Chapter 19
Unveiling Secrets
"An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded."
Pope John Paul II
Oliver Queen knew for certain he was in deep shit from all sides of life right now. After the falling out with the team, he tried to make the first step and apologize. And yet it didn't work. Dinah, Curtis and Rene refused to rejoin the team with him, John and Felicity, out of distrust. Instead they decided to branch off into their own team.
Along with the team issues, there was still the growing pain in his ass, Cayden James. While working to help cure John's tremor, Felicity discovered that the bunker had been bugged and that Cayden and his cabal of accomplices had been watching and listening to them for months. It took her a while, but she thinks she found them all.
And then there was his family issues. Ari was still shutting him out, and would barely speak two words to him. Katie was still upset with him, though she kept up an act in front of the kids. He was still staying in the doghouse. He usually went out after the kids all turned in and came back in early enough so they wouldn't notice.
This morning, he stood in the backyard and watched Harry and the puppies as they ran around. He chuckled as the puppies seemed to chase and jump on each other.
"We're never going to get rid of these damn dogs." Oliver said before glancing back to see William. "Hey, buddy."
"Hey, have you seen the-" William stopped beside his father and looked out to the dogs. "There you are, c'mon Curly."
William reached down and picked up one of the puppies.
"Curly?" Oliver looked over to the boy and William turned to him and nervously laughed. "Let me guess, Curly-" he pointed to the puppy in Will's hand and then turned. "Larry, and Moe." he turned to the girl. "And what's her name?"
"That's Little H." Will said and pointed. "And actually the one on the left is Larry and the one of the right is Moe." Will turned to his father who just shook his head. "And if anyone asks, I didn't tell you that. I've been sworn to puppy secrecy." Will scratched Curly's head. "C'mon Curly." he turned and headed back into the house.
"We're really never getting rid of these dogs," Oliver sighed before reaching down to pick up the other three. "Come on inside, Harry." Oliver called looking over to the dog who didn't budge from her spot on the lawn. "Fine, I'll take your kids, you just relax." he muttered as he headed into the house.
Once Oliver stepped inside, he was immediately accosted as Ari took two of the puppies from his arms without a word to him.
"Where did the mean man take you, huh?" she said and Oliver just looked over to her unamused.
He turned at the sound of footsteps to see Katie, already dressed for her day with Robyn's little feet running behind her.
"Puppy!" Robyn squealed when she saw the puppy in her father's hands. Oliver smiled as he dropped down in front of her to let her pet the puppy. "Moe!"
"Did you just say Moe?" Oliver asked before lifting his eyes to his wife who he heard laugh. "They have names, now?"
Katie glanced over to him as she headed over to the refrigerator to grab the milk.
"How would they have names?" she feigned confusion. "You won the contest, only you can name them?"
"And yet, we have our own Three Stooges puppies along with their sister Little H." Oliver sighed turning back to Robyn who laughed at the puppy wagging it's tail. "We can't have five dogs."
"And yet we do," Katie said walking over and picking up Robyn. "C'mon little bird, let's wash your hands for breakfast."
Oliver turned to her, about to say something, when Will came back into the kitchen.
"Curly, missed Moe." was all he said before taking the puppy from Oliver's hands. "Let's go, Mo, Mo."
Once the puppy was in his hands, Will was headed back upstairs.
"I hope those puppies are helping you get ready for school Mr. Will!" Katie called after the boy.
Oliver turned a smile to her as he walked over to see her getting Robyn set up at her little table and chair. Katie glanced back to see Oliver staring and she just tsked.
"I'm helping your daughter with her breakfast and you're staring mommy's bottom?" Katie asked placing a kiss to Robyn's head before turning to get some coffee.
"Well mommy has a very nice bottom." Oliver replied and Katie just shook her head as he walked over to her. "I was thinking, what if I took you out to lunch today?"
"Do you honestly think I'm wearing this to City Hall?" Katie asked.
Oliver looked down to her clothes which consisted of a pink and white mid-sleeve shirt and a pair of jeans and sneakers. He just shrugged.
"Causal Friday?" he asked and Katie just chucked before pouring her coffee.
"I was asked to chaperone for Will's field trip today?" she replied turning back to the man and taking a sip from her cup.
"Will asked you to chaperone?"
"Of course not, his teacher cornered me the other day about how great it would be for the kids if I tagged along." she chuckled. "Will hates the idea, but I told him I wouldn't cramp his style. I'll just geek out on my own. The Coastal Biology Center."
She smiled to herself before noticing the smile on Oliver's face and just rolled her eyes before walking away. She walked over and opened the refrigerator biting her lip before asking the next question.
"What about dinner?"
Oliver was glad she wasn't looking at him right now. He, John and Felicity had been digging deep every night to get a lead on Cayden.
"Uh, dinner?" he asked and she turned to see him lift a hand to scratch the back of his head. "I don't know, I'm uh-"
"Working late, again?" she asked and Oliver noticed her roll her eyes again. "I guess some other time then."
Will stepped back into the kitchen dressed for school. He walked over to grab a bowl from the cabinet before walking over to the take the other seat at Robyn's little table.
"You're tempting fate with that chair." Katie laughed and the boy did as well.
"I don't want her to sit alone." Will smiled over to Robyn. "Isn't that right, nugget?" He poured his cereal before looking over to Katie. "Oh, I was meaning to ask if you could take a look at my prep work sheet for the field trip. I tried the extra credit, and I wasn't sure I got it right."
"Sure," Oliver replied looking over to the boy who looked at him for a moment before he pointed his spoon toward Katie.
"I actually meant Katie." Will said and Katie let out a snort.
Oliver turned to her, and she couldn't help but to laugh as she walked over to grab the sheet from Will.
"It's a math problem about hyperbolic geometry in marine organisms like coral." Will looked over to Oliver.
"I do know what coral is, but that's ok." Oliver replied looking over to his son before turning to Katie.
"This is a high-dimensional math problem most people don't get until they're in 12th grade AP, and it's perfect." Katie replied looking over to the boy with a smile.
"I told you the smarts are rubbing off on you Wilbur." Ari said walking into the kitchen. She brushed past Oliver without a glance before taking a seat at the kitchen table.
"Alright, let's see it." Katie walked over to Ari and held out her hand.
"I'm not done." Ari replied and Katie looked at the girl with a furrowed brow. "It's not as easy as you're making it out to be."
"What's going on?" Oliver asked looking between Katie and Ari.
"Ari's afraid to show her college visit list because she chose all out of state colleges." Will said and Ari just glared over to him.
"They're not all out of state." Ari turned back to Katie. "I mean there's a large portion that are out of state, and you can't be mad because it's my list."
"I didn't say anything." Katie said backing away. "You two finish up your breakfast, so we can head out."
Soon everyone was packed up and headed for the door.
"Wait!" Katie yelled and everyone stopped and turned back to her. "Backpack check. We have a missing puppy." she walked over and looked between Ari and Will. "Who wants to go first?"
