"Ollie." Thea whispered into the dark, moonlight illuminated room that was her nephew's nursery. Oliver pushed off of Connor's crib and glanced at his little sister, then at his wife sleeping in the rocking chair across the room before making his way towards her. He pushed Thea out of the room and eased the door shut behind him.
"What's up Speedy?" he asked worriedly, tilting his head to the side.
"It's… I…" she stuttered, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Roy hasn't come back. It has been three hours. He promised he'd be right home and I don't know where he is." Her words slurred together slightly as she mumbled, exhaustion and worry made clear. Oliver looked her over and arched an eyebrow; shoes on, jacket looped over her arm, car keys in her hand.
"Where are you going?" he asked, lips twitching upwards in an almost smile as she blinked sluggishly.
"To find my husband." She stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Oliver slowly took the keys out of her hand and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
"Go to bed, Speedy. I'll bring him home." Oliver promised.
"You know where he is?" she asked in surprise.
"I've got a pretty good idea." Oliver replied over his shoulder as he ran down the staircase. Thea watched him disappear out the front door before she trudged back into her bedroom and laid down on top of the covers, shoes on and all.
Oliver parked the car just where the west half of the Glades transitioned into the level plane that had been considered the east side and climbed out, not bothering to lock the older model Acura as he slipped the keys into his pocket and zipped up his grey hoodie. He walked through and over the rubble that remained. The rest had been cleaned up before funds ran out.
He walked for a good ten minutes before he came to a part of the demolished town where little to none of the wreckage had been cleared away. It wasn't long before he past the caved in alley he had met Roy Harper in so many times. And soon after that he came to a crumbled old house he knew belonged to one Roy Harper.
Just as he had expected, Roy was sitting on a piece of concrete in the center of his old property, head between his knees.
"Doesn't that hurt?" Oliver called. Roy flinched into a more alert position only to glare and relax again when he noticed his brother in law. "You do have, what, like two broken ribs." Oliver reminded, hands deep in his pockets. Roy shrugged.
"Body's numb." He answered stiffly. Oliver nodded in allowance and took a few steps towards him.
"What's up Harper?" he asked, crouching down a couple feet away. Roy stared at a piece of the carnage over Oliver's shoulder and inhaled shakily.
"I can't get it out of my head." he muttered through his teeth. "…Osborne punching her in the face. He would have killed her in a heartbeat. Just to hurt me." He growled against his knees. Oliver rocked back on his heels and sat in the gravel, drawing circles in the crumbled rock with his finger. "Something is going to happen to her and its going to be on my hands." Oliver nodded and shrugged one shoulder.
"Here's the thing." He replied easily. "Speedy doesn't give a crap." He deadpanned. "She loves you more than anything. She couldn't care less about the danger her life with you puts her in. Neither does Felicity. As much as it kills me to put her in danger every day." He murmured fervently. "You've just got to pray and hope that you're strong enough to protect her. And you've got to believe it. Because she does. And I do. Felicity trusts you too so you must be doing something right." Oliver smirked halfheartedly. "But that's not all that's bothering you." Oliver added perceptively. Roy took a deep breath and winced at the pain in his ribcage.
"I love living with Thea. And thank you, really, for letting me move in. I know it's probably really…weird for you because she's your little sister." He rambled awkwardly. "But it's not…the house. It's big." He laughed dryly. "And it's not…" he sighed irritably at a loss for words.
"It's not home." Oliver finished for him. Roy sighed and hid his face in his muscled forearms.
"Not exactly." He mumbled back.
"Understandable." Oliver replied slowly.
"I wouldn't have moved Thea to this hell hole in a million years but I would've liked the option." He sighed. The two men fell into contemplative silence for a few minutes before Oliver grunted and pushed to his feet, holding his arm out to his younger brother in law. Roy glanced up and grabbed onto Oliver's forearm, using it as leverage to pull himself up off the ground. "How'd you know I was here?" Roy asked suddenly as they walked back to Oliver's car.
"Educated guess." Oliver smirked as he walked.
"I'm in trouble with Thea aren't I?" he sighed. Oliver chuckled but stayed quiet.
Roy eased himself out of the car, wincing at the pain in his abdomen that was coming back full force, ignoring Oliver's eyes on him.
"You alright kid?" he asked as he shut his car door and locked the Acura.
"Yeah." Roy nodded shortly, leading the way into the house.
"Try to stay in bed." Oliver chuckled dryly as he dropped his keys on the wooden table. Roy pursed his lips and nodded once, climbing up the staircase with one hand on his ribcage. The older of the two heroes waited until the other had disappeared before making his way back to his son's nursery.
"Oliver?" Felicity called quietly, sitting up in the rocking chair as she blinked blearily against the light streaming in through the open door.
"Hi." He smiled, crossing the floor and slipping his far too toned arms around her body.
"Where were you?" she asked as he carried her out of the nursery and down the hallway.
"I just had to track someone down. Everything's fine." He assured her, soundlessly kicking the door open.
"Mm." she hummed sleepily. Oliver shifted her weight to one arm and pulled the sheets back with the other, setting his wife on the bed. Felicity was asleep by the time he had managed to get his shirt off. He lay down on the bed, carefully so as to avoid jostling her too much. Pushing himself up on his good arm, Oliver hovered over Felicity, pressing a long kiss to her forehead before lying down beside her, arm thrown protectively over her waist.
