Leaning On part II
So this took way longer than I thought it would, but the characters weren't cooperating, and also I was writing other things. There's going to be a lot more in this universe as soon as I write it, which as was demonstrated with this story, is catch-as-catch-can. Also, I've decided that posting things in order is for wussies, so this AU is going to be all over the place. I'll try to follow through arcs at the same time, but other than that . . .
Also, I have seen the new Spider-Man movie, finally, and there may be squeeing and fanfic at some point.
ANYWAY.
Title: Leaning On
Series: House of El
Fandom: DC comics
Pairing/Characters: gen; Dinah, Kal, Kara, Roy, Dick
Rating: PG-13
Continuity: Ollie’s just smacked Roy and kicked him out.
Summary: Even the strongest people need help when the going gets tough.
Disclaimer: DC owns them, I’m just playing in their sandbox.
Author's Notes: At one point, I reference this fic of
second_batgirl’s.
Word Count: 3,153
Dinah was annoyed with Kal, but not enough to kick him out when he was helping. He came in at night and made sure she ate, spelled her watching Roy for a few hours so she could get some worry-free (or at least, less anxious) sleep, checked on the shop and left her with enough food to get her though the next day. By the time Roy was through the worst of it, Kal had been there almost every night.
This morning, Dinah woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon and the knowledge that Roy had slept without thrashing and sweating last night.
Stretching, Dinah crawled out of bed and headed to the kitchen.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."
Kal was a morning person. Dinah resisted the urge to flip him off. "Coffee first, then ass-kicking."
Kal rolled his eyes at her as she sat down at her kitchen table. Still, she got a mug of hot coffee and a plate of eggs and bacon put in front of her. Grabbing the mug, Dinah took a sip, leaned back and sighed. "You’re going to make somebody very happy one day, Kal."
He had mischief in his eyes when he turned back to her and said, "Oh? So you think it’s time I got on bended knee in the Daily Planet?"
Dinah eyed him warily over the rim of her mug.
"You’re the florist, what kind of flowers should I have? Roses? Pansies? I must declare my love! Jimmy, oh Jimmy!"
"Clark!" Dinah nearly snorted her coffee out her nose as Kal clutched a dishrag to his chest and batted his eyelashes.
"He is my soulmate! You dare mock our true love!" was as far as he got before he broke down in laughter. "We’re meant-meant to be together!"
Dinah couldn’t breathe for laughing, clutching the table and pointing at Kal. "You-you-you’re meant to be something, that’s for sure."
Once they caught their breath, Dinah dug into her cooling food. She felt Kal place a hand on her shoulder. "I haven’t heard that in too long, citygirl."
"Um . . ."
Dinah looked up and smiled to see Roy in the kitchen doorway, his red hair wet-dark with water instead of sweat. "Morning, Roy," she greeted. "The big lug behind me is Kal; Kal, Roy, Roy, Kal."
Roy moved slowly into the kitchen. Dinah knew he must have been aware of the other man in the house, but they’d never actually met before. Kal didn’t often get out to Star City when she was around her boys.
"Breakfast?" Kal offered from behind her as Roy sat down. Her boyo nodded, and Kal dropped a plate nearly identical to Dinah’s in front of him-only he got orange juice instead of coffee.
Once she’d polished off her eggs and made a dent in her bacon, Kal joined them at the table. "Don’t you have work to be at today, farmboy?"
"I told Perry I’d be in late because I was spending the morning doing research."
Dinah feigned shock. "Lying to your boss? That’s a slippery slope, and also directly in opposition to those ideals you’re supposed to uphold."
Kal rolled his eyes again. Lois was a bad influence. "I am doing research," he protested. "I-" he suddenly looked abashed, and a little guilty.
"Kal," Dinah prompted, worried.
"I asked Perry if I could do a story on teen drug use."
Roy, who hadn’t looked up from his food since coming in, startled and glanced at Kal. "What?"
"In-when I’m not running around making a fool of myself in tights, I’m a journalist. And drugs are a story." The red was fading from Kal’s face the more he spoke, and he turned to look more directly at Roy. "Most articles on drugs blame the users, though, talk about the side effects, the crime rate, the deaths and withdrawal. No one that I know of has written a sympathetic story. It wouldn’t be in news-I’m supposed to be objective about news, but this is personal, so I’m allowed a certain amount of subjectivity."
