I decided to give everyone their own chapter. Trust me, it works out better this way.
Warning: Language . . . You might want some tissues. ;D
It was quiet on top of the bluff . . . not silent, however. The wind was picking up and it sent a whistling moan through the neighboring trees. The growling wheeze of a tranquilized mountain lion could be heard nearby. The worried chittering of a lonely fox . . .
Roy could hear all of it over the relentless pounding of his own heartbeat. The drumming sounded fast and he thought that wasn't good. It was hard to think straight over the cacophony all around him, but he thought that a fast thready heartbeat was a bad thing.
The snow around him was mushy as the heat from his blood melted it and the falling temperature strove to refreeze it beneath him. Was this it? Was he going to bleed out up here on this lonely precipice? It had gotten too dark to see crap now so his last sight wasn't even going to be a great view, damn it . . . He couldn't even tell if his vision was tunneling or not, or if he was feeling colder than he should be. Only his fatigue bespoke of the shock he knew he was falling into.
Robin . . .
Where was Robin? He tried to push back the fuzziness that was enveloping his brain. He could only remember that Rob had needed him.
Roy tried lifting his head to look for his little bro. It felt like the equivalent of bench pressing a truck. The vague outline of the tree branch the boy had been dangling from reminded Roy of the danger that Robin had been in. But he couldn't locate the telltale darker outline against the night sky that should have been there . . .
Why?
Roy blinked rapidly as he struggle to make sense of what his muddied mind was telling him, that Robin was no longer there. But that would mean . . . What? Had he saved himself? Rob had been struck by the cougar, the same as Roy had, and he had been coughing because he was sick, like with pneumonia kind of sick! No way could Rob have climbed back up to the relative safety of the tree branches, not being sick and injured as he was . . . and that could only mean . . .
"Ro-o-ob," he screamed. What came out was something hoarse and breathy, and the wind whipped it away. "Robin!"
Roy strained his ears to listen. But he could only hear a humming sound . . . No, not humming. What was that? It was growing louder, sounding more like a rumbling noise . . . or a roaring like . . . like an engine? He hearing things now?
Suddenly a light rose up from the cliff's edge. It was coming from his left and was growing brighter as the noise increased in pitch and volume. And then it was there: a Javelin! One of the League's ships was hovering in the air just beyond the edge of the cliff. As he watched, it moved over the open ground to land behind him. The League had finally deigned to show up and save their collective asses.
But they couldn't rescue him yet, Roy thought. He hadn't saved Rob yet! He had to save Robin first! Rob was depending on him . . .
With some effort, Roy struggled to push himself up. The pain in his arms had peaked and gone a bit numb as a result. He knew he hurt, but it had become like background noise, nothing he couldn't work through . . . If he could just find the strength to move.
At least now, with the light from the ship illuminating the area, Roy could tell with a hell of a lot more clarity exactly how shocky he was. His vision had a red rim around everything as it seemed to shrink and condense with each breath.
It wasn't hard to figure out that he was dying.
The ship flew slowly just a few feet above the ground in the direction of the cliff. Too slowly.
"Can't this thing go any faster?" Green Arrow barked as he leaned in between the pilot and co-pilot's seats. "We're losing the light!"
"Easy, Arrow," Batman growled to his right. He was also standing behind the pilot's seat; the leather creaked under the pressure of his hands on the seat back.
Ollie did his best to not snap the other man's head off. Batman, too, had someone he cared about on that mountain. What had that biologist fellow said? That Robin had gone after the meds Conner had needed although he, too, was sick and likely still concussed . . .
He wanted to strangle the man for letting the boy go. If he could have kept Robin in the shack, Roy wouldn't have been forced to follow him. Even now, they could all have been together and safely on their way back to the Watchtower to be checked out by Martian Manhunter and possibly Dr. Mid-Nite. God, he hoped that none of the kids were so bad off that Mid-Nite's skills would be necessary.
His mind flitted briefly to the image of Superboy as he had lain on the hard planks of the shack. His nose had twitched at the smell of putrid infection and death. It seemed impossible that of all the members of the team, that it was Conner that had succumbed, albeit briefly, to his injuries. He was Superman's clone, for God's sake! Of all of them, he should have been safe!
