Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Hey, Ollie,” Hal smiled when he opened the door. “I wasn’t expecting you guys so soon.”

“Kind of surprised you remembered we were coming,” Oliver muttered as he walked into Hal’s apartment.

“Are you kidding me, how could I forget about taking care of my favorite kiddo?”

“Mhm…”

Hal smiled down at Roy, who was practically attached to the back of Oliver’s legs. “Hey, kid.” He didn’t get a reply, and Roy hid his face in Oliver’s legs.

“He’s a little…shy today.”

‘Shy? Geez, from all Ollie’s stories about this kid shy is the last word I’d use to describe him.’

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Do you have another babysitter?”

‘…No. I don’t.’ Instead of giving Hal the answer he already knew, Oliver turned around and crouched down in front of Roy. “Ok, Roy. You’re going to be good for Hal while I’m gone, right?” Roy nodded. “Good boy. I’ll be back as soon as I can, understand?” Another nod. “Good.” He gave the boy a quick kiss on the top of his head, then he stood to look at Hal. “I usually put him to bed at about 8 and try to limit the amount of sugar you give him. Got it?”

“Don’t worry, Ollie, I can handle it. Go rule the world with your billionaire business buddies. Roy and I will both be here when you get back.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “Better be…” he muttered under his breath. It wasn’t just that he doubted Hal’s ability to take care of Roy (he loved Hal, but the man struggled to keep houseplants alive) but Roy had only met Hal a couple of times and had never spent more than 10 minutes in a room with him, let alone a whole weekend alone. But he also didn’t have another option. “Ok. Bye, Roy.” Roy waved to him as he left.

“Don’t worry about a thing, Ollie,” Hal reassured his friend as he saw him out. “Roy and I will have a great weekend together.” He shut the door, then turned around and blinked in shock. “Uh…” Roy was standing in the walkway, glaring at Hal with his arms crossed. “Hey, kid.” He didn’t get a response. “Do you want to…watch cartoons?” Still no reply. “Look, Roy, I know we don’t know each other very well, but Ollie had to go away this weekend and I was the only person who could watch you. We’ll have a good time, I promise. So, cartoons?”

Roy hesitated for a moment, then nodded as his glare softened and his arms dropped. He followed Hal into the living room, then took his backpack off. “I like Spongebob,” he said quietly.

“Spongebob it is then.” Hal found the show, then put it on while Roy opened his bag and took out a ziplock bag full of plastic dinosaurs. “Do you like dinosaurs?”

“Yeah…” Roy dumped them out, then started standing the toys up on Hal’s coffee table.

“Can I play with you?”

“They’re my dinosaurs.”

“Ok, then.” Hal tried to ignore the twinge of hurt in his chest as he sat down on the couch. ‘I’m too old for dinosaurs anyway.’ For the next few hours, Hal kept one eye on the bright and loud cartoon on the tv and one eye on Roy. There seemed to be some kind of game the kid was playing, based on the way he kept making the dinosaurs attack each other. ‘Is this what Ollie does? Just watch the kid play quietly?’ If this was all there was to it, then Hal honestly didn’t see what the big deal was. This kid stuff was easy. A loud growl came from his stomach and Hal looked at the time. ‘Wow…its almost 7 already?’ He glanced back at the tv, amazed the same cartoon was still being played, then leaned forward. “Hey, Roy, want pizza for dinner?”

“Pizza?” Roy asked, perking up a little bit.

“Do you like pizza?”

“Yes!”

“Ok. What do you want on it?”

“Everything!”

Hal laughed and picked up his cell phone. “Ok, everything it is then.” He stepped away for a minute to order a large pizza for him and Roy to share. When he came back, Roy was once again playing with his dinosaurs. Hal sat down on the couch, then grabbed the remote to change the channel. As soon as he did though, Roy’s head snapped toward him.

“I was watching that!” he protested.

“Sorry, sorry.” Hal changed the channel back, then sat back in his seat as Roy went back to happily playing with his dinosaurs. “It’s all good. I wanted to see if Spongebob would get that pizza delivered anyway.”

When dinner arrived, Hal quickly got two plates, then set the pizza box down on the coffee table.

“We’re not eating at the table?” Roy asked in confusion as Hal handed him a plate.

“Nope. Dig in.”

Roy grinned widely, then snatched up a slice of pizza— right out of the box and completely ignoring the plates— with both hands. He made a face at some of the toppings started plucking them off.

