Chapter 14
Crisis on Earth-X Part II
"In a crisis, don't hide behind anything or anybody. They're going to find you anyway. "
-Bear Bryant
They were able to catch one of the masked nazi attackers, and so they brought him to Star Labs to question him.
While the others got the prisoner situated, Oliver and Katie stood in a room alone as Katie paced back and forth. She glanced over to Oliver who hadn't said a word since they walked in. She knew she couldn't keep this from him for much longer and if her fears were correct, and Felix was tied to this attack, then their problems were even bigger than she thought. She finally stopped pacing and turned to face him.
"It was my birthday, I was headed to this surprise you had waiting for me, when my car stopped." she let out a deep breath. "I got out of the car, and he appeared." Oliver frowned, but didn't say anything. "Felix Faust appeared." Oliver clenched his jaw and dropped his head. " I know I should've told you, but-" he cut his eyes back to her and just shook his head.
"No," he said lifting a hand for her to stop talking. "Just stop." He took a step back. "I'm going to see if they've gotten this guy to talk. Just-" he scoffed. "You know what, just do what you want."
"Liver, wait, I-"
He didn't wait. He walked out of the room and Katie groaned as she slapped a hand on a nearby table.
Oliver walked out to find the others. Felicity spotted him and walked over.
"Is she ok?" Felicity asked and Oliver turned to her.
"Did you know?"
"Did I know what?" Felicity asked confused.
"Did you know that she saw Felix Faust?" Oliver asked and Felicity's eyes widened.
"What? Of course not. Is that-" Felicity turned. "Did he do something to her?" she turned back to Oliver who just turned away. "Well what did she say? What happened?"
"I can't talk to her right now." Oliver said moving around the woman to head over to Barry.
Felicity looked over to him with a furrowed brow before she hurried through the doors in search of Katie.
She found Katie alone in a room, pacing back and forth.
"Are you ok?" Felicity asked.
"He's angry." Katie replied, not stopping her feet as she continued walking from one end of the room to the other. "I knew he was going to be angry."
"Yeah, apparently you've seen the guy we've heard is from another universe that's here to kill you," Felicity replied. "Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you tell someone?"
"I did!" Katie snapped turning to the woman. "I did. I told Constantine and Zatanna, because this is what they do. They fight the mysterious magic man so I don't have to. So I can live a nice, happy life with my husband and my kids." Katie shook her head. "I didn't say anything to Oliver or to you because it was a fight I did not want to get in the middle of and I didn't want any of you to get in the middle of either." she slid a hand through her head. "A lot of good that did."
"What is Faust doing?" Felicity asked and Katie turned her.
"I don't know really. For the past couple of weeks he's just been sort of magically torturing me. It's just been excruciating headaches and body aches. It started the night Thea woke up from the coma."
"And you've just been suffering through this pain and didn't say anything?" Felicity asked and Katie turned to her. "I don't understand. Why would you do that?"
"Because you couldn't help me. Oliver couldn't help. None of you could help me. So all I would be doing in forcing you to just watch me in pain with absolutely no way to stop it and I didn't want to do that to you." she waved a hand to the door. "And I didn't want Oliver to go on some crazy rampage to try to find this guy. It was just best if I handled it alone."
"Except it wasn't." Felicity stalked over to the woman to stop her from pacing. "It was stupid and it was insane and a couple of more synonyms I'm going to think of later." Felicity huffed. "What's the deal with the bracelet."
"Constantine gave it to me. It some how blocks Felix's attacks, by blocking his magic. But it also suppresses my own."
"That's why you've been so tired."
"I think so." Katie sighed before looking over to the door, hoping Oliver would come back. "One of the masked Nazi's said something to me." she turned back to Felicity. "He said, 'No magic words out of you.' Then he said I should've just let him have it."
"And by him, we're thinking Felix?"
Katie nods, "And by it, I think he means my powers."
"Wait, you don't think that's why they attacked the church, do you? They came for you?"
"I don't know." Katie replied as she turned to the woman with a shake of her head. She turned away and walked over to take a seat. "You should get back out there, see if they've figured anything out."
"We should both go out there." Felicity said and Katie looked over to her. "Hey, if this has something to do with you, we should let the others know. Maybe this guy they have locked up can tell us."
Katie turned away. This was the last thing she wanted. To be pulled into another fight. Katie just shook her head.
"I should go home." Katie dropped her head before turning to Felicity. "I should go home, to my kids, and not be apart of Nazi fights in churches."
"You want to run?"
"No, I want peace." Katie stood to her feet and walked over to the woman. "I was buried in the darkness for years, and I finally pulled myself out. I got my husband out." she turned away unsure if that was even true. She turned back to Felicity. "I'm going to go home."
And with that Katie moved around the woman. She stalked out into the hall, and heard Felicity's steps behind her.
"Look, I get it. Really, I do and I've respected your decision to pull away from this life, but this Katie-" Felicity hurried to walk in step beside her. "Leaving might not get you out of this if the fight is heading for you. At least here, you have people who-"
"Who can get in the way?" Katie shook her head. "Felicity, if this is truly a fight coming for me, the last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt because of it."
"Wait." Felicity moved to stand in front of her to stop her from walking away. "If that's true, then you're not really going home." Felicity's brow furrowed. "You're going to try to fight this yourself." Katie didn't respond, taking a step to the side, but Felicity moved to block her once again. "I won't let you do that."
"You won't let me?" Katie quirked a brow as she took a step back away from the woman. "Felicity, I love you to death, but there is not a single person on this earth or the next that lets me do or don't do anything."
Katie shook her head before finally moving around the woman to find Oliver.
When she arrived in the lab, she found pretty much everyone except for Oliver. They turned to her when she appeared, glancing from her to Felicity.
"Where's Oliver?"
"Talking to our now mask-less friend." Sara walked over to stand in front of Katie. "It's Tommy?" Katie looked at the woman in confusion. "I know how it sounds, but-"
"Fuck!" Katie cursed turning away from the woman. They all looked over to her waiting for her to explain her outburst. "He's from another Earth."
