"You're a sixteen year old girl. There are some things in this world you haven't seen or experienced and one of those things happened today. Your reaction was normal. Your reaction kept you alive, and that is all I care about." Katie walked over to the girl and let out a sigh. "When I couldn't find you, I felt the air leave my lungs." she placed a hand on the girl's cheek. "So you, alive and safe—that's all I care about. Everything else just doesn't matter." she brought her arms around Ari who fell into the embrace without hesitation. "I love you, kid."

"I love you too."

It was a bust. The Bertinelli's weren't behind this. After questioning the Bertinelli thug, Vigilante of all people appeared and gunned him down. The man disappeared and Oliver was about to go after him, but stopped when Felicity informed him that she identified the shooter.

"Well, that's the thing." Felicity said. "He's a 44-year-old systems analyst with no criminal record. He's...Absolutely nobody."

Oliver soon returned to the bunker. When he stepped from the elevator, he found the team including Quentin waiting. He frowned as he looked around for Katie and Ari.

"They're on the roof." John said and Oliver turned to him. "We figure they could use a break. Oliver gave a nod before going to hang up his bow.

"I'll be back." he said and John gave a nod before watching as the man headed for the stairs that lead up to the roof.

When Oliver stepped out on the roof, he found Katie and Ari sitting on the gravel. Katie's arm hung over Ari's shoulder as the girl laid her head on Katie's shoulder. They pulled back and turned to look over to Oliver who walked over to sit beside them, his arm a coming around the other side of Ari's back.

"Any luck?" Ari asked.

"I think so. This wasn't Bertinelli, but Felicity called me. She's ID'd the guy. She was just about to tell the team."

"We should head back down." Ari made to stand, but Oliver tugged her back. "what are you doing?" she shook her head. "You guys wanted me to step away. I did. I stepped away, we talked, we cried and now I'm ready to get back to work." with that Ari stood to her feet and headed back inside.

Oliver let out a sigh before turning to Katie who slid over next to him. He brought his arm around her.

"You should've told her that moment was more about you needing to just sit with her." Katie said placing a kiss to his cheek. He turned to her with a smile before placing a kiss to her lips. Katie hummed against his lips before they pulled apart. "She's right, we should get back in there."

"Can't we just sit here for a few more minutes?" he asked before dropping his lips to hers once more. This time he deepened the kiss. His tongue sweeping inside of her mouth and she moaned in response. One of his hands ended up on her thigh, sliding up until her hand suddenly reached down to stop it. He let out a groan before pulling back. "Fine, we'll go back." he stood to his feet before taking her hands and helping her to stand. "Just so you know I'm adding this roof to the list."

Katie laughed as he brought and arm around her and she dropped her head against his chest.

"You're not thinking about the gravel. It could get painful."

Soon they all either stood or sat as they watched Felicity recount what she'd found on the shooter.

"James Edlund- husband and father of two daughters, ages 9 and 11." Felicity said as she pulled up the image of the man. "Until 16 months ago."

"What happened 16 months ago?" John asked.

"Crosspoint Mall shooting." Felicity said somberly as she pulled up news footage.

"We're coming to you live at the mass shooting at Crosspoint Mall today." they all watched multiple gunmen moving through a mall with their guns. "We must warn our viewers as to the graphic nature of..."

"Edlund lost his whole family." Felicity said. "Online, Edlund was a pretty vocal proponent of the SCGR."

"Oh. What's that?" Dinah asked.

"It's the Star City gun registry." Oliver sighed, his eyes still on the video. "The previous city leadership shot it down. "

"No pun intended." Curtis muttered.

"So city hall doesn't pass a gun law, this guy loses his whole family and takes revenge." Quentin said with a shake of his head.

"Where is he now?" Katie asked over to Felicity.

"That's the thing. After the funeral, he quit his job and his house is in foreclosure. He's between the cracks now."

"Well, I mean, he's somewhere." Oliver sighed in frustration. He turned at footsteps to see Thea.

"Ollie, I ca-I can't hold them off any longer." Thea said. He gave a nod before turning to Quentin.

"Ok, Quentin, we have to make a statement." Quentin nods before Oliver turned to Felicity. "Share the Edlund information with the SCPD, and then we hit the streets and we find this guy." he turned to Katie and Ari. "I'm taking you two home."

"I can help Felicity." Ari said turning to him.

"Hey, trust me, digging yourself too deep in this will take you to a dark place." Dinah said and Ari looked over to her with a quirked brow. "Step away, take a break and then come back and work your Ari magic."

Ari didn't say anything as she looked over to the woman and just shook her head before turning to Oliver.

"It's not up for discussion. You're going." he said and the teen just scoffed before standing to her feet and stalking away. The man looked over to Dinah. "Sorry, she's not normally like this."

"Yes she is." Katie sighed standing to her feet as she looked over to Dinah. "Moody teenagers come with the gig, think you can handle it?"

"I was a moody teenager once, I think I can handle it." she said and Katie just chuckled before turning to Oliver, placing a hand on his chest. "We'll meet you at the elevator."

Oliver wasn't looking forward to the press conference this morning even though he knows he has to do it. When they arrived back to the mansion, he quickly changed. He stepped from the bathroom and found Katie standing near the window.

"I thought you were going to try to get some sleep." he said walking over and sliding his arms around her. She fell back against his chest and hummed in the embrace.

