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Chapter Text

It was a mission gone wrong.   It had suppose to be two months, tops. As Justice League members he had known the risks, they both did.   She cursed the others for asking him to go on it, and she cursed him for agreeing to go on that intergalactic mission.

They had needed an archer.   Roy wasn't formally part of the League anymore, he had left it short months after joining.   He also was making up for lost time with Lian and Jade, there was no way he would have agreed to go.   There had been no way Artemis was going.   She wasn't about to leave Wally for two months, not when he had just gotten out of the Speed Force after over a year and they had been married for less than half a year.   Arsenal was too much of a liability to send on a League mission, not to mention he wasn't even part of the Team, was currently ignoring everybody, and probably would have laughed in their face if asked if he wanted to go on it.   Mia, since she only had two years of being Arrowette, was too inexperienced.

At the end of the day, no one else possibly could have gone.  He had trained the others, raised most of them too.   He had seventeen years of experience.  He was also the only one who was actually part of the League, Artemis and Mia were part of the Team, and the boys weren't part of any of it.   He really had been the only option.  It never meant she liked it.

And now he was gone.

The League had lost contact when the ship was forced into a battle.   A shot was coming towards the ship, and they had lost contact.  The line had gone dead.   Likely from something destroying the ship.   The League had had no contact since.

He was presumed dead, as were the other Leaguers on that ill-fated mission.

And she was on Earth.

Alone.

Chapter Text

Four years.

Four years.

That was how long he had been gone.   That long since he had been in Star City.  That long since he had seen the former protégés who were the closest thing to children of his own that he had.   That long since he had been anything besides a man too far from home.   And most all, that long since he had seen her, his wife, his love, his Prettybird, Dinah Queen.

He looked around at the inside of the spaceship, at the other two who had been lost in space with him.   They had stuck together through the arduous journey back to League space.   They had fought, stolen away, bribed, begged, and worked their butts to get home.

It had been long, but if he could see the people that he loved again, it would be worth it.

He gazed out the window of Hal's  ring created spacecraft, into the oblivion.   Hal , John, Clark, J'onn, and Diana had come to retrieve the three of them.   They were obviously shocked to see the three Leaguers alive.   His heart sank with the thought that Dinah had had to live with the belief he was dead for the last four years.

His head jerked up as something entered his peripheral vision.   Something blue.   Yes, it looked like a blue and green marble.

Earth.

It was the most beautiful thing he had seen in four years, and wasn't likely to be surpassed until he saw Dinah again.  

The ship docked at The Watchtower.   He and the other two were whisked off for medical examination.   It was apparent that he had nothing significantly wrong, so he was released.   As he left the Medbay, Batman stepped out of the shadows, "I have something to tell you".

Oliver jumped.   He frowned at the Bat, "What?  No 'welcome back'?   No 'glad you aren't dead'?"

Batman glared at him.   Oliver rolled his eyes, "Fine.   What?   And make it short would you?   I need to find my wife."

"You won't find her up here."

"What?!" Oliver looked sharply at the Bat.   What the hell did he mean by his previous statement?!

"You won't find her up here because she left the League."   Batman's face was as stoic as ever.

"When?"   She had left the League?!   She loved being part of the League.   She had joined as soon as she could, at eighteen. Dinah never would have left the League.

Would she?

"She left less than a month after your disappearance."

Was it connected to him?   Had his apparent death caused her to leave the League?

"No one has seen or heard from Black Canary since then, " continued Batman.

Now that got his attention.

Leaving the League.   Maybe, she would have done that.   But quitting  being a hero entirely?  Never. It was in her blood, her mom had been the original Black Canary.   Dinah loved being a hero. Sure, she enjoyed other things, like floristry. But crime fighting was her passion.

"No one?" growled Oliver.

"No one," confirmed Batman.   "And no one has heard Dinah Queen either."

Oliver was aghast at that.   "That sounds more like she's missing then she quit."

He turned, done with the conversation, and headed for the Zeta-Tubes.   He needed to talk to Roy or Artemis, Batman couldn't be telling the whole truth.

Could he?

Chapter Text

Oliver zetad to Star City.   It was home turf.   A home he hadn't seen in four years.   He needed to see it, just to prove that something was the same.   It was also a likely place to be able to find at least one of his kids.   When he had left, it had been Mia living there as a part-time college freshman, part-time superhero, Arrowette.

She was probably the one he had messed up the least while teaching her.   But that bar was pretty low considering he had:

-Lost the first one to Luthor and Cadmus

-Believed he had found Roy and raised his clone instead

-Not noticed Roy was a clone for three years

-Not found the original for eight years (and Roy was the one who actually found and rescued him) 

-Let Roy become obsessive over finding the original

-Letting Roy, the original one, stew in anger (leading to the endangerment of the Team) 

           -[Batman had nearly had his head for that one]

-Artemis faking her own death

-Roy marrying an assassin

Yep.

The bar was low.

He just hoped Mia was still in town.

He found the nearest of the safe houses used by the Arrows.   The fact that it was clearly still in use meant someone was still in town.   He used the computer to find Mia's current residence.   As it turned out, it was the same place he and Dinah had helped her move into four years ago.   Time to go reveal that he wasn't dead.

The car parked out front was different  than it had been four years ago.   She had insisted in paying for her own car, rather than let Oliver and Dinah give her one.   It had been a old blue Buick.   That beat up old thing had clearly been replaced by a newer Toyota.   It was clearly Mia's, who else would hang a red bow and arrow from the mirror?  Chuckling that she still had that old thing, a gift for passing her drivers test, Oliver made his way up to his daughter's apartment.   

He could hear music emanating from the apartment, hopefully that was a sign she was home.    He knocked on the door, and he could hear someone getting up to get the door.   The lock could be heard, scraping back, and the door opened to reveal a woman with blond hair pulled up in a ponytail, who said, "Hello?"

Then she realized who was standing on her doorstep, her blue eyes widening in shock, and Mia cried out, "Ollie?!"

Oliver smirked, "Hello Mia."

She gapped at him, "Your alive?!   How are you alive?!   We all thought you were dead!   Where on Earth have you been?!"

"Not on Earth, obviously.   And should your neighbors really be hearing this, kid?" he asked her.

She smacked her hand to her forehead, muttering "You idiot," to herself, and then to Oliver, "Get in here."

He entered the apartment, and Mia closed the door behind him.   Then she turned to him, threw her arms around him, saying, "God I missed you, Dad." Then asking, "Who else knows you're alive?" 

He sighed "Only part of the League.   I was rescued earlier today."

Her face contorted in fury as she said, "And clearly no one thought the Roys, Artemis, or I should know that our dad was alive!" She raged over to her computer, probably to complain to the League, or possible to e-mail her siblings.

"Mia"

Her head jerked towards him, "What, Dad?"

"Where's Dinah?"

Her hands froze, mid-type.   She gave him a look, somewhere between nervousness and sadness.   "Dad", she began.   "She left."

He gave her a look of complete confusion.  "Why?"

Mia bit her lip, a nervous habit of hers'. She sighed lightly, looking him straight in the eye as she said, dejectedly, "We don't know."

She turned back to her computer, leaving him to stew in his thoughts.   And stew he did.

How? That was his main question, that and why?   Why had she left everything behind?   How had she left it all behind, being a hero,  being part of their family?

"Done."

He glanced at her as she triumphantly said, "I sent a notice to everyone in the family.   I even managed to get one to the one-armed git who thinks, incorrectly of course, that he isn't part of this family."

"How'd your track him down?" he asked her.

In response, she shrugged, "I tracked him down, oh about two years back.   I didn't let him disappear again.   Also, despite his response of 'Why should I care that  the old jerk is back?', I'm confident that he'll show up.   He cares, in spite what he says."    With that she went back to her computer, probably sending that rant to the JLA now.

Oliver raised an eyebrow at her.    He didn't doubt that she had contact with 'the one armed git', as she had so elegantly put it.   But him actually showing up, not likely.

He continued to ponder the differences, yet similarities of his kids.    What a crazy bunch.    A one-armed, former archer with a gun disguised as a arm.   A clone of the first with anger issues, and an assassin for a wife.    The younger sister of the assassin, with a con and a ex-con as parents, who was married to a speedster.   And a former street kid, who somehow held the entire family together, well almost the entire family.

He was saved from that train of thought by the knock on the door.   Mia shot up, "That's probably Roy."    She flung open the door, to reveal an irritated Roy Harper holding the hand of a little girl.  

"What is so terribly important that I had to come this instant?" he demanded.   "I need to drop off Lian at her friends, so what is so terribly important?" 

Mia pointed.   Roy looked at who she was pointing at, and his jaw dropped."Ollie?!"

Chapter Text

Mia pointed. Roy looked at who she was pointing at, and his jaw dropped.

"Ollie?!"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Oliver nodded to his son, "Yep.   It's good to see you Roy."

Roy was still staring slack-jawed at him, "You're dead, you died four years ago."

"Nope," said Oliver shaking his head.   "The League just assumed we were dead when we were shot down, the ship was wrecked."

