Anniversary
By Brendan Storm
Rating: PG (Mild sexual references, tissue warning and no bad language for once)
Archive: After the contest this fic will be found in the Haven Library, in the halls of FF.Net and any other Arsenal Archivist is welcome to ask.
Disclaimer: Never owned em. Never will. The author does this for entertainment only, no financial gain is made, and furthermore the author releases the rights to any story ideas so that the pros can mine for better stuff than the crap in the comics now.
The sickly sweet smell of the tail end of a drinking binge greeted Dick Grayson when he entered the living quarters level of Titans Tower. Only two men he knew could drink that heavily and still be able to shoot straight. He paused for a moment as an arrow flew across his path to thud into the wall. Arrows meant that it was one of his best friends that had been drinking. Roy Harper.
"Oh, sorry Dick, I'm jus bein a Dick, Dick. Heh." The redheaded archer looked pickled. He threw up a paper plate and had it skewered in about two seconds tops.
"Harper. What the hell is going on in here?"
"I'm celebratin anniversary."
"Huh?"
"Anniversry," slurred the blitzed bowman. He stumbled and fell into a chair and began to snooze. Dick sighed and pulled a blanket over his friend. What anniversary would have him drinking himself silly trying to put holes in paper plates? Dick counted off the important events in the brave bowman's life. His daughter Lian's birthday was months off, Cheshire's trial had been a few months ago, His recovery he never celebrated, not since he'd found Lian. Was it that? No, that wouldn't make him this melancholy. Ollie's death wasn't until winter at least. What would it be? He decided to let it ride until tomorrow when the monthly buffalo wings meeting took place.
Donna stepped out of the elevator as Dick was picking up the last of the plates. He smiled at her. Donna Troy was the most perplexing woman. So much of his memory was jumbled when it came to her, some things they had been through together seemed to pop into his mind and back out again as though a cosmic joke were being played on her.
In fact it had, and one of the things she had to deal with when the Titans had regrouped this last time was that she had been "recreated" by the Flash, Wally West. She'd rebelled a little because, like him, Wally saw her as the beautiful sister they loved and trusted. She was just so nice and perfect that she began to suspect that Wally had never really known her. So in an effort to prove she could be bad, she'd began seeing Roy. Dick smiled and remembered his "archery lessons" and how fixated Lian was on her. Roy still encouraged that fixation with Donna, and the truth was, she'd confided in Dick one day, she enjoyed it too. After the death of her son, she needed somewhere to vent her motherly instincts.
"How is he?" She asked and lifted the archer gently.
"Hammered out of his mind." Dick smiled sadly and grabbed Roy's feet.
"Well, lets at least put him to bed before Rose and Lian get back from the movies." Donna said. The two of them got Roy to his room without waking him and peeled off his shirt. Dick's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed her fingers linger on Roy's arm tattoos. The last time the evil sorceress Dark Angel had tried to reboot her life, they'd defeated her, but Donna realized why she was dating Roy and broke up with him. That was less than a year ago. Couldn't be that, Dick thought.
Donna kissed the archer's cheek and quietly left his room behind Dick. He looked at her again and wondered.
The Next day, Roy Harper woke up with a splitting headache and a sore stomach. What had woken him up of course was the weight of a small child, his child in fact.
"Daddy! We seen Harry Potter, an I wanna fly on a broom an I wanna go to school for wiz'rds!"
"Ow, hey pun'kin. I thought you wanted to be an archer like your dad."
"Daady!!! I can do that too. Donna says a girl can do whatev'r she wants."
"Well, little girls who hop on pop get tickled." Which he did. She squealed and his head throbbed, but he was happy that she was happy.
"Daaady! Stop it!" She giggled, and then turned to him with little girl serious face. "Harry didn't have no mommy and daddy, like Unca Niiwing. I'm glad he's got us, cause them Dursleys were meanies."
"I'm glad too kiddo." He vaguely remembered his friend's face from last night. He'd have to apologize for whatever he did last night. "You want breakfast?" He didn't.
"Uh huh. I want chocklit frogs."
"Ok, we'll see what we can do." He had no clue, but he hoped she meant frogs made of chocolate instead of frogs covered in chocolate. What was Rose taking her to see anyway?
