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The first time Roy met the Red Hood (“Jaybird,” he’d say later and Roy would feel a rush of fondness in response) he had been sixteen and content to hide away from the Justice League and their laughable little sidekicks. He had been chasing down one of Lex Luthor’s leads to Qurac, only for the meeting he was listening in on to end up crumbling in on itself.
He was down to his last arrows and his prosthetic arm was just dead weight on his shoulder after getting cut. He suspected it cut through the wires that connected his nerves, which just left it as an unusable weapon. For a moment, Arsenal considered using the emergency beacon Oliver had forced him to take before he left them all behind, but disregarded it instantly.
He didn’t need their handouts. He didn’t need their help. He was Roy Harper, he was Arsenal; he could damn well handle his own issues.
He grit his teeth and lunged behind a pillar, ducking out of the way of incoming bullets, and ripped at the knife in his belt before grabbing his line of explosives. The world wouldn’t miss a warehouse filled with weapons and shitty people. He bit carefully at the explosives before maneuvering it in a way that he’d be able to cut it. He stuck the cut lines onto the wall, dashing between pillars to plant more of the explosives.
Enter: Red Hood.
“Nice set up,” a mechanical voice behind him praised. Arsenal hissed in surprise and spun, aiming his blade at the man’s throat. They both froze, a gun pressed against Arsenal’s temple and a blade pressed against the man’s throat. “I take it you don’t work for Luthor.”
“No, I don’t.” Roy hissed. “You don’t either?”
“Nope.” amusement was barely heard through the voice changer the guy used. “How’d you like to work together, huh? I need to grab something before you destroy the place. It’d be easier if everyone was taking a nice nap.”
Arsenal carefully moved his blade when the gun against his temple started to retreat. He glared at the guy for a moment, and glanced at him quickly. He wore a grey suit, a red bat symbol over his chest. The raggedy leather jacket he wore had a dark red hood and there was a red mask covering his face. Guns and knives were strapped to his thighs and calves.
There were a pair of broken wings protruding from his back.
“Fine.” Arsenal said. “Be quick about it.”
“Aren’t you sweet,” Hood-guy quipped, and then he was lunging forward, guns drawn and arms stretched forward as he shot at the people.
Arsenal huffed but followed him, quickly disarming the people around him. It was certainly easier with help; the hooded man clearly knew what he was doing. He was all quick movements and brute force. His wings flayed out and the armored limbs knocked into anyone around him. It didn’t hurt that his aim was also impeccable.
The warehouse was quiet after ten minutes. Arsenal warily watched as his new companion shuffled through the unconscious bodies over to the table where several people had once been discussing things. They had rushed off in a panic when Arsenal made himself known.
“Got what you needed?” Arsenal asked, quirking a brow when Hood walked back over to him with a laptop tucked under his arm and a briefcase in his hand.
“Sure did, Sugar.” Hood replied, “We should leave, they probably already sent more guys here.”
Arsenal scowled but nodded. He debated for a moment if he should detonate his explosives, but there was no way for these people to run away from the blast. He wasn’t going to kill people who couldn’t fend for themselves. He walked past them, only pausing for a moment to grab his bow, and shrugged his over his shoulder before leaving through the doors.
“What’s your name, anyways?” He asked when his companion joined him.
“Red Hood.”
“Original.”
“Right,” Red Hood replied, “How about you, Sugar?”
“For starters, it’s not Sugar.” Arsenal muttered, “Arsenal.”
“Ah,” Hood said, “Original.”
Arsenal’s lips twitched up slightly. He supposed this wasn’t the worst team up he’s had.
“I have a safe house a few blocks from here.” Hood turned to face him, “You can fix your arm there while staying out of Luthor’s war path.”
Arsenal quirked a brow. “You going to try to kidnap me?”
“If I wanted to, I would have tried by now.” Hood replied dryly.
“Yeah, thanks.” Arsenal shook his head, “But no.”
“Fair.” Hood leaned forward slightly, “See ya later, Sugar.”
“That sounds threatening.” Arsenal replied. The laugh Hood let out was warped and mechanical. “I’m looking forward to it.”
A gloved hand rose in a wave before Red Hood turned the corner and disappeared into the shadows. Arsenal watched after him for a moment before he turned in the opposite direction and left the scene quickly.
“I guess your threat was right.” Arsenal said, cocking his head with a smirk.
