A/N: Thank you so much for supporting this story. It's bee amazing to explore this story through the different povs. Please, enjoy Roy's chapter, and I'd love to know what you think.

Family. It was a bit of a foreign concept to a kid from the Glades that had been on his own for far too long. Until he'd stolen a purse that cost more than the house he grew up in and his world had never been the same again.

Roy had tumbled head first down the rabbit hole that was Thea Queen and landed someplace soft.

As the months and then years had passed he'd been drawn further in until he didn't quite know what life was like before he put on red leather every night.

And he was okay with that. Because now he had found the missing piece, the part that had escaped him. The father figure who wasn't afraid to cuff him on the head and tell him to get it together, the mentor who showed him what trust and respect truly meant, and the big sister he never know he needed until he had her, so entwined into his life he couldn't skip a meal without her knowing and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Which was why he didn't care that he'd spent the better part of two weeks prowling the halls of Starling City General. He'd played every role needed from errand boy to guard dog and he did it happily.

Roy had known grief and he'd known pain and he knew better than most that life wasn't fair. But he'd also discovered that there were also people like her, people who made the world better just because they were in it. He couldn't think about that day when he thought they'd lost her. He'd never considered what could destroy a man like Oliver Queen, but now that he'd had a front row seat and watched it happen it made his stomach roll to remember. So he didn't.

He'd been halfway down the hall on a coffee run when he heard her scream Oliver's name. It was so reminiscent of the night she'd been hurt he'd gone stiff, frozen in place. Then he raced for her room, coffee long forgotten as blood pounded in his ears not knowing what was going to greet him when he got there. The whisper of her voice was more than he could have asked for.

She was still in and out of it for days. But each time she woke up or squeezed Oliver's hand Roy saw that he let himself relax a little more. The tight set of his shoulders would lessen although he still sat in the same spot as if he could will her to wake.

It was only by chance that Digg finally got Oliver to leave the room and agree to eat in the cafeteria, and it was a not so gentle reminder that Felicity would be upset at him if he didn't that got him to move.

Before he left he turned and leveled Roy with a look so intense he felt it in his bones. Oliver was trusting him with her, failure was not an option.

Roy nodded gravely, the responsibility he felt welling in his chest. She was part of him now, closer than blood and he'd spill his own before he let any of them down.

His feet moved him to her side but he didn't dare sit in the chair, it didn't belong to him. Alone, with just the comforting sounds of her monitors he felt the need to fill the silence. The ring of her flatlining still woke him up and he was glad to have her heartbeat become his own inner metronome.

Staring down at her he began to speak, the words flowing, surprising him, but it had always been easy to talk to her. She had the ability to keep up a steady stream of chatter even while working furiously at her station.

"You must be upset, you haven't called me Barbie once,"

It took longer than it should have for it to register that she'd spoken. Then a beat more for him to realize she sounded almost normal.

His eyes nearly bugged out of his head, her wide blue eyes looking back, clear and bright.

"Water?" her voice was raspy and he saw her wince when she swallowed.

His movements were clumsy and he almost knocked over the cup next to her bed in his haste to grab it. Holding the straw steady he watched in shock as she took a few sips and gave him a smile of thanks.

The relief that washed over him made him light headed and he took a moment to just hang on to her bed rail and drop his head to breathe. Even though he'd been there when she'd fought to stay alive and he'd heard the doctors say she was improving he finally let himself believe it.

"Oliver get sick of me already?"

"Oh crap!"

Moving faster than he thought possible he had his phone in his hand and was calling Oliver. The growl that greeted him was enough to make him pale and he knew without a doubt he and Digg had abandoned their food and had headed for the nearest stairwell at the first ring.

When they burst into the room only minutes later it was like nothing else existed. Roy moved backwards, out of the way, because the magnetizing force that connected those two was impenetrable and mercy wasn't given to those who tried to get in its path.

Later, after there had been tests and doctors began to use words like 'rehab' and 'date of discharge' he wandered off to find food, not feeling like he had to get back as soon as possible. She was going to be okay.

They were going to be okay.

If only the residents of Starling knew that their continued protection was due to one small blonde woman.

When he made his way back, extra cup of coffee for whoever wanted it clenched in his left hand he was surprised to see Digg sitting outside the door. It seemed late to be doing more tests and for a second he got scared that something had gone wrong.

But Digg looked at ease. He took the coffee and gave him a knowing half grin before nodding his head towards the closed door.

Not knowing what to expect Roy opened it a few inches. The lights were low, only the one near her bed was lit and it had been dimmed to a soft glow.

Oliver was in the bed with her, shoes in a pile on the floor, legs stretched out to lay alongside hers. He was on his side, head propped up on his hand as he looked down at her with such love Roy felt like an intruder. Their hands were intertwined, always moving. Small touches they didn't even seem to be aware of acting as a near constant reminder that they were still there.

A low murmur of voices floated towards him, and he began to shut the door, now understanding why Digg wasn't inside for the first time in two weeks.

The last thing he saw was both of them smiling.