Black sheep part 3
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
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 3
“Excuse me, Roy.”
He jumped about a foot in the air, before he recognised the voice. Oracle.
“What do you want?”
“Would you mind moving about three feet to the left?” he did as he was told. “Now turn right.”
It was a slightly surreal experience, hearing a disembodied voice telling him to turn right, left, watch out for traffic, but he obeyed, until he was standing outside a big building.
A door opened, and Barbara Gordon sat there, staring at him.
“Come in.” She said, as though this was the most normal thing in the world to happen.
Knowing Bats, that probably wasn’t quite as crazy as it should be.
It’s probably a mark of how crazy Arrows are that he follows her without questions.
“I apologise for the roundabout way of getting you here.” Babs said, moving around the giant computer screens, making tea, “But Jason would kill me if I let you wander around Gotham on your own, and the others aren’t ready to share in this secret.”
He thinks he manages a huh?
Babs sighed. “You and Jason need some time apart. That much is evident. Take it from someone with a lot of experience of dating bats.”
Roy groaned. “You saw that?”
Babs became very interested in a monitor showing the Spoiler mending her costume. “Jason and I have an arrangement. He doesn’t remove all my cameras, I turn a blind eye to his more nefarious activities, neither of us tells Batman and we play battleships on Tuesdays.”
This is a lot to take in. “Battleships?”
She shrugged. “Batman plays chess with Two Face.” She sighed and turned to face him, her eyes serious. “I’m not even going to pretend I stand a hope in hell in understanding what you’re going through, but I do warn you I will fight you to stop you leaving here, at least until one of them clams down enough to ask me if I’ve seen you.” She nodded to a camera where Jason could be seen beating up what looked like some drug dealers. Roy winced.
“It’s what he needs.” Oracle said calmly. “He’s mad at your family, as well as the usual anger at his own.”
“For what?”
Oracle looked at him like he was nuts. “For not taking care of you! Now do you want to play chequers?”
Roy decided like Alice to surrender. “You red or black?”
******
Jason shook his head, trying to persuade the stinging knuckles to stop. Felt like he’d shook down every drug dealer in Gotham, and he was no nearer finding Roy than when this mess started.
“Jason.” The voice came from above and looking up, he could see the outline against het setting sun.
“Great.” He muttered, sarcastically, before asking upwards. “What do you want?”
“To ask you if you’ve seen Roy.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Already answered that question from Speedy, Dickie.”
“No.” Jason blinked. “You asked why you would have, you never said you hadn’t.” The other man dropped down. “You wouldn’t lie to Mia, you two have too much in common.”
The cowl’s eyes bored into him. “So you know where he is.”
“No. I don’t.” It was true, he didn’t.
“Jason.” Dick looked for a moment like he was going to remove the cowl, but stopped himself. “If Roy’s using again, then we need to know, so we can get him help.”
Something in Jason snapped at those words. “Like you helped Tim?” He snarled.
At Dick’s confused expression, he groaned. “Oh come on, Dick. Kid was virtually suicidal when I gave him my old costume. Maybe him looking for Bruce is nuts, but at the moment it’s all that’s keeping him going, cause you sold him out, even if he’s now doing our family’s usual trick and pretending everything’s alright.” He didn’t give Dick a chance to reply, he pushed on. “Then there’s Damian, our little brother. Do you honestly think him running around after you is the best way to help that kid? Was it good for me, for Tim, Heck even for you?” Before Dick could formulate a reply to that, he continued. “You say you wanna help Roy? Well you’re a bit late for that. Roy needed your help at the Funeral where he buried His Daughter, but you’re so wrapped up in that legacy that you can’t see that.” He was staring at Dick, not entirely sure where all this was coming from, but deciding to roll with it. “You want to be Batman? Well congratulations, Dick you’ve succeeded in driving away everyone who gives a shit about you except Alfred!” And he’s sometimes thought of the stories he heard as a child about a witches curse on the Wayne family and wondered if Alfred was a part of that, as nothing Bruce or anyone else did seemed to persuade the man to leave. “So you know what? Fuck You!”
As finishing lines went, it was not original, but Jason thought as he let off a line, it definitely was the only one left.
He grinned, as he suddenly realised that he had lied to Dick. He did know where Roy would be.
****
“Jason.” Roy actually looked relived to see him. “You’ve got to help me.”
Jason shrugged, “Why do think I stick to battle ships, Harper?” he moved over, getting a soda from the fridge and Roy moved, quickly to follow.
“I want to apologise for earlier.”
Jason shrugged. “Already did, Harper.”
“No, a real one. Not a panicked One.” He looked at him “I do care about you, Jason.”
Jason shook his head. “No you don’t, Harper, at least not in that way.” He put his soda down on Oracle’s table, not bothering to reach for a coaster. “What happened earlier was one of two things. Either you just want a warm body and someone to hold you till the pain stops.” A look of pain passed across Jason’s face, and he picked the soda up too casually. “Trust me, Harper. Being there. Only ends up hurting both of you worse.” He continued. “Second is you’re missing Dick and sorry Harper, But I got sick of being Dick’s replacement back when I was Robin.”
Roy wanted to argue that Jason was wrong, but he wasn’t sure he could, or that anything he could say would make a difference.
“You need a place to crash, you got it. But I don’t need payment.”
“And I wasn’t offering.”
Further conversation was cut off by a mutter of “Shit, Shit, shit” from Babs and a very distinctive “Babs? You got a minute?”
