Dinah was sure that a seal had broken on the station. It was the only logical reason she could come up with for all the oxygen suddenly being sucked out of the room.

"Breathe, Dinah," J'onn encouraged gently.

Dinah's eyes slowly tracked from the blond man in front of her to the Martian standing a little ways behind him. His command didn't register for another few long seconds before she finally sucked in a reflexive breath and sank heavily into the chair she had just stood from.

The man shifted forward, concern on his face as he reached out to steady her. She was suddenly hit with his emotions and Dinah winced, realizing J'onn had been the reason she couldn't read him when he'd come in just moments before with the Martian. The man...Oliver was his name....halted his forward progress, and she could see and sense the hesitation and sudden fear of rejection.

Closing her eyes, Dinah gestured that she needed a moment to process everything and pinched the bridge of her nose in a very Barbara-like fashion as she took a deep breath, counted to ten and slowly let it out. She repeated the process a few more times, and both men remained silent allowing her a minute to adjust. When Dinah finally opened her eyes, she felt reasonably calmer.

The teen narrowed her eyes at J'onn for a moment, letting him know she wasn't happy about being broadsided by this, but then silently requested that she give her and...her dad some time alone. J'onn nodded and quietly left. Dinah finally looked at the man that had just told her he was her long lost father and studied him carefully for a few moments.

The similarities were most definitely hard to ignore. They both had fair hair and skin, but then so had her mother. But it had been clear that Dinah had inherited her strong jaw and proud chin from her father, since her mother's facial features were much more delicate. And Dinah's eyes were almost a perfect match for this man's.

But what convinced her completely was what she 'read' from him. Clearing her throat, she finally managed to speak. "So....um...you just found out too huh?"

He managed a weak and nervous smile. "Yeah. J'onn managed to talk Clark into getting rid of me for awhile so he could work with you before he sprung this on both of us."

"So...you had no idea?" she asked, unable to squash all of the hurt from her voice.

He settled into a chair across from Dinah and sighed heavily, shaking his head. "Your mother and I had a rocky relationship at best. A lot of that was my fault," he admitted with more than a touch of shame. "But I loved your mother a great deal, and I would always come back to her...and despite everything I'd done to hurt her, she'd always forgive me. I didn't deserve her," he said sadly.

"Then one day, I came back to the apartment after a mission, and she was gone," he explained.

Dinah had of course read most of this by now, but she could sense his need to talk about it and didn't interrupt, as she tried to set her own shields back up to give him a measure of privacy. She really didn't need to know everything about her parents relationship.

"She left me some hasty note that she'd been doing some thinking and she had different priorities in her life. That she knew we could never work out and that she didn't think she could take being hurt again. I just accepted it for what it was. I had no idea that the reason she left was because she was pregnant with you. J'onn was the only one who knew and that was just because he had read it on her once."

"Did you ever see her again after that?"

"It was about two years actually. No one saw her for awhile, but we all assumed she was just on another deep under cover operation. When she resurfaced again, no one got many details, and we never pried much into Carolyn's cases. I worked with her a few dozen times here and there over the years on various missions with the League. But she was different around me even though I tried to go on as normal. I really did go out of my way to not make her feel bad about her choice...after all I had figured it was my fault and I deserved to be dumped like that. I certainly had it coming," he admitted frankly.

"I didn't want your mother to feel like I despised her for her decision. I wanted her to be happy, and I tried to tell her that. But she just shut me completely out of her life, and I could never understand why. I finally just had to let it go...although I never stopped caring for her. When I heard about what happened in New Gotham," he paused and cleared his throat. "Yeah...that was pretty rough," he admitted.

Dinah looked down at her lap, tears in her eyes. "I wish for so many things about that night," she whispered. "That she hadn't tried to take me away. That I hadn't over-reacted and said what I did to her. That she'd never been captured. That I had been stronger back then and could have saved her," Dinah's voice broke as a sob caught in her chest.

Her father was at her side in a moment, gently taking her hands into his. She looked up into his eyes, seeing nothing but relief and love in them. "I wish there was some way we could go back and make this all right again Dinah. I wish that your mother hadn't been so afraid, that she gave you up. I wish that she had at least told me so that I could have kept an eye on you...maybe even get to know you as you grew up. I wish you hadn't been left to grow up alone, wondering what was wrong with you when you had such a remarkable gift. I wish that your few moments with your mother had been strained and you and that you had been given the chance to really know who she was. But most of all, I wish you didn't have to bare the weight of the world on your shoulders, and feel so much guilt at such a young age.

