Kyler walked down the street wearing a black tee shirt, purple skinny jeans, and purple high top converse. She walked past a homless man sitting on the edge of the street, and tossed a few quarters into the shoe he had placed infront of him. About half a year ago, Kyler would have never thought of waisting a dollar fiftey like that. About half a year ago, Kyler never thought she would be wearing name brand shoes, brand new too. Before she had been hired by Oliver Queen to run errands for him around town for seven hundred bucks every two weeks, Kyler had gotten her clothes from yard sales and kids selling them on street corners.
Having most of her day time free was also something Kyler had never had half a year ago. Half a year ago, Kyler would wake up, throw on her cheap clothes, grab herself breakfast, which was pretty much just two pieces of toast and milk. Then, she would help her brother and sister get ready, made them eat at least one piece of fruit with their cereal, and take them to school. Kyler would then go to school herself, her goal there was to maintain a high C average. Not that Kyler wasn't smart, she was very smart. Not book smart, Kyler was street smart, she knew a lot about machines, mostly cars, infact, autoshop was the only class she got A's in. Kyler was life smart as well, she knew how some one was likley to react to certain circumstances. The only reason she wasn't book smart, was because she was to busy to study.
After she got out of school, and she had to get out as early as possible, so Kyler was smart about it. She paid attention, she just never let it soak in. She never spoke unless spoken to, so there fore she couldn't get in trouble and have to stay at school longer. So as soon as she left school, she would pick up her brother and sister and take them home, where she would attempt to get her homework done, and study if she was lucky. Then, as soon as it was dark enough, whether her homework was done or not, she would go outside, and meet up with the gang she was in.
After they had all assembled, they would go out and spray paint the bottom of bridges, the walls of abandoned buildings, and anywere else people didn't live. They never spray painted on places were people lived, it was disrespectful. They even went down to the rail road yard and spray painted trains. Anything they considered OK to spray paint offensive language on, they spray painted. Kyler had been in the gang for almost three years. Then one night, she and her friends had been stealing tires off of cars in a Walmart parking lot. The others had taken the car tires already, and Kyler just needed to get the last one off of a really nice looking car, until the owner had come up behind her to stop her.
If she had known it was Oliver's Queens car, she would have left it alone... maybe. She had managed to escape from Oliver's grip on her wrist, and had ran as fast as she could and hid in an alley. She thought she was in the clear, until Green Arrow had showed. She had been so scared that she was gonna get hauled off to Juvie, but when he said that he'd give her a second chance, she had nearly fainted. He said she would be getting a phone call with job offer soon, and sure enough she did. From Oliver Queen. Eventually, Oliver taught her to shoot a bow and arrow, and after a few months, she discovered he was Green Arrow. As soon as that happend, he asked her to be Speedy. You can bet your life she said yes! A JD from the streets of Star City, becoming Speedy? It was a dream come true.
She smiled at that thought, and walked up the the front door of the apartment. She nodded to the secretary, and climbed up the steps until she got to the fourth floor. She walked down the hallway, and entered the room 407.
"Guys, I'm home!" She called out. Something was wrong, the T.V. wasn't blaring cartoons. There were no little kids rushing to meet her. She walked into the living room, and saw her Mom sitting on the couch.
"Kyler, were are your little brother and sister?" She asked.
"They aren't here?" Kyler asked.
Her Mother shook her head, "No, I thought you took them with you to Oliver's house."
Kyler's training kicked in. Her eyes darted around the room, and rested on the window that led to the fire escape. "Oh no." She said, rushing over.
The lock was broken form the outside. She carefully lifted the window, and looked down. On the ground, was a broken pocket knife. She carefully picked it up by the blade, and carried it inside, putting it in a plastic bag.
Her Mom was on the couch, still letting this all soak in. Kyler thought she was handling it pretty well. She turned to her Mom.
KYLER'S POINT OF VEIW:
"Mom, I need you to listen to me, I have bad news you might have already figured out, they were kidnapped. Why? I don't know, but I will find out." I said.
She looked at me funny, "Kyler, I think we should leave this to the police. I'll call them right now and-"
"No, Mom if we call the police, then this will immediatly get all over the news, and thats the last thing we want. They can't know we're coming after them." I said.
"We? Kyler, what are you talking about? You can't go after-"
"Yes I can, and I will Mom. It's about time you found out. I'm the new Speedy, Green Arrows side kick. I have been Speedy for about half a year now. I'm sorry to keep it a secret, but Ollie said it was vital. Don't worry about the kids Mom, I'll find them, I've dealt with kidnapping before, and this time will be no different. I have a few calls to make, and I need you to keep completely calm." I said, and watched it slowly sink in.
She took a deep breath. "OK, your Speedy. I can handle that. Now, please tell me what's going on." She said, her voice cracking on the last word.
I gave her a grim look, "I'll tell you when I figure it out." I took out my cell phone, and quickly dialed my little brother's cell phone. After a few rings, he picked up.
"H-hellow?" He asked, sounding like he was crying.
"Austin. You've been kidnapped, I know. I need you to tell me what the men looked like. Anything at all that stood out about them." I said.
"T-they had a tattoo on their neck."
"Which one had the tattoo?"
"All of them." He whispered. "They all have a bird tattooed on their neck."
"A small one?"
"Yeah, it doesn't have any detail, just the outline of a black bird." He said.
