Chapter 20

Finding Light in the Darkness

"It is the false shame of fools to try to conceal wounds that have not healed."

-Horace

Oliver had the feeling he wasn't helping himself right now. It was another Queen family meeting, that was taking place in the bunker. This one wasn't being well received.

"A safe house?" Ari looked over to Oliver. "For how long?"

The situation with Cayden James was getting too dangerous. With the man hacked into every device in the city, it made Oliver worry more and more for the safety of his family. It's why the only idea he had was to place them in an ARGUS safe house until they stopped James.

"Just until we can figure out a way to stop him." Oliver replied. He turned his eyes to Will who sat with his arms folded over his chest, eyes not meeting anyone right now. "Believe me, if there was some kind of alternative, I would take it, but right this seems to be the only thing I can think of."

Ari scoffed before looking over to Katie who stood off to the side. She hadn't said much during this whole family meeting, which only annoyed Ari.

"You're quiet. What do you think about this?" Ari asked and Katie turned to face her. "Is there really no other choice than to stick us in box and hope Cayden James doesn't find it?"

"There are a lot of things Cayden can hack, but ARGUS isn't one of them." Oliver said glancing over to Katie before turning to Ari. "You will be safe there."

"Are you coming with us?" The question came from Will who finally spoke. He directed the question to Katie. "I can be ok with this, if you come with us." Katie walked over and crouched down in front of Will, placing a hand on his arm. "You're not going to though, you're going to stay."

"Hospitals are in dire need right now for medical staff. With all city projects on hold until Cayden is stopped, I figure this is my way of helping."

"So we're going to this safe house alone?"

"No, our friend Laurel will be accompanying you."

"What?" Ari stood to her feet and shook her head. "Absolutely not. I was already on the fence with this, but Laurel is a total deal breaker for me." Ari turned to Oliver. "I'll stay, work with my team and check in regularly." Ari turned to Katie who stood to her feet and took a step toward the girl. "Whether you like it or not, I'm in this, and I can help too."

They all turned when John appeared. He glanced between the family, before turning to Oliver.

"The car's here." he said and Oliver just nods to the man before gesturing for another minute. John nods before turning and walking away.

Katie walks over to a table and picks up a cell phone and brings it over to Will.

"This is going to be yours. It's been protected so Cayden can't hack it. You can use this to call me or your dad any time you want." Will took the phone, still not really happy about having to separate. "Keep an eye on your sister. Laurel is pregnant, she may not be able to keep up with the little bird, so you're going to have to help her." Will nods and Katie opens her arms and he slides into the hug. "Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it." she placed a kiss to his cheek before pulling back with a smile. "I love you."

A smile came to Will's face.

"I love you too." he replied before he stood and grabbed his backpack

Oliver walked over and brought his arms around the boy into a hug. He doesn't pull back right away, not liking the idea of being separated from his kids. He let out a deep breath before pulling back.

"See you later," Will said before turning to Ari. "You know you suck for not coming with us, so you better stop this guy, Armpit."

"I will Wilbur." she replied with a smile, pulling the boy into a hug that made him squirm. "Just take the love." the boy laughed as he pulled away and head off to John.

Katie walked over to the stroller, Robyn was still asleep. She wanted to wake her up, and say goodbye, but she knows that won't be easy for either of them.

"Mommy will see you soon, baby." she placed a kiss to Robyn's head, not able to just pull away and let her go.

After a moment, she pulls back and turns away as Oliver comes over and grabs the handle of the stroller. He pushes it over to John before he drops to a knee in front of his daughter. He smiles as he slides his fingers through her hair. He leans in and places a kiss to her cheek, once again lingering in the moment.

"Daddy will see you soon sweetheart." he presses another kiss to her cheek before standing to his feet.

He watches as John grabs the handle of the stroller before glancing back toward Ari.

"Ari's staying?" John asked turning back to Oliver who just nods. "Right, let's head out big man."

