Chapter 13
Crisis on Earth-X Part I
"We've got to be judged by how we do in times of crisis."
-Johnnie Cochran
Katie thinks she's dying. She thinks that's what Felix was doing to her. He was slowly killing her, and she hadn't found the courage to tell anyone it was happening.
She'd handled pain before. She knew how to separate herself from the pain, and go about her life as normal. But it was getting harder with each passing day and she knew if she didn't do anything about it, it really would break her.
Katie stood in her office, her hands cupping her head and eyes clenched shut. It was happening now. A mind numbing, excruciating pain in her head. She didn't even turn when the door opened.
Rene, and Claire walked in laughing at a joke Rene made, but stopped when they looked over to Katie.
"Hey, doc, you ok?" Rene moved to stand beside her, placing a hand on her arm. Katie opened her eyes and turned to him, her eyes filled with unshed tears and pain. "Doc, tell me what to do?"
"It's—it's just-" she turned away from him and walked over to sit at her desk. "Very bad migraine." she dropped to sit at her desk, before reaching into a drawer to pull out a bottle of Tylenol that only slightly made the pain better. "How did it go with Pollard?"
"The usual." Claire replied walking over to sit, her eyes still watching Katie closely. "Are you sure you're ok? We could call Dr. Mills, have him come check on you."
"Claire, I'm fine, thanks." Katie said before turning to Rene. "Either of you get a status update from the foreman on how construction is going?"
"I believe Tam did, she sent us an email. Everything is still going well. There have been no delays so they should be finished per our deadline."
"Good, we should shift focus to staff. Have we gotten the approval to start posting those requisitions?" Katie asked.
"Me and Rene have a meeting with HR to see what steps we need to take to get started on that. Or we're supposed to."
"They keep rescheduling." Rene took a seat in the chair beside her. "I don't know what's going on, but everyone's just dragging their feet all of a sudden."
"It's the trial." Katie poured the pills into her hand and both Rene and Claire noticed the number of pills falling into her hand seemed more than the recommended dosage. "Everyone's nervous and don't want to make the wrong move and working with the Mayor's wife right now isn't something a lot of people want to do. " she tossed the pills into her mouth and grabbed her bottle of water to wash them down. "Loop Quentin in, he can use his scary look to put fire under their butts."
"Well we can ask him at the meeting we're supposed to be heading to." Claire said standing to her feet and Katie looked over to her in confusion. "The status meeting with Quentin and the mayor we have twice a month."
Katie groaned. For the past week she'd successfully avoided Oliver's gaze. At work she tried not to even go to his floor and at home he'd been working late hours to restore public opinion of the mayor. A part of her wanted to question that excuse he'd have when he came in late, but a part of her was kind glad. She knew if she was in a room with him for too long, he'd just know and she'd have to come clean.
There was a knock at the door, before it opened and in walked Tamera who held her tablet in hand.
"We ready to go?" she asked with a smile.
"You three are going, I'm going to skip this one." Katie said and they all turned to her with confused looks. "Just tell them that I...I'm in a meeting that's running late and that I will be there when it's over."
"You want us to lie to the mayor?" Tamera asked and Katie looked at her for a moment.
"No, I don't want you to lie to the mayor." Katie turned to Claire. "Claire will lie, Rene will back her up and-" she turned to Tamera. "If anyone asks you, just smile and nod. Does that sound like a plan?"
"Fine," Claire stood to her feet. "But if this migraine gets worse, I'm calling Dr. Mills." Claire said as Rene stood and they all headed for the door.
Tamera stopped and glanced back to Katie.
"I mean if you needed me to lie to the Mayor, I would, I just-"
"You're not a good liar Tam, plus I wouldn't put you in that position." Katie stood to her feet and walked around her desk. "So remember, smile and nod."
Tamera just rolled her eyes before turning and leaving the office.
Once alone, Katie felt herself stumble back, and she grabbed the arm of the chair to keep herself on her feet. She turned when she heard her phone ring, and walked over to pick it up. She let out a sigh of relief before answering.
"What the hell Constantine? Where are you?"
"Closer than you think love. We just wanted to check that the coast was clear."
Katie glanced around the office, before heading over and locking the door.
"Yeah, it's fine, just get here now."
And with those words, a bright light suddenly appeared, and Katie lifted her arm to shield her eyes from the opening portal. Soon Constantine and Zatanna stepped through.
"What took you so long? It's getting worse every day. I don't know how much longer I can do this."
Constantine walked over, and waved a hand in front of her to get a sense of the magic being used against her.
"Believe it or not, you have more endurance than you know." Zatanna said walking over to stand beside Constantine. "And you would know that if you allowed us to continue your training."
"You're seriously not "I told you so" -ing me right now?" Katie scoffed before turning back to Constantine who was still standing in front of her. "What are you doing? Are you able to make him stop?"
"No," Constantine dropped his hand. "But we can block his magic and stop his attacks against you." Constantine reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a gold, jeweled bangle bracelet. "You just have to wear this." Katie quickly reached for the bracelet, but he pulled it back. "But there is a catch."
"What?" Katie asked.
"This bracelet will act as a mystical shield. No magic from outside forces will be able to hurt you, but it will also block you from using your own."
"It would block my abilities?"
"Yes love, and with Faust throwing everything he has at you, you're going to need them." Constantine said. "Give us time to teach you how to block him yourself. It may take some time but-"
Katie grabbed the bangle and put it on her arm and instantly the pain just went away.
"I don't have time." Katie said looking between the two. "I will wear this until you two find and stop that bastard."
"You really think that's going to work?" Zatanna asked. "This fight you're trying so desperately to avoid is staring you right in the face. And the truth is, you have the strength and the ability to fight it and win. Why are you running from this?"
"I'm not running. I'm making a choice." Katie replied. "I'm choosing the road that keeps me and my family out of the line of danger. Fighting mystical beings is what you two do, so do it and just leave me out of it." Katie moved around them to leave the office.
"You know that's impossible, don't you?" Constantine asked and Katie stopped and turned back to him. "Deep down, you feel it coming. And you know it's heading straight for you whether you like it or not."
Oliver felt conflicted. When Rene, Tamera and Claire walked into the boardroom, and Katie wasn't with them they informed him that she was in a meeting that was running long and would be heading over soon.
A part of him was relieved. Since he dawned the hood, he'd been so afraid that he'd slip up and she'd figure it out. He'd been lucky that she hadn't been asking too many questions about his "late nights in the office" excuse for the last couple of days. A part of him was surprise she wasn't a bit more suspicious, but he figured she was focused on work as well.
So while he'd partly been dreading this meeting, he also was looking forward to it. He hadn't actually been in a room with her for too long to have an actual conversation. He knew it was risky, that he could say something or make a move to reveal his secret, but he also missed talking to her.
He glanced over to the clock on the wall, the meeting nearing it's end and Katie still hadn't showed up. Rene was going over some details regarding the construction update when Oliver finally decided to interrupt.
"What meeting was Katie in?" Oliver suddenly asked his eyes on Rene.
Rene glanced over to Claire who decided to answer the question.
"We've been having issues with HR in trying to figure out what steps we needed to take to get the reqs posted. She wanted to head down and see if she could get some traction." Claire looked over to Quentin. "But she also mentioned that we should loop Mr. Lance in, in case that didn't work. She said something about your scary look."
Quentin chuckled. "I'll see what I can do." he replied.
"Right, so like I was saying everything seems to be-"
"Is that true Tamera?" Oliver interrupted Rene again, his eyes on the woman sitting in the chair across the table from him.
Claire and Rene looked over to Tamera who just pulled on a smile and nods.
"I'm sorry, are you insinuating that what I told you was a lie?" Claire asked and Oliver turned to her. "Why on earth would I lie?"
