Chapter 11
Illusion of Innocence
"A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing."
-Elizabeth I
Oliver was slightly out of breath when he made it back to his office. The budget meeting he attended ran long, and he tried not to show his impatience. He stepped into his office, only grabbing the remote to the television when a knock interrupted him. He let out a sigh before turning as the door opened to see Quentin.
"Please tell me I'm not supposed to be in another meeting right now, because I'm going to miss it." Oliver said before turning back to the television and flicking it on.
"No, I figured your little mad dash from that budget meeting was so you wouldn't miss the interview and I thought I would watch it with you." Quentin grabbed a chair and moved it to view the television. Oliver flicked through the channels, to find it was on a commercial. "How do you think she's doing?"
Before Oliver could answer, his cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket, a smile coming to his face before glancing over to Quentin and showing him the caller ID.
"I guess I'm about to find out." Oliver brought the phone to his ear. "Twinkie—"
"I'm going to vomit."
"We've already gone over this, you're going to do great." Oliver walked over to stand by the window. "You always get like this before you have to speak to a lot of people and you always do great. Better than great."
"I don't even understand why they want to interview me and not you. You're the mayor."
"And you're the lead on one of the biggest projects in the city right now. Plus people would rather see you than me, anyway."
"I doubt that very much, Mayor Handsome."
"You can't use that against me anymore since you've now acquired your own embarrassing nickname, Dr. Hotness." he chuckled. "You're going to do great. You can do this."
"I can do this." she repeated. "I can do-" there was a pause. "Ok, they're calling me now, I have to go. Remember you promised not to watch it."
"I promised no such thing. Good luck, no swearing and I love you."
"If you loved me, you would've talked me out of doing this." she replied before hanging up the phone.
Oliver just laughed before walking back over to the television.
"She's freaking out?" Quentin asked and Oliver just nods.
"Completely." he replied as he folded his arms over his chest when the news came back on. "But she's got this."
"Welcome back," the female anchor said with a bright smile. "Our next guest, really needs no introduction."
"I mean if you don't know who this smart, philanthropist, and gorgeous woman sitting with us today is, then you've been living under a rock." Added the male co-anchor. "Everyone, please welcome Dr. Katherine Queen."
The video panned to Katie who wore a big smile as she lightly laughed and Oliver couldn't help the smile of his own.
"Thank you, thank you and I'm so glad to be here." Katie replied. "I have to say I'm a bit nervous. I'm so used to watching this show at home, it's kind of weird to be an actual guest."
"Well after the work that you've been doing with the Second Chance Project, we just had to get you down here." the female anchor. "A lot of us were fans of your work years ago when you partnered with Ray Palmer and Palmer Tech to create the New Beginnings Initiative. And here you are with yet another groundbreaking project that will help so many in this city."
"Well that was the goal. The city is in a great place and people are thriving, but there are still those who need help, and not with just finding work. People in this city need help mentally, physically. They need a person in their corner, that's what I'm hoping this project will be for people."
"City Council is blind to not see how perfect she is for this project." Quentin said, but Oliver wasn't paying attention. His eyes were on his wife, that smile still on his face.
"If we understand correctly, you are leading this project with the City, with your very own office in City Hall." the female anchor asked and Katie nods. "I think a lot of us would like to know, hows the boss?"
Katie laughed as she turned away, her eyes glancing up to the camera before turning back to the interviewers.
"Mayor Queen runs a tight ship, but he is a good, fair leader of this city. The work he has done and continues to do is unmatched. In my opinion, but I'm biased because he buys me all the cookies I want."
"How is it working with your husband?" the male interviewer asked. "With the whole boss/employee dynamic, how is it working?"
"Honestly, I think he enjoys it more than I do." Katie said making the interviewers laugh. "But really, we've known each other practically our whole lives so it's easier at times, but then there's other times I have to remember that I can't poke fun at him when he's being the mayor no matter how much I want to."
"Well speaking of Mayor Queen, his name has come up quite a few times in the last couple of weeks, and it's not in a positive light. There are many that are saying he converted Councilwoman Pollard's bill into a referendum as a distraction from accusations of him being the Green Arrow. Do you have any thoughts on that?"
"My thoughts are that I wish we'd let this ridiculous story disappear into the wind. The truth, your mayor works his butt off for this city, a perfect example is the Thanksgiving Food Drive he, myself and our children, will be hosting tomorrow with the SCPD for families in need this coming holiday." she turned to the camera. "Shameless plug here, please come out and donate. Contact City hall or the SCPD for details." she turned back to the interviewers. "If anyone would know if he were the Green Arrow, I think I would since I married the guy and the only scandal I will corroborate, is that yes, he snores and the city has nearly lost him multiple times because of it." she turned to the camera and laughed. "I'm sorry for revealing your true secret Mr. Mayor."
"Well we are not." the female anchor laughed before turning to Katie. "Once again Dr. Queen, thank you so much for joining us, and I think I can say, from me and from this City, thank you for all that you're doing." the anchor turned back to the monitor. "And now we will see what Jack has to say about the weather this week. Over to you Jack."
"Here's hoping tomorrow's headline will read Mayor Queen, the snoring that nearly took his life." Quentin laughed and Oliver laughed as well. "She did great." Quentin stood to his feet as Oliver walked back to sit at his desk. "And her here, with the second chance project has boosted your approval ratings. Apparently people trust you more when she's here."
"I trust me more when she's here." Oliver chuckled looking up to the man. "Anymore rumblings from the council regarding her position leading this project?"
"None that's come my way. I still think you should've gave them a bit of a talking to for that stunt they pulled."
"Trust me, I wanted to, but Twinkie talked me out of it. Apparently she and Pollard have an understanding, and I should just leave it alone." Oliver shook his head as he sat back in his seat.
"Is she also the reason you didn't fire Becker and kick his ass to boot?" Quentin asked and Oliver looked over to him. "I mean the guy crossed multiple lines and then had the audacity to try put a sixteen year old girl in jail."
"Trust me, that wasn't my idea either. I had a meeting with legal and apparently it could get messy if we fired him. Even though he put his hands on my daughter first, she did rough him up pretty good and they're saying that would become the main focus and I don't want that to happen to her." Oliver glanced over to Quentin who stood with a smile. "What?"
"Nothing, just your daughter." Quentin chuckled. "How's the adoption process coming along?"
"Long." Oliver huffed. "I thought being the mayor, I could speed things along, but I've been told countless times that's not how it works. It's still going to be a couple of months before it's actually finalized. What we know is, we can't afford anything to mess this up right now. One wrong move and a judge can reject our application for adoption."
"That's not going to happen. There's no one in the world that can't see how much you and Katie love that girl." Quentin turned, but stopped and glanced back over to Oliver. "Oh, I've been meaning to bring something up to you." Quentin walked over to sit in the chair in front of the desk. "Katie and her team are really moving along with this project. They've already found a location and construction has started. They're telling me they think they may have it up and running before the initial estimated opening date."
"That's great."