And that he hadn't been had scared Ollie far more than anything else this day had brought. If the strongest member of the team could fall like this, what hope did they have for the others? Artemis, Roy, Robin . . . They were all human, all of them far more susceptible to injury and death than a damned Kryptonian . . . Far more likely to . . . to . . .
And Roy had left for this mission with the team with harsh words still hanging in the air between them. Ollie couldn't stand to leave it like that. He had never adopted Roy like Bruce had Dick, but in his heart Ollie couldn't have loved the boy more if he had been his own flesh and blood!
Instead of criticizing or arguing with the boy . . . No, Ollie corrected himself, Roy is a man now . . . he should have just told him that. He should have just thrown his arms around that angry son of a bitch and told him he loved him. The look that Roy would have given him had Ollie done that surprised a snort of amusement out of him.
He ignored the startled glance from Wally and the cautious one from the Batman beside him. Those lenses hid Bruce's eyes, so that was only a guess on Ollie's part, however. He kept his own eyes forward and his mouth shut. He didn't feel any more like sharing his feelings that Batman would. He swallowed around the lump of fear in his throat.
A small mountain of snow and rocks and whole trees lay directly in front of them and behind it, illuminated by the powerful lights of the spacecraft, a wall of granite rose. M'gann adjusted the controls and the ship began to rise slowly, the cracks and crevices sliding past them as they ascended.
"I don't want to take the chance of our missing them if they are descending," M'gann told them.
"Descending?" Ramón asked, startled. "Certainly those boys wouldn't try something as crazy as repelling down a cliff at night?"
Wally sighed heavily. "You haven't known them long enough or you wouldn't be asking that."
Ramón grunted. "Folks running around wearing capes and masks teaching their children to jump off of cliffs . . ." he mumbled under his breath. "What's the world coming to these days?"
"Look there!" Ollie pointed. An arrow, barely visible, stuck out of the side of the cliff. "That's one of his grapple arrows." He straightened and blinked. "How high up are we, anyway?"
Wally answered that one. "About four hundred feet."
Ollie frowned. "What the hell? He only has about two hundred feet of cable . . ."
"If he was following Robin, then they are probably doing this in stages," Batman rumbled. "Robin only carries two hundred feet of monofilament cable in his grapple gun as well."
Ollie shook his head. "Our arrows don't work the same way as your grapple gun. They are generally good for one use until we can reset the grapple in the arrow. I usually only carry two with me, sometimes three if I suspect I'll have to do extra high work. But, even so, resetting the grapple hook in the field in Star City is a hell of a lot different than clinging to the side of a cliff face."
"There's no line attached to the arrow," Batman pointed out. "I suspect he doubled up on his line if he had two grapple arrows in his quiver like you. He removed the line from this arrow to use on his next."
"But a four hundred foot shot is impossible . . . unless . . ." Ollie stroked his goatee in thought. "I didn't think to look, but if he cannibalized his rocket arrows, he might have gotten the boost he needed for a shot like that." Ollie grinned. "Smart thinking, kid," he murmured quietly.
"That is impressive work, on the fly like that," Batman complimented.
M'gann spoke up. "How would he have shot his second arrow from where he was perched, though? I don't see how he could have done that without falling."
Ollie's grin fell away. "He couldn't have. Even Artemis would have had a difficult time making that shot using her one-handed mini-crossbow."
"I have a feeling we don't want to know how he did it, do we?" Wally pursed his lips and ran a hand through his hair. His leg was vibrating with the need to run.
"Probably not," Ollie admitted but told them anyway. It was a gutsy move and pride in his former protégé was nearly as great as his fear for him. "He would have had to throw himself off of the ledge backward to get the shot he needed."
"Oh my God, I'm going to kill him . . ." Kid Flash muttered, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. "They'd better be okay because I'm going to kill them both."
"Arrow."
Batman pointed out the second arrow jutting out of the cliff as they neared the precipice. Here they could clearly see the cable retractor was still attached to the second arrow. The ship continued up clearing the edge of the cliff and its lights lit up the broad expanse of snow brilliantly.