"Dinah, I know this is a lot to take in," he said gently as he reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks. "But I want you to know that I don't plan on trying to take you from your family and your life. I want you to be happy with where and who you are. All I want is to be able to get to know my daughter better. To be able to share who her mother truly was, and to be there for her when she needs me. I don't want to run your life Dinah, I just want to be a small part of it...if you'll let me."

The floodgates inside of her burst, and Dinah surged forward, her grip on Oliver's neck almost painfully tight. "Yes," she sobbed into his shoulder as she broke down completely.

Oliver Queen realized in that moment that he had finally found a woman strong enough to tame his wild heart. He had thought that after so many years in life and as a hero, he'd learned everything there was to know about himself. But Dinah helped him tap into a deep part of him that he'd never known existed. He finally understood the true responsibility and joy of being a parent. He regretted that it was something he'd been denied all these years...and that he'd missed a great deal of that responsibility. But there was nothing he could do about it, but make up for lost time and make each moment now with Dinah count.

He held her in his strong arms, and let her cry herself out. After awhile she finally sat back up and sniffled, smiling a bit self-consciously. "That's the second time this week I've done that. Helena would be teasing me for be soft," she joked weakly.

Oliver smiled at her. "Only to draw attention away from her own state right now...which by the way is healing nicely," he added with a quirked eyebrow. "I don't know whether I should be impressed or upset by the damage done. From the looks of things, she worked you over pretty good too," he stated, nothing her own mostly faded bruises.

Dinah blushed. "Yeah...it was a really bad night for both of us," she admitted sheepishly.

"Listen Dinah," Oliver said growing serious once more. "I went down and talked with Barbara last night. I know about everything and she knows my intentions with you. She's fine with me hanging around if that was what you wanted and I meant what I said about not trying to run your life. But as your father, I'm suddenly feeling these instinctive urges to guide you and tell you what to do."

He paused for a moment and then shook his head and chuckled. "Which means that I'm probably going to be sidled with more training missions damn it," he said good naturedly, and Dinah giggled. "So I'm probably going to be throwing my oh-so-clever words of wisdom out there and probably annoy you from time to time. So let's say we make a promise to each other?"

"Ok."

"I will try to curb my desire to lecture and guide you, since I can see that Barbara is already doing an admirable job of that, and you will cut your old man some slack if he starts to go a little overboard. If I really start to overdo, I even give you permission to let me know."

"On one condition," Dinah said seriously.

"Oh?"

"You have to teach me to shoot," she said with a grin.

Oliver laughed heartily and he hugged her. "Sweetheart, I don't think you really need me for that, from what I hear! But I would be honored to teach you how to properly draw a bow."

"Helena is going to be so jealous when I get back."

Oliver's smile faltered a little. "About that," he began hesitantly. "I'm thinking you and I should probably keep our relationship a little low-key around the Clocktower for awhile. Give Helena some time to adjust."

Dinah's eyes widened. "Oh," she said blushing. "I didn't think about that."

"Neither did I. I had no idea that things were so hostile between her and her father. I hope that Bruce has the balls to come back some day and fix that, but for now I think it would be cruel to flaunt our relationship. Besides," he said growing very somber, "you could be a terrible shot and I'd be forced to disown you," he added with a wink and a grin.

Dinah's laughter was bright and full of life, and for the first time since she'd touched Quinn, she felt like a true kid again.

"So everything went well?" Barbara asked hopefully.

"See for yourself Babs," Ollie said as he stepped aside and a smiling Dinah moved into view.

"Dinah!" Barbara gasped, her eyes tearing at the joy she saw in those soft blue eyes. It was something she had desperately missed these past few months.

"Hey Barbara."

"Is that the kid?" Helena asked from the couch.

"Hey Hel!" Dinah said louder, and then grinned as she heard the brunette swear as she tried to rush up the platform without the aid of her cane. When Helena finally showed up, Dinah winced a bit. "Oh damn," she breathed.