"That is great, it's just once that happens, the doc's contract with the city is up."
"You think we should offer her a permanent position?" Oliver asked and Quentin nods. "Are there currently any open positions."
"I can look around, but even if there aren't I think we should figure something else out to get her to stay." Quentin stood. "Like I said, the people trust us more when she's here, so maybe we should find a way to keep her here."
"Let me know if you find something." Oliver says and Quentin nods before turning to leave.
Quentin opens the door, nearly colliding with the teenager rushing in.
"Oh, sorry, old man." Ari says before moving around him.
"Old man?" Quentin looked back over to the girl before looking over to Oliver who just shrugged with a laugh. Quentin shook his head before finally leaving.
"Did you see the interview?" Ari asked excitedly.
"I did. She did great, even though she kept telling herself she was going to vomit during the interview." he laughed watching as the girl moved to sit.
"So do you think she's going to be in a good mood?" Ari asked and Oliver quirked a brow. "It's time we talked to her about me going back to the team. You and me, together as a united front. She can't say no to both of us."
Oliver chuckled. "She can and she will. I thought we agreed to give it some time."
"And we did, but there's still a crazy psycho hacker out there that I need to defeat." Ari huffed as she sat back in her seat. "It's been long enough for her to get over whatever fear she has that I'm going to get hurt and just let me do this. For the first time ever, you're the reasonable one, so you have to help me."
"Ari, Katie's fear is not something she's going to get over. She worries about you, I worry about you, and that worry increases when people with guns and knives try to hurt you."
"I don't get it. The risk is the same as it was when you let me on the team and I handled it. We all did." Ari stood to her feet and shrugged. "Too much is happening for me not to be involved, especially when I know I can help. I just—I need her to trust me and trust that I really can do this."
"You know who you sound like?" Oliver stood to his feet and walked around his desk to the girl. "You sound like me, with the exact same argument." he shrugged. "And now here I am."
"So you're saying I should just give up?"
"I'd never tell you to give up on anything." Oliver sighed turning away. He really was unsure how to come about this situation. On one hand, he understood Ari, but on the other as a parent, he also understood Katie. "Alright, let's have a conversation, the three of us this weekend."
"Ok, cool. A conversation is a start." a pleased smile came to Ari's face.
"So how is it going being back?" Oliver asked and Ari rolled her eyes.
"Well the stares and whispers haven't gone away yet, but it's fine." she replied and she noticed the silent stare. "And no I haven't seen Adam."
"Ari, if you do see him-"
"I know, I know. Gosh, one lecture was enough. If I see him, I stop what I'm doing and go the other way." she nudged her head to the door. "I should get back to work before the boss lady comes looking for me." She turned back to him with a pointed finger. "We're talking to Katie about the team. No unexpected trips to help a long lost friend's brother's uncle, sister find their cat or whatever. Be there." she turned to leave.
"You're not funny." Oliver replied, and Ari laughed.
"Funnier than you, dad." she said, surprising Oliver. Ari stopped and glanced back to him. "Was that weird? I wanted to fit it into the conversation casually to see how it sounded, and I feel like it was weird." she just shook her head. "Yeah it was weird," she looked over to him. "Forget I said it," she once again turned to leave.
"Ari, wait—it-" Oliver tried to catch her before she left, but the girl seemed to hurry out the door before he could say anything. He reached the door to see her already nearing the elevator. "It wasn't weird to me." he muttered to himself.
"Everything alright there, Hoss?" Rene walked over to see Oliver, noticing the slight frown. He followed Oliver's gaze to see Ari stepping into the elevator. "Everything alright with the pipsqueak?"
"Yeah," Oliver turned to Rene with a shake of his head. "She's fine." Oliver turned and went back into his office to sit at his desk.
"She hasn't had any run ins with Becker, has she?" Rene followed Oliver inside, "Because I had a word with the guy, and I told him that if he even thought he saw her shadow he knows he's supposed to keep his distance or-" Oliver looked over to him with a quirked brow. "Don't look at me like that, I didn't threaten the guy, I know how HR feels about that."
"Yeah, well HR seems to be ok with the guy who attacked my daughter still being employed, so I don't care what they think. If you see him near her when I am not around, I'm going to trust you to handle it."
"Say no more, Hoss," Rene nods before turning to leave.
"Wait, I thought you were with Katie at the interview?" Oliver asked and Rene stopped and glanced back to him with a slight laugh.
"She didn't want any of us with her. Tamera was trying to give her a million and one tips and last minute notes, Claire kept messing with her hair, she just got frustrated and told us all to come back to City Hall. Even me and I didn't even say anything. I was cool letting her sit in her crazy because I knew she'd be good when the cameras started rolling."
"So she's alone?" Oliver asked.
"I mean, I think Hank and Sean were with her. Is there something going on?"
"No, just-" Oliver shook his head.
"Oh I get it, you think that anchor guy hit on her?" Rene asked and Oliver looked over to him with a quirked brow. "All those compliments were kind of extra. Claire called him flirty." Rene chuckled but stopped at the look on Oliver's face. "I mean I'm sure it was nothing," Oliver still didn't say anything and so Rene pointed to the door. "I'm going to see if Lance needs me." and with that Rene turns and leaves the office.
Once Rene was gone, Oliver pulled out his cell phone and dialed Katie's number. He listened to it ring for a while before going to voice mail.
"Hey, it's me. I wanted to congratulate you. I watched the interview and was glad you didn't vomit. You did great. Call me when you get this." Oliver hung up the phone before glancing down to the screen.
He didn't know where she was, and that made him kind of nervous. Though there'd been no word on the guy, he'd still been wary of Felix Faust, and if the man would make a move. He debated calling her again just to see if she would answer. He shook his head before sliding his phone back into his pocket.
"You're overreacting," he muttered to himself before turning back to his computer.
Later that day, Oliver left his final meeting for the day heading to his office with his phone pressed to his ear, once again listening to Katie's voice mail.
"You know I think I'm doing a really good job of not freaking out at calling you twice today and you not answering." he stepped into his office, closing the door behind him a little harder than necessary. "That was a lie. I'm getting worried and need you to call me back when you get this. A third call I make with no answer also gets Felicity to track your phone to tell me where you are. So please, call me back so I know you're ok."
There was knock at his door and Oliver turned to see Maddy walk in.
"Maddy, could you call down to have my car pulled around? I'm going to head home." Oliver glanced down to his phone, debating on skipping the third call and just texting Felicity for the location now.
"Oh, Mr. Queen, I almost forgot to tell you, you actually have one more meeting." the woman said and Oliver looked over to her with a furrowed brow. "It came in during your meeting with city council."
"Maddy, you know I try to leave around this time to make it home for dinner with my family. We went over this."
"I know sir, and I tried to tell them that, but they said it was urgent."
"Who said it was urgent?"
"Um, a Mrs. Cross. She said you and her spoke about this meeting and that you would be expecting her."
