All characters belong to their respective companies
One could make a claim Roy was slightly jealous. He was the oldest of the sidekicks so far, and had the least experience.
It had taken an extremely long time to gain the attention of one of his favorite superheroes, Green Arrow. He'd been impressed by Roy's skill and decided to shape it. In doing so, it opened doors he couldn't have hoped to even get through.
He hadn't worked with GA long, but he loved every second of it, like it was something he was born to do. This partnership allowed him to meet other members of the Justice League.
Only three other members had proteges. Flash, Aquaman, and Batman.
While the Bat worked alone for the majority of the time, it hadn't taken Roy long to meet the other two.
Kid Flash struck him young and eager. The name suited him, he was like a kid version of the Flash. Incredibly smart, but also very ADHD. Unable to stand still and await instruction. Roy respected his desire to finish things quickly, as to move on to the next task. The Flash handled him well, reminding him to stay calm and focus on the task at hand.
The experience always brought a smile to the young archer's face.
Aqualad hadn't been this way. Far calmer. The two had clicked, working well together. They handled some sideline stuff while GA and Aquaman took care of bigger league related things. It had been the first time Roy had actually felt challenged. The two stayed connected working together multiple times on rather small incidents. Which he had been content with.
The only one he hadn't met was Robin.
He was Roy's opposite, the youngest of them with easily the most experience.
It was rare when the Bat was seen working with anyone outside of the small trusted circle. One that did not include Oliver Queen.
His mentor never seemed to be bothered by this fact. Telling Roy multiple times that's just how Batman was with everyone. He didn't feel like it was personal.
Apparently today was going to change that.
He and Batman had an assignment together. Infiltrating some big cooperation party in their civilian identities. Supposedly those two were the only ones that made the most since for the occasion.
While they were in the party, he would do recon with Robin.
He had no idea what to expect, not that he had with Kid Flash and Aqualad either. He'd been told that Robin was young and it showed, but he wasn't to underestimated. His skill set made up for it.
Robin had been active for three years now. Roy had been an archer for almost 2, and been Speedy for half that.
He and Arrow arrived to the meet-up location. Everything was going according to plan.
Batman was supposed to brief Robin first and send him on his way, and then meet Oliver and Roy at the meet-up point, brief the two of them, and then Roy was supposed to catch up and find Robin and continue on with recon.
Easy enough, something he'd done a hundred times now. Nothing to worry about.
But the idea of meeting Batman made him nervous. Another superhero he'd idolized, and he was getting the chance to work alongside his protege.
They stood in the dark alley.
Roy had his gear in the bag strapped to his back, he gripped the strap turning his knuckles white. He couldn't seem to calm down. Oliver took notice.
"Something on your mind?" He asked easily, leaning against the wall.
Roy shook his head. "No, I just want to get going."
Oliver chuckled softly. "It's okay to be a little on edge. This isn't like the other hero's you've met in the past. This is one of the leaders of the League, and even if he wasn't I'll admit that Batman is extremely intimidating. Definitely someone I don't want to get on the wrong side of."
Roy relaxed slightly. But it was hard waiting like this. They had come early on purpose. Now Roy was wishing they hadn't.
He then heard someone drop down to the ground behind him.
Following his instincts he whipped around prepared to attack if necessary. He was instantly glad he hadn't. He would have lost that fight, big time.
It was Batman, and he was everything Roy had figured he would be. Huge and frightening.
He seemed amused at Roy's unease.
"Not bad." His voice was coarse, deliberately coarse.
"Thanks." Roy took the complement as he stepped back.
He pulled a small device from his belt, handing it to Roy. "This has Robin's location on it, as well as mine and Arrow's should it be needed. Everything you find will be recorded into this device. It should also allow your comm to sync to the correct frequency should trouble arise. The final meet-up location will also be found on this device. Don't lose it."
Roy nodded.
"Seriously," Oliver added, putting his hand on Roy's shoulder forcing him to turn around, "while I love your independence, don't try to be a hero. If you need help call me. Got it?"
"Got."
"Well, you've got places to be. And from what I hear, Robin's hard to keep up with."
Roy grinned. "I'll manage."
"Remind him to slow down and not be a hero either." Batman added. "I've already told him, but he has a habit of not listening."
