I know I suck. No need to tell me. BUT THE HIATUS DID NOT HELP MY WRITING BLOCK ANY AND OMG ITS BACK NOW AND I'M BETTER LETS DO THIS.

Chapter Eighteen

So you think I didn't see you, Red?

Mercy's shoes tapped against the side walk as she pretended to reach up and scratch her ear, when she really tapped her communicator.

I saw you before those thugs even started talking. She thought to herself as Robin's voice came through the comm. Link.

"Yeah, I see him too." Robin answered before Mercy said a word. "Stop where you are, you're just a few feet from the rendezvous point anyway. He'll stop with you, I'll distract him, and you can make your move." Robin finished.

Mercy glanced as she stopped up just in time to spot Robin's cape disappear over the edge of a rooftop. Red probably hadn't spotted him yet.

"And my uniform?" She asked quietly, keeping her lip movement to a minimum. Robin's voice came back to life over the comm.

"Safely tucked in a black trash bag behind that dumpster you're standing next to." He answered before his comm. "Whatcha lookin' at Red?"

That was her queue.

She quickly snatched the black trash back from behind the dumpster, and quickly, but silently, sprinted away to find her way back to the Zeta tubes, and run to Star City.

-0-

"What are you stopping for?" Red asked himself as he peered over the edge of the rooftop he was on top of. The woman in the black jacket had stopped next to a dumpster, and was now scratching her ear and leaning on one foot, then another, as if she had somewhere important to be.

He watched for a few moments, longer, and noticed her head turn upwards slightly towards the rooftop across the ally, and then look back down. When Red looked towards the rooftop he thought she looked at, he saw nothing.

When he looked back at the girl, she had his back turned to him, her face now turned towards the ally ahead of her.

"Whatcha lookin' at Red?"

Red Arrow jumped so high that he knocked over the small, yet poorly stacked pile of bricks he had been crouched next to, and the white eye slits of his mask stretched so wide that he the bottom of his mask pulled up slightly.

Robin was kneeling next to where Red had previously been crouching with a smirk on his face that told Red that he knew exactly what he was up to.

When Red glanced into the ally to see if the woman was still there, all he saw was a puddle- and a rat scuttling away from a cat.

He sighed.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." He grumbled as he reached up to straighten out his mask, and then glared at Robin. "Can I help you?" He snarled. He was still slightly angry at the boy for turning on him earlier, and causing him to lose the woman he had been tailing for the past twenty minutes.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Robin quipped in return. Robin seemed completely relaxed even though Red Arrow seemed a bit… frazzled. "Since you are in Gotham. Would you like me to show you around?" Robin offered as he held out a hand to Gotham's gritty skyline. You could hear a few sirens going off in the distance, and distant shouting every now and then.

Red narrowed his eyes at Robin, who simply shrugged his shoulders, and stood by executing a gracefully roll backwards, then pointed at Red.

"Bat wants you to know that if you want to talk to him, you should contact him instead of coming to Gotham. You know how he is about 'his turf'." Robin spoke as he rose up his hands and made quotation marks with his fingers. Red just grunted in response.

"I'll let you get that. I'll see you around Red." Robin said kindly before running off, and disappearing after leaping off of the edge of the building, leaving Red alone in the rain.

The older hero turned around with a grumble, and began to ready his bow to grapple back to the nearest Zeta tube as he continued to take a long swim in his thoughts, not even bothering to come up for a breath of air to check his surroundings.

Click.

-0-

"Why hello there, Handsome." Mercy chirped in her perky 'normal Mercy' voice as she walked down Main Street in Star City, just a block away from the Zeta tube she had arrived from.

"What's up?" Red asked as he made his way back to the Zeta tube that would take him home with shaking hands. If he wasn't welcome in Gotham unannounced then he wouldn't overstay his welcome. Not to mention what he had just learned.

Mercy walked across the street with the rest of the night's late night party-goers, and continued towards Roy's apartment complex.