"There's more than one?" Jefferson asked.
"There's 52." Kara replied before turning back to Katie. "Do you know something about this?"
"I don't know." Katie shook her head. "A couple of months ago, a woman who looked like my mother, but wasn't my mother just showed up in Star City." she turned to Sara. "And then there was a woman who appeared that looked like Laurel."
"What?" Sara looked at Katie in confusion.
Katie and Oliver justified not say anything because Sara was all over the place. Both figuratively and literally since she joined her team of legends.
"We were going to tell you."
"Tell me what? Where is my sister?!" Katie took a step forward, and Sara could just tell from the look in her eyes. "Is she-"
"We—we don't know. According to Ethan they were driving in a storm, and they were in an accident, and one moment she was sitting next to him and the next, someone who looked like Laurel was sitting next to him." Katie shook her head. "Apparently a doorway opened between worlds. People got in and people got out."
"But how?" Iris asked.
Katie turned to the woman who still stood in her wedding dress. She couldn't just come out and say it and yet if this was all happening because of her, then she would just admit it.
"Because of me." Katie replied and they all turned to her with looks over confusion. "If you're waiting on an explanation on how I did it, I'm sorry, but you're going to be waiting a long time because even I don't know how."
"Why do you think you did it?" Dr. Stein asked and Katie turned to him. "We are all well aware your abilities, but-"
"You're not." Katie shook her head. "You don't know what this is inside of me, because even I don't know what this is inside of me. What I know is that, it's probably safer if I keep my distance."
"What?" Bruce hadn't said much since this all started. He'd been focusing on trying to understand what was happening, versus how it happened. Katie turned to him. "Whatever you're thinking Robins, just don't. You stay here and we all figure out what's going on, together."
"Very ironic argument coming from you." Katie scoffed.
"He's right." Barry added, and Katie turned to him. "It doesn't matter what the reason this is all happening, whatever it is, we fight it together. You don't have to go, because honestly we don't even know if this has anything to do with you. Stay, and help us figure this out."
Katie looked at him for a moment before turning to Bruce and then Felicity. They wanted her to stay and fight. And she knew she should. She knew the fight was in her, even though she's been locking it away for months. She just turned back to Barry and nods.
"Ok, 52 earths." Katie said turning to Kara. "Is there one of them where Nazi's have ascended?"
"No." Harry Wells spoke.
Katie turned to him. She thinks he was the only person her she hadn't actually been introduced to. She'd heard about the whole Harrison doppelganger who she met in Bosnia, who was also the reverse flash. It all just gave her a headache thinking about it.
"Mrs. Queen," the man nods before turning to the others. "There's actually a 53rd earth." he said. "It's called Earth-X."
Katie's hand gingerly slides along the bracelet around her wrist as Harry regaled them of the story of Earth-X while some old documentary played footage from Nazi Germany. He spoke of a place where Nazis developed an atomic bomb before the US, and how they won the war and pretty much conquered their world.
"And now they're not happy ruling just one earth." Felicity muttered before turning away. "This is making me physically ill." she decided to walk away, and Bruce followed behind her.
"We have to find them." Kara said before turning to Katie. "While I believe some parts of your story is true, I also don't believe these people have been here for months and not made a move. They could possibly have a way to jump between earths. Maybe they're using the breach."
"Or a staging area in Central City, or somewhere close by." Alex added.
"Well good thing we have a metric ton of smart people in this building." Barry said before turning to the man on his right. "And Rory." he turned back to the others. "Let's get to work on finding our new friends from Earth-x."
With that the group disbursed, but Katie's eyes remained on the monitor in front of them.
"A penny for your thoughts?" Barry asked.
Katie looked over to him before dropping her eyes back to the video for a few moments. She returned her gaze to him.
"Where's the penny?" she asked and the man smiled as he dug in his pockets, but didn't find a single coin. He sighed as he shook his head. "I guess I'll keep my thoughts to myself." she placed a hand on his arm before walking off to find Oliver.
Katie walked down a long hall, hearing the distant voices as she neared. Her hand still mindless playing with the bracelet.
"Then you really are a special kind of idiot."
Katie heard the voice, and stopped in her tracks. It was a voice she hadn't heard in such a long time and a voice she'd recognized in an instant.
"Your naivete would be charming if your weakness wasn't so pathetic."
She frowned as she slowly continued walking.
"Is this how it is on your planet- everybody swayed by sentiment?"
She turned the corner, and saw them up ahead. From the distance, she could see Tommy in the glass containment cell, Oliver standing in front of him.
"Is everyone here really so weak?"
Tommy's eyes lifted behind Oliver and his features dropped a bit.
Oliver frowned before turning and seeing Katie who walked over to stand beside him, her eyes looking to the man in the containment cell. Katie took a slight step, and Oliver noticed Tommy took a step back.
"I wouldn't say everyone here is weak." Katie said looking at the man whose face was a lie. "And if I had to guess, I would say that look in your eyes mean you know that just as well as I do."
Tommy growled taking a step forward, and Oliver did the same, moving in closer to Katie. He was fully aware the man was trapped, but he also didn't want to chance anything right now.
"The Reich is coming." Tommy said.
"We'll see about that." Katie replied and the man snarled.
"The weak will be eliminated. Your entire world will be enslaved, but you-" he looked from Katie to Oliver. "You won't be around to witness it." a smile pulled at his lips. "He is going to feel your skull crack under the weight of his boot." he turned back to Katie. "Everyone you care about, everyone you love, they're going to die badly in ways that would give even monsters nightmares. And you're going to help him do it."
"Our Tommy liked to hear himself talk too. Mostly about himself, not psychotic bullshit like this though." she said and the man laughed as he dropped the mask and took a step back.
"I just wished I would be around to see it." and in the next moment he pulled something out of his sleeve.