"Daddy."

The three adults shifted their attention to the young, red haired girl.

"Who is he?" Lian asked innocently.

"Lian", said Roy, lifting the six year old up.   "This is Oliver, your grandfather.   Remember?   Come on Lian, you've seen pictures of him."   He regarded Oliver, and realized that, "But I guess he looks different with a full beard instead of his goatee."

The little girl looked surprised as she remembered, "Oh."

"Yeah, oh.   I knew something was different," teased Mia.

There was a gust of wind , and the partially open door blew open.   They all looked over, and Lian cried, "Auntie Arty!"

The said Auntie whacked the red haired man standing next to her, causing him to protest, "What did I do, babe?"

"Running in public, really Baywatch!   You are lucky we weren't seen!   And lucky Cynthia didn't fall behind!" exclaimed the blond.

He opened his mouth, and shut it again. "You okay Cynth?" he asked cautiously to a young red haired girl standing beside him.

"Can we do that again?   Please?" the girl begged with grin.

Artemis frowned at her.  " There is no way am I going to be letting you do that again for at least another seven years."

Yep.   The Wests had arrived, with a kid.

Artemis turned to face Mia, "You called?   Care to explain?"

"Well, Ollie's alive."

She turned and gave the same shocked look the others had given.

Oliver raised his hands up, "Yes, I'm alive.   Yes, I've been missing for four years.   Anything else need to be covered?" 

She reached and hugged him.

"Since it would be dumb for us to keep hanging around the door, how about we all go inside.   And Artemis can help Dad figure out that he's got more than one grandkid." said Mia with a smirk.

"Wait, what?" asked Oliver.   The red-haired girl was obviously Artemis and Wally's, but Mia hadn't said granddaughter, she had said grandkid.

Shooting a glare at Mia, Artemis stepped in and retrieved a infant Oliver hadn't realized Wally was holding.  "Ollie, this is Will." The infant had blond hair and didn't seem to favor either of the parents.

"And this is Cynthia."   She gestured to the young girl.   In addition to red hair, the little girl had dark grey eyes, and looked a lot like Artemis.

"Hi", said the little girl.   "I'm Cynthia.   I'm almost four.  What's your name?"

"Well, Cynthia, I'm Oliver, and I guess I'm one of your grandfathers?" He directed the end towards Artemis.   She shrugged in response.

"Are you sure?   I don't think I have a granddad named Oliver." she said suspiciously.

"I'm an extra one." he deadpanned.

"Okay," she said, pacified with that answer.

"Hey, Cynthia."  Mia called out.   "How about you and Lian go find the dolls that are kept here?"

"Okay!"   The two girls cried out at the same time, and ran out of the room, Cynthia a blur of red with her older, and also red haired, cousin.

"Figures the two of you would have a kid who's a speedster," he joked.

"Yeah, she made me change all the diapers," said Wally in dismay.

"Well, it was entirely your fault," retorted Artemis.

"True.   Honestly though, I'm glad this little guy isn't."

Silence reigned, as they all just looked at each other. 

Roy shook his head, "I can't believe that you were actually alive, and that we didn't realize it."

"Well now you know how if feels to be abandoned"

Heads turned to see the newcomer in the door.   Sure enough, there was red haired man, with one arm standing in there.   "So you are alive.   Thought it might be a joke."   Roy had decided show up after all.

Oliver marveled at how much he had changed.   Four years ago, Roy never would have shown up here, not for family, and certainly not if they were meeting at Mia's house.   It was nice to see some things had changed, for the better.   "It's good to see you Roy."

Roy closed the door and leaned against the wall, rolling his eyes at his former mentor.   "Riiight.   And by the way, it's Royce."

Oliver looked at him in utter shock and confusion.

Roy--Royce shrugged.   "It gets annoying not knowing if someone is talking to him," he jerked his thumb towards his biologically older brother, "or to me," using his thumb to point at himself.

Oliver nodded.   Clearly his son had gotten over a clone 'taking his place', and moved on to forge his own life, seeing as he was now going by Royce.   He tilted his head to the side as he realized, "You know, this is the first time I've seen all of you in the same room at the same time."

His four kids glanced at each other, noticing that he was right. 

"Should leave and make it family only?"   Wally's joking was apparent.

"Since when were you not family?" Mia feigned being hurt.

That got laughter out of all of them, Royce even almost made a smile.

'If only Dinah were here too.'  Oliver felt his heart sink again at the thought.

The others noticed his fading spirit.   Roy looked at him questioningly.   "Something wrong, Ollie?"

Oliver sighed in small despair.   "Just wishing Dinah was here."

Faces grew solemn, thinking of the woman they held in a mother position.

"You don't happen to know where she is, do any of you?"

He watched as Mia closed her eyes, shaking her head.   He turned to Artemis and Wally.   Artemis's shoulders slumped in defeat, shaking her head, Wally shaking his along with Artemis.   Roy gritted his teeth in frustration, and shook his head once.  

They truly didn't know.   Maybe Batman was right...

"I do."

Oliver's head shot up at the sound of Royce's words.   Could he?   Could the one who had  always been the least connected to the rest of the family, know where their missing member was?

"I-I might, at least.   I'm not completely certain that it's her."   Royce was evidently conflicted over telling the rest of them.

"How long have you known this!?"   Roy was seething at his brother.   "Have you deliberately been withholding it!?   Some kind of revenge for us not finding you sooner!?"

"HEY!"   Royce leapt to his feet.   "I would be found a lot sooner if it hadn't been for YOU!"

"I was the one who found you!   If it wasn't for ME, YOU would have been stuck there way longer!   You might not have even been FOUND!"   This was heading for a fight.

"Oh, JUST QUIT IT ALREADY!"   Artemis was done with her brothers.   "Quit flinging  it in each others faces' already!   We have heard this same argument for the last five years!   So shut up, and sit down."

They sat down, still glaring at each other.   Maybe things weren't as completely resolved as Oliver had thought...

"Now," started Mia, trying to keep the peace.   "What was this about you knowing, or least having an idea, of where Mom is?"

Roy froze as the statement sunk in.   Clearly he was realizing that antagonizing the one person who had clue as to where the woman he regarded as Mom was, was not a good idea.

Royce looked straight at Oliver, drew in breath, and said,

"I think she's in Swanann City."

Chapter Text

He followed her out into the night.   She knew the city, he had to give her that.   She was being less cautious than she was earlier, he noted.   She had realized someone was following her early on, and so she had started using evasion tactics.   She was good too.   Even if she wasn't who he thought she was, he could see that she was good, very good in her skill set.   Someone with less skill than he would have lost her long ago.   He had backed off, following her from a greater distance.   This gave the illusion that she had lost him, and that gave him the advantage.   If she didn't think he was following, it would be easier to track her.  

She came to a residential area, carefully making her way around.   She pulled her hood down as she neared a backdoor to a house.   Blond.   Even more likely that it was her.    If she wasn't... no, he refused to even think about it.   It had to be her, she had to be her.  

What?   Had he pissed off  some powerful being four years ago?    

Why was this so hard?

Why?

Earlier...

Royce had insisted to going to Swanann City with Oliver.    Oliver enjoyed spending time with his son, but once they had established the general patrol of the vigilante he had informed him that he was doing the finding alone.

"What!?"  Royce was furious with him.   "Why!?   I've come this far with you!   If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have found her!   She's important to me too!   She's my mom."

Royce whisper the last part, Oliver barely hearing it, and he refused to look at Oliver.  

Oliver wished it could be different, but he knew that this was something that he had to do by himself, alone, without the help of his kids.   He had left that day four years past, so he had to be the one to bring her home. 

"Royce."

Royce turned away, deliberately refused to look at his dad.

"Look.   Royce, this is my fault.   If I hadn't gone and appeared to have died she wouldn't have left.   So-"

"But what if she had!   What if you hadn't gone and she had still left us!?   How do you know she hadn't planed to leave anyways!?"   Oliver could see Royce's eyes starting to tear up as he screamed at his father.

"She wouldn't have left!   And you know it!   Because if you knew her at all you would know that she never would have left!" Oliver shouted back.   In that moment, he was furious, beyond furious in fact.   Dinah had helped raise Royce!    How could he possibly be saying the things that he was saying!?

"But she DID!   She LEFT us!    We were all still grieving over you, and she left!   NO  goodbye!   NO warning!   NOTHING!   She LEFT!" Royce screamed.

He was crying .   He was never the one to cry, not Royce, not even as Roy, before everything had happened.   But he was now.  

And it broke Oliver's heart.

But what broke his heart most, was that he knew it was all his fault.

Completely.

He had left on that mission, causing Dinah, for whatever reason, to leave.   He had let Royce fall into Luthor's hands, all those years ago.  He had stopped looking, twice.   He had never found him.    He had allowed him to stray, wandering with no guidance, no help.  

He had abandoned him.

Completely, entirely, his fault.   All of it was.

"I left first."

Royce looked up, finally.

Oliver repeated himself.   "I left first."    He reached, putting his hands on his son's shoulders.   For the first time in a very long time, possibly for the first time ever, Royce didn't pull away.   In fact, he pulled Oliver closer, and the father embraced his son.