"You would lie if she told you to lie." Oliver said before turning to Rene. "You would help keep the lie going." and then he turned to Tamera. "But she wouldn't ask you, because you're the honest one who wouldn't lie." Tamera still didn't say anything. She just kept smiling and nodding. "So she told you that if I asked about her to just smile and nod, huh?"
"Come on Hoss, you're being a little paranoid." Rene said and Oliver turned to him. "What Claire said is the truth, we're not lying for the doc."
Oliver didn't say anything, his eyes turning back to Tamera who he could see was cracking under the pressure.
"Tamera, tell me." Oliver said and the woman turned from his gaze to look at Claire who with one look could tell the woman was going to crack.
"She had a very bad headache." Tamera turned back to Oliver. "For most of the day, she's been saying she's fine, but they haven't gone away. She-"
Before she could say another word, Oliver was on his feet and rushing from the room. Tamera looked over to Claire who just shook her head.
"I can't lie."
"You work for the government, Tam! You need to learn!" Claire said standing to her feet before turning to Quentin who just shook his head.
"Actually she shouldn't. What you two don't seem to know is that Katie has had multiple head injuries, so a complaint about a headache might not just be a headache."
Quentin took out his cell phone, already dialing Ethan's number.
Oliver stood outside of the elevator impatiently pressing the button again and again to get the doors to open. When they finally opened, he took a step, but stopped when he saw Katie standing there. A smile pulled at her lips when she saw him.
"Sorry, I know I'm late. I was in a meeting that ran long, and I was coming down to-" Katie noticed the serious look on Oliver's face and sighed because he knew. "Tamera ratted me out?"
"We're going to the hospital." Oliver said, bringing an arm around her and moving back into the elevator.
Katie just let out a huff because she knew she wasn't getting out of this.
Katie soon found herself lying in a hospital bed, her eyes up to the ceiling as she mindless thumped her fingers over her chest.
When the door to her room opened, she turned to see Oliver walking in, slipping his phone into his pocket.
"You're being overdramatic. It was just a headache." she said and Oliver looked over to her and scoffed.
"If it was just a headache, you wouldn't have been keeping it from me." he said and Katie just rolled her eyes before dropping her head back on the pillow to once again look up to the ceiling. "Twinkie, you can't keep something like this from me. If you're in pain in any kind of way, you need to tell me."
"Sure, the next time those period cramps hit me, you will be the first person I tell."
"I'm not kidding." Oliver replied and Katie huffed before sitting up and looking over to him. "How long have you had the migraine?"
Katie turned away, because she knew the truth would only make him more angry.
"Twinkie?"
"A couple of days." she finally said turning to him. "It started that night Thea woke up. I didn't want to say anything because I didn't want you to worry." it wasn't the whole truth, but it was the part she could reveal to him right now. "I promise that if it didn't go away soon, I was going to tell you, but it did. I'm fine now."
"Well, we'll see what Ethan says." Oliver replied before turning away to sit in the chair beside her bed.
He lifted his eyes to the television that was playing some soap opera.
Katie looked over to him and he was upset as she knew he would be when he found out. She needed to smooth it over.
"I got a text from Barry." she said and Oliver turned to her. "We still need to RSVP to he and Iris' wedding. We were still going, right?"
Oliver didn't say anything for a moment.
"Of course we're going." he replied turning back to the television.
"Together?" she asked and he turned to her. "I didn't want to assume because I see you're in a mood and you may not want to be my date, which I would understand."
Oliver just looked over to her unamused. There was a knock at the door and they both turned as Ethan walked in, a tablet in his hand.
"I put a rush on your labs, but everything else looks fine so far." he said walking over to Katie. He pulled his flash light from his pocket and shined it in her eyes. "And you don't feel any pain now?"
"Nope, I feel fine."
"Yeah, but a painful migraine for days doesn't seem fine." Oliver stood to his feet and walked to the other side of the bed to look over to Ethan. "Could this be from the car accident?"
"It's possible. Sometimes symptoms can show up months after an accident." Ethan said before looking down to Katie. "Which you know, so I'm a little confused on why you didn't call me. " he placed a hand on his chest. "You know me, I have no problem keeping this guy in the dark." he pointed a thumb to Oliver who just glared over to the man. "But seriously, this could've been serious Kit, why didn't you say anything?"
Katie turned away, unsure how to answer that question. Ethan sighed, his eyes glancing over to Oliver who didn't look too happy about any of this.
"Alright, I'm still waiting on the head CT, if it's clean, you're good to go." he placed a hand on her shoulder before turning and leaving the room.
Katie looked over to Oliver who dropped his head and sighed.
"It was just a headache, Liver." she said and he looked back over to her. This is the last thing she wanted. Him, right here, scared and worried about her. "I'm fine." she reached over and took his hand. "And it's fine if you don't want to be my date to the wedding, I can ask Ethan if he would be my plus one."
Oliver sighed before stepping forward and sliding his hand over hers.
"Twinkie, you can't joke your way out of this. You can't just quietly suffer in pain and not say anything. If something is happening to you, that is causing you any kind of pain, you need to tell me so we can get you help."
Katie once again turned away, because the truth was she knows he's right. She shouldn't be trying to deal with this Felix Faust situation on her own, and yet with everything going on, she doesn't want to dump more fuel on the fire. She knows she can count on Constantine and Zatanna to stop this guy, she just has to hold out and wear this bracelet until they do.
Oliver's hand feels the bracelet, and looks down to it with a furrowed brow.
"I don't think I've seen this bracelet before, is it new?" he asked looking at the bracelet and the odd design around the band.
"Uh, no it's uh—I found it in my mother's things." she hated that she was still lying. "And you're right, I'm sorry, I should've said something sooner."
Oliver placed a kiss to the top of her head and sighed as he let his head rest on top of hers for a moment.
"And I will be your date to the wedding. You're kind of my forever plus one." he replied and Katie cracked a smile. "One of the perks of being married is not having to go to these things alone."
He brought an arm around her and she dropped her head to his chest and closed her eyes.
That evening Oliver was "working late" again, the only excuse he had for when he needed to be the Green Arrow. He knew it wouldn't work for too much longer.
Oliver rolled his shoulder as he stood in the elevator on the way down to the bunker. It was another night of hitting the streets to get a link to Cayden and Black Siren, but it didn't pan out and he ended the night with no new information.
When the door opened, he walked in to see the team had beat him back, and was already changed.
"For someone who really wanted to meet you, Cayden really has gone underground." Felicity said as Oliver placed his bow and quiver down, still rolling his shoulder to alleviate the soreness.
"He's trying to keep control. We just need to find one weak spot to take it back." Oliver sighed.
"At least until after your little vacation?" Rene said and Oliver looked over to him.
"It's a wedding. You three should be alright for a weekend. If anything happens, you can call me and I'll head back." He glanced between Curtis, Rene and Dinah before turning to go get changed.
"That's not all." Felicity suddenly said and Oliver stopped and turned back to her and realized everyone was looking over to him. "We've been talking, and we're happy that you're back and covering for John."
"But..." Oliver said.
"You haven't told the doc." Rene suddenly said and Oliver turned to him. "And I work with her almost every day and I don't feel right keeping this secret from her."
"Aren't you the same guy who had no problem lying to me this afternoon for her?" Oliver asked.
"That's different."
"How?"
"I don't know man, it just is."
Oliver let out a heavy sigh as he looked around to the team who seemed to be waiting for him to say something.
"This is a temporary arrangement. Once John is fully recovered, I'll gladly hand him back the hood. I just don't see the point in dumping something on her that's temporary. She has gone through enough and I won't put more on her right now."
"All due respect Hoss, that's bull and you know it. You can't expect us to keep this from her."
