"Jay! It's Slade! he pu-"

The next thing Jason heard was an explosion so loud that he dropped his phone in shock, quickly diving to grab it again. "Rory? Rory!?" The line was dead, and he looked to the other people in the cave who were giving him a confused look.

"Jason, what happened?" Bruce asked. 

Before Jason could answer, Stephanie ran in looking frantic. "Turn on the news!" she screamed.

Tim, Dick, and Damian looked a little taken back at her volume before Bruce changed the monitor to the Gotham News, their jaws dropping at what they saw on the screen.

"Breaking News! An old abandoned warehouse was just recently blown up, sources say that no one had used it in a long time and it was long thought forgotten. Authorities are still unsure of what caused this explosion, and it is unknown if there are any casualties."

Tim stared at the screen before he shared a look with Jason. The two of them recognized that warehouse, it was the bigger safe house they knew about that belonged to Oliver. "Jay, what did Rory say on the phone?" he asked, scared of his answer.

"Not much, she was cut off by what sounded like an explosion," he said, still staring at the screen as firetrucks arrived on the scene. Before anyone could say another word, Tim and Jason were suited up and on their bikes driving out of the cave into the night.

"Tim, Jason, we'll meet you two there. Rory's tracker says that she is still there, so I am willing to bet Jesse and Roy are as well. Be careful, we don't know what caused this."  Bruce said through he comm.

Both Red Robin and Red Hood gave a hum of agreement, as they kept driving listening to the police scanner hoping the heard some kind of good news. The safe house was on the other side of the city, so it had taken them almost fifteen minutes to get there and they were speeding as fast as they could. Both of them had people important to them missing in the explosion, and they were hoping that they didn't find their dead bodies crushed.

When Red Robin pulled up, he nearly threw himself off the bike. The sigh in front of him was devastating, the entire warehouse was leveled with ash flying everywhere. He was saying silent prayers, hoping that Rory was not caught in all of this. She had almost once already this month, he wasn't ready for a second time.

The fire had been put out, and firefighters were searching through the wreckage trying to see if there was anyone giving a hint to what had sent it up in flames. As he walked, Tim recognized different things like the decorations Oliver had hidden there. Lucky for them, all the weapons and other items similar to that were stashed in a secret bunker. There was no way in hell that got blown up.

He heard a crunch under his foot and saw that it was a white arrow, stained with week-old blood. Red Robin eyed it carefully, what was one of Rory's old arrows doing here covered in blood? Looking at the floor, something else had caught his attention. Bending down, he brushed more rubble away and saw compromising pictures of him and Rory the night they spent away from the manor. 

Seeing these made his blood boil, hoping that she had never seen these not wanting to know how she reacted. He also noticed that there were pictures of Roy and Jesse in just as compromising positions. With a cry of anger, his fist hit the ground. Whoever took these, knew who they all were.

Red Hood had heard his cry and walked over. "What's wrong Red, did you find something?" he asked.

Without a word, he held up the few photos that were not ruined and showed him, Red Hood letting out a string of colorful curses. "Holy fuck, who the hell took these?"

"I have no idea, but I also found this." he held up the arrow and showed it to him. Red Hood pocketed the photos and took the arrow, twirling it in his fingers. 

"This is definitely her's but where's the blood from?" 

Red Robin shook his head, eyes scanning around the area once more for a sign of movement. It was dead quiet, and it shot fear through his heart. Any idiot could have figured out that it was most likely Slade who had done this, in another attempt to kill Rory and it would explain the arrow but what the hell was up with the photos?

There was a groan from behind Red Hood and the two of them quickly turned and ran over to see a figure moving in the rubble. As they got closer, the two of them realized that they had found Roy. Red Robin and Red Hood were able to tell from his bright red hair that was slightly ashen now.

"Roy, what the hell happened here?" Red Hood asked, helping his friend up.

Roy struggled to his feet, trying to shake the headache away. He must have hit the ground harder than her thought when the building blew. "We were working with Rory on her training when it turned into this huge thing. To cheer her up, I decided that we all would go out for lunch and she left to get changed. I realized that it took her a long time, and when I found her she was holding a package." 

