Chapter 12
The Slippery Slope of Deception
"Those who lack the courage will always find a philosophy to justify it."
-Albert Camus
Moments ago, Black Siren and three members of Cayden's thugs, just walked out of Sunderland Corp to steal a nano thermite device. It wasn't difficult at all, which was a bit disappointing. They were headed back out to the van that was parked in the alley behind the building, when she turned at the sound of a grunt. One of her men was now a few feet away, unconscious on the ground.
"We have a problem." Black Siren spoke to Cayden through the earpiece. "I think the pains in my ass are here."
"That's not possible, there's no way they were alerted to that break in." Cayden replied.
Black Siren turned to see a second man, just as a rope is tied around his throat before he's lifted up into the dark sky. Her and the final guy moved in closer, as he held up his gun.
"Well someone is here. Do you have eyes?"
"The surveillance isn't showing anything that I can see." Cayden replied. "You need to get out of there now."
Black siren turned to the man and nods before they turned to get into the van.
"What do you have there in that fancy box?" came the distorted voice.
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 the 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."
A smile pulled at Black Siren's lips at their attempts to be intimidating. It was almost cute. But she was getting annoyed.
"Sorry kids, but I think it's your bedtime."
Black Siren says before opening her mouth and letting out a slightly timid sonic cry. There wasn't much force, but it should've sent them flying back and yet the two annoying children didn't even budge.
"Yeah, we anticipated that." Firelight said turning her head to reveal the ear plugs she may have borrowed from the bunker the last time she was there. She knew they were only prototypes that probably couldn't stand up against a stronger sonic scream, but they were something. She took another step forward. "Hand over the case now."
"I don't think so, and if you two don't leave, I may be forced to put you over my knee and give you the spanking your parents should've given you." Black Siren took a step forward bringing her toe to toe with the girl.
"God, I was hoping you would say that." Ari replied and in the next second, she drops, and slides a leg underneath the woman's feet, knocking her on her back. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this."
"Well I hope it's all you ever dreamed."
Black siren kicked a foot into Ari's ankle, causing the girl the scream before stumbling back. The woman jumped to her feet, when Robin threw his rope around her wrists before running over and jumping on her back, tightening the rope around her neck.
"That was a bad idea," he growled fully prepared to tighten this rope until the woman stopped breathing.
"Robin stop!" Firelight called trying to push herself to her feet, but her ankle was on fire. "Robin, will you-" before she could finish the sentence, bright lights shined from the end of the alley.
Damian glanced back, just as something shoots out and attaches to his suit that forces him back with a hard thud to the ground and drags him back. Soon he finds himself pinned to the side of a motorcycle just as the face of his biggest annoyance appears.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Nightwing snaps angrily. "You choking people out in alleys now, you psycho?!"
They heard the sound of an engine and turned to see Black siren no longer on the ground, but inside of the van and speeding off.
"You let her get away, you idiot!" Robin replied and Nightwing turned back to him. "That was a bad guy who just stole something and I had her until you showed up. Now get this off of me!"
"Yeah, no, you can stay like that for a little while," he said before walking over to Ari who was finally able to pulled herself up to her feet by holding onto a dumpster. "You alright?"
"It's my ankle. I don't think it's broken, but it hurts like hell." she grimaced testing some weight on it. "But it's fine." she looked over the man and sighed. "So are you cool enough not to tattle on us or are you going to be that guy?"
"You know he's just eleven, right?" Nightwing said. "And you're what? Sixteen, Seventeen? And what I've heard, you're some kind of mini Felicity genius, so I don't get this. This dumb as shit alley take down, with you and the kid and villain fights in dark alleys."
"Well that was a woman from a different universe, who looks like someone who I despise, but who I might care about. She's working with an evil techie who is planning to do something evil. So, you want to know what this was, this was us trying to prove that we can be in this fight too."
"Right, you're on the ground defenseless, and baby psycho was about to commit murder."
More headlights illuminated from the alley and Ari turned at the sight of the car stopping. She couldn't see who it was at first until they came into view.
"Oh God, Ari!" Felicity rushed forward, grabbing Ari's arm. "Are you-" she looked over to see Damian tied to Richard's bike. "Damian?" she turned to Richard. "What the hell is going on here?"
"That's what I want to know." Bruce stalked forward, his hard stare going from Ari, to Damian.
Ari shook her head before turning back to Richard.
"So I guess you are that guy. Good to know."
By the end of the night, Ari found herself lying in her bed as Katie wrapped her ankle. She was right, it wasn't broken, but badly sprained. Bruce and Felicity let her change before returning her to the house.
Katie opened the door, without a word. Bruce carried Ari up to her room, where Ari now lied in the painfully awkward silence.
"So..." Ari's voice tore through the silence. "How long do you think this punishment will be?" She watched as Katie's eyes remained focused on her ankle as she wrapped it. "I'm thinking three weeks, possibly a month would be fair." still nothing and Ari wasn't sure what all the unresponsiveness was about and it was making her nervous. "Katie!" Katie finally lifted her eyes to the girl and stood up straight. "The silence, is freaking me out, just say something."
Katie just looked at her for a few moments before turning and walking over to the door.
"It's late, you should get some sleep." and with that she flicked off the lights and closed the door behind her.
When Katie walked back downstairs, she found Bruce and Felicity, with Damian who sat with his arms folded and glare on his face.
"You're still here." Katie said and they turned to her. "Ari's fine, just sprained, she's just going to have to keep off it for a bit." she turned to Damian before looking over to Bruce. "Was he hurt?"
"No, he seemed to come out of this with just some scrapes." Bruce replied.
"Yeah, from that waste of human space Grayson."
"Hey, you're only digging yourself deeper." Felicity looked over to the boy. "You keep it up, life is going to get much harder for you at the Wayne household."
"Well at least I won't have to suffer too much longer. Once you two have your baby, you won't need me anymore and then I will be able to do whatever the hell I want." he stood to his feet and stalked out of the door.
"Oh, he's really trying it tonight." Bruce stalked out of the door behind him.
"I should-" Felicity sighed with a shake of her head before turning to Katie who seemed to be staring over to the fireplace. "Hey," she placed a hand on Katie's arm and Katie turned to her. "About Oliver-"
"Oliver is going to be fine." Katie replied and Felicity quirked a brow.
"You sound certain about that." Felicity said. "Is there something you're not saying."
"No, all I'm saying is that Oliver will be fine. There is absolutely no other possibility than Oliver being fine, and coming home to us. I'm prepared to do anything I have to do to ensure that happens."
Those words made Felicity both worried and nervous.
The next day Katie was up and showered, and dressed for Oliver's hearing. She didn't sleep. She couldn't sleep. Not without him with her, which was going to happen today. She went about getting Robyn and William up, fed and dressed.
Robyn seemed to search for her father as they moved about, but she still didn't see him. She finally decided to ask her mother again during breakfast.
"Mama," Robyn spoke and Katie turned from her spot where she'd been staring out the window.
"What do you need sweetie." Katie replied walking over to the girl.
"I want dada." Robyn looked up to her mother with sad eyes.
Katie's shoulders drop because she wanted to give this little girl the one thing she wanted in this moment, but she couldn't. She stepped forward and pressed a kiss to her head.
"Sorry baby, he's not here, but dada will be home soon."
"You shouldn't tell her that." William said and Katie looked over to the boy whose eyes were down to his bowl of cereal. "He might not come back."
Katie walked over and took a seat at the table across from him and he lifted his eyes up to meet hers.
"No, I told her, what I will tell you now. Oliver will be home tonight. I'm going to ensure it."
"How?" Will asked with a furrowed brow and Katie just smiled as she stood to her feet.
