Chapter 35
The Conversation
"Marriage is an attempt to solve problems together which you didn't even have when you were on your own."
-Eddie Cantor
It was a strange hallway. Oliver stood, his eyes glancing back before turning back forward trying to figure out where the hell he was. He began walking, his footstep echoing around him. He suddenly stopped at the sudden sound laughing from up ahead. He only took a few steps more before appearing in front of a door. He looked at the number on the door before glancing around once again. Was he in a hospital?
Oliver's eyes snapped open. Pain was the first signal to his brain. He suddenly remembers the moments before opening his eyes and he quickly sat up.
"Twinkie?" he frantically looked around. When he spotted her laying on the floor, he stood to his feet and rushed over to her, dropping to her side. "Hey, Katie?" he placed a hand to her cheek leaning in and dropping his ear to her chest. Her heart was beating. He lifted his head up. "Katie, open your eyes." Katie groaned, turning her head and cracking open her eyes. "That's it, hey, look at me." she brought her eyes to Oliver who let out a sigh of relief.
"What happened?" she glanced around. "Is Chase here?"
Oliver suddenly remembered what they saw on the computer, and he turned once again letting his eyes scan the bunker. He spotted a gun on the floor and grabbed it before turning to Katie who was sitting up.
"Stay here." he said before standing to his feet and searching the bunker.
Katie slid a hand over the back of her head before standing to her feet. She let her eyes move around the bunker, now realizing how dark it was. She took a step, but stopped at the sudden dizzy feeling. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath before opening her eyes. They needed lights.
She found the chemlights in the drawer near the weapons cabinet, turning it on and shining it around the bunker. She began walking around, holding up the light, but she didn't see anything. She slid a hand over the back of her head once again, then looked down to her fingers to see blood. She let out a nervous breath before walking over to take a seat.
After a few minutes, Oliver walked back over. "No sign of Chase." he glanced around. "What the hell even was that? It seemed like an explosion, but there's isn't much damage."
"Maybe it was an EMP." Katie said and he turned to her. "A burst of electromagnetic radiation." she glanced around. "That would explain why all the power is out." she turned to meet Oliver's gaze. "And you're wondering how I know that?"
"It's one of many questions."
She chuckled. "I saw soldiers use them in Bosnia." she glanced around the bunker. "But if he really knocked out the power, how the hell are we getting out of here." she turned to Oliver.
"Elevator and security doors are offline."
"Emergency exit, or the roof?"
"Welded shut."
Katie turned away and slid her hands over her face as she tried to think of something else.
"The air vents are gonna go out too." she sighed.
"The air vents are going to last a little while longer, but yeah, we got to get a message out."
Katie glanced over to him. "Other than yelling really loudly at the doors, I don't see how that's possible." she turned away. "We're trapped."
Oliver turned away, his mind trying to piece together a plan. And suddenly he had one. "I have an idea." Katie turned to him with a quirked brow before watching him walk off.
His idea, shooting explosive arrows at the door on the level above them. After the first couple of unsuccessful hits, Katie wasn't sure this was going to work, but Oliver didn't seem to want to give up that easy. After a few more, he stopped.
"How many does that make?"
"Eleven. Hasn't made a dent yet." Oliver headed down the steps from the door.
"What's that thing made of anyway?"
"Keltium. It's a proprietary alloy developed by the U. S. government to repel nuclear blasts."
Katie looked over to Oliver with a quirked brow. "So you're saying even if we had a nuke down here, it wouldn't work?" she shook her head. "Seems like Cisco did such a good job of turning this place into an impenetrable fortress, he turned it into an impenetrable death trap."
"Chase doesn't want to kill me, remember?"
"No, but I'm thinking that if he wants to trap you in here, it probably means he doesn't want you out there." she shook her head. "But why? There's not much more he could do. Going after Curtis, Quentin, Evelyn." she turned to Oliver. "Thea is away. Lyla and JJ have ARGUS protection." she paused for a moment.
"Robyn?" Oliver turned once again trying to find another way out.
"Wait, no, that—Oliver." Oliver stopped and turned back to her. "There are guards at the house, plus—I think my father may have a detail." Oliver slightly frowned. "Yeah, I know, but right now, with us down here, I'm fine with whoever is out there protecting my daughter. He's not stupid enough to try that." she turned away. "Wait, Ari?" she turned back to Oliver.
"Or...William."
Katie looked at him for a moment with a shake of her head. William wasn't a topic they discussed all that often. "William is in a different town with a different name, and different address. I mean, how would he even know about William?"
"When he was holding me captive—he showed me a picture of William."
"What?" Katie sat up a bit. "Does he–"
"He doesn't know where he is, yet." Oliver said before glancing around once again. "We need to get out of here."
Katie turned away, when she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, um, I think I remember Felicity putting Cisco's original blueprints in that drawer." Oliver put down his bow and went over to the drawer. Katie stood to her feet, instantly grabbing the back of the chair, suddenly feeling dizzy. She blinked through it and took another deep breath before going over to Oliver who unfolded the blueprints on the table.
