Author's note: so I have 6 total chapters to update tonight but updates are going to slow down a bit after this... school demands for both me and my incredible beta warehouseluver13... I am hoping to stick to a weekly update but we will have to see... now on to a bit of family fun then the gala

Enjoy and review

Disclosure: I own nothing of Arrow but wish I could get Stephen's new shirt... unfortunately not paid til next week and now have to get a tire since we had a blow out today

As Oliver entered the building, a surge of concern filled his heart. He had been at home with Felicity going over wedding details when the call came. Trouble at Connor's school. He instantly thought that something had happened. Diggle was with him so he knew if it was a bad guy, he would have called. What if they knocked Diggle out and took his son. He didn't want to worry Felicity so he told her that there had been extra paperwork that he needed to sign for Connor for his P.E. class and left before she could ask anymore questions. When he arrived at the school, he ran to the principal's office as fast as his feet would carry him.

Upon entering the small office, Oliver saw exactly what had happened. There sat Connor, with an ice pack on his hand, and another little boy sitting next to him, his ice pack across his face and covering his eye. "Hi dad." Connor mumbled as his gaze drifted back down to the floor.

"Connor what happened?"

"Mr. Queen?" A stern female voice entered the room. He turned to found a youthful brunette staring daggers at him with a set of chocolate brown eyes.

"Yes."

"I'm Principal Winters. Please." She held out her hand as an invite for him to enter her office. When he walked in, she looked back at the boys and noted, "You both remain quiet and don't start any more trouble. Kyle, your parents will be here soon." With the she shut the door.

Oliver sat across from her and smiled, trying to ease the tension with his charm like he always did. "Mr. Queen."

"Please call me Oliver."

"Mr. Queen," she continued and Oliver noted the sharpness in her tone deepen. "We have a strong zero tolerance rule for fighting at this school. Being a bully or starting a fight is not allowed at all."

"I understand." Oliver's voice was low as if he was being chastised for the fight himself.

"That being said, I have spoken with Samantha as well as Mr. Douglas and Mr. Diggle who all witnessed the altercation. Mr. Douglas informed me that Connor was standing up for Samantha when she was being bullied by Kyle and his friends. He asked them to stop and told them he would tell the teacher if they didn't, which is what we always want our students to do. Samantha informed me that Kyle was the first one to throw a punch and that only occurred after she and Connor tried to walk away and go to the other side of the playground."

Oliver beamed with pride as he pieced together the scene. His son was trying to be a hero and protect his friend.

"Now we do not like students to fight even when they are provoked. With Kyle hitting him, Connor began defending himself so I understand wanting to do that as well but still, fight is fight. As soon as Connor was able to move away, he should have. Instead he continues the fight to teach Kyle a lesson I assume. That will not be tolerated either. That is why I will be suspending Connor for 3 days. He will need to be back in class next Thursday and he is still responsible for his school work he will miss. I have Mr. Douglas putting it together so that it can go home with you both. I would like you to speak to Connor and inform him what he did wrong so that it does not occur again. I don't want to see him back in my office again, Mr. Queen."

"Of course, Miss Winters. I will discuss the whole fight with him and let him know that he should have walked away as soon as he could have and found a teacher to get help." Oliver grinned pleasantly, trying to hide the overwhelming pride he had in his son.

"Thank you Mr. Queen."

A knock on door drew their attention away from each other. Mr. Douglas stuck his head in the door. "I have the schoolwork out here for both of the boys."

"Thank you Mr. Douglas. Mr. Queen you can take Connor home now. We will see him again on Thursday and I hope he will understand that this will need to never happen again."

"Yes ma'am he will." Oliver shook her hand and moved out the room.

Mr. Douglas handed him the packet of papers and smiled. "I hate that Connor got tangled up in all this. He is a great kid and a willing student. I wish I had more like him. I know he was just defending his friend. Kyle seems to have been picking on Samantha for the last couple days. And from what I heard most of last year too. He knows of her father and his work and uses that to egg her on. I think his parents have a rivalry going on with her father. I have only met them once but they are a lot to take in."

