fic: Second Chances
Title: Second Chances
Author: darthbatgirl
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Characters: Roy, Ollie, references to Roy/Tim, Jason/Tim, Babs, Vixen
Summary: Decisions are made. Head on collisions are a certainty
Word Count: 2370
Warning: angst, language
A/N: holiday request written for
artemisblack666 , a follow up to Five am Wake up Call. You will want to read that part first.
Ollie watched quietly as Roy fired off arrow after arrow at the target. He didn't miss the fact that none of them had hit the bullseye. Roy had shown up early that morning, he was bruised, his clothes torn, and he sported a split lip. He hadn't commented more than he had been in a bar fight in Gotham, before he headed to take a shower, grabbed some fresh clothes and headed for Ollie's practice range.
Roy let out a sharp curse as another arrow failed to hit it's mark. For a moment Ollie thought he was actually going to throw his bow down in frustration, but Roy just gritted his teeth and re-notched his bow.
Ollie cleared his throat to get Roy's attention. “Hey why don't you take a break from that? We can go grab a beer or something.”
“No thanks Ollie,” Roy said simply as he let loose the arrow. Ollie watched as Roy fired off three more before asking, “What are you doing Roy?”
Roy's shoulders just sagged at the question. “I don't know,” he said quietly before lowering his bow.
“What happened in Gotham?”
“I wanted a drink,” Roy said as he leaned his bow against the stand that held his quiver. “Remembered this little hole in the wall that Tim . . .that we went to. The drinks hadn't been bad so I thought why not? Apparently Todd was familiar with the bar too since he showed up.”
Ollie winced sympathetically for his son.
“He just kept pushing. Pushing about how happy Tim was now. Pushing about how miserable I made him.” Roy said through gritted teeth. “So I pushed back.”
Ollie sighed as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “ Gotham's awfully far to get into a bar fight. You could have done that here.”
“I didn't go there for a fight.” Roy grumbled.
“Then why did you?”
“I - I just wanted . . .just thought that . . .I wasn't going to go see him. I just liked the idea of being in his city. Of having that option of a chance meeting. Like he was working and I was just out having a beer and we had agreed to meet up later.” Roy said softly. He sounded so broken, so small, for a moment Ollie saw only the young boy he had brought home with him instead of the man he grew to be.
“Come on,” Ollie said as he wrapped an arm around Roy and steered him toward the house. “I've got a beer with your name on it.” This time Roy didn't protest as Ollie guided him into the house.
Roy slumped on the couch as Ollie went to the kitchen and brought back two beers, handing one to Roy. He took it wordlessly and opened it up and took a drink. “I can't do this any more.” he finally said. “I can't just let Tim go. It hurts to much.”
“Roy . . “ Ollie knew exactly what Roy meant. He knew the pain all to well. Seeing the person you were meant to spend the rest of your life with turn away because of a hurt you caused them. It was something that they shared now. It was some thing that he would have moved heaven and earth to spare Roy of feeling now. He hated the next words he was going to say, but they needed to be said. “He's with someone else now.”
That got a glare from Roy. “No he's not. Todd is just an opportunistic bastard who taking advantage of Tim. He's all wrong for him. ”
Ollie would have to agree with that. Why Bruce was letting that punk hang all over Tim was beyond him. “What if he's happy with Todd?.”
“He's not!” Roy exclaimed as he stood up.”I don't believe that. I can't lose Tim to him Ollie, he's hot headed, rushes into things - not at all what Tim needs. Besides, I need him more. Watching him drive off last night was just as bad as when he walked out of my room.. I'm going to get him back.”
“Roy . . “
“I love him,” Roy said. “We belong together. I know this, more than anything now. He still loves me Ollie. I could see it in his eyes, I have to try it's what I should have done six months ago instead of letting him walk away.
“If you do this and you fail . . “
“I know,” Roy says cutting him off “but I won't. I can't.”
Ollie wondered how things would have been different between him and Dinah if he had tried harder to keep her. No doubt he would have had less regret in his life. Now Roy had a chance of making things better between himself and Tim, of regaining Tim's faith and love. Ollie hoped his son was able to succeed where he had failed so many times.
* * * *
Even though Tim wasn't in the same room as her, he could still hear the frown in her voice. “So Red Arrow was in town yesterday and got in a bar fight with Jason, and you want me to fix it?”
“If you could I'd - I'd appreciate it,” Tim said as he spoke into his cell phone as he stood looking out the big bay window of his apartment. He could picture Babs sitting in front of her banks of computers typing furiously away at her keyboard, bringing up the police report. Her lips forming a thin line as she barely kept certain comments back.
“Okay. What do you want? Bank robbery or homicide?”
Tim grimaced at the choices he was given. “Neither. Just make it go away. Please?”
“Why? He deserves it.”
“Because I”m asking you to,” Tim said softly.
“Fine. It's gone. Why was he even in town?” Babs muttered as she pounded on the keys.
It was a rhetorical question Tim knew, but as he looked over the city he couldn't help but answer, “ I don't know.”
And how are you doing?” The question and concern caught Tim off guard.
“I'm - I”m fine. Why wouldn't I be? Okay so I didn't like being woke up at Five am to deal with all of this.” He tries to joke.
“And you just saw your ex after finding him in bed with one of his teammates six months ago.”
“I'm fine Babs.”
Barbara let a long suffering sigh that spoke of too many years of dealing with Bats and maybe even of dealing with the pain an Arrow could cause. “Alright little bird, but if you need a perch to sit on you know where to turn to.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tim said. “Thanks Babs.”