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
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 3
“Excuse me, Roy.”
He jumped about a foot in the air, before he recognised the voice. Oracle.
“What do you want?”
“Would you mind moving about three feet to the left?” he did as he was told. “Now turn right.”
It was a slightly surreal experience, hearing a disembodied voice telling him to turn right, left, watch out for traffic, but he obeyed, until he was standing outside a big building.
A door opened, and Barbara Gordon sat there, staring at him.
“Come in.” She said, as though this was the most normal thing in the world to happen.
Knowing Bats, that probably wasn’t quite as crazy as it should be.
It’s probably a mark of how crazy Arrows are that he follows her without questions.
“I apologise for the roundabout way of getting you here.” Babs said, moving around the giant computer screens, making tea, “But Jason would kill me if I let you wander around Gotham on your own, and the others aren’t ready to share in this secret.”
He thinks he manages a huh?
Babs sighed. “You and Jason need some time apart. That much is evident. Take it from someone with a lot of experience of dating bats.”
Roy groaned. “You saw that?”
Babs became very interested in a monitor showing the Spoiler mending her costume. “Jason and I have an arrangement. He doesn’t remove all my cameras, I turn a blind eye to his more nefarious activities, neither of us tells Batman and we play battleships on Tuesdays.”
This is a lot to take in. “Battleships?”
She shrugged. “Batman plays chess with Two Face.” She sighed and turned to face him, her eyes serious. “I’m not even going to pretend I stand a hope in hell in understanding what you’re going through, but I do warn you I will fight you to stop you leaving here, at least until one of them clams down enough to ask me if I’ve seen you.” She nodded to a camera where Jason could be seen beating up what looked like some drug dealers. Roy winced.
“It’s what he needs.” Oracle said calmly. “He’s mad at your family, as well as the usual anger at his own.”
“For what?”
Oracle looked at him like he was nuts. “For not taking care of you! Now do you want to play chequers?”
Roy decided like Alice to surrender. “You red or black?”
******
Jason shook his head, trying to persuade the stinging knuckles to stop. Felt like he’d shook down every drug dealer in Gotham, and he was no nearer finding Roy than when this mess started.
“Jason.” The voice came from above and looking up, he could see the outline against het setting sun.
“Great.” He muttered, sarcastically, before asking upwards. “What do you want?”
“To ask you if you’ve seen Roy.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Already answered that question from Speedy, Dickie.”
“No.” Jason blinked. “You asked why you would have, you never said you hadn’t.” The other man dropped down. “You wouldn’t lie to Mia, you two have too much in common.”
The cowl’s eyes bored into him. “So you know where he is.”
“No. I don’t.” It was true, he didn’t.
“Jason.” Dick looked for a moment like he was going to remove the cowl, but stopped himself. “If Roy’s using again, then we need to know, so we can get him help.”
Something in Jason snapped at those words. “Like you helped Tim?” He snarled.
At Dick’s confused expression, he groaned. “Oh come on, Dick. Kid was virtually suicidal when I gave him my old costume. Maybe him looking for Bruce is nuts, but at the moment it’s all that’s keeping him going, cause you sold him out, even if he’s now doing our family’s usual trick and pretending everything’s alright.” He didn’t give Dick a chance to reply, he pushed on. “Then there’s Damian, our little brother. Do you honestly think him running around after you is the best way to help that kid? Was it good for me, for Tim, Heck even for you?” Before Dick could formulate a reply to that, he continued. “You say you wanna help Roy? Well you’re a bit late for that. Roy needed your help at the Funeral where he buried His Daughter, but you’re so wrapped up in that legacy that you can’t see that.” He was staring at Dick, not entirely sure where all this was coming from, but deciding to roll with it. “You want to be Batman? Well congratulations, Dick you’ve succeeded in driving away everyone who gives a shit about you except Alfred!” And he’s sometimes thought of the stories he heard as a child about a witches curse on the Wayne family and wondered if Alfred was a part of that, as nothing Bruce or anyone else did seemed to persuade the man to leave. “So you know what? Fuck You!”
As finishing lines went, it was not original, but Jason thought as he let off a line, it definitely was the only one left.
He grinned, as he suddenly realised that he had lied to Dick. He did know where Roy would be.
****
“Jason.” Roy actually looked relived to see him. “You’ve got to help me.”
Jason shrugged, “Why do think I stick to battle ships, Harper?” he moved over, getting a soda from the fridge and Roy moved, quickly to follow.
“I want to apologise for earlier.”
Jason shrugged. “Already did, Harper.”
“No, a real one. Not a panicked One.” He looked at him “I do care about you, Jason.”
Jason shook his head. “No you don’t, Harper, at least not in that way.” He put his soda down on Oracle’s table, not bothering to reach for a coaster. “What happened earlier was one of two things. Either you just want a warm body and someone to hold you till the pain stops.” A look of pain passed across Jason’s face, and he picked the soda up too casually. “Trust me, Harper. Being there. Only ends up hurting both of you worse.” He continued. “Second is you’re missing Dick and sorry Harper, But I got sick of being Dick’s replacement back when I was Robin.”
Roy wanted to argue that Jason was wrong, but he wasn’t sure he could, or that anything he could say would make a difference.
“You need a place to crash, you got it. But I don’t need payment.”
“And I wasn’t offering.”
Further conversation was cut off by a mutter of “Shit, Shit, shit” from Babs and a very distinctive “Babs? You got a minute?”