Chapter 9
Unexpected Obstacles
"Life is not what you expect: it is made up of the most unexpected twists and turns."
-Ilaiyaraaja
Today was not going to be a good day. Katie had the thought the moment she woke up. She glanced over to see Oliver was not lying beside her. She sighed as she sat up from the bed just as Oliver stepped out of the bathroom holding his phone.
"You're taking your calls in the bathroom now?" she stood to her feet and stretched a bit as he walked over to her and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"I didn't want to wake you." he replied before placing the phone down. "That was Slade." he glanced over to Katie whose back was now to him. "You don't like this."
"I didn't say anything." she replied turning back to him.
"Exactly, you haven't said anything, and yet I just know that you don't like this." Oliver sighed. "He helped me on that island to find William and Ari. He didn't have to but he did. I owe him."
Katie simply shrugged before walking over to grab her robe and sliding it on. She began walking to the door when Oliver spoke again.
"What did Nick say about communication?" he smiled when he heard her groan, but she stopped and turned to him. "Twinkie, I'm here, I'm listening, whatever you want to say, say it. I don't want this to be this thing between us, when things have been going good."
"He wants you to help him find his son." Katie says and Oliver nods. "Ok, so I understand why you're doing this, he helped you find our kids, you help him find his son. I'm just afraid of what all of this will entail." she walked over to stand in front of him, sliding her hands over his chest. "I need you to be safe and I need you to come out the other end of whatever this will be in one piece. And I need you to be here on Ari's birthday because I'm getting her a cake and she's going to blow out the candles." Oliver smiled before bringing his lips to hers.
"Deal." he replied, pressing another kiss to her cheek. "Plus I already promised her that since I missed her birthday last year, I wouldn't miss it this time. I'm not breaking that promise."
She pressed another kiss to his lips before turning and heading for the door. She pulled it open, not expecting to see her daughter, clad in her princess pajamas lying on the floor, Harry curled up beside her.
"You forgot to set the child lock on Robyn's door." Katie groaned as Oliver walked over and let out a chuckle at the sight of his daughter.
"That lock is too complicated." Oliver said before walking over to pick Robyn up.
"The lock is too complicated." Katie muttered as she followed and Oliver turned to her. "I am going to show you again, and you're going to pay attention. No more distractions."
"Except you're the distraction." he replied before he pressed a kiss to her cheek. He turned around and headed downstairs while Katie knocked on Ari's door and then Will's.
"First wake up call!" she announced. "Next one will be accompanied by very loud, obnoxious Christmas music." it didn't take long before both doors opened and a smile came to Katie's face. "Darn, just when I was about to bust out N'SYNC's christmas album." she laughed as she continued down the hall back toward her room to follow her own instructions. "Shower, clothes, and then breakfast."
Bruce woke up confused. He remembers going to bed lying next to his wife, and then the next morning she was gone. It had become sort of normal routine with the whole trying to get pregnant thing that there would always be night sex and morning sex, which he's grown fondly accustom to.
He stood from the bed, and searched a bit around the room and the bathroom, before confirming she really wasn't there. He pulled on a shirt and ventured out into the hall, stopping at Damian's room and pushing open the door. Bruce heard the sound of running water and figured the boy was already up and in the shower. He pulled the door closed and continued downstairs, stopping in the kitchen where he finally found his wife sitting at the kitchen counter, typing on her laptop.
"There you are." he said and she glanced over to him with a tired smile. "How long have you been down here?" he walked over and she pressed something on the computer to clear the screen.
"I couldn't sleep." she replied closing her laptop and standing to her feet.
Bruce watched her closely, noticing she was acting strangely. He turned back to her laptop and flipped it open.
"Bruce-" she groaned in annoyance. "Could you just not—just-"
"Why are you researching infertility?" Bruce asked lifting his eyes to Felicity who just shook her head before turning to grab a coffee mug. After a moment, he walked around the counter to block her from trying to avoid this conversation. "Tell me what's going on?"