White snow with a large swath of red marring its pristine surface.
Ollie mouth dropped open at the grisly scene. "Dear God! Are we too late?"
"Where are they?" Batman growled and the leather creaked as his hands tightened involuntarily.
"M'gann, can you hear them?" Wally asked as he leaned forward in his seat.
Their eyes were all following the path of the blood as it led them dangerously close back to the cliff's edge.
"I think . . . I'm getting some confusing thoughts," M'gann said as she maneuvered the ship around to land and bringing the lights to bear on the rest of the clearing.
"Thoughts are good, confusing or not," Wally blurted. "Thoughts mean someone's alive and conscious."
Ollie blinked. "What is that?" A red net was splayed over the snow and something big and dark was beneath it.
"That," said Ramón, "is a mountain lion. Now we know where the blood came from."
"It's Red Arrow," M'gann called out abruptly. "I can hear him. He keeps repeating the same thought over and over now. He has to save Robin . . ."
"Get us down now, M'gann. Open the hatch," Batman barked as he spun away.
Ollie and the others raced to follow.
He was dying.
The only good that came with that realization was the newest rush of adrenaline to his system. Roy pushed up onto his hands and knees. His limbs were shaking like crazy but he still managed to put one hand in front of the other. Worse than climbing up that damned cliff, he discovered, just to crawl a lousy foot and Roy decided then and there that, if and when he got out of this, he was going to strangle a certain little bird for putting him through one of the worst experiences of his life.
The rush of blood in his ears prevented him from hearing the approach of his rescuers, so he nearly jumped out of his skin when a blanket was suddenly thrown over him. Someone turned him over gently and it annoyed him because he had worked so hard to push himself up. How was he going to save Robin now?
"No, stop," he panted.
He needed a drink. His throat felt parched, his body dehydrated. He couldn't catch his breath! Why couldn't he catch his breath? Oh, right . . .
"Roy!"
Ollie was looking down at him with more concern than Roy could ever remember seeing on his face before. He looked panicked.
I must be closer than I thought.
"Dear God, he's drenched in blood," Ollie gasped to the person behind him. The blanket soaked through almost immediately. "How much of this is yours, Roy?"
It took some effort forming the words but he managed. "I th-think . . . most of it."
"Most of it?" Ollie stared at him in disbelief.
"Pretty much. Some's Rob's . . ." he said. "The l-lion . . . got him . . . too."
Ollie went to gather him up in his arms when Roy's nerves decided they wanted to work again. He cried out in pain and arched up in a misguided effort to pull away from the pressure. Where is the damned numbness when I need it?
"M'gann! M'gann, I need you here!" Ollie called back over his shoulder.
The light from the ship put the Martian's face in shadow but lit up her hair like a ring of fire or . . . a halo? God, he really was losing it! The world seemed to tilt and shift as M'gann lifted him up with her telekinesis. Roy cried out in sudden fear. He couldn't leave Robin behind!
"No! Not yet!" he yelled. It came out hoarse and barely noticeable over the sound of the engines. "Robin . . . I have to . . . save Robin!"
The outline of a bat appeared over M'gann's shoulder. "Where is Robin, Roy?"
The growl was there in the man's voice as was the demand but, even fading as he was, Roy knew that Batman was being gentle with him because . . . because he knew the truth, that Roy wasn't long for this world. He struggled to flex fingers that refused to work. He needed to grab him so Batman understood the gravity of the situation. His fingers twitched uselessly but it was enough. The Dark Knight took his hand.
Gravity . . . The irony made him want to laugh but all that came out was a cough. His eyes stung but no tears fell. His body needed all of the fluid it could get. He couldn't afford to waste it on something as invaluable as tears.
Maybe Miss Martian read his mind; maybe Batman was desperate for more information, either way he moved closer.
"Where is he, Roy? Help me save him," Batman said to him.
It almost sounded like he was begging, but the Bat didn't beg. Did he?
"Where is Robin? Where is my son?" Batman squeezed Roy's hand.
Maybe he did . . .