From the corner of his eye, Hal saw toppings thrown back into the box and he frowned. “Roy, what’re you doing?”

“Fixing it.”

“…But you said you wanted all the toppings.”

“I did, but Ollie won’t let me have all the toppings cause I don’t like them.” Roy finished picking off the toppings, then cheese, and smiled wide before he munched down on the pizza happily.

‘Ok then…’ Hal thought. “Wanna watch a movie tonight, squirt?”

“What movie?”

“Hm…” Hal flipped through the channels until he found a prospect. “How about Indiana Jones?”

“India Jones?”

“Indiana Jones. It’s about an archeologist who travels around the world rescuing ancient artifacts from Nazis.”

“I’ve never seen it.”

“Never?! We have to fix that right now.” Hal flipped to the channel that had just started showing Raiders of the Lost Ark. He sat back and enjoyed the movie, eating half the box of pizza— courtesy of one Green Lantern metabolism— only to discover that Roy had eaten the other half of the pizza himself. “Guess you were hungry, kid.”

“Mhm.” Roy crawled up onto the couch, careful to keep a few feet of distance between him and Hal. His attention was rapt on the movie for the rest of the night. It distracted him from how much his stomach hurt from eating so much pizza. ‘I miss Ollie,’ he thought. ‘Even if he never let me eat in the living room and have a whole half of a pizza.’ After an hour though, the movie sucked him in so thoroughly that he forgot about his stomach-ache and missing Oliver. However, the movie took a sudden and frightening turn when the bad guys opened up the box that Indiana Jones had been looking for and their faces melted! Roy’s eyes winded as he watched, knees slowly drawing up to his chest. ‘That’s so freaky!’ Unfortunately, he couldn’t relax after that, even when the movie ended.

“So, what’d you think, kiddo?” Hal asked as he shut the tv off. “Cool stuff, right?”

“Mhm…” Roy nodded, trying to hide how scared he was. “Cool…”

Hal glanced at the clock. It was nearly 10 pm. 'What time did Ollie say to put him to bed… 8? Ah well, 10 isn’t that far off.’ He stood and stretched. “Ok, squirt. Get your pajamas on and I’ll make up the couch for you.”

“Ok.” Roy went to his backpack to retrieve his pajamas. He started to take his shirt off, but Hal stopped him.

“Go change in the bathroom. Down the hall, first door on the right.”

Roy grabbed his toothbrush, then went to the bathroom and put his pajamas on and brushed his teeth. It wasn’t the same without Oliver there to make sure he brushed for exactly 2 minutes…so he guessed and shrugged. ‘My teeth probably won’t fall out,’ he thought as he ran back to the living room. When hehe saw Hal was finishing putting a blanket on the couch.

“You all set for bed, kiddo?” Hal asked.

“Mhm,” Roy nodded. He stuffed his clothes back in his bag, then pulled Will out of his bag.

“Uh…” Hal frowned as he studied the tattered, stuffed platypus in Roy’s hands. It was missing an eye and the whole thing looked like it was missing most of it’s stuffing. “What’s that?”

“This is Will,” Roy explained, like the creature’s name explained everything. “I sleep with him because…sometimes he gets scared.”

“…Will gets scared?” Hal tried to keep the incredulous tone out of his voice. Roy nodded in response. “Ok. Well, the couch is ready for you and…Will.”

“Thanks, Hal.”

“You’re welcome, kid.” Hal started to walk toward his bedroom, but Roy stopped him.

“Wait!”

“What?” Hal turned around to discover that Roy was sitting on the couch with the blankets pulled back.

Roy looked at his lap while he pat Will absentmindedly. “Ollie always tucks me in.”

‘Of course, he does,’ Hal thought. ‘Because Oliver is a parent and I’m just a dude with a ring.’ But he was supposed to be taking care of the kid. “Sure.” Hal walked back to the couch, then grabbed the edge of the blanket. Roy smiled and wiggled down until he was laying on the pillow against the armrest. He hugged Will to his chest and Hal laid the blanket over his body. “Are you all set now?”

“Mhm,” Roy nodded.

“Good. Sleep tight now.” Hal left the living room, shutting the light off as he did.