"Thank you Mr. Douglas. I know Connor is really enjoying your class. I have never seen a kid so excited to get to school or do his homework before."

"He really does love to learn. And please call me Luke. Your bodyman, Diggle has been a welcome visitor as well. It is great talking about our army days together. I need to get back before break is over but I will see Connor in class on Thursday."

"Thanks again Luke." With that Mr. Douglas moved out of the office and Oliver walked over to Connor. "Come on, Connor. Let's go home okay?"

"Okay Dad." Connor mumbled, his head still hung in guilt and shame.

They walked out the office and found Diggle standing in the hall. "So what's the verdict?"

"3 days suspension. She said that he did everything he was suppose to until he kept fighting. She said he should have stopped and found a teacher so he is only getting 3 days for that."

"Well that's good. The other kid has a full week. Plus has detention with her for a month after that." Diggle informed him. "Plus the rest of the group will be in detention along with him."

"I didn't get detention?" Connor asked.

"Nope buddy. Just 3 days away from school but that just means more time with me and Felicity at the house."

"But then I won't be here to protect Sammy."

Oliver chuckled as he stopped walking and knelt down to his son's level. "Buddy, she won't need it. The mean kids won't be around her on those days. Kyle will be away from school too and the other will be in detention with Principal Winters."

"But she will be all alone too. She won't have anyone to play with."

Just then he heard Sammy's sweet voice call behind him. "Connor!" She came running up to him. "Are you in trouble?"

"He got suspended for 3 days Sammy. That's all. The other boys have detention for a month and Kyle is suspended for a full week." Diggle informed her.

"I told you to leave them alone and ignore him. Now you're in trouble."

"I'm okay, Sammy but he was being mean and making you cry. I had to shut him up."

Sammy blushed at the care the young blue eyes boy had for her. "Well thank you. It was really sweet if you to do that. I never had someone stick up for me like that."

"It was the right thing to do. I would do it again every time. You're my friend. No one gets to stay mean things and make you cry. Not on my watch." Connor's chest puffed up and Oliver could only imagine that his son thought that he was a superhero or something.

Sammy blushed deeper and before anyone knew what had happened she pecked Connor on the cheek and smiled at him. "Always my hero." She whispered then ran off.

Connor's hand went up to where her lips had pressed into his cheek as his jaw hung open and his eyes grew wide. A soft red tint colored his face. His fingers traced to spot on his cheek and he stood dumbfounded. Oliver and Diggle chuckled at his reaction as the young boy watched the girl run off, waving towards her as she turned at smiled at him before ducking back into the schoolhouse. "Come on Romeo. Let's get you home." Diggle snickered, enjoying just how much like his father the boy was. Being called a hero by Felicity had always knocked Oliver sideways and it seemed that Connor had the exact same reaction to Sammy calling him that.

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"I still can't believe Connor got into a fight." Donna remarked. Felicity had invited her mother and Thea to the house to get ready for the gala tonight. She had also hired Sean and his team again. She loved that he was always willing to come and help her look remarkable.

"I can. He definitely is Ollie's kid. What surprises me is that he didn't throw the first punch."

"Yeah seems like he really wanted to walk away. I was proud of that. Actually I was proud of the entire thing. He was sticking up for his friend and he showed that bully that he was not someone to mess with. I will be surprised if Kyle and his buddies try to start a fight with him again." Felicity boasted.

"But where did he learn to fight?"

"Turns out Diggle and Oliver have been playing with him, training him a bit. He saw them sparring in the backyard one day and wanted to learn. It was just self defense so I signed off on it. Seems they did a great job. Oliver told me that Kyle had an ice pack on his face and Connor had one on his hand when he showed up. Diggle said that Kyle is going to have a huge shiner for a few weeks because of Connor."

