Post by adrini on Jul 21, 2013 18:55:41 GMT -5
Adrian walked out of the formal dining room where the additional gifts were being stored. In the front hall several people were talking and greeting. In the background she could hear the food for the reception being set up. She had taken the liberty of inviting a few more people. None Oliver would object to.
The clock on the wall said it was nearing two, people should be getting into places soon. She hurried to the living room and saw everyone but the main stars present and polished.
“Thea, have you seen Ollie?” She glanced in the direction of the kitchen. There was no sign of the young man.
Thea nodded her head to the stairway. “They’re finishing getting ready.” She said. Thea laughed when Adrian closed her eyes in frustration. “You didn’t actually expect them not to see each other before hand, did you?”
“I never expected it to happen.” Roy added with a smile as he flipped through his phone.
She laughed at herself, it had been unlikely. In the end it didn’t matter anyway. Thea and Mia were playing against each other on their phones, and Roy was getting some last minute work done with a quirky and happy look on his face. Diggle was talking to Brave Bow, who had come up for the event in the corner of the room. Master Jansen and Shado were looking at the family display case and smiling at the pictures while Jax explained to them who the absent people were while Frank and his family, his wife Melinda and their two kids, looked on. Only Ted seemed to be alone.
“Mr. Grant, not joining in the festivities?” She asked. He was leaning against the wall and seemed to be brooding a little. He did shine up nicely.
“Just waitin’” The man said, looking to the second story. “Gettin’ close.”
Adrian smiled. “They’ll be down when they are, we can’t start without them.” She saw him nod. “I do want to thank you for coming out. I know it means a lot to Dinah to have you here.”
The man tried not to smile but Adrian saw a glimer of a grin, touched with sadness. “Promised her Mom I’d be here.” He said. “It’s a promise I’m going to keep.”
Adrian understood what it was like trying to help a young person through a loss like that. You did what you could. She heard the phone go off in the next room and nodded to see to it.
Arriving in the kitchen she saw that Diggle had already taken the call. He seemed upset. “What do you mean he’s sick?” He asked. He listened for a moment longer and shook his head. “When did this happen?”
Adrian walked over and looked at the ex-marine. He motioned for her to wait a moment.
“No, it’s fine. Tell him to get well soon.” Diggle said. “Of course there are no hard feelings. No one can predict this.” He hung up the phone.
“A problem?” She looked at the phone number, the call had come from the church.
“Minister’s out, sudden food poisoning.” Diggle shook his head. That leaves you and me."
"We knew something like this might happen.” Adrian waited for Diggle to think about it.
“I can’t promise poetry.” Diggle said. “But I can promise you wouldn’t get through the first sentence before breaking down.”
She laughed. “I was hoping you’d volunteer.” He had overestimated her. She wouldn’t have made it though the first word.
>--)->
Upstairs Oliver was adjusting his tie in the mirror, keenly aware of the time. “Ten till.” He said into the bathroom. He thought it odd that he was more nervious about going downstairs and seeing the others then getting ready here with his near wife. He still had trouble believing she had actually agreed to marry him.
“I know, I just can’t get this veil on right.” He heard Dinah say from the mirror within. He checked out his tie and jacket one more time and walked the few steps to the bathroom to see what she was struggling with.
He felt his heart jump to his throat as he entered. She had walked into the room a few hours before in cotton pajamas looking like the Dinah he had grown accustomed to waking up to each day. Somehow she had transformed herself into the goddess he now saw before him. The green knee length dress clung and hugged in all the right places, and her mother’s moonstone jewelery and ivory birdcage veil matched it perfectly. He laughed a little as she fussed with the netting.
He walked over and pulled her to her feet. “It’s perfect. Don’t change a thing.” He saw her relax and smile. He stole a kiss before he felt a grin grow on his face. It was time, he couldn’t wait anymore. We wanted a wife.
By the time they left the room they were both beaming. Arriving downstairs he saw the normal crew in the living room relaxing. Dinah had stopped to talk to Ted.
“Took you two long enough.” Thea said teasingly. “We had a small hiccup, but nothing that didn’t get sorted out.”
“What kind of hiccup?” He asked looking at the direction of the kitchen, the food smelled really good. He saw Diggle walk into the room and nod approvingly at his get up.
“The Minister has fallen ill with food poisoning. So it appears you are stuck with me.” The man said.
Oliver laughed. It would have been nice to have Minister Gorden, he had married his parents after all, but Digs was fine. “At least I know you won’t drag it out.”
“Out of patience?” Roy asked putting away his phone.
