Enjoy the final chapter folks!
Quentin Lance was sitting at his desk in City Hall, ravaging through a stack of documents, looking for paperwork regarding pipeline maintenance. While it wasn't that Oliver dumped a lot of the duties of the Mayor on him, Quentin was just much better versed in the world of politics and legislation, being a cop for many years and having been on City Council for over a year now. Oliver really did do his best in office and Quentin was just holding the fort while Oliver was off fighting aliens. Just as he thought he may have found the right paper, suddenly a strong gust of wind whipped through the room, causing all of the papers to fly in multiple directions, including the one in his hand. Startled, he saw Barry and Oliver standing in front of him in civilian clothes.
"Dammit, Allen. Do you know how long it took me to find that document?" said Quentin, irritated, "Hey Oliver."
"Sorry, Mr Lance," said Barry sheepishly.
"Aren't you two supposed to be celebrating or something?" asked Quentin, still annoyed that he had to look for that document all over again.
"Well, Quentin, we'd like for you to come celebrate with us," replied Oliver.
"Why? I didn't do anything. It was all you guys."
"Uhh, Sara's there and you haven't seen her in a while. Plus, it'd be cool if you met some of the others," suggested Barry.
"You make a good point. Ah, what the hell. I'm not finding that document again any time soon. I could use a break," said Quentin as he stood up, "Wait, how are we going to get to Central City though?"
Oliver and Barry both glanced at each other, each smirking a little before turning back to Quentin. Quentin, realising what was about to happen, lifted his hand and was about to scold Barry once more. He wasn't quick enough, as before he could say a word, he felt the sensation of when you stick your hand out a moving car, except 1000 times worse and across his whole body. He barely had any time to process what was happening in those several seconds before he came to a stop and was back on his own two feet. He stumbled a bit as he tried to regain his bearings, slowly recognising that he was in some hanger of sorts.
"Are you okay? Do you need to throw up?" asked Barry.
"No, Barry, I'm just older now. My joints can't take this anymore. You got a glass of water or something?" replied Quentin as he bent down, placing his hands on his aching knees. Barry sped to get a glass of water, and handed it to Quentin who downed it in one attempt before handing it back to Barry. Barry looked at Quentin concernedly, but Oliver tapped him on the shoulder and nodded, reassuring Barry that Quentin would be fine. Sara spotted the three of them and immediately ran over to where they were standing.
"Dad!" she called out as he approached Quentin, who had recovered from being 'superspeeded' for the first time.
"Sara. It's so good to see you," he replied as she hugged him tightly, "Congrats on saving the world again."
"Thanks, Dad. How are you?" she asked as the four of them starting walking towards everybody else.
"Oh, I'm fine. Being the Deputy Mayor is great. How are you doing? You know, of all the things I thought you'd amount to, Captain of a…"
"Timeship."
"Yeah, Captain of a Timeship was not the one I was expecting."
"I'm going to take that as a compliment."
"It is one. I'm proud of you, you know that?"
"Of course, Dad."
They reached the rest of the others who were gathered in front of the screens. Sara left Quentin's side to join Amaya, Jax and Diggle who were getting some beer. Felicity popped open the champagne, and Oliver spotted Kara standing next to her. She glanced at him, and he gestured for her to come towards him.
"Quentin, there's someone I'd like for you to meet," said Oliver as he placed his hand on Quentin's shoulder and guided him in the direction of Kara. Quentin didn't spot her immediately, but when he did, he stopped dead in his tracks and simply stared at her. Kara continued walking briskly towards him, smiling even though she was slightly concerned by Quentin's reaction.
"Quentin, this is Kara Danvers of Earth-38," said Oliver.
"Earth-38? Like a parallel universe?" asked Quentin, still in shock.
"Yes. Kara Danvers, this is Quentin Lance. Sara's father and a very good friend of mine."
"It's nice to meet you, Mr Lance," she said cheerfully as she extended a hand.
