The flight to Paris was awful. Sure Rory and Jason used one of Bruce's private jets, but it didn't relieve the feeling in her stomach. She curled up in her seat and closed her eyes as she listened to music from her headphones. The flight had about four hours left and she was getting antsy because of it.

"What is with you and flying?" he asked.

Rory didn't look at him. "I don't like flying." 

Jason raised a brow. "You don't like flying?"  She shook her head. 

"Why don't you like flying, are you afraid of it or something?"

Rory opened an eye to look at him. "It's not that I'm afraid of it, I just don't like having my feet on solid ground is all." 

"Are you ever going to tell me why?" he pressed.

Rory let out a sigh and opened her other eye and titled her head as she looked at him. "You ever tell anyone this story, I will hurt you. It was years ago, I was Arrowette still and Count Vertigo was attacking hospitals across the city." she started.

"Clark was in town visiting Oli on league business when we got the call. Queen Manor was a ways away and Dinah was out of town on a mission and Roy had left. Oli and I didn't have a fast way to get there, so Clark got the wonderful idea in his head to pick me up and fly me all the way down across the city." Rory glanced out the window of the plane and shuddered as she remembered it.

"Since then, I have not liked flying."

Jason laughed as he listened to the story. "So, you're saying that Superman ruined flying for you?" he asked.

Rory gave him a look and shrunk into her seat. "Well, when you put it that way it just sounds dumb."

Jason got up and sat next to her and nudged her shoulder. "Lighten up, this thing has almost everything you could need. Drinks, Food, a place to nap." he chuckled.

Rory rolled her eyes. "What I need is to be on the ground, not in the air."

Jason sighed. "What if we watched a movie or something, it could get your mind off of it." 

Rory gave him a nod and watched as Jason scrolled through the movies, deciding on My Fair Lady and surprising Rory. She looked at him and he just shrugged. Jason wanted her to relax some, so maybe putting on her favorite movie would help, and it did. 

Exactly two hours and fifty-two minutes later, the movie had ended and they only had to last another hour on the flight. Lucky for Rory, she had passed out about halfway through the movie. It meant that she was relaxed enough that she could get a little bit of sleep before they had to meet up with the rest of the Outlaws at their temporary safe-house.

When the plane began its descent, it was dark out and Paris was lit up. Jason carefully shook Rory awake and pointed out the window. Looking out, she could see the Eifel Tower amongst the city light. A big smile spread across her face, Rory had always wanted to come to Paris and she was finally here. 

The only thing that could have made it better is if she had Tim with her. It was no secret that Paris was known as the city of love and it was something that she would love to experience with him, but because he was taking over WE from Bruce soon Tim was extra busy. If she really enjoyed Paris that much Rory would just have to kidnap Tim and take him on a vacation.

As the plane landed, Rory gripped the armrests of her seat so tight her hand went white and she basically threw herself off the plane once it was safe on the ground. Of course, both Rory and Jason were famous heirs to the Wayne and Queen fortunes so they had to try and stay inconspicuous and not get noticed. 

Adjusting the sunglasses and her hat, even though it was night time, Rory walked with her two suitcases towards the car that was waiting for them. As she got closer, Rory recognized a certain redhead there waiting for them.

"Rory!" 

"Kori!" With a laugh, Rory picked up her pace and walked over to embrace her friend in a tight hug. 

"I really didn't believe Jay when he said that you were joining us here in Paris, but apparently he wasn't lying." she chuckled. 

Rory rolled her eyes and pulled the sunglasses off, "I needed to get out of Gotham for a while. Does Roy or the others know I'm here?" 

"No princess, Kori is the only one I told. I figured you would want to surprise Roy and Jesse, and you haven't met Artemis and Bizzaro yet so I told Kori and she can give us a ride." Jason said, running a hand through his hair. 

Kori chuckled. "Those two are going to be surprised, now get in the car so we can get some sleep before we start working tomorrow." Rory gave her another hug before throwing her luggage in the trunk and climbed into the back seat. Jason and Kori climbed in right behind her, Kori kicking Jason out to make him sit in the passenger seat.

Jason grumbled as he got in, something about getting kicked to the side because Rory is cooler than him or something. 

Once everyone was in the car, Kori turned to look at her friend with a smile. "So, what's this I hear about you and the babybird?" Kori grinned seeing the tips of Rory's ears go pink.

"It depends on what it is you're hearing Kor, people talk. Some of them are over six foot tall, has a white streak of hair, and just so happens to be named Jason." Rory answered crossing her arms and sending a glare to the back of his head, his shoulders shaking from silent laughter.

Kori laughed and leaned back against her seat, "Jay hasn't actually said that much, to be honest. It's mainly Dick that talks about the two of you the most, I think he brags about the two of you to anyone who will listen long enough." 

Rory huffed and shrunk back into her seat with her arms crossed. If Dick was telling everyone he knew, then the entire superhero community knew that Tim and Rory were a thing or more so Red Robin and Grey Arrow were a thing. 

