Chapter 2: Queen Jubilee

Present Day – September 3, 2016

"It was really great of you to come all the way to me," Thea said with a wide smile for Alex as she pulled back from their hug. "I know it's crazy, but I miss seeing you every day!"

Alex laughed warmly. "Well, you know Oliver will make a spot for you in the Mayor's Office immediately if you even breathe that in his presence."

Thea grinned impishly. "I am sure. But how could I give this up?" she asked indicating the small but comfortable office space they found themselves in. Dark hardwood floors were accented by multiple rugs with gray and cream chevron patterns. Several cheerful white desks with bronze legs and pulls dotted the room with desktop computer stations. Directly to the right of the door where Thea had greeted Alex was a well-appointed seating area with several upholstered chairs, a marble-like coffee table holding several open binders, and two large idea boards covered with images of chairs, floral arrangements, and color samples. The large front facing window to the left of the door was framed with a large brass plant shelf filled to the brim with flourishing spiderwort, aloe, and philodendron.

"You really had a vision," Alex said agreeably. "But anyone who has ever been to a 'Thea Queen party' can't be too surprised. Launching your business by throwing a large-scale mayoral celebration completely pro bono was particularly clever. You clearly have a gift for arranging fantastic events."

"I may have attended a gala or two in my day … for research, of course," Thea said cheekily. "Alex, I'd like to introduce you to my team. Shanique and McKenzie, this is Alex Davis, chief of staff to Mayor Queen. Alex, Shanique is our venue and hospitality coordinator. McKenzie is our event manager." Thea looked around and spotted who she was looking for. "And 'Sin' Simone is our financial director."

Alex raised an eyebrow, asking curiously, " 'Sin'?"

Sin gave a curt nod. "Short for 'Cindy', but I'm no Cindy."

Alex gave a respectful nod.

"I'd love to show you what we're working on for the Holiday Celebration. Before I do -" Thea stopped and looked at Alex a little suspiciously. "When I heard someone was coming from the Mayor's Office for an update, I assumed that someone else would be overseeing events. Surely the chief of staff has other work he could be doing?"

Alex did his best to look surprised. He said formally, "I consider it my best contribution to Mr. Queen's cabinet that I am able to oversee all activities the Mayor's Office is involved in."

Thea nodded like she believed him. "I'm sure," she said.

Alex broke with a wide grin. "Fine, you got me. I just really wanted to see how things were going for you. I hate that we've lost touch. I honestly am so pleased that Queen's Jubilee seems to be doing so well."

"Well," Thea said with a gentle smile. "You were there when the idea for Queen's Jubilee was born!"

Past – March 15, 2016 – 6 months ago

"Thea!" Thea turned around at her name being called.

"Barry!" Thea said, pleased to see Barry Allen who approached with a woman in a deep blue gown on his arm. "Is this Iris?" Thea asked with a warm smile.

"Oh, yes!" Barry said in his best tuxedo, blushing with embarrassment at forgetting to make the introduction. "Iris, this is -"

"Thea Queen," Iris West stated with a wide smile. She laughed a little, "I kind of feel like I'm in some reality show! You are an icon," Iris gushed. "In 2010, at the BTT awards, you wore that dress with the -"

"Fringe." Iris and Thea finished together. Thea flushed a little at the recognition.

"I'm so sorry," Iris apologized quickly. "I never realized until Barry introduced me to your brother that I would be so uncool with celebrities."

Thea gave Iris a searching look, but her voice held humor as she asked, "But aren't you a journalist?"

Iris appreciated the dig and laughed good-naturedly. "Touché! Yes, there's a reason I'm no gossip columnist. That said, I was wildly uncool when I used to interview the Flash."

Barry interrupted to add, "I don't know, from those interviews, it seemed like the Flash was really into you."

Thea's brow scrunched up in confusion as she looked back and forth between Barry and Iris as they shared their inside joke. Finally catching onto their playful denial of Barry's superhero identity as the Flash, Thea said, "Well, Iris, as sorry as I am it didn't work out with the Flash, I'm glad it did with Barry!" Thea laughed sincerely. "And it's a good thing I'm not a real celebrity. It's lovely to meet you. Even in the little time I have known Barry, he can scarcely talk about anything other than you."

"Aw, babe!" Iris said leaning into a still red-faced Barry.

Barry gave his girlfriend a cute, awkward smile and changed the subject, turning the conversation back to Thea. "Felicity said that you are single-handedly responsible for pulling the wedding planning off. Everything looks fantastic!" He indicated with his hand to the reception area of Star City's music hall. Cream and salmon-colored lilies bedecked each table and were set off by the warm glow of the hall's chandeliers. Now that the reception dinner had ended, friends mingled, chatting next to circular tables framed by gold-leafed chairs. The room looked elegant without being stuffy and provided the perfect backdrop for Felicity and Oliver to shine.

