To Wear A Shadow

by bandgeek18

AU. Sequel to Shadow of an Arrow. Two and a half years after getting attacked by Oliver, Roy's life has settled down a bit. Between therapy and his brother, it feels like he might have a handle on things. But Oliver is still out there, plotting revenge, and Roy's future remains uncertain. Becoming an adult is hard enough, but Roy will need to fight for the life he deserves.

21. Homefront

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday! But it's up now. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, summer couldn't last forever and Dick had to return to school. Roy seemed to be the only one upset about this though because Dick was practically bouncing as he fixed the tie on his uniform.

"High school is going to be the best!" he cheered, eyes focused on his task. "Dances, driving, more advanced classes, more variety of classes-" He stopped suddenly when he finished with his tie and looked up; seeing Roy as if he was just realizing his brother was there. "Uh….I mean….high school's really not that great-"

"It's fine, Dick," Roy assured him. "You can be excited about going into high school."

"It's really not that exciting though. You know, all the middle schoolers think the high school building is really lame anyway, so-"

"Dick, it's fine. Really." He wasn't bothered by Dick's enthusiasm. While part of him was jealous that his younger brother was going to have all these….exciting experiences Roy never got to have, he was also happy that school was so good for Dick. 'I don't want him to take the luxury of having a normal life for granted. He's lucky he gets to go to school and have all these experiences.'

Whether Dick believed him or not was hard to tell, but the teen moved on to texting Barbara Gordon to see where she was meeting him. "What're you doing today?"

"….Practicing Spanish….practice my archery…maybe work on some new trick arrow designs…"

"You know that's what you did yesterday, right?"

"Yeah." He was very aware, but there wasn't a lot he could do about that. It wasn't like there was a lot he could do. Not wanting to bum Dick out though, he smiled at him. "It'll be alright though. I'll stay busy."

"Great. Just so you know, I'm going straight to Mount Justice after-school today."

"I'll be there….eventually." Roy had been avoiding the Cave after his panic attack, and he wasn't eager to return to face his friends.

"You can't avoid it forever, bro."

"I know."

"We're leaving, Master Dick," Alfred informed him.

"Bye, Roy." Dick threw his bag over his shoulder, waving to Roy as he left. "See you at Mount Justice this afternoon!"

"See you." Once Alfred and Dick left, the front door shut and Roy was alone. He sighed a little and slowly shuffled his way up to his bedroom. 'Spanish. Work out. Lunch. Trick arrow designs. Archery. Reading.' The same itinerary he'd had the day before and would have tomorrow as well. Once he reached his bedroom he grabbed his Spanish book and sat on his bed. "Fun, fun." Wanting to put off the boredom, he grabbed his IM device and sent a message to Kaldur. Despite his absolute boredom with the subject, Roy managed to practice his Spanish for two hours before he finally decided he'd had enough. There had still been no reply from Kaldur, so he changed into some workout clothes and headed down to the gym.

First, he ran roughly five miles on the treadmill, then he lifted weights, then finally practiced acrobatics. The whole time he was there, he worked to banish the lonely and pointless feeling. He tried to keep his mind on what he was doing. Still feeling antsy once he'd finished practicing backflips and cartwheels, miming his bow actions as he did, Roy hopped back on the treadmill. Running gave him something to focus on; something physically he could actually do.

'It's kind of ironic in a way,' he thought as he bumped up the speed so he was practically sprinting. 'My whole life feels like it's on a treadmill. running, running, running, never going anywhere. Reliving traumatic memories and fighting crime. Over and over and core again. Nothing ever changing! With Arsenal as the only person my friends know and Roy becoming a distant memory and it's all because of Oliver-' Wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn't notice his foot slipped, so he as extremely surprised when he was launched backward. He fell on his back, thankfully not on the treadmill, and stared up at the chilling for a moment, trying to catch his breath. Closing his eyes, Roy took several, slow deep breaths.

Moving with deliberation, he suddenly launched himself to his feet and turned the treadmill off. He took a deep swing of his water bottle before leaving the gym. Trying to move faster than his thoughts, Roy practically ripped his clothes off when he reached his bedroom and hopped in the shower. Once he was under the hot spray, he sighed and felt his muscles relax a little bit. Roy's forehead fell against the wall of the shower. "Calm down," he whispered to himself. "Calm down…you know how poisonous anger is. You need to calm down." He continued to breathe until his thoughts had calmed down and his sudden burst of anger had receded. After that, he quickly cleaned himself up, then left the shower. Once he was dried off and clothed again, Roy sat down on the floor in the middle of his room. He looked around.

'What's really so bad?' he thought. 'I have everything here. I eat three meals a day, every day. No one hits me. No one insults me. I don't have to kill people. I'm not being locked in small spaces. No one threatens to kill or hurt me. My injuries are always tended to. I had an education. I might not like Spanish, but Bruce still wants me to learn things. I'm allowed to be on a Team with friends. I mean…even if they only know me as Arenal, at least I get to see them. And I have my…other friends…' He glanced at where the phone Bruce had allowed him to keep was hidden in his desk. 'I've been allowed to go out at least once.' Overall, it wasn't horrible. Roy sighed. 'I have everything I ever wanted when I was living with Oliver. I'm safe. So….why can't I just be happy? Yeah, I don't have everything I want, but why should that upset me? I already have so much to be thankful for. Why should I go looking for something more? This is as good as it gets.'

Roy nodded. "This is as good as it gets," he repeated out loud. "This is as good as it gets." Nodding to himself, Roy stood up and went downstairs for lunch. Alfred noticed how quiet he seemed, but didn't press it. Roy was thankful for this as he didn't feel like explaining the semi-breakdown he'd just had. Trying to focus on his 'Be happy with what you have' mindset, Roy ate lunch, then went back to his room to draw out trick arrow designs. By now he had a notebook full of designs, some silly and just him wasting time and others were more serious designs he hoped to incorporate in the field one day. In his mind, the possibilities were endless and imaging the possibilities was one of his favorite pastimes. As such, Roy spent a couple of hours working through designs. By the time he finished, he looked at the clock and realized Dick had probably come home and gone to Mount Justice by now.