"T-Tree," Roy gasped. "Cliff . . . F-F-Fell!"
That ring of red was closing and the light was dimming.
Wait! Wait! Not yet . . . I can't go yet! I have to . . . do something . . . But he couldn't remember what it was. The need was there, however. Desperate, desperate need.
Ollie appeared beside him. They were moving him, he thought. His eyes locked on Ollie.
Yes! Ollie! The need . . . It had to be him, didn't it? Thismust be what I need to do, he thought. I need to fix this! Us . . .
"O-Ollie?" Was that his voice? He couldn't even hear himself anymore. He tried again, louder. "Ollie!"
"I'm here, Roy," Ollie told him.
"W-Where?" It was growing darker . . . Not yet! I have to . . .
"I'm right here," Ollie growled above him. "Can you see me now?"
The light struck the planes of his face, making the blond hair glow even as part of his face remained cast in shadow. But it was him, Roy could tell; it was Ollie.
"I'm s-sorry."
For everything. For not being more grateful to you for taking me in; for training me as your sidekick. For not understanding the pressures that life had placed on you. For being selfish, and angry, and . . . and yelling hateful things at you. I never hated you. I just needed to prove myself . . . to you, to the League, to everyone!
He had a life full of regret. He figured he had only minutes to make it right.
"Ollie . . . I d-don't . . . hate you."
"Roy, it's okay. It's going to be alright," Ollie told him. The man ran a hand through Roy's hair and supported his head with it. He gently peeled the younger man's mask from his face in order to see his eyes. "I'm going to make sure of it. I'm going to fix this."
He looked away for a moment at someone beyond Roy's vision. "M'gann, hurry. We're going to lose him!"
"P-Please . . ."
"Don't try to speak," Ollie told him.
Was it getting darker? "Have . . . to . . . tell you . . ."
"Y-You're going to . . . You're going to be fine." Ollie voice faltered. "Dinah, hurry with that blood! He's in shock!"
"I . . . l-love . . . you."
"What?" Ollie stared down at him in shock.
Roy would have laughed if he could have. "Always . . . h-have. A-Always . . . w-will . . . old man," he murmured in gruff affection.
Seeing his former mentor rendered speechless, Roy figured he had won this round. The edges of his lips eased up into a smile as Ollie yanked off his own mask. The older man stared down into the younger's face. Everything Roy had ever hoped to see was right there staring down at him. A tear dripped from Ollie's face, falling onto Roy's cheek.
"Dinah, hurry! Can't we do anything more?" Ollie's words sounded far away. "Can't you make it go faster?"
Dinah voice came through, muffled. He couldn't understand what she was saying, however. Funny, Roy couldn't remember Canary's voice ever sounding so muted before. He felt something cold running through his body. It made him feel colder and he shivered. Another blanket covered him but didn't help.
He licked chapped lips and tried to swallow but his mouth was too dry.
"Roy, hang on, son. We doing everything we can," Ollie was petting his face, his hair. "You're going to be alright, do you hear me?"
Roy couldn't see him anymore. "C-Cold . . ." he choked.
"Don't you leave me, Roy, do you hear me? Roy?! Don't go, son . . . Please! I love you, too," Ollie's words cut through the darkness, warming his heart. "I love you . . . I always have. I-I always will . . ."
As the darkness and silence slid over and around him; as unconsciousness fell over him at last, one thought flitted through Roy's mind.
At least I'm not cold anymore.
REACTIONS?
Aaaww . . . Amazing what you'll say when you think you're dying. And no, he's not dead. I'll save you from worrying about that right now. I warn people, remember? This being Roy's POV, we know only what Roy knows which is he is suffering from shock and his senses are messed up, AND it is likely that Dinah added some pain meds to his IVs and everything put him out like a light.
DaddyBats is the next chapter, I promise. I decided to give everyone their own chapters before the epilogue. (Except Artemis since she technically already had her reunion. But we see her again in the epilogue along with Kaldur. (I'll explain where he's been through all of this then.) Very little wait for the next chapter - just finishing it up and editing it. Looking to get it out by Saturday for a certain guest reviewer's birthday! ;D
