Generations
An: I do not own Arrow. This is a sequel to Surprise.
Summary: Quentin Lance loved his daughters. There was no questioning that fact. There was also no questioning the fact that his daughters always attracted the attention of billionaire heirs. His youngest was no exception to that. Sequel to Surprise. Third story in one shot week.
BREAK
Quentin Lance pulled up outside the prestigious academy that his youngest daughter Ava Lance and most of his grandchildren attended. The thing they all liked about the academy was it ran from prep school straight to the last year of high school. It meant that there was no need to be driving from school to school to pick up children. It was already hectic enough trying to get them to all of their extra-curricular activities.
Ava had an extra-curricular activity every day. Monday was Tae Kwan do, Tuesday was soccer, Wednesday was drums (Quentin was trying to dissuade of this crazy idea of joining a band once she got good enough), Thursday was soccer practice again and Friday she took a dance class with her mother. Today was soccer practice and she shared that with Sara D. His daughter was a right wing back. Sara D was a centre back. He had been to every single one of their soccer games. He was the parent that stood on the side lines and yelled at the referee to call a foul when his daughter was slightly touched. John also stood on the lines with him and several times security had been called to get them away from the lines. John would cross his arms across his massive chest and glare at the guards. Quentin would just point and say "I'm with him."
Quentin was now a retired man, Sara and Nyssa having taken over the PI business he started. After Nyssa had gotten most of the assassins under control, she and Sara joined his business and he renamed it Lance3 Investigations. Sara and Nyssa had officially married and Nyssa decided to take Sara's last name. This gave him the time needed to devote to his daughter and his 13 pseudo grandchildren. It kept him very busy, busier than when he was a police captain.
He believed that there little family had five generations. He and Donna were the first generation. They were the eldest and the ones with the most time on their hands. They were both retired and babysat often. There was always a different set of kids at their house. It was strange, he was related by blood to only one set of grands, Laurel's two kids, but he loved all of them as if they were his.
He considered the second generation as Laurel and Ted, Sara and Nyssa, Felicity and Oliver, John and Lyla, and Thea and Roy. They were the direct parents of the grandkids with one exception. All of the couples were still together and going strong. There were hiccups occasionally, husbands spending nights on couches or one of the girls coming over to spend the night because they didn't want to go home but it always worked out in the end.
The third generation was not the grandkids but made up of two men in their twenties, AJ Diggle and William Clayton. Both boys had come back into their lives at about the same time. AJ crashed into the family when John received a call one night to bail him out of jail. That was the beginning of a tumultuous journey for John that finally led him to forgive himself for Andy's death. William returned on his 18th birthday to get to know his father. He started college in Star City and never left. Both boys were very active with the night jobs and poised to take over the Green Arrow and Spartan roles on the team.
The fourth generation after that was Ava's generation. That consisted of Ava, Sara and John Jr. Diggle, Connor and Liv Queen, and Lizzy and Laura Grant. This was the generation that gave him the most headaches at the moment. He thought he had it hard with Laurel and Sara but these kids just blew them out of the water. It seemed like each day, there was a competition among them for who could annoy him the most. Oddly enough, it was Lizzy Grant who had the record at the moment, though the devil's spawn, aka Connor Queen was giving her a strong challenge for that position.
The last generation consisted of the Harper boys, Luke and Keston Lance and Kiara Diggle. The Harper boys were the four boys, Robert, Walter, Oliver and Lucas that Thea had in quick succession once she and Roy finally settled down. He remembered the several comments Oliver kept throwing at the couple about birth control. Luke and Keston were two babies that Sara and Nyssa adopted after Grant Wilson's failed takeover of the city. He had set fire to half of the Glades. Team Arrow had managed to get a lot of people out in time. Luke and Keston were both saved by Sara and Nyssa but when no relatives ever came forward to claim them, his daughter decided to officially adopt them. Kiara was AJ's daughter. She was the result of a fling AJ had when he was drinking and doing drugs. The girl's mother had given birth and cared for her until her new boyfriend didn't want a child and she dropped Kiara off on AJ's doorstep. John insisted that AJ either step up and be a father or find his daughter a safe home to live in. Everyone thought AJ would choose the second option but after holding his baby girl in his arms, AJ chose the first option.