Batman and his team liked to keep their identities secret from a lot of people, and Rory was the same. Most of the Justice League only knew that she was Oliver's sidekick for years until she became her own hero. But none of them knew that it was Aurora Queen under the mask, and a lot of the teen titans and other smaller teams only knew Tim as Robin or Red Robin now, only a select few knew of his actual identity.

Kori watched her friend with an amused expression, she wasn't used to seeing her embarrassed. When they were a couple, even though it was short-lived, Rory was almost never embarrassed. But then again, Kori didn't know as much about her as Tim does even now she doesn't know Rory as Tim does. According to Dick and Jay, Rory and Tim knew each other as kids and that was a connection you couldn't compete with. 

With a laugh Kori poked her side, making Rory squirm. "You are way too easy to embarrass these days. But I see that you are still ticklish." 

At her words, Jason turned around to look at them. "Rory really is ticklish? I thought Tim just told you a terrible joke."

Kori grinned and looked as Rory slowly curled into the corner of the backseat. "Koriand'r, I swear if you fucking poke me again-" 

"You'll what? Shoot me? Last I checked you don't have any arrows on you." 

"Hold on, how the hell do you know she is ticklish Kori?" Jason questioned. 

Both Rory and Kori exchanged a look that made the two of them turn a slight pink and quickly looked the other way. "You do remember we dated for a short period of time right?" 

Jason's face went from confused to realization. He had totally forgotten that they had dated, and not just that either. He had blocked out the whole scenario of finding this out after the attack on the ballet, probably because he didn't want to think about it too much.

"Don't worry, I'll leave all the tickling to Tim now." Kori winked, Rory, punching her shoulder in retaliation.

The rest of the drive was quiet after they had reestablished that Kori had slept with Jason and Rory at different times and no one wanted to go further into detail about that.

When they pulled up, Rory looked out the window and saw that it was just a regular apartment building. Of course, knowing Jason and his dramatic ass, the inside was probably more than just the average apartment. The Three of them got out and Kori helped the two of them carry their luggage. 

Somehow Jason had more bags than Rory did, but no one was ready for that conversation. 

They barely fit into the elevator so they had to send Jason up with the bags as Rory and Kori took the other elevator. The ride up was quiet, but it was a comfortable quiet. Rory was exhausted from the flight and wanted nothing more than to flop onto a bed and go to sleep.

When they got up there, they saw that Jason was dragging out their luggage. Rory rolled her eyes and grabbed her two bags before Kori led her to the door of their safehouse. She twisted the handle and pushed the door open seeing that all the lights were off. 

She reached over and flipped them back on, and saw Roy and Jesse making out on the couch. 

Rory's eyes widened at the sight and dropped her suitcase in shock. "Roy what the hell!" 

The two of them jumped as Jesse fell off the couch and looked over with a deep blush on his face. "Rory? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came with Jason to help on the mission and surprise you, but it seems you had a surprise of your own." 

Roy sat up on the couch his face flushed red almost as deep as his hair as he helped Jesse back onto it. Honestly, she should have seen this coming. With how close Roy and Jesse had gotten, Rory was surprised she didn't notice it earlier.

"I'm glad to see you up and about though twinkle toes, how's the ribs?" Roy asked, flattening his hair and walking over towards the girl he considered a sister. Rory gave him a shrug. "You know, on the mend. The big man said nothing extreme, and you never want to disobey Alfred."

Roy laughed and ruffled her hair, Rory batting his hand away. "You have got to stop doing that," she muttered as she straightened out her hair and then proceeded to do the same to Roy.

"You say that and then you do it to me? How is that fair Ballerina?" Roy laughed and wrapped his arm around her and held Rory down as he rubbed his knuckled into her hair roughly. 

"Roy Harper, let me go!" she cried.

Kori, Jason, and Jesse stood to the side as they watched the adoptive siblings interact. They could see Rory was getting irritated quickly and so they took a few steps back, not wanting to get caught up in it when she finally exploded.

Roy laughed as he rubbed harder, then Rory grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back before grabbing a pressure point in his arm that sent him to the floor as he cried out in pain. "I told you to let me go Harper." she grinned.

Roy laid out on the floor holding his wrist, "Geez, Gotham made you more violent. What the hell happened to you?"

Rory's smile left her face and she went quiet. No one had told Roy what had happened, she wanted to be the one to tell him but now that she was with him it seemed that much harder. Rory opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to keep the tears at bay. Would Roy be disappointed in her? Probably, he was like her big brother and wanted what was best for her. If Rory told him that she had killed someone again, she'd be admitting that she wasn't perfect; that she was flawed.

"Twinkle toes?" Roy got up rubbing his wrist and make her look at him. He could see tears she was fighting off and sighed softly. He could see that something was wrong, and it was probably the other reason she had come. Rory needed him.

"Hey, Jess, why don't you order pizza while Jay and I get her set up in her room. Artemis and Bizarro shouldn't be far behind, so be sure to order a lot." Roy grabbed one of Rory's suitcases while Jason grabbed the other and the two of them led Rory down the hall.

