I started reading Titans years ago, back when comics were sixty-five 
cents. I gave up on it when they killed Joey (sniff). I never looked back.

-----------------------------------
Sometimes Good Guys Finish First
by Lianne Burwell
September 1999
-----------------------------------

Kyle Rayner took a couple steps back, his brush still in his hand, and 
considered the canvas in front of him. This painting wasn't a commission; 
he'd been working on it in his spare time for nearly a week now, and he 
was beginning to wonder if he would ever be satisfied with it.

He walked a slow arc, examining the result from different angles. He 
didn't usually work in abstract like this, but when he'd picked up the 
brush and faced the blank canvas, it had just... happened.

Kyle considered adding a touch of a new color to one of the patterns, but 
stopped himself. The painting had reached the point, he realized, where 
adding to it would just destroy it. There was a time when you had to just 
step back and say 'it's done', or risk destroying any freshness left in 
the work.

He dropped his brush into a jar filled with turpentine and started to 
clean up the detritus of a day spent painting. Brushes needed to be 
cleaned and wrapped, paints needed to be put away, the canvas needed to 
be put someplace safe to dry. Inside, he was feeling melancholy. The 
usual postpartum depression after finishing a piece, he told himself. Of 
course he'd already been depressed, but he chose not to think about that.

He was nearly done when there was a knock at the door. By this time his 
stomach was growling. It was well past lunch-time, and he hadn't eaten 
breakfast either. He headed for the door, wondering who it was that was 
looking for him.

Whoever he might have expected, Roy Harper was not it. Roy was leaning 
against the doorframe, looking at Kyle from over the top of his 
sunglasses, dressed casually in blue jeans and a brown silk shirt with a 
leather jacket over one shoulder. Kyle just stood there, surprised. He 
hadn't seen the Titan since the run-in with Red Panzer a couple weeks 
earlier.

"Well, are you gonna let me in or not?"

Kyle jumped a little at the mocking tone, then moved out of the way. Roy 
swaggered -- there was no other way to describe it -- in, dropping his 
jacket on a convenient piece of furniture.

"How did..." Kyle stopped.

"How did I know where to find you? Hey, just because I don't work for the 
government anymore doesn't mean I don't have contacts."

"What?!" Kyle shouted. He did *not* want the government knowing how to 
find him. How did they know to find him?

Roy laughed. "Relax! Sheesh, can't take a joke. I asked Nightwing. Don't 
know how he found out, though. Maybe he asked Bats."

Kyle relaxed a fraction at that. "Sorry." Besides, the government *did* 
know how to find him, or at least they knew how to find Kyle Rayner. He 
did wonder why Roy hadn't simply asked Donna, though. She knew where his 
place was. Or she *had*, before.

"Don't sweat it. It wasn't much of a joke to begin with." Roy walked in a 
circle around the studio, peeking into cupboards and checking all the 
pieces Kyle had out. For a moment Kyle considered stopping the invasion 
of his privacy, but he was a little surprised to find that he didn't mind.

Finally, Roy stopped in front of the new canvas. He slid his sunglasses 
down his nose and stood looking at it for several minutes, his lips 
pursed. "Interesting," he finally said.

"Interesting?" Kyle echoed mockingly, wondering if it was meant to be a 
compliment, or if he should be insulted.

"Interesting. Jordan?" Roy asked, reaching out and not quite touching one 
swirl of green.

Kyle blinked, and frowned. It wasn't what he'd been thinking about when 
he'd brushed on the color, but, "Yes."

Roy nodded. "Supes," he muttered to himself, checking out another spot. 
"Parents. Duty, perhaps?"

Kyle stood blinking. This was not exactly the sort of behavior he would 
have expected from the brash hero. Of course, who was he to talk? After 
all, he'd spent years as basically a shallow idiot before being given the 
Green Lantern ring. Some people still thought he was. But that was 
before...

"Who is she?"

Kyle was jerked out of his reverie, and stepped closer to see what Roy 
was talking about.

Roy was looking right at the center of the canvas, the pivotal point of 
the composition. All the colors converged on that point, weaving together.

Kyle flinched. "I don't know what you mean," he said, suddenly feeling a 
little defensive.

Roy shook his head. "It feels female, and she's very important to you. 
But I don't think it's Donna," he added, referring to the woman they'd 
both dated, and both worked with in the Titans. "So who is she?"