"Why don't you let me worry about the semantics and you just finish up your breakfast." the sound of the doorbell rang. "And I'm guessing that is Bruce to keep an eye on you three."
Katie walked over and pulled open the front door, only to find someone else.
"Oh, hey Richie? Where's Bruce?" Katie asked looking from the man to the glare of the boy who pushed past him into the house.
"He and Felicity were going to be in court today with you, so I got babysitting duty." Katie looked at him with a furrowed brow. "It's fine, I'm good with kids."
"I mean Ari and Will, sure, but I have a one year old." she sighed stepping back into the house to grab her phone. Richard followed her inside, closing the door behind him."I mean maybe I could try Lyla, hope it's not too last minute."
"Hey, Sugar Bear, I can handle a toddler." Richard replied and Katie turned to him. "Babies are just like drunk old people, you just got to make sure they don't hurt themselves and they're good."
Katie looked at him for a moment, wondering if he was serious, and from the look on his face, she thinks is was.
"Actually, I'm just going to drop her off at day care on the way to court." she said with a shake of her head. "Will is eating breakfast. Ari is in her room eating, and staying off the ankle. Just keep them in the house. I'm sure the press is probably lingering and I don't want them in the middle of that right now." she glanced over to the clock. "And I should get Robyn so we can go." she turned back to Richard. "Keep my kids safe Richard."
"Aye. Aye." he gave her a mock salute and she just rolled her her eyes before heading off.
After dropping Robyn off at daycare, Katie arrived at the courthouse that was covered with the press. Bruce and Felicity were waiting for her, so when she arrived, they both brought an arm around her on each side, acting as a sort of shield as they headed inside.
Once inside, Katie was glad there were no more yelling and camera flashes.
"You alright?" Bruce turned to Katie who simply looked around.
"Fine, it's going to be starting soon, right?" she turned back to Bruce who nods. "Ok, um, I'm going to run to the bathroom. Why don't you two go on ahead."
"Did you want me to come with you?" Felicity asked and Katie shook her head.
"I have not forgotten how to pee, but thanks for the offer." she pulled away, turning and walking off.
"Why am I nervous?" Felicity asked as Bruce's arm slid around her. "Like I should be nervous, for Oliver, for whatever happens today, but I'm more nervous because I think my friend may lose it big time if this all goes bad." she turned to Bruce. "What are we going to do if that happens?"
"We're going to pray like hell that doesn't happen." Bruce said before turning them and heading for the courtroom.
When they walked inside, they saw Oliver talking to his lawyer. His eyes turned to them with a slight frown.
"Oh, he's looking for her." Felicity whispered over to Bruce.
"Well she will be in here soon." he replied before mouthing the word 'bathroom' to the man who just nods.
Katie lied. She didn't have to pee. She needed to hide. She's not exactly sure what she's hiding from. Until she walked into this courtroom, she'd been confident in the outcome. She thinks it's how that outcome may happen that she's afraid of. She's not prepared to lose Oliver to anything, and she knows the extent she would go to never lose him. Katie didn't hear when the door to the bathroom pushed open and in walked Dinah.
"I'm starting to feel like bathrooms are your safe space." Dinah said and Katie glanced over to her. "It's about to start, and his eyes are glued to the door waiting for you to walk through them." Katie just continued to pace. "Is there anything I can do for you right now?"
"Can you get me a copy of all the exits in this building?" Katie asked and Dinah looked over to her with a quirked brow. "Do not ask questions that you are not prepared to hear." Katie stopped pacing and walked over to the woman. "That was a joke." Dinah sort of chuckled still unsure if it really was. "I found old building plans last night, so I already know all the exits." with that Katie moved around the woman out of the bathroom.
Dinah groaned before turning to catch up to the woman.
"I don't know what you're planning, but please just—" she moved to block Katie from walking. "You have a whole team of people who will help you. Don't try to do this on your own. Whatever happens in that room, let's just handle it as a team."
"That's not the teams's husband in that courtroom. That's not the father of the team's children in that courtroom, Dinah." she shook her head. "So, no, whatever needs to happen today, I will get him out of this, any way I can."
She moved around the woman, continuing down the hall before appearing outside of the courtroom doors. She took a final deep breath before walking inside.
The courtroom was filled with people, but Katie turned her head to the front, and there he was. He spotted her, and a small smile pulled at his lips. She smiles as well, and nods before turning away to look around the room. She couldn't believe this was happening. They were really in a courtroom, because Oliver was being accused of being the Green Arrow.
She lets out a shaky breath before turning to Oliver's eyes still on her. He turns to his lawyer, Jean Loring, standing beside him, and they both glance over to Katie before turning back to each other. Oliver seems upset with something she's says, and he turns back to Katie who was still just standing in the back of the courtroom.
Katie realized she hadn't moved much from the back of the room since she walked in. She began to notice the eyes turning to her, and she figured she should move to stand behind Oliver. So she picked up her feet and began walking.
She appeared at the row of seats behind Oliver and Jean. Her hand slides along the divider, as she moves to her seat beside Felicity. She turns when she feels Oliver's hand on hers.
Oliver had been waiting to see Katie since he walked into this courtroom. He'd been nervous about the outcome of all of this, and he knew just the sight of her would just give him hope.
It made him worry when she wasn't here sooner, and he was afraid she might not come in at all. But now that she was here, it brought that hope back to him.
"Are you ok?" he asked and Katie lightly chuckled.
"How can you ask me that when you're standing on that side of the room." she slid her thumb over his finger. "Are you ok?"
"Seeing you now, yes, I am." he replied his eyes on hers. He knew she was nervous as well, probably scared even. "Twinkie, we're going to be ok."
"Always the optimist, Liver." she smiled, before glancing over to notice the judge walking out.
She slipped her hand from his and took a step back and he sighed before turning to the Judge.
"All rise." the bailiff announced. "Docket QR2861, "State versus Oliver Queen," Judge McGarvey presiding."
Once the judge sits, so does the rest of the courtroom, except Oliver and his lawyer, and opposing council being lead by district attorney Sam Armand.
"I understand the defense have waived the reading of charges in favor of a motion." the judge says looking over to Oliver's attorney.
"Yes, your honor. Defense moves to dismiss for lack of probable cause." Jean says glancing over to Oliver before turning to the judge "The photograph with the defendant wearing the Green Arrow outfit was debunked a month ago."
"We're not relying on that photo." Sam replied. "The FBI has provided definitive proof that Oliver Queen is the Green Arrow."
"Then let's see it." Jean counters.
"Show my whole card during arraignment?" Sam shakes his head. "I don't think so."
"Sorry, Ms. Loring, but we're not skipping over steps here." The Judge says. "But, good for you, I'm going to release the defendant on bail."
"Your honor, the defendant faces 7 counts of murder." Sam argues.
"And he's the mayor and the father of three children. Something tells me he's not going anywhere, particularly not with a 5 million bail and a 500,000 bond." the judge bangs the gavel.
"We are going to ask for an accelerated docket and an early trial date." Jean says.
Oliver sighs before turning, only to realize Katie hurrying for the door. He turns to Felicity and Bruce.
"She's upset." he sighs.
"Well she's not happy, but that's not why she's running out of here." Felicity replied. "She's going to pay your bond." Oliver turned once again, just in time to see Katie stepping out of the courtroom.
Once his bond was paid, Oliver was free to go. He stepped out of that room, to find Quentin, Rene, and Dinah waiting for him. He frowned because he expected to see his wife as well.
"Where is she?" he asked.
"She said something about checking on the kids. Someone named Richard Grayson is watching them."
"Wait, Richard is watching my kids?" Oliver asked with a look of confusion.