"Let me guess, it held three bloodstained arrows and a set of various pictures?" Red Robin snapped, crossing his arms. 

"I'm guessing you saw them?" he asked. Both Red Robin and Red Hood nodded. "Well, when we saw the arrows and the photos we all knew something was up. The final photo was of the family she killed and on the back was a note. Not really cryptic, but not exactly plain English either. It talked about her greatest achievement and failure and wanting to remind her of it. Then it said something about a drain and that's when we went searching. Rory found the bomb in the kitchen, Jesse and I were on our way up when the building blew." Roy finished the story and looked around, his eyes widening at the fact that neither Rory nor Jesse had been found yet.

"Did you guys find them yet?" he asked quickly. The two of them shook their heads, hearing the Batmobile pull in with Nightwing right behind him.

Batman flew out of the car with Robin right behind him. "Anything?" he asked.

"We have some evidence, but we have yet to find Rory and Jesse." Red Hood said.

Batman nodded, "We'll keep looking. Robin, help Roy to the ambulance so he can get the care he needs." At his words, Robin nodded and carefully supported Roy as he led him the ambulance, the rest of them continuing the search for Rory and Jesse.

It had been another twenty minutes before Red Robin caught a glimpse of a familiar mop of brown hair hidden among the rubble. Quickly he ran over and grabbed the concrete slab and began to lift it upwards.  Getting it high enough, he could see clear as day that it was Rory underneath.

"Hood! Nightwing! I found her!" he called. The two of them looked and rushed over before Tim dropped the slab and pushed it off her. Red Robin fell to his knees and scooped her limp form into his arms as he checked her over, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that she was still breathing.

Brushing her hair out of her face, he tried to keep his tears at bay. "Come on, Songbird wake up." Rory remained unresponsive, her body battered and bruised from the building falling on her. Carefully he checked her over to see if anything was broken or cut open, but they seemed to have gotten lucky for the first time. Rory needed no immediate attention, there was a good chance she had a concussion but that was treatable with sleep and relaxation. 

Carefully, he held her tight in his arms as he walked over towards where Roy was sat before setting her down there. Aurora Queen was publicly dating Tim Drake, no matter how much it killed him to leave her with Roy he couldn't be there for her at the moment. If Red Robin was seen doting on her, people would begin to ask questions. Questions, he didn't want to be asked.

The search continued for Jesse, but he was nowhere in sight. According to Roy, he was right in front of him when the building blew up so by default he should be close to where they found Roy originally but there was nothing to be found. The firefighters had determined the cause, it was a pipe bomb attached to the pipes under the kitchen sink, again as Roy had said.

While the others searched, Red Robin walked back over to where he found the photos and arrows. He rummaged through the ash and debris to try and find every last photo those three had gotten, hoping that at least one of them would give a clue. 

A good chunk of them was burned beyond repair, but most of them had survived along with the rest of the arrows from the box. He picked them all up and stored them in the compartment on his bike before walking over to Batman.

"There is no sign of Jesse Bats, what do we do?" he asked. 

"Look around, what do you see?" Batman asked.

Red Robin took a look around. "I see the wreckage of a blown-up building."

"Look deeper than that, some of this stuff when we got here was already upturned. You said that you had found Roy quickly because he woke up and moved right? Well, what about his surroundings?"

Red Robin turned around and looked at the area they had found Roy, Batman was right. A good amount of the rubble had been shifted, he could tell because the ash pattern on the rubble was different and thicker in weird spots. He squinted his eyes, and could vaguely make out a partial set of footprints there. Roy had landed a few feet away, and they had found where Rory was so did that mean Jesse had landed here?

"Jesse was here, but now he's not. Why?" he asked, standing straight.

"That's what I am trying to figure out."

Red Robin took another look around whoever had taken Jesse, his bet was on Slade, had to have left them a clue. With the assumption that it was Slade, there had to be something. His intention was to kill Rory, but yet Jesse was the one missing and not here. What kind of game was he playing with them this time?

