By any standards, the day started out perfectly normal. Roy was woken up by a nightmare. Thankfully though, it wasn't as bad as some of his other ones had been, so he was able to calm himself down. "My name is Roy Harper. Today is Friday. I'm in Wane Manor. I'm safe because Oliver isn't here. My name is Roy Harper. Today is Friday. I'm in Wayne Manor. I'm safe because Oliver isn't here." He kept repeating it, inhaling and exhaling with every other sentence respectively. It took ten minutes, but he was able to get himself calmed down. He looked over at his alarm clock. 3:30 a.m., the blinking lights informed him. Roy sighed and wiped the cold sweat off his face. 'Might we well get up now,' he decided as he threw his blankets off. It was still dark outside, so he turned his bedroom light on and pulled out his newest trick arrow designs. He was in the process of trying to design an arrow that could hide a rope or wire. Theoretically, he could shoot it and the wire would wrap itself around someone. So far it was the most sophisticated trick arrow he'd tried to design.
Roy worked on the design until the sun started to come up. He looked at the time and saw that it was now 7:00 a.m. The designs were still unfinished, but he was pretty sure he'd figured out how to make the wire wrap around someone. He got dressed and went downstairs to breakfast. Dick was already at the table, looking through his math workbook.
"Didn't get your homework done?" Roy asked.
"No!" Dick replied defensively. "I have a test today. I just want to make sure I know everything."
"You're great at math. You'll be fine."
"Shh!" Roy shook his head as he dug into his breakfast. Bruce joined them and sat down to drink his first cup of coffee for the day.
"Dick, no homework at the breakfast table," he said as he picked up his paper.
"It's not homework, I'm studying."
"No studying either."
"I have a test today!"
"Do I need to cut back on your patrol time to give you more time to do your schoolwork?"
"No! I'm just studying to make sure I know everything. I really want to get a good grade on it. I've gotten an A on every test this quarter so far!"
"You'll be fine."
"I have a math test today," Roy told him, "but you don't see me worrying." Dick stuck his tongue out at the teen.
"Put the book away, Dick."
"You get to read at the table," Dick pointed out as he closed the book and pushed it aside.
"It's my table." Dick huffed a little and started eating his breakfast. Once they finished eating, Dick and Bruce got ready to leave while Roy got his school supplies together. He brought them downstairs and set them down on the dining table just as Dick came down.
"Good luck on your test," Roy told him.
"Thanks, you too."
Roy looked over his notes on math and history, and his words of the week as well, since Alfred gave spelling and vocabulary tests every Friday. The old butler seemed to think proper spelling and vocabulary were really important for Roy. On the plus side, it was always fun to use words Dick obviously didn't know and confuse him. By the time Alfred returned, he'd looked over everything and was confident he'd pass.
"Books under the able Master Roy," Alfred told him.
"Yes, Alfred." Roy put his books and notes under the table, leaving only a notebook, a pencil, and calculator on top.
"We'll start with spelling as we do every Friday." Alfred started reading his words. Once he finished they did vocabulary. It was similar to the spelling test since Alfred read the words and Roy had to not only write them down but also define them. Once he was done with that he tore the paper out and give it to Alfred. "Very good sir. Here are your other two tests. You can do them in whatever order you wish."
"Ok." Roy started with history since he was most confident in that one. He'd been studying the World War 2 and Alfred had even made sure to spend a week on the Navajo Code Talkers. He flew through the questions, finishing them in no time at all, then moved on to math. This one took him a little longer, but by the time he finished he was confident he'd done well. Alfred assigned him more work while he went over Roy's tests. As expected, Roy passed all of them. His spelling and history tests were perfect 100's. The vocabulary was high as well, and so was math.
"Very well done, sir. Now it is time for your lunch break."
