Title- Finding the Light
Author- Kim
Summary- What if - Oliver Queen raised Dick Grayson.
DC owns all characters.
Part 3
It had been a week since Ollie had taken Dick in..And he had to admit, he liked the company. Sure the boy was a bit withdrawn from time to time..But at other time's he would chatter non stop..Ollie figured the Boy would just need time to settle in..he'd be fine, he seemed like a tough little character, after all, he'd been through a lot in his short life.
Ollie had talked to Dick about keeping his Green Arrow identity a secret, although Ollie had never made a big issue out of his secret ID he didn't really want the kid telling anyone, he didn't know well. Ollie guessed he'd have to organize school for the boy...But he'd worry about that in a week or so..Once the kid settled in properly.
They sat in a booth at a small local diner..not a classy place..Ollie thought, but quiet and he liked it like that. He would have gone to a bar..but he had the kid with him so that was out of the question...It was going to take some changes in his life to accommodate the boy..But he was willing to do that. This kid deserved better in life than he'd gotten so far.
The waitress approached and took their order, fussing over Dick and commenting to Ollie on what a fine young man his 'son' was..Ollie didn't bother to correct her assumption that Dick was his son, instead he gave her a wink and watched her walk off.
He leaned back..This kid was a chick magnet..That was an advantage he hadn't thought about before..He smiled to himself as he wondered what Dinah's reaction would be when she came back from the case she was on, she'd be back any day now. She'd be in for a surprise.
"You know kiddo..we're gonna be a great team" Ollie said, smiling at the boy.
Dick smiled back. "Do you think I could come out with you when you go out work at night sometimes?" Dick asked happily.
"Nah..not for a while son...but maybe one day..when your a bit older..we'll see." Ollie sat back...He hadn't actually thought about that..He'd been sneaking out when the boy was asleep, to put in a couple of hours work in as Green Arrow..But taking the boy with him hadn't really crossed his mind...Until now that was...It could actually work...after all Bats dragged a kid out with him on patrol, and anything the big black bat could do Ollie could do better. The kid needed work though. "You know, we should get you working out a little bit..just some light workouts..what d'ya think?" Ollie asked, eyeing the boys spindly arms.
"Yeah..That'd be great..I've never worked out before, but I can learn..My Dad used to say I'm a real quick learner." Dick said enthusiastically..this was great he thought... he was living with Green Arrow...and...Green Arrow was going to teach him to 'work out'..and then maybe one day he could work with him..it was more than he'd ever hoped for.
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The next day found Ollie and Dick, in the gym at Ollie's home..after a series of minor exercises..and a light work out Ollie headed to the other end of the gym where he had set up a practice area with assorted targets, for him to work with his bow.
Dick watched fascinated as the Archer sent off flurry after flurry of shots each one finding dead center on the targets.
After half an hour Ollie stopped and turned to the boy, "So kiddo...you ever use one of these?" he asked indicating the bow.
Dick shook his head..."I grew upin the circus...until my parents died." a tinge of sadness crept into the boy's voice and he paused momentarily before adding enthusiastically.."I don't know a thing about Archery..but I can do this.." Taking a short run up, Dick flipped into the air, executing a series of tumbles, flips and cartwheels .
Ollie rewarded the display with enthusiastic clapping."Neat trick kiddo...But it ain't gonna score brownie points with a bow...and if you'd been carrying a quiver, you'd be picking up arrows all over the place." he laughed.
Dick's smile fell a little, he loved the freedom..the feeling of flying he felt when he was tumbling and flipping..But Ollie was more practical..he only saw the routine as a party trick..nothing of value. Dick sighed.
"Oh come on kid...don't be like that..It's a pretty impressive stunt..but if we're gonna work on getting you ready to come out with me..we're gonna be working on stuff that's going to work for you out in the field". Ollie said.
Dick nodded. "Yeah..I guess...so what do I have to do?" he asked.
"Well kid we'll work on some light weights...we'll need to increase your upper body strength if your going to use a bow..And, you and I are going shopping." Ollie said.
"Shopping?" Dick questioned.
"Yeah..your gonna be wanting your own bow aren't ya?" Ollie asked smiling.
Dick grinned."You bet." he said happily.
"And then we're gonna have to work out what sort of costume your gonna need." Ollie said.
"A costume?" Dick's smile increased."A super hero costume?...one like yours?" he asked bursting with excitement.
"Yeah, kid...One like mine..that could work..we'll just play around with the colors and..." Ollie stopped suddenly as Dick raced in to wrap his arms around the Archer's waist in a bear hug.
"Ok, ok..I get that your excited.." Ollie laughed "Affectionate little sod ain't ya." He laughed again..Yeah he thought..this really could work.
end 3
