Chapter 31

Strength in the Storm

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. "

-Christopher Reeve


Oliver opened his eyes, rolling over hoping to bring his arm around his wife, but he felt nothing. He cracked open his eyes to see that Katie was not lying beside him. He glanced over to the bathroom, the light off and the door cracked. He glanced over to the clock to see the time. It was 4am, and if Katie wasn't sleeping then, something was wrong.

Oliver slid out of bed, and pulled on a shirt before trekking out their bedroom down the dark halls. He rubbed his tired eyes as he headed downstairs. He let his eyes sweep over the living room, but she wasn't there, and so he continued to the kitchen not seeing her there as well. He frowned before walking over to the window, finally spotting her sitting in the middle of the backyard, Harriet lying beside her.

Oliver went outside, walking over to sit on the ground beside her, but she didn't turn to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sliding a hand around her back. "Bad dream?"

"No, just woke up and couldn't go back to sleep." she said leaning into his embrace. "I didn't want to wake you."

"Never worry about waking me." Oliver placed a kiss to her head. Since the day the impeachment was announced and Oliver decided to return to the original mission of him protecting the city alone, they were still trying to figure out how this would work.

"How's the project coming?" Oliver asked, his eyes closed as they sat together in the warm night air.

"It's finished," Katie said softly.

Oliver opened his eyes and pulled back to look at her. She met his gaze and nodded.

"Construction's done, the building inspector approved everything. We're good to bring it home," Katie said before leaning her head back onto his shoulder. "I can't believe we actually pulled it off."

"I can," Oliver replied with certainty. "You turned words scribbled in a notebook into something real, Twinkie. I'm so proud of you."

They sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, the weight of the moment settling around them.

"I've been trying to think about what's next—for me, for us, and the kids," Katie admitted, her fingers tracing patterns over his hand. "But I keep coming back to just wanting to get through the present."

Oliver was quiet for a beat. "Did you want me to stay?"

He was referring to his plan to go to Moscow to handle Anatoly's debt, before hoping to convince the man to sever his ties with Diaz, a mission he had shared with her.

"Always," Katie replied, tilting her head to meet his eyes. "But I trust you. You know how to do what you need to do and come back to us."

Oliver slid a gentle hand over her cheek. He wanted this over. The impeachment and Diaz. He just wanted this. Moments with his wife and his family. Though he loved the work he did as the Green Arrow, none of it compared to being just Oliver. Her husband and his kid's father. He'd sacrificed so many moments with them, he just wanted the chance to get them back.

"And in the event that you can't, I'll come find you." she replied. Oliver pressed a kiss to her lips knowing how true her words were.

It was never easy leaving his family. Hours later, Oliver was packed and ready to go. He dropped his bag on the floor in the living room, before lifting his head to the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen. A smile pulled at his lips as he went to see what was going on.

He stepped into the kitchen, no one noticing him right away as Will and Ari were doubled over laughing at something.

"Hey," Katie said her own laughter dying down when she saw Oliver. "Robyn has learned a new word."

Oliver looked over to his daughter in a amusement, a smile on her face. He's sure she doesn't know why everyone is laughing, but she's probably glad for the attention.

"What did you want for breakfast nugget?" Will asked and Robyn giggled as she turned to him.

"Starbabies." Robyn squealed and they all just laughed again.

Katie sat a bowl of strawberries in front of Robyn and placed a kiss to her head.

"Here are your starbabies." Katie chuckled before looking over to Oliver who couldn't wipe the smile off his face. "Time to go?"

"Yeah." he replied before walking over to say goodbye to the kids.

He brought an arm around Will, and the boy returned the hug. The hug with Ari wasn't returned, mostly because she was upset he wouldn't let her come with him to be his back up.

"I'm going to be ok." he said before placing a kiss to her head. When he reached Robyn, the girl giggled when he picked her up and placed a kiss to her cheek. "I'm going to miss you. I want you to learn all the words, and you can tell them to me when I get back, ok?"

"Ok, daddy." Robyn said before pressing a kiss to his cheek.

Oliver sat her back down so she could finish her breakfast before turning to Katie.

"I'll walk you out," she said.

He nodded, giving one last look at his kids before following her. Picking up his bag, he stopped by the door and turned to her.

"Tell me to stay," he said, his tone playful, yet a hint in it told another story.

Katie smiled and stepped closer, laying her hands on his chest. "Be safe. Be smart," she said, her tone firm, as she kissed him gently. "Be courageous, but be cautious."

Oliver dropped his bag to pull her into his arms, deepening the kiss.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," he replied, his forehead resting against hers. "If anything happens, call me. I'll call Zatanna, and I'll be here.

Katie chuckled. "You know, I don't think she likes being your mystical Uber."

Oliver laughed softly, kissed her once more, and then reluctantly picked up his bag and headed out the door.

Katie had stood at the door, watching as Oliver got into his car and drove away. She let out a sigh, stepping back into the house and leaning against the door.

Closing her eyes, she sent a silent prayer out to the universe. Please bring him back home in safety.

The sound of laughter from the kitchen pulled her from her thoughts. She opened her eyes and sat up straight. Time to put on a brave face for the kids.

Taking a deep breath, she made her way back toward the kitchen.

"Alright, my starbabies, let's hurry up so that everyone gets to school on time!" she called out, with a bright smile.

Over the next few days, Oliver would text and call to check in. Hoping to talk to each one of them if only for a minute or two. The time difference was a challenge. He usually would call very late or very early, usually missing one or two of the kids. But no matter what time he called, or text, he'd always get a response from Katie.

For her part, Katie kept everything normal or as normal as she could in Oliver's absence. She hid her worry well, or at least she hoped she was.