"Wait, Tommy, no!" Oliver slammed a fist to the glass before running over to press the button to open the door.
Katie watched as Tommy glanced up to her, his eyes meeting hers, that sick smile on his face before he slipped the pill into his mouth.
By the time Oliver had opened the door, Tommy was already dropping to the floor. Katie rushed forward, dropping down to grab him but it was too late. He was dead instantly, foam escaping his mouth from the cyanide.
Katie sighed before turning to stand to her feet. Oliver stepped toward, grabbing her hand to help her, his eyes still on Tommy.
"That wasn't Tommy." Katie said and Oliver turned to her. "That was an evil, crazy man who looks like Tommy, and nothing out of his mouth means anything." she placed a hand on his chest. "Don't let him get inside of your head." she glanced back down to the man, before turning back to Oliver. "We should tell the others."
It was late by the time they made it back to their hotel. Katie stood behind Oliver, clenching his blazer around her to shield her from the cold air. When he opened the door, he gave the room a quick once over before he took a step to the side to let her in first. She glanced over to him with a slight smile as she walked inside of their room.
Both were sure they wouldn't get any sleep, but they knew they should try. So they went through their night time routine, grabbed a shower, and both ended up in bed staring up to the ceiling of their dark room.
Katie glanced over to Oliver for a moment to see if he was still awake. He was. She was tempted to break the torturous silence. She knew he was still upset.
"I should've told you." Katie said finally breaking the silence.
Oliver didn't say anything, so she's sure he was turning the tables on her and giving her the silent treatment this time.
"I think it was easier to pretend as if it were just a nightmare. Something that didn't really happen. If it didn't happen, I could focus on our life, and our kids and life could just be easy."
She turned her head to look over to him, to see him still staring up to the ceiling, but he still didn't say anything.
"I didn't want to pull the dangers back into our lives when we'd finally gotten away from it." she sighed as she turned away. "But those are just excuses, right. Me trying to justify keeping this from you for months. The excuses don't matter, why I did it doesn't matter. So you can be upset with me, and I'll understand why and just wait for the day you finally decide not to be."
With that, Katie turned to lay on her side. Her eyes looking over to the bracelet on her wrist before looking over to the window.
It happened again. Katie woke up from a nightmare. And it was once again about a version of Oliver she knew wasn't her Oliver. This time he kissed her passionately before shoving an arrow in her heart. That's when her eyes snapped open and she finally woke up. She glanced over to realize that Oliver was no longer lying in bed beside her.
She sat up from the bed, looking around, but didn't see him. When she stood, she felt slightly dizzy and dropped back to sit on the bed. She sighed, her eyes looking down to the bracelet. It was happening again. It was draining all of her energy and she knew she couldn't allow that to happen. At least not as bad as it got at the church yesterday.
The door to their room opened, and in walked Oliver who glanced over to her without a word. He walked over to hand her a cup of coffee, and a white paper bag before heading into the bathroom.
Katie watched him until he shut the door, before looking into the bag to see two donuts. She smiles before looking over to the bathroom door, debating with herself to ask him why he didn't get three, but she wasn't sure they were there yet.
She took a sip of her coffee and once again stood to her feet, before letting out a deep breath. She's not sure how much longer she can go on like this. When Oliver walked from the bathroom, she looked over to him.
"I think I'm going to stay here." she said and he stopped and looked over to her. "Nazis from some crazy alternate world is trying to take over our planet, that's where your focus has to be and I don't want to be the reason it's not." she sighed. "Plus if you're upset with me, I don't want to force you to be around me."
Oliver didn't say anything for a moment. He woke this morning and looked over to her and it just happened. He forgave her, because he knows where her heart was when she made the decision to keep the secret.
And it also made him question the reason behind his own secret. His reasons to keep his own secret wasn't as noble. He wasn't keeping it to protect them, he was keeping it for his own selfishness. He was keeping it to not disrupt their lives more than he already has.
It just made him feel guilty the more he thought about it, which is why she probably felt him pulling away from her. She didn't know it wasn't because of her, but because of his own guilt.
Oliver walked over to stand in front of her, and brought his hands around her waist.
"No one has to force me to be around you. And I think me being distracted was going to be inevitable after what happened last night."
Oliver sighed before looking down to meet her eyes.
"I am upset. At a lot of things right now." he nods. "And yes, that includes you for not telling me about Felix Faust."
Katie dropped her head, and turned away. Oliver leaned forward and placed his head against hers.
"But that hasn't changed that I'm crazy in love with you, and don't want to leave this hotel room without you." he lifted his head and she turned to him. "And with an insane magic man out there trying to take you, I think it's best if I keep an eye on you."
"I don't know if that's sexy or annoying." Katie said pulling from his grasp and heading to the bathroom to shower.
On the drive back to Star Labs, Oliver looked over to Katie who was texting someone. When she let out a little snort, he finally decided to ask.
"Who are you texting?" he asked and she glanced over to him, before bringing the phone to her chest with a shake of her head.
"Wrong number." she replied.
Oliver looked over to her with a furrowed brow before turning back to the road.
When they arrived at Star Labs and were walking inside, before they stepped into an elevator. Katie's eyes once again looked down to her cell phone and she once again let out a snort. Oliver couldn't take it, and so he took the phone from her hands.
"Hey, what-" she tried to reach for it, but he simply brought an arm around her to keep her behind him as he looked down to her screen. "You're going to make a big deal out of this."
"There's a group chat?" Oliver turned to Katie. "With you, Ari and Will?"
"I didn't create it. One of them did, and they're just complaining about each other to me." Katie said and Oliver just shook his head before handing her back the phone. "Liver, they love you."
"Yeah, just not enough to include me in the group chat, I guess." he muttered.
"I'll add you." Katie said holding up her phone. "Once I find out how to add you." the doors opened and Oliver just stalked out. "I'll ask someone!" she hurried after him.
True to his word, Oliver stayed close to Katie, even in Star Labs. He was talking to Barry, and glanced over to see Katie talking on her phone. Barry noticed the look on Oliver face.