Kyle stared at the painting, and for a moment the colors shimmered to 
life, taking form. "Alex."

"What happened to her?"

Kyle blinked, refusing to let the threatening tears show. "She was 
killed. They were looking for me and found her instead."

"Oh. Sorry." He actually did sound sorry, and repentant for having 
brought the subject up.

Kyle turned away from the painting, resisting the sudden urge to take a 
knife to it. "Ancient history."

A hand gripped his shoulder. "Just because it's in the past doesn't mean 
it isn't an important part of you. Just look at me."

Kyle obeyed the implied request, and turned to meet blue eyes filled with 
sympathy and understanding.

They stared at each other silently for a moment, until Kyle had to break 
the silence. "So, you didn't say what you were doing here?"

Roy grinned and shrugged. "Well, since we didn't actually go *get* that 
beer after the business with Red Panzer, I thought we could do it today. 
Kory and Donna decided to take Lian out for a girls' day out, so I'm 
free. You?"

Kyle was so thrown off by the unexpected invitation that he actually had 
to search his memory before remembering that Lian was Roy's young 
daughter. Maybe it was the way that the man behaved, but he still had 
trouble picturing him as a father.

"No, I'm free," he said. "Where to?"

"Well, I know this great little pub," Roy said brightly. "Good food, 
great beer and even some pretty decent live entertainment. We'll just 
need to borrow the JLA's transporter."

Kyle felt a reluctant smile spread across his face. It figured that the 
man would want to use the JLA equipment. Still, it sounded like fun, even 
if it wasn't his usual sort of outing.

"Sounds good to me."

"Great!" Roy slung an arm around Kyle's shoulder. "But first, maybe you 
should wash up. You've got a smear of paint right..." he reached up and 
brushed a damp thumb across Kyle's cheek, and Kyle suddenly realized that 
the other man had dipped his thumb in the still wet paint left on his 
pallet, "*there*!"

* * * * *

Kyle slouched in the booth they'd managed to get on arrival at the pub. 
That it was an Irish pub wasn't overly surprising to him. That the pub 
was actually in *Ireland* was. No wonder Roy had wanted to use the JLA 
transporters. Ireland was five hours ahead of New York, so instead of a 
late lunch, they were having dinner.

Roy was beaming as he carefully maneuvered himself and the two large 
pints of Guinness he was carrying through the crowd at the small pub. He 
managed to drop one in front of Kyle without any of the liquid sloshing 
over the rim, then slid into the seat opposite him.

"I ordered the dinner special. Hope you don't mind."

Kyle shook his head. "No problem. Right now, I'm so hungry I could eat a 
horse."

Roy looked up in surprise. "How did you...?" Then he grinned at the 
shocked look on Kyle's face. "Gotcha!" he crowed.

Kyle groaned at how easily he'd fallen for that one. "What *is* it, if 
it's not horsemeat?" he asked.

"Mutton stew," was the answer. Kyle wasn't so sure that sounded any more 
appealing, but kept his mouth shut.

A moment later, a barmaid was placing two bowls in front of them, with a 
basket of fresh bread on the side. "Enjoy!" she admonished them in a 
cheerful voice.

Roy didn't show any hesitation. He picked up his spoon and dug in, 
showing great pleasure in the meal. Kyle picked up his own spoon and took 
a cautious taste.

It was wonderful. The broth was so thick that it was almost a gravy, and 
there were generous chunks of meat and potatoes in it. He grabbed a piece 
of bread and applied himself to his meal as though he hadn't eaten in a 
week. Come to think of it, it had been almost a full day since he'd last 
eaten, and he was *hungry*.

They both ordered seconds, and Kyle didn't slow down until he was almost 
to the bottom of his bowl. Slowly savoring the last few bites, he finally 
pushed his bowl back and leaned back in his seat.

"You know," he said sleepily, his digestive system working full-blast, "I 
think that's one of the best meals I've ever had. How did you find this 
place?"

Roy beamed back at him. "Back when I was travelling the world for Uncle 
Sam," he said, but didn't expand on the statement. That was all right. 
Kyle could understand the need for secrecy. Roy had worked as a 
government agent for a couple years, and that was all he needed to know.

