no rest for the wicked [jason todd]

thirty eight

ROY HARPER WAS FULLY CORRECT IN SAYING HIS DAUGHTER WAS AN ANGEL.

When Tye and Jason came over one night for dinner, Lian was absolutely the sweetest little girl. She made them both little friendship bracelets and absolutely swooned over painting Jason's nails after they ate at the table. "Daddy says that you guys are together," she said, sticking her tongue out slightly and painting red over Jason's thumbnail. "Are you guys gonna have a baby just like Daddy had me?"

Tye fell quiet immediately and glanced toward Jason, her eyes flickering from his face before they fell back down to his nails. "Maybe," she told Lian with a smile, "you wanna paint my nails after you're done with Jay's?"

"Uncle Jayjay," Lian said, leaning forward and clutching one of his hands, "is it okay if I paint her nails too? You're not gonna get jealous, are you?" She was still holding the brush and Tye could see Jason's eyes focus on it for a long moment. He reached to grab it before she could drop it and smiled toward her, shaking his head. "You paint Tye's nails and I'll go see if your dad's got any snacks around."

When Jason stood up and slipped out of the room, Lian turned straight toward Tye and grabbed her hand. "What colour d'ya want? You can't have red or black, that's what Uncle Jayjay and Daddy have." She reached for the soft green colour and her eyebrows raised slightly. "Is this one okay?"

"Yeah, that one's fine," Tye reassured her, nodding slightly. "Thank you, Lian, I'm gonna have to brag to everyone at work about your great nail-painting."

She had a steady hand for a kid and only messed up a couple times, all being easily fixable. When she had finished one hand, she glanced up with those round, curious eyes and nodded toward her. "Daddy says you work with Uncle Dickie," she told her, "you're takin' good care of him, right? I know Uncle Dickie has a super dangerous job an' you seem like you're super responsible."

The older girl nodded and smiled down. "Dick's my partner," she told her, "we take care of each other. We have each other's backs if things go wrong."

"Do things usually go wrong?" Lian asked softly.

Tye shook her head, despite it being horribly untrue. Her job was dangerous; homicide was dangerous to work with. If she told the girl she got shot at on the daily, she wouldn't exactly be showing her a good picture of police work. "We have things under control," she replied, "and if things get a little difficult, we call for help. There's never any harm in asking for help."

"...That's good," Lian said, lifting Tye's hand, "I messed up an' I need help."

Back in the kitchen, Jason was leaning against the counter, waiting for Roy who'd slipped out to go to the bathroom. When his friend returned, he dried his hands and muttered something about laundry before he glanced up at Jason, forest green eyes wide with surprise. "Left Tye with Lian?" He joked, grabbing a bottle of water from his fridge. "Gotta be honest, Jay, she's surprisingly good with kids."

"I know," Jason's voice came out a little too soft as he looked up toward Roy. "What if I'm not?"

His best friend punched him in the shoulder. "Shut up," he said, opening up the water bottle. "Lian loves you. You're awesome with kids, Jaybird, trust me. I know you, you've got a good heart. You'll be a great dad — and I'll be around if you need help. Swear on my life."

"I'm sorry I stopped talking to you for a while," Jason offered, patting the older man's back with an almost unreadable expression. Roy couldn't exactly tell which emotion hid in the depths of his eyes, but it was good. Something akin to nostalgia or love, remembrance. "It's not going to happen again, Harper. I swear on my life about that. I'm gonna need those Dad tips if I'm gonna survive long enough to make sure the kid doesn't get messed up by Grayson."

Roy tried to hide the laugh that spilled from his lips, turning away to cover his mouth. It isn't funny, he told himself, stop laughing. He's gonna kick your ass.

He couldn't stop, and Jason punched his arm with a little force behind it — suddenly Roy found himself laughing even harder, grabbing ahold of his best friend and holding him tightly in his arms. "I missed you, Jaybird, dork," he whispered when he was finally done laughing.
"You didn't have to be a nostalgic asshole about it."

"Shut up," Jason mumbled, and when he finally pulled away from the hug, it was to peer into a couple of cupboards. "Where d'you keep the snacks?"

The redhead snorted in amusement and pulled open another cupboard, tossing him a sleeve of Oreo's. "Here," he said, "I've gotta make sure Lian doesn't eat too many before bedtime. She's a pain to get to bed when she's got sugar in her system."

Jason burst into the living room with the cookies, moving over to where the girls had last been sitting, but now they were on the couch. Tye's head was leaned back, eyes closed while Lian cuddled into her side. Both of them seemed to be fast asleep at this point. "Okay," he offered to Roy, setting down the cookies, "rain check on the sweets."

"Yeah, you think?" Roy offered, reaching out for his little girl to pick her up in his arms. Her little head moved to rest against his chest, eyelids fluttering but never opening. "Call me tomorrow?"

"Definitely," he whispered, reaching for Tye's hand. He gently nudged her, and when he found she wasn't going to wake up, he lifted her into his arms and headed toward the door.
He barely managed to get it open but thankfully, Roy was there when he needed it shut. "Have a good night, Roytoy."

"You too," his friend said, "be safe, both of you."