"I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me;
All day I feel its soft, feathery turnings, its malignity."

― Sylvia Plath, Ariel

Katie made a promise to herself this morning. She was going to be happy. She was not going to think about Damien Darhk, or freaky abilities, or even the darkness coursing through her veins.

Because today, Katie was getting married...again. Today was the day of their official wedding and both she and Oliver were very excited it was finally here. The night before the couple was dragged away by their friends for bachelor/bachlorette celebrations. But since Oliver wasn't a bachelor, and Katie wasn't a bachlorette, the celebrations weren't as wild.

John and Bruce took Oliver out for a night of drinking which they all seemed to enjoy. Given their age, they weren't looking for any wild parties which they were sure was the opposite thinking of the girls. They did however do a little late night crime fighting just to give the night some kind of adventure. They never figured out how the women spent that night, but they had the feeling they probably wouldn't want to know.

At the moment, Katie was alone in the bride's room, which she knew wouldn't last long. Thea and Felicity were moving about like chickens with their heads cut off ensuring that everything was happening as planned, but she knew they'd be back soon once again smothering her with attention and questions, and suggestions. Katie was just impressed how well the two women were functioning after the previous night's adventures.

Her make up was done, and it looked flawless and she smiled because she truly was looking forward to this day, and the man waiting for her at the end of that aisle. Her eyes then turned to the dress that hung from closet door and she sighed. That dress was perfect. When she mentioned to Felicity and Thea about wanting a yellow wedding dress, both seemed the think the idea was strange, but then they saw this dress. This off the shoulder, pale yellow dress, with a lace and beaded bodice was completely breathtaking and she knew it was the dress the moment she saw it.

The door suddenly opened and a smile came to her face at the sight of Gloria who had Robyn on her hip. Katie stood to her feet and walked over already extending her hands for the baby.

"Aw, you're so cute in your dress." Katie says pulling the baby into her arms, and looking down to the pale yellow and white dress she was wearing. She reached up and straightened the flower headband on the baby's head before placing a kiss to her cheek.

"We thought you'd like to see her before the ceremony began." Gloria said and Katie looked over and gave a nod.

"I've missed my little one." Katie kissed her cheek once again and hugged her to her chest as she walked over to sit on the couch near the window. "How was she last night?" Gloria chuckled walking over to take the seat across from the woman. Katie and Oliver had called numerous times last night just to check in and Gloria just found them both adorable with their worry.

"She was perfect. We played with blocks, and we had her favorite dinner, peas and carrots."

"She hates peas and carrots."

"I know, but we are going to work on more veggies in her diet, because she is going to live a long healthy life, isn't that right little bird." Gloria said, smiling down to the little girl.

"Little bird?" Katie said, and Gloria simply laughed with a shake of her head.

"Your guards are pretty talkative when you and Mr. Queen aren't around." Gloria chuckled. "The consensus is, they fear you more than your husband."

"Then my work is done." Katie replied placing a kiss to the top of Robyn's head, just as a knock sounded at the door. Gloria stood to open it, but the person simply walked in without another word... because it was Thea and she had no sense of privacy sometimes. She rushed in, her eyes going wide at the sight of Katie sitting in a robe, little Robyn in her lap.

"Why aren't you dressed?!" Thea shook her head before coming over and plucking the baby from Katie's arms, placing a kiss on her cheek and handing her back to Gloria. "The wedding is going to be starting soon, you two should go get your seats." Gloria chuckled but stood with the baby and made their way back out to their seats.

"Thea, did you really just bust in here, take my daughter from my arms and then send her away?" Katie asked standing to her feet.

"I did, because we can't be late." Thea said turning and plucking the dress from the hook and handing it to Katie before reaching down to pull open the rope of her robe, but Katie pushed her hands away.

"I can dress myself Thea." Katie shook her head before stalking off behind the folding screen. "And I find it hard to believe that I'm the one you're worried about making us start late. How is your brother coming along?" Thea muttered something that Katie couldn't quite hear. "What?" Thea opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by the newly up and walking Felicity Smoak who came rushing in. Once the implant was inserted into her spine, Felicity Smoak took on physical therapy like a champ. It had only been a few weeks, but she'd made extensive progress. At the moment she wasn't supposed to be pushing herself, and she knows she'll hear another lecture from her fiancé, but there was a wedding happening and she was going to make sure it went off without a hitch.

