Story [Young Justice] Jade and Red: Homecoming (Family Drama, SPOILERS)

Title: Jade and Red
Author: galactic-vagabond422
Characters: Jade 'Cheshire' Nguyen, Red Arrow
Timeframe: Directly after Complications E0216
Genre:Family Drama
Rating: G
Summary: A wife returns to her husband after leaving to track down her sister's killer, a confrontation ensues.
Disclaimer: Young Justice and related properties belong to DC comics and Warner Brothers.

Author's Note: Thanks to Darth Osnil for giving me the juice to finish this. I wrote this for myself mostly, it contains my OTP and it was hanging around on my computer. Decided to finish it and share it with you all. Constructive criticism is encouraged.

Also final warning, there will be ALL of the Spoilers. If you have not seen all of Young Justice or have interest in watching it I would suggest you do before reading this, I'm serious, I spoil a lot of Season 2 and a major plot point in season 1. You have been warned.


Homecoming

Washington D.C.
May 28 7:10 EDT

Traffic between Gotham and Washington D.C. had delayed her arrival back home. Some days Jade Nguyen hated being a 'good guy'. She could have easily gotten home in an hour if she had used some of her old contacts and equipment but, she'd given up that life. She had her 'Red' back, she had her daughter, her sister was alive and, despite the fact she spent most of the last month with her father, she felt good.

She stopped at the door of the apartment her and 'Red' shared. It made things easier to call her husband 'Red' instead of Roy given the difficulties he's had coming to terms being a clone. The former assassin took a deep breath, hoping he wasn't waiting behind the door. Hoping that he was out looking for a job, or spending time with his former mentor, doing anything else except waiting for her. With Lian in one arm she unlocked the door and opened it.

Inside sitting across from the opening was a man, short red hair, piercing blue eyes set into a stern face. The bags under his azure orbs spoke to how long he'd been awake.

"Hello Jade," he said rubbing his eyes. "Have a good trip." The woman once called Cheshire felt her heart drop. She didn't want this confrontation, not yet.

"Before you say anything," Jade replied holding up her free hand, "Let me put Lian down." She didn't want the inevitable fight to play out in front of their daughter. Jade had a front row seat to almost every fight her parents had, she didn't want that for her child. As she walked to Lian's room 'Red' followed, not smiling. It wasn't uncommon for him, in fact he rarely smiled at all but, it still put her ill at ease. They remained quiet as Jade put the little one in her crib.

She bent down to give a light kiss to their child's head. 'Red' lightly rubbed the top of her head. As silently as they had entered, they left, the assassin was preparing herself for the storm that was to come, hardening her features.

Moving out into the front room an unnerving calm set in, both of them could feel it, something had to break. "I had to leave Red," She began shattering the silence, "My sister had just been murdered, I had to avenge her." Her gaze was just as hard as his, and just as unwavering.

"You think I'm mad about that?" His voice wasn't raised, just cool and low. All of Jade's determination, all of her fire disappeared. She wasn't expecting this reaction. "Look I get it, you've had you differences with Artemis but she was still your sister." His eyes never broke from hers, his blue eyes searching her face for any sign of emotion. "Family means everything to you."

"And your friends mean everything to you," She replied, "I was going to kill one of them." her tone was just as cold.

Finally he closed his eyes letting out a sigh. "I thought Aqualad had fallen, hell, I thought about stopping him myself. Now that everything's come out, I'm glad I didn't." Out in the main room Jade put her back against the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"Then what are you mad about?" She asked crossing her arms cross her chest.

"You really have to ask," 'Red's voice now held a icy edge, rising a little in volume, "It's Lian," he paused letting his words sink in, "you left her with your mother. Did you even consider me?"

"You were still out of it," She spat waving her hand, "still wrestling with your Clone Blues, I didn't feel safe leaving our daughter alone with you."

"After everything we went through to retrieve Speedy, after everything you did to make us a family again, you just leave, taking our daughter with you," His hand gestured roughly towards the toddler's room, "without a note, without even a goodbye."

"I didn't want you trying to stop me."

"Stop you, I'd of helped you. I knew what you had to do, and that I wouldn't be able to hold you back. I just thought you would have trusted me enough to look after Lian while you left to avenge your sister."

"I trust you to watch my back but, taking care of our daughter, that's a different thing."

"Really," The pain in his voice, while hidden was open to her, she knew his tics, the deeper timbre his voice takes when he's in pain, "it hurts the same to me. You didn't trust me to help you on your mission, and you didn't trust me with Lian. So Jade," now the anguish was gone, replaced with indignation, "what do you trust me with, let's start there."

"Red we don't need…"

"No I'm curious," he pressed the issue, he needed an answer, "one month I'm fighting side-by-side with you and Lian in Nepal, the next I'm left out in the cold. What happened between to make you stop trusting me? What event caused me to rank lower than your father, a man you hate more than anyone else."

"We were just going after the same thing, I couldn't stop him so I used him." Cheshire explained eyes narrowing at her husband.

"That still doesn't answer my question, what did I do to you to lose your trust?" He now stood right in front of her, not puffing out his chest in a show of strength, just trying to see her face, that was still as emotionless as the mask she wore as Cheshire. Though he could see a few cracks.

"After Speedy went after Luthor, you were despondent. You constantly asked wither or not you made the right choice in trying to help him. I didn't want to leave Lian with you when you were so unsure of yourself."

"Do you think I couldn't put that away." He retorted, head tilted to the side, "my problems are my own I can leave them for later. For the sake of our daughter I can set them aside." He looked away, "You know some of the things I did for the League. But, I don't focus on them, because it led me to you." He looked into her eyes with a mixture of care and pain. "So where does that leave us. Am I just your broken husband, unfit to watch over our daughter?"

She was silent for a long moment, turning over his words over her mind. Where did they stand? She still cared for him, she wouldn't have gone through with everything if she didn't. However, she could still sense his unease and confusion at who and what he was. Was he an archer, a hero, or just a clone, a copy? Though looking in his eyes she could see that he could latch on to something, being a father, a husband, a partner. She took that away from him, for those days he was a father without a child, a husband without a wife. She looked up smiling.

"Stop being so dramatic, Red." She replied with that grin, the one she gave him when they first met in Taipei. "It's the past, let's leave it there." What she was trying to say, was 'I'm sorry' she only hoped he was able to see that.

For the first time since she came home, he smiled. "Yeah, let's." He reached out a hand pulling her closer. She felt his warmth flow into her, she'd missed him, missed this feeling of being loved. It was so different from the cold sensation of the hunt, of tracking her target. With him she could just be Jade. She tore herself away just long enough to capture his lips with hers. They stayed like that locked in each other's arms, not willing to be the one to break first.

They broke at the same time to catch their breaths.

"Welcome home." He said smiling.

She returned the smile. "Good to be back."

 

I'm not much for family drama, but this looks really good. I think you wrote it in an excellent manner, but one bit of grammar should be corrected:

"Was he an archer, a hero, or just a clone, a copy." should have a question mark at the end.

 

Thanks for the catch and I thank your for your words. I've been told that my writing style can be a little difficult to read at times, I'm glad you were able to enjoy it.