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Jason was incredibly skilled in the art of ignoring calls from his family. He ignored the texts, too, but calls were reserved for emergencies during patrol and to bug him about “a red shirt in my white laundry” or “a drug lord who disappeared last night”. If it couldn’t be answered in a message several days later, Jason didn’t need to look at his phone.
He couldn’t really explain why he decided to answer the phone this time. Dick was the one he ignored the most, but before he could think it through, Jason was picking his phone off the coffee table in front of him and pressing the “answer” button.
Sometimes he really hated not immediately hanging up.
“You need to get to San Francisco.”
“Oh yeah, let me just teleport there, dumbass,” Jason rolled his eyes, sinking farther into the worn out armchair in his safehouse.
“Jason,” he sounded exhausted. “For once, can you not be an asshole? Get here as soon as you can. It’s… It’s important, okay?”
Dick didn’t say anything else, just that he needed Jason at Titans Tower pronto.
Any other day, Jason would have given him a creative “fuck you” and hung up, content to leave his older brother stewing on the other line. But something hesitant in Dick’s voice—and the constant feeling of anxiety he’d been having—had him on the move.
He didn’t bother booking a flight or asking permission to take the Bat Plane. He did bother to take the time to slap a sticky note on the hanger door that simply read “Dick’s fault :)” and headed towards the San Francisco Bay.
It wouldn’t take long for one of the Bats to contact him and start yelling, so once he was at a proper altitude above Pennsylvania, he pushed the aircraft faster than the average jet. He was more determined to put distance between him and Gotham than getting to the Tower in a timely manner.
The Bat Plane could have gone faster, but he didn’t want Dick thinking he’d always drop what he was doing to help. He focused on that feeling as he flew, purposefully being thorough in his systems check as to avoid the other thoughts floating around his head.
It wasn’t until he was sitting there in the cockpit, barely over Ohio, that the nerves and paranoia started to seep into the forefront of his mind.
He took a deep breath, then turned on the autopilot before relaxing back in the seat and staring up at the passing clouds. He took out his phone and sent his brother a quick text that he was on his way.
Jason forced himself to figure out what he could possibly need the Red Hood’s help for, deciding figuring out the reason for his racing heart could wait until he was alone again.
Dick hadn’t sounded urgent—it definitely wasn’t an emergency—but he’d sounded… confused, maybe even surprised. It certainly wasn’t one of Dick Grayson’s trademarked Tones, and despite Batman’s training to get all the information before diving in, it had kicked Jason into gear.
Nightwing was the only other Bat at the Tower—a spontaneous visit to train the new Titans—so he crossed off family business on the list of reasons for his call.
It could be Titan business. An old nemesis they needed more eyes to find. Jason wasn’t sure he was at the top of Dick’s list for detective work, but everyone else was pretty busy nowadays.
There was no telling if there were other former team members already there. If it were unfinished business, Dick would have contacted Troia, Tempest, and Flash before him. He’d have called Cyborg, Raven and Stafire, too. Koriand’r would already be there, as she’d stuck around on Earth to help with the Academy.
The thought of the princess made him feel both comforted and sad. They hadn’t spoken in a long time. He hadn’t congratulated her on the Titans Academy opening. Jason wouldn’t let himself think about it. Kori hadn’t reached out anyway. It had been for the best.
Jason pushed through the list.
There’d been no natural disasters in the last week, even if severe weather would have felt like a walk in the park compared to the shit they were dealing with on a daily basis.
Everything in the world felt strange since the multiverse exploded open. Normal citizens were more curious and questioning. Bad guys were taking advantage of the chaos. Capes were widespread not just around the world, but multiple worlds—which meant more work on a local scale for Red Hood and other Bats.
Even on a personal level, things had become stranger for Jason, like there was an alert in his chest telling him something was off.
It wasn’t the normal sense of “bad” he was used to out in the field. Years of being in the midst of crime had given him a sixth sense for that sort of thing.
This was a feeling like he had missed something. Someone had slipped past his eye, and it would spell disaster if he didn’t figure it out. There hadn’t been any cases that important in his recent work, so he ignored it, mostly.
That didn’t stop the feeling someone out there needed his help. There were nights when he couldn’t sleep because of it. Sometimes his ears would burn, like someone was talking about him.
There were times he got an overwhelmingly familiar feeling that he hadn’t felt in a long time. The other sixth sense he’d developed where someone he knew was doing something they shouldn’t be doing—poking at a time bomb despite the clock ticking down. It was a feeling he hadn’t felt since before…
Sanctuary.
