A/N: Here's the next one-shot. It takes place like...9ish months after the last one. (Still before the epilogue chapter of To Wear A Shadow). Who needs a sensical timeline? As always, please let me know what you think!

"What do you mean you're not coming home this weekend?!" Dick demanded over the phone.

"How many times do I have to explain that Star is my home now?" Roy asked as he paced around his kitchen.

"Well, your original home is Gotham."

"Regardless, I'm still not coming."

"Why not?!"

"Dick I just got home from a mission with the Team. I want to sleep and I need to go on patrol here."

"You can do that tomorrow."

Roy sighed. "I'm sorry, Dick, but the answer is no."

"But we really need your help."

"With what?"

"…A training exercise."

"What kind of training exercise?"

"To help Jay. Come on, don't you want to help your little brother?"

Roy sighed low and rubbed his eyes with his free hand. "…Fine. I'll come."

"Yes! Thanks, Bro! You won't regret it!" Dick hung up and Roy shook his head.

"I already do…" Roy looked around his apartment, which was relatively clean, save a few items of clothing scattered around and a slightly overflowing trashcan. 'Which isn't bad considering how I've been here maybe three times this week.' He leaned against the wall and put his head in his hands. A two-day mission with the Team (after a little bit of persuasion from Kaldur) that had caused him to be on the other side of the world and that was after he'd closed two cases in his private business and three more as Red Arrow. While dodging police bullets. 'This is getting to be a lot,' he thought as he stood up straight. 'I may have to think about leaving the Team.'

It was an idea he'd been playing with recently. His busy schedule in Star with starting his own business and being Red Arrow combined with a recent influx of new members had started to make him think it was time to step down. 'Jason is supposed to be ready soon,' he thought. 'Which means he should be joining the Team any week now. Tula and Garth are fitting in fine. We have Troia and the Marvels.' The Team was growing, and while he was glad for it, Roy didn't think he was expressly needed anymore. He lifted his head and looked at the clock. 'If I'm heading to Gotham tonight, then I should get ready.' He looked around his apartment one more time before shrugging. "It'll be fine for one more day."

— —

When he walked into the Bat Cave, Red Arrow became acutely aware of the fact that someone was watching him. He didn't change the pace of his walking however, as he approached Bruce at the computer. When he got within 10 feet, he heard someone shuffling around above his head. 'Probably Dick,' he thought. The shuffling continued, then stopped. Red Arrow counted to five, then stepped to the side. The red and green of the Robin suit flashed in the corner of his eye and he smiled. "Knew it.' Typical. "Hey, D-"

"Hi, Roy!" Jason smiled as he popped up from his crouched position. He put his hands on his hips proudly. "Notice anything different?"

"Just a little…" It was definitely weird seeing the Robin suit on anyone who wasn't Dick. Jason was a little taller and broader than Dick had been at his age, which slightly threw off Roy's mental image of a 13-year-old Robin. "You look great."

"Thanks!"

"If you're Robin, then where's-" He heard more shuffling above his head and took two big steps back a person clad in black landed in front of him.

"Aww man," the person sighed as he stood up straight. He turned around to reveal Dick, now wearing an all-black suit with a blue bird on the front. "Jay Bird, you were supposed to keep him distracted for me."

Jason huffed and crossed his arms. "I never agreed to your stupid plan," he muttered.

"Dick?" Red Arrow asked uncertainly.

"It's Nightwing now," Nightwing smiled. He took out his escrima sticks from the harness on his back, then spun them in his hands. "Cool, huh?"

"It's…different." Red Arrow glanced at Batman, but he wasn't offering any help or information. "Why aren't you Robin anymore?"

"Because I am!" Jason replied as if that explained everything.

"Close," Nightwing told him. He looked at Red Arrow. "I decided it was just…time to move on. You know? Jay's been working so hard, I thought he deserved to be Robin."

"Is this why you were so insistent that I come here tonight?" Red Arrow asked.

"…Maybe."

"We need you to help Jason with a training exercise," Batman said, finally turning his chair to acknowledge Red Arrow. "There's been a string of car thefts downtown. Jason is to solve the case alone. Only help him if he absolutely needs it." The trend to Robin. "And I will ask him how many times you asked for help."

"I don't need help, B-Man," Robin replied. "I'm ready!"

"Mhm." Batman looked at Red Arrow. "Do you understand?"

"Yes…" Red Arrow replied. "The only thing I don't get is why you absolutely needed me to do this. You or R- Nightwing could've done it."

"Nightwing and I will be preoccupied elsewhere tonight. Make sure you report any strange activity to me right away. Understand?"

"…Yeah. Sure. Report strange activity in Gotham. No problem."