They heard a small bark from Ari's backpack and the girl rolled her eyes before carefully unzipping it.
"Prison break didn't work this time Larry, don't worry, we will try again." she placed a kiss to the puppy's head before handing him to Katie.
Katie just laughed taking the puppy.
"Go to school, learn something." she placed kiss to Ari's cheek, to which the girl squirmed away before heading for the door.
"Yeah, yeah, we'll get past you one day, warden!" Ari called.
Ari cast a quick glanced toward Oliver, but didn't say anything as she walked out of the door.
"Ari, wait," Oliver followed behind her. "Ari, could you stop and talk to me."
"There's nothing really to talk about." Ari said turning to him. "Not until you tell them the truth."
"And I will, I just-"
"I'm not hiding this from her any longer. Either you tell her or I will tell her tonight."
Ari and Oliver turned to see Katie walking out with Will and Robyn.
"It's time for the secrets and lies to be over."
Oliver turned to her and nods before he watches as she gets into her car and pulls off.
He goes over to help Robyn into her car seat.
"You have fun at daycare sweetie." Oliver places a kiss to Robyn's cheek before he glances over to Will and Katie as they climb into the car. "And you two have fun on the field trip."
"And you have fun at work." Katie replied as she started the car.
Oliver sighed, taking a step back he closed the door before watching her pull from the driveway. He gave a wave watching the car drive off. Tonight he had to tell them truth. He knows it's the right thing to do, but he can't help but be nervous as hell about it.
When his phone rang, he pulled it from his pocket and brought it to his ear.
"Quentin?"
"We got a problem, an elevator electrocuted five people."
Curtis sat at the computer in he, Rene and Dinah's new hide out.
"Not bad for one week worth of work." Rene said admiring the large monitor that hung against the wall.
"I would rather have a team that I can trust than any piece of technology." Dina said looking over to him.
"Word." Rene let out a snort as he took a sip of his coffee.
At the sound of the door opening, they all turned, surprised to see Ari walking inside. The teen let her eyes scan over the place.
"Uh, Pipsqueak, what are you doing here?" Rene asked and Ari turned to him. "How do you even know where here is?" he turned to Curtis. "Should I be worried a teenager found our secret hide out?"
"Chill, Curtis called me." Ari said and they turned to her.
"I did, but I didn't tell you about this place." Curtis replies still looking over to the girl. "Wait, are you tracking us now?"
"No, I didn't track you." Ari replied.
"Then how did you find us?" Dinah asked and the girl turned to her and just shrugged before looking around. "Arianna."
"Oh fine, I did track you." she said before walking off to look around. "Just had to see it for myself. You three branch off, start your own team." she turned back to them. "I got to say I'm a bit hurt, I wasn't invited to join."
"Well I was there when you said you didn't want to be on the team." Rene said and Ari turned to him. "And we get it."
"No you don't. You kept his secret for him and it wasn't a big deal until you realized he had no problem keeping secrets from you either." she turned to Dinah. "It was so easy for you three to justify it, which is probably what they're doing right now with spying on you, but doing the wrong thing can't be justified." Ari turned once again to look around. "I have to go, I'm going to be late for first period." she turned back to the team. "Good luck."
As Ari headed back for the door, the three of them shared a look before Rene took a step forward.
"Hey Pipsqueak!" he called and Ari stopped and turned back them. "You're right, and we're sorry."
She looked at him for a moment before turning to Rene and Dinah and just gave a nod.
"Thanks."
"You know during that Lance rescue, you were really good." Dinah said taking a step toward the girl.
"I know." Ari replied and Dinah chuckled.
"Yeah, well I'm just saying, if you want, we would be glad to have you join our team."
Ari turned to them and they all just nod.
"And you're not going to require a parent or guardian sign some kind of permission slip?" Ari asked folding her arms over her chest.
"That part is going to be up to you." Dinah said. "You want to be here, then you have to tell them."
Ari looked between the team for a moment without a word.
"What do you say, Ari?" Curtis asked "I totally need a brain trust buddy around here."
"Let me think about it, and I'll let you know." she said before nudging her head back toward the door. "I got to go." she gave a wave before turning and leaving.
"Are we sure that was a good idea?" Curtis asked and they turned to him. "I'm just thinking of the list of things her mom would want to kill us for and I feel we're adding to it."
"So maybe we should take things off of the list." Rene said.
"You're going to tell her about Oliver?" Dinah asked. "You sure you want to get involved in that?"
"I think I owe the doc a hell of lot more than I owe Oliver." Rene said.
When Curtis' phone rang, the man pulled it from his pocket.
"It's Felicity," he read the screen and looked over to Rene and Dinah.
"She isn't bugging us, is she?" Rene asked and Curtis just shook his head.
"No," he replied, but thought it over for second realizing he couldn't be certain. "I'll do a sweep." he answered the phone. "Hey."
"Hey," Felicity replied. "Cayden James is attacking the city with a series of coordinated hacks."
Curtis's eyes widened as he turned to the others before heading over to his computer.
Katie sat in the front of the school bus as they headed to the center. She cast a glance back to William and smiled when she saw him reading his book.
"He's a good kid."
Katie turned to the seat opposite her to Ms. Tully, Will's teacher.
"One of the best in our class." she added.
Katie smiled before once again glancing back. When he lifted his eyes to hers, she quickly turned around. She glanced over to the confused look on the teachers face.
"We're supposed to be strangers on this trip." Katie said. "That includes no eye contact."
"That's surprising because I hear him talk about you all the time. He's very proud of you." the woman chuckled. "His mom, out there helping the people of this city."
"Did he say that?" Katie asked looking over to the woman. "Did he really call me-"
The bus came to a sudden stop and they turned. They were currently in a tunnel, and traffic seemed to be backed up.
"Must be an accident." Ms. Tulley said.
Katie brought the strap of her bag around her neck before standing and glancing out the window. She didn't see anything, but if there really was an accident, then someone could be out there in serious need of medical help.
"Why don't I go check it out." Katie said turning to the woman. "Just to make sure no one is hurt."
"Oh, ok, just be careful, Mrs. Queen."
Katie glanced back, once again meeting Will's eyes. She walked back toward him, smiling at the kids before she reached him and squat down a bit.
"There's some traffic up ahead, and I think there may be an accident up ahead. I'm going to go check it out."
"In the tunnel?" Will asked glancing out the window before turning back to Katie. "Isn't that dangerous."
"It could be, but I will be very careful." she placed a gentle hand on his arm before standing. "I'll be right back." she glanced around to the rest of the kids. "I'm going to see what's going on, and hopefully try to get us moving again You kids sit tight."
Katie smiled down to Will once more before turning and heading back down the aisle.
Will put his book down, and watched as Katie stepped off of the bus.
