"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.

Rory sat up in her bed quickly and looked around frantically. Her breathing was uneven and her mouth was dry, the usual side effect to her nightmares. It had been a year and a half since that night and Rory still had it ringing through her head when she slept. 

Running a hand through her loose hair, Rory got to her feet and slid into her slippers. She walked over to her bedpost and grabbed the robe that hung there for her. Wrapping herself in it, she began to feel her heart rate slow and relaxed into the soft fabric.

Letting out a shaky breath, Rory left her room and quietly made her way down to the kitchen hoping not to disturb anyone who could be sleeping. She had been living with bruce for almost a week now and she was still not cleared for patrol with him and the others. He told her that he had one more test for her and then she would be allowed out, but until then she was to enjoy the peaceful nights she got.

Her feet padded quietly through the halls, knowing the way down to the kitchen. Her nightmares had been a reoccurring experience the last few days because she couldn't work herself into exhaustion. She knew that it wasn't healthy, but not sleeping wasn't healthy either. Turning a corner, she saw a tall figure and quickly darted back behind the wall again.

"I know you're there," Jason called.

With a sigh of defeat, she walked out and stood in the hall where he could see her. "What the hell are you doing up princess?" she asked, a smirk to her tone.

Jason shook his head and let out a chuckle. "You're not letting that go anytime soon are you?" he asked.

Rory shook her head as she walked closer. "No not really, but you deserve it." 

"Besides, shouldn't I be asking why you are up? You aren't cleared for patrol still so it's not because of that. Unless you went behind Bruce's back, in which case I applaud you." Jason said, leaning against the wall.

"I just wanted some milk, that's all," she said and kept walking to the kitchen not stopping to talk much more.

Jason saw the look on her face and if anyone could recognize it, it would be him for he was up for the same reason she was. He pushed himself off the wall and followed her down to the kitchen where he found her drinking milk out of a glass.

"You know when I have trouble sleeping I warm the milk. It helps put you to sleep." he said, grabbing a glass for himself before filling it.

"How did you know that I was having trouble sleeping?" she asked, peeking over her milk. 

"Because I have the same problem, you don't die and come back without something to show for it," he explained.

Rory almost choked on her milk, did she just hear him right? Jason died and came back to life? How the hell was that even possible?

Jason could practically hear the gears turning in her head. "It's a long story, but yeah. It's true." he put his cup in the microwave and looked at her, "want to try it warmed?" 

Rory looked at him, then at her cup. What's the worst that happens? It tastes bad? She shrugged and handed him the cup, pulling her robe tighter around herself and pushed herself to sit on the counter. 

Jason put her cup next to his and heated them for only a few seconds. He then put a little bit of cinnamon on the top and handed it back to her. "Here, try it." 

Rory gave the milk, and Jason a skeptical glance before taking a sip. The milk itself was rich and warm, and the cinnamon made it taste just that much better almost similar to eggnog but without the eggs.

Jason could see the surprise on her face and laughed. "Told you it was good, now do you want to talk about whatever woke you?" he asked.

Rory took another sip before putting her cup down. "It was just another nightmare, nothing to worry about." she then took another sip, letting the white liquid coat her dry throat.

Jason was never one to care about people, but he cared for Tim (most of the time at least) and Tim cared for her so he thought he should try. "What do you mean another? Have they been frequent?"

Rory gave him another shrug, "They come and they go, normally when I go on a break like I am through this week is when they get bad again. I can't work myself to the point I pass out and I'm not going downstairs because Barbara and Alfred are down there and they would just make a fuss and then they would tell Bruce and I don't need to burden him more."

Jason drank more of his own milk as he listened, this girl was literally a female Tim, wasn't she? She was incredibly smart, not that he would compliment Tim or anyone for that matter, and she worked herself just as hard as he did. What was it with these kids and working themselves to death.

"You are right, Alfred and Babs would make a fuss but that's because they care about you. But I know that if you asked, they would not mention it to Bruce," he said, leaning against the counter next to where she was sitting. Jason knew this because they kept things secret for him that he wasn't ready to tell.

"How could they care for me already? I barely know them. Tim is the only one I know, but even then it's been 13 years. He could be totally different." she drank more of her milk, starting to feel drowsy. 

"They care because that's who they are, and as for Tim don't worry so much. I doubt he has changed that much in the last 13 years. Once a nerd, always a nerd." he chuckled, finishing his milk feeling the effects too. 

Rory laughed at his comment, "You sound like my best friend from back home. He always says that to me when I am working too hard for his liking, which is more than 6 hours a day." 