"What's going on? Is she ready? Because she needs to be ready like now, where-" Felicity turned to the folding screen, and both her and Thea's eyes lit up the moment Katie stepped from behind the screen dawned in the pale yellow, sleeveless wedding dress. "Oh my god, you look-" Thea wasn't an overly emotional person, and honestly she'd seen the woman wearing the dress dozens of times before, but there was something different about this time. It was real. This moment was real, and for some reason she felt tears in her eyes.

"Thea, don't, no crying you can't-" she turned to Felicity whose eyes seemed to be glistening as well and she just shook her head. "We are not crying now, because crying takes time and you two keep telling me we don't have enough of that. Now what did you say about Liver?" Thea and Felicity shared a look before turning back to Katie who looked between them with a quirked brow. "What the hell was that look? What's going on?"

"Everything is under control." Felicity said taking a step forward and placing a comforting hand to Katie's arm and smiling. "Oliver is...well he's-" Felicity glanced over to Thea who slumped her shoulders knowing she was going to have to tell the truth.

"Oliver isn't here." Thea finally said, and Katie's eyes almost popped out of her head. "Yet! He's not here yet! I just talked to him, and he's driving like a bat out of hell to get here. There was a possible lead on Darhk, but it was just a few HIVE flunkies that got away."

"Kind of expected a lie right now Thea!" Felicity groaned through her teeth, before turning a smile back to Katie. "Look everything is-"

"No, everything is not under control because my husband decided on our wedding day to go chase after Damien Darhk." Katie said folding her arms over her chest. "He thought today of all days, that was the perfect thing to do?" Katie spun around searching for her phone. "Where the hell is my phone?"

"Hey, this is a happy day, Ollie is literally seconds-" Thea's phone beeped and she looked down to it, smiling wide. "Scratch that he is in the building and rushing off to get dressed." she looked up to Katie who still didn't look happy. "It was a last minute lead, mostly everyone was here and he thought-"

"He'd play the hero on our wedding day." Katie shook her head before turning and stalking out of the room.

"Hey, no, no-" Felicity and Thea went rushing after the woman.

"Hey, where are you going?!" Thea called.

"I'm going for a walk." Katie replied and Thea groaned.

"But the wedding-"

"I know, but if Oliver can just go out on a whole villain search I can go for a walk to decide if I want to marry him today." Katie replied before stalking out the back door.

"This is so not good." Thea muttered turning to Felicity who stared at that back door with wide eyes before turning to Thea. "What do we do now?"

"I'm thinking." Felicity sighed.

John Diggle would be glad when this day was over and the happy couple would be off on their honeymoon. He and Oliver just rushed through the door of the groom's room where they both were trying to get into their tuxedos.

"We got five minutes Oliver!" John called quickly pulling on his jacket before grabbing his bow tie.

"I can't find my shoes!" Oliver snapped angrily, rushing from behind the folding screen, pants on, but shirt unbuttoned and no shoes on his feet. "Where are-" John turned spotting the black shoes before quickly grabbing them and handing them to Oliver. "Thanks." Oliver rushed over to sit, slipping his feet into his shoes before beginning to button his shirt. "Twinkie is going to kill me if I'm late."

"We're not going to be late, just breathe man." John says and Oliver stood to his feet taking a deep breath. He began tucking his shirt in as the door burst open and in ran his sister.

"Speedy we're almost-"

"We have a new problem!" Thea said rushing over and grabbing the bow tie from the table and pulling it around her brother's neck. "So remember when I told you that if Twinkie asked about you, that I would tell her the truth-" she looked up seeing her brother's dark eyes. "You were supposed to be here an hour ago-"

"Yes, but I told you to just stall." Oliver says pulling away from his sister before grabbing his tuxedo jacket. "She's upset, isn't she?" he turned back to his sister and let out a huff. "Speedy?"

