This is something I wrote for teentitansrobstar's Writer's Edition contest, so don't fret if you find it weird. I just thought it would be cute to pair Roy, the laid-back spoiled archer, with the team whiner.
And if I owned the show, the Titans East would have appeared more and have their own spinoff.
It was like the sunrise, unstoppable, unchangeable, but incredibly beautiful feeling that made the little boy feel happy. As he ran to the schoolyard with the teenager holding his hand, he felt that for once he had a father.
They stopped at the swing set and the older red-head knelt down. The air was filled with a bakery scent as well as squealing children and murmuring parents. "All right, Timmy, I'm going to get acquainted with your teachers and friends' parents. Stay here and have fun with the other children, okay?"
He smiled and nodded. The older boy grinned and walked to a few teachers eating home-baked muffins and drinking iced tea.
"Hey, Timmy!" the boy heard his friend Emily yell out. He turned around and saw her playing freeze-tag with Robbie and Angie. "Want to join us?"
He smiled and ran over. "Who's it?"
"I am," Robbie said.
"Hey, where's your daddy?" Angie asked.
He looked over his shoulder and saw his 'daddy' eating a piece of cake and talking to Miss Rachel, who marveled about the once-annoying whiner. He wore sunglasses, better shoes, and a nice set of pants and shirt.
"He's not my daddy," Timmy said, "but I consider him to be my daddy."
"Is he the red-head?" Robbie asked.
"Yep," he said. The taller red-head looked over and waved. Timmy responded and began running from Robbie.
It was so weird how these two met, one day around the end of May…
Months earlier...
"Rae! Rae! Rae!" Timmy yelled excitedly as he ran out of the daycare center doors, holding a sheet of pink paper in his hand.
The plum-headed half-breed smiled and knelt down, outstretching her arms for a hug. "Hi, Timmy, how was your day?"
"Good," he said sweetly.
"What's this?" she asked looking at the sheet in his fist. She could immediately see the smile on his face diminish. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said. "I was going to throw it away anyway."
Raven ruffled his red hair and read aloud: "Attention all parents (especially daddies), on June 13th, we will be hosting our third annual Father's Day picnic to celebrate everyone's daddy. It begins at 12 o' clock. Lunch and drinks will be supplied, but any home-made pastries are welcome. Be aware of certain allergies, though. We'll see you there!"
Raven looked at Timmy sadly and lovingly took him home.
He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a pack of fruit snacks. She reread the paper and motioned him to join her. He rested his head on her lap while her fingers twirled around his hair.
He and the other Tykes were spending a year with the team, and Robin figured it would be safe for them to enroll in daycare. She and Starfire had no trouble with this, but all three boys were not so happy with the idea of acting like father figures.
Much to Robin's disappointment, neither members of the trio knew anything about their parentage-were they heroes, were they villains, were they murder victims. Raven knew this day-and Mother's Day-affected the children, but she and the others did try.
She heard light breathing and saw him asleep on her thighs. She smiled and lifted him into her arms, carrying him to the room next to hers that he and the others shared.
The four teenage members arrived shortly, apparently exhausted from chasing Melvin around the playground where she played with her friend Danny. God, instead of making her imagination come to life, did the team have a third secret speedster among them?
"Hey, Rae," Beast Boy gasped as he and Cyborg flopped down on the couch and pulled out game controllers, "can you hand me a Root Beer please?"
Raven flew one over to him. "Guys, can I talk to you for a moment?"
All four of them looked up at her. "What's wrong?" Robin asked.
She explained the Father's Day picnic scenario and how it made Timmy upset that he didn't have parents that he knew of. "Poor boy-I feel bad that he feels singled out," Cyborg said.
"Should one of us take him to the picnic?" Beast Boy asked.
"Not an option, Gar," Raven said. "He would feel more embarrassed that lonely."
"Why?" he asked.
"Do you think he would feel happy to go to a daddy picnic with a green-skinned changeling who has green hair as well as no red-headed parents?" Raven asked. Beast Boy's face burned, but he remained silent.
"I'm out," Cyborg said.
"Me too," Robin said.
Starfire left to carry a sleeping Melvin to the guest-room. "Star would be happy to go, as she has red hair," Beast Boy said. "We could have her and Rob-"
"No," Raven interrupted. "She'd have all the children drooling over her."
Beast Boy giggled at the mental image, but Robin narrowed his eyes at them.
