Notes:
So I'm not entirely happy with this one but it is what it is. I apologize for any mistakes or if things don't make sense, it was mostly written while I was sick.
I hope you guys enjoy it.
Life has been hard, I know it gets better this is a war that I'll fight forever I have my scars, I'll always remember when I lost it all and never surrendered
Quentin wasn't sure how to feel about cuffing Oliver and whether he should apologize to him or lecture both of the young men about getting into a fight and being too old for behavior like that before taking Oliver to the precinct. And especially Oliver. He had a wife and kids at home. He shouldn't be out clubbing, drinking, and getting into trouble. Well, getting into trouble, he guessed how Oliver spent his nights was between him and Sara, but still… it wasn't a good look and rather unexpected, given everything he'd learnt about the more mature version of the young man he remembered that he'd gotten to know the last few weeks.
Given the severity of the situation, all four of them were forced to take a breathalyzer test, knowing their exact alcohol level would be helpful should Fuller go through with his threat and take it all the way to court. His daughter, just like McKenna and Tommy, were well within the legal limits. Tommy and McKenna's were higher than Laurel's, but still well within the law. Tommy had gone through a lot of changes in the last five years, especially the last one or two. He had matured and changed his ways, mostly. Quentin faced Oliver and wondered just how high his son-in-law's alcohol level would be, preparing for the worst. The result made him do a double take, and if he hadn't known for a fact that it was working, he'd been sure there was an issue with the breathalyzer. Oliver's alcohol level was nonexistent. He had no alcohol in his body. He had not expected that. He looked at his partners to double check his eyes were not deceiving him when the surprised looks on their faces confirmed it for him. It looked like no one had expected Oliver Queen to be sober.
The look on his and the other officers' faces must have made their thoughts rather obvious, because Oliver felt the need to explain.
"Sara's eight months pregnant. We got two small kids at home. Not being able to drive is not an option at the moment." His words made sense, but still, he could've had one drink and would've still been legally allowed to drive. And it was the first time in a good five years that he'd gone out with his friends. It was surprising that he hadn't even had one drink with them. But this made him question Fuller's version of events even more, while Oliver could be a hot-head with a short temper, as far as he knew that was mostly due to the influence of alcohol or drugs, otherwise Oliver was very easy-going and tried to avoid any type of confrontations at all costs. Unless that had changed during the years he'd been away, but he doubted it. It was a character trait, and it took a lot to push Oliver to the point of explosion, unless he was under the influence.
They had all given their statements, and they'd been ready to send them on their way for now. That was until they were informed that Max Fuller was pressing charges against Oliver, and only Oliver, which was how he'd ended up here. Cuffing his son-in-law to take him to the station.
The other thing that surprised him was that there was no objection on Oliver's part. He simply followed orders, answered the questions truthfully, or so he assumed and requested he not tell Sara. Unfortunately, that was something he couldn't do for him. As much as he would've loved to come through with Oliver's one request, it just simply wasn't one he could get behind. Even if Oliver's intentions were good and his reasonings very understandable.
This was why, once Oliver had been processed and put into a cell, he walked to his desk with a heavy heart.
He felt bad calling his youngest in the middle of the night, were the situation different, he might have looked at it as Karma for all the late-night phone calls he and Dinah had gotten because of her. But given her heavily pregnant state and the two small children she had, he wished he didn't have to call her but she was Oliver's emergency contact and the only person he had suggested to call, yet he'd refused to use his one phone call to call her himself and had also said that he'd stay the night no problem because he didn't want her to have to come get him at this time of the night.
But Quentin was sure that she'd be worried sick if he just wasn't going to come home, and that would be worse than waking her up and letting her know what had transpired and where Oliver was and why he hadn't come home yet. Or wasn't going to until she posted bail. She still had the option to leave him here overnight, as Oliver had suggested, and he was going to relay to her.
Laurel, Tommy, and McKenna had tried to get Oliver off the hook and gave their version of events, it was a shame McKenna hadn't been present in the room when the scuffle began, and he believed them, the problem was Max Fuller pressing charges against Oliver, and only Oliver. It made him wonder what had transpired between the two men all those years ago, that led to this sort of animosity. It also meant that Sara needed to post bail in order for Oliver to be released and so she could take him home.