"She left." Thea said, and Oliver stopped moving.

"What do you mean she left? Left where? Where is she?"

"After I told her about your mission which I told you not to go on, she was expectantly upset, but I told her you were here and getting ready, and she was still grrr." Thea shook her head. "She said she was going to go for a walk to decide if she wanted to marry you today."

"Thea, I told you to stall!" Oliver said once again before turning and stalking out of the room.

"Hey, you said stall, not lie!" Thea replied as she and John rushed out of the room to catch up to the man. "Where are you going?"

"To find my wife."

"Oliver we're literally supposed to be out there right now." Thea said rushing to stand in front of her brother. "The Twinkie situation is being handled."

"How?"

"I called in the big guns, now let's-" she brought an arm around her brother. "Let's get you into place."

Katie sat on the limestone bench that was placed in front of a large sculpted water fountain that looked absolutely gorgeous with it's lights this late evening. She was supposed to smile at the sight, but she was still angry.

"Oh, thank god." a voice spoke from behind her, and she turned with a quirked brow to see Quentin Lance looking pretty snazzy in his suit. "Everyone's going crazy trying to-" the man moved in front of her, finally able to see her completely in her dress. "Wow, you look beautiful." he noticed the look on her face was not the look of a happy bride. "You found out about Oliver's last minute adventure, huh? It really was just another attempt to finally get rid of this bastard."

"I get that, I really do." Katie replies standing to her feet and letting out a deep breath. "It's just for some reason today I thought was just going to be completely perfect." she walked over to the fountain and watched as the cascading water poured from the statue. "Darhk is still out there, and I'm still-" she sighed before turning back to the man and just shook her head. "This is stupid. This wedding, and all of this is stupid. It's an act, and it's not real it's-" she continued to shake her head suddenly hit with the urge to cry. "It's a fantasy, and when you realize a fantasy isn't real it's the worst pain you can ever feel."

"Hey," Lance walked over raising a hand to comfort her, but he doesn't. He drops his hand back to his side. They were a bit cordial, nice even, but he wasn't sure she truly forgave him and he didn't want to push. "Look I remember the day I married Dinah. I was wreck. I kept thinking about all the ways she was ruining her life by tying herself down to me." Katie lifted her eyes to the man who shrugged. "Then I realized something. I loved her, more than anything, and that single thought trumped all those insecurities and fears."

"Did you really just give me advice based on the wedding to your now ex-wife?" Katie asked, and Lance cracked a smile.

"I know, probably not the best example, but it was true at the time. Look you and Oliver are already married, so yeah maybe all of this is just a show and dance, but at the heart of it is two people who are crazy about each other wanting to show the world." Katie took another deep breath as Lance felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it from his jacket pocket and looked down with a shake of his head. "It's Felicity, and it's a message in all caps." he looked back over to the woman. "Look in the end it's up to you." Katie gave the man a nod.

"Ok, ok-" she looked down to her dress smoothing it out a bit before looking back up to the man. "Can you give me five minutes? I just need a little bit more time to just breathe without all the eyes on me."

"Sure." the man gave a nod before turning to leave.

"Quentin-" the man stopped and looked over to the woman who he doesn't think he's ever heard her call him by his first name. "Thank you. And if the offer still stands, would you mind escorting me down the aisle, I can be clumsy, and I don't want to fall down today." A smile broke out across Quentin's face, and he swallowed the sudden emotion that hit him in this moment.

"It would be my honor. I'll meet you up there." he said and Katie gave a nod before watching him finally leave.

The woman let out another deep breath before turning back to the fountain. She lifted her eyes to the sculpted bushes and just shook her head.

"I guess you're the reason I even know you're out there, just watching me creepily." she waited for a moment, but heard the slight rustling before Jacob walked from them. "For a dead man, you sure like to show up at the most crowded of places. The whole city is practically on the other side of this garden."