Today she got the news that Rene was coming home and so she was going to head over to welcome him back. When she arrived at his apartment, Robyn practically pulling her down the hall, she didn't expect to see Ari.

"Ree, Ree!" Robyn called pulling her hand from her mothers and running over to Ari.

"Hey Stinker." Ari greeted giving the girl a high five before looking over to Katie. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Why, because you're supposed to be after school tutoring?" Katie asked.

"I may have had a cough earlier, and asked to take today off." she replied and Katie just shook her head. "Plus I wanted to see the oaf." she turned and knocked on the door.

They stood there for a moment before the door pulled open to the the brown haired girl they both recognized.

"Hey Ari!" Zoe greeted before looking down to Robyn who just ran into the apartment past her making her laugh. "Robyn wait!" Zoe turned back and waved to Katie. "Hi Katie."

"Hi Zo. Is your dad here?" Katie asked and soon Rene appeared at the door, a smile on his face when he saw them. He waved them inside out of the hallway.

"Look who finally decided to join the land of the living." Ari said and Rene just shook his head as he brought his arms around her in a hug. "You had me worried, dude."

"Yeah, yeah, I had myself worried there for a second." he replied before turning to Katie who pulled him into a hug next. "Hey Doc,"

"Glad to see you're up on your feet, Rami." Katie said before pulling back with a smile. She glanced over to see Curtis and Dinah who had scooped up Robyn in her arms. "Are we like crashing your welcome home party?" she turned back to Rene who shook his head.

"Nah, you're always welcome." Rene said before turning to see Zoe making faces at Robyn. "It's good to be home."

"We were just about to cut the cake." Zoe said.

"Cake!" Robyn excitedly yelled.

"Oh Zo, you just said the magic words." Katie laughed.

"Can she have some?" Zoe asked and Katie nods.

"A small piece. My sweet girl and sugar are not always the best combination." Katie said as Dinah placed Robyn down before her and Zoe went to cut the cake. Katie turned to Rene. "So how are you feeling?"

"Better than ever." he replied. "Which you already knew. I heard you were backseat driving with my doctors."

"Well I was just making sure you were getting the best possible care." she replied before turning to Curtis and then to Dinah. "We were supposed to talk."

"Yeah, but we both have had a lot going on." Dinah replied.

"They've been catching me up on Diaz. I can't believe he got D fired, and now he's controlling the entire city including the police and cameras." Rene said before glancing over to Ari. "Right now, we going to need the team." he turned to Katie.

Katie let out a sigh as she looked over to Ari as well who didn't say anything. She turned back to Rene, and then glanced over to Curtis and Dinah.

"I think me and Dinah will need to have that conversation first before I agree to anything." Katie replied.

"Right, we should uh go get some cake before Zoe and Robyn eat it all." Curtis said, nudging his head toward Ari and Rene.

Once they were over in the kitchen, Dinah and Katie walked over to take a seat on the couch.

"First I just want to apologize." Dinah turned to Katie. "I put Ari and the team in a very tough spot because of my grief. I wasn't thinking straight and all I wanted was for the woman responsible for Vince being gone to be gone too."

"Grief is tough." Katie said looking over to the woman, before reaching over and taking her hand. "Trust me, I've been buried in it, been surrounded by it and it can be suffocating." Katie turned away. "I recently sat in front of the woman who murdered my father." she shook her head. "This woman who I held so much hatred for, was lying in a bed in front of me." she turned back to Dinah. "I knew several ways I could've ended her in that room and no one would ever know. None of those ways would've changed how I felt. Her being gone wouldn't have brought my daddy back to me so I could tell him how sorry I was. So I could tell him that he made some awful choices, but that I forgive him." Katie looked over to where Ari stood next to Rene and Curtis, laughing about something. "My children are the sun." she turned to Dinah. "They are the light that keeps me breathing. Right now, I need you to look at me, and tell me that this will absolutely never happen again. That when you're surrounded by the darkness of your grief, you won't pull her with you. Because we're not done teaching her how to claw her way out of it and if you take her there, and she can't get out-" she gave the woman's hand a squeeze. "I love you Dinah, but if you or anyone on this team ever put her in that position again and she gets hurt, you'll see the side of me you've only heard stories about. I trust her with you, and that trust isn't negotiable."

"I understand." Dinah replied. "And I'm sorry again."

"I'm sorry about Vince. I can't even imagine-" Katie felt the twinge of emotion in her throat once again thinking about Oliver. "You know it's the reality of those masks. Every time you go out there, you take the risk. And it's brave and it's heroic and you accept that it could happen, but this part—the part you're not here to see, where the people you love have to figure out how to keep living without you." Katie blinked away the tears and pulled on a smile. "sorry, just the close calls have really gotten really close lately." she looked back over to the group. "We should get cake. Cake makes everything better."

"Hey Katie," Dinah said and Katie turned to her. "We've got Ari's back. Always." Katie nods before the two women stand to join the others for cake.

Katie and Robyn enjoyed their cake before heading off to get Will from school. As Katie strapped Robyn into her booster seat, and closed the door, she paused for a moment with a sudden sinking feeling.

She pulled out her phone, hoping for a call from Oliver. He had twenty four hours before she went looking for him.

She sent him a quick, Thinking about you, text and asked him to call or text when he got a chance. She let out a sigh before going to get into her car.

Back in Rene's apartment, Zoe's friend's mom came to grab her for hockey practice. Rene saw her out before heading back inside.

"So are we ready to go?" Rene said anxious to head over to the bunker.

"Actually, I will meet up with you all later." Ari said and they turned to her. "When you have an official line on Diaz, I'm there, I'm just working on my own investigation at the moment."

"What kind of investigation?" Dinah asked.