"Except I can." Oliver replied more out of annoyance. He turned to Felicity who hadn't said much, but he knew she had opinions and would probably make them know once everyone left. "For me to be here, this is how it has to be." he sighed. "And I know it's a tough spot, and I know I'm asking a lot, but for right now, she just can't know."
"Look Oliver, like Felicity said, we really appreciate you coming back to help out on the team." Curtis said with a slight shake of his head. "But I don't know about anyone else, but if she asks me, I will not lie to her. Outside of that, I'll follow your wishes and hope it doesn't blow up in our faces, by the woman who can literally blow things up with her mind."
Oliver nods, before Curtis turns to head off home. Oliver turned to Rene who just shook his head.
"Rene, I get it, really I do. She's your friend and-"
"She saved my life man, so I owe her an awful lot more than I owe you." Rene sighed before dropping his head for a moment before looking back over to Oliver. "I'm with Curtis, if she asks, I'm not lying, but I won't say anything. In the end if this really does blow up, I'm throwing you completely under the bus on this one." Rene just sighed before turning and heading off as well.
Oliver eyes turned to Felicity before looking over to Dinah who hadn't said anything yet either. She looked over to Oliver and just nods.
"I get it." she said. "I just hope you know what you're doing." and with that she walked away.
Once everyone was gone, Oliver turned to Felicity and waited for the lecture she had waiting for him.
"Felicity-"
"Rene was right, it is bull." she said. "You're not keeping it from her for her, you're keeping it from her, for you." she sighed. "So you've once again put me in this horrible place Oliver. She's my best friend."
"I know, and I'm sorry."
Felicity looked at him for a moment.
"You have to tell her. That's my condition. I won't say anything, but you have to promise that you're going to tell her, and not just to get me and the team out of this awkward as hell position but for you." Oliver dropped his eyes. "You know your wife Oliver. She will not like this, and the longer you keep her in the dark, the worse off you're going to be. You're almost two years in, don't get caught up in mistakes you've made before." Felicity turned and grabbed her purse before turning back to him. "I'll see you in Central City."
Once she was gone, Oliver stood there alone with her words. With all of their words and he knew they were right, but he also wasn't ready bring this dark cloud over their lives. He knew she was going to be upset no matter when he told her. He also knows the longer he keeps this from her, the angrier she will be. He feels stuck. Because he's damned if does and damned if he doesn't.
When he got home that night, Oliver walked inside to find the lights out. He sighed because he knew since putting back on the hood, he missed coming home and spending time with his family. He headed upstairs, walking down the hall, first stopping at Will's door and peeking inside to find the boy already asleep.
He carefully closed the door before turning and noticing light coming from Ari's room, so he knocked and heard her say that he could come in. He opened the door to find Ari lying in bed, reading a book.
"Late again." she said glancing from him back to her book.
"Yeah, I uh—stayed late at the office." he said and she let out a snort.
"Sure you were." she replied not lifting her eyes from the book.
Oliver looked at her for a moment, and wondered if she knew. He wouldn't put it past her. He didn't say anything else, instead he said good night and stepped out of the room.
Oliver sighed before continuing down the hall and heading inside of Robyn's room. He didn't expect to see Katie sitting in the rocking chair, eyes closed, Robyn in her arms, sleeping.
"Are you sleep?" Oliver whispered.
"No, but I'm afraid that if I move she will wake back up." Katie whispered back not moving.
Oliver smiled before coming inside, and carefully reaching for the child, and pulling her into his arms. He placed a kiss to her head before lowering her down to her bed. They both froze when she moved her head, but she just continued to sleep. He reached over and took Katie's hand before they both quietly left the room.
Inside their bedroom, Oliver noticed the suit case on the bed, and he figured Katie had already started packing.
"So, how did tonight go?" Oliver asked pulling off his blazer and going to hang it up.
"Will got a history assignment today. He has to build a diorama of an important moment in history."
"If I remember correctly, you're kind of a diorama nerd." Oliver laughed and Katie laughed as well as she zipped her suit case closed and sat it along the wall.
"I said something along those lines, so that will be our project when we get back." she said as she walked over to lie on the bed. "Ari had a meeting with her guidance counselor who talked to her about starting to tour colleges." Oliver looked over to her with a furrowed brow. "It's about that time for you to accept that she is going to college and it may be somewhere outside of Star City. She started listing off places during dinner and I had to tell myself not to burst into tears."
Oliver walked over and dropped down to sit on the bed with a heavy sigh.
"Once she has some dates, I'll give them to you. We might have to tag team going with her while the other stays home with Will and Robyn." Katie looked over to the glum look on Oliver face and chuckled. "And lastly, Robyn went pee pee in the potty today for the first time."
"Really?" Oliver turned to her with a smile. He really did miss a lot today.
"Yep. We are on the road to having a potty trained toddler." she replied and watched as he turned away. "So how did your night go? Are these late nights in the office going to be a regular thing, because we kind of miss your face around here." Oliver turned to her with a smile.
"I know. We're just trying to get as prepared as we can before the trial. Hopefully there aren't too many more late nights." he said before reaching over and taking her hand. "What about you? How are you feeling?"
"Still fine. Headache hasn't come back." she brought a hand over her mouth as she let out a yawn. "I don't know what it is, but I'm drained."
Oliver pressed a kiss to her lips.
"Get some sleep. I'm going to grab a shower and turn in."
"You still have to pack." Katie slid under the blanket and closed her eyes. "And we need to discuss child care. I called Lyla and she's more than happy to have Robyn over."
"Ari and Will?" he asked and Katie opened her eyes and turned to him.
"I think for a weekend they can fend for themselves. Ari is seventeen, and she's fairly responsible."
"I mean when she isn't sneaking out to fight bad guys that is." Oliver muttered. "I don't know." he looked back down to Katie who reached for his hand. "I know we have to trust her, and I do, but she hasn't been making the best decisions lately."
"I'll talk to her and we can call Hank and Sean, see if they can hang around." Katie said. "She can do this, and if she can't then we will know."
"I hope you're right." he replied leaning in to press another kiss to her lips. "Sleep."
He watched as she turned her head on the pillow and closed her eyes before he stood to his feet and headed for the bathroom.
Felicity came home to find the place quiet. Once Richard had Harley back in his custody, they decided to head back to Gotham and surprisingly enough, he offered to take Damian with him.
He told Bruce the pair needed to work through their issues or they were going to kill each other. Bruce reluctantly agreed, and Felicity knew he really didn't want to. Bruce and Damian had been two peas in a pod, always training together and she knows Bruce was going to miss him.
Felicity headed down to the batcave, where she found Bruce sitting in the same spot she'd found him the night before. He glanced back to her with a smile.
"Hey," he said, bringing an arm around her when she was close.
"Hey to you." she replied before turning to the screen. "Why are you watching this again?"
Felicity had learned that both Ari's Firelight suit and the Robin suit had built in recording functions when they were worn. Bruce had been watching the footage from the night Ari and Damian went out looking for Harley and Felicity wasn't exactly sure why.
"He was right." Bruce said and Felicity looked down to him. "She was in the sandwich shop, which also doubles as an illegal casino at night." he looked back over to the screen. "And Ari did everything right, and she took control of the situation and kept Damian on the rails until she was hurt."
"Yeah, then all hell broke loose and Damian would've nearly strangled Black Siren to death if Richie hadn't shown up."
"I'm not so sure." Bruce replied before typing a few keys to end the video and turned to Felicity. "I watched him, and he let Ari take point and he followed her lead."
Felicity looked at him with a furrowed brow before moving to take a seat in the chair beside him.
"You're thinking about letting him be Robin." she said and Bruce looked at her.
"I think the kid is relentless, and he really wants this and from everything I've been seeing I think he'd be good at it. He still needs some guidance, but I could be that for him." Felicity didn't say anything for a moment before turning away. "What do you think?"