Suddenly, there was a small struggle on the end of the line, and Austin screamed. I held my breath. There was silence. The phone didn't hang up, but no one spoke. I heard breathing close to the phone, whoever had my little brother and sister was holding the phone.
I took a deep breath, "Who ever you are, do not hang up. I have a few things to say." There was silence. They aren't hanging up, good.
"You have kidnapped my little brother and sister. I don't know why, but I will find out." I explained, my tone even and flat. "If you did it to kill them, then do n't. If you kill them, I will hunt you down, and your death will be anything but quick." I said, my tone now deadly and threatening. "If you did it looking for randsom, I can tell you we don't have the money your looking for. What I do have, it a very attuned set of skills. Skills that are designed to hunt down people just like you." I ground out. "If you let my little brother and sister go, that will be the end of it. I won't pursue you, I won't even report this to the police. However, if you don't let my siblings go, I will pursue you. I will find you. And I will kill you."
There was silence on the other end, and then the man, clearly amused, said, "Good luck kid."
The line was silent, he had hung up. I turned to Mom, who had been listening intently, and shook my head. She put her head in her hands, and her face got red, she was about to cry.
I dialed another number, Ollie's. "Hellow?" I asked.
"Kyler, hey, what's wrong?" He asked.
"I need your help Ollie, can you help me with something?" I asked.
There was a pause, "Kyler, I have to fly out to the JLA in a few minutes, Green Arrow buisness. If it's urgent, I can try to cancel, but it's one of those, end of the world situations."
I took a deep breath, "Thank you anyways Ollie. It's OK, I can call some one else."
"Your sure?"
"Yeah, go save the world." I said.
"OK, be careful Kyler." He said.
"Always." I said.
He hung up, and I took a deep breath, and dialed a dangerouse number. I hadn't seen him since he had gone crazy and had become an anti hero, killing his villans. It rang several times, and then he picked up.
"This is a pirivate number, who are you and what do you want?" He growled out.
"Hello to you too Roy, it's Kyler." I said.
"Kyler? What do you want?" He asked.
One thing I liked about Roy, the only thing I liked about Roy, he didn't beat around the bush, he knew there was no way I'd be calling him unless something was wrong. "Some one kidnapped my little brother and sister, I have reason to believe that they aren't looking to kill them, or hold them for randsom. Which means-"
"That you have a good amount of time to find them." Roy said. "So call Ollie, he'll help."
"I already did, he's busy with some end of the world mission right now. Please Roy, I need your help. Your the only one who knows Star City as good as Ollie, please Roy." I pleaded.
There was a slight pause, "Some one's listening in on this call, I can hear them breathing."
I looked over my shoulder, Mom had risen from the couch, and was behind me, trying to listen. "It's my Mom, hold on, let me put you on speaker, she needs to hear this too."
I put it on speaker, and he said, "You sure she can take it?"
"Yes, and your already on speaker." I said.
"Oh." He said, and the continued, "First off, were there any tattoos on the men that took them?"
"I didn't see them, but over the phone my little brother described that they each had the tattoo of a bird on their neck, no detail, just the outline of a black bird. Before he could say anymore, the kidnapper took the phone. I tried to get him to let them go, but to no dice, he hung up."
"Did he say anything?" Roy asked.
"When I told him if he didn't let them go, I would find him and kill him, he just said 'Good luck kid.' and hung up." I said.
He sighed in relief, "Good, memorise that voice. Try and remember every detail he put into that sentence until it's burned into your subcontiouse, got it?"
"Yes." I said.
"Alright, those tattoos, they're birds on the neck, no detail, just the outline correct?"
"Yes."
"Good, members of a gang called Profit get those tattoos when they get accepted in. The only thing they do is kidnap children, teenagers, and women, and then sell them on the black market." He said.
Mom choked back a sob, sitting down and covering her face, crying a little.
"Listen to me Kyler, you have exactly two days to find them, understood?" He asked.
"Two days, got it." I said.
"What happens after two days?" Mom asked, wiping her eyes.
"You lose all chance of finding them, because by then, they'll have been sold to the highest bidder." Roy said.
Mom practically deflated, the color drained from her face, and the tears rolled out without stop, and she sobbed, not being about to contain it.
"Kyler, you need to go to a warehouse on Abeese Street, that's where they bring the kids after they just caught them. Go there, and you should find your siblings, if they aren't there, wait for me, I'll get there in less than an hour, and we'll find out what happend." He said.
"OK, what are you gonna do?" I asked.
"I'm going over to your house, and I'm going to hunt around for evidence. Do not contact the police, don't tell anyone. If anyone asks, your little brother is at summer camp, and your little sister is spending the weekend with a friend." He ordered.
"Understood."
"Kyler, this mission isn't like the others you've been on, the others required thoughrouness, this on requires speed. The more time you waist, the more likley that you won't find them." He said.
"I understand." I said, "I'll get going, you get here as fast as you can."
He hung up, guess that means he's coming over here. I turned to Mom, "Just stay calm, OK?"
She nodded, and wiped her eyes, "Kyler, just promise me you'll bring them back."
"They'll be here safe and sound monday morning watching those tastless cartoons." I promised.
She nodded, calming down. I ran into my room, and pulled my Speedy costume out from under the bed, and then stopped. If Speedy came and rescued two little kids, they could put two and two together, figure out that there was a conection between Speedy and them. My family would be at risk. I shook my head, couldn't let that happen.