"Hey, you all right?" Barry asked and Oliver turned to him.
"It's nothing, it's just—there's a group chat." he said and Barry was totally confused. "With Katie, Ari and Will. They like text each other and they didn't include me."
"I'm sure they didn't intentionally exclude you, man."
"Except they did." Oliver shook his head. "I'm sorry, more important things to worry about."
"Yeah, but until we know where these guys are, we can keep talking about—the uh, the group chat." Barry said and Oliver could see the amusement in the man's eyes and he just shook his head before walking away and could hear the man slightly laughing. "C'mon man, I'm just messing with you."
Oliver walked over to Katie who seemed to be finishing up her phone call.
"Which one was that this time? Ari or Will?"
"You're being ridiculous. That was Martin." she said. "I remembered we actually have someone who could give us some insight into these people."
"Eleanor?" Oliver asks and Katie nods. "Are you sure about this?"
"I think we don't have much of a choice." she replied placing a hand on his chest before turning at the sudden sound of cracking.
Everyone in the room turned at the sudden bright light that they all turned away from. After a moment, they turned back to see Constantine and Zatanna standing there.
"Are we late for the party?" Zatanna asked as she looked around to the eyes on her.
"Not exactly." Barry said walking over to greet them. "I didn't know someone called you two. We could use all the help we can get to get these people back to where they came from."
"Well you're in luck." Constantine said before his eyes turned to Katie. "That's exactly why we're here."
Oliver noticed the look between Constantine and Katie and turned to his wife.
"What's going on?" he asked and Katie turned to him.
She turned to Constantine and Zatanna and held up a finger, before taking Oliver's hand and pulling him from the room.
They ended up another part of the lab, where they could be alone. Katie turned to Oliver and sighed.
"I called them. I need them to show me how I can protect myself against Felix."
"I thought that's what the bracelet was for."
"The bracelet makes me weak. It drains me, literally and if these people find us, I can't be out of it like that again."
"It's just if you take that bracelet off, he can hurt you."
"Yeah, but I can hurt him too." she replied. "I could hurt these people from Earth-X. Did you see Earth-X Tommy when he saw me. Whoever I was on his earth, they must've been afraid of me."
"Yeah, they also may be the people who killed her too." Oliver said taking a step forward. "Twinkie, it's safer if you keep the bracelet on. If anything or anyone tries to hurt you, I'll stop it." he shook his head. "But I can't stop people hurting you with magic. Yesterday at that church when you were screaming in pain and I had no idea how to help you. I can't go through that again. I can't watch you in pain and not be be able to do anything about it."
"Liver-"
"Just give us a chance to stop these guys first. Maybe there's a chance they can lead us to Felix and we stop him before he can try anything to hurt you." he took her hand. "Twinkie, you don't have to be in this fight."
"Yes she does."
Oliver and Katie turned to see Zatanna standing there.
"I"m sorry, I'm not trying to intrude on an obviously private moment."
"And yet you are," Oliver said to the woman. "Where are you and Constantine at with finding Faust?"
"Nowhere." she replied. "He's shielding his magic, making it hard for us to locate him." she nudged her head to Katie. "Your wife can help us find him. He's used his magic on her, and he will try again the moment she takes the bracelet."
"She's not taking the bracelet off. Find another way."
"There is no other way."
"Then you need to go!" Oliver snapped angrily. "I'm not letting you or Felix Faust hurt my wife, so if you have no other plan to stop this guy, then you and Constantine should leave."
Zatanna looked at the man before turning to Katie, the only person in the room whose instruction she would follow.
"You called us here because you knew there was only one solution to the big Earth-X and Felix Faust problem. It's you. You know it, and I believe your husband knows it. So what's the plan?"
Katie stood there, her eyes over to the woman before turning to Oliver who turned to her. She could see the seriousness in his gaze. She understood it. It's why she always hated seeing him hurt or in pain. It's partly why she didn't tell him what was going on. Katie turned back to Zatanna.
"You and Constantine should help, but not with this. I'll keep on the bracelet and we'll let the team figure out how to stop these guys."
Zatanna looked at her for a moment but nods. She casts one look to Oliver before turning and leaving.
Oliver turned back to Katie, bringing his arms around her.
"We will stop them, I promise. That includes Felix Faust." he pulled her into a hug.
Katie dropped her head to his shoulder, unsure if she believed that promise.
"To stop him, I doubt you can go out there wearing your current outfit." she said, her hand sliding over the material of his tshirt. "I'm guessing there's a spare Green Arrow suit somewhere around here, with a quiver and a few arrows."
To be honest, Oliver did pack the Green Arrow gear and arrows. Just in case. He packed it in the trunk of the car the night before they came to Central City.
"Probably." he replied, not pulling from the hug.
He was unsure of what direction this conversation would go, so he wanted her to keep talking.
"I think trying to stop Nazis from taking over the world gets you a pass." she replied and Oliver pulled back and she nods. "You have to be the Green Arrow again. At least until these guys are stopped. Are you ok with that?"
Oliver dropped his head because he thinks this was an opportunity to just tell her the truth. Tell her that he's been the Green Arrow for the last couple of weeks but was too afraid to tell her.
He lifted his eyes to her, and he imagined every possible outcome to that admission. And it was the worst outcome that made him just nod.
"I can be. Until we stop these people at least." he replied and Katie just nods before dropping her head back to his chest.
In that moment, he knew he was a coward and yet, he couldn't let go of the life he knows he will lose once she knows the truth.
"Hey,"
Oliver and Katie pulled apart to see Bruce standing there.
"We found them. A break in at Dayton Optical Systems." Bruce said and Oliver gave the man a nod before Bruce headed off to get suited up.
Oliver turned back to Katie who placed a hand on his chest.
"Be careful." she lifted her eyes up to the man. "And come back."