"I don't think I will be able to sleep until this guy is caught." she said. Oliver placed a kiss to the exposed skin of her shoulder. "He's just a guy." she turned in his arms. "A guy who lost his family and needs someone to blame."

"Yeah, and I get that, but those people he shot had nothing to do with that shooting. We just have to find him."

"You will." she said as she leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips.

When Oliver and Thea left, Katie decided to check in on Ari. Katie knocked, but didn't get a response.

"One knock rule, you don't answer and I-" Katie opened the door, stopping at the sight of Ari at her desk looking at something on her computer. "So, what are we hacking into today?" Katie walked around to stand behind Ari to see what she was looking at. It was surveillance footage from inside of the mayor's office showing the shooting. "Why are you watching this again?" Ari didn't say anything and Katie turned to the girl whose eyes were glued to the screen.

"I tried to go to sleep. I closed my eyes, but the minute I did I just-" Ari shook her head and Katie sighed before reaching forward and shutting the screen. "Why can't I stop seeing it?" Ari turned to Katie who let out a sigh. She turned away for a moment before getting an idea.

"You know what, close your eyes." Katie said and Ari looked at her like she was crazy. "Just trust me, close your eyes." Ari sighed, but complied. "Ok, now I want you to imagine your favorite place in the whole wide world."

"You know Nyssa tried to get me to meditate, but it never worked." Ari said and Katie chuckled.

"Don't think about it as meditation." Katie said taking a seat on the edge of Ari's bed as she looked over to her. "So do you have a place in mind?"

Ari sat there quietly for a moment before a slight smile came to her face. "Green Acres. It's this horse farm I would go to when I was little. I would ride the ponies all day. I just remember how perfect it was."

"Alright, I want you to imagine you're in Green Acres, and you're riding one of the ponies and you're just completely at peace." Katie saw the girl let out another sigh. "Whenever the craziness of the world becomes too much, when the dark things in your head is too loud, I want you to imagine Green Acres. I want you to remember this feeling." Ari opened her eyes and looked over to Katie. "Because you have the power to manifest your peace when you concentrate. Always remember that." Katie stood to her feet and placed a kiss to her head. "I'm going to the hospital. I want to check on the rest of the victims. I think most will be able to go home today. Did you want to come with?"

"I should head back to the bunker. See if I can help find this guy's location." Ari said and Katie gave a nod before turning and heading for the door. "Hey Katie?" Katie stopped walking and turned back to the girl. Ari wants to tell her about her mother's parole hearing. She wants to finally come clean and tell her that she actually advocated for her mother's release. For some reason she can't do it. The words just won't come out of her mouth. Ari shakes her head. "Never mind."

"You sure?" Katie asks and the teen just smiles with a nod. "Ok, well if you want to talk, just let me know and I'm all yours."

After taking Ari to the bunker, Katie returned to the hospital and just dove right in. Most of the less critical patients were able to be discharged. That evening Katie stood watch as one of the patients drove away and headed home.

"You know, I think you're an awesome mayor's wife." Christian spoke and Katie laughed as she turned back to him. "No, really, you've done a really good job." he walked over to her. "Have you given any thought to the job offer?"

"You know, I have." Katie said as they walked inside. "I think the timing just isn't right." he turned to her. "There's just a lot happening and with Oliver having such a busy job, I think I should stay home with the kids."

"So, you're choosing stay at home mom over being the SCGH's new medical director?" he asked and Katie stopped walking and looked at him.

"Medical Director? That's your job."

"That is my job, at least for a couple of more months." he said. "I'm finally tossing in the towel with Star City. A friend of mine has a team of doctors that volunteer over in Uganda. I was thinking of going out there and helping out. I've been trying to find a replacement and you're the number one candidate."

Katie looked at him before turning away. She's ashamed to admit that she hadn't even thought about advancing her medical career. She remembers a time when that was all she thought about, but so much had happened. So much was happening. Katie let out a sigh as she walked over to take a seat in the waiting room and Christian sat beside her.

"This would be a great opportunity." Katie said turning to him. "I just don't know how it would fit with a small child and a teenager and a husband that has a near death experience every other week." she turned away. "Medical Director would require a lot of time."

"It would. It requires a lot of persistence, and the ability to stand up against the pressure. It's not an easy job, but there's only one person I know could handle it." he smiled over to her. "Think about it. Really think about it. If you want it, the job is yours." he nudged her arm. "Just think about it."

Katie watched as he stood to his feet and headed down the hall. She turned back around, closing her eyes. Once upon a time, she was a doctor. That's all she wanted to be. She never imagined being a housewife. She never imagined a life that focused on the lives of the people around her more than her own. At some point she just stopped running toward her dream and now it was standing right in front of her and all she had to reach out and grab it.

Ari was annoyed. She paced back and forth behind Felicity. John and Dinah were out questioning thugs for information, while Rene and Curtis were following up on a lead on a support group that Edlund attended.

"I just don't understand why I got stuck here." she said and Felicity looked over to her. "I told you I'm fine."

"Who said you weren't?" Felicity asked and Ari scoffed. "No you're here because I thought we could talk." Ari groaned about to walk away. "You don't have to be alright." Ari stopped and turned to her. "And you don't have to be fine. What happened—what you saw, it's understandable that you'd just wouldn't be ok and that's ok."

Ari sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest and let out a sigh.

Felicity's computer beeped and they both hurried over to answer.

"Felicity?" Curtis spoke.

"Curtis, what do you got?"

"The counselor had an address for Edlund. We're going to check it out."

