Star City, Arrow Cave
August 5, 16:30 PST
Heavy breathes filled the room as the two girls circled each other, Artemis as she had been introduced to Kate, watching every move her opponent made. Just like Kate was doing herself. The two adults watching on the edges of their seats, ready to jump in and break up the training and impromptu meeting short.
They had been at this for about ten minutes by this point, each girl acting conservatively with their strikes, as if afraid to actually punch the other. Artemis's trepidation clear at the notion of sparring with Kate, a girl younger than her and smaller than her felt a lot like the training her dad would put her through and it didn't sit right with her as she stepped into the ring.
But someone had to make the first move and that person was Artemis, Kate staying in the defensive to draw her out.
"I can't believe you thought this was a good idea." Dinah muttered under her breathe to Oliver, who had encouraged the last minute training.
"Decisions were made, I'm not saying they were smart ones, but they were made all the less and now we have to deal with it." Oliver awkwardly chuckled and shrugged. Both of the adults tuning back in when Artemis went after Kate. The younger girl ducking under the older girl's wide swing and rolling to the ground. Her leg swinging out to try and trip Artemis but the taller girl back flipped over the attack. Going through a complicated looking tumbling pass to put distance once again. Kate taking the bait and following.
Artemis twisting gracefully around Kate's attack and grabbing the girl's arm and using her own momentum against her. Kate being flipped onto her back with a wheeze. Artemis huffing out a breath and offering a hand up to the younger girl.
"Not bad, color me impressed." She laughed, her smile dimming as Kate pushed her hand away and got up on her own with a glare.
"Okay, I think that's enough for today." Dinah stepped in, an uneasy smile on her face as she approaches the girls, Oliver right behind her sheepishly grinning.
"Yeah, we should get you home Artemis. Time difference and all." Oliver motioned for the older girl to follow him, the girl sparring one last look at Kate and Dinah over her shoulder as Oliver led her out of the cave and up into the Queen mansion.
Kate met her eyes with a glare that could turn the sun to ice, Dinah seeing that and sighing. Placing a hand on her shoulder, grabbing her attention.
"Let's go home."
Kate nodded after a second, her frown not moving from her face.
~~*~~
Kate had beelined for her room and then the bathroom to take a shower and then retreating right back into her space again. Leaving Dinah to go to her to get her to talk about today, which she knew wouldn't be easy, but knew she still had to try. They had made a lot of progress and the last thing she wanted was Oliver springing this on them both to cause a setback in Kate's progress.
"Hey, it's me." Dinah knocked solidly, not sure if Kate had taken off her hearing aids yet or not, as she did usually when she got back to the apartment. Relying more and more on ASL when in the privacy of their home the more she learned. Dinah doing the same, knowing the headaches Kate had to deal with sometimes after wearing the high tech devices all day. They had created 'quiet hours' where Kate simply left the devices on the kitchen counter and didn't put them on again until she wanted to.
The door stayed closed, but wasn't locked. Dinah slowly turning the handle and peaking into the room, the only light in the room being the LED strips along the ceiling glowing a soft yellow. Kate buried under her covers, the lump breathing softly. Dinah sighed and sat gently on the foot of the bed and placed a hand on Kate's leg over the covers. Shaking her with care as to not startle her. The girl's eyes opened with ease, looking to the woman blankly.
"Skoot over." Dinah motioned and Kate simply rolled over, letting the woman crawl under the covers with the minimal space given to her. Laying a hand on Kate's shoulder for a second before moving to her hair and petting the strands, twisting locks between her fingers and uncoiling the waves.
"She's better than I am." The words were muffled and overpronounced. Dinah catching a glimpse of the devices on the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed. Dinah pulled on the girl's shoulder gently to get her to look at her.
"She's had more time to train. A lot more time. She's taller and older. The facts that you were able to hold your own for as long as you did says a lot about how far you've come. You did a good job today." Dinah punctuated her signs with sure movements of her fingers and soft eyes.
"I don't like her." Kate signed with a smack of her hands, frustration easy to see. Dinah huffed a laugh and pulled the girl into her side.
"You don't know her." Dinah playfully signed with a grin. Amused at the girl's jealousy.