"Bruce, we've been trying for months. Obviously something is wrong, and since you're the one with the son, I can only assume it's me that's the problem." she moved around him to pour a cup of coffee.
Bruce once again walked over to stand beside her, sliding a hand around her back.
"There's nothing wrong with you. You're perfect."
"Bruce, could you just not." she shrugged out of his grasp. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but reality tells me that something is wrong."
"Felicity-"
"I've already made an appointment with my doctor. If something is wrong, then I want to know now, so we can just stop wasting our time on something that will never happen."
"You're putting to much pressure on yourself." he said, but she just ignored him while she poured her coffee. "When's the appointment?" she glanced over to him. "I want to go with you."
"If I'm the reason we will never have any kids, I think I want to handle that news by myself and then I'll just tell you afterwards." she turned at the sound of the kitchen door opening, a smile coming to her face at the sight of Damian who slowed his steps when he saw them staring.
"What?" he asked just as they heard the front door opening and then closing.
They all turned cautiously before Bruce reached over to grab a knife from the butcher's block. Damian walked over and grabbed a knife as well, moving to stand beside his father. They heard the footsteps before the kitchen door pushed open, only to reveal someone they did not expect.
"Richie, what the hell are you doing here?" Bruce asked lowering the knife to his side.
"What do you think." he replied before glancing over to Felicity with a wave. "Hey Blondie," she just rolled her eyes before stalking out of the kitchen. Richard turned back to Bruce. "What's with her?"
"Don't call her blonde again," Bruce replied with a shake of his head. "And I already told you, I was cleaning up your mess, just go back to Gotham."
"First of all, it's your mess. And second of all-" he turned to Damian. "Why the hell are you pointing a knife at me spawn of Satan?"
Bruce groaned before taking the knife from Damian's hand. "Go, eat your breakfast."
"Not until you tell me what's going on?" Damian folded his arms over his chest as he looked between Bruce and Richard. "Is it Joker? Is there finally a plan to catch him?"
"There is." Richard replied. "The plan is to hand you over to him, in hopes you drive him so crazy he just runs back to Arkham." he shoved the boy. "Go eat your breakfast kid, and stay out of grownup conversations." he turned back to Bruce. "There some place we can talk?"
Bruce looked at the man in annoyance, before turning to Damian who was still standing there.
"Go." he said once again.
"I'm not hungry." Damian huffed before turning and stalking up to his room.
Bruce slid a hand over his face before turning back to Richard.
"Ah, preteens are a trip, huh?"
"Shut the hell up," Bruce moved around the man and Richard just shrugged before grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl before following after him.
With Oliver not at City Hall, things were a bit crazy. Katie got to witness it herself. There was a bunch of extra security around after an assassination attempt on Councilwoman Pollard. There were actually two guards following behind her for most of the day. She texted Oliver, asking him to call them off because it was getting annoying. He just kept saying the same thing, in different ways. That they were there for her safety and it was better if they stuck with her.
"Fine, if I punch someone, I'm blaming you," she typed, before stepping off the elevator where Claire was waiting with a cup of coffee. "Stop getting me coffee Claire." Katie said taking the cup. "You're not my assistant."
"I know that, but I literally have nothing else to do." she replied walking along side Katie. "I was supposed to check out some possible locations, but all activities outside of City Hall have been restricted since the sniper attack." she nudged her head. "Somehow Rene thinks he's in charge, Tamera is stuck at home with her sick son, and Adam seems to be locked down in legal." Claire groaned. "We literally do not have time for this project to be stalled right now."
"Ok, call the real estate agents, see if you can do some sort of virtual tour of the locations. For now, at least we're doing something. I'll check in with Tamera to make sure her son is ok, let Adam be. I was told everyone's City Hall work would take priority, so he can jump in when he's free and I will see how Rene is doing playing Mayor for the day."