The band was setting up in the corner, and Kyle twisted in his seat to 
watch. No one had taken much notice of the two strangers, other than a 
couple of curious glances, but that wasn't too strange. With his black 
hair and green eyes, and Roy's red hair and blue eyes, they didn't stand 
out much.

The music, like the food, wasn't his normal sort of thing, but the 
musicians were good and the audience enthusiastic. Pretty soon, his toes 
were taping and he had a big smile on his face. When he looked at Roy, he 
found the man grinning back at him. For a moment he wondered what Roy was 
up to, what he wanted. Then he forced the thought from his mind. Right 
now, he was having too good a time to care.

* * * * *

The pub closed just after midnight, and Kyle was feeling no pain. He 
wasn't really drunk -- he didn't dare when a call could come at any 
second, kinda like a doctor. No, he was just feeling the glow of good 
food, good music, good beer and good company. He'd been a little 
surprised at how well he got along with Roy. They'd never really spent 
much time together -- out of costume, that was -- and he was pleasantly 
surprised to find Roy well-read and full of interesting opinions on 
everything from politics to baseball. It didn't fit the man's image, but 
the man was turning out to be a bundle of contradictions.

The JLA transporters whisked them back to the States were it was still 
daylight, and they ended up back at Kyle's place. Kyle wasn't surprised 
when Roy just assumed he was invited in. In a way, the young man reminded 
him of a cat; making himself at home anywhere he chose.

Kyle hung up his jacket in the closet, then headed for the kitchen. He 
stared at the nearly empty fridge and made a mental note to go grocery 
shopping the next day. He picked up the milk carton and sniffed, then 
hastily put it back on the shelf. "Orange juice okay with you?" he called 
out after making sure it was safe to drink.

"Just fine," was the answer. Kyle found two clean glasses and poured the 
juice into them. He headed back to the main room and found Roy sprawled 
all over the sofa.

He handed him one of the glasses, then dropped into the other chair. He 
probably should head back to his studio to finish cleaning up, but he 
couldn't seem to work up the ambition. It would mean more work tomorrow, 
but he was too comfortable right now.

They drank their juice in companionable silence, watching through the 
window as the horizon slowly turned red.

"So," Kyle finally said, breaking the silence. "Why did you really come 
by today? Not that I'm objecting, mind you. It's more fun than I've had 
in a while." Since Jade dumped him, the little voice in the back of his 
head reminded him, making him wince.

He glanced over and found Roy watching him with a strange expression. 
"Curiosity," he finally said.

"Huh?" Kyle mentally smacked himself. Not the most intelligent of 
responses.

"Curiosity," Roy repeated, then smiled. "I've been sort of seeing Donna, 
you know. Nothing serious. Just two old friends who are very comfortable 
together. Besides, like she said before, she's mostly trying to push out 
of the limits of what Wally remembers. I mean, can you imagine being 
recreated out of the memories of someone as straight-laced as Wally?"

Kyle smiled. "Not really. She's... not the same person anymore." And she 
wasn't. In some ways she was... flatter than the old Donna. She was 
growing again, but she'd never be the same person he'd fallen for, and 
while he might be able to fall for the new Donna, he didn't really want 
to try. It would be just too confusing.

"Yeah. Anyway, she needed someone safe to test those limits with, and 
hey! Who's safer than me?"

Kyle grinned. "No comment. And you haven't answered my question yet."

"I'm getting there. Anyway, she's been telling me some of what she *does* 
remember, and that includes you. It's hazy and all, but she really liked 
you a lot. I was curious about what she did see in you."

"And?" Kyle asked.

Roy shrugged a little, then smiled. "Let's see. You've got good taste in 
music and girls. You've got a reputation for being immature, but it 
doesn't show, at least not anymore. You're a great conversationalist, and 
not a bad dancer," he added, referring to the few times when Kyle had let 
one of the Irish lasses drag him onto the dance floor back at the pub. 
"All in all, you're a pretty decent guy. A fun date."

"Gee, thanks," Kyle said sarcastically, although the line of thought 
matched his own impressions of Roy after their 'night' out.

"Which just leaves the last question..."

Kyle watched suspiciously as Roy put down his glass, got to his feet and 
came over to stand in front of him. "And that would be?"