"Ok." Alfred always gave Roy an hour for lunch. Time to eat and then he sent him outside for "recess". Roy had long ago pointed out that he was pretty sure there was no recess in high school, but Alfred had insisted he needed the time to run around. However, since it was winter, Roy and been having his "recess" time in the Manor gym. So he ate his lunch and wandered down to the gym. He messed around on the gymnastics equipment since when Dick was him he usually monopolized it. Alfred retrieved him when his lunch break was over, and they went back to work. Roy finished up the science assignment he'd been given, and then it was English.
"So, Master Roy, did you enjoy Hamlet?" Alfred asked him. This was part of his English, part of it was grammar and learning about different types of stories, but the other part, Roy's and Alfred's favorite, was talking about the books Roy had to read. After English Alfred released him for the day since he'd done so well on his tests. With school over early, Roy went downstairs to practice his archery. His New Years resolution to learn who to shoot more than one arrow at once wasn't going as well as he'd hoped. He could hold the arrows to his bowstring and draw it, but when it came to shooting the arrows didn't always find their targets. 'I just need to practice more,' Roy told himself mentally. 'Just keep practicing.' He stayed downstairs for a couple of hours, shooting arrows the entire time.
After three hours of practice, he moved to trick arrow maintenance. They sometimes need to be fine-tuned to make sure all the moving parts still worked. He had a small work area in the Bat cave now, specifically designed for him when building and maintaining his trick arrows. He checked springs and wires, making sure they were all in working order. By the time he finished he Dick was home from school, so he went back upstairs.
"How'd you do?" he asked.
"I think I did good," Dick replied, tossing his bag without looking onto his bed. "but I won't know until Monday."
"I'm sure you did great," Roy replied, sitting at the boy's desk while the latter disappeared into his closet to change. "You're great at math."
"Thanks." Dick reemerged in more comfortable clothes. "Come on, let's go spar."
"Don't you have homework to do?"
"Its Friday, I have all weekend to do my homework!"
"Fair enough." Dick took his socks off before they stepped onto the mats and immediately jumped right into attacking Roy. Roy dodged down as soon as Dick's foot made contact with his shoulder blade. His drop caused Dick's momentum to carry him over the teenager. It took only a second before Dick was back on his feet and came at him again. The two traded blows and blocked each other almost every time.
"I'd say we're pretty equal in skill," Roy observed, ducking under one of Dick's blows.
"Ha! I'm still better!" As if to prove his point, Dick attempted to kick Roy in the head, but the teen caught his foot. He threw Dick off balance, which didn't really have any effect since, being an acrobat, Dick could easily flip back onto his feet. Their sparring lasted until Bruce got home from work and until dinner time. Alfred made them change before dinner since they were sweaty.
"How was your math test, Dick?" Bruce asked him.
"I think I got another A."
"Good. And yours, Roy?"
"I know I got an A," Roy replied, pride evident in his voice.
"That's also good. I think two A's deserves an extra hour of patrol tonight." Dick and Roy grinned at each other from across the table, which Bruce didn't miss.
By the time they were heading out on patrol, Roy was in a good mood. Patrol itself started normally. They stopped three car robberies and saved a group of girls walking home from a Friday night out partying. By the time the Bat signal went up Arsenal was confident they were going to have a good night overall. Which was probably why it went so wrong so fast. Batman made it to the roof of the police station several seconds before the boys did. Which gave him enough time to see the grim look on Commissioner Gordon's face and the green arrow in his hand. The moment he saw it he spun around and raised his cape to prevent the newly arrived Arsenal and Robin from seeing it.
"Robin, Arsenal, go back to the Batmobile," Batman told them.
"We just got here!" Robin protested.
"Batmobile. Now."
"But-" Batman gave him a stern look. Robin sighed.
"Fine. Come on Arsenal."
"What was that about?" Arsenal whispered to Robin as they leaped from rooftop to rooftop. They grappled across a busy street, landing safely on the other side without breaking a sweat.
"No clue. Commissioner Gordon usually needs our help when something serious is happening."
"If it's serious then why wouldn't Batman want us to know?"