"Got it boss," Claire said before heading off.
"I'm not your boss!" Katie called after her before her phone vibrated. She glanced down to a message from Oliver.
"City Hall is a violence free zone Twinkie. No hitting."
Katie let out a snort, "You ordered the security for me, didn't you?"
She waited for a response, but nothing. Katie just shook her head before continuing down the hall.
Ethan didn't know how the hell he ended up in this situation. He stood in his kitchen, watching Harley burning something that was supposed to be some sort of breakfast sandwich. He watched as she took a bite and hummed.
"It's good, not as good as Sal's but good." she turned to Ethan and held out the sandwich. "Want a bite?"
"No," he walked over to her. "Harley, I need you to piece together some brain cells right now. What are you doing in Star City?"
"Don'tcha just need a change of scenery sometimes?" Harley took a bite of her sandwich. "I mean it was fun with the batboy for a little while, but that got boring, and then I turned on the television and I saw her."
"Saw who?"
Harley turned grabbing the morning paper and sitting it on the counter in front of Ethan. The man dropped his eyes to a picture of Katie that stood above another article about this project she was heading up at City Hall.
"It was like a sign." Harley continued and Ethan looked over to her. "A chance for me to finally undo the stupid shit I did when I was younger. I'm calling this, my redemption tour, and Katherine is my first stop." Ethan just looked at her with a furrowed brow.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Harley just held out her sandwich once again toward the man.
"You sure you don't want a bite?"
Katie glanced up to her rear view mirror as she pulled into their driveway. She picked up Robyn from daycare, and Will from school, the guards following her the entire time. It seemed that when she arrived at home, they finally left.
"So, any objections to pizza for dinner tonight?" Katie asked turning to look back to William and Robyn.
"Sounds cool to me." Will said before turning to Robyn who smiled. "You want pizza, nugget?"
Katie smiled. The boy had created his own nickname for Robyn. A name she got when he caught her taking his chicken nuggets one night at dinner.
"Peesa!" Robyn squealed excitedly making her mother laugh.
"Well then it's settled." Katie replied before turning to Will. "Can you grab her bag?"
He nods, slipping on his backpack as he steps out of the car and grabs Robyn's bag before heading inside of the house. Katie steps out of the car, and walks back to get Robyn out of her car seat when the hairs on the back of her neck stand. She stands up straight and scans the street, but she doesn't see anything. She shakes her head before looking back down to her daughter.
"Mama's going crazy." she said making Robyn laugh.
When she walked into the house, she sighed when she noticed Will had left both his back pack and Robyn's bag on the floor.
"Why does everyone leave their bags in the middle of the floor?" she shook her head looking over to Robyn. "C'mon, let's go find daddy."
Katie carried Robyn upstairs, heading to their bedroom where she walked in to find Oliver staring at a duffle bag on the bed.
"Let me guess," Katie said and Oliver turned to her, a smile turning to his daughter. "Slade invited you on a romantic getaway?"
"Something like that." Oliver reached over to pull Robyn into his arms, pressing a kiss to her cheek and making her giggle.
"Where?" Katie said pointing toward him. "If you say Paris, I will scream." Oliver turned a serious look to her and Katie sighed. "Where?"
"Kasnia." he finally said and Katie's shoulders drop. "His son is in trouble."
Katie turned back to him, "The kind of trouble you need to get in more of to fix it?"
"Well, Slade says that he has a diplomatic solution that requires my name and not me in a mask." he looked back down to Robyn with a smile. "I'm worried that if I don't go, he'll take a more aggressive approach."
Katie stepped forward and tugged the bag slightly realizing it was empty before looking back over to Oliver.
"So the empty bag?" she asked and he looked over to her. "Second thoughts or you can't find your favorite shirt?"
"I don't have a favorite shirt, and it's—I'm out." he turned to her. "I made a promise to you and to her." he placed a kiss to Robyn's cheek. "And to Ari and Will."
