Green Arrow | Oliver Queen (firstgreenarrow) wrote in newalliance, @ 2013-08-15 20:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | arrowette, green arrow i |
Who: Oliver Queen and NPC: Janet Kessler, Child Services Case Worker
What: Phone calls about Cissie, and her welfare.
When: [WAY BACKDATED] June 2013
Where: Respective offices/cell phones.
Rating: PG
Note: The rest of this will follow when Abby gets on and we've smoothed out the final edits. Please ignore our total fail, and take pity on us because I have a really bad migraine. :X
In a city the size of New York it was rather easy for a child to slip through the cracks. She’d seen the statistics, she knew the numbers, it was her job to know what these kids were up to and that they were keeping themselves safe. But she was having a problem with one of her more recently assigned charges, and after the stunt she’d pulled Janet Kessler didn’t really see any other options.
She knew that she was going to be hated for it, but the child in question required more supervision than she was able to give. Although her grades were good and she seemed to be – at least from reports – making some friends, the way she’d been reacting and the choices she was making seemed to scream that something wasn’t right. Didn’t kids want normal?
It was for this reason that she had taken this time to take the number out of her rolodex. It was for this reason that she’d waited until summer to do this. Between school years. Clean start. And the fact that she’d given permission for her charge to go out of town for a few weeks meant she could just get things done... She waited for someone to pick up, unable to remember if it was a direct line or if someone would have to transfer her elsewhere, but it was the best option she could come up with. She just hoped it worked. She just wanted what was best for the child, and she knew what was best: keeping her out of trouble! Janet hoped someone picked up before the machine hit. She hated leaving messages.
---
Janet Kessler needn't have worried. Her call was picked up on the third ring, and a male voice answered. On the other end of the line was Queen's assistant, Joseph Sedowsky. in contrast to the man himself, Joseph was polite and professional. Ollie often teased Joey about the fact that he needed to lighten up.
"Hello," Joseph said. "You've reached Queen Consolidated. This is Joseph Sedowsky. How may I help you, Miss…?"
---
A person on the other end of the line! Perfect! Janet sat up in her chair - an old habit that seemed to have stuck with her for years, even when it wasn’t in-person she was speaking to someone, and on her end found herself opening the file in front of her in preparation.
“Janet Kessler.” She paused for a moment before continuing, “Mr. Sedowsky, I’m a caseworker with Children’s Services here in the city and I was hoping that I might be able to speak with Mr. Queen for a few minutes regarding a case that I’m currently overseeing, if he’s available.” She couldn’t give too much information away. Hopefully he’d be available. If not she’d schedule a time. But the man on the other end seemed pleasant. And she wanted something from Oliver Queen so she was more than ready to be flexible if it came to that.
---
"He's finishing up a meeting. I'll see what I can do, Miss Kessler," Joseph said, then paused. He'd only started working for Oliver when the Arrows moved to New York, but he'd gotten to know his boss well enough to know that calls from Children's Services made Ollie nervous.
A nervous Ollie was an easily agitated Ollie. Joseph would have been remiss -- a bad personal assistant -- if he didn't at least try and press Kessler for more information.
"I understand the need for discretion -- your first obligation is to protect your charge -- but are there any details I can pass onto Mr. Queen?"
---
Oliver Queen was a man with a reputation. Both good and bad. It really depended on what you wanted to believe, the tabloids or the press releases. Who you listened to, the daytime talk shows or the news, sometimes both. While she’d never met the man she knew of his work, the reputation for good work, and she couldn’t help but understand the slight - and very polite - informational press she was getting from his assistant. After all, when did child services call? She’d had a coworker who had had to tell an NBA player that his son - whom he had never known about - was now in his custody after the mother was killed by a stray bullet. Thankfully Janet had never had any cases like that...
Still, he was being extremely polite, and she could give him something without being too specific.
Janet took a breath, balancing the phone between her shoulder and her ear. “I have a few I could share,” she said with a small nod, even though he couldn’t see it. “I have a young lady in my charge who is in need of... further supervision than she has presently been getting. I’m familiar with Mr. Queen’s work with fosters and I was hoping he might be able to give me a recommendation as to private placement. Beyond that I fear I’ll have to speak with Mr. Queen or one of his representatives.” she was smiling slightly on her end. “I do appreciate your help with this, Mr. Sedowsky.” This situation wasn’t funny, she was concerned for the safety of her charge, but still there was a quip on the end of her tongue about not bringing tidings of illegitimate unknown children with her that she held back. This wasn’t the time.
---
Through the glass walls that separated the CEO's private office from the outer office, Joseph was keeping an eye on Oliver's meeting as it was wrapping up. Ollie had remarked to him more than once that capitalism was stupid, and having an office when he was rarely at the office was even stupider, but the Board protested when he tried to give it to someone else.
Despite his philosophical differences, Ollie had returned as CEO of Queen Consolidated because he believed that together, he and the company could do good.
"Miss Kessler, I'm going to have to put you on hold while I speak to Mr. Queen," Joseph said, for Janet's benefit, before pressing the hold button and setting the phone down.
He waited until Ollie had said his final goodbye to Walter before speaking up:
"Boss? I've got a call for you on line one. It's a social worker from Children's Services. It's about a girl in trouble."
Ollie's first reaction was, naturally, confusion. It was written across his face. Why would someone from Children's Services call him?
"I think you should take it," Joey said. "At least hear her out. The worker's name is Janet Kessler."
Joseph knew that Ollie couldn't say no to anyone in trouble. Especially if it was a young kid. He'd hate himself for it.
"Yeah, OK," Ollie agreed.