Nightwing laughed. "B means out of the ordinary for Gotham," he said.

"I'm sure. Alright, come on…Robin. Let's get out there."

"Later, losers," Robin smirked as he followed Red Arrow to his bike. "B says if I can solve the car theft case I can join the Team."

"Did he?"

"Mhm!"

Red Arrow smiled at him as the young teen got on the bike behind him. "We'll have to make sure you solve it then."

— —

Once they were out in the city and following the trail of evidence Robin had, it became clear to Red Arrow solving the case may be a bit harder for Robin than he was letting on. The kid was smart (Red Arrow had seen the A+ he'd gotten a book report the month before) but his detective skills still needed a little bit of work. 'He's still really good compared to your average 13-year-old boy,' Red Arrow thought as he followed his young companion to the next break-in site. 'He just needs more training and time.'

Robin stopped suddenly on a rooftop, then pulled up his hologlove. "The latest break-in was here," he said. "This is where we'll start investigating."

"Why here?"

"Because the evidence here is the freshest. Duh."

"Right…" Red Arrow watched Robin climb over the edge of the roof, then drop onto the fire escape. He hesitated for a moment, then followed. As he dropped onto it though, he stopped for a moment. 'Am I being…watched?' Red Arrow looked back, but there was no one there. Just darkness and shadows. "Hmm…' He shook his head, then climbed down the fire escape to join Robin. The teen was scanning the ground with his hologlove. "What're you doing?"

"Trying to see if there are any tracks left…" Robin sighed, then looked up The two heroes stood on a small side-street and across from them, squeezed between a deli and an abandoned video rental store, was an alley. Robin smiled, then made a beeline for the alley.

'What's he-' Red Arrow froze and, almost instinctually, his breathing quieted through now shallow breaths. 'I'm being watched.' He spun on his heel suddenly and looked up at the building they'd just been on. As he moved, his eyes caught something that moved in the dark shadows above him. He blinked, then narrowed his eyes. Nothing moved. 'Hm… I could've sworn I saw something…'

"What're you looking at?" Robin asked as he rejoined Red Arrow.

"Nothing… I thought I saw someone up there…but it was nothing." Red Arrow looked down at Robin. "What did you do in the alley?"

"I used to hang around here sometimes. There are some guys who live in that alley, so asked them if they saw anything suspicious."

"What'd they say?"

"They said a couple of young people, a girl, and a guy, were hanging out in front of the tattoo shop behind us, then five minutes later, the car was gone."

"Did you get any specific information on the two thieves?"

"One is blonde, and the other has brown hair. Wouldn't say which is which though."

'Which means the girl most likely has short hair like a guy if it was hard to tell them apart like that,' Red Arrow thought. He knew he couldn't say anything though, and stayed quiet as Robin puzzled it out.

"…Do you think it's possible that the girl has like…really short hair and…it would be hard to tell her and the guy apart from a distance?"

Red Arrow simply smiled in reply. 'He's got it.' His smile was enough though because Robin nodded to himself and took out his grappling gun.

"Let's get moving. I've got a hunch about our next piece of evidence."

Instead of asking, Red Arrow simply followed him to the rooftop, then across the city. He couldn't help but smile as he watched Robin swing himself between the buildings. He didn't do it with the natural ease that Nightwing had; like someone who was born to be in the air. 'He's still good though,' Red Arrow thought as he stopped side Robin a couple minutes later. 'He's a good kid and in a couple years he'll be just as good as Dick.'

"Ok, so, I noticed in the file that all the cars they stole weren't new, but they had some nice parts. On the first and second ones, the tires had just been replaced. The third car has just gotten a brand new transmission and the suspension had just been fixed on the fourth car."

"And how do you know this?"

"Police reports, duh. Keep up."

"Sorry, sorry. So, all the missing cars had work done recently. What're we doing here?"

"It's a mechanic shop. Anyone can sell some of these items on the streets, but what would they do with a transmission? Not everyone can just put that in a car."

"Good point."

"And, the thieves must somehow know these cars had gotten work done. Which leads again to a mechanic shop."

"Why this one though?"

"I know this place. The guy who owns it has been to prison for tax evasion before. He pays all his employees under the table in cash. And he's known for selling old, beat up cars that he repaints to look new."

"So he's a shady guy."

"Exactly. He might not be involved, but he might know who is."

"Sounds like a plan. Do you need help interrogating him?"

"No. I'm just gonna break into his office and garage to poke around. You stay here and act as the lookout."

"Alright. Go ahead."