I pulled on the mask, a black tee shirt, black skinny jeans, and black shoes. I finished the look by going into Mom's closet, and to the back, where Dad's old clothes were, and took down a black jacket that was way to big for me. I pulled it on, and left it unzipped. I was ten when Dad left, I can't really remember him that well. The only thing I remember clearly about my father is his hands. I remember that they were big, and callosed. Despite that, they were always gentle. When he held my hand, I could hardly feel the rough skin.
I shook myself out of memory lane, and went back to my room. I debated about taking the bow and arrow, but desided against it. Instead, I took several knives, and two guns that I owned even before Ollie had hired me. I always kept them under my matress, were no one could find them.
Hiding the weapons at variouse spots on my costume, I hopped on my motorcycle, and sped out. Abeese Street was an old abandoned place, no one went there at all. The warehouse wasn't hard to find, it was the only building with cars out front. I touched the handle of one of the guns uncomfortably. I knew what I was about to do. I was about to charge in, and kill the man who had kidnapped them. Normally, I wouldn't kill him, no killing was my one rule. But for my little siblings, I would break that rule. I didn't have time to be nice, I didn't have time to be merciful. I did have time to kill.
I parked the bike, and walked up the the door, and without thinking, broke it down with one kick. Two men on the other side jumped up, pulling out guns, but I quickly shot their hands. Ollie would find out, he always found out. I didn't care right now. These men were the only ones inbetween my siblings and me, that was a scuisidal position to be in.
I walked down the hallway, and several men jumped out to shoot me, but I quickly stopped them with shots to the knees and elbows. I watched as they hit the ground, and pity struck me. Why did I do that? Why didn't I just dress up as Speedy with her bow and arrow and knock them out? I was doing exactly what Roy did when Lian, his daughter got killed. I had sworn to myslef never to end up like Roy, no matter how hard or how far I was pushed.
I came to the first door in the hall, and I broke it down with a kick. I looked inside, to see several women, crying, looking half dead already. They looked up at me, fear in most of their eyes, very few of them dared to have hope in their eyes. Any pity I had felt to the men before vanished immediatly. Those men, were not men, they were animals, no man could do this to another human being, so no mercy would I show.
I gestured them out the room, and then broke down several others doors, and watched as woman, children, and some teenagers ran out of the warehouse, into the night. There was one door left, and my little brother and sister had better be behind it. I broke it down, and saw two people, one was a man, by the looks of him, average thug. The other was a little girl, dark black hair. My heart thudded, Olivia, my little sister.
The man, was laughing at her as he smacked her head harshly. Without thinking, I rushed at him, tackling him and pinning him down, delivering hard blows with my fists and screaming in rage. I kept hitting him, breaking his nose, his collar bone, his jaw. His hands flew up to stop me, but I grabbed them and twisted them into an unimaginable shape. He screamed, begging for mercy, but for my little sister, I gave none. I brought my fist together, and swung them down in his chest like a mallet, pounding and pounding and pounding. I didn't see the room we were in, I didn't see my little sister, watching with silent horror at the sight of her torturor was being pounded to death by some one wearing all black.
He screamed louder, trying to throw me off, but I gripped harder with my legs, and went back to beating his face in. His arms went up to stop me again, and I pulled out two knives. I thrust them into each of his elbows, and then two more into his shoulders, and went back to vigorousley beating his body.
I didn't care about the horrific image I was making my sister see, I had all but forgotten she was in the room. I was so preoccupied with beating the life out the the body bag infront of me, I didn't even notice when some one else entered the room.
I did notice when they grabbed me, getting me in a head lock, and dragging me off the body. I screamed in protest, not bothering to look and see who it was. All of my humanity was gone, the only thing left was pure animal instinct. That man I had just beaten brutily was my kill. He was my kill, and I would not give that up, so I struggled.
The man holding me said something, but I didn't hear it, all I could here was that man's heart, still beaitng. The sound drove me mad, his heart was beating, and that infuritated me. All I could think about was silencing that terrible pounding noise in my head. His steady hearbeat. There was something else, some other noise beneath the thudding of his heart. Deep beneath. I tried to hear it, tried to ignore the thudding and hear the sound. I strained to hear it.
"KYLER ENOUGH!" The man bellowed, and let me go, as I spun around to see him, his fist collided with the side of my face, sending me sprawling. I hit the ground hard, and struggled to breath again. I finally got my breath back, and put a hand on the area the man had punched. I didn't need to look up, I knew it was Roy.
ROY'S POINT OF VEIW:
I went to Klyer's apartment, wearing civilian clothes. The neighbors would get suspiciouse if Red Arrow, well known anti hero, showed up. I opened the door without knocking. The woman on the couch looked up, and I gasped. I knew that face, it was one I would never forget. "A-Anna?"
She sniffed, and her eyes widend, "Oh, hellow Roy."
Anna had been my girlfriend almost two decades ago. I hadn't loved her, at the time I thought I did, but I was nineteen, I didn't even know what love was. "Um... hi."
There was a long awkward pause, and I finally said, "So, your Kyler's Mom?"
She nodded. "As soon as Kyler told me she was going to be working for Ollie, I knew she would run into you eventually."
My face hardend, "I'm not afiliated with Oliver Queen anymore Anna."