"I don't need to know that-" Kate cut herself off, hands stilling.
"To know what?" Dinah asked in concern, hands slow.
"I want to be left alone." Kate rolled over again, back facing Dinah. The woman frowning and attempting to pull Kate towards her again only for Kate to Jerk her shoulder away and verbally shout, "Just leave me alone!"
Dinah was taken aback but took it, nodding to herself and getting out from under the covers. Looking over her shoulder one last time before shutting the door. Leaning back on it after it clicked shut, screwing her eyes shut and taking a breath. Pushing off once she had collected herself and going to make dinner, hoping the smell of food would draw Kate out of her room.
~~*~~
"Hey Katie, dinner's ready." Dinah attempted, knocking solidly before waiting for a response. Not getting one and assuming that Kate still had her hearing aids off, Dinah slowly opened her door and peaked in, waving her hand noticeably to get the attention of the lump in the middle of the bed. Something wasn't right though, there was a feeling crawling up from Dinah's stomach, into her throat as her eyes wandered. Seeing the closet door slightly ajar, some clothes on the floor, a couple drawers of her dresser not closed all the way.
Dinah slowly moved to the bed, pulling the covers away and finding pillows in Kate's place and her heart dropped. It felt like she couldn't breathe. A million bricks had been placed on her chest and the past replayed itself in front of her.
"Sarah! Come on, how long are you gonna be mad?" Dinah, barely twenty, pounded on her little sister's door. The sixteen year old having gone to bed without dinner, being angry over getting grounded after sneaking out the night before to go see someone she still refuses to talk about.
"Leave it D. She'll come out when she get's hungry or bored. You know her." Quintin Lance spoke from the stairwell, leaning against the wall that opened into the hallway, arms crossed over his chest. A hand coming up to scratch at the salt and pepper five o' clock shadow on his face. Matching his neatly trimmed hair.
"Dad-" Dinah went to protest, guilt swarming in her chest, knowing that if she hadn't of said anything Sarah wouldn't be grounded and wouldn't be angry with her.
"You don't need to fill your mom's shoes D. That's not your job. I'm the parent, you be a kid while you can okay? Let her pout, she'll get over it." Quintin came up to his oldest daughter, kissing the side of her head and patting her shoulder.
"I'm worried about her..." Dinah trailed off, even though her dad had told her enough times she didn't need to take over her mom's role in the house she still felt responsible. Sarah was still grieving, in truth so was Dinah, but she buried it all in the work of school and training and taking care of her dad and sister.
"I am too. But she'll be okay, she's a tough cookie, like her mom. Like her sister." Her dad poked Dinah's forehead, causing the twenty year old to chuckle and swat at his hand. The man laughing at her reaction and moving past her to his room at the end. Stopping in his doorway he looked back to Dinah, who had taken to looking at Sarah's door with guilt laden eyes, "This will all blow over, just wait, by next week she'll have forgotten all about this."
"You're right," Dinah tried to believe in her own words but this feeling settling in her stomach whispered in her ears, calling her a liar. She ignored it.
Dinah couldn't sleep that night, tossing and turning for hours until she gave up and gave in. Tiptoeing to her sisters door, opening it silently and slipping in.
"Sarah." She whispered, waiting for a response, only to get nothing but wind from the open window. Sarah's pink curtains flapping gently, slapping softly against the sill. Moonlight lit the room once Dinah's eyes adjusted and her heart dropped when she saw the clothes on the floor, dresser drawers opened and emptied, bed unmade and empty.
"No, no, no." Dinah rushed to the open window and looked down at the fire escapes. Seeing no trace of Kate. The woman pushed herself back and ran a hand through her hair, tugging at the roots painfully as her brain started racing. Her breathing picking up. She could recognize the signs of the impending panic attack and tried to stop it in it's tracks. She was Black Canary. She needed to pull herself together and find her kid.
Her hands never stopped shaking though.
~~*~~
Mount Justice
August 6, 16:30 EDT
It had been quiet among the team, Besides Wally and Robin bickering over videogames and M'gann cooking in the kitchen. Superboy somewhere in the mountain. Kaldur looked around at the slightly chaotic peace and noticed someone was missing, checking the time via wall clock and standing.