John smiled over to Will as they stepped into the elevator. Oliver gave a final wave goodbye before the doors closed.

Oliver sighs before turning and head back to Katie and Ari. The teen had grabbed her backpack and turned to leave.

"Arianna, stop walking!" Katie said and the teen groaned before turning back to the woman who walked over to her. "I would like to remind you, that we are the parents, you are still the child. So despite what you may believe right now, you're walking out of here, because we are allowing it. Because we trust you, and we trust your team, and we trust in your ability to keep yourself safe." the woman pulled out another phone and handed it to the girl. "You will be back to this bunker by curfew, you will answer this phone when we call." Ari took the phone from her hand before Katie placed a hand on her cheek. "You disregard either of those requests and I will come looking for you, my love, and it will not bode well for anyone involved. We understood?"

"Understood." Ari grumbled as she slipped the phone into her pocket as she looked between the pair. "So do I not get a sentimental goodbye, or are we leaving it at the veiled threats?"

"You know I don't think that car's gone yet, and there's still room for you if keep-" Oliver watched as the girl just laughed as she backed away. "Be safe Ari, and stay close to your team at all times. Call us if you need us."

Ari just nods before turning to leave, grabbing her bag.

"Ari?" Katie says and the teen groaned before turning to her. "We love you." That brought a smile to the girl's face before she rolls her eyes.

"We didn't have to get that sentimental." she said laughing at the unamused looks on their faces as she left.

Once she was gone, Oliver turned to Katie who turned to meet his eyes.

"Uh, Felicity's still not here. Bruce finally thinks he's caught his break with catching Joker, so he's going to Gotham and he's taking Damian with him." Katie nods before turning away. "Uh, when do you head over to SCGH?"

"Not for another couple of hours." Katie replies glancing over to him.

The air between them was still tense. With everything happening, Oliver really didn't have much time to work in redeeming himself with his wife, so not much had changed between them since that night.

Katie nudges her head. "I should probably try to use this time to sleep and not think about the fact that my children are all gone." she turned to walk away.

"I'm going to plan another trip for us to Paris." Oliver suddenly said and Katie stopped and turned to him with a furrowed brow. "I'm sorry I ruined the one you planned, but I want to make it up to you."

"With everything going on, I kind of feel like that probably shouldn't be on your list of priorities right now."

"It's kind of at the top actually." Oliver smiled over to the woman. "Along with earning your forgiveness, earning your trust, kissing you and making you smile."

"Really, there's a whole bomb out there that no one can find, and some how getting a kiss from me is up there with that?"

"Twinkie, I can't remember the last time I've gone this long without touching you, so yeah, you rank pretty high on my list of important things I need to fix."

Katie didn't want to smile, or give the man an inkling of hope that his words tugged on her heart just a little bit, and yet she felt the slight curve of her lip, before she hears jingling. She glances around in search for the source.

"Did you lock the gate?" she asked turning to Oliver who looks over to her, not answering because he wasn't sure if he did or not.

Katie just groaned before she heads off to the back of the bunker where they created a make shift dog pen from Harry and the puppies. She runs over to the gate which is slightly open. She closes and locks it before counting the puppies."

"Moe is missing." she says turning to Oliver who lets out a groan.

"I told you we should've just left them at that pet boarding house. This place wasn't meant to keep five dogs." Oliver said.

"Oliver, if you want to have this conversation again, there's a good chance I will hit you." she turns to the man before pointing. "You look that way, and I'll go this way." she turns letting her eyes look for the small puppy. "Mo, mo, here boy!"

To Katie, practicing medicine really was like riding a bike. No matter how much time she stepped away, coming back always came naturally.

Without being able to use computers, treating patients took so much longer. Everything was manual or written with pen and paper. By the end of the night Katie was dead on her feet. She'd been working in the ER which finally quieted down long enough that she dropped to a seat in nurses station and dropped her head on the desk.