Roy couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
He left the two heros in the alley, walking down the sidewalk. He examined the device Batman had given him.
No bigger than a cell phone. He turned it on. Four pings. GA, Batman, Robin and himself.
According to the device, Robin wasn't too far, and didn't appear to be moving. Most likely waiting for him.
Roy located a secluded location near Robin to put on his gear.
The party (Gala, Oliver had called it), was taking place in an Art Museum on the outskirts Star City.
The grounds were filled with foliage, the perfect cover for his mission tonight.
The threat being the possibility that there might be an assasination of one of the large donors. Speedy and Robin were the first defence.
So far, from what he observed, nothing seemed amis. People arrived at the front, went through a quick security check and were allowed inside. Nothing to suggest an assassin was near.
Roy doubted the assassin would be caught by the security check, they would know how to get by if they were half decently trained. He was positive that Oliver was going to have no trouble getting a bow in there. As for Batman, his presence alone should be enough to scare off the mercenary.
He pulled the device from his belt again. He needed to track down Robin.
He was on the other side of the grounds, and seemed to be hiding in some trees.
Roy jogged over, avoiding any possibility of being seen. The tree thicket wasn't large, but provided cover to figure out some sort of plan.
He moved with stealth, approaching the front of the brush.
Where was this kid?
He pulled the device out again. The kid was right there. Roy glanced around, he didn't seen anyone.
"Ummm, I'd put that away if I were you." The voice came from above him, it was young.
Roy looked up. Perched with impeccable balance was Robin.
"You know, bright screen, dark surroundings." The kid continued. "Can't hide in the dark with the flashlight on."
He flipped off the branch, Roy felt like he was showing off.
"You must be Speedy," Robin's hand was outstretched, "Robin."
This kid was seriously young. Couldn't have been older than twelve. He wore a playful smirk, like this was some kind of game, he barely reached Roy's chest. But he knew this kid was packing nonetheless.
There was clearly thick kevlar under the red tunic, the belt most likely contained an array of weapons similar to Batman's, his gloves came to the middle of his forearms both bulky, no doubt containing more weapons and some tech.
Roy took his hand. "Yep, definitely trained by Batman."
The kid snorted. As if it was a joke he'd heard a million times. "Well, we got lots to do tonight. From what I've surveyed. This area give us the best angle to see inside the main room. Where the donor will be."
The kid worked fast. This campus was huge, and he'd already figured out the best vantage point.
"Do you have any idea who the assassin might be?" Robin asked him.
Roy shook his head. "Do you?"
"A few."
"What makes you think this is the best vantage point?"
"This gives us full view of the event. We can see the main entrance and exit in and out of the building. A bird's eye view if you will. But from a hill as opposed to in the rafters."
Roy scanned the area. The kid was right. They could see the main outside entrance, as well as all entrances inside the ballroom. The only possible problem was the distance between them, it gave them a slight disadvantage.
"So now we wait." Roy told him crouching down.
The kid didn't verbally respond, letting his facial expressions tell Roy what he was thinking. He leaned against the tree he'd jumped out of.
"So," Robin instigated, "where'd Arrow find you?"
Okay, so that was happening.
"Um, I tailed him for a while. Tried solving some of his cases before he could." Roy tells him. "Got into quite a bit of trouble till GA finally considered taking me on."
"Cool."
"What about you. Bats doesn't strike me the protege type. So where'd you come from?"
Robin's face became void of any emotion. This was a sensitive subject, Roy felt kind of bad for prying. Kind of.
"Ummm… Kind of similar to you actually. Only it was one case." Robin finally answers.
There was hesitation in his answer. Whatever the real reason was, it was touchy. Robin had began fidgeting with the edge of his glove, avoiding eye contact. Becoming Robin had caused him some sort of tragedy.
It made since in a sad kind of manner. You didn't get involved in this kind of life without a little bad luck. But this kid couldn't have been older than twelve. A normal twelve year old shouldn't be here playing superhero. They should be out with their friends causing all kinds of trouble.
As easy going as Robin initially struck Roy, this kid apparently had a lot of baggage.
Roy was unsure what to say. "Sorry."
The kid raised an eyebrow. "No need. Nothing you did or could've done. Besides, it's in the past."
That sounded like an odd answer, but it wasn't that big of a deal.