"It's… nice to meet you too," replied Quentin, shaking her hand. Oliver gestured for them to head towards Felicity. Quentin opted for water once again and chose to go join Sara, while Oliver and Barry put their glasses forward for the champagne. After filling her glass, Kara strolled over to Oliver and Barry who had walked off by themselves.
"Hey, hey, guys," she said, catching up to them, "Either of you ever save the world before?"
"Mm-hmm," said Barry.
"Last year," replied Oliver
"It doesn't get old, does it?" asked Kara.
"Nope. It sure beats screwing up the world," replied Barry
"Hey, you are too hard on yourself," said Kara.
"That's what people usually tell me," quipped Oliver.
"And for good reason, I'm sure," replied Kara, giving Oliver a look of sympathy, "But, back on my Earth, it's just me and my cousin. Between the two of us, we're more powerful than…"
"Yeah, everybody in this room combined," interrupted Barry.
"No, no. That's the point," continued Kara, "That's what you've all proven here. Meta-humans or not, superpowers or not, you are Earth's mightiest heroes."
"Well, Kara, the truth is that we wouldn't have been able to do this without you. This Earth could probably use a Supergirl," said Oliver.
"Well, that's funny, because I was just thinking, my Earth could use an Oliver Queen. I know you said you don't get unnerved, but if you did, I think hardship is what makes us stronger. That's probably why these people look to you as their rock."
"You guys feeling the group hug?" asked Barry.
"No," replied Oliver sternly.
"Come on. Come on." Barry and Kara were practically already lunging at him.
"All right," conceded Oliver, as they embraced in a group hug, laughing in unison.
An hour passed as everybody continued to enjoy each other's company. Given their particular field of work, there wasn't a lot of time for them to simply unwind and have a good time with their friends. There was also little time to celebrate their accomplishments. Right now in the hall, it wasn't just a celebration of their victory against the Dominators, but of everything that they had done in keeping their world safe. Quentin seemed to be enjoying Kara's company. Oliver could see that he was happy to see her again, in some form. He even reacted jovially when Kara displayed her powers to him. She noticed that Oliver was standing alone by himself, and walked over to give him some company.
"You alright?" she asked as she approached him.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. You and Quentin seem to be getting along."
"Oh, he's very nice. Mind telling me why he reacted like that? Let me guess, he knew my doppelganger," said Kara.
"Yes, but it's not that simple. On this Earth, Kara Danvers' parents died when she was 16. She didn't have any other family, so Quentin took her in and cared for her. He started to love her like she was his own daughter."
"Wow, that's… incredible," replied Kara, with her respect for him increasing even more now.
"Yeah, it is. I never got the chance to say thank you."
"What for?" asked Kara.
"For saving my life," replied Oliver, alluding to how she caught him when he got knocked off the rooftop during the fight with the Dominators, "And for understanding."
"Understanding was the least I could do. Not many people would have had the courage to continue with the mission after what you had to go through."
"Well, just like you said, hardship makes us stronger."
"I really meant it, Oliver. When I said you have my friendship. Now that I have this extrapolator from Cisco, if it's alright with you, perhaps we could soon spend some time together. I'd really love to get to know Oliver Queen."
"Uhh… yeah, sure," replied Oliver nervously, astounded by Kara's suggestion, "I'd love to. Oh and Kara, if you ever need my help, with anything… I'll be there for you. I promise."
After spending the past three and a half years without a Kara Danvers in his life, maybe it would do him some good to let a Kara Danvers back in...
Wow guys, that's the end right there. I must say, I have had so much fun writing this story, and I hope that you guys enjoyed it too. Once again, I simply have to thank danversqueen [IG] / literarrow [FFN] for inspiring me to write this story and helping me with the writing process throughout. This story would not have been possible without her. Thank you to all of you who have reading and giving reviews. If all goes well, you could see a sequel in the near future, but my life is about to get more hectic, so no promises in that regard. However, I have been working on an Arrow/Predator crossover story, which should be up in the coming week (check my bio for more details). Thank you all for reading, and please leave a review on what you thought of the story. Stay blessed, all of you!