Part 10

"You did what?"

"He lost him!" Ollie replied, trying hard to keep the delight from his voice..it was nice to see someone else on the receiving end of Dinah's wrath for a change he thought as he shuffled the little boy from one hip to the other..the child looked on in wide eyed wonderment as Dinah continued to angrily reprove the men .

"Shut up Ollie..I wasn't talking to you." Dinah replied angrily as she stood in front of the two men..her hands on her hip."You lost him?..You the almighty Batman, couldn't even keep your eye on one little boy!" she added, looking angrily at Bruce.

Bruce kept his tone low and confident as he replied. "I did not lose him..In fact he was never lost, he was always in the diner..."

"Yes, but you didn't know he was there..In fact you walked out and left him by himself." Ollie chimed in happily.

"I can't believe the two of you!..This isn't a joke Oliver Queen..he could have wandered outside and got lost or hurt..How could you have let this happen!" Dinah demanded turning back to face the Archer who now looked shocked rather than smug.

"Me!..How'd this come back at me?..I didn't lose him..he did." Ollie replied, wondering why the conversation had suddenly backfired on him.

"Yes but he was your responsibility, not Bruce's..You know how quick he is..you...Ohh just give him to me..it's about time you learned to grow up Ollie, what if we can't find a way to change him back?..What then Ollie? Have you really thought about that? Have you?...What's going to happen to him then if you don't learn to be more responsible and stop acting like a damned irresponsible teenager?." Dinah fired the questions at the Archer as she removed the little boy from his arms and cuddled him to her.

"I'm trying damn it! Hell this wasn't even my fault!" Ollie replied as he gave the other man an angry glare, his voice increasing in volume with each word he said. "Do you really think I haven't thought of what's gonna happen if we can't undo this? Of course I have!..Damn it I know I stuffed up the first time round and I sure as heck don't..."

"Bossman."

Ollie's angry voice trailed off at the sound of the little boy's frightened voice..The childs green eyes locked on his face, wide and full of concern..unable to understand the situation that was happening around him."It's okay buddy..no more yelling..see everyone is happy." the archer said, drawing a deep breath and plastering a fake smile on his face before reaching out to ruffle the little boy's hair.

The three adults stood quietly for a moment. "I'll put him down for a nap." Dinah said, her voice calmer. "We'll talk later." she added ominously as she walked away.

Ollie looked at Bruce. "Now look at what you've done..Not only is the poor kid upset, but Dinah's pissed with me again as well." he said huffily.

"Look what I've done!..You're the one that took such delight in telling her what happened!" Bruce replied.

Ollie ran a hand through his hair, "Well it wasn't supposed to go like that." he said.

"I'll bet it wasn't!" Bruce growled.

Ollie headed towards the kitchen, waving a hand dismissivly as he went. "It's all right for you..you can just get on a plane and go back the that belfry you call a home..I'm stuck with her, I'm gonna get a lecture whether I like it or not." he grumbled.

"Well I think we should both forget the complaining and just be damned glad that the boy's all right..A lecture from Dinah is the least of our worries compared to the other things that could have happened." Bruce replied..he had to admit he did feel guilty for what had happened, and no matter how much he had ducked and dived he felt responsible for the trouble the Archer now faced..Bruce wouldn't wish an angry Dinah on anyone..not even this irritating Archer.

Ollie paused, and turned back to look at the other man. "Yeah...you're right..We were lucky, really lucky." he replied..when Bruce put it that way it cast a whole new light on things..Dinah could yell away..the boy was safe, that was the most important thing.

end 10