"Yes, ma'am." he said before dropping his lips to hers. After a moment, she pulled back, turning her head to let out a yawn. "I'm going to find him." he placed a kiss to her head before pulling away.
When they were all suited in their hero gear, Felicity glanced up from the computer, noticing Oliver dressed as the Green Arrow standing next to Bruce who currently dawn the bat suit. She glanced around before walking over to the man.
"Does Katie know you're going out there?"
"She does, and she's ok with it to stop these guys." Oliver said grabbing his quiver and bringing it around his shoulder.
"She's ok with it." Felicity said and the man seemed to be avoiding her gaze. "And after she told you she was ok with you going out there as the Green Arrow today, you told her you've been the Green Arrow a lot longer, right?"
"Felicity, could you just not." Oliver said turning off and walking away.
"He's literally going to blow his entire life up and we're all going to get pulled into the explosion." Felicity turned to Bruce. "I should just tell her."
"Ok, and then what?"
"She will be upset, but not with me. She'll forgive me because I was brave enough to tell the truth."
"So you want to tell her the truth to make yourself feel better." Bruce said and Felicity narrowed her eyes. "I'm just saying."
"Is that how you justify lying?"
"There is no justification for lying. It's a choice. You either choose to lie or or choose to be honest. If you choose to lie, you better have a damn good reason." he placed a kiss to her cheek before turning and walking away.
Felicity just shook her head as she watched him leave.
When Barry, Bruce, Oliver and Kara headed off to stop the robbery, the others remained at Star Labs.
Katie attempted to keep herself awake by wandering around, hoping to find a pot of coffee. She ran into Felicity during her trek.
"I was looking for you." Felicity said, noticing Katie looked a bit more tired since she last saw her. "I'm guessing the bracelet has you pretty drained."
"I'm looking for coffee." Katie replied and Felicity nods before nudging her head for her to follow.
There was a kitchen like area of the lab that had a pot of coffee. They walked in to see Iris pouring herself a cup. She turned to Katie and slightly frowned.
"Are you ok?" Iris asked.
Katie didn't answer the question as she walked over, grabbing a cup and pouring herself some coffee.
Iris turned to Felicity who just nods.
"The bracelet she's wearing, helps block Felix from using his magic to attack her, but it also stunts her own. Which I'm assuming also draining her energy."
"Isn't that why Constantine and Zatanna were here?" Iris turned to Katie. "I thought they were here to help you."
"They were here to teach me how to block him without the bracelet." Katie said turning and pouring some more coffee. "It's just the moment I take this thing off, it feels like Felix throws everything at me, and-" she turned back to Iris. "It's painful and even though I was willing to give it a shot..."
"Oliver wasn't." Iris said and Katie nods. "What do you think?"
"I think the last thing Oliver wants is for me to be in the middle of this fight. I think the last thing I want is to be in the middle of this fight. Especially since I haven't been in a fight in months and I was kind of getting use to just being normal." she chuckled. "My version of it anyway." she grabbed her cup of coffee before turning back to Iris. "I'm going to walk and drink this to keep myself awake. Call me if Nazis break in."
Iris just chuckles but nods before watching the woman leave. She turns to Felicity who lets out a sigh.
"Are you alright?" Iris asked and Felicity turned a small smile to her.
"I'm not sure how alright any of us can be right now." Felicity said with a shake of her head. "I especially hate that my best friend is holding on to something that she's never going to have."
Felicity dropped her head thinking about this secret she really wants to tell Katie, and yet she thinks her fear is the same as Oliver's. She doesn't want to be the person who blows up her best friend's life. She thinks about Bruce's words about lying and having a good reason. Ever since, she's been trying to decide if she did have a good reason to keep Oliver's secret and she wasn't sure.
At some point, Katie's cup was empty and she turned down a hall that looked liked the last and so she stopped and let her body lean against the wall. She closed her eyes and let out a deep breath.
"Wake up!"
A voice echoed around Katie but she didn't even stir. This place against the wall oddly comfortable.
"Wake up!"
This time the words were accompanied by a loud clap, that Katie felt so close to her face. Her eyes blurrily blinked open and there standing in front of her was a woman who looked just like her. Except her hair was short, like ear length short, and blonde. There was also a faded scar across her cheek. The woman stepped in closer to Katie, grabbing her arm and lifting it to show her the bracelet.
"You have to wake up or he will kill you and your husband."
A hand touched Katie's back and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Hey, it's me." Oliver came around her so she could see him. "Were you sleeping?" he glanced down to the paper cup on the floor before looking back up to Katie who didn't say anything as she slid a hand over her face. "C'mon."
Oliver brought an arm around her, pulling her with him to one of the offices that had a couch. Katie walked over to lay down, her eyes closing as she curled up on her side.
"So how did your night go?" she asked, her eyes still closed.
Oliver walked over to sit on the couch beside her, and he ran a hand over her arm soothingly.
"More doppelgangers." Oliver sighed closing his eyes and dropping his head back against the wall behind him. "This time it was Earth-X versions of me and Kara who are apparently married."
Katie let out a snort. "Of course they are." she felt his fingers intertwine with hers.
"And then there was Eobard Thawne, Reverse Flash from this earth."
"So the guy who put me in a warehouse he set on fire?" Katie asked.
"Yep, that guy." Oliver opened his eyes and looked over to her. "It was strange, to stand there and look at this guy who looked like me, but who was absolutely nothing like me. He was just so...dark."
Katie opened her eyes and lifted her head and Oliver looked down to her.
"You know I have been having the craziest dreams since we got here. They were of you, but it wasn't you. I just remember looking into your eyes and just knowing it wasn't you because of how dark they were." she turned, laying her head back down. "Each dream ends the same. Evil Oliver stabs me with an arrow." she sighs. "And now we know there actually is an Evil Oliver out there somewhere."
"It doesn't matter." Oliver grasped her hand in his. "I won't let him or anyone else hurt you."
"So what were the evil doppelgangers stealing?"
"Some kind of device they can turn into a bomb." Oliver closed his eyes and once again dropped his head.
