(no subject)

[cat_13145]

Title:  Black sheep stick together.: 
By Cat_13145
Pairings: Jason Todd, Roy Harper
Rating PG13, don't think there's anything too bad, but better to be safe.
Author's Notes: As I promised shiny_glor_chan another chapter. She knows why.
FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN'T GUESSED, SPOILERS FOR ARSENAL RISE AND FALL.
Summary: What if Jason had found Roy and the cat instead of Dick?

 

Chapter 2

Three weeks. Three weeks since the funeral, three weeks since that horrible night, three weeks since anyone had seen Roy Harper.

Staring out across Gotham in the early morning light, Dick Grayson allowed his thoughts to dwell on this for a while.

Dinah was going frantic and from his prison cell, Ollie wasn’t much better.

The Titans had looked everywhere they thought there was even a small chance Roy might be. Heck, Dick had even personally tracked down Cheshire, only to find that she hadn’t seen Roy herself since the evening of the funeral.

According to Cheshire, they had had sex (would Roy Ever Learn? (A voice in his head that sounded distinctly like Alfred gave a discreet cough and said Selina Kyle)) And she hadn’t seen Roy since. She’d also said that Roy hadn’t been in a good place when he left her.

Dick had left that part out when he reported in to Dinah.

A part of him was sure that Babs knew where Roy was, but he dismissed it quickly. Babs wouldn’t hurt Di, not like that.

Unless she thought it was in both their best interests. The voice in his head protested. He ignored it.

Alfred knew something too. That he was sure of, because whenever he spoke to him about the search, Alfred always said that “he was sure Master Harper would turn up in his own good time.”

Dick had wondered if that meant Roy was frightened of falling off the wagon, but he’d checked all the places he could think of that offered Detox and had Oracle run a nationwide search. No hits for Roy Harper, or any of his aliases.

Mia had persuaded Bart to check every report of a red headed John Doe nationwide. She’d tried to persuade Kon to help too, but he’d told her he was looking for Tim.

Which led him on to another tangent he didn’t want to think about.

Red Hood, Jason, was back. He wasn’t quite sure how as Arkham hadn’t reported any breakouts, not that meant anything, but there wasn’t any doubt.

There’d been those junkies and their suppliers found beaten almost to death in an alleyway, nearly three weeks ago, and both Cass and Steph had reported sightings.

As far as anyone could tell Jason at least seemed to be more stable.

In other circumstances, he’d have tracked Jason down and demanded to know what he was thinking and what he knew about Roy’s disappearance, but both Alfred and Oracle had forbidden him to.

Anyway, Mia had tracked him down and was convinced Jason knew nothing.

The Comm. linked crackled.

“Done brooding?” Babs’s voice sounding way too cheerful for this early in the morning broke into his thoughts. “Cause you told me to remind you that it’s Alfred’s day off, so you’d better get back and get Damian ready for school.”

Dick groaned. “Can’t I get the school ready for Damian?”

****

There were advantages to been a Bat, Jason mused, as he headed back to the doss flat where he and Roy were hiding out.

You could be completely and utterly rude to people’s faces, and they didn’t push. Just chalked it up as being a bat and left it alone.

Mia had finally cornered him, with Wondergirl as back up. She’d asked him if he’d seen Roy.

He hadn’t technically lied to her, just hadn’t answered the question, asking why Harper would have being in contact?

Mia had looked so broken, that if she had been the one to tell him, he might have told her the truth. But Donna leapt in, telling him about Roy’s arm, about Lian, about Ollie, about the funeral.

The funeral was only part he didn’t already know. Roy’s nightmares had filled him in on the rest.

He’d feigned having only just heard about it, and then made a tasteless, insensitive remark, hoping one or both of them might attack him, let him beat out his anger and stress of the last three weeks.

But neither moved. They just looked shocked and walked away.

If Arkham ever lost that red headed brat who’d ruined his name, Jason would personally hunt him down and strangle him. Perhaps that might inspire someone to do what no one in his family or at Arkhham had thought to do, check DNA and fingerprints.

Gordon he got, the man couldn’t afford to find anything that might link him to Batman, so he never ran tests or fingerprints on any of them. Just told Batman he had. Jason knew this as early in his career, he’d broken into Gordon’s files. There were fingerprints there for all the rogues, but they had never been run from AFIS or the FBI or anything like that. It had taken him a while to figure it out (still healing brain damage would do that), but he hadn’t been surprised to learn that Gordon knew who they all were. Even Babs.

So he could understand Gordon. But Dick...he knew he’d never hurt a kid. Never get one of them involved in their life. So why?

Leaning against the walls of the building, he breathed deeply, seeking some form of calm. He couldn’t’ handle Roy if he was mad at both their families.

The first week had left him with a horrendous sense of déjà and a new respect for Black Canary (not that there hadn’t been quite a big one already, anyone who could impress Babs had to be good, even if she had lousy taste), as Roy went through withdrawal.

A part of him was relieved that he hadn’t misremembered how bad it was, while most of him was planning to beat up the Doc who set Roy on painkillers (even Lian would have know that was a bad idea) and just keeping Roy on an even keel.

Thankfully, Roy hadn’t been reusing for that long, so things improved (a little, three weeks later and he still didn’t feel safe about letting Roy out of his sight).

Then it had been time for a little cross dimensional trip to get Roy a new arm. Thankfully, things had stabilised a little back there, so Nick had been able to persuade James to give up some time to teach Roy how to use it. And he and Barton had got into a shooting match, which confirmed Jason’s view that archers were all insufferable jerks.