"We just need another red-head on our team to impersonate his father-"
"Whoa, Cyborg," Robin interrupted, "you're going too far. If one of us went to the picnic claiming to be his father, we'd be serving ourselves as bad role models for younger people."
Beast Boy squeaked and chuckled.
"Well, we'll just have to find a red-head who could lie about his age-or at least, say he had a sperm experiment and the mother found him…" Cyborg couldn't finish his sentence.
Robin, Raven, and Beast Boy gave him weird looks. Then a smirk lit Robin's face. "I know what we could do…"
On the other side of a country, on a similar-looking tower, a team of five members sat around the table, eating a late dinner of chicken wings and pizza. The red-headed munchkin who still received no money from the Tooth Fairy yet belched.
"Ugh, Menos," a taller red-head was whining, "you're gross!"
"Gracious," he said smiling sheepishly. The tall African American girl sighed and buried her face in her hands. The blue-skinned boy rolled his eyes but smiled anyway.
Their TV flicked on, and Robin's smiling face showed up. "Hey, guys," he said.
"Hey, Robin," they greeted happily.
"How are you doing?"
"Fine," Bumblebee said. "Nearly broke my neck chasing these chubby dwarfs around the tower."
Robin rolled his eyes but mentally laughed and the twins scowled. "Poor thing," he mockingly smiled. "Anyway, can I ask you guys a favor?"
"Are you leaving for a mission?" Aqualad asked.
"No," he said, "but do you remember those three kids Raven takes care of? I saw the twins talking to them at our party after fighting the Brotherhood of Evil…"
The twins smiled at the thought of their friends, feeling satisfied they weren't just the youngest members on the team.
"You mean the baby who chews on everything and the other two?" Bumblebee asked shuddering at a memory of washing drool from her pom-pom hair.
"Yes." Robin chuckled. "Well, the red-head-Timmy, his name is-wants to go to this Father's Day picnic on Father's Day, so I was going to ask-"
Aqualad and Bumblebee smirked and the redheads watched confused-
"-if Speedy would like to come here and impersonate his father."
"WHAT?" Speedy roared standing on his feet leaning across the table, his face flushed, knocking over glasses of soda, the chicken basket, and plates of pizza as well as the communicators onto his teammates' laps.
Bumblebee gawked and fell back laughing. Aqua laughed so hard water burst from the faucet. The twins began urinating in their uniforms as they rolled on the floor.
Speedy, on the other hand, kept his eyes on Rob's, who was grinning wide enough to make his cheeks sore for a year. "WHAT THE….FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
Robin shrugged. "We need you to impersonate his father," he repeated.
"I don't know anything about children!" he screeched.
"You live with two children," Robin laughed through his teeth. "Of course you know things about children!"
Speedy struggled to breathe. "I think I'm going to have a heart attack."
He ran out of the room and the doors closed behind him
Bumblebee smirked at Robin. "When does he start?"
"Let's say tomorrow."
The East came half a day later, with a still-laughing-and-wet twins, bemused aquatic prince, chuckling leader, and sleeping gagged archer. The West met them on the roof, Raven staring bug-eyed at Robin.
"Why did you pick him?" she hissed.
Robin shrugged. "He's a redhead and he's old enough to be Tim's father."
"Yeah…almost!" she hissed before smiling and waving to East. "He's going to eat my little boy alive."
Bumblebee stepped off, shook hands with Robin, and smiled at the original leader of her team.
"Friend!" Starfire cried giving her a…well, we don't have to say it.
"Oxygen…help," Bumblebee gasped, her face turning blue.
Starfire released her and floated away to give Aqua and the wet-and-irritated twins the same torture.
"So where's the little boy?" Bumblebee asked Raven.
"Downstairs in the kitchen," she said. "He's shy, so don't expect a full conversation with him."
Bumblebee nodded and laughed at the sight of two redhead boys dashing from a squealing alien, knowing their lives would end in half an hour.
"Senor Cyborg!" they cried as they leapt into his arms.
"Hey, little munchkins," he teased. "Why are you wet?"
Everyone on the roof laughed. "They had an accident," Aqualad said. "Oh wait, I forgot Speedy-"
He walked back to the secondary jet and unbuckled an unconscious Speedy. "We slipped roofies into his evening protein shake," Beumblebe said. "He'll wake up some time now."
She looked at West and saw them with dropped jaws and unblinking eyes. "What?" she asked.
"You drugged one of your own teammates?" Beast Boy asked in shock.