It was Quentin's responsibility to pick the girls up from soccer practice today. The other grandchildren were picked up earlier in the day by Donna. He spotted Ava first, emerging from the tall black gates of the academy still dressed in her soccer uniform, her cleats hanging from one shoulder and her school bag the other. If it weren't for the dirty blonde hair and the different uniform, he would have thought he was transported back in time and it was Laurel walking out to him. Quentin spotted the boy tagging along behind Ava immediately. He raised his eyes to the heavens and asked them why they were still punishing him. He had already been through the billionaire punk kid chasing after his daughters. Why did he have to have another one? What was the kid even doing here anyway? The last time he checked he lived in Gotham.
"Hi Dad, we have a tagalong," Ava said chucking her finger at the boy.
"Yeah I kinda of noticed honey," he said to his daughter before turning to the boy, "What you are doing here kid? I thought you lived in Gotham?" Quentin said seriously.
"It depends on the mood my mom is in. She's pissed at my father right now. She came out here to spend some time with Aunt Nyssa. I got dragged along," he said.
"And I suppose since your last name is Wayne the school just welcomed you with open arms," Quentin commented sardonically.
The boy smirked at him.
"Show off," Ava muttered opening the sliding door to the minivan and jumping in.
The boy made to follow her but Quentin stopped him, "Damian, why don't you come in front with me," he said. That way he would know where his hands were at all times.
"Yeah, go in front with my dad," Ava agreed with her father.
"Whatever you say Princess," Damian responded with that cocky smirk of his. He had inherited a lot from his father.
Ava's eyes narrowed, "I can totally kick your ass," she said when he got in the front seat.
"You can try," he responded. "I'm not that wimp you call a boyfriend."
Quentin sat up straight, "Boyfriend? What boyfriend?"
Ava glared at Damian. Quentin didn't think it possible but Damian's smile got even bigger.
"I thought you knew everything Mr. Lance. Ava's been seeing the Captain of the football team, Justin Douchebag."
His daughter tried to lunge through the car for Damian but he was much faster, moving to plaster himself against the door so that her hands missed his throat.
"That is enough!" Quentin yelled.
Ava sat back in the back and sulked, crossing her arms in front of her chest while Damian sat in front very pleased with himself. This was going to be one hell of a car ride.
The door to the minivan slid open and Sara D. looked inside.
"Maybe I should just walk," she said sensing the tension.
"Get in kiddo. Your dad would go all grizzly bear on me if I let you walk anywhere by yourself," Quentin said knowingly.
"I could join her and you can drop Annoying Boy by Nyssa," Ava suggested.
"Sara D, the quicker you get in the van the quicker we can get home," he said.
Sara D jumped in. "Don't we have to pick up the boys on the way home?"
"Oliver is supposed to be picking them up and then swinging by for you later," Quentin explained.
He pulled away from the curb and stopped at the traffic light that had turned red.
"Does your mother know you have a boyfriend?" Quentin asked his daughter.
"Yes," Ava replied honestly.
"Do your…..,"
"Sisters know?" Ava finished for her father before answering, "No! Sara and Laurel would probably stalk him and Felicity would do a full background check and then send Oliver to put the fear of God in him."
"I like that plan," both Damian and Quentin said at the same time.
Quentin' head snapped to Damian's "You do not have a say in this matter."
"Newsflash, neither of you have a say in who I choose to make my boyfriend," Ava said angrily.
"Keep thinking that blondie," Damian commented cockily.
Ava looked like she was ready to punch Damian when Sara intervened, "Can we just get there in one piece please."
Ava crossed her arms angrily in front of her chest and looked outside the window.
Quentin looked in his rear view mirror at Sara D. "Do you have a boyfriend as well?" he asked.
"No," she answered far too quickly for his liking. He would have to have a few words with John about this latest development.
