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After the island William finds himself back in Central City, sitting in an unfamiliar room surrounded by boxes of all his things.
For the past year he wanted nothing more to be back in Central City in his house with his Mom. But now his mom is gone and he’s sitting in his grandparents bare house. Grandparents he’s only ever seen once every Christmas and occasionally his birthday.
He had to say goodbye to his mom and now he has to say goodbye to everything he knows to move to Florida. His grandparents finally sold their house and are moving south away from the cold and taking William with them. Cause William has no one else who wants him.
Well, he has Oliver but despite Oliver’s promise that he would never leave him. Oliver has not made any effort to ask William to move to Star City with him.
William angrily wipes the tears that are threatening to fall, he takes one look at the Green Arrow action figure resting next to him and picks it up throwing it as hard at the wall as he can muster.
It doesn’t make him feel better, he’s not sure anything will, but it does make the tears stop temporarily.
William growls angrily again and punches the lone pillow on his bed.
Over and over again.
He’s so busy with trying to destroy the only pillow that he has, that he doesn’t hear the bedroom door open until there is a tall shadow looming over him.
“You should hold your wrist straight.” Oliver offers tentatively, William turns to him his eyes narrowing for a nanosecond before he goes back to punching his pillow. “I could get you a real one...a punching bag I mean...it would be small but it would less likely hurt your wrists...I could show you how?”
His voice is tentative unsure but William can hear the hopefullness in his tone and it only annoys William further. He finally turns to face Oliver, his father and scowls, “you’re going to come all the way to Florida to teach me how to punch?”
Oliver seems to take that as an invitation and takes a seat next to William, “If Florida is where you want to go, I’ll visit you every weekend”
William narrows his eyes at Oliver is disbelief, Oliver only shrugs his shoulders, “I have a friend that owes me a few favours.”
When William does not respond Oliver continues his voice going soft and tentative again, “but if you want you can move to Star City... you can move to Star City with me?”
“They don’t want me either do they?” William voices softly, he can feel the tears beginning to gather again and he kicks his school bag angrily.
“ I want you. I want to be in your live anyway you want me to be.” Oliver says with so much conviction, William almost believes him.
William shuffled the heel of his shoe against the carpet, Okay,”
“Okay?” Oliver repeats almost in disbelief, but quickly continues at Williams uncertain look, “you’ll come to Star City with me?”
William nods his heart hammering in his chest at the thought. “Would they let you?”
“Don’t worry about that.” Oliver says easily as he rises to his feet a wide smile on his face that William can tell he’s trying to pull back but failing miserably. “Why don’t you sort out your things, what you want the most and then the things you want to put in storage?”
He walks towards the door and William can practically see him buzzing with excitement and that heavy load that’s been resting on William’s chest since he found his mother eases a small fraction. Oliver pauses with his hand on the door and William heart stops almost afraid that Oliver has changed his mind, but Oliver is still smiling warmly when he looks at William.
“I’m really happy you want to live with me, William.”
He leaves on that note and for the first time William believes him.
There is a lot of yelling following his departure, from both his grandparents and from Oliver somethings William can’t help but hear. His grandfather accusing Oliver of being a deadbeat. Oliver raises his voice a few times but he’s far calmer than either of William’s grandparents.
Almost an hour later Oliver comes back to let him know that the moving vans will be coming for his things in the hour. He mentions that a friend of his will be there to accept everything, the name Felicity is thrown around a few times and William tries to put a name to the face but there were so many of his father’s friends that showed up at his mother’s funeral and at the hospital when William was admitted he just can’t remember them all.
She has to be someone important if Oliver lets her choose the apartment they are going to be living in. But William is too tired to ask, too angry to argue, instead he just wishes his grandparents goodbye. Oliver promising that once things settle down they would visit. William doesn’t bother to tell him he never really knew his grandparents in the first place.
0oooo0
It’s a few weeks into living with Oliver when William sees it, when he sees a small littering of scars along Oliver’s forearms.
It was a random day of the week and William had yet again scared away the numerous nanny’s Oliver had hired to take care of him. William is so tired of strangers trying to mother him, he had a mother, the very best mom and he doesn’t want someone telling him to eat his vegetables or clean up his room.
He wishes Oliver would be around more, after all isn’t that what father’s suppose to do? Just be there? But Oliver’s not, instead he’s always at city hall or being the other guy.
William is so tired of the other guy, he hates that sinking feeling he gets in his stomach when he thinks about something happening to Oliver while he’s jumping off of roofs and being the other guy.
But, William has learned that whenever he scares away the latest nanny, Oliver in turn ends up spending more time in the apartment. So William acts out, he yells he throws things he behaves in a way he knows his mother would never tolerate and then Oliver shows up more.
It’s stupid and needy, William knows that and when Oliver is around he tries to talk to him, but William is just so angry all the time he ends giving his father the cold shoulder and Oliver just accepts it.
Another thing William’s mother would have never tolerated.
This particular morning, Oliver is dressed in his typical slacks but instead of his usual crisp white shirt he’s only wearing a thin tank top as he cooks Williams favourite egg scramble with sausages and cheese.
Neither of them have said anything but when William slides onto the stool in front of his cup of hot chocolate he pauses when he sees the small scar along Oliver’s bicep, there is also a long white scar on Oliver’s shoulder and it disappears under Oliver’s shirt and for the first time William wonders just how many of the does Oliver have.
“It’s an old wound, they don’t even hurt.” Oliver says his gaze moving from his bicep and back to William as he dishes out the eggs onto Williams plate.
His words are not comforting in the slightest, nor do they curb Williams curiosity, but William only grunts in acknowledgment as he eats his eggs.
“I bought you something.” Oliver says nervously which in turn makes William nervous
Oliver has not been trying to buy Williams affection, the occasional Big belly burger aside, Oliver has bought all the things William needs but never overdoes it. William thinks his mother would actually approve of that.
“You got me the PS4, already,” William points out, “well your friend Felicity did, she left a note and everything.”
“She did?” Oliver asks curiously and he gets that stupid smile on his face every time he mentions Felicity.
William is 12 he’s not stupid, Felicity is anything but his father’s friend , but oddly enough William hasn’t seen her since he and Oliver moved into the apartment two months ago. William is curious about the people in his father’s life but he never asks.