"Take Rory back to the cave, Roy too. Robin, Nightwing, and I will keep looking around." Batman ordered. "Red Hood, go with them. Tell the others that I'm going to need their assistance if my assumption is right."

Both Red Robin and Red Hood nodded and walked over to the ambulance where Roy was supporting Rory as she slowly woke from her sleep. Lifting her head, she saw the two vigilantes walking towards them. Even though he wore his mask, Rory could see the relief wash over his face seeing that she was awake not injured.

"Hey Red, how is everything?" she asked. 

"Glad to see you're okay Miss Queen, let's get you home." He gently picked her up off the back of the ambulance and carried her to his bike and grabbed the spare helmet, sliding it down onto Rory's head and climbed on in front of her. "Hold on tight." 

Rory wrapped her arms around his waist as he took off towards the cave. It was weird hearing him address her so formally, but she understood why. If there was anyone around trying to report on the incident, then the two of them had to make sure that they did not look like they knew each other.

She tightened her grip around his waist, wanting to give him some physical sign that she was okay. Tim slid a hand down to grip hers softly, unable to do much else as he drove. Pulling into the cave, Steph and Cass were ready to go giving them a wave as the two of them drove out to meet up with Bruce and the others.

Parking his bike, he swung his leg over and got off before getting the helmet off of Rory's head. Once it was off, she flinched from the sudden exposure to the fluorescent lights that decorated the cave. Like Tim had thought, Rory must have hit her head.

"Here, keep your eyes closed and I can carry you upstairs sweetheart." He pulled the cowl off his head and draped his cape over hers, to block out the light as he carried her up. 

"How are Roy and Jesse?" she asked. Tim kept her close to his chest, as he carried her up the steps to her room. "Let's get you taken care of and then we can talk about all of that okay?" 

He had a bunch of questions himself, more importantly about those pictures he had found. They unnerved him, he could only imagine how it had made Rory feel. From the sudden timidness of her actions, he could see that she was bothered by something for sure. Tim pushed open her door with his foot and turned on the low light lamp so they could see and it wasn't too much light hurting her head. 

Setting her on the bed, he knelt before her and looked at Rory as she reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. "You okay Timmy?" she asked softly.

He let out a soft chuckle and gripped her hand, kissing her palm. "You're the one that just got blown up and you are asking if I'm okay? I found you buried under concrete, shouldn't I be asking if you are okay?" 

"I've been through worse Dragon Boy." 

Tim let out a sigh. "Yeah, I know. I've seen it, can we go a couple of months without you almost dying, please? I don't think my heart can handle seeing you like that anymore." his voice cracked at the end of his sentence, alerting Rory to just how upset he was.

Carefully, Rory lowered herself off the bed and straddled his lap as she cupped his face with both of her hands. Tim kept his eyes closed, not wanting her to see the tears he was fighting back. Hearing Jason's end of the conversation and then seeing the aftermath of the explosion on TV and personally had taken its toll on him. He had come so close to losing her once again, and of course, he wasn't there to protect her like last time and the time before that.

"Tim, baby, look at me please?" she asked. 

It took some convincing, but he finally opened his eyes and looked at her. They were a bright blue from Tim trying to hold back his tears that she could see trying to break free. Slowly, she pressed her lips to his forehead. "I'm okay, and I'm right here," she whispered.

He pulled her close as Tim buried his face in her shoulder and his hands gripped the back of her shirt. "Stop telling me you're okay Rory, please." he sniffed, the tears falling from his eyes and landing on her shoulder. Rory was taken back at his words, why would he say something like that to her?

"But Tim, I am just fine." 

"I saw those pictures and the arrows. There is no way in hell you are okay after that, fuck I'm not okay after seeing them." He pulled away from her shoulder to look at her, and like he expected the second he mentioned the pictures she clammed up.