She chuckled nervously. "Yeah, but-"
"Karen, let me tell you one of the best ways to be a respected leader-never do anything like that!" Robin yelled. "Do you know how much trouble you could get into?"
Bumblebee nodded in shame. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to do that best."
"Well, now you know," Raven said.
"Is the boy ready?" she asked, happily changing the subject.
Raven smiled at a still-sleeping archer in the prince's arms. "Oh yeah."
Speedy sat up on the couch, rubbing his throbbing eyes and yawning. The last thing he remembered was watching a movie with the twins. Then-something happened, but what?
He flexed his legs and stood up.
That's when it struck him.
He was no longer in the tower.
He was in a room with bare furniture, a small TV, and 9x9 windows.
There was neatly trimmed carpet below his bare feet.
"Where the hell am I?"
"You are in your little private house that you will be residing in until mid-June." He turned around and saw the once-portal on the kitchen table with a book open in front of her.
"Oh. Hey, Raven, what's uh, going on?"
She sipped from a teacup and smirked. "We are-"
"Rae-Rae?"
The childish voice made him turn his head to the right. A little carrot-colored-headed boy holding a blue blanket was peeking out of a bedroom door.
"Yes, Timmy?" she asked.
"Is he awake?" He didn't even look at the red archer.
"Yes, dear-go brush your teeth."
He nodded and closed the door behind him.
The memory began building up on him like building blocks. "Oh no-Raven, don't tell me I have to-"
"Sorry, Roy, but all you do is play with arrows and stroke your short hair all day," she interrupted. "You might as well pay attention to some kids who want a parent so badly."
She smiled and stood up. "I have to go. Good luck."
She disappeared underground before Roy could blink.
Oh no, he thought. I-am-screwed.
The door opened and the little redhead peeked out and his tiny eyes met Speedy's.
Speedy looked down at Timmy, who was squinting and gripping his blanket. "Um…hi."
Timmy's mouth twitched and he sniffed.
"It's Timmy, isn't it?"
The little boy responded by screaming.
Speedy knew that this was not going to be a trip to the beach.
Two hours later, Timmy was still whimpering at the thought of being abandoned, but settled down because Speedy told him they were going somewhere special. He looked out of the car window and watched the trees with interest.
Somehow, Bumblebee was able to bring a car to the West in case they had to drive somewhere. He was thankful for it, for now he hoped he could bring the boy to settle down.
"Here we are," he said showing down.
The little boy looked out and saw a carnival going on outside. There were clowns, balloons, rides, bouncing children, and mountains of cotton candy.
Timmy gaped and bounced. "I want to go, I want to go, I want to go, I want to go-"
"All right, all right," Speedy said parking the car near the lake and turning the engines off. "We're coming our way."
He unbuckled Timmy, scooped him up in his arms, paid for their tickets, and walked in, the smell of hot dogs, hamburgers, and popcorn engulfing him. "Would you like something to eat?" he asked the fidgeting boy.
"Cotton candy, cotton candy, cotton candy," the little boy chanted.
"Okay, okay, okay." God, this kid was already a pain in this ass. "Here, this is all the cotton candy you're having for the day, and I don't want to get into any trouble with your 'mom'."
He purchased about three bucketfuls of cotton candy and was smart to not steal some-otherwise he would never hear again.
Timmy was too short for the rides, so they shared a container of popcorn watching the rides and people scream in enjoyment. Speedy sighed and felt a wave of pain due to the lack of fun in his youth.
"Timmy, would you like a balloon?" the archer asked. He walked to the clown constructing large balloons into animals and handing them out to happy-faced children. Timmy's face brightened as the clown puffed air into the blue balloon and twisted it into a giraffe.
Timmy was obviously in love with that giraffe. Speedy set him on his shoulders and shivered when he felt his hair stand up on the ends. Timmy fed the balloon cotton candy and smothered it.
Pop!
Speedy's ears jumped and he looked up and felt his heart sink.
The balloon had popped in the boy's arms.
Timmy looked at the shattered remains of his beloved balloon with a twitching mouth.
Oh no, was the only thing that crossed Speedy's mind-
Timmy started bawling.
A chorus of infants and toddlers followed.
A flock of pigeons flew away as if being shot.
Several dogs barked.
Biting his lip in ferocity, Speedy scooped up Timmy in his arms and gently patted the boy's back. "It's all right," he said walking back to the car. "I'll cook whatever you want for dinner tonight-ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!" he complained at every kick Timmy sent into his abdomen.
