A/N: As promised, here's the sequel! It takes place during season 1. For anyone who hasn't read the first story, The Shadow of an Arrow, I highly recommend reading that one first, or the set-up of this story may be confusing. I have a couple of things to say/remind you guys...
1. Roy is not a clone. He is the one and only Roy Harper.
2. For many reasons, not every episode is in here. Some have been skipped, but all events of those episodes still take place off-screen.
That being said, read on and enjoy the next installment.
- To Wear A Shadow -
The sound of laughter echoed around the Bat Cave and made Bruce sigh. "What're you two doing?" he asked, not taking his eyes off his work.
"Nothing!" Dick called back.
Bruce sighed again. 'Should I go look….or do I ignore them and hope nothing catches on fire?' A loud crash! and another shout made the decision for him. Bruce got up and made his way to the archery range in the back of the cave. He found Dick laughing as he threw oranges in the air. Roy attempted to shoot them out of the air. It looked innocent enough….until Bruce saw that Roy had his eyes closed. "Roy, why are your eyes closed?"
"We're trying to see if he can learn to shoot without looking!" Dick thew another orange, which Roy's arrow clipped before it hit the wall of the cave and Dick backflipped to avoid.
"What was that crash earlier?"
"Oh, he almost hit me and I had to backflip to avoid it and I ran into one of the targets."
Bruce sighed. "Stop this."
"Why?"
"Because what you're doing is impossible."
"If anyone can figure it out it's Roy."
"As true as that may be, it's dangerous." Dick shrugged and Bruce briefly wondered how Roy could've gotten talked into this. "I have to leave for the League meeting. I expect you both to be ready for patrol when I get back."
"Yes, Bruce," the boys said at the same time.
"Good."
Roy looked at Dick once Bruce left. "I told you it was a bad idea," he said.
Dick rolled his eyes. "You never know until you try, bro. Come on, we have a few hours before patrol. Let's spar."
"I have to fine tune some arrows."
"Just a few hours." Dick did a handspring over Roy's head and smirked as his older brother turned around. "Unless you're scared?"
Roy sighed. "Fine. Just for a little bit."
"Yes!" Dick cackled a little bit and ran off, Roy following right behind.
— —
"We have a problem," Superman said as soon as the meeting started.
"We should trademark that phrase," Flash joked. Green Lantern gave him a high-five.
"What kind of problem?" Batman asked.
"G. Gordon Godfrey type problems," Superman answered. There was a collective groan from everyone, including Batman.
"Do we really have to talk about him?" Flash asked. "He's full of hot air."
"I know, but right now he's causing us a lot of trouble. He's going after the kids."
"What's he saying about them?" Aquaman asked in confusion.
Superman simply pulled up a video for all of them to see. It was a clip of G. Gordon Godfrey himself, in all his fancy suit and straight-faced glory. The clip started and the man in question gave the camera aa stern look like he was chastising it. "I have a question for the Justice League," he began.
"Is it how to get his head of out his ass?" Black Canary muttered under her breath.
"How do claim to stand for justice when one of the worst crimes recognized by the U.N. is committed by so many of your founding members?" The League gave each other looks of confusion; except for Batman who stared at the video, but Superman could tell he was annoyed. "I'm talking, of course, about your sidekicks. Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Arsenal." as said their names, pictures of the young heroes appeared in space next to him. "We don't know a lot about them, but we do know none of them are adults. Would you allow a child to become a soldier or a police officer? Of course not! The League is purposefully allowing these children to fight their battles. What good reason could the League have for this? They never allow the kids to be interviewed or photographed. It's as if there's something they want to hide from us. Ask yourselves, what could they have to hide? Perhaps that these kids aren't participating willingly? Crime fighting is a good excuse for injuries-"
"Is he-" Flash began but was shushed.
"And before someone accuses me of overreacting, I'll remind everyone that one of these sidekicks did go missing three years ago. The rogue Robin Hood known as Green Arrow had a sidekick that I can only presume was killed due to his sudden disappearance. That or the disappearance of one archer in Star and the appearance of another in Gotham a few months later was no coincidence. I'm not saying Batman kidnapped this kid-"
"Oh really?" Green Lantern asked, rolling his eyes.