Jason shook the thought out of his head, taking control of the plane and focusing on the physical things around him. He hadn’t spaced out long, and there’d been no reason to go at max speed, but he’d flown over most of the Mid West while lost in thought.
As Kansas came into view on the screen, he tried to busy himself with checking each gauge on the display. By the fifth time he looked at the temperature before getting out of the state, Jason put the autopilot back on and took out his phone.
He scrolled through several California news sources, looking for anything that could be linked to what Dick had called about. The more celebrity updates he saw, the more Jason was ready to throw himself out of the Bat Plane.
He thought about checking the Tower’s security feed, but remembered that Tim had shut him out and he’d never managed to hack back in. Jason wasn’t even sure if he could get into the Tower, but if Dick had asked him to come, he’d let him in, wouldn’t he?
Before he could get tied up in the never-ending cycle of wondering if his family actually trusted him, the communication system crackled to life.
“Red Hood, there better be a good reason for hijacking the Bat Plane,” Bruce’s voice boomed.
“Did you read my note?”
There was no answer, just the telltale sound of the Batman Frown and keys clicking.
Jason sighed. “Sorry, old man,” he said, putting his phone down and switching back to manual. It’d only take a second for Bruce to take over the controls and bring him right back to Gotham. “It really is Wing’s fault this time.” He pushed forward, urging the plane to go a little faster. “Big bro asked me to get to San Fran stat.”
There was a pause, filled only with the low sound of static. “Did he say why?”
“‘Fraid not, B. But y’know how it is. When Nightwing calls, it’s best to answer. Wouldn’t want him throwing a tantrum, would we?” Jason went faster, watching as Utah and Nevada appeared on the screen.
A very loud and gruff hum came from the other end of the radio. “Don’t steal the plane again, copy?”
“Loud and clear, Batman.”
The static cut off and Jason was left with the clouds below him and the sun behind him, San Francisco barely half an hour away at the speed he was flying.
Easing back into a steady pace, Jason let the conversation slip from his thoughts, knowing full well he’d take the plane without permission in the future.
As Bruce’s words faded, Jason found himself feeling anxious again.
Titans weren’t always the biggest fans of Red Hood—even the ones who had known him as Robin, give or take a few. It wasn’t like he was breaking and entering this time or had the intent to kill one of the residents. Plus, he and Tim had worked past all that.
He tried to tell himself the nausea was from the little information he had going in. He tried to ignore that twinge of pain in his chest and the feeling it was all connected, but as he started to descend, his heart beat faster.
The plane settled on the landing pad, and once the engine powered down, the ground opened up, slowly spinning, bringing the plane down into the hanger.
He silently prayed to whatever beings were listening that there weren’t any Kryptonians around to hear how nervous he was. Taking a breath to steady himself, Jason put on his helmet and jumped out of the cockpit.
No one was waiting for him on the lower level and there was no problem getting to the main floor of the Tower.
A few kids he didn’t recognize sat around the lobby, talking loudly and happily amongst themselves. They looked up at him as he walked by, their voices falling into whispers and giggles from one of the girls.
Jason ignored them, stepping into the elevator. The security system would have alerted the team he was in the building, but when nobody stopped the elevator past the third floor, he figured no one much cared he was there.
The doors opened on the top floor. There were more voices, but none urgent or scared. Jason’s heart slowed down as he walked through the main hallway. He was starting to think Dick was up to something, making him both more relaxed and angry at the same time.
A few more kids walked past, voices low but excited. They glanced at him, then quickly adverted their gazes.
“Can’t believe he’s here!”
“He literally came back from the dead, that’s so crazy!”
Jason rolled his eyes and took off his helmet, leaving the domino mask on underneath for the sake of secret identities.
Once the kids were in the elevator, there were only muffled voices behind various closed doors. Jason huffed and continued to the end of the hall.
There was no danger, his brother was just a menace. He briefly thought about turning around and leaving. Maybe he’d take the Bat Plane on a joy ride and actually blame it on Dick. He’d really made Jason book it all the way across the country just to hear a bunch of teenagers giggle and whisper about him.
But he was already at the big doors to the main meeting room and knew if anyone was going to out-dramatic Dick Grayson, it was going to be him.
Pushing open the doors and strutting into the room, he tossed his helmet towards the nearest counter and sighed loudly.
“Nightwing!” he yelled, shrugging out of his jacket and peeling off his mask. “You’ve gotta fucking stop asking me fly all the way across the country for some dumbass teenagers-”
Jason stopped, nearly tripping over his own feet as he took in the room.
There were several more former Titans than Jason anticipated, but none of them had his attention.