The next thing he knew, he was being dragged to his feet and wrapped in 
Roy's arms. "I think you can guess," Roy said huskily, then kissed him.

That caught him completely off-guard, and before he knew it, he was 
responding whole-heartedly to the kiss. It had been a while, and even 
longer since it had been a man kissing him, and his body's instincts took 
over before his brain could.

But finally common sense reasserted itself, and he pushed away. "Roy..." 
he started to say before a hand blocked the words.

Roy was smiling, but it didn't have the usual sarcastic edge to it. "You 
know, I didn't come by *intending* to jump your bones," he said. "I 
really did just wanted to get to know you, off the job, so to speak. I 
haven't even considered getting it on with a guy in a long time."

"Then why?" Kyle asked around the palm pressed to his lips, and watched 
fascinated as Roy's blue eyes went almost black.

"Because I just couldn't help myself. I really do like you." Roy's hand 
dropped. "Do you want me to go?"

Kyle swallowed, the warmth of Roy's hand lingering on his face. "If 
you're looking for a one night stand..." he started to say.

Roy shook his head. "I don't do those. Even Cheshire wasn't that," he 
said, referring to the assassin who was the mother of his daughter. "I 
can't promise you more, but we could always try."

Kyle considered that for a moment while Roy watched him. The sunset was 
turning his red hair to flame, and his eyes were almost as hot. What was 
the harm, Kyle thought to himself. He wasn't seeing anyone now, and he 
really hated being alone. Roy was fun, handsome and never boring.

"I suppose we could try," he finally said. Roy's grin was infectious.

"Well then, which way to the bedroom?"

Kyle stepped away and headed for the door to the bedroom. He started to 
unbutton his shirt, then paused. "Roy, are you sure about this? I mean, 
what about Donna? I don't want to hurt her."

Roy had already dropped his shirt and was undoing his pants. Kyle watched 
fascinated as the movements made the tattoo around the man's bicep flex 
and dance. "Trust me, Kyle. Donna's already starting to move on, now that 
she's feeling a little more confident about who she is. Actually, she 
knows where I am. That's why Lian is staying with her tonight." Kyle 
hadn't thought of that.

"Now, *relax*," Roy said, kicking off his jeans, leaving himself in only 
briefs and socks. He moved to stand right in front of Kyle and his hands 
came up to help him with the buttons he'd forgotten about. "There are 
times to think and times to go with the flow. This is definitely the 
latter."

Kyle finished unbuttoning his shirt and tugged the tails out of his 
slacks. Immediately, warm hands were slipping under it to run over his 
chest. His skin prickled, and he caught his breath. This was nice. Hell, 
it was better than nice.

"Yeah, you definitely need to relax," Roy said, then leaned in for a soft 
kiss.

Roy was a great kisser. Lots of practice, Kyle thought to himself, then 
kicked himself. That wasn't fair. Hell, *he'd* had just as much practice, 
and he decided to use it. He threw himself into the kiss so whole-
heartedly that he didn't even notice his clothes being disposed of until 
he pulled back from the kiss and found his shirt on the floor and his 
pants and underwear pooled around his ankles.

"You move fast," he said lightly, kicking the material out of the way. 
Roy had disposed of the last of his own clothing and Kyle took the time 
to compare physiques. Roy was so close to his own height that the 
difference was negligible, but he was broader than Kyle, especially 
through the shoulders. All that bow-work, probably. While Kyle was pale 
and mostly hairless, except for a couple swirls around his nipples and a 
line that reached up from the dark pubic hair around his cock, Roy was a 
ruddy color, liberally dusted with light freckles and a liberal amount of 
red curls spread across his chest. Even his pubic hair was a dark read, 
putting to rest any foolish doubts about whether red was his natural hair 
color. His cock matched the rest of him too. It was shorter than Kyle's, 
but thicker and flushed a dark red. They were both cut, like most of 
their generation. All in all, Roy was a good-looking man.

Roy struck a muscleman pose. "Like what you see?" he asked. Kyle couldn't 
help laughing, feeling better and better all the time. He *did* need this.

"Yeah, I do," he said, reaching out.

He'd thought to pull Roy in for another kiss, but the man had different 
ideas. He pounced. Luckily, the bed was right behind Kyle, and they went 
down in a sprawl on it, Roy landing on top of him.

