Disclaimer: I do not own Roy Harper, Matt Hagen/Clayface, and any other Young Justice characters/concepts/locations mentioned here. Young Justice was created by Greg Weisman, Brandon Vietti, and DC Comics and is owned by the latter and Warner Media.


This was the clear-cut definition of a bad idea. Roy knew it, and he was still dead-set on a collision.

The past couple of months fell into a swirl whenever he thought back. An overwhelming amount of time at Bowhunter Security – pros and cons included. The occasional jobs that crossed over with supervillain gangs or metahuman incidents. A growing sense of not getting enough sleep. Maintaining his robot arm after every scrape. Also, the two girlfriends he had (exes now) who only occupied slivers of his time for however long they each were couples. Thinking about that last chunk made him realize that he became so focused on work, Roy never considered carving out room for personal connections.

At least thinking about that made him not need a therapist for once.

So when Bowhunter took on a new employee and former supervillain that he knew from his time as a hero, Roy felt a menagerie of feelings. Uneasiness at the giant golem of clay (who half the time looks like a suited heavy) working in his business. Admiration at a villain finally turning things around in their life. Reassurance at knowing they had an ounce more manpower for future jobs.

And the fact that he was kind of hot.

See, Roy never really figured out his sexuality when he was younger – what with being kidnapped by a secret order of supervillains and being put on ice so they could grow a clone out of his arm. He did like girls, but there were always inklings that he also found guys attractive. He did a bang-up job of hiding adult magazines of both sexes from Ollie's prying eyes, and the same with Will whenever he snuck one into the work office. There was just something attractive in ripped muscles and coursing pecs to him, on par with boobs and butts.

So imagine all those unsorted feelings going haywire whenever Matt – Clayface to anyone not a co-worker – walked into the office. Roy can't help sparing the occasional glance at him doing menial things, maybe shifting into his real form to relax or do a bigger task. He couldn't describe it exactly, and it was probably shallow to figure this out now, but he did like him.

So how does he even tell Matt that and not come out of it a sputtering mess?

If the universe has an answer, it might be later that week on a Saturday night. They had figured out a couple of smaller security gigs in the preceding days, and as a weekend treat, Will let them off a few hours early. Jim went off to catch a new sci-fi franchise flick, leaving Matt and Roy to close up the shop. Before he had finished grabbing his things, the bulkier man asked if he wanted to get some friendly drinks. And as the universe would correctly guess, Roy took him up on that.

The two found a quaint little bar four blocks down from them called "Weisman's Tavern." It had both drinks and food, but the chef wasn't that good, so most customers focused on the drinks instead. They sat in the back at a small table for two, downing some marguerites while attempting small talk about the state of football and local novels.

After Matt returned from the bathroom and Roy finished messaging Garth on Instagram, he cleared his throat to get Roy's attention. "I, uh, got something to ask, kid."

"What's up?" asked Roy, putting his phone away.

"I noticed a lot of the time at the office, you've been kind of looking at me funny…" Matt gout out, glancing to the window on the side awkwardly.

"Oh…sorry, I didn't realize I was doing that," Roy replied, trying his very hardest not to blush in front of the very large man. "Maybe it's the weather. Yeah, that's probably it."

Anything he might've sputtered next was immediately shut down when Matt tenderly placed a hand on top of Roy's. All sound and other conversations were put on a sort of pause, with his ears and eyes only focused on Matt. "Just answer me this…do you like me?"

"Huh?" Roy felt his head getting hotter.

"I've…looked at someone else that way before," Matt elaborated. "There's nothing wrong with it, I just gotta know is all."

"I….yeah, I do," Roy admitted, playing a huge emotional gamble by saying that. His face heated to a bright red and he felt his breath hitch - the rest of the evening depended on what happened next, and even his cybernetic arm won't be much help in this regard.

To his surprise, all Matt did was strengthen his hand's hold over Roy's, smiling fondly. "Ok, good to know. Because if I'm gonna be honest, you're not such a bad look yourself."

Whatever blush he might've had on his cheeks was very visible now. "Wow. I – sorry, this is new to me. I just – I didn't know…you were into men, is all I'm trying to say."

"I didn't," Matt replied, taking his hand away so he could relax. "But I'm not opposed to it. I just always focused on women and crime so much, I never thought about the alternative."

Now, where have I heard those words before?

"O-Okay, cool," spluttered Roy as he took a quick gulp of water – a relief. "So you like me?"

"As clear as the Bat-Signal," Matt responded.

"Good," Roy added as he leaned over his spot towards the other man. "Because if you're interested, I might be up for some…fun after this."

A golden-brown flashed through Matt's eyes as he smiled back. "Fine by me."

From there on, Roy let the rest of the evening turn to a blur, his memory highlighting the big bits when they matter

Like when they collided in the nearby alley, hands over each other as they got into each other's space and shared sloppy, invigorating kisses.

Like back at an unlocked Bowhunter Security, where Matt dropped the curtain on his true form and Roy was still very much into him. Enough that he raised a hand to his brown face and reaffirmed to him "I like you," and his clay visage molded into a goopy smile.

Like when they were breathing heavily post some very intense lovemaking, Matt has turned into a surrogate bed and blanket for the younger man. Roy was unaware of what time it is, or what needs to be done next. He just wanted to stay in place, next to the breathing resting place around him, and soak in the worth and cum and tenderness present in the atmosphere.

"I think we made a mess," Roy said out loud to Matt while he stared at the ceiling. It's a reference to the haphazard clothing, bits of mud, and items scattered all over the place.

"Don't worry, Harper," Matt replied smoothly as he stretches his head to Roy's gaze, "I'll take care of it later. You just rest."

"Got it."

As Roy closed his eyes to get some rest, intrusive thoughts appeared. What'll happen when Will finds out? Scratch that, how would Ollie feel about him dating an ex-convict? And none of that's even related to what it meant to be part of the queer community in some undefined aspect. But Roy doesn't care; he can figure that out later. All he wants is sleep, and the consequences, quite frankly, can be damned.


A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! This to me takes place after season 3 but before season 4, especially after "The Prize" episode made during COVID that inspired this. Clayface being a good guy is a great idea and the pairing potential just seemed to work well. I might do another of these one day, and if you have ideas, feel free to put them in the comments!