AN: Well this took a while to type up. I wrote most of this story quite a while ago but it took getting a bad cold to convince me to sit in front of the computer to type it. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. - Alya Rose
September 1st, Oliver groaned as he saw the date on his clock when he woke up. He had gotten in late the night before from the mission he had been on for the past week. If it was a normal day he would have gone back to sleep for a while then gotten up and checked in with his protégés to make sure that they hadn't killed each other or destroyed the city while he was gone. But, it wasn't a normal day it was September 1st, the anniversary of the worst day of his entire life. Exactly sixteen years before he had returned home after a long day to find his home ransacked and his wife and son missing. The police report had said that no valuables had been stolen but to Oliver that was a lie. His three most precious possessions, his wife Mira, his son Belen, and the promise of his unborn daughter, had been ripped from his life, never to be returned. It had been while he was searching for them that his Green Arrow persona was brought out into to the open as a superhero.
Oliver lay thinking about the past, Mira's smile, Belen's laugh, and their eyes such a beautiful bright blue; Mira, his lovely flower, Belen his little arrow. He had refused to let them be declared dead even though the likelihood of them being alive after so long was practically none.
Belen would be nineteen now just like Roy. When Oliver adopted Roy three years before he had realized that he was trying to replace his son and hadn't cared, Thinking about it now Artemis was the same age his daughter would be, had she been born. Artemis even had the same name that he and Mira wanted to name their daughter.
Oliver was startled out of his thoughts by the phone ringing- who would be calling him? Everyone who knew him knew not to bother him today. No, Artemis didn't know and she did know that he had come home the night before. Considering, he figured that he should answer and did so, it wasn't Artemis – it was Dinah.
"Oliver, I know it's the 1st but this can't wait." She said quickly when he answered.
"What?" He asked not really interested and just about ready to hang up.
"Don't hang up! We found your kids, Belen and Artemis. Well mostly Artemis but we never would have realized who she was if Belen hadn't …"
"Belen?! You've seen my little boy?"
"And found your little girl. Now are you going to pull yourself out of the past enough to come and…"
"Yes, where are my children?" he interrupted.
"There are some things that need to be explained first, so I will be at your apartment soon." She answered before hanging up.
Dropping the phone Oliver went into the bathroom to prepare for a better day. Searching the counter he asked himself, "Where is my toothbrush?"
Black Canary had been busy in the last few days. Not only had she run a DNA test confirming that Artemis was indeed Oliver's daughter but had also spoken to Paula about Mira, Oliver, and Artemis's current condition. Paula for her part had taken the news quite well and had simply asked that Artemis would be cared for and that her, Paula's, name be left out of everything.
Arriving at Oliver's apartment, Dinah knocked calmly and waited for him to answer. When he didn't she picked the lock and let herself in, expecting him to still be trying to pull himself together. Walking into the hall she saw him through the open bathroom door, he had a very perplexed look on his face as he felt around in the cupboard under the sink.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I can't find my toothbrush." He whined.
"Oh, you mean this?" she teased as she pulled the aforementioned toothbrush out of her purse.
"Why do you have my toothbrush in your purse?" he asked suspiciously, reaching for it. "DNA tests, you should probably get a new toothbrush."
She laughed at the look he gave her as he stated, "You stole my toothbrush."
"Yes, now sit down so that I can tell you everything."
"Please." He requested sitting on the couch.
"Ok, first I have to tell what happened to your protégé…"
An hour or two later
After telling Oliver everything that had happened Dinah waited in silence for his reaction. "Does Artemis know?" he finally asked.
"Not yet, but she knows that there is something that we are keeping from her. She is worried but I thought you should be the first to know."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go tell her."
AN: Well I got tired of waiting for Abby to put this up for me so I decided to get past my 'I don't like putting things on the internet' problem and do it my self. I have to love Abby anyway for putting up with my not so good tech managing abilities. She is busier than I am so I can't really get after her for taking her time getting around to things that are lower on the priority list.
Anyways Chapter four should follow shortly.
-Alya Rose