She nodded, "I know, but never the less, it happend. Let me guess, you were Speedy, and now your Red Arrow, right?"
I nodded. Anna wasn't stupid, but how had she figured it out? She continued, "When Kyler told me she was Speedy, I knew Ollie must be Green Arrow, which meant you were the old Speedy, and currently Red Arrow."
I nodded, "So, you look... well."
She smiled, "Yes, I am. You look so too. Kyler picked this up form the fire escape, figured you would want to see it." She handed me a plastic bag with a broken pocket knife in it.
I took it, and nodded, "Yes, thank you." I didn't really know what to say to her.
So instead of talking, I scoped out the scene more. I tried to find something, but the scene was clean. No obviouse struggles, if it weren't for the broken lock on the window, I wouldn't have noticed anything wrong. These guys were good.
I turned back to Anna, "Well, I guess there's not a whole lot here. Sorry."
She looked heartbroken, as if she expected me to work some miracle. "You'll still be able to find them, right?"
"I... I'll do my best." I said.
She nodded, "That's all I can ask I guess. Make sure Kyler is safe too, I know she says she's been trained and all, but... she worries me. I know she can take care of herself, but she gets angry Roy, very angry sometimes. I'm scared that she... that she'll... kill."
I raised an eyebrow, "Anna, this is Kyler we're talking about. Sure, she's got a temper, but she respects Ollie and his rules to much to cross the line he set." I was silent for a momemt, I had crossed the line Ollie set. I had gotten angry when my daughter had been killed. I had gone crazy, some will tell you. But I didn't, I just got angry, and did what any father would have done. I killed anyone who had participated in the killing of my daughter.
Anna spoke, "I wish I could believe that, but Kyler... she's just to much like her father, Roy."
I raised an eyebrow, "What? I mean, I know you got married, and had three kids with the guy, but where is he? Shouldn't he be here threatening me to get his kids back safe and sound?"
She smiled sadly, "He left when Kyler was ten."
"I'm sorry." I said.
"It's OK, it was better for every one actually. Anyways, you were wrong."
"About what?" I asked.
"About having three kids with him. I had two." She said.
My eyes narrowed, something wasn't right. "If you have something to say Anna, say it, don't keep me guessing."
"Kyler wasn't James's child. Kyler was... our child." She said.
My eyes widend. "No." I said firmly, that was impossble, everyone knows I had one daughter, Lian, who was now dead. I didn't have another.
She nodded, "Kyler is only Austin and Olivia's half sister Roy, she's your daughter."
I was silent, "Does she know?"
"I never told her." She said, shrugging, "So no, she has no idea."
I stood there for a momment, until I snapped out of it, "Right. Good to know. I have to get over to the warehouse. I promise Anna, I'll get your kids."
She nodded, "Thank you."
If I went fast before, I went light speed now. My costume was on faster than you can blink, and I was speeding down the street like greased lightning. I spoted the warehouse immediatly, only one with cars out front. I ran up to it, the door was broken down. Kyler. I went in, and saw several people, mostly children, rush out past me, and men on the floor, bullet holes in the clothing around knees and elbows. Kyler... had used a gun.
I heard screaming form the last room in the hall, and I took off towards it. What I saw in that room nearly made me scream. Kyler, wearing a totally different costume, was beating the life out of a man already in terrible shape, kinves in his elbows and sholders, making his joints unusable. Olivia was shivering in the corner, not being able to take her eyes off of the scene.
I grabbed Kyler, pulling her off the man. She struggled against my grip, despiratly trying to get back to the already broken body of the man. It was like she wasn't even human anymore. What had she seen that had driven her so mad? She continued struggling. I tried to calm her down, I tried to talk to her, but it was like she couldn't hear me. She fought fiercly, just trying to get an inch closer to that body on the floor. My arms were getting sore, and my words weren't doing any good.
I tried to say something that might make her listen, "Kyler, do you really want your sister to see this?" She didn't respond, "Kyler, just stop!' I yelled. She continued, almost as if she hadn't even heard me. I got angry, why wasn't she listening? "KYLER ENOUGH!"
I let her go, and she turned around, to look at me, and I punched her in the side of the face. Some would say that was cruel, but I was holding back, I didn't even punch half as hard as I could have.
Still, she went sprawling, and hit the floor hard, getting the wind knocked out of her. She gasped for breath, and when she got it, held the area I had punched her delicatly, not looking up at me.
I took in a deep breath, tryng to calm down, stupid kid. She of all people shopuld know that I could get really angry.
KYLER'S POINT OF VEIW:
I rubbed my cheek slightly, and looked up slowly, to see Roy standing there, looking furiouse, and trying to calm down. Olivia looked like she had died and come back to life, her hair was a mess, her skin pailer than usual, and her eyes were purple. He had given her black eyes. Rage surged through me again, but I contained it, telling my self to calm down.
Olivia saw the look in my eyes, and got even more scared, whimpering. I stood up, walking over to her, "Olivia, it's OK, it's all ov-"
"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed, covering her head with her hands as if to sheild herself from me.
I took a step back, not understanding why she was so scared, when I realised, not only had she just witness me pulverise that man, she didn't know it was me. I fingered the mask, and then pulled it off, not caring about security cameras. I pushed the jacket off too, and said, "Olivia, it's me."