"Has anyone heard from Gold Finch by chance? I find it odd she is not here." Once the Atlantean brought attention to her absence the other also looked around before sharing glances.
"Has anyone checked the library? She likes to hide out in there. Maybe she came in and we just missed her or something." Wally waved it off, munching on some pretzels out of the bowl in his lap. Robin pulled out his wrist holo-computer and typed quickly, strings of code reflected in his dark sunglasses.
"Nope. I don't see her on cameras." Robin shook his head and shut down the holo-computer. Worry seeping into his voice.
Kaldur's eyebrows furrowed as he walked over and pressed on the comm unit on the wall by the kitchen, "Red Tornado, is there any word on Gold Finch? We were expecting her today."
"Gold Finch will not be available for the time being." The unit crackled to life in response, the hero's robotic voice sounding even more choppy over comms. His words sent a shot of concern through the group.
"Is everything okay?" Robin spoke up, making his way over to the Comm unit beside Kaldur.
"I have been instructed that information about Gold Finch is strictly on a need to know basis as of now and the distant future."
"So, no." Robin mumbled to himself as Red cut the connection, obviously done with the conversation. Robin looked between Wally and Kaldur, an unspoken agreement coming to be had between them.
~~*~~
"I can't find her anywhere. She must have ditched everything." Robin continued to hack, what systems? Nobody really knew or understood but the boy's words sent a round of worried looks around the gathered circle of teammates and blooming friends. Superboy sitting off to the side on the couch but still listening and paying attention.
Wally took a breath and dragged a hand down the side of his face, "Should we call him?", his bright green eyes trading glances with Robin and Kaldur. Miss Martian out of the loop and visibly confused.
"Call who?" She asked.
"Speedy-"
"Green Arrow's old sidekick, she and him were close, if anybody could find her it would be him." Robin answered, powering down his wrist computer and sighing.
"Call him." Kaldur made the final call and the next thing the team knew Roy's masked face was on the computer, narrowed eyes falling on each of the younger members.
"She's not missing, she's-" Roy puffed out an annoyed breathe and pinched the bridge of his nose while shaking his head, "You're not wrong to be worried, I'll find her." He sighed and before the team could even get out a peep he glared down at them, "Alone."
"What?! No way! We're coming with you." Wally protested among unhappy complaints claiming Kate as their friend.
"It's alone or not at all, take your pick." Roy squared his shoulders, crossing his arms over his chest. Besides Kaldur the team continued to protest, until Kaldur held up a hand, silencing the team.
"We will leave it to you." With a nod passed between the two older vigilantes Kaldur signed off. Silencing protests with a look and leaving the room.
The other's sharking looks once again before going back to what they had been doing before, the two boys knowing that they needed to trust Roy. Because as much as the older boy would complain about Kate, it was with the same devotion and underlying love of an older brother. And even though Roy was desperately and quite harshly pushing everyone away, Rob had seen the inscription in that book of hers. The red head still cared, a lot more than he let anyone else in on. That's how Rob knew to let the Arrow family take care of their business, everything would work out.
He was still going to keep tabs though of course. Like any good teammate.
~~*~~
Star City
August 6, 22:38 EDT
Roy should have guessed she would be here.
"Where would you go?" Roy asked, a sheen of sweat just starting on his forehead as he sat back against a table in the cave, watching Kate attempt to pull back one of his older bows, chuckling when she couldn't and receiving a glare from the girl. Who had crashed his training session.
Roy could see the itch to run in her eyes, he will admit that he sometimes missed the freedom that being a street kid gave him. When he could do whatever, he wanted, no one to tell him what to do or where to go. Just being responsible for himself and no one else. The freedom to go anywhere at the drop of a hat, especially when he felt like he was somewhere he shouldn't be.
He could see so much of his younger self in Kate it made him proud of how far he had come, it was hard not to sympathize with the girl. Even though that and his empathetic abilities were not things he was renowned for. He would wonder if this is what Ollie felt like when he came across a much younger Roy one day.
All he received was a confused look from the quiet girl, she barely said anything. Ever. So he didn't know why he was even trying to talk to her when he knew she wouldn't respond.
