Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot.

This story coincides with another story of mine, Little Miracles, and is connected to chapters seven, eight, and nine of that story. If you haven't read it yet, you could be in for a treat. If you have, well, now you still get Roy's side of the story.

This story is in Roy's POV.

Going out with a BANG!

Chapter 1

The name's Roy Harper. I'm a police officer and part of the Star City bomb squad.

Today, I'm not in Star City. I'm in Metropolis, and I gotta say, it's beautiful outside. Inside Conner and Cassie's apartment, though, it's pretty awkward.

Right now, I am standing in front of Donna Troy. She's my ex-girlfriend and the love of my life. She doesn't know about that second part.

Seriously, is it possible for a person to become even more gorgeous since the last time you've seen them? Cause Donna always does.

I scratched the back of my neck.

"So…how're things going with…" Damn. What was that idiot's name? Mike? Carl? Ed? Andy? Jason?

No, Jason's Dicks' first adopted brother. Donna wouldn't go out with him.

What the fuck was her boyfriends name?

"Terry?" She spoke up, an eyebrow raised.

That's it! Terry! I hate that guy.

"He and I broke up about eight months ago," She continued to tell me.

"Yes!" I yelled. Oh shit! I yelled that?

Okay, gotta think of think of something quick to explain why I did that. "I mean: Yes! That's right! You two broke up eight months ago. Kory had told me that a while ago, but you know how busy things get."

Whoo. Dodged that bullet.

I gave Donna my most irresistible smile to help her believe my lie. She just put her hands on her hips in return.

Okay. She knows I was lying. Gotta change the subject quick before she starts to question me on it.

"So what are you doing in Metropolis?" I asked her. Why the hell did I lie? She knows me so well that even after a year apart she could probably still tell when I'm lying.

"A few of my photographs are being inducted into the local art gallery. I'm here for the unveiling."

"Way to go, Donna! I told you one of these days you'd have your photos up." She's so freaking gorgeous. She probably has another boyfriend already though. It's too soon to bring that subject up again though and-oh yes! She's leaning in for a hug! Finally I can touch her without probably weirding her out.

I sigh as I rest my chin on her hair. Still smells like melons. Still fits in my arms like a glove.

She's still perfect.

And I'm still not. I've learned to live with that.

"So what are you doing here?"

Dammit, she pulled back.

"Dick's brothers got kidnapped, so I dropped by to help. Conner and Cassie are letting me stay with them."

Silence.

I hate silence.

Gotta keep my eyes on something else, though. Now we're still only a few inches apart and I know that if I look into those deep ocean blue eyes, I'd lose control. She's the only girl-no-woman, that has been able to drive me crazy, like this. All I have to do is be near her.

I don't know how she can even stand to be near me, after all the things I did to her. Just when things were really starting to go great between us, I had to be an idiot and mess everything up. I got caught up with my fight with Ollie and didn't give her as much attention as she deserved, but she still stuck by me. Until the drugs.

I took heroine for a couple of months after that. Gave into peer pressure. Being stuck in my own despair, I let my so-called friends talk me into taking drugs and drinking. I never was an alcoholic, but I did become an addict, for a short period of time.

When Donna found out, she tried to talk me out of it. She got Dinah and Hal to try to help too. To keep me off the stuff, but it never worked. We got into this huge fight and…

I hurt her.

I was high and pissed that she was taking away my one "escape" from what was happening in my life. I just pushed her back into a wall and held her there, bruising her arms, until I saw tears in her eyes. That's when I finally realized what I had been doing. That the only way to truly escape my problems were to face them.

I looked at my hands, then to her arms to see the bruises already begin to form. Then…I ran.

I ran to an Indian reservation, where I worked on cleansing my mind and body from the potent drugs I had taken. I spent about a year there, figuring things out. When I came back to Star City, I joined up with the police department and worked my ass off to turn my life around. I've visited schools and talked to druggies that have been caught, and tried to turn their lives around as well. I know I've gotten through to a few, but I know others won't realize what they're doing to themselves, and the people who love them, until it's too late.

"I haven't had a boyfriend since Terry," Donna finally ended the silence.

Damn. As always, it's like she was reading my mind.

I couldn't stop the grin from coming and-unfortunately-I looked down and locked eyes with her. Deep blue eyes that I always end up lost in. It's no different this time.

