Day One: Snow Day
It was a cold winter night in Star City when Speedy and Black Canary went out to patrol the crime-infested city. Atop a building, the two saw the fog left a light haze on the city floor, and the clouds covered the moon in the sky. The street lights flickered on and off in the alley below them, and the frozen dumpster glued to the concrete. Spartan and Green Arrow, on the other side of town, was in the process of pursuing a drug bust. With Christmas around the corner, people get desperate.
"Laurel?" Speedy fell to the floor, leaning back against the ledge of the rooftop.
"Yeah, Thea?" Laurel peered over the ledge of the building into the alley, "What is it?"
"Last year was the first year I didn't celebrate Christmas," Thea swallowed her tears.
"Thea." Laurel shook her head and bent down to hold her shoulder.
"And this year I won't be celebrating it either."
Laurel pushed her lower lip up, "Thea, why are you saying this?"
"Because, Laurel, Christmas was my dad's favorite holiday, remember?" Thea shook her head towards the floor, "Why doesn't anyone but me, remember?"
"Thea," Laurel sat on the floor beside her, holding her in an embrace, "of course we remember, it's just-."
"It's not on you guys' top priorities, right?" Thea interrupted, sighing.
"Don't say that," Laurel looked at Thea's face, "Ollie and I care about it, but we're just so caught up with the campaign, and last year, well, last year you-."
"Left with Malcolm, I know." Thea groaned.
Had it really been that long since any one of them celebrated Christmas together? An aching two years of drifting apart from one another. Laurel glanced at Thea's wrist to see who had their communication on, and pushing her hair behind her ear, click.
"Thea, why did you leave with Malcolm?" Laurel asked, tucking her arm behind Thea.
"Because I couldn't deal with being weak, defenseless, and constantly lied to." Thea fumed, slamming her bow, "My dad, my real dad, the one who raised me, he died seven years ago, and my mom just died - no, she sacrificed herself - I lost everything I knew, Laurel."
Laurel held onto Thea's hand.
"Laurel, my mom died." Thea began choking up, "I was so angry at her, but she sacrificed herself for me, I was so ungrateful towards her, Laurel."
"Oh, Thea." Laurel kissed Thea's hair.
"And this is the time of the year that I miss her most, because I remember my Mom and Dad decorating the house, throwing Christmas parties, and her smile, god, Laurel, I miss her smile."
Thea sobbed into Laurel's chest, "I miss her so much, I miss the Christmas party she forced us to do when Oliver came back, I miss her coming into my room whenever I was sad, I miss everything about her. I spent so much time being mad at her, Laurel."
Click!
"Zzt! -eedy, you know Mom loved you, and no matter how much you claimed to hate her, she loved you and knew you loved her back. Mom would give anything to keep you safe, you know that. I don't ever want to hear you say that again, and I'm sure Mom wouldn't either. Mom and Dad loved you so much, Speedy." Oliver said over the radio.
"Laurel." Thea looked up to Laurel, her face stained with tears.
Laurel smiled at Thea, tucking her hair behind her ear, "You went and messed up the grease."
Spartan and Green Arrow zip-lined onto the rooftop to join Speedy and Black Canary.
"Ollie!" Thea stood up with Laurel following after.
Diggle's smile could be seen under his mask, his chest pumped out and arms crossed over his chest, "Thea, you know your mother loved you, I'm sure if she could've, she would've made me your bodyguard and not his - but, now that I think back about it, she said I wasn't efficient enough."
"And that was in part my fault." Oliver raised his hand.
The two walked over to Thea and Oliver embraced Thea.
"I'm sure she'd be glad to know you're still doing it after her death, free of charge." Laurel laughed.
"Oh, there's a fee, there's no free lunch. One of you," Diggle pointed to Thea and Oliver, "babysitting baby Sara on Lyla and I's date nights."
Thea hicced a laugh, tears streaming at the mention of her mother.
"Oh, Speedy," Oliver kissed her hair, "I'm so sorry, I'm always so bad at remembering the sentimental things. Forgive me?"
"Don't I always?" Thea scrunched her nose.
"Yes, and I don't always deserve it." Oliver smiled, shaking his little sister in his arms.
There wasn't much to any of their families, but when they were together like this, patrolling the town, this was their family. There was no way to deny that, even in the darkness that engulfed the city, they had to be the light that shined, that hope, and they needed their own, this was their's.
"Hey, I have an idea!" Oliver pushed Thea away to look at her, "How about I throw a Christmas party, in remembrance of Mom? We'll invite the town like Mom and Dad would every year."
Thea lost in thought, kind of wanted a small intimate gathering for just them as well.
Laurel leaned in and crinkled her nose with a smile, "And we'll have an after party at Dig's house, just us."
"What, when did we-?" Diggle crossed his arms over his chest, "Ow!"
Laurel darted her eyes towards Thea.
"Oh, yeah, of course, at my place!" Diggle smiled at Thea.
Thea bit down on her lip, trying to hold back her overwhelming joy, "I'd like that."
Diggle and Thea sat in a corner on the phone with Lyla, talking about decorations and choices of food for the last minute party, only four days away. While Laurel leaned onto the roof's ledge, with her arms folded atop, and Oliver, with his back against the ledge, crossed his arms over his chest. Oliver shifted his focus from Thea and Diggle to Laurel, who was watching the streets below, and asked,
"How is it that you always know what to do and say?"
