Title: Sleeping Grumpy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.
Warning: Spoilers up to Season 2, Episode 6.
Rating: T.
Notes: This is my response to a prompt on The Young Justice: Animated Anonymous Fic meme.
Summary: Roy/Kaldur. Red Arrow gets hit with a Fairy Tale spell. But the path to happily ever after is not as simple as it seems.
Red Arrow stopped believing in happily ever afters when he found out he was a clone. Or rather he stopped believing that he was going to find his happily ever after. He was a clone, a cheap knock-off, a dangerous cheap knock-off. He didn't deserve a happily ever after.
Or so he had believed.
Had believed for years in fact, until Speedy - the original Roy Harper - had sat him down and ordered him to quit being an idiot and get on with his life because he didn't blame Red Arrow for what happened to him. That Speedy wanted him to have a life and be happy because Red Arrow was the only one that had refused to give up on him. That if he didn't do everything in his power to be happy Speedy was going to come and kick his ass until he did.
After that, he gave up being Red Arrow and focused on the one thing that he believed might just give him his happily ever after; Lian. He didn't believe he deserved his little girl (still doesn't as a matter of fact) but he wasn't going to complain about that because she was there and had needed him. So he had dedicated his life to her and expected nothing more. He believed that making her happy was all the happily ever after he needed.
Zatanna however had had different plans and it was all because of that stupid sorcerer . . .
Ten years ago.
Roy knew he was screwed the moment he reached into his quiver and found nothing. It's not that his hand to hand combat skills are bad it was just that, up against a sorcerer, you really need more than that. And he was having a difficult enough time trying to stop this maniac when he had a fully-stocked quiver. So really, he's as good as dead unless he gets some kind of miracle.
"You mocked the mystic arts, boy." The man says, mouth twisting into a smirk as Red Arrow takes several steps back in order to try and put some distance between them. There's an old fire escape to his right which he might be able to make it up before the guy fires off a spell at him. But he doubts it. "'Old and useless' you said. You want old magic I will give you old magic."
The man slaps his hands together and there's a sudden bright wave of gold light that leaves Roy blinking spots out his eyes. When he can finally focus again the man is gone and he's alone in the alley.
That's not . . . normal. Usually when criminals manage to distract you they attack you, not run away. But a quick check of the police-bands tells him that the sorcerer has run home rather than back to the museum to steal more artefacts. In all honesty he doesn't really care that much about the artefact he stole (some old trinket that used to be used in magical rituals hundreds of years ago.) Protecting Star City is Green Arrow's job and Green Arrow's job alone now. Red Arrow's job is to find Speedy, to save Speedy. Apart from the League is dealing with some problem half way across the globe so Ollie asked him to keep an eye out on Star City while he was away. Roy had agreed to do so very reluctantly because it was taking precious time away from his search for Speedy. And while he understands that the crazy sorcerer thief needs to be caught that's not his job. He kept the maniac from killing the Museum employees even if he didn't stop the man from making off with the artefact. Tracking the stolen property down can be Green Arrow's job when he returns. Red Arrow has more important things to find.
Shrugging to himself he starts making his way home. He'd taken several hits in the fight before he ran out of arrows (the nasty burn on his left shoulder is really beginning to hurt now the adrenaline is wearing off) and coupled with his lack of arrows he doesn't think he'd be of much use to Speedy at this point. Once he's restocked his quiver and patched himself up he'll go straight out to that Warehouse in Jump that his last tip-off led him to. Maybe he'll be able to find a clue to where Speedy has been moved to now.
It's not that far to his apartment but by the time he reaches his front door he can barely keep his eyes open which is odd because he hadn't thought he was that tired. Stumbling through the doorway he realises that his hands are shaking so badly that he can no longer hold onto his bow or empty quiver and they hit the floor with a loud clatter. Roy doesn't like to call in help but he thinks that now might just be the time to call Kaldur.
Of course this is the moment that darkness claims him and he tumbles to the floor unconscious.
Kaldur is, without a doubt, the worrier of the team.
He worries about M'gann, who panics about 'blending in' properly and goes on TV-watching binges to try and understand human culture better. He worries about KF, who has a tendency to act like everything's fine up until the moment he collapses from lack of food. He worries about Superboy, who has both anger and daddy issues that don't seem to be resolving themselves any time soon. He worries about Robin, who is never prepared to admit that he might occasionally need help because he's human and doesn't want to seem weak. He worries about Zatanna, who also has daddy issues and panics about 'her magic not being good enough' without her father there to guide her. He worries about Artemis, the third member of the daddy issues club, who also has abandonment issues and occasionally still thinks they might throw her off the team. He worries about Raquel who is secretly dating her used-to-be-ex-boyfriend (a criminal that Icon does not approve of.) And last, but not least, is Roy. Who was grumpy and too prideful to ever admit to needing help and tended to only call people in at the last minute (which usually resulted in Kaldur getting there in time to save the archer's life but not in time to stop him from getting seriously injured.) And now . . . now Red Arrow has found out he is a clone of the original Roy Harper and has made it his mission to find Speedy no matter what it costs him in the process.
So, really, when Roy fails to contact him for three days (and usually they call each other almost every other day and the number of calls has only increased since Roy has found out about his real . . . past) Kaldur starts to really worry.
At which point he does something really stupid.
He goes to Robin and Kid Flash.
"Let's break into his apartment."
Aqualad sighs, fighting back the desire to bury his head in his hands. He should have known that they would have come up with something like this. Moments like these are why he's Red Arrow's best friend, not them. They don't seem to understand that you can't push the redhead into doing something, you have to gently coax him into it without him realising you're coaxing him into anything.
"I do not think that is a good idea." He announces. "If Red Arrow is not responding to our calls because he does not wish to see us then breaking into his apartment is the last thing we should do."
"No it's not." Robin replies cheerfully, already heading for the zeta-tubes. "It's the first thing to do. Leaving him to wallow is never a good thing and you're really good at getting him to cheer up."
"Agreeing with Rob here. He's been utterly miserable since he found out about, you know, being a clone." KF says, grabbing Kaldur by the wrist and dragging him after the Boy Wonder. "Besides it'll be fun."
"I think your definition of fun leaves much to be desired." Kaldur says as he's pulled into the zeta-tubes. They might prove to be useful though. If they break into Roy's apartment and annoy him the redhead will want Kaldur to remain behind once he's thrown the others out so he can rant to the Atlantean about how annoying the other two can be. And if he's not that annoyed at them breaking in (which Kaldur doubts) he will let them spend some time in his apartment in order to appease them before going back to his search for Speedy. Either way, Kaldur will get into his apartment and can start cleaning up after the redhead. Roy has become lax in taking care of his flat since he started his search for Speedy to the point where the Atlantean is honestly surprised that the redhead hasn't already caught something from the filth that he lives in. Kaldur had taken to cleaning up after Red Arrow whenever he came for a visit but, for reasons the blond can't understand, that has always made the redhead blush and order him to stop. In fact, Roy dislikes Kaldur cleaning up after him so much that he has started insisting they meet outside his apartment if they spend time together as civilians.
Kaldur doesn't approve of this for two reasons, the first being that Roy is now living in total squalor, the second being that he misses that blush. It's very difficult to get Roy to blush and Kaldur finds the action surprisingly attractive on the archer.
Shaking such thoughts from his head (he should not be having them in the first place let alone at a time like this) Kaldur realises that his feet have been automatically taking him to Roy's apartment, Wally and Robin trailing behind him now as they don't visit the archer as often as he does.
Kaldur heaves a sigh when he looks up at Roy's apartment and realises that his living room light is still on. The archer is in then and just ignoring Kaldur's calls.
"We're still breaking in." Robin announces but Kaldur silently yet determinedly grabs the boy by the back of his jacket and pulls the Boy Wonder behind him. The Dynamic Duo may be lacking in manners but Kaldur certainly isn't and he won't allow them to break into Roy's apartment until they're absolutely certain that they won't get to see him any other way. So, with Robin huffing behind him, Kaldur raises a fist and knocks loudly on the door.
No response. Not even a 'Leave me the Hell alone' which Ollie is getting a lot of at the moment if Dinah is to be believed.
Kaldur frowns and knocks again. Louder.
Still nothing.
"He wouldn't leave his light on if he went out." The Atlantean says softly, feeling his worry increase. "He's really particular about his heating and electricity because he has so little money at the moment since he stopped using the . . . other Roy's trust fund."
Roy was, grudgingly, accepting money from Ollie and Dinah at the moment. The redhead felt like taking the money from Roy Harper's trust fund was 'stealing' as it technically wasn't his because he was a clone. Dinah had tried to persuade him that, as he was dedicating his life to finding Speedy she was sure the original wouldn't mind Red Arrow taking money to live off but the archer wasn't having any of it. He had refused point blank to use the trust fund money. But after almost losing his apartment because he didn't have the cash to pay for bills or rent he had eventually accepted money from his former mentor. But not a lot. Certainly not enough to leave his lights on while he was out for the day.
"Right." Robin says, eyebrows disappearing beneath his sunglasses as he frowns. Suddenly taking the situation seriously because he, like Kaldur, knows how broke Red Arrow is at the moment. "Cover me."
The other two move to block the boy from view as he pulls some lock picks out of his sleeve and starts to work on the first lock. Kaldur has noticed that, ever since Red Arrow found out he was a clone the archer has almost changed his battle tactics. He's so utterly desperate to find Speedy that he's become fairly reckless and has started taking injuries that before he would have had enough sense to dodge. Now though it's like he doesn't care if he gets hurt as long as it gets him the information on Speedy he needs. So it's entirely possible that Roy has sustained a very serious injury and put himself in a position where he was unable to call for help or even answer any calls at all.