Oliver just looked at the woman for a moment before turning away. Oliver knew how he easily forgot things that he didn't feel was important, so he thinks it's possible he made some meeting. He shook his head and turned back to Maddy.
"Did she say what the meeting was about?"
"No, just that you and her spoke about this meeting, and that she could only meet tonight."
"And when is she supposed to be here?"
"She said she'd be here in about a half an hour." Maddy replied.
Oliver sighed, but nods over to the woman. "Fine, hopefully it's a quick meeting. Could you just send her right in when she gets here?"
"Yes sir," Maddy says before turning and heading back out to her desk.
Oliver groaned as he walked over to his desk, once again glancing down to his phone. He sat there waiting impatiently. He really did want to leave. He was worried about Katie. Her not answering, or calling him back after this long was not like her at all.
He stood to his feet and headed for the door to tell Maddy to call this Mrs. Cross to reschedule. Oliver pulled open the door and walked out to see Maddy's desk empty. He frowned before glancing around realizing there was no one on the floor. He shook his head not sure what was going on, and so he turned and headed back in his office to grab his things to leave. A knock at his door paused his movements and he turned with a furrowed brow.
"Come in." he said and watched the door knob turn before to door opened to the person he really wanted to see. A smile pulled at his lips. "Twinkie, where've you've been? I called you twice and nothing."
"I'm sorry for being late Mr. Mayor, traffic was kind of crazy." Katie said turning to close and lock the door before turning back to Oliver.
He watched as she walked over to him, and he just now noticed the tan trench coat she was wearing, that stopped at her knees, a strap tied at her waist with a pair of red high heels on her feet. She held out her hand to him.
"I'm Mrs. Cross, it's a pleasure to finally meet you sir."
Oliver narrowed his eyes at the woman. "What are you doing, Twinkie?"
"We had a meeting," she said with a smile dropping her hand and reaching into her pocket and pulling out a sheet of paper. "We needed to discuss number two on this list."
Oliver was still confused but he took the paper from her hand and read over the list, a smile coming to his face when he realized what this was.
"You're Mrs. Cross." he said lifting his eyes to see the smile still on her face. "And this is the list. This is it, isn't it? Maddy's gone, there's no one else on this floor but you and me. We're crossing this office off this list, aren't we?"
Katie walked over to Oliver and slid her hands along his chest, her bottom lip caught between her teeth as she lifted her eyes to him.
"I'm not wearing anything under this coat, Liver. What do you think?"
The paper slipped from Oliver's hand, and he wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her body closer as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers before hiking her up on his desk.
Later that evening, they lay entangled together on the couch in Oliver's office, sweat cooling their bare skin as their breathing finally returned to a normal pace. Katie lay tucked under Oliver's arm, her head on his chest as his hand lazily stroked her arm.
"How did you clear the floor?" Oliver asked. After the mind blowing sex, he could finally shift focus back to his curiosity.
Katie let out an exhausted chuckle, her eyes still closed, "I may have snuck onto your computer and sent a building wide email, wishing everyone a happy holiday and that today you were asking everyone to get into the holiday spirit of Thanksgiving and togetherness and hoped they all went home early to spend time with their friends and family."
"And Maddy?"
"I told her I had a surprise for you and that Mrs. Cross was all a part of it." she placed a kiss to his chest and then lifted her head to look over to him. "We're going to have to leave soon. I'm pretty sure there's still a few people in the building, and I wouldn't want them to see their Mayor doing a walk of shame."
Oliver laughed as he leaned forward to press his lips to hers. "No shame at all. More like a walk of pride."
"Either way, we should go. Maddy told me your office cleaners will be getting to your office soon so we should put clothes on before they see more of their Mayor than they ever thought they would." she sat up, grabbing her coat off the floor and slipping it back on. She looked back over to Oliver. "My clothes are in my office, so you get dressed and meet me down there."
"Whoa," Oliver pulled on his pants and turned to her with a shake of his head. "No, I'm definitely not letting my wife walk out of my office wearing nothing but a trench coat and heels alone." he walked over to her and placed a kiss to her lips. "I'll head down with you."
Once Oliver was dressed, he slipped his arm around her and they headed off down the hall. Katie reached forward to press the button for the elevator.
"Where are our children?" Oliver suddenly asked and Katie turned to him with a laugh.
"Robyn and Will are at Bruce and Felicity's and Ari should be on her way there now. She and Jamie went ice skating." she swat his arm. "You should take me ice skating."
"Sure," Oliver said before leaning down and placing a kiss to her neck. "I'll take you where ever you want to go, but first we should go to our child free home."
Katie couldn't help the little giggle as his lips nipped and sucked along the skin of he neck. She knew she was going to have to wear a scarf tomorrow because he was definitely going to leave his mark.
Neither was paying much attention when the elevator doors finally opened, which is why they didn't notice the person standing on it watching them. When said someone cleared their throat, they snapped back to reality and pulled apart before turning.
"Claire?" Katie looked over to the woman who wore an amused smile as she looked between the two of them. "What are you doing here? You didn't go home early?"
"Well unlike a lot of people here, I don't have a lot of family in the city so I decided to use the quiet to get work done." Claire said looking between the couple. "So what are you two up to? You didn't go home early either."
"Yeah, we uh-" Katie turned to Oliver who turned to her trying to think of a believable story. "We had a meeting." she turned to Claire and nods. "Yep, an important meeting we just couldn't get out of."
"Meeting with just the two of you, huh?"
Claire let her eyes look over their clothing. Oliver's shirt wasn't tucked under his jacket, and she couldn't see a top under Katie's trench coat. Claire just shook her head and took a step to the side as the couple stepped inside.
They all stood in an awkward silence, until they finally reached Katie's floor. Once the doors opened, they turned and nod a goodbye to Claire before walking off.
Claire with a slight chuckle lifted her head before coughing, "Walk of shame!" loud enough for them to hear it.
Oliver and Katie turned to see Claire not even able to contain her laughter as the doors closed.
"She'll poke fun at me, but she'll keep quiet." Katie glanced over to Oliver before continuing to her office.
Oliver dropped down on the couch in her office, watching as Katie went to a closet to grab the hanger that held her clothes.
"Why today?" he suddenly asked and Katie quietly laughed walking from the closet.
"Well today is our anniversary." she replied walking over and placing her clothes on the couch beside him.
"Our wedding anniversary isn't for a couple of weeks."
"Not our wedding anniversary," she replied with a smile over to him. "It's the anniversary of the day we met."
Oliver looked over to her for a few minutes before turning away, trying to map it out and Katie just laughed.
"How do you remember the day we met when we were ten?" Oliver turned back to Katie who walked over to him and leaned in to him.
"Some things are just too important to forget." she placed a kiss to his lips, but quickly pulled away when he tried to pull her closer. "Seriously, I'm hungry. I gave you sex, and now you have to give me food." she turned to him with a pointed finger, knowing he was about to say something he thought was funny. "And don't even say it."
