A/N: Finally, the origins of Titans East! And as an explanation for Green Arrow's behavior in Speedy's part, I finally read that old comic where Speedy became a junkie (Good lord!) and here is an actual line from it.

Green Lantern: Do you think he's [Speedy been kidnapped?
Green Arrow: I...haven't really noticed how long he's been gone. I've been having problems with Black Canary.

Wow. So that was where I got the idea for why Speedy could have gotten fed up.

Unsaid

Speedy

"I was, uh, raised by the Navajo. Green Arrow found me…noticed my mad skills with the bow and arrow…rest's history."

"Why'd you leave?"

"He was a jerk."

I can't really angst about my parents dying because I never really knew them. My dad died when I was two. I have no idea who my mom was. I guess I could find out if I really wanted to…but…I can't really see the point.

How did my dad die? He was a forest ranger, if you can believe that. We lived near an Indian reservation and one day, some loser set fire to it. My dad rushed in to rescue them all. He got most of them out, including the medicine man who'd been injured, but he went in looking for more of them, and a burning tree branch fell and knocked him out. So he burned to death.

The Navajo who lived there took me in after his death. The medicine man my dad rescued looked after me mostly. His name was Brave Bow, and it was well given. He was so brave and so renowned in archery that when the old chief died when I was five, he took his place.

I grew up there. And I liked it. It was a pretty poorly funded reservation, especially after the fire, but everyone there was like family. But Chief Brave Bow was the best. He was like my dad. He taught me everything the first ten years of my life. He was a very calm old guy, we hardly ever argued…well, that's not true. I argued. I was always very headstrong. Chief said it was because I felt I had something to prove, being the only non-Indian in the reservation, despite the fact nobody ostracized me because of it. Whenever I got into a fit, he'd sit there until I was all yelled out and told me he admired my passion. He was spiritually…balanced…or something. But he was no pushover. In the end, just a look from him could get me to do what he wanted. He'd say firmly "Put that passion into something productive." He commanded the room….and he taught me so much. He's the one who taught me how to string a bow…hit a target…

If there was one thing I loved most in the world, besides the Chief, it was archery. Chief said I was a natural. I could spend the whole day hitting targets. I couldn't concentrate on much, but for some reason, I could concentrate on a target. I was fast too, faster than almost anyone with a bow. Faster even than Chief, though he was a steadier aim.

We were always trying to get more funding on the reservation. Not many people know about how I feel about the Navajo, but don't get me started on how we- sorry, they- got screwed over back in the day, and sometimes, today too. We certainly did.

One day, there was going to be an archery contest in a town not far from the reservation. There was a five hundred dollar cash reward. I knew I could kick those rich white kids asses down there. Brave Bow didn't want me to go, said it was unfair to the others, but they didn't need the money as badly as we did.

The judges were these archery champions, and this random rich guy, Oliver Queen. The place had been his hometown, and he'd dropped by, coincidentally around the time the town had started to make national news for the two that had happened over an area of two weeks.

I won all the first five rounds like cake. The last one was against this kid who was going for the Olympics. He was damn good, but I knew I was better. Ollie Queen handed me my arrow. I thought it was a little heavy. We both strung out bows…and shot at the same time.

I missed the bulls eye by two stripes. The other kid got one stripe off.

I knew I had aimed right. I knew I would have been able to get a bullseye.

"…the HELL?" I cried loudly as the yuppies cheered on the other putz. "What the hell…? I had that shot! There's no way…no way…you! You! You with the beard!" I rounded on Oliver Queen, who was smiling pleasantly in his stupid suit. "You weighted that goddamn arrow! I know you did!

"Now, son…Oliver Queen is a VERY well respected man…don't make accusations…" One of the judges said through a cheesy, strained smile.

"He DID!" I ran to pick up the arrow. "He…what?"

The arrow wasn't heavy anymore. The judge came over and felt it.

"Doesn't feel weighted to me, son…"

"But…but…"

"That's all right, Harry," Queen came over and patted the judge on the shoulder. "No harm done."

The judge walked away as I glared up at Queen, who beamed back. "What's your name, boy? Roy…"

"Harper," I snapped.

"You're from the Indian reservation? Would you like to come with me?"

"Um…NO. I know you weighted that arrow! I don't know how but you did! It may not seem like much to a rich…PERSON like you, but the reservation needed that money…so, no way am I talking to you!" I began to stomp away, but Oliver Queen called to me.

"I was actually thinking of funding the reservation. If I can talk to you about it."

I turned around slowly. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well. Okay. Where?"

"Just for a drive."