"I'm trying to figure out who pulled that stunt at the award ceremony. I know everyone thinks it's Diaz, but I'm not sure." she reached into her pocket and pulled out the flash drive. "I found this hidden behind one of their computers, it's how they accessed the sound and video. It's encrypted up the wazoo though. I was going to talk to Felicity, but decided against it, because I'm positive I would get in trouble for flying solo on this."

"You know you could've asked us." Curtis said.

"Yeah, we're definitely interested and figuring out who would do something like that to her." Dinah said.

"Let me take that to the bunker and I'll see if I could uncover something." Curtis said.

"Thanks," Ari said handing the flash drive over to Curtis. "I'm going to head downtown. I was able to capture an image of the guy who planted that, but he was smart and didn't let the cameras get his face. I want to take a look around to see if any of the buildings had any exterior cameras, maybe one of them caught him. I'll catch up with you guys."

"Hey, just recon, don't do anything stupid." Dinah said. "Stay out in the open, and if you run into something, call us."

"Aye aye captain." Ari said with a mock salute before grabbing her bag and heading out the door.

"So the pipsqueak is finding her own mysteries now. She's growing up on us." Rene said. "What else did I miss?"

"Her and Jamie broke up." Curtis said and Rene and Dinah looked over to him. "What, I'm the good friend who stays in touch. It's sad though, he thought she was hiding something, which she was, and she didn't tell him and so he broke up with her."

"You're way too invested in that teenage love story." Dinah said before grabbing her jacket.

"Or, I'm just a good friend." Curtis replied as they headed for the door.

"I knew there was something about that Jamie kid I didn't like." Rene muttered before following behind them out the door.

Ari appeared outside of the banquet hall, amid the busy downtown sidewalk. She walked, letting her eyes scan over the buildings when someone tapped her shoulder. She quickly spun around, not expecting to see Damian.

"What the hell?" she looked at the boy before looking around. "Are you here with Felicity?"

"No, I'm here with myself." the boy replied and Ari dropped her eyes down to her. "I'm not a child."

Ari just rolled her eyes. "You're legally by definition a child. How did you find me, you little stalker?"

"You told Will you were looking for the person responsible for embarrassing Katie, and I figured you'd start here." Damian replied before looking around. "You're hoping one of these buildings has surveillance that caught the guy."

Ari looked at the boy and reluctantly nodded. "Yeah, I am, and I don't need your help. The last time we teamed up, I got into trouble." with that, she walked away from the boy.

"That was barely trouble. A lecture, a little time out." he scoffed as he caught up to her. "I've suffered worse punishments when I was a toddler."

"That's not something to be proud of." she said, her eyes still scanning the block. "I don't have time to babysit."

"Well then it's a good thing, I'm not a baby." he replied. "I came to help." he reached into his backpack and pulled out a tablet.

"What are you doing?" she asked, moving to stand behind him as he held up the tablet that seemed to be scanning the buildings one by one, looking for an exterior camera. "Where did you get this?"

"One of my father's Wayne Enterprise programs." Damian said as he moved to continue his search.

"Hey, wait up." Ari said before going to catch up to him.

Katie glanced in the backseat to see Robyn and Will laughing about something they were talking about. A smile came to her lips before she turned back to the road. Tonight she was going to pick up pizza for dinner. She sent Ari a quick text, reminding her of her curfew before turning to Robyn and Will.

"We are getting two pizzas and we are having normal toppings. No more experimenting." Katie said.

"The pineapple wasn't that bad." Will said and Katie just turned a look to him that just made him laugh.

"Absolutely no fruit on our pizza." she said before getting out of the car. Will helped Robyn out of her car seat while Katie grabbed her purse. She'd only stepped out of the car before a man ran past her, grabbing her purse, but Katie pulled it back.

"Hey!" she yells, but with another tug, she's knocked off balance and falls to the ground and the mugger runs off.

"Katie!" Will comes running over to her, making sure to hold on the Robyn's hand.

"I'm fine." Katie assures him as she stands to her feet, just in time to see the mugger running down the block, but out of no where, a man grabs him and slams him to the ground.

"Whoa." Will says witnessing the moment as well.

Soon the hero, grabs Katie's purse as the mugger runs off. The man approaches Katie and the kids heavily breathing as he hands Katie her purse.

"Thank you," Katie said looking at the man as she takes her purse. "That was-"

"Cool," Will said and Katie just lightly laughed before turning to the man.

"I was going to say extremely dangerous. You didn't have to do that. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, and it's fine. I couldn't just stand there and do nothing." he said looking back to her. "Are you ok, I saw you take a fall."

"No, I'm—I'm fine." Katie said not sure what to say. "I should-" she began looking in her purse. "I should pay you or something."

"No, no, I couldn't accept it." he said and Katie looked back up to him with a furrowed brow. "Never do something good expecting something in return. It's kind of my motto."

Katie didn't say anything for a moment, his words oddly familiar. "My dad used to say something similar." she shook her head. "Uh, thank you—I'm Katie, this is Will and Robyn."

"Marcus." he replied reaching out to shake her hand. "Marcus Vaughn." he replied with a warm smile as he looked from Katie to Will. "I should get going."

"Right, uh, thanks again." Katie says.

"No problem at all, you all have a good rest of your night." he said, turning to Katie once more before walking off.

"That was-"

"Weird." Will said and Katie turned to him with a furrowed brow. "It was."

"You know Mr. Will, I'm not sure I like you finishing my sentences." she said and the boy just laughed. "Alright, lets go get this pizza." Katie gestured for the kids to head inside of Marlo's. She grabbed the door, before looking down the street no longer able to see Marcus. She thinks weird is an accurate description of that encounter. She just shook her head before heading inside.