Tim hung up and walked over to the couch and flopped down feeling more tired than he did at the start of the conversation. He didn't know what he was doing half the time anymore - at least that's how he felt. Everything was confusing and Tim felt like he was drowning. Images of Roy kept dancing around in his head. Silky red hair, sparkling green eyes, a sure and cocky smile, a sleepy and confused look when he sat up in bed with . . . .
Strong, gentle hands smoothed down Tim's shoulders and upper arms, massaging away the tense muscles. Jarred from his thoughts, Tim looked up to see Jason bending over him massaging away the tension he clearly saw in Tim. Jason - loud mouth, angry, leap before looking, possessive, protective, gentle Jason, the person who caught Tim when he was falling and kept him safe.
“So Babs is taking care of everything?” he asked as he moved he hands up and began rubbing the back of Tim's neck.
Tim hummed in the affirmative. “She wasn't happy about it though. Didn't like the fact Roy was here.”
Jason snorted. “No shit. Think about what the old man is going to do when he finds out. Son of a bitch should have been left in jail.”
There was no accusation in Jason's voice just a statement of fact, and he would be right. Tim shouldn't have gotten involved when he heard Roy was there. He had asked himself why he just didn't turn his back on Roy, or at least slugged him like he was going to do. The answer of course was obvious, he still loved Roy.
Roy had broken promises, humiliated him, and broken Tim's heart. Despite even being in a relationship with Jason he stilled loved Roy. Which just made Tim feel worse about everything. There was Jason who had gave his heart to Tim, who was always there when Tim needed him, who Tim loved with everything he had - except for the part of his heart that belonged to Roy. Jason deserved better than that. “Why are you with me?” he asked quietly. “You can walk into any room and have your pick of anyone.”
Jason cocked an eyebrow as he climbed over the back of the couch, pulling Tim onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him. “Anyone I want huh? Then I guess it's a good thing that I picked the broody billionaire's son.” he said softly, kissing his hair affectionately.
“You deserve someone better,” Tim said, a bit of self loathing creeping into his voice.
“I gave my heart to you. Don't want it back” Jason said gruffly. He started to lay kisses down Tim's neck
“You still deserve better,” Tim murmured against Jason's lips before kissing him. Before Jason could respond, Tim's Titans communicator chirped and with reluctance Tim disengaged himself from Jason and answered it. “Yeah Cassie?” he said as he wandered off to talk to his friend and teammate.
Jason frowned at the interruption. It seemed every time they got some alone time, there was someone sticking their nose in, and right now Tim needed his down time. Harper did a real number on his Babybird, it was something he feared Tim would never recover from.
“Feel like going to Frisco with me this weekend?” Tim asked as he wandered back into the room, allowing Jason to pull him back down into his lap. “We're finally getting the communications network set up with the Watchtower. I could use your help”
Jason made a noncommittal noise. It was a rare thing when he allowed Tim to go to Titan's Tower without him these days, so Tim asking him was just a formality that Tim seemed to like to do. “Who are they sending out?'
“Don't know, but I'm sure it'll go smoothly. It'll only take a couple of days.”
* * * *
Roy sat at the monitor trying to stifle a yawn. Monitor duty wasn't high action by any stretch of the imagination. It was mostly answering questions, though sometimes there's always the chance of arguing how much the Gotham Knights sucked with someone who was bored on patrol. Roy was getting good at that, seeing how he more or less had permanent monitor duty these days. It was a safe place to put him.
Batman had demanded Roy's removal from the team almost immediately after the details of Roy's affair had become known. Much to Roy's surprise Superman had argued for Roy to continue on the team. Dinah had excused herself from the argument saying she was to close to the situation to make an unbiased judgment.. Roy wasn't sure if that was good for him or not. She hadn't talked to him much lately.
In the end it was pretty much agreed that keeping Roy out of Batman's path was a good thing, hence the almost permanent monitor duty.
“Knock knock. Anyone here?” Vixen said as she stuck her head in the room.
“Just me and about a couple of million dollars worth of computer equipment,” Roy said leaning back into his chair to look at her.
“Have you seen Wally recently? Black Lighting's looking for him,” Vixen said as she leaned against the monitor. Roy smiled warmly at Mari, she had been a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on for Roy when he needed it after Tim had left him.
“Hmm he said something about wanting some sushi for lunch. So you know that could put him anywhere.” Roy said shrugging “What does Black Lighting need him for?”
“The Watchtower and Titans Tower are improving communications. We got the new interface installed on our end just need someone the run the Titans their interface and help them get it online. Black Lighting thought a former Titan would be better received.”
Roy tried not to jump out of his chair in excitement. This was the chance he was looking for, a way to see Tim and reconnect with him “Don't see why you need to call Wally in for that. I can do it.”
Mari frowns at Roy. “That's a bad idea.”
Roy gave her an innocent look “What? I can set up the interface as well as Wally.”
“That's not what I was talking about and you know it,” Mari said crossly. “You're not exactly the most welcome Leaguer at Titans Tower these days.”
“I can change that,” Roy said with a slight air of stubbornness in his voice.
Mari shook her head. “Boy don't you know when to give up?”
“Not on the things that matter I don't, “Roy said as he took Mari's hand. “Not on him.”
“I so shouldn't be encouraging this,” Mari said as she looked at Roy. “But go on I'll tell Black Lighting we got it covered.”
Roy smiled broadly as he kissed her cheek and headed out the door. Ready to do anything to get Tim back.