I know now that if Ollie hadn't been who he was, I probably would have gotten kidnapped or worse, randomly riding with rich strangers like that, but I wasn't very hip to that sort of stuff back then, so I got in the car, which was the fanciest automobile I'd ever seen.

We drove deep into the city and I told Ollie all about the reservation, even though he seemed to be concentrating on something else. I was beginning to get the feeling this was a bad idea. I was about to ask him what his deal was when we stopped suddenly.

"Listen," he muttered.

I noticed we were well out of town. We were by a secluded area, sort of the outskirts of the city. I could see the vague silhouettes of three people. Then I heard the scream

It happened so quickly. My eyes focused and I suddenly saw the three people were two girls and a guy. The guy was holding a blonde's arms as she struggled to get away, and the other was about to slit the blonde's throat.

I grabbed the bow. There was no thinking involved, the bow was in my lap and I was holding the "weighted" arrow from earlier. It took me less than a second to string and shoot.

The target was more than fifty feet away, but I hit it right where it was supposed to be, in the girls arm, away from any major arteries, but it made her drop the knife. The blonde headbutted the guy holding her in the nose and broke free, running in the direction of the town as the would-be-murderess began screaming bloody murder. Sirens sounded in the distance, I looked over to see Queen had dialed 911 on his cell phone. Had he been talking in it? I hadn't even heard his voice. I was just staring at my bow, not completely sure what has just happened.

We sped away. I didn't question why at the time. I didn't even think to ask why Oliver Queen has a bow of his own in his lap.

When we got back into town he said, "That was some nice work. You strung that arrow faster than I did. You're pretty speedy."

"What? What just happened?"

"Roy, what happened is you just made a nearly impossible shot that bagged the murderer that's been tearing this town apart."

"I…what are you talking about? Those two murders…on TV…we saw at the reservation…"

"You have TV there?"

"Of course we do, you ass. And those two murders were arson, not what we saw back there. And I noticed they were both minorities, too, and that girl was Caucasian."

"Oh…my God…you're right! How did I not notice that?" Queen slapped himself in the forehead. "Idiot! The murders had both been on Fridays too, so I was sure it was tonight…well, of course, it's good we saved that girl…"

That's when I saw it. The smoke. Coming from the reservation.

"Drive!" I screamed. "DRIVE!"

Ollie saw what I was pointing at and stepped on the gas. We were at the reservation in three minutes, and I jumped out of the car with my bow and arrow before the car even rolled to the stop in front of the blazing forest. To my relief, all of the reservation was outside the forest, near the cabin my dad used to live. All but two.

" Where are Brave Bow and Kai? "I asked Kaliska, one of my friends in the tribe, in Navajo.

" Brave Bow went back to rescue Kai. Roy, where are you going? Wait! " she cried, as I began to charge into the flaming forest. She and Oliver Queen both grabbed me.

"Let go of me!" I screamed.

"Roy! I see someone coming!" Ollie said.

Kai stumbled out of the forest. She was badly burned and crying.

The tribe converged on her. As glad as I was to see Kai alive, I couldn't help screaming.

" Kai! Kai! Where's Brave Bow? "

" H-He tripped! " She sobbed. " He came back to save me, and we were almost out, almost out, and he tripped and he told me to go and I saw him catch and fire and it was horrible and I ran and I ran and…and…and…

She broke down into sobbing, and they took her away. I just stood there, staring at the blazing forest that had consumed Brave Bow just like it had consumed by father, tears streaming silently down my cheeks. I didn't even notice Oliver Queen's hand leave my shoulder as he ran away into the night.

Late the next morning I was still in the hospital waiting room, not knowing quite what to do as fellow members of the reservation were treated, when Oliver Queen came in and sat down beside me.

"They, uh, caught the guy who did it. He was sick. In the head, I mean. He'd lost all his money recently and gone off his medication. Was doing dome sort of "ethnic cleansing" thing. He confessed to being responsible for the fire eight years ago as well, another time he went off those meds…I thought you'd want to know."

"When you say "they" caught the guy, you mean you, right?" I said bluntly, not looking at him. "You're some sort of bow and arrow crime fighter."

Ollie sighed. "Yeah. I'm the Green Arrow."

"That's a horrible name."

"I was never very good at names. Look, you were right. I did weight your arrow in that contest. It's just…everyone seemed to be getting sidekicks these days, and I wanted…someone to talk to…so I was thinking of taking on a kid partner…and you seemed perfect…but I thought "If he wins against this Olympics kid, he'll never have a shot at having a secret ID…" and the car ride…well, I didn't expect this to happen. I'm sorry. I can't help but feel like it's my fault."