"My best friend says it too, he's supposed to come by next week. Maybe you'll get to meet him then," he said and looked at Rory, he could see that she was about to fall asleep. "Come on kiddo, let's get you to bed." He then picked her up and carried her to her room.

She was surprisingly heavy for a girl her size, but after she kicked his ass the other day he figured it was from the muscle on her body. Carefully he laid her down and covered her up, before walking out of the room quietly and shut the door with a soft click.

Turning around, he almost jumped out of his skin. There stood both Dick and Tim, staring at him both still in their gear but no mask.

"Jay, what the hell are you doing in Rory's room?" Tim asked, crossing his arms a hint of jealousy to his voice.

Jason picked up on it immediately, and so did Dick. "Relax babybird, she fell asleep in the kitchen. Probably would have given Alfred a heart attack if he found her passed out on the counter." 

"Why were you two in the kitchen? You know it's closed for everyone but Alfred during the night." Dick asked, tilting his head.

"She just had trouble sleeping is all, and I wasn't tired so I followed. Gave her some milk, she passed out." he shrugged.

"Did you drug my best friend?!" Tim asked incredulously. 

Jason snorted at his question, "No, I did not drug your best friend Timbo. I gave her warm milk, it works when I can't sleep." he yawned, "Speaking of which, good night fellas." and with that, he walked away.

Tim and Dick watched him walk away with confused looks on their faces. What the hell did they just witness? Jason would never help out a person like that unless he cared for them, but the second you mention to Jay that he was starting to care it was time for you to run before he caught you. So what was the reason he suddenly cared for Rory?

The two boys looked at each other and shrugged. Dick ruffled Tim's hair before heading towards his own room. "Night Tim, don't stay up too late okay?" he asked.

Tim flattened his hair the best he could, "You know I can't promise that." he said with a laugh.

Dick waved his hand and disappeared behind his door, turning in for the night. Tim walked to his room that was across from Rory's and shut the door. Patrol had been brutal that night, not only was Penguin active but so was Ivy and Harley Quinn. To Tim, it had seemed as if they were all coordinated. Ivy and Harley made sense, they were best friends but how did the Penguin fit into the equation? 

Slipping out of his suit, Tim changed into a pair of sweat and a shirt with some math pun on the front. He grabbed his thermos full of coffee from earlier that morning and took a sip, surprisingly it was still warm. Plopping into his chair he opened his computer and began to work, trying to find the connection between the three villains they had encountered that night. 

Hours had passed and the sun was shining through Rory's window. She rubbed her eyes and sat up, noticing that she was in her bed. How did she get here? The last thing she remembered was her talk with Jason down in the kitchen, she must have fallen asleep and he carried her to bed. Making a mental note to thank him, she got up and got dressed for the day consisting of jeans and a pop-culture shirt that had to do with Star Wars.

She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when there was a knock on the door. Rory yelled for them to come in the best she could with a mouth full of toothpaste and spat it out. When she left the bathroom, she saw that Damian was there waiting for her. "Hey, Dami, what's up?" 

"Father told me to remind you that your final test will be tonight, he had to go to the office to check on things and will be gone the whole day," he said, and without another word, he walked out.

Rory shrugged her shoulders, with Bruce gone that gave her a whole day to do whatever it was that she wanted. Slipping on a pair of shoes, Rory exited her room and left for the kitchen where she saw Stephanie, Barbara, Dick, Damian, and Jason all sitting at the table or counter with Alfred cooking what seemed to be waffles.

Her mouth salivating, she took the only open seat there was which happened to be next to Jason. Plopping a few waffles onto her plate, she put butter and syrup on the top. "Thanks for the breakfast Alfred." she smiled as she took a bite.

Alfred gave her a smile, "Of course Miss Aurora, Master Oliver did mention in passing that you loved waffles so I decided to make them today." Alfred was too good for this world.

Stephanie and Barbara were talking about their plans for the day and mentioned shopping or even a day trip somewhere when Dick cut in. "Why don't we all go out and do something? Bruce isn't home all day and we could show Rory around town. I'm sure somethings are different than the last time she was here." 

All eyes turned to Rory, who gave a shrug. "I don't see why not, a day out was what I was thinking of doing anyway. Let's do it." she smiled, eating more waffles.

There was a murmur of agreement and everyone disappeared to their own rooms to prepare something for the day, leaving just Jason and Rory. Taking this as her chance, she looked up at him. "Hey, Jay?" 

He let out a hm sound as he shoved more food into his mouth.

"Thanks for helping me last night, the milk really did help," she said quietly, not wanting to be overheard.

Jason swallowed his food and looked down at her, "Of course, princess. You know, if those nightmares get worse you can come and find me." he offered, shoving more food into his mouth.