"Just Ari and Will," Rene added. "Robyn is at daycare. But we should pow wow on whatever it is this evidence is the FBI has."
Oliver nods, "Fine, lets head to my office." he turns to Quentin who pulls Oliver's phone out of his pocket. "Thank you." Oliver takes the phone before they start walking. He dials Katie's number only for it to go to voice mail. "Hey, it's me, where are you? I need to see you. We're heading to City Hall. Can you meet me there, or tell me where you are and I'll come to you."
He ended the call with a huff before sliding the phone into the pocket of his jacket.
Ari jilted awake from a bad dream. Her eyes went to the window, seeing the light shining through before glancing over to the clock. Oliver's arraignment should be over by now. She turned to the table beside her bed, pulling open the drawer reaching inside, expecting to find her phone, but there was nothing.
"Shit," she muttered, figuring Katie found it.
She glanced over to the door before pushing the blanket off of her to sit up. She lowered her uninjured foot first, before slowly lowering her sprained foot. She hissed at the pain, but grit through it as she pushed herself up to stand. She limped toward the door, pulling it open and glancing out into the hall.
She slowly limped, glancing into Will's room to see the boy playing his video game with Richard Grayson. She didn't know he was here. She shook her head as she continued down the hall and toward the steps. She held on to the railing as she walked down, gritting her teeth with every step until she made it to the living room where she plopped down on the couch.
"Your ankle better?" came a voice behind her, and she turned to see Damian, a can of soda in his hand. He walked over, taking a seat beside her on the couch.
"No, but I needed to-" she grabbed the remote to turn on the television. "see what happened at the trial."
When she flicked on the television, it was the first story she saw. Oliver would be going to trial, but he'd been released on bond. She let out a slight sigh of relief. At least he was out, which meant they could figure out what happens next. She turned to Damian who just sat back on the couch.
"So how much trouble did you get into last night?"
"Well they raided my room, took anything they thought brought me joy." he scoffed as he took a sip from the can. "Which was pointless. None of it brings me joy. Only victory."
"So you're going to try to find Harley again, aren't you?"
"It doesn't make any sense. The search put her in that diner. Did she really slip out the back?"
He turned to Ari who just shrugged. Her eyes spotted a box on the dining room table and she could've sworn she saw a power cord.
"Hey, grab that box would you?" she said and the boy headed over to grab the box and brought it over to her. She smiled when she looked inside to see her laptops, and tablets and phones. "These are all the things that bring me joy." she pulled out the laptop and flipped it open, her fingers moving across the keys.
"What are you doing?" Damian asked sliding over beside her.
"Want to see if evil Laurel has made any moves since last night." she continued to type.
"Damn, she's breaking into Amertek. I need to warn the team." Ari stood to her feet and searched around the room. She was pretty sure Katie did hide her keys. "And I don't have a car."
"The doofus drove his Mercedes." Damian said.
"Yeah, and I doubt that narc will let me borrow his car."
Damian suddenly pulled the keys from his pocket.
"Who said anything about asking permission?" Ari looked over to the boy with a quirked brow. "I may or may not have been planning an escape that I was going to ask you to join, but since you need to a ride anyway."
"You really are a little demon, aren't you?" she took the keys from his hand. "Cover for me with the narc." she moved to grab some shoes in the hall.
"I'm coming with you." Damian said and Ari turned to him with a quirked brow.
"I'm going to the bunker where your step mother works. Do you not think you're going to get into more trouble?"
"I mean maybe, I also don't want to be here with the idiot."
"We also just can't ditch Will. You have to stay."
"Why?"
"Because last night really was stupid. And me being closest to adult age should've known that and should've stopped it." she shook her head. "Last night wasn't going to prove to Bruce that you should be the Robin. I think it was going to do the opposite." she walked over to the boy. "The kid I saw last night isn't ready to be a hero. There's still so much you need to learn, and self control is one of them."
"You think I went too far?" Damian looked at her with a furrowed brow. "She hurt you and she would've done worse had I not stopped her."
"And I thank you for that, but I still have hope that we really can stop these bad guys without turning into them." she reached up and mussed his hair and he lightly shoved her hand away. "Stay with Will, be a friend." and with that the girl glances up to the stairs, before limping to the front door and quietly slipping out.
Damian sighed as he heard the sound of the engine, before the sound of footsteps. He turned to see Richard coming down the steps.
"Where's Red?" Richard hurried down the steps, before heading for the door and pulling it open, only to find that his car is gone. "She took my car. How did she-" he patted down his pockets, only to realize his keys were gone. He stepped back into the house, and turned his eyes to Damian. "You snagged my keys when you bumped into me, earlier, didn't you?"
"Bang up job babysitting. My father should totally trust you."
"Yeah, whatever."
Richard pulled out his phone, only for Damian to walk over and bump him once again, though this time he felt strange. He glanced over his shoulder, to see a small dart poking from his side. He turned a dark glare over to Damian.
"Hell spaw-" he dropped to floor instantly out cold.
Damian lifted his eyes to the stairs at the sound of more footsteps to see Will.
"Where is everybody?" Will asked.
Damian just shrugged as he hurried up the steps to stop the boy from seeing the unconscious man.
"I think the pea brain is out getting food or something. I had next and I won't be holding back this time. You will feel the pain of Zertoz."
"You always choose him and I always beat him." Will laughed as they both turned and headed back up the stairs.
Katie's eyes looked down to her phone when it rang, and when she saw Oliver's name, she didn't answer. It made no sense to avoid him. She knew at some point she would have to face him again.
She lifted her other hand to his ring she now wore around her neck. She couldn't stop thinking about how this wasn't over. This was just an arraignment. There would be an actual trial that could determine their future.
She can feel the fear and nervousness eating away at her insides and she knows the moment she sees him, the moment she lets him bring his arms around her she's just going to completely fall apart.
When her phone vibrated, she realized he left a voice message and she sighed before bringing the phone to her ear. She listened to the message, closing her eyes knowing he was wondering where she was. He told her to meet him at City Hall and Katie put down the phone and groaned.
She'd actually gone to City Hall hoping he'd head home and she could avoid him for a little while longer. She currently sat on the floor in her office, her back against the wall and heels propped up next to her, as she looked over to the window.
When the door opened, she didn't move. She watched as Claire walked in, her eyes down to a tablet as she headed over to a filing cabinet. The woman sifted through a drawer before pulling out a file. She turned and yelped, dropping everything in her hands the moment she realized Katie was sitting there.
"What the hell, boss! You almost gave me a heart attack." the woman said before bending down to pick up her things.
"I'm not your boss." Katie sighed, her eyes drifting back to the window.
"What are you—what are you doing here?" Claire said her eyes still on Katie. "I saw the news, Oliver's out on bond, and word is, he's heading here." Katie didn't say anything and Claire began to worry. "Should I call someone?"
"No, just go and close the door behind you, please." Katie replied.
"Are you ok?" Claire asked instead of following the instruction and Katie sighed before turning to her.
"Everyone keeps asking me that. Everyone wants to know if I'm ok, but that's really a stupid question considering." Katie shook her head. "I'm not ok Claire, as you and anyone with a front row seat to my life could see, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it, so I would appreciate if you would just leave my office and close the door behind you." Katie turned away dropping her head back against the wall.
"Whatever you need, boss." Claire nods before turning and heading for the door, making sure to close it behind her.
Oliver headed over to his desk after Rene and Dinah headed off on a case, while Quentin headed off to see if he could get any intel into whatever evidence the FBI had.
He pulled his phone from his pocket with a shake of his head when he didn't have any calls from Katie. He let out a sigh before dialing Felicity's number.
"Oliver, hey, is everything alright?"