"Aw, Will's worried about his mommy." Donnie said from the seat behind him. The boy and his friend had been poking fun at Will the entire ride. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll be back in time to read to you."
"At least she can read, unlike your mom." Will said, his eyes still out the window, now nervous he couldn't see Katie anymore.
Ms. Tulley stood beside the bus driver, now worried when Katie disappears in the distance.
"This feels off." she says and the driver turns to her. "I should've went with her." she turns to the driver. "I'm going to go catch up to her, you stay with the kids."
"Sure thing, Ms. T." he says before pulling open the door.
"Kids, I'm going to see if Mrs. Queen could use some help. Until I get back, Mr. Jacks is in charge."
With that, the woman turns and walks from the bus before hurrying to catch up to Katie.
They all sit on the bus for a few minutes longer, before the driver starts to get nervous. He glances back to the kids before he stands to his feet.
"I'll be right back, you kids stay here." pulls open the door and walks off.
It didn't even seem like a full minute after the bus driver had stepped off, that there was a loud explosion that shook the bus. The kids all screamed, before they ran to the front of the bus to see the flames.
"Mom." Will whispered his heart ramming in his chest. "We have to get off the bus." he turned to the other kids. "Follow me."
They moved toward the front, but stopped when they noticed the flames growing.
"We have to get to the back!"
He turned and they all ran toward the back of the bus. They looked out to see more flames and the ceiling of the tunnel falling as people run trying to avoid impact.
"We can still make it out."
Will kicked the door until it popped open. He jumped out and helped the kids off the bus, urging them to keep moving. When the last kid stepped off he turned when he realized who didn't come off the bus.
"Donnie." Will jumped back on the bus and saw the boy still crouched in his seat. "Donnie, we need to get out of here."
"I can't." Donnie said frightened.
"We need to go!" Will urged. "C'mon, go, go!"
Donnie jumped to his feet and the two boys ran and jumped from the bus.
"Will!"
Will stopped and glanced back, because that was Katie's voice. He turned to Donnie and shoved him forward.
"I need you to go!" Will said taking a step back. "I got to find my mom." he pushed the boy forward again. "You got to keep going Donnie."
Before they knew it, there was another tremor that created sparks from above and pieces of the ceiling to fall, a large highway sign with it, trapping Will.
Will sat crouched on the ground unsure where to go.
"William!"
He heard Katie again and he stood to his feet trying to figure out where she was.
"Mom!" he called hoping she could hear him. "Mom, help!"
Will turns when the sign is moved, and he looks up to see the Green Arrow. It's kind of dark, but he assumes it's Mr. Diggle.
"C'mon we have to go!" The Green Arrow says.
"I have to find my mom!' Will replies turning, but the Green arrow grabs him as the tunnel continues to fall.
"Go!" The Green Arrow yells when he puts him on his feet.
The tunnel is collapsing and if they didn't find cover soon, they weren't going to make it.
"We have to go."
The boy ran, and Oliver follows behind him, unable to not glance behind him hoping to see Katie. If she was out there, he wanted to find her, but he had to get Will to safety first. As the collapsing ceiling neared, he grabbed Will and jumped into a storage room off to the side of the tunnel.
"William!" Oliver sat up and placed a hand on his son's shoulder. "William, are you ok?"
Will sat up and looked up to the man, because his voice wasn't what he expected. As Will lifted his head and looked into the eyes of the mask man, it was undeniable.
"Dad?" Will said. Oliver reached forward, but the boy took a step back.
"William!"
They heard Katie's voice again and Will's eyes widened as he jumped to his feet.
"Will, wait!" Oliver tried to stop the boy, but it was no use. The boy was already running.
"Mom!" he frantically called, trying to see through the smoke. He brought his arm up to cover his nose and mouth. "Mom, where are you?!"
Oliver ran over to the boy.
"Will, wait, it's not-"
They heard something crack and looked up to see a piece of the tunnels ceiling slowly breaking. They had no time to run before it broke off and came falling toward them.
Oliver wrapped his arms around William to shield the boy as best he could. When nothing happened, he lifted his head to see the broken ceiling hovering above them before flying back and dropping to the ground behind them.
"Will!"
Will pulled from his father's grasp to see Katie in the distance. He tugged completely from Oliver and ran as fast as he could toward her.
Katie dropped to her knees when the boy ran over, bringing her arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"Mom," the muttered as he returned to hug just as tightly.
Katie pulled back and slid a hand over his cheek.
"Are you ok? Are you hurt?" she began moving her hands along his face and arms searching for an injury.
"I'm fine." Will said looking back over to the woman who didn't look ok. There was blood on her forehead. "You're bleeding."
He pointed to her head and she reached up to feel the blood, only now realizing she was injured. Katie just shook her head before looking down to the boy.
"I'm fine, it's just a cut." she said before looking up and noticing the man standing behind him.
As she stood, Will grabbed her arm to help her. She brought her arm around him and he walked with her as they walked over to the Green Arrow.
Oliver stood nervously as Katie walked over to him. He could tell the moment her eyes met his, that she just knew the truth. His eyes saw the blood on her head and he took a step.
"You're hurt." he dropped his eyes back to hers. "We need to get you to a hospital." she didn't say anything to him, her eyes still on him and he wished he knew what she was thinking. "C'mon."
The hospital was a mad house. It was flooded with people from all the explosions. They'd ran out of beds. Patients were lined in the halls until they could be triage and then moved. When he realized Katie was one of them and suffered a head injury, he prioritized her treatment.
He turned down the hall to see Oliver, pacing back and forth outside of her room. The moment he saw him, Oliver quickly ran over.
"Is she ok?" Oliver asked.
"Scans have come back and it's clean. No cranial bleeding."
"Did she tell you what happened?"
"The bus was stuck in traffic, and she assumed that maybe it was a car accident, so she and the teacher went to see if anyone needed help. She said half way there, she got a bad feeling that something was wrong, so she turned back for the bus, right before the explosion. She says people were running and she was pushed, and she hit her head. She thinks she was out, but she's not sure for how long. When she finally came to, she went looking for Will."
Oliver sighed as he dropped his head.
Ethan glanced over to the door before turning back to Oliver.
"Do they know you're here?"
"Not yet, I had to change and now I'm here and I'm wasn't sure if I should even knock." he glanced back to the door. "She hasn't said anything to me since she saw me. Neither has William."
"Well a lot happened today, just give them time. If there is one thing I know about my Kit, not a lot surprises her. So this secret, probably wasn't as big a secret to her as you think." he nudged his head toward the door. "I'm going to go check on her."
"Right, I'll be out here." Oliver said and Ethan just nods.
Ethan walks into the room to see Katie and William sitting on the bed, looking up to the television.
"Good news." Ethan said and they turned to him. "Your scans are back, and they're clean. Your injuries seem to be superficial, so you're good to go home."
"Thank god, we can finally get out of here." Will said before standing from the bed. He turned and grabbed Katie's arm to help her.