Oliver's day was not going the way he thought it would. He returned to Star City, and instead of going home, he continued the mission. He visited Anatoly, revealing his debt to the Bratva was paid and that he could return. He didn't know the man would taser him, and that he would wake up in a chair, wrapped in chains.

He thought Anatoly's motivation was getting back home, but Oliver was realizing that wasn't the case.

"Diaz Is going to make me a very rich man." Anatoly said grabbing himself a drink as he looked over to Oliver. "Bratva took a hundred years to go from prison into government." he walked over to take a seat in front of Oliver. "Diaz did same thing in months."

"I'm still gonna take him down." Oliver promised.

"Not alone, you cannot." Anatoly countered.

"My mission was always supposed to be solitary." Oliver said. "Put me with a team, fill it with people that I care about It splits my focus."

Anatoly looked at him for a moment before he shook his head. "Is that why you think Diaz was able to beat you?"

"He took over the city while I was distracted." Oliver replied.

"If you seriously believe that, then you are even bigger fool that I thought. And that is saying something." Anatoly took another sip from his bottle. "Hopefully my men will wake up soon. We should get going before someone tries to rescue you."

"I told you I'm working alone." Oliver replied as the man stood to his feet.

"You forget, I've met your wife Oliver. I doubt your declarations of independence will stop her from coming to look for you. And I for one do not want to see her get hurt." Anatoly said before walking off.

Oliver tugged at the chains a bit, but it was no use. Anatoly was right though. He was supposed to be home soon, and he's positive if he's not there, Katie will come looking for him. And he's sure, it's not her that's going to get hurt.

Dinah, Curtis and Rene were in the bunker when they heard the sound of the doors opening. They glanced up to see Ari, but she was not alone.

"Uh, hey Ari." Curtis said as they watched Ari and Damian walking down the steps. "You brought Damian with you."

"More like he found me and won't go away." Ari said as she sat down her back pack. She looked over to the boy whose eyes looked around unimpressed.

"This place is a dump." Damian suddenly said and they all just looked at him. "But a nice dump."

"Why is he here?" Rene said looking over to Ari.

"He's here, because he knows how to steal his dad's tech." Ari replied taking the tablet from Damian's hand. "He may be annoying, but sometimes he's useful. Wayne enterprises has this recon program that looks for video recording devices, both hidden and not so hidden. Slice of Heaven bakery has a camera and it's pointed directly at the banquet hall's entrance. Which is why he's here." she gestured to Damian. "Meet our new intern."

Ari grabbed his arm, and pulled him with her to a chair where she pushed him down to sit.

"You know you're cute when you're being mean." Damian said and Ari just shook her head before plugging up the tablet.

"And you're annoying when you open your mouth and words come out." she said before typing a few keys. Soon they saw hundreds of video thumbnails. "You want to help, go through all of these until you find someone that matches-" she pulled up the image from inside that showed the back of the man's head and body. "This guy." she gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You find something, I'll get you ice cream."

"I want a date." Damain countered and Ari looked at him like he was crazy. "You're no longer dating the imbecile, so I figured I'd throw my hat in the ring."

"Well I'm throwing it out of the ring. You're going to take your ice cream, and like it." she said before walking off to join the others. She noticed the looks they were giving her. "What?"

"Should we call Felicity and tell her that he's here?" Curtis asked.

"I already did. She's alright if he hangs out with us, but he can't go on any missions or anything." she replied.

"Why would we take a kid on a mission?" Rene asked.

"Because he's the new Robin." Ari replied and Rene turned to her with a furrowed brow. "Yeah, that's a long story. Felicity found out, before telling Bruce she was pregnant and-"

"Wait, blondie's pregnant?" Rene asked and they all turned to him and nod. "I really did miss a lot." he shook his head. "I guess if we're the last vigilante crew standing, then it's down to the four of us to take down Diaz. So what's the plan?"

"Well, we can wait till my NSA lead pans out." Curtis replied. "Till then, we're kind of dead in the water."

"The city's dying." Rene said. "We can't just sit around here picking our noses."

"No. You're absolutely right." Dinah said. "And we need to go at this some way that does not depend on finding Diaz, even if that means grasping at straws."

"Well instead of grasping at straws, we grasp at his wallet." Ari suggests and they all turn to her. "The best way to get to Diaz is to go after his operation."

"What operation?" Rene asked.

"He was really deep into pushing Vertigo." Ari said. "John and Oliver took out his operation 3 weeks ago, with help from yours truly."

"Well, then that means Diaz has to be in the market for a new supplier." Rene said.

"Or an old one. Before Diaz went to prison, he led the Scorpions. That is Star City's biggest supplier." Dinah said.

"That feels like a leap." Curtis says.

"It may be, but it's all we got." Dinah replied.

"And even if it doesn't lead to Diaz, we still take down a drug operation. That's a win-win." Rene said.

"Yeah, but the problem is with me boxed out of the SCPD, it's gonna be a lot harder to get Intel on the Scorpions." Dinah added.

"Maybe not." Rene said. "Diaz isn't the only person who grew up in the Glades."

"So where we're going?" Ari asked and Rene turned to her with a slight smile. "You're going somewhere that only allows adults only, aren't you."

"Sorry pipsqueak." he said as they walked off to discuss the plan.

"Wait, I can get a fake ID!" she said following after them.

Katie smiled as she got Robyn dressed in her pajamas. "Alright, let's find a story." Katie said and Robyn ran over to her little shelf of books.

Katie watched the girl look through the books before choosing one and handing it to her mother. Katie looked down to the book and a sad smile came to her lips. She picked Robin Hood. The Disney version her auntie Thea got for her, about a clever fox who stood up against unfair laws and against a selfish king. Katie looked over to Robyn who climbed into her little bed, and pulled her covers up.