“She told me she increased the specs and added some characters of her own.” William explains and before going back to his breakfast he adds, “it’s cool”
“I got you a punching bag.” Oliver explains, he gestures across to the other side of the living room and sure enough there are two punching bags swaying next to each other one of them significantly smaller than the others. “I know things haven’t been easy for you these past few weeks. I know what’s that like to feel like...when things are hard I mean I found sparring or boxing helped me clear my head. So if you ever want me to show you...just say the word.”
Once again Oliver eludes to the fact that he’s clearly been through a lot over the years, William has googled Oliver and other than him being stuck on that island for five years, William has only see things from over a decade ago. He knows that Oliver has lost both his parents as well, but he’s yet to ask Oliver about it, unsure if he wants to or not.
William rises to his feet and puts the dishes in the sink without saying anymore, he can hear Oliver’s sigh in defeat and William almost stops, to say something, but he doesn’t.
He has been angry all the time time lately and he does not know what to do about it. He takes one look at the punching bags but thinks better of it and walks towards his room.
When Raisa starts looking after him it’s the first time William feels like that maybe one day things will get better. Raisa isn’t here to mother him, she tells him that point blank their first afternoon together. She never pushes him to talk but instead tells him stories about Oliver as a kid and although she occasionally tells him that he can just ask Oliver about it she never stops telling him stories.
It’s great to hear, he knows that he can just ask Oliver these things, but it’s still fun to hear stories about his father and he slowly begins to realize they are a lot more alike than William first thought.
Things get easier as time goes by with Raisa there William finds that he’s not as angry as he use to be. And when Oliver tells him that he’s not going anywhere regardless of whether or not William wants him to or not William actually believes him.
It’s not till a few week after school starts and William gets into a fight does he finally ask Oliver to teach him how to punch. He’s still not sure if he thinks fighting is the best way to deal with things. He’s almost certain his mother would not agree with that specific advice, but he thinks it doesn’t hurt to learn how to fight and with Oliver no longer being the Green Arrow William doesn’t feel like learning how to fight is gonna make his father think he’s okay with him being the other guy.
It’s an early Saturday morning and his father is practically buzzing with excitement when he shows William how he converted their living room into a little gym. He’s got the two boxing bags standing at attention a full mat and even some gloves resting on the mats. When William sees the hot pink gloves though he pauses turning to his father with raised eyebrows.
“It’s Felicity’s.” Oliver explains with a sheepish grin, “she said that we should try it out see if you enjoy boxing before I buy you a pair.”
He’s heard a lot about Felicity over the past few months more in passing. He’s met her a handful of times but most of the time when Oliver brings home dinner it’s usually something Felicity bought for both of them, so much so William is sure she knows all his favourite foods yet she’s only ever been around when it was Arrow related stuff.
“Hey buddy you ready?” Oliver asks him holding out some form of wraps for William. When William nods Oliver quickly starts wrapping his wrists, “this protects your wrist from the force. I think you’re gonna like this.”
Turns out his father was right, punching the crap out of a bag really really does help him channel that anger that’s been building up for so long.
Oliver is a really good teacher, he has far more patience than William thought he would. William messes up a lot but Oliver calmly shows him over and over how to do it properly.
By the end of the session they are both soaked with sweat their hair standing in every direction but grinning at each other and William feels great.
“ You did great.” Oliver says encouragingly as he tugs off his wet tshirt tossing it on the mats before he grabs the towels on the floor. He offers one to William just as he wipes his face but William is focused on the scars littering Oliver’s torso.
William has seen the scars before in passing but he’s never openly stares at them, he’s never felt comfortable enough to look at them.
“Did he….did he do that to you?”Williams voice is soft, tentative but he does not need to say the name for his father to know who the he William is referring too.
“Some of them.” Oliver says slowly, his finger ghosting across a burn on his chest and a few other nicks, “but not all.”
William wants to ask more, he wants to know about the Chinese words along Oliver torso, but instead he offers up shyly, “I’m glad you’re no longer the Arrow.”
Oliver offers him a small smile and for the first time William wonders if his father misses it. He asked his father to do that for him and Oliver did it no questions asked, but William never thought about what it meant for Oliver to give something like that up.
“Thanks.” William suddenly says, slightly nervous, “for teaching me. It was fun.”
“We’ll go next week to get you fitted for your own gloves?” Oliver asks him more than tells William still unsure.
“Can we go on Friday? I have this huge math test coming up and I want to focus on that.” William asks with uncertainty. He looks down at the pink gloves, “can I use those in the meantime? If Felicity isn’t using them I mean.”
“I’m sure she won’t mind.” Oliver promises and this time William only shakes his head at the dopey smile on Oliver’s face.
William finally meets Felicity more than in passing later that week, when Oliver tells him that Felicity will be helping him with his math test.
Felicity is smart like really, really smart, but she’s more than that. She different than Raisa, she doesn’t talk down to William or sugar coats things for him. She tells him exactly how it is and she’s honest with him and William can see why his dad likes her so much.
William has always loved school and for the first time since his mom died he’s felt like he’ll start back liking things he used. He’d be good at school again, Felicity made him feel like he could do just about anything.
When William gets an A+ he finally believe what Felicity was telling him the past week. He practically runs out of his room when he hears the front door open announcing his father. He’s never greeted Oliver with such enthusiasm and he can tell that Oliver is surprised, but excited nonetheless.
“What’s up?” Oliver asks as he loosens his tie and he starts to unbutton his shirt. “How was he test? Felicity’s been texting me all day asking about it.”
William grins widely slapping the paper on the counter between them, “A+ I came second place!”
“Wow! Buddy that’s awesome!” Oliver says enthusiastically as he looks over the paper. William knows that most of it goes over his father’s head but Oliver smiles widely and to William’s horror Oliver takes the test paper and slaps it on the fridge door putting a magnet to keep it in place
“Oliver.” William groans in embarrassment.
“We should celebrate! I’ll make pizza.” Oliver says enthusiastically.
William wrinkles his nose, “can’t we just buy pizza like regular people?”
Oliver laughs wholeheartedly, but nods in agreement “Hawaiian pizza?”