"She's being generous," Thea said modestly. "This is Felicity's vision – and wasn't she just a picture walking down the aisle?" Thea thought back to watching Felicity in an intricately beaded, strapless bridal gown, pushing herself carefully up and out of her wheelchair and walking slowly down the aisle.

Barry looked a little emotional remembering it himself, and Thea was sure that he was relating to Felicity's situation having also recently lost the use of his legs for a time. "I can't believe she was able to surprise Oliver with getting out of her chair!" Barry said, his voice just a hint wobbly. "So he had no idea she was able to walk?"

"Curtis' bio-stimulant-implant was a success." Thea said with a grin. "Ollie knew she had it implanted, but it was just as well that it took awhile for her mind to catch up with her body and allow her to walk. It made the surprise sweeter." It had been tough keeping the secret from Ollie – Thea had been helping Felicity with walking outside of her regular physical therapy appointments as she built up her strength. Thea had always liked Felicity and her spunk, but getting to be there to witness her determination and strength as she took her first steps, fighting every step of the way, was awe-inspiring.

Iris looked a little choked up too. "I was going to cry just watching your brother's face – he looked so in awe and in love!" Iris gushed. She reached out and laid a gentle hand on Thea's forearm. "I know it would have meant so much to have your parents here today."

The reminder of her parents stole away Thea's breath. Thea tried not to allow her eyes to well with tears, but it was a lost cause. While it hurt, Thea was grateful that her parents weren't forgotten today.

"They would have loved today," Thea agreed emotionally. "Their dream was always to see Ollie happy and settled. Felicity makes him both." Thea swiped away a tear that felt ready to drop. "Of course," Thea said a little drily, "My mom would have liked it a little less: she hated Felicity."

"Oh!" Iris said surprised by Thea's candor, while Barry's eyes went wide.

"Oh, I'm sure once she saw how happy Felicity makes Ollie, Mom would have changed her mind," Thea qualified quickly. After a beat she added, "Maybe."

Barry nodded acceptingly. He said, with emotion in his voice, "I know what it feels like to have your parents miss these special days." Thea met his eyes, seeing a fellow orphan making their way in the world untethered. "I am sure that if they were here, they would be incredibly proud of you both."

"Thank you," Thea said quietly.

"We're going to try to catch up with John," Barry said. "It was really great to see you. And again, a lovely job on pulling everything together." Barry and Iris headed in the direction of John Diggle, where he stood guard over baby Sarah who had recently become an extremely mobile toddler.

"You were being a bit modest," a voice said behind Thea. Thea turned back to see Lyla Michaels, John's wife, walking to stand beside Thea. "My understanding from Felicity is that you held Donna Smoak at bay. I hear she wanted to go full-Vegas wedding."

"I learned how to mediate from the best," Thea said, thinking about how her mother had an uncanny way of convincing people to do things while fully believing it was their idea in the first place. "I just helped Felicity figure out what she wanted and then helped Donna think that the ideas came from her." Which, frankly, had been quite the trick. Donna had a lot of very strong opinions, and Felicity had a long history of ignoring her own needs and wants in favor of her mother's. But all the stress was well worth it. Felicity had looked overjoyed when she saw the chapel decorated and even more excited when she saw the reception hall.

"And made nearly all of the calls and arrangements," Lyla added evenly, determined to not allow Thea the ability to wriggle out of the compliment.

Thea's eyes rested on her brother and sister-in-law as they stopped to talk with Captain Lance and Donna Smoak. A smile involuntarily drifted onto her face as she said, "They deserve the best, after all they have been through."

Lyla followed Thea's eyes to Oliver and Felicity before looking back around the room. "Well, this is the best." Lyla agreed as Alex walked up to stand on Thea's other side. Lyla asked, "Have you ever thought about making this a career?"

"Ha, what?" Thea asked stupidly in her surprise. "I have a career."

Lyla clarified, "You have a job, on a campaign, which is transient at best. I'm talking about a career - where you put all your passion and energy." Thea was struck mute, not knowing how to respond. "Just saying – it takes a certain way with people, a mind for organization, and an eye for color to plan a great event. You've got all three," Lyla noted before she walked towards her husband and daughter.

Alex took a step so he stood in front of Thea. His warm expression seemed to settle Thea again as he said, "She's right you know. If this is something you enjoy, it might be worth considering."

Thea cocked her head at her ex-boyfriend and friend. "You want me to leave the campaign?"