With the living room now completely dark, Roy snuggled deeper under his blanket. “It’s ok, Will,” he whispered to the stuffed animal in his arms as he squeezed it tighter against his chest. “We’ll be ok. It’s just dark. Don’t be scared.” He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in the pillow. ‘Just go to sleep and the darkness will be gone when you wake up. Just go to sleep…’

— —

It was still dark when Roy jerked awake several hours later. He gasped as the images of Oliver's skin melting off his bones stuck around in his brain. Without thinking, he dashed from the living room into the hall. Other than the door to the bathroom, there was only one door in the hall, so Roy opened it. It was pitch dark in here too, but he could just barely make out Hal’s face from the dim light of an LED alarm clock. Roy tip-toed over, then hesitated for a second, biting his lip and petting Will absentmindedly. However, a glance back at the pitch dark hall spurred him forward to poke Hal’s arm. “Hal…” he whispered. “Hal, wake up.” Nothing happened, so he started poking the man’s cheek in earnest. “Hal. Hal, wake up. Hal-“ Roy jumped back when Hal jerked awake and pointed his Green Lantern ring at the boy.

“Huh?!” Hal blinked and lowered his ring hand. “Roy?”

“Mhm…”

Hal looked at the alarm clock, then rubbed his face. “Roy, it’s 1:30 in the morning…”

“I know, but…” Roy glanced down, then back up at Hal. “Will is scared.”

“Roy, there’s nothing to be scared of-“

“It’s not me, it’s Will!”

“Ok, ok, sorry. It’s Will.” Hal sighed. “What do you need from me?”

“Um….sometimes Ollie lets me sleep in his bed so Will feels better.”

“….Sure-“

Roy didn’t wait to hear the rest. He scrambled into Hal’s bed and under the blankets. “Your bed’s not as comfy as Ollie’s.”

“So I’ve heard…” Hal yawned and practically fell back onto his pillows. “Back to sleep now.” His eyes fell closed, but a second later he felt frayed and slightly rough fur rubbing against his arm. "What- Jeez! How the hell do you sleep with that thing?”

“Don’t be mean to Will. He’s a baby.”

“….Whatever. Go to sleep, Roy.”

Roy snuggled closer and pulled Hal’s arm around him. A frown crept across his face when Hal pulled his arm away. “Hal-“

“Sleep, Roy. It’s time to sleep.”

“Ok…”

Hal frowned at the boy’s tone, but when he glanced over and shone his ring light on the child, Roy’s back was to him. ‘Hopefully, he’s asleep.’ As he laid back down though, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d done something wrong; but he fell asleep before he could think about it too hard.

— —

When morning came, Roy woke up before Hal did. He set Will down on the blankets, then crawled over to the still sleeping adult. “Hal…” he whispered, poking the man’s cheek. “Hal. Hal. Hal, wake up. Hal!”

“Uh?!” Hal jerked up, ring ready to go, but a second later his brain realized that there was no danger. Just an 8-year-old giving him an expectant look. Hal looked at his alarm clock, then groaned and threw himself back down on the pillows. “Roy! It’s too early. Go back to sleep.”

“But I’m hungry.”

“And I’m tired.”

Roy looked at the alarm clock. “It’s only 7. Come on!” He started bouncing up and down on his knees; hands-on Hal’s arm so the left side of the man’s body bounced with him. “Please, Hal?! Please, please, please, please, please-“

“Fine!” Hal rubbed his face and resisted the urge to pull his blankets over his face. ‘Ugh! How does Ollie do this every day?’ He sighed and sat up. “Why don’t you go get dressed while I cook breakfast?”

“Ok!” Roy grabbed Will, then scrambled off the bed.

Hal waited until the boy left the room before he sighed again, then got out of bed. ‘I’m never having kids,’ he deiced as he pulled on an outfit. ‘Not any that want to wake up before 9 am on a Saturday at least.’ When he left his bedroom Roy was still getting dressed, so he shuffled into the kitchen for coffee and pancakes.

By the time Roy emerged from the bathroom and put his pajamas back in his backpack, the sweet smell of pancakes wafted from the kitchen. He ran in and sat at the table, placing Will next to his plate with a smile.

Hal eyed the stuffed animal for a moment. “Is…Will eating breakfast with us?”

“No don’t be dumb,” Roy said. “Platypuses don’t eat pancakes.”

“Right, what was I thinking?” Hal shook his head as he turns back to the pancakes. “Why do you have a platypus, Roy?”

Roy shrugged. “I just do. My adoptive dad gave him to me when I was a baby.”