William nods eagerly in responses he leans over the counter to look into Oliver’s phone his eyes scanning the screen quickly, “extra pineapples!”
Oliver only wrinkles his nose in disgust and William sighs overdramatically, “fine half and half. Oh and llava cakes! We gotta get dessert too.We could invite Felicity too, if you want.”
“Maybe next time, she’s a bit tied up tonight.” Oliver apologizes and William knows that’s his way of saying Felicity is current helping the new Green Arrow.
William nods slightly disappointed but when Oliver pulls something out of his pocket, shifting nervously from foot to foot William is momentarily distracted, “there is something I want to uh talk to you about.”
At William curious look Oliver places a small bronze key on the counter, one that looks exactly like the set of keys that William has, “I already have a key though.”
“It’s for Felicity.” Oliver explains voice full of uncertainty. “I’m hoping she will be around more and I wanted to give her a key to our apartment….that is if it’s okay with you.”
“Is she going to move in with us?” William asks, he doesn’t hate the idea, but he’s only just gotten use to living with Oliver and he’s not sure if he’s ready for more change.
“No, not yet...eventually I hope she does when all three of us are ready for that step. But, for now I hope you’re okay with her hanging around more?”
William looks at the key and then at his father’s hopeful face and nods, “sure, she’s pretty cool.”
“She really is.” Oliver says with a smile.
“Are you just gonna give her the key like that?” William asks his nose wrinkling at the thought.
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t girls like things all pretty and stuff?” William’s voice is full of uncertainty but he is sure that just giving Felicity the key like that would be lame , “you know like a gift?”
“You think I should wrap the key?”
“Not with paper. I don’t know maybe get her a keychain?” William suggests, “girls like all those cute unicorns and pinks glitter stuff right?”
Oliver chuckles, “maybe not something with glitter, but we can look for something for her. What do you say?”
“Now?” William asks eagerly.
“After we eat, we’ll go.” Oliver promises.
They spend the better half an hour going through the numerous keychains. William sees the Flash keychain and grins widely at it then back at his father who only scowls in return, “Don't even think about it.”
William laughs wholeheartedly at his father’s expense before he goes to over the emoji keychains, there are so many different ones and that’s when he sees it. The little yellow emoji with black frame glasses he looks across at Oliver and they both come to the same conclusion.
“Perfect.”
After his dad gives Felicity her very own key, she’s around almost all the time and William loves it. She usually has dinner with them most nights when she’s not working with Team Arrow. That makes William nervous, especially nights when his dad is pacing across the kitchen, phone in his hand when he checks on things. The fact that Felicity works the computers and back at their home base does little to worry William, but does sometimes picture her like the professor X of the team... minus the wheelchair that is. And nothing ever happened to professor X which is what William mostly focuses on
One Saturday afternoon, his dad is busy working on some paperwork for City Hall and William is just about to go and convince him to play some video games with him there is a familiar knock on the door.
William rolls his eyes as he tosses his remotes to the side and quickly makes his way to the front door, when he pulls open the door he does not move aside to let the person in.
“Oh hello.” Felicity says in surprise coming to halt when she realizes William hasn’t moved, “is this a bad time?”
“If you have your own key why don’t you use it?” William asks bluntly.
“I didn’t want to impose.” Felicity answers with uncertainty and tentatively steps into the apartment when William does step aside to let her in.
“That’s stupid. You’re not imposing.” William tells her easily, he makes his way towards the living room. He grabs his remote and frowns when he sees that she’s still standing by the door, “rematch? I got to level 20 I can totally beat you now.”
“Oh it’s on like Donkey Kong.” Felicity exclaims tossing her handbag on a nearby chair and toeing off her heels before she makes her way to her living.
William laughs loudly in return when she takes a seat next to him he looks across at her, “you can use your key you know. I like when you come over.”
“Oh.” Felicity squeaks out in surprise and William wonders if he shouldn’t have said anything. But she then smiles widely at him, “I’ll remember for next time.”
“Besides, you’re better at this than Oliver.” William lowers his voice, almost as if his father could hear him, “Oliver sucks.”
This time when Felicity laughs, she laughs so loudly that Oliver comes out from the hallway to his bedroom calling her name.
When he comes into view both William and Felicity share a look and burst out into giggles, much to Oliver’s confusion.
From then on Felicity no longer knocks and once Oliver is home she is almost always there, until that week his dad goes on a trip with an old friend of his. The way Felicity is uneasy at the prospect of Oliver leaving, William suspects there is more to this guy that Oliver calls his friend.
Despite that when Oliver leaves she promises William that if he needs her she’s just a text away. Although she says that she never shows up, sure she texts William most nights checking in on him for his dad no doubt but she never does show up.
Until one day he’s so bored and tired of Raisa’s cooking he grabs his phone before he really thinks about it and sends Felicity a text asking her if she wants a rematch. He regrets it almost immediately if she wanted to come by and see him she would come on her own, he’s just about to toss his phone to the side when it beeps loudly in rapid procession as three more texts come in just as quickly. He looks down at his phone and grins widely all his early concerns completely melting away with each text.
Oh yes! Of course. Are you at level 30 already?
Not that I can’t beat you at my measly level 25 I totally can. FYI. You still have a lot to learn young padawan.
I’ll be there soon.
Quick Rocky Road or mint chocolate chip?
Ice cream I was talking about ice cream, which one?
William laughs he can practically hear Felicity saying everything he’s just read.
35 :P It’s on. I don’t know what a padawan is...was that a typo?
Rocky Road duh.
It’s not a typo! Padawan is...oh I have so much to teach you.
William loves school more than the typical kid but the idea of doing more school work is not that appealing, but then Felicity shows him her extensive movie collection William finally gets it, she wants to teach him about a movie he finally gets her promise that he will love it and that has him excited.
“But this is not a school night kind of marathon.” Felicity says with a flourish as she waves over if her smaller tablets around. “We have to do this on a weekend with all the junk food, all the blankets, and 100% no interruptions. Hopefully your dad will be back this weekend and we can watch them.”
William sighs in disappointment at her words, he’s all for wanting to watch it with his father, but he doesn’t want to wait for Oliver to start it.
“But we can totally watch it this weekend with or without your dad. If you want?” Felicity asks tentatively.
