PART FOUR

I woke to the warmth of Babs' body next to mine. Her hands had slid under my shirt. Her fists curled lightly against my shoulders. My own fingers had slipped lower as I stroked the small of her back. I lay there with eyes closed, enjoyed the feeling.

Barbara and I were on the outs. We hadn't broken up exactly. At least, I didn't think we had, but we had settled on a new policy of agreeing to see other people. Not that I would. Not that she would, either. I didn't think she would. I frowned. There had been that one guy...

Her foot rubbed against mine. Some part of my sleep fogged brain knew that wasn't right. Couldn't be right. She shifted, brought one leg over so that her hips pressed against mine. My frown deepened. Barbara was paralyzed from the waist down.

"...babs?..."

"...roy?..."

My eyes flew open. Donna's face--inches from mine--reflected the same kid caught in the cookie jar embarrassment I was feeling. A loud "ahem" from behind the couch distracted us.

Roy.

He looked gaunt, used up. I hadn't seen him look this trashed since he had stopped using drugs. Light from the street hit his eyes, turned them a gold-flecked green usually reserved for cats. It wasn't a friendly look. If he crossed his arms across his chest any tighter they were going to break.

"Comfy?"

A flush of red colored my face.

"We fell asleep."

His eyes lingered on Donna.

"Mm."

He turned towards the bedroom.

"Roy--"

He stopped, glanced over his shoulder. A mix of emotions flitted across his face then vanished. He went immobile, unreadable. He flashed the trademark Harper grin but it left his eyes cold.

"Hey, no ring on her finger, right?"

He gave me a little two finger salute, turned and shut the door behind him. I heard the lock slide into place.

I glanced at Donna. Apparently Babs and I weren't the only couple on the outs.

Damn.



I caught up with Roy at Titans' Tower around noon. Thanks to JLA transporters, I was able to use my lunch hour to make the trip from Bludhaven to the island. Unfortunately, it didn't give me a chance to change from my police uniform.

He was in sweats. Unshaven. Playing Nintendo and losing. Roy never lost. Took me a minute to realize he was crashing his car into the walls on purpose. Running little old ladies off the sidewalk. Mowing down grocery carts. A cute fuzzy dog became a bloody splat on his windshield. I winced. Thank God this was only a game.

"Your chemo's in two hours."

"Not goin'."

"Fine."

He looked up, suspicious.

"That's it?"

I leaned against the door, held up a finger for each point as I counted it off.

"One, you don't go to chemo, you die. Two, you die, Lian's next of kin gets custody. Three, Lian's next of kin is her mom. Four, her mom is heartless terrorist who set off a nuclear device that wiped out an entire country. Frankly, I wouldn't trust her with a pet rock let alone a child."

I didn't think it was possible but I became even more sarcastic.

"I assume you thought about all this before you decided to wimp out."

It was a low blow. I knew Roy had a real fear of chemo-therapy. He had fought tooth and nail to kick his heroin habit. He didn't want to get addicted to the cancer drugs. It was irrational. Phobias are like that. They don't have to make sense to affect you.

"Ollie agreed to take custody."

"Doesn't matter."

"But--"

"Roy, Ollie's not a blood relative."

I watch the old resolve settle into his eyes. He'd give his life before he'd turn Lian over to her mother.

"Lemme take a shower first."

There's a reason I admired the guy. In spite of his flaws he always tried to do the right thing. Sometimes he failed. We all did. But Roy had a way of dealing with failure that made him a stronger man for the experience. I could take a page or two from his book.