Silence fell over the table, and Kal winced. "I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. I just-neither of you have to be in it at all, I can go do research in Metropolis and we can forget it."
Dinah was about to haul Kal out of her house and shout at him again when Roy looked up and met his eyes.
"No. I-I can do that." He swallowed. "I want to help. This shouldn’t-maybe if somebody reads about this happening to me, they won’t let it happen to them."
Kal relaxed in relief, and Dinah shook her head.
"You are a hero, boyo."
Roy blushed, then tried to stand with his empty plate. His legs shot out from under him and he fell back into the chair, stunned and a little dazed.
Dinah felt a frown cross over her face as she darted to his side. ". . . but you’re not well just yet. C’mon, let’s get you to my bed so you can sleep somewhere better than my couch."
"I-yeah," Roy leaned on Dinah’s shoulder and pushed himself away from the table. Kal collected their plates as they headed for her room.
*
The Gotham sky was ablaze with red when Superman touched down on the rooftop of the William Finger Memorial Building. He knew he wasn’t wanted in the city-not by its reigning denizen, anyway. Some things, however, were more important than the paranoid edicts of the Bat.
"I can’t believe it!"
Robin-Dick-was one of them.
Clark reached and Dick was in his arms in a second. Even at this age, long past when even his most affectionate gender- and age-mates had stopped touching, Dick never gave a second thought to hugging the people he loved. Clark hugged him back, noting all the ways he’d grown since the last time he saw him.
Then Dick broke away, turning violently and flipping onto his hands to pace, yellow cape dragging on the roof. "Roy’s-he’s-he’s better than this! What happened to him? Where was Ollie?"
Clark shook his head, and sat down in the air. Dick ranting to him was not entirely unusual, though it had become somewhat disturbingly more frequent of late.
He made a mental note to always be there when Dick needed him to be. If freewheeling Oliver Queen couldn’t take care of Roy, then such a person as the Batman-well. Bruce was nice enough, once you got past the grim avenger of the night (who hated aliens, metahumans, and interference in his city), but Clark knew his "Mission" would always come first. Dick had to come first in someone’s life, and-
The image of Dick on his own apartment couch, going through what Roy was recovering from, haunted Clark’s dreams. No. Over his dead body.
"Why didn’t we know?" Clark tuned back in. "Why didn’t I notice?" Quieter.
"D-Robin."
The boy-not a boy for much longer, heaven help them all-looked up from his handstand.
"It’s not your fault."
"It is!" he insisted. "Roy’s my best friend! I should have noticed, should have been able to do something! The idiot, why is he always getting himself into things like this . . ." Red, green and yellow flipped up again, and Dick started pacing the normal way. "And why doesn’t he want to see me?" Dick turned imploringly to Clark.
He shook his head. "Roy-I’ve been there, a few times, and-"
"You what?" Dick yelped. Clark couldn’t hold back his wince. "You’ve seen him? How is he? Why did he let you come? What’s going on?"
Clark held up a hand to stem the flow of questions. "He’s staying with Black Canary. She’s my little sister, and she called me the first night he was there. So I’ve been helping out."
"Oh." Dick looked a little abashed, and had calmed down some. Then he lit up when he realized Clark would know what was going on. "So-?"
"Roy’s-improving. He’s over the worst of the withdrawal. Canary’s been taking good care of him. She’s the one who made him call you."
Dick’s face fell immediately. "Made him call?"
"Robin." Clark reached out and grasped his shoulder, hating the name protocol that meant he couldn’t use Dick’s. "Listen to me. Roy’s-"
"Why wouldn’t he call me? Am I that bad a friend?" Dick’s horror at himself threaded through his voice and Clark couldn’t stand it.
"No. Listen to me, Robin. Robin." Dick’s face came up, and he met his eyes. "It has nothing to do with you. Roy’s-he’s ashamed. He doesn’t want you to see him-"
"But-isn’t that what friends are for? I-"
"I know, Dick, but Roy-he was embarrassed enough to have me there, and he didn’t even know who I was."
Dick laughed a little, but it was still somewhat hollow. "Yeah, being strung out in front of Superman would suck." Dick took a deep breath, and Clark watched as he got himself under control. His muscles relaxed and realigned, and he stepped away from him. "Would you ask him, or have Black Canary ask him, if I can see him? Please."
"Of course."
"And-I. Thanks, Superman."
Clark felt a pang in his chest. This wonderful, bright boy-who was very soon going to be one of the best men Clark would ever know-knew two of his names. Having anyone but Kara and Dinah call him Kal would be weird, but Dick deserved it. Deserved to know the other part of himself, and deserved to have something else to call him when he was in the spandex.
"You can call me Kal, if you want to," he offered.
Dick’s face lit up, and any second thoughts Kal might have had vanished. "I can-that’s what Canary calls you, right? Your Kryptonian name?"
"Yes."
"I-that’s-" Dick threw himself forward, and Kal laughed and caught him in another hug. "Thanks!"
"You’re welcome. Now, you do have a patrol to get back to, I assume?"
"Yeah. I’ll see you later!" Walking backward, Dick waved goodbye, then flipped into a series of handsprings that took him over the side of the roof. Superman stayed long enough to hear his grapple shoot and attach securely before flying back to Metropolis.
*
Roy rubbed sleep-sand out of his eyes and started a moment to find himself in a bed. And . . . not immediately in need of a shower. And with a brain that was . . . functioning, mostly. The craving still scrabbled at the back of his mind, looking for cracks to sink its claws into, but he didn’t have to give in to it. There were options.
Stumbling out of Dinah’s bed (she gave up her bed for him, damn, he owed her for the rest of his life, debt he didn’t want to repay), Roy got himself into clean jeans and a t-shirt. God, she’d even washed his clothes. He pissed and tried to fix his hair in the bathroom mirror, then gave up. If he was in her bed, where was Dinah? Somewhere else, his brain offered, and Roy rolled his eyes. Nice to know his punning still functioned.
He opened her bedroom door and-
". . . best for the boy."
"Kara. I can’t believe we’re having this discussion. And you, I can’t believe you started this!"
"I didn’t start anything!"
"The hell you didn’t!"
-closed it most of the way again. Dinah was not alone out there, and he didn’t want to walk into the middle of an argument. Listening to it, on the other hand . . .
"Don’t attack Kal, Dinah, this isn’t about him. This is about you and Speedy."
Kal? The guy who made him breakfast? And-shit, no way was he not listening now. He didn’t need anybody deciding his life for him.
"The hell it isn’t about him! You just want me to do this because you didn’t get to raise him yourself!"
Roy winced. Oh, Dinah, when are you going to put a filter on your mouth?
There was silence out there for a moment, and then the other woman continued speaking in a quiet voice. "This isn’t about Kal. You are a responsible, caring woman, and I believe you are a more capable guardian than Green Arrow."
No shit, Roy thought, but the woman kept talking.
"I know the JSA as a group hasn’t been involved in the lives of the younger generations, but this just shows us how wrong we were to step back."
Dinah’s voice was cold and hard, "We don’t need you looking over our shoulders, Aunt Kara. We don’t need babysitters, or crutches." Her voice softened. "I know you mean well, but you have to let us make our own mistakes. Besides, it’s far, far too late for you to have a say in this generation."
"Dinah . . ." that was Kal’s voice.
"No, Kal," she said, tired. "I will not decide his future for him. He’s more than able to decide for himself."
Roy took a deep breath. Time to step out-prove Dinah right, even though the woman out there was somebody important from the JSA. Kal was probably a big hero too, now that Roy was devoting more time to thinking about it, since Dinah was so steeped in the hero community.
He walked into the kitchen doorway, taking in the second blond woman, who was just taller than Dinah. Kal hovered in the background, behind and between the two women, obviously torn. Seeing him there-tall, big shoulders, black hair, blue eyes-juxtaposed with the vaguely familiar blond clicked his identity in place and Roy’s eyes widened.
"Fuck. I-sorry," he said sheepishly as all three of them turned to look at him. "I just-you’re Superman?"
Kal looked away, blushing a little.
"Dinah, you’re best friends with Superman?"
"You knew that," she teased. "How many times has Ollie grumbled about that?"
"I know-I just never-he made me breakfast!"
Superman, Superman standing in Dinah’s kitchen being intimidated by two tiny blond women, looked up and met Roy’s eyes. "Dick likes my eggs, but he says my hot chocolate doesn’t hold a candle to Alfred’s."
Roy started back, then took another step into the kitchen. God, Dick, Dick was great friends with Superman, he knew that, he did, it was just-it was different when he was standing in your pseudo-mother’s home. "I-okay." Get it together, Roy, you have to convince these people you know what you’re doing. If you know what you’re doing. C’mon, do it!
He squared his shoulders and walked all the way into the kitchen. Dinah immediately came over and put her hand on his shoulder. "I overheard some of it. I’m messed up, and I know it, but Dinah got me through this. I’m not going back to Ollie, but I’m not staying here, either."
The other woman opened her mouth, but Superman stilled her with a hand on her arm.
"I’m going to New York. I don’t know exactly what I’m gonna do, but I gotta figure out who I am without everybody trying to look after me." He laughed a little ironically. "Despite all this, I’m actually okay at taking care of myself. Besides, if I really need help, I know I have somebody I can call. But I gotta do this on my own."
Dinah nodded and hugged him. Roy clutched her, more thankful than he could ever express to have this woman in his life. Over her shoulder he saw the blond woman shake off Superman’s hand, shake her head, and stalk out. Superman followed her out of the kitchen, but Roy was pretty sure he didn’t leave.
Dinah pulled back and put both her hands on his shoulders, searching his face. "I’m proud of you, boyo. You can do this. And you damn well better call me if you need help!"
"Don’t argue with her about that one; she’ll hunt you down and yell at you if you don’t." Superman leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest and Roy had a surreal moment when he saw the spit-curled superhero in the pose. Then things reasserted themselves and Kal, whoever he was, came back.
"Oh, I know. And I will. I promise."
She nodded, then hugged him again. "Right," she said, pulling back and wiping the beginnings of tears from her eyes. "Let’s raid Ollie’s house while Hal is keeping him busy. You need to tell us what you’re planning, if you’re planning anything, and Kal," she rounded on him, jabbing a finger at her best friend. He looked startled. "Can do the heavy lifting!"
She grinned manically at him, and Kal sighed and held up his hands in surrender. "I’d be glad to."
*
The smog that inevitably collected in Gotham swirled around them as they sat on a rooftop legs dangling over the sides. One set swung back and forth incessantly, too much energy to properly contain, while the other sat placidly.
"So you’re really going to New York? Leaving Ollie and everything?" Dick couldn’t help himself; if Clark-Kal-had been there, he would have begged a ride to Star City and beaten the crap out of Ollie. Green Arrow definitely won Teen Titans Worst Mentor award this year. Maybe every year from now on, if Dick had his way. Maybe he could nominate Dinah for Best Mentor, even through she technically wasn’t.
Roy nodded, feather in his cap bobbing. "I gotta do my own thing, y’know, man? Not that I wasn’t already."
"God, Roy, I can’t-" Dick sprang up into a handstand, cape flapping, and paced along the roof. "Why didn’t you-you know you could call me, right? And you’re closer now, you can come by whenever-Bruce will be annoying, but Alfred’ll put him in his place, and he likes having you-I like having you-"
"I know, Short Pants," Roy reassured him. Dick wasn’t convinced, but let it go.
"So . . . what’re you gonna do?"
Roy shrugged. "Maybe work with kids like me? Not sure, I guess."
Dick bit his lip and flipped right-side up. He didn’t really want to ask, but-how could he not? "Gonna keep being Speedy?"
The other teen looked startled. "Yeah, man. Not letting Ollie keep this, Speedy’s mine."
"Okay."
There was an awkward moment of silence, and then Dick turned to Roy and grinned. "So, Bow Head, you wanna annoy Bruce and patrol with me?"
Roy laughed. "You’re on, Short Pants."
*
Clark Kent was that year’s runner-up for a Pulitzer with his article on teen drug use, and received many commendations for bringing the problem into the light without blaming the victims. A copy of it hangs in Perry White’s office to this day, and sometimes an enterprising reporter will track down the courageous kid who told his story to the world in an effort to help. Every time that happens, whether Roy is on his way out the door, holed up in Titans Tower, or trying to get his daughter to school on time, he takes a minute to talk. There’s always a chance it will change someone’s life.