Posted two chapters today. Make sure you've read 'Break-In' before this. P.S. I freaking love this chapter.
The Glades, 15:17 PM PST
He dropped a ten dollar note to a homeless man by the curb. He nodded thanks to Roy beneath his cowl and overgrown beard. He lived in a backwater part of the Glades so a sight such as this was typical. Roy always felt uplifted when he did nice small deeds whilst being himself instead of wearing the red suit. He wished he could do more but at least the man would get a meal that night and maybe find a warm place to sleep.
As he walked on nearing Verdant he heard cats growling in the alley and the loud bang of a dumpster lid closing. When he turned to look he swore he saw the end of a shoe and leg disappear behind a wall. He stopped short, senses heightened and glanced around his surroundings, this area was quiet. It wasn't like he wouldn't have been able to take any gang banger who thought it might be a good idea to jump him, but being followed was never a pleasant feeling.
Seeing that no one was trying to rob or attack him, he continued down the road when someone's call made him turn around again.
"Hey!" Sin burst through the doors of a diner and ran up beside him while slipping her arms through her worn black leather jacket.
"Hey, um, were you following me?"
She frowned in confusion, "no and why would I? I just saw you through the window. Anyway I gotta ask, you got anything on the Red Hood yet?"
He rubbed his eyes, he hadn't been getting much sleep these days, he wasn't sure how he managed to keep going with training without falling to the Foundry floor in exhaustion. "No not yet. I told you I would look into it" he responded trying not to sound too exasperated by her request.
"And a week's gone by and you haven't" she said and not without her usual stubbornness.
"I'm sorry; I was kind of occupied with churches and whatnot."
"Huh?"
Roy brushed it aside. "Never mind" he shook his head wake himself up, he was not in the story telling mood especially since he may or may not have been stalked a moment ago, maybe he was paranoid, I'm becoming Oliver aren't I? "I've been on my patrols though and there's no word of him anywhere, it's like he doesn't exist."
But Sin wasn't ready to be brushed off; she placed her hands determinedly on her hips. "Oh he's real alright and I know where to find him".
2009
Hong Kong
Maseo slammed the table to shut him up but it didn't work. "ARGUS does not make mistakes; this is the man Chien Nei Wei is meeting tonight".
"Malcolm Merlyn is my best friend's father. He is a good man, who would never associate himself with the Triad. Waller has it wrong."
"The evidence proves otherwise".
"This has to be a mistake—it has to be", he clutched his head and paced about, there had to be a way out of this, there had to be a reasonable explanation for this grave error.
"You don't have a choice in this Oliver."
He rounded on Maseo steel in his eyes. "Yes I do."
"And what would that be may I ask? Either you kill Merlyn or Amanda kills my family. I sure as hell am not going to let the latter happen."
"And neither am I going to let you kill an innocent man!" He spat and sat back on the stool in huff, unwanted nostalgia creeping into him. "My father shot himself so that I could make it the island" he glared at Maseo, "and I don't want to be the reason Tommy goes through the same pain I went through. Malcolm has never been guilty of anything in his life." Oliver made the statement without a single doubt in his heart.
The agent was more sceptical. "You speak very highly of a man you hardly know."
"I know that he is a kind-hearted man and a father, that's all I need to know" he waved his hand across making the declaration inflexible. "A father just like you" he stood, appealing to Maseo, "let me prove his innocence."
Maseo would never outright admit it but Oliver could tell he was somewhat moved, "we don't have time for that; the meet is at sundown, five hours away."
"Trust my judgement Maseo, please." He glanced away briefly from him taking a moment to accept what he was about to suggest, and then hardened his gaze.
"If I cannot prove to Waller that Malcolm has absolutely no business with the Triad by sunset, then I swear I will put a bullet in him."
Off Route 40, Starling West, Starling City, 17:55 PM PST
Red Hood's base was an electric plant that had closed down after the Undertaking. It was situated beside a land bridge, and that was where he stationed himself to check out the place. It was dead, he deduced through his binoculars. No patrol, no form of security, the fence was caved in, warning signs rusted and falling. There didn't seem to be any life within ten miles of the area, yet this was where the Red Hood was organizing his major crime network? He had told Oliver that he was doing a favor for Sin, since it obviously did not seem like the both he and the Arrow were required to scope a deserted run-down electrical plant.