"No, I was just going to say there's a term for that sort of bartering system and it's illegal in this city." he laughed when she kicked his leg before grabbing the skirt from the hanger. He watched as she slid on the skirt under the trench coat and sighed because he was hoping to watch the whole undressing/dressing experience. "It might be easier if you took the coat off."
Katie laughed with a shake of her head.
"Sorry Mr. Mayor that show will not lead to me getting food any time soon." she reached behind her to zip up the skirt before going over to grab her blouse. She cut her eyes to Oliver before turning her back to him while unbuttoning the trench coat and pulling it off, letting it fall to the floor.
Oliver's tongue darted out across his lips as he looked at her naked back until she slipped the blouse on.
"You did great on your interview." he suddenly said and Katie turned to him with a smile as she buttoned her blouse and tucked it into her skirt. "Just like I said you would."
"Yeah, yeah, I didn't vomit over that nice man's suit, so that is a win in my book." she walked over to the closet to grab her jacket.
"Right, the nice man who had so many flirty things to say to you." Oliver said and Katie let out a snort and looked over to him. "Not my words, just something Rene said earlier."
"You know women call you Mayor Handsome, right?" Katie asked walking over to sit beside him on the couch. "They laugh at your jokes and you're really not all that funny." Oliver smiled, turning his body to face her as he slides his arm around her waist. "I get to witness every bright eyed assistant and associate flirt with you and I just have to suck it up and bite my tongue."
"Are you saying I should suck it up and bite my tongue?"
"Yeah, pretty much." she slid closer to him. "Because at the end of the day, you're the only one who gets to do those dirty things with me and to me that we just did in your office." she looked over to him with a smile as he pulled her closer before meeting his lips with hers. Before she knew it, his hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her onto his lap making her laugh. "Liver!" she squealed laughing trying to stop his hand from unzipping her skirt. She pulled back and just shook her head. "Save it for later." she tried to tug out of his lap, but he kept his grasp firm around her. She let out a huff before turning back to him. "I may turn to cannibalism if you don't let me go."
"It was the Three Stooges Marathon, wasn't it?" Oliver asked and Katie quirked a brow. "It happens every year at the same time. That's how you remember, miss some dates are too important to forget."
"Well you've cracked the case detective," she once again tugged herself from his lap, finally getting to her feet before grabbing his hand. "Now come on." Oliver just chuckled as she pulled him.
That night, Ari strolled down the halls of Felicity and Bruce's place. It was late and she couldn't sleep, so she decided to head down to the kitchen for a snack. When she walked into the kitchen, she didn't expect to find Damian standing in front of the refrigerator. The boy glanced over his shoulder with a slight smile.
"Trouble sleeping?" he asked and Ari just rolled her eyes as she walked into the kitchen, and headed over to the walk in cupboard for the junk food. She stood inside of the cupboard looking around, sighing when she hears the boy's footsteps. "You don't like me very much."
"You're not a very likable person." Ari grabbed a bag of cookies and then slipped out of the cupboard, heading to the refrigerator.
"Maybe I'm an acquired taste." he replied and the girl let out a snort. "So are your parents being a pain about you being Firelight as my father is with me about being Robin?" the boy shook his head. "He seems to think it's too dangerous as if I'm not my mother's child. I have the demon's blood in my veins. I just have to prove to him that I can do this."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Ari asked grabbing a soda and closing the refrigerator before turning to him. The boy simply smiled before nudging his head for her to follow him.
Ari sighed, but she didn't have anything else to do, and so she followed him. They ended up down in Bruce's basement batcave. Ari's eyes went to the bat suit, still not able to believe that stick in the mud Bruce was, the cool hero Batman. She turned to Damian who walked over to the computer and typed a few keys and soon an image of a woman appeared on the screen.
"Wait, I've seen her." Ari took a step forward, looking over to the picture before reading the name. "Harleen Quinn."
"Aka, Harley Quinn, ex girlfriend to the Joker." Damian said and Ari turned to him with wide eyes.
"That woman came to our house a couple of nights ago asking to see Katie. Then Bruce showed up, tranqed her and said I could have one of his cars if I didn't say anything." she turned away. "Wait, I think I have to remind him of that." she shook her head before turning to the picture. "Why would the ex girlfriend of a crazy clown man be looking for Katie?"
"Bruce is trying to use her to catch Joker. That's why Richard is here. He was supposed to be keeping an eye on her in Gotham, but he's an imbecile, so she ended up here and now she's missing again." Damian turned to the screen. "And I'm going to find her." he looked over to Ari. "Maybe Firelight could help as well."
Ari looked over to him before turning back to the picture. They heard the sound of the cave doors opening and Damian quickly typed to turn the monitors off and they both turned to see Richard who came to a stop the moment he saw the two of them.
"Am I interrupting something?" he asked glancing between Damian and Ari. He turned to Ari. "Arianna Locke I presume."
"And you're Richard Grayson, huh?"
"I don't think you two are supposed to be down here unsupervised." he said before narrowing his gaze on Damian. "The demon spawn should've told you that."
"You're a buffoon." Damian said and Ari let out a snort before walking around the man to head back upstairs. Damian watched her leave, a frown coming to his face before turning back to Richard. "Why are you still here?"
"What was that look?" Richard walked over to the boy. "Dare I say, the devil child has a crush."
Damian just huffed before stalking back upstairs, ignoring to laughter from the man.
The following day, Katie came by to pick up Robyn, Ari and Will to get some last minute prep done before the food drive.
Not too long after, Bruce paced back and forth in the living room waiting for Felicity to return home. She'd gone to her doctor's appointment, still adamant that he doesn't go with her.
"Since when do you pace?"
Bruce glanced over to Richard who stood off to the side watching him. He took a bite of a banana in his hand before they turned at the rushed footsteps coming down the stairs. Soon Damian came into the living room, his eyes going from Richard, to Bruce.
"You ready to go?" Damian directed the question to Bruce who just shook his head.
"Kid, the food drive isn't for a couple of hours, and since when have you become so charitable?"
"It probably has something to do with red." Richard said and Damian turned a glare to him. "I saw the way you were looking at her. I hate to break it to you though, it's never going to happen. I mean besides the age gap, you're you, the obnoxious demon spawn that no girl could ever love."
Damian didn't say anything, glancing over to the man with a hard glare, before turning around and running back up the steps. Richard frowned slightly. He expected one of the kid's sarcastic remarks, not for him to walk away like he hurt his feelings. He didn't know the kid had feelings.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Bruce asked before turning at the sound of the front door opening and closing. He soon forgets everything else, and hurries for the door.
Felicity freezes, one arm out of her coat as she looks over to Bruce. She glances over to see Richard walk over as well. Bruce follows her eyes and glares over to the man.
"Will you just go away."
"Not until you two tell me what the hell is going on." Richard looked between the couple. "You two have been acting weird since I got here. Now, you both need to come clean." he turned to Felicity. "Are you sick? Is that it, because I can make a call to Donna, we could get you to Themyscira, they use their ancient amazon healing crap and get you all better."