"I think your problem is that you also made a promise to Slade too." Katie took a seat on the bed in front him, her eyes once again going to the bag.
"I was kind of hoping you would tell me what to do."Oliver said making Katie laugh as she turned back to him. "That way we can avoid this causing any problems with us. So what do you want me to do?"
"I'm not going to tell you what to do, Liver." she said. "That's not how we work, but Kasnia." she sighed with a shake of her head. "I mean if you came home and I told you I was going to Kasnia to help a friend, you wouldn't be as calm as I am right now."
"I definitely wouldn't be." Oliver admitted honestly taking a seat on the bed beside her.
"What I know Liver, is that you're going to beat yourself up about this if you don't go." she turned away. "It's going to distract you until I finally have to yell at you to just go."
"And if—when it veers from diplomacy, and I have to break my promise to you and the kids then I will beat myself up over that too." he looked over to Katie who turned away. "Twinkie, I don't have to go." Katie turned to face him before standing to her feet and pulling Robyn into her arms.
"Except you do." she turned to Oliver before placing a kiss to his lips. "If at some point you're put in a situation you think will force you to break your promise, I want you to choose which ever option gets you back home. That's all I care about." she placed a hand on his cheek before walking over to his drawer and pulling it open and plucking a blue shirt from inside. She turned and handed it to him. "And this is your favorite shirt. Now if you will excuse me, we're having pizza for dinner."
"Peesa!" Robyn squealed again making her parents laugh.
"That's right." Katie began walking for the door, but stopped and glanced back to Oliver. "Oh, let me know when you're going, I'll drop you off."
"Twinkie, you don't have to do that."
"I know." she said with a smile. "But if you're doing this, me and Slade need to have a conversation first."
Ethan's foot nervously bounced as he stood near the window in his living room. When his phone beeped, he glanced down to see the message, before quickly heading over to pull open the door to find Bruce and Richard. He turned a glare to Richard.
"You're a fucking idiot." Ethan said before being shoved by Richard to get into the apartment. Ethan shook his head before turning to Bruce.
"Don't worry, I've already told him and then some." Bruce slipped inside as well, "Where is she?"
"Meditating." Ethan said and both Bruce and Richard to the man who just held his hands up. "It's what she said." he nudged his head down the hall. "She's in the bedroom."
Without another word, Richard headed down the hall, pushing open the door to the bedroom and letting out a huff.
"Who's the idiot now?" Richard replied before stalking out of the room past a confused Bruce and Ethan who headed for the room as well, only to find it empty and the window open.
"This day is just keep getting better and better." Bruce grumbled before heading back to the living room where he found Richard with his phone to his ear. "Who are you calling?"
"Reinforcements. We're going to need all the help we can get to cover this city to find that crazy broad before she does something stupid."
"I know where she's going." Ethan walked back into the room and they turned to him. "It's why she's in the city. She's here to see Kit. I didn't even know she knew Kit."
"Neither did I." Richard said before turning to Bruce who turned away. "But it doesn't seem to be news to you. Care to share with the rest of the class?"
"I don't." Bruce replied turning back to Richard. "Go back to Gotham." he turned to Ethan. "Go to work, I'll take care of this." without another word, Bruce stalked out of the apartment.
"I guess his little hero vacation hasn't made him less of an asshole." Richard said before turning to Ethan. "Look I'm going to go back him up, if she comes back, call me." Richard headed for the door.
"I don't even know why she came to me in the first place." Ethan said and Richard stopped and looked back to him.
"Doesn't matter, if she comes back, just call."
When Ari stepped into the house, she heard voices coming from the kitchen and headed over, only stopping at the sight of Oliver who came down the stairs, a duffle bag in his hand.
"What's going on?" she asked as he reached her. "You did something stupid and now she's kicking you out, didn't she?"
"Some times your imagination worries me." Oliver sat the bag down on the floor. "I have a friend who needs my help, so I'm going to be out of town for a couple of days."