So when Robin finally gets the door open (offering him and Wally a triumphant smirk over his shoulder as he does) Kaldur practically runs into the apartment only for him to almost trip over something lying in the doorway. Looking down Kaldur realises that his feet are tangled up in Roy's bow. Roy does not treat his weapons so lightly – he would never leave them lying on the floor. With growing dread he looks up from the floor.
And sees a body lying in the middle of the room.
"Roy." He gasps, taking a few steps forward and dropping to his knees beside the boy who's collapsed face-first onto his well worn rug. He's still dressed in his Red Arrow clothes which tells the Atlantean that it must have been something Red Arrow did that's caused this. Gripping the redhead's wrist with his fingers Kaldur lets out a huge sigh of relief when he can feel Roy's steady pulse beneath his fingertips. Frowning he gently places a hand on the redhead's exposed pale shoulder and says softly, "Roy, wake up."
He gets no response so he reaches out and starts running his hands down the boy's body, checking for any obvious injuries that would cause the redhead to drop onto the floor, unconscious. The next second Wally and Robin are beside him, also checking for injuries.
"He's got a bit of a bump on his head." Wally announces, wincing down at the boy.
"And a nasty burn on his shoulder." Robin adds in.
"But nothing that would cause him to collapse on the floor like this." Kaldur whispers. "Should we call in the League? There is clearly something wrong here."
"He'd kill us if we did that because Green Arrow would come running." Robin says firmly. "We're better off calling our Team."
Kaldur likes to keep on Roy's good side. Mainly because getting back into his good books once you're out is really difficult. Ollie is the ultimate proof of this. But he would feel better having a League member present. He supposes that technically calling Batman, as one of the people that is in charge of their team, isn't calling the League. And the Dark Knight would know not to call Green Arrow unless it's necessary.
"Agreed. I will call M'gann so that she can telekinetically lift him onto a stretcher as we do not want to jog him in case there is an injury we haven't noticed." The blond replies, reaching for his communicator. "Afterwards I will call Batman – we are going to need someone to work out what's wrong with him. Not," Kaldur says, turning to look at Robin, "that I do not think you are capable but – "
"No offence taken." Robin says, waving a hand dismissively. "I would have suggested calling Batman if you hadn't."
The blond nods, reaching out to press his fingers to Roy's wrist to reassure himself that the archer is still alive as he calls M'gann.
Kaldur is the worrier of the group but it's moments like these that make him glad that he is.
Batman is waiting for them when they arrive back at Mount Justice with Red Arrow.
"Canary was worried something like this was going to happen." The Dark Knight says gruffly as M'gann telekinetically lowers the archer onto the medical bed. "He's been pushing himself beyond his limits trying to find Speedy recently."
Kaldur already knew that. He'd been the first person Canary had called when Roy started becoming obsessive with this whole 'Find Speedy' Mission. At first Red Arrow didn't mind letting the League take control over the task of finding Speedy. He was always the first to volunteer for missions on him and was always asking them for updates but he didn't mind letting them be in charge. But after a few months and absolutely no results he seemed to decide that they weren't putting in enough effort, that as they had saved the whole damn planet on multiple occasions, they should be able to find one boy. But even with Jim Harper helping them (and finding out the truth about Guardian had been a serious shock to the Team, a second Roy clone that was so vastly different from Red Arrow was not what they had been expecting to find) the original was still nowhere to be found.
So Red Arrow had taken over the project, desperate to find Speedy. The League had let him, seeing that he needed to do this to purge himself of the guilt he felt for accidently stealing the original Roy Harper's life. But when he started trying to organise missions all the time the League members had put their foot down saying that they all had jobs and lives so, unless they were offering their time, to only contact them in emergencies. Roy hadn't taken that well and started doing solo missions in order to find clues about Speedy's whereabouts. Kaldur and the rest of the team had tried to persuade him to contact them no matter what (they were more than happy to ditch school for a friend) but the redhead was reluctant to do so. In case it resulted in making the League angry at him for dragging their kids with him and he needed them to be happy to help him when he needed it. As a result he was doing a lot of dangerous should-be-team missions by himself which meant that he was pushing himself well beyond his limits.
Canary had noticed and rung Kaldur, saying that Roy seemed to listen to him more than anyone else and could he please persuade Roy to calm down about Speedy? This had been part of the reason for him going over to Roy's place so often and cleaning up after him. It gave him an excuse to make sure that the redhead hadn't pushed himself too far and become hurt. But since Roy had essentially banned Kaldur from his apartment it had been harder to check up on him. Before he could tell if Roy had injured himself because he would leave bloody bandages or empty painkiller boxes lying around, now though the redhead won't let him in his apartment and even seems to have taken to hiding his injuries before he goes to see Kaldur. So the Atlantean hasn't been able to tell what state Roy has been in recently and feels horrifically guilty considering that they are now unable to wake the archer up. If he had just found a way to make Roy see that he was just trying to help then they may not have ended up in this situation.
Just as Batman is about to insert a needle into Roy's arm to take some blood to run tests on Robin, who had instantly launched himself at the computer the moment they came through the door, pipes up with, "There's a news report about Red Arrow."
Batman pauses in what he's doing to look at the Boy Wonder and orders, "Details."
There's always the possibility that whatever tests they do to work out what is wrong with a team-member might accidently do more damage than good. The more they know beforehand the better off the patient will be which is why Batman is carefully putting the needle back down as Robin starts to talk.
"Says a magic-user of some kind broke into Star City Museum and stole an artefact three days ago. Red Arrow managed to lead him away before he could steal more but neither of them, or the stolen artefact, ever returned."
"So, Red Arrow is like this because of magic?" M'gann asks softly, turning to look at the redhead with solemn eyes. While the Martian was not that close to Roy she took these sorts of things to heart a lot more than the others did.
"More than likely as we can't see any physical injuries that would keep him unconscious like this." Batman replies as he turns round to face the team and a certain magician in particular. "Zatanna, why don't you run some magical diagnostics tests on him?"
"Me?" Zatanna chokes out, pointing a finger at herself in surprise. "What about Fate?"
"Busy." Batman says shortly. "And I have to check in on his situation so keep me updated about what you find out."
And with that he starts marching out the door, already talking rapidly to someone on the other end of his communicator.
"Well that was . . . abrupt." Wally mutters with a frown as they all shuffle closer to the medical bed Roy is lying on.
"I think something big is going on with the League and he was helping them out before we called." Robin says with a shrug. "He thought Red Arrow might be dying or something so he came back really quickly. But as he can't do magic he's pretty much useless to us, and Roy, now so he's going back to the others where he will be of more use."
"Right." Artemis says, clapping her hands together as she turns to look at Zatanna. "What do you need from us, Zee?"
The magician however isn't looking at Artemis but nervously staring down at Red Arrow. Kaldur can practically hear the 'I wish my dad was here to help him' running through her mind. Wanting to reassure her of their faith in her, Kaldur reaches out and wraps and arm round her shoulders and gives her a comforting squeeze. Zatanna glances up first at Artemis, who gives her a reassuring smile before looking at Kaldur, who quickly gives her another small hug hoping he has made his point. At the slow determined frown that spreads across her face he decides that it must have worked. He and Artemis have been trying to build Zatanna's confidence up for a while now. It's good to see their hard work paying off.
"A lot of things." The magician replies, tapping a hand thoughtfully against her chin. "Someone's going to need to write this down . . ."
Seventeen magical tests, two hours and one case of accidently overturned jar of spiders later and Zatanna straightens up and announces, "It's magic. And ancient magic at that."
"Err . . . does that matter?" Wally asks through a mouthful of chips, peering down at the archer. The speedster eats when he's nervous and has already consumed seven packets of chips, two sandwiches, one pizza and a cake.
"Yes." The magician replies, frowning down at the redhead. "Old magic was made so that you either had to fulfil the purpose of the spell or had to kill the caster."
"That sounds stupid." Artemis mutters under her breath.
"Back then it made sense." Zatanna says softly, "I could explain its history to you but I won't bother. All we need to know is that this is one of those spells."
"So we must fulfil the purpose of the spell?" Kaldur questions. It is unvoiced that they are not going to go after the sorcerer. Even if they had the slightest clue who he was they still wouldn't go after him. There are rules that, as the super-heroes of Earth, they can't cross. Not now, not ever. They are a symbol after all.
"Correct."
"What kind of spell is it?"
"Fairy tale spell." Zatanna mumbles, frowning so hard that she has drawn her eyebrows together.
"What kind of fairy tale spell?" Kaldur questions warily. One time, shortly after the Team had originally formed, they had been questioning Superboy about the knowledge Cadmus had implanted in his brain. It turned out that they hadn't informed him of a lot of things that Wally and Robin had declared 'Need to Know Information' and as a result they had had several sessions where they had filled the clone in on things they had felt was important. One of those sessions had been about Fairy Tales and as both Kaldur and M'gann had known nothing about those either they had ended up joining in so that they could understand more of the everyday culture they were now a part of. Quite honestly Kaldur prefers the Fairy Tales told in Atlantis. He finds certain elements to surface-dweller Fairy Tales to be quite unpleasant. It worries him that Red Arrow may have been tangled up in such a story.
"Sleeping Beauty."
Robin, predictably, bursts into hysterical laughter. Kaldur however sighs, reaching forward to gently rest his hand against the redhead's cheek. "You do get yourself into some serious problems, don't you my friend?"
"So someone has to kiss him?" Artemis asks, the corner of her lip twitching in a repressed smile as Robin continues to laugh.
"Yes but – " Zatanna starts only to be cut off by the computer screen lighting up with Batman's face.
"Team, the situation with the League is more serious than I originally thought." Batman says without preamble. "I'm going to need Zatanna, Miss Martian, Superboy and Rocket to come to the location I'm sending to your communicators. Now."