"Well looky what we have here." a voice startled her from her cat nap. She lifted her eyes to Ethan who stood above her. "Your reputation precedes you Kit." the woman slides her hands over her eyes before standing to her feet and stretching a bit. "Did you want some coffee?"

"I'm fine." she replied walking over to make sure the ER stations were all prepped.

"Ah, I heard we were all likely to suffer your wrath for covering for that husband of yours." Ethan followed behind her. "So how much longer is that going to last?" Katie didn't answer his question as she continued her check. "C'mon Kit-"

"C'mon, what?" Katie turned to the man. "Really what?" she huffed. "Do you really want to know what sucks about this entire thing. You, Bruce, you were my friends first. Felicity, John, they were Oliver's, so their blind loyalty sort of makes some sense, but you, you barely like Oliver. Bruce uses every opportunity he can to knock Oliver down a peg. I just don't get it." she rolled her eyes before walking away.

Ethan continues after her, but stops when the doors to the ER slide open and in walks Oliver.

"What are you doing here?" Katie asks as he walks over to her.

"It's the end of your shift." Oliver looks down to his watch, hoping he got it right. He looked back up to Katie's eyes. "I was going to drive you back to the bunker."

"How do you know when my shift ends?" Katie asked.

Oliver lifted his eyes from her, to Ethan and she followed his gaze and scoffed.

"I have to get my things, then I'll meet you at the door." she say before walking away.

Oliver watched as she headed down the hall before walking into the locker room. He turned his eyes to Ethan.

"What happened?"

"You happened my friend. I was just getting back into Kit's good graces and then you just had to pull me into this dumbass secret. Man, you better be glad you brought my wife back or I swear I would've ratted you out ages ago." Ethan huffed before glancing down when his pager went off. "I got to go." he looked back over to Oliver, before turning to see Katie walking from the lounge now dawned in her jaket and bag. "I appreciate you coming in, Kit."

"Don't thank me. Did you need me to come in to tomorrow?"

"I wouldn't turn you away." Ethan replied backing away from the woman. "I got to go check on a patient." he nudged his head and Katie just nods. "And Kit, I am your friend. That will never change."

"But it did." she replied before turning to Oliver. She just looked over to the man before turning for the door.

Oliver sighed as he turned to follow after her.

The drive to the bunker was quiet. Oliver's eyes were on the road, but his thoughts went to the failed op that happened earlier tonight. When they came to a stop light, he glanced over to Katie who kept her eyes out the passenger window.

"How did it go today?"

"It was fine," she replied, not tearing her gaze from the window. She adjusted herself in her seat with a low groan.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just remembering what it's like to be standing all day. My feet hurt, my back hurt, just—everything just hurts." she closed her eyes and let her head fall back on the seat.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked once the light changed and he continued driving. "You always like my massages." Katie let out a snort and he glanced over to see the slight smirk on her face. "What?"

"I don't think you and I are in a place that allows for your version of a massage." Katie said opening her eyes and looking over to him.

Oliver glanced over to her, before turning back to the road. She looked at him for a moment and couldn't help but get the feeling that something was wrong.

"How was your night?" she asked and he once again cast a look over to her. "Something happened?"

"Yeah," he replied before turning back to the road. "I just thought we had a leg up, but Cayden just proved me wrong once again." he still wasn't sure how much she wanted him to share with her. He remembers before, she didn't want to know about the missions.

Katie continued to look at him. She could tell even through his vague response that whatever happened tonight really did hit him hard. She turned away to look out the window to see the passing city as they drove.

"I need you to tell me when you think you need me to get involved." she said once again turning to him and he glanced over to her. "Cayden is a tech guy, with logic, and numbers and formulas, and he's holding our city hostage. I trust that you, Felicity and John are trying your best, but if this problem needs an unconventional solution I will step in." she turned away and sighed.

