Roy reflects on having Ollie for a father.

Chapter 26: The Asshole I'm Stuck With

Roy's POV

My real father died when I was five. He died in fire. I should have seen it coming. He was a forest ranger after all. Sometimes, I still wish he were alive. But, he's gone. I can't get him back and I can't get my second father back either.

Brave Bow took me in when my father died. I'd know him from birth to eight years of age. He was my father's best friend. To be honest, a tiny part of me loved the man more than my real father. The man gave me my first bow and he taught me how to live. But, he died. He left me too. There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him.

That's also when my luck ran out. Apparently, you can only have two wonderful fathers before you end up stuck with an asshole. Ollie is the last father I know I'll ever have. He's been my guardian since he took me out of an orphanage when I was nine.

How do I even begin to describe Ollie? Asshole? Idiot? Jackass? Wait. He's all of those things when it comes to children. Never mind. He's an idiot when it comes to everything. But, he's my idiot father and no one else's… except for Connor, Artemis, and Mia. We have to suffer together.

Yes, Ollie and I have our issues. We have a lot of good times too. Most of them were when it was just the two of us and I was his Speedy. A part of me really misses those days. I really really miss those times. Sure, he'd ignore me a lot but when he finally paid attention to me I felt like I was king of the world. We had each other's backs. And then he got married.

I love Dinah. She's the best thing that ever happened to the man… aside from me, I guess. I once ran away from home and when he finally found me, he told me that I was the best thing that ever happened to him. Okay. I admit it. I cried like a real man when he told me that.

And the years went by and I got a few siblings and we were happy. We were a dysfunctional family of crime fighters but we were happy… until our world came crashing down. Funerals suck. It didn't help that I became addicted to heroin. Ollie didn't take it too well when he found out. He beat the shit out of me and I let him. He might have killed me if Dinah hadn't of intervened. She saved my life.

Our once happy family became even more broken with Ollie addicted to alcohol. And once again, Dinah saved the day. She got me off drugs and him off alcohol. But, I was angry with him and I refused to see him. As far as I was concerned, Ollie wasn't my father anymore.

I went out on my own for a while. I went to work for this organization and some shit happened and next thing I know, I'm twenty-six years old and I'm having sex with Cheshire. And the bitch leaves me in freaking Quraci to rot! Oh, and freaking Superman decided not to tell my parents that I was going to be executed in their freaking prison! It was cool though. Red Hood and my ex-girlfriend, Starfire, broke me out and brought me back to the states. Long story short, the three of us teamed up and decided to check out the world. Before we left, I had to say bye to Dinah, Artemis, and Mia… Of course, Ollie chose that moment to reconcile our relationship.

I broke his nose the second he tried to hug me. Once again, Dinah saved the day. She made the two of us sit down and talk it out. Long story short, it ended with both of us crying and holding onto each other in a manly way before a trip to the ER to reset Ollie's nose.

And nine months later after the Quraci incident, I became a dad. So Jade just ditches Lian with me and takes off again. Okay, I had no freaking clue how to take care of a baby. Of course I hauled ass to get back home. Dinah did most of the work of course but I saw Ollie in a different light. I saw the way he looked at Lian the first time he held his granddaughter… and I dunno. It was like he never wanted to make the same mistakes ever again. Lian loves Dinah, but she's got her grandfather wrapped around her little finger.

Ollie is my father and there's nothing anyone can do about it. We butt heads a lot. But, at the end of the day he tries. He's always showed up at the last minute to save my sorry ass. He's always there with that shoulder squeeze to reassure me of his love. He's nowhere near as perfect as my first two fathers, but… I'm kind of stuck with him and at the end of the day, I'm okay with it.