"Alright," Katie flipped open the book. "Top of the morning to you! All-a-Dale's the name."

Robyn made it through half the book before she was finally asleep. Katie leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before standing up and going back over to her bookshelf. She looked down to the book one final time before letting out a sigh and placing it back on the shelf.

Katie slipped out of Robyn's room quietly, before heading down to Will's room. She knocked and stepped inside to find the boy playing on his video game.

"A few more minutes and then bed time." Katie said and Will just gave her a nod. Katie turned to leave but stopped when Will spoke.

"Did dad call?" Will asked and Katie stopped and turned to him. "No, he didn't." she noticed the concern. "I'm sure he's alright. He should be back home tomorrow."

"What if he's not?" Will asked the question she had been thinking about all day.

"Well if that happens, I will do what I always do. I'll go find him and I'll bring him home." Katie replied with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Your dad will be fine."

With those words Katie left his room, shutting the door behind her, the smile faltering a bit. She still couldn't shake the feeling that Oliver was in trouble. She walked to their bedroom, pulling her phone from her pocket. She closed the door and dropped down on the bed, before dialing Oliver's number.

She brought the phone to her ear and listened as it rang. She closed her eyes trying not to let her nerves and anxiety whisper in her ear. When his voice mail played, her heart dropped.

"Hey, it's me...again. I don't want to worry, but who are we kidding. I'm not going to stop worrying until you're standing in front of me. I hope this plan of yours works out the way you want it." she was silent for a moment. "We're probably going to have to talk about this whole solo thing again. I just—I don't like not know whether you're alright or not, and I definitely don't like you being out there with no one watching your back." she closed her eyes. "Just come back to us." the sound of the beep, made her pull the phone away and end the call.

Rene's lead was going to a betting nook in the Glades where the scorpion gang operated from. With Curtis tech, they're able to get a location on the warehouse they are storing their drugs.

Once Ari got the word that they had a location, she didn't hesitate to get changed into her gear. She came back out to tell Damian she was going to take him home, but when she came back out, she didn't see the boy.

"Damian?!" she called, but she got no response. She figured the boy got tired of going through surveillance videos and finally headed home. She pressed the button on her comlink. "Alright, guys, I'm in route."

When Ari arrived at the warehouse. The party had already started. She heard the gun fire from inside the second she appeared outside. "Guys!" she called through the com, but she didn't get a response. "Damn," she reached behind her to grab her grapple gun.

She aimed for the top of the building about to send the grapple flying, when suddenly another grapple cord is shot. Ari turns her head and curses at the sight of Damian dawned as the Robin before shooting off to the roof.

"Somehow I'm going to get blamed for this." she muttered before shooting her grapple gun and flying up to the roof as well.

On top of the roof, Ari came to a sliding halt when she found Damian standing in front of John and a group of people she didn't know, all dressed in black tactical gear. John looked over to Ari and she just shook her head.

"This isn't me! He's—he's-"

"Not the time!" John replied before turning to his team. "Let's go!" he said before they all repelled into the building.

Ari ran forward, grabbing John's arm to head down with him, while Damian decided to jump down with his cape that glides down to the floor. The boy throws a smoke bomb down, filling the warehouse with a thick smoke.

Dinah, Curtis and Rene, coughed before looking up to see John and Ari taking down a couple of the guys with guns.

"C'mon, let's go!" John ordered them and so they ran, grabbing a rope. John turned to grab Ari, but she moved away. "Firelight!"

"I have to find and kill Robin!" Ari called before hearing feet behind her. She spun around only to come face to face with the masked bane of her existence. "I'm going to kill you."

"Do it after I save your life." he said before sending a grappling hook up. He opened an arm to Ari and the girl just rolled her eyes as she stepped forward, and brought an arm around the boy before they shot up from the gun fire.

The team returned to their bunker, John included. Ari trailed behind the group, glancing over her shoulder at Damian, who flashed her a smug smile.

"Damian, go change. You're going home," John said firmly.

Damian's eyes widened in confusion. "You cannot be serious," he protested. "Did you see me in there? I saved their asses-all of them!" He whirled to the team, his hands wide. "Let me join your team. I know you employ minors-" he jerked a thumb at Ari "-so just lower the age requirement a bit.

"Damian, we appreciate your help, but no," Dinah said, cutting him off. "I get that you want to be involved, but it's too dangerous. And I'm pretty sure both Felicity and Bruce wouldn't be thrilled about you running around in the middle of gunfights in drug warehouses."

"What they don't know won't hurt them," Damian said with a shrug.

"They'll know once I tell them," John replied, raising an eyebrow.

Damian groaned, stomping off to change out of his gear.

As he disappeared, Curtis broke the tension with an enthusiastic grin. "Am I the only one who thought he was actually kind of cool back there?"

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Did you not see the glide in with his cape? That was tight." Curtis mimicked the motion dramatically.

"Perhaps we should focus on what the hell just happened back there," Rene interjected, his voice serious. "How did we end up in the middle of a drug war?"

"The Quadrant," John replied grimly.

The team turned to him.

"That's who was cleaning those Scorpions off the street." He said.

Curtis stepped forward, typing furiously at a keyboard. A moment later, known members of the Quadrant flashed up on the monitors.

"I heard about these guys when I was working undercover," Dinah said, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the images. "But I could never get anyone to confirm their existence."

"Well, they're real," John said. "Very real. We've been tracking Cassamento—one of their leaders—hoping she'd lead us to Diaz."

"We were hoping the Scorpions would lead us to Diaz, too," Curtis added. "Got intel they were planning something big tonight."

"We figured it was a drug shipment," Dinah continued. "Turns out it was an ambush. The Quadrant wanted the Scorpions wiped out."