"The only person who's fault it is was the crazy guy who torched the place," I said softly. "Stupid criminals."

We sat in silence for a long time. I had a feeling I knew what he was going to ask me.

"So. I've got…some money…I was going to build your tribe a new reservation, privately funded by me. You can live there, if you want. Or you can come with me and…"

"…Help you fight crime?"

"No pressure. You could live with me in my mansion in Star City. I have a rule about no killing…but I noticed you seemed to be into that yourself, aiming for that girls arm, away from arteries…"

"Chief didn't believe in killing."

"Well…"

I didn't just want to sit in a reservation for the rest of my life. I wanted to do something. I wanted to be a hero. Like Brave Bow. Like my dad. I looked over at Ollie. He looked back.

"So…" I said. "A mansion, huh?"

Thus began our dynamic duo. "Speedy" started out as a nickname Ollie would call me because I was faster to string a bow than him, like the first crook we stopped I got, and he high fived me and said "Good going, speedy!" so loudly the whole block heard. After that, it sort of evolved into my codename. Like we established earlier, Ollie really sucks at picking out names.

For what he lacked in speed, Ollie made up for with better accuracy than even Brave Bow. He also knew a heck of a lot about martial arts, and taught me new moves every night.

Living with Ollie was an adjustment though. I was used to the patient ways of Brave Bow, but Ollie was energetic, impatient and had a temper that rivaled mine. We were too similar, and clashed a lot.

Ollie was also impulsive. Three years after he took me in, he lost most of his money on the stock market. We had to move into a slum in the bad part of the city and Green Arrow was very dramatic about it. Not in that he whined about it, it was the opposite. Now that he could "relate" to the poor, he saw himself as a gritty avenger of the streets. He seemed to be really, really proud we had stupidly lost out money. It was no big deal to me, though.

Ollie had never paid much attention to me outside crime fighting. It got lonely, especially when I remembered how Brave Bow had always gone everywhere with me, but I was able to grin and bear it. Sometimes, I felt being around him made me into a worse person, making the bad traits I already possessed- self-absorption, a bad temper…even worse. But rarely would I ponder such things.

Then one day, I got whisked away to the tournament of heroes.

It has been a regular Saturday afternoon. Ollie and I were eating dinner together for once, and as usual, he was complaining about his relationship with some woman. Actually, Dinah Lance was really the first woman Ollie had been with he really cared for. She was a fellow superhero for one. But this didn't stop him from complaining. A lot.

"And then she tells me she isn't gonna call me anymore, just cuz I punched this lush out!"

"Well, why did you do it?" I said.

"He was making a pass at her!"

"So? Drunk people do stuff like that."

"A pass! In front of me!"

"I mean, it's not like Dinah can't take care of herself. She's better at martial arts than you are AND she has that Canary cry thing."

"You always side with her!"

"That's because she's better at you than everything."

"She is not!"

"Well, not archery. And you're a better cook. But besides that…."

Ollie stabbed at his food viciously. "Why don't you go patrol the streets for crime or something, huh?"

"Better than listening to you whine about Black Canary for the millionth time…"

I put the dishes away, and suited up. I was about to jump out the window dramatically and go fight crime, when suddenly I heard a loud zapping sound. And then the tournament of heroes happened, yadda yadda yadda, I was awesome, so what if Robin beat me, that's just because he's all weird and driven, plus I made him feel guilty about it with ONE SENTENCE before monkeyguy absorbed me into his jewel, now that's talent…where was I? Oh, yeah. Completely pointless tournament of heroes, but I got a nice communicator out of it. Next thing I know, I was a couple blocks away from Ollie's little slum. A little outside where I was targeting to land, but close enough.

Ha! Wait until I tell Ollie I'm an honorary Teen Titan!

I started to turn around, but suddenly, there was pain.

And then darkness.

And then…nothing.

When I woke up, I was on a cold, hard concrete floor with my hands ties behind my back. The first thing I noticed besides that was my bow and arrows were gone. No doubt I was in trouble here. I struggled up and took a look around. All I could see was pitch black. But I felt cold and gray, so I was guessing this was a dungeon cell or something. Great. This sucked. The only thing I could do was try to figure out where the door was, and it was probably locked.

I stumbled up, though moving made my head throb. God, I'd been hard. Whoever knocked me out was strong. Out of one prison, into another, I found the wall, and began rubbing along, rubbing my body against the cold stone. It made me feel exceedingly silly, but eventually I felt a crack and then a change in texture, and knew that was a door. Okay, time to use my mad skills. Maybe I could kick it down.