He buckled the still-weeping boy into his car seat and started the engines. Timmy's screams were loud enough to make the windows break.
Speedy slammed his forehead against the horn.
When they FINALLY arrived home, Speedy unbuckled a still-weeping little boy, ran to the TV room, and turned the small TV on. While Timmy beamed and clapped along with Dora the Explorer, Speedy rubbed his face and slumped over the table. "I need backup," he muttered to himself. He whipped out his device and called Raven.
She was on the roof reading a book while a sleeping baby yawned and stirred on her lap. Her face did not look pleasant. "What?" she groaned.
Speedy sighed. "He's killing me." He explained what happened and wiped goo from his eye.
Raven shrugged. "Can I see him?"
He nodded and handed her over to the boy, who was holding his blanket. He yelped in happiness and chattered on and on while Speedy napped on the couch.
Two hours later, the device beeped of low battery and Speedy connected it to its charger, where the conversation continued. Roy smiled and resumed his rest.
He woke to someone poking his face and saw Timmy staring at him. "What?" he groaned softly.
"Rae-Rae said hi," he said.
"Okay," Speedy groaned as he stretched. He saw it was five o' clock. Still nothing to do, he thought to himself. He closed his eyes and tried to think of what he and his father would've done at this age.
"Timmy, you want some ice cream?" Speedy pulled the question out of the hat.
The boy in question tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Okay," he said.
The ice cream store was chilly as they walked in, Timmy marveling at the tiny ice cream characters. Speedy-who decided to use his real name, Roy, in public-smiled and asked Timmy if he would like to sit up. Timmy sat on his shoulders and played with his hair as he walked to the cashier. Feeling soft strokes and light tugs bloomed a small feeling in his chest…
"What would you like, Timmy?" he asked sweetly. The blond cashier Heidi gushed over the little boy playing with his hair.
The boy hunched over. "Chocolate with colored sprinkles," he whispered.
Roy passed it on to a patient Heidi, smiling sweetly. Her eyes turned sympathetic. "Sorry, we're out of rainbow sprinkles," she said.
"I said colored," Timmy pouted.
"Timmy," Roy sighed, "colored and rainbow sprinkles are the same thing."
"Oh."
"Would you like chocolate sprinkles?"
"No," he said. "I want colored."
"We don't have any." Roy could tell Heidi was melting patience. The friendliness disappeared from her face.
"Are you sure? Please check again, he is famous for his tantrums," he said in a shaky voice. Once again she shook her head after the glance.
"Listen, Heidi," Roy hissed, "can you check again for rainbow sprinkles?"
Heidi narrowed her eyes at him and checked again. "No," she said.
Timmy began screaming.
Loudly.
All around him, people were complaining and yelling.
Roy could guarantee the back of his neck was feeling wet.
That night, too lazy to cook for fear of burning something, a hungry Roy asked Timmy what he wanted for dinner and decided to drive-thru. Timmy marveled at the playpen from the backseat and Roy rolled down the window.
"Playpen, playpen, I want to go in the playpen!" he chanted.
"Maybe tomorrow," Roy mumbled.
"Welcome to McDonald's, can I help you?" the statue of Ronald McDonald asked.
"Uh, yeah, I'll have a, uh…oh yeah, Happy Meal with a small Coke and a…double cheeseburgers and large Coke," Roy said squinting at the menu.
"That all?"
"Yes."
"Seven ninety-five, please."
"Thank you."
Roy pressed the accelerator, but then the engine ran frozen. He pressed harder with only a slight jerk. Oh no…
Roy kept shifting the gear and pressing the accelerator but it remained frozen. Timmy sat in the back watching curiously.
"Please move your car up," Ronald McDonald said.
This is how Roy remembered the scene:
The car behind them HONKS.
Roy: [to car] Shut up! [to Ronald McDonald] There's something wrong with my engine, so shut it! [continues to struggle]
RMD: You shut it.
Roy: [freezes and slowly lifts his head] What?
RMD: Please move your car up.
Roy: [exiting car] What?
RMD: Please move your car up.
Roy opens trunk of car and pulls out a baseball bat.
Roy: What did you say before that?
RMD: Please move your car up, please move your car up, please move your car up-
Roy begins slamming the bat against Ronald's face and head. RMD continues chanting. Chunks of Ronald's face begin falling off into pieces. Timmy watches in amusement.