"I used to go to this building right in the middle of the Glade, the padlock on the fire escape ladder was broken and whoever owned the building didn't care to fix it. I would climb to the roof and just sit on the ledge. Look out over the glade, home." Roy tossed out onto the floor, pushing off the table and grabbing his water bottle. Taking a drink while watching Kate as she took in his words, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip in deep thought. Weary eyes darting between him and the bow in her hands, fingers mindlessly playing with the bow string's tension.
Roy waited for a second as the girl went to open her mouth but though better of it and her teeth clicked with the force of her jaw snapping shut. Roy sighed and picked up his bow again, going back to his spot next to Kate at the shooting range. The targets set up at variable distances away.
Just as Roy pulled back his ears picked up the whispery voice of the girl next to him, "There was this warehouse on the docks, condemned, a faded sign painted on the side of it "Phil's" something. There's a secret spot to climb up to the top, I think it used to be an office. The wall was busted but it looked out over the harbor, it was pretty. Quiet."
Roy released his arrow, not needing to look to know it sunk into the center. His eyes turning back to Kate knowing exactly what warehouse she was talking about. It was a hub for druggies and street kids, sometimes those two descriptors crossing over.
"Don't let Oliver see you holding that bow like that, he may just have a heart attack," Roy chuckled, taking a breathe before motioning her over to the wall next to them which held Roy and Oliver's bows from their respective career's as hero's. Roy grabbing one from when he was about ten and handing it to Kate, trading it for the one she had. Roy hanging it up and then motioning her over to the lanes again. Careful not to touch her even in passing. "Watch me."
Roy's feet found the holds on the drainpipe, the brackets complying with his use of them with a loud groan. The pieces of metal holding on by the last threads of their rusty screws. Pulling himself up to the hole in the side of the building was easy, Kate wasn't here, yet. So, he used to the time he had to take in the space. A pile of moldy blankets lay over a broken pallet bed in the far corner. Kate's backpack sitting at the foot of it. A desk that had seen better day pushed into the middle of the room, the chair looking like it was one person sitting in it away from collapsing. Papers, debris, and leaves littering the floor.
Roy heard the creak of the pipe's brackets and hid in the shadows.
Kate had no luck that night trying to find something to eat, her time with Ollie and Dinah had been brief but it had ruined her ability to stomach anything from a trashcan. Kate struggled to pull herself up, her muscles tired. And if she was honest so was her brain, the feeling of every safety net Dinah and her had worked so hard to put up had imploded. Leaving her in a state of fight or flight and as the one person who was threatening her spot wasn't there for her to fight she only had one option left.
The girl paused laying on her side on the ground after pulling herself fully inside her sanctuary, taking a breath. Rolling onto her back in a flash, her pocketknife flying from her fingers. The older red head cursing and stepping into the moonlight, the knife's handle held in his hand. Knuckles white around the grip.
Roy had to take a breath to calm himself, anger was not going to help the situation.
"You were right about the view, it's nice." Roy closed her pocket knife and tossed it back to her. The girl scrambling to grab it and get up on her feet. Her blonde hair messy and tangled around her dirty face. She didn't say anything, but the message in her eyes was clear.
She wasn't coming back.
Roy huffed and slowly walked closer to her, leaning against the rotting desk and crossing his arms over his stomach loosely.
"You have a lot of people worried about you." Roy tried again, raising an eyebrow when Kate huffed, crossing her own arms tightly across her middle and turning to the view to escape his eyes.
"What do you want?"
"Did you get the book?" Roy asked, pushing off the desk and sitting on the crumbling edge, motioning Kate to do the same.
Kate huffed loudly and sat beside him with a plop, "What do you want, Roy?"
"Already answered."
"Liar." Kate scoffed. Roy chuckling at the accusation, leaning back on his hands as a gentle harbor breeze blew past them.
"Oh? How so?" He raised an eyebrow. Kate tensed up and pulled her knees into her chest, arms stiff, bitten down nails digging into her shins.
Roy's eyebrows drew in and he sat forward, trying to find her eyes but she evaded him. Tucking farther into herself and turning away.