She had been right in her assumption that it was more than the average apartment, the tech was updated with the latest from WE and Palmer Tech. Almost everything was automatic, and it was kind of nice. Rory's room was at the end, across from Roy's and next to Jason's so at least she was with people she trusted the most.

Opening her door, it was a simple bedroom with a full-sized bed in the middle. Roy and Jason threw her luggage on the bed and she opened it looking for a set of comfy clothes, still not saying a word. 

Roy and Jason watched as she disappeared into the bathroom to change. "What the hell happened to her, Jay?" 

Jason let out a sigh and ruffled his hair. "It's not good Roy, she went through hell and she's scared." 

"Why did no one tell me?" Roy asked, looking at his best friend. 

"She wanted to be the one to tell you." 

Roy didn't get the chance to respond before Rory came out in sweats and a shirt before closing up her suitcases and putting them on the floor, sitting on her bed. Roy walked over and sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side. 

Rory closed her eyes, as tears rolled down her cheeks and curled into Roy more. Jason ruffled her hair and let himself out figuring they needed a moment alone. 

Once Jason was gone, Rory let out all the tears she had been holding in. Roy pulled her into his lap and ran a hand through her hair as she held onto him tightly. "Roy, I messed up." she sobbed.

"Twinkle Toes, what happened?" he asked softly, wiping the tears from her eyes. 

Rory sniffed, wiping them herself before she told him everything that had happened. What the Joker did to her, how Slade had set the whole thing up, what they wanted her to do, and how she fell for it and killed someone in her escape.

Roy sat there and listened quietly. He was one of the few people that knew what had happened with Slade and he understood why she was hurting. Rory had repeated past mistakes but under different circumstances, and the guilt was eating her alive. Not only was she full of guilt, but she was scared.

"Rory, it's like you said. If you didn't shoot him, I would be sitting at your grave instead of here with you in Paris. You made the choice, it wasn't an easy choice but you still made it and you can't let it affect your future. Not again."  he said, taking a bite of pizza that Jesse had brought them.

Rory stared down at hers. Her appetite was gone and didn't feel like eating anything not after talking about everything. "I just don't feel worthy of protecting others, what if I fail to protect someone or worse get one of the others killed like Dick or Damian or-or Tim..." 

"This is how you felt the last time, and you still went back out and kicked ass. Granted you darkened your color and black is taken by Merlyn so you can't do that again." he chuckled.

Rory laughed a little. "Malcolm Merlyn is Star City's drama queen." 

Roy laughed at her joke. "You're telling me, kiddo. Are you feeling any better?" 

Rory gave him a nod and took a bite of her pizza. Roy was right, she couldn't let it stop her not this time. She was older and stronger than before, and everyone makes mistakes. Rory just needed to learn from them, and sometimes you just couldn't prevent them from happening and it's not on her.

"Good, now finish up. We have matters to discuss about this new boyfriend of yours."

Rory groaned and rolled her eyes. "Don't scare the shit out of Tim please? Jason does it enough, it's like he took over the big brother role since you aren't around that much." 

"Well good, I don't want this boy breaking your heart." Roy took another bite.

"Technically, I'm the heartbreaker in the relationship? I ended it with Jesse, Kori, and Helena. Shouldn't you be worried about me breaking his heart?" she asked, taking another bite.

Roy shook his head. "I saw the way you acted around him the last time I was in town, you would move heaven and earth for this boy. If he is stupid enough to break your heart, then I might have to hurt him."

Rory didn't get to respond before her phone started to ring. Looking at it, he phone lit up with a picture of her and Tim she had taken at the New Year's Gala. Trying to hide her blush, Rory kicked Roy out of her room who was making suggestive comments and gestures with his hands before answering her phone.

"Hello, you have reached the phone of one Aurora Queen. Can I take a message?" she giggled.

"Very cute Songbird, can you tell my girlfriend that I miss her like crazy and want her to come back?"

Rory chuckled. "I think I can relay the message. But seriously Dragon Boy, what time is it there? Shouldn't you be asleep?" There was silence on the phone for a few seconds. "Forget I asked that. I just remembered who it was I'm talking to."

Tim's laughter sounded through the phone as she walked over towards her window that had a great view of Paris and the Eifel Towe. "Tim, after all this I want to come to Paris with you." 

"You do know how far that is from Gotham right?" 

"Yes Timothy, I do. But if the fabulous bruce Wayne can take leave and go to some random city, you can too. Maybe it'd give him another lesson on just how overworked you are." she said.

"Paris does sound nice, maybe this summer? We can take long walks, go sightseeing and enjoy some actual alone time without nosey brothers barging in almost every time I try to make a move on my girl." 

Rory laughed at his statement. "You're telling me. Besides you'd never guess what we walked in on when we arrived." she sat on her bed and continued to talk to Tim the rest of the night until she fell asleep with her phone in her hand, dreaming of them both kissing under the beautiful Paris night sky.

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This was fun! Also Roy and Jesse? I might have been planning that since the beginning. Tory is too precious for words. 

Next chapter we get to see just exactly what this mission is that they are needed in Paris for, and it's going to be a fun one.

Until Next Time,