Jason had focused in on one figure, facing away from him and standing at the edge of the couch next to Donna, who turned at the sound of Jason entering.
His bright red hair fell into his face—shorter than the image that lived in Jason’s memory, but significantly longer than when he’d last seen him. Before he’d left for Sanctuary. Before he’d-
“Uh, hey, Jaybird,” Roy said nervously. He didn’t meet Jason’s eyes, staring at the floor and rubbing Donna’s hand that was on his arm. He worried his bottom lip for a moment before finally looking up. “Long time, no see, huh?”
Jason still didn’t move, eyes locked with those sky blue eyes he thought he’d never see again—eyes so full of sadness and relief, uncertainty and hope.
The voice that spoke was neither Jason’s nor Roy’s, but still didn’t pull either of their attention.
“Why don’t we go check on the new kids, yeah?”
From the edge of his vision, Jason could see Garth stand up from his seat between Donna and Kori, rubbing the back of his neck.
A chorus of “yeah”’s and “okay”’s came from around the room.
As a few walked by, they snuck a glance at Jason, still frozen in place with a million thoughts all gone out his brain. When Kori floated by, she gently touched his shoulder but kept going.
Roy only looked away as Donna stood up next to him and whispered to him.
Something white hot and dangerous built up in Jason’s stomach, but he was cut off by his brother’s firm grasp on his shoulder.
Jason only side-eyed him while he stood there.
“I-” Dick faltered. He took a deep breath, looking back as Donna walked up the steps and to the other side of him. “We’ll talk later.”
Jason managed a low growl in response, not turning back to the remaining Titan after the two shut the doors.
He squared his shoulders even as his heart started to catch up to his brain and hammered away in his chest again. Still staring at the space where his brother had been standing, Jason turned his body in that direction and held his head up. He knew it was a defense mechanism—appearing in control so his emotions didn’t get the best of him.
The problem was Roy knew it was a defense mechanism, too. And despite everything—everything—he wasn’t going to fall for it.
“Jason, don’t-”
“How long?” Jason cut him off, walking towards the opposite counter and leaning forward onto it, squeezing his eyes shut.
Roy didn’t ask for clarification, he’d always known what Jason meant.
“Like,” he hummed, “a few weeks? But I haven’t been here-”
“A few weeks?!” Jason yelled, slamming his fists on the countertop.
“Jason, please, just listen to me.” Roy cleared the stairs in one step and walked towards him. “Shit happened and-”
“And what? You just…” Jason huffed, turning sharply towards the shorter man. Roy was closer than he’d thought, and Jason realized he’d forgotten just how near his mouth was to his own.
He shook the thoughts from head. “You came back from the dead and didn’t think to call me? Me?” Jason scoffed. “Or- or Donna? Or even fucking Ollie?”
Turning on his heel and facing away from Roy, Jason bit his bottom lip and tasted blood.
“I was going to- or, well, I thought about it, but-”
“But?” Jason turned again, glaring at him. He wasn’t used to getting mad at Roy. Frustrated and annoyed? That used to happen a lot. Jason wasn’t entirely sure where all the rage was coming from, but he didn’t have any plans of quelling it.
“Am I a fucking joke to you? You came back from the dead and you thought about calling the guy who crawled his way out of his own grave?!”
Roy dropped his gaze. His face was a lot closer now, even though he hadn’t moved. Jason didn’t mean to get all up in his space, but his brain wasn’t processing past the anger.
“Jaybird, just hear-”
“No,” Jason let out a sound that was meant to be an angry chuckle, but sounded more like he was choking. “No, you don’t get to call me that right now, not after you just ‘thought’ about-”
“Jason!”
He froze as Roy’s hands slammed down on his shoulders near the base of his neck. His grip was strong, familiar, but not meant to hurt, just to be firm.
If it had been anyone else, Jason probably would have shot them. Instead, he locked eyes with his former teammate—partner, friend, something else—and took in the desperate, yet serious look there.
“Just listen to me, please,” He sounded tired. It was a tone Jason knew well, and one that he realized he missed more than he’d like to admit.
He didn’t say anything in response, only continued to glare and wait for Roy to continue.
Roy sighed, dropping his gaze for a second, but not loosening his grip on Jason’s shoulders, as if he were the only thing keeping him standing.
“I didn’t call, and that’s on me. I should have, I know, but…” he trailed off, eyes shifting away.
His head dipped lower. Jason knew that look, and he’d always hated it. Shame wasn’t something befitting for Roy Harper.
“But I needed to figure out myself first.”