"Where, I'll meet you." Ari said.

"No you won't." Felicity said. "Curtis, text me that address."

"Um, ok." Curtis said.

"Seriously, why are you keeping me trapped in here?" Ari asked and Felicity spun her chair to the girl and suddenly Ari understood. "Oliver told you that I had to stay here, didn't he?" she scoffed. "And he promised me he'd loosen the reigns."

"You know if I had to guess, I'd assume he didn't factor in you being inside of a building where a crazy person was shooting people." Felicity said and Ari rolled her eyes. "He loves you, you know." Ari turned back to her. "So this one time, cut him a break, and just help me here."

Ari sighed, "Fine, I'll run the address." Ari stalked over to sit in front of one of the computers. Felicity smiled over to the girl before turning back to her own computer.

Soon John and Dinah returned to the bunker getting no where out on the streets. John walked over to Felicity while Dinah decided to throw caution to the wind and went over to sit next to Ari.

"You get anything back on the address?" Dinah asked. Ari glanced over to her with a quirked brow.

"Uh, yeah, I found utility bills still addressed to him so that's where he's staying." Ari said turning back to the computer.

"You know I don't mean to step on anyone's toes by being here." Dinah said and Ari stopped typing. "I'm not here to replace anyone. I'm here to be a part of a team of people who want to keep this city safe, that's it." Ari turned to her. "I was just hoping we could start over you know." she held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Dinah Drake." Ari glanced over to John and Felicity who suddenly turned away as if they weren't watching them.

Ari reached forward and shook the woman's hand. "Arianna Locke."

"Pleasure to finally meet you Ari." Dinah said. "You know I'm told that I could learn a lot from you."

Ari scoffed, "Who told you that?"

"Pretty much everyone." Dinah said. "You're kind of the golden child of the team."

"No, I'm the youngest and often times get treated as if I'm incapable of doing anything. Especially from Oliver."

"Yeah, well dads are like that." Dinah said and Ari turned to her. It was still weird to have someone refer to Oliver as her dad. It was kind of a good weird though. The truth was she knew who her father was, she had wonderful memories of him that she won't ever forget. But over the last year, she'd made new memories. With Oliver and Katie. "What?" Ari shook her head before turning back to the computer.

"Felicity?" Curtis' voice spoke and they all stood and went over to stand behind the blonde.

"Curtis, did you find something?" Felicity asked.

"Yeah, I think we found his next target. We found building plans for Starling General."

"What?" Ari said and they turned to her. "Katie's there." the girl began backing away. "I have to-" John hurried over to her, catching her arm. "What are you doing? I have to warn her."

"Except you don't. Let's call Oliver. See how he wants to handle this." John said and Ari scoffed before turning away only to see Dinah.

"Look I get it, but he's right. If this guy is planning to shoot up a hospital, we have to play this smart and you're smarter than most. Just take a breath, nothing is going to happen to Katie."

Ari shook her head before meeting Dinah's eyes. "Yeah, you better hope it doesn't."

Oliver had realized that he wasn't getting anywhere solving this problem as the Green Arrow. Thea and Quentin both made him realize that right now, this city needed the Mayor. It's why he was revisiting the SCGR and figuring out why it was shot down. He decided to meet with Councilwoman Pollard, the woman who killed the ordinance when it was initially presented. They needed a plan. Something that didn't restrict the rights of the people in the city, but also placed limitations to keep them safe. If the SCGR wasn't that plan, he told the woman that they would sit in that office until they found a better one.

They'd been going back and forth for a while, but they hadn't agreed on anything.

"I am still failing to understand why a simple registry-" Oliver said, but the Councilwoman shook her head.

"Ok, first of all, registries are never simple. They're bureaucracies. Tying up second amendment rights in red tape. You know, and- and it's not just the owners who'll be affected. It's the sellers who are gonna see a substantial decline in their businesses."

"Well, I don't think that it's unrea-" Oliver's phone vibrates and he pulls it from his pocket to see John's number. "Excuse me." Oliver stood to his feet and walked near the door. "Yeah?"

"Rene and Curtis found Edlund's crib and a plan to shoot up Starling General." John said. Oliver felt the blood drain from his face at the words. His thoughts instantly went to his wife. "Oliver, I know Katie-"

"Assemble the team. Tell Lance to bring in the ACU. I'm on my way." Oliver ended the call before turning back to the Councilwoman. "I have to go."

"I thought we were staying till we're done. "

Oliver sighed. "I'm terribly sorry, but I really have to go." he didn't wait for her to say anything as he hurried from the office toward the elevator. He looked down to his phone and dialed Katie's number, but it just rang before going to voice mail. He groaned. "Twinkie, Edlund's next target is Starling General. I need you to get out of there." he ended the call and as he stepped into the elevator he dialed Hank's number.

Katie smiled down to the little boy currently watching some cartoon on her phone. His parents were just finishing up with the doctor before getting their things ready to go home and Katie volunteered to keep their little five year old occupied until they were done. The little boy laughed at something on the cartoon and Katie just chuckled before turning at the sound of the door opening. Out came the boy's parents, his father Hector in a wheel chair as his wife pushes him out. Hector was one of the lucky ones. He wasn't shot, but he was injured during the chaos. He was knocked over, and a few people trampled him, and he fractured his kneecap. One would think months of recovery would put the man in a bad mood, but Katie hadn't seen the man without a smile on his face yet.

