Disclaimer: Not that I think you guys don't read this part at the beginning of every single other chapter, just, I really don't want to get sued. It would kind of suck you know? At least, I'm imagining that it would kind of suck because it's never actually happened to me. The point is, I would rather not be sued, so I'm still writing this part at the beginning of every chapter. And this part is to say that I DON'T OWN ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE FROM ANYWHERE ELSE.
Quentin Lance's dearest wish regarding Oliver Queen growing up was that he would never ever posses one particular title. That title being 'son-in-law'. In fact, during the third or fourth time he had found Laurel with red eyes and empty ice cream containers, that wish had really been more of a prayer. Literally, the words "please God let my daughter have better sense than to marry that pretty boy moron" had crossed his lips on more than one occasion. Always muttered, but still spoken.
With hindsight being what it was, Lance had since revised that statement. The title son-in-law had been repeatedly edited to indulge the phrases innocent, honest, psychotic, someone I actually like, dead, and a legitimate businessman. Briefly that prayer had also included the title "a father" but after Oliver Queen had come back from the Island and in particular when Connor had entered the picture that phrase had been edited.
Now Lance had begun to think that the title he really should have been dreading was "politician". Not because Oliver was bad at it, quite the opposite in fact. Oliver Queen was scarily good at getting people to agree with him and do what he wanted them to do.
When Oliver had been very little most people including Lance had dismissed that particular trait as a little more than a side effect of having extremely wealthy parents. After all, no pre-school teacher was really going to get upset about a little boy breaking a window with a soccer ball when his parents could afford to buy the entire school building and everyone in it. Besides, if you had enough money to do whatever you wanted it gave even the shyest little kid the confidence to stick up for themselves to get what they wanted.
The other aspect of Oliver Queen as a child that had made it nearly impossible to really argue with him had been a simple matter of genetics. Lance was no stranger to the fact that all small children had a certain level of adorable as a given. Hell, Laurel only had to look at him with those big brown eyes and Sara only had to give that little smile that showed all of her dimples to get whatever they wanted from him most of the time.
Oliver Queen managed to blow that measurement off the scale. The kid had somehow been genetically blessed with the general appearance of a little cherub. Oliver's hair had darkened with age but at the beginning it had been a mess of straw colored cowlicks. He had been blessed with straight pearly white teeth and double dimples in his cheeks. Even better, as a kid he had smiled so easily that those features actually got exposed.
The nail in the coffin for Oliver getting what he wanted as a child had been the eyes though. Huge and a bright, bright blue that Lance knew for a fact came straight from Robert. Even more, those eyes seemed to operate their tear ducts on a complete and utterly refined hair trigger.
Lance had personally witnessed Oliver breaking down in to tears in front of his school principle over a splinter he had gotten on the playground. Somehow that had connected to him and Tommy single handedly taking on the destruction of the offending play set as their on personal crusade. Halfway through the conversation where the principle had been in a full blown chastisement to both boys Oliver's eyes had begun to well with tears.
Quentin had watched with disbelief and a small but difficult to squash out sense of being impressed as those tears had over flowed and spilled down his cheeks. Lance had to physically hold Laurel back by the hand to prevent her from running up to Oliver to provide comfort. Oliver had then managed to stutter through an explanation about how he and Tommy had only wanted to help.
Lance couldn't help but gape as ten minutes later Oliver was running back over to meet Tommy and begin to move towards them. As soon as the principle had lost sight of them Oliver had wiped his face and grinned in triumph. On later explanation, Lance had learned that by the end of the conversation Oliver had managed to not only get himself and Tommy out of trouble, but also to use funds to remove the old play equipment and install new kinds.
When he asked why Oliver had just looked up at him with those too big too blue eyes and said, "The wood was hurting people's hands. I thought it would be better for everyone if someone did something about it. It didn't look like anyone else would."
That statement right there probably should have been a warning.
To say that Oliver's abilities to talk himself into or out of any situation and get or do anything that he wanted through words had been turned to the dark side when he reached his teens was only a slight understatement. At least, that was an accurate description in Lance's book. Particularly given how Queen seemed to treat his daughters.
The fact that Oliver Queen was deemed in the media as Starling City's favorite screw up was testament enough to what the kid was capable of pulling off. Weather it was stealing a taxi cab, assaulting a member of the press, or urinating on a cop car, Oliver seemed to be able to worm his way out of trouble. Some of that was due to his money, but more largely Queen seemed to manage to talk himself out of trouble before a cop even managed to read him his Miranda Rights.