Jason watched him carefully. It had been a few weeks since his last run in with the young hero (or, well, vigilante is more like it) and it had ended with blown up warehouses and them getting tacos from a local vender. Jason had kept an eye out for him. If only to make sure he didn’t get himself killed, but he seemed to be doing just fine on his own.
“I see your arm is different this time ‘round.” Jason replied.
Arsenal rolled his eyes under the mask. He offered the metal limb forward and Jason took it, letting the other teen help pull him up. He flexed his wings slightly, wincing under his helm when pain twinged up his nerves.
“You alright, Hood?” Arsenal asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Peachy.” Jason replied, rolling his shoulder. “Why are you in Russia?”
Arsenal shrugged. “Luthor had a shipment of Kryptonite coming here.”
“Ah, you want to go against Big Blue?” Jason said.
“No,” Arsenal grinned. It looked pretty on his frowny face. “I want to make Luthor have a bad time.”
“A man after my heart,” Jason joked, pressing his hands against his chest. He let out a soft hiss when his ribs protested.
Arsenal stared at him for a moment. “I’m staying at a hotel two miles away.” he said.
“You’ll have to take me to dinner first, Sugar.” Jason tilted his head.
“I meant so I could wrap up your ribs,” Arsenal said, clearly judgingly.
Jason paused for a moment. He had done a background check on Arsenal immediately after running into him – Roy Harper, the former sidekick Speedy, physically and mentally sixteen after being frozen for several years. Had been cloned twice, but had been freed recently. His main focus seemed to be focusing on heroism (or at least a form of it) in different countries whilst also giving Luthor a hard time.
He probably wouldn’t try anything on Jason, probably didn’t even know who he was. Gotham was secluded from the outside world, and the Bats even more so.
“Alright.” Jason said. Arsenal looked surprised for a moment before he nodded. “Hope you know how to bandage ribs good.”
“Everything’s a learning experience.” Arsenal replied, and motioned to his bike. “You got your own ride?”
“Yeah,” Jason nodded, “I’ll follow you, Sugar.”
“It’s Arsenal.” Arsenal replied.
Jason grinned under his helm. “I know.”
(“You could have mentioned I’d have to grapple six stories up.”
“Didn’t take you for a wuss, Hood.”
“Ugh, whatever, fuck you.”)
“Funny seeing you here, Sugar!” Red Hood called under the onslaught of gunfire.
“Can’t seem to stay away!” Roy replied.
It was odd, Roy realized, how he seemed happy whenever he and Hood managed to run into each other. How he always seemed to be happier nowadays, even when his friend wasn’t around. Their run ins were always with months in between, and sometimes Roy would admit he takes jobs around where Hood was rumored to be. Roy would call Hood his friend and he trusted him. It was odd having a friend – having someone he trusted – after the shit show that was his life, but Roy cherished it.
He leaned over slightly, stuck his arm out from behind their cover, and let a laser blast from his arm. The people they were fighting let out yells, and were flung across the room. It was silent for a long moment and Hood poked his head out.
“Wow,” he whistled, “Nice shot.”
Roy smirked, “Thanks.”
Hood stalked forward, glass crunching under his boots. Roy trailed behind him, curious. “Why’re you here?”
“This scum,” Hood spat, “Are sending drugs into my territory.”
“Ah, you didn’t tell me you were a crime lord.” Roy said, and he felt strangely indifferent to the news that his friend was a criminal. It wasn’t like he was much better, anyways.
“Not much these days.” Hood replied. He leaned down and grabbed one of the conscious men. He lifted him up by his neck in an impressive show of strength. “Tell your boss that if I see one more shipment made into my territory, I’ll cut his fucking head off.”
He let the man drop and he crumbled to the floor, shaking. Hood rolled his shoulders, and looked over his shoulder to look over to Roy. “Why’re you here though, Arsenal?”
Roy smiled slightly. “Can’t I just want to see you?”
Hood paused, and his wings pulled tight against his back. “Sure.” he said, bland. “What do you want?”
Roy quirked a brow. “I was serious. I haven’t seen you in a while. I was...worried.”
“Oh.” Hood breathed, just barely made out. He cleared his throat after a moment and nodded slightly. “Well, let’s at least get something to eat, yeah?”
“Sure.” Roy said quizzically.
