A/N: I decided to move training with the Hood to Episode 6. Don't be too mad. I couldn't find a place in the plot for it in Episode 5. But it will for sure happen in Episode 6!
Episode 5: Party Play
Anna finally got to the office on Monday morning. She started her computer and looked over previous articles she'd been working on. Nothing going on in the city stood out to her so she never finished any pieces she started. She sighed exhaustively and grabbed her Nikon Camera from the desk drawer. She pulled the neck strap around her neck and put on her jacket before leaving the building.
She walked down the street toward the Glades. The sidewalks were crowded as usual, full of people trying to get from point A to point B. Anna made it to the Glades a little after noon. She looked for something to catch her eye and maybe give her some inspiration but found no such thing. Her work was going down the toilet and she needed to get back to where she was before previous events.
Her whole life was secretly going down the toilet. She didn't tell anyone or show it at all. But it was, and it was going down fast. Anna crossed the deserted street when she came upon a familiar green sign. She walked inside the club and saw Thea behind the bar writing alcohol stock on a clipboard.
She walked to the bar before Thea noticed her. "Hey, what are you doing all the way out here? Shouldn't you be writing some novel of an article behind a desk?" Thea asked. Anna chuckled and leaned her hip on the bar. "Please tell me you have something going on I can write about" Anna said.
"Writer's block or lack of excitement?" Thea asked, glancing at Anna from her paper.
"Both" Anna decided. Thea chuckled lightly and put the clipboard on the bar in between them. She looked at Anna and smiled. "My mom is running for mayor. You could write about that" Thea suggested.
"She is? Oh, that's great. I need more than a topic, though" Anna said.
"She's hosting a gala tonight for her election…" Thea said.
"I could interview her there for the article" Anna finished.
"Exactly. You could come as my personal guest" Thea said. Anna smiled and stood up. "Thank you, Thea," she said. "You're a life saver." Thea nodded and said, "Glad to help" before picking up her clipboard and resuming her stock taking. Anna turned and started for the door when Oliver walked in. he smiled and met her halfway to the door. "What brings you here?" he asked, slipping his hands into his jean pockets.
"I was walking by and thought I'd stop in and make sure Thea wasn't dying of boredom" Anna said.
"I thought you had work" he said.
"I did, I mean, I do," she gestured her camera a second. "Writing these things isn't as easy as portrayed."
"Are you doing anything tonight?" he asked. "My mother is hosting an election gala and I was thinking of taking you with me." Anna crossed her arms and smirked. "Only thinking?" she asked.
"I was going to ask" Oliver said, with a smile.
"As it turns out I was already going to be there. Maybe I could save you a dance…if you're lucky" Anna said, walking past him to the door.
After she left Verdant she walked back to the busy city streets. She made her way back to the office and went straight to the Editor's office. She knocked on the glass door before walking in. The Editor of The Starling Gazette, Joanne Bourne, stood by the window on the far wall holding a phone to her ear. "Yes, yes…yes, I understand…thank you for your time" she said. She walked back to her wooden desk and set the phone on the base. She sat in her chair and looked up at Anna. "Can I help you, Miss Rogue?" she asked.
"I want to cover Moira Queen's election" Anna stated confidently.
"Are you kidding? You haven't published a substantial article in over three months and you want me to put you on an election?" Joanna asked.
"I covered the vigilante" Anna interjected.
"Three months ago" Joanne said.
"I want to pick my career back up, and this is the perfect way to do it. I just need a chance" Anna said. Joanne sighed frustratedly and readjusted her glasses. "I want the final read through on my desk tomorrow afternoon. If it is anything less than perfection you will be fired" she decided. Anna nodded and she turned and then left the office with a sigh of relief.
Later That Day…
Anna came down the glass stairs holding her dark green pumps and wearing an Emerald Green Valentino dress that ended a few inches above the knee. It had long sleeves to the wrist inlayed with lace and it was form fitting from the collar to the waist where it then pleated down with more lace and a silk slip sewn underneath. It was also an open back from the waist to the clip at the back of her neck.