Nevertheless it was worth a visit and he had plenty of time on his hands besides. He was reaching for his quiver when he caught sight of a recognizable shock of dark hair on the landing below him. Roy landed lightly on the balcony so as not to attract attention though the effect was ruined when Sin squealed and nearly lost her balance, which would have resulted in her plummeting thirty feet to the ground, had he not caught her wrist beforehand.
Before she could recover from the fright he was already telling her off. "I told you I would tell you if I found anything. What are you doing here? Go home!" He said in a shouted whisper.
"I'm your back-up Abercrombie". Roy had to suppress a groan as he washed his hand over his face. "You can't be here, what if something happens to you?"
"And what about you? I don't see the Arrow anywhere nearby". If he wasn't as annoyed as he was he would've found her initiative quite thoughtful, but her presence could cost them both if she was found.
"This isn't your fight" he bit back.
"Oh like hell it isn't. Haven't you heard? Vertigo made a comeback".
He'd heard about the jail murders, Oliver told him that he was going into the city to speak with Laurel, to see if she was alright and if she needed any help. "And this Red Hood guy's threatening to ruin everything you and the Arrow have accomplished in the past six months. Sara taught me to fight for my home, that's what I'm doing; besides I found the guy in the first place".
That doesn't justify why you have to be here when I bust the Red Hood! Honestly he did not have time to argue with her. If this was the really his hideout then every second wasted debating with Sin would be a chance for the gang leader to move elsewhere or worse; figure out that his base of operations was being scouted. Sin was more than pleased to point this out to him. "Don't worry I'll stay outta sight" she finished and crouched down beneath a low crumbling wall.
Blowing out his frustration through his teeth he told her, "stay safe" and readied a cable arrow.
"You too".
Once he was on the roof he located a dusty skylight. Smearing away decades worth of dirt he saw gas pipes and steel works within, but no sign of movement. Carefully, he unhinged the skylight and eased it open, he waited for gunfire but none came. Attaching a cable hook to a nearby chimney he slipped inside and dropped down onto a wide pipe and examined his surroundings. The abandoned electric plant was starting to be exactly what was it sounded like; an abandoned electric plant. There was no sign anyone had walked it's halls in years, let alone used its facilities.
He stepped forward…and the pipe gave way.
The red archer aimed a grappling arrow at a balcony railing; he swung through the air and released his hold, rolling onto the floor, any intent of discretion gone. He had made enough noise to alert anyone in the premises. And it did.
He heard hoots and calls, muffled hurried footsteps. Then there was a hum, growing in volume. Suddenly the electric plant burst in white light and he was a sitting duck.
Armed men filed into the hall from an upstairs door, he shot up at them as they shot at him and he dived behind a tank for cover. There was no way he could stay in the shadows if there were none. He aimed skyward at the fluorescent lights, taking them out.
"Over there!" Bullets sank into the tank he was hiding behind; he slipped deeper into the labyrinth shooting at more lights to give him darkness. Once that was complete he doubled back to fool the henchmen.
Roy had never been alone like this before, on a proper mission that had gone from investigating a rumour to being attacked by gunmen, with absolutely no eyes around the area, and no Oliver to back him up. I really should not have underestimated Sin's intel. Lesson learned.
He needed to create a diversion. Loading a flash grenade, a white firework exploded above him, the cries of the gunmen being blinded told him it had worked to his advantage. He emerged from the coverage of the tanks; there was no way for him to escape the way he had entered. He had looked over the building plan, and remembered that there should be an Exit door somewhere near him. Seeing it he made for it.
His hand had barely brushed the handle when he heard his name called.
"Roy Harper!"
He froze for a millisecond and then turned on his heel with an arrow loaded. On the gallery above him was none other than the Red Hood, wearing a red mask that covered his entire face and most of his head. Loud sarcastic clapping followed. A million questions ran through his mind on overdrive, the most obvious was how does he know who I am? Roy reacted the only way he knew how too.
"Red Hood you have failed this city!"
The Red Hood crossed one arm over his chest and scratched the forehead of the mask as if he was confused. "I thought that line belonged to your green friend?" He spread his arms out to Roy. "So you finally found me, huh? Took you long enough" he taunted tapping the watch on his wrist.
Trap, he had an inkling that this had been far too easy-unless Sin was befriending dangerous men that he might have to consider putting an arrow through- the gang leader must have fed the clues to her knowing that she would inform him of what she had 'uncovered'. I was right; I was being followed earlier tonight.