"Uh, I'm sure it is. Sorry, I know you're probably busy, I just—could you tell me where Katie is right now?" there was a silent pause. "I know there are rules for this request and I wouldn't ask if I wasn't seriously worried." still nothing. "Felicity-"
"She's in City Hall." Felicity finally said. "Was that all?"
"Yeah, uh thanks."
Oliver ended the call with a slight frown. Maybe he was worrying for nothing. She probably got his voice message and was here to meet him. He let out a sigh of relief. He stood to his feet and walked over to stand in front of his desk where he waited.
Claire chewed on her fingernail as she stood across from Katie's office. She knows she should just follow her wishes, but she can't help but feel that something was really wrong.
"Hey," the blonde turned to see Quentin. "You ok?"
"Me, I'm as fine as they come, it's the boss that I'm worried about." Claire nudged her head to Katie's office.
"Katie's in there?" he asked and she nods.
"Yeah, and she's just sitting on the floor and I know today probably sucks ass for her, but I just figured, with Oliver out of jail, she would be with him right now. She's just in there all brooding and sad and mean and I've just been out here wondering if I should get someone."
"It's fine, I'll take care of it." Quentin place a hand on her arm. "You can go."
Claire looked at him for a moment before turning back to the office, but nods before gathering her things and heading off.
Quentin walked over to Katie's door, pushing it open and walking inside. He looked around before spotting her right on the floor as Claire said.
"Could you please just not." Katie said not even turning to him. "I'm fine, I just want to be alone without all the talking."
"We don't have to talk. We could just sit." he said, grabbing a chair and bringing it to the wall beside her. He took a seat, his eyes looking over to the window as well.
And that's how they sat for the next few moments, in a comfortable silence. Katie soon dropped her eyes, as her hand went up to clench Oliver's ring once again.
"You know I've been told how strong I am all my life." she suddenly said. "It's like a compliment I guess. Like you just trudged through a mountain of bullshit and you're still standing and you're still smiling, you're so strong." she scoffed. "I'm not strong." she glanced over to Quentin who turned to her. "I'm really not. I've just mastered the art of pretending I am." she shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I'm going to crumble into a million pieces the next time I see Oliver and I don't want that to happen, because I got to be strong. I got to be strong for him and for the kids."
"Yeah, but some times you got to break to put yourself back together." Quentin replied. "And when you're in a marriage, you have the luxury of having someone help put you back together. This thing—it's not just happening to Oliver. It's happening to you, and it's happening to your kids. So if you need to crumble, then go ahead."
Katie turned her eyes to look back over to window.
"I wasn't prepared to walk out of the courtroom without him today." she said still clenching that ring. "I'm pretty sure I was going to make matters worse."
"Well then it's a good thing, everything turned out the way it did, huh?" he replied nudging her shoulder.
It was taking too long, Oliver thought. He walked over, pulling open his door, and glanced out into the floor. He didn't see Katie but he did see someone else who may have answers.
"Claire!" Oliver called the woman who was talking to another person at the moment. They both turned to Oliver who was coming over.
"If you can get those to me by the end of the day, that would be great." Claire said and the guy just nods before turning off. She turns to Oliver with a smile. "Look who's out of jail." she gave him a playful jab to the arm before walking away.
"Claire, wait-"
"Fine, that was a bad joke, I'm sorry. I make jokes when I'm nervous."
"Why are you nervous?"
"Because I'm afraid you're going to ask me what I think you're going to ask me?" she said and the man just sighed.
"Where is she?" Oliver asked and the woman's shoulders slumped.
Oliver soon found himself outside of Katie's office. He didn't knock before walking inside. He spun around, finally seeing her sitting on the floor and Quentin in a chair beside her.
"You owe me ten bucks." Quentin says to Katie before standing to his feet. "I should get going."
"Thanks for the heads up Quentin," Oliver said to the man in passing and Quentin just held up his hands as he left the office.
Oliver shook his head before turning to Katie and letting out a deep breath.
She looked up to meet his eyes for a moment before turning away with a shake of her head.
Without a word, he walked over and slid to the floor to sit beside her. He reached over, to slide his hand over hers, interlocking their fingers. Her head dropped to his shoulder, and that's when he heard soft sniffles. He dropped his head as she brought her other hand to cover her face.
"Hey," he placed a kiss to her head and sighed as she continued to cry. He now figures her avoiding him was to avoid this moment. "We're going to be ok."
He pressed another kiss to her head before bringing his arm around her, his hand gently rubbing her back as she cried.
After a while, the tears finally stopped. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a handkerchief and handed to her and she used it to dry her eyes.
"I feel like such a cry baby right now." she sighed and he just pressed a kiss to her head once again.
"No, you felt something and instead of keeping it in you let it out. You don't usually do that, especially not with me. Thank you. For trusting me with this moment. For leaning on me. I will always be here when you need to have these moments."
"That's just it. What if you're not." she said lifting her eyes to him and he dropped his eyes to her. "We don't know what this evidence the FBI has." she turned her body more to face him. "We still have other options. That number Martin gave me-"
"We're not there." Oliver shook his head. "There's still a chance I can get out of this."
"But there's a chance you won't Oliver. There's a chance they try to send you to prison, and then I'm going to have to break you out and when I do, I'm going to kick your ass. You should just save us both the trouble." Oliver chuckled pressing a kiss to her lips. He leaned his forehead against hers.
"No one is taking me away from you." he whispered and Katie closed her eyes wanting to believe the words so badly.
"I know that. I won't let anyone take you away from me. I just don't think you understand what that could mean." she pulled back before reach up to unclasp the necklace. She dropped Oliver's ring to her hand before reaching over with her other to grab his hand. "This ring is a symbol of our love and the promise we made almost two years ago." she lifted her eyes to his as she slid the ring on his finger. "And it broke my heart the moment Dinah handed me this in some plastic bag as if it wasn't important."
"I'm sorry," he placed another kiss to her head. "Tell you the truth, it kind of felt strange not wearing it. I never really paid attention to it before, but not wearing it felt strange and I didn't like it." she dropped her head to his chest.
"Promise me that when the moment happens, when this gets too close, we dial that number and we will just worry about everything else afterwards." she closed her eyes against this chest. "I can't lose you. I would miss your waffles too much."
"Just the waffles." he chuckled pressing a kiss to her head. "When we get to that point, we'll make the call." he sighed. "I promise."
They sat for a while before Oliver realized that Katie had nodded off to sleep. He was pretty sure she didn't get any sleep last night. And so he stood to his feet and picked her up to lay her down on the couch in her office. He pulled his jacket off and brought it over her before placing a kiss to her head.
He dropped down to the seat beside the couch, and he looked over to her before feeling his phone vibrate in pocket. He pulled it out to see Felicity's number and so he stood to his feet and walked away to not wake up Katie.
"Felicity, hey, what's up?"
"Sorry, I know you have a lot going on right now and he told me he didn't want to tell you."
"What's going on?"
"It's John. He's in the hospital."
"Is he alright?"
"At the moment yes, but it's more than that. Kind of something he's been keeping from us for the last couple of months."
After Felicity's call with Oliver, she hoped John wouldn't be too angry with her. But to hear about John's injury from the island and that he'd been trying to cover it up with drugs. It was a surprise, but she was also hurt he wouldn't come to them.
She glanced over to Curtis, the pair in a bit of an argument since she found out that Curtis gave John an experimental drug and didn't mention it to her. And he seemed upset about her making decisions for their start up without involving him. She sighed before walking over to the computer.
They'd just figured out that Laurel stole a device that could cause a massive explosion. Their assumptions was that Cayden was going to hit some place with a lot of people, they just needed to figure out where and when.
