Previously on The Journey of the Lost Arrow:
Wally's mouth dropped open and he began stuttering nonsense. He glanced at Dick, who didn't look surprised at all. "WHO ARE YOU?" Wally asked, his eyes wide. Barbra smirked again, and held out her hand. "Barbra Gordon, Batgirl in training." Wally's eyes darted to Dick—who was still tied up—and gaped at him.
Connor and Kaldur were terrified. They had planned on spending the night doing manly things like working out and watching a movie with lots of explosions. And then it happened. The girls decided to have a slumber party.
And Bruce could only watch, amused, as Aqualad let out a very girly squeal and bolted for the exit. He didn't make it far, of course. The girls tortured him mercilessly in their own way. With makeup and sparkles. Lots and lots of glittery, girly sparkles.
Love, Hope, and Happiness
From a distance, she could see the blue in his eyes. She could see the sparkle in his eyes, a sparkle that she saw whenever she closed her own eyes. The sparkle that she missed so much. It killed her that she had be rooftops away from him in order to see him. She couldn't be closer. She couldn't risk him or the girl he was with to get caught with her there. If anyone caught her there, with him. With her. She couldn't risk it.
Their fling wasn't very long. It wasn't anything serious. There was no major commitments made, there should be no feelings left inside of her. But there were. So many feelings pent up in her for that stupid boy that she found it difficult to see or think clearly sometimes. Their fling—if one could even call it that—had been so long ago that it seemed like he had forgotten. He certainly acted like he had forgotten the last time she had seen him. True, they were in a position where they had to play the part of having never met. But it still stung.
She missed everything about him. Everything. The way he kissed her at night. The way he smiled. The way he slept. The way he breathed. His eyes. His beautiful blue eyes.
And you 'd think, that after all they'd been through, she would have gotten over him like she had gotten over countless others. That she would have moved on with her life. They were on opposite sides of the battlefield. Opposite sides of a coin. She should have been able to forget her feelings for him the moment he told her they were never meant to be.
But she still wanted him. She wanted to feel the same way she did all those months ago, when she was safe in his arms. Without him, it was like she was constantly living in the night, the darkness, the shadows, waiting for sunrise to come and grace her like his lips did so on hers.
She sighed, and watched him hug the other occupant of the room, the girl. They smiled at the handiwork of the home, one they had made together. It was good to see him smile again, even if it wasn't at her. Oh, how it killed her that it wasn't at her.
But that was how life was. She never told him what she should have said, and now he carried on as if nothing had ever happened between them. If she had just told him how she really felt, instead of holding it in, maybe things would be different.
But he was still gone. And she was sitting rooftops away, wishing she told him. Wishing that she wasn't missing him. Wishing that he was missing her. But she never told him.
I love you.
He knew she was there. But did he do anything?
No.
He continued on as if she wasn't there. But weather it was for him or the girl with him, he didn't know. But there was nothing he could do. He couldn't just look out the window and wave. He couldn't go up there and join her. It hurt too much. It hurt too much to think about the fact that they could never be.
He was a hero. She was an assassin.
But she was worth the world to him. And no matter what side of the battle she was on, he would always be on her side. Didn't he tell her that?
No he didn't.
It wasn't something that could simply just be told. He couldn't just spell it out for her. She just had to realize it. She had to realize that even though he said they could never be, he meant that they'd be perfect for each other and he'd never find another person that would fit in his heart the way she did.
But it would never be that simple.
"I think we did a pretty good job!" He turned his attention to the other occupant of the room. She smiled brightly at him and admired the newly redone apartment. Grinning, he took her into a headlock and gave her a noogie.
"We sure did squirt."
"WILL. NOT THE HAIR!" Artemis giggled, struggling to get out of the older archer's grasp. Red laughed, and momentarily forgot the black haired vixen stationed not that far away. The blonde slipped out of his grasp, only to turn around and charge at him. And just when he thought she was going to hit him, she flipped over him and landed behind. She then jumped on his back, piggyback style. "ONWARD, MY KNOBLE STEED." Red laughed, and began charging throughout the house.
It had taken the entire week, but they had turned the Crock residence from a shabby apartment to a Martha Stewart worthy apartment. The pair had grown to the point where they really did feel like siblings now, much to their pleasure.
Soon, Red got tired of rampaging throughout the house, so he unceremoniously dumped his fellow archer on the couch. "Dinner time, Archie. Whatcha in the mood for?" Artemis grinned at the nickname she had received over the week and swung her legs upwards so that she was upside down on the couch. "Barbeque Bacon Burger Shots." She answered, ignoring the weird look Red was giving her. Red shrugged and began to pull the necessary supplies out of the pantry.