William perks up and nodding eagerly in agreement, “yea! It’s not our fault he’s halfway across the world.”
“Exactly.” Felicity says with a short laugh, but William can tell it’s a little forced, and he can see the worry in her eyes, just before she grabs one of the remote controls for his PS4. “Let’s get ready to rumble.”
Felicity is such a dork.
He, his dad and Felicity fall into a rhythm after his Dad comes back from his trip with his friend. It’s now weird for William to not see Felicity in the morning before school especially on the weekends.
One Saturday morning he wakes up to the smell on cinnamon waffles, his absolute favourite. He quickly scurries out of bed hoping that Felicity was able to convince his dad their waffles need whip cream again. When he pushes his bedroom door to the side, he stops at the entrance when he finds his father and Felicity in a heated kiss.
This took a little getting use to, his dad and Felicity are very affectionate, and other than on the movies William has never really been around a couple like these two. Growing up his mom never really dated, at least not as far as William knew. In fact the only man in his mother’s life that he remembers meeting was Oliver two years ago the handful he showed up to hang out and at the time William assumed Oliver was his mom’s boyfriend. Even though looking back William realizes Oliver was more concerned with getting to know William than his Mom.
The first time it happened Felicity freaked out so much she slammed the back of her head up against his dad’s nosed causing it to bleed . His dad found the entire hilarious but Felicity couldn’t stop muttering and freaking out she had turned to William promising that she’s not trying to kill his dad.
William still laughs about it.
Now he sometimes likes to announce that he’s coming into the room. So when he sees them he only rolls his eyes and rolls his bedroom door all the way to the end so it knocks against the hinges loudly.
They don’t pull away like they use to, instead Felicity turns in his Dad’s arms to face William, her eyes warm as she smiles widely in greeting, “Morning Will. Oh that bed head makes you look like a mini Oliver.”
William groans at his words while his father huffs, he watches as his father whisper something in Felicity’s ear at which she pinks up and elbows him back with very little force. His dad laughs in return and takes a step back from Felicity moving back to the stove.
His dad only wearing his sweats and William can see he various scars littering his back. He’s seen them dozens of times now especially more since Felicity started staying over, but William tries not to stare at them. The curiosity is still there though and this time William sees the large scar that spans the entire of his dad’s lower back. His dad’s sweats are riding low enough on his hips that it’s the first time William is seeing them and this time William can’t help but stare. He only looks away when he sees Felicity looking back at him.
“Hey William how about we choose a movie for us to watch?” Felicity asks glancing out the window. Saturday morning movie marathon seemed to just happen after they watched the entire Star Wars franchise. Despite this William knows that she saw him looking at his dad scars and he’s almost certain she wants to talk to him about it. “We’ll let your dad finish making breakfast, according to him I am only distracting him. Some kind of ninja he is he can’t even multitask.”
“ I’m not…” William snickers at his father’s protest but it dies on his lips as Felicity pulls William away from the kitchen.
Once they are comfortably sitting on the couch the movie collection projecting on the screen Felicity turns to William. “You know you could ask him.”
William shifts uncomfortably in his spot, “I didn’t mean to stare.”
“I know you probably have lots of questions about them and you’re afraid to ask him, but you should sometimes he might not want to talk about it but sometimes he’d surprise you. I know they look scary but I can promise you they don’t hurt him anymore.”
“That’s what he told me.” William confesses hesitantly, he still has so many questions though.
“See the thing about your dad is that he’s not the best at opening up.”
William looks over his shoulder at his dad who is currently flipping pancakes while whistling and then back at Felicity with one raised skeptical eyebrow. Felicity only chuckles, “believe me it took him years to get to that person. My point is as you know he’s been through a lot but you can still ask him about it. I’m certain that he’ll tell you about the ones he’s willing to talk about. Just don’t be afraid to ask him things, he’s always going to want you to come to him no matter how big or small.”
“Okay,” William nods his head in understanding making a small promise to himself that he would ask his father about his time on the island.
“Hey Dad?” He calls out as he rises onto his knees on the couch turning to face the kitchen, he sees Felicity pause on her way to grabbing the remote control just as his dad calls out to him his voice slightly strained.
“Yea?”
“Did you put chocolate chips in the waffles?”
“Don’t worry I added more when he wasn’t looking.” Felicity says raising her voice purposely so that his Dad would hear.
His dad only scoffs at her words, “Felicity I knew you were doing that. I also saw you eating the chocolate chips too.”
“ Ninja.” Felicity hisses at which William snickers loudly, his dad pointedly ignoring them as he goes back to making their breakfast.
It’s not till much later than night when he bids them both goodnight that William realizes that he called Oliver his dad for the first time.
When William finally meets his Aunt Thea it’s less than ideal, but his dad is practically giddy when he comes to the apartment to deliver the news. Raisa is excited and promises to make his Aunt Thea’s favourite meal once she’s out of the hospital.
They have Thanksgiving in his Aunt Thea’s hospital room with Mr. Diggle and Felicity. It’s nothing like what William imagined all except for the pain he feels when he thinks of his mom and the fact that this is the first of many holidays without her and that’s something William doesn’t think will ever go away.
Two weeks later his dad and Felicity head off to Central City for the weekend for their friends’ wedding and William is slightly annoyed that he couldn’t go with. His Aunt Thea though has since moved into the apartment and she and Raisa promise that they are going to have fun. William is skeptical, he’s not five he doesn’t need them to entertain him. He knows that he’s only annoyed because it’s just a few short weeks before Christmas and William really misses his mom and now Oliver and Felicity are gone, even if it’s only for a weekend it still sucks.
“Hey kid.” William pauses on his way to his bedroom to see his Aunt Thea on the couch in the living room patting the couch in invitation, he hesitates for a brief second but then he remembers his dad’s words to keep an eye on his Aunt and he makes his way over to her.
“What’s with the brooding?” She teases her eyes, so much like William’s own, twinkling with merth. “One Queen brooding is enough in this family and trust me your dad has that one down for years .”
William smiles weakly with a shrug of his shoulder casting his eyes briefly at the recently decorated Christmas tree. Aunt Thea though seems to just know what he was thinking because her smile drops and she gives him a look of understanding, “the holidays are never easy. Has you Dad told you about our Mom?”
