A/N: I'm baaackk! I'm so sorry about the unexpected hiatus, you guys! I've been working on a few other fics as well as an original piece and got totally burned out and overwhelmed. I had to take a break from this for the sake of my sanity. The good news is you get a new chapter today! We are getting close (ish) to the ending of this story and I will do my best to roll out semi-regular if not regular updates. I appreciate your patience ;)
xxx
Roy is stopped by a security guard three feet into the entrance hall of Thea's school.
"Your name sir?"
"Roy Harper."
The security guard goes behind a little desk and types something into his computer. "And your business here, Mr. Harper?"
Roy shifts his feet impatiently. "I'm picking up Thea Queen."
The guard passes a visitors badge to Roy and angles a sign-in sheet his way. "Sign here, please."
Roy's hand freezes halfway to the sheet. The last name of the log, written in long elegant letters, is Malcolm Merlyn.
Fuck.
"Where's the office?" Roy asks.
"Down the hall and around to the right."
Thea is sitting in a plastic chair in the office, looking very white.
Roy drops into a chair next to her. Thea just kind of crumples into him and his arms pull her close to his chest.
"You okay?" he murmurs.
Thea's fingernails dig into the sleeves of his sweatshirt.
"He was here," she whispers.
"I know." He wraps one hand around the back of her neck. Her skin is clammy. "Are you okay? You're freezing."
"Scared." Thea shivers and presses her forehead into his shoulder.
"Hey." He bends down and kisses the top of her head. "I'm not going to let him hurt you."
"You weren't here."
"Hmm. You know, I never finished high school."
Thea lifts her head off his chest and lets out a frightened sort of giggle. "You'd come to school with me?"
Roy cocks an eyebrow. "Depends. Do I have to wear the uniform?"
She plays with the fabric of his sweatshirt. "I can't really see you in a sweater vest."
Roy shudders in horror. "Hey, where's Oliver?"
"In there." Thea angles her head to indicate a door to an inner office. "He's been in there for fifteen minutes."
"Can we leave?"
"Mm, better wait. He looked homicidally pissed off."
"When doesn't Oliver look off pissed off?"
Thea tilts her head thoughtfully. "He smiles when he's with his EA."
"What's an EA?"
"Executive assistant. I had lunch at the office a few weeks ago and met her. It was weird, Ollie was like, smiling, and saying thank you, and she made some really lame computer joke and he laughed."
Roy grins. "Sounds like your brother has a crush."
Thea giggles. "Yeah, right."
The door to the smaller office bangs open. Oliver stalks out, looking like he walked right out of a GQ spread in a sharp black suit.
There's a small man stuttering apologies behind him. Oliver slices his hand through the air and the man falls silent.
"Let's go," Oliver snaps, and Roy and Thea both jump up like they've been shocked.
They follow Oliver out of the school, Thea's hand gripping Roy's.
"Take her home," Oliver says tightly to Roy.
"Where're you going?" Roy asks.
Oliver sets his jaw. "Out."
"Ollie," Thea whines, biting her lip.
"Go with Roy," he orders.
Thea hangs her head and Roy soothes his thumb over her knuckles. Oliver kisses Thea's forehead hurriedly and walks away, getting into the Porsche parked at the curb with its hazard lights flashing.
Roy watches Thea watch her brother drive away, tears clinging to her eyelashes.
"Come on." Roy tightens his grip on Thea's hand. "I'll drive you home."
xxx
The mouth of a revolver kissing the back of her head. The tension in her right arm, pulling back the string of the bow. Do it already! Red, red, everywhere...
Thea jerks awake, struggling in Roy's arms.
"Hey, hey, you're okay," he says calmly. "You fell asleep."
"Oh." She relaxes against him and pushes her hair away from her face. "What time is it?"
"Almost six."
"You shouldn't have let me fall asleep."
"You were tired."
She rubs her eyes, shaking off the remnants of the nightmare.
"Thea," he says quietly. "I think you should tell me what's going on."
She extracts herself from his arms, shifts so she's not lying against him. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Roy's face gets hard. "How dumb do you think I am, huh?"
"I don't," she whispers. "I know you're not dumb."
"You think I don't know that you're lying?"
There's a beep of the door unlocking and Oliver walks in, a bag of Starling City Sushi tucked under his arm.
"I brought dinner," he announces.
Roy points a finger at her. "We are not finished here."
"Fine," she grumbles. "Let me eat first, god."
She and Roy follow the smell of food towards the kitchen, where Ollie's unpacking plastic containers.
"Where were you?" she asks him, getting plates out of the cabinet.