In regards to the taxi situation Lance had been the second cop car on the scene. To be honest he had been hoping that he would somehow be able to minimize the damage by arriving sooner. Bad boyfriend or not the Queens were still family friends, and at that point Lance was still trying to hold out point that Laurel's boyfriend wasn't a complete screw up.
By the time he had gotten there, Oliver was already shaking hands with the police officer with a bright, charming smile. Lance even saw him pause next to the cab driver for a photo and signed a quick autograph for the guy's teenaged daughter. He hopped in to a car Lance recognized as Tommy Merlyn's after a cordial wave to the press as they snapped a few photos.
"I told the nice officer that the cabbie had very graciously permitted me to take a test drive. After all I had never driven a cab before," Oliver had told him with a smile when Lance asked how he had gotten out of trouble. The officer in question had refused to talk about it with anyone at the station. "Paid for of course," Oliver continued with wide blue eyes that hadn't changed one bit since childhood. "I apologized for going so far, and it wasn't like I crashed in to anything."
Queen had then winked at Laurel who managed a weary smile. "It was just a misunderstanding. No harm. No foul. Even managed to part amicably with the cabbie after I promised his daughter an invite to my birthday." he shrugged. "Dad's always wanted me to be a businessman."
Lance heard Laurel sigh as she crossed over to Queen. "Lying to get out of trouble and get what you want while keeping multiple parties happy isn't business Ollie. It's actually way closer to politics."
Quentin saw Oliver grin. "Well, if I told that one to my parents 'm sure they'd be pretty damn quick to get on board."
The cold shiver that had run down Lance's back at that particular idea had been one that he had tried to repress with all of his might. He had dismissed it as a freak draft, or a basic reaction to something else going on. Lance should have trusted his gut reaction that Oliver Queen in a position of power any larger than familial or economic was going to be a sight of terror. But maybe also a thing to behold.
Being able to speak exactly as they needed to to get other people to do what they wanted, particularly without questioning it and hopefully without thinking about the fact that what they were doing wasn't what they had originally wanted was practically a requirement for all Politicians. Oliver Queen had had it long before he had officially earned the title of the job description.
Besides, not to put too fine a point on government but the kid could lie with the kind of capacity that would have put a cold war KGB member to shame. Frankly, their was really no way that ability could really hurt the kid in a political campaign. Not that Lance really liked the idea of the fact that that particular aptitude was a necessary one in any and all political levels.
The other politically handy ability Oliver Queen seemed to posses in spades was the ability to read people. Lance had seen it so many times and somehow hadn't ever quite seen exactly how dangerous it could be. Oliver had an ability to watch a person. He would tip his head up and to the side and just watch. Then when he opened his mouth he somehow always managed to say exactly what that person wanted to hear.
The ability applied to parents, siblings, friends, girls, cops, lawyers, and judges alike. Anybody with anything they wanted or needed to hear was someone liver could analyze, work inside of, and talk to. He had a way of looking completely unintelligent and undangerous until the moment he opened his mouth and said the most effective thing possible.
Looking stupid and playing dumb was a completely separate tactic that Lance frequently observed the kid using. When he had asked Oliver about it saying "I don't get why Queen. Why play stupid all the time?"
Oliver had merely shrugged a shoulder noncommittally. "When people think you don't understand something they explain it to you. Soon enough everyone is ready to tell you anything you ask them. Works on geeks in school all the time with homework and stuff. Plus I learn all sorts of shit about my parents company when no one who works there thinks I understand what they're talking about."
The reverse of that ability as Lance had previously observed seemed to be that Oliver could tell when other people were shoveling their own bull shit. Lance first realized that when he had noticed Oliver watching a political debate. He had been sprawled out on the couch in the Lance's living room with Laurel's head on his lap. Laurel liked watching the debates and analyzing what candidates said from a legal standpoint.
"Bullshit," Oliver said of one candidates statement.
Lance saw Laurel tip her head up to look at him. "What?"
Oliver gestured at the screen. "What that guy on the left said about how he supports immigrants and how single mothers are entitled to child support. He came to a dinner party with my parents last week spouting about how immigrants from Mexico were stealing jobs and after a couple drinks he was railing about how his ex-wife was a bitch trying to take away his money to look after his kid. He's full of bullshit."
Lance didn't generally like politicians most of the time. In his mind they either passed a whole lot of rules and regulation that ended up necessitating a whole lot of pain in the ass paperwork for him to do, or they ended up prematurely and inconveniently dead. At least, that's what they seemed to do on a local and directly effecting level.
On a broader level, Lance just kind of generally dreaded all notions of politics. He still voted during elections, but in recent years passed he had never quite been able to get over the feeling that all he was really doing was trying to pick the lesser of two evils. Not exactly reassuring. Besides, a lot of the time all politicians seemed to do was serve as puppet people for larger special interest groups. Maybe that was the depressing way to look at it, but Lance couldn't quite shake the feeling that it was true.