Her reaction to the amount made him once again wonder about their financial situation. The intake of breath he'd heard over the phone told him she probably couldn't afford to spend that much money on an issue like this. He had wanted to offer her the money, but he had a feeling she would refuse, and it wouldn't be perceived well.
Sara walked into the police station, her drowsy and therefore very grumpy baby boy on her hip, her equally as tired, groggy and moody four-year-old on her hand, past the shady figures occupying the seats on the wall waiting to be processed and towards the direction she remembered her dad's workplace used to be. Hoping it was still there, she was not in the mood to search the entire precinct, or to talk to anyone who wasn't her father.
Sara couldn't fucking believe it. She'd known it was a bad idea, not that anyone, speak her husband, had decided to listen to her. But she had to be honest, while she knew them heading to Max Fuller's club opening would probably lead to some trouble, she'd never expected to get a fucking phone call, from her father no less, at three am which had led to her getting her exhausted, pregnant ass out of bed, getting dressed, waking both kids, are you fucking serious, somehow managed to get them in the car and make the forty-minute drive to the station. Which had been so much fun with two cranky kids. Got out and now walked in at the crack of dawn while the type of people she was working hard on keeping away from their children's lives were all around them.
This was the last thing they needed right now. And not just because they couldn't afford bail, well technically, she could pay it, it was just money they'd seriously miss after and given their current economic situation… this was putting an enormous indent into their savings account, one they really, really couldn't afford. Not as long as they were only taking money out and none was going back in.
She didn't even want to think about what would happen if they couldn't get Max to drop the charges against Ollie. They most definitely couldn't afford to pay a lawyer or the costs that came with a trial. This could ruin them, ruin everything they've worked and saved for for the past five years. And sure, they'd been in worse situations before, and they'd also been in worse financial situations, especially right after they found out about her pregnancy but at the same time it hadn't been nearly as bad or devastating as it would be now. They hadn't owned any property they needed to pay taxes on. They hadn't had to care for a child yet, and after Eloise had been born, it had only been one child they'd needed to take care of. Now they were responsible for two, very soon it would be three. Plus, they were back in the States, things were a lot more complicated over here than they had been in most of the countries they had travelled through.
And different than after Eloise was born, they had no more investments. They'd pulled all the money Ollie had had invested over the years, and very successfully so, to buy what would be Verdant one day. Hopefully. They didn't even have the money to hire people to do the construction. They were pretty much officially broke; the little money they had left on their savings account was meant to get them through for as long as possible until… until they'd find a way to earn more money, something that looked like an almost impossible feat, at least until Verdant was running. She was certain her husband's club would be a tremendous success. She had no doubt about it, Ollie knew what he was doing, he knew the scene, knew how to draw a crowd and make the most out of it. This was his forte, it was what he thrived on. But that could be years from now, given the fact that they were doing everything on their own. The money they had left was meant to be used for groceries and stuff or in case they had an emergency with the kids.
Not for this. But leaving Ollie in jail wasn't an option, either.
Maybe Tommy would be ablet to find them an investor soon. Hopefully. But the longer the more it looked like they were down on their luck. She hoped it was going to change soon. It needed to change soon. She wasn't sure what they were going to do should their money run out before they found someone willing to invest in Verdant. Selling Ollie's dream wasn't an option. This had to work. They had to find that one person willing to take a chance on them. Who believed in them and who didn't care about the fact that Ollie was considered a social pariah by most of Starling right now. The discarded Queen heir. One would think he'd have the plague given the treatment he received as soon as people learned his last name. What used to be a blessing had now turned into a curse.
Neither Ollie nor she had asked Tommy for money or to invest in Verdant and part of her, and she knew Ollie as well, wondered why he wasn't. He seemed to be totally on board with the idea and not just willing but eager to help, yet, he'd never offered any financial support and neither she nor Ollie would ever ask him for money. But it was strange. Tommy used to throw money around the same way Ollie had. And she was pretty certain he hadn't been cut off. But then again, his and Malcolm's relationship had always been rather strained. She was certain there were good reasons for Tommy's actions, it would've just been nice and very helpful had he offered to invest in Verdant. But it was what it was. All this meant was that Tommy wasn't that person when it came to their financial issues, but he was trying to help them any way he could, financially just didn't seem to be an option for him right now.
