#midnightroulette

“How?!” he exclaimed, standing up. Running a hand through his hair, he started to pace the floor of her tiny apartment. “Yeah, it’s what I’ve been after for years, but all that time I’ve been thinking about what will happen when I did. For three years I've had nightmares of being left behind once I find him--" she starts to protest, but he speaks over her: "--and I’ve been working to make them reality.”

“Roy, you can’t let that stop you.”

“I know.” He turned to face her, his face drawn and pained. “I know finding him, giving him back to the world—that’s what I have to do. But—” here his breath faltered, and he sat on the chair opposite her, elbows on his knees and hands covering his face. 

Artemis felt her heart clench. She rose, slowly approaching him as if he were an animal she didn't want to spook. Once in front of him, she bent down and placed both hands on his knees. “Hey,” she murmured. “Look at me.” She reached up and took his hands—they shook in hers, and she gave them a squeeze—away from his face. “Roy, look at me.”

This time, Roy’s blue eyes met her gray. “Artemis—”

“Just… just for once,” she cut across him, smiling slightly, “just stop talking and listen.” He paused, eyes softening. “Okay, good.

“Look, you know I’m not good with… this stuff, but I do know how I feel about—about all of this, and about—” she swallowed “—and about you. We started so terribly, but then that changed. You changed, and I changed. You went from this person that pissed me off and intimidated me to—to a friend. I grew up--we both did. And through all of this, you became someone I could openly admire again.”

He frowns. “Again?”

“I never told you?” she asked. “I would watch you and Green Arrow on the news, when my dad wasn’t around… I watched all the superheroes, really, but you two were the ones that stood out. No powers, and with your bows… you were kind of my idols.”

“No, I never knew,” he said.

“You weren’t supposed to,” she responded, smiling a little. “Anyway,” she continued. “I’ve seen—everyone has seen—you grow throughout all of this. Probably more than you should have.” She hesitated for a second before putting a hand on his face, thumb tracing the lines at the corner of his eye. “But I know it’s made you stronger, and I know people have only supported you every step of the way. That’s not going to change. It’s been, what? Five, six years--some more--they’ve known you? I’ve only known you three and I can tell you right now—”

“You have only known me,” Roy protested. “This version--it's different for you.”

“It doesn’t matter!” she exclaimed. “Roy, listen to me: it doesn’t matter. They’ve known you, as a person, for over half a decade. Plain and simple. They’ve befriended you, talked to you, grown to love you in a way that is solely for you. It sounds terrible, but the original Roy is going to have to earn his own.”

“That won’t be difficult for him,” Roy muttered. “Everyone wants him back. If I can’t find him, it’s my fault. That’s on my shoulders. And if I do find him, there’s still the fact that I’m a replacement. Even if I don’t, I have to live with that!”

Artemis felt her heart in her throat, while at the same time anger flowed thick through her system for the bastards that put him through this.

The same bastards that created him.

The irony didn’t escape her.

“I can’t tell you everything is going to be perfect if you find him, or if you don’t,” she began, chewing each word carefully before letting it go. “Both of those roads will be difficult—for both of you. But you will have everyone standing by you to help you get through it.” She put her other hand on his face, ensuring she had his attention. “It doesn’t matter to me that you’re a clone as long as you don’t stop being you, and you’ve established who that is for years.”

“What if I don’t believe you?” he asked, voice hoarse.

“I’ll stick around until you do,” she muttered. “And I’ll beat it into your head everyday if I have to.”

“Promise?”

She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek before murmuring: “Promise.”

Without warning, his arms wrapped around her and drew her close. Pressed against his chest, she could feel his words whisper into her hair: “Thank you.”