"You know I need to do this alone."

"Yeah," Royce sighed.

"She left because of me.   I need to be the one to bring her home."   He had to make this right.

"Be safe...Dad."

Oliver glanced at Royce.   He considered the man to be his son, but Royce had never indicated what he thought in return of Oliver.   Royce had never given even a minor sign, let alone calling him 'Dad'.

"Go.   Please.   Bring her back.   We won't admit it, none of us, ever, but we need her."  While Royce was always raw, usually with anger, Oliver wasn't used to him being this exposed.   He guessed they all needed to be more open.   Just add it to list of changes needed, he supposed.

"I need her too."   He regarded his son.  "Now go, your siblings are waiting for an update."

With a glance back, Royce left the room.

Oliver got dressed, mentally preparing for what was to come.   He had always been like that, if he had a moment before doing something crazy, he took it to think and to prepare.   And this definitely counted as crazy.

He started following the vigilante about an hour later, as her route passed by where he was waiting, watching for her.   He followed, from a distance.   It was better view than he and Royce had previously had, never getting a clear look at the vigilante.   He could be certain that the vigilante was a woman.  He couldn't tell if it was Dinah though, she was dressed head to toe in black, with a hood covering her head.  

He followed her, watching for a clue, for a sign.   The acrobatics held no clear sign, nor the choice of patrol route.

He heard a scuffle ahead of them, and the vigilante had too.

It was a trio of would be robbers, who had dropped equipment while trying to break into a building through a window.   He watched as she sneaked up behind them, and, nocking one unconscious from her first attack, engaged the remaining two.

There!   The fighting style, that was it!   Dinah had always had her own unique style for fighting.   No one else he had ever met fought quite like her.   The kids on the Team, past and present, had adopted parts of her style from her teaching them, but no one fought exactly like her.   

But this vigilante, did.   Exactly like her.   It had to be Dinah.

The fight ended quick, the police showing up at the end.   Just before they possibly could have seen her, she leapt into the shadows.   Her quick movement through him off, and he inadvertently moved from his hiding spot.   She froze, realizing that there was someone else around.   She took off abruptly, and clearly realizing the possibility of someone following her, began to try to lose him.

She clearly had thought that she had lost him by the time she went into the residential area.   He watched hidden by a bush as she approached a small, unlit house.   He started to follow her, freezing as she paused.    He dared not even breathe, as she reached up and pulled down her hood.    By doing so, she unleashed a waterfall of wavy, golden blonde hair that he knew so well.    She continued to the house, her pause not caused by anything he had done.    She unlocked the door and stepped inside.    Before she went any farther, Oliver came up behind her.

"Don't move."

Chapter Text

"Don't Move"

She froze, and he heard her sharp intake of a breath.    She turned slowly, head moving first, then her shoulders, then her upper body, followed by her fully facing him.    The baby blue eyes he always got lost in, widening in shock.   Her hand reached up to cover the mouth, open in surprise, that he felt like kissing.    A stray lock had fallen from its spot of being tucked behind her ear.

She was even more beautiful than the last time he had seen her.

"Ollie?"    Her hand trailed down her face, coming to rest just below her neck.

All he wanted to do in that moment was to scoop her up in an embrace and kiss her to the end of time.   But here he was, bow drawn back, aimed at her.

She looked at him in disbelief.   "Your alive?"   Her voice was just above a whisper.

Furiously blinking to keep those tears back, he choked out, "Why did you leave, Dinah?"

She paused, lacking words, her eyes filled with a pleading sadness.   He was easing the bow back to its rest position, knowing it was just a waste of strength and energy keeping it drawn.

"Why?"

He watched as she squared her shoulders, drew herself up to her full height, drawing strength from within herself, and drew in breath to answer.

"Mommy?"

Dinah swiveled around, as Oliver shifted, looking over toward the voice.   As he watched, a little girl padded out of the shadows. 

She had golden waves with little ringlets framing her face.   She was dressed in light green pajamas, and clutched a teddy bear.   She couldn't be older than three or four.

"Mommy?   Who are you taking to?" She gave a small yawn and rubbed at her eye, looking up in confusion at the two adults standing in the entrance to the house. 

Dinah dropped down to the little girl's level.   "Sweetie, what are you doing up?"

"I heard you talking" Another small yawn.   "Who are you talking to?"

"I'll tell you in the morning okay?"   He could hear the smile in her voice.   "I need you to back to bed now."

The little girl's face screwed up with uncertainty, not wanting to leave her mother alone with the stranger.

"I'll come in to tuck you in again in a little bit," she promised the little girl.

In resignation, the little girl flung her arms around Dinah and then turned, melting into the shadows.   The soft sound of a door shutting was heard, and Dinah rose to face him again.    His bow was put up, a longing expression on his face.   Who was that little girl?   How did she connect to this mess that was now his life?

"Is it really you?"   Dinah reached out her hand to touch his face, pulling back, biting her lip, before she actually touched him.

"Yes."

Tears pooled in her eyes.   "I thought you were dead."

"Just lost in space."  

A soft smile graced her face, as she shook slightly, breath trembling.  

"Dinah.   Who is she?   That little girl, who is she?"   

Dinah stared at the floor, eventually raising her eyes to meet his.   Dinah's voice was so quiet he almost missed what she said.   "She's your daughter."

Disbelief raged, but it all made sense.

About three years old.   With wavy, blond hair.   Also reminding him of pictures of Dinah at a similar age.    'Just please,' he thought.  'Don't have named her Dinah.'   He didn't think he could handle a third Dinah, even with Dinah's mother being spelled Dina.

That was when it really sunk in.  

He had a daughter. 

Sure he thought of his protégés as his kids, several of them even called him Dad, but that little girl was his.   His and Dinah's.   Something, someone that they had created, just the two of them.

"What's her name?"

"Olivia."

He looked at Dinah in surprise.   He remembered suggesting the name Olivia, as a joke mostly, when a conversation had turned to the possibility of have kids beyond the ones they had adopted, but that had been years before he had left on that mission.

"It's the feminine form of your's.   How are you alive, Ollie?   The League... "  she trailed off.

"Got it wrong."   He reached up and pulled off his mask, his green eyes meeting her blue ones for the first time in too long, far too long.   "The ship was hit, and we crashed.   The ship was wrecked.  It took us until two weeks ago to even get back to League space.   Why did you leave without trace, Dinah?"

She refused look at him, "I should go check on Olivia."

"Dinah, please don't avoid this."  He reached to put a hand on her shoulder.

She pulled away, insisting that, "I need to go check on Olivia."   With that she walked out of the room.

She was avoiding talking about it, but this was not something he was going drop.   He seen the effect of her leaving had left on their other kids.   At least, she did think of them as hers.  

Didn't she? 

He followed her, pausing in the doorway into the room that was Olivia's.   In the room, he could see Dinah.   She was kneeling next to the bed, her hand brushing over the little girl's golden hair as she slept.   Dinah leaned in, and kissed Olivia's forehead.   She rose, looking back at the small form.   She didn't realize Oliver was standing in the doorway until she nearly ran into him.   They both took a step back after their near collision.

"Sorry," they both said at the same time.   Dinah smiled at him, with a small smile that he couldn't help but return.

"Ollie."

He gave her all of his attention as she started to speak.

"I know you want an explanation, and you deserve one too.   But, could it please wait till morning?"  She was begging in a way that he had never really been able to say no to.

"Sure."   It could wait till morning, but in the morning he was bringing Dinah and Olivia home.   He turned to leave through the door to outside that was still ajar.

"Wait."

He paused as she called out to him.

"Ollie, could you stay here?   I... I've been away from you for too long."

How could possibly he say no to the same sentiments that his heart screamed?

"Of course."

Chapter Text

Warmth.

That was the first thing to filter through her mind, in that early morning.   It was also distinctly not the warmth of waking up in warm blankets.   At least, not entirely, she could feel the presence of said blanket.   However, she could feel another source of heat, something behind her.   She pressed her back into what was not something, but some one, behind her.   Her eyes flew open.  

Who was sleeping in her bed with her?

She tried to twist around, but found that the other person in the bed had his arms wrapped around her.   She struggled around, and came face to face with Oliver Queen.   Memories of the previous night came flooding back.

He was alive.

She drank in the sight of him.   The darkness of the night hadn't allowed her to get a complete look at him.   He had a full beard now, and as much as she and the kids had enjoyed teasing him over his it, she had loved the look of that dorky goatee on him.   Not that the beard looked bad... but it another thing that had changed, however minor that it was.   She wondered what the kids would think of his absent goatee.   The kids... no she didn't want to think about them.   It hurt too much to think of them.  Especially since the hurt was her fault.

She dragged her thoughts back to Ollie, not that that involved too much dragging.   It was nice to be able to think of him without feeling like she was about burst into tears of grief.   She might cry with joy though, but that was better.   

There were newer, though faded, scars on his face and arms.    She disentangled one of her arms, and reach up to touch his face.   It just felt too good to be true, but here he was.  Her Robin Hood was back.