Rory nodded. "I'll keep that in mind." and kept eating. Unknown to them, Tim had finally decided to join for breakfast and saw their whole interaction. Nightmares would explain why Jason was so willing to help someone, everyone in the house suffered from them no one more than Jason though. What he had been through was traumatic, to say the least.

Deciding to make himself known, Tim went straight for the coffee pot and began to refill his thermos that he emptied through the night. "Hey Timmers, is that the thermos from yesterday?" Jason asked, his mouth full of food.

Tim shook his head. "No Jason, this thermos was from three days ago to be exact. I just keep refilling it." 

Rory looked at him with wide eyes, "How much coffee do you drink Drake?" 

"I don't know, how much oxygen do you breathe Son- uh Queen." he countered, almost slipping up and calling her Sonnet. 

Rory rolled her eyes, "You know, you can call me Sonnet. Damian does and it doesn't bother me." she explained. Rory knew the reason for Tim's reluctance, he had known her parents personally and he didn't want to cross any lines with her when their friendship was still trying to catch up with the 13 years they were apart.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to Michael and Clara?" he took the open seat next to Rory and drank his coffee. 

"Who's Michael and Clara?" Jason asked, looking between the two young adults.

"Michael and Clara were my parents. My mom was a prima ballerina and my dad worked with Tim's, it's how we met. His parents would drop him at our place more often than not, and my parents didn't mind." Rory explained.

"Sonnet Hall was like a second home, you know before the whole Bat cave thing." Tim said, "Remember all the trouble we got into?" 

Rory laughed. "Yeah, we were your average trouble makers as kids. My parents couldn't find us for a few hours, not thinking to look in the bathroom but the long trail of mud from the back door to the upstairs bathroom gave them a hint." 

Jason raised an eyebrow at them. "You guys took a bath or something?"

"Not exactly. It was a bath, yes, but it was a mud bath," she said.

At her words Jason exploded into laughter, he could see it in his mind's eye. A tiny Tim and Rory covered in mud. "What did you two do, carry it inside with your shoes?"

"No, we grabbed buckets and carried them up to the tub in the bathroom and filled it with mud. My mother and the poor maid almost had a heart attack when they saw us. That was the last time we were left unattended." Rory laughed, wiping a loose tear from her eye.

It had been a long time since Rory had thought about that day, it was one she remembered well. Of course, there had been other times like this with Tim, but this was her favorite one. Since her parents died, Rory tried not to let her thoughts linger on them because it hurt too much. 

"Hey, you alright Rory?" Tim asked, noticing the tear. 

She sniffed and gave him a nod, "It's just been a long time since I thought about them. They died in an attack four years after we moved there."

"Do you know who did it?" Jason asked, finishing his food. Rory shook her head, she knew who was responsible but she didn't want them to know. According to Oliver, Bruce and them haven't had good encounters with him and she didn't want to start something.

"Well, maybe it's something we could look into you know? Try to give you some closure." Tim said, placing a hand on her back. "You aren't going to flip me over your shoulder for this are you?" 

Rory laughed at his comment. "No, Timmy. Just try not to surprise me." She ran a hand through her hair, it had gotten so long she was thinking of cutting it but never got around to it. 

"Wait, so if you left when you were seven, that would mean that you were eleven when Oliver adopted you?" He asked. Rory nodded.

"Yeah, he found me in the wreckage and took me to the Arrow Cave. After a year of training, I managed to convince him to take me on patrol if i promised to listen and do what he says. As I got older, he slowly gave me more free reign until I hit eighteen and retired as Arrowette and became my own hero. she said.

Tim and Jason both knew what that was like, but they became their own persona for different reasons. Tim, because when they thought Bruce to be dead Dick had taken the mantle of Batman and made Damian Robin and not him. It hurt him, but it gave Tim the chance to grow into his own hero and honor his older brother with the title of Red Robin. Jason was another story completely, he was killed and brought back to life and that made him a completely different person than he used to be. He became the Red Hood because he wanted to stop crime in his own way and to mock the Joker for what he did to him.

"Well if it's worth it, I think you were a great Arrowette." Tim smiled at his friend. Having this talk, even if it was with Jason involved helped him see that Rory was still his Rory and there was nothing anyone could do to change that. 

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So here is chapter four! We got some lovely Jason and Rory interactions, and I live for it. Their relationship is strictly platonic, and they can connect on many things that they can't with the others. I'm not gonna lie, when I was designing Rory's character I noticed that she is a mix of both Jason and Tim and I like it. 

But let me know what you all think, any ideas or scenarios you want me to add or something that needs a little tweaking. 

Until Next Time,