Rory opened her eyes and all she saw was white. Squinting from the bright color, she could see that it was a ceiling she was looking at and not the bright lights of heaven. That must mean that Slade didn't kill her as he had hoped to. She blinked multiple times, trying to ger her eyes adjusted to the fluorescent light in the room.
Looking around, Rory quickly noticed that she was in a hospital room and there were vases of daisies everywhere. There was an IV in her left arm pushing fluids into her body and a tube in her nose. With a groan of disgust, she took the plastic tubing off of her face deciding that she should leave the needle in her arm. The nurses could force one back in her and that was a fight for another day.
The white daisies that covered her room were gorgeous, and it made her smile. There was a groan to her left, looking in that direction Rory saw three people there asleep. The person sat closest to the door was Roy, from what it looked he had been asleep for a long time. Next to Roy was Oliver, his arm was wrapped around Roy as he leaned on his shoulder for support. Rory smiled at the fight of her family there together.
The third person was sat closest to her bed, and she noticed that he was holding her hand in his sleep. Tim Drake was passed out in his chair in a position that did not look comfortable. He had bags under his eyes and looked pale. Rory worried when the last time he slept and ate was and was going to kick his ass for it later.
She squeezed his hand softly, making Tim smile in his sleep and muttered her name. Rory decided that it was best she didn't wake him, Tim needed the sleep so she laid in the bed and watched him sleep as she traced circles on his hand with her thumb. It was about an hour after she woke that Roy finally stirred, waking Oliver in the process.
Roy's eyes met hers and he had to blink away the sleep to make sure what he was looking at was real. Rory gave him a smile and waved slightly, making him chuckle. Oliver rolled his eyes with a laugh.
"Nice to see you awake Twinkle Toes."
Rory rolled her eyes at his comment. "Debating on going back to sleep Harper, seeing your ugly mug might kill me." she grinned. Roy laughed at her comment, Oliver chuckling beside him.
"Good to see that you didn't lose your sense of humor, kiddo. How are you feeling?" Oliver asked, standing up so he could sit on the bed next to her legs.
"I feel like I was shishkebabed."
Oliver rolled his eyes. "You were, and you almost died. Tim barely got you here in time, what the hell gave you the idea to fight Slade Rory?" he asked, concerned laced in his tone.
"He was going to kill me either way Oli, I would rather go out on my terms and fight than die like a coward," she answered, her tone firm but her voice shakey.
"You scared the hell out of us Rory, why didn't you try to run?" Roy asked.
Rory looked away from them, she couldn't answer that question. It would have been sensible to run away and try to get to someone who could help her, but Slade was an assassin there was a good chance she wouldn't have lived if she had tried to run.
At her silence, Oliver let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you are alive and well."
"I wouldn't say well, she has a hole through the middle of her," Roy commented with a laugh. Oliver reached over and whacked him on the head.
"Nice Roy, totally appropriate for a hospital," he muttered and looked at Tim who was still asleep. "He hasn't left your side since you arrived, not even Alfred can get him to move. I'd say you have Tim wrapped around your finger kiddo."
Rory looked back at Tim and smiled fondly at his sleeping figure. She would rather see him like this than how she had seen him last; broken, worried, and on the verge of tears. The memory of seeing Tim like that hurt her, she never wanted to cause that look on his face as well.
Looking at their hands, she noticed that she was wearing the ring he gave her again. Rory remembered taking it off before they left for patrol that night, but he must have brought it and put it back on her. Tim was such a sappy romantic, it was something she loved about him. It didn't matter how sappy it was, he would do it because he knew that it would make her happy.
"Yeah, I guess I do," she replied.
"Well, since you're awake the two of us are going to get food and alert the others. Think you'll be alright without us here?" he asked, as he pulled Roy to his feet as he was already dialing a number on his phone, no doubt it was Jesse.
Rory gave him a nod, "Yeah, I'll be okay Oli. Go get something to eat." she smiled.
Oliver nodded and left with Roy and shut the door. No sooner was the door shut, did she feel Tim squeeze her hand tighter. Looking over, she saw his blue eyes staring back at her with a small smile on his face. "Wrapped around your finger huh?"
Rory blushed and rolled her eyes. "How long were you awake?" she asked.
"When I heard them talking, I decided it wasn't the time to interrupt. Besides, they wouldn't have left so I could do this."