Then he disappears again just as quickly. They all know what that means. That Batman doesn't have the time to talk them through the situation and if Batman, of all people, doesn't have the time to do that then the League are in some serious trouble. So there is no time for dawdling.
"We'll see you soon." Miss Martian says, waving over her shoulder at them as they hurriedly disappear off towards the Bio-ship. Kaldur is almost pleased to see them go, the less people witness to this the happier Roy will be.
"So," Artemis says over her shoulder as she wanders into the kitchen to put back the salt Zatanna had needed for one of the spells, "who's going to kiss Roy?"
"Ew. I'm not doing it. He's like my brother. That's totally incest." Wally announces loudly, he then turns and digs an elbow into Robin's side cutting off the boy's laughter. "You do it."
"No way." The Boy Wonder announces, holding up his hands in protest. "He's like my brother too and I'm thirteen. I'm way too young for this. It would be illegal."
Wally gives Robin a surprisingly withering look for the speedster. "Funny how you're never thirteen or too young or underage until you don't want to do something."
Robin just smirks. Kid Flash rolls his eyes in response and cups his hands around his mouth and hollers, "Artemis! You do it."
"Hell no!" The blonde yells back from the kitchen. "Are you aware of what kind of relationship the two of us have? He'll kill me."
Storming back into the room she eyes the smirking Boy Wonder and announces, "I vote Robin does it. Robin, we're outvoting you." Turning to Wally she offers the speedster a wicked smile. "I think we can agree on this one, right? Roy can't kill Robin for fear of Batman."
Kaldur is a little surprised that KF tried to make Artemis kiss Roy. Usually boyfriends do not like their girlfriends kissing other men (even if it's for the purpose of saving a life) but Wally doesn't appear to mind. Then again Wally and Artemis' relationship has never been what one would call normal so Kaldur's probably better off not trying to work them out. It will only give him a headache.
"Okay." Robin sing-songs in response, taking a step closer to Roy. "But just so you know, I'm telling Batman on you guys."
Artemis reaches out and grabs Robin's left ear using it to haul him away from Roy. The Boy Wonder swears at her in several languages under his breath as the archer says, "Suddenly, kissing Sleeping Grumpy doesn't sound like such a bad idea after all."
"Sleeping Grumpy." Robin snorts under his breath. "Oh, that's a good one."
"I'm still not doing it. I can run away from Batman." Wally declares. He pauses at the look of disbelief on all his friends' faces before blushing and adding under his breath, "For a while anyway. Long enough for him to have caught up with Artie and taken out his frustrations on her."
As the blonde reaches for her bow Kaldur sighs, takes a step forward and says, "I'll do it."
Kaldur knew the moment Zatanna announced that Roy had to be kissed he was going to be the one to do it. That no one else would be prepared to step up and do what was necessary even if they found it embarrassing. He almost feels guilty for it though considering he has been hiding how he truly feels about Roy for quite some time now. The archer will be annoyed enough as it is that he had to be kissed awake by Kaldur of all people and if he ever found out that Kaldur loved him . . .
No, the consequences are simply not worth thinking about. Besides, Roy has yet to figure out Kaldur's feelings so he's not really about to any time soon with the way he is obsessing over Speedy.
Robin has whipped out a video camera (sometimes it astounds Kaldur how much stuff the Boy Wonder manages to cram into that belt of his) and is humming to himself as he set it up. Robin's enjoyment of Kaldur's embarrassment grates on his nerves slightly. Especially as he thinks that the Boy Wonder is aware of his feelings for the archer despite his best attempts to disguise said feelings.
"If Roy does not ask who kissed him you will not tell him I was the one to do this." Kaldur says and it's an order not a question and they all nod their in acknowledgment of this. It will be better for Roy if he doesn't know that Kaldur kissed him and better for Kaldur as there's less chance of letting his secret slip.
Artemis wanders over to Kaldur, eyeing the two cheerful boys warily.
"Just do it now." Artemis hisses at him as she sidles up. "Before he gets that thing working."
Kaldur inclines his head once in agreement and leans over Roy's prone body. Wally squawks and starts flapping his hands at Robin in a 'hurry up' motion but it's too late. Taking a deep breath, Kaldur leans forward and presses his lips against Roy's. When he had imagined himself kissing Roy it certainly wasn't in a situation like this. With his team-mates watching and Roy's life on the line. But in all honesty it's probably the only chance he will ever have to kiss Roy without the other boy turning round and punching him so he should be grateful for it.
Kaldur can feel himself blushing as he pulls away, watching Roy warily for any sign of movement. There's a brief moment where nothing happens and then, quite suddenly, Roy's snap open.
"How are you feeling?" The Atlantean asks softly as Roy's gaze darts wildly around the room. He frowns when he notices who he is with and, more importantly, where he is.
"Why the Hell am I in the Mountain?" Roy snarls, setting his elbows under him in order to struggle upright.
"Careful." Kaldur orders as Roy swing his legs over the edge of the medical table and tilts slightly to the side. He gently reaches out and grabs the redhead by the shoulder, carefully righting him. "You have been under a spell, it – "
"What?" Roy demands then turns to scowl at Robin who is attempting to stifle his giggles unsuccessfully. Kaldur frowns at the boy but, for once, Robin takes no notice of Kaldur's attempts to correct his childish behaviour.
"They broke into your apartment because you hadn't answered your comm. in three days." Artemis tells him, reaching over to help Kaldur keep the other boy on the table when he makes a move to get up again. "We brought you here and – "
"Three days?" Roy mutters disbelievingly. "I've been out of it for three days?"
"Yes, my friend. Now please calm down, we don't know how this will have affected your body."
"Whatever." Roy mutters harshly, shrugging off Kaldur's and Artemis' hands but he stays sitting down much to the Atlantean's relief. "What kind of spell was it? How'd you break it?"
KF who, to his credit, managed not to laugh up until this point suddenly starts giggling like a schoolgirl. Roy's shoulders stiffen at the noise but he doesn't turn round to look at the speedster, instead he focuses on Kaldur and Artemis who are not laughing at him.
"Sleeping Beauty curse." Artemis says with a wicked grin. "Apparently it's some kind of ancient magic, according to Zatanna."
Red Arrow closes his eyes at that and he mutters something under his breath that sounds, suspiciously to Kaldur like, "Bastard, that's what he meant."
"Right, so how did you fix me?" The archer asks, opening his eyes and looking round the room curiously. "I don't see Zatanna."
"Um, well," Robin mumbles, trying to work out what to say, "that's – "
"It doesn't matter." Roy grumbles, more to himself than them when Robin continues to stammer. "As long as I'm awake I can get back to looking for Speedy. I only went after the sorcerer 'cos Arrow is all insistent I look after Star City for him while he's away. Next time Canary can come look after his City for him."
"I think perhaps you should continue to rest for a while." Kaldur says, relief filling him. Not only is Roy awake once more but they've not had to tell the archer how they woke him up. He has not put their friendship in jeopardy. "And allow us to run a few tests on you to make sure you have fully recovered. In the tale of Sleeping Beauty the princess was only put to sleep but we need to make sure that the sorcerer didn't add a . . . darker twist to the spell."
Roy huffs but obediently holds out his arm to Robin who has already reached for a needle.
When Zatanna comes stomping into the room, covered from top to toe in mud almost a full seven hours since she first left, Kaldur is expecting her to head straight for her room and en-suite shower not to shriek and point at the medical table that Roy had vacated an hour ago.
"Where's Red Arrow?" Zatanna exclaims, squelching quickly across the floor.
"He wanted to leave after we ran a number of tests to ascertain he was healthy." Kaldur says wearily, eyeing the mud splattered floor with the horrible foreboding sensation that he was going to be the one cleaning it up. "So we dropped him off at his home and he agreed to stay there and rest until at least tomorrow."
"He woke up?" Zatanna asks, looking confused beneath the mud.
"You were the one that told us he needed to be kissed." Wally points out, smirking at Kaldur who instantly blushes and turns to leave and find the mop. He has already been subjected to enough teasing at the hands of Wally and Robin as it is – he does not want do endure it in front of the rest of the Team. He thinks that the Boy Wonder must have told Wally about his crush. They seem just a little too cheerful about this experience for it to be a coincidence. And there's the entire possibility they might tell the others as well. Tactical retreat is the best course of action here.
"Um, yes." The magician mumbles, shuffling her feet nervously. "But if you recall the Fairy Tale of Sleeping Beauty it dictated that it needed to be True Love's first kiss to awaken the Princess. Not just any kiss from anybody."
There's sudden stunned silence.
"Oh my god." Artemis breathes out, turning to stare at Kaldur. "You're – "
"That – that doesn't mean anything. That – " Kaldur chokes out, unable to find the right words for this situation. It can't possibly be true.
. . .
Can it?
"The Fates give every person another 'half' as it were. They are bound by the string of Fate the moment they are both born. But it is very rare that people find that person." Zatanna explains, her blue eyes locked onto Kaldur who is looking at anything and anyone but her. "The group of Fairy Tale spells were created in order to prove to a group of 'do-gooders' that true happiness could not be found hundreds of years ago. The Sleeping Beauty spell in particular is one of the nastier ones that were created to prove Happy Endings only happen in books because it meant that it left the family and the friends of the recipient of the spell desperately searching for something that, chances were, they were never going to find. Over time they developed spells that would help them locate someone's True Love but it is still a very long process taking up to years at a time to find. If they do find them at all. This is why I was so surprised I thought we were going to have spent a lot of time searching for Roy's 'True Love' but," Zatanna adds with a small smirk in Kaldur's direction, "apparently he was under our noses all along."
Everyone turns to look at Kaldur. Kaldur, very deliberately, does not look at them. Zatanna's words are filling him with hope. Hope he cannot afford to have.