“He did?”

“Mhm. Will’s the only thing I have left of him.”

On that somber note, Hal shuffled two pancakes onto a spatula, then carried them to Roy’s plate. “There you go. The syrup is right there and a little…surprise.” He moved a mason jar of jelly beans closer to Roy’s plate.

The boy’s eyes widened like it was Christmas morning. ‘Candy for breakfast…’ He grinned from ear to ear as he grabbed the jar and poured half of its contents onto his pancakes. Then he drowned his pancakes in syrup as Hal joined him at the table.

“Ah…you like syrup, huh kid?”

“Ollie doesn’t let me pour the syrup by myself.”

“You don’t say…” Hal took the now sticky bottle from Roy— not entirely sure how he’d gotten syrup on the outside of the bottle— then poured a more conservative amount on his pancakes. “So, is there anything particular you want to do today?”

“Hm…. Nope.” Roy picked two of his syrup-coated jelly beans off his pancakes and ate them.

“Well… Would you be interested in seeing my job?”

Roy frowned as he kept eating his jelly beans. “Is it like Ollie’s job? Because his job is really boring and they give you a mean look if you try to ride on the wheelie chairs in the hall.”

“My job is way better than Oliver’s and I’ll even let you ride something way cooler than a wheelie chair.”

“Ok!”

Hal was eager to finish his pancakes after that. He put his plate in the sink, then turned around to see Roy walking out with Will in his arms. “All done, kid?”

“Yup!”

Confusion went through Hal as he picked up Roy’s plate. Only one of the pancakes had been touched, and it looked like he’d only taken a few bites, but all the jelly beans were gone. “Oh well. At least he ate something.” Hal scrapped Roy’s plate, then decided to leave the dishes for later, so he went into the living room and grabbed his shoes. “Get your shoes on, Roy.”

“Ok.”

“Are you going to bring Will?”

“No, he’s an inside platypus.”

“Of course.” Hal grabbed his flight jacket, then turned around to find Roy standing right behind him. “Ready?”

“Mhm.”

“Let’s go.”

— —

The ride to Ferris Air was mostly filled with Roy playing with the radio. He changed the stations randomly in the middle of songs and turned the volume dial up and down at will. As they got closet to the airfield though, he stopped to poke his head out the window. “You work at an airport?” he asked.

“No,” Hal laughed. “I’m a test pilot for Ferris Air.”

“Oh…”

They stopped at the guard station and Hal breathed a sigh of relief when he saw who it was. “Morning, Johnny. They got you working the early shift today?”

“Yeah…” the older man in the booth said as he stepped out. “Aiming to take the wife on a nice anniversary trip this year so I need to extra hours.”

“What a lucky woman. Say, Carrol isn’t around, is she?”

“You two playing around again?”

“Not at the moment. I have a…friend here with me.” Hal gestured to the child in the passenger seat. “Roy, this is Johnny an old friend. Johnny, Roy.”

“Hi,” Roy said, waving.

“Hi, son.”

“You’re not my dad.”

Hal chuckled as he pulled a $20 from his pocket and held it out to Johnny. “For the kid.”

Johnny studied Hal for a moment, then Roy took the money and nodded. “You keep a close eye on him, Harold. Lot of trouble a little kid like him can get into in a place like this.”

“I will. Thanks, Johnny.” Hal drove on through and Roy gave him a confused look.

“Why did he call you, Harold? I thought your name was Hal?”

“Hal is a nickname. It’s short for Harold.”

"Why?’

“….Excellent question. I don’t know.”

“What’re we doing here?”

Hal parked the truck by a hangar he usually worked out of and shut the truck off. “I’m going to take you on a flight in a jet.”

“Is that like a plane?” Roy let himself out of the truck, then followed Hal into the hangar. “Because I’ve flown in a plane before. Ollie took me in one when I moved to Star.”

“Well, this will be different.”

“How?”

Hal smiled at him. “You haven’t flown with me.” He led Roy over to a locker that held some extra flight suits and dug around until he found the smallest one he could. “Put this on.” He tossed the suit to Roy, then opened his locker to grab his suit and helmet. By the time he was changed and pulling his flight jacket over it Roy was wearing his suit. Hal snorted, trying not to laugh at how the sleeves and legs hung down at least three inches from Roy’s hands and feet.

“It’s too big.”

