Helping?

[the sound jason makes isn’t quite a laugh - it’s bitter and angry, entirely lacking mirth, an imperfect facsimile.]

OK, smart guy, with all of your experience, try this one. Roy didn’t find me - I found him, locked up on bogus war crimes charges in the armpit of the entire planet. [qurac. the same place jason was killed, years ago. ah, memories.] After he got rescued, we teamed up to fight some bad guys, do some good - even started our own little rent-a-hero business. His idea. And d’you know what happened? He almost died because he was dumb enough to get mixed up with me, because he was dumb enough to have me for a friend. This group of mercenaries kidnapped him, tortured him on a live internet stream, put it to a poll where viewers could vote on whether they’d kill him or let him live.

[and all of that? it frightened jason, enough that he broke off their partnership and pushed roy away, thinking that enforcing distance would be safer for both of them.]

He was right. Friends just let you down.

[and in jason’s mind, he’s the one who’s the letdown. like he told roy when he left - he couldn’t be the hero roy wanted him to be.]

So I’m dying to hear how you’re gonna help me with this.