Robin smiled at him, then leaped over the side of the rooftop. Red Arrow watched him move stealthily across the street to the mechanic shop, then around the side to find an entrance. 'He's doing a great job. Bruce and Dick did a great job training him.' Even if they'd been a little reluctant to let Jason become a vigilante in the first place. The archer shifted a little to get a better grip on his bow, but then he froze. The feeling was back. He let his breathing slip back into the shallow and slow cadence as he waited. 'I swear someone is watching me. I need to figure it out for sure though.'

So he moved down the block. Not so far that he couldn't see what Robin was doing, or provide back-up if it was needed, but far enough that he could try to draw out his stalker. He ran to another rooftop, then dropped down onto a fire escape. As he fell, he grabbed the edge of the first platform. Red Arrow held his breath as he hung there in the darkness. His head was tilted up at the rooftop and he scanned the edge carefully. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then he saw it. Someone, with ears that look suspiciously like Batman's, leaned over the edge of the rooftop. The person stayed there for a second as if scanning the ground. 'Got you!'

Moving as silently as possible, Red Arrow swung himself down to the next platform. He held his breath for a moment, then looked up in time to see the person disappear again. 'You're not getting away this time.' Red Arrow climbed back up and got his head up in time to see the shadowy person retreating across the rooftop. A glance back across the street told Red Arrow that Robin still hadn't come out of the mechanic shop, or run into trouble apparently. So, he ran after the shadowy stalker. The stalker was fast. They leaped across the small back alleyway between buildings, then took a sharp turn to the left and disappeared behind an old chimney. As they did, Red Arrow saw something flowing in the air behind them. 'Was that a cape?! It can't be Batman. This person is so much smaller. What's going on?!'

"Hey, Red Arrow!" Robin yelled.

Red Arrow turned around and saw the younger vigilante running toward him. The archer sighed. "Robin-"

"I got it! The two thieves work here! I got their names and-" As soon as Robin was close to Red Arrow, the archer grabbed his arm and pulled him down. "What-"

"Shh! We have someone following us!"

"We do?"

"Yes. We need to trap them. Do you see that old chimney on the next rooftop?"

"Yeah?"

"You go left and I'll go right. We'll converge on it. Got it?"

"Got it!"

Red Arrow nodded, then moved to the right. He crept low across the rooftop, jumped to the next. He needed a running start to get across the small back alleyway, but now he was close. Despite it being night, the chimney still cast an even darker shadow. This made it impossible to see the stalker, but Red Arrow still moved forward. As he crept closer, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it to his bow. Every few seconds he saw a flash of red or yellow, confirming Robin was heading that way too. 'We'll see who this stalker is.' He took a breath as he raised his arrow and stupid closer to the chimney.

"There's no one here!" Robin threw his hands in the air, then touched the chimney. "See?!"

"I don't understand. I know I saw someone-" Red Arrow froze. 'What is it that Dick always says? People never look up…?' He glanced up, then shot his arrow. The figure did a backflip off the top of the chimney and Red Arrow jumped up. He landed on top of the chimney and pointed another arrow at the fleeing stalker. "Still think no one was there?!"

Robin peeked around the chimney and studied the fleeing figure. "Hey!" he shouted as he recognized the outline of the suit, even in the dark. He looked up at Red Arrow. "Don't shoot!"

"Why?"

"That's a not a stalker, stupid! It's just-" He stopped suddenly, which caused Red Arrow to look down at him.

"It's just who?"

"B-Man said I'm not allowed to say."

Something inside Red Arrow twisted, but he closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath. 'Don't jump to conclusions. Try not to jump to conclusions. Maybe Bruce has a good reason for this.' He took another deep breath. "So Batman knows about our stalker?"

"Not a stalker. Come on, let's just…go find B-Man and 'Wing. They'll explain everything."

"Alright." Red Arrow put his arrow back in his quiver, then jumped down from the chimney. He put his hand to his comm. "Batman?"

"Red Arrow," Batman replied.

"Robin has completed his case."

"Good. Report back to the Cave."

"On our way." Red Arrow nodded to Robin. "Race you back to my bike."

Robin gave him a grin, then took off running. Red Arrow laughed, then followed at a sprint.

— —

When Red Arrow and Robin got back to the Bat Cave, Batman and Nightwing were waiting for them. As soon as the bike stopped, Robin jumped off the back. "I solved the case!" he declared. He crossed his arms proudly. "Bet you didn't even solve a case on your first night, Golden Boy."

"Afraid you're right, Jay," Dick replied. He was still in his new Nightwing suit sans mask.

"I told you I could do it."

"Who did you have tailing us?" Red Arrow asked as he approached.

"Oh, yeah…we also ran into someone out there."

"Tailing you?" Dick asked, his voice obviously hiding something. "We didn't have anyone tailing you."