"Wanna come see a movie with us tonight, Daddy?"
"I don't know Lian, we'll have to see if Unca Nightwing decides to make us work or not."
"He can come too. We're gonna see Monsters Ink and Snow Dogs." Roy smiled again. Last time they'd gotten Dick to a movie he'd sent a letter to the studio explaining everything they'd gotten wrong with it. Poor Hanna Barberra never knew what hit them.
In the kitchen, Roy started up the stove and began making some of his classic Eggs and Pancakes surprise. The surprise was the shapes they came in. Smiley faces with scrambled egg hair, cacti, even dolphins and sharks one time for Garth. The smell of coffee turned his stomach but he quickly drank a glass of water and some vitamins.
Toni Monetti and Donna walked in, lured by the smell of the coffee. Donna was still in a bathrobe and had her hair up in a towel. Toni was wearing an outfit that looked two sizes too big for her. In fact it looked like one of his sweat shirts. He'd never given it to her. He'd have remembered that.
Then it clicked, he'd given it to Donna one night, and she'd kept it. She must have loaned it to the teen. Roy's stomach lurched again and he started to feel a little green.
"Daddy, you feelin sick?"
"Roy? What's the matter?"
"Mr. Harper?"
Roy waved at the stove and ran for the nearest bathroom. He felt better about twenty minutes later. There was a knock at the bathroom door.
"Roy, man, you ok in there?" Dick's voice sounded concerned.
"I'm," He sighed into the bowl and struggled to sit up. "I'm fine, just partied too much."
"Need a hand," the detective paused, "or an ear?"
"What the hell." He unlocked the door and Officer Grayson stepped in. "Gonna arrest me?"
"No, I have work in a few hours. I couldn't do this if it weren't for transporter technology. What's eating you, man. You look worse than the day they read the verdict on Chesh."
"Chesh," Roy said and laughed once. He looked up at the dark haired man. A tear was slowly tracking its way down his cheek to eventually mix with what looked like several of its friends in the porcelain bowl he clung to. "You know I wish this was about her. Then you could tell me I'm a fool and I should get over her. I'd take your advice and date an eighteen year old to get my mind off of her." His stomach lurched again and he felt the feeling rise up again. He waved his hand away and retched into the bowl again. Dick placed a single hand on his back and handed him a tissue.
"But it's not her."
"No," Roy wiped his mouth and accepted the glass of water. He swished and spit, then pulled the handle as the contents of last night's bender circled and disappeared. "In fact I can honestly say I have no feelings for that woman anymore."
"Then what's the matter?"
"Yesterday was the anniversary of the night..." He swallowed and listened for eavesdroppers. Dick locked the door to the bathroom and kneeled by his friend. "of the night Donna and I first, you know, uh..." Dick nodded his head. Roy didn't get flustered when talking about sex. He used to regale Joe Wilson and him with stories of his conquests long before he'd found out he was a father. "I... Every relationship I've been in, even pining for Lian's mother again, it's all been because I was trying to forget her. It's bad enough that I see her almost every day, my kid still loves her, Dick." He looked into the bowl and the tear finally dripped off making a soft pop in the silence. "So do I, man. I miss her so much." His voice echoed in the toilet as he stared downward. "I still love Donna. And I know she only loves me like family, like she loves you and Garth and Wally, but... I don't think I've felt this way about even Lian's mom." He hiccuped and grunted.
Dick just knelt there with his friend. He didn't know what to say. He certainly didn't know how to help. Only time, or Donna Troy, could help this man now.
"Dick. Your word you won't say anything. I care about her too much to make her uncomfortable. I'll be fine, man. Just fine. Go and tell the squirt that the pancakes will be ready in a few minutes."
"Sure thing, Roy." Dick stood and patted his friend's back once, a habit Bruce had of subtly showing affection. He turned and walked out of the room and left the broken bowman to recover. He walked into the kitchen and forced a cheerful expression.
"Everything alright in there?" asked Donna. Toni looked at him from the stove where she was fouling up the frog shape Roy had started. Lian hugged his knee and he looked down.
"Sure. He'll be fine." He said, looking at the woman who finally had an impact on the great Roy Harper. "Give it some time."
