The Batpoint Paradox

Under the Redundant Red Domino

*Roy

This guy is really starting to piss me the hell off, with his carefree attitude, cocky smirk and completely laid back demeanor, even while being interrogated by just about all of the JLA's heavy hitters. Well I'm gonna knock that smirk right off his annoyingly attractive face because god damnit this man has been in my home, he's met my child, I can't afford to leave here without some damn answers, he knows so much about me and the more I learn about him the less I seem to know. So I put on a cool, collected face and march into the room ready to break this son of a bitch. 

Before I'd entered the interrogation room I made a point to excuse the peanut gallery, asking the whole group of gathered heroes, senior leagues included, to give us some privacy. I'd had to pull Superman aside and convince him to allow me a chance to conduct my interrogation without their supervision (or his super-vision).

"Just listen Supes, nothing else has worked so far, don't ask me why but I have a strong feeling about this, just let me take a crack at him one on one, no audience, no surveillance-" Clark looked ready to object but I cut him off explaining my reasoning, "I don't know how, but I get the distinct impression he can tell when he's being watched, in person or on camera. Maybe I'm wrong, but what else have we got. It's worth a shot, I know that since J'ohn got nowhere you're all just waiting for Diana to get back from that diplomatic conference thing. So until then what's it hurt to let me go for it? Humor me Clark, if I'm still in there when Di gets back she can come lasso him, and if nothing else I might come up with a few more questions she can throw at him."

He reluctantly agreed to grant me total privacy, but after I assured him that I didn't just want free rein to beat the answers out of him while no one was around to stop me. Not that the thought hadn't crossed my mind of course, but at this point it wan't yet worth losing my position in the League, or the other potential consequences of such actions, not that that would stop me if it came down to it, not with Lian involved. However there were still other options, moreover I had a strong suspicion that this guy could take a beating, I mean even J'ohn's brief description of what he'd experienced in Jason's head was more than likely far worse than anything I was capable of inflicting on him. 

So when I dropped down into the cold metal chair in front of the small rectangular table opposite the man I intended to break, I could dig into his life without my colleagues finding out things I didn't want them to about mine. About how this man who should be little more than a stranger from a bar, an attempted one night stand,  just a drunken mistake meant to fade into an embarrassing memory. That Instead since the moment we met he's consistently been on my mind, haunting me since that morning when it became clear he was more than he appeared to be, a mystery I'd been working tirelessly to solve since, but failed to gain any headway until today. 

With a purposefully unperturbed expression displayed on my face I leaned forward, resting my elbows on the table in front of me and quirked an eyebrow at the man before me.

"Hiya Jason, if that's even your real name, I'm sure you remember me, I mean you certainly seemed to earlier. Actually you seem to know quite a bit about me, far more than you should, so let's cut past all the bullshit because I'm not leaving here until I get my answers." I level the man with my most menacing glare until I detect an almost imperceptible crack in his devil may care faćade, which is when I pounce.
"This is personal," I say continuing my verbal assault, "you made this personal the moment you stepped into my home and breathed the same air as my baby girl, make no mistake, Jason, if that's even your real name, you may be able to evade Martian mind probing, but you're not getting past me."
I'm gratified to see my words have now made the man look visibly uncomfortable, something no one else thus so far had been able to accomplish.

He looks at me with a pained expression, teal eyes pleading with me to just let this go.

"Roy you gotta believe me that no good will come from this, know that despite how bad this looks, I am not your enemy, I would never hurt you or Lian. I would rather die." He speaks those words with such conviction, such sincerity that I'm struck silent as he goes on.  

"I would die a thousand more times with a smile on my face if that's what it would take to keep you guys safe, and the fact that you don't know that now hurts worse than getting beaten to death by the Joker's crowbar." He raggedly breathes out a harsh puff of air and closes his eyes for a moment.

The reprieve from that piercing gaze allows me to snap out of my stupor and remember why I'm here.

"Now I just have more questions, I can't just take you on your word here Jason, I barley know you, and yet somehow you know way too much about me, about my family and friends." 

"That isn't true, you do know me Roy, can't you feel it?" He pleads desperately. 

Yes, a part of me whispered traitorously, I ignored it.

"No. What I do know is that you broke into Justice League headquarters and almost managed to successfully steal an extremely dangerous device, the existence and location of which happen to be very closely guarded League secrets. " I pause, giving him a chance to try and deny the allegations, when he remains silent I continue.

"I also know that you have far more classified information regarding my civilian identity and my family. I don't yet know how exactly you managed to accomplish that, but we'll come back to that because it's the why I find to be far more pressing. Why me, why my family specifically, what do you want? I'm not buying the BS you're throwing at me, cut the crap and give me a straight answer." I slam my palms on the table and get up from my chair skewering him with a look that screams 'I mean business'.

Jason holds my heated gaze with an intense stare of his own, his formerly teal irises now blazing molten emerald green, all traces of the bluish hue that had clearly been present there before seemingly overtaken by the vibrant color. 

For some reason the sight of this sends alarm bells ringing in my mind and before I realize what's happening I find my body moving of its own accord. Suddenly my hands are gripping Jason's muscled biceps in a gentle but firm hold, which first causes him to tense, but slowly I feel him start to relax. His rapid, harsh breathing slows, evening out back to normal as bit by bit as the green fades from his gaze until his eyes return to their original teal hue and the clarity I hadn't even realized they'd lost started to return. The tortured expression from before was now replaced with what started out as shock but slowly morphed into awe. His now damp eyes shining with what looked to be a cautious flicker of hope and another deeper emotion I refuse to acknowledge the same way I do with the emotional response the look invokes in my own body.

I'm drawn back to reality by a firm knock on the door behind us, immediately dropping my hands from Jason's arms and abruptly ceasing the unconscious humming I wasn't aware I'd been doing that whole time. I realized that  the melody had escaped my lips of its own accord the same way my hands had grasped Jason's arms, more perplexing, if possible, was the fact that until this very moment I'd have sworn it was a tune I'd never heard before in my life. 

Another knock on the door moments later however reminds me that I can't continue to sit here puzzling over what just happened, so reluctantly I tear my gaze from Jason's and stand to open the door for a concerned looking Wonder Woman.

She looks me over quizzically for a moment before raising her lasso and turning her attention to a suddenly pale Jason.

"My turn."