After destroying much of the statue, Roy and Timmy had to walk two miles to a Wendy's, walk in, order something, eat inside ("Timmy, please eat slow," Roy moaned as the little boy chomped on his burger. Timmy stuck his tongue out and merely ate faster and played with his adventure toy), and walk twelve miles to their little hut.
The next morning, Roy tossed Timmy an apple for breakfast and they walked to the local car dealership, where it took them three hours to find a good-looking and cheap and stable car, with Timmy's hunger screams threatening to break the glass. Finally they bought a Mustang and Timmy sat impatiently in the back while Roy made a mental shopping list.
After unloading BAGS of food and somehow cake mix, Roy flipped on Nick Jr. and Timmy was immediately engrossed. He began cooking ribs when his device beeped.
He turned the stove down a notch and opened it to see Aqualad. He did not look happy. "Do you know what just happened to Bumblebee?" was the first thing he said.
Roy panicked. "What?"
His eyes narrowed. "There are charges with destruction of a local fast-food restaurant towards the owner of a car belonging to Karen Beecher…"
Roy's heart skipped a beat.
"Does that sound familiar to you?"
God spread his mercy.
Timmy began screaming.
After lunch, Roy scrubbed Timmy's face and shirt clean before going to a local park "to see an old friend," he explained. Timmy unbuckled himself as soon as the engines stopped and hopped onto Roy's back as he walked to a dark girl with pom-pom hair. Kids of all ethnic groups were playing a confusing game of football.
Bumblebee turned around and immediately scowled. "Hello, Roy," she spat.
"Hey, Karen."
"Do you know what mess you got me into? I now have to do three hundred hours of community service aside from protecting the city while feeding three boys and-"
"Well, it's not my fault your car sucks," Roy spat.
Bumblebee growled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I didn't expect one of my own team to drag me into a 'small incident'"-
"Hey, I'm the one who was stuck with a duty I didn't want to do but I ended up doing anyway because my leader freaking drugged me, how do you think I feel?"
"I didn't drug you-"
"Yes, you did, you put roofies in my shake!"
"What are roofies?" a little blond boy asked running to them.
"Not now, Emilio," Bumblebee hissed.
Emilio shrugged and ran back to the game.
"I drugged you for the sake of a fatherless little boy-"
"That's a ticket to jail and court!"
A little girl started screaming. "Coach Bee," an African American boy yelled, "Candy broke her leg!"
Bumblebee sighed and glared at Roy. "I hate you," she mouthed before running away.
"Love you too, Karen!" Roy called out.
The day after the horrifying ice cream incident, he decided to go toward the boy's gentle side. At six, he woke up, found a box of pancake mix, and carefully read the instructions. His kitchen at home had enough records of fires, moments with the fire extinguisher, and exploding water. He shuddered remembering the time the twins attempted to cook a roast and pie, not knowing it wasn't supposed to be at the same time-half the stove was burnt to the point where they had to let it cool down for several days before replacing it.
Timmy's face brightened at the crackling hotcakes and he crawled onto the chair. "Hungry, hungry, hungry-"
"It's coming, hold on, partner," Roy said pouring the boy milk. Obviously impatient, he chugged it down and bounced in his high-chair.
Roy set the dish, silverware, butter, and syrup before lifting the pan, sliding them onto the boy's plate and fixing himself a mug of coffee.
He watched Timmy DROWN his flapjacks with syrup and dig in hungrily. He remembered one time when the twins were begging Bumblebee to take them to Denny's to try those pancakes shaped like a face-maybe that explained why their tower became a stripped mess with couches everywhere and broken TV.
Roy sighed and wiped syrup off Timmy's chin. "So what do you want to do today?" he asked. "It's supposed to be hot."
The little boy shrugged. Roy brightened. "Want to go swimming by the lake?"
Timmy shrugged. "Okay," he said.
Before the whole Brotherhood war, Timmy and Melvin learned how to swim with private instructors who took them in until they were sent to the monks. Roy called Rae for permission and she said there was a swimsuit in his suitcase that reminded him of old-fashion swimwear for males. For some reason it was long-sleeved and bright. He himself stripped down to a pair of boxers and swim shoes.
The sun was indeed passing on heat and giving the atmosphere a muggy feeling. Roy helped change the little boy and tied a rope to the tree branch. "Do you know how to do this?"
