Disclaimer: These characters belong to DC I make no money off of them. Please 
don't sue. 

Archiving: Those who have archived the Friends series have my permission. Just 
let me know who you are.=) 

Author's Notes: 

1. This is, according to Syl, to be considered future cannon in the Friends 
universe. To quote Syl "it takes place out of the current continuity, but it's 
accepted future continuity." It takes place a few years after Friends 4. 

2. Just wanted to thank Syl for all her help. This story wouldn't even be half 
of what it is now! (You should see the orignal! *laugh*) So Thank you Syl! Oh 
and the Batman pjs? A homage to Syl's Dick Grayson, who loves his Superman 
pajamas. 

3. And last but not least: If you haven't read the Friends series by Syl Francis 
and Terri Hayes, find it. Now. Email me if you need a place that it's archived 
at. 

Friends 5: Asking
by Recceana Valourwynne (reccea@innocent.com)

***

Roy Harper slammed his foot into the gut of the opponent facing him. The man 
doubled over, his arms clutching at his stomach. 

“Yeah well don’t throw up on me,” Roy muttered as he snagged the knife out of 
his enemy’s boot and threw at another opponent. The knife sailed through the air 
and sliced through the next drug dealer’s jacket and into the floor beneath him. 
The force of the fall knocked the guy unconscious. Then Roy jumped up and swung 
his leg out, kicking one man in the face and elbowing the last guy in the 
temple. Okay, so Roy had picked up a few things from Nightwing.

Grinning Roy turned around to look at the six drug dealers in various state of 
consciousness strewn across the alleyway. His smile died quickly. Not one of the 
six dealers was conscious enough to talk. And certainly not conscious enough to 
be useful. Damn. This had to be a talent. It seemed like Roy was incapable of 
ever keeping anyone awake.

Roy folded his arms and stared at the drug dealers. Five of them lay 
unconscious, but the last one, Roy discovered, was only babbled incoherently. 
Roy walked over the babbling idiot. “So why don’t you tell me who your supplier 
is and I won’t be forced to see how many non vital areas I can find with my 
arrows?” Dark and scary always seemed to work for everyone in the super hero 
community. (Superman being the exception of course.) Maybe it would work for Roy 
as well. The idiot gaped at Roy and then started to bawl like a baby. Crap. 

“Or you could just tell me everything you know and I promise not to hurt you. At 
all. Please?” The idiot sobbed harder and it was all Roy could do not to scream 
in frustration. Even when he left people conscious, which was becoming 
increasingly rare, they still couldn’t answer any of his questions. They were 
too busy crying, or hyperventilating, or something equally not useful. 
There was a certain amount of defeat in his gaze. After all, Roy was probably 
the best marksman in the world. He could hit any target with any weapon at hand. 
But unlike Dick, he had maybe two detective bones in his body, and he made the 
problem worse by not even keeping the chickie mooks awake for questioning.

He pulled the knife out of the floor and set to work on tying the men up. He 
ignored the way the idiot began to hiccup when Roy tied him up.  He surveyed his 
handiwork with pride. Now all he had to do was sit and wait for one of them to 
wake up. Which, considering the severe beating Roy had handed out, it might be a 
while. 

He paced and leaned against the wall and rocked on his legs and considered lying 
down. This whole patience thing was not exactly in his repertoire. He crouched 
low to the ground, expertly twirling the knife into the ground, making tiny 
divots in erratic patterns along the crumpled pavement. And then he heard it. 
Roy’s years as a sidekick to a member of the JLA had ingrained in him the sound 
of a cape flying in the air. It was a faint whooshing type of noise and it was 
followed by the soft thump of feet landing on the roof. 

Roy spun around on his feet, the tip of the knife held by his thumb and index 
finger. Batman stood in the corner, his cape enclosing him in a sea of black. 
The only identifiable features that Roy could see were the white lenses covering 
his eyes and the grim set of Batman’s mouth. Roy thought Batman looked like a 
guy who’d just gotten back from a vacation in hell. “Hi,” Roy managed as he 
brought himself out of his defensive posture.