Hop back…hop back anddddddd…KICK! I heard the thump of my boot against the door a second before pain traveled up my leg and I fell back, gritting my teeth to keep from howling. I heard laughter from somewhere, echoing off the walls.

"Who's there?" I screamed.

"Do you want to know how long you've been out?" the voice chuckled.

I recognized it.

"Merlyn!" He was one of Green Arrow's greatest enemies, and a master archer as well. I stumbled up, and leaned on the door to take pressure off my smarting ankle.

"Two days. That's how long. And Green Arrow still hasn't come looking for you. And as we reside in the same city, I should be exceedingly easy to find. I'm in the place where you two last captured me!

He was still in that stupid archery museum? He's right, that IS pathetically easy to find.

"The only explanation I can think of is Green Arrow hasn't noticed you're gone…or doesn't care."

"You're lying! I bet I've only been out for five minutes." But my stomach was aching very much like a person who hadn't eaten in two days. And my stomach is very accurate, usually.

"I thought when you appeared in front of me like that on the street, I was the luckiest man in the world," Merlyn continued. "I knocked you out, took you here and waited for the Emerald Archer to come rescue you! The perfect trap, I thought! But apparently he doesn't care about you at all! I have to say this amuses me almost as much as the thought of my foe's death!"

Another peal of raucous laughter. Ollie must be in some kind of trouble, I decided, and that's why he didn't come. I'd better get out and help him.

"Tell you what, Boy Bowman," Merlyn finally stopped laughing. "I feel sorry for you, How about joining me? I promise, I always notice if my sidekicks go missing for two days."

"Not going to happen," I snapped.

"Yeah, I had a feeling. Well, how about this: I'm going to let you out. If you can get out of this museum without me killing you, you can leave. I'm bored anyway, there's not anything good on TV today."

That's the thing that's great about being a superhero, villains tend to be too melodramatic to shoot you in the head and get it over with.

"'Kay, deal."

"This will be fun."

And the door I was leaning on suddenly opened. I stumbled out, tripped and fell. Arrows flew at me immediately. I rolled out of the way, but one scratched my side painfully. I jumped up, grabbing a fallen arrow between my fingers. Barely avoiding more flying arrows, I managed to jump behind a statue of William Tell, which shielded me while I used the fallen arrow to saw my bonds open. When my hands were free, I peered from behind the statue and saw Merlyn by the entrance. I barely popped my head back behind the statue before an arrow flew straight through where it had been. His aim was excellent, and I was unarmed. How was I going to make it? Ummmm….

I pushed the statue in front of me, slowly moving forward so it acted as my shield. I heard Merlyn's annoying laugh, and too late saw an arrow arc around the statue and this time it went right into my shoulder. I cried out in pain and fell to my knees.

The next thing I knew, Merlyn was right above me, his bow pointed directly at my heart. He loosed the arrow and somehow I caught it with my good arm before it hit my heart, though it took skin off my hand. Then I kicked out, breaking his bow in half.

He finally stopped laughing. With a howl of rage he threw himself on top of me, punching me in the face over and over again. Through the pain, I remembered the arrow I still held in my hand. While he was distracted pounding on my face, I swung my arm out from under Merlyn, and stabbed him in the side with the arrow.

He rolled off me, howling in pain, and in two seconds I was up and running, all the way to the entrance.

"Go then! Go! Go back to your mentor who doesn't give a damn about you, you little-" Merlyn called after me, but I ignored him. I kept running. I ran without stopping all the way to Ollie's house and burst in.

Ollie was eating breakfast. Eggs.

He looked up at my entrance.

"There you are, Roy, haven't seen you in a- oh my God! What HAPPENED to you?" He stood up.

I stood there, stunned. "Merlyn was right. You didn't care. You didn't notice I was gone."

"Merlyn? Did he stick that arrow in your shoulder? I need to take you to the hosp-"

"Four days. I was gone four days. You didn't notice. You didn't care." I continued to stare.

"I'm sorry, Roy! I thought you were at school or crime fighting…"

"It's summer VACATION," I growled.

"Oh. I'm really sorry…I've been having problems with Dinah…"

"Problems. With. Dinah. I was kidnapped, forced to fight other teen heroes, kidnapped again, knocked out for two days, beaten up and shot with an arrow by your archenemy. But you didn't notice because YOU were having PROBLEMS with your girlfriend?" I screamed.

"I said I was sorry! Look, you're losing a lot of blood."

"Oh, don't worry about it. You can go hang out with Dinah if it's bothering you!"

