"I've just moved here, ya know?" Jason reasoned, pacing around his living room.
Surprisingly, he had been able to catch a few hours of uninterrupted sleep and was now relatively rested and alert considering the time…which was noon.
"Do I really need to fly back east? Plus, I'm not QI employee material and he'd be crazy to think I ever would be. Still, it's a good set up, and there's this case, and you heard about what happened last night, right?" Jason stopped his pacing and looked over at Bud, who was lounging on the couch, watching him walk back and forth.
Bud grumbled something and Jason could have sworn he had seen a shrug as well.
"You are absolutely no help whatsoever," Jason said, rubbing the nape of his neck.
His dog reluctantly got off the couch, stretched, yawned, and then sauntered over to him to paw at his leg. Jason had been with her long enough to know what that meant and knelt down, allowing Bud to lick his face.
"Too lazy to stand up and give me a kiss, eh? Such a princess…" he grumbled, trying not to smile. There was no reason to have Bud think that he was even more of a sucker than he already was.
Once Bud had felt she had sufficiently showered Jason with affection, she led him back towards the bedroom and towards the overnight bag that Jason had already packed.
The message was clear: why are you debating this when you know you're already going to go?
"Yeah yeah, I get it. I'm not leaving you alone here though. That isn't going to happen. Who knows what type of parties you'd throw while I'm gone."
Bud barked and then sunk to the floor, trying to cover her eyes with her paws.
"Uh huh. I'm onto you, missy," he pointed at her with one hand while dialing Queen with the other.
He didn't even wait for Queen to say hello when the phone was picked up. "You got room in that plane for a hundred and fifty pound dog?"
Queen didn't miss a beat. "Uh, sure. Does she need an invitation to the party as well…?"
"Ha ha, funny."
Queen really did laugh. "Well how am I supposed to know? I have no idea what goes on in that brain of yours most of the time."
Jason could think of quite a few comebacks for that but chose not to voice any of them. 'See? Progress.' he thought to himself.
Queen continued speaking.
"I'll be in front of your place at one. Feel free to dress casually."
"Sounds good. I'll talk logistics with you later."
"Looking forward to it. Anything we need to get Bud?"
Jason looked down at the dog in question and debated. "Dog food? I'll text you the brand. Other than that, she's probably just going to lounge on the bed the entire time because she's spoiled" he emphasized, looking Bud directly in the eyes.
She showed him just how much she cared about his opinion by rolling over on the floor for belly rubs.
"Case in point," Jason muttered into the phone. "Her highness demands my attention right now."
"I leave you to it then," Queen chuckled. "See you in an hour."
Hanging up the phone, Jason did give in and spend a few minutes giving Bud some quality belly rubs before letting her out into the yard to run around. They'd be on a cross-country flight that wouldn't allow her much space for at least five hours so he was glad to see her take advantage of some outdoor time as she entertained herself with one of her toys.
He wouldn't be gone for more than forty-eight hours, but preparation was key here as he had all the necessities, including his suits (both the civilian and vigilante variety) ready to go.
By the time Queen texted him to let him know he was right outside, Jason looked like he had packed for much longer than the two days he'd be gone. He put part of the blame on Bud to make himself feel better; reasoning that she required a lot of supplies and toys. All of which was horribly untrue, but it was the excuse he gave Queen who ended up coming inside to help him bring the luggage to the car.
When Queen had said he'd pick Jason up, he had thought that meant with driver and all, but seeing the black Range Rover parked in his driveway and still running, Jason was surprised.
"No driver?" he asked, tossing some of his bags into the trunk on top of Queen's suitcases.
Queen opened up the backseat door to allow Bud to hop in. "Figured we could use the privacy."
Jason shrugged, closing the trunk, making sure Bud was good to go, and then hopping into the passenger seat.
"I don't have a tux," Jason pointed out a few minutes into their drive.
So far their conversation had been spent going over their arrival time into New York, their lodging (which would not be at The Surrey itself), and a rundown of the agenda that Jason was now reading over on the Q-Pad that Queen had Jason take out of the glove compartment.
He had a tux back in Gotham, but his 'sudden departure' from the city had meant it had been left behind. Thinking about that made him think about other things too, which he was steadfastly trying not to do. In fact, he was actively trying to not think about how close New York was to Gotham as if his hometown had some strange gravitational pull that would suck him back in if he got within range.
"Do you have a designer preference?" Queen asked, briefly glancing to his right. "I can make a call and have them come over to the hotel first thing in the morning for a fitting."
Jason shrugged, initially not really caring one way or another but being out on the streets of New York would remind him too much of Gotham, so maybe it was for the best that he just stay put somewhere.