He stirred, his eyes opening to reveal those green eyes that she hadn't seen in over four years.  

Yet she had seen them every day for the last three years.   When Olivia was born, she had looked very much like Dinah.   Olivia looked so much like her, that Dinah had worried that Olivia wouldn't have any features that was obviously Ollie's.   Then one day, about six months after Olivia was born,  Dinah had picked up her sleeping daughter.  Olivia had begun to wake as soon as her mother had picked her up, and her eyes had opened then for a split second, giving a flash of green.   Dinah had frozen, disbelieving what she thought she had seen, but then Olivia  fully opened her eyes, blinking sleepily and giving a small yawn.    Dinah hadn't imagined it, Olivia eyes had settled.   And they had settled in the shade of green that Ollie's had been.   Or rather, were.

"Morning, Prettybird."

Her breath caught in her throat, it was the nick-name she had never expected to hear again.   Her breath was just going to keep getting caught and stolen away from her today, wasn't it? 

"Morning, Ollie."

Ollie seemed content to hold her, and as much as she simply wanted to lie there with him for the rest of the day, she knew that they had things to do.   It was a good thing she had today off from the store.   If she hadn't had it off, she would have been calling in to get it off.  

The first order of business, it appeared, was to disentangle herself.   Ollie eased his hold on her as he realized that she was getting up.   She walked over the chest of drawers, dug through a lower drawer, and threw the articles of clothing at Ollie.   She was choosing her own clothes to wear for the day as Ollie called out:

"Now I have to wonder what you were doing having my clothing in your possession."   She didn't have to see his face to know that he was joking.   She just rolled her eyes and ignored him.

She got dressed, and as she reached for her necklace, she paused.   Should she wear it?   She had worn it every day since he had appeared to have died... but he was back now, was it appropriate?   She made up her mind, slipping the chain over her head.

"I'm going to go get Olivia up," she called as she left the room. 

Olivia had insisted on dressing herself in her favourite outfit, which consisted of a green tee shirt and a knee length black skirt.   Olivia's favourite colour had always been green.   Dinah had the  opinion, which she hadn't shared with anyone, that the colour was something she had somehow inherited from Ollie.

"Who were you talking to last night?" Olivia asked.

Dinah smiled at her daughter's sharp mind, she certainly hadn't forgotten the promise made the night before.   "Olivia, you know you have a daddy, right?"

"Yeah.   Everyone does."

"Well," started Dinah.   "I was talking to your daddy last night."

"Really?"   Olivia looked in awe at her mother.

"And he's here to meet you."

"Really, Mommy?"

"Yep, he's waiting in the kitchen, right now."   Olivia grabbed her mommy's hand and pulled her towards the door.   As they neared the kitchen though, Olivia ducked behind Dinah.

"What is it Olivia?"

"What if he doesn't like me, is he gonna leave again?"

Dinah crouched down beside her, "He is going to love you.   Now come on."

Olivia trailed behind Dinah as they entered the kitchen.   Curiosity though, got the better of her.    As Ollie got up out of the chair he was sitting in, Olivia looked out from behind Dinah.

"Ollie, this is Olivia.   Olivia, this is your daddy."    Dinah watched as Ollie sank down to their daughter's level.  

"Hello, Olivia," said Ollie with a smile.

Olivia moved to beside Dinah, instead of hiding behind her.   The little girl pointed at Ollie's eyes, at her own, then back at his, in wonder.

Ollie grinned, "Yep.  We've got the same eyes, kid." 

"Like I got Mommy's hair?"

He nodded.   "Just like how you have your mommy's hair.

After breakfast, it was decided that the three of them would go to the park.   She had watched in amusement as Ollie had realized that Dinah was including him in the decision making.    Olivia had been ecstatic at the idea, as the little girl's favourite place to go was the park that was a few blocks from the house.  

They left the house with Olivia holding Dinah's hand, Ollie trailing a step behind them.    It felt kind of wrong to have him not walking beside them, but it was his choice.   They were about half way there when Olivia suddenly let go of her mommy's hand.   Dinah looked over in alarm, had she fallen?   Instead of her child possibly being hurt, Dinah watched in amazement at Olivia as she turned around and held out her hand to Ollie.  

Take her hand.   Please, take her hand Ollie.

"Please, d-daddy?"

Ollie froze at Olivia's unexpected action and words.   But he took the small hand in his own larger one.

Olivia beamed, and dragged him forward.   Ollie stumbled forward with the momentum of his daughter.    As Olivia run past, she grabbed her mommy's hand.   Dinah looked over at Ollie, and they shared a grin over their daughter's antics.    Laughter danced in Ollie's eyes.   It had been too long since the last time she seen that.  

She never wanted to be separated from him again.   It was time to start again, from the ashes of the past.    It was time to start healing.

Chapter Text

We return you to your scheduled programming of  Oliver's P.O.V.

Oliver hadn't intended to stay this long.    His original plan had been to meet Olivia, listen to Dinah's explanation for her disappearance, convince her to come back to Star City, and have his whole family united in Star City by the afternoon.    Yet here he was, still in Swanann City, and it was after seven in the evening.   Dinah hadn't even given her explanation yet!   In his heart though... it was worth it.    Spending time with his wife and the daughter he hadn't known existed until yesterday?   Priceless.   Having all twelve of them together would be even more so. (Was the family really that large!?   But that was including in-laws and grand kids, so it made some sense.)   Needless to say, he was a little anxious to get home, but it looked like it would have to wait till the next morning.

"Olivia, time for bed!"   Dinah called for the little girl, as 7:30 was her bedtime.

"Not without a story," Olivia come out of her room already wearing her pajamas.

Oliver's eyes widened and he covered his mouth with his hand to muffle a snicker.   

His daughter was wearing light green pajamas, that had arrow heads, that were a darker green, on them.

Dinah rolled her eye's at him.   "I'll have you know that she chose them solely on the colour."

"Then she has great tastes."   He was barely able to keep his laughter in check.

"And I have had no doubt in my mind that she inherited it from you."

He finally lost the battle over not laughing.   To his great appreciation, Dinah joined in.

"What's so funny?"   Olivia demanded.

"Nothing," her mommy waved her off.

Frowning, Olivia waited for her parents to turn their attention back to her.   "Daddy,  please read a story to me?"   She offered a book out to him.

"Sure, kid."   He took the book.   "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? , by Carmela Coyle.   Huh, sounds like a good one."

Olivia flashed a shy smile.   "It's my favourite."

"Well then, we'd best go read it."

Oliver held Olivia's hand as they walked back to her room.   Olivia snuggled under the blankets, as her daddy sat beside her, reading the story.   He glanced up at one point and had caught a smile from Dinah, who was standing in the doorway.   His beautiful Prettybird.

At the end of the story, Dinah came all the way in.   "Good night, Olivia," she said kissing the girl's forehead.  Oliver then leaned over and kissed his golden haired princess, also on the forehead.   "Night, Olivia."

"Good night, Mommy.   Good night, Daddy."

She was already half asleep as Dinah turned out the light and they left her room.

"Daddy?"

He had pulled the door almost all the way closed when she called out.   He reopened it, and saw her sitting straight up in the bed.   He asked, "What is it Olivia?"

She bit her lip, eyes wide, and whispered, "You aren't going to leave again, are you?"

He bit the edge of his own lip.   This was it, now was the time.

"Olivia."

She looked at him.   Her fears of being left were evident on her face.

"I am never going to leave you again."

Her face lit up, and she nodded before lying back down in her bed.   He shut the door softly.   Turning, he realized that Dinah was crying.   Had he just done something he shouldn't have?   A promise he couldn't keep, perhaps?

"Do you mean it?"   Her voice was soft.   "Do you really mean it?"

Her tears were not of anger or sadness, as he had feared, but of hope.

"Dinah."   He knelt down in front of his golden haired queen, taking her hand.   He looked up at her.   "I am never going to leave you again, either of you."

Conflicting emotions washed over her face.   Joy, of the moment.   Sadness, for the promise he could never fully keep.   Love, unbound.   Pain, of the past.   And most of all, Hope, for their future.

He rose, still holding her hand, and she pulled into a kiss.   It was sweet, and good for the first kiss they had shared in over four years.

He was the one to break it, whispering to her, "God, I've missed you, Prettybird."

"I've missed you, so much, Robin Hood."

He laughed softly.   "Still calling me that?"

"You're still running around with bows and quivers full of arrows."   She shot back at him, with a smirk.

They walked back down the hall. He hated to break their moment, but he needed to know.   "Dinah.   Why did you leave?"

She shot a hesitant glance at him, sinking down as she sat on the bed.   He leaned against the wall, waiting for her to speak.

"When the League told me that you were dead," she began, shakily.   "I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it.    Life without you, I had never felt that alone in my life."

Dinah wrapped her arms around herself.   "The League created a cover story of your jet crashing into the ocean, so the whole world knew that you were gone.   There was a public funeral, with all of those fake high class people pretending that they knew you.   The tabloids were living in the driveway... it was bad.