"Alright, Javi, time to go." Hector's wife Maria said and the boy jumped to his feet. "Hand Mrs. Queen her phone." the boy dropped his head but turned to Katie and handed her the phone.

"Thanks Javi, it was nice hanging out with you." Katie said taking the phone and standing to her feet. "Please call me if you need anything."

"You've already done so much already." Maria said with a shake of her head.

"Still—what happened was horrible, and I know there's nothing we can do to change it, but I can at least help those who were affected by it." Katie said.

"Well I hope while you're helping others, you find time to try to help yourself. You were there too."

Katie didn't say anything, but smiled and gave the woman a nod. The truth was, that shooting was playing on a loop in her head. Always reminding her of the moment she could've intervened and then didn't. She knew her actions right now stemmed from guilt.

"We should be getting home," Maria said. "You have a good evening Mrs. Queen."

"Please call me Katie-" she said before looking down to Hector. "And you, take it easy, don't rush it. If you give it time you will be good as new. Just be patient."

"You've been talking to my wife haven't you?" he asked and Katie glanced up to Maria and they both laughed. "I promise, I'm going to take it easy. Thank you."

Katie placed a hand on his shoulder before stepping aside so they could head out. She turned and watched them leave before noticing Hank and two guards from his team rushing toward her.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked, but Hank just grabbed her arm and began pulling her.

"We have her." he spoke through his ear piece before turning to Katie. "Mrs. Queen, we need to get you to some place safe."

That's how Katie ended up in an empty patient room pacing back and forth nervously. Hank had told her that Oliver called him to find her and get her some place safe. He thinks the shooter's next target could be this hospital. Katie didn't like sitting and waiting. She stopped pacing and walked over to Hank who stood in front of the door.

"I want to leave-"

"Mrs. Queen-"

"Don't Mrs' Queen me. If this guy is here-"

"He is here, and your husband is currently talking to him." Hank said and Katie suddenly got nervous. If this guy came here to shoot up this hospital, she could only imagine the situation Oliver was in right now. "An ACU team and a few of my guys are currently monitoring the situation."

"I want to leave this room." Katie said again. Right now an ACU team and some guards weren't enough to soothe her concern for her husband.

"I've been ordered to keep you safe, and that's what I need to do until the situation has been deescalated and it is safe to leave this room."

"Ordered by my husband?"

"Yes."

"Who is your boss?"

Hank looked over to her in confusion. "Yes."

"But I'm your boss too, right? So if I order you to move and let me out of this room—"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Queen. My job is to keep you safe. I can not let you leave this room." he said and Katie looked at him for a moment. The truth was, she could get past him and get out of this room if she wanted to. And if she had just an inkling that Oliver was in serious trouble, she would, but that would open a can of worms she didn't want to deal with. "Mrs. Queen-"

"Good to know whose orders you follow, Hank." she said before turning and returning to her nervous pace.

Oliver was nervous. He wasn't used to this. Here standing as none other than Mayor Oliver Queen in front of the man holding a gun. He's used to being the guy under the hood in such situations. Right now he was unarmed and hoped he could get through to this man. He was just a guy, a father and husband who lost his family.

The ACU team had shown up at both ends of the hall, their guns drawn. Oliver held up his hands to signal them to hold their fire.

"Mr. Edlund..." Oliver said glancing between the man and the hand gun he had aimed at him. " I-I checked. The man who killed your family, he acquired those guns illegally." Oliver took slow steps toward the man. "There's nothing that we could have done. No registry would have helped us protect them."

"I know." James grit through his teeth. Oliver noticed the shake of his hand holding the gun. "I was supposed to protect them. Isn't that a man's job to protect his family? Isn't that why we have guns? My wife and daughters were innocent!"

"Mr. Edlund, I get it. I really do. I have a wife, and I have daughters and if I ever lost them-" Oliver shook his head not even wanting to imagine such a scenario. "I can understand why you're angry."

"We're all angry! We're all so angry all the time. So why shouldn't I use this? Why shouldn't I kill everyone, put us all out of our damn misery."

"Mr. Edlund, that's not your call to make." Oliver replied. "Yeah. I'm-I mean, people are angry, and-and we're hurting, and we're lashing out. And I can understand that it feels like it's-it's getting worse every day. But what you're doing is not the answer." Oliver let out a deep breath. "The people that you hurt, the 7 people that are dead... My friend, they were innocent, too."

James drops his head and lets out a sob as he truly thinks about what he's done. "You're right. And I deserve to be punished." James suddenly put the gun to his head.

"Hey, hey, hey." Oliver said holding up his hand as he took another cautious step forward. "Look, James, you got to think about your wife and your daughters."

"I am thinking about them."

"I know that you want this pain to go away. And I know that you want to be with your family again, but if you want them to live on, it has to be through you. That's the only way. James." Oliver took a final step, now standing right in front of the man with his hand held out. "Give me the gun. Please?" James let out a sigh before placing the gun in Oliver's hand. Oliver took a step back and watched as the ACU team rushed over and pinned the man to the floor to handcuff him.

It felt like they'd been in the room forever before Hank got the report that the suspect had been apprehended and was in ACU custody.

"Good news, Mrs. Queen, they got him." he announced, but she didn't stop pacing. "Mrs. Queen-" she finally stopped and let out a sigh before turning to him. "We can leave now." she didn't say anything as she walked toward the door and he stepped aside to pull it open for her. "Mrs. Queen—really I was just doing my job."