Roy stared down at Thea with a barely noticeable smirk pulling at his mouth. He put one knee on the bed and leant over her, pulling her leather boots off of her feet and smiling guiltily at her when she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"Ollie found you?" she mumbled tiredly. He nodded and pulled her into a somewhat upright position, supporting her with one arm and pulling her jacket and shirt off with the other. He reached for one of his discarded shirts that had been abandoned at the foot of the bed and pulled it over her head before fumbling with the buttons on her skinny jeans. He growled under his breath.
"I need you to help me out here a little." He spoke slowly, almost like how he dealt with her on the more rare nights when she came home drunk. She slapped his hands away and stood out of the bed, pushing him back against the pillows. Thea turned away from him before she could see the wince it brought on from him and uneasily pulled her too tight jeans off of her legs and crawled back on the bed. Roy watched her as she pulled the zipper down on his red hoodie and slid it away from his chest. She stared at the few scars he had, tracing patterns around them, stopping only when he stiffened.
"Did I hurt you?" she asked quietly, scooting away. Roy rolled his eyes and painfully shrugged out of his jacket, leaving his dark grey sweatpants on and pulling her back to his side.
"You couldn't hurt me if you tried." He smirked. She put a hand on his chest and slid it across his skin until it was resting over his heart and she could feel the too fast thrumming of it against her palm.
"Well given that you have a road map of tape on your body I probably could." She drawled. He smiled softly and shifted his arm under her head so that his fingers could curl around her shoulder. She glanced down at the crisscross pattern of black tape across his abdomen and sighed. "I'm sorry." She whispered honestly.
"Stop." He said instantly. "Just don't Thea." He replied pleadingly. She nodded slowly and fell silent. He frowned in confusion when her hand started to shake slightly and she curled it into a fist over his heart. "Thea?" he placed his hand over hers and flattened it against his skin again.
"Roy." She started, voice shaking slightly.
"Hm." He hummed quietly, rubbing his index finger over the back of her hand.
"Don't freak out okay?" she hedged. Roy froze as a hundred different scenarios ran through his head. None of them good. She was probably going to leave him because of today. Not that he could blame her but he wouldn't live through losing her. Not again. "Roy." She snapped, eyes tearing up.
"Yeah, sorry. What?" he blinked rapidly, trying to dispel the panicked haze to remember what she had told him while he'd been worrying and coming up with scenarios he was sure would be the death of him.
"I'm pregnant." She repeated, biting her lip and watching his face.
"Seriously?" she nodded. Darkness crossed his face and a growl rumbled in his chest. Her shoulders started heaving wildly and sobs tore from her chest as she watched him shut down and go silent, lost in his rage.
Gregory Osborne didn't suffer nearly enough in his death for what he did to Thea. It was bad enough for Roy when he had to control himself after watching the man hurt her, and now knowing that he had come close to losing not only his life and his wife, but his child as well, it made his blood boil in utter blinding rage. Osborne hadn't paid nearly enough for what he did. But he was gone and a good thing for him too given that if he wasn't, Roy would do much worse than what Oliver had.
Thea flinched into the headboard as Roy pushed her away and jumped off the bed, slamming his hand into the wall.
"I'm sorry." She sobbed. Roy stopped cold and turned slowly, confusion etched in his features.
"Why?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"I'll just…I can go see a doctor. Maybe we…I…I didn't think…know…I'm sorry." She whimpered, staring at the duvet cover as her arms snaked around herself.
"Hey, hey, hey." He whispered, sitting back down on the bed and forcing his hands to relax out of the fists they had curled into. "What are you talking about?" he asked softly, reaching out to her. The movement on his part only made Thea cry harder and he dropped his hand. He paused and replayed the subsequent moments after he told her and inhaled shakily, shutting his eyes as his mouth that had previously been drawn up in a scowl fell into a frown. "No, Thea." He sighed. "Look at me." He muttered.
Thea looked up at him, chin still quivering hopelessly. It broke Roy's heart to realize that she thought he wouldn't want her; he couldn't cast his family out like that. Not like his had done to him.
"I love you, Thea. I have no plans for that to change." He glanced away and rubbed his forehead tiredly. "Like. Ever." He added. "I could barely stand myself," he snarled. "knowing that I nearly got you killed tonight. Now knowing that had anything happened to you, your..." he chuckled darkly. "Our baby would have suffered too. I'm not strong enough to," his voice broke and his countenance morphed to one of irritation towards his weakness. He felt Thea's slightly trembling hand on his cheek and rolled his eyes to look at her.
"You are strong." She whispered, rising up on her knees and tilting her head to kiss him gently. Thea fumbled with Roy's hand and held it tightly. "But if you ever scare me like that again, I will end you." She muttered. He laughed once and nodded.
"Yes ma'am." He replied mockingly. She smiled and dropped onto the bed rolling onto her side and moving up against his side. Roy wrapped one arm over her waist again, breathing hitching in his throat as he ribs tweaked painfully.
"Ollie is gonna kill you." She mumbled sleepily before she fell asleep, Roy following in her wake shortly after.
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