Robin sighed. "I don't know. Let's just go. Hopefully, Batman won't be long."
"Ok." They'd just landed on another rooftop when Robin froze. "What's wrong?" Something moved quickly in the edge of his vision and Arsenal yelled in pain. His head dropped into his hands from the sharp pain that had just cut across his face.
"Are you ok?!" Arsenal raised his head, blood dripping down his face, mask now torn in half and grabbed Robin; pulling him to the ground. An arrow hit the rooftop right in front of them, having soared over their heads. Arsenal recognized the arrow immediately. His muscles froze and his heart stopped cold. Robin's eyes widened.
'Oh no.' He pulled Arsenal back to his feet and pushed him back in almost the same motion. Another arrow landed right where they'd been standing moments before. "We need to get out of here-" He froze in dragging Arsenal away when another arrow landed at his feet. 'Moving could mean turning our backs to the treaty and providing better targets.' Not knowing what else to do, he made sure to plant himself firmly in front of Arsenal before facing the intruder. Green Arrow stood fifteen from them, an arrow trained directly on them. "What're you doing here?"
"Getting back what's mine," Green Arrow answered simply. He wasn't even looking at Robin. All of his attention was on Arsenal. For his part, Arsenal wasn't moving or talking. His eyes were on Green Arrow and him alone.
"You're not taking him anywhere."
Green Arrow finally turned his attention to the small bird. "Who's going to stop me?"
Robin crossed this arms. "I am." He didn't even flinch when Green Arrow pointed his arrow at him. Heart pounding and muscles seizing a little, Robin tried to push his fear down. 'I have to protect Arsenal. He's my brother. I have to protect him.' Those words kept repeating in his head as he stood his ground. Green Arrow didn't say anything for a moment.
"I'll give you one chance. Step aside and I won't hurt you."
Robin's eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Make me."
"I warned you kid." An arrow shot at him and Robin pulled Arsenal to the ground. Moving proactively, he threw a bat-a-rang at Green Arrow. 'If I attack him, I can keep his attention off of Arsenal.' Taking a second to make sure Arsenal was still in one piece, he launched himself at Green Arrow. The archer didn't miss a beat punched the small bird in the stomach. The kevlar absorbed some of the blow, but it still knocked Robin slightly off balance. Being the talented acrobat he was, Robin caught himself in a cartwheel and kicked his foot towards Green Arrow's face. Unfortunately, he missed, which gave Green Arrow the chance to grab his foot. He held the small bird upside down and kicked him in the face. Pain pulsed through the young vigilante's head as the blow stunned him.
"Let me go!" Robin shouted, even though he couldn't really discern where he was. "Let me go!"
"Robin…" Arsenal whispered. He could hear his friend shouting. "Robin…" He lifted his head and his heart started pounding against his constricting ribcage. It was painful. Green Arrow was standing on the edge of the rooftop. He was holding Robin by one of his ankles over the edge of the building. "Robin!" He scrambled to his feet. "Don't hurt him!"
"Throw down your weapons!" Green Arrow told him as he stumbled forward.
"Arsenal, don't!" Robin shouted.
"Shut up!" Green Arrow shook him and Robin felt an uncharacteristic bout of vertigo. "Weapons down or I'll drop him!"
"Ok!" Arsenal yelled in terror. He threw his bow on the ground and undid his quiver with shaking fingers. He dropped next to his bow and raised his hands to his face. "Please….don't hurt him…." He walked closer two steps. "Please…" Green Arrow simply studied him for a moment before releasing his hold on Robin. "Robin!" Arsenal darted forward, but Green Arrow snatched his arm and dragged him away. He pulled at the tight grip, trying to reach Robin; to save him. 'No, no, no, no, no! He's dead! He's dead, its all my fault!' A swift pull to the side and suddenly he was facing Green Arrow. The smirk on the man's face made him cower.
"Long time no see, Speedy." Arsenal shuddered involuntarily at his tone. "Did you miss me?" The teen shook his head. "Let's go."