"I can get us out of here by climbing the elevator shaft." he said pointing to the spot on the blueprints.
"That seems like an obvious escape plan." Katie replied and Oliver turned to her. "Like the sort of thing Adrian would've anticipated. We should figure out a less obvious way. Something he wouldn't have thought of."
"The power is out, and there's no way to get a message out to anyone. Right now, this is our only option."
"Well it's the only option because we haven't stopped to think of another one." Katie pointed to the blueprints. "Oliver, Adrian Chase has almost certainly booby trapped that elevator shaft."
"I can handle it." he turned and glanced over to the elevator.
"Did your crystal ball tell you that?" she asked in frustration. "Liver–"
"Twinkie." he turned back to her. "You want to find another way out here, fine, do it. I'm going to climb up the elevator shaft." Katie clenched her jaw and turned away. "Twinkie—"
"This." she shook her head before turning back to him. "This is what I was talking about. Me, standing right here, telling you that a situation is too dangerous. Telling you that you need to stop and think it through and not just act, and then you proceeding to do it any way." Oliver didn't say anything.
"Katie, this feels like the best choice, right now." he doesn't say anything else before turning and heading off.
Katie found herself back in that chair while Oliver attempted another escape plan she knew wasn't going to work. Her head was killing her. She's almost positive, she's going to pass out at some point. She just needs to stay conscious, to make sure Oliver doesn't get himself killed. When she heard an explosion, she turned and jumped to her feet. Oliver let out a groan and she hurried over to him. He was lying on the floor, but had fallen on a large, steel screw to his leg.
That led Oliver to the medical area, his pants down to his ankles as Katie tended to his wounded leg. She hadn't said anything, even though he knows she wants to say I told you so. But he knew she wouldn't. I told you so's didn't help get them out of there. He let out a groan as she cleaned the wound, the painkillers weren't working quick enough. A part of him thinks she was taking pleasure in this.
"Say something." Oliver groaned, looking over to Katie who cut her eyes over to him before turning back to his leg without a word. "You were right, and I was wrong. I should've listened to you." this time she didn't even meet his eyes. "Twinkie, I heard you, really I did. I knew there was a chance Adrian could've set some sort of trap, but I weighed our options. Do nothing and suffocate or do something and possibly get out of here." She tightened the bandage around his leg and Oliver turned around and groaned at the pain. When she was done she pushed the chair back and stood to her feet. Oliver turned to see her walking away, so he reached down to pull up his pants before going after her. "Twinkie–" he grabbed her arm, but she pulled away from him. "I'm sorry." she scoffed, once again turning away, but he grabbed her arm. "Twinkie, just—you can't walk away."
"Seriously?" she turned to face him. "That's the argument you want to use? Kind of hypocritical, don't you think?" she walked back over to take a seat, dropping her head to her hands.
"Katie, I don't know how many times I can apologize." Oliver limped over, dropping to the seat beside her. "But I will apologize as many time as need until you believe that I really regret that decision." he shook his head. "I thought it was the only way to keep you and Robyn safe."
Katie scoffed before looking over to him. "When did you stop believing that you and me could keep her safe?" she turned away, letting out a deep breath. "We have to figure out another way out of here."
"Without any electricity, I don't see how that happens." he looked over to Katie who turned away slightly. "What?"
"I have an idea." she turned back to Oliver. "You're not going to like it."
Oliver didn't like it. He followed behind Katie to the bunker's power mainframe.
"I don't like this." Oliver said again to Katie who just ignored him as she walked over to the power bank. "Twinkie."
Katie let out a sigh before turning to Oliver. "You don't trust the powers, I get it."
"It's not that I don't trust them, it's the fact that every time you use them, they hurt you. It's dangerous."
"Well I'm weighing the options, and we can either sit and do nothing or yada yada, whatever you said earlier." she turned away to look at the power bank. "We need to get power to this."
"Electrical power that is not there."
"That's not entirely true." she nudged her head behind him and he turned to look down to his old motorcycle. "If I remember correctly from AP Physics, that bike and it's combustible engine can be our ticket out of here."
"So, we can generate electricity without an electric starter." he turned to the bike. "That's smart."
"Yeah, well it happens from time to time." Katie said walking over to the bike before glancing over to Oliver. "But apparently you just hear what I say and choose to do the opposite." She took off the back pack and dropped it to the floor before pulling out the jumper cables.
"Twinkie?" Katie let out a sigh before turning back to Oliver. "Can you do this without getting hurt?"
"Yeah, well I have had a few lessons." she stood to her feet and turned to him. "When Adrian took you and we couldn't figure out where you were, I called Zatanna, and she and Constantine showed up to give me a quick lesson in mystics."
"I didn't know that."
"You wouldn't. You came back and decided to push everyone away." she turned back to the bike. "They gave me a couple of tips on how I need to use them and it was working." she glanced over to Oliver. "I found you. Kind of. I didn't know where you were, but I could see you, and I saw Chase and Evelyn. He faked her death to break you." Oliver looked at her for a moment. Up until this point, he assumed only he, Adrian and Evelyn knew what happened in that cage. She turned away back to the bike before clamping on the jumper cables.