Batman stood in silence probably watching Roy behind his night vision lenses. 
Roy waited but Batman said nothing and didn’t move. Roy started to wonder if 
this Batman was just a statue that someone had set there to scare away 
criminals. Like the owls people put on roofs to keep the other birds away. But 
no, Roy had heard the swish of a cape, so the figure before him was probably the 
real Batman. “Okay.” Roy eased a smile onto his face. “Let’s try that again. Hi. 
Now you say ‘hi’ back. Okay?”

Batman moved swiftly past Roy and looked over the six drug dealers. “Were you 
going to leave any of them conscious enough to interrogate?”

This was really going to be one of those nights. “Look,” Roy put the knife in 
his hand into a small ankle holster. “I berate myself just fine. I don’t need 
any help from you.”

Batman paused for half a second, almost as if he was going to reply. But no 
Batman simply turned back to the men lying on  the roof. The direction of his 
head told Roy that Batman’s gaze was fixed on the babbling idiot. The idiot 
seemed to notice it too and actually stopped babbling. Batman approached the 
idiot, his careful measured steps echoing off the nearby taller buildings. The 
idiot swallowed noticeably in fear. And Roy understood the feeling completely. 
Batman probably gave Superman the creeps on occasion.

Batman picked the idiot off the ground and held him out over the edge of the 
roof. Batman had such nice ways of making people completely coherent. The idiot 
struggled uselessly against the ropes that bound his hands and feet. “Wh-what do 
you w-wa-want?” He stuttered out.

“I want you to tell me everything that this man wants to know.” Batman’s voice 
was cold and hard with an air of undeniable authority. Roy barely suppressed a 
shudder.

The idiot looked at Roy hopefully as if to say ask me questions so he’ll leave 
me alone! “Who’s your supplier?”

“Vincent Aames. He passes the stuff out on Third Street over by the car parts 
shop.” 

“Where does Aames get his supplies?” Batman interjected.

“I- I dunno! I swear. I just started dealing from Vinnie last week!” The idiot 
was starting to freak out. “Please, don’t kill me, Batman! I don’t know 
anything!”

Batman frowned. He leaned into the poor guy and stared him in the eyes. “I see.” 
The words were spoken softly but with enough threat to send the idiot another 
bout of shivers.

“Okay. I heard Vin’s been picking up some new stuff from one of the big dealers 
downtown. I dunno who. Vin’s not much of a talker y’know?”

“Oh, I’m sure he can be persuaded to sing given the right perspective,” Batman 
assured the idiot. The idiot eagerly nodded his agreement. Batman could give 
anyone the right perspective. 

Batman, obviously satisfied with the information he’d gotten, turned and dropped 
the idiot on the roof. The idiot passed out from relief before he even hit the 
ground. Roy frowned. “Well, thanks for the help. I’ll see you around.” Roy 
turned towards the door that opened into the building. 

“Oracle told me that you’re following a drug case. Something about poison?”

Roy shifted feet. To reply or not to reply? While Roy didn’t exactly want Big-
Dark-and Scary hanging around all-night he also wasn’t exactly going to look a 
gift horse in the mouth. “Well, sort of.”

Batman waited in silence. Roy sighed and resigned himself to explaining what he 
was working on. “I keep an eye on the drug situation. I don’t think I need to 
explain why. And I was beginning to notice a lot more ODs than normal. So I 
asked Oracle to check for me in hospital records and such. What I narrowed down 
was that the kids buying coke in and around the East Side of town keep dying 
from apparent overdoses. But nobody was doing any autopsies, so they were just 
*apparent* overdoses. Not necessarily OD’s. And what I’ve gotten it narrowed 
down to is someone’s selling bad stuff.”

Batman actually seemed to be listening. At least Roy figured he was paying 
attention by the ever-increasing frown on Bat’s face. “I knew that these guys 
worked the streets over on the East Side and a lot of the dead kids were coming 
from their selling pool. So I thought I’d work my way up.”

Batman nodded thoughtfully. “All right, let’s get to Third Street and have a 
‘talk’ with Vincent Aames.” Batman looked over at Roy as he headed to the edge 
of the roof again. “How did you get here?”