"I know Hank." she sighed as she looked over to him. "You were just doing what you were told." she stepped out of the room and headed down the hall, and she stopped when she noticed the two other men from his team. She kept walking as she heard their steps behind her and she just let out a sigh.

After Oliver handed over James' gun to the SCPD and gave his statement, he went in search of his wife who he heard was not happy right now. He walked down the hall to see Hank and two other guards standing outside of the doctor's lounge.

"Hey, she in there?" Oliver asked and Hank gave a nod.

"Uh, yes sir—uh she asked us to wait outside, and given that the suspect is now in custody and that she wasn't very happy with keeping her locked down until it was safe, I figured it was fine. I secured the room before she went inside." Oliver gave a nod before heading to the door. "Uh sir-" Oliver stopped and turned to the man. "She ordered me to move and to let her out of the room and I refused." Oliver placed a hand on Hank's arm.

"Thank you Hank. I'll talk to her." Oliver said before turning and heading inside of the room. He walked inside to find Katie sitting at a table, her eyes on the television.

"We're being told that Mayor Queen, stood toe to toe with the assailant, and though the shooter had a gun aimed toward him, it didn't deter him at all. The whole ordeal ended without bloodshed, or any injuries thanks to Mayor Queen. I'm sure this city will sleep a little better at night knowing this guy is behind bars."

Katie picked up the remote and turned off the television.

"Looks like Mayor Queen is a hero." Katie said, not turning to face him.

"Twinkie-" Oliver walked over to take a seat beside her, but she abruptly stood to her feet and walked over to one of the lockers and pulled it open. "I called you—I left you messages, but you didn't answer." She didn't say anything as she pulled out her jacket and bag. "I needed to know you were safe." she slammed the locker shut and turned to him.

"You needed to know I was safe while you went after the guy who held a gun in your face!" she snapped. "You had your guards—and I call them your guards because when my order clashes with your order, they choose to follow what you tell them. And you told them to grab me and lock me in a room while you went looking for a guy with a gun." she moved to leave but Oliver moved to block her. She groaned before turning and walking away from him.

"I needed to know you were safe." Oliver said again and Katie scoffed. "Look I know it was stupid, but I had to do something. I knew I could get through to this guy-"

"No, you didn't know anything!" she said turning back to him. "That man was unpredictable, no wife, no kids, and nothing to lose. You could've died! So while I get to be all safe in my little hospital room prison, I don't get to know you're safe." she once again tried to leave, but he moved to block her and she gave him a shove. "You're such an idiot." she shoved him again. "What if he would've shot you, huh?!" she shoved him again. "I could've watched your back! I would've made sure you made it out because that's what I do!" she made to shove him again, but he caught her arms and pulled her into an embrace. "What if you would've died?" Oliver felt her tears through his shirt and he tightened his embrace around her.

"I'm sorry, Twinkie, I'm so-" he placed kiss to her head. "I'm sorry." she didn't say anything, and she didn't return the hug as she kept her head to his chest. "Twinkie, I'm-"

"You're sorry." she said lifting her head from his chest. "I know." she wiped her eyes with her hand before going back over to the locker and grabbing her bag. "It's just that I'm pretty sure that if you had to do it again, you would-" she turned back to him. She shook her head before heading for the door.

"You know yesterday, when I was in City Hall, before the shooting, I'd just made my sister angry with me." Oliver said. Katie stopped and let out a sigh. "Because I'd just told her that after I'd been gone for a week, that instead of taking the day to catch up on what I missed, I was was going to leave early to spend the rest of the day with my wife." she turned back to him as she dropped her back against the door. "She was upset and I knew she was upset, but I made a choice, and I chose you."

"And you standing in front of that gun, was that you choosing me too?"

"Actually it was." Oliver said walking over to her. "Because something happened. That same thing happened yesterday. A man with a gun was in the same building with someone I loved. Yesterday-" Oliver shook his head. "When I didn't know where you were. When I didn't know where Ari was. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think, I couldn't-" Oliver swallowed the lump in his throat as he fell into the memory of that moment. "You know James said something to me. He said he was supposed to protect his family. That it was a man's job to protect his family." Oliver placed his hands on the side of her face. "When I found out that he was coming to this hospital, you were my first thought. I didn't care about anything else, beside making sure you were safe. I would step in front of a hundred guns to make sure none of them were aimed at you. Before anything else, before the mayor, before the Green Arrow, I am your husband and I am a father, and I will do absolutely anything to keep you and our family safe." A tear fell down her cheek and Oliver reached up and wiped it away with his thumb. "I won't apologize for that. What I will apologize for is worrying you because I know how it feels when you don't know if the person you love is alright and it doesn't feel good."

Katie closed her eyes and let out a sigh. Oliver placed a kiss to her head and gently placed his forehead against hers. They just stood like that for a few moments longer as they let the nerves and anxiousness from the day just fall away.

"My next husband is going to have a really safe job. Like a tax accountant or something." Katie suddenly said breaking the silence, and Oliver couldn't help but to laugh. He lifted his head and looked over to her as she placed a and on his cheek. "I love you, but I think you should know that the next time you order your guards to lock me in a room to keep me safe, it won't end pleasantly for anyone. How this works—how this marriage works, I watch your back, you watch mine and we make sure the other gets home safe." she leaned forward to place a kiss to his lips. "It's just not only your job to keep us safe. It's mine too. Now lets go get our children and go home."

