Working With Red

We Bonded, Okay?

Updated: 2022.09.07

If you understand the reference, we can be more than friends. 

You were curled up on the sofa scrolling through your phone, and you couldn't help growing more nervous with every page you glanced over. 

There were too many local news articles popping up in your notifications, and every single one of them was in reference to your appearance as Tiger Lily in Star City. Most were accompanied by a photo of Tiger Lily and Red Arrow standing together, while one or two provided a fleeting video of the two of you turning heel and booking it out of sight, but not before it was made clear that it was, in fact, the two of you together. 

Oliver was going to kill you. There was no way he hadn't already heard about what had happened; you couldn't believe that whatever he and Dinah were doing was distracting enough to prevent him from catching wind of the incident. And, it wasn't just Oliver; as far as you were aware, though you were Green Arrow's active protege, you still didn't have permission from the Justice League to go out on your own. While you and Red Arrow may have just been out on an impromptu patrol, the League didn't know that. They may have assumed you were being irresponsible, or trying to handle something more serious on your own without Green Arrow's approval. 

What made matters worse was when you and Red Arrow had finally returned to the Arrowcave, Red Arrow had left again almost immediately, claiming he suddenly had something else to take care of and leaving no time to console you or guide you in how to handle your newly-obtained debut. You weren't sure what had happened or where he was going, but something about the shift in his expression told you that it didn't have anything to do with what had happened only moments before. 

You couldn't even stand to leave the Arrowcave until about thirty minutes after he'd left, taking all the time you felt you needed to calm yourself down. You had barely just gotten the hang of being a vigilante. You hadn't even considered the possibility of becoming a spectacle to the public. Hell, it was something you were subconsciously wholeheartedly trying to avoid, especially now that you still seemed to have little to no control of your metagenes. 

When you had finally gathered your composure enough to remove your suit with shaking hands, you decided it would be best to try and soothe yourself with a hot shower, and in a way, it did help. Allowing your body to soak up the water relaxed your tensing muscles, but even though you had found sanctuary in that moment of healing, it wasn't enough to prepare you for when you opened your phone to find a swarm of notifications.

You were scanning your way through yet another article when a noise from down the hall suddenly caught your attention. You glanced over your shoulder at the foyer, eyes flitting to the multiple doors and hallways to find the source of the sound. A second later, a crash came from the lounge, and you shot up from the sofa, grabbing the ACP you'd brought down from your room to clean. Someone was in the Arrowcave. 

Knowing that Oliver wouldn't be back until later, you suspected either Roy or Dinah. However, considering the nature of the sound, you weren't confident in the consensus.  

Raising the ACP out in front of you, you calmly hurried over to the lounge doors, peeking through the open space before stepping inside. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Everything was untouched, and the bookshelf was still in place. It only took you a few seconds to get the vault door open, but as you were creeping down the staircase, the sound of one of the metal tables being overturned caused you to jump. You immediately forced a hand over your mouth to muffle your surprised gasp. 

"Fuck. . ." 

"Roy?" You lowered the ACP to your side and stepped around the doorway to find the Archer in Red leaning against the underside of the metal table. The top half of his uniform had been removed, and he was clutching his ribs, his knuckles already slicked with the blood coming from his battered torso. You almost dropped the gun at the sight. What had he been doing in the past couple of hours to render him like this?