The gala was in full swing. Not that it looked that exciting. Some people were dancing, but for the most part people stood around talking and mingling. Most likely gossiping.
Through his goggles he began to look for suspicious characters. The only really notable person there was Bruce Wayne. That guy wasn't going to be involved in something like this, if he was it was going to be a huge scandal.
It did strike Roy a little odd that Bruce Wayne was this far west, but whatever. The guy was a billionaire, who cared that he was there, he could do whatever he wanted.
After about an hour and a half Robin had changed positions three times. He'd gone from leaning against the tree, to crouched in front of Roy, to perched up in the tree. He was getting restless. And, if Roy was being honest with himself, he was too. As much as he hated slow nights, slow nights were the best nights.
The gala was scheduled to end in about an hour. It was looking like it was going to be a long hour.
Roy sighed, adjusting in his spot of the ground. This was boring.
"Bet it's worse in there." Robin comments, pointing towards the gala.
"What makes you say that?"
Robin made a face "Being around a bunch of rich snobs for five minutes seems unbearable. Imagine two and a half hours. I'd much rather be out here doing recon then in there forced to 'talk' to them."
Roy shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm not exactly in their class."
"I've had to infiltrate things like that before. Trust me this is better."
He put the goggles back up doing another scan, he saw something.
"Hey," Roy hands them to Robin, "we might have something."
He gestures to where he saw what looked like a person. Robin brings them to his own eyes looking to where Roy's pointing.
"Should we investigate?" He asks Roy, a smile forming across his face.
"Beats sitting here."
They run across the grounds, Robin leaving him in the dust. This kid was fast, and excited. Not a good combination.
He disappeared into the vegetation when the got closer.
"Robin." Roy whispered, looking for his young partner.
Where did he go? Roy glanced around. The kid was just gone. He pulled out the device Batman had given him. He was just about to turn it on when something pushed him into the ground.
"Seriously? You want to get us caught." Robin whispered into his ear.
The side of Roy's face was pressed into the grass as the kid pinned him down.
He felt Robin tense up against him. Footsteps. Heading towards them. Robin rolled off him and into a bush, he pulled on Roy's arm for him to follow.
They crouched in the bush, both holding their breath. A large man stepped in front of them.
It was Sportsmaster.
"Where are you?" He mumbled, his voice gruff and annoyed.
Crap.
He began to move past them. They waited until he was a safe distance away before coming out of their hiding spot.
"We need to raido GA and Bats." Roy tells him. "They need to know who the assassin is."
"Agreed."
Robin taps his comm, filling in Batman.
"Roger that B. Stay in recon, don't engage."
"He wants us to stay out of it?"
"Apparently." Robin obviously didn't like that order.
A beat of silence. "Are we gonna listen?" Roy asked him, hoping he knew the answer.
The smirk reappeared on Robin's lips. "We have direct orders not to engage, but we still need to continue recon."
"So?"
"So, let's tail him. If he finds us, we'll have to defend ourselves, and if he doesn't we don't have anything to worry about."
(break)
Obviously Sportsmaster was still trying to figure out how to go through with the job. He knew the League had been tipped and were prepared, but he didn't know which ones had shown up.
He and Robin stayed close behind, just far enough he shouldn't know they were there. But close enough they could keep tabs.
"He's looking for an entry point." Roy noted.
"Maybe, he could go the sniper route."
"That's not his MO, he's usually hands on."
"Well from what I can gather, Batman has a couple side entrances covered and GA has the main one. He won't be getting in unnoticed. He might have to go the sniper route."
"Yeah," Roy followed the line of thought, "yeah maybe. He would've had to have been already in there. Unless…"
Robin looked up at him "Unless-?"
"Unless, he's just backup."
Robin thought it over, looking between Sportsmaster and the gala. "So who'd be the assassin?"
"And who's the target?" Roy added.
"I might be able to figure that out, but we'll need to get further away."
They backtracked a couple yards. If their theory was right, they might not have to worry about Sportsmaster, the assassin inside would be the problem.
Robin crouched down into the foliage, flicking on what looked like a holo computer. He bypassed some security before pulling up some files
"Bingo." He mumbled before showing Roy the file. "Nathan Wang. Apparently he upset Shadows."
"How?"