"I think I don't want him to do it." Felicity stood to her feet and headed for the stairs before stopping and looking back over to Bruce. "It's dangerous and if he gets hurt, I'm going to hurt whoever hurt him and then you for putting him in the position to get hurt." Bruce stood to his feet and walked over to her. "He's just a little boy."
"I know, but this fight we want to keep him out of, he was born in it. We can either get him in the right direction or try to keep him out of it, but I honestly think that's a losing battle." he nudged his head toward the screen. "Just like I think it's a bad idea to keep Ari off the team. If Oliver and Katie watched that video, they'd see just how good she was out there and how she was also teaching the kid at the same time."
The morning they were to leave for Central City, Oliver and Katie had already gotten Robyn packed and off to Lyla and John's. Now they stood in the living room as Will and Ari sat on the couch in front of them.
"You're really leaving her in charge?" Will asked pointing to Ari.
"Shut up Will." Ari said before tuning to Oliver and Katie. "But you're really leaving me in charge?"
Before they could answer the door bell rang, and Oliver went to open it. Soon Oliver returned to the room with Hank.
"Actually we're leaving Hank in charge." Katie said walking over to the man and bringing her arms around him in a hug. She turned back to the kids. "Hank, this is Will. He's—he's Oliver's son."
Oliver glanced over to her, for a moment before turning to Hank.
"Will this is Hank Thompson. He and his partner Sean-" Katie turned to the man. "Where is Sean?"
"He's already doing a patrol around the house." Hank replied before turning back to the kids. "And it's nice to meet you Will." Hank reached forward to shake Will's hand.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Thompson." Will replied.
"Nah, Mr. Thompson was my pop and he was a mean old man, you can call me Hank." Hank looked over to Oliver who was about to say something, but he interrupted before he could. "He can call me Hank." the man chuckled before turning to Ari. "Hey trouble, you going to give me any problems this weekend?"
"She's not." Katie replied turning to Ari and pointing to the kitchen. "Kitchen, now." she didn't wait for the girl before heading for the kitchen.
Ari looked nervously between Oliver and Hank who didn't say anything as she stood to her feet and headed into the kitchen. When she walked inside, she found Katie standing on the other side of the kitchen island.
"If you're about to lecture me, I-"
"No lecture Ari." Katie replied walking around to stand in front of her. "This is it. This is your chance to prove that we can trust you. We need you to be responsible, and to look out for Will. That means no teenage shenanigans that you're way too smart for. That also means no Jamie. You need to leave, you take Will with you, you make sure he eats and that he doesn't spend the entire night on the video game." she took a step closer. "You do not leave this house unless Hank or Sean is with you. So you get two days to prove to us you're as grown up and responsible as you say you are." Katie placed a kiss to her forehead. "Ethan's number is on the fridge. You already have John and Lyla's number, outside of that you can call me. Whenever you get the urge to call me, you can." Katie pulled a card out of her pocket. "This is for food and necessities, that's it. No unexpected charges." Ari took the credit card with a smile. "I'm serious."
"Yeah, yeah I got it." Ari slid the card into her back pocket before looking back over to Katie. "Shouldn't you two be hitting the road. You don't want to be late."
"Trying to hurry us out the door just makes you look suspicious." Katie said as she headed back into the living room, Ari behind her. "Alright, I'm ready to go." Katie walked over to Will and gestured for him to give her a hug and the boy laughed before standing to his feet and bringing his arms around her. "Think of ideas for the diorama, because when I get back it's diorama time."
Oliver chuckled, and Katie pulled away from the hug and looked over to her.
"Diorama nerd." he said.
She just rolled her eyes before turning back to Will.
"Call me if you need me." she glanced over to Ari. "That goes for both of you. Also call me if you don't need me. Just call me like a lot so I know you're alright." she waved goodbye to Hank, before heading for the door.
Oliver stood there a moment longer looking between the two kids still hesitating to leave.
"If you're going, you have to actually leave." Ari said and he looked over to her. "We're going to be alright."
"Fine." Oliver walked over to bring Will into a hug before turning to Ari and bringing his arms around her in a hug. "Call us if anything happens or if you need us for any reason." he pulled back and turned to Hank, giving the man a nod before heading out the door where he found Katie taking to Sean. Oliver walked over to shake the man's hand. "Hey Sean."
"Mr. Queen." Sean replied before glancing over to the house. "I was just telling Mrs. Queen that we have everything handled here. Rest assured your children will be safe."
"We're going to hold you to that." Oliver said before moving around to open the passenger door for Katie.
"I can still open car doors." Katie said looking over to him as she slid inside.
Oliver just chuckled before closing the door and going around to the driver's side. He nods his head toward Sean before getting into the car and heading off.
Katie didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until her eyes fluttered open to see the open road ahead.
"I fell asleep." she muttered as she sat up straight and glanced over to Oliver.
"You did." Oliver said taking a quick look over to her before turning back to the road. "Were you still tired? You went to sleep before me."
"I have no idea what's going with me. I just have no energy to do anything and all I want to do is sleep." she said sliding a hand over her face.
"Should we call Ethan?" Oliver asked making Katie sigh and look over to him. "It's just headaches, and now fatigue. Maybe something is wrong?"
"Or maybe I need to integrate more vitamin D into my diet." she replied placing a hand on his arm. "I'm fine, Liver."
"It's just I've heard that before, and you've still ended up in the hospital." Oliver once again looked over to her. "Just promise me that if you're feeling something totally out of the norm, you will let me know."
"Fine, I promise." she replied before turning back to the road. "Let's change the subject." she smiled over to him. "It has been a very long time since we've had this much time alone together. And it's on a road trip, which we've never had. Want to play a game?"
"You cheat at every game we play." Oliver laughed at the look on her face.
"Whatever. Fine, I guess we can talk about Robyn's birthday."
"I'm assuming we're doing something smaller scale this year."
"Yeah, especially since we can't-" Katie stopped when her phone suddenly rang and she pulled it from her pocket and smiled. "It's Will." she brought the phone to her ear. "Please don't tell me something is wrong already." Will proceeded to tell her about the level on his game he couldn't get past and hoped she could give him an idea on how he needed to proceed. "Well do you see the All Seeing magnifying glass?"
Oliver unable to hear what the boy was saying glanced over to Katie with a quirked brow.
"You know I read an article about this, a lot of people get hung up on this part. They didn't give an answer, but they said the key was that—wait you did? Awesome, well keep going, but try to take a break at some point to let Harry outside, maybe get some sunlight on your face as well." she chuckled when she heard him moan and groan before saying goodbye. "Yeah, yeah, goodbye." she ended the call with another chuckle.
"So, Will?" Oliver asked and Katie turned to him about to respond when her phone rang again.
"It's Ari." she answered the phone. "Everything alright?" Ari proceeded to tell her that everything was fine, and was just calling to ask if she could use the credit card to buy a new memory core for her laptop. "What part of just food and necessities didn't you understand. No computers or tablets and yes my dear, no memory core." Ari just groaned in Katie's ear making the woman laugh. "So uh, have you made that list of colleges you want to see." Ari told her she was working on it. "And is StarU going to be on the list?" Katie rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine, it's your list. Start thinking about dinner, you could warm up the left overs, or you could order something, but decide soon." the girl just rambled off a goodbye and Katie just shook her head before hanging up the phone.
Katie glanced over to Oliver and sighed.
"Apparently we're not allowed to give our opinion on the college list, otherwise we're trying to control where she's going." Katie let out a snort before turning back to the road.