"I'm not sick Richard, but I appreciate the thought." Felicity pulled her coat completely off before hanging it up and turning it back to the two men. "I'm going to grab something to eat." she moved around them to head to the kitchen.
Bruce turned to Richard, annoyed that he was still standing there.
"You know I thought you were here to help find Harley."
"Well she's been MIA for a few days, maybe she headed back to Gotham." Richard shrugged taking another bite of his banana.
"Well until you get proof of that, you assume she's still here. Now, go."
Richard rolled his eyes before turning and heading down to the cave to see if the tracker had picked up anything.
Bruce headed off to the kitchen where he found Felicity sitting on the counter eating a cup of yogurt.
"Ok, I finally got rid of him, the kid is upstairs, now tell me, what happened." he walked over to stand in front of her placing his hands on her waist.
"Well there were a bunch of tests." she said dropping her eyes to her yogurt. "Then there was lots of sitting in empty rooms by myself obsessing about everything." she lifted her eyes to Bruce and let out a deep breath. "But the test results say I'm not infertile."
A smile came to Bruce's lips, "I could've told you that Ms. Smoak." he leaned in to press a kiss to her lips and then to the crook of her neck.
"I just don't get it." she sighed and Bruce pulled back. "There's nothing wrong with me, there's nothing wrong with you, so why isn't it happening?"
"It will happen when it's supposed to happen." he placed a kiss to her forehead. "You can't stress over it. I have no doubt that at some point we're going to have a baby."
"You're what?" the question came from behind them.
The couple pulled apart, turning to see Damian standing there with a perplexed look on his face as he looked at them.
Oliver was supposed to be reading over a project proposal that he needed to give his feedback on for a meeting next week. And yet when he came into his office, he couldn't focus on anything but the memory of the night before. He tried, he really did, but ever so often, his eyes would catch a spot in his office and he couldn't help it. He was sitting on the couch, the proposal fallen to the table as he looks over to his desk, unable to not see his wife. Her hands placed out in front of her, body arched over the desk, his hands gripping her hips as he—
A knock at the door tore Oliver from the memory and he sat up straight and turned to see Quentin.
"Oh, you're reading it, what did you think?" he asked nudging his head to the paper in front of Oliver.
Oliver looked down to the papers, honestly having no idea what it even was about. He really didn't want to say that so he turned back to Quentin.
"I'm still reading through it, I'll let you know soon." Oliver stood to his feet his eyes once again glancing over to the desk before walking over to grab his blazer from the chair. "I uh should be heading over to the SCPD to meet Twinkie and the kids." Quentin nods moving aside as the man leaves the office and he walks out with him.
"You know I saw the logs this morning and it said you didn't leave until late last night." Quentin said and Oliver turned to him. "I could've sworn you mentioned heading home after that last meeting. What happened?"
"Uh, just some last minute things I needed to catch up on."
Oliver shook his head before turning to the elevator and reaching over to press the button for it to open. He hoped the line of questioning was over, but when they stepped into the elevator, it only continued.
"What things?" Quentin then asked and Oliver turned to him. "It's just, I've witnessed first hand your refusal to stay later than your cut out time. And I respect you wanted to get home at a reasonable time to be with your family. I'm just curious what was so important that you had to leave so late."
"It's not that big of a deal Quentin." Oliver said turning away to the doors. "Just...stuff."
"Right, well funny thing, I saw that the doc left at the same time." he looked over to Oliver who didn't bat an eye at the question. "I'm guessing I should stop being curious."
"That would be a great idea." Oliver replied as the doors open and he walked off.
The food drive was going really well. They'd set up various stations outside of the police station where people could drop off various food items. Oliver stood by William and Damian, while Ari was on the other side with Jamie. He looked further down the area to see Katie, who seemed to have attracted a small crowd of people. He glanced over to Bruce who was standing beside Felicity and nudged his head toward Katie, a signal that he was going to walk away and for them to keep an eye on the boys.
As he neared, he caught some of the conversation.
"Me and my husband have been talking about this project and we both agree that if it works it truly will be a wonderful thing for this city."
"That was the goal, and we're really working hard to take the 'if' out of it. We've made so much progress, and as of now, Project Second chance is still happening. We will start rolling out more information as we get closer to opening." Katie said.
"Well we will keep are ears open for that news." the woman said before glancing back and finally noticing Oliver. "Oh, Mr. Mayor, sorry, we've just been chatting your wife's ear off."
"Don't apologize." Katie laughed as Oliver walked over to stand beside her. "To be honest I wanted to get away. He has been going on non stop about the Thanksgiving menu ideas as people have been bringing food in."
"So, the mayor is a foodie?" the woman laughed and Oliver laughed as well.
"You got me." Oliver replied. "Anyone have any ideas for me?" that got the small crowd a bit more talkative again.
He and Katie stood there a few minutes longer hearing the different recipes and family dishes before they excused themselves to return to the table.
"You know I may use that stuffing recipe." Oliver suddenly said and Katie just shook her head. "You're developing a fan base." Katie just laughed as she began sorting foods into boxes. "Quentin actually told me that our approval ratings are up and the consensus is that the people like having you in City Hall. Apparently they trust me more when you're there." Katie glanced over to him. "I know your contract with the city ends once second chance is up and running, but what if it didn't?"
"What do you mean?" she asked turning to him and folding her arms over her chest.
"What if your employment in City Hall was more permanent?" he watched to gauge her reaction, but she just stood there looking at him. "What do you think?"
"What exactly did you have in mind?" she asked.
"Well we're still trying to figure that out, but if you say yes we could find something." Katie just shook her head with a slight chuckle before continuing to sort. "Twinkie-"
"Oliver, you don't need to create a job for me."
"I know that, but I also see how great a job you've been doing with this project and I could only imagine the type of impact you'd have on other projects we have." he replied and she looked over to him. "And maybe the selfish part of me likes those moments I see you in the hall or in a meeting." he watched as she turned away again. "What do you think?"
"I think I like working with you too." she smiled as she turned to him and let out a sigh. "But I'm not sure."
"What are you not sure about?" he asked and she dropped her eyes.
"My future and whether I see myself in an office, like a serious adult." she lifted her eyes to him. "Like my dad." she shook her head before turning back to him. "Let me think about it and I'll let you know. Is that ok?"
"Of course." he replied with a smile before turning at the giggling coming from Ari and Jamie's table. He noticed the boy's hand on Ari's waist and saw red.
Katie followed his eyes and sighed, before grabbing Oliver's arm.
"Don't do what you're thinking about doing right now." she said, but Oliver tugged from her grasp. "Liver, leave them be."
The hairs on Ari's neck stood up and she turned to see Oliver headed their way and quickly pulled away from Jamie.
"Oh, uh hey, um, hi sir, we were um, just—we were-" Jamie stammered nervously.
"Jamie, why don't you switch places with Will." Oliver said and the boy just nods.
"Oh, ok sure." Jamie made to walked away, but Ari grabbed his arm to stop him.