"What else did you see?"
"Bits and pieces." she shook her head. "As it turns out, I'd been dreaming about the whole thing while you were gone, but I just assumed it was just a twisted nightmare." she glanced over to him. "I saw the things he did to you, but I couldn't–" she shook her head. "I forced myself to wake up, and I don't think I've had a good night's sleep since."
"That makes two of us." Oliver replied and Katie glanced over to him before clearing her throat and grabbing the other ends of the jumper cables and bringing them over to the power bank and clamping them on. "Now what?"
"Crank the engine." Katie nudges her head toward the bike. Oliver hesitates for a moment, before going over and grabbing the handles of the bike.
When he cranked the engine he turned to Katie who nods. He watches as she grabs the wires of the cables, a look of concentration on her face. She closes her eyes, and he gasps a bit when he sees the light from her hands. He doesn't think he will ever get used to the sight. After a moment she opens her eyes and releases the cables before turning to the power bank.
"And now we wait." she says glancing over to Oliver who is still watching her closely. She turns back to the power bank before moving to sit on the edge of one of the weapons container.
Oliver found a place to sit as well, his eyes still on Katie watching for any sign of pain, but he didn't see it. He determined she either really did have control of the power, or she was doing a really good job of hiding her pain.
The silence was killing him, and he's not sure when they'd ever have an opportunity like this. The two of them forced together.
"Twinkie?" she turned to him. "My life has become me having to make choices all the time. What I choose can determine the safety of this city or my team." he let out a sigh. "Those choices are not always the safe route, I know, but I know how to navigate the dangerous situations. I need you to trust that."
"I just need you to trust me." Katie shrugged. "You don't have to go into these dangerous situations, Oliver. There are alternatives. Sometimes, you're just impulsive, and you get to a point where you believe that the dangerous route is the best choice. For example, that hole in your leg I just cleaned." she rolled her eyes before turning away. "You think you're the one who has to make these choices, but when we got married, you made the promise that we would make some of them together." she glanced back over to him. "You're too used to being the boss, the man in charge that listening to anyone else is just unheard of."
"That's not true. I listen to you. I listen to Felicity and John. I hear you guys."
"No, you hear us after the damage has been done." Katie shook her head. "Because no matter how many times I told you that climbing up that elevator was a dumb as shit idea, you wouldn't believe it. You needed to see it for yourself and so the danger I tried to protect you from was all for nothing." she turned away. "Oliver, stay away from Ra's, don't trap Nyssa in a cage, Oliver don't make a deal with Ra's to save Thea in exchange to becoming his heir, Oliver, don't go out looking for Prometheus alone, take your team. Oliver, Vigilante is trying to kill you, don't give that press conference, Oliver, there's something wrong with Adrian Chase, you shouldn't trust him." she twirls her hand before turning back to him. "Same tune, different song. Oliver chooses the route that nearly gets him killed."
"And yet here I am." Oliver replied and Katie scoffed turning away. "Twinkie, I get it, really I do. I know in the moment, it's scary, and I'm sorry you have to go through that, but–"
"Oliver, will you stop saying you're sorry!" Katie snapped angrily turning back to him. "Someone truly sorry for their actions wouldn't continue to do the same thing over and over again. If you were truly sorry, you wouldn't continuously put me through the ringer of wondering whether you're going to make it home to me every time you walk out the door." Oliver let out a sigh, no longer sure of what the right thing to say was. She let out a frustrated growl before turning back to the power bank, her eyes widening when it began lighting up. "Wait, I think it's happening."
They heard the motor, but also saw sparks. Oliver quickly moved in closer to Katie, bringing his arms around her when the power bank suddenly exploded.
"Are you ok?" he turned to her and she nods before looking around the room and seeing smoke.
"I didn't really like that sound." she sighed glancing around the room and looking up to a pipe. "That pipe is damaged and–" her eyes trailed to the label saying methane gas. "Fuck, not good!" she turned to Oliver who looked up to the pipe as well. "Tape! We need to seal that as best as we can." she turned, remembering she packed tape in her bag and rushed over to get it. She turned around to find Oliver standing in front of her, reaching for the tape. "I'll do it, you need to lay off the leg." he took the roll of tape from her hand.
"My leg is fine. I'm not letting you near that." he didn't wait for her to respond before grabbing the ladder. He pulled his shirt above his mouth and nose and climbed up to seal up the pipe.
Katie watched him nervously, not liking this at all. "Careful, don't inhale–" he was already coughing, but he'd sealed the pipe and was already climbing down. She moved in closer to him. "You ok?" he bent down a bit still coughing.
"Yeah, uh, just a bit light headed." he moved away, but Katie caught his arm. He looked over to her and noticed she was looking up and when he followed her eyes he saw the tape sealing the pipe burst.
"Tell me we have more tape." she said turning to Oliver who walked over to grab roll only to let out a sigh.