“I figure I should lock her down before she realizes what she’s getting herself into.” Oliver winked. “She might come to her senses if we wait much longer.”
Mia giggled and Thea rolled her eyes. “Ya, she’s totally looking for a way out.” The dark haired teen said sarcastically.
Jade was leaning on the door frame and looked at the blond in the entry way. He couldn't read her expression. Oliver walked over.
"I hope the talk went well." He said also looking at his better half.
"That's our business. And Di told me yours. You're going to need a lot of help. So I'm staying." She grabbed him by his tie. "And I'll be watching. Fuck up and get her hurt and you'll be dealing with me."
The look on her face shook him for a minute. He looked at Dinah again and gulped. Jade pulled him closer.
"You don't want that."
He heard Adrian behind him exclaim over Dinah’s dress. Turning to get some distance he walked over and found himself getting a hug from the woman. She was getting teary already. It was a welcome distraction.
“They just finshed the chairs and set up outside.” She said and beamed, brushing the shoulders of his jacket. “Ready?”
Dinah saw him, Adrien took a step back and Dinah cuddled close. He shook his head to clear it.
“Ready." He kissed the blond head, he was planning on keeping her safe anyway. Still, Jade's words had shaken him. If something did happen to her he had a feeling he would never fully recover from it. “Will you be okay?”
Adrien laughed but nodded, she was fighting tears again. “I’ll be fine.” She said and motioned to the room behind him. “It’s time.” She said and the room emptied.
Dinah walked to have one last conversation with Ted, Jade was waiting for a moment as well. He didn't mind, after today he had her next to him for good.
>--)->
It didn’t really hit him that it was all really happening until he was at his place outside waiting for her to appear. In some part of his mind not swamped by giddy excitement he knew he had an increasingly sappy grin on his face. The reality that he was really getting a wife and a family all his own was making him a little light headed.
Roy laughed beside him. “And there’s the shit eating grin.”
“He always has a shit eating grin when he looks at her.” Thea replied with a smile from Diggle’s right.
“Oh, just wait.” Diggle said with a large smirk.
At another time he might have bothered to respond to their banter but he saw the back door open, and knew Dinah was just a few moments away. He would vaguely remember the few people in company standing, and he did remember that Adrian was opening crying. He noticed some banter between Digs and Roy behind him but never caught it.
He saw her. Leaning on Ted, who for once looked truly misty eyed, she was trying to keep pace with the simple music Thea had found but was just eager to get to him. It took entirely too long for the short walk to end. She gave Ted a hug and kiss on the cheek when they arrived and quickly moved into place.
She looked at him and grabbed his hands, forcing herself to remain serious as best she could.
"I was almost afraid you wouldn't show." He said quietly as Diggle motioned for the company to sit.
"I lived without you once." She said softly. "I won't again."
“Our first choice for ministers has fallen ill so I’ll be taking his place. Please forgive me, I did try to read up a little for my internet course.” Diggle said. There were a few chuckles, lightening the mood.
He continued. “Today is a day that had been wished for and hoped for by many of us here. Also, sadly, by several who cannot be here.” Oliver smiled sadly and saw Dinah do the same.
“Like all of life it is unknown when or even if we will find the other half of ourselves, which is why we celebrate those who do. Being here today we are part of a truly select group who has the joy of being part of the lives of those we join, and the responsibility to support them.”
There were only fifteen people in attendance, other than them, and that included the wedding party and impromptu minister. Looking around him though he knew that every person here was a friend or family member, most of which had gone the extra mile when needed to keep the house and family safe. He couldn’t even hold it against them that they were snapping pictures the whole time.
Dinah caught his eye as Diggle started talking again.
“I never had the honor of knowing the Lances but I’ve been collecting stories. I did have the privilege of knowing the late Mr. and Mrs. Queen.” Oliver felt the man look at them. He knew it was hard hearing those names just now. Diggle spoke more personally. “You have been blessed with real examples of what it is to build a life together. There is nothing I can add to what you have been shown. There has been and always will be loss and sacrifice, grief and joy. These things don’t change. Yet to have a partner and companion who endures the lows and enjoys the highs is the greatest blessing through everything life will throw at you. Hold to that and any storm can be weathered.”
Having Dinah’s gaze to himself he was a little startled when she looked away and beamed, looking behind him. Looking himself he saw Roy pull the simple white gold ring from his pocket. Looking back Thea was pulling another ring from her purse. Maybe it was the light headedness but he didn’t feel himself standing on the ground anymore.
“Dinah Laural Lance.” Diggle said with a slight catch in his voice. “What do you vow today?"
Dinah looked into his eyes and spoke clearly. They had written vows privately.