"Will, he just said I was fine." she smiled down to the boy. "I'm ok." she brought her arm around him and turned to Ethan. "Thanks Mills. We should call—wait, it's probably hell trying to get a cab right now."
"Actually, Oliver is here." Ethan said. "He's out in the hall."
Katie glanced over to the door and just let out a deep breath before turning to Will who just took her hand.
They walked over and pulled open the door. Oliver stopped pacing and spun around to face them.
"Hi." he said looking over to Katie before dropping his eyes to Will. "Ethan says you're ok." he turned back to Katie who still didn't say anything. "Uh, I wanted to take you two to the bunker. For now, it's safer. John has Robyn and is bringing her, and I told Ari to get there. They will meet us." he once again waited for her to say something, but all he got was silence and absolutely no indication on how she was feeling right now. "We should go."
Oliver took a step to the side as they stepped into the hall before he glanced back over to Ethan who just gives the man a nod.
The ride in the elevator down to the bunker was brutally silent. Just like the drive there. Oliver stood behind Katie and William, the boy still holding her hand and standing close to her.
When the doors opened, they found John and Felicity standing there. Felicity took a step forward with a smile.
"Robyn fell asleep during the drive, I put her down a bit ago." she said trying to gauge Katie's mood right now. "Ari should be on her way."
Katie glanced from Felicity to John before turning to William who pulled away to look around. This was his first time to the bunker.
"So this is your secret hideout?" William asked, his eyes still scanning around.
"Yeah," Oliver replied.
"You said you weren't the Green Arrow anymore." William said, still not looking over to the man.
"John did take over, but he got injured." Oliver replied.
Katie turned to him. He wished she would say something. Even if she yelled and screamed, he just really wanted to know what was going on in her head.
"He's not injured anymore." William said.
Oliver dropped his head, because that was true.
"We lost the other members of the team, and I can't have him out there on his own right now with everything that's going on." Oliver glanced over to his son who still refused to look at him before turning back to Katie. "I promise-"
"You've promised before." Will interrupted before walking off.
Katie glanced over to him with a frown before turning back to Oliver who walked over to her.
"I know I have a lot to explain, and I will. I promise you, I will explain everything." he reached out to her, but she eased away from his touch.
"There's nothing to explain Oliver. The day I'm surprised that you have broken another promise will be the day I've lost my grasp on reality." Katie shook her head as she glanced back to Felicity and John before turning back to Oliver. "I'm going to go check on Robyn." And so she walked away.
"Thea and Quentin are working on setting up safe zones in the city, I have to go check in." Oliver said and Katie turned to him and shrugged.
"Do whatever you want." she replied before turning and heading off to check on her daughter.
Oliver stood there and watched as she got farther and father away.
"Oliver," John said, Oliver turned to him.
"I have to go check in with Thea. Keep an eye on her. She hit her head down in the tunnels. Her scans were clean, but there could still be side affects." Oliver said and John nods before the man turns and heads for the elevator.
Felicity and John weren't quite sure what they should do. Or if they should do something. Will stayed off to himself, while Katie hadn't appeared since she went off to check on Robyn.
"We should go check on her, right?" Felicity asked and John turned to her. "She's been gone for a while and with her injury...to be on the safe side, right?"
John looked over to the woman who didn't make a move, and so he assumed she wanted him to go.
"How about I go check on her." he said before turning and heading off.
John assumed she was hiding out in the back room with Robyn, but as he headed that way, he stopped when he noticed her standing in front of the Guardian suit.
"Felicity thought we should come check on you." John said walking over to stand beside her. He looked over to the suit before turning to the woman who didn't say a word. "Ah, Oliver has mentioned the infamous Twinkie silent treatment. He says it's brutal." John sighed. "I'm sorry. That probably doesn't mean much to you now. I know that if I'd spoken up sooner about my injury we probably wouldn't be here. And maybe we-"
"No," Katie suddenly said finally turning to him. "Whatever this was about to be, let's just stop it here." she nudged her head. "I'm going to walk away now, so please don't follow me."
And just as she said she would, Katie turned and walked away, leaving John standing there, feeling even more guilty. The man shook his head before going back over to wait with Felicity. He arrived back over, just as the elevator opened, and out walked Ari, who dawned her Firelight suit.
The teen looked between Felicity and John before letting her eyes move around the bunker. She spots William, but doesn't she see Katie.
"Is Katie here?"
"She is." Felicity walked over to the girl. "I'm going to take a wild guess you're not just coming from school."
"With Cayden's attack, they let us out early. I got the notification about the hack and went to link up with Curtis, Rene, and Dinah."
"You're apart of their team now?" John asked and Ari turned to him. "Have you talked to Katie and Oliver about that?"
"As I see it, with his whole secret life, Oliver really has no say in what I do." Ari said before once again glancing around. "And I'm going to talk to Katie right now before heading back over."
They watched as Ari walked off to search for Katie, before they shared a look.
"Kind of feel like there's this line and somehow we're on one side and the people we care about are on the other." Felicity shook her head before walking over to sit. John walked over to stand beside her. "Did Katie talk to you?"
"Not really." John said before dropping to sit, to once again watch the news.
When Ari found Katie, the woman was standing in the medical area, her back to her. She seemed to have her hands on the table in front of her, slightly hunched forward.
"Are you ok?" Ari asked.
Katie stood up straight and quickly turned, but stopped when she realized what the girl was wearing.
"I guess I should explain this." Ari said taking a few steps forward. "Curtis, Rene and Dinah have left and have created their own team and today they asked me to join them."
She waits for Katie to say something. She imagined the woman would have an entire lecture ready for her the moment she let the words come out of her mouth. What she didn't expect was silence, so Ari just kept talking.
"And I know what you're going to say. It's what you've always said. How it's not safe and that you don't want me to get hurt, but I know there's the risk of that happening, but I've been trained for this and I have three people who I can trust to have my back. I can do this. I am doing this. I'm not asking for your permission this time. I'm not letting your fear keep me from doing something I know I can do. I just hope that one day you can accept it and support me."
Now, Ari expected yelling. She expected irrational Katie who threatened to send her to a boarding school on the other side of the continent before she agreed to this. And yet she just got silent Katie.
"Say something." Ari finally said.
"Why?" Katie asked walking over to close the distance. "You just said a mouthful. Doesn't seem like nothing else needs to be said." the woman moved around the girl and just walked away. "Just do whatever you want, Ari."
Ari watched Katie walk away from her after the unexpected reaction. Her shoulders dropped because she really did want this to be the moment the woman finally supported her choice. But today she figured with finding out about Oliver, and the tunnel, it probably wasn't the best day to spring something else on her.
Ari let out a huff before stepping out of the medical area, coming to a stop when she realized William was standing there. She walked over and noticed the soot on his face.
"Are you ok? I heard what happened? That had to be scary."
"I'm fine." Will said before looking over the girl in her hero suit. "So you're Firelight again?" he looked up to meet her eyes.