"This is taking longer than normal." she said looking over to Curtis who just shrugged before turning to the monitor. She sighed before turning back to the screen and typing a few keys. "Wait a minute."
Felicity typed a bit more before her eyes narrowed. She took a step back and walked around the main computer center before walking over to the private conference room whose walls were currently blacked out. She typed a few keys on her phone, to reset the display on the window to reveal the room was not empty. Felicity glanced into the room and locked eyes with the wide eyes of Arianna.
"Out, now!" Felicity said and Ari sighed before standing to her feet and limping over to the door and pulling it open. "How long have you been here?"
"Kind of before everyone showed up. I got the notification that Laurel broke into Aeroteck and was going to tell you guys, but realized you already knew, so I was just going to hide out until everyone left." she pointed behind her. "But I've been keeping busy. I heard about the bomb thing and have been trying to pin point possible locations." Felicity didn't say anything and Ari just sighed. "Please don't do the silent judgement too, just say something so I can sit down."
Felicity groaned before moving out of the way and grabbing a chair.
"Ari?" Curtis walked over looking over to the girl who limped down the short flight of steps. He hurried over to help her. "I heard about your adventure last night with boy wonder. How's the ankle?" he helped her down to the chair where she sat.
"You know I figure it would probably be better if you were home, in bed, and not sneaking out of the house. I should've known Richie couldn't do this." she pulled out her phone and dialed his number only for it to ring and go straight to his voice mail. "Hey, it's me, where are you? You lost a kid, call me back." she shook her head before turning back to Ari. "What is going on with you lately? First last night, and whatever that was with Damian and then this. You're smarter than this Arianna Locke." Ari scoffed and just turned away. "What?"
"What?" Ari looked over to the woman. "Do you all seriously don't know that I want to come back to the team. That I'm freaking stalking your systems looking for ways that I can help. Last night, Damian got a lead on Harley Quinn, he thought he located her, but she wasn't there, that's when I got the hit on whatever evil Laurel was stealing."
"Wait, you got a notification for that?" Curtis asked and Ari turned to him with a nod. "It's just Cayden keeps blocking us." he looked over to Felicity who just glared and sighed. "Sorry,"
"That doesn't change the fact that it was dangerous. Anything could've happened and with Damian-" she shook her head. "Anything almost happened. Ari, you can't—you can't indulge him. You can't let him go off on these crazy missions if he brings them to you. You come to me and Bruce and we will take care of it. But what you don't do is go out with an eleven year old to fight crime."
"And how old was Richard when he became the Robin?" Ari asked and Felicity looked at her and sighed. "Whether you like it or not, that kid is trained to kick ass. You guys can try all you want to keep him from doing it, but sooner or later it's just going to blow up on your face."
Felicity's phone vibrated and she looked down to a text from Bruce. He stopped by Oliver and Katie's house to find Richard unconscious. Apparently he was tranqed by Damian while Ari took the car.
"So you stole Richie's car?" Felicity asked lifting her eyes back to Ari who just nervously laughed.
Oliver dropped his head. He'd walked into John's hospital room to understand, but the conversation was taking a turn he didn't expect.
"Oliver, you gave up the right to judge me when you gave up that hood." John said looking over to the man.
Oliver shook his head. "You don't get to claim the moral high ground here, my friend."
"Oh, I'm not, Oliver, but I apologized to the people who I endangered- the team, Oliver." John replied. "The team. My obligation begins and ends with them. I don't owe you a damn thing."
"For the sake of our friendship, I hope that's withdrawal talking." Oliver said with a shake of his head.
"I put on this hood because you asked me to."
That sounded awfully accusatory and Oliver once again felt the need to defend himself today.
"Don't blame me for this." Oliver countered.
"I'm not blaming you, Oliver. I blame myself. For putting your needs, your goals, even your family, above my own."
John dropped his eyes with a shake of his head before looking back over to Oliver.
"I've done that from the very beginning. That was my biggest mistake."
Oliver held the man's gaze surprised and hurt by the words.
"That was your biggest mistake?" Oliver said. "Mine was trusting you to be the Green Arrow."
And with that Oliver turned and stormed out of the room. He kept replaying the conversation over and over again until he reached Thea's room. He pushed open the door, where he found Katie sitting by Thea's side.
"Hey, how did it go with John? Is he ok?" Katie asked and Oliver just sighed as he walked over to grab a chair to sit on the other side of the Thea's bed. "Not a good talk?"
"It could've gone better." he replied before looking down to Thea and taking her hand. Katie stood to her feet and walked over to place a kiss to his head.
"I should check in on the kids. I'm almost afraid of what Richard Grayson is like as a babysitter."
Once she was gone, Oliver smiled down to Thea.
"Hey Speedy, I really miss you." he whispered. "I miss chatting. You know I remember you telling me how when Katie was in a coma, how important it was to keep talking to her. That people in coma's can some times hear people talking to them." he smiled down to to her. "If you can hear me, just wake up, all right? Please. Cause I need you now."
He placed a kiss to her forehead when the door to her room once again opened and in walked Katie and he could tell from the look in her face that something was wrong.
"I'm sorry, but we should probably get back home." was all she said.
Soon Oliver and Katie were standing in front of Ari and Will who sat on the couch. Neither said a word since Felicity and Bruce half carried Richard out of there. They honestly didn't know what to say. Since hearing the story of tonight's events, it just seemed incomprehensible.
"I think I should point out that I had nothing to do with stealing cars or drugging the babysitter." Will said breaking the silence.
"You can head up to your room Will, I'll come up and talk to you in a minute." Oliver said and the boy stood to his feet about to head upstairs, but stopped and glanced over to Ari who sat with her arms folded over her chest.
"You should take it easy on her." Will said and they turned to him. "We got to watch you get taken away in handcuffs...so you should take it easy on her." with those words, Will turned and headed for the steps.
"So let me guess, now that Oliver is back, everything is just back to normal." Ari turned to Katie. "You're no longer silent zombie mom, he's no longer behind bars, and life is back to business as usual." she scoffed as she turned away. After a few moments of silence, Ari turned to them wondering why they weren't talking. "What?"
"You can go to your room." Katie suddenly said before turning off and walking into the kitchen.
Ari watched her in confusion before turning to Oliver who walked over to take a seat beside her on the couch.
"I don't get it."
"You took the Firelight suit and went out looking for bad guys with Damian and then today, you stole a car. She told you to go to your room because there is absolutely nothing she can say to you that you don't already know. Being grounded, that's a given, what you did was stupid, everyone knows that, so no lecture. Not tonight. Not after everything. Tomorrow you will apologize for the zombie comment, because that was mean, and you will apologize to Richard for taking his car. So, home and school will be your life until we say otherwise." he nudged his head. "We brought back crutches to help you move around until your ankle heals."
He stood to his feet and grabbed the crutches and brought them over to her and watched as she stood and slipped them under her arms.
"You're taking it easy on me." she said looking up to him. He simply placed a kiss to the top of her head.
"Don't get used to it." he said. "Now go, you should head up to bed too." Ari didn't move, still looking over to him.
"What happens now? I mean this evidence the FBI has. I tried looking but they're-"
"You hacked the FBI?"
"Well yeah, but whatever information they have they're keeping it offline." she sighed looking back over to him. "So what's next?"
"I'm handling it and it will not require you to hack anyone else. Please just go up to your room." he replied and Ari just rolled her eyes before positioning the crutches and heading up the steps.
Oliver sighed before turning and heading into the kitchen. He didn't see Katie right away and so he walked over to the back door, stopping at the sound coming from the coat closet. He pulled open the door to see Katie sitting on the floor, Harry lying beside her.