'I'll head over soon,' he thought. 'I just want to practice my archery and do some maintenance on my trick arrows. I'll be there soon enough.'

Soon enough turned into almost three hours later. Roy tried to justify this to himself as he changed into his suit with the fact that maintaining his trick arrows were extremely important and he couldn't skip corners, and he would never try to say no to Alfred when the butler insisted he eat before he leaves. 'No one says no to Alfred,' he thought as he made sure his quiver was secure, then headed over to his bike. 'Not even Bruce. Can't argue with that.' As he drove to the zeta tube, he wondered what he was going to say to his friends. Kaldur excluded, he hadn't talked to any of them since his panic attack. 'I would have to face them eventually,' he thought. 'Focus on something else. I get to see Kal, and I can ask him why he didn't message me today. Even if he's busy he usually tells me at least that.' Arriving at the zeta tube location, he secured and hid his bike, then slipped around the corner…coming face to face with Artemis.

Arsenal opened his mouth, then closed it again, Artemis merely crossed her arms. Neither of them said anything for several seconds.

"We should…go to the Cave," Arsenal said quietly.

"Uh…yeah…" Artemis agreed. However, neither of them moved.

"um, …ladies first."

"You-you can go first."

Arsenal swallowed, then nodded. He forced himself to focus on the zeta and not the voice in his head that was yelling for him not to turn his back to her.

"Arsenal, B-04." Stepping out of the zeta, Arsenal was immediately aware that something was wrong. There was smoke covering the main cavern. 'What-' A fireball came at him and he somersaulted to the side. "Artemis, B-07." From the corner of his eye, he saw the tell-tale glow of Artemis arriving in the zeta, then the fireball heading towards her.

"Down!" he shouted. Artemis ducked and the fireball missed her. Arsenal pulled an arrow from his quiver and shot it at a far wall. The arrow exploded in the air, creating shockwaves that pushed the smoke away. Unfortunately, it didn't reveal to him who their assailants were. Artemis also started firing off arrows, but neither of them could see what they were shooting at. Distantly, Roy thought he heard the sound of an arrow hitting something metal. Before he could think on it any farther though, another fireball came flying toward them. They both hit the ground. Arsenal thought he could see two silhouettes coming at them through the smoke.

"Who are we fighting?!" Artemis asked as she kept firing arrows.

"No clue! We're sitting ducks by these tubes! Head for the exit!" They started running, Artemis firing arrows to cover their escape. A blast of fire missed them again as they escaped into a side tunnel, only for a wave of water to meet them in that tunnel. "Or not…" They turned back toward the main cavern, but the wave hit them within a few steps. Somehow the entire tunnel was filled with water, making Arsenal panic slightly; since he still wasn't that good of a swimmer. He and Artemis were dragged down the tunnel by a small current and thrown into the metal wall. He grunted and slid to the floor, glad he could finally breathe again. They got to the feet and took off running again, just as another fireball almost hit them. Arsenal practically dove to the ground to pick up his bow and nocked an arrow. He fired it over his shoulder as he and Artemis kept running. A fire tornado came to life behind them, the heat nipping at their heels as they sprinted away. 'What the heck?! What's going on?!'

They eventually made it through a door and into the gym of the Cave. Arsenal put his hand to his comm. "Arsenal to Team," he said. "Robin?! Aqualad?!" Unknown to him, Artemis was trying to reach M'gann in her mind. Before they got an answer though, the doors were blown open, knocking the two archers off their feet. But they were soon back other feet and running away again. Glancing back, Arsenal could see the fire tornado was chasing them again. 'This is so weird!' They turned down a hall and Arsenal put his hand on his comm again. "Arsenal to Bat Cave. Override RG4." They entered the shower room and with a single look at each other, they split up to the separate sides. "Cave calling Justice League. HOJ/Watchtower. B-04. Priority Red." As he talked they both moved down the shower head, turning them on as they went. That done, he frowned as he received no reply from any member of the League. "Comms are dead. Blocked." He pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it to his bow. "At least the water's helping."

As soon as he finished his sentence, there was a loud creaking noise from the walls. The nobs were suddenly shooting off and water spray though, The same thing started happing to the shower heads. "….or not." The room quickly, way too quickly started to fill with water. Once again, Arsenal had to resist the urge to panic. Thinking fast, he pulled an explosive arrowhead from his quiver. He shot it at the wall, aiming for just above the rising water level. A hole opened in the wall from the explosion, causing the water to drain out. Arsenal and Artemis both coughed and hacked a little bit. 'Something is seriously wrong here…' Their resting didn't last long though, because within a second they were running again.

"We need to get lost," Arsenal said as they arrived in the kitchen.

"The air vent!" Artemis suggested after a second.

"….." Arsenal hesitated. Then he remembered the fire tornado and apparently living water that were chasing them, and swallowed his anxiety. "Good idea." Trying to delay the inevitable, Arsenal quickly hooked his holo glove up to the small computer terminal on the wall. 'Where's Dick when I need him?' A pang of worry went through him when he thought about his brother. 'I need to focus. I can't save him if I don't focus on the task at hand.'

"What are you doing?"