"You don't have to do that. We can figure this out. I don't want to put you in that position." Oliver replied. "Twinkie, with this, nothing has changed. It's still your choice whether you get involved or not."

"As the mayor, you have to use every resource you have at your disposal." she said turning back to him. "And you just happened to be married to a pretty effective resource."

"No, I'm married to my beautiful wife who is trying to create a life that doesn't involve any of this."

"Except if you're involved in it, I'm involved in it." she said as they stopped at another light. Oliver glanced over to her with a smile. "No matter how upset with you, I am. When you need me, I will always help you. Right now the city needs help, so maybe it doesn't matter what I want to do. What I can do, and what I should do, maybe that's what matters."

"Except, what you want to do matters. Me, Felicity and John will figure this out."

"Right," she sighed turning away. "The original three will save the day."

"You know I'd only been back to Starling for three months when I created the team with John and Felicity." Oliver said and Katie turned to him. "It was new and we barely knew what we were doing, and then you came back to town and you changed everything."

"And how exactly did I do that?"

"Because you changed me." Oliver replied holding her gaze with a smile. "You challenged me and you annoyed me and you frustrated me. You never followed any of my rules."

"Neither one of us believed I would."

"There is no original three. It's four, always has been."

Katie bit her bottom lip to stop from smiling. She didn't want the butterflies to distract her from the issues happening between them. So she turned away from his eyes, to hold on to some of her resolve. There was a honk, and Oliver turned to see the light had changed and so he continued.

"So that's your tactic, huh?" Katie asked and Oliver glanced over to her with a furrowed brow. "You're trying to charm your way back to my good side?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Twinkie." Oliver replied, bringing his eyes back to the road.

In the ride down in the elevator to the bunker, Katie felt Oliver stealing glances at her, but he wouldn't say anything. She wanted to hit him for making the whirlwind of emotions inside of her, fight with those damn girly butterflies he seem to stir up.

Katie decided to ignore him, as she kept her eyes on the doors in front of them. She reached behind her, and pulled her hair free from her pony tail before massaging the ache in her neck.

"You know that offer for a massage still stands." Oliver said and Katie turned to him with narrow eyes. "I just feel like it would solve a lot of our problems tonight."

"How about you just keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Mayor." she replied as the doors opened and she walked off.

"Well find me if you change your mind!" he called after her as she headed off toward the back room of the bunker.

Oliver lifted his eyes to Felicity and John before he headed over.

"Everything alright?" John asked and Oliver nods.

"Yeah, first day back in the hospital caught up to her." Oliver said before turning to Felicity who had two puppies in her lap. " "Felicity, why are you holding Curly and Moe?"

"Because you can't take Curly without Moe, or they'll miss each other. Everyone knows that." she smiled down to the puppies as she scratched their backs.

"Any idea what we're doing now?" John asked looking over to Oliver. "That ARGUS team seemed like our best shot."

"Right, before Cayden hacked their coms and zapped them to death." Felicity muttered as she continued petting the puppies.

"Just for now, let's just take the night. I have a meeting in the morning with the council, and I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to say. It's just been a long night. Why don't you two head home."

"Would you mind..." Felicity looked over to Oliver as she held the puppies to her chest. "Bruce and Damian are gone, and I love John to death as my temporary roommate, but I could use these little cuties to keep me company."

"Well-" Oliver glanced over, not seeing Katie. "I have no problem with you taking them, but my wife has become insanely attached to these puppies."

"Right," Felicity said standing to her feet. "I'll put them back over in their pen." the woman only took a few steps before Oliver.

"Wait," he said and she stopped and turned back to him. "Take them."

"You sure? I don't want you to have to suffer more angry Twinkie wrath." Felicity replied and Oliver just shook his head.

"It's fine, I'll take care of it." he replied.

And now Oliver was getting the silent treatment again. After John and Felicity left, and Katie emerged from the room to go see the puppies and noticed two of them missing, he was forced to admit his kind act. She simply climbed into the pen to put collars onto Harry, Larry and Little H before pulling them with her.