"You didn't have to kill him…."
"Shut up."
"I did what you wanted! You didn't have to kill him!"
"I told you to shut up!"
"No!"
Green Arrow froze and glared at him. "What did you say?"
Arsenal tried, desperately, to jerk his arm free. "I said no. I'm not shutting up and I'm not going back with you!"
"Yes, you are!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Yes, you are, you ungrateful little bastard!" Green Arrow threw him onto the rooftop. Before Arsenal could react the man slammed his foot onto his neck. Arsenal's head hit the hard surface and he grunted. "I did everything for you! I took you in and gave you a home! No one else on that backwater reservation wanted you!" His foot moved from Arsenal's neck, but a moment later he was kicked in the face and then the ribs. "They all knew what a worthless, waste of space you are!" Green Arrow was now on the ground, punching Arsenal, who'd forgotten everything he'd learned about blocking hits. "That's why I gave you the mask! To give you some use!" He stopped long enough to grab the teen's hair and hold his head up so he was glaring into his eyes. "To give you a purpose!"
Arsenal was quivering. Pain radiated all over his body and blood was trickling from his lip, as well as the cut on his face. HIs breathing was labored from what felt like a few broken ribs. Underneath all that though, was desperate fear. Of going back to Star. Going back to being Speedy. Going back to killing people. Back to being like Oliver. He shook his head as that desperate fear became overpowering. "N-no!" he yelled, voice cracking. "I'll never go back! I'd rather die than become like you!"
There was a moment of silence that turned his blood to ice. Green Arrow dropped his head and kicked him in the chest again. He cried out in pain and tried to get up, but Green Arrow was on top of him before he could manage it. He straddled the teenager and wrapped his hands around his throat. Pressure suddenly pushed down on his trachea; suffocating him. Arsenal kicked his feet out at the empty air and tried to throw Green Arrow off. His mind was a blind tape of constant panic that wouldn't allow him to try and move in any useful fashion. His vision started to get black at the edge of his vision and the pressure was suddenly removed. Stale air was pushed out of his lungs and he started coughing and gagging. He flopped over onto his stomach and shakily pushed himself up onto an elbow. His chest was heaving and his lungs were struggling to inhale. A small, gentle hand settled on his back.
"Arsenal! Arsenal breathes," Robin said. Arsenal didn't respond but continued to cough and shake. His own nerves were frayed and keeping his hand steady was difficult. After being dropped head first off a building and an all-consuming panic had prevented him from going for his grappling hook, Batman had caught him. The Dark Knight had needed to calm down his younger partner before the two of them could help Arsenal. Robin forced himself to swallow his anxiety and focus on Arsenal. "Arsenal its ok. Its ok you're safe now." The sound of someone hitting the roof made him look up. Batman pulled Green Arrow to his feet and punched him so hard he knocked him back down again. Robin swallowed and moved so he was in front of Arsenal, who was breathing again, but completely unresponsive. "B-Batman…" Batman either ignored him or was too busy stomping on Green Arrow's back to hear him. "Batman…" Batman jumped on top of Green Arrow and started punching his face. He struck Green Arrow with a bat-a-rang, causing a large gash in the side of his arm. Green Arrow grabbed his wrist and twisted it to disarm him, but Batman had another one ready and clipped the side of his head with it when Green Arrow tried to re-direct the blow. Robin waited a few seconds to see if Batman would stop, but he didn't. He just kept beating Green Arrow, who was desperately trying to block his blows. "Batman, stop!" Robin's heart beat even faster when Batman kept going. He put his hand on his comm. "Robin to Watchtower-"
"Robin," Superman said almost instantly. "What's wrong?"
"Green Arrows in Gotham. He- Batman's beating him up and he's- He's not stopping!"
"I'll be right there."