"And in the midst of it all I found out I was pregnant."

***************And we interrupt it again! ***************

*****Dinah's P.O.V.*****

She couldn't believe it.   She had to be wrong.   Why now?   Ollie was gone, why couldn't she had had a child when he was alive?  

A child.

Ollie's child.

Dinah pulled back the curtain of the window.   Yep, the tabloids were still there.   Once those vultures heard about the baby... she was never going to be out of the spotlight.   If this child  grew up here, that child was never going to be out of the spotlight.  

Could she live with that?

No.

She couldn't inflict that kind of torment on a child.

But what other options did she have?

'You could leave.'

She flinched at the thought, but it had wormed its way in.

If she left, she could start again without the spotlight.   She wouldn't live in a house haunted by the memories of her husband, her love, her Robin Hood.   If she left, she'd have to leave the kids... but they were grown.   Roy had his own family.   Artemis had Wally.   The other Roy clearly didn't want anything to do with the rest of the family, he hadn't even come to Ollie's funeral.    Mia... Mia was an adult, she had taken over being the primary archer of Star City when Ollie had left for space.   She was fine on her own, all of them were.   Dinah wasn't needed.

Now she was truly considering it.   But where could she go?  

She glanced at a map near by her.   A city caught her eye.  

Swanann City...

Dinah Lancer.

She tried to keep it close to her original name, but she doubted anyone would connect the florist Dinah Lancer with Dinah Queen, who had disappeared into the night a month after her husband's death.   Not to mention Dinah Queen had no children, while Dinah Lancer was going to have one sometime in February.

She been hired by a local florist shop, 'Flora and Fauna's'.    The owner, Sandra Colter,  who didn't even know anyone named Flora or Fauna, had only asked Dinah one question when she offered her the job.    "Is he in the picture?" 

Dinah had hesitated, not responding to the older woman's question.

Sandra sighed, "I watched my sister go it alone too.   Word of advice: have friends to support ya, it is not going to be easy."

It had been Sandra who had been there when Olivia was born.   

Olivia Dina Lancer.   Dinah wished she could have given her the last name of Queen, but then there would have been questions.   It had been suspicious enough to put Ollie's name as the father.

Olivia grew up with Sandra as an aunt of sorts.   "That little girl sure looks like you.   Well, 'cept for her eyes."

"I  know."

"Her eyes are your favourite feature, aren't they?"

"Yeah."

*****Oliver's P.O.V.*****

"And I've been here ever since."

Her eyes were downcast, and she played with her necklace.

"Dinah."

She looked up for the first time since she had started talking.   Her eyes were two pools of grief and remorse.   He sat down beside her.

"I get it.   You did what you felt needed to do.    And Olivia is better off for it.   I grew up in that spotlight, it does nothing good.   It took me falling off my own boat to recover from it."

He wrapped his arms around her, and she leaned her head on his shoulder.    He ran his fingers through her hair, wondering when was the last time they had just done something as simple as this.    She kept fiddling with the necklace she was wearing.   He didn't realize what it was until the light caught it.

It was her rings.

He gently took the chain out of her hand.   It was diamond ring and the golden band that he had the match to.   He pulled his out of his pocket and held it beside hers.

"You put yours on a necklace?"

Dinah shifted beside him and whispered, "It was the best way to keep you close without actually wearing them."

Oliver reached for the necklace, asking, "May I?"

She nodded, and he lifted it over head.   He then undid the clasp, removing the rings from the necklace.    He knelt in front of her, holding the rings.   She held out her left hand to him.   He took it, slipping the rings on to Dinah's hand for the second time in his life.   He kissed the ring, as he had done years earlier when she had agreed to marry him.

She held her hand out to him, palm up.   He realized what she wanted, and placed his own ring in her hand.   She took it and slipped it on to his left hand.  

"I love you."

Chapter Text

He woke up facing her.

The sun was just rising, casting streaks of light through her golden hair, creating a halo.   His arms were still wrapped around her.   Her face was that of an ethereal being's, angelic.   She was gorgeous no matter what, but if he caught it just right in the early morning before she woke... that was a special kind of beautiful.   He could have waited there, holding her in his arms forever; waiting for those baby-blue eyes.

Her eyes flicker open, giving a teasing glimpse.   She gave a sleepy smile, eyes half open.   So he leaned in and kissed her.   "Good morning, Prettybird."

"Morning."   She snuggled closer to him, but then she looked at the clock.   "Best to be getting up."

"Why?"   He had no interest in moving.

"Do you want your daughter wandering in here?"   Dinah stared at him in disbelief.

"Does it matter?"

"That's it!"   She pulled herself out of the embrace of his arms and the blanket.    She walked over to the drawers and threw clothes at him.   "Get.   Up."

He smirked.   "One really has to wonder why you have my clothes."

"Just get up!"

*****Dinah's P.O.V.*****

That evening, Olivia wasn't too fond of the idea of taking a bath, but Dinah eventually wrangled her into the tub with the promise of bubble bath.   Dinah had dried Olivia off and was in the process of redressing her, when Ollie stuck his head in.

"Call for you," he said, holding up her ringing phone.   "From... Sandra Colter," glancing at the screen.

"She's from my work," she said, standing up.   "Could you finish changing Olivia?"

"Sure," he said, as Dinah took the phone.   Olivia protested, "I can change myself!"

She hit the 'accept call' button, shooting a look at her daughter, who resigned herself to the idea with a pout.   With that taken care of, she said, "This is Dinah."

"Hey Dinah.   How you doing?"

Sandra.   Her boss, coworker, and the best friend she had in Swanann.    "I'm doing fine," she said with a smile.   "What do you need?"

"I was callin' ta ask if you knew when..."   Dinah couldn't hear the rest of Sandra's sentence when Olivia shrieked.   Dinah looked up in alarm to see Olivia, with no shirt on, come running out of the hallway, ran past her in the living room, and into the kitchen, with Ollie chasing after her.   She sighed.   Olivia had learned that she could run in circles through the house when she had first started walking, and she did so to her own great delight.   The fact that Ollie hadn't caught her yet, as they went around a second time, meant that he was taking as much joy in it as the three year old was.

"Sorry, could you repeat that again, Sandra?"

"I said, do you know when the Alstroemeria delivery is coming in t'morrow."

"Nine o'clock, I think?"   Her husband and daughter tore once again, with much giggles and laughter.

"Alright,   I have ta ask.   What is goin' on over there?"

"Just some idiots, on my end."   She emphasized the word as Ollie ran past.   He looked back with an exaggeratedly hurt expression.   She covered the phone and whispered, "You are!"

"Yes, and one would think you like that aspect of me!"   He smirked at her.

She just rolled her eyes at that.  

"Have you got someone over?" asked Sandra.   Dinah could hear the mischief in her voice.

"Sandra..." said Dinah threateningly.

"You do!"   Dinah could hear the older woman's laughter over the phone.  

"Just a moment."   Dinah reached out an arm and caught Olivia as she ran by again.   The little girl gave a mix of protests and giggling.   Ollie came up from behind and swept Olivia up on to his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.   As he held her with one arm, Olivia gave more protests, this time to her daddy.   Ollie used his other arm to pull Dinah closer to him, kissing her with one arm wrapped around her waist.   Dinah's phone clattered to the floor.

Olivia had stopped protesting , instead crying, "Ewww!"

Dinah pulled away, saying, "Really?"  

But anyone could see the smile she was trying fight.

She placed her hands on her hips.   "Now could you please put her to bed, I need to finish my conversation with my boss."

Ollie brought Olivia down off his shoulder.   "Fine.   We can manage that, right Olivia?"

"Right!"

"Well you didn't manage it the first time!" she called after them as they left the room.   She retrieved her phone from the floor.   "Sorry.   That was..." she trailed off, not knowing how to explain a husband, that Dinah had thought was dead, to her friend didn't know that Dinah had ever had a husband.

"Should I even expect ta see you in the shop tomorrow?"   Sandra's quiet shell-shocked tone caused Dinah to wonder how much her friend had heard.   Or how much she thought she had heard.

"I'll be there."  

But it might be good to bring Ollie along with her.  

And Olivia.

"Good," said Sandra in the same voice.   "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."  

Dinah walked into Olivia's room.   Olivia was in bed, dressed in the Green Arrow pajamas that Ollie had laughed at the night before.   Ollie was reading to her again.   Dinah didn't mind, she had read to Olivia for the last three years, it was Ollie's turn now.

The story finished, and Olivia was asleep.   Dinah came and knelt beside Ollie, the pair gazing at their daughter.

"She looks so much like you," Ollie whispered.

"She's a lot like you in other ways, not to mention her eyes."

He looked softly in her direction.   "I guess there is that.   We should probably leave so that we don't wake her up."

"Yeah."  She leaned in and kissed Olivia's forehead.   Ollie did the same, whispering a goodnight.   

Walking into the bedroom, Ollie stopped.   Dinah tilted her head in confusion, creasing her brow.

"Dinah."

She watched as he shifted from one foot to the other, a nervous habit of his.  