For a moment, he sounded somewhat dazed. His mind was processing the jump from business-mode and finding ways to protect his employees from Luthor's sneaky legislative changes to a social services call about a young girl in trouble.
Luckily, Ollie's life had been full of abrupt change. He adapted quickly.
"Put her through," he said.
Joey nodded. And was back on the line. "Miss Kessler? I'm transferring you to Mr. Queen now."
---
It was a bit of a relief to hear that she wasn’t just going to be turned away on this call, or given voicemail. She really disliked leaving messages, because - given what she did for a living - she generally didn’t hear back from people; so she’d have to chase people down, which was not fun. Thus whenever possible she like to get a person on the phone.
Janet said thank you to the young assistant, he’d been more than helpful, and waited for the man in question to pick up his line. There were a few rings and she waited for the telltale click that told of the line being picked up. That was when the conversation could start.
“Mr. Queen? This is Janet Kessler from Children’s Services. Thank you for speaking with me, I realize that you’re a busy man, I’ll try and keep this as short as possible,” she promised with a small smile. You only got one shot with most of these situations. This was her job and she was good at it. She knew this was the right thing.
---
Oliver couldn’t help turning on the charm a little. It was a reflex whenever he was dealing with women, no matter the situation. “Call me Oliver, please,” he said. “What can I do for you? Joey says you’ve got a girl in trouble?”
If there was one thing Ollie couldn’t resist, it was the chance to rescue a damsel in distress.
--
In Janet’s experience first names were the first step to a good working relationship, so thus far this was going well. “That is unfortunately accurate,” she replied, leaning back in her chair at her end of the call. Cissie’s case file was open on the desktop, all the dates and figures laid out in front of her. She couldn’t tell about the former heroing... what she hoped was former heroing. It was a sealed file... “This case was given to me about a year ago. The girl in question was taken away from her mother and placed at a private school here in the city. She’s seventeen, we thought that putting her with others her own age would help her adjust, to get out of the life she’d been part of before, but her behavior has been grounds for concern. Thus why I’m calling.
“She’s a good kid: does well in school, gets good grades... but to be frank, Oliver, I just don’t have the resources to help her the way she needs... and recent events have made it clear to me that she needs more attention than she is currently getting. More supervision as it were.”
She sounded concerned. She really was looking out for Cissie. At least she thought she was. The girl had been through far too much, and that mother of hers hadn’t helped. And especially if her suspicions were correct, this needed to be dealt with. Quickly. Before she got herself killed!
--
Ollie was frowning by the time Kessler was finished talking.
Janet’s genuine concern was obvious, even over the phone. She was one of the good ones. Whether the kid realized it or not, she was lucky to have someone who cared in her corner. Apparently that was in short supply.
Ollie hated it whenever a good kid got dealt a bad hand. He was at a loss, though. He wasn’t sure what Janet thought he could for this girl that someone else couldn’t. Hopefully she was only looking to get the girl a job. That he would happily provide. Get her doing something constructive with her time.
They could always use the help at the Rec Centre, and it would probably be good for her to help kids like her.
It had been good for Mia. But then, Mia had taken to the job before Ollie had even offered it to her. They’d both come a long way from that first day when she called him out on his secret identity.
Ollie’s mind was made up.
“I can offer her a job,” he said. “If she wants one.”
--
On her end of the line, Janet relaxed a bit. If nothing else it seemed that she and Oliver were on the same page. Structure was the first step. And she was grateful for the offer. Yes she knew that Cissie would be very resistant, but if she could pull off what she was planning, maybe find someone through Oliver’s help then no matter what, it would be worth it to know that she was safe.
“That’s very generous of you Oliver, believe me when I say that that kind of structure can only help.” She smiled on her end, turning the page of the file on her desk. She could see Cissie doing something like that. The issue would be getting HER to do it. Maybe if it had something to do with her archery? But even that she was hesitant to suggest. Then again her current proficiency might be a clue as to whether or not she was back taking down bad guys. And what if she was?
“I know this has to sound like a fishing expedition from your end, but I was hoping that - through the rec center - you might know of someone who might be interested in playing foster. It would only be for a little while, unfortunately she ages out of the system at 18.” And if Janet had her way there would be some kind of connection made with someone, something so that Cissie didn’t get lost, or worse. She had admitted in her pre-hearing interviews that she herself was sometimes emotional and impulsive. And she was now taking risks, and maybe she couldn’t see that she was making herself a target (possibly literally if she really was out playing hero again), but Janet wasn’t about to let it happen if she could help it! “This could be a crapshoot for all I know, but I’ve been wracking my brain and I think that giving her some stability and one-on-one attention would help. God knows she hasn’t had anything like that since before she and her mother left Star City.”
Janet really didn’t want to pull Cissie out of Hawthorne. It seemed as if she’d just managed to get settled in there. She’d already made a few calls, but there was the problem of not being able to fully explain the depth of the problem to the perspectives whom she normally worked with. Other than troubled kid who needed some kind of supervision and love... It would have been easier if her file hadn’t been labeled ‘sealed and confidential’ by the court. But she agreed that the judge had been right. Having the identity of an underaged former hero as a matter of public record? She remembered the judge calling her and telling her that she had a hell of a case for her. She shook her head. There was so much potential there too... But Cissie herself had said she didn’t know about college. Hell her file said that she’d been home-schooled.
“So if you know anyone, I’d appreciate the help.”
He had connections, maybe he did... maybe calling him had been a mistake for this.She wasn’t sure if she was expecting that he WOULD know someone or if she thought he’d politely say that he didn’t and that would be the end of it. If nothing else she would mention the job to the teen. However one thing she was getting from this, Oliver Queen was a good man, what she’d heard had been correct.