Oliver Queen

Mia was rushing home already, because Fletch had been absolutely pitiful when she'd left for school and she'd felt like a giant tool for leaving him to go learn about boring old algebra. But she was rounding the corner to Watchtower now, backpack over her shoulder.

Her forward momentum stopped once she pushed through the main floor doors and found Ollie and Chloe sitting there already. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"What are you guys doing?"

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"Waiting for you," Chloe said with a smile when Mia walked in, the puppy running straight to her the second she was inside the door.

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"We walked him earlier," Oliver told her with a grin. "He's full of energy. Good thing you are, too."

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"Were you a good boy for Chloe and Ollie?" Mia asked as she scooped Fletch up and scratched him behind the ears, giggling as he kissed her hello. Then she turned her attention to her guardians.

"Why are you guys waiting down here for though? I would've come up."

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"Well," Chloe said, standing up and smiling over at Ollie before looking at Mia again, "we have something to show you on the way."

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Oliver rose to his feet, too, also smiling. "How was school?"

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Even more suspicious now, Mia set the puppy down to trip happily over their feet and came to stand next to them.

"School was as boring as ever. Don't change the subject, you guys. What do you have to show me?"

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"I think the situation requires more show and less tell, what do you think, Ollie?" She asked as she stepped inside the elevator, waiting for the other three.

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He grinned at Chloe, then glanced at Mia. "Relax, Speedy. It's your birthday remember. It's a surprise. Come on." He held his hand out to her as he headed for the elevator.

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Birthdays had never been much of a reason for relaxing before, but Mia was willing to give them the benefit of a doubt. She shrugged and stepped into the elevator after them, the dog at her heels. As they went up the floors she shifted from foot to foot, nervous and excited at the same time.

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Chloe smiled as the elevator started going up, "close your eyes," she told Mia.

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Oliver knelt down and picked up Fletch, scratching behind his ears, glancing sideways at Mia and then up at the numbers above the elevator until it pulled to a stop on twenty-two.

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Mia noted the different floor and quirked an eyebrow at them, laughing a little at their weird, secret glee, and sly glances at her. It was like they were the ones getting a surprise or something. "You know, if you wanted me to help with the renovations you just had to ask."

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"Well, that's not exactly the plan," Chloe grinned and stepped out of the elevator, to the main doors, "ready?"

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Oliver grinned, too, and glanced back at Mia as he unlocked and opened the door to the apartment.

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Mia stepped inside with a roll of her eyes, and then stared at the brightly painted walls, the new furniture, in primary colors without looking like it belonged in a nursery school.

She blinked, mouth dropping open. "Wow..." A wide grin. "It looks so awesome!"

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Chloe grinned, watching Mia, "It's yours." She told her, glancing at Ollie.

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"Happy birthday," Oliver said softly, a smile on his face as he held the squirming puppy in his arms.

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She spun around at that, staring at them. She'd thought for sure this would be their apartment. Or Clark's or Dinah's or...someone else.

"Mine?" she repeated, softly. "Like...for real?"

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"Happy Birthday," Chloe said too, grinning brightly at the younger girl, "and if there's anything you want to change, we can take care of that."

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"And our place is the floor below this one. And...we have a guest room if you ever get bored of being up here." Oliver gazed at her.

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"I don't want to change it," Mia murmured, still half-doubting she was hearing things right. She moved deeper into the main room to place a hand on the shiny new coffee table. The carpet made shuffling noises under her feet and she knew that if she took her shoes and socks off it would feel soft and thick under her toes.

Her chest tightened and her next breath hiccuped a little, embarrassingly. She hid her red face in her hands. "Oh crap, sorry."

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Chloe smiled and nodded at the presents sitting on the coffee table, "those are yours too."

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Oliver set Fletch down on the floor carefully, watching as the pup scampered over to Mia and put his front paws on her legs, barking softly. He smiled at Chloe softly and then turned his attention to Mia once more.

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Mia bent to pat him on the head, then picked up one of the packages. She tore the wrapping off quickly.

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"That one is from me," Chloe told her, grinning softly as she watched as Mia opened the smart phone, "it's also connected to the Watchtower system, once we get that back up, and it had a GPS for patrolling and once you activate the patrolling mode, hitting the top button will send Watchtower a panic signal so we can send you help."

Edited Date: 2010-05-06 04:46 am (UTC)

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Oliver reached out and picked up one of the smaller packages, wrapped in yellow wrapping with a red ribbon on it. He handed it to her next, sitting down on the sofa. Inside she would find a strand of pearls like the ones she'd worn at the dance that had been ruined a few weeks ago. "This one's from me," he said softly.

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"Anticipating my next kidnapping already, huh?" Mia teased as she played with the phone, turning it over in her hands and sliding out the keypad. "Thanks, Chloe."

She took the jewelery box from Oliver next, breathing in sharply when she saw what was inside. She didn't think Oliver knew how pissed off and upset she'd been that Slade wrecked her necklace. She grinned at him and said, "I won't lose this one."

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"Just being prepared," Chloe grinned softly, "you're welcome." She smiled over at Ollie and nodded a little when she saw what Mia's gift was, she didn't know about that one, just about the bigger box that was still on the table.

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"All right, one more." He picked up the larger box and handed it to Mia, glancing at Chloe with a mixture of emotions in his eyes. This was the one she'd actually asked for--a uniform for when she was patrolling. He just hoped she liked it.

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Mia slowly pulled out the sturdy red leather outfit, the yellow hood for her head, and a mask for her face. She traced her fingers over the items slowly and smiled. Even though she was eighteen now, she hadn't been positive that Ollie really would let her join patrol more regularly, with all that had happened.

"Guess this makes me Speedy for sure," she said, then threw herself at Oliver for a hug.

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Chloe grinned and raised an eyebrow at Oliver, "sounds like you're in trouble."

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Oliver grinned at Chloe even as he hugged Mia in return. "When am I not?" he joked.

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"Got that right," Mia teased from against Oliver's chest. Then she got up to hug Chloe too. "Thanks guys. This is the best birthday ever."

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Chloe gladly returned the hug and smiled brightly at Mia, "I'm glad, Mia, you deserved it."

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Oliver smiled and sat back on the red sofa they'd gotten for Mia. "Happy birthday, Speedy." His eyes were bright.

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Mia grinned back and then gathered up her outfit again. "I'm going to try it on!" she called as she disappeared into her new bedroom.

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Chloe grinned and walked over to Ollie, pressing a kiss on his temple and sitting on the arm of the couch, "you did good."

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He leaned against hers, reaching up to take her hand. "We," he corrected her.

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Mia had to take a second to gape at her bedroom before she actually got around to changing. It was pretty amazing. Either Chloe was a home decorator in her spare time or Ollie had a team of specialists on speed dial.

Or the other way around. Guys could decorate too, right? It was the millennium.

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