"That was the last of it." he closed his eyes to think. "Uh, we have the epoxy spray that Cisco gave us to repair our suits." he opened his eyes looking over to Katie.
"That's upstairs, which at this point is probably flooded."
Oliver shook his head. "How much time do we have?"
Katie turned away, glancing up to the pipe trying to do that math and she didn't like it. "Twenty minutes." she turned to Oliver before turning away and letting out a deep breath. Now she was starting to feel light headed. She heard Oliver let out a huff and so she turned to see him once again looking at the blueprints and so she headed over.
"We've gone over this, and it's just full of dead ends." she let out a sigh before turning away. "Too on the nose for our situation, right now."
"Wait a second." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. His eyes on the blueprints before turning to the locker behind them and moved it aside to reveal a steal grate. "There's a stream tunnel underneath this part of the bunker." Katie walked over to stand beside him. "We have anything to pry this open with?" Katie glanced at the steal grate, walking over and touching it.
"This doesn't seem pryable." she said glancing over to Oliver who just shook his head.
"Twinkie, this is it."
Katie once again turned to the grate, and chewed the corner of her lip before once again glancing back to Oliver. He just seemed to know what she was thinking and shook his head.
"Twinkie, no."
"I've already done it once, and I'm fine." She wasn't, but she could do this. She turned back to the grate. "We need to get this off of the wall without using anything flammable in this methane filled room." she let out a deep breath before turning back to him. "We don't have much time, so I need you to just trust me."
Oliver looked at her hesitantly. He didn't like this and he didn't want to do it, but she was right. He needed to trust her. And so he nods. She gives him a small smile before turning back to the grate. She lifted her hands and Oliver moved in closer to her, once again mesmerized at the sight of her glowing hands.
"How did you finally do it?" he suddenly asked.
"Do what?" she didn't turn to him, her eyes still focused on the grate.
"Control it."
They heard the sound of crunching metal, before the grate simply fell to the floor. Katie takes a step back, letting out a deep breath, and Oliver places a hand on her back.
She turns to him with a smile. "We make it out of here, and I'll tell you." he gave her a smile before grabbing the lamp and shining it in the tunnel before letting it drop.
"Looks like a two story drop."
"Say what now?" Katie looked over to Oliver who turned to her. "Drop?"
"I'll get the climbing gear."
Katie nervously stood watching Oliver securing the rope that they would be climbing down. She closed her eyes trying to mentally prepare. She's jumped out of planes before, climbed mountains,but now was different. Now, there was no adrenaline coursing through her veins. Just the thought passing out and dropping to her death the moment she would grab the rope.
When the rope was secured, Oliver turned to Katie with a quirked brow.
"Twinkie, you're not afraid of heights." she opened her eyes and glared over to him. "Are you?"
"No, I'm just wary of the whole falling to my death factor." she glanced past him to the rope that dangled behind him. "But I'll be good." she turned to him and gave him two thumbs up. Oliver lets out a chuckle before walking over to her and pointing to his back.
"I'll carry you down." he turned around and knelt down a bit for her to climb on to his back.
"Oliver, you're not carrying me, I can do it."
He let out a huff before turning to her. "Twinkie, we're not arguing about this because we literally do not have the time to argue about this. Climb on my back." he turned around once again and Katie let out a huff, but inwardly she was relieved she wouldn't have to do this by herself. She wouldn't tell him that, though. She stepped forward, and brought her arms around his neck and secured her legs around his waist. She held on a bit tighter when he stood up and walked toward the rope.
"You know this reminds me of the time I twisted my ankle when we were kids, and you carried me on your back all the way home." Katie smiled and Oliver paused and glanced over to her with a smile as well.
"I have to admit, you were a bit lighter back then." he laughed and Katie pinched his side. "Ow, I was joking." he turned and grabbed the rope before turning his head. "Ready?"
"No."
Oliver chuckled before swinging out. He felt Katie' grip tighten as he began climbing down.
"God, this is starting to feel like some kind of escape room marriage counseling." Katie muttered and Oliver chuckled.
"Don't make me laugh, please."
"Ah, says the man who swears up and down that I'm not funny." she couldn't help the smile as she closed her eyes and held on tight to him.
When Oliver's hands slipped on the rope, he felt Katie grip a bit tighter.
"Twinkie, not that tight." he grimaced as he continued climbing down the rope. When his feet touched the floor, Katie didn't move. He placed a hand on her leg and turned his head. "Hey."
"Hm?"
"We made it."
She opened her eyes to see they were in fact touching the ground. She climbed off of Oliver's back and dropped to sit on a pipe. Oliver grabbed the lamp and cursed under his breath.
"It's another dead end."
"Lets find a new word choice." Katie sighed glancing around. "At least we've bought some time away from the gas." she let out another deep breath before noticing Oliver stumble back. "Hey, Liver–" he didn't say anything as his back hit the wall and he drops to the floor. "Liver!" Katie jumps down to the floor and crawls over to him and lifts him up a bit. "Hey, look at me, look at me."
"I'm sorry." he mutters.