Oliver followed behind her, figuring she was taking them for a walk and he wasn't going to let her go out without going with her.

They were walking along the sidewalk. It was late, so Oliver, dispite how she may have felt chose to stay close and walk along side her.

"You know she's at the house, and she just needed something to keep her company." Oliver continued his excuse. "It's just for a couple of nights."

Katie continued to just ignore him and he let out a sigh.

"I know you're upset with her, but she nor John kept this secret to hurt you. They are your friends and they love you." Oliver huffed before hurrying up a few stepping, turning to stop her. "The secret was mine, and they kept it because they could see how afraid and ashamed I was to admitting to you and the kids how I'm not the guy I promised I would be. Don't be mad at them."

Katie looked at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and moving around him to continue walking the dogs.

After their walk, they returned to the bunker and Katie returned the dogs to the pen. Oliver watched as she turned and headed for the medical area and followed behind her. He noticed her pull out a note pad, and begin opening the cabinet with various medicines. He leaned against the wall of the entrance, content to just watch her and not think about Cayden James for a while.

Katie felt his eyes on her, and couldn't help but to glance back to him, finally realizing he was just standing there watching her.

"What are you staring at, weirdo?" she asked turning back to the cabinet.

"I'm staring at my beautiful, stubborn wife. What are you doing anyway?"

"Seeing what's in here, and what's not so I can snag some things from the hospital tomorrow." she replied writing something in the notebook.

Oliver glanced over and saw a chair, so he grabbed it and rolled it over to sit and continued to watch her.

"So, where should we start?" he asked.

Katie glanced over to her with a quirked brow unsure what he was talking about.

"Start what?"

"Escape room marriage counseling. This time without the fear of death around every corner." he looked over to her. "It's just you and me here. We should talk, get everything out in the open."

"I don't want to talk." Katie turned back around and continued her inventory.

"Why not?" he asked. "I know you're upset and I know you're burying it for the sake of the kids or me, but right now you don't have to bury it. I can handle it."

Katie let out a snort before turning to the man and folding her arms over her chest.

"You think you could handle the full force of my anger when it's all directed at you?"

"I don't know, but it's doesn't matter. You and me, we're supposed to give each other all of us, and we don't hold back."

Katie let out a laugh, before grabbing the other chair and rolling it over a couple of feet from him.

"How can you say that when our whole problem is because you held back a very big secret from me." she shook her head. "And you know what, I'm not as angry with the big fucking secret, but it was all the lies you had to tell to keep it. Do you know how it feels to look at the person you love as they lie to your face over and over again, and to know it is a lie every time." she scoffed.

"Honestly, I think it got to the point where I'd kept the truth for so long, that I knew when it finally got out, it was going to hurt you and I guess I just wanted to delay that moment for as long as I could." Oliver looked over to his wife. "Twinkie, I wish I could go back and make the right choice, but I can't. All I can do is prove to you everyday how nothing like this will happen again."

Katie shrugged, " I don't believe you. You've literally said these words to me before, and every time I give you the benefit of the doubt. This time, I'm taking it with a grain of salt. " she rolled her eyes before standing back up and going to the cabinet.

Oliver dropped his head. He knew this wasn't just going to be easy to fix. He knew repairing the damage he caused was going to take some time.

Oliver lifted his eyes over to her and just watched her for a few moments, before he spoke again.

"What do you need?" he asked, and her movements paused. "In this moment, what do you need?"

"Could you just—could you just go. I'm not interested in talking anymore." she didn't turn to face him as she continued sifting through the cabinet.

Unsure what else he could do, Oliver stood to his feet and walked out to give her the space she was asking for.

The next morning, Ari sat eating her cereal. She glanced over to Katie who stood, scrolling through something on her phone. It was a quiet morning, no one saying anything to anyone. She saw Oliver in passing. He said good morning before going off to wherever he was hiding right now.