She cautiousley looked up, and practically glomped me. "Kyler!" She shouted, she just kept screaming that. "KYLER! KYLER! KYLER! KYLER! KYLER!"
I just held her, rubbing her back, and trying to get her to calm down. Roy hesitantly put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him, and then back to Olivia, "Olivia, I need to ask you something very important, and you need to calm down to answer it."
She took some deep breathes, and then let them out, shuddering. She finally calmed down, and I asked, "Where's Austin?"
She shivered slightly, and that's when I noticed how cold it was in here. I grabbed the jacket I had dropped, and pulled it around Olivia.
"They... they got angry when he was talking on the phone, and they said... they said they would take him to the dock safehouse, and that they would straighten him out there." She whispered.
Roy stiffend beside me, and I looked up at him, "What?"
He looked at Olivia uncertainly, and said, "I'll explain later."
I guess that meant not in front of Olivia. We took her home quickly, and as soon as she ate, went to bed, and I heard her light snoring, I turned to Mom.
"Austin was taken somewhere on the docks, to one of their safehouses. Care to elaborate Roy?" I asked.
He took a hesitant breath, "That's normally where they take the women." He said, "They take them there, straighten them out, and then get them addicted to drugs. When they're on those drugs, they get... non responsive, almost like they're barley awake. Always zoned out, not arguing, not putting up a fight, almost zombie like." He explained.
I processed this for a moment, "If they take women there... why would my little brother be sent there?"
"Because, like Olivia said, they caught him talking on the phone, and wanted to straighten him out." Roy explained. Then it clicked, as of right now, my brother was being hit. He was being kicked, punched, thrown across the room, anything that hurt. And soon, he would be injected with drugs. He was way to young for that to happen, if they over dosed... I would rip them to shreds with my bare hands.
I ground my teeth. "Then what are we waiting for?" I growled.
Roy gave me a stern look, "Two things, to explain to your Mom, and you seem to be missing something. It's made of fabric, has a touch of red, a quiver on the back?"
I glared at him, "Don't talk to me like that." I warned, and went to my room, changing quickly, and ran out, the glare still on my face. "OK, lets go."
We jumped across roof tops, firing grapling arrowes when we needed them, and not really talking. Finally, we made it to the docks, and Roy put a hand on my shoulder, "Control yourself this time."
I looked down at my feet ashamed, "I'm sorry about last time Roy, I don't know what happend, I just-"
"If you ever do something like that again, and you don't listen to me when I tell you to stop, I'll hit you so hard with a boxing glove arrow, you'll be put on display for being the first person hit so hard with a boxing glove arrow they were put on display." He threatend.
Again, that's what I liked about Roy, he didn't beat around the bush. I nodded, "Understood."
He looked in through the windows, "When we do it, we'll have to do it quick-" I stopped listening, and snuck away, carefully lifting one window, and stealthily sneaking down the hall, and quietly looking into each room, since the doors were open. I saw several woman laying on the beds, IV's dripping down tubes and needles into their wrists, they were all pail, and looked lifeless. I swallowed as I past one room, and looked in, to see a blonde woman with pretty green eyes. Those eyes were lifeless, and her skin looked like paper, thin and crinkly. My heart thudded, she had been overdosed. She was dead. I shivered, and kept moving.
I came to a staircase, and snuck up several floors, and thats when I heard a scream. A young boys scream. Without thinking, I took off down the hall, bow loaded, and I came to the last room in the hallway. I jumped at it, and both feet landed on it, breaking it free of it's hinges. It landed on the floor, and revealed a man standing over my brother, as he laid on the floor, crying. The man above him had his hands clenched into fists. On each hand, were brass knuckles. My eyes didn't lock onto any of that though, what I was looking at, was the blood smears on the concrete floor around my little brother. Fresh blood smears. My brother's blood smears.
My eyes turned to the man, who looked at me in fear, his hand went to his gun, but my net arrow pierced through the air, wrapping around him. I tossed my bow and arrows to the side, and flew at him in a blind rage. I jumped at him, and both feet collided with one of his knees, much like they had with the door. He screamed, and I quickly punched his throat. He tried to scream again, but it came out as a raspy whisper. I quickly kicked his knee again, snapping it out of place. I then began punching his rib cage brutily. With the net tying up his arms, the best thing he could do was to keep backing up, until his back hit the wall.
He whimpered, trying to scream more. I punched brutily, not letting up. I heard several cracks, his ribs. I still didn't stop, I didn't care. Eventually, he sunk to the ground, not having it in him to stand as I pounded him to a bloody pulp. I got on top of him, in mount position, and punched his face as hard as I could, over and over. His nose snapped, his lip cracked. Blood form said wounds poured over his face, and when I kept punching, came onto my fists. He had made my brother bleed, I would make him bleed. Externally and internally.
He tried to plead for mercy, but I gave none, he had given none when my brother had pled for mercy. My brother. That thought made me stop, and slowly, turn away from the man beneath me, and look over my shoulder, to see my brother on the floor, eyes closed, breathing heavily, and with struggle. I slowly got off the man, who practically fainted with relief. I crawled over to my brother, and pulled his head carefully into my lap, and checked him over for inguries. A big bruise on his face, and a cut on his forehead, right above his eyebrow that was bleeding heavily. I carefully unbottoned his shirt, and pulled it out from under him carefully. I pressed it onto the wound, and then saw all the bruises and cuts on his chest and stomache. His breathing got less ragged, and returned to normal.