"....Nevermind." She couldn't tell him, no matter how much she wanted to, because that would probably hurt him worse than it did her. And as much as she told herself she hated him, she couldn't kick him while he was down, while he was building himself back up from the looks of it. She had had that happen to her too many times for her to ever do that to someone else.
"Kate-" Roy tried but Kate wasn't having it.
"You look good. I see solo work has been treating you well." Kate tempted a glance over her shoulder, the older boy seeing in better detail the bruise that was forming on her cheek bone and temple.
"You could say that." Roy agreed neutrally, looking out at the view. Hands clenching behind him. "You need to go home-"
"I am home." Kate cut him off again and Roy huffed.
"This isn't your home anymore-"
"This has always been my home, I was stupid to ever let myself think any different." Kate shot up, pacing back over to the desk. Putting space between her and Roy. Roy stayed sitting, letting the girl have the power position, she needed the false safety more than he did. He wasn't going to get through to her this way.
"I ran away too, more times than I could count, I always came back though." Kate's attention was peaked and Roy leaned back against the stone wall. Loose bricks wiggling against his spine in a warning.
"Why?"
"It wasn't for Ollie's cooking I'll tell you that." Roy tried and got a small smile and a breathy laugh from the girl. The girl quickly correcting her composure though and tensing up once again. Roy sighed and stood, coming to the other side of the desk and leaning on his hands. The wood giving it's protest that was promptly ignored.
"I know how hard it is to stay." Roy continued, "Stay in the nice bed and full pantry. I went through it too with them," Kate stilled, her nails picking at the skin on her fingers, "Probably worse then you are now. I know how hard it is to stay in such a nice place, when all you've known is bad. The anxiety, the fear, the feeling like the other shoe is gonna drop at any second and they'll turn on you." Roy pushed off the desk, running a hand down his face before stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets. "I know how you're feeling right now. But I always came back, just like I know you will."
"Yeah? You sure about that?" Kate's voice was soft, filled with too much air to keep up her façade of anger.
"Yeah." Roy nodded.
"How?" Kate fully turned to him and in the soft moonlight he could finally see how much damage and scuffs she had taken in the almost two days she had been on the streets. Long blonde hair and silvery eyes morphing into red hair and bright blue as a younger version of himself appeared in front of him. Blinking harshly made the mini-him go away, but Kate remained, guarded and upset.
Scared.
"Because we're a lot alike you and me. That's how." Roy puffed out his chest and Kate scoffed. Her eyes taking on a malicious glint for a split second.
"We both run away." Her words came out with a bite he wasn't expecting, but probably should have.
"I didn't run away-" Roy tried and failed.
"Yes, you did." Kate solidified and Roy hung his head for a second before looking back at Kate.
"I left. For good reason. That's different than running away." He tried to justify but just like he could see through Kate, Kate could see through him.
"You missed dinner." The breath paused in Roy's chest as the hurt filled Kate's eyes. He never meant to hurt her, he just couldn't be around Oliver and Dinah. Not after they betrayed him the way they did, lying to him and making him believe he was getting inducted into the league. He had put in the work and in his mind he was ready. But, to Oliver, he was always going to be that kid he picked up in an alley in the Glade. Malnourished and desperate. Angry.
Scared.
Oliver was never going to see him as his own hero. If he had stayed he would have always been Green Arrows Side kick that no one could remember the name of. He had worked too hard to be just Speedy.
"Those people aren't my family anymore." He spit, his anger getting the better of him in the moment.
"What about me huh?" Kate tried to hide how her voice broke, but there was no hiding how her eyes stung and nose burned.
Roy sighed, kicking the ground and throwing his eyes to the side, away from Kate to give her some kind of privacy. Clicking his tongue as she sniffled and harshly rubbed at her nose, he spoke, "The fact of the matter is that you have a choice to make. Clock's ticking."
Roy didn't wait for a response before he was walking to the edge of the room he had climbed through and stepping off.
~~*~~
"Shit." Kate cursed, dragging her hands through her hair as she started pacing behind the desk, already bitten down nails meeting her lips. Teeth sinking into the skin on her thumb, eyeing the floor with intense eyes. Eyes that looked more silver in the moonlight than blue.
Thoughts racing through her head a million miles a second as her brain fully processed the conversation she had just had with Roy.