"So are you and Oliver getting a divorce?" Ari broke the silence with the unexpected question.

Katie didn't bat an eye, as she continued reading something on her phone.

"No," she muttered.

"He hasn't been sleeping in the house." Ari replied. "He thinks we don't notice, but we know he sleeps in the garage." Ari waited for the woman to say something, but she didn't. "If you guys did get a divorce, would he like move out of the house, or would we move out of the house."

Katie finally glanced up from her phone to look over to the girl.

"I'm making the assumption you would get the kids and the dogs. Oh, could we move into the mansion? I mean, I know technically that was their house, but you bought it, so it's really yours."

"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'd heard the conversation between her and Ari.

"Are you ok?" he asked and she cut her eyes over to him before turning away.

"I need to go." she said.

"Where?"

"I don't know." she replied turning back to him. "I just need to go." she walked to move past him but stopped in front of him. "I will be back."

Oliver just nods, not feeling he had the right to oppose anything she asked for, as he watched her walk away. The knotting of nervousness in his gut worsen as he watched her grab her jacket and bag and step into the elevator. When the doors closed, and she was just gone, he once again felt as if his whole world was teetering.

When Ari found Oliver, he was off in a corner, arms folded over his chest as he leaned against the table.

"Where is Katie?" Ari asked.

"She's gone." Oliver replied. He looked over to her and saw the surprise in her eyes and figured he should say more. "I mean, she left, but she'll be back. She just needed to get some air."

"Is it because of what I said?"

Oliver shook his head. "None of this is your fault." He turned away, because he knew who was really at fault. It was him and he hated himself every day for it.

Ari stood there for a moment, watching the man who seemed to be getting a lot thrown at him lately. And sure she knows most of it is the result of his own actions, she can't help but feel sorry for him. So she walked over to stand beside him, and she dropped her head to his shoulder.

Oliver glanced over to her, before slipping his arm around her back and placing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I'm going to fix this." he promised. "We are going to be a family again."

"We're still a family," Ari replied looking up to him. "Some of us are just a little bit sad right now." she nudged her head. "I'm going to go check in with the team." she pulled from his grasp.

"Be careful." Oliver said and she stopped and glanced back to him.

"You too." she replied. "Cayden James isn't as clever as he thinks he is. He's just really good at convincing people he is. He's a bully. And in the words of my dear Wilbur, we stand up to bullies in this family." she chuckled and turned away. "I should call him." she turned back to Oliver and waved before leaving.

When Ari left, Oliver couldn't help but to grow more anxious about not knowing where Katie was and if she would return.

Hours had past, and she hadn't returned or called. He gripped his phone as he paced back and forth in front of the elevator. He wanted to called her, but he wasn't sure she would even answer. The moment he heard the elevator moving, Oliver froze, and turned his complete attention to those doors. When they finally opened, he visibly deflated at the sight of John and Felicity who held the puppies.

"What's up?" John asked as they stepped off the elevator.

"Katie left and she didn't tell me where she was going." Oliver turned to Felicity. "I need you to tell me where she is."

Felicity sighed. "Ok, calm down, what exactly did she say before she left."

"She said she needed to go. She didn't know where, but that she needed to go and she would be back. That was hours ago. Something could be wrong."

"Or she's fine." Felicity walked around the man to return the puppies to the pen with the other dogs. She turned to Oliver. "We've been here before Oliver, Katie leaves to get some space and you freak out and demand I tell you where she is so you can show up and mess things up even more. This time I'm not helping you."

Oliver huffed before stalking off, back toward the elevator. John walked over to the man.

"What if she doesn't come back?" Oliver asked.

"That's fear talking, man. You know she wouldn't do that. To you or to the kids."

There's a sudden beep from Felicity's computer and they turn to see the woman hurrying over to see what was going on.

John turned to Oliver and nudged his head before they both walked over.

"What do you got Felicity?" Oliver asked.