It was a quick affair of grappling across the city and landing on the building of a simple burger joint. Like the other times they decided to eat out together, Roy went to get the food while Hood stayed on the roof to brood. Wings gathered a lot of attention, and neither of them really liked it.
“Alright,” Roy said as he landed silently on the roof with the bag of food. He grinned slightly, “I got your usual.”
“Thanks,” Hood replied. After a moment he removed his helm, and ran a bare hand through his damp curls. Roy almost dropped their food when he noticed Hood wasn’t wearing a mask under his hood like he usually did.
“Uh,” Roy mumbled.
Never let it be said that Red Hood wasn’t an attractive man. But, Roy had never seen his full face before. He took in the details quickly, the sharp eyebrows, the scar that ran down his forehead and ended low on his cheek. He stared at the swirling blue-green eyes and the sharp pupil in the center for a moment.
“You’re staring, Roy.” Hood said.
“How do you know my name?” Roy asked, frowning.
Hood shrugged his shoulders. “Hacked into the Justice League’s Watchtower.”
“Huh.” Roy said, and handed over the wrapped burgers. “I can’t really be angry about that.”
Hood sent him a crooked grin. After a moment, he met Roy’s gaze again. “People call me Jaybird.” he said.
“Jaybird,” Roy tested out the name and smiled. “I like it. But you seem more like a catbird. With the grey.” he motioned to his wings.
Hood raised an eyebrow. “You look up birds to compare to my wings?”
“Yep.” Roy grinned. “How’d they come up with Jaybird?”
“My name in my territory is Kestrel, I’ll have you know.” Jaybird rolled his eyes. “But there are Canada Jays. They have grey wings.”
“Mhm,” Roy nudged their shoulders together slightly, “I know there’s another reason, but you don’t have to tell me.” Hood relaxed at that. “I like Jaybird. It’s cute.”
“I dye my feathers.” Hood said suddenly. He shrugged his shoulders, a slight pink rising on his cheeks. “They’re white. Don’t blend in well with the dark.”
Roy looked back at the wings and eyed the few whiter feathers that were hidden in grey and smiled. “I see.”
They were quiet for a moment, simply enjoying their food and each other’s company. Roy liked spending time with Hood, even if it was in quiet. It had been too long since they’ve seen each other.
“Where have you been?” he asked quietly.
“My dad’s dead.” Jaybird replied. His voice was tight, but his face was clear of any identifiable emotion. More green entered his eyes. “I kinda lost my shit for a bit.”
“I see.” Roy said, “I’m sorry for your loss.”
Jaybird shrugged, “I’m just trying to find myself, I guess. I can’t really stay in that city for a long anymore. I don’t know what to do, really.”
“Well.” Roy said. He continued when Jaybird motioned him to. “We could figure that out together.”
Jaybird paused and observed him for a moment. “Together?”
“Yeah.” Roy said. “I don’t. I don’t know how good of a partner I’d be, but I want to...” he wanted to be with Hood. That was all.
Jaybird smiled, a soft one that Roy hadn’t seen before. “I’d like that.” he whispered.
“Great.” Roy smiled. “Seems like we won’t be running into each other anymore, huh?”
“What will you do when you aren’t tracking me down, Sugar?” Jaybird teased and Roy bumped their shoulders together.
He can’t remember the last time he had felt this happy.
“What do you want?” Roy asked irritably as he pressed his phone against his ear.
“I can’t wonder about your safety?” Oliver replied.
“As if you don’t have the JL keeping tabs on me.” Roy rolled his eyes. “What do you want?”
“Will has been asking about you.” Oliver said. “We all miss you.”
Roy rubbed a hand down his face. He looked over to where Jaybird was laying on the couch, reading and looking peaceful. They’d gotten a place in Paris after Jason had mentioned he wanted to get a few books in French – Jason had called him extra for getting a safe house here, Roy had smiled and kissed his red cheek – and Jason seemed happy here. Well, minus the scalding calls he gave his brother Cardinal every week.
Jason looked up after a moment, his eyes more blue than green. He smiled slightly, tilting his head in question as he eyed Roy’s phone.
“I’m not in the country, Ollie.” Roy said.
Jason rolled his eyes at the name, letting out a few trills that Roy knew to be insults. His wings fluttered up, an offering for proximity that Roy rarely ignored.
“Sugar,” Jason called, smirking his amusement.
“Are you with someone?” Oliver asked, shocked.
Roy sighed fondly and moved over to the couch. He snuggled next to his partner and Jason’s wings wrapped around him instantly.