"It does not matter; all that matters is that Roy is awake and well." He says, bracing himself for what is going to come next. He is not disappointed.
"Kaldur, you can't – "
"That's just – "
"Kaldur'ahm you listen to me – "
"In Atlantis," Kaldur says loudly, cutting off his team-mates frantic disapproving babbling, "same-sex relationships are illegal."
"Excuse me?" Artemis snaps, planting her hands on her hips. "You can't be serious!"
"It is not," Kaldur says softly, finally turning to look at them, "because they do not approve of these relationship but because of the increasing number of children dying at very young ages."
"Kaldur," Zatanna says softly reaching out to wrap a hand around the crook of Kaldur's elbow, not seeming to care that she was getting him muddy, "we don't understand. What has that got to do with same-sex relationships?"
"The number of children growing to over three years old has been steadily decreasing for about 120 years. About 70 years ago it got to the stage were people were so worried about us Atlanteans eventually becoming extinct that they put in certain measures to try and help the birth rate. One of these measures was to forbid same-sex relationships in the hope that people would settle for marrying someone of the opposite sex and have children."
"But . . . you and Roy are meant to be together." Zatanna says softly. "Surely that – "
"Atlantean law forbids it." Kaldur says, his voice cracking despite his best efforts to remain calm. "And I am loyal to my King and Country."
And with that he pulls his arm out of Zatanna's grasp and heads for the door, a hollow ache in his chest. It had been so much easier to ignore his feelings for Roy when he had believed that he had no chance with him. But he has sworn an oath to his King to uphold Atlantean rules while on the surface and King Orin has been nothing but kind to him, unlike a lot of Atlanteans. So he will not break his oath to his King. He will not betray one of the few people that has always had faith in him, no matter how much it will hurt him in the process.
Five Years ago.
Roy honestly wasn't expecting to open his front door to find Zatanna standing on the other side of it. They had never really got to know one another when he was on the team, let alone after he left it to join the League (which he would later on leave when it became obvious that the League didn't care as much about Speedy as they should have done.)
"Err, something wrong kid?" He asks, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He thought he had made it clear after he found Speedy that he was ditching the Hero gig forever. That the only thing he cared about was making sure that Lian grew up to be a happy, well-adjusted girl. If they had sent Zatanna to try and con him into joining the League he was going to think a lot less of them. Even Dinah and Ollie hadn't been able to persuade him to go back to being Red Arrow. What kind of chance did this girl have?
"You and Jade got divorced." Zatanna says, her tone serious. "And I want to talk to you about that."
"Who the Hell do you think you are?" Roy snaps. Very few people had been supportive of his and Jade's relationship. If she thought she was going to barge in here and be all 'I told you so' then she had another thing coming.
"You ended your relationship with her because you're in love with Kaldur."
. . .
"How do you know that?" Roy asks hoarsely, his knuckles going white as his grip on the doorframe tightens. He'd been so careful about hiding it. The only person that he had told was Jade and she would not have betrayed his confidence.
"How about I come inside and we talk." Zatanna says. Roy realises it's not a question when she steps forward, forcing her way past him into his apartment. Under normal circumstance he'd be throwing her out on her behind but he needs to know how she figured out he had feelings for Kaldur.
"Look," She says as Roy shuts his front door. He feels like slamming it shut but he only just got Lian off to sleep so he resists, "I know you don't like this but, for Kaldur's sake, we have to have this conversation. But first I need to tell you a few things about Kaldur."
"Why?" Roy snaps, crossing his arms across his chest. Roy knows he shouldn't feel like Kaldur abandoned him. He was the one that left first. But he can't help the bitterness he feels whenever someone talks about the Atlantean. "Kaldur ditched all of us for his father."
Zatanna pauses at that and Roy realises that the girl is bloody well welling. What the Hell has she got to cry over? "He has good reasons for doing it. I probably would have done the same thing in his shoes."
That Roy hadn't been expecting – he doesn't talk to the 'old crowd' a lot and when he does they've all been very reluctant to talk about Kaldur. Like he's a dark blot on their immaculate white paper. So for Zatanna to think he was in the right is completely out of the blue.
"Look," The magician says, beginning to pace his living room floor, "this is going to be a long explanation so could you, you know," she mumbles waving a hand at his sofa, "sit down and I'll start."
Roy sighs and drops onto his sofa, carefully setting the baby monitor on the coffee table in front of him. Lian isn't even a year old yet but she has already started showing signs of having his attitude and is very reluctant to go to sleep when he puts her to bed. She'll be awake for a while yet – just to spite him – and he needs to be able to hear her if she starts crying.
When Roy is settled on the sofa Zatanna takes a deep breath and begins talking, "It started when Kaldur was really young – about five. Some of the people in Shayeris knew that Kaldur's real father was Black Manta even though he didn't. It wasn't a problem until school started and they told their children not to play with him because they were afraid he would be like his 'dangerous surface dweller father.' And soon these people started telling other parents about Kaldur, warning them not to let their children play with him and just like that Kaldur was suddenly being ignored by all his year-mates."
Zatanna takes a deep breath here, clenching and unclenching her fists as she continues to pace. It's obvious just how angry she is which surprises Roy a bit. He hadn't known the two were that close. Then again he had stopped paying attention to anything that wasn't related to Speedy at least a year before Kaldur left, maybe even longer. "Kaldur didn't understand why they were doing this and started to get angry that he was being ignored. And, apparently Black Manta has a bit of a temper, so Kaldur's mother started worrying that he was becoming more like his father. So she decided that he needed to reign in his emotions. She told him that the only way for him to find acceptance was to be perfect; to get good grades, to always be polite, to always do as he was ordered and to never ever show any of his emotions."
And Kaldur's refusal to talk about his emotions suddenly makes sense to Roy. It had taken him a long time to persuade Kaldur that, even if he didn't share his feelings with other people, it was okay to share things with Red Arrow. That he would never judge Kaldur. The blond had seemed so pleased at the time which Roy hadn't understood and now he feels like an idiot because, how did he not realise that all of Kaldur's issues had to stem from somewhere? And suddenly the reason is right in front of him – his mother had trained emotions out of him. Trained him to be her idea of 'perfect' and her idea of perfect was stupid.
But despite her best attempts to turn him into some unthinking robot Kaldur's real personality had shined through, or at least it had to Roy. That desire to save lives was all Kaldur, the gentleness when treating his friends, the joy on his face every time the others included him in something and the sarcastic quips that he had let slip every now and again despite his best efforts not to was the real Kaldur. And that was the person Roy had fallen for which is why he had always been so desperate to push Kaldur to break the rules, to just let go and be himself because he could see that Kaldur was holding back, always holding back, and he had just wanted Kaldur to be free.
"In the end the children went from ignoring Kaldur to bullying him but because his mother had trained it into him to be quiet and not respond by then he just sort of . . . took it."
Roy has started to get his anger problems under control (he has made a real effort for his Lian) but he can feel himself getting so angry now that he wants to pick up the bow he has stored under the floorboards (just in case they're attacked) and track the brats down and hurt them.
"When Kaldur was about eight Tula moved to Shayeris. Her father was Head of one of the Military outposts near there and so she was quite well trained even then. She saw them beating Kaldur up and fought them off. She then brought him back to her father, who knew all about Kaldur and worked out what must have happened, so he started to train Kaldur too. So that he could defend himself as well. Tula became his first friend and she stuck by his side until they reached the Conservatory."
"Where they met Garth." Roy whispers to himself, understanding beginning to dawn.
The magician pauses in her pacing to nod at Roy. "It was a new beginning for Kaldur. He never knew why he was being so badly bullied at home and Tula and her father never thought to enlighten him. They had assumed he knew because he kept talking about a fresh start once he left Shayeris and they both thought it was because a lot of the children at the Conservatory wouldn't be 'in the know' but, in reality, it was because Kaldur thought that his anger issues as a young child were what caused his alienation from his peers. So he went to the Conservatory intending to be 'perfect' as his mother had trained him to be and believed that it would be a fresh start."
Roy nods at that, shuffling forward and leaning his elbows on his knees, finding himself drawn in by Zatanna's explanation. He had always thought of himself as the leading expert on all things Kaldur but when the Atlantean had ditched the Team and joined the Light Roy had been forced to admit he might not be as much of an expert as he thought. But he had never believed, even for a second, that there would be someone out there who understood Kaldur better than he did. And yet here Zatanna is, explaining Kaldur to him like they hadn't spent several years practically joined at the hip.
"By the time he got to the Conservatory Kaldur had worked out that he wasn't interested in girls and told Tula – afraid that he might slip up and people might start bully him there as well. So she came up with the idea that he act like he had a crush on her and she would pretend she didn't notice and then no one would figure out the truth. This was fine until Tula fell for Garth. At which point they knew that they had to have Kaldur 'confess' so Tula could 'reject' him and she could continue her relationship with Garth without people commenting on her leading Kaldur on."
"But why would Kaldur not just tell me all of this?" Roy grumbles, hurt. He's never been very good at talking about his own feelings even if he encouraged Kaldur to do so but he figured that the Atlantean knew he was there for him. That he would listen even if he didn't give the best of advice. That even if he couldn't admit it out loud that Kaldur knew how important he was to him from the way he acted around the blond.
"Because Kaldur was, and probably still is, in love with you."
Roy feels like his stomach has suddenly dropped out his body. It's not possible. It's just not possible for Kaldur to have been in love with him all this time. He would have noticed. She's lying. She has to be lying.
"That's not true he – "
"It is." Zatanna insists, scowling at him. "He told me himself that he loved you."
"But why didn't he ever say something?" Roy asks, bewildered. Zatanna wasn't a good liar (or so Nightwing and Artemis had always told him) and she seems so honest that he's finding it difficult to convince himself that she's not telling the truth. That the person he has secretly harboured feelings for all these years loved him back the whole damn time.