"And us, apparently," Curtis said. "It's a good thing you guys—and Robin—showed up when you did." He paused, a grin spreading across his face. "Seriously, though, that entrance? So cool."

"Thank you, Mr. Holt," Damian said, striding back into the bunker in his regular clothes, his usual smug expression firmly in place. He turned to John. "So, are we going?"

"Oh, I'm not taking you anywhere," John replied, his voice sharp. He turned to Ari, his gaze pointed.

Ari froze, her eyes widening. "Wait—you want me to take him home?"

"You brought him here," Dinah pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

Ari whipped her head toward her, glaring. "He was supposed to stay put and go through surveillance footage! How was I supposed to know he'd pull a stunt like that?"

"You brought him, so he's your responsibility," Dinah said simply, her tone annoyingly matter-of-fact.

Ari groaned, throwing her hands in the air. "I knew it! Somehow, someway, this was going to be my fault." She spun to face Damian, who responded with an infuriatingly innocent smile. "You're lucky I'm cutting it close on my curfew and can't afford to be late."

She turned back to the team. "While I get to play chauffeur for the little stalker, you guys can follow the next lead wherever it takes you."

"That's how this works, pipsqueak," Rene said with a smirk.

Ari nodded, sighing. "I know. I just don't get to be a part of most of it."

Turning to Damian, she added, "I'm getting changed. Then we're leaving."

When Ari finally stepped into the house, the silence was striking. The glow of the television illuminated the living room, but the volume was turned down low. Katie was sitting on the couch, her expression distant.

"I know I'm late, but I—"

"—was dropping Damian off at home," Katie inserted, looking back at her. "I know. Felicity called. She also filled me in on Damian's night of mischief."

"That wasn't my fault," Ari protested.

"I know that too," Katie said with a small nod. Then she angled her head toward the stairs. "It's late. You should get to bed."

Instead of going up the stairs, Ari hovered, observing Katie for a moment before going to join her on the couch.

"You haven't slept," Ari said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Katie released a deep sigh but remained silent.

"Since Oliver's been gone, you haven't slept," Ari continued, her tone even but worried. "You're not in your room. You're either down here watching infomercials or outside staring up at the sky. You're worried about him. Do you think he's in trouble?"

Katie didn't answer. She instead turned away. She refused to lie, but she also didn't want to scare the girl.

"I don't know," Katie said finally, her voice low. "I don't know if he's in trouble."

"And you're okay with that?" Ari asked.

"No. I'm not." Katie turned back to the television, her gaze unfocused. "But he's got twelve hours to get himself out of whatever trouble he's in before I go and find him myself."

They sat in silence after that, the quiet hum of the television filling the space. Katie soon felt the weight of Ari's head on her shoulder. She glanced over to find the girl fast asleep.

Carefully, Katie reached for the blanket draped over the back of the couch. She stood, lifting Ari's feet gently to remove her shoes, then pulled the blanket over her. Leaning down, she placed a soft kiss on Ari's forehead before heading out of the living room and into the kitchen.

In a few short minutes, at the sink Katie got herself a glass of water, hoping it would calm the flutter in her nervous belly. She took a gulp and let out a quiet little sigh before placing the glass down.

After a little pause, she moved to the back door and stepped out into the backyard. Cool grass pressed down on her bare feet when she went a few footsteps to sit on the ground with her knees to her body.

She tilted her head back and looked at the stars. Her mind wandered to Oliver, and in an instant, her chest was filled with a storm of anxiety. Eventually, her gaze dropped to her hands, where faint traces of light shimmered and danced across her fingers.

Katie stared at the glow, her thoughts shifting. She should be worried-her powers weren't fully back yet. After months, they were still weak. But they were there, still inside her, waiting.

And right now, whatever strength she had left would have to be enough to find Oliver.

Katie closed her eyes, her fingers threading through her hair as she focused all her thoughts on Oliver. She remembered the lessons from Zatanna: the power of intent, the clarity of emotion. She let it wash over her: the fear, the love, the desperation.

And then there was a voice behind her that cut through her concentration.

"Let's make things interesting."

Katie's eyes snapped open, and she was no longer in her backyard. She sprang up, heart racing, taking in her surroundings. Oliver and Diaz were standing in some dimly lit room, on a combat mat, facing each other.

"I put you on the ground, you leave Star City forever," Diaz said, pure, calm confidence lacing every word as he stared back into Oliver's eyes. "You put me on the ground, I'll do the same."

Katie tried moving closer instinctively and also scanned the room for something familiar to identify the place they were currently at. Her eyes remained steadily fixed on Oliver with dripping blood from his lip while standing unsteadily with resolve.

"Is that fair enough for you?" Diaz asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," Oliver said simply, stepping forward.

Katie's stomach churned as the fight began. Every punch, every blow landed with brutal precision, and she felt each one like a stab to her chest. Her attention shifted briefly, and she noticed Anatoly standing in the shadows, watching silently. Turning back, she saw Oliver gain the upper hand.

He had Diaz pinned to the mat, his fists connecting with the man's face repeatedly before locking an arm around Diaz's neck.

"Yield!" Oliver shouted, his voice raw and commanding. "Yield, or I'll break your neck!"

Katie's breath hitched as she watched, waiting for Diaz's response. Then her eyes caught the subtle movement of his hand slipping into his pocket.

"No," Katie whispered, stepping forward. She saw the glint of a knife as Diaz jerked it toward Oliver's hip. "Stop!"

Instinctively, Katie threw out her hand. She watched in utter shock as Diaz's hand froze mid-motion, the blade trembling in his grip.

Oliver, still locked in the struggle, looked up briefly, his focus shifting. For a fleeting moment, he saw her—a vision of Katie standing above him, her hand outstretched. Blinking hard, he lifted his head higher and noticed the knife in Diaz's hand, seemingly restrained by some unseen force.