Rory looked at him confused before she felt his lips on hers. Tim's free hand cupped her face softly, brushing the loose hair out of her face as her skin tingled at his touch. Rory cupped his jaw as she held him close to her, tracing his jawline with her forefinger, making him shiver under her touch. Tim would have kissed her longer if Rory's heart rate didn't pick up and almost make the matching go off.
He pulled away with a slight chuckle and smiled down at her, holding her hand still. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Rory nodded, not taking her eyes off of him. Tim's eyes were a darker blue than they used to be, but could that be from the lack of sleep or the lack or his general worry? She didn't know, but what she did know was that the more he looked at her, the brighter they became. Carefully she leaned up and pecked his lips once more.
"I'm okay Timmy, thanks to you," she said softly, watching as he pulled the chair closer so he could be closer to her.
"Rory, you could have died because of me. I wasn't there to protect you like I promised, instead, I went to go get food and left you alone." he sighed, bringing her hand up to kiss it softly.
"Tim, none of this was your fault. Just because you left me alone did not mean that I was vulnerable, I did that to myself. I let my emotion cloud my judgment and I flubbed my attacks and he got the best of me. It was his fault I almost died, not mine, not yours, his and his alone." she explained.
Tim let out a sigh. "You have no idea how scared I was, I thought I lost you, Rory. Your skin was so pale and you looked lifeless in my arms as I carried you. I was covered in your blood, you had lost so much of it. Hell, you had Jason and Damian scared and those two are some of the most fearless people I know. I'm not letting you out of my sight again Aurora Queen, you are stuck with me."
Rory watched him as he spoke, she could see the fear in his eyes as he recounted how scared he was and his hand began to shake slightly in hers. "We're partners Tim, nothing is going to take me away from you. Not Ivy, Harley, Penguin, Joker, Deathstroke, and whoever else wants me dead. We're going to fight together until the very end, and I'll be damned if someone takes me away from you."
"You are stuck with me for life Timothy Drake, so you better get used to me being around." she smiled.
Tim smiled softly at her words. "You make it sound like a bad thing, Songbird." he glanced back at the door before looking at her again. "How long do you think it will take the others to come and see you?"
Rory opened her mouth to speak but the door was swung open and in walked Jason, Steph, Roy, Jesse, and Dick all carrying bouquets of daisies and trying to push the others out of the way, wanting to be the first ones in the room to see her.
"Though she be but little, she is fierce!" Jason cried as he entered the room and placed the flowers on the bedside table, making everyone in the room roll their eyes at his antics.
"Seriously princess? A Midsummer's Night Dream?" she asked, raising a brow at him.
Jason flashed her a huge grin, leaning against the wall watching the others file in. "Oh but you missed me, Rory, admit it."
"How can I miss something if I was asleep?" she asked.
"Leave him be, Jason is letting out all the dramatics he stored up internally. None of us put up with his dramatic ass but you apparently so, be prepared for all the quotes that come with his royal highness the drama queen of Gotham City." Roy chuckled, making the others with him laugh.
"Please no, I need my ears and don't want them bleeding," Tim mumbled. No one heard it but Rory and Jason, Rory tried her hardest to keep her laughter in as Jason only glared daggers at him.
"Watch your back replacement, you never know when you might take a one way trip of Gotham Tower."
Steph pushed her way through all the boys and sat next to Tim who was engaged with an argument over whether or not Shakespeare was actually that good or just overhyped. "Missed having you around Rory, things got boring quick with Tim here all the time and the others working nonstop to find Slade."
"How long was I out Steph?" she asked, worried about the answer.
"About a week? Originally, the first day was from the surgery but the doc insisted that we keep you asleep for a while longer so you didn't risk ripping the stitches open and getting as much blood as they could back into you," she explained. "You had us all scared for a while there, no one was sure that you were going to make it out."
She had mumbled the last part, it was never easy admitting your fears to someone even if they were your best friend. Rory smiled at her friend softly. "Don't worry, it's going to take a lot more than a psychotic clown and an assassin to kill me." she chuckled softly.
The two girls tuned back into Jason and Tim's argument, watching with amusement as the two of them got heated and Jason put Tim in a headlock, holding him in place with a laugh and rubbed his knuckles into his hair roughly.
Rory caught a glimpse of Tim's face, it was a mixture of pain and embarrassment. She couldn't hold back her laughter seeing his face, quickly letting a cry of pain out and gripped her stomach. Immediately, everyone stopped and looked at her the room going silent.