"Facial recognition picked up Vigilante." Felicity said as she typed to get more details. "Despite his mask having no face, Cayden James' people don't ordinarily walk around like that."

"We might have caught a break." Oliver sighed before glancing over to John. "Let's suit up."

Oliver walked over toward his gear, but stopped once more to look over to the elevator, just wanting the doors to open and Katie to be standing there.

"I'll let you know when she comes back."

Oliver turned to see Felicity standing beside him. She placed a hand on his arm and he nods before heading off.

Katie spent most of the day sitting alone at the pond. The emotions stirred inside of her were tearing her up and yet she didn't know how to deal with them. She found herself thinking about her life over the last few months. How she convinced herself that she truly could protect herself and her family from the darkness of the world.

She felt foolish. Especially when she really thinks about it. When she returned to Starling, Oliver was actively seeking it out. She's not sure why she ever thought he would turn his back to it. She doesn't truly think she did. She knew the man she married. She knew the desire in his heart to protect this city in anyway he could. It's one of the things that made her fall in love with him.

But the fantasy of what he was doing and the reality was vastly different. Along with being a hero came people who wanted to put him in prison, or people just wanting to kill him.

Katie just sat there looking out to the water before glancing down to her phone. She realized how long she'd been gone and she's sure Oliver was freaking out. She decided to text him, though she didn't know what to say. She typed and deleted a few times before going with an "I'm fine" text. She sighed as she stood to her feet, figuring she should head to the hospital.

She walked into the ER which looked pretty quiet, except for what looked like a drunk guy holding an ice pack to his head. She walked over to the nursing station, and waved to the nurse sitting there.

"How's the night going so far?" she asked looking up to the board of patient.

"Surprisingly quiet. We're thinking the city has finally decided to calm the hell down and stay in the house." the nurse said and they laughed.

"One can only hope, Bre." Katie chuckled nudging her head. "I'm going to go check in with the boss man to see if he needs me."

"I don't know how you do it." the nurse replied and Katie looked over to her. "With everything going on, I would be somewhere cuddling with that Mayor Handsome you got waiting at home for you. How is he doing with all this cyber attack stuff? I'd be happy to have our computers back."

"He's doing absolutely everything he can to stop this man and I know he's going to." Katie waved to the woman once more before heading off.

She appeared outside of Ethan's office and knocked. When she heard him say that she could come in, she pulled open the door and stepped side to find the man on the phone. He gave her a wave to come in.

"Alright, I got to go, Kit just walked in." he chuckled. "Of course, I've been annoying her, but she loves me, so it works. Make sure you take your vitamins, and for the love of god, do not watch any more episodes of Game of Thrones without me, or I'm badmouthing you to the baby." he laughed again. "Yeah, yeah, bye, love you Laur, I'll call you later." he ended the call and turned to Katie.

"How is she doing?" Katie asked.

"She would rather be at home than in some safe house right now, but other than that, she's good." Ethan stood to his feet and walk around to her. "It's been a pretty quiet night and we're fully staffed, so if you want you can finally take a break." Katie turned away and sighed. "Which you didn't want to hear?"

"No, it's fine. I'll go." she turned back to the man. "Just call me if you need me to help out in here."

Katie turned to leave, but stopped when Ethan spoke again.

"You know what I've been trying to figure out." he said and Katie turned to him. "Just what you're really angry about. I know everyone thinks it's just the lies and the secrets, and yeah that's the part of it, but there's something else. Something I can't put my finger on. What is it?"

"Have a good night, Ethan." Katie said before leaving the office.

Still needing a distraction from her life, Katie decided to head into City Hall. With the pause of all City Projects, Second Chance was being delayed. She decided to go into to see if there's anything she could be doing to make sure when they did start back again, they won't be so far behind.

When she stepped into the elevator, and headed up to her office, she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. When ever she felt the sudden burst of emotions catching up to her, she knew she was seconds away from a panic attack. So she took a few seconds to just breathe to prevent it.