"I, Dinah Laurel Lance, of my own free will, promise to love, support, comfort, and cleave to Oliver Jonas Queen, till death alone parts us." She gripped his hands tighter, steadying herself. "I proclaim that I will place him above all others and all things. I will stand by his side in darkness and light. No battle he faces will again be faced alone, I will stand by his side."
Oliver looked at her almost not believing what he had heard. It took a nudge from Roy behind him to remember the take the ring and slip it on her hand. She smiled even brighter as it slipped into place and fought the tears that threatened to slip out.
Diggle took a moment before continuing. “Oliver Jonas Queen.” Diggle said, hearing his own name brought him down to earth a little. "What do you vow today?"
He looked at her and had to swallow a few times to steady himself enough to speak.
"Dinah Laurel Lance, today I, Oliver Jonas Queen, come here of my own free will to bind my life to yours. It was you I longed for for so long. It is you who keeps my heart and soul, and with you I know they are safe. I will be your friend, lover, and husband. No path and no fear will be faced alone, for I will walk by your side always. I will love you and cherish you above all others and all things, and devote myself to your care and adoration. I will be yours, in love and in refuge, for I will always rejoice at your presence."
Dinah wiped a few tears away and took the ring from Thea, carefully pushing it on his finger. That done he gripped her hand tightly. She was beaming with tears falling.
“Dinah and Oliver have stated their intentions of their own free will, and exchanged vows and rings. Therefor by the power vested in me by the state of Illinois I pronounce you husband and wife. Today it is my honor to present Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Queen.”
He looked at her, tears freely falling, and knew his own face was wet.
She moved her arms around his neck gently.
"My husband." She said softly. "Finally."
"Just means you can't get rid of me." He wrapped his arms around her.
He felt her lips on his and the rest of the world fade away.
>--)->
With only a dozen or so people in the house it should have been easier to find her brother, but somehow it took Thea Queen a solid ten minutes.
“Thea, buffet is up and ready.” Roy said happily, he already had a plate in his hand. She smiled and nodded to the corner of the room where Oliver was leaning on the wall with the goofiest smile she had seen on his face yet.
Roy looked over and smiled himself before walking to the living room where Diggle already had the game on.
“Separated already?” She teased when she reached him.
Ollie looked up and snapped out of the gaze. He beamed at her.
“Jade wanted a moment.” He offered a hug, and she took him up on the offer. “Having fun?”
“Plenty. How is being a husband?” She laughed at his star struck expression.
“It’s not real yet. I have her, for good. I wondered some days if I had annoyed her into leaving.” She smiled at his expression, she hoped he would eventually believe he had gotten himself married. She might have to remind him for a while.
“Into going into the gym to blow steam maybe, but that’s about it.” She laughed as he play punched her. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with her, big brother. She’s just as stubborn as you are.”
“Somehow I can deal.” He said.
She pulled him to the buffet. “I hope so. I like finally having a sister. Took you long enough.”
"I came through. I even got you two sisters. That's interest." He grabbed plates for both of them, handing her one. He motioned for her to go first.
"True." She said, loading down the tray.
Through the back door she saw Dinah and Jade, they were talking heatedly.
“Um, Ollie.” She glanced to the back.
He looked and hurried outside.
>--)->
“I had no idea where to look for you. A year and a half without even a postcard, Di.” Jade had long ago pushed away her drink to focus on the increasingly terse conversation.
Di was trying her best to keep herself under control but it wasn’t working very well.
“Somehow after you beat me up and kicked me out of your place I had the idea you wouldn’t want one. And I did send one, it was returned.”
“I moved, things with Tom didn’t work out. Staying wasn’t an option.” Jade winced, she knew what was coming next.
“Who could have seen that one coming? Other than all of us. We all had our hot and heavy dates but we knew better then to move in with them.” Di tried to bit her tongue. “I thought about going back, but I just...”
“You had more there than disgrace. The haven still needed you.” The canary always wanted the happy ending.
“You think it was a matter of pride?” There was disbelief in her voice. “It had nothing to do with the Brawls. Kate was gone, Ted was focused on Jason, you had told me to get out of your life and stay there. Sandra had turned, again.”
The two women nodded. It happened somewhat often.
“Unless I wanted Talon hugs to keep me warm at night there was no freaking point.”
“So falling in love with the handsome multi billionaire who pledged undying love had nothing to do with it.” Jade said wryly.
“Of course it did.” The blonde knew better than to deny it. “But there wasn’t any real competition. Facing Haven alone with its knives, blades, poisons, chases, threats, sheer amount of death, shadow assassins, talons, The Court-”
“I never said it would be easy!” Jade cut in. “But look at how you left the place.”