Tim pulled himself out of Jason's hold and quickly walked over. "Everything okay Songbird?" he asked.
Rory gave him a nod. "Yeah, just laughed too hard and it hurt."
The door opened and in walked Bruce, with Oliver at his side. "Good to see you awake Rory. How are you feeling?"
"Your kids are idiots Bruce, they are going to make me laugh so hard I split my stitches," she said, leaning back into her pillows softly.
"Well, they had to learn it from somewhere Rory." Oliver grinned and bumped Bruce on the shoulder with a laugh, earning a small chuckle from Bruce. "Anyway, we need to talk about what happened that night."
"We need full details, Tim was only able to give us half of the information," Bruce added and sipped the drink in his hand.
Rory let out a sigh and dropped her head. "It's not going to make sense until I tell you the full story of what happened two years ago, what had started all of this."
Oliver, Roy, and Jesse all shared a look. They knew that it was a hard night for her to talk about, Rory almost never mentioned it but she was right. With the past coming back to haunt her, Bruce and the others needed to know the full details.
Tim gripped her hand softly and gave her an encouraging look. Not even he knew everything about that night, and his reaction was the one she was avoiding the most. "It started on the final day of July, the 31st. It was a hot and humid night with the Pacific winds coming in from the west."
"Come on Green! We're losing him!" she called. White Arrow ran across the rooftops trying to keep up with the masked villain. With White Arrow being younger and smaller, she was able to move faster than the Green Arrow. Jumping off, she landed on the man they were chasing and sent them both to the floor.
Rolling off her opponent, she landed on her knees and pulled out her bow and aimed an arrow at him.
The man was heavily armed, almost like he was military. The suit was a combination of orange and black and he was armed to the teeth. The interesting thing about him was that he was very precise, he never did anything without severe calculation.
Lucky for her, The White Arrow was trained the same.
The man stood up and eyed his opponent, it was just a simple girl. Who knew that The Green Arrow had taken on another protege? From the looks of her, she was still young no older than 20 but no younger than 18.
"Who are you and why are you in my city?" she demanded.
Deathstroke laughed. "Your city? If I recall, this city belonged to The Green Arrow."
"His jurisdiction falls to me as well, now answer my questions. Who are you and why are you here?" she demanded once again, tightening the grip on her bow.
"What are you going to fight me?" he asked, standing to meet his full height towering over the girl. He pulled his sword out of the sheath on his back and swung it in his hand.
"If that's what it takes, then I will," she said, rising to her feet her eyes not moving away and her bow still trained on him.
"White, do not engage this man alone!" Green Arrow said through his com. "I repeat, do not engage!"
White Arrow ignored him. "I have him in my sights Green, I'm not going to let him get away."
The man in front of her took off his helmet to reveal dark eyes that bore into hers with a large grin across his aged face. "You should really listen to your mentor, Oliver is right after all." He then launched himself at the girl, with his sword raised ready to strike her down.
White Arrow raised her bow and blocked his attack, and used her right leg to kick him back. The man had barely seen her leg in time before he jumped and flipped back away from her. Quickly she pulled out explosive arrows and fired them at the mysterious man, hoping to bring him down but he was too quick.
She decided to switch to her concussive arrows, and aimed in front of him only for the man to not be phased by them either. White Arrow was starting to get irritated, so she launched a tripwire and then fired multiple arrows at him as he ran across a rooftop. The man tripped on a wire and tumbled onto the next roof with White Arrow right behind him.
When he looked up, he saw her standing above him three arrows aimed right at him. "Little Aurora Sonnet, or should I say Queen now? You're a lot bigger than the last time I saw you." he grinned.
Her grip on her bow tightened. "Who the hell are you, and how do you know who I am?" she snapped.
The grin on his face only got bigger. "Because I'm the one who killed your parents."
Her eyes widened at his words before her gaze hardened. "You liar! Tell me the truth!" she snarled.
"It is the truth, Michael and Clara Sonnet were my targets. I was paid to kill them, so I blew up the building they were in. Of course, I knew you were there too, I watched as you found their lifeless bodies crushed under the rubble and as The Green Arrow and Black Canary comforted you and took you in. It was only a matter of time before you would follow in their footsteps and here you are. All grown up, and fighting crime."