"Never!" Alex said emphatically. "We are in the final stretch of the campaign. You don't bench your star players when you make it to the playoffs." Thea laughed, relieved he wasn't trying to get rid of her. "No," Alex started, "I'm saying that when the campaign ends - however it ends - you get to think about what you want next. You've run a successful business in hospitality before with Verdant. The campaign is temporary, so now you get to ask yourself: who is Thea Queen and what does she want to do?"

Past - March 17, 2016 – 2 days after the wedding

Thea's alarm clock rang. Thea groaned low in her throat. While she drank some at Oliver and Felicity's wedding and reception, she had thought she had been pretty measured. But still, yesterday she had felt pretty awful and she mused that maybe she had consumed more than she thought. She had taken it slow at work but managed to stick it out the entire day, counting down the hours until she could go home and go to bed.

Now, Thea was rethinking her hangover theory. The wedding was now two days ago and Thea felt like she had been run over by a bus. Every joint and muscle ached with a deep, unyielding pain. Her head throbbed. She shivered and drew her blanket up closer. She didn't think that she could have stood up even if she really wanted to.

With a mighty effort, Thea reached her cell phone from the table beside her. She searched her contacts and called Alex. After a few rings, Alex's warm voice filled the room.

"Good-morning, Thea."

"Hey, Alex," Thea said, her voice strained. "Remember yesterday when I wasn't feeling great and thought I had just gone too hard at the wedding? I don't think that anymore."

Alex's voice instantly became concerned. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah – I just think I caught something. I'm sure I was run down with all the wedding planning and picked up something from being around all of those people. I'm just going to rest today, and I'm sure I will be back in the office tomorrow."

"Take all the time you need, Thea. With Oliver and Felicity on their honeymoon, we have a pretty easy week for the campaign."

After they hung up, Thea rolled back over and was asleep instantly. She was awoken by a knock at her door. Thea opened heavy eyes and was surprised to see Alex opening the door to her bedroom.

"Hey," Thea said blearily.

"I'm sorry to wake you," Alex said quietly. His eyes roamed her face with barely contained worry. "I talked with Laurel. She didn't know you were sick. You didn't tell her?"

"I was fine," Thea said staunchly, if unconvincingly due to the sound of her voice cracking.

"Well, she has court and couldn't leave, so when you didn't answer the front door when I knocked, she called your building supervisor to let me in to check on you." Thea thought that if she felt well enough, she would find that a little embarrassing.

Alex still stood a few feet away, unsure if it was appropriate to approach his ex while she was curled up in bed. "I brought you some matza ball soup. It's still hot – can I leave it here for you?" he asked.

Thea looked at him weakly, realizing she had blanked out for a second and hadn't really heard his question.

"Maybe I shouldn't leave," Alex said uncertainly, realizing how sick Thea was. "I think someone should really stay with you."

Thea shook her head slowly. "I'm okay, Alex. You don't need to stay. The wedding just really wiped me out."

Alex shifted his weight, studying her with his large eyes. "Thea -" Alex drifted off uncertainly, then decided to go for it. "Is this … your HIV?"

Thea felt so foggy she couldn't figure out how to respond.

"I just – you broke up with me when your viral load was going up. Did it … did it go back down? Or … is your immune system just really not working well?"

Thea shook her head, "Alex -" she started. She didn't continue, not knowing what to say.

She could see the concern radiating off of Alex as he continued. "Thea, you are still following up with your doctor, right? Because if you're getting sick and you're not seeing someone to help …" He drifted off, shaking his head. He said softly, "Thea, I just want you to be okay."

Thea looked at Alex with soft eyes, "Alex, I appreciate that -"

Alex wasn't finished and interrupted to explain, "Look, when we broke up, I understood. You have a lot of difficult things you are working through and you were working really hard to keep yourself together. I just … I worry that maybe you are sicker than you're letting on and that you pushed me away so I wouldn't have to watch … or to make sure you got help."

Thea was desperate for Alex to let up with his concerns. "Alex, I'm okay, this is just a bug."

"The kind of bug you pick up when your immune system is shot," he said evenly. He finally voiced a suspicion that started in his mind a month ago. "Look – does Laurel know about your HIV?"

Thea stayed silent and looked away.

"What about Oliver?"

Thea said nothing.

Alex closed his eyes and sighed, taking Thea's silence as confirmation. He said gently, "I so respect how brave you were to tell me so that I could decide to be with you and we could be safe. But … Thea, that's not the only reason to disclose that you are struggling. You need support. And people who know to look out for you."

Thea glanced at him and looked away.

"I won't tell them," Alex promised seriously. "It's not my story to tell. But Thea – please consider telling your brother and your roommate."

He stood up. "I'll be in the living room working, if you need me. I'll be back to check on you."