Her heart was racing in her chest and the tears she had tried to keep at bay while Roy was here came back with a vengeance. Overflowing silently as she sunk to the ground, hands clapping around her mouth as her breath through her nose stuttered.
She wanted to curse Dinah and Oliver, like Roy had. She tried to be angry, she really did. But she just couldn't. Not when she was so sad. So hurt. So tired.
A crack of thunder shook her, sending her back into the wall by the door that lead to a staircase down to the main level of the warehouse where a handful of other homeless were camped out. The door's hinges rusted shut to a degree that it wouldn't open from either direction.
"Dinah..." Kate knocked softly on the woman's door, her voice quiet but not as quiet as it was before. Progress. Seeing the woman sound asleep Kate sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. Her eyes showing the anxiety she felt and tried to hide.
The crack of thunder and pounding of the rain getting louder suddenly causing her to yelp and rush into the room, past the invisible boundary Kate had set up in her mind. Dinah jolted awake when she felt the presence of another body on hers.
"Wha... Kate?" Dinah sluggishly put together, the younger girl seeming to try to disappear into the woman's back. Flinching when another roll of thunder sounded and Dinah, sleepy and half-awake, put it together. Huffing out a small chuckle and pushing the girl away slightly. Lifting the covers and letting the girl burrow into her sheets. Thin fingers finding the woman's wrist and holding on for dear life. "You're okay. I'm right here." Dinah whispered, laying a quick kiss to the girl's forehead before the girl lodged herself under her chin and into her collar bone.
Kate had never felt so... Safe. The thunder became background noise to Dinah's steady heartbeat in her ears. The pulse against her skin reminded her this was real. That she was really here, this wasn't some kind of sick dream that left salty tears on her lashes when she woke up. Dinah's finger's in her hair sent Kate to sleep faster than she had ever been able to fall asleep on her own. The warmth of the sheets and Dinah's body acting like a barrier, protecting her from the cold rain outside that used to soak her to the bone.
Safe. Warm. Loved.
Kate held her hand out past where the roof stopped and felt the icy daggers hit her skin, the girl gasping and stumbling back. With shaking hands Kate ran her palms over and over the outside of her jean covered thighs. Pupils dilating as her breaths picked up. Her hands reaching up to her hair and grasping at the roots painfully.
"Shit. Shit. Shit." Kate breathed harshly, "What did you do?"
Kate swallowed hard, looking around in panic, her hands back by her sides and jerking. Needing to do something but she didn't know what until they were reaching out on their own and pushing off everything on the old desk to the floor. A scream trapped in her throat as her mind raced.
She had stepped in it now. She left. Ran away from the only family she had left. From the only people who had ever wanted to help her. Who had ever treated her kindly. And she essentially spit in their face.
She had been MIA for almost two days, the team had to be wondering where she was. Surely people had noticed Goldfinch was missing from Canary's side, if Dinah had even gone out.
Goldfinch.
Dinah.
Oliver.
The Team.
Kate continued to curse as she kicked the desk over and over. Throwing the chair out the hole in the wall and listening to the shattering of stale plastic, the sound shredding her chest as her knees gave out. Crouching down Kate tried to control her breathing in the way Dinah had taught her but remembering only hurt more. Falling back Kate threw her head back repeatedly against the desk behind her.
She ruined things. Like she always does.
She was so cold. Her whole body vibrating with her jilted breaths. The cold wind cutting through the room slicing into her skin and leaving red lines in its wake. All she wanted was to be back at Dinah's apartment – Their apartment – she wanted to go home. With her cheap desk and bookshelf and Dinah. But she messed that up. Like she always does.
The room started to shrink, and Kate knew it was in her head, this wasn't Alice in wonderland. Even though she did feel more than a little lost in this moment, she couldn't be here. This wasn't right. In a haze Kate took off on autopilot. Grabbing her backpack and throwing up her hood before climbing down the drainpipe. Not knowing where she was going, just letting her feet take her to a place that didn't currently make her feel like she had a million pounds sitting on her chest.