God, he's an idiot.
"Because homosexual relationships are forbidden in Atlantis which I believe you know."
Roy nods here. He could never forget that. The day Kaldur told him that was the day he knew he never had a chance with the blond. He had believed that if Kaldur was from a society that was homophobic the chances of him ever liking any man, let alone Roy, had been unbelievably slim. So he had abandoned any hopes of a relationship and just focused on making sure Kaldur didn't work it out. To find out that he was wrong in his assumptions. That Kaldur liked him is just . . . painful in ways he couldn't imagine.
"What you don't know is that they're forbidden because of the increase infant deaths over the years. The law was created in order to try and promote people into having children even if they were not straight to increase the population."
"That's stupid." Roy mutters under his breath.
"Agreed." Zatanna says softly, "But they were panicking. They couldn't fix the health problem and there was a steady decrease in the number of people having children because they were afraid of losing them if they did have them. So this was just one of their many ways of trying to promote people into having children. If Kaldur had tried to pursue you he would have been breaking Atlantean law."
"And Kaldur," Roy says quietly, closing his eyes in despair, "tried to always follow the rules because his mother trained it into him."
"Correct." Zatanna says softly. "So he kept quiet and pretended that he didn't love you and you married Jade and so he kept smiling and pretending he was happy for you even though it was killing him on the inside."
Roy swallows back the bile that rises in his throat at that. God, he had asked Kaldur to be his best man. At the time it had seemed so sensible but now . . .
"Eventually Kaldur decided to tell his mother and step-father the truth because they were pushing him to find a girlfriend, which he couldn't make himself do because of how much he loved you, and they didn't react well. They said that Kaldur was betraying his Country by not only loving a man but by loving a man that was from the surface. Somebody overheard the argument and news like that spreads so pretty soon everyone in Atlantis knew about Kaldur. They started saying that he was a traitor to his country by not taking a wife and having children – that everyone was bound by these laws and how dare he be so selfish. Started saying that they should have expected this of him."
"But he had Garth and Tula right?"
Zatanna shakes her head. "Just Tula. Garth didn't take it very well either but that was mostly because Kaldur and Tula had lied to him for years about it. Ultimately Garth decided to end his relationship with Tula and left the Team. Shortly after that Kaldur started questioning why everyone said they should have 'expected it of him' and his mother eventually told him the truth. She then went on to say that she had spent so long trying to mould him into a decent being and how could he do this to her now after all her hard work and well, he left and never went back home."
"He should have told me." Roy whispers, dragging a hand across his suddenly tired eyes. It's just Kaldur had gone on and on about how his parents had done everything possible to give him a perfect life. And to find out that it was all a sham to shape him into being 'decent being' well . . . that's the kind of heartbreak you go to your friends about even when they're not doing a good job of the friendship thing.
"By this stage Jade had left you and you had given in to your obsession to find Speedy and run off. So when Kaldur came rushing back to the surface he ended up turning to me to talk to as Tula and you weren't there at the time. I did my best to help him cope, as did Tula when she came back from her mission, but he was having such a hard time with it. He had suffered so much for so long and it was all just because of his parentage. He couldn't understand why his King had ordered his mother to never to tell him the truth nor why he had sent Kaldur to fight Black Manta on several occasions. He thought that things might have been easier for him if he knew the truth and just as Kaldur was starting to consider Tula's idea of confronting their King and demanding answers Nightwing sent Tula to her death."
"He didn't – "
"He did." Zatanna corrects, anger in her voice. "We have always known that there's a high chance we might die on a mission but this mission had only a 5% chance that Tula would come back alive. She needed another Atlantean to go with her and by this stage Garth was gone and Kaldur was exceptionally emotional so Nightwing didn't think he was ready for a mission and he sent her by herself. Tula didn't know how dangerous the mission was or she might have reconsidered it. She knew that Kaldur needed her and she would have put him first at that point – he was like her brother after all. Nightwing sent her to her death Roy."
Roy doesn't want to think Nightwing would do that but they'd all sworn to give their lives in the line of duty so he probably didn't think that sending Tula on a mission that was pretty much going to kill her was any different from any other mission they had been on. He probably didn't think the percentage changed anything when you chose to risk your life every day.
"Tula was the only person Kaldur had left in the World Roy. The only one that had always stood by him no matter what. And then Nightwing and the team got her killed. And the Team did get her killed," Zatanna insists, her voice wavering as she remembers Tula, "it's why I joined the Justice League; I refused to be on the Team with them after that. They didn't seem to understand that you had to be given the choice to make the ultimate sacrifice every mission you went on."
She pauses and Roy pretends not to notice her quickly wiping at her eyes.
"Kaldur took leave from the Team and went back to Atlantis for Tula's funeral. Afterwards a group of Atlanteans hunted Kaldur down and beat him half to death, calling him surface dweller vermin and all kinds of rubbish like that. They left him to die, drifting in the ocean but Black Manta found him." Zatanna says softly, her pacing slowing down to dawdling. Roy waves at the chair behind her and she obediently sinks into it, her grief clearly overpowering her anger and leaving her feeling weak.
"His father nursed him back to health and, when Kaldur was able to swim by himself, Manta said he could go home if he wanted. That Manta had always respected Kaldur's choices, disappointed as he was with them, and would never badly hurt him as he was his son. That if he just wanted time to try and cope with his grief he could stay here with him before going back to his team-mates. Kaldur decided to accept his father's generosity because he couldn't bear to face us all again so soon. And during his time there Manta explained parts of what the Light were doing. He told Kaldur that they were trying to save humanity and that they didn't think the League would be capable of doing what was necessary when it came down to the final battle. That, as horrible as it seemed, removing the League was the best thing for everyone because otherwise the World would only listen to them when a crisis happened and they would fail and take everyone with them. And eventually Kaldur started to believe that because, while he knows that King Orin had good intentions where he was concerned, the man still failed at his duties despite his efforts. That all the League members might very well be the same. So he joined his father in order to help save people. Because though he doesn't agree with all the Light's methods he thinks that the Light will do a better job than the League right now even if it still isn't the best way of doing it overall. He also thought that his defection to the Light might surprise the League enough for them re-evaluate how they did things which might result in them remaking themselves into being 'good enough' to protect humanity."
Understanding fills Roy. He's not entirely sure he wants to understand though. It was so much easier to be bitter about Kaldur leaving than feel regret at knowing that, if he had been there, Kaldur might not have suffered so much. That if he had just told the truth Kaldur might still be here with him now.
"How do you know all this?" Roy asks, brow furrowing in confusion when what they are talking about sinks in. "I thought no one knew where Kaldur had gone until he encountered Nightwing on a mission and even they don't know how he found Manta."
"Kaldur came to talk to me." Zatanna admits, blushing slightly. "Out of the whole team I was the only one that had problems with what happened to Tula. As sad as everyone else was it was general consensus that we had all agreed to give our lives for the greater good and that this didn't change depending on what the mission was so Kaldur was wrong when he said that Tula was not aware of what she was agreeing to do. So I was the only one he considered to still be a friend. He explained his reasoning to me and, really, you can't fault him. Aquaman had been negligent as a King, not just where Kaldur was considered but by not taking the Purists seriously until too late, by refusing to believe that there was someone close to him that was leaking information, by refusing to believe it was his brother until Orm had almost killed Kaldur who had been trying to save Orin's son from Orm. And if all the League was failing in ways like that then Kaldur felt that something needed to be done to change that. He hoped that I understood that and that I might join him but I told him I agreed more with the League than the Light. That I was needed on the League. That I needed to show them that they were doing things wrong from the inside. So he wished me luck and left."
And it's right in this moment that Roy decides that he respects Zatanna. Joining a team like the League in order to change it is something that he didn't think she had the backbone to do. And he agrees with her. The League have become too . . . arrogant in the last few years. In the beginning they had been forced to come together because they were desperate and incapable of saving the World by themselves but in recent years, apart from the Light, there have been very few problems that the League haven't been able to deal with once a few of them went to tackle the problem. As a result their arrogance has been steadily growing. And when people get arrogant they make mistakes. Mistakes that they had been refusing to acknowledge for years, were still refusing to acknowledge. The power of being the World's Greatest Superheroes has gone to their head a bit and sooner or later they are going to make a mistake that there was no coming back from if they didn't change their ways. It's partly why Roy left; he too had hoped that by leaving them they would see the errors they were making.
"But now that I've explained Kaldur I need you to explain your relationship with Jade to me." Zatanna says firmly, leaning back in the chair and giving Roy a Look.
"My relationship with Jade is none of your damn business." Roy hisses, suddenly defensive. He doesn't want to explain to her why he married someone else when he loved Kaldur. Doesn't want her judging him and she will judge him. Hell, Roy judges himself for not just telling Kaldur the truth and helping him out now.
"I need to know for Kaldur's sake."
And just like that Roy finds his mouth opening without him telling it to. Because Kaldur has always been one of the most important people in his life. Perhaps the most important person in his life until Lian had come along.
"It was a marriage of convenience."
"Jade wanted Artemis." Here Zatanna pulls a vaguely horrified face and Roy quickly adds, "Not like that. She wanted her sister back. Her dad had trained Jade to be an assassin since the moment she could toddle and while her mother stepped in every now and again to make sure he didn't push her and Artemis too hard the training was still very harsh. When Paula went to prison though she took her protection with her and Jade was suddenly subjected to training that could only be best described as torture. And as he had a second daughter, a 'spare' if you will he was never that careful with Jade. As the training continued to escalate it eventually got too much for her and she realised she had to leave or he was going to accidently kill her. Jade knew she wasn't good enough to protect Artemis and herself from her father and, if they left, he would take it as a betrayal and come after them – possibly even try to kill them. So she left Artemis behind knowing that as there wasn't a 'spare' she wouldn't be treated as badly as Jade was being treated and that he would have to start from the beginning with her so it wouldn't get to the really bad stages for years."