"Because Ollie," Laurel smiled, her golden strands dropping to one side as she turned to face him, "I care."
Oliver smiled back, allowing for a moment's breath, and laughed, "Are you implying that I don't care?"
"If the shoe fits!" Laurel laughed, looking back to the street.
Oliver joined in her laughter, and looked in the direction his Pretty bird was looking,
"How did I forget something so important to me though?" Oliver shook his head, "I mean, Thea is the only family I have left, and I'm more worried about celebrating Christmas, I mean, the holidays with Felicity."
Laurel looked down, her smile faded, she pressed her lips together and looked back out to the fog. Felicity was celebrating Hanukkah with Donna until Christmas Eve, and her dad was joining them as well. It was nice for Laurel to see her dad doing something outside of work.
"Laurel, what's wron-?"
Laurel's eyes widened, "Hey!"
Jumping off the ledge, Black Canary catapulted herself in the direction she shouted.
"Pretty Bird!" Green Arrow shouted, shooting a zip-line for her.
"Black Canary!" Thea and Diggle ran after her.
Using her tonfa, Black Canary rode the zipline down and went after the culprit. Green Arrow planted the other end of the zipline into the concrete and slid down the wire with his bow, Thea and Diggle following behind him.
"Zzt! Black Canary, what's going on?" Green Arrow asked, running to catch up with her.
"Zzt! The guy just stole all their stuff in the car while they went into the house to put stuff away!" Black Canary shouted.
"Ouch, that was a bit loud." Thea thumped her head to let out the sound.
"Who leaves their car unattended with everything open and unlocked, and in this city?" Diggle dumbfounded.
Oliver shook his head, groaning.
"Put down those bags." Black Canary held her tonfa tight at her side, rolling a fist in the other.
The man had dark clothes on, worn-out boots, a black beanie and shivered with fear. Pressing his back against the wall, the man dropped some of the bags. An adorable Flash plushie fell out of the first bag, followed by a yellow bouncy ball, and lastly, a roll of red christmas wrapping paper. Laurel's eyes widened, her mouth slightly dropping.
"She's asking nicely, I'd listen." Green Arrow appeared from his left.
"Don't want her raising her voice." Spartan walked up from his right.
"Or her fists." Speedy drew her bow from behind Black Canary.
Looking around, he dropped all the bags and covered himself with his arms, shaking,
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, I mean, I just, I'm so sorry, please don't take me in!"
The yellow bouncy ball rolled towards Black Canary, stopping at her boot. Black Canary dropped her tonfa, bending down to pick up the yellow rubber, moving her gaze towards the man. Spartan turned his gaze away, caught off guard by his own emotions, and Speedy lowered her bow, lost in thought at the red wrapping paper. Green Arrow watched Pretty Bird's breath heave out her chest, the frustration escaping her lungs.
"Leave and don't do this again." Black Canary turned away, the yellow ball at her side.
The man stumbled to his feet, holding his hand out at Black Canary, and looking around to the other three, his tears pouring, "Th-tha-thank you!"
Spartan moved aside to let him through, watching Green Arrow place his hand atop the yellow ball, "It's okay, Pretty bird, you can let go."
"Ollie, he-!" Black Canary choked.
Oliver cut her off with a tight hug, "Don't worry about it right now. I want you and Speedy to go and help Lyla decorate, okay?"
Holding him back, Laurel choked back tears, "It's not fair!"
Oliver smiled, pressing his lips against her hair,
"Don't worry about that right now, Pretty Bird."
Thea and Spartan grabbed the bags, and Thea smiled, "Let's get these presents back to their rightful owners first, okay?"
"Yeah." Laurel sniffed, looking down at the yellow ball.
Thea and Diggle headed off towards the car, giving Laurel and Oliver a moment.
"I don't want you to think about this incident too much, okay?" Oliver glanced at Laurel.
Laurel sighed as they followed behind Diggle and Thea, "Green Arrow, our purpose is to help this town, and this man is stealing presents for Christmas? Really makes me wonder what 'justice' we're doing."
Oliver looked back to Thea, "Well, we're giving her," he dipped his head towards Thea, "her Christmas, and this family," he lifted up the bag, smiling, "their Christmas."
Laurel stopped to look at Oliver, grabbing onto his arm, "Ollie,"
His breath became slow and his chest heavy, Oliver turned to face Laurel and held her back. Facing the floor, Laurel kicked her foot on top the ground and looked back up, locking eyes with Oliver. Snowflakes dropped onto her cheek and she exclaimed,
"But there's another part of Star City not celebrating Christmas because of poverty, and that's the part I'm worried about."
Laurel's green eyes engulfed Oliver, and he found himself lost in her passion for the city.
"Who says they won't be celebrating with us?" Oliver whispered.
Her emerald eyes sparkled and she felt a tremor go through her body - what was this nostalgic feeling?
"Guys, look, it's snowing!" Thea chimed, twirling the bags as she spun, "Maybe we'll have a white Christmas after all!"
Laurel and Oliver turned to Thea and Diggle, and Oliver laughed, "She's still a kid, huh?"
"Well," Laurel walked towards Thea, "she never got the chance to really be one when you were gone, Ollie."
"Yeah." Oliver glanced towards Laurel, following in her steps.