“Starfire Express.” Roy replied with a smirk. Just because his car was 
unavailable didn’t mean that Roy didn’t arrive in style. 

“I thought you had a car.” Batman said without preamble.

“It’s in the shop.” Roy answered. At Batman’s silence Roy continued on. “Lian 
used the windshield for target practice.”

Batman made a sound that suspiciously sounded like a laugh. And to add to Roy’s 
suspicion…there it was. A renegade smile. “Third Street isn’t that far away. Why 
don’t we take the rooftops?”

Crud. That meant Roy was going to have to go swinging about town on one of those 
batgrapple thingies. Batman pulled out said rooftop-traveling device and handed 
it to Roy. Roy accepted it without comment. Batman shot his off with an ease 
that certainly escaped Roy. Batman and Dick always acted like it was perfectly 
natural to go around with a pencil thin rope as the only thing keeping you from 
falling eight stories to pancakedom.

Roy shot his off and watched while it landed onto the roof across the way. And 
then, when fairly sure it was secured Roy leapt from the roof and tried not to 
scream.

They made it to Third Street in less than twenty minutes. Roy couldn’t have been 
more relieved when his feet landed on the ground. He saw a sharp hand gesture 
from Batman and slunk into the shadows with the older man. They stood in silence 
for a little while. Roy kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other; 
half to keep primed and half out of nervousness. Batman stood completely still, 
all marble statue except for the continuously moving eyes. It was freaky in a 
way that only Batman could attain. 

Roy finally took the initiative. “So um… why are you helping me?”

“You weren’t at your apartment.” Batman’s answer was immediate and blunt.

Roy glanced over at the older man. “Why were you at my apartment?”

Batman focused a full fifty- percent of his attention on the young man next to 
him. Dinah had demanded this of Bruce and for her sake he was planning on doing 
this in as painless a manner as possible. “I needed to talk to you.”

Roy’s eyebrows nearly shot into his hairline. Batman wanted to talk to *him*? 
This could not be good. Batman didn’t talk; he ordered. Which meant… “Dick’s 
okay right?” Roy blurted out. His mouth went racing off in the direction of his 
mind. “I mean he’s not dead or anything. Right? I saw him yesterday at 
headquarters and he was fine. In a good mood even! Muttered something about 
seeing Oracle which mean t he was soooo not going out on duty. So he’s perfectly 
okay. I know he is! Isn’t he?” The last question was uttered with a weak voice.

Batman made a sharp chopping motion, stopping Roy’s babbling. “Dick’s fine. I’m 
here because of Dinah.” Before Batman could continue, Roy—who’d always been 
quicker with his mouth than his brain—ran off with that half explanation.

“Dinah?” His voice was small, terrified even. “What happened to her? Is she 
okay? I mean…I know she isn’t always that responsible when she’s on duty. Hell, 
there’ve been times that she made Ollie look safe in comparison! But she’s never 
gotten herself into anything she couldn’t handle.”

“Nothing has happened to Dinah,” Batman cut in. Would Roy ever let him finish a 
damn sentence?

Roy leaned against the wall, mentally exhausted form the leaps of logic he’d 
just taken. “Then wha—hey that’s Aames!”

Batman glanced sharply over to the man Roy’d pointed out. He was well dressed, 
his blond hair slicked back. He wasn’t tall, probably not over five-foot nine 
inches but he carried himself with a sense of importance. From the tailored 
suit, and the well-made shoes Batman guessed that this Aames character wasn’t 
exactly bad at his job. Which gave Batman all the more reason to strike fear 
into Aames’ soul.

“You know him well.” It was not a question. Which seemed to be common with 
Batman. He didn’t ask; he knew. Batman was just prompting Roy to elaborate.

“Yeah.” Roy coughed slightly, his face flushed with embarrassment. “He was one 
of my main dealers way back when. From his clothes I’d say that he moved up in 
the ‘business’ world.”

“How well do you know him?”