Guards leered in the shadows, he was surrounded, taking out the ring leader would only lead to him becoming a practice target for all of Red Hood's cronies. Thinking ahead though, he had left his coordinates with Felicity in case anything like this happened. On the other hand how long until Oliver and Diggle finished their investigation of ARGUS was another issue altogether. What do I do? Negotiate? Surrender? Fight my way through? But he wanted me to find him. To his luck, the gang leader wasn't done chatting with him just yet. I have a chance if I can figure out what the hell is going on.
"You definitely need a new name, since Red Hood is taken. Unless it's Red Arrow, but it isn't right? I bet that could get confusing. Isn't it a coincidence we both chose red of all colours?"
It struck him harder than if someone had hit the side of his head with a mallet. Unnerved, he gulped, his bow hand wavering substantially, totally out of form that Oliver would've had a field day.
The familiarity of the Red Hood's gestures, his accent, his tone…
"No. No it can't be."
The Red Hood held the edge of his mask and started to pull it off. "But it is. It's been a while Harper. How're you doing?"
2007
The Glades, Starling City
He better not be dead in there, Jason thought pounding up the stairs of the rundown flat. The walls were peeling and water logged, several decades of graffiti layered upon the walls. A foul smell assailed his nose, and the concrete of the staircase was either jagged or disintegrating. It's a wonder how the druggies could move between the floors without breaking their necks whilst imagining God knows what psychedelic nightmare during their LSD trips.
Jason Todd reached the landing and ran down the length of the hallway, peering into rooms where worn, unsightly stained, moth-eaten mattresses were laid out for drug users to lie and laugh, cry, scream, or die, who knows. Where the hell is he? He cursed when the fourth room he checked had no sign of his rebellious friend. Several dirty homeless teens stared at him curiously, others yelled at him to fuck off; a few even offered him a mushroom he knew would probably cause him to feel as though he was floating in air. He ignored them and dashed to room at the end of the hall.
That's where he found him.
"Roy, no!" He wrenched his friend's wrist that held the needle away from the vein before it could plunge into his skin.
Roy Harper took a moment to register that Jason was standing over him, chest puffing from his run, and then he freaked out.
"Get off me man!" He shouted pushing Jason away furiously with both hands. It did nothing to stop his mission. He yanked the syringe away and threw it across the room, he received a few disgruntled protests from the other druggies in the room, but the most vehement protest came from Roy.
"What the hell?!" Harper yelled, putting up a fight. Now he was mad. Good, better mad, than half-dead Jason thought, pining him back down onto the mattress unrelenting and perfectly in control of the situation. He was good at this. Stupid kid, only 15 and already using drugs to get over the pain. Why does the world do this to him?
"Roy" he said, trying to calm the younger teen, "Roy, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry".
He stopped struggling, every ounce of indignation leaving his bones. "I know" he said back, staring at the ceiling, not really talking to anyone in particular. "I know you're sorry, everyone's sorry". Harper sat up, his legs hanging over the edge of the mattress, holding his forehead in his palm, trying to hold it together. But it was so hard, as hard as pushing a boulder up a mountain or running a hundred miles non-stop.
"My dad's dead" Roy said to himself, breaking. "He's dead". His body began to wrack with sobs. Jason sat beside him and put his arm around his friend's shoulders.
"I don't understand why I'm upset; the bastard didn't want anything to do with me".
"I know how much it hurts" said Jason, feeling thick in his throat mourning his own losses. Roy Harper Sr. died a few weeks ago, but Roy's mother hadn't breathed a word of it until this morning. "You miss who he was, and you wonder what could have been if he'd just stuck around like he should've. And you hate him for leaving you, but somewhere, deep down, you love him. And now he's gone, you can never mend your relationship, and you'll never get a chance to forgive him".
It wasn't like Harper had ever been on speaking terms with either of his parents. Sometimes that was the only way to get through life when the people who were meant to have your back left you behind, or just didn't care. You had to move on without them too. Even then, Jason would give anything to talk to his own parents one last time, and he knew Roy would too.
"You told me your dad liked to get into fights, and you felt as though you were turning into him. But you're wrong. You're a fighter. That's the difference between you and him. But you can't do this anymore. You have to want to change; you have to fight for it. This is a coward's way of dealing with life" Jason pointed around the dilapidated room, "and you are not a coward. You'll find nothing at the end of that needle; all of your problems aren't going to go away unless you face them head on".