"I told you not to apologize, and I definitely don't want one right now like this." she placed her hands on the sides of his face. "I need you to stay with me, ok. I can't do this without you." she glanced down and felt his leg, it was bleeding. "You're losing too much blood." she looked up to meet his eyes that were staring at her. She dropped her head against his and let out a deep breath. She thought she was going to be the one to pass out, now she needed to try to stay conscious to take care of him. She pulled back to meet his eyes.
"Twinkie, I'm sorry."
"Just—look, you want to apologize, do it later."
"I might not have a later."
"You think I'm not getting you out of here?" she asked before glancing around the tunnel. "You have a later, Liver." she turned back to him. "We're not done talking. We have so much more to say and you don't get to weasel out of it."
"I didn't tell you everything." he let out a shaky breath. "Why I left, I didn't tell you the whole truth." he felt himself shutting down, and if this was it, if this was the last moment he would be with her, he wanted her to know the truth. "You don't know the man I am. I'm not the man you fell in love with." Katie shook her head. "I put the hood on to right my father's wrongs, but the basis of it, the—the foundation of it and what you, Felicity and Dig did and what the team did in my name, it was all based on a lie."
"Liver, what are you talking about?"
"Chase—he showed me when he held me hostage that I didn't do what I did to be a hero. I did what I did because there was a part of me—a bigger part than I would like to admit—I enjoyed it. I enjoyed killing. It's not about not trusting you. I will always trust you. I don't trust myself." when his eyes fluttered closed, Katie panicked.
"Oliver!" she gave him a bit of a shake, but he was out. "Fuck!" she leaned in close to him, bringing her head to his, trying to keep the emotions ravaging her insides at bay. "You die on me and I'm going to hate you forever." she lifted her head and wiped the stray tears from her eyes. "You do not have time to cry, you're a fucking doctor, do something!" she yelled at herself before pulling back and turning her attention to his leg.
Right now, Katie was glad to have the freaky powers she barely knew how to use. She'd felt herself get weaker every time she used them, and honestly doesn't know why she's still conscious right now. She remembered that thing she did with Laurel and healing her ribs. She didn't quite understand what she was doing then, and she wasn't sure now. All she knew was that Oliver's eyes needed to be open. She lifted her eyes to man as she placed a hand over his bleeding leg. With every ounce of energy she had, she focused on Oliver. She could never explain the feeling when she used the powers. The sensations didn't compare to anything she'd ever felt before. The excruciating pain she usually felt had gotten better since her lessons with Constantine and Zatanna, but it was still there. She wonders if Zatanna was right. These powers were supposed to be an extension of her, but a part of her still couldn't just open herself up completely to them. When she saw his head move, she knew it was working.
"Hey Liver, open your eyes." she crawled back over, placing a hand on his cheek, watching as he groaned before opening his eyes. "You really thought now was the perfect time to take a nap?"
"I'm not sure I had a choice in the matter." he sat up a bit before pushing himself to his feet.
"Hey, just slow down." Katie stood as well, grabbing his arms and helping him to walk over to sit on the floor across from her. "Take it easy, please."
"I feel funny." he glanced down to his leg before looking over to Katie.
"Funny haha, like you want to tell a joke right now, because I don't think now is the best–"
"Twinkie, what did you do?"
"Honestly, I don't know, but you're awake and talking." she let out a sigh before moving to sit down in front of him. "We should keep talking about what you just told me." she met his eyes. "About this ridiculous idea that you enjoy killing." Oliver dropped his head. "That's why you disbanded the team." he looked back up to meet her eyes. "That's why you left me and Robyn?"
"Yeah."
Katie shook her head. "You know Liver, you keep saying that I don't know the man you are, and that kind of offends me." she smiled as she reached up and took his hand. "Because I like to believe that I know the man I fell in love with, who I married and had a baby with." she shook her head. "Oliver we've known each other for years. I mean we've witnessed each other's awkward hair phases." he quirked a brow and she chuckled. "Which I will not talk about since we pinky sweared them in the realm of nonexistence." she dropped her eyes. "Oliver, you know some of the things I've done." she looked up to meet his eyes. "Know the things that have happened to me, and you have looked at me with those eyes and told me that I wasn't a monster." she moved in a bit closer to him, placing a hand on his cheek, and made sure his eyes were on hers. "I think it's my turn now. Chase tortured you for a week. Five years on that island, going through all that bullshit, then coming back here and dealing with the evil bastards who try to run this city. But even after all of that, Liver, you're not even close to being a monster." she turned away. "I mean, I don't know many monsters that would let me call them Liver." she turned back to him to see the smile on his face. "You're my husband, and I'm your wife." she slipped her fingers between his and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "We have spent the better part of this fucked up day picking a part the issues in our marriage, but despite it all, one thing is completely clear." she smiled at the man. "I love you, always, forever. You frustrate me to no end, but I don't think I could do this whole life thing without you." she leaned in closer to him. "So you don't trust yourself, then trust me because if you can't see it, I can. There is light inside of you Oliver Queen."