With much laughter and touching, they moved up the bed until they weren't 
hanging over the edge or in danger of falling off. Then Roy pinned him to 
the mattress, sitting on his mid-section to hold him down.

Not that Kyle was fighting. The last of his doubts were gone and all that 
was left was a healthy amount of lust and need. He pulled Roy's face down 
so that they could continue their kiss. Damn, Roy was good at that. Once 
he was sure that Roy wasn't going anywhere, he slid his hands down to cup 
two ass cheeks that were just the right size for him to grip, firm and 
muscular.

A little wiggling aligned their groins together and Roy started a slow 
undulation against him, making them both purr with pleasure. He'd 
forgotten how good the give and take between men could be. He'd limited 
himself to women for several years now: Alex, Donna, Jade. Never 
understanding what they were thinking or feeling. Looking up into Roy's 
face, smiling down at him, he knew *exactly* what Roy was feeling because 
he was feeling it too.

And he was feeling it right down to his toes. It was just simple 
friction, but it was sweet, so very sweet. Sweat was slicking them both, 
and they were both panting hard. Planting his heels into the mattress, 
Kyle thrust upwards against Roy, harder and faster. While he would have 
liked it to last all night, he couldn't hold back. His fingers dug into 
Roy's buttocks, probably leaving bruises, but there was no complaint. 
Instead, Roy arched his back, throwing his head back, exposing his 
throat. Kyle wanted to kiss and suck at it, mark Roy, but it was out of 
reach and he was so damned close. So close...

And then he was there. He thrust hard against Roy and moaned as he 
climaxed, then collapsed back against the mattress. Roy followed him 
down, grinding down against his extra-sensitive groin, sending after-
shocks through his system.

Then Roy thrust one last time, growling deep in his throat as he came, 
and collapsed on top of Kyle, almost purring with satisfaction, like the 
cat Kyle had compared him to earlier.

They should wash up, Kyle thought as Roy grew heavier against him, but 
he fell asleep before he could do anything about it.

* * * * *

Kyle woke the next morning with Roy still sprawled all over him. It was a 
nice feeling, even if it was going to take a crowbar to separate them. 
Kyle shifted, and Roy lifted his head. They grinned at each other.

"Morning," Roy said huskily.

"Morning," Kyle said back. "I hope you weren't expecting breakfast, 
because the cupboard is bare."

"That's all right. I'm sure we can find someplace that serves at this 
time of the morning."

Kyle grinned and stretched, wincing as they pulled apart. A shower was 
definitely first on the list of activities for the day. For that 
matter... "Shower together?" he suggested.

Roy's grin turned to a leer. "Sounds good to me."

Kyle got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, not bothering to grab 
his robe. A low wolf whistle made him smile. "Are you coming or not?" he 
threw over his shoulder. Immediately Roy was out of bed and tackling him 
from behind.

"Definitely," the redhead breathed in his ear, double meaning clear, then 
laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"This. Us. And so history repeats itself," Roy said with a grin.

"Huh?"

"What? You didn't know about Ollie and Hal?"

Kyle's eyes went wide at that. "You're saying that..."

"That the Green Arrow liked to show his other arrow to the old Green 
Lantern? You better believe it."

Kyle snickered at the expression. "Well, you know what they say about men 
who wear spandex," he said, starting the shower

"Hey! I resemble that remark."

"We both do, in case it had escaped your attention."

Roy grinned. "I would have to be dead to miss *your* ass in spandex," he 
said with a leer.

"Down boy. I want a shower and food before I think of anything else."

"Then let's get wet, spandex boy," Roy shot back, pushing him into the 
shower stall, following close behind. Almost immediately, Kyle was pinned 
to the back wall by an intense kiss that would have fogged the mirror if 
the steam from the shower hadn't already. He reached out blindly for the 
shower controls and twisted a knob.

"Yeouch!" Roy cried out as the water went ice cold, springing back out of 
the spray.

Kyle promptly turned the water to a more human temperature. "Shower, food 
*then* sex," he reminded Roy.

"Right, right. Actually, I know this fantastic pastry shop in Vienna. 
Absolutely perfect for breakfast. All we have to do is borrow the JLA 
transporters again and..."

Kyle laughed. He wasn't sure what they hell he was getting himself into, 
but it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun.


THE END