"Actually yeah, I do. Ferragamo. Make the call, but I'm buying." Jason stated, leaving no room for argument.
"I wasn't going to offer," Queen grinned, taking one hand off the steering wheel to open the arm rest and pull out some files.
"What are these?" Jason asked, taking them from him and beginning to glance through. Based on what he was reading, it became pretty clear what it was. "Job titles?"
"And the history of QI, specifically Q-Core. I thought maybe Senior Consultant, Cyber Security would be a good title? There's obviously more to choose from or you could just come up with your own."
"I see that VP of Q-Core's R&D isn't on here," Jason chuckled, continuing to read down the list.
"It just so happens that there isn't a VP in that division. I think you and Roy would be a good fit for it" Queen replied breezily, not seeing the expression on Jason's face.
"Wait, what?" Jason sat up straighter, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Queen.
"Wait, what?" Queen responded, quickly looking over at him again. "Were you joking or being serious?"
"I think the question is whether or not you were being serious just now," Jason countered.
"I—shit, hang on. Yes, hello. Oliver Queen..." Queen said, having rolled down his window to show his ID at the security entrance to Star City's regional airport.
The thirty or so seconds it took to make it past security had Jason wondering if Queen possibly had a few screws loose. Willingly handing over such large roles in such a company was ridiculous, regardless of who he was.
Even Roy would think it crazy...and Roy liked crazy.
"You probably think I'm crazy but it makes sense. Q-Core is consistently on the cutting edge and pioneering not just what goes out to market but what we use when we defend those that need defending. Practically everything you've seen under Grell Ave. comes from Q-Core R&D."
"Then why the hell would you want me to have any control over it?" Jason asked, frowning.
"I wouldn't have even mentioned that building to you if I didn't trust you a hundred percent. Plus, I've seen firsthand your design and engineering skills. You've pushed the envelope in areas I simply couldn't see. I still very much control what Q-Core does, so being a VP doesn't mean what it would mean elsewhere-"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Jason asked with a raised eyebrow while Bud also voiced the same question by way of grumbling.
Jason appreciated Bud's solidarity.
"Kind of?" Queen shrugged and chuckled, sounding not too sure himself. "It gives you enough sway to have an impact on projects being focused on including items for your own arsenal; pun not intended." Jason rolled his eyes as Queen continued on. "That would include some of my newer initiatives that I'm trying to get off the ground like having a S.T.E.M. program for girls, outreach to high-poverty schools...in fact, those are things totally up your alley!"
Jason didn't say it out loud, but Queen was reminding him of Edgar at the moment; the way that his words picked up steam as excitement started to build like puzzle pieces finally clicking together to reveal a full mental picture.
"In any case, think about it. You don't need to decide on a title just yet. As far as any press will know, you're just an exec from QI if it comes down to it."
Jason opened his mouth to automatically protest and say that while he had agreed to take on some sort of daytime persona, this whole thing was like going from zero to a hundred in the span of a second. It was just way too much for even Jason to handle.
And he could handle a lot.
"Yeah yeah, I'll think about it. Jesus..." Jason muttered the last bit under his breath, grateful that they were now pulling up to Queen's private parking spot.
Min was instantly recognizable as she stood by an even larger black SUV and directed three very large men to handle their baggage.
"Hello Peter," Min smiled, offering her hand which Jason took. "Just here to see you both off." She was dressed in similar fashion as before, while both Queen and himself looked like they were slumming it in hoodies, jeans, and sneakers.
Jason could easily picture Alfred's thin-lipped and disapproving expression but blinked the thought away as he let Bud out of the car to follow him towards the larger SUV.
His phone vibrating in his pocket distracted him during the short drive to the tarmac and to their waiting jet.
"You okay?" Queen asked as they got situated inside the plane, taking their seats next to each other while Bud was actually led to a large dog bed off to the side that had a seat belt of all things ready for her.
"Hmmm?" Jason eyes didn't stray from his phone as he looked over the various photos Roy had sent over of Evelyn's hair.
The girl's hair looked very impressive with dual french-braid pigtails.
Roy must have thought so as well because he sent photos of his masterpiece from all angles and included video of his initial struggles. It was obvious based on the giggles heard behind the camera that Edgar had been tasked with documenting the adventure.
Terry somehow managed to find his way into the video as well, laughing simply because Edgar was laughing, and all three children finding Roy's struggle hilarious.
Even Artemis appeared on camera, insisting that she do it since Roy was obviously incompetent and would cause the children to be late for school.
"Great kids there. Roy included."