"Of course it is." Katie said before suddenly both of their phone's vibrated which Katie had.
She pulled out both of their phones from her pocket, handing Oliver his before cracking open her eyes to see a text from Ari.
"Please tell Will to shower, he smells like sewer water."
"You look like sewer water!" was Will's response.
"You added me to the group chat." Oliver sighed.
"Yeah, I shouldn't have to endure these little maniacs alone." she said slipping the phone back into her pocket before once again closing her eyes.
She heard Oliver let out a chuckle as he continued to read the exchange between their children.
"They're literally in the same house and yet they're bickering over text messages." Oliver said. He looked down to Katie who'd once again fallen asleep.
Oliver sighed, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her head. He stood to his feet and glanced around the room, hoping to spot a blanket or something to cover her. There wasn't one in sight, so he decided to go ask someone.
He didn't expect to run in to Constantine the moment he stepped out of the room.
"I thought you and Zatanna left." he said before turning off to head down the hall.
"We did. Wanted to see if we could pick up a link on Faust, but it was no use." Constantine walked along side of the man. "Look, Oliver I understand you want to keep her safe, but it won't mean anything if he finds her and she's at her weakest."
"Then I find him first and stop him." Oliver said with certainty. He had no idea how, but he knows he'd do anything to keep Katie safe.
"That's easier said than done, mate." Constantine moved to stand in front of Oliver to stop him from walking. "The truth is your wife can find and stop him. She knows it and and I think you know it too. You just have to let her."
"Except my wife has told me countless times that she does and doesn't do anything because I let her. Right now she's choosing to stand down on this, and I am in full support. I will protect her."
Oliver moved around the man and continued down the hall.
"Except you can't protect her!" Constantine called after the man who didn't stop walking. "Not this time."
Oliver walked into the lab where the others were currently using the cryptonite arrow he used to stab the Earth-X Kara, which had her blood, to locate her.
He'd just walked in when his phone vibrated again. He pulled it from his pocket and glanced down to see his kids were still bickering.
"Well I'm putting you outside with Harry, so watch your back Willard." Ari wrote.
"Not if I lock you out there first. Watch your back Armpit!"
Oliver sighed, figuring he should finally interject.
"No one better lock anyone outside. Will take a shower. Ari be nice. And talk to each other, you're in the same house. Stop with the texting."
Both just wrote a bunch of eye rolling emojis, which ended to conversation.
"Everything alright?"
Oliver looked up to see Felicity. He nods before holding up his phone.
"I'm in a group chat I thought I wanted to be in, but I'm slowly realizing that I don't." Oliver said glancing around. "Any luck with the arrow."
"Not yet." Felicity replied as Oliver turned back to her. "We should talk."
"If it's not about stopping evil doppelgangers, then we probably shouldn't. I was looking for a blanket for Twinkie." he moved to continue his search, but she moved to block him. "Felicity-"
"You know I didn't it get before. Why you didn't want to tell her." she shook her head. "I think I get it now. You keep imagining the moment you finally tell her and you know what's going to happen when you do." she lifted her eyes to him. "Oliver I understand why you think you have to keep this from her. But you have to know at some point she's going to find out. And she can't hear it from anyone else."
Oliver turned away because he knew she was right. He knew she was right the first time she told him.
"I can't do this now Felicity." Oliver moved around her, to continue his search for a blanket.
Caitlin found him wandering and showed him to a closet with blankets and pillows. He grabbed a blanket and pillow before heading back to Katie.
She was still lying on the couch when he came back into the room. He draped the blanket over her before gently lifting her head and sliding the pillow underneath her. He dropped back to sit on the couch beside her, his hand once again sliding over her. He sighs before closing his eyes and dropping his head back against the couch.
Oliver didn't realize he nodded off to sleep until a light knock at the door stirred him awake. He glanced over to see Katie still asleep, lying beside him, his hand still resting on her. He heard the knock again and turned to the door before standing to his feet and walking over to open it to find Bruce.
"How's she doing?" Bruce asked.
"Fine, she's sleeping." Oliver said glancing around before turning back to the man. "What's up?"
"We got them. They're at a shipping depot outside of Danville. Everyone's getting ready to head out." Bruce said and Oliver nods.
"Let me tell Twinkie, and then I'll head out with everyone." Oliver said and Bruce just nods before turning. "Bruce?" the man stops and Oliver steps from the room and closes the door. "It is very rare that I would actually ask your opinion on anything, but I found myself unsure of the choices I'm making lately."
"Isn't this a conversation you'd usually have with John." Bruce said walking over to the man.
"Yeah, normally I would, but I'm pretty sure I already know what he would say."
"And you want my opinion because you think I'd have another one."
"What would you do in my shoes?" Oliver asked.
Bruce shrugged. "Honestly I don't know. I've kept things from Felicity, because I thought it was best. In some cases, I still believed that, but in others I've admitted that it was bullshit and I was just scared. Scared that the truth would take her away from me."
Bruce gave the man a pat on the shoulder.
"I know I give you shit, but this sucks. In the end, I care about Robins, and I don't want to see her hurt and I think with this, that's inevitable." the man backed away. "So that means that if at some point she asks me to kick your ass, I'm going to do it. Just thought I should warn you ahead of time."
The man just nods before turning and heading back down the hall.
Oliver just shook his head before heading back into the office. He walked over to Katie who was still sleeping. He crouched down beside her and slid his hands through her hair. He felt the time clock over his life. Counting down to the moment she finally hears the truth and he knows that will be it. One more promise that he's broken. Not just to her, but to the kids. And she won't let him get away with that one.
"Hey, Twinkie." he say softly, and her head turns and she cracks open her eyes to look over to him. "They've found them. We're going." she stares at him for a moment before sitting up.
"Wait, what? Found who?" she asks and Oliver looks back to her with concern before rising up to sit beside her. "No, wait, doppelganger Nazis, right?" she turns back to him and sees the worry in his eyes. "I'm fine, just foggy wake up brain." she places a hand on his cheek and he drops his head to her. "You know the drill. Be safe and come back to me."