White Arrow's heart quickened it's pace, hearing how this man killed her parents made her ears ring and her blood go cold as she remembered what it was like at that moment. To this day, it had remained as the worst day in her life and it was not one she would soon forget. White Arrow fell to her knees, her grip faltering, and the bow and arrows clattering to the floor.
What did her parents do that granted them to be murdered by an assassin? Where they even who she thought they were? Michael and Clara were Gothamites through and through and no one truly escaped from the dark clutches the city hung deep in your heart. Where Michael and Clara truly the good people she had thought them to be?
Slade got to his feet, taking the revelation the girl before him had. "You're wondering why I killed them aren't you?" he asked, circling the young girl. "I'll make it easy for you, Michael and Clara were assassins from the league. They had tried to leave, but no one every truly leaves the league."
White Arrow's head snapped up to look at him. "You're wrong! My parents were good people!"
"Your parents were cold-hearted assassins, how do you think they had gained such an amass of wealth? People just don't become wealthy overnight my dear, your parents killed for their fortune and tried to leave when you came around."
Her gaze followed him as he walked circles around her, White Arrow slowly tightening the grip on her bow.
"When the head of the league found out, she ordered them to be killed and hired me. Of course, they got wind of this and it's what made them move to the other side of the country to try and hide from me." He swung the blade in his hand and held it to her throat.
"But no one can hide from me."
White Arrow gritted her teeth and rolled away from the sword and kicked it out of his hand. What she hadn't noticed was that there was a family of three, cowering behind a duct. Slade ducked and rolled out of the way, as she began to fire more arrows.
She wasn't paying attention as the arrows flew from her bow, White Arrow was angry. Her whole life had been a lie, her parents only fueling it as she grew up. Nothing was what she had believed it to be, how often were those trips they took because of a mission for the league they had tried to get out of?
Her vision was clouded by her anger and confusion, and her actions were violent and were driven by deadly precision. This was no longer about stopping him from causing harm, it was about White Arrow getting revenge for the death of her parents.
Deathstroke had managed to get close to her and kicked her back, sending White Arrow flying across the rooftop and off the edge. Quickly she had caught the edge of the roof and swung herself back up, only to see that he was gone. But what was left in his place shattered her heart.
Laying in the middle of the roof was a family of three. Two parents and their little boy, dead with their lifeless gaze staring at the sky. Quickly she ran over and took the little boy in her arms, letting out a choked sob as she saw the white arrows stick out of their chests.
It was then Green Arrow had finally caught up with her, his eyes widening at the sight of his daughter crying over the three dead figures as they stained her white suit red with their blood.
As Rory finished the story, she couldn't hold back the tears that began to spill from her eyes. Tim's grip on her hand tightened, he was at a loss for words. What could he say to comfort her about this situation? Rory had killed a family of three because she was so angry and had lost herself in that moment and it had cost her.
But everything made more sense, why Slade wants her dead and why he was able to get under her skin so well. He was present for the moment she regrets most in her life and finding out your parents weren't who you thought them to be was enough cause to make anyone that angry.
The room was silent, aside from the occasional sniff from Rory. Tim leaned over and wiped the tears from her eyes as she looked at him. "How can you look at me like that, knowing what I did that night and what I've done since then?" she whispered.
"Rory, I know that's not you. I see you in a way that you can't see yourself. You are one of the kindest people I know, and I've watched how you changed this last year you've spent with us. Rory, you are the farthest thing from a monster and I will spend every waking second reminding you if I need to."
Bruce watched Tim as he spoke, a small smile spreading across his face. Maybe he wasn't such a bad father figure after all?
Jason was the next to respond. "Rory, take it from someone who has done worse for less. You are not a monster, if I can come back and these idiots still care for some unknown reason then you are not terrible." He ruffled her hair, as Rory tried to bat his hand away with a slight laugh.
"Thanks, princess," she muttered softly. Maybe things weren't as bad as she thought them to be, looking around she was surrounded by people who cared for her. Family, friends, lovers past and present. Looking to her left, Tim was still smiling softly at her, with that same loving look he always had.
It was then she realized how lucky she was, with Tim at her side she could get through anything life, or Slade could throw at her.
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So that is the full story of what had happened that night. What did you guys think? Was it worthy of all the wait? But we finally understand why she left the White Arrow persona behind, and what her history with Slade is like.
Hope you all have a great day!
Until Next Time,