Timmy shook his head. "Okay. Well, you hold the rope like this…"
He stepped back carefully while Timmy ate an orange on the car front. "Gosh, I haven't done this since I left the Navajo," he muttered to himself. He stepped off the soil and gripped the rope with his muddy feet, swung toward the lake shrieking loud enough to scare the birds away, let go, and disappeared underwater.
Timmy cheered and clapped. Roy popped his head out and wiped his eyes, laughing and shaking his head, cold droplets splattering over his bare chest and arms. "Oh my God, I miss that!" he laughed. He climbed up the hill to Timmy, dripping and holding his arms. "You want to go on my back while I do that again?"
Timmy nodded and wrapped his arms around Roy's neck, legs around his waist. "If you get scared, please don't scream," he begged Timmy, who nodded. He held the rope, stepped back, swung to the lake, and both the skilled archer and the monkey literally on his back jumped into the cold lake.
They stood up, Timmy off Roy's back but clinging to the back of his legs begging "Do it again! Do it again!" until he FINALLY got tired after about twenty-five times. Roy thought there was a fish in his swim trunks and kept rechecking for leeches, finding none. They shared a picnic of chicken sandwiches, juice, and strawberries before chasing fish.
That night, Roy gave Timmy a hot bath, careful to miss the boy's ears, and tucked him into warm pajamas and his blanket. The little boy asked for a bedtime story and Roy told him kid-friendly legends and folklore the Navajo shared with him before he saw Timmy curled up to his side sucking his thumb.
Roy couldn't help but smile at his relaxed face. He brushed his hair lightly to the side and turned the light off. "Good night, 'son,'" he smiled.
Sunlight woke Roy up in the morning and he rubbed his eyes sitting up. He glanced at his clock and saw it to be seven o' nine. "The kid's probably still sleeping." He yawned and rubbed his scalp. "Okay, I need to take a shower today," he reminded himself aloud.
Roy flexed his legs and dialed the girl.
She seemed to have just woken up, for the leotard around her frame was drooping and her eyes weren't fully open. "What?" she yawned.
"I need some help-"
"What is it, another prostate tumor?" she moaned.
Roy's face was frozen. "Where did you get that idea?"
"Beast Boy was watching South Park last night," she mumbled. He nodded and smiled as if on the verge of crying.
"Can you, uh, watch Timmy while I shower?"
"Okay," she yawned. "I'm going for a cup of tea now."
He nodded and walked to the bathroom, where he turned on the hot water, stepped in, and doused himself wet. Kids are a pain, but I like this kid-I need to get to know him better.
He scrubbed his face and lathered shampoo onto his head, scrubbing wildly, and reluctantly stepped out. The entire room was fogged and his wet hair sent a chill down his wet skin. He toweled himself dry, wrapped himself into a robe, and combed his hair until it met his satisfaction. He liked his hair, but he knew he wasted his life in front of the mirror-kids were more important.
He was still wondering what he should do with the little boy today.
Timmy stirred in his sleep and yawned. Raven watched him as she sipped her tea and smiled-Starfire was going to take Melvin shopping and the baby would be attached to her hip all day, so she decided to look at her other sweetheart.
He suddenly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Oh, I am…"
He turned his head to his right and saw a smiling Raven sipping a teacup.
Timmy yelped and screamed.
Within a few seconds, Roy dashed into Timmy's room and knelt down. "Timmy, are you all right? Timmy, what's wrong?"
The boy whimpered and twitched. He looked up and saw a concerned Raven. "What happened?" he asked.
She looked away, her face reddening. He forgot he was just in a towel. "I guess I scared him," she said. "He freaked out when he saw me."
"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't know he scared you."
"It's all right," she said. "I have to go anyway. Raven out."
She logged off and Roy closed his communicator.
He knelt down and picked the vibrating boy in his arms. "There, there," he whispered softly. "It's all right," he whispered. "That was just Raven-she wanted to wish you a good morning."
Timmy stopped and nodded. Roy was happy he didn't cry, upset that he 'scared' his own guardian off. He sat down on the bed and tousled Timmy's hair. "It's all right," he whispered. "I'm here. 'Hamster boy' is here." Timmy giggled at the nickname.
"What are you wearing?" the little boy asked suddenly.
Roy looked down at his robe and slippers. "Whoops, I just came out of the shower," he said. "Would you like to talk to Raven while I get dressed?"
Timmy sniffed. "Yes," he whimpered. Roy reset his communicator and greeted Rae before leaving the boy in peace and putting on slacks.