That night after picking up Robyn, they headed to the bunker to pick up Ari. They stayed a little longer than anticipated when Oliver and Rene began talking about a gun control ordinance. Oliver and Rene were able to put together a plan they think would work for both sides of the gun ownership debate.

When they finally got home, while everyone else all got ready for bed, Oliver spent most of the night making sure this plan was all typed and ready to be presented to Councilwoman Pollard in the morning. The moment he hung up the phone and verified he had no one else to call, Oliver slid a hand over his tired eyes before heading upstairs to get to bed. In route to their bedroom, he stopped inside of the nursery, walking over to the crib only to find that his daughter wasn't there. He quirked a brow and lifted his head with a sigh. He assumes she's sleeping with them tonight. His next stop is to Ari's room, and so he knocks on her door, but he doesn't get an answer. He furrows a brow, figuring she's sleeping, but when he opens the door and walks inside, her bed is empty. When Oliver steps from her room he continues down the hall, and pushes open the door to their bedroom to find Katie, Robyn, Ari and even Harriet all asleep in their bed. Katie slept in the middle with Ari on her right and Robyn on her left. Oliver can't help the smile that comes to his face as he walks over to the other end of the bed, and looks down to the dog whose curled up against's Robyn's side.

"Out the bed Harriet." he whispers but the dog doesn't even stir. "Harry, down." the dog's eyes flutter a bit before letting out a huff. Instead of getting out of the bed, she simply walks down to the end of the bed where she drops backs down to sleep. Oliver sighs as he shakes his head before lying down on the bed. He glances over and looks at his family once more before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

The next day, Oliver had gotten the councilwoman to agree to their plan, but not without a promise that her signature came with a political price that he didn't want to think about. He had a plan he hoped would help the city feel safe. That night they held a vigil for the victims of the shooting. Behind him stood Quentin, Rene, Thea, Adrian and Councilwoman Pollard along with the Chief of Police. Right beside him, stood Katie and Ari.

"Uh, this afternoon, councilwoman Pollard and I met with the city council to pass the Star City Firearms Freedom Act, a policy that respects our freedom... And our lives." Oliver said as he looked to the eyes of the city on him. "It shows that we can do both. And now we just have to be brave enough to do it."

After the vigil, people still lingered as they paid their respects, leaving flowers or messages with the photos of the victims. Katie and Ari walked along to sign some as well before they all headed inside. Katie stayed at Ari's side as they stood in the elevator, the girl trying to hide her nervousness at being back inside of City Hall. When the doors opened, Ari looked up and spotted Adam at the end of the hall, and turned to Katie.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom."

"Did you want me to come with you?" Katie asked and Ari shook her head.

"I'm fine, I don't need a chaperone to the bathroom." Ari pulled away. "I'll meet you back in Oliver's office."

Katie just gave a nod before she headed toward Oliver's office, glancing once again down the hall toward Ari. She watched as the teen seemed to stop to speak to a guy at the end of the hall before glancing over to see her staring. Ari said something before turning and continuing down the hall. Katie stood there with a furrowed brow before turning to Oliver's office about to just walk in, but she stops herself. She suddenly remembers he's the Mayor, and he could possibly be in some sort of meeting at the moment. She lets out a sigh, before walking over and taking a seat in the waiting area. She pulls out her phone to send him a text.

Me: Hey, I'm outside of your office. Wasn't sure if you were in a meeting or not and didn't want to interrupt.

Liver: …

Not event a minute later Oliver's door opens and the man appears, his eyes going to her before walking over.

"I'm not in a meeting. I mean not really, I was just talking with Thea and Quentin and Rene-" he took her hand. "You can come in." Oliver was pulling her inside before she could say anything. "Where's Ari?"

"Bathroom." Katie said before waving to the others and turning to Oliver. "And if this a mayor meeting I can wait outside. I don't want to hear city secrets or whatever."

"What kind of meetings do you think we have?" Quentin asked as he chuckled.

"Honestly, I imagine conversations about Area 51 and a secondary location here in Star City." she said and they all just looked at her and she just lifted her hands. "Like I said, I don't want to know."

"And on that note, I'm going to head home." Quentin said walking toward the door. "And I'll uh, fax those secret documents about that special project x. I just need to know where you want us to store the little green men and-" Katie swat his arm on his way out and the man just continued laughing.

"I should be heading out too." Rene said.

"Hey, thanks for your help Rene." Oliver said and Rene glanced over to him and just gave a nod.

"No problem man. I'm just glad I could help."

"Me too."

Rene headed for the door, but stopped at Katie's question to Oliver.

"I should go check on Ari." Katie sighed. "Or she may have stopped and talked to her friend."

"What friend?" Oliver and Rene asked as they looked over to Katie. Katie looked between the two men in confusion.

"Uh, um, I don't know, just a guy I saw her talking to before she went to the bathroom." Katie said.

Without another word, Oliver stalked out of his office, and glanced down the hall, and sure enough he spotted Ari talking with that guy she was with at the press conference a couple of weeks ago.

"That's the guy." Rene said appearing at Oliver's side. Oliver turned to him. "I saw her talking with him a couple of weeks ago, she said they were just friends but don't know—it just something was off about the whole thing."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Oliver asked and Rene just sighed with a shrug of his shoulders. Oliver scoffed about to head down that hall, but Katie rushed out to grab his arm.

"Oh no you don't. Where are you going?"

"I was just going to grab Ari so we could go home." Oliver said as he tugged from Katie's grasp.

