The Archer | T.D. ✔

Chapter Fifty

Rory sat on her balcony, her legs hanging off the edge as she leaned against the bars keeping her safe. It had been three weeks since Jesse was murdered by Slade and three weeks since they locked him up in Belle Reve Prison. Supposedly, it was impossible to break out of but she had very little doubt that it would keep a man like him trapped there for long.

That prison was designed to hold the bad of the bad, the worst of the worst. Gotham would benefit from some of her criminals being locked up there, but that was only if they didn't get out of Arkham before they got transferred. Slade was one of the most dangerous men on the planet, along with Deadshot, Lady Shiva, and the Demon Head himself, Ra's Al Ghul.

She had been told once before by Malcolm Merlyn, that Rory had serious potential to be the most dangerous woman alive and he would hate to see what becomes of the person to make her that way. Oliver and Malcolm were enemies, but sometimes they had gotten along. The Ninth Circle had sunk its claws deep into Star City, and they enlisted his help to stop them. Merlyn had taken it upon himself to personally train Rory to be a better version of herself, to be an assassin in that year and a half and she swore to herself she would never fight like that again.

But she had, Rory had almost murdered Slade Wilson in cold blood and she would be lying to herself if she said that she wouldn't do it again if he were in front of her. Slade didn't deserve to live out the rest of his life in prison, knowing what he had reduced Rory to. Knowing that he had broken her down to the deepest darkest parts of herself, shattering the pieces she had kept together for so long.

Tim stood in the doorway, watching Rory as she took another sip of the glass beside her. He knew better than to think that it was something as simple as water, he was too observant for it. As a matter of fact, he knew that the very bottle the vodka had come from was hidden under her bed, inside a box of things she hadn't wanted to look at since Jesse died. It was needless to say that he was worried about her, Tim was watching her self destruct right in front of him but there was nothing he could do until she accepted the help.

Rory knew Tim was there watching her, waiting for her to say something; but what would she say? Since Jesse died, a part of her died with him. She no longer joked around, laughed at Dick's terrible puns, or even picked on Jason. Rory had gone as far as benching herself from patrol, something she used to look forward to no longer seemed fun anymore.

Tim let out a sigh as he walked further into the room, he had to try something; maybe try to convince her to stop drinking and put the bottle of vodka away? He couldn't stand to see her waste away like this. Carefully, he sat down next to her and placed his hand on hers. The second his skin touched hers, Rory drew her hand back and placed it on her lap sending a pang of hurt through Tim's heart. She had never rejected his touch like that before, normally Rory took comfort in his touch knowing that he was there for her to lean on.

They sat together in silence before Rory finally spoke. "He was the first person I ever loved, Jesse was the first to see what I buried deep inside of myself," she muttered taking another drink.

Tim looked at her, why was she telling him this? It's not that he felt jealous, he was more confused than anything. 

"He was my first for a lot of things really, my first love, my first real relationship, first friend outside of Roy in years... We were supposed to be together forever the three of us. The Three Musketeers we called ourselves, it caught on so much Oli and Dinah began to call us that." she chuckled softly, swirling the drink in her hand.

"But, he was also my first heartbreak, my first fight, my first partner. You can't ever forget someone like that," she muttered.

"No one is asking you to forget him or move on Rory. Hell, no one is asking you to do anything except to stay out of the liquor cabinet. We all loved him, in different ways than you and Roy, but we are grieving with you. None of us want you to feel like you are alone in this, because you're not." Tim spoke up, looking at her.