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“I know it's been said, but your family has more problems than the Arrows ever did.” Roy sighed, reclining back against the pile of pillows he'd stolen from Jason's bed. “You said blood thirsty psychopath Robbie. I can deal with that. But getting dragged into Bat family drama? That's just no bueno, man.”
“What do you mean, Roy?” Static obscured Dick's voice as the storm howled down from the mountains, rattling the window panes.
“I mean, I know shit hasn't been good between you guys for years but this, this was something else man.”
“What are you talking about? Did something happen to Jason?”
“I don't know how much I can tell you, man-- he said this shit had to stay on the low down-- but what he did was ice cold, Robbie. Gave me the creeps worse than the Big Bat ever did.” Roy continued. “I mean, who does that? How fucked up do you have to be? Remind me again why I'm friends with you and Tim if this is what I get for it?”
“Roy! Shut up and tell me what happened already or go away! It's 6 A.M. here and it's been a long night.” Dick snapped.
“Oh, right.” The red head bit the edge of his thumb, thinking. “Somebody slaughtered the crazies that trained him after he came back to life-- I've never even heard of these people Dick, but after fighting their zombies, I'm thinking that's a good thing-- so Jason drags us halfway around the world-- Okay, so he said we didn't need to come too, but team mates and shit, right? Anyways, so we get here, and to find out what happened, the guardian or made us give up our most important memories so we could try and find out what these people wanted.” He shifted, pushing away the feeling of wrongness he felt when he thought about what had happened in the Chamber of All. “We got them back though, don't worry.”
“Roy...” The line crackled again as Dick sighed into the receiver. “Get to the point, please.”
An uncomfortable silence fell as Roy debated how to phrase it. “Dick... He told him to keep it. Jason did, I mean.”
“What do you mean?”
Roy groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I mean, he walked out without getting his memory back, Dick. And that guy, S'Aru or whatever the fuck Jason called him, he had a way of playing it back. Your family is really fucked up, you know that? I mean, even after Ollie kicked me out, I don't think I could have just thrown something like this away. Boy's fucked up Robbie. Real fucked up.”
Dick was silent, and Roy waited for his reply uneasily, listening to the wind howling above him. When it came, his friend's voice was quiet, but there was something terrible in it, like Dick was already resigned to whatever the answer would be. “What was it? What did... What did my brother want to forget so badly?”
Roy swallowed, instantly regretting ever even calling Dick about this at the gutted sound in his voice. “Dick... I'm sorry man. I shouldn't--”
“Roy. Just... Just tell me, okay?”
He nodded to himself, licking his lips nervously. “You weren't in it. Dunno if that's a good thing-- Your call I guess. Jay was real young though-- Must've been before things started going wrong with him and the Big Bat. I-- He was sick, just a cold or something, but bad enough to keep him grounded even though he said he was fine. We've all done shit like that, right? I dunno, maybe you guys were different, but the kid was sick and the point is, the Bat took the night off to sit with him.” Roy sighed, and raked his hair back with his free hand. “Ollie used to do that shit with me all the time. I-- It never seemed like something all that special to me, y'know? But it was the kid's most cherished memory, and he just gave it up! ”
The silence that answered him was deep, and stretched long enough that Roy started to worry that the storm had taken out the lines before Dick found the words to answer him.
“Dammit Jason...” The other man cursed softly, sounding more beat down than Roy had ever heard him before. There was another heavy sigh, before Dick spoke up again. “Look... Thanks for letting me know. I gotta get some sleep but... I really appreciate this, Roy. Keep watching out for him for me, alright?”
“Yeah... Yeah, no problem Robbie. Get some rest. I'll talk to you later.”
Roy hung up the phone once the dial tone started buzzing in his ear and groaned, leaning back into the pillows. “God dammit. I should kill Jason for dragging me into this shit.”