The Archer | T.D. ✔

Chapter Fifty-One

"You do know that Belle Reve Prison is not going to hold Slade for long right? Sooner or later he will break out and come for me." Rory said, sharpening the tips of her arrows.

"That thought had crossed my mind, yes, but as long as you are here or in Star City with Oliver, then he won't be able to touch you. Also, don't underestimate your abilities. You are a strong fighter Rory, and you are intelligent. You've taken him down once before, if he comes back you can take him down again." Bruce said from his computer.

Tim was sat next to her looking through the files on his laptop, with the information about Ivy was planning with the goo she got from Joker they needed to figure out where she was storing it and how she was making it in the first place. Rory wanted to go pay another visit to Harley, but both Tim and Bruce voted against it saying that Ivy was probably keeping an eye on her now. 

The only other people involved with this case was Joker and Penguin, and no one was stupid enough to go interrogate the Joker without Batman around. Rory still had nightmares from what he did to her but wasn't as frequent as they used to be. 

Ever since Slade was thrown in prison, life in the Manor had chilled out immensely. Roy had gone back to Star City to stay with Oliver and work on his gear to improve it, promising to bring something back for her. Jason was hanging around Gotham some more, apparently, Black Mask was up to no good again and needed some friendly persuasion from the resident crime lord of Wayne Manor.

Dick went back to Bludhaven a week ago, he had friends there that he needed to check up on and to make sure nothing terrible had happened in his absence. His friends Wally and Zatanna would pop in every so often, but they couldn't stay when they had their own business to attend to.

Stephanie hung around the Manor still, taking Dick's place as the constant source of bad humor. They all missed him but knew that he had his own life to live now. He couldn't stay in Gotham forever, not when Bludhaven needed him.

Cassandra was with Bruce's cousin Kate on more Batman Inc. business over in England, they were hanging out with Knight and Squire to see what they knew about a case Kate had been working on. 

Barbara hung around, but not as much with Dick gone. She was able to be Oracle from her own apartment, only staying at the Manor with the Slade threat over their heads. Now that it was gone, everyone could return to their daily lives they led outside of being vigilantes. 

Bruce and Damian of course stayed in Gotham, they were Batman and Robin. Where else would they go? The former wasn't due for any Justice League meetings in the future, and Damian was wanting to learn a few tricks Rory had picked up over the years. He had told her that a good fighter never stops learning, and learning to fight as an archer did would be good for him if the time ever came.

Of course, Rory took up on the deal as long as he worked with her on her own sword skills. She was good enough as it was, but she wanted to be better just in case Slade came back for her. 

Before everyone left, however, Tim and Rory officially announced that they were getting an apartment together in uptown Gotham. The reactions from the others varying, the most supportive being Dick, Alfred, Steph, Babs, and Cass, to the least being Jason and Roy. Bruce and Damian were somewhere in the middle, they weren't fond of the idea but they weren't against Rory and Tim taking the next step in their relationship.

The only problem was that Tim was still part of the Titans in Jump City, across the country. He had mentioned to Rory that she would be welcome on the team, she never gave him a straight answer. Rory wasn't a team player, hanging around the batfamily was the most team interaction she had gotten in a while.