Still, it had been nice to be somewhere where people didn’t automatically assume he was trouble and where things weren’t merrily going to hell. He and James even had a bet on how long before Fury rose in revolt and ousted Steve. James was giving it a year, Jason was holding out for six months.

This week had been more...domestic. Not living with the crisis, but healing from them. Mourning Lian, training, cause even James admitted that he’d never used a bow by choice (and had privately admitted he agreed with Jason’s opinions on archers), watching TV, cooking (Roy was shocked to learn Jason could actually be let lose in the kitchen without the fire brigade) and talking.

He’d surprised himself by actually telling Roy about James’s offer to come to their world, join the Avengers, make a life there. Even more surprised, when he admitted he was considering it.

“So why don’ you?” Roy had asked, stirring the soup around his bowl.

Jason shrugged. “Feels like I’d be giving up. Admitting that there’s no chance of them ever seeing things my way. Running away.”

He didn’t need to expand, Roy knew all about trying to get away from your problems. Was running off to the Middle East in search of a woman you weren’t even sure you wanted to know any different really from losing yourself in heroin?

He pushed the door open with one shoulder to see Roy sitting against the bed, looking at a photo.

“I didn’t think you’d have kept this.” The voice is soft and full of pain. “I mean I know I gave one to each of the Titans, but I figured everyone threw them out.”

It’s the photo of Lian, lying wrapped in Jason’s cape, because they were so ill prepared it was the only thing they had. Bout the only time Jason can remember the bloody thing coming in useful, normally it just acted as something for Bruce or someone else to grab hold of.

He sank down next to Roy.

“Alfred had a load of my stuff boxed up.” He said, quietly. “Not the big stuff, just the little junk he couldn’t’ handle seeing day after day. After Bruce...I went to see him. He gave me it. The photo was in there.”

He shrugged. “I liked looking at it, O.K.? liked remembering that day. We were all talking about the next generation, the babies taking over.” He grinned. “I knew. Knew she was going to be speedy and you were going to be the next Arrow, and that I’d teach her to fight and she’d be a founding member of the little League.” At Roy’s expression, he observed, “Because Teen Titans is so cool.”

“Blame your brother.”

“I do.” They both laughed.

“She’d have liked that.” Roy said, stroking the cute red headed baby in the picture. “Like you too. I mean, she loved Dick. But Uncle Jason would have been someone special.”

Jason shrugged, getting to his feet and picking up the groceries he’d brought.

“Yeah, well when she comes back, try and remember I used to be one of the good guys, and maybe she can.”

He isn’t holding out much hope. Once Roy is fixed, once Lian comes back, Roy’ll vanish out of his life and everything will go back to normal. Which means Jason’ll be alone.

“You’re one of the good guys.” At Jason’s raised eyebrow, Roy back pedalled slightly. “O.K. But you’re not one of the bad guys. Or at least I don’t think so.” He can feel Roy’s eyes on his back, digging into him. “What happen to you after Bruce died?”

Jason sighed. This was one conversation he’d really been hoping to avoid. “After I left the cave...there was something with Shiva, I had to do.” He really, really hoped he wasn’t going to have to go into that. “I was going away from the Church of the Holy spirit, when someone jumped.”

Roy raised an eyebrow. “Someone jumped a Bat. They must have been good.” He stopped when he realised that Jason was pulling at a loose thread.

“He said, in his world, he was Robin.”

The eyes that looked at him reminded him strongly of the thirteen year old who’d helped them defeat Brother Blood, who, despite knowing Dick had been brainwashed by that cult, main worry had been Batman finding out he disobeyed orders.

“But he must have been a crazy bastard, right?”

“He’s in Arkham.” Roy said slowly, cause what Jason wants, needs right now is reassurance, not the admission that he doesn’t know enough about the multiverse to comment. His little jaunt to “Avenger verse” as Jason calls it, kinda represents the limit.

“So yeah, I’d guess so.”

Jason nodded, but didn’t look any more reassured.

Roy sighed. The things that kept popping into his head (you’re no crazier than batman, James doesn’t seem to think so,) seemed stupid, so he said. “You’re the only person who bothered to come after me.”

Jason shrugged. “Dick was just a couple of blocks away. He’d have found you if I hadn’t.”

“Maybe.” Roy agreed, “But he definitely wouldn’t have taken me home with him, and dealt with my puke.”

He grimaced. “Dick always had a weak stomach.”

He blamed what happened next on a month (more like a year) of hell, and Jason looking so uncertain. It was definitely a stupid move. In fact, in terms of stupid moves, kissing Jason had to be in the top twenty.

 

“What the fuck?” Jason shoved back, hard. At the last moment, Roy cursed, remembering that even as Robin Jason hadn’t been that keen on physical contact. He sometimes wondered if that was what had screwed things up with the Titans so badly, but this was not the time to wonder about that.

“I’m sorry.”

“Too right Harper.” Jason rubbed at his lips frantically. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I’ll go.”
He was out the door before anything more could be said.

TBC

Comments

[shiny-glor-chan.livejournal.com]

*claps happily* Buuuuucky! And Jay and Roy and heee. You typo'd Clint's name. 'Barton' not Baton.

The end of this chapter's a little vague? What did Roy do?

[cat-13145.livejournal.com]

Sorry. It's being too hot to sleep here and I'm shattered.
Meant to imply Roy kissed Jason. Went back and made it more clear.

[shiny-glor-chan.livejournal.com]

*pets* Is okay. I figured that, but it's all better now. <3