By Brendan Storm
Rating: PG (Mild sexual references, tissue warning and no bad language for once)
Archive: After the contest this fic will be found in the Haven Library, in the halls of FF.Net and any other Arsenal Archivist is welcome to ask.
Disclaimer: Never owned em. Never will. The author does this for entertainment only, no financial gain is made, and furthermore the author releases the rights to any story ideas so that the pros can mine for better stuff than the crap in the comics now.
The sickly sweet smell of the tail end of a drinking binge greeted Dick Grayson when he entered the living quarters level of Titans Tower. Only two men he knew could drink that heavily and still be able to shoot straight. He paused for a moment as an arrow flew across his path to thud into the wall. Arrows meant that it was one of his best friends that had been drinking. Roy Harper.
"Oh, sorry Dick, I'm jus bein a Dick, Dick. Heh." The redheaded archer looked pickled. He threw up a paper plate and had it skewered in about two seconds tops.
"Harper. What the hell is going on in here?"
"I'm celebratin anniversary."
"Huh?"
"Anniversry," slurred the blitzed bowman. He stumbled and fell into a chair and began to snooze. Dick sighed and pulled a blanket over his friend. What anniversary would have him drinking himself silly trying to put holes in paper plates? Dick counted off the important events in the brave bowman's life. His daughter Lian's birthday was months off, Cheshire's trial had been a few months ago, His recovery he never celebrated, not since he'd found Lian. Was it that? No, that wouldn't make him this melancholy. Ollie's death wasn't until winter at least. What would it be? He decided to let it ride until tomorrow when the monthly buffalo wings meeting took place.
Donna stepped out of the elevator as Dick was picking up the last of the plates. He smiled at her. Donna Troy was the most perplexing woman. So much of his memory was jumbled when it came to her, some things they had been through together seemed to pop into his mind and back out again as though a cosmic joke were being played on her.
In fact it had, and one of the things she had to deal with when the Titans had regrouped this last time was that she had been "recreated" by the Flash, Wally West. She'd rebelled a little because, like him, Wally saw her as the beautiful sister they loved and trusted. She was just so nice and perfect that she began to suspect that Wally had never really known her. So in an effort to prove she could be bad, she'd began seeing Roy. Dick smiled and remembered his "archery lessons" and how fixated Lian was on her. Roy still encouraged that fixation with Donna, and the truth was, she'd confided in Dick one day, she enjoyed it too. After the death of her son, she needed somewhere to vent her motherly instincts.
"How is he?" She asked and lifted the archer gently.
"Hammered out of his mind." Dick smiled sadly and grabbed Roy's feet.
"Well, lets at least put him to bed before Rose and Lian get back from the movies." Donna said. The two of them got Roy to his room without waking him and peeled off his shirt. Dick's eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed her fingers linger on Roy's arm tattoos. The last time the evil sorceress Dark Angel had tried to reboot her life, they'd defeated her, but Donna realized why she was dating Roy and broke up with him. That was less than a year ago. Couldn't be that, Dick thought.
Donna kissed the archer's cheek and quietly left his room behind Dick. He looked at her again and wondered.
The Next day, Roy Harper woke up with a splitting headache and a sore stomach. What had woken him up of course was the weight of a small child, his child in fact.
"Daddy! We seen Harry Potter, an I wanna fly on a broom an I wanna go to school for wiz'rds!"
"Ow, hey pun'kin. I thought you wanted to be an archer like your dad."
"Daady!!! I can do that too. Donna says a girl can do whatev'r she wants."
"Well, little girls who hop on pop get tickled." Which he did. She squealed and his head throbbed, but he was happy that she was happy.
"Daaady! Stop it!" She giggled, and then turned to him with little girl serious face. "Harry didn't have no mommy and daddy, like Unca Niiwing. I'm glad he's got us, cause them Dursleys were meanies."
"I'm glad too kiddo." He vaguely remembered his friend's face from last night. He'd have to apologize for whatever he did last night. "You want breakfast?" He didn't.
"Uh huh. I want chocklit frogs."
"Ok, we'll see what we can do." He had no clue, but he hoped she meant frogs made of chocolate instead of frogs covered in chocolate. What was Rose taking her to see anyway?