"I guess." she replied trying to gauge the boy's reaction. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Would it matter if I did?" Will replied walking away.
Ari dropped her shoulders as she watched the boy walk over to once again take a seat on the table away from everyone else. The teen sighed before turning off and heading to the elevator, only stopping at the sound of Oliver's voice. She glanced over to see John and Felicity standing at the monitor, and headed over to see what they were watching.
She figured Will heard too, and walked over to see as well.
"A hacker- goes by the name Cayden James- has taken over the electronic infrastructure of Star City." Oliver said to the crowd of press in front of him. "In his hands, anything- anything that is connected to the Internet can be used as a weapon. Now, sadly, this has already led to a number of casualties, including our police captain, Frank Pike, and councilman Harold Grovner. " Oliver's eyes moved across the faces on him before turning to the camera. "But Mr. James has made his demands, but make no mistake, he is a terrorist, and Star City does not negotiate with terrorists, period. Instead, we are gonna focus on the safety and well-being of our citizens. In that spirit, the SCPD has set up safe houses throughout the city. These locations are entirely analog, and you will be safe there. I promise you, you will be safe there. Mr. James, Star City has survived far worse than you. We will band together, we will be united, and we will survive this. Thank you very much."
Oliver walked off, and the screen returned to the reporter.
Felicity and John glanced back to Ari and Will who didn't say anything as they looked at the monitor for a moment longer. Will was the first to silently turn and walk away. Ari glanced over to them before she turned to leave as well.
"Ari, wait." Felicity hurried after her. The teen sighed before turning back to the woman. "I get you're upset at a lot of things right now. Us included. We just, we never wanted anyone to be hurt."
Ari scoffed before turning and pressing the button for the elevator.
"Yeah, well I think you were smart enough to see it coming." Ari replied glancing over to the woman and then over to John. "There's a difference between loyalty and just making dumbass choices." she turned back to Felicity before stepping back into the elevator. "If you need me, I'll be with my team."
Will wandered around the bunker until he finally found Katie. She was sitting on the floor, her back against the wall and eyes closed.
"Are you ok?" Will asked.
Katie opened her eyes and sat up a bit, pulling a slight smile to her face as she nods.
"Yeah, I'm good. Just a bit sore. Those pain relievers are starting to wear off." she said. "But I'm fine." Will walked over and took a seat on the floor beside her. "Are you ok?"
The boy didn't say anything as he shrugs his shoulder.
"Yeah, same." she replied looking over to him. "Did you want to talk about it?"
Will didn't say anything, so Katie assumed that meant he didn't want to talk. She decided to respect that, and so she turned away and once again closed her eyes and to drop her head back against the wall.
"He lied." Will suddenly said breaking the silence. "He's been lying for all this time." he looked over to the woman. "He doesn't care." Katie opened her eyes. "He doesn't care that he could be taken away from us."
"It does feel that way, huh?" Katie turned to the boy. "But I really believe it's not true. He loves you, very much."
"Why aren't you angry with him? He lied to you too?"
Katie sighed. "Yeah, he did."
She turned away and glanced over to the sparring area. She'd been wandering around this bunker trying to actually pin point what she was feeling, and sure, anger was in there, but there were others. More than anything she felt stupid. Foolish really for actually believing they could really get away from the darkness.
"But I am upset." she glanced over to William. "And I'm sad, and I'm confused, and I'm scared." she reached over to take the boy's hand. "But what I know without a doubt, is that we will be ok." she placed a hand on his cheek. "You will be ok. That I will ensure."
Will silently nods before turning away and dropping his head to her shoulder and she placed a kiss to the top of his head.
When Oliver returned to the bunker, he couldn't help but to let his eyes search for her. When he didn't see her or William he got nervous. He spotted Felicity behind the computer and walked over.
The blonde turned, noticing his expression.
"They're here. Somewhere. I think they're hiding out." Felicity said.
"Has she said anything?"
"No really, but then again she's not very happy with us right now." Felicity said turning away.
Oliver only felt worse. Bringing them into this lie, not only hurt his relationship with his wife, but it hurt their relationship with their friend.
"Felicity, I'm sorry." Oliver said.
"Yeah, well we all made a choice. We got to live with the outcome." she sighed turning back to him. "I've heard back from Alena. She thinks that Cayden believes that you killed his son because of something that arrived in a package from Corto Maltese in May. Through a pretty cool sequence of hacks on the mail systems of several different countries—not that you need to know about it, but it was, like, really intense and really cool, and I did it, and it was really hard," she noticed the annoyed look on his face and just shook her head. "but you don't need to know about those. In that package was a USB drive, and we actually have that USB drive's serial number, so Alena's just working on trying to find the computer in Corto Maltese that uploaded the information onto that drive that Cayden received, the information that made him think that you killed his son." she nods. "You see how I came full circle on that, right?"
"Yeah," Oliver nods once again let his eyes look around.
"You should go talk her."
"I will." Oliver said not moving from the spot in front of her.
"You know you actually have to go to her to talk to her." Felicity replied and he turned to her. "She's still here and you and I both know that doesn't usually happen with her when she's upset. That means there's a chance to fix it and maybe make it easier for the rest of us when it's our turn."
Oliver lets out a sigh before walking off to find them. It doesn't take him long searching before he spots them in the far corner of the bunker.
Will turns when he hears him coming, and the moment he spots him, the boy stands to his feet and walks away. Oliver sighs as he watches his son leave. He hates that in a matter of one whole day, he's caused his whole family to hate him.
He drops his eyes to Katie, who is sitting on the floor, her legs pressed to her chest and her eyes are closed. She doesn't say anything and so he tempts fate by walking over to take a seat on the floor in front of her.
"How are you feeling?" he asks softly, He watches as her eyes open and look over to him. "Did you—did you need something?" she doesn't say anything before simply turning her eyes away from his. "I know I have a lot to explain."
"I told you, you didn't." she spoke, her eyes over on the sparring dummy. "If I've pieced this together correctly, after John's injury, Cayden was ramping up his attacks, so you decided to jump back in the hood. And you told yourself that it was temporary, just until John was better." she once again turned her eyes to him. "But you couldn't let it go." she turned away. "Tell you the truth, I think I knew. The working late at the office lie was dragging. But I remembered seeing you in Central City, wearing that hood again, and I could see it." she glanced over to the man once again. "The Green Arrow is more than than just a hood and arrows to you. And it's not just a costume you can take off. It's a part of you."
"I should not have lied to you." Oliver said knowing that was the biggest mistake he made. "I just—I didn't want to prove you right." he looked over to meet her eyes. "I didn't want to see that look of disappointment when you realized I once again made a promise that I didn't keep." he let out a shaky breath. "A promise I not only broke to you, but to the kids and I hate myself for it. I hate that my kids don't even want to be in a room with me and I hate that you can barely look at me. And I really hate that I don't know what this means for us."