Once they arrived in Central City, Oliver and Katie decided to first check in to the hotel. Katie was getting changed to head to the nail salon where Iris and the rest of the girls were meeting, while Oliver would be meeting Barry and Bruce at the tailors. He glanced down to his phone, unsure why he's suddenly jealous that both of their kids called Katie and didn't call him.
He glanced up when she walked from the bathroom, with a yawn. She noticed the look and just shook her head.
"I'm fine, and I'm ready to go." she said and noticed his phone in his hand. "Someone call?"
"No one called." Oliver replied glancing down to his phone before turning back to her. "We should get going."
He slid his phone into his pocket before slipping on his jacket and walking for the door.
Katie noticed his sudden attitude change as they rode down in the elevator.
"What's wrong?" she suddenly asked and Oliver turned to her with a shake of his head.
"Nothing."
Katie rolled her eyes because she could see that something was obviously wrong. When the doors opened, he held out an arm against the door while Katie stepped out first and he was right behind her.
The hotel had a valet, so they had to wait until their car was brought around. Katie once again looked over to Oliver who seemed to be avoiding her gaze, and so she reached forward pinched his side.
"Ow!" Oliver said taking a step back, finally turning to her. "What did you do that for?"
"Tell me what's wrong?" she once again asked and Oliver just shook his head.
"You can't pinch me to make me talk." Oliver said and Katie just laughed before taking a step forward, but this time he backed away before she could pinch him again. "Fine!" he sighed before turning to her. "They call you."
"Who calls me?" she asked confused.
"The kids. They call you for whatever random reason they may have, they call you. They don't call me." he sighed turning when he see the car heading their way.
Once the valet pulled the car over, once again Oliver pulled open her door and she looked over to him.
"Yes, I'm opening your door again." Katie chuckle as she pressed a kiss to his cheek before getting inside.
On the way to the salon Katie glanced over to Oliver whose eyes were on the road. She made a mental note to text the kids to tell them to call Oliver too.
Once Oliver stopped the car outside of the salon, he told Katie he would get her door and she once again just laughed. But she sat there and waited for him to pull open her door.
"What's with the sudden chivalry?" she asked stepping out the car and Oliver slid an arm around her before closing the door.
"What? I can't open doors for you?" he asked and Katie just laughed before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to his lips. "I'm going to head over to meet Barry, but call me if you need me."
Katie just nods before Oliver presses a final kiss to her lips before taking her hand and walking over to pull open the door to the salon for her.
"You're aiming for something Liver, and if you not careful, you just might get it." Katie replied walking past the man.
Iris had reserved the salon for them, so she saw all familiar faces of Felicity, Kara, Iris, and Caitlin, when she walked inside. Oliver waved a greeting to them before pressing another kiss to Katie's cheek and then finally leaving.
Katie noticed the looks from the women once he was gone.
"What?" she asked taking a seat.
"You and Oliver are just cute." Kara said with a smile.
"Yeah we have our moments." Katie said sliding her phone from her purse. She sent that quick text to both Will and Ari, telling them that Oliver would like a call from them as well.
She looked back over to the girls who were already started on another conversation, and so she stood to her feet to see the polish colors. She once again let out a yawn as she perused.
"Long night Mrs. Queen?" Iris asked and the other just laughed. "Is that why you and Oliver are so kissy and cute?"
Katie laughed as well, turning with a shake of her head.
"Surprisingly no. I actually went to sleep early yesterday." she turned back to the polishes. "And yet I'm still just so blah and tired. I probably just need to eat something."
She spotted a nice soft shade of yellow and plucked it from the wall before going to take seat to wait for her turn.
"Or you should pee on a stick." Caitlin chuckled looking over to Katie. "The kissing and the cutesy looks and the fact I can't imagine you two not being able to keep your hands off each other." Caitlin shrugged. "I mean it's possible."
Katie just slightly chuckled before dropping her eyes to the polish.
"It's not." she said before looking back over to the woman. "It's not possible." she sighed before turning away and noticing a tray of fruit. "I'm going to get some fruit."
Katie stood to her feet and went over to the table to pluck a piece of fruit.
"Did I say something wrong?" Caitlin whispered, her eyes turning to Felicity who just shook her head before standing up and walking over to Katie.
"Hey, you ok?" Felicity asked and Katie looked over to her as she popped a grape in her mouth, but nods. "It's just things kind of got weird after Caitlin's comment. That wasn't about me and what I told you about me and Bruce trying to have a baby. I know you and Oliver want more kids too and I'd be happy for you if that happened."
Katie didn't say anything. The truth was that the only one who knew about her issues with having kids outside of Oliver and Ethan, was Bruce, and she made him promise not to say anything. She didn't tell Felicity, more because she didn't want to talk about it and be reminded of it. Katie let out a sigh before turning to Felicity.
"We should talk." Katie suddenly said and Felicity slightly frowned at the seriousness of her tone.
Barry smiled as he stood starting at himself in his tux. It was finally happening. He was marrying Iris and he was both anxious and nervous.
"So be honest guys!" Barry called over to the two dressing rooms where Bruce and Oliver were trying on their suits. "What's the secret to a happy marriage?"
Bruce pulled back the curtain, and Barry looked over impressed at how good the man looked.
"She's always right." Bruce said walking over to the mirror to see the fit of the suit in better lighting. "No matter if you're really right, she is always right."
"Noted." Barry replied turning when Oliver pulled back the curtain, only he had a phone pressed to his ear.
"Ari, I don't even know what a memory core is, but I do know you're not using that credit card to buy it." Oliver said but chuckled when she said his Luddite thinking was lame. "I have no idea what that means." she said she heard the doorbell and figured it was the pizza she ordered. "Right, text Hank or Sean first to make sure they're around." she grumbled about Todd being the least dangerous person in the world before hanging up. He looked over to Barry.
"Ari?" he asked and Oliver nods.
"Yes, she's looking for me or Katie to let her use the credit car we left them for food to indulge her techie heart."
Oliver chuckled taking a step, but stopping when his phone rang again, and he looked down to see Will's number. He had the itching suspicions Katie told them to call him after what he said earlier. He brought the phone to his ear.
"Hey buddy, how is it going?" Will explained how he was outside, watching Harry lie down in the grass before asking Oliver if they could use the credit card to buy something for his game. "That card is for food and necessities, that's it." Will just went into detail about why he needed to buy upgrades for some character on his game and how important it was. Oliver slid a hand over his face. "The answer is no Will, plus I thought we agreed we'd get you away from the game a bit. Did you give any thought to some extra curricular activities. I mean I liked soccer when I was your age." Will didn't answer the question, instead rambled off an excuse that he had to hang up to stop Harry from getting out of the yard. "Oh, ok b-" Oliver didn't even finish his sentence before the boy ended the call. "Bye." he sighed before pulling the phone from his ear.
"Kids?" Barry asked and Oliver looked over to him and nods. "Well it's nice that they call you."
"I'm pretty sure these were pity calls." Oliver slid his phone into his pocket and walked over to the mirror to see how his tux fit. "Earlier today, they just both randomly called Katie. Will asking her advice about a video game, Ari asking about an upgrade on her computer." Oliver just shook his head. "It's just when these random things pop up, she's their first call." he turned looking over to Barry, and then Bruce. "And I know I sound ridiculous."
"Damian helps Felicity cook." Bruce suddenly said. "And since he's left for Gotham, he's texted her to complain about whatever is annoying him. She's a nurturer, and when he needs that, he turns to her. It's hard to compete with a mom Oliver, because they just have something those kids cling to."
"And I get that, and I'm not really upset about that part of it. I just wish they turned to me for some things." Oliver sighed before turning to Barry. "Sorry Barry, this is your day, I didn't mean to bring down the room."
"Don't apologize."
"So how are you feeling?"
Barry sighed, "You know, I mean, I've been in love with Iris since I was ten. How am I supposed to fit all that love into one vow? I've already written pages, single spaced."