‘God I wish Ollie was here, I think he’d die at how cute the kid is.’ Hal smiled as he picked Roy up and sat him on a nearby bench before rolling up the sleeves and legs. “It’s the smallest I’ve got and you need to wear one when we’re in the jet.” When he finished he grabbed a helmet and handed it to Roy. “What here while I prep the jet and get it on the runway. Don’t move a muscle. Got it?”

“Got it.” Roy kicked his legs against the air as he watched Hal work. Even though he couldn’t understand anything that was happening, it all fascinated him. The anticipation of flying in the cool looking plane made him bounce in his seat. It felt like forever and a day to the young boy until Hal returned to retrieve him. Roy jumped to his feet. “Are we flying now?!”

“We are.” Hal led Roy over to the jet and helped him climb onto the wing, then into the cockpit. “Sit still…” The kid kept wiggling and trying to stand up so he could see outside. “Roy, sit still. I need to make sure I do the harness tight or-“

Roy looked at him. “Or what?”

“…Or we’ll get pulled over by the airplane police.”

“That’s not a real thing!”

“Sure it is.” Hal finished outing the harness on Roy and double-checked every strap to make sure it was secure. “Ok.” He put the helmet on Roy’s head, then made sure that was secure too. “Ready?”

“Mhm!” Roy nodded, most of his face covered by the visor on the helmet.

“Let’s go then!”

Roy’s heart started beating faster as Ha powered up the jet. He grabbed his harness like he’d done on a roller coaster once and gripped the straps tightly as they took off. ‘We’re going so fast!’ he thought as the nose of the jet angled up toward the clouds. His eyes closed as gravity forced him into his seat and the jet shook around him. ‘Don’t be scared. Don’t be scared…’ Easier said than done as he held his breath the higher they got.

“Hold on!” Hal yelled.

The jet suddenly dove toward the ground and Roy let out a cry of surprise. When it pulled back up, like a roller coaster, Roy found himself floating above his seat for a few seconds. He opened his eyes and laughed. The roller coaster motions continued and Roy found himself anticipating the few seconds he got to float in his harness.

“Look out the window!”

Roy angled his body toward the window as much as he could and gasped. “I can see everything!” he shouted. “The whole world!”

“You wanna see the whole world? You got it!”

Another gasp escaped Roy as they went even higher. Fear tingled up his spine, but excitement was pooling his stomach at the same time. He still gripped the straps of his harness as tight as his hands would allow. When the jet leveled out again, he moved closer to the window. “Oh…wow…” Roy’s eyes widened. Below him, the ground stretched on almost forever, then curved down into the horizon.

“Can you see the curve of the Earth?”

“It’s amazing!”

“I know! Hold on, we’re going back down!”

Roy’s eyes stayed fixed on the curved horizon, feeling as though he was on top of the world, as the jet angled back toward the ground. He let out a shrill yell and kicked his feet against Hal’s seat. The rest of the flight seemed to go by to fast Hal took him on a rollercoaster up, down, tilting to the side, and even a sharp circle. By the time they landed, Roy was out of breath and laughing. “That was awesome!”

“Better than Ollie’s job?” Hal asked as he undid his harness, then climbed out to undo Roy’s.

“Way better than Ollie’s! Can we go again?!”

“Sorry, kid, no can do.”

“Awww….” Roy let Hal lift him out of the plane and carry him back to the ground. “I want to go again.”

“How about we go get you a toy plane instead?”

“…I guess…”

“Alright, let’s go.”

— —

Less than half an hour later, Hal was following Roy around a toy store as the boy looked for a toy jet that was identical to the one he’d just been in. His eyes ran across all the options before a wide grin spread across his face. “I want this one!”

Hal smiled when he saw the 9-inch jet in Roy’s hand. It wasn’t even the same model as the one he’d been flying, but that didn’t matter. “Ok,” he said. “We can get that one.”

“Yes!” Roy ran to the check out counter with his toy, leaving Hal to follow. “Can we play with it at the park?”

“Sure. Why not?”

When they got to the park, Hal had barely shut his truck off when Roy hopped out and ran with his plane over his head. ‘I don’t see why Ollie’s always complaining,’ he thought as he got out of the truck. ‘This kid stuff is a piece of cake.’ While Roy was running around on the grass, Hal settled down on a bench and watched him. Just watching Roy got boring after a few minutes though, so he laid down on the bench and closed his eyes. He threw an arm across his eyes to rest for a few minutes.