"Look at where we are Jase, stuck in the Glades, going nowhere; no one is coming for us."
"Who says we can't save ourselves? Who says we can't save everyone else who's been left behind? I know we can."
Roy sniffed and gave a shaky sigh; he glanced up at him, instead of regret there was resolution. Small, but growing.
"I can help you make something of yourself, to be a better person. I will help you get through this, I'll be damned if I don't".
Present Day
Off Route 40, Starling West, Starling City 18:01 PM PST
"Jason" it sounded foreign yet entirely familiar. "It's been—what?"
"Seven years" he smiled and for a moment he remembered the dark-haired troublesome older boy who'd lived a few blocks down from him in a foster home. Jason was always rounding Roy and the other children in the neighbourhood to partake in tom foolery of some sort and because he was the eldest they thought he was the smartest, so they listened to him like he had the word of God in his ear. Jason was a delinquent before he had even hit puberty and Roy had idolized him. But now Jase was near his mid-twenties and something else altogether. He stabilized his drawing hand.
"You're the gang leader running the Glades?" He blurted, silently hoping he would deny it.
"I will be. I'm glad you found me; I've been dropping hints to your friend outside for weeks."
"If you lay a hand on her—"
He held a hand to stop him. "She's safe, don't worry. Now put away that pointy needle of yours, I'm not going to attack you now that I know you're not an unwanted intruder". They watched each other; the red archer glanced at the armed men unconvinced. "He's a friendly guys, put 'em away" with a signal his men obeyed him and laid their guns on the ground. The red archer mimicked them in his own version by lowering his bow.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you here?" He could not wrap his head around the fact that his best friend had become this person. Even as a teenager Jason had a particular suave, confident, and charismatic, alpha-male swagger about him, but he'd never had the potential to become this brand of criminal. He had always been full of grandiose dreams for the Glades and he knew how to describe them so eloquently that even Roy shared those dreams for a while. But to fall this far from that 'hero' status they had tried enthusiastically to achieve? In hindsight what happened back in '07 seemed like innocent child's play compared to the positions they were in now.
The gang leader stretched out two fingers. "Two simple reasons; Starling is my home. And you" Jason saluted him. "You're my friend, and friends help each other."
He scoffed, I forgot that he was also delusional, I only realized that when it was too late. "I don't need help. I took care of myself and I have ever since."
"I can see that. You and the Arrow, the dynamic duo" Jason smirked at his own private joke. "I'm glad you found a way to put your talents to good use." He wrapped his fingers around the railing and jumped down to the ground to face him properly, he had done it with ease which suggested parkour training much like what Oliver taught Roy.
"I see you did the same. But I don't think we have similar ideals" he stared daggers back at him; he had deduced the Red Hood and Vertigo were involved, "I don't murder unarmed prisoners in their jail cells for my own vendetta."
Sighing, and folding his hands behind his back he almost appeared sorrowful. "Yes, that was disappointing, but I didn't want it to happen, one of my outlaws disobeyed me, but he's been dealt with." He said it casually like they were discussing the weather. Roy felt he was talking to a complete stranger and he probably was.
"So you kill people now?"
Jason frowned. "The last thing I thought you would be was a hypocrite; we're not so different you know" he looked at him as if he knew something Roy did not.
"What do you mean?"
Ignoring him, his old friend took in his red suit and gear. "How much do you make in this gig?"
He stared back at him perplexed. "How much do I make? Are you seriously asking me—"
"I am completely serious" he said straight-faced and he knew he meant it.
"I'm not doing this for profit! I'm trying to save the city" he was offended that he would even think he was doing this for any sort of financial gain.
Todd looked at him like he was an idiot who needed to be pointed out the obvious. "That's why you need my help. I want to save this city too" he held a hand to his chest, nodding earnestly. "I've arranged a meeting with all the remaining crime bosses in Starling for negotiations".
He stabbed his bow at him. "It's you; you've been recruiting caporegimes from outside, trying to rebuild the crime syndicate again on fresh ground; giving the gangs here protection from the Arrow. This is wrong, you're becoming just like them." Despite team Arrow busting the Wildcat gym managers who were smuggling guns all those weeks ago, somehow the streets crews were still getting guns, and then somehow Vertigo was being traded all over again. This answered why and how, everything.
"And I'm just getting started; it will make a difference Roy, you'll see" he said with a cool, clear, controlled voice. He interpreted Roy's remonstrations to his actions as just a phase of misunderstanding.