"Trust me, I get it. My vowels were nearly a entire monologue." Oliver placed a hand on his shoulder. "But Barry when you're up there and you look into her eyes, the words will just come."
"And if they don't, the look on your face will tell her everything she needs to know." Bruce said and Barry glanced over to him.
"Thank guys." Barry sighed once again turning to himself to look in the mirror before looking over to Bruce. "You know I've always wondered, is there any video evidence of your and Felicity's wedding?"
Bruce turned from the mirror, to Barry and just shrugged.
"Honestly, I don't really know. There's pictures, but that's all I know. I think in that moment I didn't care about anything else but her." Bruce said and Barry just laughed.
"What about you?" Barry asked to Oliver. "Two year wedding anniversary coming up soon. You and Katie have any plans?"
"We haven't really talked about it with everything going on." he sighed. "I can't believe it's been two years."
"Trust me Oliver, a lot of people can't believe you made it two years." Bruce said once again turning to the mirror and Oliver just glared over to him. "But I hear you're backsliding into old ways, so there's a chance you won't make it to three."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Oliver asked and Bruce just glanced over to him without a word, and Oliver just knew he was referring to his hiding that he was once again wearing the hood. "You know what Bruce, I think it might be a good idea for you to have less opinions on my marriage." and with that Oliver once again turned off to check the fit of his suit.
Felicity and Katie sat outside at a park near the salon. Felicity's eyes were on fountain in front of them after Katie revealed the truth about the scar tissue, and finding out how she's not likely to get pregnant again.
"Felicity, really I'm fine." Katie said breaking the silence.
"I went on and on about me and Bruce trying to have a baby," Felicity turned to Katie. "And you were dealing with this."
"Felicity we're friends, it doesn't matter what's happening with me, I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me."
"And yet you don't feel like you can talk to me." Felicity said. "First John and his injury on Lian Yu and now this. Why didn't you say anything."
Katie shook her head. "Because it was easier to pretend it was all just a bad dream if I didn't talk about it. It was easier to forget that moment if I didn't talk about it." Katie reached over and took Felicity's hand. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just—I wasn't ready to face it. Honestly, I'm still not."
"I mean I get it, really I do." Felicity sighed once again turning away. "But you said there's low likelihood of you ever getting pregnant again." Felicity looked over to Katie who just nods. "But there's still a chance."
"I mean technically, yes there's a chance, but-"
"No buts, there's still hope." Felicity gave her hand a squeeze. "You should take a test."
"Felicity, I'm not pregnant."
"You can't honestly say that until you take a test." Felicity replied. "Oh, I know I'll bring one to the "
"Wait you like have a pregnancy test?"
"Yeah, I have like one or two." she turned away. "Or five." she turned to Katie. "I really want a baby."
Oliver got a text from Katie that she'd already arrived back to their hotel. After he left the tailor, he headed straight over to meet her. When he walked into their room, he noticed that she was in bed asleep.
He lets out a sigh before hanging up his suit in the closet and heading to the bathroom to pull out his cell phone to dial Ethan's number.
"I feel like you only call me when you need something." Ethan said answering his phone.
"Hey, I just had a question for you. Since that day Katie came into the hospital, she's been super fatigued, and tired like all the time. She says she's fine, but I'm not sure."
"Well fatigue in women can be attributed to a number of things Oliver. I wouldn't be able to give you a definite answer unless I do a work up which I doubt Kit is going to want to do." Ethan replied.
"So what do I do?"
"For now just keep an eye on her, if it's more than just getting a little more sleep, then definitely get her to a hospital. But if nothing happens, just try to talk her into coming in just to be on the safe side."
"Right, ok I will, thanks." Oliver replied before hanging up the phone.
He walked from the bathroom, pulling off his jacket before walking over to slide into bed beside her. He placed a kiss to her head, and she sighed, before turning to him.
"Hey," she sleepily greeted, cracking her eyes open.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked sliding a hand through her hair.
"Fine, just getting in a nap before the rehearsal dinner." she replied turning to lay her head on his chest. "Did you get your tux?" she asked and Oliver nods, still keeping his eyes on her. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before laying back on the bed, bringing an arm around her.
Surprisingly enough, when it was finally time to head over to the rehearsal dinner, Oliver was ready first. He sat on the bed, flicking through the channels on the television as he waited for Katie, not daring to rush her to get finished. He has learned his lesson in doing that.
He glanced over when the bathroom door opened, and she walked out, wearing a black spaghetti strapped cocktail dress that stopped just above her knees. Her hair was now curled, and her make up done, as she headed over to grab her shoes.
"I have to say you're looking very beautiful, Dr. Hotness." Oliver said.
Katie looked over to him and just laughed as she walked over to sit beside him to put her shoes on. Once she was near, Oliver couldn't help but to lean forward and press a kiss to her exposed shoulder.
"Nuh uh, we definitely do not have time for that." Katie said standing to her feet once her shoes were on. She stopped and began glancing around the room. "Huh, where did I put my purse?"
Oliver stood to his feet and spotted the purse on the table beside the bed.
"Here it is." he picked it up and handed it to her.
"Thanks." she replied opening it up and letting out a groan. "Now to find my phone." she said looking over to him before scanning around the room.
Oliver looked over to her for a moment with a furrowed brow before scanning the room as well. He watched as she headed into the bathroom.
"Found it!" she said heading back into the room. "Now I'm ready to go." she walked over to him with a smile as she slide a hand over his tie. "And you don't look too bad yourself Mayor Handsome." she noticed that familiar glimmer in his eyes. "Keep that look to yourself until after the party."
Oliver just laughed as he brought an arm around her.
Oliver had decided he was going to stick close to Katie tonight. With the headaches, and her being tired all the time, and possibly forgetfulness, he couldn't shake that something was wrong. So when they arrived at CC Jitters for the rehearsal dinner, he kept his arm around her or held her hand as they moved about to converse with their friends.
The couple listened to Joe's toast to Barry and Iris and his beautiful words about love being the most important thing to have.
Katie dropped her head back against Oliver's shoulder, and his arm slid around her as everyone continued conversing after the toast.
"Do you remember our rehearsal dinner?" Katie asked and Oliver couldn't help but laugh.
"How could I forget." Oliver said as Katie turned to face him. "We ditched halfway through to go out to the quarry where we did things that would get us in trouble if anyone saw us." he slid his hands around her waist. "We should do it again?"
"What? Go out to the quarry to have sex?" she asked and Oliver shook his head.
"No, I mean, this." he said.
"You want to have a rehearsal dinner?" she asked. "What exactly would we be rehearsing?"
"The thing we would do the next day."Oliver said and Katie still looked at him with a furrowed brow.
"Is this your very awkward way of asking me to marry you? Because we already did that."
"I know. This is my awkward way of asking you to do it again." Oliver smiled down to her. "For our anniversary, how about we renew our vowels."
"Liver our anniversary is literally weeks away, how could we plan that?"
"I mean it wouldn't have to be this big thing like the wedding. Plus I'm sure if we put my sister and Felicity together, they could figure something out. What do you think?" Katie didn't say anything for a moment, and soon she wouldn't have to as Felicity suddenly came over.
"Hi, sorry, but I need to borrow Katie for a sec." Felicity brought a hand around Katie's shoulder and slightly tugged her from Oliver's grasp.
"Uh, hey is everything alright?" Oliver asked as the two women moved back.
"Oh yeah, I just uh needed to use the bathroom and didn't want to go alone." Felicity said before taking Katie's hand, and pulling her with her.
Oliver sighed as he watched the two women rushing from the room toward the bathroom. He glanced over to see Bruce talking with Joe before he walked over.
"Hey Joe." Oliver greeted before turning to Bruce. "You wouldn't happen to know why your wife, just stole my wife, would you?"