"Uh-huh. Who was it?"

Nightwing looked at Batman, who didn't say anything for a moment. Then he looked at something behind Red Arrow and Robin. "I thought you said he didn't see you?"

Red Arrow whipped around, one of his hands going instinctively to his quiver. Then he saw the person who'd stepped out of the shadows and his mouth fell open.

"Well he never got a good look at me," the teenage girl said. She was wearing a bat-suit with red hair falling down her back under her cowl. She crossed her arms.

"What- Who-" Red Arrow whipped back around to look at Batman and Nightwing. "Who?!"

"Red Arrow, meet Batgirl. Batgirl, this is Red Arrow," Batman explained.

"Batgirl?!" Red Arrow looked back at the new vigilante. "…Hi."

"Hi."

"…Why were you stalking us?"

"I wasn't stalking you. Batman said I had to tail you as my final test before I could join the Team and start patrolling regularly."

'Of course, he did.' Red Arrow shook his head. "Thanks for letting me know, Dick."

"You couldn't know!" Dick insisted. "The test was to see if she could tail someone unseen without them knowing."

"…Well, for what's it worth, she did a great job. The only reason I spotted her at all was because I was trained by you."

"Hmm…" Batman nodded. "Looks like you both passed then."

"Does this mean we can join Dick's stupid team?" Jason asked.

"If it's so stupid Jay-bird, then why do you want to join so bad?" Dick replied with a grin.

"Well, there will be plenty of room on the roster," Red Arrow said. "I'm leaving the Team."

"You're leaving?! Why?!"

"Because I can't juggle my responsibilities in Star and the Team. There's plenty of people on it anyway. You don't need me."

"But that's the only time I see you!"

"We can still see each other, Dick. It just won't be at Mount Justice."

Dick crossed his arms. "I'm still not happy about it. Have you told Kaldur yet?"

"Not yet."

"He's going to be upset."

"I know, but I've got a couple of ways to make it up to him."

Batman cleared his throat. "Batgirl, take your cowl off," he ordered. "Red Arrow is one of us, he can be trusted."

"He'd better," Batgirl muttered. She reached up and pulled down her cowl. "Barbara Gordon, nice to meet you."

"The commissioner's daughter…" Red Arrow nodded. "I didn't see that coming."

"Come on." Barbara gestured to him. "Off with the mask, Arrow Boy. Let's see who you are."

Red Arrow smirked as he removed his mask. "I'm Roy Harper. Nice to meet you."

"Roy… Wait, the Roy Harper?! As in, the Roy Harper my dad searched Wayne Manor for?! You're alive?!" She spun to look at Bruce and Dick. "And you actually kidnapped him?!"

"Kidnapped?" Jason asked in confusion. "Oh… That must be why no one could know you lived here. Makes sense."

"Still waiting for an explanation."

Roy sighed and rubbed his eyes. "It's kind of a long story," he signed, "but… I was being abused and Bruce and Dick saved me from my previous guardian. There were superhero secret identities involved so we had to be quiet about it."

"Oh. Well… I'm glad you're here then."

"Thanks, except I'm not really here. I operate in Star now. Which I should really be getting back to."

"You're coming back though, right?" Jason asked. "Like…soon?"

"I'll be back next month for Thanksgiving. Alfred already made me swear on my grave I would be there."

"But you're not dead."

"If I don't show up for Thanksgiving dinner I definitely will be." Bruce turned away to hide his smile while Dick laughed; Roy still caught it though. "Congrats on being Robin, Jason. You'll be great at it."

"Damn straight."

"Language, Jason," Bruce chided.

Roy chuckled and turned to Barbara. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Barbara," he said. "I hope I'll see you out there on the streets."

"Same. Bruce goes on and on about how good you are. I want to see if any of it's true."

Roy swallowed as his face heated up. "Sounds good." He turned to Dick, who looked away stubbornly. "Come on, Dick."

Dick sighed, then crossed the space quickly and hugged his brother. "Come back soon," he muttered.

"I will. Promise." Roy pushed Dick away, then looked at Jason. "Keep him in line, Jay."

"I'm doing my best," Jason replied seriously.

"Good. You still want to sleep over in two weeks?"

"Of course!"

"Alright. Bye, Bruce."

"I want to know when you're back in your apartment," Bruce replied.

"You got it." Roy put his mask back on and smiled as he walked back to his bike. 'Jason is Robin now and Barbara Gordon joined us as Batgirl. Seems like things are looking good for us. The Team's getting two new members and Dick's got two more vigilantes to keep him company in the Cave. I'm glad I'm leaving the Team and Dick in good hands.'