Katie turned away from his eyes and it felt like a punch to the gut. He wanted her reassurance that in the end, that whatever happens they will still be together. He just needed to know he really didn't just fuck up his entire life on a secret.
"Twinkie, what does this mean for us?" he decided to ask and but she doesn't say anything.
She avoids his gaze for a moment before she turns back him.
"I've married you three times, and each time when I look at you, I always have the same thought." she lets out a sigh as she looks over to him. "God, I love this man. I've loved him my whole life and somehow, someway, he wants to be with me, and have a family with me. And I trusted you. Even when you've gave me countless reasons not to, Oliver I've always trusted you completely." she shrugged. "But you don't trust me."
"No, that's not—I trust you. I do, I trust you."
"Then why didn't you trust me with this? You trusted Felicity and you trusted John, probably the whole team, but not me, why? Because I was going to be upset?" she shook her head. "I was going to be upset no matter how this turned out, but if you would've trusted me, with the truth from the beginning then maybe I could give you an answer to your question. Right now I don't know if I can once again forgive you and just tack this on as another "my bad" from Liver, or if I'm finally ready to say enough is enough and just—just end this."
Oliver swallowed the lump of emotions in his throat as he took in her words. He suddenly remembers the advice he gave Jamie. He's broken his wife's heart and now she's unsure if she wants to be with him and he doesn't know if could do it. He doesn't know if he could just let her go.
"Oliver I don't hate that you apologize. I hate that you apologize for the same thing, over and over again." she sighed. "Because we've been here before Oliver. You didn't tell me my father wasn't dead, and you drafted all of your friends to help keep the secret." Katie stood to her feet, to walk away, and Oliver stood and turned to her.
"So now there are good secrets and bad secrets?" Oliver asked and Katie stopped and turned to him. He probably didn't have a fighting chance with this argument, but he just needed her to see this from his perspective. "Me being the Green Arrow is the bad secret, and you hiding the attack from Felix Faust was the good one, is that it?" he walked over to her. "Twinkie, in both situations, we both didn't want to bring another damn cloud over our family. We knew sooner or later it was going to come out, but we wanted to make those happy moments last as long as we could before it did."
He looked at her, wanting so much from this moment and yet he knew in the end, it was going to be up to her. He suddenly remembered her words from Central City.
"But those are just excuses, right." he shook his head. "Me trying to justify keeping this from you." he walked over to stand in front of her. "All the excuses, just don't matter, why I did it doesn't matter." he stood in front of her, scared to death of her leaving him. "You can be upset with me, and I'll understand it. I will just wait for the day you finally decide not to be."
Katie didn't say anything as she held his gaze. She honestly wasn't sure of anything in this moment. And so without a word, she turns and walks away from him.
It became an excruciating waiting game. Oliver decided to give both Katie and William their space, while he agonized on how this would all end.
"How you doing, man?" John walked over to stand beside Oliver who'd been looking over to his son.
"Why didn't I listen?" Oliver somberly asked. Countless times everyone told him to be honest, to not let this secret drag on for so long, but he didn't listen.
"I think it's because you like to see them smile more than you like to see them upset." John replied and Oliver glanced over to him. "As a husband and father, we feel that's one of our most important responsibilities."
"I just wanted to hang on to it for a little while longer." Oliver sighed as he glanced over to his son. "And now I've lost them."
"Nah, man, they wouldn't be here if you lost them. They're here, both of them trying to figure out how they feel about all of this." John said. "Sometimes that's all they want. The truth. It may not make them happy, but to know it, means they have the choice to determine how they feel about it."
"But they knew the truth before. They didn't want me in situations where they could possibly lose me."
"Yeah, but we're here now. With everything happened, to me, to the team, and now what's happening to Cayden James." John nudged Oliver's arm. "And I think he can handle it and history has taught me, that Katie can too."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because that kid has more of you in him than even he knows." John chuckled. "And well Katie-" Oliver looked over to his friend. "Katie has been handling this better than most of us. She been handling this better than you. She's always stuck by your side Oliver. Through everything, she's been there with you. I think she's mostly upset that you forgot about that."
"Hey," Felicity walked over to them. "Curtis just called. They know what Cayden is planning on doing next. You're going to have to suit up."
The next attack was going to be on one of the safe zones. Once Oliver had on his hood and mask, he grabbed his bow and quiver of arrows, and placed them on a table. Before leaving he went in search of William and Katie who he found together again, sitting in the medical area.
"Hey," Oliver said and they turned to him.
Will once again scoffed before standing to his feet and walking past him out of the room. Oliver sighed before turning back to Katie.
"We got a lead that Cayden's crew is going to attack one of the safe zones. I'm meeting the team there to stop it."
"Good luck." she said before standing to her feet, but she paused for a moment and places a hand on the table beside her as if to keep herself steady. Oliver takes a step forward, but she lifts a hand. "Don't, I'm fine. My head is just killing me." she turned back to the man. "On top of everything else happening in my life." she let out a deep breath. "You should go, those people are sitting ducks and they're going to need someone to keep the safe zone, safe."
Oliver stood there for a moment longer, just staring at her, wanting so badly to go back in time and fix this stupid mistake.
"I love you." he decided to say. He wanted her to say it back. To show him that there was hope for the two of them.
Katie silently turned away from his gaze as if to think about how to respond. When she finally turned to him, she walked over and stood right in front of him.
"I love you too." she replied and Oliver released the breath he was holding. "But I'm starting to think that maybe our love isn't strong enough to beat everything. And that makes me sad."
With that, Katie moves around him out of the room.
Oliver stands there, literally feeling hope slip away. He dropped his head and took another deep breath before he decided to push all things Oliver Queen down in this moment so he could focus on the people caught in Cayden's cross-hairs.
Once Oliver was gone, Katie couldn't help but feel the familiar nervousness rise in her chest. It was always irrational. She knows her husband. She knows how strategic he is, and how careful he is with every pull of his bow string. And yet, she would worry about him until he was once again standing in front of her. She definitely did not miss this feeling.
Walking around the bunker didn't seem to help. She was just reminded of the importance of this place. As she walked, she heard Felicity talking to Will.
"I know you're not all that happy with your dad right now, but this-this is what he does best, and nobody does it better."
"But everybody makes mistakes." Will replied. "Things go wrong. He can't plan for everything."
"He can't." Katie said and they both turned to her as she walked over and took the seat beside him. "You have no idea how much that thought has kept me awake at night."
Katie glanced down to the monitor which seemed to be from a camera on John's suit that seemed to be directed toward Oliver.