"Why don't I believe you?" she asked and Oliver just backed away. "Liver, don't do or say anything that's going to put you in the Ari dog house. Just don't go over there at all."

"I don't know him, but she does, so now I need to know him." Oliver replied before turning and heading down the hall toward Ari and Adam.

Thea walked over beside Katie as she watched her brother.

"I have no idea what's about to happen right now." Katie said before turning to Thea who suddenly got nervous.

Ari felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and so she turned and instantly froze at the sight of Oliver walking toward them. She gasped before turning back to Adam.

"Walk away." She whispered to him and he looked over to her in confusion. "Actually like run. Quick." He furrowed his brow before lifting his eyes surprised to see Oliver.

"Mr. Mayor, uh hi, it's nice to meet you." Adam said with a smile as he lifted his hand.

Oliver looked over to Ari who was visibly nervous before turning to Adam. Right now he didn't know enough to just hit this guy, and so he decided to figure out what was going on first. And so Oliver shook his hand with a smile.

"Nice to meet you too, uh—"

"Oh, Adam sir, Adam Becker."

"Nice to meet you Adam. I don't believe we've met." Oliver said. "Which department do you work in?"

"Legal. I'm one of the new legal aids. I came in for the vigil and thought I'd catch up on some paperwork we needed to get drawn up." he said with a smile.

"Huh? Legal, that's a couple of floors below us, on the other side of City Hall. How'd you end up over here?"

"He was lost!" Ari suddenly said and they both turned to her. "Yeah, he's still learning the layout and ended up all the way over here and asked for directions back to his department." she smiled with a nod before turning to Adam who looked at her in confusion.

He could tell from the look in her eyes that she wanted him to just corroborate the story, even though he's not even completely sure why she lied. He saw her at the vigil after not seeing her since the day of the shooting. He wanted to see how she was doing. He just gave a nod before turning back to Oliver.

"Uh, yeah, I was lost and she was just giving me directions." Adam said before pointing down the hall. "I should get back." he glanced back over to Ari before turning to Oliver. "It was nice meeting you sir."

"You too Adam." Oliver said before they watched the man head off down the hall. Once he was out of sight, Oliver turned to Ari who just avoided his gaze.

"So we ready to go?" she asked before hurrying away from him.

"Stop walking Arianna." Oliver said and Ari stopped with a sigh before turning back to him. "How do you know Adam?"

"I don't. I just told you that he asked for directions when he was lost." she replied.

Oliver slid a hand over his face. "Rene told me he saw you two a couple of weeks ago." Ari looked up to him before turning back to see Rene, Katie and Thea standing at the end of the hall looking over to them. She glared at Rene who just held up his hands before turning and walking off toward the elevator. "I'm going to choose to ignore that lie and ask you again. How do you know Adam?"

"He's just a friend." Ari said turning back to Oliver. "I met him around the time I first started and since, we just talk when we pass each other in the hallway."

"Why didn't you just say that instead of lying?"

"Because you're turning this into something it isn't."

"Oh Ari, you better hope that this isn't something." Oliver said taking a step toward her. "There's no logical reason a guy that age should be friends with a sixteen year old girl."

"And yet you don't have a problem with me being friends with Rene, Curtis, Rory, or John."

"That's different and you know it. I know all them—Adam, I don't know him. All I know is he's a grown adult man who likes to hang out with teenage girls. So if you're going to choose to continue to be friends with him, then I think I should be friends with him too. You know, just to get to know him."

Ari just huffed before turning and stalking down the hall.

That night, Ari somehow got swindled into a sleepover with Thea. Some random romantic comedy was playing while Thea painted Ari's toes and Ari painted Robyn's.

"This movie is ridiculous." Ari said glancing over to the screen watching as the male lead continues to be oblivious that his best friend is in love with him.

"I don't know, it kind of reminds me of Katie and Oliver." Thea laughed as she looked over to the teen who turned to her. "I swear growing up with those two-" she just shook her head. "He liked her, she liked him, both were too scared to tell each other so they just ignored their feelings until they couldn't anymore."

Ari just shook her head before turning back to Robyn who was squirming so the polish was getting smeared.

"You have to keep still Stinker." Ari said and Robyn just laughed. "I'm pretty sure your dad is going to kill me for painting your toes."

"He's definitely going to have another nervous breakdown." Thea said and they both laughed. The room fell into silence once again as the sound from the movie filled the room. "Hey Ari-" Ari turned to her. "I've been meaning to ask, your internship—if you wanted to drop out, it would totally understandable. After everything that happened-"

"Is this you asking, or did Oliver ask you to ask me?" Ari said and Thea sighed. "He just doesn't let up, does he?"

"On the people that he loves, no, he doesn't." Thea said and Ari looked over her. "And he loves you, so if you're not comfortable returning after the shooting, then he's not going to make you. He actually said that he'll let you decide how you want to spend your time outside of school and team, but you just have to find something. How did he put it, uh he said you had so much to offer the world, he just wants to help you figure out how."

Ari dropped her eyes back to the child's feet as she thought about it. Being in City Hall today did make her nervous, and anxious, but she doesn't want those feelings to drive her away.

"No." Ari said before turning to Thea. "I'm good. I'll stay on as an intern."

Thea smiled as she gave a nod. "Ok.

There was a knock at the door and they turned to see Katie walk in with a smile.

"I know, no parents allowed, but I got jealous I wasn't invited." Katie said walking over to see the smeared polish on Robyn's feet.