“You just didn’t tell anyone-”
“Shh.” Roy’s head shot up as he moved one of his hands to place a finger on Jason’s lips.
Roy or not, Jason’s hand flinched near his holster.
He gave Jason a knowing, sly look. If it had been before he’d died, he would have taken it as a challenge, but it didn’t seem appropriate given the rage still threatening to boil over.
Roy dropped his hand back to his shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze. Jason’s heart tightened.
“I ended up not… having the time,” he whispered.
Slowly, he looked back up into Jason’s eyes. Jason was still trying to be tough, but when Roy’s face fell and audibly bit back a sob, he figured the anger and indifference had faded away.
“Fuck, Jay- Jason, shit just hit the fucking fan,” he laughed weakly, then cleared his throat. “Uh, you know of Black Lanterns, right?”
Jason took a beat before answering. “The zombified versions of Lanterns who end up being super fucked up? Yeah, I’m familiar,” He tried to put his indifferent face back on, but it became harder as Roy’s thumbs started to rub circles into his collarbone.
“More or less, yeah,” he swallowed. His eyes shifted back and forth, searching for some sort of understanding in Jason’s face. “Uh, turns out that’s what brought me back.”
“A Black Lantern? During the multiverse war-”
“I mean, yes, then, but after…” Roy’s eyes flickered dark. “I was a Black Lantern.”
Jason didn’t respond.
“I know, it’s fucked up and awful, but there was nothing I could do about it, Jay.”
He stood there dumbfounded, listening as Roy recounted getting the ring, figuring out its power, trying out a new name.
“Black Arrow? Really?”
“Okay, shut up, actually,” Roy glared at him, but there was no malice there.
It was getting harder for Jason to keep up the anger the longer Roy talked, keeping him there with hands that continuously eased up but kept massaging his shoulders.
Jason wasn’t sure if he was doing it to calm him down or to keep himself grounded—or a little bit of both. He didn’t plan on stopping him either way.
Roy told him about being shown visions, getting lost in space, meeting up with the JSA, the Flash, Darkseid claiming him as his personal Black Lantern.
“But Obsidian helped me break free,” he breathed a sigh of relief. “And then the ring was gone and I was still alive.”
Roy’s hands stopped moving as he searched for some sort of reaction in Jason’s eyes.
Several thoughts and questions crossed his mind, and he wasn’t sure where to start, but it dawned on him that Roy was there, staring up at him and very much alive, close enough to hold and never let go.
“So, you’re not going by Black Arrow, then?”
Roy’s entire body relaxed as his crooked smile spread across his face and he tilted his head to the side.
“Don’t be an asshole, Jaybird.”
“It’s the only setting I have, sorry,” Jason felt himself start to smirk in return.
He didn’t think he’d ever admit it, but he’d missed Roy’s smile and Roy’s face and Roy’s everything, even if it was just as his partner in not-crime.
“I think you’re full of shit,” his smile grew, hands sliding from his shoulders to cup his face. “You wouldn’t have flown across the country for Dick if that were the case.”
Jason went to pull away, but Roy stepped in closer, keeping contact.
“Turns out I didn’t fly across the country for him, Harper.”
Roy raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So you knew I was alive the entire time and just chose to be mean?”
As Jason’s smile faded, Roy pulled him in closer.
“Wait, hey, I didn’t mean that, Jaybird,” the words rushed out as he pushed a strand of white curly hair out of Jason’s eyes. “You don’t owe me anything, but seriously, why did you come all this way?”
“I-” he cut himself off. It seemed silly now that his closest friend was standing in front of him, but once the pieces of Roy’s story fell into place, Jason decided to go on. “I’ve been having this feeling someone… someone needed me. So much so that it hurt,” he blinked away the sting in his eyes. “I don’t think I ever could have guessed it was you.”
“Jason-”
His words were silenced as Jason kissed him hard. He grabbed onto Roy’s hips as the other man slid his fingers into his curls.
When they pulled away, Jason could feel the tears burning his eyes, but hadn’t realized any had fallen until Roy gently wiped them away.
“You really did miss me, huh?”
Jason scoffed. “More like I could tell you were doing something stupid, you moron.”
Roy smiled and leaned forward to give him another quick kiss.
“So, what is it exactly you need help with?”
The playfulness in Roy’s face dropped into something serious and fierce.
“The visions the Ring showed me…” he turned away, staring out the wall of windows looking over the bay. “Lian’s alive, and I’m going to find her.”
Jason straightened up as well, then took Roy’s hand in his. “Sounds like we’re going to find her.”
Roy looked back up at him and squeezed his hand. “We are.”