The moment would've been slightly perfect, if Katie wasn't suddenly struck with a dizzy spell. Oliver felt her slip away and he quickly brought an arm around her to pull her back to him.
"Hey, what's–" he noticed the blood on the collar of her shirt and reached behind her neck, and slid his hand to the back of her head where he felt blood. She grimaced, slightly pulling away but he kept her close to him. "How long?"
"Liver, it's fine, I'm fine." she let out a deep breath before looking back up to his eyes. He was not accepting that answer. "After the EMP, I hit my head, but I'm fine."
"You're not fine, just for once, stop hiding it from me. Tell me."
Katie held his gaze for a moment before turning away, but grabbing Oliver's arm to keep herself from falling over.
"I think it's a concussion." she turned to meet his eyes. "I've been feeling light headed, and I'm afraid that if I pass out–" she let out a deep breath. "You won't be able to wake me up." her words were followed by another explosion, and Oliver brought his arms around her. They both turned to see the cause of the explosion. One of Curtis' T-Spheres had blown through the wall. "Curtis?" Katie made to pull back, but Oliver didn't reliquish his grasp.
"Not just Curtis." they heard Felicity voice through the device. "We're all here. Are you guys alright?"
Katie turned to Oliver who met her eyes. "Oliver's a bit hurt, and I'm possibly suffering a concussion. So other than that..."
"Can you get us out of here?" Oliver asked.
"We would love to, but there's a problem." Felicity said.
"The bunker's generators have a doomsday scenario failsafe." That was Bruce's voice. "Assuming a catastrophic attack, they're tamper-proof, so no one can stop them from turning back on."
Oliver shook his head in confusion. "Wait, why would you want to stop them?"
"The methane." Oliver turned to Katie who let out a sigh. "The power coming back on will spark it."
"If we don't get the air vents to come back on somehow..." John didn't finish the thought.
"You guys are sitting underneath a four story bomb." Curtis did.
Oliver and Katie turned back to each other as the realization of their situation began to sink in.
"How long until the generators kicks back on?" Oliver turned back to the device.
"And kills you?" Curtis said. "Twelve minutes, but don't worry, we have a plan."
Oliver turned back to Katie and reached up to place a hand on her cheek to lift her eyes back up to his.
"Whatever you're doing—just hurry." he let out a deep breath. "Can you stand?"
"Yeah." she braced herself with his arm and stood to her feet, before holding his arm to help him stand. He turned to her. "Liver, right now the adrenaline is kicking in, so for now I'm good." She took his hand in hers.
"Alright, let's move." Oliver pulled her with him, through the hole in the wall.
Katie glanced over to Oliver. She knew he wanted to get them out of there as quickly as possible, but she also knew she wasn't able to fill heal his leg so he was probably still losing blood.
"You need to slow down, Liver."
"There's no time, we have to get out of here."
"We also don't have time for you to bleed to death." she felt him slow down a bit, and then noticed him sway. "Liver?"
"Good point." he dropped to the floor, his hands still gripping hers, pulling her down with him.
"Liver!" Katie had to maneuver herself from underneath him. She placed a hand on his cheek giving him a slight shake. "I told you no more naps!" she reached down her hand to his leg and closed her eyes and focused as best she could, but nothing happened. No matter how much she tried to fight it, she was just too weak. "Hey, I—Curtis!" she turned to see the T-Sphere fly around the corner. "Oliver is out and I can—I can't wake him up." the device flew closer and she grabbed it.
"Use the sphere." she watched as a syringe like device opened from inside of the sphere. "I loaded it with 20 Ccs of adrenaline, you need to–" Katie jammed the syringe in Oliver's chest. "Right, doctor, never mind."
Oliver gasped, his eyes snapping open as he looked up to Katie. "Whoa!" Oliver sat up, his eyes darting around before turning to Katie. "I'm good, I'm–"
"Probably the furthest thing, but you got enough adrenaline to get out of here." Oliver turned to her and nods.
"Right, ok, good, ok." He grabbed her arm, and pulled her to stand. He took a step, but stopped when he didn't feel Katie moving behind him. "Twinkie?"
She blinked a couple of times before turning to Oliver. It was happening. Right now, this moment, she could feel it. Her body was shutting down, and she was going to pass out any minute. He knew it as well as he looked into her eyes and so he turned around.
"Climb on." this time she didn't argue, as she climbed on to his back. "Hang on, ok?" he placed a kiss to her arm before continuing down the tunnel. The further he moved, Oliver felt the grasp she had around him loosen. "Twinkie, talk to me!"
"I feel like we've done nothing but talk. You're not tired of my voice, yet?"
"I don't think I will ever be tired of your voice." he held on tight to her. "It's the voice in my head, usually telling where to go."
"You probably don't listen to her either."
Oliver laughed. "I do. You may not believe it Twinkie, but really I do hear you and I promise to do a better job of making these big decisions together." she didn't say anything and Oliver turned his head." Twinkie?"
"I think about you." she whispered in his ear. "You asked me how I controlled the powers—I needed to open myself up to them, I'm still trying to figure out what that means, but when I think of you, it just works." she placed a kiss to the crook of his neck. "Thought I would tell you that before I'm no longer able to."