“I don’t know where he lives or where he gets his stuff. If that’s what you 
mean.” Roy replied, pressing his fingers against his red domino mask. The 
sunglasses style of hiding his face was a little silly at night. And he was glad 
that he’d pulled the old domino out. Working with Batman felt like it required a 
mask; if only to partially hide his own reaction from the big black bat. “I also 
don’t know who his boss is. But I do know that he’s a man of patterns. He has a 
set way of doing things and an exact route day after day.”

“Then we might be able to follow him to the place that they manufacture the 
cocaine.” Batman’s voice held grim satisfaction. “If tonight’s the night he gets 
the drugs.”

“It is.” Roy nodded, his mouth set in a grim frown that mirrored Batman’s. “I 
know that the dealers start selling new stuff every Tuesday. Vin can’t afford to 
have that much cocaine lying around for long, so I’m gonna bet that he picks it 
up on Monday and meets the guys Tuesday at a regular meeting place. And since 
today’s Monday, we might just be in luck.”

“Unless he’s already gone.” Batman pointed out.

Roy gave Batman the cocky smile that he was known for. “But that’s why you’re 
here. If he hasn’t led us to the drugs then you can *make* him lead us.”

Batman nodded in silence back at Roy. He watched as Aames walked into a dingy 
office across the way. The once white shades in the windows were pulled 
preventing Batman from seeing inside the building. 

“Should we wait?” Roy asked.

Batman once again nodded.

“Okay.” Roy agreed. “So about what you were saying earlier…something about 
Dinah?”

Batman shifted his position slightly. Which he really didn’t have to, Roy knew 
that. Roy remembered Dick’s early frustrations with trying to hold the same 
position for a long length of time. In fact, if Dick was to be believed, Batman 
could spend a whole night without shifting his feet once. Which Roy figured was 
an over-exaggeration, but still the fact that Batman had so obviously shifted 
his feet had to indicate something! Was Batman… well, … uncomfortable? Roy 
dismissed the thought immediately. Nothing made Batman uncomfortable. Except for 
emotional expression. Roy smiled at his inner joke.

Batman felt uncomfortable. He’d never been good at the personal. Batman was the 
consummate professional. Most emotional ties went unacknowledged except for the 
barest of hints. But what Dinah was asking him –telling him- to do was indeed 
personal. An admittance of emotional ties. It wasn’t that Bruce didn’t love 
Dinah enough to do this for her. It was more that he wasn’t sure if he could do 
this at all. Besides, what exactly was he supposed to do if Roy said no?

Batman shrugged off his discomfort. He was, after all, Batman and he had long 
ago learned to stow away any emotions that interfered with his goals. Visually 
focusing on the window that gave him a clear view of Ames he addressed Roy. 
“Since you’re the closest thing that Dinah has to a son she…said that I needed 
your permission.” Batman allowed a moment for Roy to absorb that information, 
before he continued. “Roy may I have your permission to marry Dinah?”

Absolute silence followed what was probably the most unexpected question of 
Roy’s life.  Batman flicked his eyes away from Ames and onto Roy. Even if Roy 
said no, even if Dinah decided that he’d gone about this the wrong way, even if 
Dick laughed himself silly about this whole conversation Batman would still be 
glad he’d come to Roy. The expression on Roy’s face was just priceless. Slack-
jawed, with his eyebrows clearing his domino mask practically by inches, Roy was 
the image of shock. If only Bruce had thought to bring a camera.

“M-ma-marry Dinah?” If Roy had been drinking anything it would probably have 
been spit across the room by now. “I knew you guys were dating and hell it had 
to be serious. The fact that you too were even involved said you had to be 
serious about it at least! But marriage?”

A movement at the corner of his eyes drew Batman’s attention away from Roy. 
“He’s on the move.” Roy snapped his mouth shut. Had Batman even been listening? 
Or was he just waiting for the magic words of approval? Frankly what Roy had in 
mind went something more like this: ‘yes of course Mr. Flying Rodent, you may 
marry the woman who has stuck with me more than anyone else in my life. Even 
though I know that you’re a jerk when it comes to the people you love –Dick ring 
a bell for anyone? - I still think it’s an absolutely wonderful idea for you to 
whisk Dinah away into holy matrimony where she can rot in the angst pit known as 
the Bat family.’ 