William shakes his head, “only that she died a few years ago.”
“Sometimes it’s hard to talk about them even though you miss them like crazy.” Thea says thoughtfully, “Then one day you find that all you want to do is talk about them, keep their memory alive for you and it hurts just a little bit less. It never stops hurting, it only eases. Never feel like you have to talk about her, do it on your own time.”
William nods picking at the blanket Thea tossed over his lap. “ I miss her.”
“I know, bud.” Thea whispers softly and shifts to the right pulling William towards her engulfing him in a hug, the tears that William was feeling deep in his chest slowly start to gather as she rubs his shoulder. “And your dad is going to be back soon.”
“It’s stupid I know.” William huffs annoyed that he misses his dad as well, his dad who is only in Central city for two days.
“I was your age when I lost my dad.” Thea tells him, which immediately gets Williams attention and he pulls back to look her in the eye and she nods knowingly, “I couldn’t go a day without knowing where my mom was. The first time she went away for a business meeting I cried so much she had to cut it short and come back. She was only going overnight and I freaked out. Rationally I knew nothing was going to happen to her but…”
“You keep imagining every awful situation that could happen?” William asks his voice tentative.
“Exactly.” Thea he squeezes William shoulder in reassurance, “your dad’s tough, tougher than most dads I’m sure. The worst thing that will happen to him in Central City is if Felicity stands on his feet after he stood on hers while they dance. Your dad has two left feet. Our mom made him learn when he was your age and he stopped cause he was so terrible.”
William snickered, “he took dance classes? Why?”
“Oh Will, growing up as a Queen came with all kinds of obligations.” Thea says with a sigh.
“Is it true you lived in a castle?” William can’t help but ask when his Aunt looks at him in amusement he blushes but continues, “I googled his name, my dad, when we first met and it said you guys had a lot of money.”
“We did.” Thea agrees with a thoughtful nod, but at Williams wide eyes she quickly corrects, “the money part I mean, not the castle, the mansion was pretty big though.”
“Wow.”
“It wasn’t as great as it sounds.” Thea says seriously, “money changes people and not for the good, sometimes. You and your dad have things good right here.”
William nods in agreement, “yea I like it. I miss having a yard and stuff like in Central City though. Mom and I lived in a house, but It’s winter now so this is much better in an apartment.”
“I’m sure you guys will move to a house eventually.”
“You mean when Felicity officially moves in.” William corrects and by the look of his aunt’s face he knows that he’s figured her out, she turns slightly her forehead wrinkling in thought, much like how his dad looks when he’s trying to figure something out.
“Does it bother you, Felicity and your dad?” She asks him bluntly, and she’s not like his dad who had this hopefully excited expression on his face when he asked William if it was okay for Felicity to get a key to their place.
William thinks if he had a problem with his dad giving Felicity the key he’s not sure he would have even said anything, it’s obvious how happy Felicity makes his dad.
“Nope.” William says honestly, with a small shrug of his shoulders, “I don’t know why she doesn’t move in already, she’s always complaining she can’t find one of her shoes cause she left it home. She should just move in, she and Dad are so dramatic when she has to leave to go back to her apartment.”
Thea snorts loudly in amusement at his words, “you think that’s bad you should have seen them before they got together the first time.”
She mimics throwing up and William giggles loudly in return. “Felicity is awesome and she makes my Dad happy.”
“She does.” Thea says with a nod in agreement, “c’mon teach me how to play this game of yours I heard you kick your dad’s butt in it all the time.”
“That’s cause Dad sucks. He gets upset with the characters and says a punch like that would have made the person pass out.” William rolls his eyes already grabbing one of his remotes to hand to his aunt who only snickers at his comment.
They end up spending the weekend playing videos games and watch tv. Thea promises Raisa she can handle things on the Sunday so it’s just the two of them and his aunt is great she promises him when she’s got her strength back she will teach how to fight with a bow staff once they keep it from Williams father. William agrees immediately he’s been asking about that for ages but his dad told he can only stick to kickboxing.
The following Monday the first official snow day happens for the season and William gets to stay home with his Aunt Thea. They are busy watching a movie when the front door opens both he and his aunt look back just in time to see Felicity push his father up against a wall.
“Children in the room!” Aunt Thea all but screeches in horror her arm flying out to block William, but William is already sinking into couch his eyes focused on the television.
“Thea! I thought you said you guys went to the park?” His Dad stutters.
“Well if you weren’t busy sticking your tongue down your girlfriend’s throat you would have read my text that said we are not going to the park anymore.” Thea remarks dryly and William wishes he was anywhere else but the living room.
“Actually we wanted to talk you about that.” His comments his voice slightly strained just as he and Felicity come to sit on the couch, both with wide giddy smiles.
“Well now I’m worried.” Thea says looking across at William and laughing at the grimace on his face, “and he’s scarred for life.”
Felicity giggles as she buries her face in his father’s shoulders and his dad only huffs not amused in the slightest. When he takes Felicity’s hand in his they both sober up and William’s interest is immediately peaked and he can see his Aunt is looking at them with equal curiosity.
“We have some news.”
Felicity’s smile is wide but before she can continue his Aunt Thea interrupts sitting up in excitement, looking across at her brother, “did you propose?”
“No, Felicity did.” His Dad says with a laugh.
“Technically you did propose but I said no.” Felicity points out but despite her words she laughing as well, and the entire exchange confuses William, when he looks across at his Aunt he’s glad that she is equally confused.
“Wait explain that sentence. Are you guys engaged or not?”
“Uh neither?” Felicity poses it as a question but she pulls her left hand out her pocket and at the same time William’s Dad does the same and they are wearing matching silver rings.
“You got married?” Thea all but screeches, “ in Central City? Without your family? Without us?”
William does know what to think about the whole thing but his aunt is clearly upset for the both of them. Felicity’s smile falls from her lips but his dad doesn’t look that put out at his sister’s reaction, “it was last minute Speedy.”
“Well I would hope so Ollie!” His Aunt Thea all but yells, “you have friends that can literally run around the earth in five seconds. You couldn’t get Barry to bring us?”
When they both begin to protest his Aunt Thea rolls her eyes and rises to her feet her arms open wide, going toward Felicity and pulling her into a tight hug. William is as confused as Felicity looks.
