Chapter 3

Monday night, the redheads appeared. The one in front was green eyed and freckle faced, grinning from ear to ear as he entered. The latter was a bit older, with blue eyes and a deep scowl as he trailed after his companion. Wondering when he would finally see the end of the stream of people coming to talk to him that Raquel had set in motion, Kaldur quickly took their orders and delivered a pair of beers.

"Hey, Roy, y'mind hanging here for a minute?" The younger of the two asked. "I'm gonna go hit on those chicks in the corner." A grunt was his only reply, before he slipped off the barstool and threaded his way through the room.

"Please tell me you have something behind that bar capable of knocking sense into people." Roy suddenly asked him causing Kaldur to chuckle lightly.

"A do have a baseball bat somewhere around here, but I'm not entirely sure you'd want to use that."

"Maybe not just yet, but if the kid idiot gets any more on my nerves tonight, I might just ask to borrow it." The man took a gulp of his drink. "Hey, you're Kaldur right? Some mutual acquaintances of ours have been talking about your 'magic' all week."

"Yes. I'm still not entirely sure how that happened."

Roy snorted. "You don't know these kids like I do. If one of them discovers something they think is cool, the other's usually know in a matter of hours. Be happy they haven't swarmed you all at once." Eyes widening slightly, Kaldur nodded as he could picture how disastrous such a thing could have been. "So, if my sources are right, it was Raquel who originally got you into this, right? How the hell did that happen?"

So, with a sigh, the bartender explained about the previous Thursday, including his admission about Tula and Garth. After hearing Dick explain about Roy's past, Kaldur decided he was trustworthy enough to know.

In the end, Roy responded much the same way Raquel did, though in a more blunt manner. "That stinks, man. I'm sorry."

"Thanks. It is not many who can be as honorable as you have been."

"Eh? Oh, you mean with Jade and Lian? ...It's not like I could have left them alone, no matter what the hell my dad thought about social class and 'moving towards a brighter future' and all that crap. I mean... I love her. Both of them. Maybe not at first, but I do now."

Kaldur smiled at him. "As I said. Honorable."

Roy started to make a noise of disagreement, but right then his friend returned and distracted the older man.

"What's the matter, Wally? Struck out with the ladies yet again?"

"Shut up." The younger redhead mumbled, reclaiming his former seat.

"Y'know, I keep hearing from a bunch of people that you and my sister in law-"

"Roy, I'm warning you." Wally growled, a darkly irritated expression flashing across his face. Kaldur decided a bit of intervention did in indeed seem to be needed.

"I have to wonder, after meeting Artemis, why everyone keeps saying you two would make a good couple." He mused, instantly getting Wally's attention.

"Wait, what? When did you meet her?"

"She and a friend came in here Saturday night. And, I think I must applaud your sense in not going near the woman - she has enough flirting attempts to deal with."

Wally's jaw dropped while Roy blinked in startlement. "She- there's- Arty's been getting hit other by other guys?!"

"Nah, I don't believe it."

"If you have doubts, then may I suggest coming here on the same night she does? Then you would be able to see for yourself." And if they started arguing in the middle of his bar, Kaldur could get the two to leave together, in accordance with his suggestion to Raquel and Zatanna.

"I might just do that." Wally scowled. "Show those guys why it's a bad idea to-"

"Flirt with the girl you still deny having a crush on?" Roy asked dryly, causing the younger man's face to go as red as his hair.

"Of course not!" He snapped. "Just, just show them why it's a bad idea to hit on a girl with a heart of stone."

Kaldur had to stifle a grin as a new idea came to him. "Heart of stone? I should hardly think so, after I lost almost an entire box of tissues to her last Saturday. Oh, please excuse me." He timed his stepping away perfectly - as Kaldur began to take and serve drink orders further down the bar, he could see out of the corner of his eye Roy attempting to restrain Wally from jumping up and going after whoever had supposedly made Artemis cry. The bartender had no intention of explaining what had actually happened the previous Saturday, hence why he busied himself elsewhere until Roy finally gave up, allowing his friend to race from the bar.

When Kaldur eventually did return to the remaining redhead, the other man eyed him suspiciously. "Arty wasn't really crying her eyes out in here, was she?"

"No. I gave her the tissues for her friend Megan, who was having a small breakdown." Roy sighed, running a hand through his hair as he glanced at the front door. Then he burst out laughing.

"You do realize, he's going to run straight to her dorm, nearly bang the door down with his knocking, and demand to know what happened only for her to sock him across the jaw?"