BREAK
As soon as the minivan came to a halt, Ava stampeded over Sara D on the way out of the minivan. She opened the front door and then headed straight to the kitchen for something to eat. Her mother, Sara, Nyssa, Talia and Liv where in the living room.
"What did you say to piss her off this time?" Nyssa asked her nephew when he entered the house.
"Don't answer that!" Ava whirls with her finger threateningly in the air.
He tilts his head to the side, "Am I supposed to be afraid of that finger?"
Sara D. decided to intervene again, "Damian you may be welcomed here but please try not to rile Ava up so much. We really do not want to explain to your father how your ass got kicked by a teenage girl."
Damian snorted, "Not happening."
"I beg to differ," Ava countered with a challenging tone.
Donna looked around confused, "What is this all about?"
Ava looked at her mom, "Dickhead told dad about Justin."
"Oh," Donna said. "It's not the end of the world sweetheart, your father had to find out at some point in time."
Donna got up to go and console her daughter, the two of them disappearing into kitchen leaving Quentin in the living room with four trained assassins, Sara D and Liv.
"What are this boyfriend's intentions towards Ava?" Sara asked Damian.
"He's interested in what all boys are interested in," Damian replied.
"Gosh just say the word sex," a small blonde girl with glasses said.
It was the first time Quentin noticed the girl sitting quietly on the couch. Her Smoak Tech glasses were opaque which meant she was surfing the net on them, at least he hoped that was what she was doing. After she hacked the Pentagon at four, Quentin was very worried whenever she was near a computer. Suddenly her words dawned on him.
"Liv!" Quentin said in horror. "What do you know about sex?"
"Grandma told me about the birds and bees long ago," the girl responded before she realised something, "But don't tell dad. He'll flip."
"My favourite Queen!" Damian said ruffling the younger girl's hair.
The girl narrowed her eyes at him, "What do you want now? You are only nice when you want something, like that time I bailed you out of a mission you screwed up before your father found out."
"Before I even ask why my 10 year old granddaughter is helping a punk vigilante, I thought Donna dropped you at Smoak Technologies," he asked her.
"Grandma did," Liv responded.
"What are you doing here?"
"Oh I tried to correct a mistake in an experiment that Curtis was making but he apparently didn't appreciate the advice so Grandma brought me here to wait for the boys. That's the thanks you get for trying to help people!" Liv said crossly.
"Liv, I am so hurt you think I only talk to you when I want something. You're the little sister I never had," he said charmingly.
"I'm not Ava. Save all that charm for her," Liv responded. "If my dad heard you trying to charm me, he would kick your ass."
"He could try," Damian responded.
"Sister dear," Nyssa said to Talia, "I think my nephew needs a bit of an attitude adjustment. He's much too cocky."
"Bruce's fault. He's hardly ever there to correct him," Talia said angrily.
"Then as his aunt, I think it's my duty to knock some sense into him," Nyssa declared.
"I think Ava might want to join you in that task," Sara D commented.
"Before you beat him up," Quentin said turning to Damian, "What's the name of that football player again?"
BREAK
Quentin had always hated going to the Queen Mansion to pick Laurel up when she was finished doing homework with Oliver and Tommy. The Queens represented everything he hated then. Now, trips to the Queen Mansion represented family and love. It was the only place that could accommodate everyone for Sunday lunch and Oliver and Felicity had everyone over every Sunday, once there was no villain trying to ruin Star City or the world. There were four cooks in the kitchen preparing the massive meal.
When his minivan pulled up to the Mansion he noted that he was the first one there. He had Donna, Ava, Luke and Keston with him. Sara and Nyssa had been doing some surveillance late last night on a case and Sara didn't trust Talia with her sons yet. Donna and Ava saw about getting the boys out of the car seats. Those seats these days were so complicated, he left it to Ava to strap the boys in and take them out. The next car to pull up was a sleek limo which could only mean Talia and Damian.
