Salvar stood very still for the second time in five minutes as he looked at his father.
Derek walked in wearing a sky blue half sleeved shirt with the sleeves folded to the elbow and beige trousers.
The entire police station experienced a brief collective confusion.
Derek and William looked at each other.
Then down at themselves.
Why the fuck were they matching outfits?
But then, when reality hit, they looked away, simultaneously, with matching expressions of profound personal offense.
"Papa," Salvar said. He crossed the room and hugged Derek with the energy of a child who had been lost in a supermarket for forty five minutes and had just located his parent by the cereal aisle.
Derek's arms came around him automatically like a loving father who couldn't resist hugging their child.
Then he pulled back and held Salvar at arm's length and looked at his bare chest with an expression that suggested the attempted murder charge and the fraudulent contract were secondary concerns.
"Why," Derek said, "are you not wearing a shirt?"
"Well... it's a long story."
Salvar explained. Quickly, efficiently, hitting the relevant points. The contract. The bar. Federic. Damon. The bottle. The hospital. The CCTV cameras had all simultaneously decided to take the night off.
Derek listened. His face did the specific journey of a parent absorbing information that was simultaneously worse and more ridiculous than anticipated.
When Salvar finished, Derek was quiet for four seconds.
Then he turned toward William.
"Your son," Derek said pleasantly, "attempted to commit murder in a public establishment over a business contract that was fraudulent to begin with."
William smiled, not backing away. The smile of a man who had lawyers the way other people had opinions, numerous, expensive, and always on call. "My son reacted emotionally to a provocation orchestrated by yours."
"My son," Derek said, "is standing in a police station without a shirt because your son threw wine on him. I would call that provocation first."
Well, it was not true, but they didn't care. Nor did Federic or George attempted to add that Salvar voluntarily gave his shirt to Damon.
"Your son punched my boy? Is that how you raised your Omega son? To be fighting in a nightclub."
"It's not my fault that your son is weak. And besides, your son brought a fraudulent contract to a nightclub. Who does business at a nightclub?"
"Men who know how the world works."
"Oh, so are you accepting that your child, who knows the principles of the world, wrote a fraudulent contract?" Derek paused before he scoffed, "Or don't tell me you believe that your child is a foolish weasel that doesn't know the basic as much as to read a contract before presenting them?"
William's smile stayed exactly where it was. But something behind his eyes did a small, barely perceptible recalculation.
Salvar stood slightly behind Derek and watched this with the quiet appreciation of someone witnessing a professional at work.
Derek was not done.
"Furthermore," Derek continued, with the energy of a man who had been woken up late at night, driven across the city, and arrived to find his child shirtless and was now going to make absolutely everyone aware of his feelings about this, "my son has a departure scheduled for early morning. If this situation is not resolved tonight, I will ensure that every contractor, organization, and financial body that your family has dealings with receives a very thorough summary of this evening's events. Including the contract. Including the footage of your son swinging a bottle at someone else's child."
"There is no footage," William said.
Derek smiled. "Are you sure?"
It was an empty threat, but an empty threat coming from powerful people worked wonders.
The room was quiet.
William looked at Salvar.
Salvar looked back at him with the expression of a person who had absolutely no idea what anyone was talking about. Moreover, he would be doomed if the CCTV footage were found.
The standoff lasted approximately seven seconds before the female police officer cleared her throat and stepped between them.
"Mr. Beladore and Mr. Barclay, I request you two not to create an unnecessary scene." The officer looked at William as she stated, "We have clear evidence of Mr Federic harming an innocent citizen. Despite him being a child or it being a mistake, people's lives aren't stakes that you can play. It's our duty to arrest him, and it's your duty to prove his innocence, but not in a police station. You can proceed with the lawyer because we have the warrant to arrest Mr Federic."
Derek blinked as the end was clear. He smiled cheerfully before William broke into another tantrum and stated.
"Thank you for your service," he said. "Truly, the city is safer for your sincere service."
He turned without waiting for a reply, grabbed Salvar by the arm, and walked him out the door.
The night air hit them both.
Cool and indifferent.
Derek unlocked the car, and they got in.
The engine started with a silence, but the night was long.