Still though, there was a certain kind of quality that Lance had to respect in politicians, at least in the good ones. Even in the politicians Lance didn't agree with ideologically there were generally a few qualities that he could generally respect if the politician seemed to honestly believe in them. It took a certain kind of unrelentingly determined bravery to stand up in front of a huge group of people who probably disagreed with you and lay out for them exactly what you thought. Saying "this is what I think we should do about this problem because it will help the most people and if you don't agree with me I'll go somewhere else and you can shove it" took a very respectable level of guts in Lance's book.
Being able to say essentially that every single day if you had to for an official job had to be freaking impossible. Oliver Queen might have been a horrible businessman, but he had at the very least managed to be stubborn enough to keep on hammering away at the issues within the company and accomplish some things. You had to be resilient, and frankly you had to be ballsy.
If there had been any question that Oliver Queen was both of those things in Lance's mind they had been heartily dispelled when he had first realized that Oliver was the Arrow. Green Arrow. Whatever, color specifics were really not his problem. They hadn't been dispelled at the original realization, but the following connection that meant that Oliver had done everything physically that lance had ever seen the Arrow do had done the trick.
First of all, the kid seemed to have no problem believing that in a situation that was him versus six armed hostile forces would resolve it's self with him coming out better of than the other six guys. Secondly, Oliver held a certain faith that if he threw himself on to a concrete road from five stories up on a roof he would still somehow not be crushed. If those two things didn't speak to a level of soul deep, somewhat violent self-confidence then Lance didn't know what did.
Genetically Lance had the feeling that that kind of ability probably had to be inherited. Having interacted and observed both Moira and Robert Queen Lance felt like he could probably break it down in to two sections. Oliver's steal determination and occasional absolute political ruthlessness was all one hundred percent Moira. Being able to stand in a room full of people who didn't like him, have a conversation, and then walk out of the room with those people being willing to give what he had said a shot Lance could only assume came from Robert.
What Lance hadn't really ever considered before he had watched the aftermath of a few of Oliver's campaign events was the huge energy expenditure it took to project that level of confidence to everyone else. It was one thing to have confidence that you had the right ideas to fix a city, but after looking at how tired and drained speaking publically sometimes made Oliver, Lance was finally able to appreciate just how much of an effort it took to make everyone else have that confidence to.
One of the few times Lance ever saw that confidence lapse was right before Oliver took the stage to give his final speech for the mayoral election. Lance was there watching because well, as previously mentioned, Star City's mayors and mayoral candidates had an issue with dying horrible. As soon as the chief of police had heard that there was even someone trying for mayor he had orchestrated a triple security detail for Oliver Queen and anybody who had any contact with his life at all who wasn't already dead. Oliver had only agreed under the condition that the officer in charge of the detail was Lance.
Originally the chief of police had brushed him off. If they had been smart Lance got the feeling they would have talked to Diggle when he had simply shaken his head at the request. Instead, Oliver and his entire team had merely committed themselves to slipping their police detail at least three times in any given day. The Chief of Police had managed to put up with it for exactly six days before giving up and putting Lance in charge of the detail.
"How are you feeling about it big brother?" Thea had asked, bouncing up to Oliver's side and reaching up to brace an arm over his shoulder. "Think your going to win?" she had asked teasingly.
Oliver had pulled off a bright smile. "Given the fact that I am the only one running and the election is tomorrow I think I like my chances."
Thea shook her head with a happy smile and brushed off the shoulder of Oliver's immaculate grey suit. "Awww... My brother the mayor," she stood on her toes and tugged down on his shoulder to kiss Oliver's cheek. "Don't be nervous," she advised. "Mom and Dad would both be proud of you."
"They'd be proud of both of us," Oliver told her with a smile much more genuine than the first one he had managed.
Thea smiled back, and that was the moment that Lance really realized that the two of them had the same smile, and the same dimples. It was strange to think of such a happy set of features having come from a women like Moira Queen.
As Thea slipped away in to the crowd Oliver looked from her to Diggle who seemed to catch the hint instantly in a way that he always did. The bodyguard moved after Thea with only a slight pause to clap Oliver on the back. "Good luck man," he said cheerily. "And don't worry. You've got this in the bag."
Oliver gave him a smile that Lance thought looked a little strained ad nodded. Then Felicity stepped up to him and reached out. "Your tie is twisted," she informed Oliver. "Honestly I don't know how you haven't figured out how to do this yet. I mean you first you were a billionaire heir of billionaires and then you were a CEO even though you weren't a very good when you still wore the suits. Though come to think of it I tied your tie a lot then to once you got to the office so..." she trailed off as her fingers flicked through the tie and deftly refolded the ends into a more respectable knot.