"I think we should put the whelping box in here. There's enough space, and it's near the door to allow in fresh air if needed." she said, her hand gently sliding along Harry's back.
Oliver crouched down beside her his hand brushing along dog's fur as well. After their last visit with the vet, he told them that it wouldn't be too much longer before Harry had her puppies and that they should find place to set up a whelping box.
"Perfect. I will get started putting it together this weekend." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with a smile. "Maybe get Will and Ari to help." he looked back down to Harry.
"You still have to put in your guess for how many puppies she's having." Katie said and Oliver turned to her with a smile as she turned away. "I was a zombie yesterday." she turned back to him. "I felt helpless and every idea I had kind of borderlined on homicide and revealing the mystical world to a lot of unsuspecting people. I was scared." he reached forward to take her hand. "And I've been told I go to a dark place when I'm scared. So we should do our very best to keep me out of that place."
"Deal." Oliver replied before standing up and pulling her up to her feet. "Now, it has been a very long day and an even longer night and I just want to take you to bed." he tugged her toward the stairs, but Katie didn't move. He turned to her and she just shook her head.
"Yeah, my husband spent the night in jail, I was kind of thinking we needed a no noise restriction kind of night." she grabbed his hand and began pulling him toward the back door. A smile pulled at Oliver's lips as he moved toward her, and without a word picked her up, and over his shoulder making her squeal with laughter. "You're not funny," she laughed as he carried her out the door.
The next morning, Katie noticed that Oliver seemed so far away. She figured with everything going on, he probably had a lot on his mind. It was when he was getting dressed to head into City Hall did she finally decide to ask him about it.
Oliver was tucking his shirt into his pants when he glanced up to see her watching him.
"What?" he asked before grabbing his blazer from the bed to pull it on.
"You've kind of been some place else today." she said walking over to straighten his tie before looking up to meet his eyes. "And I'm just now remembering you never told me exactly what happened with John." Oliver sighed, his hands sliding around her waist.
"I just feel as if I should've known what was going on with him? I should've known he was hurt."
"I know you feel guilty, I feel guilty too, but we were going through our own stuff. We're somehow the parents of three kids and trying to grieve and move forward." Oliver dropped his head, and she's sure that didn't make him feel any less guilty.
"Are you coming into the office today?" he asked deciding to change the subject.
"No, I'm working from home today. Try the boost the moral in the Queen home around the holidays. Plus I have to make a list of things to pick up from the market for our last minute Thanksgiving shopping."
"I already made a list, and will be picking it up on the way home."
"I was hoping you would say that because I seriously have no idea what ingredients you were going to need for that stuffing recipe." she laughed as he pulled her close to press a kiss to her lips. "Come home soon, there will be hand turkeys and turkey hats and Charlie Brown thanksgiving. Don't miss out on all the fun."
"I wouldn't dream of it." he replied pressing another kiss to her lips.
Oliver spent most of the day thinking about his conversation with John. He regretted his final words and knew he needed to apologize to both John and the team. So before going home, Oliver stopped by the bunker.
The elevator had opened, and he overheard Felicity talking to Curtis and Rene.
"Starling Stadium seats 35,000 people." Felicity said.
"Guess that sold-out crowd's gonna get pressure-cooked to death." Curtis replied.
"So how do we go in without Diggle?" Rene asked.
"We got to step it up, fight without him." Curtis said.
"Yeah, 'cause that went really well at Amertek." Rene sighed.
"We have 4 hours until showtime." Felicity interrupted turning to the pair. "That's definitely the place because Cayden already has control over the system."
"What can we do about shutting it down or cutting the power or something?" Curtis asked Felicity.
"Tried that. Didn't work." Felicity said. "That's how I know Cayden has me locked out of the grid."
"Ok, I know the saying goes, "the show must go on," but this can't." Rene said standing behind them.
Oliver realized he could probably help in this situation and finally stepped over to make his presence known.
"I might be able to help with that." he spoke and they all turned to him. "I'll declare a state of emergency and make them cancel the concert."
"Did you talk to John?" Felicity asked and Oliver turned to her and nods.
"John and I spoke." he sighed. "I'd like to apologize to everyone. I didn't know about John's injury, and I should have." Oliver glances down to his watch. "I will have them shut down the concert." he didn't wait for a response before turning off to head to the arena.
"I really wanted to see Billy Joel." Rene sighed as he watched Oliver hurry off.
Katie doesn't know how she did it, but she got all three kids out of their rooms, at the kitchen table. She glanced down to Robyn who was on the floor covered in paint in an attempt to color her turkey picture. She chuckled before looking to Ari and Will who just silently colored their pictures without a word.
"This is a safe space." Katie spoke and they glanced over to her. "For you two to say exactly how you feel without any kind of judgment or punishment." neither said a word so Katie finally decided to start. "Fine, I'll go first. I was scared when Oliver was arrested. I kind of left my body and I wasn't the best parent and I'm sorry. Situations like that, I"m supposed to be there completely for all of you and for that I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize." Ari suddenly said and Katie turned to her. "Even when you think you're not doing your best, you are. I'm sorry for what I said yesterday and I know it was stupid going out there with Damian because I know how insane that kid is, but for the first time I kind of understood him. He wanted to prove something to his dad, and I wanted to prove something to you." she glanced up from her picture to Katie.
"You wanted to prove that you it wasn't too dangerous for you to be Firelight?"
"I wanted to prove that I knew how to handle the dangerous situations. That you and Oliver and the team have taught me how to handle the dangerous situations." she shrugged. "And then it all went to crap, and now I have a bruised ankle and Felicity upset with me. So in the end I proved everybody right."
"Ari I don't need you to prove anything to me. I know how extraordinary you are. As both Firelight and as Arianna Locke, honor student."
"Then why won't you let me rejoin the team?" Ari asked and Katie looked at her for a moment.
"Because you-" she looked at Ari before turning to Will. "And you." and then she glanced over to Robyn who was now painting her stuffed bear. "And you." she turned back to Will and Ari. "And Oliver are my heart. My hearts outside of my body." she smiled. "You are my world and my entire reason for existing and if anything ever happened to any of you I would cease." she looked between the two kids. "So I need to keep you safe, any way I know how." she turned to Ari. "I'm sorry if you feel that it's unfair, or that I'm being unreasonable and maybe I am. I can do that. Moms are unreasonable sometimes."
Ari didn't say anything, figuring there wasn't really anything she could say that could top that. She sighed because she realized there was not way to convince Katie to give her a chance, even though this is something she really wanted to do.
Katie turned to Will.
"Your turn. What's going on in that head of yours?"
Will just looked down to his picture as he continued to scribble with his crayon.
"What if they take him away?" Will asked before looking back up to Katie. "What if they prove he really is the Green Arrow and take him away?"
The boy seemed to vocalize Katie's fears out loud, but she didn't want to show how the words shook her and so she smiled.
"Me and your father and our friends are going to do absolutely everything we can to prevent that from happening. We are going to fight for him just as hard as he fights for us, ok?"
Will just nods before looking back down to his picture.
"Ok, Blue and green turkey hat and-" she looked over to Ari's picture. "Orange and black?" she looked looked between them. "Like I said, safe space." she slides over the scissors so they could cut them out. "You guys cut and I will go hose down the rainbow baby and then we can watch Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and then after it's Will's turn to pick the movie." she glanced over to the clock. "Hopefully Oliver will be back by then." she turned back to Robyn with a laugh before she scooped her up into her arms. "Alright, lets get you all clean for the movie."