"It's okay to not be okay." he brushed the hair back from her eyes, trying to get some sense of emotion from her. Rory's eyes avoided his gaze knowing full well that if she looked at him again she would break. Even then, the burning emotions she had been suppressing the whole time started to bubble to the surface. Rory was feeling a lot of things, rage, hatred, repulsed, violated but most of all she felt hopeless. 

Was this nightmare ever going to end?

"Rory say something."

"You want me to say something? Fine, I want to know whoever took those pictures of us are so I can make them feel the same things I am right now. I've been through some serious shit, but this? This is the worst. I've been beaten, blown up, tortured, stabbed, shot, and almost killed more times than I can count but someone taking pictures of us like this is a different kind of pain." she said, trying to hold back the tears. 

Tim sat there, holding her as she spoke. Rory was right, this was different than physical pain. Someone had taken those pictures and used them to mock her, and him with the intention of hurting them. "You're right, this is different but it's part of my job as your boyfriend to make sure that you are taken care of. I can't do that if you shut me out Songbird, you don't have to be alone in this."

"I will always be here for you, never forget that." 

Rory swallowed as the tears fell from her eyes, Tim reaching up to brush them away. "I love you more than life itself, and I'm not going to leave you." 

She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes feeling the warmth from his skin on her cheek. Tim was always good at comforting her, she always felt the safest when she was with him out on the field or not. Rory trusted Tim with her heart, life, and soul; he was the only one who got to see the deepest parts of her that no one else could. 

"Promise?" she asked, softly.

Tim gave her a smile and pecked her lips. "How could I leave? You own my heart, Aurora Queen. If you ever left me, it would go with you." 

"And you own mine," she whispered, kissing him deeply. Tim's hands found the back of her shirt, as she kissed him with all she had. His hand trailed down to her hips gripping them tightly as he presses himself against her, carefully lifting her back onto the bed placing her on the soft purple sheets.

Her hair spread across her pillows as Tim wound his fingers in her dark locks, pulling her impossibly closer into him. Rory's hand gripped the collar of his suit, trying to pull it off of him wanting to feel the warmth of his body on hers. She felt the familiar ache, the echoes of the want she had for Tim as he pushed her shirt up, exposing her stomach.

He broke from the kiss long enough to get her shirt off, before his lips were back on hers devouring them into a kiss so deep she let out airy moans. 

"You're so beautiful, I love every little thing about you," he muttered. 

"Your eyes, nose, cheeks." he pressed light kisses to each part he named, long enough to satisfy but not fully as his hands worked on sliding her leggings off her body, ghosting his fingers against her delicate skin.

Rory's body shuddered under his touch, her eyes fluttering open to look at him as he kissed lower. "I love your jaw, your throat, and the cute sounds you make as I bite the right spot." Doing just that, Rory let out a gasp, gripping his hair tightly. 

"I love your collar, shoulders and the scars that decorate your skin." she watched as Tim kissed each scar on her chest and upper body, sending tingles of electricity through her body making her desire for him only grow.

"I love your stomach, and the swell of your hips." The kisses he placed there made Rory whimper softly, wanting Tim to touch her further. His hands slid down her thighs and gripped them tightly as he placed kisses on them, leading a trail upwards.

"But, most of all I love your lips." It was then he kissed her fully, Rory a soft whimpering mess under him as he slid himself out of his suit. She ran her hands down his bare back as she dug her nails into his skin, making Tim shiver under her touch.

"I love you Aurora Queen, and as long as I live and breathe I will be with you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SOFT SOFT SOFT SOFT. I was literally squealing while writing this last bit between them, Tory is too precious for words. But a few questions for everyone first.

At this point in time, The Archer has two endings. I'm not saying what they are until the time comes but I was debating on letting you all vote on which ending you wanted. (Again, this will make more sense once I get there. I still have a few points I need to write out before that happens.)

Second question, would anyone be possibly interested in a sequel to this? I have a few ideas floating around in my head that I could turn into a story but it would be after I finish up Afterglow first. (Maybe)

Anyway, hope you guys all have a good day!

Until Next Time,