"Well, I know this is kind of short notice, but do you think I could stay over for the night… or three?" She asked, her voice sweet. Roy gave a quiet chuckle on the other end of the phone, and smiled at Mercy's voice.

"Of course. You know where the key is. But I'm not home right now, and I probably won't be for about half an hour." Roy spoke as he held the phone between his ear and his shoulder, and pulled back the string to his bow to shoot at a wall just above entrance to the ally the Zeta tube was located in. His damned hands were still shaking. He couldn't decide if it was from anger- or fear.

"Alright. Have you had dinner?" Mercy asked as she jogged across another cross street. She was getting close to Roy's apartment now. She grabbed her hood just before it slipped too far back on her head, and pulled it back down. No need to attract media attention. It was already weird enough that she was sopping wet and there was not a cloud in the sky in Star City tonight. "I can pick up something on the way, or make something- if you've gone grocery shopping in the past few weeks." She teased as she turned her face away from a popular hangout for paparazzo. The place had giant windows and enough cheap coffee to keep them running for days. She could even see a few photographers mingling at one of the tables inside.

"Heh." Roy answered as he landed in the ally, and walked towards the Zeta tube- a rickety old telephone booth that looked as though it would collapse any second. "No, I haven't yet."

Mercy laughed quietly, and turned to look to see what options she had for dinner.

"How do greasy burgers sound?" She asked as her eyes landed on a burger joint that Roy had mentioned he liked a few days ago.

"As long as they're from King's." Roy retorted as he put in his designation, and then muted the phone to that Mercy wouldn't hear. When he arrived in Star City's Zeta tube, he turned the mute off. "I've got to get back to work, I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

Mercy knew he had just arrived in Star City. She wasn't stupid. She could tell when he turned the phone on mute because the rain that had been in the back ground when completely silent, and his breathing was suddenly cut off.

"Alright. Love you." Mercy spoke as she walked inside of King's and took her place in line.

Red smiled at the words. No matter what, Mercy could always make him smile with those words.

"Love you too. See you at home."

-0-

Mercy quietly munched on her hamburger, fries, and shake quietly in comforts of Roy's large apartment; she was seated on his plush leather couch with a large comforter she had found in his closet, now dressed in her pajamas with her sopping wet clothes in the dryer and the water droplets she had left behind all cleaned up. She had even had the time to take a shower since Roy still had to make his rounds in Star City.

She had finally finished off her burger when the news came on, and a news reel interrupted the show about the African plains, causing her eyes to narrow at the television, and a soft growl to come out from between her lips as she began to reach for the remote- until she heard a familiar name.

"Lex Luthor has confirmed that after months of remaining off the radar he will be attending Bruce Wayne's charity event this coming weekend to support the Local Education Programs in Metropolis, Gotham, and Star City-" She changed the channel quickly.

"I don't want to hear about Luthor right now." She murmured to herself as she found a different show to watch- despite the gears that had naturally begun to turn in her head. "…don't want to hear about it." She grumbled again as she brought her shake up to her lips and took a long draw from it.

"I'm just going to enjoy my shake… and not think." She murmured again as she glanced up at the television. Some fashion show where people were sewing like maniacs was on.

One of the contestants was as bald as Lex Luthor himself. Mercy groaned, and switched the channel again to a science channel.

She sat there for a moment and watched as he continued to sip on her shake, and watched the show about wormholes and supernovas.

But her brain kept turning the wheels with ideas and plans, how she could easily confront Luthor, get him to talk about his plans. What was he up to anyway? What was he playing at this time?

No, Mercy. Wait to speak to Mia. She knows more than you do- and maybe she can tell you more about your programming. Unfamiliar weaknesses could be the end of you.

Mercy sighed, placed her shake on the coffee table in front of her, and then reached up to rub her eyes before snatching the remote, and turning off the television, leaving her in darkness- minus the dim lamp across the large room.

"Just… stop thinking Mercy. Stop it." She whispered to herself as she nestled herself further underneath the comforter until only her eyes were visible. The silence she was now consumed in was comforting- and Lex Luthor free. Within moments, she could feel her eyes growing heavy, and her body becoming relaxed as sleep became more and more tempting.