"Wanna come see a movie with us tonight, Daddy?"
"I don't know Lian, we'll have to see if Unca Nightwing decides to make us work or not."
"He can come too. We're gonna see Monsters Ink and Snow Dogs." Roy smiled again. Last time they'd gotten Dick to a movie he'd sent a letter to the studio explaining everything they'd gotten wrong with it. Poor Hanna Barberra never knew what hit them.
In the kitchen, Roy started up the stove and began making some of his classic Eggs and Pancakes surprise. The surprise was the shapes they came in. Smiley faces with scrambled egg hair, cacti, even dolphins and sharks one time for Garth. The smell of coffee turned his stomach but he quickly drank a glass of water and some vitamins.
Toni Monetti and Donna walked in, lured by the smell of the coffee. Donna was still in a bathrobe and had her hair up in a towel. Toni was wearing an outfit that looked two sizes too big for her. In fact it looked like one of his sweat shirts. He'd never given it to her. He'd have remembered that.
Then it clicked, he'd given it to Donna one night, and she'd kept it. She must have loaned it to the teen. Roy's stomach lurched again and he started to feel a little green.
"Daddy, you feelin sick?"
"Roy? What's the matter?"
"Mr. Harper?"
Roy waved at the stove and ran for the nearest bathroom. He felt better about twenty minutes later. There was a knock at the bathroom door.
"Roy, man, you ok in there?" Dick's voice sounded concerned.
"I'm," He sighed into the bowl and struggled to sit up. "I'm fine, just partied too much."
"Need a hand," the detective paused, "or an ear?"
"What the hell." He unlocked the door and Officer Grayson stepped in. "Gonna arrest me?"
"No, I have work in a few hours. I couldn't do this if it weren't for transporter technology. What's eating you, man. You look worse than the day they read the verdict on Chesh."
"Chesh," Roy said and laughed once. He looked up at the dark haired man. A tear was slowly tracking its way down his cheek to eventually mix with what looked like several of its friends in the porcelain bowl he clung to. "You know I wish this was about her. Then you could tell me I'm a fool and I should get over her. I'd take your advice and date an eighteen year old to get my mind off of her." His stomach lurched again and he felt the feeling rise up again. He waved his hand away and retched into the bowl again. Dick placed a single hand on his back and handed him a tissue.
"But it's not her."
"No," Roy wiped his mouth and accepted the glass of water. He swished and spit, then pulled the handle as the contents of last night's bender circled and disappeared. "In fact I can honestly say I have no feelings for that woman anymore."
"Then what's the matter?"
"Yesterday was the anniversary of the night..." He swallowed and listened for eavesdroppers. Dick locked the door to the bathroom and kneeled by his friend. "of the night Donna and I first, you know, uh..." Dick nodded his head. Roy didn't get flustered when talking about sex. He used to regale Joe Wilson and him with stories of his conquests long before he'd found out he was a father. "I... Every relationship I've been in, even pining for Lian's mother again, it's all been because I was trying to forget her. It's bad enough that I see her almost every day, my kid still loves her, Dick." He looked into the bowl and the tear finally dripped off making a soft pop in the silence. "So do I, man. I miss her so much." His voice echoed in the toilet as he stared downward. "I still love Donna. And I know she only loves me like family, like she loves you and Garth and Wally, but... I don't think I've felt this way about even Lian's mom." He hiccuped and grunted.
Dick just knelt there with his friend. He didn't know what to say. He certainly didn't know how to help. Only time, or Donna Troy, could help this man now.
"Dick. Your word you won't say anything. I care about her too much to make her uncomfortable. I'll be fine, man. Just fine. Go and tell the squirt that the pancakes will be ready in a few minutes."
"Sure thing, Roy." Dick stood and patted his friend's back once, a habit Bruce had of subtly showing affection. He turned and walked out of the room and left the broken bowman to recover. He walked into the kitchen and forced a cheerful expression.
"Everything alright in there?" asked Donna. Toni looked at him from the stove where she was fouling up the frog shape Roy had started. Lian hugged his knee and he looked down.
"Sure. He'll be fine." He said, looking at the woman who finally had an impact on the great Roy Harper. "Give it some time."