"You're being ridiculous." Ari said to Oliver. "We were just messing around. He can stay here."
"He could, but I asked him to switch places with Will." Oliver turned to Jamie who tried tugging from Ari's grasp.
"He stays."
"Ari, really, it's fine." Jamie said over to her, but she was being too stubborn.
"It's not fine." she said before turning back to Oliver who looked like he wanted to say more than he could, but there were still so many people around. "He stays."
Oliver looked over to the girl, folding his arms over his chest, before turning a daring look toward Jamie. The young boy gulped before tugging his arm free, and hurrying over to the other table. Soon Damian appeared at Ari's side.
"Jamie was supposed to switch with Will." Oliver said and the boy just looked over to him.
"I switched instead," he said before turning to Ari with a smile. "Did you want to handle the clipboard, and I handle the sorting?"
"Whatever," Ari rolled her eyes before taking the clipboard and glaring at Oliver. "You better be glad I'm using this for my social studies project."
"Well the city appreciates your time and efforts." Oliver replied with a smile that made the girl roll her eyes again. He just chuckled before turning and heading back over to the table to Katie.
"She's definitely putting you in the worse nursing home she can find." Katie laughed before turning to a couple who had a box of food items to donate. "You're overreacting. Have you just forgotten how parents telling you not to do something, it just drives you to do it even more." she turned back to him. "I mean how would you feel if someone tried to separate us because you kissed me?"
"That's different, you're my wife."
"And she's his girlfriend." she said chuckling at the way Oliver's face scrunched at the words. "Whether you like it or not. He's a good guy, you just have to give him a chance."
Oliver just shook his head before turning to Katie who turned away to continued packing a box.
"Maybe I'm not the only one who has to give something a chance." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a quirked brow. He took a step closer to her. "Ari once again told me that she wants to return to the team and-" Katie scoffed before continuing to pack the box. "She wanted my help to convince you to be ok with it. You just said parents telling a kid not to do something just drives them to do it even more." Katie stopped and turned back to him and just shook her head before taking a step.
"Bruce, switch with Oliver!" she said turning to Oliver who sighed. Bruce walked over looking between Katie and Oliver. "You should go help Felicity, Liver." Katie shooed Oliver away and Oliver chuckled before turning to Bruce.
"You said something stupid, didn't you?" Bruce asked and Oliver didn't even say anything before turning and heading over to the other station with Felicity. Bruce turned to Katie. "Did he say something stupid?"
"No, he said something logical, and I have no room for that over here." she replied turning to him. "So you want to tell me why Richard is in Star City?"
"You saw him?"
"Of course I saw him. I found him in the backyard playing fetch with Harry the other morning." she turned away to take in a donation from a woman and her son. Once they left she turned back to Bruce with a quirked brow and he turned to her.
"What?"
"You're being evasive." she narrowed her eyes at him. "What are you hiding?"
"I'm not-" Bruce shook his head. He didn't want to lie, but he also couldn't tell the truth, so he was going to do the next best thing. He glanced over his shoulder. "Felicity, we're switching!" he turned to Katie who just chuckled with a shake of her head.
"I'm going to kick your ass when I find out, won't I?" she asked.
Bruce just nervously chuckled as he backed away. Felicity looked over to him with a furrowed brow as she walked over to stand next to Katie.
"What's with the musical tables switching?" Felicity turned to Katie who let out a sigh. "Everything alright? I thought you'd be in better spirits after you kicked ass in your interview yesterday and your little surprise for Oliver you refuse to tell me about."
"I told you, you wouldn't want to know." Katie laughed as she turned to a couple who brought over a box of food items.
Felicity just smiled as she filled out their information on the clipboard. Once they were gone, she turned back to Katie.
"Ok fine, I could do without the details of you and Oliver's sex life, but I wouldn't mind the cliff notes version."
"Fine, it consisted of a fake name, a trench coat and red high heels." Katie glanced over to the woman who seemed to be trying to fill in the blanks in her mind.
"Wait, did you-" Felicity rose a brow and nods and Katie just smiled and nods as well. "Like nothing but a trench coat and heels?"
"I was scared to death on the way to his office." Katie laughed as she glanced over to Oliver. "I got so paranoid, thinking anyone who looked at me just knew."
"Maybe that's what me and Bruce need." Felicity turned away in thought. "More adventure."
"Yeah, you and Bruce could probably use less adventure." Katie shook her head with a chuckle before noticing Felicity drop her eyes. "Hey, what's up?"
Felicity lifted her eyes and turned to Katie with a shake of her head.
"Nothing. Everything's fine."
"That's not as believable as you may think." Katie inched closer to the woman. "Seriously, you can talk to me."
Felicity didn't say anything for a moment before releasing a heavy breath.
"Bruce and I have been trying to have a baby for the last few months. But it's not happening. I even went to see my doctor today thinking maybe there was something wrong with me, but there isn't. I'm fine. My egg when met with Bruce's sperm will just not create a baby and I just don't understand why." Felicity let out a deep breath as if relieved to finally get all of that out. She looked up to the slightly wide eyes of Katie. "I actually just said the words egg and sperm didn't I?"
"You did." Katie smiled. "But it's fine. I'm not sure your doctor told you, but not all pregnancies happen when you want them to happen. They can take months, for some years." Felicity dropped her shoulders not liking the thought of having to wait years. "Just don't try to make it happen. I promise you if you stop putting so much pressure on yourself and Bruce, it'll just happen." she placed a hand on Felicity's shoulder. "Now if you will excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom. You think you can fly solo for a while."
"Yeah, sure, go ahead. I got this." Felicity replied and Katie just nods with a smile before turning away.
The smile drops from her face the moment she turns away and heads for the steps of the police station. She goes on auto pilot, her thoughts suddenly going a mile per minute in her brain. It's like the moment Felicity said the words she was instantly reminded. Felicity and Bruce are a healthy couple who will one day have a baby, and she just remembers that will never be her and Oliver again. She hates herself for making Felicity's news, somehow about her and how she can no longer do what her body was made to do.
She snuck away into the bathroom, glad that it was empty. When she walked over to the sink, her eyes met her reflection and it happened in an instant. Her heart raced, and her breathing became labored. She was having a panic attack. She caught the edge of the sink, hoping it would keep her on her feet. She closed her eyes and just tried to take deep breaths, but it wasn't working. She got sucked into the black hole of her emotions. Sadness, fear, anger, helplessness. She didn't notice when the door opened and someone walked in.
"Katie?" Dinah looked over to the woman and knew something was wrong. She placed a hand on Katie's back. "What's wrong? What can I do?"
Katie just continued to breathe in and out, hoping she could push the emotions back deep in that box she had within herself.
"Should I get Oliver?"
"No, just-" Katie took a few more deep breaths before opening her eyes and turning to Dinah. "I'm fine."
"That didn't look fine. That looked like a panic attack." Dinah continued to watch her warily. "Have you had them before?"