It made Robin feel slightly better than Superman didn't sound too concerned. When Superman has concerned then it was time to be scared. Then Batman kneed Green Arrow in the stomach and grabbed his arm, slamming it against the rooftop. The crack! of the bone made Robin flinch. He swallowed and crawled backward until he was next to Arsenal. He reached out blindly for his hand. Once he found it, Arsenal's hand gripped his with all the strength the teen could muster. 'Where's Super-' A blue streak landed on the building in the form of the Man of Steel. Superman glanced once at Robin and Arsenal to confirm they were conscious and alive before going to Batman.
"Batman!" he said. "Batman!" He grabbed the vigilante's arm to keep him from punching Green Arrow again. Batman stopped and looked at him. "Stop! He's had enough!"
"He-" Batman began as Green Arrow attempted to wiggle out from under him. Superman had marginally loosened his grip, allowing Batman to break free and get his hands around Green Arrow's neck.
"Batman, stop!"
"He should've left them alone! He should've left Roy alone!" It shook Superman slightly that Batman was so angry he was using real names.
"I know."
Batman's eyes never left Green Arrow and his tight grip never slackened. "He needs to pay!"
"He has. Batman, think about Roy. If you kill him what would do to him?" There was a moment of hesitation in Batman's eyes behind the cowl. "What happens if he was to watch you murder Green Arrow?" Batman finally looked away, but not at Superman. He looked backward at Robin and Arsenal. Sure enough, Arsenal's eyes were on them. Due to his mask being ripped, Batman could see one of his eyes. It was wide and filled with terror. The green eye was enough to make his grip slacken. Superman was right. He turned back to Green Arrow and, with a heavy sigh, let go of him. He got up and Superman quickly grabbed the archer by his arm. "I'll take care of him. Arsenal and Robin need your help." Batman merely nodded and Superman flew off with Green Arrow before Batman could change his mind.
Batman turned to Robin and Arsenal. Robin helped Arsenal to his feet gently as Batman approached. "Are you ok Robin?" Robin nodded, not trusting his voice. "Arsenal?" Arsenal didn't say or do anything. Batman reached out to him, which got a reaction. Arsenal whimpered and pulled back. Robin held tightly to him, speaking in a hushed voice. Batman saw the blood on his gloves and quickly stowed his hands beneath his cape. "Let's go home." They'd only been patrolling for three hours, but Robin didn't dare argue. Getting to the Batmobile was only slightly difficult. Arsenal surprisingly followed them and made it to the ground with no further injury or outbursts. Batman made sure to grab the teen's weapons before they left. The ride back to the Bat cave was silent. Robin was in the back seat with Arsenal. He held the teen's hand the entire time. Arsenal was pale and shaking, but mostly unresponsive. Once they were back Robin helped him out. His own façade was starting to crack. His small fame was shaking and a whine was building in his throat. Batman took off his cowl as Alfred approached them.
"You take one, I'll take the other," the butler said, delegating their power. Before Bruce could respond, Alfred carefully led Robin away; leaving him with Arsenal. He looked at the teen.
"Roy?" he asked quietly. Robin had removed the other half of his mask, but his gaze was on the floor. "Roy, are you ok?" It felt like a stupid question, but he didn't know what else to say. When Roy didn't answer he walked a little closer. "Roy?" There was a small, mumbled sound that most likely came from Roy. "What did you say?" Roy finally moved, taking Bruce by surprise as his head jerked up to look the man in the eyes. His eyes were shiny with tears.
"You promised…." he whispered.
"What?"
"You promised… P-promised he wouldn't find me here. Promised he wouldn't come near me. Promised he wouldn't hurt me-"
"Roy-"
"You promised…"
"I know, I know I promised. I'm sorry, Roy. I'm so sorry."
Roy shook his head. "You promised…"
"I know I did. I let you down. You were counting on me to keep you safe and I failed you. I'm sorry." Roy started shaking. Not knowing what else he could do, Bruce pulled Roy into a hug. Instead of pulling away though, Roy clung to him and buried his face in Bruce's shoulder.