Since his arrest, Oliver knew there would be blow back on his credibility. He should've known the venue holder wouldn't just take his word of a possible threat. He hoped he'd still have the respect as the mayor, but he realized that wasn't going to work this time. The show was going to go on, which only meant they needed to find another way to stop Cayden James and his bomb.
Leaving the stadium, Oliver once again remembered John's words. After much thought, he realized as always John was telling him the truth. He decided to stop by the hospital to visit him to say as much and to apologize. He appeared outside of John's door, knocking before stepping inside.
John glanced over to him, "Come back for round 2?"
"No, no." Oliver shook his head as he stepped inside and closed the door. He walked over. "Back to apologize. You said you put my family in front of yours." Oliver let out sigh because he knew it was true and he felt guilty he didn't realize it sooner. "You did. Then I asked you to put on the hood to make things better with my family, and I didn't give proper consideration to yours. I'm truly sorry." he nods before moving to sit.
"I was thinking about William and Ari today, a lot, and you getting arrested in front of them." John said. "How are they doing?"
"Will is fine, he's a tough kid." he let out a chuckle. "And Ari-"
"Ready to hack the pentagon to get you out of this?" John asked and Oliver laughed.
"You know I laugh, but I'm almost positive she could if she put her mind to it. But she's doing ok." he looked over to the man. "They're very grateful and thankful that you are the Green Arrow so I don't have to be. Katie is too."
"Don't know how much longer I can keep doing that, especially in the short-term." John sighed as he dropped his eyes.
"You get your test results back?"
"Yeah." John walked over to take a seat on the edge of the hospital bed. "The nerve damage in my arm spread to my back. And because of the steroid use, I caused permanent damage." he glanced over to Oliver. "If I continue out in the field, I could end up paralyzed."
Oliver shook his head hating that this was happening to him. He knew of all people, John didn't deserve this.
"Oh, John, I really wish you hadn't have gone to these lengths for me."
"Well, now it's my turn to apologize to you." John replied. "I should've never said that I was doing it for just you. Do remember last year when the Dominators put us into this alternate Star City?" Oliver nods.
"Yeah." Oliver chuckled. "Kind of difficult to forget."
"We got to see what our perfect life would be. Mine was being the Green Arrow." John sighed. "So you asking me to take the mantle was not selfish. It was giving me the one thing in the world that I never knew I wanted."
"Wow." Oliver said.
Oliver didn't know that. It surprised him. He'd been struggling with keeping up these two lives for years, he didn't think anyone would actually want that.
"Felicity thinks that Cayden James is going after Starling Stadium." Oliver looked up to the man. "There's going to be 35,000 people there tonight."
"You're the mayor." John replied. "Shut it down."
If only it were that easy, Oliver thought.
"I tried." he said. "Getting arrested is not doing a lot for my credibility."
"What are you going to do" John asked and Oliver didn't say anything.
He dropped his eyes, and John let out a sigh as he seemed to just know.
"You sure you want to do that?"
"I don't see any other option." Oliver looked back up to the man. "Right now Oliver Queen, the mayor can't fix this problem, but the Green Arrow can." he nods. "So right now I have to choose. Save 35,000 people, and break the promise I made to my family, or do nothing and I can't do nothing." Oliver stood this feet. "I can't do nothing."
He turned to leave but paused at the door.
"She's not going to forgive me this time."
John opened his mouth to speak, but Oliver was already out the door before he could respond.
It was late. Really late. Katie stood at the window, glancing out hoping to see Oliver's car. He missed both movies and the take out they had for dinner.
She texted him, and he'd just responded that he was on his way home. He didn't give any more details, but she figured she'd get them when he got home.
She glanced back to see the kids asleep in the living room. Ari was on the couch, Will in the reclining chair, Robyn nestled at his side.
When she heard the engine, she once again turned and peeked out of the window, this time letting out a sigh of relief when she saw his car. She pulled her sweater tighter around her before moving to the door.
Oliver walked inside, stopping when he realized Katie was waiting right at the door. She held up a hand, before pointing toward the living room. They walked further inside, and that's when he saw the kids asleep, paper turkey hats on their heads.
"You missed coloring turkeys." she whispered and Oliver turned to her. "And the movies."
"I know, I'm sorry. I just uh-" Oliver paused.
He'd been imagining this conversation in his head the entire night. Tonight, he dawned the Green Arrow hood for the first time in months, thinking it was the only way to save those people.
In the end, Cayden revealed that the bomb was faked, and that it was all a ruse to get them to meet face to face. Apparently Cayden's motivation was revenge for something Oliver did with his son. Oliver didn't know what that meant, but he figured he would at some point.
Soon his thoughts were this moment and what he would do and what he would say as she waited for an explanation on why he didn't come home. He had to make a choice. Tell the truth, and risk losing her and his family or lie and hold on to this beautiful life for as long as he could.
He dropped his eyes with a shake of his head, a part of him trying to talk himself out of doing this, because he knows in the end, it's going to be his ruin, and yet the words just came flying out of his mouth.
"I uh got caught up at the office." he looked back up to meet her eyes. "Trying to come up with a plan to restore people faith in their mayor. Time just got away from me."
She didn't say anything for a moment and that worried him. Of everyone in this world, she usually saw through him.
"And did you?" she asked after a moment. "Come up with a plan?"
"Uh yeah, I'm giving a speech after the vote tomorrow. Try to reiterate my innocence no matter how the vote goes." he replied before glancing over to the living room. "We should get them up to bed." he took a step.
"Did you have bags?" she asked and Oliver stopped and glanced back to her with a quirked brow. "You mentioned a list before you left." Oliver's eyes widened when he realized he forgot to go to the store.
"Shit," he muttered before glancing down to his watch. "There's got to be something open. I can still run out and-"
"Liver, stop." she said before nudging her head to the kitchen before walking over.
Oliver followed her in confusion before stopping when he reached the kitchen to see the grocery bags. She turned to him with a small smile.
"You left your list here on the fridge, so I placed an order with the store and had everything delivered."
Oliver smiled as he walked over and brought his arms around her.
"I have no idea what I would do without you." he said pressing a kiss to her cheek.
"Probably eat a peanut butter and banana sandwich for Thanksgiving." she replied before pulling away. "I should finish unpacking all of this."
"No, I can put this stuff away." he pulled off his jacket. "I can get the stations all set up for everyone."
"Oh, there's going to be stations?" she asked and Oliver looked over to her and laughed. "And what station am I on?"
"Potatoes." he replied. "There's no way you can mess that up." she swat his arm with a shake of her head.
"Whatever." she nudged her head. "I'm going to get them up to bed, then I'll be back down to help you." she turned to leave, but stopped and glanced back to Oliver. "Oh, did you get a chance to talk to John?"
"Yeah, we're all good." he said and she smiled.
"Good, I think he's being released tomorrow. Maybe he, Lyla and JJ can join us for Thanksgiving." she said and Oliver just nods before watching her turn and leave the kitchen.
The smile on his face falls when he realizes that he did it. He lied to her and he's going to have to keep lying because with John not able to be the Green Arrow anymore, he has to do it. At least until John is healed.
That what he had to tell himself. This was temporary. Once John was all better, he could hand the hood back and he could get back to his life. So he would hold on to this secret. He just doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep this from her.
The next day started off perfect in Oliver's opinion. They'd gotten up early and he cooked breakfast for everyone before assigning everyone their duties for cooking for Thanksgiving. Of course the kids complained, but he could tell they were enjoying themselves as well. Everything was pretty much done by the time he needed to head over to City Hall.
Oliver doesn't think he's that surprised when he heard the City voted in favor of the Pollard's anti vigilante bill. Videos had been circulating of he and the team fighting men Cayden had disguised as cops at the concert. No one knew they were fake cops, which he's sure swayed peoples opinions of Vigilantes in the city.
