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Blackbirds	By : rubylis Category: DC Verse Comics > Batman Views: 4711 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Batman series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Blackbirds
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 10
- 10-Part 11
- 11-Part 12
- 12-Part 13
- 13-Part 14
- 14-Part 15
- 15-Part 16
- 16-Part 17
- 17-Part 18
- 18-Part 19
- 19-Part 20
- 20-Part 21
- 21-Part 22
- 22-Part 23
- 23-Part 24
- 1
- 2
Disclaimer: Story copyrighted by me, please ask before archiving. Characters belong to Time/Warner/D.C. Comics and used for enterntainment only, not profit.
BLACKBIRDS
by
Lis
"Take these broken wings and learn to fly." --Blackbird by The Beatles

PART 1
Green Arrow's face darkened in anger. He slammed his quiver on the table, careless of shafts sent clattering to the floor. Robin clenched his fists. He knew he was right. He knew Batman would know he’d donethe right thing. He would get through G.A.'s verbal blustering then pack up and go home. To the Batcave. To someone who was serious about crimefighting.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
"I was stopping a criminal." Robin couldn't keep the derision from his voice. "What were you doing?"
Green Arrow snapped back to face him. Robin could see the fine trembling of barely contained rage in the way the archer gripped his bow. Heard the quiet splintering of wood giving way to the pressure. A sound that echoed like a thunderclap in the small apartment.
"Get. Out."
"Fine!"
"Hope the door slams your ass on the way!"
Robin went to Roy's room to change clothes and pack. He could still hear G.A. in the kitchen. Something crashed to the floor. Cussing. A sound that might have been glass breaking. More swearing. Robin felt his own temper surface. Ollie had been the screw-up tonight, not Dick. So where did he get off acting like the injured party?
In the kitchen, Green Arrow continued to pace as he threw his hat then armguards to the table. He sat heavily in a chair to remove his boots. The kid just didn't get it. Then again, wasn't that the whole point of cross training the Titans? To expose them to different methods and techniques? To give them a well-rounded base?
Green Arrow raked an irritated hand through his hair. He listened to the quiet slap-slap of clothes being shoved into a suitcase. Sending the teenager home now wouldn't do him any good. In fact, might do him more harm the archer reflected. Robin had Batman to teach him how they did their work. Maybe, just maybe, he could drill into the Bat Junior's thick skull the importance of why.
Ollie added his mask and belt to the pile on the table before walking over to Roy's room. In the doorway, he knocked once as he entered.
"Hold up a sec."
Dick looked up, blue eyes electric with defiance.
"Geez, kid, take it down a notch." Ollie sat easily on the corner of the bed. Laid a hand over Dick's to stop his frantic motions. "Just hear me out."
Dick considered. Gave a curt nod of agreement. Ollie moved the suitcase over and Dick reluctantly sat down. Roy had warned him not to let Ollie get to him with his outburts. But he had. Now it seemed the older man had vented his anger and was ready to be reasonable. Dick didn't really think there would be an apology. If there was, he figured he could be big enough to accept without causing Ollie too much embarrassment.
"If you still want out, I won't stop you."
"If I want out?" Dick was incredulous. "You're throwing me out."
"Didn't hear too much protest from you about going."
Dick's jaw tightened. Son of a--he was going to make it look like this was his idea. Irresponsible. Self-indulgent. Ollie tousled his hair. Dick blinked in surprise. The archer grinned warmly, green eyes serious.
"Hey, unclench before you give yourself a hernia."
Ollie flopped comfortably onto his back, hands behind his head as he studied the pin-up on the ceiling. He chuckled. "Roy's got good taste."
"You were saying?" Dick prodded impatiently.
"People. Property. Perps. In that order." Ollie glanced over. "If you don't walk away with anything else, remember that."
Dick was intrigued. Roy was always sticking up for Ollie, defending his apparent nonchalance. He knew how good his best friend was. Also knew how much Roy played off his skills as if he didn't spend hours at the Lair practicing.. Just like his mentor. Maybe there was more to Green Arrow. Maybe there was a thing or two he could learn from the expert bowman.
Dick stretched out beside Ollie on the bed. It reminded him of Haley's. Long, lazy afternoons before showtime spent stretched out on the grass behind the big top. Rare times spent daydreaming of quadruple somersaults. Of having his own circus. Or practicing Romani for the day he might meet his grandparents in their homeland. Dick frowned. He hadn't thought of any of those since--since Bruce had taken him in.
"Penny for 'em."
With a start, Dick shook himself out of his reverie. Refocused on the present discussion. He repeated Ollie's words thoughtfully.
"People. Property. Perps."
Ollie tapped a finger against Dick's temple.
"Think about what you did."
Dick replayed the night's events over in his mind. He had chased a low rent thug down a dead-end alley. Green Arrow stopped at the entrance and called Robin off. Instead, he had fired a batarang around the criminal's ankles and pulled him off the fence to land in a pile of boxes. In the background, Ollie's yelling turned harsh. A brief wrestling match. Until they knocked a downspout loose and flooded the alley.
Green Arrow abruptly turned the petty thief over to the police before roughly hauling Robin out of the area and dragging him home hours before their patrol should have ended.
Dick looked at Ollie and shrugged.
"Anything about those boxes strike you as odd?"
He thought back, trying to remember any details, anything out of place. "There were a lot of them."
"Mm-hmm."
"Old appliance boxes."
"And--?" prompted Ollie.
"One had a shopping cart in it."
"Notice anything in the shopping cart?"
"Rags."
"Clothes." the archer corrected.
Dick's eyes lit with understanding as the details came back to him. "Clothes. Food. A couple of pans." He turned to Ollie for confirmation. "People were living there."
"And thanks to a hotshot wannabe hero, their homes got trashed."
"I'll get money from my savings account to repay the damages."
Ollie sighed. "Is that what Bats is teachin' you--solve everything with a blank check?" Dick flushed, embarrassed. "Try again, sport." He felt the archer's calloused finger tap against his forehead again. He was really beginning to hate that.
Dick sat up, hugging his knees to his chest as he thought about the last three weeks he had spent with Green Arrow. Thought about how carefully they had gone over the city neighborhoods. There had to be something.
"The railroad."
"You gonna run a train through the alley? Bit much don'tcha think?" Ollie teased.
Dick grinned, "Freight trains carrying freight cargo packed in freight boxes which--" his blue eyes brightened triumphantly--"--are discarded in the back lot to be hauled away as trash."
"Think they'll just give those to you?"
"Absolutely. It's a win-win situation. I take the boxes off their hands so they don't have to pay the hauling fee. The alley gets restored. Everyone's happy."
Ollie rolled off the bed. "Sounds like a plan." He strode towards the door. "Unpack. Clean up. Chili in half an hour." Then stopped. "And kid?"
"Yes?"
"When I tell you to stop, you goddamn stop."
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