Bruce looked at the man with a quirked brow before looking back out to the party where he didn't see Felicity.
"I would not." Bruce replied turning back to Oliver. "I also don't happen to know why most of the women are no longer in the room."
Oliver and Joe glanced around the room, finally noticing that he was right and most of the women had disappeared.
Felicity and Katie stood in the bathroom, as Felicity opened her purse and pulled out a pregnancy test and handed it to Katie.
"This is ridiculous." Katie said taking the test, just as the door opened and in walked Iris, Caitlin and Kara. "Uh, hi?"
"We saw Felicity pulling you in here and wanted to make sure everything was alright." Caitlin said, her eyes looking to the test in Katie's hand. "Wait, are you-"
"Not sure yet."
"No."
Felicity and Katie's answers were said at the same time and Katie turned a glare to Felicity before turning to the others.
"Seriously, you guys don't have to be here for this." Katie said.
"We know, but we want to. For moral support." Iris replied. "But just so you know if the test is positive, you can't announce it until after the wedding."
Katie just shook her head before turning and heading into a stall while the the rest of the women waited.
The other four women turned at the sound of knocking at the door. Felicity shared a glance with the others before walking over and pushing open the door to find Oliver.
"Hey, I was just making sure everything is alright." he said lifting his eyes and noticing Kara, Caitlin and Iris before turning to Felicity. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean?' Felicity asked.
"Felicity, where is Katie?" Oliver asked annoyed with the woman who was obviously hiding something.
"She's doing what people do in bathrooms, she's peeing." Felicity replied before shooing him away. "She'll be out soon Oliver, now go away."
"Feli-"
Felicity closed the door before he could say anything and the man let out a huff before going back out to the party.
At the sound of the toilet flushing, Felicity hurried back over as Katie walked out with the test. She sat it down on the sink, before washing her hands.
"How long is the wait?" Kara asked.
"Not long." Felicity replied looking over to the test before looking over to Katie who still didn't share her excitement at the prospect. Felicity dropped her eyes to the test and deflated a bit at the words 'Not Pregnant'. "It's negative." she said looking over to Katie who didn't say anything before turning off the water.
Without a word she headed for the door, but stopped when she suddenly got struck with a pang of emotion. She knew it was going to be negative, and yet, she just feels sad all over again. Katie slid a hand over her eyes before turning to the women.
"I'm fine, I just uh, need a minute alone."
Kara, Caitlin and Iris nod, moving past the woman, to follow her wishes as the leave the bathroom. Felicity on the other hand walked over to Katie.
"Katie-"
"Felicity, could you just not!" Katie snapped angrily. "It was stupid. Taking that test was stupid and I shouldn't have let you convince me that somehow this could be real."
"I'm sorry, I just thought-"
"I don't care. Could you please just leave?" Katie asked again.
Felicity sighed wanting to apologize more, but didn't want to upset her even more than she has. And so she grabs her purse and leaves the bathroom.
Oliver kept his eyes toward the bathroom, so when he spotted Felicity and not Katie he hurried over.
Felicity turned to the man and just let out a heavy sigh.
"Felicity, tell me what the hell is going on? Is she alright?"
"Oliver, she's fine, she will be out soon." Felicity replied before walking around him to go over to Bruce.
Oliver looked over to her before turning and once again heading over to the bathroom. He was about to knock on the door again, when it opened, and this time he saw Katie.
"Are you ok?" he slid his arms around her and she just nods.
"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied letting herself be pulled into his grasp. "And I'm actually getting a bit tired, you mind heading back to the hotel?"
"Yeah, sure." Oliver replied bringing an arm around her.
After saying their goodbyes, Oliver and Katie drove in silence. Katie kept her eyes out the window, still trying to bury the emotions and get that pregnancy test out of her head. She'd been so distracted, she didn't realize that they weren't headed back to the hotel until they stopped.
"What's going on?" she asked turning to Oliver.
"We're stopping for ice cream." Oliver said and before Katie could say anything, Oliver stepped out of the car and walked around to open her door.
Katie lifted her eyes to the man, before she stepped from the car. She looked over to the ice cream parlor before turning back to Oliver.
"Ice cream?"
"Yeah," he replied bringing an arm around her before pulling her with him.
They didn't get too carried away with their ice cream orders, deciding to keep it simple. Oliver chose a hot fudge sundae, while Katie decided to get the same, but with brownie chunks added.
Katie took a few bites of her ice cream, before looking over to Oliver who was looking around the parlor. He turned back to her with a smile.
"May I ask what spurred the sudden craving for ice cream?" she asked.
"Ice cream is one of your comfort foods and I just got the sense that you needed comfort." he replied and Katie smiled over to the man. "You want to tell me what happened?"
Katie dropped her eyes to her ice cream.
"Today in the nail salon, I mentioned how suddenly I'm always tired and Caitlin sort of tossed out the idea that maybe I was pregnant." she lifted her eyes to Oliver who didn't say anything. "I knew that wasn't it and said as much and I guess Felicity noticed my mood change, so I told her about everything. She was upset that I didn't tell her sooner, but she understood. Then she sort of tried to play up the fact that a small likelihood of not getting pregnant did not mean no chance at all."
"So at the rehearsal dinner..."
"She brought a pregnancy test." Katie replied and Oliver sat back in his seat. "It was negative." she shook head, looking back down to her sundae. "I knew it was going to be negative. Really I did, but I think a part of me-" she sighed as she turned away to look out the window.
"Got sucked into the hope." Oliver said and Katie turned to him and nods before turning to look out the window.
Oliver stood up and slid into the booth beside her, bringing his arm around her, but she didn't turn to face him. She kept her eyes out the window, focused on the passing cars, the only thing keeping her from bursting into tears.
Oliver pressed a kiss to the side of her head, dropping his chin to her shoulder, before reaching over to take her hand in his.
"What do you need?" Oliver whispered in her ear, but Katie didn't say anything. Oliver lifted his eyes out the window as well to see something that gave him a sudden idea.
Katie wasn't sure how their night went from eating ice cream sundaes to sitting in the back of horse drawn carriage, as they toured the city streets of downtown Central City. Oliver pulled the blanket that covered their legs up a bit more as he pulled her closer to him. He took her hand and brought it up to place a kiss to her fingers and she turned to him with a smile.
"Twinkie, I know there's nothing I can say to change what you're feeling no matter how much I wish I could. What I will say is that I love you so much, and I love our family and I love our life. Beyond that, nothing else matters, nothing else is important." he placed another kiss to her hand. "So feel whatever you're feeling for how ever long you need to feel it, and know I'll always be here for you."
Katie smiled as she brought a hand to the side of his face, and leaned in to press a kiss to his lips.
"You know I think I lucked out getting you as a husband." she let her fingers gently drag along the stubble of his chin.
He dropped his lips once again to hers no longer caring that they were out in public, sitting in the back of a carriage for people to see. His tongue slipped between her lips, eliciting a moan from the woman. After a moment, she pulled back, attempting to catch her breath.
"We should-" she breathed, a smile coming to her lips as he continued pressing kissing along her cheek. "We should probably head back to the car."
"Right," Oliver pulled back and instructed the coachman and take them back to the ice cream parlor.
The next morning, Katie eyes snapped open from a weird dream. She remembers Oliver, but it isn't her Oliver. She remembers the darkness in his eyes when he looked back at her that she didn't see at first. It's when he shoves an Arrow into her chest does she finally see it.
"Oh good, you're awake." Oliver says and Katie turned to see the man with a towel wrapped around his waist as he walked from the bathroom. "You got to get up or we're going to be late." he replied walking over to her and pressing a kiss to her lips. He moved to pull back, but she placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him and he slightly frowned. "What? What's wrong?"
