(a/n: hiiiiiiiiii this is my first time writing for the arrow verse, or well, the only time i've actually uploaded something for the arrow verse (i tried to write stuff before but it never seemed right) then i got this prompt and it was likE A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
ANYWAY this is going to be multichapter with little fragments of their lives together, not in chronological order perse. i hope its not too ooc but this is just THE trope that gets me going. roy is my actual son i love him very much but oliver and felicity are his real parents lets be real like dont even lie. i've wanted to do this for a while so i hope some of you like it:)
headsup: in this verse oliver and felicity are together sara is alive (bc shes my main hoe yo) and baby sara hasnt been born yet so its like end of season two but with evolved olicity idk just go with it . its because im a failure and dont do canon well okay?
this is based on the prompt handed to me on tumblr: au in which olicity take in orphan roy teenager or baby or kid
song in title is homeward bound / home by glee because im ride or die and that song is lYFE!
song in this chapter is 'hey ho' by the lumineers because it was bound to happen sometime so i thought it'd get it out of the way immidiately)
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"Where exactly did you find him again?"
"In the alleyway behind the Big Belly Burger downtown. He tried to steal my purse."
Diggle tries to, unsuccessfully, hide a snicker and Oliver turns his head to glare at him. The slightly taller man puts his hands up in defense, an amused grin playing on his lips as he makes a move for the basement, "I'll give you guys a minute." His eyes linger on the tiny adolescent in between his friends for a second longer, before chuckling his way downstairs.
"I'm sure we're breaking about five laws just by having a minor, who's apparently a runaway, in a club that's for 21 and over, let alone we—"
"Oliver Queen and his former-IT-specialist-turned-assistant kidnap a twelve year old. Is that honestly the worst headline concerning you that you've ever heard of?" She tilts her head a little, a small, teasing smile on her lips. He almost gives in but he can't, because this is a tiny person they're talking about and he's done a lot of bad things but corrupting an innocent child won't be one of them.
He ignores her previous question, offering yet another solution. "We have Laurel, she could get him placed into a good foster f—"
"No!" Felicity cuts him off, pulling a grimace as she does so. "Woops, I did not mean to be that loud. I mean it this time." She blushes furiously, eyes widening before quickly covering it up by what she does best, "Listen to me, Roy, over here, my little buddy Roy," she puts her hands on the red-hoodie-wearing-child's (there's a child in his club and Felicity wants to keep it like it's a small puppy that was rejected by it's mother. Of all the crappy things he thought the Arrow would have to deal with, this was not one of them) shoulder, squeezing softly to emphasize who she's talking about, as if that wasn't already crystal clear. "He's in the system. He ran away from multiple foster families, stole food to survive and was in juvie for three months before punching his newest foster father in the face and making a run for it. Again."
Roy turns his head to look up at the blonde, his brows furrowed together. He's about to open his mouth when Felicity speaks, "I'm very talented with computers. I'll tell you all about it someday."
He nods at her in response, turning back to look at Oliver instead, face blank, and he notices the kid doesn't speak much. Felicity had been smiling widely at the kid but when he turns back to her she's closer to glaring. At him. Oliver. Her boyfriend. Because he isn't jumping at the chance to show a pre-teen the perks of concealing your identity with warpaint and green leather.
"They won't place him in a foster family, Oliver, they'll send him back to juvie. Or to like, a group home. That's like high school, 24/7. Now I know high school was probably like a walk in the park for you and all your cash and seriously good looks and athletic skills, probably, and I'm getting way off topic here, but, for kids like us, kids that come from bad families, kids that are different, it's not."
"He punched his last foster father in the face?"
"Sure, I basically verbalize an entire essay on why we should let Roy stay with us—that would've gotten me a solid A had I been taking a class on How To Convince Grumpy People To Do Things in college—and that's what you take away from it. Amazing."
Roy, the tiny human, he finally speaks up once Felicity's done rambling, "In my defense, he's was a real asshole."
Oliver and Felicity share a look, one amused and another slightly pissed. To the universe's surprise, it's Oliver's eyes that are amused. Roy's eyes are just on fire. The kid's got obvious issues. Oliver can't say he doesn't know what that's like.