“Hey, Hal!” Roy shouted. “I’m gonna make the plane fly!"

“Good for you, Roy…” Hal mumbled.

“Hal! Hal! You’re not watching!”

Hal sighed and opened his eyes as he sat up. “Ok, fine, Roy. What are you-" The words cut off when his brain fully processed what he saw. Roy had climbed to the very top of the structure, balancing on a metal railing 15 feet from the ground; new toy plane held aloft proudly. “Fu-" Hal dove off the bench as Roy jumped. Instinctually, a glowing, green hand appeared out of Hal’s ring and caught Roy. The boy laughed almost maniacally as he was lowered safely to the ground. Only once Roy as back on the ground did Hal think to see if any civilians were around. Thankfully, they were alone. He sighed and let his hand fall into the wood chips surrounding the jungle gym.

“Again!”

“No!” Hal used his ring to stop Roy from going back on the jungle gym. “No more. Go…play on the grass.”

“Ok!”

Hal rubbed his eyes as Roy ran around the grassy area, making airplane noises as he moved his toy through the air. ‘That was close. If the kid breaks his neck Oliver will skin me alive.’ He watched Roy for a few minutes, but the boy stayed away from the jungle gym. Hal nodded, then resumed his place, laying on the bench. He closed his eyes again and relaxed as he listened to Roy’s airplane sounds. After a few more minutes, both Roy and the sounds of traffic lulled him into a trance and eventually into a light sleep.

Roy kept playing with his airplane, off in his own little world for a while. The only thing that made him stop was his stomach growling after a few hours. He frowned, then ran back over to Hal. ‘Why is he napping? Ollie never naps when we go to the park.’ He poked, Hal but the man didn’t move, so Roy pinched his nose closed.

Hal’s breathing stopped and the man choked. “Roy!” he gasped as he sat up. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m hungry.”

“Hungry, huh?” Hal looked at his watch. ‘It is past noon.’ He rubbed his eyes. “Sure. Let’s go.”

“Woohoo!” Roy whopped as he ran toward the parking lot.

‘Hopefully, lunch will mellow him out a bit,’ Hal thought as he followed.

— —

They went to a burger place for lunch, Roy bouncing in his seat and drumming his fingers off the table. Hal frowned as he obscured the boy. “Are you ok?” he asked.

“Mhm,” Roy nodded as he sipped his soda.

“You sure?”

“Yup! Last time I felt like this, I ate all my Halloween candy even though Ollie told not too”

‘…Why do I feel like this has something to do with the candy this morning?’ Hal thought. Unfortunately, all he could do was watch as Roy drank the soda with a resigned look. ‘Oh well. I’m sure his energy will burn out soon.’

That didn’t pan out, After lunch, Roy seemed to have even more energy as he bounced, standing or sitting, and talked fast when he asked to go back to the park. Since Hal didn’t want a sugared-up child running around his apartment, he complied. Instead of laying on the bench again, Hal leaned against a tree as he watched Roy running around.’ Hopefully, he wears himself out soon,’ he thought as Roy ran in erratic circles, moving his jet up and down in the air. At one point, he looked away for a few seconds to check his watch, but by the time he looked back, Roy was gone. Anxiety shot through Hal as he stood up straight. “Roy?” he called. “Roy, where are you?!” Hal stepped away from his tree a few steps as he looked around. “Roy?! Roy where’d you go?!”

The leaves on the tree next to him moved and Hal moved to investigate, but before he’d take to steps though, he heard a crash! and Roy fell out. Again, Hal’s instincts allowed him to catch the boy with his ring. “What’re you doing?” he asked as he set Roy down.

“Climbing,” Roy shrugged. He stood and brushed off his pants before picking up his jet. “I was doing good until I got to the very top and the branch broke.”

Hal sighed and rubbed his face. “Why don’t we go home? You can…play with your toys and watch cartoons or something.”

“Awww. But I like playing in the park.”

“You’ll have fun at home, too, Roy. Come on.”

Roy muted and his jet hung limply by his side. “Fine.”

— —

By the time they got back to Hal’s apartment, it was the middle of the afternoon. Roy immediately ran over to Will, balanced the platypus on his jet, then started running around circles around the living room. Hal shrugged as he hung up his flight jacket, then threw himself down on the couch. Roy barely paid him any mind though, so he continued running around so Will could “ride” on the jet as he had earlier.