"Yes, but I'm fine." Katie smiled over to the woman. "I just—I had a moment, but I'm good now." she moved to leave the bathroom, but stopped and turned back to Dinah. "Oliver doesn't need to know about this."
"You want me to hide it from him?" Dinah asked.
Katie shook her head. "No, I'm just saying I'm fine, and Oliver doesn't need to know about this. Whether you actually tell him is your choice." with that Katie turned and walked from the bathroom. She only took a few steps before she bumped into Quentin. "Oh, sorry, I wasn't-" she looked up to the man and sighed. "Sorry."
"It's fine, I saw you hurrying in here and wanted to make sure you were ok." he said before chuckling. "Actually Oliver saw you and to prevent him from looking like a crazy person searching for you, I volunteered to find you myself. Everything alright?"
"Yeah, I just needed to use the bathroom."
"Oh good, everything is set in here, so I'm going to grab Oliver to make his speech." he says and she nods before they head back out.
When they stepped back outside, Katie brought a smile back to her face. The mask of a happy, well adjusted woman who didn't just have a panic attack in the bathroom. The moment Oliver sees her, he doesn't hesitate to walk over to her.
"Hey, you ran off." he brought an arm around her. "You alright?"
"Liver, I had to pee." she chuckled hoping he believed it. She turned away from his gaze. "Quentin said we're ready for your speech."
Oliver looked at her for a moment. Something seems off, but he couldn't figure out what. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.
"Uh, yeah." he turned to Quentin and nods before walking over to stand by William and Ari.
"Listen, everybody!" Quentin calls out to the crowd. "Please gather round. Gather round. Mayor Queen will be making an announcement, and then we will be touring the site of the new SCPD headquarters."
"Thank you so much for being here today, guys. It means a ton to Katie, and Ari and William-" he turned to the three of them with a smile before turning back to the crowd. "And to myself that we can all gather together as a city and help our neediest neighbors on Thanksgiving." he lets his eyes move across the crowd. "Across these various food drives with your help, the SCPD has collected enough food to feed over 1,200 families. And it is why I am incredibly proud to be here today at the unveiling of our new precinct." he nods. "It's a top-of-the-line facility for a top-of-the-line police force." Suddenly the crowd parts, and they all turn to see Agent Samanda Watson accompanied by two other agents. Oliver remains cool when he sees her. "One that might actually make federal agencies jealous." he steps down to meet her. "Ms. Watson, are you here to tour our new headquarters?"
"Turn around." Watson orders and Oliver's face grows more serious.
"We're doing this here?" he whispers to her.
"Oliver Queen, you're under arrest." Watson says.
Oliver turns around, his gaze meeting Katie's whose arms are now around Ari and William. He can see the anger in her eyes and knows if tempted she will do something in this moment. He shakes his head to her.
"On what charges?!" Quentin asks angrily.
"Murder, assault, burglary, and kidnapping all stemming from your activity as the Green Arrow." Watson places the handcuffs on Oliver's wrists.
Oliver clenches his jaw as he looks at the faces of Will and Ari and the fear in their eyes as Watson shoves him to walk.
"Dad?!" Will takes a step forward.
"It's-it's gonna be fine, buddy!" Oliver calls back to him. "I promise."
Katie stands there frozen in place, her arms still protectively holding on to William and Ari, listening as Watson reads Oliver his rights.
"What do we do?" Ari suddenly turns to Katie, only now seeing the blank look on Katie's face. "Katie?"she grabs Katie arm and gives her a slight shake and Katie turns to her. "What do we do?"
Katie doesn't answer the question, because her answer rides the line of legality. She simply takes Ari and Will's hands and goes to follow after Watson and Oliver into the police station. They walk in, in time to see Oliver placing his hand on the palm reader to begin his processing. She turns to Will and Ari, trying to block them from seeing it.
"Doc?" she glances over to Rene who's now standing behind her.
"Get them some place that isn't here." she says and he looks at her for a moment.
"What are you going to do right now?" he asked, before glancing up and noticing a light flickering. He sighs before returning his gaze to the woman. "Doc, you got to calm down."
"Take them some place that isn't here." she says again and he just nods before bringing an arm around Will and Ari, and leading them down the opposite hall.
Katie turns to see Oliver and he casts a glance to her, before officers pull him away, down a hall where she can no longer see him. She feels the twinge in her finger tips. The heat dancing underneath her skin.
Agent Watson turns, and spots Katie a condescending smirk coming to her face and something snaps inside of Katie who takes a step, only for Bruce to step in front of her.
"Nothing good is going to come out of whatever you were just about to do, Robins."
Katie's chest is heaving, and she's practically shaking when she lifts her eyes to Bruce.
"I won't let them take him away from me." she whispers to him and he could see the truth in her words from the seriousness of her gaze. "I will burn this place to the ground before I let that happen."
"Mrs. Queen." came Agent's Watson's voice from the behind Bruce.
Bruce lifted his head and let out a sigh because this woman just had a death wish. He turned, his hand on Katie's arm, keeping her behind him while he faced the agent.
"Mr. Wayne, I would like to have a word with Mrs. Queen."
"You don't want to do that Agent Watson." Bruce said. "I think it's in your best interest that any conversation you want to have with Mrs. Queen go through her lawyers first who I think you're going to be hearing from soon with this bullshit you just pulled."
"Well everyone has their opinion." she said before glancing around him. "There's still time for you to talk to me. Get on the right side of my investigation." she waited for Katie to say something, but nothing. "Well I'll be ready whenever you are." Watson turned and began walk away.
"Agent Watson!" Katie called and the woman stopped walking as Katie tugged from Bruce's grip and walked over to stand in front of her. "Really? You had to do this in front of his children? You overestimate my patience for you."
"Is that right?" Watson said with a tilted head. "Well you and your husband underestimate my intelligence and ability to see through your bullshit."
"Oh, is that what this was? An act of intelligence by our very Special Agent Watson. Let me guess, arresting a Mayor on trumped up charges is your ticket to that promotion, huh?" Katie let out a deep breath. "Release my husband before this ends badly for you."
"I'm sorry Mrs. Queen, did you just threaten a federal agent, because I'm not sure you're aware, but that is a criminal act that I could get you put into a cell for, just like your husband."
"That wasn't a threat Agent Watson. That was me, trying to help you before you make a very big mistake."
"You should probably save all that help for your husband. He's the one who's going to need it." with that Agent Watson turns and walks away.
Soon Katie is surrounded by Bruce, Felicity and Quentin, all trying to reassure her that everything is going to be ok. All Katie can think about are the various ways should could kill a federal agent and make it seem like an accident.
At some point, Dinah came back out and they all turned to her.
"Watson is letting him see you and the kids before bringing him to a cell." she said, her eyes on Katie who looked at her for a moment before turning to find Ari and Will.
She followed behind them, as they followed Dinah to the room they were keeping Oliver. Once she reached the door, she pulled it open and the kids moved to go inside, stopping when Katie didn't follow.