Katie didn't say anything, wanting him to just stand here so she could look in to his eyes and forget that terrible dream.
"Hey," he sat down on the edge of the bed, and brought his hand to her hip. "Are you ok?"
"Ye—yeah. Just a bad dream." she sat up, once again lifting her eyes to meet his before turning away. "I should jump in the shower."
Something was wrong. That was the single thought Katie had the entire time since she arrived at the church for the wedding. She rattled off an excuse to Oliver that she was going to go check in with Iris, but in reality she'd slipped into the bathroom. The exhaustion was getting worse.
Katie stood with her eyes closed, hands gripping the sink, trying to wake herself up. She opened her eyes and looked up to her reflection in the mirror.
"Coffee," she muttered turning away. She grabbed her purse, hurried from the bathroom, practically bumping into someone she realized was Felicity.
"Hey, hi." Felicity smiled over to the woman. "Oliver said you went to check on Iris, but Caitlin saw you head for the bathroom a while ago and I volunteered to check on you. Are you ok?"
"Yeah, fine." Katie replied moving around the woman.
Felicity frowned, turning to follow after the woman. She wasn't sure where Katie was going when she stepped out of the church. She stood there glancing down both ends of the side walk, before spotting Katie standing in front of a coffee cart.
"Hey," Felicity walked over and Katie glanced over to her before looking down to her purse in search of cash. "What's going on?"
Katie didn't answer her, because it was her turn.
"Can I get the biggest, strongest cup of coffee you have?" Katie placed a hundred dollar bill on the counter. "Keep the change." as she waited she dropped her head to her hand.
"Katie, seriously, you're freaking me out, what's going on?" Felicity asked as the man handed Katie the cup of coffee.
"I don't know." Katie replied before turning off and drinking her coffee.
Felicity noticed how the woman was full on drinking the coffee and not sipping a drink she assumed was probably hot.
Katie pulled the cup from her lips and took deep breaths before turning to Felicity who was still watching her with worried eyes. Then she lifted her wrist, and let out a sigh remembering Constantine and Zatanna's warning about this bracelet. She's starting to think it was affecting her more than she knew.
"Fuck." she looked back over to Felicity. "I have to tell you something."
"Twinkie?"
Felicity and Katie turned to see Oliver walking toward them.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked.
Katie held up the cup in her hand. "I was in serious need of caffeine." she chuckled nervously. "Isn't the wedding about to start? Shouldn't you be up there?"
"You know I would if my wife didn't disappear without telling me." he replied before glancing over to Felicity.
"I should-" Felicity pointed back down to the church before turning back to Katie. "Bruce is probably looking for me, but uh, we can talk later?"
"Yeah, sure." Katie replied before the blonde headed back down the sidewalk. With a sigh, she turned back to Oliver who was still watching her. "I'm fine, I just needed coffee."
"I talked to Ethan. I told him about this sudden fatigue, and he said that if it gets worse, then maybe we she go to the hospital."
"Hey Oliver!" they turned to see Cisco. "We're about to start, man."
Oliver nods before turning back to Katie. She places a hand on his chest and takes a step closer.
"Let's just make it through the wedding, and then deal with everything after." she replied and Oliver brought his arms around her. "I promise we will deal with it." he looked at her for a moment before leaning in an pressing a kiss to her lips.
"You taste like coffee." he muttered before bringing an arm around her so they could head back inside.
Katie brought the cup back to her lips to down as much of the coffee as she could.
The coffee didn't help. Katie sat, watching the wedding next to Bruce, a smile forced on her face to not worry her husband whose eyes looked over to her ever so often through the ceremony. She knew something was wrong when the room seemed to get dimmer with every blink.
"Does anyone have just cause why these two should not be married?" the reverend asked. "Speak now, or forever hold your peace."
Katie thought she was hallucinating when a sudden blue beam is suddenly shot into the Reverend's chest and he instantly disintegrates into thin air. The room erupted in shrieks and gasp as people stood, but Katie didn't move. She thinks she hears the word Nazis, but she isn't sure.
In the next moment, gun fire erupted, and that's when Bruce grabbed the woman and pulled her to the floor.
"Robins?" he looked down to Katie, who seemed unresponsive and unaware that she was in a room filled with gun fire. He ducked his head when the gun shots got close, and he knew he couldn't just do nothing. "Stay low, don't move."
Bruce's words were like a deep echo that Katie could barely register. She still didn't move, her body no longer following the logical reaction to the situation she found herself in the middle of. There were more gun shots, and explosions and here she was just sitting on the floor.
Suddenly there's a hand that grabs her shoulder and forces her to stand on her feet. Someone dressed in odd black clothing and an even weirder mask, brings his face close to hers, before turning and pulling her with him. She should pull away, fight back, but it's not there. The fight that's usually inside of her, is just gone and all that's left is nothing.
There's another explosion and the weird man pulling her, lets her go to fight who she thinks is Oliver. Her eyes move across the church that is now a wreck, the fighting literally surrounding her. There's a tiny voice inside of her head telling her to wake up. Fight back. Just do...something. Katie lifts her wrist, and unsure what else to do, she pulls off the bracelet.
Logic and reason floods back to her. Instinct kicks in and Katie turns to see Kara fighting a woman who seems to be equally matched. Kara slapped her hands with a forced that was felt around the church and sent the woman she was fighting flying.
Katie looked down to her hand, seeing the light dance across her fingers and a smile pulls at her lips. She feels a gust of wind behind her and she turns to see that masked man once again and this time he wraps his hand around her throat.
"No magic words out of you. You should've just given it to him." his modulated voice says. He turns his head, as Kara picks up his companion and punches her hard, sending her down the aisle. "No!" he tosses Katie to the floor before hurrying over to pick up his companion and throw her over his shoulder. "Fall back! Everyone fall back!" he reaches into his pocket and throws down a flash bomb.
Everyone tosses up their arms or turns away to shield their eyes from the bright light. And when they turned back they were gone.
Oliver jumps from the upper level of the church, spinning to find that their attackers were gone. He then turns, and begins looking around for his wife.
The sudden silence of the room is broken by a pained groan, and they all look around for the source. Oliver had only taken a few steps before spotting Katie lying on the floor, her hands clenching her head in pain.
"Twinkie," he dropped to the floor beside her, scanning her body looking for an injury that was causing her pain. "What is it?" he lifted his eyes to see her eyes clenched shut, her body convulsing in pain. "Twinkie!" Oliver didn't know what to do, he didn't see any injuries, but she was lying here in pain. He just knew he needed to do something. The others rushed over just as Oliver brought her into his arms before turning to Barry. "You have to get her to the hospital."
"Wait." Felicity ran over and spotted Katie's bracelet on the floor. She remembers the look on Katie's face earlier and she suddenly thinks it's more than a bracelet "Just wait." Felicity picks up the bracelet and hurries over and clasps it around Katie's wrist, and the pained moaned stopped.
Katie opened her eyes, only now realizing that Oliver was holding her in his arms with a look of nervousness and fear as he stared back to her.
Author's Note
Someone's got some 'splainin to do!
Review Replies
Adela: Thank you! Yes, it's here and it's going to get crazy.
As Always thank you to all and to all much thanks!
Sneak Peek
"Don't do that." came a familiar voice. Katie lifted her eyes down the hall and she felt relief wash over her at the sight of Oliver.
"You came back." she smiled watching as he walked over to her. "Did you stop them?"
Oliver didn't say anything as he continued toward her, stopping right in front of her. And that's when it happened. That's when she realized that this wasn't her Oliver. She saw the darkness in the man's eyes and her thoughts drifted to her nightmares. She took a step back, her hand going for the bracelet, but he quickly grabbed her arm.
"I said don't do that."