Snapping back into action, Oliver wrapped his legs around Diaz's arm and twisted it sharply, forcing the knife to clatter to the floor.

When Oliver looked up again, the apparition was still there, smiling at him. But then her expression shifted, and blood dripped from her nose before she vanished entirely.

"Katie?" Oliver murmured, his voice faint with confusion.

Before he could even begin to process what he had just seen, one of Diaz's men yanked him off the mat, breaking his hold on Diaz. The crime lord stumbled to his feet, his lip split and his eyes blazing with fury. With a cruel grin, Diaz drove a punch into Oliver's ribs, sending him crashing to the floor.

Oliver groaned, curling in on himself as pain radiated through his body.

Diaz loomed over him, wiping the blood from his face. "Like I said, Queen, life isn't fair."

Gritting his teeth, Oliver lifted his head just enough to glare up at him. "You've failed this city," he rasped, his voice weak but defiant. "And I am going to take it back.

But the pain and blood loss were too much. His head fell back against the mat as his vision blurred. His last thought before the darkness took him was of Katie, and a faint hope that she was safe.

Ari woke to the relentless dings of message notifications. She glanced around her room, fainty remembering dragging herself from living room in the middle of the night to get to bed. Groggily, she grabbed her phone, her eyes widening as she saw Jamie's name pop up repeatedly. For a moment, she thought she might still be dreaming. Sitting up, she wiped the sleep from her eyes and opened the messages:

"Are you OK?"

"I can't believe it."

"Call me."

Confused, Ari frowned. Jamie's urgency didn't make sense until her phone buzzed again—this time with a breaking news alert. She opened it, and her face went pale. Without thinking, she jumped out of bed and bolted into the hall.

Will stepped out of his room, yawning. "What's going on?"

Ari didn't answer, rushing downstairs and into the living room. She turned on the television, her heart pounding.

"A shocking development today as Oliver Queen's bail was revoked," the reporter announced. "Speculation that the former mayor is secretly the Green Arrow has intensified following his impeachment for terminating two city officials investigating him. His trial is set for May 3, with Jean Loring defending him in what is expected to be an uphill battle. If convicted, Queen faces a life sentence. His fate now rests in Star City's justice system."

"What?" Will whispered.

Ari turned to see Will standing in the doorway, his gaze fixed on the screen. His father appeared on the broadcast, beaten and handcuffed as he was escorted into the police station.

Quickly, Ari shut off the TV, seeing the fear on Will's face. She moved to him, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.

"What are we going to do?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know yet," Ari replied, pulling back to look at him. "But we'll do something. Katie will do something." She glanced around, suddenly realizing Katie wasn't there.

From upstairs came the sound of tiny footsteps.

"Stinker's awake," Ari said, managing a small smile. "Can you grab her for breakfast? I'll find Katie."

Will nodded, heading back upstairs, while Ari made her way to the kitchen. Katie wasn't there either, but a sharp bark from the backyard caught her attention. Peering out the window, her heart stopped.

Ari bolted outside, her feet skidding on the grass as she found Katie lying unconscious, Harriet standing guard above her.

"Katie?" Ari dropped to her knees, shaking the woman gently. That's when she noticed the blood on Katie's face. "Katie, wake up! Come on!" Her voice grew more frantic. "Mom, please, wake up!"

With trembling hands, she grabbed her phone and dialed. The call barely rang twice before Ethan picked up.

"Ethan!" Ari cried. "Something's wrong with Katie! I don't know—" She dropped her head to Katie's chest, relief washing over her when she heard a heartbeat. "Her heart's beating, but she won't wake up."

"Slow down, what happened?" Ethan's voice was sharp with concern.

"I don't know! Maybe... maybe she saw the news about Oliver."

"All right, I'm sending an ambulance. I'll meet her at the hospital. Laurel's heading over to stay with you and the kids."

"I want to go with Katie," Ari said firmly.

"I know you want to, but that ambulance will be there any minute and you can't leave your brother and sister. Stay there and I will keep you updated on what's going on."

Katie's eyes opened to pale ceilings, and she shot up with a start, looking around the hospital room in confusion. She glanced down to see a bandage in one arm and an IV in the other, and didn't hesitate to try to pull it out.

Ethan walked in, in time to stop her. "Hey Kit, don't do that." he hurried over to grab her hands.

"Ethan? What—what am I doing here?" she closed her eyes trying to remember what lead to this moment, and only one person came to mind. "Oliver," she opened her eyes and once again tried to get out of bed. "I have to get to Oliver."

"Kit just wait." Ethan said placing his hands on her shoulders. "Oliver is fine." he turned away. "Well probably not fine, but he's safe."

He turned back to her and could see the confusion. He let out a sigh before grabbing the remote to turn on the television. The news was still reporting Oliver's arrest. Ethan turned to see Katie's eyes on the screen as she watched her husband being carted away in handcuffs. After a moment, he turned it off, but Katie's eyes remained on the screen.

"Kit, tell me what happened in the backyard?" Ethan asked.

"I wanted to find him, I wanted to help him, but it didn't work." she turned to Ethan. "I have to see him."

"I think you need to slow down for a bit and just rest." Ethan replied. "For right now, Oliver is ok, Laur's at home with the kids. So I just need you to slow down for a bit. At least until I figure out why you passed out. Right now we need to take care of you."

"I'm fine." Katie said before turning and slipping the IV from her arm. "Right now, I need to take care of my family." she grimaced as she turned to stand. "Where are my clothes?"