They reached the elevator shaft and heard a familiar voice.
"Oliver!" Oliver took a slight step forward the see John hanging from the a ladder. "You guys alright?"
"Not really." Oliver said glancing over to Katie whose head lay on his shoulder. "Twinkie, keep your eyes open." she let out a sigh and lifted her head a bit, tightening her grasp around him.
"Oli–" part of the ladder seem to break and John had to grip the bar above him and climb up.
"John!"
"Stay there!" John glanced back to them as he held on to the ladder. "We'll figure something out!"
"John, we don't have time!" Oliver took a step forward and glanced over to the ladder. "Do you have enough cable to meet us half way?"
"Yeah!" John replied.
"That's optimistic, we only have thirty feet!" Rene called from up above.
"Liver, this would be dangerous if I wasn't barely hanging on to your back." Katie said and Oliver turned his head to her. "Climbing a ladder, then jumping for that rope. Two people making this is–" she closed her eyes. "Liver, just listen–" he stopped listening, because he knew what she saying, but there was no way in hell he was getting out of here without her.
"I hear you, Twinkie." He moved around the wall and reached over and grabbed the ladder and Katie gripped him tighter. "I hear your concerns." he began climbing up. "But my thought process—either we both get out of here, or neither."
"You're so annoying." she muttered as she closed her eyes and tried not to look down.
"I love you too,Twinkie." When they reached the top, Oliver looked over to John.
"I have about five feet of slack!"
Oliver nods looking over to the man. "I can handle it."
"Oliver if you don't..."
"I will." and with one final deep breath, Oliver tossed them over, and grasps John's arm, but at the same time he feels Katie slipping.
"Oh!" Katie gripped Oliver's arm before she did the one thing she probably shouldn't have done. She looked down. The vents were coming on and she felt her heart once again racing. She looked up to see Oliver straining to hold on to her. If he didn't let her go, they were both going to fall. She met his eyes and she just nods her head. "It's ok. It's ok Liver." his grip on her didn't loosen. "Liver, you can let me go. You can–" he let out a groan and she felt herself being pulled up. She wasn't sure how he was doing it, but he was. The moment she was up high enough, she brought her arms back around his neck.
"Either both of us or neither." he said again when Katie dropped her head against his shoulder. John orders Rene to pull them up, and the cable pulls them up.
Oliver once again finds himself in that empty hospital hallway. His eyes turn back to the door.
"120A" he mutters unsure why that number seemed familiar. He reaches down and grabs the door knob, twisting it to push it open. He stops when he steps inside the hospital room, and there sitting on the edge of the bed is Adrian Chase. Oliver seems to instantly know what this moment is, and the rage inside of him just ignites.
"Adrian!" Oliver takes a step, but it's like he can't get closer no matter how hard he tries, he just can't.
"He doesn't deserve you." his gruff voice mutters as his fingers slip underneath her shirt. "You know you weren't supposed to be here. I thought I timed it perfectly. You were supposed to be at your car when the drug kicked in. Maybe I didn't put enough in your water."
Oliver clenches his jaw has he strains to move. He can't watch this. He can't just stand here and watch this.
"Liver?" Oliver turns his head at the voice, surprised to see Katie standing there beside him. "What are you doing here? Are you a part of the dream?" they both turn at the sound of Adrian's laughter and Katie shakes her head before turning to Oliver. "I don't want you to see this." she moved to stand in front of him. "You need to leave." Oliver dropped his eyes to Katie and placed his hands on her arms. "Liver, you need to leave. You don't have to see this."
"You don't either." he replied before spinning her around. "This is a dream Twinkie. I know it happened, and I know it's painful, but here, in your head, you choose what happens."
She looks over to Oliver who just gives her a nod before turning back to the man sitting above her and for the first time since having this dream, she spoke to him.
"Hey!" they watched as Adrian sat up and turned that condecending smirk toward her. She walked over to stand in front of him and let out a deep breath. He was just a man. She thinks that's what she forgot. He was just a man. A smile came to her face, and the action seemed to make the smile drop from his. She grabbed his neck and suddenly they're pulled somewhere else. They're on the sidewalk of a suburban street and Adrian pulls away, and stumbles back, his eyes wide as he glances from Katie to Oliver. The expression on his face obvious. He was terrified.
Oliver's eyes snapped open, but the bright lights from above forced him to close them back. He blinked open his eyes again, before the image of Katie flashed in his head and he sat up and began looking around the room. He stopped and let out a sigh of relief when he saw her lying in the hospital bed beside him. He glanced down to himself, he was dressed in a hospital gown, unsure when it was put on him. He shook his head before looking back over to Katie.
"Twinkie?" he called and saw her head move before her eyes opened and she groaned when the lights hit her eyes. She closed her eyes and turned her head. "Twinkie?" she cracked open one eye to look over to Oliver.
"I had the weirdest dream."
"Escape room marriage counseling?" he asked and she nods. "Not a dream. How are you feeling?" he looked up to the bandage on her head. "How's your head?"