“Can you see the curve of the Earth, Will?!” Roy asked excitedly at one point. “Can you? It’s cool, isn’t it?!” When playing with the jet eventually got boring, Roy set it and Will aside, then grabbed his dinosaurs. He dumped them out on the ground, then started lining them up on the coffee table. “Everyone walk single file,” he said, voice low and gravely as he moved the t-rex with his words. “We have to be very careful.” He made the toy jump from the table to Hal’s stomach, then walked it down the man’s torso and legs.

The game kept Roy so occupied he was able to stay mostly quiet and let Hal sleep semi-undisturbed for several hours. When Hal did wake up, he frowned when he saw the plastic dinosaurs that were balanced precariously on his stomach and legs. “Roy?” he asked, confused.

“You’re a mountain range,” Roy explained as he placed a small dinosaur near Hal’s chest.

“Right.” Hal moved his arm just enough so he could look at the time. “7?! How did I sleep so long?”

“You were tired.”

“Guess so.” Hal sighed as he sat up, dislodging the dinosaurs.

“Hey!”

“Sorry, pal, but I have to feed you.”

Roy looked down at his toys, then shrugged. “Ok. What’s for dinner?”

“Uh…Good question. I think I have some tv dinners in the freezer. Let’s go check.” hola led Ro into the kitchen, then opened the freezer. “Here we go.” He pulled out two boxes and showed them to Roy. “Which one do you want? This one is chicken and gravy with rice, and this one is chicken nuggets with mac and cheese.”

“This one.” Roy pointed to the one with the chicken nuggets. “It has a brownie.”

“Sounds good. I’ll pop them in the over, why don’t you go clean up your toys?”

“Ok.” When Roy got back to the living room, he started picking his dinosaurs, then he saw Will laying on the arm of the recliner where he’d left him earlier. A smile spread across his face and Roy quickly set up his dinosaurs. He grabbed, Will then squashed the stuffed animal against the tabletop and slid him through the dinosaurs. “Run! It’s the attack of the giant platypus! Everyone run for your lives!” He knocked all the dinosaurs off, then grabbed them and set them back up.

By the time dinner was ready and Hal carried them into the living room, he frowned when he saw the calamity taking place. “Roy, I thought I said to clean up your toys, not play more?”

“…You didn’t say when to pick them up.” Roy quickly shoved the dinosaurs into the plastic bag, then grabbed Will and settled his friend next to him on the couch. Hal handed him his plate and sat down with him.

“Hey, they’re paying another Indiana Jones movie tonight. And its the Temple of Doom. What’d you say?”

Roy hesitated but simply used one hand to hold onto Will. “Ok…”

“This one’s even better. If you liked the first one, you’ll love this one.”

The movie was fine at first. Roy watched as he ate his dinner and curled up with Will in his arms when he was done. Honestly, everything was fine until it got closer to the end. All the fire and blood made his eyes widen and he squeezed Will to his body. ‘This one’s even scarier,’ he thought as he closed his eyes and buried his face in Will’s matted fur.

“Wasn’t that great, Roy?” Hal asked when the movie ended. “Huh, Roy? Roy?” He looked at the boy and frowned when he saw him. “Roy, are you ok?”

“Uh-huh…” Roy looked at Hal. “I’m fine.”

“You sure? You said the movie wasn’t scary, but-"

“I’m not scared! Getting scared for babies! Will was scared and I had to protect him.”

“Roy, it’s just a movie. There’s no need to be scared.”

Roy glared at him. “I’m not scared. Tell Will.” He held up the platypus, whose head and legs all hung from its body limply.

“…Fine. Will, there’s no reason to be scared. The movies aren't real and I won’t let anything hurt you.”

Roy pulled Will close to his body and started petting him. “He feels better now.”

“Good. I’d hate for…Will to be scared.” Hal glanced at the clock. “Ok, 10:30. Time for bed.”

Roy didn’t try to argue as he yawned; so he grabbed his pajamas and toothbrush to get ready for bed. When he came back to the living room, the dishes from dinner were gone and Hal had set up his bed again. Roy grabbed Will and laid down. This time Hal tucked him in without any prompting. “Night, Hal,” Roy said.

“Night, kid. Ollie’s coming home tomorrow, so the sooner you sleep, the sooner you get to see him.”