"How many days is a couple?" Ari asked. "Are you going to be here for my birthday, because you promised you would and if you break that promise I will hate you forever and put you in a nursing home when you get older."
"Calm down, I will be here for your birthday." Oliver said bringing his arms around her in a hug. "And don't put me in nursing home." they turned at the sound of the doorbell and Katie pushed open the door to the kitchen.
"That's Todd with the pizza." she said and Oliver nods. "Be nice."
"I'm always nice." Oliver replied reaching into his pocket for his wallet before heading over to pay for the pizza. He pulled open the door to find the teenager holding the pizza. He also noticed him visibly deflate when Oliver opened the door. "Todd."
"Mr. Mayor, you're here." Todd replied and and Oliver looked at him with a furrowed brow.
"Yeah, I live here Todd." Oliver handed the boy the money before taking the pizzas. "Keep the change."
"Thanks," Todd said before looking behind the man and seeing Ari. "Hey Locke!"
"Holbrook." she replied with a polite wave. "New haircut."
The boy chuckled, but nods. "Yeah, you like it?"
"She doesn't." Oliver replied before stepping back and shutting the door.
"That wasn't very nice." Ari said as Oliver walked past her toward the kitchen. "And I did actually like his haircut."
"Just go get cleaned up for dinner." Oliver said and the girl just laughed before heading upstairs. He came into the kitchen and sat the pizza boxes on the counter. He walked over to Robyn who was sitting in her highchair. "Never become a teenager sweetie. Just be a baby forever." he placed a kiss to her cheek.
"Enough crazy talk dad, and more pizza." Katie says pinching his butt as she passes him, and he can't help but to look over to her and laugh.
That evening, Katie pulled the car to a stop before looking over to Oliver.
"You know I never realized how much of a terrible driver you are." Oliver said making Katie laugh as she swat his arm. "I'm joking. You're a fine driver, you must've had a great teacher."
"Not really, my teacher just yelled at me most of the time." she laughed. "Twinkie! There's a tree! Do you see the tree!" she sighed as she turned away.
Oliver reached over and took her hand, before placing a kiss to her knuckles.
"So forty eight hours?" Oliver asked and Katie turned to him with a smile. "How about this time we try seventy two. I have a feeling this may take some time. I'll have my phone, if anything happens here, call me and I will get here." he leaned in a pressed a soft kiss to her lips, his hand sliding over her cheek. This part has never gotten any easier. "I love you." she smiled as she brought her lips back to his trying milk this moment for as long as they could.
When they got out of the car, they didn't have to walk far before seeing Slade packing up his truck.
"Exactly how long is this flight?" Oliver asked and Slade turned, his eyes going from Oliver to the woman standing beside him.
"About twelve hours." Slade replied walking over, still looking over to Katie. "I guess I can thank you for him showing up."
"No, he chose to come, and I'm being supportive." Katie replied with a shrug. She suddenly chuckled before looking up to meet his eyes. "You remember that time I shot you in the shoulder?"
"Vividly." Slade replied and all amusement left her face.
"Good, because if anything happens to him on this trip, I will do so much worse than shoot you." she gave him a pat on the arm. "So, so much worse." she sighed before turning to Oliver. "Thirty six hours, Mr. Mayor."
She pressed a kiss to his cheek, before pulling herself from his grasp and heading back to the car, telling herself not to look back. If she looked back, she knew she wouldn't let him go.
Oliver kept his eyes on her, until she stepped into the car and drove away.
"That wife of yours," Slade lowly whistled and Oliver turned a quirked brow to the man. "I'm still impressed. So thirty six hours? Is that like a curfew?"
"No, it's a time clock, and once it runs out, nobody's gonna like it. We should get moving." Oliver grabbed his bag and headed over to the truck.