Slowly, our eyes close and we lean in. Her lips are just as soft as I remember them as well.

How could I have gone over five years without her in my arms?

And, of course, just as things get more intense, someone has to show up and ruin it.

"Well, I definitely didn't expect to be greeted by this sight."

Donna and I immediately jumped apart and looked at the door. I spotted the bag coming toward me just in time to catch it before it could hit my face.

"Especially since I thought Cassie and Conner lived here."

Damn you, Dick. You have the worst timing.

Okay, now it's time to just play it smooth.

"Conner's at work and Cassie's at the store," I told him as I dropped his bag. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He just smirked. He was going to have some fun with this.

Why did he have to be the one to catch us?

At least Conner would-… Okay, maybe it's better that it was Dick and not Conner, but Cassie would have probably… Oh who the hell am I kidding? I'm lucky it was Dick who caught us! At least he'll only joke about it for a few minutes! Conner'd never let me live it down and Cassie would probably throw me out.

Hmm…then again…

"Work. I guess you didn't hear about Tim and Jason."

That's Dick. Ask him a question he'll give you a short answer, just to cut down on time. He's like that. Always has to keep everything timed in his head at all times. Never really takes a few moments to just sit back and relax. Or at least that's how he used to be before I introduced him to Kory. Now he's only like this when work is involved, he doesn't want to talk to you, or he doesn't know what to say.

"No, I heard. I just thought the Great Dick Grayson would be at the crime scene for hours before actually coming by to say 'Hi' to his friends." Now I'm in my comfort zone.

See, people act differently around other people. Like with Donna, I'm well, nervous-especially after that kiss-but I know that I can be completely honest around her. With Dick, I like to keep things to a minimum, and it's the same for him with me. We talk about work mostly, some things about our current private lives, but there are some tings we don't like to talk about. My addiction would be one of them. Even though, being the master detective he is, he could probably figure out exactly what happened during that time, all he like to keep in mind is that my "friends" back then had tried to pressure me into drugs. Somewhere in that large brain of his, he knows I actually took 'em, but he ignores that part. I don't know why and I don't care.

"Well, you've never been one to think too much, now have you, Roy? It's really not surprising you ended up being wrong." Shit, he's slick. He rarely jokes, so it's easy to forget how good he is at it. If it wasn't for that smirk, no one would be able to tell. Except maybe Kory, but she'd probably also need a few extra years to figure it out.

"Like you're always right." Hah! Got him there!

"What are you here for? Other than to reconcile with Donna, of course."

Fuck. Didn't expect him to use that as a comeback. Wait a minute. Didn't he just change the subject?

Great! Now I can definitely get him wi-

"You know, before either of you pull me into this anymore than I already am, I'm gonna go," Donna cut in before I could respond. She walked the few remaining steps over to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I couldn't help the small smile that began to form. "We'll talk later."

Of course that's when it ended all too soon and she walked over, hugged Dick, and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. And here I thought I was special.

"I'll see you later, Dick. Nice seeing you again."

"You too," Dick replied before taking a seat on the couch.

With that, she was gone. It's all Dick's fault.

"So, back together?"

"I don't know. You kind of interrupted us before we could talk about it." I took a seat in the chair across from him.

"No, I interrupted you before either of you could jump out of your clothes and have wild sex right here in the middle of the living room floor."

Hmm, he's got a point. I hate it when he has a point.

"We would have talked about it after," I told him, shrugging it off.

"So, I thought she was hooked up with…Terry Meltzer?"

Terry Meltzer? Oh yeah, the asshole. So that's his last name!

"Wow, you are way behind on her love life! She and Terry broke up eight months ago! She's been single ever since." Of course he doesn't have to know that I just found that out a few minutes ago.

"So then she must have broken up with him-"

"A couple of days after our stakeout." I'm guessing here. Again, he doesn't have to know. He's already right about everything! Speaking of which, that just reminded me about my original comeback. "By the way, I'm here to help you."

He raised an eyebrow in response. Alright! I threw him a curve that he sure as hell wasn't ready for.

"Your brothers just got kidnapped, Dick. I told my Commissioner that I needed to come help you out with it." Now that's the truth.

"And seeing Donna again…?"

"I had no clue she was gonna be here." That's the truth too. Although I do have mixed feelings about her being here, but I'll have to sort through those later.

"Why's she here?"

"Art gallery thing. She's actually having a few of her photographs in it."