"Dinah, I know that you've built a life here.   I know that Olivia has never lived anywhere else... but I need to ask you this."

He knelt down.   "Dinah, will you come back to Star City with me?"

She paused in surprise.   She had known that he was probably going ask her this, but she didn't know what to respond.   She wanted to be with him... but she wasn't sure she wanted to leave what she had built here.   She didn't want to leave with no warning

"I need to settle some things here first, but yes, I'll come back to Star City."

She would explain it all to Sandra in the morning.   Ollie, being Dinah Queen, her past, her night job, all of it.

Chapter Text

Early mornings are always the most quiet times.

Except when your three year old child comes barging in at 6:30 A.M.

Oliver had started to come into consiousness when the door creaked open, but the three year old jumping on the bed definitly fully woke him.

"Get up!"

"Olivia, go back to bed," he moaned.

"But it's morning!"

"Does she usually do this?" he asked.

"No," Dinah groaned.   "Only if she woke up reeeeally early."

"It's 6:30!"

"Olivia."   He saw Dinah sit up, pulling the covers with her causing him to pull them back.   "Your daddy and I are getting up.   Now leave!"

With her mission achieved, Olivia jumped off the bed and racing out of the room, closing the door behind her. 

Dinah flopped backwards.   "I can't stand the days when she does that."  

She lay there for a moment before getting up.   "I would have work today, but since we're leaving... I need to explain this to Sandra.   All of this."

Oliver was suprised.   "You haven't told your boss about any of this?"

"No, I haven't.   And that changes today."

Oliver waited as Dinah strapped Olivia into her carseat.   They were going down to the florist shop were Dinah worked.   The little girl couldn't wait to go see the woman she regarded as an aunt.

They pulled up in the parking lot an hour before the shop openned.   Oliver held Olivia's hand as Dinah unlocked the door.

"Will your boss even be here yet?"

"Yes, Sandra usually comes in at least two hours before the shop opens.   Also, the blue car over there is hers."   He glanced over, and sure enough there was a blue car in the corner spot.

A bell rang as the door opened.   As they walked in, a older woman, probably in her early sixties, with grey hair walked out of the backroom.  

"Well, I'll be.   You did show up."

Olivia waved and called out, "Hi, Auntie Sandra!"

"You didn't think I would?"   Dinah looked offended by the comment.

"Hello, Olivia.  Dinah, after the call last night..." Sandra trailed off.   "So.   Are you gonna tell me who he is?"   She gestured towards Oliver.

Dinah bit the edge of her lip.   "Sandra, this is Ollie.   Ollie, this is Sandra Colter."

Sandra raised an eyebrow at him.   "Olivia, how 'bout you go play in the back... I think that the grown ups need ta talk."

"Can I, Mommy, Daddy?"

Sandra looked in utter shock at the little girl, and looked over at Dinah and Oliver, eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.

"Sure, Olivia," said Dinah quickly, and Olivia ran into the back.

Sandra was still staring.   "Dinah..."   She glanced to make sure Olivia wasn't in hearing range, and whispered, "What the hell?!"

Dinah drew in breath, preparing for what was to come.

"Sandra, the truth is... I haven't been completely honest with you."

"Well I can see that!"

Oliver watched as Dinah flinched at her friend's tone.   "I can explain."

Sandra leaned against the wall, arms crossed.   "Start talkin'."

So, Dinah began to try and explain her deception.   "My name isn't Dinah Lancer."

That threw Sandra, who choked out, "What?"

"My name is Dinah Queen, but it was Lance before I married Ollie eight years ago."

Sandra's eyes darted between Dinah and Oliver, making the connection.

"Yes.   Ollie," Dinah gestured to him, "is Olivia's father.   And yes, he was out of the picture."   She said as Sandra opened her mouth to speak.   "He was out of the picture because until two days ago, I thought he was dead."

Sandra cocked her head at Dinah's words.  "Queen..."   She straitened in realization of where she knew the names.   "Dinah and Oliver Queen, wasn't it." 

"Yes, but that's not all of it.   Until four years ago I was known by another name as well, Black Canary."

Sandra narrowed her eyes in distrust.  "You do realize how crazy that sounds."

"I'm know, but I can prove it."   Dinah glanced around, probably wanting to avoid breaking a window. "Cover your ears."

Oliver covered his.   Sandra, with a look of suspicion, covered hers too.

Dinah gave a short Canary Cry, which moved a few boxes, and caused Olivia to come dashing back at the noise.

With a look of astonishment, Sandra murmured, "You're her."

Dinah opened her mouth to reply, as Olivia came dashing out of the back room

"What was that?" cried Olivia.

Making a quick decision, Dinah said, "I tell you when you're older, Oliva."   Dinah gave the little girl a reassuring smile.   "Go play."

The three year old cast a look of suspicion at her mommy, but walked back to the other room anyways.

Dinah looked back to see that Sandra sank down into a chair.   "You saved my life," Sandra said to Dinah, who gave her a nod.   "That night when they came to take me away from my shop, you're the one who saved me.

Turning to look at Oliver, she said,"And I'm guessin' he's got another identity too?"

He gave a small nod as he responded to her question. "I'm Green Arrow."

Sandra put her head in her hands, saying, "Explain, please.   All of it."

So Dinah started, "I became Black Canary because my mother was before me.   Dina Drake was part of a top secrete project that was experimenting of what caused the extra normal power,  which are now known as meta-genes.   I inherited the Canary Cry from her.   I also chose to follow in her footprints and joined the Justice League."

"And how'd you end up here of all places?"

"There was a mission, four years ago, that went wrong.   Wrong enough that everyone on it was thought to be dead.   Ollie was on it.   I decided to start over here in Swanann City, to raise Olivia."

Sandra rested her head on her left hand, leaning on the armrest of the chair.   "This is crazy."

Oliver knew it sounded like that.   He hoped they hadn't made a mistake in telling her.

"But I believe yah."

Dinah looked up, with hope.

Sandra said, "You may have hidden parts, but I always knew you had.    You never did like talkin' 'bout you past.   And as insane as it is... I guess I always had some suspicion that it was you that night.

"And I'm guessin' you came ta say good bye," she said with a sorrowful, but resigned look.

"I- I don't know.   I don't want to leave you alone here," Dinah said, biting her lip in indecision.

Sandra stared at her.   "Dinah, this is a second chance," Sandra told her, pointedly.   "I always knew you missed someone, and you missed that someone desperately."   She placed her hands on Dinah's shoulders.   "You have that someone back.    Dinah, you would be an utter fool not ta take this opportunity.    And I, for one, have never taken you for a fool."

Sandra looked pointedly at Dinah and whispered, "So what are you waiting for?   Go! "

Dinah looked at her friend in gratitude.   "We will be back to visit."

"You'd better.   Good bye, Dinah," said Sandra as she embraced her friend.

"Olivia!" Dinah called out.

"What Mommy?"   Olivia came paddling back into the room.  

"Say good bye to Sandra."

Olivia flung  herself into Sandra's arms with a "Bye bye, Auntie Sandra!"

"Bye Olivia."   Sandra set Olivia down, and the little girl ran to take hold of her mommy's hand.

As they left the shop, Sandra called out, "Queen."

Oliver turned around in the doorway to face her.   Sandra drew herself up to her full height, "You take good care of them."

"I will."

"Good.   'Cause if you don't, I will hunt you down."

Oliver could tell that she meant it.   "You wouldn't be the only one."   His kids would.   The League would.   Everyone would.

Sandra waved for him to go.   He left to join his girls.

It was time to go back to Star City.

"Where are we going?" asked Olivia.

Dinah looked at her daughter in the mirror, "We're going to Star City."

"Why?"

"Because," Dinah looked over at Oliver, "that's where your daddy lives.   So we're going to pack your stuff and then go."

"Okay."

Oliver had helped Olivia pack while Dinah packed her own things.   Together he and Dinah packed the bags into the car.   The majority of items could be collected latter.  

So began the multi-hour car trip.

It went better than Oliver had expected.    He had been sure what to expect, recalling Roy's laments of Lian's tendency to make even an hour long car ride torture with her constant protests to being confined in a car seat when she was toddler.   

Olivia, however, was content to look out the window, colour in her colouring book, and play with her bear and other stuffed animals.     When they came into downtown Star City; though, she was pressed to the window, looking up the soaring skyscrapers.

"Whoa."

Oliver reflected that Swannan City, as it was a small, Midwest city, didn't have skyscrapers of nearly the same size or amount that Star City did as a large, coastal city.

"They're pretty cool, aren't they, kid?"

"Yeah," responded Olivia in wonder.

"Whoa."

They had pulled up the drive way of the mansion, and Olivia was pressed up against the window again.   "That is a big house."

"Yeah, it is," Oliver agreed.   He hadn't actually seen it since he had come back, but it was just how he remembered it.   He parked the car is the driveway.   "Ready?" he asked to Dinah.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she said, opening her door and getting out.   She then helped Olivia out of her car seat.