"But you can't deny this isn't a sign of something very wrong at work within the Justice League." Superman stopped the video and everyone rolled their eyes.
"He hasn't gotten anywhere with us, so he decided to go after children," Flash observed. "What a hero."
"Allowing children to be associated with us was always a risk," Wonder Woman told them, but looking directly at Batman.
"Regardless, we have to do something," Superman said. "We can't have these ideas about forced vigilantism and kidnapping floating around."
"What're we supposed to do?" Aquaman asked.
"I have an idea. Next week is the 4th of July. There'll be a ton of tourists out in front of the Hall of Justice. I think it'd be a good idea for the three of you with proteges to been seen walking into it with the kids."
"You want us to take the kids to the Hall of Justice?" Flash asked, brow furrowing. "They've seen the Watchtower though."
"He wants us to do it for the show or it," Batman explained, already figuring out Superman's plan. "If the public sees us walking in with the kids and "entering a meeting" with them, it'll put to rest any public concerns."
"Just something to show the kids are responsible and we trust them," Superman explained. "Plus it'll give people chance to see them in daylight and the reporters can take pictures as you're going in. We just need to seem transparent."
"I suppose it could work," Flash nodded.
"We can do that," Aquaman agreed. Everyone looked at Batman.
"Robin and I will be there," Batman said.
"What about Arsenal?" Superman asked.
"What about him?"
"Aren't you going to bring him too?"
"No."
"Why not?" Wonder Woman asked.
"Did you somehow miss Godfrey not so subtly implying you kidnapped him from Green Arrow?" Hawkman asked.
"…He wasn't exactly wrong about that…." Hal muttered quietly.
"You never let him leave Gotham," Flash added.
"For his protection," Batman answered.
"Green Arrow won't attack him in the Hall of Justice!"
"I said no."
"Just let him come, Batman," Black Canary said. "Let him see Aqualad and Kid Flash."
"It'll just be for a few hours and they'll be in the middle of the Hall of Justice," Superman argued. "How much trouble could they possibly get into?"
Batman thought back to the "experiment" Arsenal and Robin and been dong before he left. "You'd be surprised. Arsenal maybe 17, but he still listens to whatever Robin tells him and goes along with it."
"Most of us will be there too," Flash added. "We'll be there to keep him safe. You never let him leave Gotham, you only let him leave your….property when he's Arsenal, no one in the League besides Superman has seen him in 3 years… You're starting to sound like Green Arrow with how much you control him." Green Lantern put his head in his hands at the speedster. "Just give him a few hours."
Batman didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. Then, quietly, "Fine. Arsenal will be at the Hall of Justice next week with Robin and me." Flash, Superman, and Black Canary all gave him looks of approval, which he shrugged off. He wasn't looking for their approval. 'My concern is what's best for Arsenal. My job is to keep him safe. No matter what they think, keeping him in Gotham does that.'
— —
When he returned to Gotham, Batman was met by full suited Robin and Arsenal in the Bat Cave. They wasted no time joining him on the Bat-mobile so the three of them could patrol.
"Can Arsenal and I take a couple blocks alone?" Robin asked hopefully once they landed on the rooftops.
"No," Batman answered right away. "We have a case to work."
Robin scowled a little bit. "You never let us go off alone." Batman didn't respond and Robin sighed and rolled his eyes. Arsenal didn't voice any complaints.
"Review what we're doing tonight," Batman told both boys.
"We're staking out the music store on Grover Street because it might be a money laundering scheme for weapons trafficking," Robin said immediately.
"Once we see Patrick Morrison, we're going to tail him and find his apartment," Arsenal added. "Then we'll go into his apartment to find more evince to link him to the weapons." Batman didn't verbally praise them, but they both caught the slight incline of his head, which they both took as a compliment. Upon arriving at the music store, Arsenal and Robin took up positions on buildings on either side of them and Batman positioned himself across the street. Arsenal settled down in the shadows and activated the night vision on his mask. He settled his bow on the rooftop by his feet and watched. The store was open 24 hours a day, but most people in Gotham weren't interested in buying CD's at 11:30 at night. A couple of teenagers stopped by, but they just seemed intent on normal teenage rebellion.
