Part 7

Lian stood looking equally as fascinated by the little boy who sat at the kitchen table as he did of her..Her Uncle Bruce had told her what had happened, and she understood..but hearing it and seeing it was to different things.

The boy smiled and held out a chewed on slice of apple in offering to the little girl "Be-la-sana" he said.

Lian smiled broadly. "No thank you...you can eat it Da..." she replied pausing for a moment before looking at Dinah confused. "What do I call him?..I can't call him Daddy he's even littler than I am." she asked puzzled.

"Well..that's a good point sweetheart...I guess you can call him whatever you'd like to call him." Dinah replied, hoping fervently that Lian didn't choose to name the boy after one of the many cartoon characters the little girl loved or some other equally embarrassing childish nickname.

Lian turned back to watch the boy who had now scrambled down off the chair he was on and was standing in front of her staring up at her..pleased he'd found another child to play with.

She thought carefully for a moment.."You call him Boyo..so I will too." she declared.

Dinah knelt down beside the children. "That's a great idea honey...Boyo it is then." she placed a hand on Roy's arm. "Now Boyo..this is Lian." she said..introducing the little boy to the girl who would one day be his daughter, briefly considering the oddity of the situation.

"Lian." the boy repeated, still grinning happily.

"Hi Boyo..." the little girl said, before looking up at Dinah and smiling again. "Well at least he didn't get bashded up by the bad guy this time!" she said happily.

Dinah couldn't help but feel amazed by how well the child had taken the events in her stride..but then again the little girl had seen a lot in her young life..she'd seen her father beaten numerous times, as well as a myriad of other injuries too numerous to name including his near death from bullet wounds to the chest...being turned back into a child was probably a relief compared to the variety of possibilities that could have eventuated.

"Well sweetheart..we should get ready, you and I are going shopping...Hopefully Uncle Ollie has been able to convince your Uncle Bruce to join in his plans as well." She said as she stood up and reached for both children's hands.

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Bruce had no idea why he had agreed to this..When Dinah called he had agreed to bring Lian to Star City himself because he had wanted to follow up on certain aspects of the investigation that he had discussed with Dick after the young man had returned from his inspection of the wharehouse..he would have sent the young acrobat in his place except Nightwing was now locked in the middle of a case of his own involving an illegal arms shipment that had been discovered in Bludhaven.

Yes he had agreed to bring Lian..and he had actually enjoyed spending time with the little girl, not that he'd admit that to anyone..but he hadn't however agreed to this. Not that his not agreeing had mattered to Oliver Queen..no the man had simply presumed Bruce would agree and for some reason that was now beyond him, Bruce hadn't protested loudly enough.

"Haven't you got enough all ready?" he asked as the bearded Archer threw another box in the trolly he was pushing.

Ollie looked at the other man "C'mon Brucey boy..get into the spirit of things..Look at him he's happy as all get out, probably never even seen a toy store before. " Ollie said as he ruffled the little boy's hair.

The child who was perched on the Archers hip looked up and offered a characteristic grin, his green eyes sparkling happily, before looking back down at the box he had been desperately trying to break in to...Bruce noted with mild amusement that the box contained a toy archery set, complete with plastic bow and a quiver full of suction cup arrows.

"Isn't he a little young for that? Wouldn't a set of construction blocks or something simular have been a better idea?" Bruce asked as he watched the boy begin to bite the end of the box..attempting to open it with his teeth.

"Nonsense..never to young to start learning, and blocks? How boring do ya wanna get?." Ollie replied..taking the box from the little boy and placing it on the counter. He then began to remove the other boxes from the trolly..putting some of them next the original box, before fishing around in his pockets for his wallet. "Here..take him.' he said handing the boy to Bruce, before turning back to the toys. "I'll pay for this stuff and I'll meet you two at the diner we passed on..."

"You want me to take him and go..."

"Yeah..get him somthin to eat..some french fries or something that kids like...And don't take your eyes off him..Oh and don't get him nothin with sugar in it. Oh yeah and no banana, he hates banana..."

"Why don't I pay for those toy's and you take him to the diner?" Bruce asked, frowning as he struggled to get the boy to stop hanging upside down and sit upright.

Ollie winked and elbowed Bruce playfully.."What? You aren't worried you can't meet the challenge of looking after one little kid for a few minutes are you?...I thought you could do just about anything you put your mind too." the Archer baited.

Bruce scowled his best Bat scowl at the other man. "There's no point in engaging in useless banter with a man who feeds a little child hot chile and allows him to run free in their gym resulting in said child hurting himself...I'm certain I can manage a little better than that." he retorted, turning his back on the Archer and walking away.

"Arrogant ass!" Ollie mumbled to himself as he turned back and continued placing the rest of the toy's on the counter.

end part 7