"From the looks of it, he stopped shipping some of the Shadows product or equipment, or both, and it was a lot. He was one of their main shipment people. Now whether he did this intentionally or not is still up for debate. Nonetheless, it obviously pissed off Ra's. Just removing Sportsmaster from the list doesn't exactly narrow it down. Shadows has a lot of assassins in a lot of places. It could be any one of them."
"Yeah I know that. But from your experience, who could handle a situation like this the best?"
Robin glanced back at the gala, furrowing his eyebrows. "Uh, I don't know, they don't all exactly have names. The only one that comes to mind is Talia, but she's high profile, she wouldn't do something like this."
"Okay."
"Batman and Arrow have Wang covered. We just need to make sure the backup is neutralized. Or really make sure the backup can't be the backup."
"I figured we'd just focus on the main assassin."
He raised an eyebrow. "Why? GA and Batman are in there. It's overkill honestly. We need make sure Sportsmaster can't act when the assassin fails."
"Okay…" Roy shifted in his crouched position. "What's the plan then?"
Robin stood up. "Recon, like B said."
Roy rolled his eyes and followed Robin back to where they'd last seen Sportsmaster.
"He's gone." Roy commented. "Now what?"
Robin surveyed the area, looking for something in particular. "He bugged this spot."
He pulled something from one of the trees, scrutinizing it in the palm of his hand. It looked like a small microphone.
"He's onto us." Robin voiced Roy's thoughts before crushing the device between his fingers, he turned to face Roy. "We've been compromised."
Crap. Roy thought to himself. "We need to tell Bats."
Robin opened his mouth to respond before he was cut off "Agreed. You probably should radio for help. Not that it'll do you much good. You'll both be dead before either one of those Leaguers can pull themselves away."
Roy notched an arrow, waiting. Robin stood frozen next to him.
He noticed how it wasn't the kind of frozen someone got when they got scared. The stance was calculated, and felt dangerous. As if any sort of move Sportsmaster made towards them was already anticipated.
Sportsmaster seemed to feel that energy off of Robin. Roy knew that the assassin had never fought the boy wonder before. All he knew was Robin was Batman's protege, it made him incredibly valuable and equally dangerous. He was waiting for them to make the first move.
Roy aimed.
"Don't make me laugh." Sportmaster taunted. "You don't stand a chance with those."
Robin began fumbling with something behind him, trying to pull it from his belt.
"Why so fidgety kid?" He asked Robin.
"How'd you know we'd be here? All of us."
Sportsmaster shrugged. "Well you weren't exactly hiding. Figured if you two were here, than the big two would be as well."
He had an in. Someone had tipped him off that League members would be here, that's why he was here and not just one lone assassin.
"It's over Sportsmaster," Roy told him, "the gala is almost over. Wang's going to be escorted home by the League and then taken into custody. You're never gonna find him."
"Never is such a long time, and Shadows is patient."
"Not that patient." Robin mumbles under his breath.
Sportsmaster didn't visibly react. He was reading the situation, looking for the best route to attack.
Roy could spot six lethal paths he could take just from where he was standing.
"Well if you're gonna try and take us out? Challenge accepted. But first, you have to catch us." Robin told him.
He'd stopped fidgeting. He had a plan.
"What-?"
Sportsmaster was cut off by Robin throwing a smoke pellet against the ground and disappearing. Roy, with no idea what happened to the kid, followed his lead. He fired the arrow at the already aimed position and ran as fast and as far as he could get all while staying in vicinity of the gala.
Roy tapped his comm, "Speedy to Green Arrow."
"Roy? What's going on?" Oliver's voice filled his ear, calming him slightly. His partner wasn't too far. Roy wasn't completely alone.
"We've been compromised, I lost Robin, Sportsmaster is out trying to kill me."
"I know, Robin opened up a channel, we heard everything. Stay put okay. Stay put and out of sight. We've got this covered."
Roy nodded before remembering, Robin's on his own too. "What about Robin? I should go and find him."
"No, stay put. He's got orders to backtrack and make his way to you. Batman's confident he'll make it there unseen."
Roy glanced around, hoping Robin would just suddenly appear next to him. He was afraid of what Sportsmaster might do if he caught him.
"Alright. I'll hang out for five minutes and move to another location. Robin can track me, I don't want to make things easier for Sportsmaster."
"Sounds good kid. Leave the assassins to us okay?"