"I'm not sure." she rubbed her eyes before sitting up in the bed. "Ask me something."
"What is your husband's name?" she let out a snort before looking over to him and he just smiled over to her.
"Technically, it's Oliver Queen, but there's a chance our marriage isn't legal. I'm still researching league of assassins weddings."
"You're not funny."
"That's not what you said before." Katie laughed as she looked over to him. He held her gaze, and they just stared at each other. "How are you feeling?"
"Not bad. I think I kind of lucked out being trapped in the bunker with a crazy doctor." Oliver smiled over to the woman. "I think she saved my life multiple times while hiding the fact that she had a concussion." he shook his head.
"To be fair, I knew you'd focus too much attention on me than trying to get out of there. I just didn't want to distract you from the matter at hand."
"Twinkie, we were trapped in a literal death box, about to lose air." Oliver turned to meet her eyes. "Getting out of there before we ran out of air, was a priority, but it wasn't my main priority. All I cared about was getting you out of there to safety. I kind of love you, you know."
Katie smiled. "Aw, I kind of love you too."
"Just—I need to know when you need me to lean on and I need you actually lean on me. You don't have to be tough all the time."
"I get it and it may be hard for me to do, but I will let you know when I need to lean on you." she shook her head before turning back to him to see his eyes still on her.
"What now?" he asked the vague question, but Katie knew what he was asking. "We could talk more."
"We said a lot. I'm not sure what else there is to say." she turned away and glanced up to the ceiling. Oliver looked over to her, and could see that look on her face. She was thinking and he really wished he knew what she was thinking about. He opened his mouth to ask, but before he could get a word out, she sat up from the bed and dropped her feet to the floor. Oliver sat up a bit, unsure what she was doing, but then he watched as she walked over to stand at the side of his bed.
"I just remembered you have a leg injury, so my whole spur of the moment, climb into bed with you plan just won't–" Oliver suddenly turned and dropped the bar on the side of the bed down, before lifting the blankets. "Liver–"
"Twinkie, I am slightly medicated right now, after spending the last couple of hours trying not to die with my wife. You just said you came over here to get into this bed, so get in the bed." Katie smiled with a shake of her head, but carefully climbed into the bed. Oliver tucked his arm around her, and let out a sigh as he closed his eyes.
"Are you alright?" she asked looking up to him. "Am I hurting you?" she pulled away, but he pulled her back.
"No, no, I'm just–" he opened his eyes and looked down to her. "For a second there, I didn't think this moment would happen. I thought I lost you." Katie smiled as she placed a hand on his cheek.
"Funny, because there was a point where I thought I lost you." a tear fell down her cheek and she turned away, but a smile came to her face as she turned back to him. He wiped the tear away with his finger. "But I think that's impossible." she shook her head before looking up to meet his eyes. "We still have a lot of work ahead of us Liver, but what I know without a doubt, you will never lose me."
Oliver slid a hand along her cheek and leaned into her. "I want to apologize a million times for ever making you feel that you'd lost me. I will spend every day of my life proving to you that I will not let anything like this come between us again." with those words, Oliver met her lips in a kiss that seemed to unlock weeks of pent up emotions.
After a while, they knew they should probably stop before they went too far. They were in an ARGUS hospital room, and literally anyone could walk in. When they broke apart, the intensity was still in the air, but they couldn't entertain it no matter how much they wanted to. Katie laid her head on Oliver's chest and closed her eyes. They laid like that for a few moments, before Katie broke the silence.
"You know I really did have a weird dream." she muttered. "Really weird. I was back in that hospital room, when Adrian—it's just this time it was different." she opened her eyes and lifted them to Oliver who looked down to her and she saw the confusion on his face. "You were there this time. I told you–"
"You told me to leave." Oliver said and Katie sat up. "You told me you didn't want me to see it, and then I told that you didn't have to see it anymore." he frowned. "Twinkie, how–"
"Were you in my dream? No idea." she turned away slightly with a shake of her head before turning back to him. "So did you see what happened toward the end?"
"Yeah, we weren't in that hospital room. We were standing in some neighborhood I didn't recognize. But Chase was there and he looked freaked out." He looked over to Katie. "Do you know what that was?"
"I don't." she turned back to Oliver. "But it felt weird.
Author's Note:
This is literally the longest story of the series so far and we only have 2 or 3 more chapters left!
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Adela: Thank You!!!
We're really winding down and as always I must thank everyone who has stuck around this far!
Sneak Peek
He walked through the bedroom toward the bathroom, but stopped when he noticed that large envelope sitting on Katie's beside table. He turned away for a moment, trying to talk himself out of it, but he couldn't help it. It was open, which means if there was new information on Heather and Ari, then she hadn't told him yet. That was what he was telling himself to justify why he walked over, picked up the envelope and pulled out it's contents. Oliver felt his heart drop to his stomach the moment he read the words, 'Petition for Divorce'. He dropped down to sit on the bed, his eyes on those three words before hearing the sound of Robyn's laughter once again.