"Dealing with Lance. Then I had to run back to the office because I completely forgot I had a board meeting."
"Your EA must hate me."
"No." Oliver tugs gently on a curl. "She thinks you're cute."
"Of course I'm cute." Thea grins cheekily. "Roy, don't you think I'm cute?"
"No comment," Roy mutters, eyeing Oliver out of the corner of his eye.
"Roy, I want you to start going to school with Thea," Oliver says, when they're sitting at the table.
"Do I have to wear the uniform?"
Oliver laughs. "No. But you're there as my employee, so maybe not the hoodie."
Roy pouts and Thea suppresses a giggles.
"You okay?" Oliver asks Thea. "He didn't see you, right?"
"No." She shakes her head. "He never made it past the office."
"I don't get it," Roy says. "What did he think he was going to do, drag you out of school kicking and screaming in front of fifty witnesses?"
"No," Oliver answers. "Malcolm had no intention of trying to get her. He just wanted to show that he could. That he's watching us. He wanted to get under my skin."
Roy's fingers tap out a meandering staccato on the table. "Why would he want to do that?"
"Let's just say, things between me and Merlyn...well, it's personal," Oliver says. "Very personal."
"Yeah, I think I'm getting that," Roy deadpans.
"I'll pay you extra, of course," her brother says casually, dipping his salmon roll in soy sauce. "Since you'll basically be working round the clock."
"Yeah, okay," Roy says, and shoots Thea a smile that makes her melt.
Her phone buzzes with a text from Sara. Sleepover, my house? Perfect, that'll give Roy plenty of time to forget about the little talk he wants to have.
"Hey Ollie, can I sleep over at Sara's?"
"Only if Lance is there."
Another text confirms that he will be and Thea grins, tapping out see you soon on the keypad.
"Roy." Ollie tosses his keys across the table. "You drive her."
"Am I a bodyguard or a chauffeur?" Roy grumbles.
"You're a guy making more money this week than you have in the past year," Oliver retorts.
Roy flips him off and Thea dissolves into giggles.
xxx
When the door to Sara's house opens Roy stands there in shock, staring at the police officer that booked him a few weeks ago. Oh for fuck's sake, maybe he is dumb. How did he not put that together? Sara, the cop's daughter, Laurel, the do-gooder lawyer? Fucking figures.
"Mr. Harper," Lance says grimly, his face softening when Thea slips past him on the porch.
"Hi Quentin!" she says brightly.
"Come on in honey, Sara's in the kitchen with Dinah."
"Okay." Thea kisses Roy lightly on the lips (nothing inappropriate going on here officer, I swear). "See you in the morning?"
"Yeah." He manages to smile through his shock and watches her disappear inside the house.
"She's seventeen," Lance says quietly.
"I know."
"She's a minor."
Roy scowls. "I know."
"Just making sure."
"You really think Oliver would let me hang around her if he thought that was going on?"
Lance chuckles. "Remind me to tell you the story of when Oliver pissed all over my cop car."
Roy's mouth falls open. "He didn't."
"We were all boys once." Lance's voice is tinged with nostalgia. "Doesn't mean you can't become a good man."
Roy nods seriously. "Yes sir."
xxx
His phone buzzes early in the morning, too early for Thea to call to get picked up. Roy rolls over in the guest bed (his bed? for now?). A text, from Sin. Big Belly Burger in 20? Got some info for you.
He texts back, see you there, and rolls out of the bed, praying that the coffee at Big Belly Burger is as good as the food.
"People call him The Count," Sin says proudly half an hour later, sucking on a double chocolate milkshake that Roy paid for, along with a burger and a large side of fries.
"Okay, weird."
"Oh, that's not the weird part."
Roy snags one of her fries before she can bat his hand away. "What's the weird part?"
Sin scowls at the stolen fry. "Mine."
"I paid for it."
"It's my breakfast!"
"That's disgusting."
She rolls her eyes. "I was up all night, thanks to you. I'm starving."
"Just get to it, already."
"Okay, jeesh. The weird thing is no one seems to know who the Count is."
"I don't get it. How can no one know who he is?"
"Look, I followed mister club drug kid around like you told me too. Met a few people, asked a few questions. Obviously The Count is a pseudonym, like Batman, or The Hood."
Roy shakes his head. "The Hood's kind of lame name. He should really work on that."
"He didn't name himself, the media did. Anyway, so The Count."
"That's all you got? A name?"
Sin shoves a fry in her mouth. "It took me all night to get that name."
"How does that help me?"
"Not my problem. You asked, I delivered. Now what was it you said about a cute little blond?"
xxx
A/N: Please review ;)