"Way to go Donna."

"That's what I said!"

"Was that before or after you started shoving your tongue down her windpipe?"

I rolled my eyes. Of course he's gotta bring that up again. It's not my fault she tastes so good that I feel like I can barely get enough of her. "Just shut up."

He laughed in response.

Dick and I have always had completely different methods towards girls. While I'd flirt with them constantly, he'd pretty much stand off to the side and "play hard to get." That's what the girls would say. Truth is, just he wasn't interested. That's it. Plain and simple.

Now that I look back on it, I can see why. All those girls would do was just follow him around and be willing to do anything for him. They were pretty and easy, which is why I went after them when I was growing up. Ollie was the one that taught me to do that. I hate him for it. It's one of the reasons I originally had a hard time getting Donna to go out with me in the first place.

We've known each other since we were kids, so it wasn't any surprise to her when I started going out with those bimbos and became a player. She couldn't really blame me either, since that's kind of the way I was brought up. Ollie was always bringing easy girls home.

The thing that finally got her to agree to a date with me, was me practically begging her. It showed her how much I really liked her and wasn't looking for a relationship that I shared with those other girls.

I can't put all the blame on Ollie. I was the idiot that followed his example. If I hadn't, maybe none of this crap would have happened.

But then again, maybe it still could have.

Either way, it's all in the past now. Time to focus on here and now.

"So, you came here to help me. Why?"

Ugh. Dick's always thinks there's gotta be a reason for everything. He's always looking for some kind of ulterior motive for something. Then again, with all the psychos he deals with, it is pretty understandable. It's his job to figure things like that out. As for me, I shoot first and ask questions later.

"Why shouldn't I?" I gave him the 'are-you-stupid?' look. "Dick, you're always there for me when I need you, this time I get to be there for you."

"Why do you do it, Roy?"

Okay, I know I gave him the answer to this question a few months ago. Like I said, he and I usually just talk about work and keep the personnal stuff to a minimum.

Dick should seriously take a look in the mirror, cause he's just like the crooks he fights. He always has a reason for something. Just like they do.

"What do you mean?" I gotta find out why he's asking me this before I can answer.

"Why do you risk your life every day?"

"Because it's the right thing to do and because I wanted to make a difference in people lives." Ask a simple question…

"How do you do that?"

Oh, you've gotta be kidding me.

"What are you asking me for? It's the same for you Dick. I mean, think about it. Before you took that time off, only a few crooks were able to get out of jail, more officers started actually doing the right thing, and people looked to you as a hero. A light in a dark place. Now look how things are in Gotham after you were gone for only what? A month, month and a half. A dozen of Gotham's worst criminals are on the loose, people are scared again, and the people that stood up were taken down quickly.

"You're a hero, Dick, and you inspire other people to stand up for good! You make a huge difference in people's lives! You've always done that. You started with Bruce, Jason, and Tim, then Kory, then you went on to help change Gotham."

"What do you mean I started with Bruce, Jason, and Tim?"

Damn. He's stupider than I thought.

I couldn't help but laugh before answering, "Come on Dick, I thought you were smarter than this.

"Before you became a cop, Bruce never donated to the force to get them new equipment. You changed his thoughts on how bad the Gotham police force is. If you never knew that, then you must not read the business section of the paper.

"Since you never talked to Jason these past few years either, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know you changed his thoughts on cops too. He found out from Babs that you were the one that caught that sniper who had tried to kill him-"

"Babs has a big mouth," He cut me off.

Yeah. She does have a big mouth.

"No duh. Anyway, you're also like Tim's role model. You always have been. He looks up to you and follows your example. Just like your kids.

"Everyone knows about that little story your mom used to tell you, Dick-again, Babs." He nodded in understanding. "Anyway, to everyone around you, you are that little miracle. That start of hope, cause that's what you give us. Hope that someday there will be more selfless cops out there; hope to be strong against even the toughest foes. The point is, you're everyone's little miracle and everyone else is yours. Everyone around you keeps you grounded and open, because without Kory or your kids, your brothers, Bruce, Selina, everyone, you'd just be this guy that had nothing to fight for.

"That's the answer you were looking for, wasn't it? Why you get up everyday to fight?"

I may not be a detective, but I'm not stupid. Man, maybe I do know Dick better than I thought.

Again, we're stuck in silence. But, unlike the silence with Donna, this one's much more comfortable. At least it is to me.