"We left the place. All of us. You can't pin this on me-"
“That was you." Jade heard Oliver say. She shared a look with Di, both of them wondering how much the heir had heard.
>--)->
"Come to get your wife back?" Jade said lightly, leaning back in her chair. "Can't blame you. She is a cute little thing."
"At the meta brawl, it wasn't an imitator." Di looked crestfallen, Oliver was unsure what to think. Heros didn't go to the meta brawls, even anti heroes avoided it. Villains did. "It was actually you. Why?"
He had been a fan of Black Canary for years, giving Thea an easy thing to tease him over. During one of his later visits he had heard over the line that the Canary was performing at the brawl. It had taken an impressive sum of money to get in. Watching the match had made him question a lot of what he believed about the hero, though she did stop at killing her opponents or causing any real lasting injury.
However, even at the event he noticed that her eyes were dead. He had seen her in glimpses and moments before as she ran off to deal with issues within the haven during his visits, each of those times she wore a smirk or a smile. There was this amazing fire in her eyes, an energy that sucked him in, made him feel as though he already knew her somehow. He couldn’t take any other woman seriously, even then he only wanted her. At the brawl the woman inside the costume appeared to be gone somehow. He had wanted to ask about the brawls but Dinah had told him early on the last couple years were still too raw to talk about just yet. He had agreed to wait. After the wedding seemed like a reasonable time.
Jade looked at the man. "You know the brawls?" She seemed surprised.
He saw his wife shrink into her chair, turning pale at the memory. He was getting a bad feeling about this."I...I didn't have a choice." She said after a time.
"What, Roulette made you an offer you couldn't refuse?" Jade asked. The question was meant to be teasing, but Di nodded.
"Pretty much. I needed the money, and somehow she knew that." The blonde shrugged. "I did what I had to."
That made no sense. "You have your degree. You graduated from one of the best programs in your field. You could have gotten a job. Outreach would have snapped you up."
She sighed. "Outreach wasn’t in Bludhaven just yet, and I needed more money than that anyway. The brawls were the only place in town that paid enough. I was offered a job with outreach later, of course." She smiled slightly.
However serious the conversation he had to smile as well. That job led to the second happiest day of his life, second only to this one. "How much did you need?"
"Two million." Dinah closed her eyes at the sum.
"Dinah Laurel Lance" Jade breathed. Oliver glared at her for a moment. "I mean Queen."
"How?" Even now she didn’t have any personal property worth as much.
"A month after I buried Mom the insurance company had some kind of snafu and decided I needed to return the payout of her policy." She explained. "Immediately. According to their paperwork she wasn't dead. I had three months to pay them back or I faced jail time for fraud."
Oliver's eyes closed, Jade only shook her head. "Tell me you fought them."
Di bit her lip. "Until they sent someone to threaten to collect my apartment. I had thirty thousand left from Dads pension and another fifty left over from the payout and selling and updating the house, paying off the mortgage, and burial costs. It got them off my back. After three months headlining at the brawl it was paid."
He took a breath to keep himself from going red. He could stage a hostile buyout of the company later. His impression at the brawl had been correct. She had been dead inside, friends scattered to the wind, mother dead and maddeningly having to work for Roulette to pay back money that was rightfully hers.
Oliver sighed, there was nothing for it now. "I can guess the rest." He pulled his wife out of her chair and held her close. "I’m so sorry, Di."
Jade must have taken the hint and left, when he looked around again she was gone. Di still looked disturbed.
“You aren’t angry?” More than most she knew what working there could have lead to.
He shook his head, it wasn’t that he wasn’t angry, he just wasn’t angry at her.
He was even somewhat miffed at Jade and Kate Kane for leaving her to face that alone. He was angry at himself for not going to her dressing room after he saw her at the brawl, Roulette would have let him. He might have been able to break through, take her away from the nightmare.
“No.” He said, she smiled with relief. “I just wish I could have been there.”
"You were." She nuzzled into his neck. "In a way. I somehow knew you were out there. It was enough to keep going. I just had to leave to find you.” She giggled. “Or be found by you.”
He smiled and sighed. “Hell of a road to get here.” He said, they had paid for their happiness.
“For both of us.” She touched his cheek. “Neither of us were spared.”
“So what do we do now, Mrs. Queen?” He laughed as she grinned at the name.
“Go on a honeymoon, save as much of the world as we can, work here and get working on our family after a time? We’ve made it. We get to be together now.” She said, he laughed softly.
Oliver took in just having her close. “That sounds perfect.”