"Don't worry, it's all baby safe." Ari said and Katie turned to her. "She just has to sit still long enough for me to finish." Katie glanced over to other side of the bed to see the bowl of popcorn and candy wrappers.

"You didn't give her candy, did you?" Katie asked and Ari looked away and Katie just laughed. "Oh, you and auntie Thea are going to have so much fun with the sugar baby." she glanced out into the hall. "I should go find my disappearing husband. You guys haven't seen him, have you?"

"I think he said something about making amends with the final member of the I hate Oliver club as he put it." Thea laughed and Katie turned away in confusion before it suddenly clicked and she laughed as well.

"I better go make sure she hasn't eaten him or something." Katie said as she heads back out in to the hall.

Downstairs Katie felt the breeze and followed it to the back door that was open. She stepped outside, but she didn't see Oliver or Harry. She walked out further, glancing around the beautifully lit grounds. Katie noticed that there were lights on inside of the pool house. A smile came to her face as she decided to trek on over. The backyard of the mansion was like the equivalent to a small park. She walked past the large empty pool—they were still debating on if they should have it filled or not. They were still holding out hope that this move was temporary and that once they catch Prometheus, they can finally go back home.

As she neared the pool house, Harriet suddenly ran from inside, coming straight to Katie.

"Hey girl." Katie said reaching down to scratch the dog's head. "What's going on?"

"Harry, where did you-" Oliver came out of the pool house, stopping when he saw Katie standing there with Harriet. "You're not supposed to be here yet." Katie looked over to him with a furrowed brow. "I just meant, I was going to get you once I was done." Katie walked over to him.

"Done with what, exactly?" Katie asked before peeking around him to look inside, but he moved to block her.

"I'm not done yet, just—wait out here for one second." he said before placing a kiss to her lips.

"I don't like surprises Oliver." she whined and he just laughed.

"You're going to like this one. Just wait." he said before hurrying inside and closing the door.

Katie just shook her head before looking down to Harriet.

"What did he do, Harry girl?" she asks as she scratched the dog's head again.

When Oliver finally stepped back outside, he didn't see Katie. He looked around, before walking over and spotting her asleep in one of the pool chairs. He chuckled before he walked over and carefully slid his hands underneath her back and legs and hiked her into his arms. She stirred awake, lifting her head and turned to Oliver.

"Did I fall asleep?"

"You did." he replied. "I'm glad you're awake though. So honest opinions only." he carried her inside of the pool house. "What do you think?" Katie smiled as she turned to look around the room filled with lit candles all around the room. There's champagne chilling in an ice bucket across the room, and a blanket and pillows set up beautifully near the roaring fireplace.

"I think you may get lucky tonight Mr. Mayor." she smiled as she turned and brought her arms around his neck. She leaned in bringing her lips to his, this kiss starting off slow but soon gained momentum as Oliver carried her over to the blankets and gently lowered her to the floor, while never taking his lips from hers.

The sound of jingling caught their attention and they pulled apart to see Harriet come over to drop on the blanket in front of the fire too.

"Harriet, go back to the house." Oliver ordered but the dog just lied there, and Katie couldn't help but to laugh. "Harry, we talked about this. I thought we had an understanding." Oliver let out a frustrated huff before turning back to Katie. "I'm going to take her back to the house, and then I'll be right back. Don't fall asleep." he placed a lingering kiss to her lips before letting out a groan as he pulled away to stand to his feet. "Let's go Harry!"

The dog looked over to Oliver, assuming they were about to go play and jumped to her feet to follow after him.

"Hurry back Liver, or I may start without you!" he heard Katie call and he glanced back before turning to Harry. The walk back to the house was entirely way too far.

"Alright Harry, I know you and me aren't best friends yet, but we're getting there. I promise to get you all the doggy treats you want if you please, just go back to the house." Oliver said. The dog just stood there looking at him and he let out a sigh before realizing he really was going to have to walk her all the way to the house. He took a single step, and before he knew it the dog shot off across the yard. He stood there and watched as she ran back toward the house all on her own. One of the guards was patrolling the area so when the dog ran inside the house, he closed the door behind her. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." Oliver muttered before turning and hurrying back to the pool house, stripping off his shirt before he got inside and slammed the door closed behind him.

---

Author's Note:

Another chap done!

Review Replies:

hunter41963801: It is Jacob. And the fact that he bit the bullet and came back from the dead publicly is big. I wouldn't call him evil, but he's not completely good. He's a big secrets guy, never showing his hand, always making moves in the background. Even revealing himself to be alive was a chess move.

Adela: Me too!

As always, special thanks and hugs to everyone sticking out this story with me. It's definitely going longer than the others, so I appreciate everyone willing to see this through to the end.

Sneak Peek

The door opened and in walked Susan Williams.

"Oh good, you're alone." the woman said walking in and closing the door behind her.

"Uh, is everything alright?" Katie asked as the woman walked over to her. "Oliver just stepped out."

"I know, I saw him leave and figured this was the only time I'd get a moment alone with you." the woman replied, and Katie stood still unsure what this was about. "I was working on another story and I-" the woman dropped her eyes for a moment. "I don't know how to explain it, but I guess I stumbled upon a theory I'm not quite sure how to even-" she looked up to meet Katie's eyes and just let out a deep breath. "I'm just going to come out and ask. Is the Mayor the Green Arrow?"

Katie made sure to not bat an eye at the question even though she felt her heart drop to her stomach.