Artemis began humming some song and began swinging her legs in the air. Roy smirked at her. It was good to see her so happy. Just wait until she ate his Barbeque Bacon burger Shots. Whatever she had in mind for them, he was about to make it ten times better. "Hey, Will?" Red ignored the fact that she called him by his other name. She had taken a liking to calling him that recently. Kinda like how he called her Archie. And he was okay with that.
"Can we watch a movie?"
"What do you want to watch?" Red leaned against the counters, and raised an eyebrow at the girl he considered to be his little sister.
"Alice in Wonderland," Red smiled softly at her, knowing the connection she had to the movie.
"You got it, Archie."
And so they spent the night eating Barbeque Bacon Burger Shots and watching Alice in Wonderland.
But it didn't slip his notice that she had slipped away, disappearing without a trace, like the Cheshire Cat.
Roy was about to chuck his bow to the ground and never pick it up. He wanted to toss it in the garbage and never look back. He was so frustrated at everything right now that he even snapped at the Archery Range's resident cat, Apollo. (Several cats resided at Queen Manor, and each of them had their own little area.) He was so frustrated he wanted to rip the fake arm off of him and throw it down without a second thought.
It was a terrible idea to try to get him a prosthetic arm. He couldn't work with it. It made archery ten times harder than it had ever been before. And then you put it into a battle situation? Worthless. It was awkward and moved robotically. It was the complete opposite in every way of what Roy needed to be as an archer. As Speedy.
He was going to flip a table. He would, but that requires two arms. At least for him it does. Because he's weak. Because he hasn't trained in the past three years.
Roy was mad at the world.
Apollo meowed at Roy as he began angrily pacing the room. The cat didn't understand why the young two-leg was freaking out. He was shooting the sharpsticks just fine from his point of view. He needed to just go away so he could have his nap time.
But still, the young archer persisted on. He had promised Ollie he would work on it while he was at work today. He had promised that he would try to improve working with his fake arm.
But he was getting nowhere.
Roy groaned and collapsed on the ground, his bow still in hand. And he just laid there. If Ollie had been there, he would have assumed his protégé was planking. Apollo meowed again—that was is napping spot—before moving over to the defeated two-leg.
"I can't do it, Apollo." He groaned, not moving. "I can't do it so I'm just going to lay here and die."
Apollo didn't really know what he was saying, but he didn't sound angry, so the orange cat climbed on top of him and curled up in a ball on his back.
"Thank you, Apollo." Roy said, sarcasm lacing his voice.
And that was how Ollie found his ward. Asleep on the archery range floor with a sleeping cat on his back.
Sighing, Ollie lifted the fluffball off of Roy and placed him a little ways away from them. Thankfully, Apollo was a heavy sleeper, so the archer didn't have to put up with a screeching cat. Ollie sat himself down next to Roy, and lightly tapped his shoulder.
Roy groaned and looked up to see a smiling Ollie. Roy moaned and placed his head back down on the floor, ignoring the look Ollie was giving him. But he had to say something, otherwise they would just sit there in an awkward silence. So he tried to keep it simple.
"I can't."
"Can't what?"
"I can't do it."
"Do what?"
"I can't use this stupid arm!"
"Don't say that Roy, you're just not used to it yet."
"No, Ollie. I just can't do it."
"You're giving up too soon." Roy didn't reply. He wanted to snap at his mentor. He wanted to say mean and ugly things that would release some of the anger built up inside him. But he knew that would get him nowhere.
"Ollie, what will I do if I can't be an archer?"
Oliver Queen honestly thought about the question. It was a good one, that was for sure. Roy couldn't, and wouldn't give up the hero gig. He knew his ward too well to suggest that.
"You could always become the 'Agent A' of Mount Justice."
Roy's head shot up to look at Ollie's. "What?"
"You know, you could help coordinate missions, manage the equipment, keep check on the status of the team members, run the infirmary, be their computer when they're on a mission and they need info. That sort of thing."
"At least until I can shoot again?" Ollie could still hear a little bit of fear in his voice, so he smiled softly at his ward and nodded.
"At least until you can shoot again. And I promise, we'll get through this, together, okay?"
Roy sighed, nodded, and then allowed his adoptive father to help him up and adjust his fake arm. "Do you want to try one more time before we hit the hay?" Ollie suggested, not wanting the younger archer to be discouraged. Silently, Roy nodded, and grabbed another arrow from the rack.
He notched the arrow, and forced the arm to pull the string back to his cheek. Ollie nodded approvingly at his stance, for even with the fake arm he looked like a natural. The archer took a deep breath, and then let the arrow fly as he exhaled.