Batman’s eyes followed Ames to his car, as he readied himself for pursuit. He’d 
felt Roy’s change in emotion. Shock had disappeared to be replaced by noticeable 
tension. It was resentment if Batman was reading him right. Roy was probably 
wondering how quickly Dinah would forget about him, or some low self-esteem 
induced idea. Batman made his preparations for travel a bit more obvious and 
soon Roy was mimicking Batman, as expected.

Ames started up his car and soon Batman and Arsenal were in close pursuit. Roy 
seemed to be getting more comfortable with rooftop to rooftop travel. Silence 
reigned because of the constant movement and their lack of nearness.  Ames car 
was traveling at leisurely paces down the streets. The 80’s new wave music that 
Roy could hear even through the cars closed windows and doors was really getting 
on his nerves. 

They came to a halt at a small warehouse on the East Side. Ames’ car had stopped 
outside of it as Batman had landed on the rooftop without a sound. Roy’s landing 
was slightly less balanced.  Batman reached a hand out and latched onto Roy’s 
shoulder to steady him. Stealth would have meant nothing if Roy’d fallen on his 
face on the metal grating for all to hear.

They watched as Ames sang in his car. He was aloud enough to be heard over the 
radio and through the doors. He didn’t sing well, at least not Depeche Mode. Roy 
cringed. “Do you have any batplugs?” He whispered to the dark knight. Batman 
glanced over at him but said nothing. “You know ear plugs that are black…and … 
batty… never mind.” Batman never did have a sense of humor.

Ames turned the radio up a little louder, managing to drown his voice out. Roy 
was ever so grateful. It certainly didn’t seem that Ames was planning on getting 
out of the car anytime soon. Especially considering the robotic hand motions he 
was doing as a sort of sitting dance to “Mr. Robot.” Roy never before realized 
what a dork Ames was. With his clothes and his attitude, Roy had pictured him 
more as a pretend rap hip-hop lover. Instead he was faced with a man who 
secretly embraced his inner white geek. 

“It’s ten to two. He’s probably waiting until the hour to go in.” Batman 
suggested, his voice gruff from either annoyance or withheld laughter. Roy was 
going with the laughter. “Perhaps he has a meeting time.”

“Or he’s really loving Eighties Friday night.” Roy cracked managing to only 
chuckle. “So we have ten minutes than?”

“Yes.”
 
Roy sighed to himself, it was probably better to get this over with now. Have 
the shit hit the fan before Ames went inside. “No.”

Batman was silent for a minute. A full minute. He knew what Roy meant, he knew 
that Roy wasn’t going to give him permission to marry Dinah. So he took a full 
minute to respond, a minute to tie down the anger that instantly bubbled within. 
Anger would accomplish nothing but perhaps alert everyone to their presence. 
Besides, he wanted to know Roy’s reasons before he allowed himself to be angry. 
“Why?”

“I’ve seen what you’ve done to your loved ones,” Roy explained. “I’m not going 
to agree-to approve of Dinah involving herself in that permanently.” Roy was 
still watching Ames, a ghost of a smile on his lips. There wasn’t a smile in his 
eyes, there was pain.

“What are you talking about?” Batman’s voice was cold, hard. It was the voice 
that made Roy fear him when he was younger. The voice that still made a little 
voice in Roy’s head scream ‘run while you can!’

“Give me a break,” Roy ran a hand through his hair. “I know Dick, okay? I’ve 
seen what all your *love and attention* have done for him. He used to try and be 
as perfect as possible just for a little praise for you. He still bends over 
backwards for just a little attention. And all you give him is criticism. I’ve 
seen it happen. He leads the Titans on some successful mission and when he comes 
back the only thing you do is tell him how he could have done better. You never 
asked if he was okay, you never told him you were worried about him. You never 
told him how great he was, or that you loved him. You’ve never told him anything 
that he wants-needs to hear. I know what it’s like; I’ve been there. Ollie did 
that same thing just with a different style.” 