"Well today is my daughter's wedding." Jacob said with a smile as he walked over to her, getting close, but not too much. "And nothing was going to stop me from seeing her on her big day." he looked her over, and he placed a hand over his heart, his chest filling with so much emotion at the moment seeing his daughter, a bride on her wedding day. "I couldn't miss this." he looked up meeting her eyes, but she turned away from him with a shake of her head. "I wish I could be the one to walk you down the aisle."

"Oh, don't you-" she shook her head, turning about to walk away, but she stopped and turned back to him. "You were supposed to walk me down the aisle. You were supposed dote on your granddaughter and play peek a boo with her, you were supposed to give Oliver a hard time because even though you know he's a good guy, you just don't think he's good enough for your daughter." she took a step toward him. "You're supposed to come over for family dinners every Sunday night and tell old stories about you and mom, and you're—" she stopped because her own words were breaking her heart. "You were supposed to do a lot of things dad." she looked up to his eyes and shrugged. "But you didn't and now we're here." she nudged her head behind her. "I have to go do this wedding thing, and you have to-" she sighed. "Do whatever it is you do." she began backing away from the man before finally turning and walking away.

Jacob stood there, wanting to just fall apart at his daughter's words because he knew how true they were. He made choices, choices he couldn't take back even if he wanted to. And because of those choices, he wouldn't be able to give his only daughter away at her wedding. He lifted his head and turned with a huff.

"I didn't need back up for this Martin." Jacob grumbled as he watched Martin step out from the bushes. He shook his head, turning back to the spot his daughter once stood. "Even after all this time, she hates me, and I deserve it. I deserve all of it."

"She called you dad." Martin said, and Jacob turned to the man with a quirked brow. "In the middle of her little tirade, she called you dad. So yeah, she's still upset which is expected given what's happened, but that doesn't mean all hope is lost." Jacob slid a hand over his face before his eyes looked over to the fountain. "And despite what you believe, I'm not here because I thought you could use back up." Martin said, and Jacob looked back over to the man. "We've just gotten a status on your niece."

"Please tell me-" Jacob's question was interrupted by Martin's phone suddenly ringing. He pulled it from his pocket and glanced down with a quirked brow before looking back over to his boss. "Who is it?"

"Clark Kent." Martin replied before pulling the phone to his ear. It was then he heard news he just couldn't quite believe.

Katie heard the soft sounds of music and for some reason her heart starts ramming in her chest and she doesn't even know why. She spots Quentin whose just buttoning his blazer when he turns and spots her.

"Great." he takes a step back and gives a thumbs up, before walking back over to her. Soon the music changed, and Lance looped his arm with hers and began leading her toward the aisle, but Katie stopped.

"My bouquet—" she pulled away from him. She pointed behind her toward the main building. "It's back in the bride's room, and I can't get married with without a bouquet." she turned about to once again flee, but she stopped. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning back to Quentin who just stared at her waiting for to make another move.

"Hey, hi, what's happening?!" It was Felicity's voice that urgently whispered as she rushed between Quentin and Katie. "There's a wedding that's supposed to be happening right now. What's going on?"

"I uh, I don't have my bouquet, I was just going to go grab it and come right back." Katie says inching back. "Just five more minutes."

"Hey!" Thea appeared from around the corner, away from the eyes of the crowd. "What's going on? Ollie is freaking out." she looks over to Katie. "Why are we not walking down the aisle?"

"She doesn't have a her bouquet." Felicity said moving in closer to the woman. "It's just the guy standing back there at the end of that aisle doesn't care if there are flowers in your hands right now and-"

"Oh, I know!" Thea said quickly before rushing off, and a few seconds later returned with flowers she'd just plucked from a nearby flower patch. "Here you go!" she held the flowers out to Katie who looked at them for a moment before shaking her head.

"Smoaks is right, I don't need flowers." Katie said before turning to Quentin. "I can do this." she shooed Felicity and Thea back down aisle before looping her arm with Quentin.

"You sure you want to do this?" he asked her and Katie closed her eyes and thought about Oliver and a smile came to her face. She was being neurotic and crazy and none of it mattered because there was this guy who'd take all of it, and she wasn't going to make him wait any longer. She opened her eyes and gave a nod.

"You know I think I am." Soon they rounded the corner and spotted the