4. Little People Ask A Whole Lot Of Questions

Oliver closed the front door behind him, placing his keys in the designated bowl. He had hoped he would be able to enjoy some of the early morning silence by himself, but was greeted with the sound of little feet pattering down the stairs and soft humming. He headed towards the living room and kitchen area, guessing that he would find Joanna. And there she was, still in her pajamas with her hair sticking up in five different directions, but looking very perky and wide awake.

"Good morning, Joanna. You're awake pretty early?" He couldn't help the hint of worry that seeped into his question. Yesterday was the first time that he had to take care of Joanna outside of his normal working hours, feeding her dinner and helping her with her bedtime routine. It was out of the norm for him and not something he had ever expected to do, causing his nervousness.

The day before, just when they were about to leave Felicity's office, her computer exploded with a dozen or so alerts informing her that someone was trying to breach the company's firewalls. Felicity and Curtis had jumped into action, frantically trying to ward off the attack and safeguard all their sensitive information. In the midst of all the commotion, Felicity had rattled off a whole list of instructions on Joanna's evening routine- not to let her watch TV for too long, no dinner in front of the TV, to get her in bed by 9 with her teeth brushed, face washed and hair brushed. He's mostly sure he had hit every item on the list, Joanna hadn't complained so he assumed he had done things right. But here she was, awake way earlier than her usual time.

"G'morning Oliver." Then her brows furrowing, "Why are you awake so early?" She questioned him as she hopped onto one of the stools.

It was uncanny sometimes how much she resembled her mother, especially some particular expressions- like this one- were almost identical. Her question, though, really shouldn't have surprised him. She was pretty curious, always trying to find out about things and people around her. He also got the feeling that she catalogued and processed the answers very carefully in her head to see if she was getting an accurate version. "I always wake up this early. Earlier, actually. I just came back from a run," he replied.

"You were awake even earlier than this?" She asked him skeptically. She actually narrowed her eyes at him then, as she continued, "Mommy says no one should be awake before 8 and some coffee on the weekend. She says it just doesn't make sense. Did you have coffee?" She asked him, suspiciously, as if, if he checked off one of the items on the list it would make his behaviour somewhat excusable.

Oliver had to suppress a chuckle as he very seriously answered her, "No, I didn't have any coffee." And then because he couldn't resist, he teased her, saying, "But you're awake before 8 and without coffee. Do you want some coffee?"

Her face scrunched up in distaste, "Nooo. I don't like coffee, and it's for old people, not me." Then her eyes widened, "Don't tell my mommy I said that, please," she requested, stretching out the please.

He smirked, "Okay, okay. Don't worry, I won't tell your mom that you called her old."

She looked shook her head and vehemently denied it, "Uh-uh I didn't say that. You said it."

She absolutely amused him with how quick and clever she was. He was surprised at how often she was able to turn the tables back on him, but it made their conversations quite fun. According to Felicity, this was a new thing Joanna had picked up. Apparently her lawyer aunt was teaching her about loopholes, is what he got from Felicity's grumbling under her breath. "Fine," he conceded, "We won't tell your mom about this whole coffee talk, deal?"

"Deal," she promptly replied with a firm nod of her head. "Is my mommy home?" She inquired.

"Yeah, but she came in pretty late," he informed her. Felicity had come home at 1 o'clock in the night, practically dragging herself through the house, mumbling a quick thank you and goodnight before disappearing up the stairs. He had gone to bed only after she had come back and then gotten up four and a half hours later for his morning run. It wasn't too bad considering he had survived on less sleep, but it was fortunate that there wasn't anything really exciting planned for the day.

He watched Joanna as she shifted slightly in her seat and then pouted, "I'm hungry, Oliver. But Mommy says that I shouldn't make breakfast by myself."

"I can make your breakfast, what would you like to eat?"

She wrinkled her nose in deep concentration, "Toast… With strawberry jam," she finished with a decisive nod.

Oliver pulled out the bread and put two slices into the toaster, he then got out the butter and requested jam and placed them on the table in front of Joanna. He took her plastic plate and knife, that she held out to him, while she climbed back onto her seat. He grabbed the toast, when they were ready, and put them on her plate. He watched as she slathered the butter on her toast with precision, opening the jar of jam and keeping it ready for her. She stuck her knife in, trying to collect some jam on it but it kept falling off. He watched in amusement as after a few unsuccessful tries she stared at the jar with a betrayed look on her face. Oliver handed her a teaspoon, "Here, try with this."

She took the spoon looking skeptical but then shrugged her shoulders, sticking the spoon in the jar and helping herself to huge dollops of her sweet prize. He wondered if he should be giving someone as hyperactive as her so much sugar so early in the morning, that too on a weekend. Well, there wasn't much he could do about it anymore. While she munched on her breakfast, he made himself a protein shake and settled with it across the table from her.