From home, Katie watched Oliver's speech in the living room, William sitting beside her while Ari was getting dressed.
"Good evening, everybody." Oliver spoke in front of a crowd outside of City Hall. "I think we all would like to applaud city officials for conducting today's vote in such a professional manner. I believe in my heart that vigilantes have worked to make this city a safer and better place. I also recognize, as mayor, that it is my duty to honor the will of the people." he nods. "You have spoken today and demanded the harshest possible penalties for anyone caught engaging in acts of vigilantism. Some people still believe that includes me." he let his eyes look over the crowd. "Uh, but I remain confident that my innocence will be proven and I will be exonerated at my trial. Thank you very much, everyone."
Katie grabs the remote and flicks off the television before looking over to William who turns to her.
"Did you make a turkey hat for your dad?" she asked and Will laughed as he nods. "Good, we'll make him wear it tonight and take plenty of pictures." she stood. "He should be on his way, so go grab your jacket." the boy jumps to his feet before heading up the steps.
Katie turns for the kitchen when the doorbell suddenly rings. She walks over and pulls open the door, surprised at the face that was looking back at her.
"You're here!" came the loud voice of Harley Quinn.
Katie looked at the woman before glancing around, trying to remember where the closest weapon was.
"I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here. I mean I'd be surprised if you didn't." Katie turned back to the woman. "I mean I did trick you into being admitted to an insane asylum, while a doctor drugged you and tortured you with his weird mask."
Harley smiled as she looked at the woman.
"But look at you now. You're married to a Mayor who is like the Green Arrow guy right, which is cool I guess. And kids. You have kids now. I met your daughter, red head. She's a looker. You're doing alright for yourself, huh?"
Katie still hadn't said anything and Harley finally noticed the silence and got nervous.
"Uh I saw your picture in the paper in Gotham. Read about your whole second chance project and it kind of resonated with me you know. I've just gotten out of a crappy relationship and I'm kind of on this journey of self discovery, you know. Figuring out who I am without Pudding, and trying to make up for my past fuck ups. That's why I here. To say I'm sorry, I felt really bad about that whole thing and I let Johnny get in my head that it was all for the right reasons, but it wasn't. It was sick and really, really weird, and I'm sorry." Harley turned at the sound of an engine and rolled her eyes. "There's my ride."
Katie glanced back to see Richard step out of the car and walk over to the two women, cautiously looking between the two. From what Bruce was hinting at, this meeting between the two women was supposed to include bloodshed, and yet nothing.
"Uh, hey." he said looking over to Katie.
"Richie, Harley Quinn is standing at my front door, at my house, where my children are. Did you do this?"
"Depends on how you look at it. I mean did I drive her from Gotham to Star City, no, but technically I was supposed to be keeping an eye on her."
"Him and the Bat think I can help them trap Pudding which is stupid." she looks over to Richard. "Just so much stupid wrapped in such a pretty package."
"Richie, get it away from my house." Katie says before turning to Harley. "I do not give a fuck about your journey of self discovery. If you show up at my house, hell, if I see you in this city, I am going to kill you, you psychotic bitch." she turned to Richard, "And then you, you idiot! Get her out of here, now!"
"Come on," Richard grabbed Harley's arm and pulled her away from the house toward his car.
Katie shut the door, still not able to believe it. Seeing the woman suddenly brought her back to that moment in Arkham.
Running from that hospital was the last memory she had before showing up at that hospital in Bosnia, Rick Flag sitting at her bed side. Apparently she'd been missing for months before he found her. He wasn't able to tell her how she got from Gotham back to Bosnia and she had absolutely no memory either.
Up to this point, she hadn't thought about it, and now she was once again asking herself, what the hell happened to her and where was she.
At the sound of Robyn's whines, Katie realized the girl was up from her nap, so Katie once again pushed the thoughts and questions back deep down inside of her before going to check on her daughter.
It had become a sort of routine when Katie came to the hospital. She would always check on Thea's charts. So while Oliver and the kids headed over to John's room, Katie stopped by the nurses station outside of Thea's room.
"Hi Hannah, Happy Thanksgiving." Katie greeted the nurse who smiled as she walked over to Katie, Thea's chart already in her hand.
"Happy Thanksgiving doctor. Sue just went to take her vitals, she should-" Hannah stopped and looked behind Katie. Katie turned, following her eyes to see the nurse coming from Thea's room. "Everything alright, Sue?"
"She's waking up." Sue said turning to Katie. "She's waking up."
Katie stood there in a slight state of shock, before she snapped out of it, and hurried into Thea's room. She walked in to see Thea's eyes opened as she sat up from the bed.
"Thea?" Katie said and Thea turned to her, a smile coming to her face.
"Twinkie," Thea said before Katie rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. "What happened?" Katie pulled back from the hug. "Where's Ollie?"
With Thea waking up, they decided to have Thanksgiving dinner in her room. They went home and packed up the food and brought it all back to the hospital. Thea laid in bed, Robyn in her arms. The moment the girl came into the room, Thea couldn't wait to hold her.
"I can't believe how big you've gotten my little peanut butter cup."
Thea kiss Robyn's cheeks, making the child laugh. She looked over to her brother who hadn't left her side since he walked into the room and saw her up and awake.
"And she's going to be two, You've got to be freaking out."
"Not yet."
Oliver laughed before glancing over to see Ari and Will and John as they make their plates and move to sit. He looks around, only now realizing that Katie wasn't in the room.
"Hey, where'd Twinkie go?"
"Bathroom." John said and Oliver just nods before turning back to his sister who was still fawning over her niece.
Something was wrong. It happened in an instant. Katie was standing there, watching as everyone laughed and talked when she got a sudden sharp pain in her stomach. She didn't want to overreact or disrupt the happy mood so she nudged John's arm, and told him she was going to head to the bathroom.
When she stepped inside of the bathroom, the pain got worse and she felt the pain twist in her stomach until she felt the bile rise in her throat. She hurried, running to a stall and dropped to her knees as her body heaved while the contents of her stomach explode out of her mouth.
Once it was over, she stumbled back, falling and sitting on her butt as she tried to catch her breath.
After a few moments she pushes herself back to her feet, and reaches forward to flush the toilet, but stops when she looks into the toilet bowl to see it filled with some kind of black substance.
Katie feels her heart racing with nerves because she didn't know what was happening to her. She once again finds herself outside of her body, not wanting to face that after such a happy moment, something bad was coming.
She flushes the toilet, and walks around to the sink and flips on the water, and she slips her hands underneath, a stray thought hits that she should call Oliver.
Right now, in this moment, she feels like she needs him. She turns in search of her purse, before a deep, throaty laughter catches her attention. She turns back to the mirror and stumbles back when she sees standing there, stairing back to her from the mirror is none other than Felix Faust.
"I hope you didn't forget about me." he says before leaning in forward. "Because it's time." a smile spreads across his lips. "It's time to see how you will weather a crisis."
Author's Note
BUM BUM BUM! Crisis on Earth-X is coming. I repeat Crisis on Earth-X is coming.
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Sneak Peek
"You really think that's going to work?" Zatanna asked. "This fight you're trying so desperately to avoid is staring you right in the face. And the truth is, you have the strength and the ability to fight it and win. Why are you running from this?"
"I'm not running. I'm making a choice." Katie replied. "I'm choosing the road that keeps me and my family out of the line of danger. Fighting mystical beings is what you two do, so do it and just leave me out of it."
Katie moved around them to leave the office.
"You know that's impossible, don't you?" Constantine asked and Katie stopped and turned back to him. "Deep down, you feel it coming. And you know it's heading straight for you whether you like it or not."