Once out of the car, Olivia grabbed her daddy's hand as well as her mommy's.   Oliver unlocked the front door.   Everything was still where it was four years earlier.    Someone had come by and cleaned because there wasn't that much dust.

"You live here Daddy?"

"Yes, but I've been gone for a while."

Olivia looked up at her parents.   "Can I explore?"

Oliver and Dinah glanced at each other.   Oliver shrugged.   Dinah said to Olivia, "Yes, but try not to get lost."

Olivia took off with a grin on her face.

Dinah turned to him.    "When she does get lost, you're the one who is going to go and find her."

As it turned out, Olivia found them before they had to go look for her.

"Had fun exploring, Olivia?" Dinah asked.

"Yeah!"

"Olivia, there's a room I want to show you," said Oliver.

"Okay."

The three of them walked down the hall.   Oliver opened the door to a room.   Olivia glanced in.   Oliver and Dinah watched as her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face.

"It's green!"

The room's walls were indeed a pale green.   Olivia raced in, jumped up onto the window seat and looked out, jumped off exploring the few furniture pieces that were in the room.

"What think?" he glanced over at Dinah.  

Dinah was leaning against the doorframe.   She gave him a smile and said, "I think she loves it.   Like father, like daughter."

He gave a small laugh.   His Prettybird hadn't missed the fact that this was his old room.

"Hey Olivia!" called Dinah.

"What?" Olivia responded from her spot behind the desk, where she was exploring.

"What would you think of this being your room?"

Olivia shot out from behind the desk.

"Greatest thing ever!"

Chapter Text

They were waiting.

Roy, Jade, Artemis, Wally, Mia, and the kids had been waiting ever since he and Ollie had left for Swanann City.   When Ollie had had him leave, Royce had joined in the waiting.

They all had been waiting at Mia's place, hovering for that phone call, checking phones every half minute. 

It had been three days now.

The tension was bad enough that when it did, they all jumped.

It was Royce's phone that rang.

"Answer it!" cried Roy.

The other five people in the room waited anxiously as Royce picked up the phone and hit accept call.

"Ollie?"

"Hey, Royce."

"Did you find her?"  

It came out as a whisper, and he cursed himself for sounding so pathetic, asking that question, in that tone.   But they were all thinking it.   Roy was going to leave marks in the table, the way he was gripping the edge.   Artemis had frozen as soon as the phone rang.   Royce was surprised that Wally wasn't running circles.   Mia was staring at his phone.   Even Jade was anxious, despite her attempted look of detachment.

"Yeah, I did."    He could hear the smile in Ollie's voice.   That had to be a good sign, Ollie wouldn't sound like that if she was gone.  

"Are you still in Star City?"   As if Roy could have gone anywhere else with these people insisting that they all had to be here when Ollie got back.

"Yes."

"Good.   Meet up at the house?   I just need to call your siblings..."

"No need.   They're here with me right now."

*****************Oliver's P.O.V.*****************

The parade of cars came up the drive.   Mia's red one followed by Roy's, followed by the green one that was presumably Artemis's.  

He and Dinah waited as the cars parked and their kids came to the door.

Royce, who was in front, didn't even bother to knock.

Oliver felt Dinah stiffen beside him as they came in the door.   Was she ready for this?   Was he ready for this?

They all stood in a group, still in the entryway.   Oliver could see Lian and Cynthia looking out from behind their respective parents.

"Mom?"

It came from either Roy or Royce, as their voices were nearly indistinguishable from the other.   But neither were prone to calling Dinah 'mom'...

Roy and Royce both pushed to the front; it may have been that both of them had spoken.

"Roy."   It was unclear which man she meant.    Everyone stared in silence, Oliver and Dinah on one side of the room, the rest of the family facing on the opposite side.

"How could you have left us?   HOW?" Royce demanded.

Dinah flinched, and started to reply when a new voice drifted in.

"Mommy?   Daddy?   Who are they?"

The entire group turned to see where the young voice had come from.   That was when the elder children saw the youngest child.   Olivia was standing on the final stair on the staircase; her head tilted in curiosity.

It was Artemis who asked the hanging question.   "Uh, who is she?"

Well, this was not how he was expecting to reveal the fact that they had a younger sister, but oh well.   When did anything ever 'go according to plan' in this family?

"I'm Olivia.   Who are you?"

"Wait."   Oliver could see Mia connecting the dots, her eyes widening as she came to her conclusion.   "She's our sister, isn't she?"

And pandemonium reigned.

"WHAT?"

"...wait a second"

"HOW?"

Till it was conquered by:

"That still doesn't explain ANYTHING!"

It was Royce.

"Where did you go?" he demanded of Dinah.

"Roy.   I can explain..."

"No.   You CAN'T.   You will NEVER be able to explain, to give ANY reason for what you've done."

"Roy..." she tried to interrupt his rant.

"You LEFT us.   You ABANDONED us.   US, the ones who looked up to you, who were raised by you.   And you LEFT when we needed you MOST."

"Roy..."

"No.   There is NO reason you can give to justify leaving US, YOUR KIDS."

"ROY!"

"I'M NOT ROY!   I'M ROYCE.   And you don't know that, because you LEFT."

"Quit yelling at my mommy!"  

While Royce had been distracted, Olivia had moved in front of him, hands balled up in fists, and anger written all over her face.

Royce looked down and opened his mouth, prepared to tell the three year old just what he thought of that suggestion...

"You're right."

Heads turned at the sound of Dinah's voice.   She had tears slipping down her face, arms wrapped around herself.

"You're right.   I can't give you a excuse, because there isn't one."

She drew in a shaky breath.   "The best I can do is an explanation.

"I left because I wasn't going to raise Olivia in front of the entire world."

"That doesn't explain why the rest of us were left behind."   It was Roy who said it, but the other three were thinking it.

"No it doesn't, R-" uncertainty flared in Dinah's eyes.   "Do you still go by Roy?"

He nodded in response.   "I go by Roy.   He," gesturing to the fuming man, "goes by Royce."

Dinah nodded slowly.

Oliver glanced around at his kids.   Olivia was looking bewildered.   Royce was seething.   Roy looked angry, but resigned to the fact.   Artemis was looking at Dinah with distrust, something that Oliver knew was a cover for her disappointment in the failure of another parent figure.   Mia looked like she wanted to go back to how it use to be, but was restrained by something.

"I made a decision.   Good.   Bad.   I didn't know, but I had to make it.

"And I'm sorry."

She looked at Mia.   "There was no way for you to be completely ready to defend Star on your own.   And I'm sorry that I left you with no one to fall back on."

Mia regarded her mom with sad eyes, and said with a small smile, "It made both of the Roy's come home, so it wasn't a total loss."   She bit her lip for a moment before, making up her mind, she flung her arms around Dinah in a hug.

Dinah held her daughter for a moment before turning to Artemis.   "I know that I left you to figure out how to be a parent on your own, and I'm sorry I wasn't there to meet your child."

Artemis stared for a moment and said, "Well, you can meet her now."   Artemis brought Cynthia out of her hiding place behind her mom.   "This is Cynthia."

Cynthia gave Dinah a wary look before hiding behind Artemis again.   Artemis glanced at Dinah and reached over to take her son out of Wally's arms.   The little boy was, some how, still sleeping.   "And this is Will."

Turning to Roy next, Dinah gave him an apprehensive look.   "You were still putting your life back together.   I broke it more, and I'm sorry for that."

Roy regarded her with a look that had faded from anger.   He gave her a nod, with a small semblance of a smile.

"This is ridiculous."   Heads turned to see Royce heading for the door.

Dinah called out to him, "Royce." 

He kept walking.

"I know it doesn't make it any better, but I am going to say it anyways.   I'm sorry.   Sorry, that you were left, again.   Sorry, that this has left wounds.   Sorry, that I made what is turning out to be a mistake."

He whirled.   "Turning out to be a mistake!?   For us, or for you?   If it wasn't for him returning from the dead, you never would have come back."

He stormed out the front door.

****************Royce's POV*************************

'what is turning out to be a mistake... The best I can do is... Sorry, that...'  

Her words played over and over in Royce's head as he stormed out of the house.   Coming into the driveway, he groaned, realizing that since he had driven here with Mia, in her car... he was stuck here.   He slumped down, sitting on the edge of the curb.

He hated that he was always the one who was angry.  It was never any of the others, always him.  Why couldn't he just be grateful that she back?  Yet, how could the others be so.. okay with all of this?  Acting as though her showing up again just smoothed over all of the years of pain that they had all felt by her disappearance.  It wasn't fair!

Snapping out of his thoughts, he heard footsteps behind him.   Expecting it to be one of the others, he snapped, "What?"

"You're not very nice."

He twisted around.   It was the new brat.   Royce now understood what Jason meant when he complained about the 'brats' in his family.

"So what?" 

"Why aren't you nice?"   She sat down next to him.

He moved farther over.   "Cause I'm not."   She was probably about three, why would she care?

"That's not an answer."   She scooted closer again.

He moved farther over, again.   She followed, scooting along, again.

How could he explain it, to a child?   To someone, who was still innocent of the world and its cruelty.    How could he explain that their parents had abandoned him, not once, but twice.  

