Roy found him back in Star City, checking out one of their oldest weapons caches, just a hidden door in the basement of an abandoned warehouse. After watching the younger boy for a while, he hesitantly began his approach.
"We've got some more high tech and convenient places now, but I still like to come to this one every now and then."
Arsenal, not turning to reply to his clone, replied, "This one's good enough. I never learned how to work the security systems in the newer ones anyways," with a flat tone.
"So you're Arsenal now," Red Arrow continued tentatively. "How's being with the team working out?"
"They were okay. I won't have to worry about them now though."
"You left?" Roy asked, trying to keep this as casual as possible.
"Left or kicked out, whatever you want to hear."
"I can relate." There was a brief silence where both stared at the floor, before the elder spoke up again, not knowing what else to say. "I could show you how to work some of the newer caches, if you want. Some of your stuff seems a bit too pricey to store in a dirty warehouse."
Arsenal shrugged. "I've got nothing better to do."
The two then set off, going to different locations that progressively got more and more high end. At first, they didn't talk much except to tell each other essential information. Around the tenth location, the definition of 'essential' began to slip, to the point where they could have been mistaken for friends, except for their uncanny resemblance and masks. After discussing anything but the topic for several hours, Arsenal was finally the one to give in.
"So I know about the Light making you betray the League, but what made you quit for good? You didn't seem very mad at Ollie when you two were with me at the hospital," he asked, looking up at the older clone expectantly.
"It was kind of a mix for me too," he began. "I was already used to working alone from when I had been trying to prove myself to the League, but I still don't know how much of that was my choice. I also didn't want to be used for sabotage again, and quitting seemed to be the only way out. I also had more time to look for you, especially after it became clear the others didn't…have as much time to put in."
"Hmm."
"Compared to everything else, Ollie can become more bearable, trust me," Roy replied with a low chuckle.
"That's the problem," Arsenal huffed bitterly. The elder stopped, turned back, and patiently waited for him to continue. "My whole life from now on is just going to be a repeat of yours. Don't deny it, it's already happening. Quitting the team, going off alone without anywhere to go, what's next? Finding some gripping obsession and slowly breaking down because of it? From what I've read, I don't want your life, but I can see it happening, no matter what. Anything I could do you could have done, but you didn't, so I won't be able to either. My life wasn't just taken for eight years, but forever. And I can't really blame you, because you're the only reason I have a life to pout about."
Red Arrow hated these kinds of situations. He was so used to being given advice he never knew what to do when he had to solve someone's problems. Also, this wasn't someone else's problems. These were his own.
After a few moments, he started, still unsure. "You could make my mistakes, but you could also learn from my mistakes. Or just from me in general, I guess." Arsenal frowned, puzzled. Roy continued, gathering momentum. "First of all," he smirked, "don't leave all your friends, especially when they're trying to help you. You'll be less venerable to your…our own stupidity that way. Also, don't stay mad at the League for no reason, no matter why you think they deserve it. Especially Ollie. He cares, even if he's think about showing it."
As Red Arrow paused to catch his breath, he realized they'd been talking on a random rooftop for several minutes now.
"It's getting pretty late. We should get back." Arsenal nodded and headed in the other direction.
"You're coming with me, I've definitely got more caches to show you tomorrow." Red Arrow called out, knowing that if he had nowhere to go he wouldn't admit it.
"Okay, but just for tonight," Arsenal said, holding his head high to meet Red Arrow's smug expression.
"Good."
"Just don't start calling me your sidekick," Arsenal muttered as he followed Red Arrow home.
Author's Note: This is where I'll put my songfics. This one is for "Prayer of the Refugee" by Rise Against. I can't put lyrics on the fic, but they are good lyrics, so ill put a link here: lyrics/riseagainst/ (without spaces). I'm hoping to do these pretty consistently to practice getting writing done at a somewhat faster pace, but I'm pretty good at giving myself excuses, so who knows? Also, this was one of the most annoying things to write! I like to differentiate characters with voice, but I couldn't do that, because they're both Roy! This meant I had to use more speaker tags, which I hate, and were also made harder to do from the fact that they're BOTH ROY! I don't like to beg for reviews, but it would be nice if someone did.