He was just considering how he could make her run some safety drills- maybe turning them into a game- to teach her what to do in specific dangerous situations and burn off some of that sugar from the jam she practically inhaled, when she finished her breakfast. She hopped off her seat and grabbed her plate, putting it in the sink, and then in a very serious tone demanded that he "Wait here," hastily adding a 'please' before she rushed off.

He watched as she tiptoed up the stairs, being careful to not disturb her mother, and then came back down a few minutes later- a yellow legal pad and pen clutched in her hands and a pair of glasses sitting precariously on her nose. She climbed onto her stool again and requested, "Sit down, please."

He stood still for a moment, honestly completely bewildered by this whole thing. She looked so freaking cute too, with her Olaf pajamas (and he still shuddered when he thought about the hours on end of repetitively watching Frozen with Sara, while he and Thea babysat her, that got him so well-acquainted with what exactly 'Olaf' was), wild curls and now the glasses with the no-nonsense look she had donned. If he were anyone else he'd probably be taking a hundred pictures of her by now, hell he was definitely tempted to, just to tease her. He collected himself and took his seat, deciding to humor her for now and see where this was going.

She rearranged her papers for a second, reminding him of the intimidation techniques used by lawyers or police interrogators sometimes. Then she looked over her glasses at him, in the same way he had seen Felicity do a few times, and said, "So, please state your full name for the record." She said it so precisely as though she was reciting from memory.

"Oliver Jonas Queen", she wrote it down carefully. She then moved on to asking basic questions about him, like date of birth, his school and college history, job history. She wrote down all his answers slowly and neatly, doing some subtraction to figure out how old he was, even. When he told her about his multiple failed college attempts and his not-so-great performance in school, she narrowed her eyes at him and promptly wrote down 'Oliver does not like to study'. He cautiously told her about when he joined the army and when he was discharged, and breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't ask him about why he joined or left. He was a bit surprised that she didn't ask more questions about that, but then again even with her advancement for her age she was still quite young and probably didn't quite understand the significance and consequences of making that kind of decision. So far this was kind of like a standard interview, it seemed like she was making her own personal assessment about hiring him.

She then started asking him about his family- his parents and the sister he mentioned once. She made him tell her all of their names and wrote them down diligently, even checking the spelling with him. She threw him when she asked, "Are you married?"

He just blinked and very eloquently replied, "Huh?"

Looking at his expression, she concluded, "Not married?" He just shook his head in response. Then she threw another one at him, "Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend?"

He spluttered at that, "Why are you asking me if I'm dating someone?"

Her brow furrows as she answers, "Mommy says that sometimes you just need to eat lots of ice cream and drink grown-up drinks and talk to your friends about your relationship woes." She says it slowly like she was reciting from memory, wobbling on the last two words, and he doesn't doubt that that was the exact phrasing Felicity used at some point. He doesn't quite know what to say to that. She looks at him earnest but shy and continues, "You're my friend and I wanted to know if you need ice cream."

He feels this emotion making its way from his heart to his throat, strangely reminiscent of the way he felt when a 2 year old Thea tried to call "Ollie" for the first time (it seems like a lifetime ago, but is one of his strongest and most precious memories), but also something different. He cleared his throat, trying to dismiss that feeling and was about to flippantly ask her if she didn't just want ice cream for herself. But he looked at her hopeful little face again and could not bring himself to do that, not when she was being so honest and sincere; genuinely wanting to be his friend and know about him and hoping that he would want to be her friend too. And he got it, why everyone he had met in the last week- all the people who interacted frequently with this little girl- were so attached to and fond of her. She had such a big and warm heart, and with all that innocent caring and acceptance staring you in the face, how could anyone want anything other than to let her into their heart as well. So he smiled at her, hoping he could convey all the warmth she had brought up in him, "Thank you for your consideration Joanna, but I don't really have a girlfriend. And if you're the ice cream sharing kind, I would love to be friends with you!"

She giggled as she countered, "We can only be friends if you answer right. What's your favorite ice cream flavour?"

He tilted his head, pretending to think hard about this very important question. "Is the right answer: mint chocolate chip?"

She clapped her hands, jumping up and down in her seat, almost making him panic and jump out of his own seat when she looked like she was about to fall off. But she stayed on her stool, not even bothered as she excitedly told him, "That's my and Mommy's favorite flavour too." Then she decreed with a firm nod of her head, "Okay, we can be friends."

