Chapter Text
"Dinner was delicious, Mr. Lance. Thank you for inviting us," Ava said as Quentin handed her a cup of coffee.
"Of course, you two are always welcome. And I know I missed the wedding but please no more of this Mr. Lance. Quentin is fine. Or even Dad. If you want."
"Of course Mr.–Sir."
Quentin chuckled at her loophole but not in a way that felt like he was laughing at her. "The weirdest times are when Felicity slips up and calls me 'Detective Lance'. That one really blasts me back through the years."
"Do you miss the work?" Ava asked.
"Some of it yeah. I expect you know from your own line of work that there are parts of it never really leave you. Even when all you have left are the stories."
"You know dad, Ava actually has a pretty successful true crime podcast." Sara bragged as Quentin finally sat down with his own coffee. Ava choked on the sip she had just taken.
Quentin settled comfortably into his chair. "A podcast, ey? I'll be sure to check it out."
"It's fine, you don't have to do that," Ava was blushing. "And Sara is exaggerating, Gideon let slip that it doesn't really build a following until 2023."
"Bah," Quentin waved away her humble comments. "I'm sure it's great. Did Sara ever tell you she caught one of Starling City's worst serial killers?"
Sara rolled her eyes. "I killed him dad, I didn't catch him."
It was Sara's turn to have her comments waved away. "I'm not saying it was the right thing to do but that bastard had slipped through Oliver's fingers once already, babygirl. He could have kept hurting people. He could have kept going after your sister."
"Who was that? I feel like I would remember the Woman In Black involved in a serial killer case."
"There was a lot that didn't make it into official records in those days. And obviously no one knew it was Sara at the time," Quentin said with a shrug and a lightly admonishing glare towards his daughter. "Not to mention that Oliver was good at keeping a tight lid on anyone else's involvement when he could. He liked to take the heat on himself and there was a lot of it to take back then. Did you ever hear the news about Laurel and I being taken by the Dollmaker?"
"How could I not? I–or rather, the Bureau had just gotten settled into Star City when it happened. I've been putting off doing an episode on him." Ava's eyes connected with Sara's. "I was worried it was a bit too close to home."
Sara looked surprised and she gave Ava a small smile. "You didn't have to do that, babe."
"I've heard that personal can be good for these podcast things. Do you want some help? I could do an interview as the lead on the case." Quentin offered.
Ava froze in an effort to keep her excitement contained. Interviews were harder to come by when you spent most of your time outside of time. She was torn between the polite refusal and an enthusiastic agreement until Sara reached out for her hand with a reassuring squeeze. "She'd love that, Dad. We can have you over on the ship for the next visit."