Kaldur cringed slightly. "Ah. I'd hoped he would merely call her or something similar."

"I'm not sure that kid ever actually thinks about using his phone when he's in a panic." Roy smirked. "Don't worry about it, though - I'll make sure he doesn't come back to yell at you for it or anything."

"That would be much appreciated, my friend." Roy tipped his head with a slight smile, pulling out his wallet to pay for the drinks.

-TC-

One thing that Kaldur was good at, out of necessity for his job, was being able to spot trouble before it happened. A dark haired, wide-shouldered young man with a fierce scowl who entered late on Tuesday night looked like he fit the bill exactly. When he took a seat at the bar, the man ordered whiskey, and bluntly told Kaldur to leave the bottle. Over the next hour, he slowly downed the entire thing under the bartender's concerned gaze.

As other customers began to trickle out, the dark haired man remained, hunched over on his seat while moodily tracing patterns in the polished woodgrain of the bartop. Waving away his couple of concerned servers, Kaldur let them know he'd handle this if it became a problem.

"Are you alright there?" He asked softly, approaching the customer.

"...I don't get it." Pausing, Kaldur listened closely for the man's surprisingly quiet words. "She didn't stop when I asked her, and when I finally stopped trying, she acted like the whole thing was my fault." The hand not tracing patterns clenched in an angry fist. "Megan never even said she was sorry."

Realizing that he had another Raquel's friends with a love issue on his hands, Kaldur settled into a comfortable stance as he leaned against the bar. He was getting lots of practice at addressing those lately, it would seem.

"Possibly because she never saw it as something to be sorry about." His words, spoken in as subdued a manner as possible, still caused the man's face to darken further.

"Going through all of my stuff when I wasn't at home? Even after I wanted her to stop? Right."

"How large is your family?"

The man blinked at him. "What?"

"How large is the family you grew up with?"

"...It was just me and my mom until I was sixteen. She died, and then I went to live with my father. I visit my grandparents in Kansas sometimes, but no one else."

"How large was Megan's?"

"A lot bigger than mine. She's got eight siblings, and a few dozen cousins in the same town."

"Then would it stand to reason the two of you have very different ideas of acceptable privacy levels?" Through the haze of the alcohol, Kaldur could see the gears turning in the man's head.

"I... I guess so."

"Was there also anything going on at the time that would cause her to be afraid of something happening that could destroy your relationship?"

Again, the man thought deeply before responding. "Cassie. Megan was afraid I'd leave her for Cassie, because we were spending so much time together on the engineering project. But I wouldn't have! Megan's the only one I love."

"Love or loved?"

"Both. I've never been with anyone else. I always thought she was the one..." He trailed off, staring down at the bartop once again. "I don't know what to do now. I've been so angry at her for all this time... I'm not sure how to come back from that."

"Start by just talking - letting her know how you feel and why it bothered you so much, as well as asking if she is truly sorry."

"Okay. Thanks." He started to stand, paused, then sank back down onto the barstool. "Um. I don't think it's a good idea for me to drive anywhere right now."

"Well, at least you're honest enough to recognize that fact." Kaldur said with a hint of amusement. "Do you have a phone to call someone to come get you?" With overdue caution, as if he was afraid of squeezing too tightly and breaking it, the man pulled out a older flip phone, and proceeded to try to pull up his contacts list without much success. Eventually he huffed out an annoyed sigh, and pushed the thing across the bartop to Kaldur, who asked if there was anyone in particular he wanted called. A noncommittal shrug was his answer, before the man slowly dropped his head down with a solid thunk.

Opening through the list, Kaldur stopped and dialed the number of the first name he recognized. "Hello, Artemis? No, this isn't Conner, it's Kaldur Ahm at the Secret Cave... Indeed. Fortunately, he realized it as well before attempting to leave. Mm-hm. That's fine... This might actually be a good time for it, considering that's what he and I were just speaking of. Alright. I'll be waiting here until you come, then. Goodbye." By the time he ended the call, Conner had officially zoned out. Kaldur wasn't sure he'd registered or even heard a word of the phone call.

About thirty minutes later, there was a tentative knock on the locked front door of the bar. Kaldur went to open it again, admitting a very nervous Megan, who slowly walked over to where Conner was still slumped against the bar. Remaining out of the way, Kaldur didn't have long to wait before the two were departing together, the petite woman helping to support Conner stumbling form as they left.

With as much heartfelt emotion he'd seen from the pair, Kaldur sincerely hoped that things worked out between them, either in restoring their relationship or at least reaching a point where each could move on.