She didn't move when the elevator doors opened, so she didn't see the people standing there looking over to her.

"Twinkie?"

Katie opened her eyes to see Thea and Quentin staring back at her.

"Are you ok, doc?" Quentin asked, and Katie just nods.

The two of them step into the elevator, and Katie shifts a bit to the side to let them in. Once the doors closed, they all rode in an awkward silence for a few moments. Thea looked over to Katie ever so often, wanting to say something. The truth was out, and she knew everything and that meant right now she was upset at a lot of people.

When the doors opened again to Katie's floor, the woman didn't hesitate before she stepped off. Thea, throwing caution to the wind decided to follow after her. As Katie walked into her office, Thea was right there behind her.

"Ok, I can't do that." Thea said and Katie turned to her. "You're angry at me, then you got to be angry at me. Yell at me, scream, but don't not talk to me." Thea sighed. "I know you're hurting, and I hate that you're going through this with everything else you're dealing with. Just tell me how do we fix this?"

"I'm so sick of being asked that question." Katie said as she slid a hand over her face before looking over to Thea. "Why is it that I, the person who was kept in the dark by everyone she loves, now has to come up with a solution to help you all with your guilt."

"That's not what I meant." Thea said taking a step over to her. "My guilt is my responsibility, I know that, but us, our relationship—you're my sister. And I did something stupid and let my dumb brother make me believe that I shouldn't rat him out when I knew I should've."

"Then why didn't you?" Katie asked. "I mean, he was able to convince every last one of the people I thought of as family and while everyone says they knew it was wrong, they knew they shouldn't have gone along with it, but in the end, they did. So what was your reason?"

Thea looked at her for a moment before a smile pulled at her face.

"You know I wanted to tell you, but there was always one thing stopping me." she said and Katie looked over to her with a furrowed brow. "The wedding. All three of them to be exact. I was there, each time, seeing the way you two looked at each other. The love you two share is beautiful and no one in a room with you two could see anything else. My brother can be an idiot sometimes, especially when it comes to you. Even now that you're married and have three beautiful children. He's still tripping over his own feet to make sure he doesn't mess it up. The secrets and the lies have only created pain, and I didn't want to be the reason that happened to you and I'm pretty sure that was the main reason for everyone else. Including Ollie."

Katie looked over to Thea, remembering the she had a similar response when Thea finally leaned that Malcolm was her father. She turned away and walked over to stand in front of the window, looking out to the bright lights of the city.

"Everyone seems to be wondering what they can do to make me feel better." Katie spoke. "But I'm not looking for anyone to make me feel better. I'm trying to do that myself." she glanced back to Thea. "I'm trying to figure of how to forgive, or debating if I even can forgive this."

Thea nods before turning and opening the door, but she stops and looks back over to Katie.

"I love you." Thea said and Katie turned to her with a smile.

"I love you too, Speedy." she replied before Thea finally left the office.

Author's note

Just feeling the feelings.

Review Replies

Adela: Thank you!

Much appreciation to everyone

Sneak Peek

No other words needed, the four of them headed to the elevator.

"We're not gonna be able to cover the bomb's location with half the manpower." Oliver said

"Looks like you're gonna have to figure out a way, Hoss." Rene replied as the doors closed.

Oliver let out a huff as he turned away and slid a hand over his face. No one said anything, but they all seemed to have the same thought. Oliver turned to Felicity and John and just shook his head.

"I can't do that." he said. "She has made it very clear that she does not want this."

"She has also made it clear that when she's needed, she will be there." Felicity replied standing to her feet. "Right now, you and John can't do this alone. Not this time. We need her."

Oliver turned away once again, his eyes glancing over to the Guardian's suit. He promised himself that he would never do this. He wanted to respect what she wanted. His thoughts went to her words yesterday, about how if he needed her, he just needed to ask.