Ari moved about the house, smiling down to a text from Jamie. Robyn was finally asleep, Will was in his room playing his video game, and she had just finished her essay and was now in search of ice cream.
She stopped halfway to the kitchen, when the doorbell suddenly rang. She paused and turned to the door. It was a rule that they weren't supposed to open the door when Oliver and Katie weren't there. Whoever was at the door seemed very insistent as they continued to ring the bell. Ari quickly went to get the door before the doorbell woke up Robyn. Ari pulled it open to find a woman, blonde with two messy pig tales, one side pink, the other blue and weird make up that seemed almost smeared on her face.
"Well aren't you the cutest." the woman said with a smile that showed off her red lipstick. The woman glanced back into the house. "Is Dr. Robins here?" she dropped her eyes back to Ari. "I need to talk to her, it's really important."
"Uh-"
Before Ari could even respond, the woman is suddenly struck by something from behind, that shoots a surge of electricity through her entire body before knocking her unconscious.
Ari stares with wide eyes before looking up at the footsteps to see Bruce walking up.
"Uh, what the hell?" she watches as Bruce hikes the woman up and tosses her over his shoulder.
"You know that car I let you drive that one time?" Bruce asked and Ari just nods. "Well if you don't mention this to Robins or Oliver, it's yours." he adjusts the woman before turning back and glancing around to make sure the coast was clear. He turns back to Ari. "It's late, get to bed." and with that the man goes rushing back toward his car.
When Katie stepped into the house, it was quiet. She sighed as she tossed her keys into the bowl by the door, before pulling off her jacket and hanging it up along with her purse. She glanced up to the steps, pretty sure she's not going to sleep for the next seventy two hours. She walks into the living room and drops down to the couch, before reaching over and plucking her laptop from the coffee table, and turning it on.
The next morning without Oliver was quiet. Katie got Will and Ari up and while they got ready for the day, she made breakfast. She glanced over to Robyn who sat in her high chair eating her fruit and cereal, before glancing down to the pancakes she'd placed on the plate. There was a pile of oddly shaped pancakes that she placed on the table just as the two kids came bursting into the kitchen.
"You cooked?" Ari looked at the table of pancakes, with cereal and fruit before she turned to Katie. "You're usually the dry cereal parent."
"Yeah, well today I'm the pancake parent, and I'm like eighty five percent sure they're edible so if you don't like them, you don't have to eat them." she gestured for them to sit before she turned to begin cleaning up.
"They're actually not bad." Ari said and Katie turned to see both Ari and Will eating the pancakes. "Dare I say they're better than Oliver's waffles."
"Now you're just pulling my leg. Seriously if they're not good, just don't eat them." Katie replied laughing as she continued wiping down the counter before taking the skillet to the sink.
"She's right." Will said and Katie looked over to him with a furrowed brow. "They're really good."
Katie walked over to the table and grabbed one of the pancakes from the pile and took a bite, actually surprised that they actually were good. A smile pulled at her lips.
"Well thank you. Eat up, we should hit the road in a half an hour to get you to school, Robyn to daycare and me to City Hall."
"So do we really not get anymore details on this whole spontaneous trip Oliver had to take?" Ari asked and Katie glanced over to her. "I mean he has to help a friend just seems kind of..."
"Kind of what?"
"Suspicious." she replied as she took a bite out of her pancakes. She turned away. "I mean I could always track his phone."
"I mean you could, but then where would that get you? Grounded for a month, all of things that bring you joy kept in a box in my closet, oh, and no birthday presents." Katie replied looking over to the girl. "Oliver is fine, and he does not need you checking up on him."
Ari spent most of the day debating on whether it was worth the risk to go against Katie's word and check in on whatever Oliver was doing.
"Hey Locke!" she jumped out of her skin, turning from her locker to see Jamie. "I was calling you, where were you just now?"
"It's nothing, just this thing with Oliver having to go out of town." she closed her locker and the pair walked down the hall.