Sara pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind as she spotted her father sitting at his desk, bent over some report, she guessed. She pulled Eloise closer after noticing a man staring at her and hurried them along to her father's desk.
"Hi dad."
Quentin watched his daughter walk into the precinct, and it was obvious to see that she was not in a good mood, far from it, but that was understandable. Given the circumstances. He focused back on his report to put down the finishing touches so he could take care of his daughter's issues right away.
"Hi dad." Sara smiled tiredly and tensely at him, Benjamin on her hip and Eloise on her hand.
"Hi, baby." He got up from his chair to greet her, very aware of the situation and the children's unease.
"Why don't you sit down? Do you want something to drink?" he gestured towards the chair in front of his desk while addressing her.
"Actually, I just want to get it done. Sign whatever I have to or do whatever is necessary so I can take Ollie home." Sara sounded exhausted and incredulous, almost as if she still couldn't believe the situation she's found herself in. He wasn't sure whether he should be surprised about that or not, given who she had married, but what surprised him was that she wasn't asking anymore questions or for him to clarify what exactly had transpired, he'd only given her the CliffsNotes version of events on the phone. The conversation had not at all turned out the way he had expected. Sara had been surprised, then worried and then incredulous but she hadn't asked any questions, she'd simply listened to him, asked what she needed to do to get Ollie out and told him she'd be there as soon as she could to pick him up.
Then again, the last thing he had expected when he got the call of an altercation at 'Poison', which promised to become one of the most famous posh clubs in Starling after its opening night tonight, was that one party of the disturbance were the two men his daughters were involved with and detective McKenna Hall. It was her night off and she had been friends with both of them. Still was with Tommy as far as he knew from Laurel, but this was still a surprise. And least of all that, the older one of his daughters had also taken part to some degree.
The next unexpected thing had been that the owner of the club himself had also been involved in the scuffle. He could vaguely remember the three men having been friends growing up, and then suddenly Max hadn't been mentioned anymore. Even Laurel had been left in the dark as to why and what had transpired between the Queen and the Merlyn heirs and the son of a very successful salesman. Fuller's family was closer to what one would consider nouveau riche in Starling while the Queen's and the Merlyn's came from old money. Part of him had wondered if that had played into it, even though if that had been the case, the issue would most likely have been Fuller's because neither Oliver nor Tommy cared about that. He assumed it could've been jealousy. But then again, the boys had been friends for years, not close but close enough for Max to be a permanent fixture in their lives.
He recalled the last interaction he'd had with the man, several months after the boys seemed to have had a falling out, when he had been called to the station because Sara had been taken in, as had Fuller after she'd punched him in the face, breaking his nose.
According to Sara, he'd gotten grabby and wouldn't accept a no, Fuller's version of events had been slightly different, though. No charges had been filed on either side, given the 'she said he said' situation it had been, and the subject had been dropped.
He had tried to get more details about what had happened out of Sara, but she'd stick with the "he got grabby and wouldn't accept a no" version of events, not even elaborating how exactly he got grabby and what had really transpired. Fuller's version had been a lot more detailed, and according to him the "grabby" Sara would mention had not at all been in a sexual way but he had taken hold of her upper arm to keep her from walking away in the middle of an argument they were having. Sara had neither confirmed nor denied what Max had said, and neither had given any indication as to what the alleged argument had been about. The only thing that had been said, again on Fuller's side, was that Sara had been the one who had started it. His daughter again had chosen to take the fifth, so to speak and refused to give any more detail than 'he got grabby and wouldn't accept a no.' He had tried to make her understand that the more information she would provide the better the chances were that her actions could be considered self-defense. But still, his teenage daughter had refused. He, to this day, didn't know what had transpired between his daughter and Fuller.
Oliver and Tommy had been very pissed off, though, when they had learnt about the incident a day later. Sara literally had to hold Oliver back to keep him from going after Fuller. He'd been cursing and pacing around their living room, telling Sara that he was going to fucking kill him. Quentin had never before seen the usually rather mellow Oliver this enraged, nor had he since. Looking back now, he wondered if there had been more to Oliver's reaction than he had thought. He guessed he would never truly know, just like he doubted he would ever know what exactly had happened between the three of them and Fuller.