“I have a partner,” Roy said. “You already knew this.”
Oliver sputtered for a moment.
“I’ll call you when we’re heading back to Star.” Roy muttered after a moment.
Jason didn’t have his father anymore (his family was going wild without him, from what Roy understood. His little brother running around saying the man was still alive and his older brother running himself ragged to keep whatever legacy they had alive) and it always reminded Roy of how little time they really had. One day he or Oliver would die, and Roy didn’t want to regret not talking to him just one last time, even if he was still ticked off at the man.
“You will?” Oliver asked, sounding shocked.
“Yes, Ollie.” Roy said. “Now I’m going to hang up.”
“Alright,” Oliver rushed out. “Call me when you’re home.”
Roy didn’t say that he was home, in this little safe house in Paris with Jaybird by his side.
“Goodbye.” Roy said simply and hung up.
“That went well.” Jason said.
“Mhm,” Roy leaned further against his partner. Jason lifted his book and rested it against his head gently. “I want to hate him.” he admitted.
He wanted to hate Oliver for leaving him behind, for leaving him on ice for so many years. And he had, in the beginning. He had loathed the man and Luthor and Will. But now he just felt tired of hating his family (He still hated Luthor with a passion, of course) because Will had always been so kind to him and Oliver’s been trying.
“I know.” Jason replied and pressed a kiss against his forehead. “Maybe talking to him will help.”
Roy hadn’t seen Oliver in years. His nineteenth birthday, last month, Oliver had simply sent him a card. Will had called, and him and Lian sung him happy birthday. But they hadn’t really seen each other since Roy stormed out when he was fifteen, only a few months after he was taken off ice.
“You think you can come with me?” Roy asked, running his fingertips against Jason’s feathers.
Jason wound his wings closer. All Roy felt was safety in his embrace. “Anything you need, Roy.” he said it like a promise, “I’ll do.”
Roy smiled and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “Thanks, Jaybird.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to you being a shapeshifter.” Roy said.
Jason smiled at him, his eyes were a simple hazel and his face was unscared. There were no wings on his back and his hair was all black, no stripe of grey falling into his eyes. He looked like a regular person, and it always unsettled Roy.
The earrings were a nice touch, though. Roy will have to get him some that don’t change his appearance.
Jason just snorted softly and messed with the shake he had ordered. Obviously, he didn’t like it, he only messed with his food when it was unappetizing, though he always ate it. He hated wasting food just as much as he hated people selling drugs to kids. Roy batted his hand away before switching their drinks and Jason shot him a soft look.
“When are they supposed to be here?” Jason asked, leaning back in the booth.
Roy checked the time and shrugged. “Any minute. Oliver is usually late.”
Jason clicked his tongue, muttering a “figures” before he snagged his new vanilla shake and started to drink it. His eyes fell back to the menu, and he skimmed it again even though he already knew what he wanted. Roy ran his hand through his hair as he looked back over to the door. He tensed slightly when he saw Oliver and Will walking through the door.
Jason placed a hand on his thigh, grounding, and Roy relaxed.
He looked up at Oliver and Will and offering a small, tense smile. “Hello.”
“Hey, Roy.” Will smiled. “It’s been a while. You look good.”
Roy nodded. He made leaned a bit closer to Jason and he saw the way his family’s eyes narrowed at him. Jason tilted his head back slightly, but looked indifferent.
“This is my partner.” He said.
“Do we get a name?” Oliver asked, sitting warily.
“Kestrel.” Jason replied. “A pleasure.”
“I’m sure.” Oliver said dryly.
Roy glared at him. Oliver raised his hands up in surrender.
“Well, I for one am glad someone is keeping you out of trouble.” Will joked.
Roy laughed, “If anyone’s keeping someone out of trouble it’s me.”
Jason raised an eyebrow at him, “You literally caught our shower on fire yesterday.”
“Okay, in my defense.” Roy said.
“Nuh-uh, Sugar.” Jason grinned at him, “You knew exactly what you were doing.”
Roy rolled his eyes, and looked back over to his family. They looked surprised, even if they hid it well. Well, at least Will hid it well.
“Catching your shower on fire,” Will tsked playfully. He looked over to Jason and offered a hand, “I’m Will, it’s nice to finally meet you.”
Jason took his hand and shook it, “Same here. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“He’s lying.” Roy said.