Apart from possibly Artemis no one knows Jade as well as he does. He's more than happy to call her one of his best friends. In fact, she's one of the few people he'd go to in a crisis. The only other people on the list were Dinah, Kaldur (before he had left to join his father) and possibly even Ollie if it came to it. So he doesn't feel entirely okay with telling Zatanna all of this but, he supposes, that Jade will understand when he tells her it was to do with Kaldur. She knows just how much Roy loves the blond.
"The plan was to get strong enough to come back and save Artemis from their father and Jade figured the best way to do that was by finding a more dangerous criminal to work for. One that would not allow Sportsmaster to kill her if she proved herself to be a good 'commodity.' So she joined the League of Shadows and spent several years working her way to the top. Then the Light started moving towards the end of Phase One and Jade met up with the Team. When she saw that Artemis had teamed up with the League she thought she was stupid. That their father would get to her – that we wouldn't be good enough to protect her. But it was the other way round," Roy admits with a sigh, "the Shadows weren't as good at protecting Jade from her father. A couple of times between missions for the Light he had hurt her quite badly but Artemis had remained untouched. Somewhere down the line, after the League had locked Sportsmaster up for what we believed was forever until the Light broke him out, she realised that all she really wanted out of life was to get her sister back and if that meant she had to stop being an assassin so be it."
Roy sighs at the surprised look on Zatanna's face. So few people seemed to realise just how important Artemis is to Jade. It kinda annoys him. Kaldur, of course, had never been surprised. When Roy had told him that Jade wanted to reconcile with her sister he had shrugged and said that he had watched them fight for some time now and that it was fairly obvious how much Jade really cared – she could have killed Artemis well over a hundred times by that point and had chosen not to.
"But Artemis didn't believe her – she said that she needed proof and by that time Jade and I were good friends and everyone knew it. She was trying to help me cope with my feelings for Kaldur and finding Speedy while I tried to help her win Artemis over and so I suggested we get married. It would mean that Kaldur would never work out my feelings for him so I could spend as much time as I wanted with him without worrying that he would find out the truth and hate me considering the Atlanteans' opinion on same-sex relationships while Jade would finally have the proof to convince Artemis that she was reformed."
Zatanna frowns, "Then Lian . . .?"
"Well we weren't sleeping with anyone else because we figured people would be keeping an eye on our relationship to make sure she was 'treating me right' so we figured why not." Roy says, shrugging his shoulders. "But Jade then fell for Thomas Blake. He was this reformed criminal, like she is, and they met when she was searching for answers about Speedy and instantly hit it off. Apparently he helped her out during her pregnancy and stuff. When she came back to kick my ass into being a decent father for Lian, he kept in contact and well, eventually their relationship shifted from platonic to romantic and they decided that they wanted to be together. And, after everything she had done for me the least I could do was divorce her so she could be with the man she loved."
"I see." Zatanna says softly, a huge smile spreading across her face as she reaches forward to take Roy by the hand. He's not entirely sure he's comfortable with that. "Do you remember when you got hit by that Fairy Tale spell shortly after you found out you were a clone?"
"Yes." Roy mumbles, part of the reason for wanting to get out of the Mountain so quickly was because Kaldur had kept touching him. Pressing his fingers to Roy's wrist to check his pulse, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, wrapping an arm round Roy's waist to keep him upright. He had thoroughly enjoyed every single touch in ways he knew he shouldn't which had made him feel really guilty resulting in him wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible. It had been shortly after that that he befriended Jade. She had picked up on his feelings for Kaldur and, surprisingly, rather than mock him for it she had given him some fairly good advice on how to avoid Kaldur figuring out the truth. From then on their friendship had sort of . . . flourished.
"The Sleeping Beauty spell can only be broken by True Love's first kiss or killing the caster of the spell. Kaldur kissed you."
Roy jerks his hand out of Zatanna's grasp because god damn it, that's not possible. It's just not possible. He can't actually be lucky enough to have Kaldur as his True Love. He just can't. He doesn't deserve someone like Kaldur.
"You and Kaldur are soul-mates." Zatanna continues, ignoring Roy's shock. "And he denied you for his King but despite everything he sacrificed for Aquaman he was deprived of everything he wanted. And ended up alone and in pain after the way the Atlanteans treated him. By the time he realised that he should have ignored the Atlantean laws and attempted a relationship with you, you had married Jade. With Tula dead there was nothing left for him but to try and correct what he believed to be the mistake of helping Aquaman going about the wrong way of helping humanity. But you belong together. You do. And I think that if you went and talked to him he would come back with you."
"Zatanna . . ." Roy whispers, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. Because she's dangling everything he's ever wanted in front of him, just out of reach. "How I am even going to get the chance to talk to him? He's living under the fucking ocean with Black Manta of all people. What am I supposed to do?"
"Don't worry." Zatanna says, smiling so widely it's almost splits her face in two. She leans across the space and flings her arms around his neck in a hug that takes him completely by surprise. "I can set it up I'm still in contact with him."
Roy supposes that he shouldn't be surprised by that considering everything that the magician has revealed to him. But to think that she's being secretly hanging out with the enemy right under the League's nose this whole time seems ballsy even for her.
Still . . . her attitude might just grant him a second chance with Kaldur.
Zatanna sends him a text two weeks later with co-ordinates to some 24-hour cafe with orders to be there at seven o'clock. When he gets there (after leaving Lian with Jade) it's to find Kaldur sitting at one of the tables sipping a cup of coffee. He's dressed in different civilian clothes then he used to. He's got pale blue jeans on that Roy is certain will show off his well-toned legs and behind if he stands up and a crisp silk black shirt that's exposing his gills to the World, uncaring if people notice what he really is. It's a nice change in attitude really. Kaldur was always seemed so ashamed of who he was but time with his father has obviously changed that. Roy really approves, after all he spent years trying to get Kaldur to just be himself.
Taking a deep steadying breath Roy strides across the room and slides into the seat across from the Atlantean. Kaldur looks up with a smile on his face which disappears when he sees who is sitting across from him.
"Roy – " Kaldur whispers, his voice raw with so many emotions that Roy can't discern them much to his surprise.
"Zatanna sent me." He says quickly. "Apparently in her place as you obviously weren't expecting me."
He'll be having words with her about that later.
Kaldur takes one look at him and promptly slides his chair back, planting his hands on the table to push himself out of his seat. "As I am associated with the Light I do not think you wish to be – "
"If I didn't want to be seen with you I wouldn't have come to meet you." Roy snaps. "So don't use that as an excuse to run away from me. If you want to leave, just say so."
There's a moment where Kaldur's eyes seems to darken as he stares at Roy then, slowly he pulls his chair back under the table. With an elegance that somehow always surprises Roy the blond folds his arms across the table top, staring neutrally at Roy.
"Is there something in particular that you wished to speak about?" Kaldur asks softly, raising a single perfect eyebrow in question. There's a confidence in himself in the way the blond speaks and as glad as Roy is to hear it he finds he's annoyed with himself for not being one of the people to help put it there.
"Yes." Roy mutters, shifting nervously in his seat. Words have never been his thing but, if everything Zatanna has said is true, he needs to use them now because apparently actions hadn't been good enough before. "I want you to leave your father and - "
The next second Kaldur's chair is clattering to the floor and the blond is storming for the exit, ignoring all the looks he's getting. Swearing under his breath, Roy jumps to his feet and slaps some money down on the table for Kaldur's mostly undrunk coffee before running after the blond.
"Kaldur, wait!" He yells, running after the blond that is rapidly disappearing around a corner. "Just let me – "
"I do not need to hear your ridiculous attempts to get me to– "
"I love you." Roy announces. Kaldur freezes where he's standing, his shoulders hunched. Then ever so slowly he turns on the spot to look at Roy, his eyes wide open in shock.
Roy waits to see what the Atlantean's next move will be but when Kaldur does nothing more than stand there, staring at Roy, he decides to risk his chances and takes a step forward. Kaldur doesn't move so the redhead acts quickly and closes the distance between them before the blond can change his mind and leave. He stops just in front of the Atlantean, so close that he can see the silver flecks in Kaldur's pale green eyes. God, it's been too long since he's seen these eyes. Too long since he's really seen Kaldur. And now here he is, stronger, braver, more sure of himself but still uncertain in ways, still refusing to fight if he can help it, still the Kaldur Roy has always known and loved.
"Kaldur," Roy whispers, "I'm not here to stop you from teaming up with your father or anything like that. I'm here because I love you. And it's time to stop lying about it." At the disbelieving look in the blonde's eyes Roy repeats himself. "I love you. And I'm sorry for everything I did to you. I'm not here to save you from yourself. I'm not here to change your beliefs. I'm here to say I miss you and I want you back. I want you to come with me and live with me. I want you to help raise my daughter with me. I want you. Nothing else."
"You do not mean that." Kaldur whispers disbelievingly, taking a step backwards.
"I do." Roy says, following after Kaldur. Determined not to let him escape now. "Zatanna told me the truth about the Fairy Tale spell." Kaldur's mouth drops open in surprise here before he slowly starts shaking his head, clearly not believing that his friend would do such a thing to him. "So I'm pretty sure you like me too. So let's just be us and Lain and occasionally Jade and her new boyfriend. No one else matters, okay? We'll get a house by the sea and watch rubbish TV and eat too much food and raise Lian together and not worry about the League or the Light and just be happy."