"Always." he said before placing a kiss to her lips. He pulled back and held up his cell phone. "All conversation stopped after I told them not to lock each other outside." Katie chuckled before taking his phone. He pressed his lips to hers once more, lingering in the moment and trying to hold on to these few seconds of bliss with just her. "I love you." he whispered after pulling away.
"Who wouldn't." she replied with a smile, before dropping her head to his chest as he brought his arms around her in a hug. "I love you too." after a moment she pulled back to look up to meet his eyes. "If you do not come back, I'm taking the bracelet off and I'm coming to find you."
"How long are you giving me?" he asked, and she smiled as she let her fingers slide of his stubble.
"Not long." her eyes moved to his. "So if you get lost, I'll be there to find you."
"I'll keep that in mind." he replied pressing one final kiss to her lips before standing.
She smiled before letting out a yawn and dropping her head to the pillow. He stood there for a moment longer before heading for the door.
"Don't forget to pick up some milk on your way home." she muttered just as he pulled open the door.
Oliver glanced back to the woman who was already asleep. A smile tugged at his lips before he finally left the room.
Felicity and Iris stood over the computer, watching the feed of the team as they headed inside the shipping depot. For whatever reason, Rory came grumbling in, a hot dog in his hand, complaining about there not being any mustard.
Soon Caitlin brought him his mustard, and just moments later an alarm started blaring.
Felicity typed, and they all stood around to see the masked Dark Arrow walking the halls of Star Labs after attacking Harry.
"You and you, hide." Rory said pointing to Felicity and Iris.
"What about Caitlin?" Iris asked.
"It's gonna get a lot colder in here." Rory replied.
Felicity took Iris' hand and the pair turned to run, but Felicity stopped and turned to the woman.
"Katie?" they turned back to Rory and Caitlin. "We need to get to Katie."
Caitlin walked over to the computer and typed a few keys switching the camera feed back to the Dark Arrow who was walking down the halls.
"He's looking for her." Felicity said and they turned to her. "We need to get her out of here."
"Right now you two hide, let us take care of this guy. We'll stop him before he gets to Queen."
There was a loud noise, but Katie didn't have the strength to open her eyes. She didn't have the strength to even move.
"Wake up!"
She heard the familiar voice once again, this time with urgency in her tone.
"You have to get up, he's here!"
Katie opened her eyes, barely able to make anything out in the dark room as she tried to blink the sleep from her eyes. She soon realized the loud noise was an alarm going off.
Katie groaned as she forced herself to sit up which seemed harder than it should. Something was wrong, and she needed to figure out what.
Katie dropped her feet to the floor, and took a wobbly step to stand. She gave herself a minute to get her bearings before continuing over to the door. She grabbed the doorknob, dropping her head to the door before slowly pulling it open and peeking out into the hall.
She quietly eased out, glancing down both ends before slowly walking to figure out what was going on.
Katie's feet dragged as she walked, and she knew the momentary bout of energy was slowly dwindling and at some point she was going to pass out.
She stopped moving and lifted her wrist to look down to the bracelet. She was standing here defenseless and right now she felt that couldn't happen. She had to take it off. She reached down just to do that.
"Don't do that." came a familiar voice.
Katie lifted her eyes down the hall and she felt relief wash over her at the sight of Oliver.
"You came back." she smiled watching as he walked over to her. "Did you stop them?"
Oliver didn't say anything as he continued toward her, stopping right in front of her. And that's when it happened. That's when she realized that this wasn't her Oliver. She saw the darkness in the man's eyes and her thoughts drifted to her nightmares. She took a step back, her hand going for the bracelet, but he quickly grabbed her arm.
"I said don't do that." he growled as his grasp tightened around her arm forcing it to her side. "It's uncanny. You know when I saw you in the church, you made me pause. I never thought I would see this face again." a smile pulled at his lips. "On my earth you're dead. After years of glorious battle, you finally kicked the bucket. My only regret is that I was not the one to do it." He brought his other hand to her throat and squeezed. "And now as luck may have it, I will get another shot."
The man held her gaze, his dark eyes staring into hers in a way she thinks someone who wants her dead wouldn't look at her.
There was a cracking sound, and then a sudden appearance of light. Earth-X Oliver pulled back, before glancing over to the portal as the old man walked out.
"You're early." Dark Arrow said to the man who pulled back his hood with a smile as he looked over to Katie. "I need to secure the rest of the lab. Can you handle her?"
"Yeah, fine. I'll get started. The spell will take some time, so the sooner I can begin, the less time your wife will have to wait." Felix replied.
Dark Arrow turned back to Katie, once again holding her gaze before simply relinquishing his grasp, letting her fall to the floor.
Katie once again moved to unclasp the bracelet, but he once grabbed her wrist.
"Some lessons must be learned the hard way." he said holding her wrist before reaching inside of his hood and pulling out a small syringe that he stabbed right into her shoulder.
Whatever it was he injected, acted quickly. Katie held the man's gaze, her free hand reaching up and placing a hand on the stubble of his chin.
"I'm going to kill you." she slurred before consciousness left her.
Earth-X Oliver simply stood to his feet as he glanced over to the old man before heading off to clear the lab of any unexpected annoyances.
Oliver wasn't sure how everything got turned around on them. They arrived at the depot and they had the upper hand, but then Earth-X Kara and Thawne, and their soldiers showed up and overpowered them.
Soon, Oliver, Barry, Kara, Alex, Sara, Bruce, Stein and Jefferson are lined up, with their hands behind their backs, and some sort of collar around their necks.
Oliver comes to and glances around, "Is everyone alright?" he asks.
"Depend on your definition of alright, Oliver." Sara says from her spot beside him.
"Yo Grey, you good?!" Jefferson calls to Stein who he can't see from his spot on the floor.