"What your dad does, it's very dangerous, and heroes don't always make it home." she turned back to the boy's eyes that he shares with his father and sister. "But to quiet the fear in my head, I remind myself that my husband, your father, is really really good at this," she pointed toward the screen. "I've seen it up close, just how good." she turns away. "But he's not perfect. He makes mistakes." she lets out a sigh. "I've known your father longer than most people, so I've gotten to see those too, up close." she once again glanced over to the screen. "When I first found out about all of this, I think a part of me was surprised, but a part of me wasn't. I fell for the man more because of it. So when I signed up for him, I chose to sign up for all of this. And trust me, I know—I know it's not ideal." she turns back to the boy. "Sometimes, it's downright scary."
The was the truth that Katie had come to accept as something she would just have to endure. Because she loved him and she wanted to be with him, so she would take the love with the fear.
"For him and for us. But he makes sacrifices, and we had to make some of our own." she chuckled. "That's why there were so many mentions of bad stuff and good stuff during the vow renewal. We loved each other enough to get through it. No matter how hard it was. And it is really hard, but it's the life we sign for because we love him." Katie glances back to the screen. "Everything your father does, he believe he is doing it for a good reason or what he thinks is a good reason." she turned back to William and placed a hand on his cheek. "So it's ok to worry about him, and trust me, you won't be the only one worrying. But I want you to believe that when he's out there, he does everything he can to come home to us, so we believe that he will. Ok?"
Will looks to her, and then to the monitor before he nods.
"Ok." he replies.
Katie places a kiss to his cheek before glancing over to Felicity who smiled over to the woman. Katie turns back to the monitor.
"So I usually don't like sitting and watching this." she says.
"Because she is usually out there kicking butt oh so effortlessly." Felicity replies glancing from Will to Katie before they turned back to the screen to see Oliver and two of Cayden's goons.
"Let's see, now after he takes these two down, he's going to spin," they watch as Oliver does exactly as his wife says. "disarm him and then..kick. He's probably gonna use the arrow right here!" and she quickly turns, and places a hand over the boy's eyes. "Let's not see that." she said and William just laughed.
Once the fight seemed to be over, Katie pulled away and they turned to the monitor.
"Wow." Will's eyes went back to the monitor. "He's—he's pretty-"
"Amazing," Katie sighed as she looked as well, though she wasn't surprised.
"Well, I was gonna say badass." Will said and Katie turned turned to him and just chuckled.
"I mean, sure, but we never tell him that." she nudged the boy's arm and he laughed. "I mean, never."
When Oliver and John returned to the bunker, they learned from Felicity that Cayden was shutting down communications, email, tv, cell phones, internet, pretty much everything. Alena was working as fast as she could, but she still didn't have anything. Oliver decided he couldn't get more sucked into this until after he finally talked to his family.
He found Katie standing in front of the Guardian's suit, Robyn asleep in her arms. She glanced over to him when he walked over to stand beside her.
"She woke up?" Oliver smiled down to his daughter.
"Yeah, but she went back to sleep." Katie replied turning back to the suit.
"I'm going to take everyone home. I think we all need to talk. As a family." he said looking over to the woman who didn't tear her eyes from the suit. "And then maybe after, you and me can talk."
"I'm going to get her things." Katie said before heading off.
Once Oliver was changed and they had their things, they headed for the elevator.
"Katie!" Felicity hurried over and Katie turned to the woman. "Before you go, I just—I'm sorry. It's probably in the best friend's handbook that you don't lie to your best friend. There are no excuses. I told you this would never happen again, and it did and I-"
"Felicity stop." Katie interrupts the woman. "You're Oliver's friend." she glanced over to John. "You were the original three, right." she turned back to Felicity. "I get it." she turned from the woman and walked into the elevator beside William and Robyn.
Oliver sighed, placing a hand on Felicity's shoulder before he turned to step into the elevator as well.
Later that evening, Oliver and Katie sat in the living room with Will and Ari, at the first official Queen family meeting.
"When I was growing up, if something happened, my dad would call a family meeting so we could all talk about it."
"I know a lot has been said today, but now we're all here. Now we can put everything on the table." Katie said looking between the two kids.
"I'm incredibly sorry that I lied to all of you." Oliver let his eyes move across the people in this room that meant everything to him. "There isn't a good enough excuse and I'm pretty sure if I even tried-" he glanced over to Katie. "You'd probably hit me, with good reason." Oliver looked back over to his kids. "I've just—I've been trying to work my way through it, and I've hit more bumps in the road than I thought that I would, as you know, but no more secrets and no more lies." Oliver looked between Ari and Will and then turned to Katie. "If you need me to stop being the Green Arrow I will."
"A lot of good that did the first time." Ari said and Oliver turned to her. "I actually never understood why you walked away in the first place. I mean, fine, you didn't want us to worry about you, but in the end you always made it back." she dropped her eyes. "But we're not babies." she glanced over to Will who looked over to her before they turned back to Oliver. "We know that there's a chance that won't always happen, but we believe every effort is being made to avoid that."
"You know I got to see what you do." Will said before glancing over to Katie. "I watched it with Katie and I got to say it was- it was really cool." the boy turned to his father. "The city needs you, and I get that now."
"Are you sure?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah. I mean, I was worried before that you wouldn't come back to us, and I think that still worries me, but I think if that happened, we'd be ok." Will looked from Oliver to Katie. "We'd have you and you would be there, like you always are." He looked back over to his father. "I understand why you have to go out there. I'm going to head up to bed."
"Goodnight William," Katie said as they watched the boy stand and head upstairs.
Once he was gone, Oliver and Katie looked over to Ari who still sat on the couch.
"Alright, let me have. You two have had enough time to develop a lecture about me being Firelight again, so let's hear it."
"I'm going to go check on Harry and the puppies." Katie said before standing to her feet and turning to leave the room.
"What? Wait, you can't-" Ari stood to her feet as well. "You have to say something." Katie stopped and turned back to the girl. "You can't be mad at me, you have to tell me that it's stupid and dangerous, but that you trust me, just like you trust him to come home. You don't just walk away."
Katie walked over to stand in front of the girl.
"Ari, when you get older, you are going to see the world through a very different lens. And when you become a parent, that lens becomes a scary thing to look through sometimes. So yes, I can be mad you and I am, because everything I tried to do to keep you safe, to keep this family safe has turned out to be a big waste of time. And that makes me mad, and it makes me sad and I want to cry and yell, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going go pet the puppies, because that single act calms all the raging emotions happening inside of me right now that you can't see. So, be Firelight, don't be Firelight, but your grades will not suffer because of it, you'll be home by curfew and I will always love you. None of those are negotiable or dependent on how I'm feeling. For now, that's just how it is, now get up to bed."
Ari looked over to Katie for a moment before she headed up the stairs to go to her room.
Katie glanced over to Oliver who stood to his feet and walked over to her.
"Are you going to stop me from going to the puppies, right now?"
"Absolutely not, I wouldn't dare." he replied. "Would you mind if I joined you for your calming puppy time?"
"Whatever," she said turning and walking away from him.
Oliver sighed as he followed behind her, but stopped when his phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket to see Felicity's name and he sighed before bringing the phone to his ear.