"We'll be so dead when our parents find out how we snuck out!" one of laughed loudly in the empty street.
"It'll be totally worth it!" his friend replied, just as loudly. "We're 18, we gotta live a little before we graduate!"
The archer couldn't help but follow them with their eyes as they left, voices still echoing off the buildings. What kind id things would they do to live? Try drugs or alcohol? Hopefully not. What about kissing people they didn't know at parties? Is that what teenagers did before finishing high school? Did all the teenagers in Gotham want to hang out in the streets until the sun came up?
"What a couple of losers," Robin's voice said over the comms. "If they keep yelling like that they'll definitely get caught."
"Think so?" Arsenal responded.
"Of course. All they'll do by hanging out in the streets is getting into trouble. They're complete losers."
"Right." Arsenal looked back at the store. "Losers." It was quiet after that for a while. No one came in or out of the store, and Arsenal was beginning to think no one would, but then a bunch of people did. First, a man with a visible wad of cash in his back pocket walked in and bought was Roy presumed was a box of CDs. Ten minutes after him, two women, also holding suspicious amounts of money, and walk out with not just Cd's, but the two stacks each of the exact same CD. Five people later, Roy was pretty certain they'd confirmed the store was a front.
"I have eyes on Morrison," Batman said over the comms. "He's entering the store." Indeed, the man in question, average and clean cut, walked into the store. It was 15 minutes before Morrison left and the three Bats tailed him through Gotham. Thankfully he was on foot so they could follow from the rooftops. Arsenal ran beside Robin, with Batman shadowing them across the street. They followed Morrison for 10 city blocks before he disappeared into an apartment building. Batman joined Robin and Arsenal on the roof of said building. "We'll wait until he leaves and then search his apartment."
"Got it," Robin and Arsenal answered at the same time. The three of them settled on the edge of the roof, hidden in the shadows, waiting for Morrison to leave.
"Robin, find out which apartment is his and find the window we need from the blueprints of the building."
"Got it B!" Robin smiled. Arsenal glanced over at him every once in a while. An hour and a half later, Morrison finally left with the two women they'd seen earlier that evening. Once they were gone Robin and Arsenal slipped over the edge of the building. They free climbed down to the window they needed and slid it open. "Why does no one locks their windows?"
"He lives on the top floor," Arsenal replied. They switched off the night vision on their masks and started searching. By the time Batman joined them both teens were searching the apartment for any signs of weapons. Arsenal searched through cabinets in the kitchen. 'Do these guys eat anything besides cereal?' The thought made him stop for a moment and he opened one of the boxes. Next to the plastic bag of surgery cereal, was a few pieces of paper. He pulled them out and smiled. "I found something."
"What do you have?" Robin bounded over to him, vaulting over the small table in the middle of the kitchen to reach him.
"Papers connecting him to a bunch of small storehouses at the harbor." He handed the papers he found to Batman, then he and Robin searched the other boxes for any more potential papers. Most of the boxes had papers declaring Morrison the owner of storage crates at the harbor. "Guess we know where he's keeping the guns."
"And how they're shipping them," Robin added, pointed to another small stack of invoices for the CDs. He'd found the CD's the women had bought from the store, and they matched the CDs on the invoices.
"If we can find the guns themselves then the case would be tight against him," Batman said as Robin and Arsenal put all the papers back.
"Does that mean we're searching their crates at the dock?"
"Yes." Normally, Batman would be bringing the two teens home, but it was summer so he could get away with letting them stay out a little later. He activated the Batmobile's autopilot and within 10 minutes, the three of them were heading for the harbor.
"Why do all the bad guys keep their guns near the water?" Robin asked on the way.
"They can throw them in the water if the police show up?" Arsenal suggested. "Or probably because it's too dangerous to move them through the city until they have a buyer."
"Sounds reasonable."
