Title- Finding the Light
Author- Kim
Summary- What if - Oliver Queen raised Dick Grayson.
DC owns all characters.
part 6
Dick didn't know how long he'd been walking...He didn't even know were he was going...Anywhere away from the darkness that he felt consuming his soul.
He felt miserable..But then, he'd been feeling like that more and more lately...His sleep was disturbed night after night, either by nightmare's..or by his mind, which refused to allow his anguished thoughts to stop long enough to allow sleep.
He had come to the conclusion as he walked, that he was wishing for more than Ollie could offer...He realized now, that the dreams of his parents death, that had been plaguing him.. were probably a manifestation of his desire to be wanted, and loved..part of a family.
Ollie couldn't provide that..Ollie couldn't be the father figure Dick was desperate for...And Dick knew that nobody ever would...He would always be alone...nothing could change that now.
Dick shivered and pulled his jacket tighter around him attempting to block out the chill of the late afternoon air...Winter had almost arrived.. and already the temperature was dropping...Dick knew he'd have to find shelter soon..He also knew he'd be facing an unbearably cold night ahead.
After a while, Dick turned in to an alley, darkness had set in, but he was able to find an old warehouse..Obviously abandoned..And, Dick thought, as he broke in through a boarded up window..probably condemned as well.
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Ollie hurriedly changed in to his Green Arrow costume...He'd been searching the streets for Dick the entire afternoon..but now night had arrived, he had decided to search for the boy as Green Arrow..That way he could search places he wouldn't normally go as Oliver Queen...Thoughts of the day raced through his mind...He'd done it again..shot his mouth off without thinking first.
Dick had obviously been upset with him...and now that Ollie had thought about things...he realized Dick's anger had been justified...
He hadn't spent hardly anytime with the boy..it had been weeks since they had even been out on patrol together..Of course Dick was feeling lonely, he spent most of his time by himself...Ollie hadn't meant to push the boy away...He just had a habit of getting caught up in his own world..the result was he had unintentionally neglected the child.
Ollie hurried towards the basement window..where he usually exited and entered when dressed as his Green Arrow identity...He wasn't going to stop looking until he found Dick and told him things were going to change...He realized now how much the boy really meant to him...And he needed to make Dick understand how important he was to him as well.
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Dick dozed..curled up in a tight ball in the corner of the building..not soundly...his constant shivering prevented that.
A sound echoed through the darkness...Dick's eye's flew open, instantly awake..he sat upright.
The sound came again, a woman's scream...Dick sprang to his feet, grabbing his bow and quiver from his duffel bag..He ran to the window and cautiously looked out...He could make out the shapes of a number of men, gathered at the end of the alley.
Silently Dick crept out the window..and began to slowly sneak towards the group..
"Don't try anything kid." an angry voice came from behind him.
Whirling around Dick found himself facing a large solidly built thug who had a gun in his hand, pointed at Dick.
The other thugs at the end of the alley,moved away from the girl they had cornered and began to approach Dick...The girl seeing her chance ran ..terrified.. past the group and out of the alley.
"Put it down..hero." The thug with the gun said..indicating Dick should drop the bow to the ground.
Dick had no choice but to do as he was instructed. And dropped the bow...Before he could think of anything else..the thugs behind him sprang.
Dick flipped to one side..spinning around and kicking one thug squarely in the face..The thug dropped to his knees and held his broken nose...The other thugs paused as Dick assumed a defensive position...BANG.
Dick felt a thud as something struck his shoulder..knocking him backwards...He lay on the ground stunned...then realization hit him..The gun..he had been shot...there was no pain just a feeling of numbness and warmth...He could hear the thugs talking...then his world went dark.
The thugs gathered around to look at the injured boy.
"Shit ya didn't have to shoot the kid..Nate." one said
"I didn't freakin mean it man..it just happened...We better get out of here..or we'll be in deep shit." the gunman responded.
"Deeper shit than you realize." said a third man, picking up the boys bow and quiver, "I've seen this shit before...this is the kid that hangs out with that Green Arrow freak." he said throwing the bow and quiver on the ground near Dick.
"We're out of here." the first man said as he pulled the thug with the broken nose to his feet.
They all began to file past the injured boy and out of the Alley, the thug with the broken nose stopped momentarily..Then launched a bone cracking kick into the boy's ribs.."Little bastard." he spat before leaving the boy alone in the freezing night air.
End 6
