liberalshot (liberalshot) wrote in newalliance, @ 2014-05-08 18:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | green arrow i |
Who: Oliver Queen and Bonnie King
What: Phone calls that should have been made months ago
When: Backdated to April 30th
Where: Oliver's Apartment and Bonnie's Apartment.
Status: Complete
Rating: PG. Some cursing not much
Night had arrived, and Oliver Queen was found nursing a pot of chili. A wooden spoon stirred the mixture about, mixing the beans, vegetables, and other general ingredients into a meal that was debatable edible. Ollie's special recipe was notorious for bringing out a unique reaction in all that participated in the consumption of it. Of course, most people kept their faces straight and gave a thumb's up while dreading the next bite.
That was frighteningly appropriate. The phone call wasn't going to be pleasant on either end, but he had to know. He had to know why Bonnie was poking around in things that she shouldn't have, digging up memories and mysteries that should have stayed deep in the ground.
Sighing, Oliver scrolled through his contacts and found the number snuggled between 'Bonita' and 'Bosley.' It rang three times.
~~~
The number that appeared on the phone on the table in the apartment in Queens was an unfamiliar one. It was a number that - had this been years ago - Bonnie King would have recognized. But time and arguments and distance had a way of making things such as remembering an ex's phone number less than important.
For the last year, Bonnie had been undergoing court-ordered therapy. She wasn't able to contact her daughter (though she had tried) and her life wasn't something that her daughter seemed at all interested in. She'd made progress of course. She'd tried to do what she could to protect Cissie from afar, but given the nature of things she had not been surprised when she'd been rebuked by Oliver's new sidekick. That had been back in November. She had sent a few emails in that time, tried to get her to understand that things were different, to warn her about Malcolm's cold nature but the emails had gone unread...
Bonnie tapped her cigarette into the ash tray - she'd cut down a bit in the last year - and grabbed the phone. She figured it was some kind of telemarketer. "Hello?" If it was then she'd tell them to fuck off.
~~~
The wooden spoon that stood vanguard over the steaming chili was abandoned, tossed to the side in the wake of an awkward conversation. Clicking signaled that the stove was turned down to a simmer. The destiny of the chili was up to fate now, but there were larger things at stake.
"Bonnie, it's Queen," he half-mumbled into his smart phone, pressing it up against the side of his face so that his beard bristled the side of it, "And no, I'm not a rockstar back from the dead. We've gotta talk."
~~~
Of course. Of course he would call and start with a wisecrack. On her end of the line, Bonnie rolled her eyes. The fact that it was Oliver didn't surprise her as much as the fact that it had taken him this long to make this call. Assuming that it was about what she thought it was about. Becuase it could be about something else. But the odds of it were small.
"I'm not sure if I should be impressed at the fact that you were able to get this number, or concerned at the possibility that you never actually deleted it from your phone." She didn't sound happy to hear from him. And she didn't think that anyone would blame her. What the hell did he want? Well... she was pretty sure she had an idea. Because it was the only thing they had in common now. Or had. That might be the better word. "So tell me," she said pursing her lips. "To what do I owe this call?"
~~~
"Cissie," he groaned. Oliver never deleted contacts, it seemed. Paranoia aside, everyone can be called upon for favors. A number given at any one time is a lifeline that can be tugged at the last, most desperate moment before drowning. Bonnie was pretty far down on that list, admittedly, but their last connection was rather strong, all the same.
"I know I've been out of the picture for a little while. I had some soul searching to do. Some mid-life crisis bullshit. That gives you no excuse, however, to run around and direct Cissie's life behind my back," he told her sternly, "You gave up the chance when she stopped living with you. Are you aware of what the Hell you've done? Do you know who the Hell you put her with?"
~~~
Well if nothing else she'd been right in regards to what this phone call was about. The only connection they had left anymore was Cissie.
Bonnie was silent for a moment, listening to Oliver until he finished speaking. She wasn't certain whether to laugh at his statement or to start cursing at him. These days Bonnie didn't blame anyone who thought the worst of her. Given what she'd done, what she'd put her daughter through, she really had no legs to stand on, nothing to throw back in her own defense. Not should she. She'd spent a year in court ordered therapy and classes which she felt had helped. She felt bad, she did. She loved her daughter and had been a terrible parent, both before and after Bowstring's death. But this accusation...
“Run her life behind her back?” It amused her slightly that Oliver had just admitted to being out of the loop. She had the sinking feeling she knew exactly what this was about. How many months had it been? And he was just making this call now? “What the hell are you talking about?”