"It seems my retirement was somewhat tardy." Stein sighs before they hear an echoed clap.
"Well, here we are." Thawne speaks, standing on a large crate above them. He chuckles. "This is fun for me, not so much for you." he looked down to Barry. "All the times you've killed me, and now here all I have to do is kill you once." he smiled at the glare on the young speedster's face.
"Enough, Eobard." Overgirl, the Kara doppelganger, said as she walked over. "Enough."
"Hey, you might want to listen to her." Alex said looking up to the man. "We know that if you wanted to kill us, you wouldn't have put these dog collars on us first."
"Now I know what it feels like to hate myself." Kara said looking over to Overgirl who just smirked back.
"Well done." Came the voice of Dark Arrow as he came into view, walking over to stand beside his wife.
"It wasn't a problem." Overgirl replied turning to him before she is struck with a sudden surge of pain. She falls but Dark Arrow rushes forward to catch her.
"Hey."
"Uh!" Overgirl groans as she clenches her eyes trying to breath through it. "The pain, the pain. I don't know how much longer I can bear it."
The rest of the team watch in confusion, each glancing at each other before turning back to the man in woman.
"It's all right." Dark Arrow says. "It's all right. You're gonna be all right because we found them." he said before turning to Kara. "We found her, and now we have her." he turned back to Overgirl.. "I love you. Now, very soon, this nightmare will be over, and I'll take you home. So stand." the last words were an order, so Overgirl nods, clenches her teeth and stands to her feet.
"Star Labs is secure." Dark Arrow says over to Thawne.
"If you hurt my friends—" Barry starts the threat, but Dark Arrow calls his bluff.
"I did hurt your friends," he replied. "I really enjoyed hurting your friends."
"Are they alive?" Oliver asked, staring into the dark eyes of his doppelganger who just smirked.
"Yes, yes, for now." he replies. "We need your Kara's cooperation." he tilted his head. "Well, we don't need it. It would be preferable. You specifically." he said looking at Oliver.
Oliver looked at the man and suddenly realized what he was hinting at.
"You have my wife?"
"I do. She's going to need a bit a motivation as well to be cooperative. So for the time being, you are more valuable as leverage."
"Why—why do you need her?" Oliver asked and the doppelganger sighed as he turned away.
"To save my life." Overgirl said before turning to Kara. "Both of you. That's your little mission statement, isn't it?Help people, save lives. Well, now's your chance."
"The General is dying." Thawne said.
"Her blood." Alex turned to Overgirl. "She's been exposed to too much solar radiation."
"Yes, like Icarus, I flew too close to the sun." the woman replied.
"But we can save her." Dark Arrow replied. "We're going to save her. All we need is a new heart." he said turned to Kara. "And, luckily, on this planet, we found the perfect donor."
"That's why you stole the Prism?" Barry asked. "So you could duplicate a red sun, weaken Kara, and cut into her?"
"Can't make an omelet with invulnerable eggs." Overgirl said.
"And you can't cook without a very hot heat source." Dark Arrow said before turning to Oliver. "And you have had a very hot heat source on your hands. Some would say it's too hot for this earth. So we're going to take our share, and let the old man handle the rest."
"Hey." Oliver glared over to the man. "I'm gonna kill you."
Dark Arrow chuckled, "You know she said the same thing to me before I dosed her. Tell you the truth I believe her threat more than I believe yours." he gave the man a once over and just shook his head. "Kill me? Nah, you won't. You're weak. And all of you choose the high road. You're heroes."
And with those words the man walked away, just as Metallo stepped forward, and a sudden green laser shot from his chest.
In the next moment, they all found themselves somewhere else. They were now outside, in some kind of fenced enclosure with people dressed in some kind of stripped uniform.
"Kara!" Alex looked around for her sister. "Where's Kara? They're going to kill her."
"Don't worry we're going to get her back." Sara said glancing over to Oliver. "And I believe your wife isn't going down without a fight either."
Oliver just nods before looking around. "We need to figure out where are."
"Yeah, about that." Jefferson said as they looked around not seeing anything faintly familiar about this place. But the fact that they were surronded by more Nazi soldiers with guns didn't make them feel better.
"This is somewhat disconcerting." Stein said looking around as well.
"I don't think this is our earth." Jefferson turned to Stein as they all came to the same realization.
"We're on Earth-X." Sara said looking up to the soldiers.
"Sara?"
Sara turned at the voice that said her name. She would recognize that voice anywhere. She took a step forward, trying to find the source.
Soon the figure appeared from the crowd of prisoners and Sara's eyes went wide.
"Laurel?" Sara said and Laurel smiled, hurrying over and throwing her arms around her sister in a tight hug.
Sara pulled back from the hug, a smile on her face as she looked back to her sister.
"You're here." the blonde dropped her eyes to Laurel's noticeably round stomach. "And you're very pregnant." Sara lifted her eyes back to Laurel's.
"We have a lot to catch up on." Laurel said glancing from her sister over to Oliver.
"Laurel, what's going on?" Sara asked
Laurel turned back to her sister and placed a hand on her cheek. She glanced over her shoulder and nods before turning back to Sara.
"Stay close to me. It's almost time."
Author's Note
Guess who's back!
Review Replies
hunter41963801: She is...sort of. You'll find out what I mean next chapter.
Adela: Thank you! And yes, I agree, but Oliver is trying to delay that moment for as long as possible which is a bad idea he's going to realize.
Thank you ;)
Sneak Peek
Constantine and Zatanna pulled Katie into a room and locked the doors. Constantine glanced out the window, glad there wasn't any of those soldiers around, but he was sure that was going to last long.
"We need to get her out of Star Labs." he said walking over to Zatanna who stood above Katie who they'd placed on a table. "Zee, we don't have time for you to get your mojo back. We need to get her out of here before Faust finds us."
"That won't work." Zatanna said before reaching forward and placing her ear above Katie's nose. Her eyes went wide before she turned to Constantine. "She's not breathing."