“I’m so happy for you two.” Thea exclaims just as he pulls back from Felicity, “I’m still annoyed you two didn’t invite me or William but I am happy for you. It was about damn time.”
“Speedy.” His Dad says it utter exasperation that has William giggling as his dad moves to pull his sister in a hug.
“You two do know we’re going to throw a party for you right?” Thea says expectantly turning to Felicity, “you mother has been texting me wedding plans since she heard I woke up. You have to do this for us. For you. Do the two of you even have a picture ?”
“Actually John took a pic….” Felicity trails off when Oliver not so subtly shakes his head from left to right.
“John? Diggle got invited and we didn’t?” Thea asks appalled.
“He officiated! He married us and Barry and Iris and…”
“Honey, you’re making it worse.” His Dad is smiling in amusement as he rests a hand on Felicity’s shoulders stopping her mid explanation.
Felicity looks horrified then back at his Aunt Thea who is now glaring at his dad pointing a finger at the pair, “you think this is bad wait until you tell Donna Smoak she missed her only daughter’s wedding.”
“Oh god. I didn’t think about that.” Felicity says horrified.
“Thea.” His Dad growls out her name in annoyance.
“No she’s right Oliver. My mother is going to kill us.”
“Can I be there when you tell her?” His Aunt Thea asks absolutely delighted at the thought and William can’t help but snicker, he’s definitely curious about meeting Felicity’s Mom now.
“Speedy!”
His aunt sighs dramatically at being reprimanded, “if it’s any consolation you can always tell her that Ollie didn’t even invite his own son or sister to the wedding. Donna can form a club with us the forgotten.”
Speaking of forgotten all the adults seem to remember William and suddenly he has three pairs of eyes staring back at him, all jokes aside everyone sobers up immediately and it takes everything in William not to move.
“Bud?” His Dad calls out in uncertainty, Felicity is twisting her wedding ring repeatedly as he looks at him anxiously and William hates that either of them could even think he wouldn’t be okay with this.
William looks at his Aunt Thea who nods her head in encouragement and he wrinkles his forehead in thought before he speaks, “I wanted to be in the wedding too.”
Thea claps at his words, “it’s settled we wee are throwing you two a wedding reception…”
She continues on about calling Felicity’s Mom but William finds himself pulled into a hug by his dad. He’s looking down at William with serious questioning eyes, “if you aren’t okay with this…”
“Dad, relax I’m happy for you.” William says with a roll of his eyes and he smiles when his dad visibly relaxes.”at least I got away from being the ring bearer.”
“You wouldn’t have wanted to do that?” His Dad asks slightly confused.
William shrugs his shoulders, “aren’t dogs normally ring bearers?”
“Oh a puppy ring bearer! Oliver we have to have that.” Felicity chimes in walking over to them. She lays a hand on William’s forearms and despite her tone William can see the uncertainty in her eyes and he only smiles warmly in return at which Felicity squeezes his arm in understanding.
“Felicity, we already exchanged rings.” Oliver says in exasperation, he looks at his sister who is typing away on her phone, “Thea we agreed to the reception we aren’t doing the whole wedding thing.”
“That’s your one and only veto Ollie. So I hope you used it wisely. Especially when Donna Smoak gets involved.”
“Told you we should have ran away to Aruba.” Felicity whispers resting her chin on his dad’s shoulder. She looks across at William in horror, “not that we are running away from you. We would have totally come for you to come along.”
“I don’t want to go on your honeymoon with you two!” William wrinkles his nose in disgust. “I’ll stay with Aunt Thea.”
“Smart kid.” His Aunt says hearing the entire exchange, she looks at Felicity expectantly, “so you need to call your mom I can’t start planning this without her.”
“I don’t wanna.” Felicity all but whines and William laughs loudly at her antics, he’s definitely looking forward to meeting Felicity’s Mom.
Less than a month later William finds out that his dad has been lying to him. His dad is still the Green Arrow.
William is so angry at him he ignores Felicity when she asks him if he wants her to patch up his bruises. Instead he sits in the corner of their secret base and kicks the leg of the table repeatedly in anger.
Eventually he calms down, after his dad apologizes and Felicity explains to him exactly what his dad does. The only problem is no matter how much she reassures him that his dad knows what he’s doing it doesn’t make the worry go away. It doesn’t take away that fear that William gets every time he thinks about his dad out there fighting people.
He can’t lose his dad.
He knows he has Felicity now, his Aunt Thea he has so many people that would take care of him, so much more than he did when it was just him and his mom. But it doesn’t matter how many people he has in his life now he still misses his mom and he can’t lose his dad too.
Felicity tells him the worry never goes away, that they just need to trust that his dad knows what he’s doing. But it’s not his dad that worries him it’s everyone else that’s after his dad.
Less than a week later that worry almost gets him killed. He does something stupid and reckless, but there was yet another bomb and his dad is with yet another crazy man that wants to kill him.
Memories of his time on that cold island, Adrian Chase evil laughs still haunts him. The sound of multiple explosions going off at once, the smell of wood burning, blood and ash comes flooding back the moment Felicity says his dad is stuck in some building with the man mad who wants to blow up the city and William just reacts. He listens in on Felicity and Aunt Thea’s conversation and when he sees the address that his dad currently is William quickly types it into his phone and he runs .
He runs toward his dad, no care for himself because if he’s going to lose his dad he wants to be there he needs to be with him.
The very last conversation William had with his mother was a entire week before the island, and William remembers yelling about Hub City and how much he hated the small little town. He yelled at her about how he just wanted to go back home and he hated her for moving them to that stupid city.
The very last thing he told his mother was that he hated her and he hate s it. He refuses to let the same thing happen with his dad. He needs to see his dad.
So he runs blinding into a building with a known bomb, he took off his phone the moment he arrived as Felicity has been calling it off the hook since she realized he left.
He’s known his father for nine months now and in that time he’s faces two known criminals. Each time his father and stood beside him, protected him and promised him that he would do everything in his power to protect William. The only difference between those two times is not only that William believes him but William knows that if things didn’t work out he got to see his dad for one last time and that’s exactly what he wants.
In the end Williams presence is the reason that Star City is still standing and his Dad tells him as much.