Finally, he broke it.

"I hate you."

I laughed.

Well, that wasn't surprising. Of course I know he doesn't really hate me. He's just joking again.

The door opened again and I looked back to see Cassie walk in with her arms full of grocery bags.

"Oh look, two more men living in my home for who knows how long," She said as she entered the apartment, putting on a sarcastic smile. "Get off your asses and help me with the groceries if you want to keep living in this apartment."

"You're just as nice as ever, aren't you?" Dick replied, getting up.

"Only around you, Dick," She shot back as she handed him two of the brown bags. He tossed one to me before bringing the one he was holding into the kitchen. I just continued to chuckle as I got up and followed.

Once we finished helping her put the groceries away, I went to the couch to take a nap. I haven't even been here for a full day and I was already wiped out. Usually, I don't dream when I'm napping. That's probably because when I take a nap I'm really half asleep, that way it won't be too hard for me to wake up in case of an emergency. It was different today, though.

I was in an old apartment building. Dust was everywhere, and so was blood. Suddenly, I felt something hit my left arm. I looked down at it, but there was nothing there. Then it started to feel numb. I blinked rapidly as the room began to spin before complete darkness overtook me.

"Time to wake up, sleeping beauty," I heard someone joke. When I opened my eyes I found Conner standing above me, with a grin on his face. "Donna called a little while ago. Said she wants to meet you for dinner, loverboy."

Okay, that woke me up.

"Where? When?" I asked quickly as I practically jumped off of the couch and tried to fix my hair and tuck in my shirt. I ended up making myself look worse since I had been trying to do both at the same time. "What'd she sound like?"

"What? Are you expecting her to be a clone or something?" Conner joked. "Listen, I didn't talk to her; Cassie answered the phone. But I'm sure if you asked her, she'd tell you Donna sounded like Donna."

"Funny, but you know what I meant," I told him before looking around the apartment wildly. "It wasn't that big, so it shouldn't be too hard finding Cassie in-

"She's in the bedroom, finishing up on some homework," Conner told me as if reading my mind.

I muttered a quick thanks before rushing into the bedroom to find Cassie sitting at the desk to the side, looking down at a really thick book. She's an archaeology major, and with so many civilizations to study, I'm surprised the book wasn't big enough to break the table.

"What'd she sound like? Where? And that time?" I asked quickly.

"Calm down Roy. You talk any faster and you'll sound like Bart," She told me as she continued to study her book. "She sounded fine, but a little nervous, it's at the small restaurant at her hotel, and you still have two hours to get ready. Although I'm sure you wanted to look your best, so that's why I asked Conner to wake you up."

"Thanks, Cassie. Try not to hurt your brain," I told her before dashing out the door. I grabbed my bag and pulled out a quick set of clothes before rushing to the bathroom.

"Don't use up all my hot water!" I heard Conner call after me.

Man, I felt like a teenager again. And not the one that had gone out on a date almost every night. No, it felt like my first date all over again.

After a quick shower I got dressed and brushed my hair-with a comb this time!-before putting on my blazer and straightening my tie.

I grinned as I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

"Oh, yeah. I look good!"

When I left the room I saw Dick and Conner sitting on the couch. Conner was watching the game while Dick was looking over a few old case files.

"Hey Roy. You look good," Conner said with a grin.

"But of course, you already knew that," Dick joked along with a smile as, he too, looked up at me.

Great. They heard me.

Hmm… I wonder how much a hotel room costs at the hotel Donna's staying at.

"Now, don't be out too late. You got work in the morning," Dick told me.

"And don't do anything we wouldn't do."

I smirked at that.

I finally left and walked leisurely to the hotel, it'd only take about ten minutes to get there if I ran, but since I still had a little over a half hour to kill, I took my time and stopped by a small flower shop to pick up a few roses. I didn't have that much money on me, so I could only get her four, but being a cop really doesn't pay much in the first place. Basically, I was lucky I could even pay for four.

As I put my wallet back in my blazer pocket, I could feel the cool metal of the gun I had hidden. Usually I keep at least three guns on me, but tonight I only brought two, just to show Donna I'm a little more relaxed tonight. The second one is tucked away in a holster on my leg. As for where I put the third one, well…you don't want to know.