When he walked back to the room, Timmy was already done talking and fell back asleep. "He's such a sleeper for a loud boy," he thought aloud. He went to the kitchen, toasted lots of bread, and shook the orange juice carton wildly before opening it and chugging half it down. Timmy walked in and asked why was he trying to drown himself. He pulled the carton away and watched the little boy eat.
After breakfast, they drove to the park and Roy pulled out a baseball bat and several balls. "All right, Timmy, you know how to play?"
He nodded and set the bat over his shoulder.
"Here it comes…"
He threw the ball and it landed in the center of the boy's forehead.
Timmy flinched and his eyes watered. "Oh my God, Timmy, I am so sorry," he apologized running over to the weeping boy. Roy predicted he would shed a few tears before exploding. He knelt down and put a hand on the boy's forehead. "Oh, Timmy, I am so sorry."
He picked up the First-Aid kit, placed an ice pack in the boy's hand and inspected the bruise developing on his forehead. "Here, hold this to your forehead while I get us ready to go home-"
"No," Timmy said. "I don't want to go home."
Roy paused. "What?"
Timmy pointed to the lake. "Let's sit down."
Feeling like a mother, Roy set Timmy's hand down and kissed the throbbing black-and-blue mark.
He drove them over to a Dairy Queen and ordered a blizzard to hold to Timmy's forehead while Timmy rode on his shoulders and told him the story of how Raven saved them from the 'gorilla with a piano strapped to him'. He smiled as he imagined the little team screaming as they went downhill in a 'car' and as soon as they were safe the kids were begging to 'do it again' against Raven's 'no again.' Roy watched a drop of vanilla ice cream drip in front of his face and feared he would be washing ice cream out of his hair that night.
The treat melted and the boys finished it before Timmy accidentally dropped it and it stumbled right into the lake. "Oh, Timmy, please be careful next time," Roy moaned. He stood up, slid cautiously down the muddy hill, and reached forward to pick it up.
That's when a green snake popped out and shoved its fangs into his left thigh.
"No!" Timmy yelled standing up. The archer fell into the mud and water as blood poured from his leg, crying in pain. Timmy cried for help as well and hopped down with a splash.
"Timmy, no, that thing will bite you!" Roy cried out. The snake slithered toward the younger redhead and hissed. Timmy screamed and threw a rock at him. The snake dodged it and aimed in his direction. Timmy screamed louder and backed away, hissing in response.
Pow!
The snake collapsed on the grass, bleeding from the neck. Timmy flinched and looked up at a police officer with a pistol. "What happened?"
Timmy ran to Roy and held his hand. The older guy moaned and squeezed. "Timmy…you saved me."
"What happened?" the police officer asked.
It took them three hours-the ambulance came, the police interviewed the boy, the investigators snapping pictures-until Timmy found himself in a roaring ambulance holding Roy's hand.
"Is-he-going-to-be-all-right?" he wept to the nurse.
"Yes," she said. "It's not a poisonous snake, but he'll have to be in a wheelchair for some time. It was a deep bite."
Timmy stroked his 'father's' hand and smiled back at Roy.
Finally, after a decade, the East and West arrived at the hospital, Bumblebee and the boys immediately at Roy's side and Raven rushed to her little boy.
"Timmy, are you all right? Did it scare you? Are you hurt? Oh Azar, Timmy…"
Timmy moaned at her panicked cries and twitched. Raven held him to her chest and he tried to push away. "I want to see Roy…"
"Not now," Robin said. "He's being inspected."
Timmy winced and clung to Raven, panicked.
"Don't do anything," the other two boys mouthed to Starfire, who was probably going to offer an old folk song.
Timmy fell asleep on Starfire's lap while Beast Boy went to the vending machine, Robin was pretending to read a magazine, and Cyborg was doing something with Melvin. Raven held the baby in her arms and bounced him on her knee. The Titans East came later so Roy could receive stitches. The twins and Starfire practiced learning each other's languages, Aqualad and Beast Boy discussing animals, and Bumblebee talking to Timmy about his trip. Raven finally grew tired of playing with the infant and fell asleep, Bumblebee picking up the baby and making buzzing sounds.
At about three thirty, Roy was rolled out and smiled. "Hey, guys," he said softly. "How are you?"
"Roy!" Timmy yelled, scrambling from Starfire's lap and jumping into his lap. "Oh, Roy, I was so scared…"
His chin quivered. Roy held him and patted his back.