"Wow," Helena said wryly. "I must really look like shit, because everyone says that as soon as they get a look at my face. I swear if you made my nose crooked though kid I am gonna knock one of those perfect teeth out in revenge," she mock threatened.

"I'm really sorry-,"

"Don't sweat it kid. Some things were said that shouldn't have and others that needed to be. What matters is we cleared the air, you showed me I wasn't as helpless as I thought, and you so owe me for saving your ass again," Helena said with her trademark smirk.

"Yeah, yeah...gloat while you can. I am so going to own you from here on out," the blond teen shot back.

"You see what I have to put up with Oliver?" Barbara chuckled, not in the least bit put out by the bantering. "Sure you still want in on this parenting gig?"

Oliver settled his hands on Dinah's shoulders. "And miss the fireworks? People pay money to see this kind of stuff. Hell, they make reality TV shows based on girls like them." This earned him an indignant squeak from Dinah.

"Did he just compare us to Big Brother?" Helena asked, in mock offense as well.

Barbara just chuckled and smiled back at Oliver and Dinah. "It's good to see you smiling again sweetheart. How are you feeling?" she asked warmly.

"I'm feeling a lot better Barbara. It's much quieter up here, and J'onn's quarters are shielded from everyone. I've been able to finally get some sleep, and he's been helping me work on my shielding now that I can focus. It's getting a little easier each day, and now that I've been hanging out with the others, I'm able to have controlled practice with my lessons. Oh by the way...just so you know. That device that was created by-," Dinah paused before she got the name out as her eyes flicked towards Helena and Barbara nodded, understanding. "The one used to block J'onn's telepathic abilities, also works on me. Actually it's a little more debilitating. J'onn says it just blocks him but I feel like my brains are being scrambled."

"Well you know what that means, right?"

Dinah chuckled ruefully and looked back at her father. "Told you she'd want to hook me up and run a test."

Barbara just grinned and shook her head. "You know I just want to make sure everything is safe and you aren't being harmed by it. I'm glad you are feeling better though and that being up there with J'onn is helping. We look forward to you coming home for a visit. Alfred promised he would even make your favorite."

"I am SO going to visit soon. Not that these guys are bad cooks up here, but no one can beat Alfred's lasagna. Besides," her features softened a bit and she tucked her hair behind her ears. "I really miss being home with you guys."

"We miss you too kid," Helena said, her voice completely sincere. Then she smirked. "So get your brain in gear already and then get your ass back home. You owe me a new set of leathers and I need to go shopping."

"I'll be home in an hour," Dinah said seriously.

Everyone dissolved into laughter and Barbara reached out to brush her fingers along the girl's face on her screen. "We'll see you soon enough Dinah. Take care and you two try not to get into too much trouble."

"We won't. Oh and Hel?"

"Yeah D?"

"You do what I asked?" the blond asked cryptically.

Helena chuckled ruefully and shook her head. "Not yet Big D. Working up to it very soon though."

"Good. I'll see you guys soon. Love you!"

"Love you too sweetheart," Barbara returned waving at Dinah and Oliver as they ended the connection.

"She sounds really happy," Helena commented a minute later.

"She looks like herself again," Barbara told her. "She even did that shy, tuck her hair behind her ear thing too." The redhead let out a deep sigh of relief. "I was so afraid that sending her with J'onn wouldn't work. And then when Oliver showed up last night...."

"Yeah, I was a little worried about that too," Helena admitted. "I was hoping it wasn't going to be too much for her, but I'm glad that they hit it off."

"I think it will be good for both of them. So care to fill me in on what that last little remark from her was all about?" Barbara asked turning to face her younger partner.

Hel just grinned and shook her head. "Soon enough Red. What time is it?"

"About seven thirty why? You hungry?"

"You know me, I'm always hungry. But the sun is setting right?"

"Pretty soon, yes."

"Cool," was all the brunette said before she headed out onto the balcony leaving a very perplexed Barbara Gordon sitting alone at the Delphi. Five minutes later, she gave up trying to figure out what the younger woman was up to.

All that mattered was that their lives were finally returning to normal- well as normal as things could get for them. Dinah was getting back to her old self with each passing day, Helena was finally coping with her own personal struggles, and Barbara could finally feel herself begin to breath easier once again. The gloom that had been suffocating them all the last few month had finally lifted, leaving the Clocktower as it should be: their home...their haven.