By the time I had gotten to the hotel, I still had twenty minutes to spare. Cassie did tell me to meet Donna at the restaurant in her hotel, meaning I'd meet Donna there. Besides, knowing her, she'd need the next twenty minutes to finish getting ready.

I walked down to the restaurant to see what it was like. I knew it was a steak place, so I wasn't expecting anything too formal.

Damn, this place is fancy!

Why the hell would you need to pay twenty-five dollars for water? Where'd they import it from? Some spring in northern China?

Donna's definitely paying for this dinner! I mean, the chicken soup is fifty dollars!

Okay, when she gets down here, I'm gonna give her the flowers and tell her we can just skip dinner and go get some ice cream, or something, instead. That should save us both from going broke!

"Hey Roy!" I quickly turned, my eyes seeking out Donna; I'd recognize her voice anywhere. "Over here!"

Oh, there she is.

Damn. How could I not have noticed that giant fountain, there?

I smiled to her and we both started walking toward each other.

I held out the flowers and she smiled before taking them. We stood there in silence for a few minutes before I finally spoke.

"Hey," I said, trying my best to hide the nervous tone in my voice. I think I did a pretty good job of it.

Her smile widened. "Hey."

See, what'd I tell ya? We're both just like a couple of teenagers on a first date!

Is this even considered a first date?

"So, I was thinking-"

"Don't worry, Roy. Because of the exhibition, the museum's picking up my expenses. I can just charge dinner to my room, and neither of us will end up with a large bill," She told me.

Awesome! I'll be ordering two steaks then!

"Really? I was actually going to offer to pay, but…" I let my statement trail off with a smile. She shook her head, knowing I was lying, but laughed as well.

Dinner was good. We pretty much ate in silence. When it came time to order desert, I talked Donna into ordering the triple fudge cake of death. It wasn't really called that, but that's what it looked like so that's what I called it. A piece was like…seventy-five dollars, so we decided to get four. Two for now and two for later.

The piece the waiter had set in front of me was so huge, it felt like I gained fifteen pounds just looking at the damn thing!

Needless to say, I swallowed my piece down in a matter of minutes. I mean, it tasted too great not to eat that fast.

Of course, Donna only ate a bit of hers. She spent most of the time staring at it while lost in thought.

Huh. Girls. Don't want to eat a perfectly good piece of cake so they won't ruin their figure.

"Roy, about that kiss this afternoon…"

Boy, was I way off.

Hmm…I wonder if she can hold off this time for me to-

She rolled her eyes and pushed the cake over to me.

"You're almost as bad as Vic, y'know that?" She told me as I basically attacked the death cake.

Hey, I may be hungry but I'm also a gentlemen, so I swallowed before I answered, "No one's as bad as Vic, Donna," then returned to my cake.

I knew on the outside she looked annoyed, but I could see the laughter in her beautiful eyes.

Donna's a very… "planned-out" kind of person, while I'm definitely not. She's not the crazy type of organized person, though. She doesn't have like fifty calendars with every day scheduled. And when I say every day, I mean every day of their lives. Including the day they die!

She's definitely not that type of person by any means, but she does know what she wants to do with her life. She has ever since we were little kids. But, whenever we're together, nothing's ever planned out. I mean, I doubt up until that kiss she had planned on asking me to dinner-which I'm completely okay with, by the way. (Dinah and Donna pretty much liked to beat feminism into me, to try and counteract Ollie and Hal's…influence.)

I guess the point is, she does have a fun side, and I love that it comes out when she's mostly around me.

"Is that a sign that she like me too?"

"That who likes you too?"

Fuck! I gotta stop thinking out loud!

Well, this is probably as good a time as any to tell her how I feel. Besides, if she shoves this piece of cake in my face, at least I already know it's good enough to eat.

"Donna," I paused and sighed. Good thing the others aren't here to see me faulter. "…I really liked that kiss. To tell you the truth, I've wanted to kiss," and do a few more things to, "you, for a really long time now. See…" I looked down as I paused again. "I'm still in love with you."

Silence. Again.

See, now would be a good time for the waiter to come with the check and our last two pieces of cake.

"Roy." I looked up to see Donna smiling at me with…was that love in her eyes? "You wanna stay with me tonight?"

I grinned.

A/N: Okay, I know I said it was a one-shot, but it got pretty long so I decided to split it into two chapters. I think this one pretty much speaks for itself, don't you?

I hope you liked this one! Please review!