I carefully set his head down, and turned back to the man. "I can't do it. I just can't give you mercy. You gave him no mercy, didn't you? You beat him, he's only a child and you beat him! For that, I'll kill you!" I screeched, and picked up the gun he had dropped, and lifted it slowly, aiming at his head.
"I hate you." I growled out, and fired it.
I stood there for a moment, letting my breathing that had sped up go back down to normal, and I let the gun slowly lower. The man lay still, and blood slowly ozzed out from his head. I had shot right through the brain.
"Kyler." Said a voice. I looked over to the doorway, there stood Roy, mouth hanging open a little. "What did you do?"
That's when I fully realised it, I had broken the one rule. I had broken the one rule Ollie had set. When Ollie found out, he was going to... I don't know what he was going to do, but he wasn't going to just pat me on the head saying, "Don't do it again, OK?"
I sank to my knees, sobbing. I had ruined everything. Everything I had worked to build up for half a year. This guy, he deserved it, but maybe he had a family, kids. They didn't deserve it, not having a Dad. Roy slowly kneeled next to me, holding my shoulders, and just being there with me, comforting me without words.
Suddenly, I heard doors bang open, and people rush into the building, Roy immediatly stood up, forcing me to as well, and yanked the gun away from me, and then kicked me into the wall, and pointed the gun at me. I didn't understand this, any of it, I was frozen with fear, staring down the barrel of a 45.
Police officers rushed into the room, and pointed there guns at Roy. "Freeze, and put your hands on your head!" Several yelled.
He dropped the gun, putting his hands on his head, and sank to the ground. They cuffed him, and forced him to stand, while one of them came over to me, telling me everything was OK, and asking what happend. Then, some one else entered the room. Green Arrow, he looked at Roy, and then at me, he helped me up, and asked, "Speedy, what happend?"
I didn't answer, staring at my feet.
"Speey, what happend?" He asked again.
I took a deep breath, about to tell him I had killed the scumb bag lying in the corner, when Roy spoke up. "Speedy asked me to help her on a mission, and asked that I didn't kill anyone. I agreed. I tried to, but I lost it, I killed that guy, after seeing what he did to the boy." He nodded to Austin, and Green Arrow's eyes widend, knowing it was my brother.
"Speedy tried to stop me, and I threw her into the wall, and I was about to shoot her, when the police came."
"Red Arrow..." Green Arrow said, as the Police looked at him for directions. Would Green Arrow vouch for him? Green Arrow looked a the floor, "Take him away officers."
My eyes widend, Roy was taking the fall for me, why was he taking the fall for me? Why? I watched with wide eyes as they loaded my brother onto a gernie, and pushed Red Arrow into the backseat of a police car.
I was completely numb as Green Arrow drove me to his house, and called my Mom. I changed into civilian clothes, and she drove me home. I just walked to my room silently, wondering why Roy took the big fall for me. He was in jail now. Roy had told Ollie the one thing that he wouldn't forgive Roy for. That he was about to kill me. Ollie had accepted the 'fact' that Roy was to far gone to be saved, and had let him be arrested.
I laid down on the bed. Roy, you idiot. Why did you take the fall for me? Why? The stupid idiot. Tomorrow, I would go to the holding cells at the police station, and I would ask him why he did.
THE NEXT DAY:
I woke up, and changed into some nice clothes, a red tee shirt and black baggy pants. Ollie's training had scared me for life in a way, I always kept one weapon on me at all times. No exceptions. I strapped a knife to my leg, under my jeans. It had a special sheath that would make sure the metal detectors didn't detect it when I got searched.
I went to the kitchen, to see Mom making waffles. I frowned, she should be at work. This wasn't normal. "Mom?" I asked, looking around, "Where's Olivia?"
She looked up, smiling, "Olivia's wasn't feeling well, so I had her go to the hospital, just to get checked out. Austin is there too, and since we're alone today, I need to tell you something."
She set down two plates, and we sat down. Then she proceeded to tell me that I was not from the same father that Olivia and Austin were. After I calmed down from that big shock, she dropped a bigger bomb on me, that my father was Roy Harper. I let that slowly sink in, and asked only one question, "Does he know?"
She nodded, "I told him last night, when he came over to scope out the crime scene. That's why he lied to protect you Kyler. That's why he took the fall, because he loves you."
I took a deep breath, "OK. I can deal with that. Are we done here? I want to get over to the prison."
She nodded, "Yeah."
I stood up, and left. I got a ride to the prison from Tyrone. First time I had talked to him in months. He was happy to see me again, he asked how I was doing and tried to start several conversations, they never took off. I wasn't trying to be rude, I just had a lot on my mind, and didn't want to talk.
Finally, we got there, and Tyrone didn't want to wait for me, afraid the cops would recognise his face. I told him it was OK and that I would get another ride home. I went in, told them I was here to see Roy Harper, as they had identified him. Star City already knew who Green Arrow was, after the incident not to long ago, they had unmasked him infront of every one. They had forgiven him for what he had done, and the punishment was to never come back to Star City. Eventually, they realised how much they really needed Green Arrow, and had allowed him to come back. Who had protected the city while he was banished? Speedy. A lot of people made claims that Kyler, Oliver Queens errand girl was Speedy, but they had no proof except for the fact that Kyler worked for Oliver Queen.
