📱: do you want to grab coffee tomorrow and talk?
Donna awoke in the afternoon from last night's show dazed. Her phone vibrated and she checked the message.
Roy.
Donna rubbed her eyes and read it.
📱: Sure. Louies Shop okay?
📱: perfect
📱: see you around 11:30am?
📱: Sure Roy. See you then.
The next day he was there when promised, pacing a bit where he waited outside. Should have brought a cigarette or something, he realized. He was nervous because he wasn’t sure how this conversation might go.
Donna arrived clad in a baseball hat, hair in a ponytail with huge mirror sunglasses on her face.
She wore a dark blue hoodie, faded jeans, and sneakers, heading over to greet him.
"Hello Roy."
“Hey,” he replied, giving her an odd look since this wasn’t her normal get up. “You hiding from the paparazzi today or just not feeling the sun?”
"Something like that." Donna replied vaguely, giving him a hug.
"Ah, sorry, were you waiting long?"
He returned it easily, holding her for a moment. Right. She wasn’t okay, and it was all his fault. He offered her a weak smile and shook his head. “Five minutes maybe. Come on,” he opened the door for her, “my treat.”
Donna thanked him, stepping inside. She scanned the menu, ordering a mocha creamachino with cinnamon on the whipped cream. She also ordered chocolate fudge muffins, wanting to share with Roy.
"How have you been?" She asked him.
He ordered a simple mocha frappe and took a seat across from her once they had their order. “Ups and downs,” he answered honestly. “Good days and bad. You?”
"Same, though i got back from Themyscira on the second." Donna said, sipping on her drink.
Mmm, it was nice and sweet.
"Did you have a good father's day?"
It had been bittersweet thinking of what ifs, but overall good, so he answered honestly. “Yeah. Lian painted a mural of the war in Hell for us. It’s beautiful. I can’t believe how talented she is.”
"I'm glad." Donna replied, nodding at him. Donna ate a muffin, lost in thought.
“I’m sorry going home wasn't…great,” he told her. “Do you want to talk about it?”
"It's fine." Donna assured him, drinking her coffee. She's quiet for a bit, looking at her hands.
"So...would you like to talk about the elephant in the room?"
“Our relationship,” he agreed quietly. “I don’t want it to end. It probably should, I don’t know when I’ll be able to trust you again, but…I don’t want to lose you either.”
"I understand." Donna replied, tracing the condensation of her drink gently. She seemed quiet again.
"I don't want you to force yourself to stay with me either Roy."
“That’s not what this is,” Roy told her. “Unless you want a break, which would be understandable. Your opinion and feelings matter too.”
"I feel like I've had enough silence to last me a lifetime, Roy." Donna said.
“Then maybe we just start over.” He offered her his hand. “Hi, I’m Roy Harper.”
Donna paused, looking at him, and then his hand.
She gently took it, and shook it.
"I'm Donna Troy."
He brushed his thumb against her gently and held onto her hand for a moment. “Yeah, I guess that was never going to work,” he mused. “We have too much history. You want to just get out of here? Fall into bed somewhere and forget everything for a while, pretend we’re not fighting?”
"Honestly? Yes." Donna replied, standing up from where they sat.
“Cool. I’m much better at that,” he told her, taking her hand again as he started for the door. “Got a safehouse two blocks away if you’re okay with walking.”
"Of course. Plus, it's not too bad of a day."
“You look like you can use the sunlight too. You’re looking a little pale,” he told her with concern, leading the way.
"Yeah?" Donna asked, looking up at the sky. "Well, i mean a little. I've been more active at night."
“You’ve been pushing yourself too hard,” he realized. The signs of how tired she was were there now that he looked.
"Come on Roy. There are no limits for an Amazon warrior." She replied, hands in her hoodie pockets.
“That’s a lie,” he insisted gently. “Everyone has a breaking point. I don’t want you to meet yours.”
"Some say I already have, but what do I know?" Donna replied, looking up at the sky, then back at the buildings.
“Come on, I’ll drive,” he told her, reaching for her hand and pulling her gently towards his truck.
Donna let him lead, her hold on him firm.
"Okay." She agreed.
It was only a couple blocks, and they could have kept walking, but he was honestly worried about her. Roy drove in silence until parking the vehicle and turned to look at her, asking quietly, “This seems like a selfish question, but is this because of me?”
"Hm? No." Donna replied, turning to look at him. The sunglasses hid her eyes, and her body language seemed blank.
"I'm just trying to heal."
“What can I do?” he asked her quietly, reaching for her hand with his. They were pretending they weren’t fighting right? He’d fake it until he felt it, but he was also genuinely concerned.
"Just don't be scared." Donna said simply.
“Troy that doesn’t help when you’re acting so concerning,” he told her, “of course I’m going to be scared for you.”
"I'd appreciate if you believed in me the way I do you, Roy." Donna said. "I always knew you'd find strength within yourself to keep going."
“So I’m not allowed to worry? This isn’t about having faith in you, because of course I do, you're one of the strongest people I know. But I rarely find my strength alone,” he pointed out.
Donna paused.
"Roy i was alone. Entirely when I was here. Jason is gone to where I can't follow and even when I went to Themyscira I had to double down on my mask." Donna replied.
"I have to find the strength."
“No, my point is that you don’t. Remember what nearly happened the last time you bottled things up?” he pointed out gently, squeezing her hand. “Now, let’s go inside and have a good time, and you…just try to let yourself have some enjoyment. You deserve it as much as any of us.”
"Promise not to get scared?" Donna replied, holding his hand firmly.
Not too tight, just nervous he'd let go.
“I’ll do my best,” he told her, trying to be honest.
Once inside the safehouse, Donna took her sunglasses off. Gold shimmer where the whites of her eyes were at, pupils going big and then small.
She dropped the hat, then slid off her hoodie. Still a toned body but with more fresh scars that were starting to heal.
A slash on her hip that seemed too long and too wide.
And if Roy peered too close, he could see restraint marks on her wrists.
"When I was battling Diana, John called me in the middle of it. You can't stop until one yields. Diana caught me by surprise."
He was filled with a rage so palpable the entire room seemed weighed down with it. “I’ll fucking kill her for this.”
"Roy, you can't." Donna told him, sitting on the bed. "Our customs are strange but they're a way of my life. Always have been. Besides, I still beat her."
“Beating the shit out of each other isn't a custom, it’s just abuse,” he muttered, protective of her. But he wasn't stupid. He knew in a direct fight Diana could kill him.
Donna stared at him, taking his hand into hers.
"I'm okay."
He didn’t believe her, but he wasn’t going to argue if she kept saying it either. “Let’s just get inside,” he told her, squeezing her hand.
Donna went inside with him, putting her hoodie on the couch.
She stretched, trying to relax.
Roy out his arms around her from behind and kissed her shoulder. “I’m sorry things have been so rough and that I couldn’t be close for a while.”
"I never blamed you. It was punishment for what I did." Donna replied, leaning against him.
He frowned and nearly oulled away. “Is that what you think I was doing? Punishing you?” Roy sighed quietly, because she could not be more wrong. “No, I just needed some space and time.”
"No Roy. You're too sweet for that. But I saw it as punishment for myself. Magic does as well. When you're selfish, or greedy, karma or punishment is nearby waiting." Donna replied.
“When wil you stop punishing yourself?” he questioned quietly.
"When I felt like I truly redeemed myself." Donna replied, her pupils normal, and the gold shimmer leaking down her cheek.
