Second Chances: Artemis

Chapter 23

"Hey, you ready for this?" Roy asked as he and Thea stood to the side of her new campaign office, since today she was officially announcing her candidacy for mayor of San Francisco, since while she'd already filed all the paperwork and done everything like that, now she just had to announce it. She just hoped that the people would accept her since she hadn't been born or grown up in San Francisco, but she had spent the past few years integrating herself into the city's political structure, though still, she was nervous, since honestly, she was worried about the skeletons her opponents might find, since before Diana had found her, she'd been even bigger party girl than Oliver had been a party boy. Fortunately, she'd never done drugs in this reality, she was still worried that someone would dig up her past.

"Only because it's too late for me to back out of it now." Thea said, much to Roy's shock.

"Wait, are you seriously feeling nervous?" Roy asked.

"Roy, I'm serious." Thea said.

"So am I. Thea, I've watched you fight a literal god without breaking a sweat, but you're nervous about entering a mayoral race?" Roy asked.

"Roy, that was different. Fighting crazed lunatics is something I'm good at, something I've had a lot of practice with. Being a mayor is something else entirely." Thea said.

"And you've already got experience with that for when you were the one who ran Star City for Oliver when he was mayor." Roy reminded her.

"And sometimes that caused me to cross some lines. I mean actually got Felicity to hack and incriminate an innocent woman's reputation." Thea said.

"You did that to protect Oliver's secret. And because you never liked Susan Williams to begin with." Roy reminded her.

"Still. And there's also the fact that I was never able to hire a decent district attorney, since the one I selected was a psychopath." Thea said.

"Not even Oliver knew about Chase and if anyone should know when someone's living a secret life it's him." Roy said.

"I don't know." Thea said, only to have Roy grab her hands.

"Thea, no one is going to be a better mayor than you. And remember, no one is looking for someone perfect, if that were a requirement, Oliver never would've become mayor. But you genuinely care about and want to help the people of this city. You've already proven that as Artemis. Now it's time to start saving this city as Thea Queen and thanks to me, you'll have access to Argus level debriefs for all of your staff." Roy reminded her and Thea smiled as she kissed him.

"I love you. Thank you for reminding me of why I'm doing this." Thea said and Roy smiled.

"My pleasure. Now go let the competition know they don't stand a chance against you. You're gonna be the next mayor of San Francisco." Roy said and Thea grinned as she straightened out the suit she was wearing before heading over to wear they'd set up the press conference in front of a huge poster that read Queen for Mayor and she saw the press had gathered like the vultures they were. One good thing about her upbringing in both realities was that she was very used to cameras flashing in her face every second of every day and she knew how to deal with them. Though she was happy to see that Donna was one of the photographers present.

"Thank you all for coming out here today and while I know you can all read the poster behind me, I called this press conference to officially announce my candidacy to be the next mayor San Francisco. I know that I wasn't born in this city, but for the past 3 years I have called it home and I have done everything I could to help this city. I know that I don't have the traditional political background as other candidates, but I think that's what sets me apart, since that means that I'm not just interested in poll numbers. I've actually spent time in the city, I see its citizens as actual people, not just as numbers. Over the past three years, I have watched as our streets are terrorized by countless gangs and criminals and while our local heroes, the Titans, help out as much as they can, we can't depend on them to protect us from everything. Coming from Star City, I know what it's like to live in fear of criminals and that is not the kind of future our children should have to live in. Especially since I know what it's like to lose family, since five years ago, my father died and my brother disappeared. While I was fortunate enough to get my brother back, I have had to learn to deal with the grief of my father's passing and I don't want anyone else to have to go through this themselves. I want to create a better, brighter tomorrow for our city. One where this city is united." Thea said as she finished her speech and then opened the floor up to questions.