"Definitely Ollie's kid." Thea giggled. "Pray that little one doesn't have it's dad's anger issues or possessive side. Otherwise you will always need ice in the house and will always be going to the school to pick up one of them for fighting."

"Yeah but I am proud of Connor for what he did. He saw a friend hurting and stepped up. Oliver has always done that and I fell in love with him because of that sense of loyalty. How can I punish Connor for that?"

"You don't. You let him know how proud you are but let him know that while at school he needs to walk away as soon as he can and get a teacher so he doesn't get in trouble. That way he knows he is allowed to stand up to bullies and people hurting others until he can get an adult to help." Sean answered. "He is a firecracker that is for sure. He will be a handle full later in life. You have a heart breaker in the making."

"I don't know about that. It seems someone has already stolen his heart." Felicity snickered.

"What?!" Thea laughed.

"Yeah. After he was released from the office, Oliver, Connor and Diggle were walking to the car when Sammy came running up. She was worried he got in a lot of trouble and when they told her his punishment she told him he should have ignored the bullies. He told her he would always protect her from anyone hurting her and making her cry because she was his friend. Then she kissed him."

"That smooth talker!" Thea chuckled again.

"It was just on his cheek but Oliver said he blushed and brushed his cheek after. Diggle said it reminded him so much of Oliver when I would do that. It is too cute."

"Awe my nephew has a crush. That is adorable. Maybe I can chaperone a date for those two."

"Woah! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. It was just a kiss. He has only known the girl 3 days. What makes you think he wants to date her?"

"Well cause he told me. He said if he ever found a girl that saw smart, sweet, and pretty he would date her just like Ollie does for you. He notices how you two are together and wants that. He is so cute about it. He thinks dating means you have a nice dinner that means wear a tie, pull out the girl's chair and open doors for her and bring a flower for her."

"You have a charmer on your hands with that one." Sean smirked.

"Chip off the old block." Donna mumbled then giggled.

"Mom!"

"Oh please Felicity. Oliver is a charmer and always has been."

"Lis she's right. Only difference now is he only has eyes for you so all that charm is pointed right at you. Before Ollie would charm as many and whatever girl he wanted to. I think Ollie and Tommy turned it into a game a long time ago. I could always tell when he had another girl in his sights because he never kissed with his eyes closed. Now he does and he lingers after with them still shut. Like he is trying to file the memory of the kiss away. I know I say it a lot but Oliver really has never been like he is with you when he was with other girls. To him you aren't just another girl. You're the woman of his dreams. And the first woman he has ever really seen and has ever really seen him."

Felicity blushed at her words. She knew they had a deep love but she never knew you could see it like that from the outside. Felicity's mind went back to the young boy she had in her home. "I just don't want Connor to grow up too quickly. He deserves a childhood. I want him to have fun. He can worry about girls later in life. I mean he is only 7."

"Baby girl he will be 8 next month. Not to mention he is very mature for his age. He is going to be into girls a lot sooner before you know it."

"But I'm not ready. He just came into my life. Why does he have to grow up so fast." Felicity fought back tears and the idea of the few years she had left with him before hanging out with his family would be a horrible idea in his mind.

"Oh baby girl. You are always going to feel like that. Even with the little one on the way. You are going to want to stop and freeze time. Make it so they stop growing. Time flies by. Now you know what it feels like as a mom. You want to do everything and give your kids whatever they want but you don't want to let them go."

"Please tell me it gets easier."

"I wish sweetie. Watching you in your wedding dress the other day just made me realize how grown up you are and how much you have a life of your own now. All I can do is sit back and watch you live it. I can hope that you are happy and make good decisions and if you need me I can let you know I am always here. That's what moms do." Donna hugged her daughter, trying to ease to emotions coursing through her.

"Thanks mom. And you will always welcome as a part of my life. You know that right?"

"Of course baby girl. Now let's get you cleaned up and beautiful so you can wow all those big wigs and knock that future son-in-law of mine dead."