My identity was safe, no one would assume that an insignifican errand girl secretly ran around town kicking the butt of guys two times her size.
The officers let me go in, and I sat down in the chair, waiting for them to bring Roy out. He did, and sat down as well, and we picked up the phones. Neither of us spoke for awhile, just looked at each other, until I sighed, "I should be the one in there Roy, not you."
Roy shrugged, "Your a child, makes more since for me to be in here than you."
I shook my head, "I'm the one who killed that guy, not you. If I had just waited for you instead of going in alone, none of this would have happend."
Roy nodded, "Yes, none of it would have happend. I've been in jail before Kyler, it's no big deal to me. Your just getting started on your career, if Oliver knew you had killed that guy, it would have ruined everything. I wasn't going to let that happen to you and your family. You worked hard to get Oliver's trust, and you can't just let it slip away in one horror filled night."
I looked up at him, "Mom told me about... you know."
He nodded, "I assumed she would, that's why your here then?"
"No, I'm here because... because I wanted to know why you did that. I guess I know now." I said.
"There was another reason." He said, "You probably know what it is."
"Because I'm your daughter."
He nodded, "I messed up pretty big with Lian. I'm not gonna let you get killed either."
I shrugged, "I can take care of myself."
He smirked, "Judging by the bodily conditions of both of those thugs, I don't doubt that."
I blushed a little, "I don't normally do that... it's just... they were hurting Olivia and Austin."
He nodded, "I would have done the same."
He didn't understand, that was the problem. If I kept doing exactly what he would have done, then one day, I would be in the same boat he was in. Sitting in prison, wearing an orange jump suit. Orange was not my color. I would rather die than wear orange. We didn't say much else. He told me that if I ever needed anything, he would find a way to get out and get to me.
I thought about that for a few minutes, "So how long are you gonna be in there for?"
He shrugged, "By the way I hear them all talking, for life."
I pailed, and then shook it off, "No, your not. I'll get you out of here."
He raised an eyebrow, "I doubt you can afford a lawyer good enough for that."
"Let me refrase that. I'm going to break you out of here." I said.
"Kyler-"
"Don't worry, no one will even know it was me." I promised.
Over the next week, I planned out everything. My costume I wore to get Olivia was going to be used one last time. I had picked out a name for it, Black Guardian. After this, I swore to myself, that I would never wear it again.
Austin and Olivia came back home from the hospital. Olivia's bruises and cuts were pretty much all gone. Austin's lip was busted open, so he was going to have a scar there, the doctor said for several years. They went on with their life as if nothing had happend. Ollie said that they had most likely blacked the memory out, not wanting to live with something like that. I didn't believe him, but I didn't say so.
Then, everything thing was ready. On Wendsday night, I came home from Titan's Tower. Damian had resently quit, and I was thinking about quitting also. There was just to much going on, and Titans Tower didn't feel welcoming anymore. After what I had done, I wasn't feeling like a hero anymore.
Damian knew what had happend. As soon as he had seen me after the incident, he had known.
FLASH BACK:
"So, Roy didn't kill that guy?" He asked as soon as we were alone.
I froze, "Uh, what are you talking about? Of course he did, he confessed to it."
He snorted, "Kyler, I can look in your eyes and see that you've killed some one. Judging by the circumstances, it was that guy on the news that they said Red Arrow killed, he lied. Why? Most likely because he wanted to protect you because your his daughter."
I looked up at him, "How did you know?"
"I looked up your birth certificate. Your Mom put down who your real father was." He said.
"Ever heard of something called privacy?" I asked.
"No such thing in this career." He said.
"Whatever, you tell any one?"
"No." He said, "And to make sure Grayson and Drake don't find out, I changed your online birth certificate to your step father. I also deleted all proof that Roy and your mother ever saw each other."
I smiled, "Y'know Damian, every one might say your some demon child, but your actually nice."
He glared at me, "Tt, please, your the only person I've ever been nice to."
I smirked, "Yeah. Thank you."
He walked away, "Don't get used to it."
FLASH BACK ENDS.
I put on the Black Guardian costume, loaded it with knives again, and set out to the prison. I scaled the wall, and got in easily. I crept down the halls, making sure the security cameras couldn't see me, and I put a special gadget on some of them. The gadget made them play the same footage for half an hour. They wouldn't see me sneak in or me and Roy sneak out.
I crept down the hall quickly, and any guard who saw me, I sprayed with knock out gas. Finally, after creeping down several hallways, I came to Roy's cell. I knocked quietly on the bars, and his head jerked up, and his eyes narrowed at me. "I told you not to."
I shrugged, "The ears hear words, but the heart decides whether to act on them." I had drilled Black Guardians personality into my head for hours. She always spoke in an odd mysteriouse way, hardly above a whisper. She comunicated more with her eyes than her tongue. Her personality was exactly the oppositte of mine, which would make it hard for them to pin Speedy to this. My bright orange hair was hidden under a black skull cap, and the hood of the jacket.
He frowned as I stuck a lock pick into the cell lock, and the lock clicked, and I swung the door open, tossing Roy his mask. I took off down the hall, him right on my heels. Alarms blared, drat. I ran faster, flipping over the guards, using my small size and surperiour agility to dodge them. While Roy shoved them out of the way, and instead of flipping over them, flipped them over his shoulders.