"Excuse us… kid," Oliver says, and God, it's not that long ago Thea was his age, how has he forgotten how to communicate with people… little people? He grabs Felicity's forearm and pulls her over to the bar.
Before he can say anything, she beats him to it. This is not a surprise to him. You wouldn't say so, but it happens more often than you'd think.
"Look, he's an orphan. His dad died in jail and his mom overdosed not too long ago. He has nowhere to go. And I think he kind of likes you. He's the broody type, you could totally bond over being broody," she smiles, a lighter tone to her voice before it disappears from her face when it's obvious her boyfriend isn't budging.
"Oliver, he's all alone," she pleads again, looking in his eyes and trying to convey her desperation into a look. "We could just take him in and take care of him for a little while—"
"And then what, Felicity? We take him out on field trips to abandoned warehouses and dark alleyways?"
"No, we just, we just—make up a few excuses. Nothing totally unbelieveable like 'my friend is going to sell sport drinks in syringes' or 'my coffee shop is a bad neighbourhood' but maybe, like, I don't know? We have to work a lot of night shifts because that's when our line of work is most active. Which isn't a complete lie."
"You think he's going to buy that?"
"He might. I don't know. Does it matter when the alternative is having him arrested or live on the street like a criminal?"
"And in the meanwhile, he what? Does shots with Thea in the club? Or does he help you hack into governmental instances?" Oliver huffs, crossing his arms, pressing, "It can't happen, and that's final."
His eyes soften a little, one hand reaching out to her arm; just because he can't agree with her, he isn't happy about having to kick the helpless child out and hurting Felicity in the process, "I'm sorry—"
She cuts him off, slapping his hand away before crossing her arms and mimicking his poster, "Fine, I'll do it on my own."
"Felicity."
"Don't think for a second think I'm going to give up just because you said no. You're not my father, neither do we live in the like, seventh century in which you get to decide for me because you owe me. You don't get to make decisions for me, Oliver—"
"Felicity."
"No, Oliver, you think just because I'm a woman and you're a man that likes to," she warily looks over at Roy, who seems more interested in his burner phone than anything else, before lowering her voice on the next few words, "shoot up people with his arrows at night, that's like 'oh look at me I'm Oliver, I'm manly, I drink beer for breakfast and like, use aftershave and like highkey love sports' that you have some kind of superiority over m—"
"Fe-li-ci-ty."
She winces, pausing mid-sentence. "I got a little carried away again, didn't I?"
He nods and it's silent for a moment.
"We'll take care of him." He sighs deeply, running a hand over his head. If Felicity is going to do it anyway, he might as well get some brownie points out of this. "Just for a little while. Promise me you'll talk to Laurel and—"
Felicity breaks into a smile, a small squeal leaving her lips as she reaches out to hug him tightly, breaking him off mid sentence. Oliver pats her back softly as he makes eye contact with their newest addition to the team, even if he can't ever know about being part of it.
When she pulls away, he stops her for a second, lowering his voice. "What's his name again?
"Roy." She scrunches up her nose, "Harper." Frowning at herself, she clarifies, "Roy Harper."
"What did you promise him in order for him to agree to come live with virtual strangers?"
"Not to press charges. Oh, and I promised him as much burgers for dinner as he wanted. Also mentioned you ride a kickass motorcycle. Seemed to interest him." She shrugs, like she didn't just casually refer to a child might making a move to steal his motorcycle in the near future.
Oliver furrows his brows before shaking his head to himself, because he honestly can't handle this conversation right now. Maybe later. Turning back to Roy and taking a few steps closer, he clears his throat.
"Roy, I'm Oliver. What do you say you come live with us for a while?"
The kid raises his eyebrows, his arms crossed, "Like I care," and Oliver can't say that's not exactly how he would react had he been in his position. Still, he doesn't like it.
Felicity nudges the smaller boy with her elbow softly, a teasing smile on her face, "That's my boy!" Her smile fades a little at the expressions on their faces, "What? Too soon?"
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(a/n: please tell me what you think! ! !)