"He tried to kill me."
"Roy-"
"I-I said I'd rather die than be like him and he tried to kill me!"
"Roy-" Bruce stopped when Roy's words broke down into gasps and then sobs. The sobs were haggard and broken like they were trying to tear Roy apart.
"Why does he hate me so much?! Why?! What did I do?!"
"You didn't do anything. None of this is your fault. I don't know why he hates you…" Bruce rubbed his back as the teen cried. "I just don't know, Roy. You're a good kid. You're smart, brave, compassionate. You build great arrows and you're the best archer in the world. I can't possibly imagine why anyone would hate you." They stayed like that until Roy stopped crying. Bruce then helped him over to the Bat cave's med-bay so Alfred could look him over. "Get on the table, Roy." He made sure Roy was safely sitting before turning to Alfred. "Where's Dick?"
"Master Dick disappeared to change."
"I'll go look for him." One look at the place where the suits were kept showed him that Dick had changed already. Moving on instinct, Bruce made his way to the back of the cave. Here the walls were mostly stone and not well used by him. There was a natural turn in the cave wall here. About thirty feet from the ground was a slab of stone that was sticking out. It was small, not big enough for anyone who wasn't a small, professionally trained acrobat to reach, much less sit on. Sure enough, Dick was perched there when Bruce found him. "Dick?" Dick's legs were pulled up to his chest with his head rest on his knees. "Dick, come down."
"I wanna stay up here…" Dick said, sounding several years younger than his actual age.
"Has Alfred checked you for injuries?"
"How's Roy? Is ok?"
"He's fine."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm asking about you right now, Dick." There was a moment of hesitation.
"I fell… I fell a lot… I thought…"
"I know what you thought. But you didn't die, Dick, I caught you."
"I know, but I'm still…"
"Do you remember what I'm always telling Roy? That sometimes it's ok he can't control his reactions to things. This is one of those situations, Dick." Without warning, Dick jumped down, somersaulting to break his fall. He stood up and didn't hesitate before latching on to Bruce. Bruce returned the hug, allowing the small boy to cry out his fears. He rubbed Dick's back, speaking to him a hushed voice. "It's ok. It's ok now. You're safe, you're ok." Luckily, he knew from experience this was an effective tactic. When Dick had some control of his emotions again he pushed himself away from Bruce quickly.
"Sorry…" he mumbled, wiping his eyes.
"You don't have to apologize, Dick. What happened tonight must've been terrifying."
"But it was even more terrifying for Roy."
"Roy wasn't dropped head first off a building."
"It's still not as bad though! You should be helping Roy, not me!"
Bruce frowned and crouched down to Dick's eye level. "What do you mean, I should be helping him and not you? Why shouldn't I be helping you?"
"Because Roy's problems are worse! He needs you more. He's the one who has worse nightmares and panic attacks. He's the one who needs you."
"Dick, just because Roy has issues, doesn't make yours less important. Yes, Roy has been a priority for me in the past few months, but doesn't mean you shouldn't come to me if you're having a bad day."
"Really?"
"Yes. Like tonight. What happened to Roy was awful, but he wasn't the only one living out one of his worst fears." The bluntness of Bruce's words made Dick flinch a little. "Dick, I never want you to feel like you should keep quiet about your problems because of Roy. I don't want you to try and deal with them all on your own. Do you understand?"
"Ok."
"Good." Alfred came over to them with Roy, who was changed and bandaged. There were stitches on the cut on his face and both his face, neck, and arms were bruised. It made Bruce's chest tighten to see the beginning of fingertip bruises on Roy's neck. As soon as Roy saw Dick he darted forward and enveloped the boy in a tight hug.
"You're alive…" he whispered, sounding like he was on the verge of crying again. "But you- I saw him drop you…"
"Bruce caught me in time," Dick responded. "It's ok, Roy. I'm ok."
"No thanks to me-"
"No," Bruce said firmly, getting his attention. "What happened tonight wasn't either of your faults."