"Downloading cave blueprints. Could come in-" The sound of footsteps coming down the hall made him stop. Arsenal detached himself from the terminal quickly and ran toward the stove, where Artemis had removed the cover from the vent. "Go! Go!" His voice had dropped into a whisper as Artemis pull herself inside. Arsenal followed suit, pulling himself up into the vent. As they crawled along the vents, Arsenal pulled up the blueprints he'd downloaded to give his mind something to focus on besides the small space he was currently in. "Go left." Just as they turned the corner, flames filled the vent they'd just been in. "Too close. Take the first right." They turned again and he brought up the blueprints again. "There should be a vent cover right in front of you." When they reached the cover, Artemis removed it and they dropped into a large room below their catwalk. He looked at the blueprints again. "This way." They ran down the steps to another catwalk a level lower. A loud crash behind them caused them to stop and look back. The dark silhouette of a person who was apparently on fire had landed on the first catwalk.

The person looked around, then raised their arms. The fire rose to the ceiling and read with impossible speed. Artemis and Arsenal hid among the boilers. The heat of the flames was quickly becoming overwhelming. Arsenal glanced around and felt dread toast his stomach. A sensor on the outside of the boiler in front of them was indicating the temperature was getting too high. "That's not good," he muttered. They started running again, spiriting for the exit. Steam started bursting out of pipes around them. The Fire Person shot flame sown at them, but they missed as the two archers hid among more machinery; Armies ducking in just as another fireball almost hit her. Arsenal pulled up his blueprints again. "I know there has to be an access tunnel around here somewhere…" From the corner of his eye, he saw Artemis moving. He looked up and saw she was standing by an open vent cover.

"You mean this one?" she asked. Instead of replying, Arsenal pulled another explosive arrow from his quiver. Artemis jumped down into the hole and he shot the arrow at the piece of machinery he had been hiding behind; then jumped down into the hole. He landed in the tunnel and saw a box that looked familiar.

"Hold on." He pried it open with the edge of an arrowhead. Inside was a bunch of ports and he connected his holo glove to one. "Losing out the Caves heat and motion sensors to prevent the enemy from finding us." He knew he had Dick to thank for his increased knowledge of how to do this kind of thing. Thinking of his young brother made his chest twist, but he shook his head. 'Focus.'

"Again, I ask, who is the enemy?!"

"Let's find out." He started typing. "Downloading Cave security footage…" The archer's fingers fumbled a little bit as he struggled. 'Dick would be so much better at this…' He bit the inside of his lip. 'No! I have to stay focused! I won't find him and help him if I can't figure out who we're fighting!' On the plus side, some part of him reasoned that the fire and water abilities of their opponent— or opponents— meant he could probably rule out Oliver as a suspect. "There!" Arsenal felt a moment of pride that he'd managed to retrieve the footage. Artemis moved closer to him, a movement that made Arsenal tense, but they both stayed focused on the small screen.

In the footage, they could see their teammates standing around a motorcycle that Robin and Kid Flash were trying to fix.

"Torque wrench," Wally said, then immediately after M'gann floated the tool to him. "Thank you, green cheeks." Robin made a sudden, sharp move to the side and Kid Flash cried out.

"I have been meaning to ask," Kaldur said, automatically drawing Arsenal's attention. "Have any of you been having a problem juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?"

"No," Superboy replied.

"Juggling is just one of my many talents," Kid Flash assured their leader. "Socket wrench."

"Daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge," M'gann said, almost absentmindedly. "O-of course my first loyalty is always to the team. This Team, not the bumblebees."

"School is never an issue for me," Robin added, leaning so close Arsenal had to assume he was critiquing Kid Flash's work.

'What about Arsenal?"

"He's….fine. Don't worry, this team is everything to him."

"Artemis starts school today," Kaldur said slowly, a little too slowly for both archers. "Do you think she'll have trouble maintaining her loyalties?" Artemis' eyes narrowed and she leaned in a little at the implication.

"Ah, I think she'll manage alright," Kid Flash said, standing. He held out his hand to Robin. "I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can she-" His stance cut off because as soon as he pulled Robin up, an explosion off-screen knocked everyone off their feet and obscured the camera. Arsenal's chest contracted a little as his mind kept replaying his younger brother disappearing in the explosion.

"What happened?!" Artemis demanded quietly.

"Explosion… I think it got the camera. I…I think I'll find another angle." Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to work. The first angle he brought up, showed several water funnels emerge in the hangar, and one goes straight for the camera. In the second he could see their friends, and his anxiety lifted a little when he saw Robin stand- only to be knocked off his feet by another huge wave. A third angle showed Aqualad back on his feet and running up some steps with his water bearers up, Miss Martian right behind him. Another wave came at the two of them though, taking out the camera with it. Arsenal sighed. "They're all dead…" He could actually feel the look Artemis was giving him. "The cameras! I meant the cameras!" There was no reason to think about his bother and best friend being dead. "I"m sure the others are ok. Just….give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hangar.

"Yeah, fine." Artemis moved to sit against the side of the vent. "They've all got superpowers. They can handle anything." Her voice was a little desperate.

Having too many things to focus on at the moment, Arsenal kept his attention on his task. "Got it." He started moving, leaving Artemis to follow him. They moved silently, both too preoccupied with their own thoughts. Eventually, Arsenal reached the exit, using an arrowhead to pry the panel up, then shoved it away. They leaped down into the library of the mountain. "There's a secret passage behind one of these bookcases." Arsenal jumped the railing of the stairs and Artemis followed.

"Seriously?! Cliche much?"

Arsenal scoffed a little. "You should see the Bat Cave." That response surprised him a little bit. 'Why am I being friendly with her? Not trustworthy, remember?' He shook his head a little as they walked. 'Focus on helping Robin. Remember what Batman said. Robin is my responsibility when we're with the Team.' While on the one hand, Batman had said he wouldn't throw Arsenal out; there was no telling what he'd do if the archer failed to protect his son. It made his heart pound a little bit to think- A loud creak knocked him out of his thoughts. Both archers pulled an arrow from their quivers and nocked them. They waited a second before running and hiding among the shelves. There were heavy, metal footsteps walking toward them.

"Artemis, Arsenal," a mechanical, slightly familiar voice said.

"It's Red Tornado!" Artemis hissed. Before Arsenal could stop her, she moved around the shelf to reveal herself. As soon as the android stepped into the light, Arsenal moved, dragging Artemis to the ground.

"Yes on the red, no on the tornado!" he shouted, somersaulting to break his fall and dragging his companion behind him. They started running, only for another android, which was definitely not Red Tornado, to step out of the shadows. The archers took a hard right, just as the second android started shooting fire at them. Thinking quickly. Arsenal launched himself up onto the bookshelf.

"What are they?!" Artemis followed him, leaping from bookshelf to bookshelf as they ran. The fire set off the sprinklers and Arsenal pulled another exploding arrow from his quiver. He jumped down, twisting to shoot at the androids when he was in the air. Peeking around the bookshelf, he managed to see that his arrow hadn't been effective. He quickly turned to the shelf in front of him and looked for the book he needed. There was a loud crashing noise behind him. Finding the book, Arsenal pulled on it. The passage spend and Artemis leaped in, Arsenal slipping in as the shelf behind them came down on them. They sprinted down the steps and through the passage; the bookcase closing behind them. "Did you know Tornado had…siblings?!"

"No!" They soon reached a 'T' intersection in the passage and Arsenal moved to go right, but Artemis grabbed his arm. Flinching a little, Arsenal quickly jerked himself free.

"So now what?! Red Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League! How are we supposed to take down two of him!"

"They did seem pretty user unfriendly." The bad pun made Arsenal think of his brother but also felt Robin would be proud of him, and he was desperate for anything that could help him stay calm.

"This is no time to joke! They-"

"Attention, Arsenal," said a mechanical voice, interrupting Artemis. "Attention, Artemis. You have exactly ten minutes to surrender, or the lives of your teammates will be extinguished." The archers gave each other worried looks. "Nine minutes and forty-five seconds."

"We need to move." They started running down the passage again. Arsenal's mind started trying to find a way. anyway, to save Robin and Kaldur; and the others.

"Eight minutes."

"We can access the hangar from here." They stopped and Artemis glanced back and gassed. A wave of water was rushing down the passage toward them. "Or not."

"Can you stop saying that!" Artemis snapped as they started spiriting again. Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough, and the wave knocked them off their feet. The water soon overtook them and Arsenal once again found himself struggling in the current. 'Wait! My re-breather!' Feeling like an idiot for not realizing it sooner, he pulled the small metal device out of one of his pouches. He stuck it in his mouth and took a few deep breaths. Seeing Artemis struggling, he took it out of his own mouth and put it in hers. She gave him a grateful and slightly surprised look, but before they could move, Artemis was dragged backward. The water android was there, holding her ankle. Seeing one of her arrows floating, Arsenal grabbed it and Artemis locked eyes with him for a moment. Moving in tandem, she dragged Arsenal toward the android. He stabbed the arrow into the machine's eye and her ankle was free.

Wanting to get away, Arsenal shot a grapple arrow at the wall of an intersection ahead. The line dragged them forward and he just managed to set off one of the exploding arrows, which set off a few others that had floated out of his quiver. It knocked the android back and Arsenal wrapped an area round Artemis. If they hadn't been in such a life or death situation, he might've noticed that this was the first time he could be near her and not freak out. However, his mind was more focused on how to get them out of the water. Going through the blueprints in his mind, he found a route that could work. 'Whatever, we need to move. Now.' Lungs now starting to burn, he started kicking. The burning in his lungs was causing small, tendrils of panic on the edges of his brain, but he forced himself to keep going. 'Just kick up! Just keep kicking!' Using his legs to propel himself forward, he kept kicking towards the light head.

Just as they got close to the surface, Artemis pushed away from him. Their heads broke the surface of the water, both of them coughing— Artemis after spitting out the rebreather— and hacking up water. Gulping down air, Arsenal felt a little better. However, this feeling didn't last long, as someone shouted, "Look out!" They looked up and saw a fireball coming towards them. Both archers pushed themselves away from each other; narrowly avoiding death again. A second one flew at them, and Armies moved first. She grabbed Arsenal, dragging him down under the water and to the side. She dragged him along, Arsenal thinking 'kick, kick, kick,' as they swam under the water. Seeing the lower bodies of three of their friends, they headed in that direction. Popping back above the water, Arsenal felt a surge of relief to see that Robin was still alive. He was glued to Kid Flash and Superboy with glue that looked a lot like the kind Arsenal used in his arrows, but he was alive.

"You guys ok?" Robin asked, intense gaze on his brother betraying who he was really concerned about.

"Fine," Arsenal replied, voice a little strained. So many stressors and triggers in such rapid succession were starting to take their toll, but there was still work to be done, so he tried to keep himself focused on that. "We'll get you guys out of this-"

"Forget us!" Superboy snapped at him. "Help M'gann!" He nodded his head up at the second level, where ethyl could see the edge of a fire cage.

"Aqualad's up there too," Robin warned Arsenal, feeling his heart actually break a little at the look of terror on his older brother's face.

"Aqualad!" Artemis shouted up to him. "Is she…?"

"She is unconscious!" Aqualad yelled back, voice strained and in obvious pain. Arsenal almost flinched and clenched his fists a little bit. "I fear she- we cannot survive much longer…"

'No!' Arsenal thought, panic surging through him.

"Look out!" Robin shouted. Arsenal turned his head to see another fireball coming for his head and suddenly he was back under the water. Nodding his head in the direction of the stairs, Artemis started dragging him in that direction. Arsenal helped as much as he could; kicking out with his feet as they went. He was a lot happier though when they reached shallower waters and could run up the steps. They both glances back at the water, neither of them trusting it, but there was another sound from the top of the stairs that made them slowly turn back. Android Number 2— or Fire Android— was flying down to the top of the steps. She ended and held up her hands by her head; a flame in each hand.

"I'm almost out of arrows," Artemis said, looking back at Arsenal. He glanced back at his own quiver and saw it was depressingly low on projectiles.

"Ok….distract her, now! Here!" Arsenal yelled as he threw her an arrow. He waited for a moment, coinciding his sneaking off with the moment Artemis' arrow hit the android. It created a cloud of smoke in her face. Arsenal turned back to the water where Water Android was slowly walking out of it. Reaching into one of his pouches, he pulled out a few emergency bat-a-rangs and threw them. They bounced off the android's chest harmlessly, one even careening off to the glue holding Kid Flash, Robin, and Superboy. Moving backward, Arsenal reached out until he touched Artemis. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed her hand, then pulled her off the side of the stairs. Just as they dove off, the fire and water met each other. Once they hit the water, Artemis wrapped an arm around Arsenal and started pulling him down with her. He kicked his legs and soon saw a grate in the wall. He points to it, but Artemis was already heading in that direction.

When they reached it, she briefly let go of Arsenal so he could pull it out, then she pulled him through. They soon entered a circular tunnel, swimming up past pipes until their heads popped out of the water. Arsenal helped her get up into one of the bents before he followed himself. They were both gasping and shaking as they leaned against the walls. Lungs aching, Arsenal coughed a little and reminded himself to stay focused on his mission. Stop the androids, save his Team and Robin.

"Six minutes," a robotic voice said.

Arsenal and Artemis looked at each other. "What do we do now?!" the latter demanded.

"We save them," Arsenal replied simply, taking his quiver off so he could inventory his remaining arrows. "That's how it works."

"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those robots took out our four superpowered friends! And Robin! So clearly not having powers doesn't work either!"

"…..You're distraught."

"Distraught?! M'gann is dying! We have no powers and I'm down to my last arrow!" She pulled the arrow out and showed him. "Of course I'm distraught!"

Arsenal frowned a little. "Well get traught or get dead." Some part of him felt happy at how proud Dick would be of him, but that also reminded him of his time-sensitive mission. He turned to start crawling down the vent.

"How can you be so calm?!"

"….Practice." Granted, he wasn't used to super-powered androids, but he knew a thing or two about being against someone who was bigger, stronger, and better. This wasn't a fear that was new to him. 'Not this time. I'm not a kid anymore. I have to save Dick and Kal. I have to help them.' He kept crawling and could hear Artemis following. "I know a thing or two about unfair odds. Besides, Robin is my brother, I won't leave him behind."

"What good is that now?! What chance do we have against unrelenting machines?" Her words made Arsenal stop.

"Oh….duh! They're machines. And one electromagnetic pulse will shut down any machine within range."

"Great! Except you better have an EMP emitter in your quiver, because I definitely don't have one in mine!"

"Fresh out….but I'm betting I can make one." He put his hand to his comm. "You hear that, Rob?"

"We hear you," Robin replied in a whisper, speaking into the bat-a-rang between his and Kid Flash's head. "You could totally build one."

"Agreed," Kid Flash whispered.

"Five minutes," the robotic voice said.

"Just…uh…make it fast, yeah?"

"Count on it." Arsenal started crawling again, occasionally looking at his blueprints so he could locate the room he needed. He could still feel the apprehension coming off of Artemis. 'I understand she's scared, but we still have to move. I'm not leaving them to die.' He was also scared, but his determination to save his friends and brother was far stronger.

"Med lab, x-ray machine." They reached the desired room and Arsenal moved a penal on the wall to let them crawl in. He snuck across the floor to the x-ray machine and knelt down in front of it. "There's a panel where you'll find a vacuum tube called a verciator that converts high energy impulses. Reprogram the units microwave conversions and x-rays to EMPs with the cascading energy factor directed outward." The instructions were coming quick, but Arsenal could keep up. Taking in information and making snap responses was one of his best qualities as a fast archer.

"Use your holo-glove," Robin advised, only for Arsenal to interrupt him.

"I know, Rob." This part wasn't unlike when he built his electroshock arrow. Once he'd done as Kid Flash said, he carefully removed the vacuum tube. "It's a ripple effect. Like dropping a stone in a pond."

"A stone with the 1012 power wattage, yeah."

"So I'll need to hook it up to the cave's main generator."

"Which is where?" Artemis asked.

"…..the hangar."

"Of course. So I assume you want us to go back to the room with the super-powered robots trying to kill us?"

Arsenal wanted to ask her if she had a better way to save their teammates but felt that would just waste time. They needed to get moving. "Yes." Holding tightly to his potential EMP device, he crawled back into the tunnel. Artemis hesitated for only a second before grabbing his bow and following him. Arsenal had to use his elbows and knees to crawl, which got significantly harder when their tunnel took an uphill route at one point. He kept going through, mentally reminding himself Dick was about to drown and Kaldur was about to burn to death. Grizzly deaths for two of the people he cared most for. 'No,' he thought as the tunnel finally leveled out. 'I won't let that happen, I'll save them. I have to.' When they finally reached the hangar, Artemis moved forward to slide the panel to the side so they could drop to the ground. They stuck close to the wall as they moved toward an opening, overlooking the hangar. "Ok, make with the distraction."

"Hey, Red Tomato! Who's your girlfriend, Red Onion?!" Wally shouted so loudly Arsenal and Artemis could hear his voice from their hiding place.

"Yeah!" Superboy joined in. "And by the way, worst death trap ever!"

"We can totally escape anytime we want!" Robin added.

'Whatever works,' Arsenal thought as he and Artemis dashed to the other side of the opening in the wall.

"I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two!" Wally shouted.

"Cover me," Arsenal whispered to Artemis and she nodded. He took a grapple rope from a pouch. He attached it to the wall, then slid down on the rope and swung to the main generator while Superboy was bragging about not needed to breathe air.

"And you think Batman didn't train me to hold my breath for long periods of time?!" Robin yelled.

'Please don't give them any ideas, Dick.'

"And Miss Martian?!" Kid Flash continued as Arsenal put the EMP emitter into the generator. "I can't beehive you're buying her act!"

"Re-routing power now." His voice carried through his comm to his teammates.

"Yeah!" Robin agreed. "Do you know how hot it is in the caves of Mars?!"

"It's not working…"

"That cage is just making her homesick!" Superboy added. "Duh!"

While his friends laughed, Arenal studied his device and noticed a problem. "The circuit isn't complete." He opened one of his pouches. "I need something conductible-"

"Arsenal, look out!" Arsenal looked up just in time to see a huge wave coming toward him. Before he could even close his mouth, the water hit him. Artemis watched as he disappeared in the water, and shot her last arrow at the android. It missed and Fire Android started shooting flames at flame thrower level at her. Artemis dove to the side and, after a moment of hesitation and reaching for arrows that weren't there, turned and ran. She climbed back into the tunnel, but the fire followed her; forcing her to retreat. Crawling in the tunnel, there was a small hole where she could see down into the cavern. A quiet gasp escaped her and she even shrunk down a little bit. Down below her, Water Android was levitating Arsenal in the water. The other archer was very clear unconscious, his quiver, and bow both long gone. She crawled away from the hole upon seeing how not alive he looked.

Artemis curled up against the far wall of the tunnel. In her mind she could see her teammates, all about to die— or potentially dead already— and she curled up, knees up to her chest. All of her teammates, including Arsenal, who was actually very smart and good at this, weren't able to help her. She was an archer with no arrows and a hero with much less experience than the other non-super powered ones. The weight of her situation was crushing her as she pulled her body into a tight ball. "No, no, no, no, no…" she sobbed quietly, desperately wishing for a solution.

Down in the hangar, meanwhile, the android lowered Arsenal's body onto the floor. He lay there,e completely still and barely breathing. Aqualad's eyes flutter briefly, but his brain didn't have enough energy to recognize what was going on. Robin, on the other hand, was having no such difficulties.

"Arsenal!" he shouted, squirming and craning his neck to try and see his brother. "Arsenal! Arsenal!"

Up in the tunnel, Artemis was trying to think of an escape. "I surrender," she murmured, "I die with the others. But if I find a way out….out of the cave…" She started crawling, "out of the mountain…I can get help." She nodded to herself. "Call in the League- ah!" The tunnel had taken a sudden turn downward, resulting in a drop that she stumbled down. It was a rough fall, causing her to bang into the sides of the tunnel multiple times before crashing through a grate and into what Wally had deemed the Team's souvenir room. "Who am I kidding?" Artemis rubbed her shoulder, voice completely defeated.

"Three minutes," the robotic voice warned.

"Best I can do is hide. Hope the League finds me before the Reds." Her eye caught something shiny and she stood up. Wally's souvenirs were all lined up on a shelf. Artemis stood, then slowly walked until she was standing in front of Cheshire's mask. "I know you understand." Unhappy and unwanted memories were brought to the surface, reminding Artemis of her life-long philosophy; a harsh lesson only experience could've taught. But it also made her think of Arsenal and Robin. How Robin seemed to do nothing but protect and defend Arsenal, despite being the younger sibling. And earlier, Arsenal's will and determination to save his younger brother; even if it cost him his own life. Even if he was afraid and just an archer with no special powers.

"In this family, it's every girl for herself," her older sister's voice echoed in her mind.

"Maybe in our family that was true…" Something she could never image Arsenal saying to Robin. The thought made her tighten her grip on the mask and raise her head. "But I have a new family now. And here we're all for one and-"

"One minute," the robotic voice warned.

Artemis returned the mask to its place, then saw what was next to it. She picked up the arrow and her mouth formed a line.

— —

Moving with grim determination, Artemis stepped out of the elevator and put her hands up. "I surrender," she said as the two androids looked at her. "Stop the clock." Her voice caused Aqualad to raise his head and try to push himself up, but he didn't have the energy to do little more than roll over. Down below, the water level was now reaching over the trapped here's heads.

"Arsenal-" Robin gasped, quickly taking in a deep breath as the water engulfed his head.

As Artemis walked closer, she glanced at Arsenal, who was still not moving and not showing visible signs of breathing. Turning her gaze back on the androids, she inhaled through her nose to steady her nerves….then moved. She jumped up as soon as she was within range and kicked them in their heads. She used their sold faces as spring broads to launch herself backward and shoot the arrow. It missed the androids but hit its true target. The slim space below the EMP emitter, completing the circuit. Within a few seconds there was a whirring noise and the two androids both speed, then dropped to the ground; completely powered down. The fiery cage disappeared and the water leveled receded. Kid Flash, Superboy, and Robin all gasped in relief, taking in a deep breath of sweet air.

"Kaldur!" Superboy yelled up to him. "How's M'gann?!"

Kaldur looked down at her. "She breathes! I believe she will recover." He looked over at Arsenal and his heart stopped. "What of Arsenal?" Artemis ran to the other archer while Robin tried, desperately, to get himself free.

"Is he ok?!" Robin shouted. "Is he breathing?! He's breathing, right?!"

Artemis knelt down next to Arsenal, hesitating before she gently put her hands on him. He suddenly coughed, hacking up late,r then made a very addable inhale. "He's breathing!" she yelled back, relief evident in her voice.

Arsenal's head turned to her and he opened his eyes…then he smiled at her. "Way to get traught," he whispered; clearly impressed. Artemis fell back in relief, sighing. It was over. They'd won. Arsenal pushed himself to his feet, then practically stumbled over to Aqualad and M'gann. The latter was just coming around and Artemis put an arm around M'gann to steady her as she sat up.

"Are you ok?"

"A little weak," M'gann replied shakily. "But my strength's returning quickly."

Arsenal, meanwhile, was hugging Kaldur fiercely. "I had complete faith in you, my friend," Kaldur said truthfully. "I knew you would find a way to save us."

"Well….it wasn't all me," Arsenal admitted, glancing over at Artemis. He helped Kaldur stand and they, as well as Artemis and M'gann, started making their way to the steps. They walk down them slowly, but by the time they were on ground level, Kaldur and M'gann were strong enough to stand on their own.

"Arsenal!" Robin shouted in relief. Tension fell from Arsenal's shoulders as he practically ran to Robin and grabbed his brother's hand. "You're ok?!"

"I'm ok, Robin."

"But I saw the wave hit you and-"

"And it pretty much disarmed me. I figured my best chance was to "surrender", so I pretended to drown before I actually did. I did blackout though." His confession made Kaldur squeeze his shoulder and Robin clutched at his hand; like he was trying to break the archer's fingers.

"But M'gann…" Conner whispered as he reached for he hand.

"I'll be fine," M'gann whispered, her voice still weak.

"Will you quit playing with that thing and cut us free already!" Kid Flash snapped at Artemis, who'd picked up some kind of handheld device.

"It's not working, genius!" she snapped. "EMP's shut down all machines. Remember?"

"All machines present at the time," a mechanical, but very familiar voice said. Red Tornado flew into the room and landed new to the gathered Team. "What has occurred?"

"We had a little visit from your family," Arsenal explained.

"Your extremely nasty family!" Artemis added.

"I was not aware I had relations," Red Tornado replied, walking toward the two powered-down androids.

"Where have you been?" Superboy asked.

"Monitor duty on the Watchtower. When it became clear Cave communications were down, I attempted to investigate. But your tea tubes were also non-functional. So I transported to Providence and proceeded here."

Sphere wiggled around a little bit, then dislodged himself from the wall. He seemed to shake up dusty and dirt when he landed.

"Hey boy," Superboy remarked tiredly. At the same moment, the plasma cannon in Artemis' hands fired a blast.

"The pulse has worn off," Kid Flash and Arsenal said at the same time. They all looked to the androids, waiting to see what would happen. Suddenly, Red Tornado stood form here he'd courted down next to one of them. Putting his hands up, he created two funnels that started quickly sucking the air from the room. One by one, the teens all started clothing their throats. Arsenal dropped to his knees as his ribs constricted against his chest and he fought to inhale. Panic suddenly attacked every corner of his mind as a too-familiar-feeling of his lungs burning took over his body.

"Can't…breathe…" he barely heard Artemis gasp before he fell over and everything went black.

— —

"Arsenal," a voice said. "Arsenal. Arsenal-" Arsenal gasped as he shot into a sitting position, arms going numb and his breaths coming in hyperventilating gasps. His body shook with violent tremors as he felt the unmistakable weight of hands crushing his throat. "Arsenal, breathe! Breath, slowly." Two hands wrapped around his wrists and he tried to divert his attention to that. "In…out…in….out…in…out…" Arsenal slowly dragged air in, then out of his lungs. As he did the shaking slowly stopped and feeling returned to his arms; as did his awareness. He was sitting on the ground with Batman crouching in front of him. Over the Bat's shoulder, he could see Robin giving him a worried look from he was still trapped. "Arsenal." Batman's voice caused the archer to look at him. "Are you ok?"

"Mhm…" Arsenal hummed, not trusting his voice. He felt exhausted and weak, but not like he was being strangled; although the lingering fear still had small tendrils wrapped around his brain. Trying to ground himself, he looked at what was going on. Flash appeared to be trying to free Kid Flash, Superboy, and Robin. Aquaman had his hands on Aqualad's shoulders; his face prominent with worry. Just off to Arsenal's right, Artemis was standing, being supported by Superman. Black Canary stood on her other side.

"What happened?" Superman asked.

"What happened?!" Artemis repeated in disbelief. "Reds happened! Tornado and his- Wait!" She looked around. "Where are they?"

"Gone," Robin told her as he managed to pull himself free after Flash's help. Batman reached out a hand for him to steady himself on. "All three of them, gone."

'This day sucks,' Arsenal thought, feeling exhausted to his bones. 'Can I just…curl up and sleep forever?'

Batman must've surmised his thoughts with a look, because he then said, "All of you should go get some rest. We'll debrief you about this tomorrow."

"Don't gotta tell me twice," Kid Flash muttered, now free of the glue. He stumbled away from his uncle, then toward their rooms. Arsenal pushed himself to his feet and followed. He passed Kaldur, who was still taking to Aquaman in Atlantean. If the tones of their voices were anything to go by, Aquaman was extremely concerned about Kaldur.

'That's good,' Arsenal thought. 'That's good that Aquaman is worried about him.' Once he got down to the hall where their rooms were, somehow without falling on his face, he passed by his own. How relieved Artemis had been to see he was alive and how she'd followed his lead and helped him swim through the crisis kept popping up in his mind. Sighing a little, he leaned against the door to wait. M'gann passed him and gave him a small smile. She reached out telepathically, which sent a small vibe of reassurance and gratitude to his brain. He smiled in return and included his head. Superboy noticed the exchange, but simply put an arm around M'gann and helped her to her room. "Artemis," Arsenal said when the other archer entered the hall. She hesitated a little when she saw him. "I-I wanted to talk to you."

"Me?" she asked disbelievingly.

"Yes." He opened his door and stepped into his room; gesturing for her to follow. Armies hesitated for another second before following. "Close the door." Artemis shut the door, then stood by it awkwardly, trying to distract herself by looking around. Arsenal sat on the bed and was silent for a moment. "I don't hate you."

"Did you ask me to come here just for that?"

"No. I wanted to say that…I know you think I do….but I don't. I don't hate you."

"Then why don't you want to be near me? Why did you say all the stuff on my first mission?"

Arsenal took a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes. "You remind me of….someone."

"Who?"

"Green Arrow."

"Green Arrow?" She frowned and uncrossed her arms. "You know the Green Arrow?"

"I used to work with him."

"….What?!" Arsenal, a protege of the Batman— the League member with the strictest no killing rules— had worked with the Green Arrow? The guy who killed a dozen people a week? 'When?"

"It was before I lived in Gotham. Before I was Arsenal." He took another deep breath and clutched his knees. "I used to be Speedy and I worked with Green Arrow."

"You killed people?"

"….No?" Even after all these years, it was hard not to hold himself responsible for that guy in the alley. For all the people he'd failed to help as Speedy. "I mean, no. No, I didn't."

"Is that why you work with Batman now?"

"Kind of… Green Arrow…he abused me. He would starve me and beat me. Batman and Robin….they reduced me from Green Arrow. They saved my life. Which is not an exaggeration. If I had stayed in Star City I'm almost certain I would've died before my 18th birthday."

"And I remind you of Green Arrow?" Artemis wasn't sure if this was better or worse than Arsenal hating her; comparing her to a serial killer.

"I don't do it on purpose. It's…just…you're blonde and he's blonde and you wear green and your arrows have green fletchings…"

"Really? The color scheme is what bothers you?"

"My brain is weird. It…freaks out over little thing and big things and….in-between things." That made her snort a little. "It just makes me really nervous and I can't stop the feeling. But it's not because I hate you, Artemis. I don't trust you, but I don't trust a lot of people. Ask Robin, he could tell you how long it took me to trust Batman. It's not personal it's just…the way I am. I'm trying to stop, but…sometime's it's just not effective." He stopped talking and watched her, looking for some indication she understood.

Artemis slowly nodded. "Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yes. You were abused and forced to help Green Arrow kill people, so you have some form of trauma and my being here in some way reminds you of that person who abused you. Ok. That makes perfect sense." Too much sense. It was harder to hate Arsenal when she knew his actions weren't intentional. And came from a place of genuine trauma. She didn't know how to deal with someone being vulnerable and honest with her. It was making her uncomfortable. She fought the urge to shift a little or lash out at Arsenal. She took a step back, wanting out of this conversation. "Why are you telling me?"

"I just…wanted you to know. After today I realized…you aren't bad and it's not fair for me to lash out at you for something you haven't done; or something that's not your fault."

Ok, Artemis officially wanted out of this conversation. Like yesterday. "Ok, well, good talk then. I um… won't tell M'gann and Conner. If you don't want me too."

"I'll tell them too. Eventually. I just…need some time."

"Time, right. Ok…well….thanks for being honest with me. I should go sleep now." She turned away, but he stopped her.

"Artemis? Thanks. For today."

"You're welcome. And thanks back. I don't think I would've gone through all that if it wasn't for you."

"You would've. It might've taken you a little longer, but you would've. You wouldn't be here if you wouldn't."

'Ok, now I'm leaving.' She quickly left the room and made a beeline for her own. 'This day is so weird.'

Back in Arsenal's room, he'd engaged the locks on his door to keep everyone out so he could change. He was barely able to pull his pajamas on before he collapsed on his bed. He somehow managed to snuggle under the blanket, then closed his eyes. After a few minutes of silence, he heard the sound of the vent cover being removed and someone landing on his desk. He didn't bother opening his eyes, but he did throw open his blankets. Almost immediately someone crawled in and snuggled up next to him. "I told Artemis." No response. "I might tell Conner and M'gann soon too." Still no response. "You were right, they deserve to know." Silence. "Dick?" There was a sniffle, then a quiet sob from the teen. "Dick…"

"I thought you were dead…" Dick whispered.

"I'm fine."

"I know that now but….you looked dead and I thought…" He just kept crying, clinging tightly to Roy's shirt.

"I'm fine, Dick. It's ok." Dick didn't reply right away.

"Do you remember your first Thanksgiving at the Manor? You promised me you wouldn't leave like…like them?"

"Yeah, and I meant every word of it. I still do. I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

Dick nodded into his shirt. "You'd better not." He kept sobbing until he slowly fell asleep, still clutching Roy's shirt. Roy simply wrapped his arms around his brother and settled down and fell asleep as well.

— —

Out in the main cavern, the Justice League was getting no sleep. Superman was flying around the mountain, looking for weaknesses or breaches in the defenses. Batman was compiling as much security footage as he could, trying to piece together what had happened. Only by figuring out how it happened could he ensure the boys' safety and prevent it from happening again.

"Well…look on the bright side," Flash said, almost casually. "At least you were wrong about it being Green Arrow."

Batman frowned. "I never said-" he began but was cut off by the speedster.

"You didn't have to. I could see you were thinking it once we realized the zetas were offline and they couldn't be reached by comm. You thought Oliver had found a way in and was going after Arsenal."

"…it was rational at the time."

"Not really. Oliver has no idea the Team exists or that Arsenal is on it. He doesn't know where Mount justice is or that the Team uses it as their HQ. And, most importantly, even if, somehow, against all the odds, he knew those things, he doesn't know how to get inside. The only people who know that are the Team and the League and no one on either roster would tell him that."

"What's the point of this, Flash?"

"You can't react to every emergency like it's him. Arsenal is safe on the Team. He's safe in the mountain. You need to accept that."

Batman didn't say anything but merely went back to his task. Once he heard Flash leave, he brought up security camera footage of Arsenal's room. He nodded a little bit when he saw his guess about Robin being there was correct. 'I will triple the defenses on the mountain if I have to. No one will ever hurt my boys again.'