Bullseye.
Ollie smiled, and clamped a hand on his shoulder. "You still got it kid, no matter what you think."
Roy turned to his mentor and flashed him a brief smile. Never before had he been so grateful to have a person like Ollie in his life. Sure, he'd appreciated him tons when the man first adopted him, but now he was showing the redhead a new level of love: hope.
No matter how bad the situation was, Ollie would always believe in him, and give him the bright and shining power of hope.
"Now come on, I think Dinah's making lasagna for dinner." Ollie said, a goofy grin gracing his face. Roy rolled his eyes and smiled his mentor, and made his way to follow the elder archer out of the room. But of course, not before glancing back at the arrow lodged in the dead center of the target.
And then he felt it. It was just a small flicker, barely there at all. But none the less, he still felt it.
Hope.
"How is he?"
"Loads better. She says we might be able to see him soon."
"What has she told him?"
"The basics. Who he is. Who we are. What happened to him."
"And?"
"He wants to meet us."
"Is that a good or bad thing?"
"Well, we'll find out."
"Connor? Mr. Kent?" Both Kents turned their head to see a slightly exhausted looking M'gann. "I think he's ready, but I think one at a time would be best." The Martian added the last part a little quietly, but the Kryptonians heard her loud and clear. Connor was about to turn around and tell his newly found father that he could go first, but said father gave Connor a little push towards his girlfriend. The younger turned around to give the older a look, and was returned with a sheepish grin.
"You're better at these things than I am," He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Connor smirked at his father before nodding and heading into the infirmary room, leaving M'gann and Clark to watch him from the window.
And there on the bed, sat Match. He was currently staring a picture of Connor and Superman in their hero get up, holding the paper daintily, as if he was afraid to break it.
"You're not going to break it by holding it." Connor said, looking on with an amused stare. Match looked up, startled. He then looked back at the picture, and frowned.
"I could," He said, his voice soft.
"Yeah," Connor stated, sitting down in the chair next to his bed, "But you won't."
"What makes you say that?" Match said, turning his own blue eyes on Connor's.
Connor shrugged. "You're afraid of your strength. You don't want to use it for bad, so you treat it as if it could explode at any second." It was more of a statement than a question, but even so, Match nodded his agreement. "I know the feeling. It took me a while took me a while to learn to control my strength. And my anger."
Match nodded again, and then swallowed before speaking quietly. "M'gann says that you're my brother."
"I am," Connor gave his 'brother' a smile, "My name is Connor Kent." Connor, out of custom, leaned forward and extended his hand towards the identical boy. Slightly unsure, Match slipped his hand into Connor's, but kept his grip so loose that he was barely holding it at all. But still, Connor gave his brother's hand a warm shake before their hands drop back to their sides. And then Match asked a question that honestly surprised Connor.
"What's my name?" Match's eyes met the identical ones across from him, and Connor couldn't help but shrug.
"Your Cadmus-given name is Match. Just as mine is Superboy. But, like me, you can take on a new name, and our father's last name, Kent. Now as far as first names go, the Kents have a thing for C-names, so that could help you pick a name."
Match seemed kind of shocked. "I, I get to pick my own name?"
"Yeah. You could be Caden, Chandler, Cooper, Calvin, Cameron-"
"Cameron." Match suddenly said, cutting Connor off. "I, I like Cameron."
Connor smiled at his newly named brother. "Cameron Kent. I like it. Cameron and Connor Kent, twin sons of Clark Kent. Has a certain ring to it." Cameron smiled and nodded, and Connor could practically see happiness and relief radiating off the other boy.
Connor was going to make sure that Cameron got the happy family that they both obviously wanted. He was going to show the other clone that no matter how dark the world seemed, there was always a bit of happiness in it too. It was going to take a while for Cameron to adjust to the real world, but he would have a father and brother there beside him, happy to help him on his journey to recovery.
Merlin's beard. This entire chapter is a result of what happens when I write late at night. I shouldn't be allowed to write past ten thirty. But who knows? Maybe you guys will like it. Tell me in a review. But I personally am facepalming at this chapter. Well, I kind of liked the last part, but the first three parts? Shoot me.
Anyway, thanks to all you lovely people for reviewing and reading my story. I love you all.
And have you seen my youtube channel yet? (I'm just going to keep nagging until someone says they have.) I'm going to assume some of y'all did because I went from 30 to 50 veiws in less than 24 hours. Weird, right? Anyway, I'm going to bed so that maybe I can write something decent tomorrow.
Fairfarren!
~Polarbear1355