Roy took a deep breath before continuing on. Batman made no move to interrupt 
him. “Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you’re Mr. Tough-love, or something. Maybe the way 
you show your feelings is through your tight assed over protective grim 
attitude. But it’s not enough. It isn’t.” 

Roy’s voice had stayed calm through the entire speech; he hadn’t raised it above 
the soft tones used during stake out. Knowing Roy’s temper Batman was slightly 
impressed. That, however, didn’t change his response. “And what does any of this 
have to do with Dinah?”

“Everything.” Roy turned his eyes away from the bat and back down to ‘Mr. 
Roboto.’ “Ollie wasn’t exactly great to Dinah. He was an ass. He cheated on her 
and hurt her more times than I can count. She never deserved a guy like that. 
She deserves someone who loves her enough to treat her like he loves her. She 
deserves *everything*. And if you can’t even give your son that how can you 
expect to be that way for your wife?”

Aames’s car door opened and Roy couldn’t conceal his surprise. He hadn’t even 
heard “Video Killed the Radio Star” end. Batman turned his attention away from 
Roy and back to the scum down below. Aames walked over to the door and stepped 
inside, effectively cutting off Batman’s view. Batman moved away from the edge 
of the roof and over to the skylight in the middle of the roof. Below him was a 
processing plant like any other. 

Then again there were a few distinctive characteristics. Unlike most processing 
plants, where in people made the drugs sloppily and without any thought to 
cleanliness, this warehouse was spotless. The six men and two women inside of it 
were dressed in lab coats and seemed to be taking their occupations rather 
seriously. 

Aames stepped inside and crossed over to a balding man standing in the center of 
the room. Batman pulled something out of his utility belt and pressed it against 
the glass of the skylight. He handed Roy what looked to be one half of a 
headphone. Roy watched as Batman placed his half next to his cowl covered ear. 
Roy copied the motion and secured the device in his ear. Sound filtered in and 
Roy heard Aames clearing his throat in time with the actual motion.

“How’s it coming?” Aames glanced over at a table covered in strewn papers.

The balding man sifting through those papers looked up. “The batch is weaker 
this time.”

“Good,” Aames replied, his eyes scanning the room. “The bosses weren’t too happy 
with the results from the last time.”

The balding man strode away from the table and over to a cupboard. He opened the 
doors, revealing large bags of cocaine on several shelves. “Too many died,” the 
man observed, picking out several bags.

“Way too many,” Aames answered, his attention focused on one of the women. “You 
don’t figure this out soon and the PD will be on to us. We can’t keep having 
this many kids dying. Somebody’s going to start suspecting something.”

The balding man stopped a few feet from Aames, a cross expression on his face. 
“This is science Vinnie, not a damn game. I need test subjects in order to get 
the dosage correct.”

“Well figure it out!” Aames snapped. “If you experiment for too much longer we 
won’t have anybody to experiment on!”

“The kids on the street are not important.” The balding man said in a slow, 
measured tone. As if he were explaining something to a small child. “ They can’t 
afford very much, no matter what they’re stealing or who from. That’s why we’re 
doing this. If I can perfect my recipe for finer synthetics than we’ll be making 
more money off of our wealthy clients than we never thought of. The children are 
just cattle waiting to be culled.”

Aames reached over and snatched the bags out of the man’s hands. “Fine. 
Whatever. See you next week.” Aames headed back towards the door. 

Roy heard a small click that sounded suspiciously like a tape recorder. He 
glanced over at Batman and he smiled that rare, chilling smile. Batman stood up 
quickly, his cape gathering around him as he slipped the headphones and tape 
recorder back into his utility belt. “I’ve recorded enough evidence for the 
police. Now why don’t we gift-wrap the scum? Don’t worry, this time you don’t 
have to keep them conscious.” 

“Funny,” Roy grimaced in return and pulled his bow off his back. Batman, as 
expected, crashed through the skylight dropping down upon the people. Roy shot 
off an arrow with a rope connected to it and used the rope to swing in behind 
the bat. The bald man stood in place, too shocked to say a word. Aames made a 
mad dash for the door while the five others screamed and ran for cover. 