Lace saw Oliver's lips quirk up at the babble. "Maybe I just like it when you tie my ties," he suggested, hands coming up to support her as she teetered a bit on her heals. Lance noticed with a slight start that with his palms spread Oliver could cove Felicity's entire rib cage. "Maybe that's just another one of those things like running a multinational corporation that I know you are so much better at than me."
Felicity smiled and looked up at him, resting her hands on his chest. "Are you nervous?"
"Terrified," Lance heard Oliver admit without skipping a beat. "I know that I shouldn't be. I know that no matter what I do here tonight I'll be elected tomorrow. But still I just..." He trailed off and Lance saw him bite down on his lower lip.
"You want to win because they want you to," Felicity finished. "Not because there isn't any other choice." Lance was suddenly struck with how someone who was always talking in tangents could somehow manage to find what seemed to be exactly the right words.
Oliver shut his mouth and nodded mutely. Eventually he managed the words, "I want to do this because they believe I'm going to help them. The whole point of me running, of being mayor was to be a symbol. Someone that the people of this city could look to with hope, not just another reminder that they have no other options because everyone else was too afraid, to try."
"That's it," Felicity told him gently. "Right there. That's all you need to tell them. Make sure that everybody out there knows that, and you will have every single one of them voting for you." She reached up to kiss him and Lance became very deliberately interested in counting the number of bulbs in the light fixtures on the ceiling. "Remember,"" he heard Felicity say quietly. "Remember the first time you came to me?"
Figuring that it was probably safe to turn back around Lance saw Oliver smile, eyes still shut, head resting in her hands. "I brought you Floyd Lawton's laptop."
"Right," Felicity said with a nod. "Then you tried to tell me that the bullet holes were because your coffee shop was in a bad neighborhood."
Lance saw Oliver wince and inwardly agreed. "Yeah, that probably wasn't my best moment."
"Only thing worse was the syringe sports drink," Felicity agreed. "And somehow I still ended up trusting you, because I just knew that there was something inside you was trying to do good." Then she popped back up and kissed him again. "You are the man that I believe in. So, go out there and make sure that they know that to. Know that all you want is to do what is best for them, and they will all believe in you to."
Oliver opened his eyes and the look he gave Felicity was so warm and tender that Lance felt like he should turn around. That look almost seemed more private than a kiss. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, tucking her in to his chest for a hug. "Thank you," he breathed before ducking away and taking the few stairs up to the podium he would speak from.
The transformation was incredible to watch as Oliver took on the air of an imposing but approachable public figure an leader. The speech he gave was a good one, and what made I better was the fact that he had clearly memorized it. Then he reached his closing statement.
"I know that you've all heard about how I've been accused of being the Arrow. More than once. But if elected I am hoping that I will be able to be something he never was. These vigilantes can only hope that they can somehow protect the people of this city in the short term. If the plans I have developed with my staff to help this city are brought to term then this city will have no need to turn to those who operate outside the law. The law and the police will be able to be enough. Because you can't fight darkness with darkness, and the people of this city have lived in darkness for to long. This city is alive but it is dying and it is in pain. That pain is this city's crucible, and it has burned for too only way to escape- to help our city, is to help each other. Because once this city is safe with me and my staff as it's leaders, we will be able to help each other."
There Oliver had paused there for a moment before continuing on. "The only way to expel darkness is light, and if everything that I have experienced in the last eight years is that that light can always- always be found. It exists in all of us, and even the darkest, blindest hearts can be led in to the sun." He paused again and smiled, a gentle, genuine smile. Lance followed his line of sight and noted that Felicity was beaming at him from behind the line of television cameras. "We all have a long way to go. Maybe me more than anyone. But I will walk out in to the light with this city, and I would like to invite you all to walk there with me."
The applause had been deafening, and a series of shivers had run down Quentin's back like ice water. Oliver Queen was somehow able to do what every vigilante or public official had ever been able to do in Star City before. He had managed to give hope, and hope was powerful.
And political speaking, that was a hell of a terrifying thing for anyone who wanted to get in his way.
A/N: So what did you guys think? Sorry it took a little while to post this. I had a few days off from school and what with the promo for next week's episode and Oliver announcing that he would run for mayor (epic by the way am I right?) this was just bouncing around inside my head and I figured it deserved to be written down. Anyway, review for me!xoxoxoxoxoxooxoxooxoxoxooxooxoxoxoooxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox