To Mend a Ginger Soul
Summary: After an encounter with the dark side of the Emerald Archer, Roy finds himself in a tug of war with his sanity. Can his friends and a certain superhero mend him? Or will depression overcome this young archer? (I suck at writing summaries so just read the story and get it over with.) Pairings will be announced later chapters. This fiction is rated M for drug use, rape, language and sexual situations.
Roy Harper threw the blankets off his sweating body and sighed. He'd just had another nightmare. It was the same one he had been having for several years now.
"This had to stop," he growled to himself, sitting up from his bed.
He had to get himself together if he ever expected to get through the day with ease. Wally and Dick invited him to the movies today. He was against it at first but Barry talked him into it. It was probably just another attempt to get him to babysit while Barry was off doing god-knows-what around Central City. He didn't feel the need to ask.
Roy dressed in a pair of blue jeans, red V-neck tee shirt, and red and black checkered vans (his favorite shoes). Oliver had bought them for his birthday. It was the only thing that he seemed to give up money for.
Of course, he hadn't seen Ollie for a while now. There were reasons why. Reasons he didn't feel like going over in his head.
Throwing on a black hoodie, Roy made his way to the nearest Zeta Tube Central City. After his Molecules were reassembled he found that the two were on the other side of the building, ready to go. Dick was dressed in his black and green hoodie with a pair of black skinny jeans and a black shirt. Wally was wearing a brown sweater and navy blue jeans.
Roy shook his head, wondering why he noticed this. He always seemed to get side tracked when he started paying attention to what a person was wearing. It was weird, but he tolerated it. It was one of the few bad habits he didn't beat himself up over.
"Where's Kaldur?" He wondered.
Surely he would be there.
"Something going on between him and his girlfriend."
"Rocket? What happened?"
Wally and Dick both shrugged.
"Anniversary I think," the speedster answered.
"Great...Great..." Roy sighed. "Let's just get the fuck out of here before someone starts to think we're drug dealers or something."
The movie (Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) went by faster than Roy expected. He had enough time to zeta to Star City and get a nap in before he had to go on patrol. He waited for Wally to take a piss and Dick to finish flirting with one of the girls at a concession stand before yanking the two out of the theater. They risked getting kicked out one time they were here, now they were on the verge of getting banned "temporarily".
The first time was one Roy would always remember. Those were the nights he loved. The nights he cherished, even if it did mean getting yelled at by the 'big bad bat'.
It went a little something like this:
Wally decided that it would be fun to fill a popcorn bucket with butter and spill it carton the isle "accidentally". Roy was stuck babysitting that night so he didn't really care what happened. As long as he was paid, everything was great. He even let Dick get a full on sugar rush and run circles around the audience members before he got caught in Wally's prank. Well, he and several other who came to assist him. Dick's 44 ounce Sprite flew out of his hands and landed itself on Wally's chest, breaking open and soaking the nine year old from his head to his ankles.
Wally tried to get Roy's attention but he was already on his way to see the mess that the two had made when Wally crashed into him, sending the bucket of popcorn flying into the air and landing perfectly atop the young speedster's head like a hat. Roy remembered the manager yelling at them as he hurriedly rushed two butter popcorn and soda soaked kids to the Arrowcar that he "borrowed" (more like liberated, since it was paid for with Star City tax payer's dollars).
It was a good thing Ollie decided to teach him how to drive at such a young, illegal, age because they would have been arrested if they'd stayed any longer. Their little treat from "Big Brother" Roy was ended with a long scrubbing in the bathtub and a Chinese take-out dinner. But since Roy was always the generous one, he decided to split a carton of ice cream with the two.
They fell asleep on the couch, with spoons in their mouths, and an empty card board bowl of butter pecan blue bell ice cream discarded to the floor. Roy's arm was draped around Wally's shoulder and Wally's head on his chest. Dick's head was resting in Roy's lap, hugging his arm like a teddy bear. He wasn't sure how he ended up later on a soft pallet on the floor but when he woke up, he was laying in between the two who were cuddling close to him for warmth. A warm blanket was drawn over the three and he could see Wally's tiny feet dangling out the side of the blanket and over the pallet.
Barry was fast asleep on the couch still dressed in his police uniform. He looked like he had a long night, so Roy decided that he cook for him, Dick, Wally, and Iris before returning to Star City. Iris, of course, almost beat him to the kitchen, so they tag teamed on the breakfast. He remembered how hard it must have been to cook for not one but two men who ate the equivalent to a horse's weight in food. But, then again, a hungry speedster is a dead speedster as Ollie liked to put it.
Roy was almost too lost in his memories to remember that he had to take Wally and Dick to Barry's and Iris's house before night fall. It was nearing thanksgiving break, so Dick was staying in Central City with Wally until their regular school hours resumed.
Roy opened the door with the spare key Iris had given him and the two ran up to Wally's room, dragging Roy along.
"Roy? Would you like to stay for dinner?" Iris asked, but before he could answer, he was thrown into Wally's room and handed an XBOX controller.
"COD MW2?" He asked, getting comfortable on the stiff, but surprisingly comfortable bed.
"You're on!" Dick challenged before starting the game.
A/N: Please, leave a review with your comments on the story. This is my first time writing a fanfiction like this and I would enjoy a little moral support. Flames are welcome, although I will happily laugh and ignore them if it ends up being a waste of my brainspace. Please feel free to give your advice or suggestions if you wish.
Thank you.
~Maxx