Jason was pulled out his thoughts as he looked over at Queen, who had apparently been watching the video over Jason's shoulder.
"Yeah...they are something alright," Jason replied softly, putting his phone away and closing his eyes as the jets' engines revved and they began to move.
He could feel Queen's eyes on him but remained quiet until takeoff, only opening his eyes once their flight attendant (a woman in her forties by the name of Stevie, who had been a flight attendant on Queen's payroll for years now) had provided them their drinks and some snacks before getting some water and treats for Bud who could be heard snoring even over the sound of the plane engines.
"So what's going to happen to Zoe?" Jason asked, watching Queen take a sip of water and mull over the question.
"Well, I tried to convince him that she'll be worse off without him, no matter what he thinks he'd be protecting her from..."
"But considering his line of work, he does have a point," Jason couldn't help but point out.
"He does, yes," Queen nodded, "and age is on her side considering how young she is and will hopefully not remember most of this nightmare."
The image of Zoe laughing across the table at Jason during their game of cards sprung to mind and he didn't like the feeling it gave him when he thought about the possibility of her not remembering him.
"But the fact of the matter is, he's been coming to Star City regularly to check on her. No other reason than that. So if he kept doing that, which I expect him to, then there's a risk that one day someone would catch on and use her to get him."
"Well what's the alternative then? It sounds like he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't..." Jason concluded as he stood up and went to sit in the chair facing across from Queen.
"He loves her, she loves him. He can protect her if he chooses to change his ways a little. It's his choice to make, but no matter what, I told him to tell me what he decides because placing that girl in foster care is something that doesn't have to happen."
Jason nodded firmly. "Agreed. She deserves the best life possible."
He watched Queen drum his fingers a few times on the table and open his mouth to say something but was unfortunately cut off by the sound of a phone.
"Ugh. I forgot about my Oslo call. Apologies in advance as this may take a while..." Queen sighed, getting up and moving towards the back of the jet where he had a desk and computer already on and ready to go.
Jason had nodded in understanding, closing his eyes once Bud had come over and plopped herself down on the seat beside him.
Unbeknownst to him, he clearly slept the hours away as the next thing he knew Queen was calling his name and letting him know they were beginning their descent into New York.
The bright afternoon sun was gone and the time on the clock now showed it to be close to 10pm now.
By the time they were all in the car (this time with a driver included), it was close to 11pm and Jason was surprisingly exhausted; he didn't care where they were staying as long as there was a shower and a bed.
"Is no one staying at The Surrey?" Jason asked, his eyes trained on the buildings outside while Bud had half her head sticking out of the small space Jason had allowed her when he'd lowered the window.
"Some of the events' honorees and a few people that actually want to be photographed nonstop leading up to the party tomorrow. Paparazzi has already started camping out across the street," Queen explained.
Jason grunted in response, happy when half an hour later they finally pulled up to their hotel, The Pierre.
He definitely felt underdressed as he followed the doormen towards the entrance, although with Queen similarly dressed and not caring one bit, Jason figured he probably looked too rich to give a shit about what he was wearing, and that was totally fine with him right now.
An excited number of hotel staff were immediately on hand to assist them, key cards handed out without any sort of check-in process and just like that he was in an elevator with Queen and Bud, heading to the top floor.
"Wait, are we sharing the penthouse?" Jason asked, realizing that in his exhausted haze, he was missing key plot points from the day.
Queen smirked. "Sort of. You'll see. It just so happens that this hotel is dog friendly when you've got the entire top floor bought out. Although I did call in a favor."
"What you bought out the whole floor?" Jason asked, surprised that he found himself feeling bad if that were the case. Plus, it would have been a ridiculous waste of money.
"Nope."
The answer was not helpful at all but Jason was too tired to care at this point, getting off the elevator and noting that the double doors in front of them were already open, courtesy of two black-suited security guards which had Jason squinting as he walked by them, something not sitting quite right with him.
"Did you hire security?" Jason asked, walking down the hallway and coming up to another large set of double doors. This time closed and without any security in sight.
Between the two sets of doors there were at least four rooms Jason recalled passing, so he wasn't exactly sure why they were pressing on the doorbell next to these particular ones.
"Coming, coming!"
Jason's ears perked up at the muffled sound of a woman's voice coming from the other side of the doors.
"What the fu-" Jason choked on his words as one of the doors flew open.
Wearing a lumpy knitted navy sweater, jeans, no shoes, and a wide smile revealed a familiar face.
"Well if it isn't my ex-lover! Please tell me you have a cigarette on you."
Jason, finding himself momentarily speechless, huffed out a laugh.