"It's fine, you two go see him, I'll be out here." she pulls on a smile that she tries so hard to look believable. They just nod before going into the room to see Oliver.
Dinah closes the door and turns to Katie who turns away and lets out a deep breath.
"You're the strong and silent type, I get it." Dinah says walking over to stand in front of her. "But it also worries me. Why don't you want to see him?"
"Because if I walk into that room, I'm not walking out without him." Katie replied lifting her eyes to the woman.
Will and Ari come into the room, relieved to see Oliver. He pulls Will into a hug.
"You said you weren't the Green Arrow." Will said pulling from the hug.
"I'm not the Green Arrow anymore." Oliver replies to the boy before lifting his eyes to Ari who keeps her distance, and stands near the door. "I didn't break my promise to either of you."
"Well you're in jail, so not sure how reassuring that is." Ari scoffed with a shake of her head.
"I'm going to get out of here as soon as I possibly can." he glances from her to Will. "Just go home with Katie and I will be there as soon as I can. I just need you to be strong." he looked back over to Ari who refused to look his way. "Both of you, I need you to be as strong as I know you can be." she doesn't say anything. "Ari, please." she turns to him, and he sees the glistening of tears in her eyes before she comes over and brings her arms around him.
Oliver fights the emotion within himself. He didn't want them to see him as anything other than confident in his ability to get out of this. He places a kiss to her head before pulling back and places a hand to Will's shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'm going to be ok. Just take care of each other until I'm back."
Will and Ari just nod before turning and walking out of the door. Oliver tells himself to stay strong, just until they leave the room. Once they're gone, Dinah appears and he sighs because the next face he needed to see wasn't hers.
"She's not coming in here, is she?" Oliver asked.
"She said that if she came into this room, she wouldn't leave without you." Dinah says. "And I think I believe her."
Oliver drops his eyes before looking back up to her.
"Can you make sure she gets my wedding ring before she leaves?" he asks and Dinah nods.
It happened again. Katie got sucked into this illusion that things would just be better. She has no idea why she keeps falling for it. History has told her that good things don't last and sooner or later, the bad things catches up and steals all the light and the happy away.
Returning home, Katie could only describe as sad. She didn't know what to say to the kids to reassure them. Oliver was always good with the optimism. Dinner consisted of pizza that only Robyn seemed to happily enjoy as the others sat somberly around the table.
Later in the night, Ari and Will locked themselves into their rooms while Katie tried to get Robyn to go to sleep. The girl had began crying after calling out for her daddy only to realize he wouldn't appear. Katie just silently rocked her in her arms, trying not to let the sound of the crying child break what little sanity she had.
After Robyn cried herself to sleep, Katie found herself in the living room, the only light coming from the fireplace. She focused her attention on Oliver's wedding ring that she let hang from her finger. She kept thinking how this wasn't right. This ring wasn't supposed to be in her hand. She slipped this ring on his finger almost two years ago, and it wasn't supposed to come off. Katie closed the ring into a fist and lowered herself to lie on the couch, her eyes over to the dancing flames, as a stray tear escaped from her eye.
"I won't let them take you." she whispered believing nothing more in that moment.
Ari couldn't sleep after the day they'd had. She found herself sitting at her laptop, talking herself out of digging up dirt on Agent Watson. At the sound of her phone, Ari glanced over figuring it was probably Jamie. He called earlier after seeing what happened to Oliver. They talked for hours, but she wouldn't be surprised that he would call back. Picking up her phone, she looked at the caller ID with a frown, because it wasn't Jamie. She rolled her eyes before bringing the phone to her ear.
"What do you want Damian?"
"I found her."
"What are you talking about? Found who?"
"Harley Quinn. I told you, I was going to find and stop her to prove to my father that he could trust me to be the Robin. I was just calling you to see if you wanted in."
"In, as in go out to help you catch a clown lady? You can't be serious?"
"I can, and you can come if you want, but I'm going. I know if I can do this, I can make him see that I can do this."
Ari groaned as she walked over to the window to look out. On one hand, if she did this, and Oliver and Katie found out, she would be dead. On the other hand, she just watched her only father at the moment get carted away in handcuffs with the possibility that she could never see him again. She does think hitting someone would help her right now. Plus she knew she couldn't let Damian go out there alone. He'd probably do something completely crazy without some kind of supervision.
"Alright," Ari replied before turning and walking over to her closet. She pulled open the door and pushed the clothes aside to reveal a trunk. She entered a code to unlock it and lifted it open to revel the Firelight Suit. "Send me the address."
The address was a roof of one of the high sky scrapers downtown. Ari was very careful sneaking out, making sure to leave her window open for her return. When she reached the roof, she cracked a smile when she saw Damian all geared up in the Red, yellow and Black Robin costume. He glanced back to her with a smile, letting his eyes linger over her.
"Firelight,"
"Robin," she replied walking over to the edge of the roof. "So where is she?" Damian walked over and pointed to a sandwich shop on the corner.
"I say we cut the power, go in and grab her." Damian said before taking a step, but Ari caught his arm.
"Wait, hold up. First we scope out the place, and identify any possible risks and dangers to both us and whoever else is in that building."
Damian let out a huff. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
Ari lifted her wrist and pressed a button on her kevlar digital arm covering. Soon a piece of her suit pulled away, flying up with the sound of buzzing. She pressed another button, and the little bug flew off, down to the sandwich shop. She pressed another button and soon a holographic screen appeared above her arm. Damian moved to stand beside her, both their eyes on the screen.
Once the bug was inside the shop, they both realized something.
"Where is she?" Ari said moving the bug to look around the shop. "She's not there." she turned to Damian. "Are you sure you saw her go in there?"
"Yes, I saw her walk inside." Damian turned back to the screen and then groaned. "She must've snuck out the back."
"Which means she realized she was being followed and I risked getting grounded for nothing." Ari shook her head before turning to the boy. "Never call me again." she turned and stalked away.
"Wait, Ari—Ari, I'm-"
Ari stopped walking and Damian had hope she was going to forgive him. He hurried over, only to realize her eyes were on the hologram again.
"What is it? Harley?"
"No," Ari said pressing the alert on the screen to reveal the face of someone she doesn't really like. A smile pulled at her lips before she looked over to Damian. "Maybe this night isn't a total bust. I may get to punch someone yet and it just happens to be the face of evil Laurel Lance."
Author's Note
Kids, I tell ya ;)
Review Replies
Adela: Thank you!!!
As always I leave you with my upmost gratitude for all your support and patience. Thank you!
Sneak peek
Black siren turned to see a masked girl, hood over her head and flame on her chest.
"Did you steal that, because stealing is wrong." Firelight says taking a step forward.
"You're a child," the woman said looking over the girl. "I don't like children."
Black siren took a step forward, stopping when her last man is caught with a rope around his neck that sends him flying off into the air leaving her standing there with no back up. Soon another masked child jumps from the darkness to stand beside the girl.
"I'm ninety five percent sure children don't like you either." the boy's modulated voice spoke. "Hand over the box now."