Roy rolled his eyes but complied. "Roger that."
Oliver closed the channel, leaving Roy alone with his thoughts.
He was concerned for Robin's safety. Roy knew it was unnecessary. Robin easily had more experience, and Roy doubted Batman would've let him out into the field if Robin couldn't at least hold his own. But Robin was still a kid.
A kid who had a lot of life to live and a world to experience. And even though Roy had only known him for now two hours, he actually kind of enjoyed the kid's company. A gut feeling told him that Robin and Kid Flash were going to get along swimmingly.
He scanned the area again. Looking for the boy wonder.
He sighed inwardly.
Robin must've gone in a completely different direction.
Five minutes came, and five minutes went. Roy stood up and began to back-track to where he'd been last. Hoping maybe he'd run into Robin on the way. No such luck. He found a new hiding spot, ducking into the bushes and pressing his back against a tree.
Another two minutes of silence, and he's convincing himself that Robin got captured.
He was wrong, thankfully.
Roy didn't hear his approach, just a hand lightly placing itself against his arm from behind and someone saying his name.
"Speedy." Robin whispered.
Roy jumped three feet back, ready to attack. Robin had been ready for it, easily dodging his attacks and waiting for Roy to compose himself.
"Glad you can take a hint." Robin praised. "I wasn't sure how you were gonna know to vanish. You didn't do half bad. And you nailed with the arrow by the way."
"Good, now he can't get away."
Robin made a face. "He already did. But Arrow caught the main assassin and Batman is making sure Nathan Wang gets to the airport safely where he will be transported to an unknown location overseas."
"So… We did it. We're the heroes."
"Yep." Robin told him, popping the p at the end of the word. "We're the best."
Roy snorted at the comment.
(break)
They had gone back to the first spot Robin had found for recon, watching the guests leave.
"Have you met the others?" Roy asked him.
Robin did face him. "Yeah, met them a while ago."
Figures. Roy didn't say it out loud opting for "What'd do you think about 'em?"
Robin shrugged. "They're pretty cool. They have a lot to learn. But we all do."
Roy nodded in agreement. "You're pretty cool too, by the way."
"Of course I am." Robin smiled looking at him. Roy knew Robin wasn't naturally cocky like that, it just didn't seem to fit. "You are too."
"Well duh."
"Although, you do strike me the type to run on a short fuse."
"And you strike me the 'jump first, think later' type."
"Huh, that's what Batman tells me. Must be coincidence."
Roy snorted. "Must be."
There was a beat of silence between the two before it was broken by Robin.
"Tonight was boring."
Roy blinked at him. "What? No it wasn't."
"I mean don't get me wrong I like boring nights but, we didn't get to participate in any of the action. And our main objective got away."
"We'll catch him."
Another beat.
"Do you want to join the League?" Robin asked him.
"Yeah, why? Don't you?"
Robin hesitated. "Maybe. I don't know."
Roy wondered why he might not. What his reasons were, why those reasons existed. This kid struck him slightly bipolar. One minute he seems like that happiest person you could meet with the trouble make smirk to match, and the next Roy just wanted to give him a hug because he shouldn't look like he'd seen the world shatter right in front of him.
The silence was back. It wasn't uncomfortable or anything. They sat and waited, making sure none of the other guests ran into any trouble.
"Well, I better get going."Robin announced as he stood up from his spot on the ground. "It was nice meeting you Roy."
His heart stopped. "I didn't tell you my name."
The smirk was back. "Didn't have to."
"It's only fair if you tell me yours."
"Can't do that. Batman was very clear. My civilian identity will be known to no one. No exceptions."
"It feels a little unfair."
"I can't stop you from guessing. I won't say I won't tell you if you're right or not."
Roy smiled. Yeah, he liked this kid. "Well, see you around then… John."
Robin snorted. "Close, but no."
And with that he disappeared into the trees.
Roy wasn't sure when he'd see Robin again. Hopefully soon. Now that they met, they could do more together. There wasn't this pressure about what the other might be like. Roy wondered if it was possible to sneak off to Gotham at some point and try and solve the case of Robin's actual name.
He was already planning how he approach the mystery. This was going to be fun.
Just a fluff piece because I get bored and don't have much else to do. Man that makes me sound boring. Ah well, hope you enjoyed.