No.   Oliver and Dinah weren't his parents, they had made that clear.   But he had thought of them as his parents for years, and he had been trying to stop thinking of them as his parents for years.   It had never worked.   If he accepted it though... it would mean admitting that all those annoying people were his siblings.

But...

He was stuck with the clone, the assassin, and their brat, whether he thought of Ollie and Dinah as his parents or not.   He liked Mia, she was one of those people you couldn't help but like.   He butted heads with Artemis, but he liked that.   Her husband was annoying, but he liked their kids...

His siblings weren't an issue.

Although this one might be if she didn't stop following him!

"Why are you following me?"

She looked at him like it was the most apparent thing in the world.   "You haven't answered the question."

"Maybe I don't like questions."

"Mommy says questions are a good thing."

He sighed.   This was Ollie's kid, there was no way that any kid of Ollie's was not going to be utterly obnoxious.   "Your point?"

That shut her up for a little while, but before long...

"Why don't you like Mommy?"

That threw him off guard.   He didn't not like her, she was his... Gah!   There was that thought again!   She wasn't his mom!

She wasn't!

"Do you like Daddy?"

Totally Ollie's kid...

"Are you my brother?"

Like a punch to the head, there it was.  

Was he?  

Was he not?  

Most terrifying of all... if he was, did he deserve to be?

What had he done besides causing them all pain?   What had he done besides creating division amongst them?   Besides creating problems with in the family? 

"Are you?   Cause if you are, you should go apologize.   You hurt some feelings."

She was right.

He had created more pain, again.

He had created another line in the sand.

He had started to create another problem, while everyone else was trying to solve the last one.

Damn.

The brat was right.

He got up, heading for the front door.   Hopefully they would give him a second chance, third chance, whatever chance this was, again.

Chapter Text

Oliver stared, unseeing, at the door that Royce hadn't shut when he stormed out.   This was not going as well as Oliver had hoped it would.   He had no illusions that everything was going to back to the way it was before as soon as they came home, but he had hoped for better.  

He knew that Royce was going to be resistant, but he hadn't anticipated Royce to storm out.   Royce was the one who had given the information to find Dinah.   He had helped Oliver find her.   Royce had clearly wanted Dinah to come back home , so why was he acting like this?   Why did his son have to be such a pain?   At least the others were taking this better.

They were taking this better, right?

He glanced at his other three kids, doubt rooting its way in.  Mia was glancing at the other two, trying to get someone to speak.  Artemis looked like she was wary of something.   Roy was staring at the ground, muttering something about immature, childish brothers.  

In that moment, everything fell into place.

Mia had tried her hardest to fill the holes he and Dinah had left.   She had tried to be the glue, the centre.

Artemis had already came from a damaged home.  With this fighting and this division, was this any better?

Roy was the most distant; the eldest but not the eldest.   A life that wasn't his own, a fact that had nearly wrecked him.

Royce was the one who didn't fit anywhere, the one who had fought, blamed, and caused the others reciprocate with the same.

This family was so... broken.

Oliver himself had been so lost for years, with fame, on the island, with life.   He didn't fit with the heroes.   Dinah didn't fit in the top of the world.   Mia had never had a family.   Royce had lost what was his life to someone else.   Roy struggled with his own image of who he was.   Artemis grew up in a family of conmen and villains.   Because of that terrible mission, Olivia hadn't had a father.

So many broken pieces.

Why had they ever thought this family had any hope?

At what point did a family become too broken to be called family?

Everyone was still standing in awkward silence when Royce's voice rang out as he re-entered the room.   "Alright, who sent the brat after me?"

"No one sent anyone after you," Roy told Royce, giving a dull glare that Royce returned briefly.

"Wait, who do you mean by 'brat', Cynthia and Lian are both still in here," Mia asked her brother.

"No, the other one."   Royce gave his sister an eye roll.

"Do you mean Olivia followed you out, and none of us noticed?" Mia questioned in shock.

"None of you noticed the three year old following me outside," Royce said in disbelief.   "Seriously?   No one?"

That was the moment that Olivia chose to reenter the room.

"Olivia!   What on Earth were you doing outside?" Dinah cried.

Olivia looked in slight confusion.   "I followed him."   She pointed at Royce, who crossed his arms and glared at her in response.

"Why did you follow Roy-ce?" asked Dinah, stumbling over the end of Royce's name.

"Cause no one else was," Olivia said, looking like the model of innocence.

Why hadn't someone gone after him?   

Were they to use too him leaving?

Those were scary thoughts, and it was clear that they all, not just Oliver, were thinking it.

"Look," Royce said abruptly.   "I know you all want that easy, stupid, mushy, 'make up and move on like this never happened' reunion."   He sighed, dropping his gaze to the floor.   "But it's not that easy."   He glanced at his siblings.   "Maybe you all have the ability to just... drop and ignore everything that has happened.   Whether it be from before Ollie went missing, during it, after it, or whatever else.   But I just..." he trailed off with a frustrated sigh, refusing to make eye contact.

"I just can't," he finished quietly.   "As much as I want to, I can't.   Not now.   Not right now."

"What about someday?"

The adults turned at the soft voice that spoke up.   Shyly, Olivia spoke again, "You said not now.   So what about someday?"   Green eyes met blue as the four year old petitioned to her older brother.

Royce knelt down to her level.   "Maybe someday," he agreed.

"Okay," she said before attacking him with a hug.   He awkwardly hugged her back.

After his little sister let go, Royce stood up and turned to Dinah.   Hope sparkled in her eyes, though tapered by remorse.    "I'm sorry, and I mean that," Dinah said to him.   "I hope that someday you'll excepted it."

"Maybe someday," Royce repeated.   He turned to Oliver.   "I'm going to leave now, but I will be back."   He glanced around at the entire group.   "You can't ditch family forever.".

Oliver watched his son walk out the front door, again.   But this time, Royce moved with purpose, not undirected anger.   And this time, Oliver knew that he'd be back.   This family wasn't splitting up again.

Things were never going to be easy, he had known that the day he had become the Green Arrow. The day he adopted Roy.   The day he fell for Dinah.   The day that he had gone to Artemis's mother to ask about Artemis becoming part of the Team.   The day he found out that there were two Roy's.   The day he adopted Mia.   The day he left for that ill-fated mission.   The day he came home.   And everyday between.

But none of that mattered.   Because he had his family.   As crazy, broken, damaged, whatever you wanted to call it, as it was; it was his.  

And he wouldn't trade it for the universe.   

Chapter Text

"Wait up, 'Livia!" the blond, four year old boy cried out as he ran across the yard.

"No way, Conner!" his eight year old sister called back to him.   "Go play with Jai!"

"Jai's too fast to race with!"

"I didn't say race with him, I said play.   He's a speedster, and you can't even keep up with me!"

"But I wanna play with you!"

Oliver looked out the window and shook his head at the antics of his youngest children.   They were growing up so fast.   Conner was already four, Olivia was in second grade... time had flown.   Had it really been five and a half years since he had come back to Earth, to his family?

Green Arrow and Black Canary had returned to protect Star City, backed by Arrowette, Red Arrow, and Cheshire.

Lian was staying with Oliver and Dinah for the weekend while her parents went and did... well, Oliver didn't really know what Roy and Jade were off doing, but then.. he probably didn't want to know.   It also happened to be a long week-end with a holiday, so the Wests had packed up a driven west to Star City.   How Artemis had managed to keep her speedster husband, daughter, and younger son in the car that long was a mystery.   The five Wests, Lian, Mia, his youngest two children, Dinah, and himself in the same place had equaled the family get together.

Three archers, a Canary, three speedsters, four future archers, though Dinah was betting on at least one of their kids inheriting the Canary Cry, under one  roof for a week end.   What could possibly go wrong?

Which was when he heard the sonic scream from the outside...

He was on his feet immediately, running outside.   At the sound of feet running behind him, Oliver glanced back to see Dinah come running out of the door.   That alone begged the question of who's scream it had been...

Coming over the slight rise, Oliver could see the kids at the base of it.   Several of the kids were on the ground.   He could see Will pushing himself up into a sitting position, holding his head.   As he and Dinah neared, several of the other kids also started to get up, but his attention was on Olivia.   Olivia was one of the few standing; she also had her hands clamped over her mouth.   

"Olivia?" Dinah called out to her daughter as they got to the kids.   "Is everything alright?" she asked.

Olivia shook her head, hands still clamped over her mouth.   Dinah tried to move on of Olivia's hands and Olivia jerked out of her mom's grip, returning it to help the other hand cover her mouth.

"Olivia, it's okay to lower your hands," Dinah said gently.   "Lowering your hands won't cause it to happen again."

Olivia looked warily at her mom, but lowered her hands.

"I won't ask you to speak, Livia," Dinah said.   "You made the scream."    

Olivia nodded.  

"I wondered if you would have it too," Dinah said.   At her daughter's confusion, Dinah said, "I can do it too.   So can your grandma.   She called it a Canary Cry..."

And so begins a new era.