Raven woke up and sighed when she saw Timmy was still safe. "Timmy, I think Roy wants to go somewhere…"
"No, no, it's okay, I don't mind," he told Raven.
She nodded and walked over. "How's your leg?" Bumblebee asked.
"Hurts," he said.
Raven healed it and kissed Timmy's forehead. "Was he a good boy during your little adventure?"
Roy smiled. "I actually enjoyed it. It makes me think what would I have done if I didn't grow up with Native Americans."
Both teams laughed and Timmy snuggled up to Roy's chest.
"Roy," he said, "can you go to my Father's Day picnic with me?"
Roy smiled. "It would be an honor, little man."
Months later...
By the time the picnic started, Timmy and his friends panted and collapsed on the ground. "Kids," Miss Rachel yelled, "come on!"
The kids laughed and stood up, scrambling to their parents. Timmy hugged Roy's legs and squeezed. Roy laughed and tried to kneel down. "Timmy, go help yourself to some food."
"Oh, Mr.-"
"Harper," he finished.
"Yes, Harper," Miss Rachel said. "Um, can you give our Father's Day speech today?"
"What?" Roy asked.
"Every year, a father does the honors of giving a speech," she said. "Most kids want to hear you say it, so can you do it?"
He nodded. "Okay."
He stood up on the stage holding the note cards in his hands. Children munched on cheesecake and sipped lemonade and parents drank coffee. Timmy sat in the front beside Angie and beamed at him.
Roy sighed and smiled. "This is the first time I've ever really been interested in Father's Day," he began. "It's not that I cared, I just…never mind.
"My father was a forest ranger who died in a fire when I was one and still in diapers, so I never had official memories with him. I grew up with an Indian medicine chief. However, when my friends-some of you may know them-asked me to be a daddy for Timmy, I did not want to volunteer as I knew nothing about parenthood and it upset me that I have no father. For several days, we struggled on the 'father-son' metaphor because I have no kids of my own.
"Most people have no happy memories of their own fathers, so they do all they can to make sure they don't follow his footsteps, but not in the way they wanted. I live with two redhead twins, but never considered being a father figure to them or I would have been better at it.
"I guess the overall message of Father's Day is to celebrate your father, who loves you and would do anything for you. Sometimes, you don't want to share that and you don't, but sometimes you can find your daddy in someone you never imagined them to be."
The audience clapped and stood up. Timmy smiled, ran up on stage, and hugged him. Roy shifted him onto his shoulders and walked off the stage.
I know it's a little early to write a Father's Day fic, but whatever. I was inspired to read it after reading xxOhSoTradgicxx's "Payment," when 'Jack' tries to visualize who could have fathered the Tykes if they were Rae's biological kids and he thought that the archer would be Timmy's dad, so it fell into place from there.
If it didn't come out the way you expected, I'm sorry. I fell sick and my computer suffered problems. Otherwise, I hope you liked it. Review if you at least giggled.
EDIT: Okay, I know 'Father's Day' was finished months ago, but I just thought of this and could not pass it up. It's Bee coaching the football game and the aftermath of the kid who got hurt.
Happy reading!
Karen hissed as she watched the game of football and having no idea how the game was played. Kids were screaming, tackling each other, and kicking dirt at their teammates. Thanks to that no-good snot-headed archer she was stuck with these little munchkins.
"Okay, okay, you two," she growled separating Derek and his bruised eye from Jess's bleeding nose. "Who started it?"
"She did!" Derek yelled jabbing his finger at her.
"No way!" Henry yelled. "He grabbed her ankle and tried to bite her!"
"No, she tripped him!" Jay argued.
Bumblebee's heart began to tug at her breast. It was like her teammates had shrunken down to age eight and discovered the joy of chasing each other with knives-even Blood never considered that kind of combat.
"Okay, I don't care who started it, but let's just-"
"Coach Karen," Candy cheered, "can we start over?"
Karen sighed. "All right, everybody know the Y play position?"
The children nodded.
"I'm hungry," Darren whined.
"Shut up," she spat. "Everybody ready…"
The teams divided up and crouched in position.
"Set…"
Derek and Jess began bickering again.
"Hut!"
While the children began fighting again, Karen sat down ("No, no, no! Anthony, move to the left a little!"), pulled out a pack of Virginias with a lighter, and slid the cigarette into her mouth.