When they got to the harbor, the vigilantes disembarked and found the first of the storage crates in question. Batman picked the two padlocks keeping it shut and he and Arsenal pulled it open. Inside there were smaller crates. Night vision activated again, they searched through the crates. "I have handguns," Arsenal said.
"Same," Robin agreed. The rest of the search yielded the same results. Arsenal and Batman shut the crate again and shut it, making sure to lock it back up afterward.
"We have enough evidence," Batman said, leading them back to the Bat-mobile. "I'll inform Commissioner Gordon so he and his men can arrest Morrison."
"Do we have to go home now?" Robin asked. "Can't we stay out a little longer?"
"It's almost 2 am," Arsenal told him. "We can't patrol past that. Agent A says so."
"Yes," Batman agreed, "so let's go home."
"Are you going back out again after?" Robin asked as they got back into the Bat-mobile.
"No, I don't think I need to."
"Alright." Robin sat back quietly, apparently satisfied he wasn't going to miss anything important.
— —
Once they got back to the Bat Cave, Arsenal changed, showered, and put his bow and quiver away. He rolled his shoulders a little bit to dislodge the stiff feeling there.
"Sore Master Roy?" Alfred asked.
"A little bit," Roy admitted. "I think I overdid it earlier when I was practicing."
"You shouldn't work so hard. Your archery is more than proficient sir."
"I know, I just…It makes me feel better." It was an awkward thing to admit. Practicing his archery could clam down a jittery, something-is-wrong, feeling he would get in his gut.
"Is that a way Black Canary has thought you to handle anxiety?"
"….No."
"You need to use your healthy coping strategies, sir."
"I know, Alfred."
"Hi, Alfie!" Dick smiled, backflipping to them.
"Good evening Master Dick," Alfred replied. "I believe it is time you two were in bed."
"Yes, Alfred," the boys said in unison.
"Roy, Dick," Bruce said, joining the group. "Next week, on the 4th, we'll be going to the Hall of Justice."
"We?" Roy asked in confusion. "As in, all three of us?"
"Yes, all three of us. Kid Flash and Aqualad will be there too."
"Why?"
"Who cares why," Dick said, elbowing him. "We get to see the league and Aqualad and Kid Flash." Roy nodded.
"Off to bed now," Alfred said, shooing them upstairs. "It's late."
"Night Bruce, Night Alfred," Dick said before he went upstairs.
Bruce noticed Roy hesitating. "Something wrong, Roy?" he asked.
"No," Roy said quickly.
"Is something bothering you?"
"No…" The lack of condition in his voice convinced Bruce that it was a lie.
"What's bothering you? Don't say it's nothing."
"I'm just….a little nervous to leave Gotham I guess." He hadn't left the city in almost three years, not since the night he'd been attacked by Green Arrow. His hand touched the light scar on his face that was leftover from the incident.
"If you don't want to go that's fine, Roy. I won't be mad."
"I do, I'm just….Nervous about leaving."
"It'll only be for a couple hours and I'll be right there. So will Dick and the rest of the Justice League. You'll be perfectly safe."
Roy nodded. "Ok. Good night." He went upstairs, still obviously nervous. It felt like his chest had contracted an inch on his lungs and his muscles were tensing up all over his body. As soon as he was in his room Roy shut the door and laid down on the floor. He focused on the point here four ceiling tiles met and began his deep breathing. "I am feeling anxious right now, but I am okay. This feeling will pass, and no harm will come to me. I am safe, even though I feel frightened," he said quietly, inhaling and exhaling with each sentence. "I will soon be calm, even though I am experiencing anxiety right now. I will get through this. I am making myself as comfortable as possible while I wait for the anxiety to decrease. I can help myself to become gradually more calm and relaxed until this feeling passes." He began to clench and hone relax all of his muscles, starting at his toes. Then, he repeated more breathing and talking to himself before shaking out his limbs. The whole process took him 10 minutes, but it felt worth it when he sat up and wasn't as anxious anymore. "It'll be ok," he said as he got ready for bed. "It'll be ok."
When he went to bed Roy was still nervous about the next week, but he was a lot less anxious than he had been before.