She went to the kitchen counter where her camera and press pass lay. She slid her feet into her high heels and pulled on her press pass before grabbing her camera, putting on her jacket, and heading into the garage.
Anna drove to where the gala was being held and parked in the designated Press Parking. She walked inside and was swallowed by the huge crowd of people in the large room. The room was large but the crowd of people was even larger. Anna took pictures of the crowd and the stage set up on the back wall.
She looked up from the picture viewer and looked around until she found Moira Queen, standing on the opposite side of the room with Thea, Oliver, and a few people she didn't recognize. She made her way through the crowd until she came to their group. "Anna, glad you could make it" Thea said, ushering her over.
"I'm just happy I made it in the door. These people are packed in like sardines" Anna said. Thea stood next to Oliver, still with an arm around Anna, and got everyone's attention. "Guys, this is Anna. Anna this is my mom, my ex-step-dad Walter, Oliver's friend Felicity, and of course you already know Oliver" Thea said. Anna shook hands with Moira, Walter, and Felicity. "Are you a photographer?" Felicity asked, gesturing to Anna's camera.
"Um, no, I'm a journalist. I'm here on behalf of the Starling Gazette, actually" Anna replied.
"Oh, prestigious" Walter said, with a smile. Anna chuckled. "I was actually hoping to get a picture of the candidate, if that's okay?" Anna asked, turning to Moira.
"Of course" she said. Anna got her camera ready and snapped a few pictures. "So how do you know Oliver?" Moira asked.
"My sister's wedding" Anna said. Just then a man came over, telling them it was time for the speech to begin. Anna made her way to the front of the crowd where she could use her compact tape recorder to record the speech for her article. First Walter made a small speech, then Oliver introduced his mother. Then Moira came up to the podium and started her speech.
After the speech was over Anna rejoined the group by the far side of the stage. She took a picture of the whole Queen family then Thea came around to look over her shoulder. While Anna and Thea were scrolling through pictures she'd taken of the night, Oliver noticed a small red dot move onto Anna's forehead. "Everyone get down!" he called.
He pulled Anna and Thea down as everyone else ducked. The glass wall behind them shattered into a thousand pieces as gun shots rang and bullets flew through the room. When they stopped everyone flooded out of the building. People ran for the exit as Anna, Thea, and Oliver stood. "Everyone okay?" Oliver asked, looking over his family. They all nodded.
Anna knew it was another attempt at her life. She turned and eyed a door labeled 'staircase'. She made her way to it and pushed through the door into the stairwell. She hurried up the stairs to the roof door and pushed out onto the roof. The wind cut right through her dress making goose bumps run up her back where the open spot was.
She went to the center of the roof next to a maintenance building and faced the direction the shots had come from. She waved her arms a few times. "Hey! You want me? Well, here I am!" she shouted. A second later she was pulled behind the building as bullets grazed past. She was pushed against the wall and looked up. She was staring into the eyes of the 'hood'. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he asked, fiercely.
"I'm trying to get them to stop shooting at those people downstairs. They want me, not them" Anna said, holding her ground.
"Stay out of sight" he said, pushing away from her. He went around the side of the building and Anna heard more gun shots and the whizzing sound the arrows made as they flew. Suddenly the gun shots stopped and so did the arrows. Anna was told to stay put but she walked around the building. The roof was eerily quiet. Then she noticed the 'hood' sitting, leaning against the maintenance building door with a dark red spot at his abdomen.
Anna gasped and sunk to her knees beside him. "You've been shot" she said, in disbelief and sadness. She quickly applied pressure with her hands to try and keep it from bleeding. Suddenly he slumped over, so now he was lying on his back, and Anna noticed he'd gone unconscious. Anna started to feel panicked. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't call for help—she'd left her cell phone in her jacket downstairs. And no one would hear her on the roof.
She figured since he might die it wouldn't be a big deal if she unmasked him. That and she wanted to know who the man was that saved her life several times. She slowly peeled off the mask with one hand while keeping pressure on the wound with the other. She gasped as his identity became clear. "Oh my god.." she said, quietly. "Oliver?"