"Hey," he answered.
"Alena texted. She went through all the computers in Corto Maltese. She didn't find anything." the woman sighed. "I'm sorry."
Oliver stood there in his living room. He was literally just trying to keep his life from completely falling apart and this did not help him. He was going to have to do the one thing he did not want to do.
"What are you going to do?" she asked.
"I'm going to have to go to City Hall." Oliver slid a hand over his face before glancing over to the door that lead to the kitchen. "But first I need to talk to my wife to try to salvage what little trust she still has for me."
"Just listen to her. She's had half a day to digest all of this, so listen and then grovel like your life and ours depend on it."
"Thanks Felicity."
He ended the call before sliding the phone back into his pocket and heading off to find his wife.
The moment he sees her he walks over to stand beside her, as the puppies run over with their little barks as they jumped on his feet. "
"Hi there, Larry, you haven't been mean to your sister have you?" Katie asked.
She picked up the puppy in her hands as she walked over to find a place to sit. Oliver walked inside as well, and slid to the floor across from her as one of the puppies ran over to him.
"Which one is this, now?" Oliver asked scooping the puppy in his hands before looking over to Katie.
"That's Curly. Notice his tail."
Oliver looked down to the puppy whose tail did curl a bit and he chuckled. He looked over to Katie and the puppy in her hands.
"Alright, so then that is Larry," he looked over to the other two puppies who were both jumping on Harriet who didn't stir from her nap. One of the puppies started barking at the dog, and then the other turned and growled at the puppy who tripped back and scurried over to Katie. "That's Moe," Oliver said looking at the second puppy Katie just picked up before turning to the puppy who curled up next to Harry. "And that's little H. We're really never getting rid of these dogs, are we?" He scratched behind Curly's ear, and the little puppy seemed to enjoy the feeling. "You know you were wrong." he lifted his eyes back over to Katie who met his gaze. "Our love is the strongest thing in this world. It built our life and our family. So I refuse to believe that there is anything in this world it can't beat. Even me and my mistakes."
"You should've told me, Oliver." Katie said and Oliver nods. "It would've felt like a total kick to the gut, but you should've told me."
"I know, I've known the entire time, and everyone reminded me. Especially Felicity." Oliver said and Katie just dropped her eyes back to the puppies. "I know that it's not easy being married to me. That I screw up more times than none. You know I kept replaying that moment when I told you I was going to give up the hood, and you point blank said that if one day if I went back on my word, how you were going to be upset. I didn't want to see that look in your eyes. I've seen you've upset with me, disappointed, and after not seeing that look for a while, I guess I just-"
"You made a choice."
"I made the wrong choice. I thought I was getting out of that habit."
"You're not, it's why you tell me what you're doing so I can hit you and tell you what you should actually do. And then you don't listen, so I hit you again and then you finally get there. But it has to start with you talking to me. Not Felicity, not John, me, the person who signed up to be your partner for life."
Oliver nods as he looks over to her, knowing her words were true before she even said them.
"And do you?" he asked after a moment. "Still want to be my forever partner?"
The question scared him only because the answer could either feed into his hope or totally steal every last drop.
Katie dropped her eyes to the puppies in her arms as they nuzzled against her before curling up in her lap and closing their eyes.
"You know that's one of the questions I've been asking myself tonight. Instead of answering, I've been countering the question with if I believed that you would do better. Those two questions, I've asked myself many times before tonight." she lifted her eyes to him. "Every time we end up in this situation. I wonder if I should get out or stick around in hopes that it won't happen again."
"It won't happen again." Oliver's heart was a drum in his chest as nerves once again settled in his stomach.
"You've said that before."
"I know, but I'm saying it right now, with everything I have inside of me. When I tell you that it will not happen again, I promise you, it won't."
"You know before, what you said about good secrets and bad secrets, they're all just secrets. Us keeping them from each other would only result in one outcome and now we're sitting right in the middle of it. In the middle of another storm of bullshit and one would think we would've master our way of getting through it, but it seems like it gets harder every time."
She hated being in this place. Hated when he made her so angry with him. She hated having to once again contemplate deviating from the plan for their life for another that didn't include them together.
"Being with you, marrying you, having a family with you—Oliver, you have been the source of so much of my happiness and joy that I will never be able to put into words. But you've also been the source of heartbreak that has felt worse than some of the torture I've endured." a tear streamed down her cheek and she dropped her eyes from his.
Oliver slid a hand across his cheek to wipe away a tear that fell from his own eye. He felt as if this moment was leading to the end, and he's not sure he will be able to handle it.
"So to answer your question, I don't know." she looked back over to him. "I don't know if I want to stick around and I don't know if you're going to do better." she let out a breath. "But I love you enough to give you the chance to help me figure it out."
Oliver moved to go over to her, but she lifted a hand to stop him.
"You will get more of your things and take them out to the doghouse. That's where you will sleep from now on. You will be here in the morning for breakfast, and you will do your absolute best to be here for dinner." she held his gaze as more tears fell. "When you go out that door, and you put on that mask, you will do everything in your ability to make sure you come home to us. And I will always love you. None of those are negotiable and none of them dependent on how I'm feeling right now. Ok?"
Oliver nods, "Ok."
"Oliver, I don't want you to misunderstand any of this. I am very upset and about a hundred other things right now that I can't just let out and fall apart. Because if I fall apart, you're supposed to be there, to help put me back together, but this time, you're the reason I'm feeling this way. So I have to find out how to stop feeling what I'm feeling some other way. Which I will. You just have to do your very best to not hurt me or my children again. Because the next time Oliver, there will be no talking. This is my promise to you. You break my heart, or break the heart of my kids, I will leave you and I will take them with me."
She placed the puppies down before standing to her feet and glanced over to him one final time before walking from the room.
Oliver sat there, her words flitting around the room after she was gone. He believes her. He saw the truth in her eyes as she spoke, so he knows he has no other option but do better.
For her...for their children. He'll do anything.
Author's Note:
Whoa! The truth is finally out and tensions are high.
Review Replies
Adela: Thank you very much!
This feels like we're halfway through this story and there's still so much more surprises to come! As always, thank you for your continued support!
Sneak Peek
"Are you trying to annoy me?"
"No, I'm trying to wake you up." Ari said sitting back in her seat. "Fine, Oliver is the Green Arrow and he lied about it because he's an idiot who thought we'd be mad at him or something. You can't just hide inside those walls you're putting up. Just be angry. Yell, or scream or cry or whatever you have to do so I get my mom back." Ari pushed her chair from the table and stood to her feet and walking away.
Katie stood there frozen, shaken by the girl's words. Oliver soon walked over, his eyes going over to Katie. He heard the conversation between her and Ari.
"Are you ok?" he asked and she cut her eyes over to him before turning away and sitting her mug down.
"I need to go." she said.
"Where?"
"I don't know." she replied turning back to him. "I just need to go."