"He's going to be back for you birthday, right?" Jamie asked and Ari turned to him. "I know that's when you wanted to finally ask them."
"Well he says he's going to be here, so I'm going to hold him to his word." they climb the steps. "This seems stupid. I shouldn't ask." she glanced over to him. "I mean we've been good, what if this just messes everything up."
"I already told you, you just have to be honest with them." he placed a kiss to her cheek. "See you after class?" Ari nods before the pair turns off to go to their classes.
When Katie came into City Hall, she already knew there would be a guard waiting for her. She dreaded having to be followed around all day. What she didn't expect when she walked into the building was to find a new guard waiting for her.
"Hank?" she smiled as she walked over to the man. "What are you-" she glanced over to see another familiar face. "Sean?" she chuckled, as she pulled them both into a hug. "Let me guess, my husband made a call."
"Yeah, with this attempt on Pollard, he's being cautious and he mentioned you didn't like the assigned guards so he figured you'd be more accepting of people you knew." Hank said and Katie nods. "But I guess not much has changed, if he didn't actually tell you anything about this."
"Sadly he didn't." she replied gesturing for them to follow her onto the elevator. "I thought you were supposed to be retiring?"
"So did a lot of people." Sean chuckled looking over to the man. "But you can't keep an old dog down."
"I'll show you an old dog, keep talking." Hank shook his head before turning back to the doors of the elevator.
When the doors opened, Katie looked up to find her entire team waiting for her. Claire held out a cup of coffee to her.
"I'm not taking that." Katie stepped off of the elevator and they all walked in step with her. "Should it worry me that you're all waiting for me?"
"It should." Tamera said and Katie stopped and turned to her. "We should talk in your office."
Moments later, Katie stood in her office near the window, her hand clenching her cell phone.
"I already detailed project second chance to the council members, I don't understand." She said turning to them.
"There is a lot more money involved, and public scrutiny with this project." Adam replied. "They say they just want to ensure everything is aligning properly per our timeline."
"Which is bullshit." Rene said before holding a hand. "Pardon my French, but we all know what this is about." he turned to Katie. "They're seeing how big this is going to be, and they don't trust you to get it to the finish line." he pointed. "They're going to try to get you removed as project manager."
"We don't know that." Tamera said waving him off before turning to Katie. "They're being cautious. We answer their questions and just put their concerns to bed."
"No, not the team." Adam said and they turned to him. "This is a closed door meeting. They want to meet with her alone."
"Right and the fact that they pull this when Oliver and Quentin are out of the office is what, a coincidence." Rene shook his head before turning to Katie. "You don't have to do this. We can call Oliver and he will shut this down."
Katie didn't say anything as they all looked at her waiting for her to tell them what the plan was. She glanced down to her phone, once again wishing for a call from Oliver.
"What are we doing, doc?" Rene asked and Katie looked up to him.
"Could you guys give me a minute?" Katie asked and they nod before turning and leaving the office.
Once they were gone, Katie turned, walking back over to the window. She glanced down to her phone, letting out a sigh before deciding to just bite the bullet. She pressed Oliver's name, and brought the phone to her ear. It only rang once, before she heard Oliver's voice.
"Hey, is everything alright?"
Katie closed her eyes and dropped her head against the glass.
"Yeah, I just wanted to hear your voice. Is it a bad time?"
"There is never a bad time for you to call me." Oliver replied.
Katie smiled. "I mean, I could think of a couple of situations you probably wouldn't want me to call." she once again sighed. "How are things going?"
"Not good. I went to the prison to talk to the warden, but he told me Joe, Slade's son, had been killed."
"That's terrible." Katie sighed as she opened her eyes to look out the window. "How did Slade take it?"
"As expected. We're going to head back to the prison so he can say his goodbyes." Oliver replied. Silence held the line for a few seconds. "How are things going there?"