And then a window opened in the other room. To anyone else's untrained ears, it would've just been neighbors walking around with heavy feet, or the building settling. But to Mercy, it meant it was time to feign sleep, because Roy was home.

She listened closely as she turned on her side as if the noise had disturbed her, and faced the door to the room the window had been opened in.

She could see his shadow from the sliver that was left between her eyelids, a man with a quiver on his back, a bow distinctly sticking up from inside of it. That was definitely Roy. And based on the quiet and occasional patter of water hitting the floor, the rain and Gotham had soaked him pretty badly too.

His face peeked around the edge of the door, and Mercy could see a blurry outline of him as she pretended to bury herself deeper in the comforter.

He gave a quiet chuckle, and then disappeared behind the door again to remove the rest of his costume.

Finally you're home. Maybe you can help me keep my mind off of…things. Mercy thought as she listened to Roy move around in the next room.

First the Quiver, then the bow, then the mask, shoes, shirt and pants, and then last but not least- the mask. He always has a another pair of clothes hidden away in that room of his, because he walks out looking like he could have just come home from work- or he just rolled out of bed.

Mercy guess that Roy assumed that she wouldn't notice that he hadn't come through the front door, and quietly made his way over to her as she continued to feign sleep.

But just before he reached the couch, he paused, as if he was watching something with interest, and gave a quiet groan as the sound of skin rubbing against five o'clock shadow cut through the silence in the apartment.

Roy couldn't believe his luck. She was still there. Still breathing. Just slumbering away on his couch without a care in the world with his favorite comforter and a shake in front of her on the coffee table. Her hair was a halo of messy raven waves about her head that stood out starkly on the white leather, and her skin seemed to glow in his eyes. He was relieved. She was okay.

For now.

He moved towards her again, and finally, kneeled before her as she slept. He rose up a hand to touch her, but just before it came in contact with her skin- he paused, taking a moment to savor the warmth that emanated from her.

She's okay, Roy. She's okay. She's safe.

For now.

He put his hand on her forehead. She stirred slightly.

"Mercy?" Roy whispered as he smoothed the hair on Mercy's head away from her face, and smiled as Mercy opened one eye as if he had just waked her from a deep slumber. "Hey sweetheart." He smiled as he leaned forward, and kissed her forehead.

"Hey." Mercy spoke with a raspy, weary voice as she smiled at him, and stretched. Her muscles were truly achy with tired. "Your dinner is in the microwave."

Roy smiled, and continued to stroke Mercy's hair, causing Mercy to smile.

"You alright Roy?" She asked as she smiled at him, and reached out from underneath the blanket to rub her eye. He just nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Where did you say my dinner was?" He asked. Mercy pointed at the kitchen, but she knew that Roy was dodging the question.

"Microwave." She answered before leaning forwards, and pecking Roy's cheek. "I'm going to go to bed. I'm exhausted." Mercy spoke as she sat up, wrapped the comforter around herself, and then moved to stand.

But before she could stand, Roy caught her lips in his, and gently pushed her back onto the couch so that he was leaning over her, and she was still sitting, with the comforter still wrapped around her.

The kiss was so… passionate. As if Roy was afraid that she was leaving and never going to come back.

Mercy suddenly pulled away, and held Roy back by his chin when he tried to catch her lips again.

"Roy," She scolded as she sent him a knowing look. He frowned deeply. "What's wrong?"

Roy stared at her for a moment, and then gave a quiet sigh, and then groaned.

"I… I got a letter today." He spoke as he sat on the floor in front of Mercy with his arms resting on her legs. He spoke with his eyes to the floor as Mercy placed her hands on his arms, and gave him a reassuring squeeze. She could tell he was lying because he was looking to the left as he stared at the floor.

But at least he was telling a half truth.

"It said that if I showed up at the… Gala… on Saturday…" He left the sentence hanging. Mercy urged him on by squeezing his arm, but she could really tell that he was trying to think of the best way to lie without it actually sounding like a lie. He'd hesitated when mentioning the Gala. Mercy decided to finish for him.