She walked and walked and walked until she found herself outside the door of the apartment she had called home for the last months. Her brain screaming at her to run, why did she feel like she was dying? But her body betrayed her, hand knocking before she could stop herself. Blank stare forward as the door was ripped open. Ice water dripping down every inch of exposed skin, her shoes soaked and covered in mud, hair plastered to her face, clothes sticking to her skin like glue, and shaking like a leaf.
That was how she stood in front of the woman who had been nothing but good to her, mouth refusing to move. Tongue frozen. But Dinah knew, or she just didn't care. Kate had been expecting to get yelled at, hit, kicked, pushed away, told to never come back. But her brain knew that wasn't right, deep down, because Dinah wasn't everyone else.
The proof being just how in a split second of their eyes meeting, Dinah understood, without words. Her arms suddenly around Kate like steel cables, a hand on the back of her head, keeping her close to the woman. As if Dinah needed to make sure Kate wasn't a figment of her imagination.
The older woman held on for a long time and Kate didn't protest. Her arms coming up to grip the bottom of Dinah's shirt, which Kate recognized as one of Ollie's. The dark green carrying the scent of his cologne mixing with the smell of Dinah's shampoo to create a bubble of warmth around Kate. Of safety.
It was only then that Kate started to register that Dinah was saying something.
"Thank god you're okay, I was so worried. Are you okay?" That's when Dinah decided to pull away slightly, not far, just enough to grab the girl's face in her hands, hissing at the icy temperature her warms palms were met with. Her thumb running over Kate's cheek bone, her bruise more noticeable now that some time had set in for it to settle. Fingers finding the one on her temple and the self-inflicted wounds on her hands. Dinah looked as out of it as Kate did and guilt ate Kate alive from the inside.
She did that. She made Dinah worry. What was wrong with her?
"I'm sorr-"
"Shhh." Dinah stopped her gently, wrapping a strong arm around her shoulders and pulling her inside, it's only then that Kate noticed Dinah was shaking. Just as bad, if not worse, then her right now. "Let's get you a warm shower and some food yeah?" Dinah brushed over what she knew they needed to talk about. Too shaken herself to even dream of being composed right now. "Oliver!" She called as they passed the threshold of the apartment.
Heavy footsteps filled the tense silence of the space, and the disheveled man came stumbling into view. His hair messy as if he had been running his hands through it too many times.
"K-Kate?" He stuttered, taking harsh, jerky steps until his stride lengthened and his arms were around her and Dinah. His shoulders falling noticeably as if all the stress fell out of his body through his shoes and disappeared into the floor. "Thank god."
When Kate's temperature finally registered to the man he pulled away with wide eyes, lifting the back of his hand. Kate couldn't help the flinch as he went to put his hand on her forehead, Ollie reacted as if he had been struck, taking a step back, his words cutting off as half spoken apologies tried to finish themselves.
"I'm- I didn't mean to- you're freezing," He cut his eyes to Dinah, "She's freezing." The woman just nodded, asking the man to go and run the shower as warm as it could go. Her arm still tightly around Kate's shoulders. Manicured nails digging into Kate's jacket as if Dinah just held tight enough Kate would never leave again.
Most people would probably find it suffocating, or controlling, or just claustrophobic, but it's exactly what Kate needed to start to come out of her anxiety and panic induced haze. Dinah was holding her close. Not pushing her away. Not screaming or cussing at her or calling her horrible names and hitting her. She was holding on for dear life.
She was holding on.
~~*~~
After a scalding shower and some pizza Kate was sat in her bed under her covers, her comforter pulled up to her chin. Dinah and Oliver on either side of her, not touching her but just existing in the same space after such an exhausting night. All three emotionally tapped out and frazzled, but at peace knowing that they were where they needed to be. That they were where they belonged.
Kate timidly reached out, grabbing Dinah's hand and putting on top of her hair, and linking her fingers with Oliver's hand closest to her. The woman getting the memo and almost breathing out a sigh of relief. Needing the touch to remind her this was real. That this wasn't a dream that was going to leave her waking up with salty tears on her lashes. Kate was back, she was safe.
Everything was going to be okay.
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A/N: A really long one for you guys only mildly edited, kind of filler, kind of not. But I hope you enjoyed it, the next chapter should be coming out soon!
Lots of love ~ Your Author <3