"Are you still involved with Count Vertigo?"
He gave a noncommittal shrug, "briefly, but it was a regrettable alliance, I broke it off when that kid died of an overdose. I'm sure you can understand why." He gave him a pointed look, Roy already knew what he was referring too, and he hated that Jason was using his past struggles with drugs to justify any of this. "The Count breached our terms, I can't do business with someone like that. My team has had it's ups and downs, but I intend to make improvements."
"What happened to you?" Roy was asking about the past, but also about what had caused him to become this unrecognizable monster. He didn't hate Jason for what he was now, he just couldn't after what he'd done for him seven years ago, but his approval rating were somewhere in the negative region. "The cops got you that day and I never saw you again."
His businessman persona faded and he saw the spiteful disgruntled teen he was when anything about the foster care system or police came up as a topic. "Those sons of bitches threw me into back foster care. You want to talk about a flawed system? There you have it. Anyway, I got out the first opportunity I could in Gotham. It's been a one heck of a rollercoaster since then." With the malicious and cynical way he described it, it didn't seem as though anything had gotten easier for Jason once he left Starling. Maybe it had but then it turned to shit all over again. Sometimes the universe deals the same people the same losing cards until you don't see the point in living anymore. Clearly Jason Todd had interpreted his losing hand in a very different, much darker meaning.
This whole experience was overwhelming and he couldn't put it all in words right then and there. Oliver wouldn't be happy at what I'm doing, but Jase was once my friend, and he isn't attacking me, why should I retaliate?
"I guess...I guess I'm glad you're alive" he finally said.
Jason smiled wide. "Likewise. But I'm not back just to reconnect. Somehow, even though our paths diverged, both of us ended up back in Starling, in masks, trying to do what we couldn't do seven years ago. We were brothers Roy. The amount of trouble we got into?" He snickered, "the petty crime we did to help out those we could. It seems so trivial in comparison to what we do now."
Either my memory is screwed or his version of events is very, very flawed.
"Jason, we were fucking idiots. We couldn't even save ourselves."
"Yeah" he sighed, admitting it. "It was bad and dangerous" -here he grinned as bright as the sun -"but it was fun."
"Until someone died!" Now he was angry, any sign of sentiment gone from within him.
Todd held his index up disagreeing with him, "no, no, that was not our fault."
"We were stupid getting involved with that shit."
Finally he was able to produce a semblance of true grievance, and mustered a proper apology for him. "Okay, I'm sorry. I am. I dragged you into that. I didn't keep my promise", and then he started to sound like the Jason who'd stopped him from spiraling into drugs, the hopeful young man who wanted to change the world. He shook his fist at him, "but it's going to be different now. We're not the low lives we used to be. Look at how high we have risen, everything we've learnt from the pain, the loss, our mistakes, it is worth something. Join me, Roy. This is my band of outlaws and I would be honoured if you were a part of it."
It was not a difficult decision; he stepped back from the person who was once his best friend.
"No."
He chuckled as if Roy was playing hard to get, Jason talked with his hands, edging closer. "I get it. I do. I really do. You have this 'greaaat' partnership going on with Robin Hood, he's training you and you have this bromance that every guy wants." His face darkened like the sunset that disappeared before you even noticed it had. "But that doesn't last. Trust me. One day you'll realize he doesn't care, that he's using you as part of his arsenal, and when push comes to shove, he would sacrifice you without a second thought."
The archer's hand was slowly moving back into drawing position; it was his turn to snigger in derision. "You know how to talk Jason, it's the reason I followed you around and did everything you told me too. But you were also a selfish arrogant dickhead. If this how you want to 'save' this city, then it's better off without you."
He narrowed his eyes at him. "I hear an incoming threat in your tone."
"Leave, or else."
Jason closed his eyes and smiled a little, shaking his head. "I knew you would take some convincing. No worries" he waved his hand airily. "Byyy the way, ask your mentor about the Reynolds" Jason winked.
Roy shot at him, he leaned to the side, dodging it and reached for his belt before he could re-draw. A tear gas grenade exploded on the ground.
The Red Hood placed his mask back over his face as Roy coughed.
"Until we meet again."
A/N: 15 year old Roy on drugs is my version of the reason that he too, is a afraid of needles (which is a canon if you re-watch season 1). Next chapter will likely involve ARGUS, HK flashback, Felicity and Ray. Maybe Sara Lance? See ya guys next time!