~~~
"Cissie is living with Malcom, Bonnie. Malcom," he said sternly, free arm crossed over his chest, "And I've come to understand that it was your decision that led to that. Do you understand how dangerous he is? Look, I don't care if he is her real, biological father. I don't care if you two had a night of passion behind my back, or before I was in the picture, or after, or whatever. He is not the kind of man that should be looking after anyone."
Come to think of it, neither was he. For all his good as the leader of the Arrow family, what had Oliver really accomplished with his band of sidekicks? All of them were brought into a life of violence, of vigilantism by his influence and example. He had no foot to stand on, legally or otherwise, on who would be best equipped to handle Cissie, but that didn’t' prevent him from having a damned opinion.
~~~
In other words, per usual, Oliver was all bluster and no facts. She shouldn't have been surprised. When she hadn't heard from him when this had happened, she should have put together that either he wasn't there or he didn't care, that something was up! She didn't think it was the second because he knew Malcolm, he knew the type of man he was and she didn't think he'd have allowed it... even if the courts had said he had no right, he'd have tried to do something, yeah? He was a better man than that.
Taking a breath so she didn't just yell at him instead of discussing this rationally, Bonnie chose her words very carefully. “I think that you should go back and check the court documents that were sent to you again,” she said all too calmly. “If you think for a second that I put my daughter in that situation willingly, then you are out of your mind! Hell I would have left her with you before I sent her to him!” Of course Malcolm was dangerous, there was a cold man under that exterior. She knew that all too well. “I didn't really have a choice in the matter.”
~~~
It took all Oliver Queen had not to burst into a fit of curses. He had jumped to conclusions, obviously, or had misinterpreted the information. Reading court documents and the like was a job for secretaries while he was away, and there was a short-list of pretty young women who were soon going to get fired. Still, the blame was partially on him for not taking this seriously, for acting without thinking.
So, instead of flipping out, he paused and took a moment to collect himself. This wasn't Bonnie's fault, not entirely. Malcom was scheming, trying to get under his skin, and doing a damn good job of it. Whatever his plans for Cissie were, they couldn't be good. He had left decency behind long ago.
"Then we have to get her away from him. Soon."
~~~
This time she really did laugh. It wasn't a happy laugh, nothing was funny. It was a sarcastic one. One that said that what he said was funny, but in the worst way possible.
"You think that I haven't tried? I fought this all the way up till the end. But when he finally got the judge to order a DNA test there was nothing I could do! He's not a warm man, Ollie. To send Cissie to him? Do you ever wonder WHY I never told anyone she was anyone other than Bowstring's?" And for someone like Bonnie, knowing something like this... She had never asked for child support. Hell she'd never wanted anything to do with Malcolm. "The judge didn't have a choice but to grant him custody. He's her father," her tone was flat. Unhappy. "He can care for her where I can't. And the fact that you were somewhere out of the country and not reachable couldn't possibly have helped matters! So you tell me. What are you going to do that I haven't tried?"
~~~
"I'm going to talk to Cissie. For God's sake, the girl's heading for college. She's old enough to make her own damned decisions, without you, me, or Malcom tryin' to treat her like a kid. If she could handle finding out that Malcom is her real Dad, then she can handle the whole truth."
It wouldn't be an easy conversation, he knew. Cissie was one to throw sarcasm and quips into everything, and while the vigilante in him appreciated the levity at times, the father-figure (Poor as he may be), knew when it was appropriate. She had to know that Malcom was one of his most dire enemies, an assassin, and an evil man. The sooner that was done, the better.
"For what it's worth, Bonnie, if you're honest about tryin' as hard as you could? Good work. Maybe that therapy's finally sinking in."
His thumb grazed over the 'End Call' button without a word of goodbye. All that had to be said was out in the air, and now he had a clear sense of purpose. Besides, getting the band back together was the first priority, even if it won't be the same as it was before he left.
Bonnie was going to be pissed at the abrupt ending, but that somehow made it all seem right in the mind of Oliver Queen.
~~~
Bonnie was about to say something, but then the line went dead. She pulled the phone away from her ear to see the blinking number which indicated that the call had been ended. Oliver fucking Queen had hung up on her. Well that was just great.
In truth, she'd never really understood what it was about Malcolm and Oliver that made the two hate one another so much. It could had just been a circuit or business rivalry, but from what she was hearing, from Oliver's insistence that he was dangerous, she doubted it... What did he mean by the “whole truth”? There had to be something that she was missing. Something that she had missed, both back then and now? Maybe? She was tempted to call him back and demand an answer, but the bastard probably wouldn't even pick up the phone.
One thing she did know. She needed to try and get to the bottom of this. Somehow... One thing she knew for certain? For all his faults? Oliver didn't get this pissed off about things for no reason...