"You are just saying this to make me abandon my father because Zatanna told you about my feelings I – "
"I wouldn't do that to you Kaldur." Roy snaps, angry that the blond would ever think he would use his feelings against him like that. "If staying with Manta is what makes you happy then I'll leave you be. But if you think you'll be happier with me I'm begging you to come with me because I know being with you will make me happier."
Silence falls between them and Roy wonders what's going through that beautiful head of his as Kaldur continues to stare at Roy, uncertain. Then, slowly, he turns to look over his shoulder and Roy realises with surprise that there is a man standing in the shadows of a nearby building, watching them. There's a brief moment where Roy wants to know who the Hell he is and why Kaldur is looking to him for answers but then he steps into the flickering light of the lamppost and he works it out. Kaldur looks uncannily like his father.
"He follows you?" Roy asks out the corner of his mouth feeling, for the first time since quitting the super-hero game, defenceless. Kaldur he knows would not hurt him. But Black Manta just might. Especially as he's trying to persuade his son to abandon him.
"He follows to ensure my safety." Kaldur says, a bite to his words as he turns round to look at Roy once more. As he does so Manta starts to move away from the building towards them. "He worries that the League will realise I'm still in contact with Zatanna and follow her here to apprehend me."
"Right." Roy says, shifting nervously into a better position to defend himself should Manta attack him.
"Father," Kaldur says when the man comes to a stop beside him, "Roy says – "
"I heard." Manta says, placing a hand on Kaldur's shoulder. Roy isn't sure if it's to keep hold of him or to be reassuring. He's betting it's the former. "And I think you should go with him."
Um, what?
"Aquaman has inflicted a great deal of pain on you, son." Manta says, turning to face Kaldur he plants his other hand on his shoulder and stares down at him. "I only desire your happiness, as I have always done. You told me he was the one and if being with him means I must give up our partnership than that is something I am prepared to do."
"Father . . ."
"I, of course, except to still see you. Aquaman and your mother have ensured that we have had very little time together so far. I do not intend to give you up now that we have finally started a relationship."
Manta tugs on Kaldur's shoulders then pulling him into a hug. A hug. Black Manta – one of the scariest man alive and capable of beating a number of the League members with ease – was hugging his son like his life depended on it. Roy knew that some of these criminals had families and all that but he'd never really stopped and given it serious thought before now. But, from the way Manta is clinging to his son, it's obvious how much of a moron he has been in not realising that the criminals love their families just as much as everyone else does. He thought that Jade was some sort of exception to the other people they locked away. But now . . .
"If Aquaman, or anyone else for that matter, attempts to interfere with your relationship with this boy." Manta says, taking a step back and letting go of his son. Roy would like to protest at the 'boy' comment but doesn't think it's a sensible thing to do. Manta has come here prepared to defend Kaldur from the League even if he looks like he's dressed as a civilian; Roy has come here with nothing but his own two fists. He thinks that he would lose fairly quickly to the man should he start a fight with him. "I shall deal with them."
Roy has the sinking suspicion that nothing would give the man greater pleasure than having to 'deal with' Aquaman.
Kaldur nods once at his father before he stretches out a hand to Roy. As his fingers close around the Atlantean's cool skin Roy feels like everything is finally falling into place.
Present Day.
Roy had stopped believing in happily ever afters years ago. But somehow he found his anyway. Or rather Zatanna found it for him. He can now quite happily say that the magician is one of his closest friends. That, after he dragged Kaldur back to his apartment to introduce the love of his life to his daughter who had adored Kaldur from the moment she laid eyes on him, he had decided to make a real effort to get to know the girl. After all without Zatanna he never would have got Kaldur. Without Zatanna he wouldn't be celebrating their fifth year anniversary today.
Not that everyone had approved of Kaldur suddenly being a part of Lian's life. Roy can still remember the shock on Dinah's face when she walked through his front door to see Kaldur sitting on the sofa feeding Lian.
Dinah, and the rest of the League, were quick to point out that they thought that, if Kaldur was no longer with his father, he should be paying for his crimes not wandering around free and especially not wandering around anywhere near Lian. But Roy, and Jade, hadn't really given a damn what everyone else thought. Lian was their child and they wanted Kaldur to be a part of her life (Jade had been delighted to hear that Roy had finally 'got the balls to go after Kal' and that he would 'have someone to help him out with Lian when he was being too much of an idiot to realise what their daughter wanted') and that was what mattered.
When it became obvious to the League that Kaldur had no intention of trying to fight them they started talking about taking him down to Atlantis to face punishment for his crimes at which point Roy had started to panic. With the way everyone had treated Kaldur the last time he went down there the chances were that Kaldur wasn't going to survive a stay in an Atlantean prison. Jade had, surprisingly, come to the rescue and had disappeared off for a few days and come back with Black Manta in tow. After the initial reaction of the League (which had been to launch themselves at Manta) he and Jade had managed to calm everyone down and convince them to just let the man talk (which they had achieved mostly by standing directly in front of Manta to protect him from the League's attacks until they agreed to shut the Hell up and listen for once.)
Zatanna had been very quick to jump in then and explain what had happened to Kaldur all these years which had resulted in the League deciding that the blond might need to be granted some . . . leniency where his actions with his father were concerned. Black Manta had then, along with Zatanna, come up with a very good plan (that Roy has a sneaking suspicion they may have rehearsed) that would make everyone happy. The idea was that Kaldur would pay for his crimes by being banished to the surface world where he would be kept away from any Atlanteans that he would 'want to harm in retaliation for his treatment' but also allow the League to 'watch over him and ensure he didn't revert back to his criminal ways.' Everyone had known by that point that Kaldur did not want to go anywhere near Atlantis ever again so it was really just a way of appeasing the angry Atlanteans that were calling for his blood and ensuring that Kaldur had what he wanted out of life. Once Batman had got Kaldur to swear on his magic to remain a civilian and not use his magic or Atlantean abilities to fight, unless he or anyone he loved was under direct attack and needed protecting, the Dark Knight had agreed on behalf of the League that this plan could be put into action.
Shortly after that Aquaman had bought him and Roy a house in order to 'know where to find Kaldur to ensure that he didn't disobey his order to remain on the surface' but Black Manta had been quite certain that it was because he felt bad for the way he had allowed Kaldur to be treated all this time. Roy wasn't too sure what to think when Aquaman had presented their dream house to them. It meant that the King knew Kaldur well enough to know his tastes but still hadn't been able to see that Kaldur was being mistreated all these years. The blond hadn't forgiven Orin then but over the last five years they have started to talk more and more often leaving Roy to think that, eventually, they might one day reconcile their differences.
Jade had been furious when she found out that he and Kaldur had a nice new house several cities away from her and Thomas. In order to keep her happy Thomas (who was fairly well off considering some of his crimes when he was Catman) had offered to buy a house for him and Jade nearby. They had moved into a house a few streets away from Roy and Kaldur meaning that Lian could alternate living with each of her parents weekly with ease.
Since then Roy has been . . . happy. He has Kaldur, he has Lian, he has a fairly well paying job that he enjoys and while there have obviously been the occasional ups and downs in life, for the most part Roy is always happy. So is Kaldur, who had settled into a civilian life with an ease that had surprised Roy considering Kaldur had been in the military since he was twelve. But the blond has enjoyed the peace that came with their removal from the super-hero community. Then again it wasn't always that peaceful considering that they took care of a young girl every other week. But that was the kind of disturbance to their peace that they both loved.
"Daddy?"
Speak of the devil. Smiling to himself, Roy looks down at the five year old now standing at his feet. She's dressed in the single cutest swimming costume he has ever seen (a present from Dinah for her fifth birthday a few months ago) and is covered from top to toe in sand. He sometimes wonders if it's all small children that magically mange to need a bath the moment they leave the house or if it's just his.
"Yes sweetie?"
"I've almost finished building my sandcastle." She announces, wrapping her arms round his legs and titling her head back in order to still see his face while she talks to him. "It's a surprise for Pa'tah though so when it's done will you cover his eyes for me when you bring him over?"
"Of course." Roy replies earning himself a delighted grin and a quick kiss to his knee before she races back down the porch steps and onto the beach. Smiling to himself Roy turns round to go find Lian's Pa'tah. Pa'tah means daddy in Atlantean, having Lian call Kaldur that was something Jade had come up with in order to distinguish which of her daddies she was yelling for. It always makes Roy smile to hear Lian calling Kaldur that.
Picking up his cup of coffee, which he had left on the porch railing as he had lost himself in his thoughts, Roy quickly makes his way down to the end of their porch. Where he and Kaldur had hung a hammock up when they first moved in – its Kaldur's favourite place to read because it's comfortable and is close enough to the ocean that he can feel the calming effects it has on him when he's nearby.
And, true to form, Kaldur is sprawled across the hammock, one foot dangling over the edge while he reads his latest book. The sudden huge amount of free time Kaldur had when he first came to live with Roy had resulted in the Atlantean reading a lot of books. His fondness for reading had soon become a fondness for writing and he had ended up writing a book. Nightwing (in an attempt to start mending their friendship) had helped them set up a fake name that Kaldur could publish it under as they hadn't wanted to attract any more attention to themselves than they had to. The book was well received and Kaldur had gone on to write several more books, all of which had earned them a lot of money. His fans were presently waiting for the latest book in a series he had started two years ago. Kaldur had also written a series of, presently unpublished, children's books for Lian that Thomas – who was a fairly good artist – had drawn pictures for. Now Lain refuses to go to bed without having one of these books read to her.
"About time you got up Sleeping Grumpy." Kaldur says with a small smile as he places his book on his stomach and stretches to an arm towards Roy in a demand to come over there and greet him properly.