They sat in silence for a few moments, her brows were furrowed again as she moved her gaze from him to her papers a few times. He moved to put his glass in the sink while she focusedly stared at the papers in front of her. He could almost hear her mind whirring, wondering what she was contemplating with such concentration. She finally seemed to have reached a conclusion if the big smile and decisive nod of her head were anything to go by. She looked up at him with this glint in her eye and her smile still firmly on her face, now tinged with a bit of mischief. He wondered if he should be scared about what she had in store for him, and with her next words he knew that it wasn't going to bode well for him. "So now that we're friends, you have to answer all my other questions."

"You have more questions?"

She looked at him as though he was the one not getting it, "Yeah. I have lots. We can start with your health. Do you have any allergies or sickness?"

Yeah he was screwed, he had a feeling that he'd be experiencing one of the most intrusive interrogations of his life. And all the training and practice he'd received on staying silent during questioning were going to be wasted in the face of the seemingly innocent questions asked by his six year old 'interrogator'. "No, I don't have any allergies. And I'm not sick, I wouldn't be working if I was sick or it could infect you too."

"Not that kind of sick. The other kind of sick- the one where people die." She mumbled the last part, her face scrunching up, not very fond of the idea that people got sick and died.

He answered most of her questions, alternating between trying not to laugh and utter incredulity at her persistent and prying efforts. She seemed oddly interested in his and his family's medical history, making sure that they didn't have any fatal illnesses, repeatedly asking him 'will it make you (or them) die?' He wondered if all kids had such a morbid sense of curiosity or if it was just her.

She questioned him about his hobbies and what he liked to do in his spare time. He figured what constituted as fun in his playboy days or in his time in the army would probably not be suitable to tell kids, so he said something about watching sports and mainly liking baseball and hockey. The face she made at his answer was absolutely hilarious and made him laugh out loud. He even surprised himself with his reaction but she didn't seem to notice. He managed to turn around some of the questions on her and from her answers he figured out that she was used to spending a lot of time with her 'extended family' and had a whole bunch of adventures with each of them, learning about or helping them with their jobs. When she asked him about his job as a bodyguard and whether he liked it and what he had to do, he thought he had managed to successfully change the topic from him to his job. But of course she was not to be deterred, as soon as she was done assessing his answers, she went back to her previous line of questioning, this time jumping into wanting to know more about his family. So he told her about his parents, Raisa, Thea and also Tommy. When he told her that his parents owned a company, she immediately had follow-up questions.

"Your parents have a company? What is it called?"

"Queen Consolidated."

"Queen Cons...li-ted?" She blushed when it didn't come out sounding right.

"Con-so-li-da-ted. Try again, you'll get it right"

"Queen Con-so-li-da-ted", she repeated, elongating each syllable. "Is it a big company like my Mommy's? Do they have a big building too?"

"Yeah they have a pretty big building, and they've been around for longer than your mom's company so they're a bit bigger."'

"Your name is on a building too? That's just like me!" Then she looks downcast as she admits, "Some kids at school are mean to me because of that… Mommy and Gramma says that I shouldn't listen to them. That I should think about how our company helps lot of people and that I have other nice friends. Gramma says that I should be proud of mommy because having her own building means Mommy is very smart."

He inhales sharply when he hears about other kids bullying her. That was a harsh reality he had faced when he was younger too. Everyone knew his family was rich and unless he flashed his money around he never could get others to befriend him. It was hard to care about or make actual friends when you were very aware that you had bought them. He wondered if glaring extra hard at any of those little twerps on Monday would be helpful for her. Maybe if they knew he had her back, they wouldn't mess with her. He didn't want to scare off any potential friends though, so he wondered if there was a subtle way to find out who was being mean to her. "When I was younger, I used to have kids being mean to me too, because of my parents' company. But I always had Tommy, he was my best friend and would always cheer me up or stand up for me. And we would have fun together and just ignore all the mean things people said. Like you have Marley. Your mom and grandma are right, you shouldn't listen to them," he consoled her.

"Yeah, Marley is my bestest friend in the whole world. Is Tommy your bestest friend in the whole world?"

"He was. He… Um… He died some years back."

"Oh!" Her eyes started watering, "You must be very sad."

"I was. I was very sad when he died, the saddest I've ever been. But it was a long time back and I'm still sad sometimes, but its also okay now." He swallowed the lump in his throat as he said that. It was true though, Tommy's death had hurt worse than anything he had ever experienced. Even the most painful injury he had sustained, while on a Special Forces mission, could not compare. What possibly hurt more were the constant what-ifs that surrounded his best friend's death, what if he had done something- just one little thing- differently. Would he still be alive? Greeting him with a huge smile and hug, making fun of him for taking a job where he was kind of babysitting a six year old?

