This collection of seven fics was inspired by a Discord prompt challenge! I'm a couple of days behind, but I'll catch up.
Prompt #1: You are more family then my own blood
For the most part, Jade had a sense of humor. Irony, she loved it. It was why she had a safehouse in Paris, the city of love. The place was small, desperately romantic and quietly hidden in a local neighborhood, far from the tourists. If she squinted through the living room window, she could even see the Eiffel Tower.
It was the last place she expected to bring Roy Harper.
When his cover had been blown with the Shadows, Jade had exactly two seconds to decide. The smart decision would have been to leave him to fend for himself, but she knew his chances of survival would have been slim to none. So, she'd acted. Two straight days of travel later, and there they were. In front of her stupidly romantic safehouse. See the irony?
"Do you have a key?" Roy asked, his voice cracking with the utter exhaustion they both felt.
Jade raised a brow before pulling a pin out from the pocket by her thigh. "Didn't exactly have time to pack."
"Right."
Her fingers trembled as she picked the lock, already thinking about the lush bed waiting for her. A quick cat nap, some food, and then they'd figure out their next steps. After a few heavy, painful minutes, the lock finally succumbed to her attempt and they were in.
Jade had acknowledged that she'd been wounded at some point in the fight, but placed the thought in the back of her mind, for a safer moment. She'd loosely bandaged herself at some point in their getaway, but now she could fully inspect the damage. While Roy lingered in the foyer, she made a beeline to her bathroom, stripping off the blood-soaked kimono and leaving it on the floor; it would make good kindling for a fire later. Granted, it was a bit warm for a fire, but the evidence had to be disposed of.
In the mirror, she assessed the damage. The snarls in her hair would take at least an hour to comb out, but the gash across her stomach was shallow. Annoyingly painful, but Jade had lived through worse. With the medical assessment complete, she turned on the faucet in the tub and stripped off the rest of her clothing.
Roy entered the bathroom in the middle of her soak. He'd taken off his mask, and his blue eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion. Jade nodded in acknowledgement but waited for him to break the silence. Any other day, she would have beckoned him to join her. Instead she remained quiet, watching as he slumped onto the bathroom tile.
"You saved my life," he finally said. Roy turned his gaze to meet hers, his wrinkled brow scrunched further in thought. "But I can't exactly pinpoint why."
Jade shrugged in response before leaning her head back against the bathtub. She couldn't tell him why either. By all accounts, it didn't make sense. She'd risked everything to save him; her reputation, her standing with the Shadows, and even her own life.
The truth was, she didn't know what her feelings were for Roy Harper. Sure, messing around with him was fun, but a good lay wasn't enough reason to sacrifice everything for his sake. No, it was more than that. Between being partnered together on assignments for the Shadows and having him in her bed, she'd started to develop something more for him. Something she wasn't yet quite ready to confront.
"We'll need to lay low here for a day or two, keep the Shadows off our tail." Jade plucked herself from the tub and gently wrapped herself in a white towel, ignoring the way his eyes followed her every move. "Where's your nearest equipment cache?"
"Amsterdam."
She nodded, wringing her hair out over the tub before unplugging the drain. "Then we'll head there next."
"And then what?"
"And then we find Speedy." Jade didn't wait around for his response, instead seeking out some clean clothes from the closet. Luckily, she'd kept a few basics in store. Maybe the romantic in her thought she'd explore Paris one day.
Roy followed her into the bedroom as expected. "What do you mean 'we find Speedy'?"
"I don't like repeating myself, Harper," she breathed, slipping into a cotton shirt. "Do me a favor: save the dramatics for tomorrow, I need at least two hours of sleep before my normal quips have resumed." Jade paused, noting the ache in her stomach. "And a croissant."
"I'm not joking around here, Chesh."
"And I am?" Once clothed, Jade stepped closer to him and nodded to the bathroom. "Clean up, then come to bed."
Roy's eyes kept steady on hers, and she could nearly recite the conflicted dialogue running through his head at the moment. He had no reason to trust her, and yet, she'd saved his life. What was he to make of that? Jade couldn't, and didn't, blame him.
"You have family," he muttered, reaching out and tucking a wet lock of hair behind her ear. "You're out of the Shadows, you could go back to them."
Jade scoffed at the thought. She'd never be accepted back home, not that she wanted to be. Her mother had probably disowned her existence once she learned of her daughter's identity as Cheshire. And Artemis… was better off without her. She didn't need the Shadows coming after either one of them. No, for the moment, he was her family of choice.
Jade didn't say that part aloud. Instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, feeling his resolve weaken as it always did. When she'd had her fill, she pulled away with a smirk. "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."
"How romantic," Roy muttered. "You mentioned a bed?" he said, finally taking notice of his surroundings. His eyes landed on the plush bed and looked at it with a sense of longing Jade understood all too well in the current moment.
"And croissants for breakfast," she replied, stealing one more kiss before pulling away. "Go shower."
Once he was gone, Jade allowed herself to climb into bed. She wouldn't sleep yet, not until he'd joined her. It was more practical than sentimental; despite her present feelings, she didn't trust him not to go off and do something stupid. No, for now, she was content to stave off sleep for a few more minutes, listening to the shower run and waiting for the archer to join her once again.