“I will never gonna let anything happen to you, William.” His Dad promises, squeezing his shoulder as they stand in the bunker after Cayden James is arrested, “ Ever.”
William nods and before he can second guess his actions he takes a step forward and engulfs his father in a tight hug, “I love you, Dad.”
“I love you too, bud.” His Dad chokes out and William tightens his hold on his father until his dad winces out in pain.
William steps back his eyes full of concern when his dad holds his torso grimacing, “what’s wrong?”
“I knew that kick was not nothing !” Felicity comes towards them, William can see the tears in her eyes and he knows she was hovering nearby and heard their exchange. She does not look too worried about his dad so that help eases William’s concern. “Strip. Let me look at that bruise.”
“Felicity it’s…” but his dad doesn’t even finish his protest and sighs in exasperation quickly ridding himself of his hoodie as well as his black t-shirt and William winces at the large bruise across his torso.
“Luckily you didn’t break anything, but I still need to bandage it up.” Felicity says with a sigh as she presses lightly against his dad’s torso. She narrows her eyes when she looks his dad, “don’t move.”
His dad only raises both hands in surrender nodding in agreement and William would have laughed except Felicity suddenly turns on him. “ You, young man are in a lot of trouble. What you did was stupid and reckless and...and I said I was going to wait till I calmed down and think about what I wanna say before I say it. So we’re gonna put this conversation on pause. But you are definitely not off the hook.”
This time William raises his hands up in defense, mimicking his father’s earlier actions and when his father snickers, trying and failing to hide his laughter Felicity only rolls her eyes and walks off. William knows she’s still mad cause his Dad always tells him an angry Felicity is one that doesn’t want to see you and walks away for some air.
“She’s right you know.” His Dad says softly patting the empty space next to him for William to take a seat, “What you did was stupid and reckless and it can’t happen again. I need you to promise me that.”
“It won’t.” William says earnestly, he then looks back at his dad’s bruised torso and frowns, “does that make your scars hurt?”
“No. These old scars hardly ever hurt anymore.” His Dad says rubbing his chest lightly.
“Where did you get that one?” William suddenly asks pointing at the rough edges of his chest, he knows the burn on the opposite side is from Adrian Chase but William has never asked about the others.
“I actually got this from the person that gave me the first hood.” His Dad explains gesturing to his green hood that lies on table next to them.
“You wear a green hood for the guy that tried to kill you?”
“No. I wear it to honor the man that taught me how to survive.” His father says seriously. He runs his finger along a thin silver line that takes up half of his abdomen. “Each scar tells a story there obviously weren’t good memories, but each scar reminds me of what I’ve been through but more importantly it reminds me time and time again that I’m a survivor and whenever things get hard I look at these scars and I think about you, Felicity your aunt Thea and all the people I have that’s worth fighting for and why I need to survive .”
“I would have never met you if you weren’t a survivor.” William acknowledges thoughtfully.
His words give his father pause and his dad nods in agreement, “that’s true.”
William’s eyes scan the array of scars and the one line tattoo his dad has he’s about to ask about it until his dad points to an particular scar that forms an arch. “Felicity says this one although terrifying is the most interesting. I got bit by a shark.”
“A shark? That’s so cool!” William exclaims bending his head to look closer at the scar then looked up at his dad sheepishly, “not that it bit you but…”
His dad only laughs and ruffles William’s hair in affection, “that was Felicity’s reaction to.”
“My reaction to what?” Felicity asks curiously as she comes down the small flight of stairs with some first aid supplies.
“Shark bite!” William exclaims excitedly.
“Oh yes that one’s hot.” Felicity says with a soft sigh, but then she straightens her back and looks at William horrified, “ not hot….cool I meant cool.”
His dad only laughs at her misstep but William wrinkles his nose in disgust. “You guys are gross.”
Felicity protests weakly after him as he walks away but when she is cut off abruptly and giggles William is grateful that he already has his back to them.
He leaves them to it and slowly walks around the bunker finally taking it in for the first time. He’s only been in here once before and that day he was so angry he did not look around and earlier today he was far too focused on eavesdropping on the constant chatter in order to find out where his dad was.
But now he takes in his time, his fingers trail along the shining corners of the glass cases that hold numerous arrows. He’s always assumed the Green Arrow, his dad just had one type of arrow, but the display in front of him has numerous arrows of various sizes some with little devices at the tip.
The entire set up is amazing it really does look like a secret lair things William has only seen in movies. It’s awesome.
He eyes a few arrows that are resting on a small rack outside o f the glass cases and William makes a bee line for them. His fingers itching to touch the metallic tip. He sees his dad’s bow resting on the table next to the arrows and his interest is peaked.
Watching his dad on video was one thing, but seeing him in action like he did tonight was nothing like William ever expected. Using his toy bow and arrow is probably nothing like the real thing and William really wants to try it.
“Hey bud.” His Dad voice is soft as he comes up behind William resting a hand on William’s shoulder in greeting. “Try not to touch the arrows, it can trigger them off.”
“What do these do?” William asks curiously, fingers clenching at his side.
“This one is a tranquilizer. Enough to take down a grown man for an hour or so.” His Dad points to the smallest arrow. “Ironically the smallest Arrow is probably the one that packs the greatest punch.”
“Yea Aunt Thea says she might be small but she could kick your ass.” William points out with a grin.
“Language.” His Dad corrects automatically frown on his lips, “and she’s lying by the way. She can’t.”
William only snickers in response he hasn’t seen his aunt in action but she’s told him enough stories that he believes her over his dad. Not that he would tell his dad that.
William looks at the bow his curiosity getting the best of him again. He runs his finger along the curve of the bow wondering what it would feel like to hold the heavy metal, and fire the arrow. The arrows alone are heaving that William’s toy bow and arrow. His dad suddenly claps him on the shoulder stopping William’s train of thought.
“Maybe when you’re in high school.”
William grins broadly at the prospect, he’s gonna hold his father to that.
Exactly one year after he moved in with his dad, William is on another island this time there are no bombs, no blood and no fire. He’s sitting on the white sandy beaches of St. Lucia a small Caribbean island, the sun shining down on him.
The waves are crashing a few feet away and William can’t stop staring at the clear blue water. He’s never been to a beach before, that terrible island aside.