Finally, we made it out the door, and out of the prison entirley, and finally stopped in an alley to catch our breath. I looked up at him, and sighed, I knew what I had to tell him, and I didn't like it. "D-dad." I began. He looked up at me, giving me his full attention.
I took a deep breath, "I... I love you... but I can't risk having you around."
He nodded, "If I was, people would make the connection, and you wont risk your family's saftey. I understand." He was understanding, but he was sad about it. He wished we could be a family, me and him. I wished it too.
"I... I'm sorry." I mumbled.
He did something unexpected, he grabbed my shoulders, and he hugged me tightly. It was all so confusing. A few days ago, I hated Roy Harper. He had humiliated me infront of the Titans, he had constantly looked down on me, and I felt as if I had failed in filling his shoes as Speedy. He had hit me, but he had taken a big fall for me, ruining whatever was left of his reputation, and leaving mine unscratched.
He had hated me as well, at least, I was pretty sure he had hated me. He had sure acted like he had. But now, I didn't hate him anymore. Was it just because he was my father? Or the fact he had taken the blame for me? A little bit of both, I think.
I hugged back, and tears gathered in my eyes, threatening to spill. I had just found my father, and I already had to lose him. I pulled away, looking up into his eyes. His eyes held caring and understanding.
"Do you think there will ever be a day when we can be a family?" I asked, hating that fact my words were cliche and cheesey. He didn't seem to mind though.
"The day that Star City doesn't need a Speedy, that's when we can be a family. I'm not saying I'm going to marry your Mom. Sorry, but I don't love her, but I'd still like to be a part of your life, Austin, Olivia's and Anna's too." He promised. "The day Star City doesn't need Speedy, count on it."
I nodded, letting go of him, and watched as he left, disappearing into the shadows. I didn't try and catch a glimpse of him leaving, I knew it was mute.
I wiped my eyes, even though the tears hadn't fallen, and sighed, as my communicator for the Teen Titans lit up. I answered it, and Wonder Girl's voice said, "Speedy, we need you to help us out with an urgent matter in downtown Jump City. Are you available?"
I hesitated, "Yes. But only this last time. Wonder Girl, consider this my resignation."
THE END
OK, I am really proud of how this story turned out. I personally think this one shot was very good, action packed, and very dramatic and emotional. OK, so sad to see this story go after only one chapter, but never fear, Kyler will return in 'Desperate Revenge' along with Justin Todd from 'Jason Todds Daughter' Conan Kent from 'The Clone of a Clone' and a brand new character called Snow Jackson. The story will be about all of them forming a team together. Bonds will be made, bonds will be broken, mysteries will be solved, and eventually, each of them will go through their own personal Hell. More so Justin than the rest of them cause, she's my favorite character. Sorry for all of you who like Kyler, Conan, or who will like Snow Jackson. Don't worry, they'll get chapters pretty much centered around them as well. I really am sad to see this story go, even if it really didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. Kyler was meant to be a sweet, yet slightly rebeliouse deep down, fifteen year old girl.
OK, you get the point, I messed up with Kyler and made her out into this bad to the bone, smart mouthed, rebeliouse teenager who most adults would want to slap if they met her. I mean really, I like those characters, but if I met one and they talked to my parents like that, I would jump them. If I ever started acting like that, it wouldn't last long because my mother would put a stop to that real quick.
Some facts about this story that you don't know yet because you haven't begun reading the list and you are currently reading this sentence:
(1) Biggest fact of all, Kyler was never meant to be the daughter of Roy Harper, I don't know about you all, but I found that a little forced for the story. I mean, she was supposed to hate Roy, and then one day they have to end up working together and then end up finding each other tolerable, and eventually having a great brother-sister relationship. Only reason I made Roy her father was because I wanted to make a story about the daughter of Dick Grayson (Cardinal) daughter of Roy harper (Speedy) and the other Teen Titans kids. I never wrote it because I had enough stories and I couldn't continue to keep up with them plus a new one. So, I decided to combine the one's I wrote in most to save me some time. I really liked the idea of the daughter of Dick Grayson and the daughter of Roy Harper being on a team together so I decided to replace Roy's daughter with Kyler, and Dick's daughter with Justin. Only problem, Justin couldn't act like Dick enough like his biological daughter would have, and Kyler was not Roy's daughter. So, I pretty much solved the Kyler issue with this chapter, but Justin was to far gone to just twist around and I love her character to much to change it. :'(
(2) At first, I was gonna name Kyler's little brother and sister were named Max and Annie. But then I started hating those names, so I improvised with Austin and Olivia, two elementary kids from my school. I'm in high school, but my school has elementary, middle, and high school and not a lot of kids, so every one knows every body and their parents. Scary.
(3) For the very long period in which this story was in my Doc Manager, I had abandoned it. Only reason I picked it back up was because of fun fact number (1). So, you can thank the new story coming out, Desperate Revenge for saving Kyler. I know Kyler is happy about it.
(4) I fear that (Spoiler Alert! All those who do not wish for a spoiler stop reading this instant!) in order to go deeper into Kyler's personality I am going to have to push her even further away from the character I had intended for her and ruin her life even more. (Spoiler is now over.)
OK, bye peoples, and remember, keep an eye open for Desperate Revenge. Coming soon, same Arrow Time, same Arrow Channel. (Very sorry I just wrote that.)