"Ollie wouldn't have come after him if it wasn't for me!" Roy was crying again, still clutching Dick like the boy would disappear on him.
Bruce sighed and rubbed Roy's back. It took a few minutes before the teen had claimed down again, but he still wouldn't let go of Dick. "I think they need some sleep," Alfred suggested, gently separating them.
"I agree," Bruce nodded.
"This way sirs." Alfred gently corralled Dick and Roy to the stairs. "You can both have some hot cocoa before you go to sleep." Roy kept his hand latched onto Dick's the whole way up the stairs. They ended up in the kitchen drinking hot chocolate for almost half an hour before Alfred actually made them go up to bed. Dick didn't even bother going to his own room, but simply curled up with Roy in his.
"Hey, Dick?" Roy asked quietly after a few moments.
"Yeah?" Dick mumbled sleepily.
"Why didn't you leave when Ollie let you?"
"I had to protect you."
"But you-"
"You're my brother, Roy. I wasn't leaving there without you." Roy didn't say anything. He didn't know any words to describe the warm feeling his chest that Dick's admission gave him. Instead, he wrapped his arms tighter around Dick as the boy fell asleep.
— —
Once they went upstairs, Bruce sat down at the computer and put his head in his hands. He sat like that, letting the weight of his failures keep him down, for an hour before he could finally move again. Eventually, he did change out of his Bat suit, but he still didn't move to go upstairs. There was too much to do. He carefully removed all the blood from his gloves; remembering Roy's reaction on the building. Then he got a hold of Clark to make sure Green Arrow was take care of.
"He had a very bumpy ride back to Star City," Superman assured him. "Flash helped me prepare an alibi for his injuries. Lucky for Oliver Queen an anonymous person got him to a hospital after he crashed one of his cars. Thankfully, Barry knew how to manipulate all our evidence so it looks completely accidental."
"He's good for things like that…"
"Are you all set?"
"Yes."
"Are the boys ok?"
"Physically Dick is fine, Roy could be worse. Mentally…they will be. They're both resilient kids."
"I'm glad."
After that, it was a matter of putting Roy's bow and quiver away. As he did there was a moment where he wondered if the teen would ever use them again. 'I wouldn't blame him,' Bruce thought as his fingers hesitated on the bow, 'if he never went out again. How can he if he can't trust me?' The knot of guilt hadn't lessened at all. It just kept pressing on his chest unrelentingly. Dick had nearly fallen to his death. Roy had nearly been kidnapped or killed by Oliver. He'd failed them both. Only after working himself near exhaustion for several more hours did he go upstairs. He wasn't expecting to see Roy sitting in the hall, outside his bedroom.
"Roy?" Bruce asked quietly. Roy looked at him. "Why aren't you asleep? Did you have a nightmare?"
"No," Roy replied just as quiet.
"Can I sit?"
"Sure."
Bruce sat next to him slowly, keeping a few inches of space between them. "Why aren't you asleep?"
"Can't sleep." He started playing with the hem of his shirt. "I'm never going to be safe, am I?"
"What're you talking about?"
"Ollie. I'll never be safe from him. He'll just keep trying to get me and he'll kill anyone I care about to get to me." Bruce didn't say anything for a minute. He didn't know how to respond to that.
"I know you're scared, but this will never happen again."
"I don't want to go back there, Bruce."
"You won't. I swear, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. Everything." Roy simply nodded. "Go to bed. Its been a long night."
"Ok." They got up and Roy started to open his bedroom door. He paused for a moment. "Thanks for saving me tonight Bruce."
"Of course."
Roy went into his bedroom and slipped back into the bed. Dick was so deeply asleep that he hadn't even noticed the teen's absence. He lay down and snuggled up next to Dick. His brother. 'I"m never going back,' he thought desperately. 'I'm never going back.'
A/N: Not sure if that was the big showdown you were all hoping for, but there it is. One more chapter until the end.