"Morning." Roy mumbles walking close enough to the hammock so Kaldur can wrap an arm around Roy in a hug. When Kaldur had first given him the nickname he hadn't understood until the blond had reminded him of the Fairy Tale spell and True Love's first kiss. Kaldur had decided that it was by far the best nickname anyone could ever give the redhead (especially considering his sleeping habits) and stuck to it no matter how much Roy playfully protested. Roy did however protest most seriously when certain other people called him that, Kaldur was allowed to give him stupid nicknames, ex-sister-in-laws were not. "What time were you and Lian up?"
He had woken up to find Kaldur gone and the curtains wide open. The Atlantean has always woken up early, due to his military training, which has turned out to be a good thing really considering how early Lian usually gets up. If left to his own devices Roy will sleep till very late which is why Kaldur always opens the curtains when he gets up in order to make sure that the sun wakes Roy up when it gets high enough in the sky. In the past, usually when Kaldur has gone to visit his father, Roy has slept in and Lian has woken up before him and managed to accidently destroy things around the house. Roy still has no idea how she managed to make their kitchen explode last time but Kaldur was pleased because he had wanted to redecorate the kitchen anyway and Jade had been pleased, because, well, she's always proud when Lian manages to accidently destroy things (she thinks it's a sign of her heritage shinning through) so he had let the matter slide and bought himself several very loud alarm clocks for when Kaldur was away next.
"I was awake at seven; she was awake fourteen minutes later." Kaldur says with a small smile as Roy leans down and presses a kiss to his lips. "We had breakfast, got dressed and built a sandcastle together. She decided that she needed to build a sandcastle for me and sent me away in order to build it in secret."
Roy snorts a laugh at that, glancing over at the sand castle he can see her building from here. "Secret, huh?"
"Indeed." Kaldur says softly as Roy hands the blond his coffee cup so he can climb into the hammock beside Kaldur. "But I think she inherited her subtly from you so it's not really a surprise."
"Oy now." Roy grumbles, prodding Kaldur with a finger who responds by holding Roy's coffee out of his reach. "I can be subtle."
"I have yet to see it." Kaldur says with a small smile as Roy rolls over to lie on top of him in order to try and grab his cup. Kaldur snorts a laugh (a sound Roy never gets tired of hearing) and hands back the coffee. Roy, deciding that he is fairly comfortable where he is, presses a kiss to Kaldur's lips before settling himself in place on top of Kaldur.
"I'm going to be the bigger person and ignore that last comment." Roy says, ignoring the disbelieving sound Kaldur makes in the back of his throat. "Did Jade ring? What time is she coming to pick Lian up?"
"She rang earlier." Kaldur confirms, shifting to pull his book out from between their bodies before dropping it onto the porch. "She asked if we could keep Lian for another day. She said it was due to needing to 'celebrate' in private but she couldn't explain properly until she had told Artemis because family comes first but she sounded particularly smug so I am assuming that she was correct in her assumption that they are having a boy."
"Good luck to them." Roy snorts, "I can barely keep up with Lian. Two mini-Nguens? Poor Thomas."
Kaldur laughs at that, burying his nose in Roy's hair. "I have a foreboding sensation that we shall be the one that ends up chasing two mini-Nguens around. After all we only live three streets away, who else do you think Jade and Thomas shall leave their son with when they go out? Especially considering that Lian spends half her life here."
"Quit raining on my parade." Roy grumbles, allowing his fingers to gently glide down Kaldur's neck, just to the side of the blonde's gills where he knows Kaldur is unbelievably ticklish. The Atlantean squirms in response and bats Roy's hand away. "Now when's your dad coming?"
Roy is exceptionally fond of Manta or rather David as he prefers to be called out of costume. Something he never thought he would be. But the man is . . . surprisingly nice when he wants to be (which he hadn't wanted to be where Roy was concerned at first because he had accidently hurt Kaldur for so long but the man got over it. Eventually.) He's also very good with Lian. Always bringing her presents and letting her dress him up so he is 'suitable' for Lian's tea-parties (which Roy has lots of photos of – he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity of having physical evidence of one of the toughest men on the planet with bright pink ribbons in his hair) and yet, somehow, always enforcing the rules Roy and Jade had decided to raise her with.
It had taken Dinah a while to come to terms with having David involved in their lives. She had protested at first, citing that he might try and get League information out of Kaldur or Roy but David was quick to inform her that he would never do anything to jeopardise his relationship with his son. That David respected the fact that Roy and Kaldur had been subjected to a hard enough life already and didn't want to involve themselves in the fight for what was best for humanity. It had taken quite a few visits, with either Dinah or Batman carefully monitoring David, before they were ready to believe that he really was just there to see his family.
Roy had thought that both the League and Light might have problems with David associating with a former League member and, whatever they classified Kaldur as. Especially the Light as they had proven to have a slightly more . . . brutal way of getting the job done. But Ra's Al Ghul in particular was a man that thought of family as one of the most important things in life and had been all for ensuring a situation in which David still had the chance to spend time with his son that didn't compromise the Mission. As a result Roy, Kaldur, Jade and Thomas had essentially become 'neutral' and anything they might accidently overhear about missions and plans from either side was to be kept to themselves and, as a result, despite both sides knowing where they lived they were left alone to raise Lian in peace.
Not everyone had approved of this. Believing that Roy and Kaldur should still be 'fighting the good fight' or 'be eliminated to prove a point' but the majority of the League and Light were content to leave them alone. And anyone that wasn't had been swiftly dealt with (including Sportsmaster who had tried to kidnap Lian to use against his daughters.) Not to say that they didn't have plans that involved Roy and Kaldur without their knowledge. Due to the fact that both Zatanna and Dinah spent a lot of time at their house they had bonded quite well with David and Roy was quite certain that Batman was going to try and use this to persuade Black Manta to join the League. Considering Manta's undying hatred for Aquaman Roy doesn't thinks he has much of a chance of succeeding but it's not his place to get involved so he's just going to leave them too it. As long as he and his family get to remain 'neutral' and see everyone they care about Roy really doesn't give a damn.
In reality Roy doesn't really consider himself 'neutral' especially since the League realised how arrogant they were becoming after what had happened to Kaldur came to light. They have, since then, gone out of their way to make sure they are doing the absolute best for humanity and have had several more government agents involve themselves in the way they work. So Roy is rather more inclined to agree that the Justice League, rather than the Light who are far too brutal and have weird ideas about what is best for humanity, are the best thing for Earth. Kaldur too has eventually come round to that way of thinking (especially after Roy told him what they did to the original Roy Harper while they had him) but neither of them voice their opinions to anyone but each other. They don't want to get involved and if someone pushes them to do so they are not going to like the results.
"He'll be here for lunch." Kaldur says softly, gently running a hand through Roy's messy red hair. "So we can start planning Artemis' Baby Shower."
If either of Lian's families was not there to take care of her Artemis was the first person they called in to baby-sit. When the blonde had found out the lengths Jade had gone to in order to win her over she had become even closer to her sister than before. And somewhere along the line Artemis had become like a sister to both Roy and Kaldur as well which is partly why they were throwing her a surprise Baby Shower. The blonde had not been impressed when she had returned from her honeymoon with Wally to discover that she was having children. She had continued being grumpy about the timing (as she had just started a new job) until Jade had ended up pregnant a few months later. After that both women had been ecstatic to think that they were having children at the same time.
Jade had been the one to insist on a Baby Shower for Artemis but had used being pregnant as an excuse to foist the responsibility of planning it onto Roy and Kaldur. David had been very kind to offer his assistance at hiding the decorations at his home as Artemis was over at either their house or Jade's house at least once a week nowadays. From there they had managed to force him to join their planning committee which Thomas was also a member of (but Roy had the distinct feeling that the man wouldn't be coming to the meeting today) because Jade had made him so she could still give any input she might want through him without having to do any real work. Zatanna was also on the committee at Lian's insistence (Roy had given his daughter a more child-friendly version of how he and Kaldur had ended up falling in love and getting together and Lian had been calling Zatanna a fairy godmother ever since and insisting she come to every single family event possible to continue to 'work her magic') and would also be joining them for lunch as well. They hadn't told Wally about the Shower because they thought he might accidently let it slip (he still had a nasty habit of not thinking things through which was why he was very lucky to have Artemis to think things through for him.) Not that he'd really have time to help considering that Artemis was not only eating for two children but two speedster children and the redhead was spending most of his time running back and forth between Artemis and the shops in order to keep her from getting hungry.
As pleased as Roy is that everyone is so determined to be a part of Artemis' joy he wishes they were having the meeting at someone else's house today. The chances are that both Zatanna and David will stay for a while, maybe until after dinner. Most days he enjoys the company but today he had planned his and Kaldur's evening out as it is their fifth year anniversary. Nothing over the top, they're not that kind of couple. But it would have been nice to have the afternoon to themselves. Roy doesn't usually do sappy but it's nice every now and again to let Kaldur know just how much he loves him. To remember that he is one of the single luckiest bastards in the whole damn World because what he has right here, right now is what happily ever afters are made of.
Even if Artemis still calls him Sleeping Grumpy.
End Sleeping Grumpy.
So I started writing this pre-Auld Acquaintance. Then started rewriting it to include the whole clone!Roy thing. Then Season 2 happened and Kaldur joined his dad so I started rewriting it again. Then Roy ended up a dad himself so I rewrote it again! But finally I've managed to catch up. So here it is. And yes, I decided that I wanted a happily ever after for everyone which meant I needed someone for Jade as well. When I looked her up I found out that she had a son with Catman and was all yay, sibling for Lian so he become Jade's happily ever after.
Where the Justice League is considered I think that there's possibility the power might eventually go to their heads (they're only human after all) so they might start making mistakes and accidently hurting people like Kaldur. But they will try and correct those mistakes when they realise they made them.
I also know that the chances of the League letting Roy and Kaldur spend time with a well-known criminal is . . . small at best. But I decided to go with the fluff and voila. Hope you all enjoyed it.