He left to get all the necessary paperwork for his daughter so Oliver could be released as fast as possible.
It was once they were done with all the paperwork, and Sara had paid the money needed for Oliver's bail, that an officer went to get him from his cell to release him into the hands of his impatient and tense wife. He wondered how Sara was going to react at the sight of her husband and whether she was going to ask him all those questions she had refrained from asking him.
She still only had the CliffsNotes version of events, and he wondered why she hadn't asked for more details. Was it simply because it was late, she was tired and possibly because she had the children with her? Or was she saving them for Oliver himself?
He watched Sara as she was looking straight ahead, towards the direction the officer had left. There was a slight shift the moment Oliver stepped into their view, but still, Sara didn't move. She just stayed where she was, as if she were rooted to the spot. Her kids safely tucked to her side.
"Sara…" the sound of his voice and the look on his face said everything. It was a mixture of guilt, regret, and shame.
"I'm not talking to you right now." He did not expect her to cut him off right away, nor the short to the point statement. She was very obviously angry and understandably so, but he felt she could've at the very least let him finish what he assumed was an apology.
"Sar…" Quentin had to admit his respect towards the young man just rose, because he still decided to push ahead and tell her what he wanted to, but he once again was interrupted by a rather agitated but exhausted sounding Sara.
"No. It's fucking four thirty am, Oliver. I'm tired and I am not having this argument in front of our kids and the entire station. I just want to go home, put the kids back to bed and hopefully get them back to sleep and also get some more myself." Quentin watched the exchange between the couple, the way Oliver pursed his lips, almost as if he didn't agree and really wanted to say whatever it was that he had tried to say, but nodded and complied anyway, and Sara just handing the car keys over to him. The young man bent down to lift his tired daughter into his arms, before the family walked towards the entrance.
He was surprised that Sara just handed her keys over, without any reservation or checking with Oliver if he's had anything to drink. Part of him believed it to be negligence, or would've, had he not personally overseen Oliver while he'd been made to take a breathalyzer test after the fight had been diffused at the club. Everyone involved had to take one. The last thing he had expected was the result he had received when Oliver took the test. There had been no alcohol in his system. He'd been the only person involved that had been stone cold sober. That had astounded him, especially given his record for a DUI and all the ones concerning drunken disorderly that were never written thanks to his parents' sway and lawyers.
So maybe his daughter's action hadn't been negligent, maybe she'd known that he wouldn't have drunk any alcohol. He thought back to all the family meals they've had since the two of them had come back home and only now realized that neither Sara, for obvious reasons, nor Oliver had drunk any alcohol at all. Even if all the other adults had, Oliver hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since he had been back, as far as he could tell. That was an interesting development, and he wasn't sure what it meant and couldn't believe he hadn't noticed before now. The notorious party boy had obviously grown up, but this took it to a whole new level.
Unless it was because Oliver was usually the one driving. He'd learnt that his daughter tried avoiding it as much as possible because depending on how the baby was positioned, it was very uncomfortable or something like that. She'd also mentioned that given her advanced stage of pregnancy, she didn't like driving, especially with the kids in the car in case labor would set in. She felt it was an unnecessary risk she would be taking. So if she could avoid it, she would. Which added yet another layer to tonight's events. She'd been forced to not only drive with the kids but in the middle of the night after only having been woken up, which was not a smart thing to do in general.
He hoped Oliver wasn't in too much hot water once they got home and the children were back asleep.
Notes:
As always I would love to hear your thoughts.
Max's familial background is completely made up. I did a little research on it and couldn't find anything so I came up with my own version.
Also just to make it clear here, Max did not try to assault Sara in any way shape or form, if he had Sara would've been more forthcoming with the information, she refused to say more because she might have implicated herself if she had... she's no fragile, innocent flower and Max was the only one who was physically harmed. Just to make this clear here. Max is a douchebag but that's pretty much it. At least as far as this story is concerned.
Chapter title is from the song "Sober" by Madchild and Tom MacDonald. Which is such a beautiful and powerful song. You should really go check it out on YouTube. Especially if you have a bad day or if you're struggling right now.