"Oh great, Annoying Boy is here," he heard his daughter mutter under her breath. She was very angry with both Damian and himself. Quentin had cornered that football player the next day, though in all honesty the boy was taller and bigger than him so there wasn't that much physical intimidation going on. The boy was an utter waste of space and he was seriously considering the idea of inflicting Oliver on him but Felicity beat him to it when she arranged for Oliver to take Donna and Ava to dance class. Oliver picked Ava up from school first and used the opportunity to remind the football player that Ava was very precious to the family. He may have had the dimwit in a head lock when he told him that. Somehow, Oliver, still being Ava's favourite, had charmed her out of being angry with him. He needed to learn how Oliver did that.
Connor greeted him at the door with a large smile and Quentin immediately went on guard. That boy only smiled at him when he was up to something.
"Hey Ava," Connor called out. "I got the video off the security cameras of your Dad trying to talk to your idiot," the boy said waiving his phone.
That little punk!
"I saw it already," Ava said. "Lizzy got Liv to get it for me the same day it happened. You're late."
"Damn it!" the boy said stamping his foot angrily.
"Tsk tsk, Connor," Damian said, "You're letting the girls outmanoeuvre you."
"Really and Ava's dating who again?" Connor spat back at Damian.
"My daughter is not dating!" Quentin hissed.
Donna patted his back affectionately, "Our baby girl is all grown up," Quentin shrugged off her arm. He was still angry that she hadn't told him about what Ava was up to."
Soon the rest of family arrived and lunch was served. After the meal, Quentin found himself watching the toddlers play. Kiara was playing with Lucas and the three youngest Harper boys. Walter went to pull at one of Kiara's pretty pigtails and right as Quentin was going to stop him, Kiara snapped fiercely at the boy who cowered away. The women in this family were strong and little Kiara was already channelling that from a young age. She was going to have to put up with a lot of that. She had six boys in her generation and the Harper boys looked like they were going to be worse than Lizzy and Connor.
"So are you going to forgive my mom anytime soon?" Felicity asked walking over with Keston on her hip.
"Where did all the others disappear to?" Quentin asked not really wanting to discuss Donna with her daughter.
"An hour after lunch, its sparring time. Back to the topic, my mom," Felicity said putting Keston down to join in on play time.
Quentin remained silent.
"Note to self, when Liv gets a boyfriend, tell Oliver right away," Felicity said. "I understand why my mom didn't tell you. She didn't want you to worry. Ava's old enough to take care of herself and this thing with the football player is just a passing attraction. By next week she'll probably dump him."
"If you thought it was so harmless why did you send Oliver after him?" Quentin asked.
"To back you up. I am more concerned about Damian. He's rather focused on making Ava his latest girlfriend."
"I spoke to Talia about it. They'll be gone next week," Quentin told her.
"I'll watch the kids. You might enjoy the sparring today. The line-up looked quite interesting. William challenged his father, AJ challenged John, there's a team battle between Connor and Lizzy vs. John Jr. and Laura. Sara. D challenged AJ, Ava challenged Damian but so did Nyssa, Sara and Oliver so he has four fights and Ava's is the last. Liv challenged William and I'm not too sure how to take that one. She usually stays out of the sparring."
"William will go easy on his baby sister," Quentin said.
"Oh I know that, and she knows that too which is why I'm worried for William! It's the last match before dinner, so I'll bring the rest of the kids down to watch. It should be very kid friendly."
Quentin rose from his seat and made his way to the basement where the yelling of the onlookers could be heard. William appeared to have the upper hand in the match against Oliver. He saw Donna seated with Liv, Lizzy and Laura. He made his way over to his wife and got his granddaughters to scoot over to make room for him. He wrapped his arm around Donna and pulled him to her. She looked up at him cautiously and he pecked her on the lips. The message was clear, all was forgiven. She relaxed into his side. Over twenty five years ago when the Queen's Gambit went down, he thought he would never experience the joy and warmth of family again. Yet here he is with a huge extended family laughing along with his granddaughters. If his granddaughters followed in his daughters' footsteps, he would have a lot more billionaire heirs to deal with it but that was ok, as Felicity pointed out, this time he had backup.