Daughter of the Arrow

Chapter 4: A Chase

He followed her out into the night.   She knew the city, he had to give her that.   She was being less cautious than she was earlier, he noted.   She had realized someone was following her early on, and so she had started using evasion tactics.   She was good too.   Even if she wasn't who he thought she was, he could see that she was good, very good in her skill set.   Someone with less skill than he would have lost her long ago.   He had backed off, following her from a greater distance.   This gave the illusion that she had lost him, and that gave him the advantage.   If she didn't think he was following, it would be easier to track her.  

She came to a residential area, carefully making her way around.   She pulled her hood down as she neared a backdoor to a house.   Blond.   Even more likely that it was her.    If she wasn't... no, he refused to even think about it.   It had to be her, she had to be her.  

What?   Had he pissed off  some powerful being four years ago?    

Why was this so hard?

Why?

Royce had insisted to going to Swanann City with Oliver.    Oliver enjoyed spending time with his son, but once they had established the general patrol of the vigilante he had informed him that he was doing the finding alone.

"What!?"  Royce was furious with him.   "Why!?   I've come this far with you!   If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have found her!   She's important to me too!   She's my mom."

Royce whisper the last part, and he refused to meet Oliver's eye.  

Oliver wished it could be different, but he knew that this was something that he had to do by himself, alone, without the help of his kids.   He had left that day four years past, so he had to be the one to bring her home. 

"Royce."

Royce turned away, deliberately refused to look at his dad.

"Look.   Royce, this is my fault.   If I hadn't gone and appeared to have died she wouldn't have left.   So-"

"But what if she had!   What if you hadn't gone and she had still left us!?   How do you know she hadn't planed to leave anyways!?"   Oliver could see Royce's eyes starting to tear up as he screamed at his father.

"She wouldn't have left!   And you know it!   Because if you knew her at all you would know that she never would have left!"   Oliver was furious, beyond furious in fact.   Dinah had helped raise Royce!    How could he possibly be saying the things that he was saying!?

"But she DID!   She LEFT us!    We were all still grieving over you, and she left!   NO  goodbye!   NO warning!   NOTHING!   She LEFT!" 

  He was crying .   He was never the one to cry, not Royce, not even as Roy.   But he was now.  

  And it broke Oliver's heart.

But what broke his heart most, was that he knew it was all his fault.

Completely.

He had left on that mission, causing Dinah, for whatever reason, to leave.   He had let him fall into Luthor's hands, all those years ago.  He had stopped looking, twice.   He  had never found him.    He  had allowed him to stray, wandering with no guidance, no help.  

He had abandoned him.

Completely, entirely his fault.   All of it was.

"I left first."