Batman made himself Aames business while Roy grabbed the nearest coffee cup and 
hit the bald man in the head with it. “Idiot,” Roy muttered as he scouted out 
his next opponent. The young blond girl was skittering around, apparently trying 
to find a good hiding place. Roy grabbed a rubber band and snapped it at her. It 
landed right between her eyes and she cried out at the unexpected sharp pain. A 
man behind Roy started to run towards the door. Roy fired an arrow that went 
right through the man’s lab coat and imbedded itself in the wall. The man came 
to a sudden halt and Roy fired off several arrows in quick succession to secure 
the man to the wall. The girl, meanwhile, had bent her head down to rub the 
growing welt above her nose. Roy picked up a paper clip and sent it flying 
through the air to plunge into the wall just an inch from her nose. She gasped 
in shock and stood stock still for the second Roy needed to send the chain he’d 
broken off one of the cupboards careening in! to her legs. She dropped to the 
ground as the chain wound its way around her shins. And Roy looked around for 
his next target. 

Aames was trying to convince the door handle to turn for him when Batman 
appeared at his side. Batman’s black gloved hand darted out from behind the cape 
and latched onto Aames shoulder. Aames looked up at Batman and screamed like a 
girl. Batman blinked at the range Aames possessed and the slammed his fist into 
Aames’ face. Aames crumpled in a heap at Batman’s feet. Batman turned around, 
pulling his batarang from inside the cape and letting it fly across the room. It 
collided off the largest man’s head. Five down and two to go. Batman executed a 
quick back kick hitting the table behind him. It flew up and over to reveal a 
large woman scrambling to load a gun, her hands shaking with each movement. She 
didn’t even see his boot coming. Batman reached up and caught the batarang on 
its return. 

Roy finished off the last man, a small guy with thick glasses and hair that made 
him look like an electrocuted poodle. One flying pager at the right angle and 
the guy was merely a lump of frizzed curls and lab coat. Roy chuckled and looked 
over at Batman, who was already tying up the unconscious criminals. The 
adrenaline rush left Roy almost immediately. Batman was still here and Roy was 
still going to have to finish their conversation. “So what now?” He asked as he 
bent down and tied the girl’s hand to match her feet, with the rope Batman had 
thrown his way. 

“Oracle has alerted the cops. They should be here soon,” Batman informed him. 

“And after they come?” Roy went over the small, frizzy man and started tying. 
“What then?” 

“We go back to your apartment and continue our talk.” Batman replied. Roy nodded 
his agreement and they finished securing the criminals. 

The way back to Roy’s was silent, Batman was focusing on his rebuttal and Roy… 
was beginning to understand why Dick loved the night. Everything was different 
in the dark, the city was cloaked in shadow and if you didn’t look closely it 
appeared as if everything was just fine. And even swinging from rooftop to 
rooftop wasn’t as nauseating as it had been the first two times. It was still 
fear inspiring but at the same time it gave Roy a feeling akin to awe. To be so 
removed from the rest of the world, to be so above them. 

Roy slipped in his window, followed by Batman. Roy yawned and stretched his 
arms. He opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance. Batman was 
already across the room, holding Chanda, the baby-sitter, tightly by the arm. 
“Who are you?” Batman asked. Chanda looked like she was going to pee her pants. 

“She’s the baby-sitter.” Roy pulled money, quite a bit more than he’d originally 
intended from his wallet. Hopefully it was enough cash to convince Chanda to 
come back. Batman released Chanda’s hand and the girl rushed over, snatched the 
money out of Roy’s hands and left without closing the door. Roy shut the door 
and neither he nor Batman chose to comment. Instead Batman asked, “She knows 
your secret identity?” 

“Well,” Roy replied, “It’s not like it’s the best secret or anything. Besides 
that’s sort of Dinah’s fault. She hired her.” Roy walked into Lian’s bedroom to 
check on his little girl. She was sprawled in all her Batman pajama glory across 
the bed, her blankets lying in a puddle on the floor. Roy bent over and picked 
the blankets up. He looked up to see Batman staring at Lian’s black pajama top 
with the yellow and black bat emblem and her black bottoms covered in the same 
emblem. “Donna made them for her.” Roy explained with a sheepish smile. “She’s 
going through a Batman phase.” 