Felicity is sitting on her beach mat wearing a massive straw hat with her book resting next to her as she settles in, he just knows she has no plans to move from that spot for a few hours “you know you can go in the water. You don’t have to wait for your dad.”
“I know but he said we could play beach volleyball. I wanna do that before I go in the water.” William replies tossing said volleyball up in the air and catching it a few moments later.
“Of course you do.” Felicity says with a laugh, “you Queens and your need to spend your vacation exercising.”
William chuckles knowing she’s only teasing, “you’re a Queen too.”
“I’m perfectly happy being the lazy Queen in this family.”
William watches her in amusement when she takes off her enormous hat shaking her hair free, but when she pulls off the light floral dress she’s wearing over her swimsuit William smile drops as he sees numerous scars littering her back. There are some small ones on either side of her spine and then one slim jagged long one down the base of her spine.
“Since your dad’s not here can you help me with some sunblock on my back? Otherwise I’m gonna look like the lobster we had for dinner last night.” Felicity jokes but when William doesn’t respond she turns around to face him with a frown, “William?”
“You guys said you can’t get hurt in the bunker.” William accuses her, “you promised that you were safe.”
“Technically we did not say I wouldn’t get hurt.” Felicity starts off but William sees right through what she is doing and he looks at her unimpressed. Felicity sighs softly, “this didn’t happen in the bunker. This happened a few years ago when Damien Dhark attacked. I was not okay for a while, but I’m okay now. That I can promise.”
“Are some of them bullet wounds?” Williams asks curiously realizing some of the puckered skin looks just like a few of his dads.
“Yes, and surgery scars.” Felicity responds, William has found between her and his dad she’s always the one that’s much more forthright when William asks questions. His dad doesn’t lie but he tries to sugar coat things for William and make them not as serious as things should be. “I’ve got a matching set.”
She points to two small circular scars on her stomach and then twists around so that William can see almost identical scars along her back. She tries to sound nonchalant but William knows Felicity long enough that he can tell when she’s not being honest. “I hate that you guys always get hurt protecting the city.”
“I know.” Felicity says softly scooting closer to William and pulling him into a sideway hug, “but you know your dad and I having been doing this for a long long time. Yes things can happen. Yes things can go wrong but you know that we will always try our very best to come home.”
“I know.” William says with a dejected sigh his face pressed against the crook of her arm.
“You told him?” A familiar voice calls out surprising them both.
“Told me what?” William asks in confusion as his parents exchange a look.
“ No. I was showing William my war wounds.” Felicity says with a proud smile, “you aren’t the only one with stories.”
“Those aren’t the kind of stories I would ever want for you Felicity.” His Dad sighs.
“Tell me what?” William repeats realizing that they had not answer his initial question.
They exchange yet another look having one of those silent conversations that always annoys William when he wants to know what’s going on.
His dad takes a seat on Felicity’s beach mat, turning to face William, he takes Felicity’s hand on his both of them looking at William nervously which only makes William anxious. “We have some news.”
When neither of them elaborate William looks at them expectantly, “am I supposed to guess? You guys know I hate surprises.”
“Felicity is… Felicity and I…”
“We’re having a baby!” Felicity blurts out cutting off his father, she looks across at his dad sheepishly, “I’m sorry but the suspense was killing me.”
His dad only shakes his head, his hand resting on Felicity’s stomach as he presses a kiss to Felicity’s forehead and she hums in content. They both turn to William expectantly.
“William?” His Dad calls out his voice full of uncertainty.
“When are you due?” William asks suddenly his mind still trying to process their words.
“Spring next year.” Felicity answers first her voice slightly hesitant.”
“Oh okay that’s great.”
“that’s it?”
“Are you okay?”
They both stutter out at his words and now William is confused cause it is great, it’s awesome, “obviously, I’m happy and whatever but we don’t get to meet the baby till next year . That’s kinda lame.”
Felicity snorts at William comment but his dad still seems perturbed by his response, “do you have any questions for us any concerns, anything?”
William wrinkles his nose, “this is not you asking me if I know where babies come from, right?”
“Way to cut to the chase.” Felicity chuckles but his his dad though rubs his beard in that way William knows he’s uncomfortable about it.
“I’m 13 not 5.” William remarks dryly.
“Good. Good.” His Dad repeats his ears red in embarrassment unable to form a proper sentence
Felicity only laughs again, she throws an arm around William’s shoulder “I grew up with Donna Smoak, I can handle any question you throw at me.”
“Ew. I’m not gonna ask you.” William wrinkles his nose in disgust at the idea of asking Felicity those kind of question.
“Hey, I’m just saying if you can’t talk about it then you shouldn’t be doing anything…”
“Felicity!”
“Felicity! I’m not... stop.” William practically pleads his ears now turning red in embarrassment while his dad protests equally horrified.
Felicity only grins in amusement, “I’m just saying you’re cute like your dad and you’re smart - not that I’m saying you’re not smart honey- but girls or boys would be lucky…”
“ Felicity.” His Dad interrupts her with a hand to her shoulder, “if William has any questions he knows that he can come to me...to either of us I mean.”
“Yes.” William agrees immediately, “can we please just stop talking about this? Please .”
“Oh no.” Felicity says horrified on looking between the two, “I’ve turned into my mother.”
This time it’s William and Oliver who snicker but when neither correct her she moans again in horror. William can tell she’s just about to go into a babble about this and part of him is afraid the subject of sex will come up again so he quickly rises to his feet tossing his volleyball to his dad who catches it with ease.
“Wanna play HORSE?” William asks him eagerly, his dad grins knowingly.
“You’re on bud.”
William takes to steps towards to stand but stops to face both his parents, “seriously though. I’m really excited about my little brother or sister or both?”
“No! ” Felicity protests horrified at the idea her hand resting on her stomach.
William quickly runs off just as he hears her telling his dad she can’t carry two babies. William only snickers at his dad’s expense. The next nine months are going to be interesting.
After he lost his mom William felt as though he lost the only family he ever had, he ever knew and now almost 13 months later he’s has an entire family that loves him dearly. Although nothing will ever replace his mom, and he will forever miss her, he knows now that he won’t ever be alone again.