“I’m really not.” Jason grinned. “This guy talks a lot.”
“Roy does?” Oliver asked, his joke fell flat.
“How have you been, Roy?” Will cut in.
Roy fell into a reluctant story telling of his past few months, Jason adding in a few details here and there. It was during his recalling of their time in Paris that a waiter came over and took their orders. Eventually, Roy managed to change the topic to Oliver and Will’s lives. He listened to several stories of Lian and a few of Oliver’s events, and found that he actually enjoyed catching up with them. A part of him wanted to do this regularly.
“So,” Will said, smirking. He set his utensils down, and turned to look at Jason. “Kestrel. How did you and Roy get together?”
Roy raised an eyebrow. Jason looked a bit amused. “We got burgers and I said I wanted to be his partner.” Roy said.
“Oh, it was romantic.” Jason refuted, teasing.
“You told me your name.” Roy offered.
“We ran into each other a lot,” Jason explained. He nudged his plate closer to Roy when he noticed the archer staring at his fries. “The fucker was stalking me.”
“Only a little.” Roy grinned.
Jason shook his head, amused. “You’ll get along great with my brother.” he muttered.
“Have you met his family?” Oliver asked.
“Not yet.” Roy said. “Just a brother.” The day Nightwing burst into the safehouse Jason had invited him to was one to remember.
“They’re a bunch of demons.” Jason said, sounding like he was saying some type of joke. Roy rolled his eyes, used to all the demon and spirit jokes Jason and his brothers passed around.
“You seem happy.” Oliver said softly and Roy paused.
“I am.” He admitted, and it almost felt like a shock.
But he’d been so happy this past year. He figured love had some part to do with it, but maybe it was just him recovering; getting better. Jason hadn’t always been there, but Roy had been feeling better, lighter, happier, for years now. He had been getting a bit of his life back; being a hero, saving people, stopping the bad guys. Even if he did go about it differently than before, even if he was around different people, even if he had cut out the people who had cared.
He was doing so much better, and it was somewhat startling to see. Roy realized that he needed this; needed to see Oliver and Will and connect with them again. He didn’t think he’d ever really forgive Oliver, didn’t think he’d ever feel completely comfortable around Will, but he felt so much better than he had years ago.
Roy gripped Jason’s hand under the table, and Jason gave him a smile.
“It’s the gunpowder.” Jason said, easing the tension that rose perfectly. Roy grinned at him, and laughed.
“We should do this again sometime.” Roy said as they got ready to leave.
“We should.” Will agreed. “I expect you to answer more of our calls. Ollie whines about it all the time.”
“I might.” Roy said. “No promises.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Oliver agreed, and smiled. “Young Justice would like to have you back, you know.”
Roy hesitated for a moment. He looked over to Jason and his boyfriend simply nodded encouragingly. “Part time, maybe,” he said. “I got a reputation.”
“Great,” Oliver said. “Great. I’ll have the team give you a call.”
“Hey, my dad is apparently alive,” Jason said.
“Way to start a conversation, Jaybird.” Roy replied as he lifted his welding helmet up. He looked around the table for his phone and grabbed it when he finally saw it. “Need me to go to...wherever you live?”
“Yeah,” Jason breathed, “Yeah, please. I’ll send you the address.”
Roy quickly shut down everything in his workshop and stumbled his way through his and Jason’s house. Jason hung up with a quick “He’s waking up, I’ll see you soon” and Roy looked at the address Jason sent him. A quick Zeta-beam to Gotham later, Roy was waving down a taxi and rattled off the address.
“Jason Todd-Wayne,” Roy muttered to himself after he was dropped off at the Wayne Estate. Somehow, this wasn’t the most shocking news Jason had dropped onto him.
“Hey,” Jason said, quick to open the gate for him. “Thanks for coming.”
“Anything for you, Jaybird.” Roy replied. Jason’s eyes were red and irritated, like he had been crying. Roy cupped his face and Jason leaned into his palm. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey, Sugar.” Jason smiled. “Missed you.”
Roy leaned forward and kissed him. Jason sighed against his lips, leaning closer. The taller teen pressed their foreheads together after they parted.
“Want to meet my family?” he asked.
“I’m ready to meet the demons.” Roy joked.
Jason’s face softened, “They’ll love you just as much as I do.” he said.
Roy reached down and tangled their fingers together. “I love you too, Jaybaby.”