“She has much better taste than Dick ever did,” Batman commented. Roy covered 
his daughter back up and left her to her dreams. “Roy, I’d like to talk.” 

“Talk away.” Roy waved his hand in offering at Batman as he walked over to the 
fridge and pulled out a soda. “Want something to drink?” He turned around to 
find Batman, sans cowl, standing in the kitchen doorway. Roy barely managed to 
catch the soda can before it hit the floor. 

“You made valid points.” Bruce admitted, careful to not comment on Roy’s 
surprise. He’d decided to approach this in as open a way as possible. It was 
obvious he wasn’t going to get anywhere by ordering Roy around. This was 
important to Dinah and that made it important to Bruce. So he’d decided on the 
way to Roy’s apartment to face Roy as Bruce and not as the Bat. He just hoped 
that Roy would react better to Bruce. “Unfair but valid.” 

Roy sank onto the couch, marveling at the intelligent look on Bruce’s face. 
Every time he’d ever seen Batman out of costume he’d been in another costume as 
a vapid millionaire. Bruce sat down in the chair across from the couch and 
continued on. “You do know Dick. You know that our relationship isn’t always 
good. But Roy, sometimes it is. Dick is my son and things are hard between 
fathers and sons. I think you know that.” 

“Yeah,” Roy admitted, his voice a little on the hoarse side. “I have a little 
experience in that area.” 

“Not all of my problems with Dick are my fault,” Bruce explained. “Sometimes 
they’re his. He’s rebellious and anxious to prove himself to me. But that’s my 
relationship with Dick and it has nothing to do with my relationship to Dinah.” 

“That’s where you’re wrong.” Roy took a sip from his soda. “Every relationship 
you have affects every other-“
	
“Roy, let me talk.” Bruce interrupted sharply. He needed to fully explain before 
Roy started shooting his reasons down. “Dinah and I are adults. What we have is 
not a relationship strangled by time and old wounds. We’re honest with each 
other and on equal terms. I don’t take marriage lightly. I love her and I want 
to spend the rest of my life with her. It may not be the best life but if we’re 
in it together it will be the closest we can come to it. I want the best for 
Dinah and I won’t ever hurt her. You have my word.”

Roy was quiet for a long time, mulling over Bruce’s words. “Don’t make promises 
you can’t keep,” He admonished Bruce. “Dinah’s going to get hurt no matter what 
happens. Life is full of pain.”

“I know that Roy,” Bruce cut Roy off again. Roy stopped sheepishly. Bruce Wayne 
did know that life was full of pain, probably better than anyone else Roy knew. 

“Sorry,” Roy apologized. “But do me a favor. Promise me that when she does get 
hurt you’ll comfort her. Promise me that you’ll take care of her.”

“I promise.” Bruce answered with utter certainty.

“Okay.” Roy said with a nod. “You have my permission.”

“Thank you,” Bruce replied, the honest thanks actually apparent in his voice. 
Roy was stunned but warmed by it. “I assume she’ll want you at the wedding, but 
you’ll have to work out the details with her.”

Roy grinned, the idea of walking Dinah down the aisle…now that was appealing! 
“So, uh, welcome to the family.” Roy offered his hand to Bruce.

Bruce shook it firmly. “Same to you.

“I always wanted to be part of the bat-family.” The small grin widened 
dramatically. “Should I change my name? NightAresenal, BatArrow, something like 
that?”

“Ha-ha,” Bruce smirked, slipping the cowl back on as he stood.

“Well I’ll see you around, I guess.” Roy stood as well.

“Yes. You will.” Batman moved back over the window and climbed out on the sill. 
Roy followed him over and watched as he shot off his batgrapple.

Just as Batman swung off Roy shouted, “Bye dad!” Roy was sure he heard a grumble 
in response. 

***

El Fin