Ethan knew the woman was stubborn and that he wasn't going to talk her out of this. He was at least able to talk her into letting him come with her, just in case. When they walked into the police station, he noticed the eyes that went to Katie, but she didn't care. She walked over to talk to the officer behind the desk, and Ethan followed after her, medical bag in hand.

"I need to see my husband." she said.

"We're kind of backed up, it may be a while before-"

"Look, I don't care what Diaz told you to tell me when I showed up. I'm going to see my husband, very soon." she looked at the officer in the eyes. "Make it happen."

Ethan stood off to the side, watching as the officer looked at Katie for a moment before turning to grab the phone. When Ethan turned to Katie, he noticed the blood from her nose.

"What the hell?" he said and Katie turned to him. "Kit-" he grabbed some kleenex from a box on the counter and quickly cleaned her face. He leaned in a bit. "It's the powers. That's why you passed out."

Katie didn't say anything before turning to the officer who hung up the phone before walking back over to them.

"They're going to bring him down. I'll escort you."

Katie turned to Ethan, "I'm fine." she reached forward to take the bag from his hand. "Oliver's hurt and I doubt he's trusting anyone in here to check him out."

Ethan held on to the bag.

"Don't do anything stupid Kit." Ethan warned and Katie just tugged the bag from his grasp before turning to follow behind the officer.

Katie's focus was on the hall in front of her and not on the eyes on her, or the knotting of nausea that stirred in her stomach. He lead her to a door which he opened and gestured for her to go inside.

She took one final deep breath before stepping in. Her eyes first went to the officer standing against the wall, before she turned to see Oliver sitting at a table, his hands cuffed to the table.

"Twinkie-" Katie held up a finger to indicate that she wants him to stop talking. She turned to the officer who hadn't moved.

"You should go." she said and the officer's dark gaze dropped to her.

"Inmate visits are required to be monitored by an officer. Diaz is particularly interested in this one. I'm not going anywhere, so sit, and talk with your husband."

Katie didn't say anything for a moment before she turned and sat the bag on the table before turning back to the officer.

"Twinkie, don't." Oliver attempted but Katie wasn't listening.

"It's been a long day officer—" Katie said before looking at the officer's badge. "Hadley." she turned to meet his eyes. "A criminal is attempting to take control of the city and he thinks he's succeeding. He's not. You know what, I think you had the bright idea to give me the keys to his handcuffs then to leave this room to go get my husband's things so you could give them to me, right?"

The officer's blank stare looked at Katie, before nodding. He held out the keys to her, then turned and left the room. Katie swiped a finger under her nose to wipe away the blood.

"You shouldn't have done that. This room has cameras." Oliver said and Katie turned back to him.

"There was a glitch with the cameras the moment I walked in." Katie said before walking over unlock his handcuffs. "Let's go."

She turned to leave, but stopped when she didn't hear him moving. She let out a deep sigh before turning back to see Oliver still seated.

"Get up," she said, her voice tinged with frustration.

"Twinkie, just trust me."

"I did trust you, Oliver. I still do. I trusted you to go to Russia and then to come back home. But somehow you're here, and we can talk about how that happened later, but now you need to get up so we can leave."

"I can't do that. I won't do that. Not to you, and not to the kids." Oliver said and Katie slammed a fist to the table. "Twinkie, just trust me, I promise-"

"Oh, don't you dare. Don't you dare promise me anything." she said looking at him trying to be strong and not cry right now. "Do you know what I promised both Ari and Will yesterday. I promised them that if you got into any trouble I would be there to get you out of it." she gestured to to the room. "I guess this is it. This is the trouble I'm getting you out of. We're going to get out of here, we're going call that number Martin gave us and we're getting out of here." she looked at Oliver waiting for him to just give in and leave with her. That's when tears fell down her cheeks. "I can't leave this room without you. I can't walk back into our house without you. Don't make me do it, Oliver. Please."

The weight of her words hung in the air. Slowly, Oliver stood, his features etched with pain. He crossed the small space and wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Twinkie, I can't go. I can't run. Please don't make me run away from this." he said, as the emotion twisted in his throat. "Just trust me."

Katie buried her face in his chest, tears soaking into his shirt as the strength she'd tried to hold onto crumbled. For a long moment, neither spoke, the room heavy with unspoken fears and impossible choices.


Author's note

Gah! The Angst!

Review Replies

Adela: Thank you and Happy Christmas and New Year to you as well!

rockyroyal.dr: Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words. And yes, I really wanted to show how many people really care about Katie and wanted to jump in to stick up for her when she wouldn't. Oh and the Damian/ Ari dynamic is hilarious to me. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Many thanks and much appreciation to everyone!

Sneak Peek

"What the—" Diaz stopped cold, further perplexed as his gaze swirled around in every direction. That's when he spotted her: Katherine Queen, calmly seated on a bench in the park, staring at him squarely.

He narrowed his eyes, his hand instinctively slipping to his waistband and retrieving his gun. With deliberate steps, he exited the car and took strides towards her as his lips curled upwards into a sardonic grin.

"You know, Mrs. Queen, I've heard all about your little magic tricks," he said as he approached. "Our mutual friend, Black Siren, warned me about you. Told me that in my crusade to take down your husband, you were the one I should be worried about."

Katie tilted her head, her expression unreadable. "And yet, here we are. You didn't listen?"

Diaz shrugged with a smirk. "Nah, I just had to get creative." He motioned to the patrol cars shrieking to a stop all over the place. "See, I am an important guy. My car makes an unscheduled stop and my buddies show up."

Katie's gaze flickered to the officers spilling from the vehicles; their guns were focused on her. The tension in the air thick as Diaz leaned in closer.

"And in case you're thinking about doing any of your bippity boppity boo bullshit, keep in mind—they're all wearing body cams. You pull something here, and this time, you become the star of another viral video."