Roy had sat alone on the couch for a while before anger set in and he started trashing the place. The couch was overturned, every lamp was broken, even the door to the bathroom had been ripped off its hinges. Everything was a mess, but it didn't look half as bad as Roy felt. In these moments of loneliness, he hated Waylon, for giving him someone to let down if he took a swig of the alcohol he easily found. He hated Starfire, for being anything he needed her to be and still managing to be her own person all the time. Mostly, though, he hated Jason.
Roy ground his teeth together. Jason Todd. Too proud to call him for help, too shut down to help anyone else. Damn him. This was his fault. No excuses. If it had been anyone else with Kori, she would be alive and well. He sat down in the middle of the chaos and sighed. That was a lie if he had ever heard one. He couldn't even lie to himself. He couldn't find comfort in anything.
Roy closed his eyes and tried to pray, but to who? Starfire had her own god; Jason pretended not to believe, but Roy had caught him a couple of times mumbling to the stars. Thinking back on it now, though, Jason was probably talking to Batman. He was messed up like that.
The lonely archer opened his eyes and pulled out his phone. He knew the number by heart, dialed and deleted it at least once a month. Did it still count as relapsing if the drug was a person?
He dialed quickly and hit "send." One ring. His thumb hovered over the "end" button. Two rings. He swallowed the lump of fear and raw emotion. Three rings.
"Roy?" He jumped and dropped the phone, but scrambled to pick it up quickly. "Roy?" the voice asked again.
"Ollie." The name came out like a breath of fresh air, and he was instantly ashamed. Why did he still want the love of a man who kicked him out? Jason constantly thought he had it bad, but at least the Gotham Knight never told him to go.
"Roy." Ollie sounded the same as Roy had, and he felt a little better about that. "Thank God you're okay."
"What?"
"Red Hood told me everything. He said you would probably call."
"Oh," Roy said, running his hands through greasy hair. How long had it been since Jason had left? "I didn't know that."
"It doesn't matter. Listen to me: I don't care about any of it. Understand? None of the past matters. Just come home. We've both made mistakes and we both deserve a do-over. Please come home."
Roy blinked back disbelief. "Do you seriously mean that?"
There was no pause. "Yes."
"Wait," Roy said. "Jason. I can't leave him."
"I told him I thought you would do better with the League or with me. Or maybe mentoring the Titans. He agreed. Roy, for once, just listen to me. Come home."
"Okay," he said, getting up and running out the door. "Okay."
Back in Star City, Oliver Queen hung up the phone. He turned to the Red Hood.
"I said everything exactly the way you said to."
"And you meant it, didn't you?" Jason inquired, keeping the gun at his side but steady in his hand. It had taken him four hours to get to Star City, and he used that time to formulate a plan. Starfire stuck around, and she was a lot worse off for it. Arsenal wouldn't end up the same way.
"Yeah, I did, actually," Green Arrow said. Jason looked closely at him under the helmet; he was telling the truth.
"That's the problem with you capes," he spat. "Everyone's on the same page but too proud or stupid to admit it."
"He's killed people, Hood. That changes some things. Speaking of which, how did you get back on Batman's good side when you're carrying?"
Jason glossed over the question. "It doesn't change that you love him, and that should be enough. That will be enough." Green Arrow nodded once, and Jason left without any smoke bombs or breezy windows. He just walked out the front door.