"Someone threatened your life?" She asked. Roy's head snapped up too look at her, his eyes expressing surprise, and then, worry.

He shook his head slowly, and stuttered. It was as if he was so terrified that he couldn't speak.

"Someone… threatened my life?" She asked, feigning being shocked. This was no surprise to her. Multiple threats on her life had been presented to her since she was five years old. This one was no different.

Roy slowly nodded, and gazed up at Mercy with a worried look in his eyes. But when he discovered that Mercy didn't really look that concerned, he looked taken aback.

"Mercy? Are you okay?" He asked his tone slightly incredulous. Mercy looked up at him, and looked surprised.

"Yeah." Mercy replied. Her voice was strong, and it stunned Roy, whose eyebrows actually flew upwards on his forehead. "I'm scared, Roy." Her tone didn't convince him. "But I'm not going to show it." She smiled at him, and he slowly nodded at her.

"So… you're okay… but you're not okay?" He asked, his voice rising slightly at the end of his question.

Mercy nodded, and placed a hand on his cheek.

"Roy, I'm stronger than I look." She chuckled. Much stronger.

I know you are, Mercy. He thought to himself as he watched her gray eyes bore into his with a sparkle that he'd hope he'd see for the rest of his days.

Roy just smiled, and watched as Mercy began to desperately try to repress a yawn, which ended up with her making a face that would have made him laugh hysterically if he hadn't just told her someone was threatening her life.

"I'm going to bed, Roy." She yawned as she leaned forwards, and placed a kiss on his forehead. Roy smiled at her kiss, and stood to move out of her way.

"Goodnight, Merc." Roy answered as he leaned forwards, and kissed the top of Mercy's head. She smiled at him, and then walked into the bedroom and shut the door, leaving Roy alone in the living room.

All he could do was stare at the door, and worry.

His mind wandered back to the black-clad figure on the roof with the guns. Two pistols with silencers pointed directly at his forehead. He hadn't even heard her approach him as he made his way home, but all night he had felt eyes on him, and when he turned around too look for those eyes- he was met by the barrels of two guns.

Her voice had been smooth, poised, and even slightly untailored as she had spoken to him from underneath her mask. It was more like a helmet of sorts, similar to the one Night wore- but Night has never used guns before. It's just not in her nature.

"I know that you and a certain little girl are acquainted, Harper." She began, causing Roy's blood to run cold as he gazed down the barrels of the guns. "She's wanted. Not by your police, or your Justice League, but by the ones you happen to be… what was it… keeping an eye out for?"

Roy had looked over the barrels of the guns, and glared at the masked woman in front of him. She was tall. Much taller than Night. He could remember because Night's head had only come up to just below his shoulder. Her costume looked much more structured, much more protective, and expensive than Night's. It looked like something Batman would've had.

"What do you want from me?" Red asked.

"Nothing." She had hissed, causing Red to wish he could get his hands around the woman's throat. "No matter what you do, she's dead. I can promise you that."

"Then why tell me?!" Roy snarled.

The Woman just chuckled.

"Just thought you'd like to know."She had responded with a laugh before throwing down a smoke bomb, and disappearing in the smoke.

Night would have just struck a pressure point that would have disabled Red, and ran. This one seemed to like the theatrics.

But the only thing that mattered was that Mercy was in danger. Mercy needed to be kept safe. No matter the costs.

-0-

It was around three am when Roy finally came to bed, and fell asleep next to Mercy. She had pretended to sleep for nearly forty-five minutes until she began to grow tired of Roy's constant shifting and sighs of discontent, and promptly dug her fingers into his auburn hair and gently pulled at it for ten minutes or so as she spoke to him in sweet nothings under her breath to get him to relax. After fifteen minutes, he finally fell into a deep sleep, but now, Mercy couldn't even keep her eyes closed for more than the time it took her to blink.

-0-

Who do you guys think it is?