She still looked very shaken, so he said, "But I have so many good memories with Tommy too. He was like my brother and was always at my house. I remember this one time, Thea had broken her leg because she fell off her horse. She was really upset that she couldn't go out and see him, so Tommy and I tried to entertain her and cheer her up however we could. We tried all her favorite Disney movies, let her play dress-up with us as her dolls but nothing worked. So we finally decided that we were gonna bring the horse to her, if that was the only thing that would make her happy. So when everyone was busy with something, we tried to smuggle the horse into the house, but of course my mother caught us. She was furious but it was worth it because Thea couldn't stop laughing."

"Wow," she said, her eyes opened wide in wonder. He chuckled at that.

He didn't know where that came from. It'd been such a long time since he could think of Tommy without thinking of all the grief and loss. But Tommy had been part of almost all the good memories in his life, and sometimes that got lost or forgotten while he wallowed. If he were here, he'd probably hit him upside the head for associating his memory with pain rather than the happy times.

This was too much, this all just felt like too much at once. In the duration of one conversation he'd been hit by so many questions, feelings, memories- just so much. It was all so intense and he needed some space, some time to get it all back under wraps. To get himself under control. He'd opened himself up and let things in again and now he was worried that it would all come crashing down on him. Again. This was the second time this week itself that this was happening to him, and this time was even more intense. He needed to think about it, seriously think about whether he wanted to or actually could continue working here with the Smoaks. He was getting swept away by all the emotions he had suppressed for so long, it was being brought out by both Joanna and Felicity. There are so many reasons he should quit this job now, while he still could. Before he formed too much of an attachment and compromised his professionalism.

He remembered last week when he had first met Felicity. After that interview and after she had agreed to hire him, he had asked to instate a one week trial period in his contract, to ensure that all parties would be comfortable with the arrangement. The real reason had been that coming off being fired due to his client's overeager wife, and after Felicity's babble commenting on his looks, he hadn't wanted to take a chance. He had just met her then, hadn't known what to expect and wary that it could become a problematic pattern. And while he had no problems with Felicity anymore- she was respectful and professional and if she slipped up, it was accidental- or with Joanna for that matter, he was still within his one week of trial. He could quit if he felt that his working ability could be hindered, he could recommend someone else and he knew there'd be no hard feelings from Felicity. But could he actually do it or rather did he want to leave? Because for as many reasons as there were to quit, there were quite a few reasons to stay as well. He wanted to ensure Joanna's safety, he knew he was good at his job and he knew they needed him. And maybe he needed them… No. Not them, it. He needed it, this letting go and accepting some of his feelings and pain.

There were so many thoughts whirling around in his head, he needed them to stop so that he could take his time to consider all his options. But he couldn't do that here, he needed the space and distance from the people who could elicit all this intense emotion.

Just as he was contemplating how to sort this whole mess in his head out, he heard Felicity come stumbling down the stairs. She headed straight for the coffeemaker, hitting the on button and getting herself a cup. She took a few sips before she fully opened her eyes and smiled at him and Joanna, greeting them with a "Good Morning."

He gave her a tight smile, while she walked over to her daughter and kissed her on the head, Joanna chirping back a "Good Morning." She took a seat next to Joanna, her eyes widening when she looked up and saw his face more clearly. He didn't know what she saw there, whether she saw him freaking out in his head or could just make out his desperation to escape. Whatever it was, she picked up on it pretty quick.

"Oliver, you don't… Do you…" She took a breath and collected herself, "Why don't you take a few hours off? Joanna and I will be at home, nothing too exciting planned for today so we should be good for a while. You've been stuck with us all week, I'm sure you could use a bit of a break."

Joanna looked like she was about to protest, but Felicity just ruffled her hair and warded it off with, "What? You don't want to spend time with your mom anymore? I know I'm not as cool as Oliver but I thought I was pretty cool." Felicity poked and tickled Joanna a little, the little girl squirming and giggling and sufficiently distracted by everything she had to do or show her mother.

He was still unsure, escaping for a few hours- while he's on the clock- because his head was a mess was not actually professional, and it must have shown on his face. Felicity smiled reassuringly at him, a compassionate look in her eyes, "Really Oliver, we'll be fine. We have the best security system and you can make sure everything is in place before you leave. I can have the office security company send over a guard for a few hours if it makes you more comfortable. Take some time."

He was filled with gratitude at her understanding. She seemed to have recognized his struggle almost immediately and found a solution so he could have exactly what he needed. The kindness and concern in her eyes making him feel a bit more settled. He decided to accept her offer. "Thank you." He hoped he conveyed exactly how much he meant it.

She just smiled back in response.