The night had been pefection and Ollie couldn't help grinning as he rattled the keys in the door to the home he shared with Dinah. The move to Seattle had been meant a fresh start for them both--an attempt to but the past behind them and focus on the future. It had done just that and they both felt more at peace then they had in a very long time.

The archer pushed the door open and stood to one side. Gallantly taking a small bow as he waved the woman he loved into the living room. "Beautiful ladies before crazy old men." He said with as straight a face as he could muster.

Dinah laughed as she swept past him, "Old men have usually learned to behave appropriately by your age. Maybe it was the crazy' part that had you behaving so cheekily tonight."

"Crazy for you Pretty Bird…" Ollie kicked the door shut and pulled a giggling Dinah into his arms.

"You're so corny!"

"Corny?! Corny? I think you meant to say 'wonderful' or 'sexy' or maybe even 'awsome'.' Ollie chuckled. Throughout their entire date he hadn't been able to keep his mind from drifting to the promise of things to come and he'd hardly been able to wait to get his 'Pretty Bird' home alone. He blamed the dress she was wearing; it was new--elegant and sensual. The azure color brought out the blue in her eyes--eyes that had sparkled with happiness all night. From the moment they had left the restaurant he had been eager to get her out of the dress.

The kiss was deep and promising and Dinah felt herself melt into it, sagging against his taunt chest as her hands went around his neck to anchor herself to him. They were both breathless when they parted but his grin and the sparkle in his eye promised so much more to come as he dropped his head to her neck and begin an assault on her senses…

Knock...knock

Dinah gasped as she felt Ollie's teeth against her collar bone sending rivulets of pleasure flooding through her body…..

Knock…knock…knock

Ollie reached for the clasp at the back of her dress, oblivious to the tensing of her muscles that indicated she wasn't quite with him at that moment.

"Ollie…."

Knock…knock…KNOCK

He found the clasp and began to fumble with it, still whispering kisses across her shoulders….

"Ollie wait…"

He began to slide the zipper down, almost groaning at the sensations brought on by the mere thought of revealing her beautiful body…

KNOCK…KNOCK…KNOCK…

"OLLIE!"

"OMPF!" the archer's breath was knocked from his lungs by a sudden blow to the stomach.

"Someone's at the door." Dinah said, fixing her dress and patting her hair down.

"Ignore them. They'll give up and go away." There was a childish whine in the archer's voice, but the lustful fire in his green eyes began to fade as Dinah headed towards the door.

"It's late. It must be important if someone is knocking at this time of the night."

Ollie sighed, "Pro'lly just got the wrong door is all." he grumbled, looking very much like a petulant child.

Dinah ignored him and opened the door, finding herself facing a young Hispanic man. The young man stared quietly for a moment, his dark eyes masking emotions Dinah couldn't quite make out. "Can I help you?"

"Um.." The man swallowed--looking nervous. "I'm looking for Oliver Queen." He studied Dinah for a moment a faint spark of recognition flickering in his eyes. "You're Dinah aren't you? Dinah Lance?" he asked--unsure.

Dinah tensed, she had no idea who this young man was, let alone how he knew who she was…

Noticing the tense body language, the young man moved quickly to clarify who he was, "I'm sorry; I should have introduced myself first. I'm Martin…Martin Santosa, a friend of Roy's."

"Roy's?…" Ollie appeared in the doorway, the sound of his former wards name pulling him from his sulk. "Is the kid here? Haven't seen or heard from him in months." he asked hopefully, glancing past the young man looking for his son'

"No...no, he's not here. "There was a small uncomfortable silence before Martin spoke again, "Mr Queen, Miss Lance--do you mind if I come in?"

Dinah watched the young man suspiciously, he seemed nervous, edgy--extremely uneasy. He could be telling the truth, or he might well be someone who had darker reasons to track them down and turn up on their door step like this, "Roy's friend?"

The young man heard the undertone of suspicion in her voice, "Um, yeah…Checkmate," He said pulling the lapel of his leather jacket aside to reveal a distinctive logo on the chest of the uniform he was wearing underneath.

Dinah's suspicion turned instantly to worry, Checkmate didn't send operatives to your door without good reason. The fact that Martin Santosa was standing here announcing himself a friend of Roy's, thereby revealing both of their connections with the highly secretive organization, meant there was something seriously wrong here. A dozen questions sprang into her mind--but it was Ollie who spoke next.

"Yes. I think you had better step inside." He said, his voice suddenly darkening with the same sense of foreboding that Dinah was feeling.

Once inside Martin declined the offer to sit down, feeling the need to relay the news he had to share as quickly as possible. His dark eyes shone with pain as he spoke, "I haven't come with good news, I think you've guessed that…."

Dinah had guessed--and now a flurry of fear driven questions began to flow, "Where is he? What's happened? He's okay isn't he? Why…."

Martin raised a hand cutting her off with a gesture--he was very aware that time was short, some questions would need to wait until later, right now he could only discuss the most important facts, "We were on a mission and it went wrong. A lot of people got hurt and some died--it would have been worse if Roy hadn't gone back in." Martin shifted his feet and glanced away uncomfortably, swallowing at the lump of emotion that formed in his throat, "He was injured…badly. That's why I tracked you down. We need to move quickly if you want to see him before….before…"

Ollies face darkened with concern, "What are you saying?"

"It's bad, really bad. They…the doctors--they don't expect…" Martin's voice dropped until it was barely above a distressed whisper. "They're doubtful he will survive until morning."

TBC-