“Ok…” Roy watched as Hal moved to shut the light off, then held his hand out. “Wait, Hal!”

“Hm?”

“…Can you leave the light on? You know, for Will?”

“Can you and Will sleep with the light on?”

“Um…”

“How about I keep the hall light on. Is that ok?”

Roy looked down at Will, then nodded. “He says that’s ok.”

“Ok. Goodnight, Roy. And Will.”

"Night…” Roy didn’t close his eyes until he had the dim light of hall shining into the room. Only then could he snuggle down into his blankets and fall asleep.

— —

Another bad dream woke Roy in the middle of the night and drove him from the living room into Hal’s bedroom. This time he didn’t hesitate before earning up to Hal’s bed and poking him. “Hal,” he whispered. “Hal, wake up. Hal!”

“Huh?! Oh,” Hal sighed. “Scared again- uh, Will?”

Roy nodded. “He had a bad dream.”

“Come on up.” Hal waited until Roy was settled under the covers and hugged one of his arms. This time though, Hal didn’t pull away and let the boy place Will on the other side of his arm. “Ok, back to sleep now.”

“Mhm…” Roy closed his eyes and fell back to sleep, hugging Hal’s arm and Will clutched in his hands.

— —

The next day, Roy woke Hal up early again, so they had a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast, then settled down in the living room for cartoons. About mid-morning, there was a knock on the door. “I think that’s Oliver,” Hal said, shutting the tv off.

“Ollie?” Roy perked up and looked toward the door.

“Come in!”

“Hey,” Oliver said as he walked in.

“Ollie!” Roy bolted over to him and Oliver lifted the kid into his arms with ease.

“Hey, Roy boy. Were you good for Hal?”

“Mhm! It was great! We had pizza and Hal let me eat as many pieces as I wanted. Then we watched this cool movie about a guy looking for treasure, but it was scary when the faces melted off. Will got scared, but Hal let us sleep in his bed. Then I got to ride in a jet and we went high and fast like this.” Roy demonstrated the movements of the jet with his arm while Oliver looked past him at Hal, an unimpressed look on his face. “And we went so high I could see the whole Earth! Like being in space! Then Hal bought me a jet and we went to the park. Hal took a nap while I was playing.”

Hal suddenly decided to stat getting Roy’s things together as Oliver’s unimpressive look turned into a glare. He winced when Roy talked about falling out of the tree.

“-and then I played while Hal napped again, he sleeps a lot; then I had chicken nuggets and a brownie for dinner! And we watched another movie about the treasure guy, but this one was even scarier. Will was really upset after his bad dream again, so we slept in Hal’s bed again.”

“…Sounds like you had a very adventurous weekend,” Oliver said, his voice restrained. “Grab your stuff and say bye to Hal.” Potentially for the last time.

“Here you go, kiddo,” Hal said as he handed Roy his backpack. He waited until the bag was on the boy’s back before handing him Will and the toy jet. “See you soon?”

“I hope so!”

“Go wait in the car, Roy,” Oliver said.

“Ok. Bye, Uncle Hal!”

Hal blinked, then a wide smile spread across his face. “Bye, Roy.” Once Roy stepped outside, he turned his smile on Oliver.

“Put the grin away,” Oliver told him. “You bribed your way into the heart of an 8-year-old, it’s not that much of an achievement.”

“Oh, relax! The kid’s alive and he had a fun weekend.”

“And you giving him tons of sugar, sleeping while he was in a public place he could’ve been kidnapped, took him flying in a test-stage fighter jet-“

“Don’t be mad because you have to be Mr. Responsible now and I get to be the fun one.”

Oliver rolled his eyes. “You’re not babysitting again.”

“Awww, you don’t mean that. Not when I’m Roy’s favorite uncle.”

“Good-bye, Harold.”

“Don’t worry, Ollie, it won't mean he loves me more than you!” The door slammed and Hal cackled as he went over to the window. He pulled back the curtain and discovered Roy, instead of getting in the car, had climbed on top of it. ‘Yeah, I’m the problem,’ Hal thought as Oliver held out his arms and Roy jumped into them without hesitation. ‘Ollie’s got his hands full with this one.’ Roy looked up from Oliver’s arms and waved to Hal. Hal waved back as he watched Oliver place Roy in the backseat. ‘I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope I can babysit again soon.’ Maybe Hal didn’t want kids of his own, but being the fun uncle seemed like a role he could excel in.