"You know," Katie replied walking over to take a seat behind her desk. "Same old, same old. Don't worry about anything happening here, we're good. I mean, I even made pancakes this morning, and was told they were better than your waffles."
"Oh really. I'm going to have to try them for myself." he replied, silence once again filled the air.
"I should let you go." Katie replied, trying not sound as defeated as she felt right now.
"Twinkie, you sure everything is alright?
"It's fine Liver, just hurry home. The world just spins a little bit smoother when we're together."
Oliver sighed, "I know what you mean. I will be home soon. I love you and there better be pancakes waiting for me when I get there."
"There will be, Mr. Mayor." Katie laughed. "I love you too. Bye."
"Goodbye."
Katie ended the call, closing her eyes and dropping her head back against her chair. She took a few moments to just think about what she should do before she opened her eyes and stood to her feet. She walked over to the door, pulling it open to find her team waiting for her. She turned to Adam.
"Let the council know that I agree to the meeting and will answer any questions they may have." she says. Adam nods before turning and heading off. She turned to Claire, Tamera and Rene. "This isn't going to change anything. We're going to keep working like normal." she turned to Tamera, "Claire had some virtual tours of possible locations, she recorded them, so go home, look them over and take some notes on what you think."
"Wait, go home? I can do that here." Tamera said.
"Is your son still sick?" Katie asked.
"Yes, but he's fine, he's with my mom. It's fine, I'm here and I can work."
"Tam, if you want to stay, then stay, but if my daughter were sick, I wouldn't be in this office. I'd be with her because I know when I'm around, it could help her feel better." Katie said. "Go, look over those videos, and also hold your son." Tamera looked at Katie and smiled with a nod.
"Thank you. I'll email my notes to the team." Tamera said before turning, but stopped and turned back to Katie. "If they really are trying to get you off this project, then they're idiots." she placed a hand on Katie's arm. "But you got this. Just go in there and show them that you are the best person for this project." the woman nods before heading off to the elevator.
Katie turned to Claire who just nods.
"Licenses and permits." the woman said. "I'm on it." she replied before heading off as well.
Rene's phone vibrated and Katie turned as she glanced down to read the message.
"Everything alright?" Katie asked and the man sighed.
"There was another attempt on Pollard last night, but Dinah was able to stop it before anyone noticed." he replied. "It's Vigilante, only this time she says he took his mask off and she saw his face. It was Vincent Sobel, her-"
"Old partner." Katie says and Rene nods. "In every sense of the word."
"Yeah, apparently he isn't liking Pollard's anti-vigilante referendum. I was about to go let the team know about Pollard's sit down interview down at channel 52."
"What is it with people not being cautious after someone tries to kill them?" Katie shook her head. "I'm assuming Pollard's going to be in my council meeting slash interrogation, maybe I could try to talk her out of doing this." she turned back to Rene. "You go, let them know just in case my advice goes in one ear and out the other, or in case this meeting goes completely sideways and I stop caring." Katie turned.
"Hey Doc," Rene said and Katie stopped and looked back over to him. "This is all happening because of you. This project, the people it could help, it's happening because of you. When you go in that room, remember that. Not to put too much pressure on you, but there's a lot people depending on you right now and they don't even know it.
"Yeah, that's not too much pressure at all, Rami." Katie sarcastically sighed before stepping into the elevator. She glanced over to Rene who just gave her a nod before the doors closed.
Author's Note:
Of course when Oliver leaves everything goes to crap.
Review Replies :
Adela: Thank you!
Thanks to all!
Sneak Peek
Katie pulled open the door, not expecting to see two SCPD officers. Her stomach dropped not sure what was happening, but she kept her features cool and calm.
"Good evening officers, is everything alright?"
"Does an Arianna Locke live here?" the male officer asked and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow.
"And may I ask what this is about?" Katie asked instead.
"Ms. Locke was involved in an altercation that occurred last night. She's being accused of assaulting a Adam Becker. Is she here, we would like to take her down for questioning."