"Roy, for the last time, I'm SORRY! How the hell was I supposed to know this was happening?" He was getting angry. Like he had a RIGHT to be angry.

"The last time you saw me, I was going off to fight crime," I said in a voice of forced calm. "You didn't even consider something could have happened to me out there?"

"Well, I-

"Merlyn's right. You don't give a damn about me."

"Roy, you're old enough to take care of yourself!" Ollie snapped with a flushed face.

"I've been old enough to take care of myself since I was ten, thanks to you!" I shouted.

"What?"

"I should have died with Brave Bow! I should have been there! Maybe I could have stopped the arsonist! But thanks to your little 'training' session, I wasn't there! Hell, it's your fault the guy wasn't in jail! You were supposed to catch the murderer but couldn't even remember his damn mode of operation! It's your fault Brave Bow died, and my fault for trusting you!"

It was like these thoughts had been lurking in the back of my brain forever, this anger, and I hadn't known it until now. And now it was out.

Ollie stared. "But you said…that day…That's…that's…not true."

"You know it is," I said, and I pulled the arrow out of my shoulder. (Now that I think about it, I was very lucky I didn't break off the shaft in my wound when I did that. It wasn't a good idea, period, really, because as soon as I did it, I immediately started bleeding more.)

Then I broke the arrow in half, dropping it on the breakfast table in disgust.

"What the hell was that?" Ollie asked.

"That was SYMBOLIC!" I retorted. "I quit!"

I stomped up the stairs, got together a bag of things, including a huge supply of bows and arrows, a bunch of extra costumes and some money. I also fixed up and bandaged my arm. Looking in the mirror, I saw my face was half swollen from Merlyn's beating, which is a shame because I really am extremely handsome, but it would heal soon enough.

When I got downstairs, Ollie was still in the same spot, looking befuddled. "Roy, I-

"Shut up. There's nothing you can say." I snapped.

"FINE!" Ollie called after me angrily as I walked out the door. "You'll come back anyway! I know you will!"

"Don't count on it," I muttered.

I could feel angry tears welling up, but I blinked them back. Halfway through the city, I ran into a couple of kids who were, in fact, so stupid they were doing heroin on a park bench.

"Hey!" I called. The kids saw me coming, beat up and armed, and bolted, leaving their needles and stuff behind.

I went over and picked up a needle. My shoulder was killing me. I wonder if drugs help pain…any pain…I bet that's why people like them. Even though it only for a little while, they take away the hurt. Even though only for a little while, they make you not care.

I wish, just once, I could not care.

I stared at the needle in my hand for a long time.

Then…

"Oh, screw this," I snapped. "If I'm thinking about this crap, I need to get out of here."

I threw the needle down to the ground, hard.

"That was symbolic," I muttered, and I headed out of Star City. My destination: anywhere but where I was now.

Bumblebee

"I…always had the shrinking ability…but a friend needed help…so I invented the lasers and the wings and some mild superstrength and invulnerability from the suit…and went to help him. When Brother Blood came recruiting, I decided to go undercover…there wasn't…much for me at home."

Say there was this girl once. Say her mother had been a brilliant scientist and smarter and more beautiful than the girl could ever hope to be. Say her mother was the earth, and the girl was the moon, orbiting around it. Or that her mother was the sun, and the girl was a little flower soaking up her light, hoping for it to strengthen her.

Say one day the earth fell. Say one day the sun went out. And everything, everything was dark. And cold. And lonely.

Say the girl's mother died.

The girl's father was plunged into the darkness in an instant. From that day on, it was like he was a zombie. He went to work, and he came home, and he watched TV. The end. That was it. The girl could have been in the house alone.

The only way for the girl to claw her way out of the dark was to hold onto a little bit of light…rays of sun her mother left behind. Her work. All her brilliant work and theories and science that was left in the basement…. Cutting edge stuff, formulas and plans for technology that could make you stronger and freer and more powerful. Stuff the mother never got to finish. But the girl, she thought she could finish it, maybe. That if she held onto the dying sunlight enough, she could begin to shine on her own.

So the girl worked every night on the project. She knew she could do it. She had always been smart. Her mother had said the girl was…special. The girl could do something no one else did…she could make herself small. So small, she could go by unnoticed. Her mother had been fascinated. Despite this, she had never subjected her daughter to any invasive experiments, despite the fact the girl knew she desperately wanted to. But she didn't want to hurt her daughter.

The girl had always remembered that.

After two years without the sun above her and the earth beneath her, the girl was getting close to recapturing it. She was almost finished with the work. She was happy when she was working…but when she was around her father…or in school…she felt so small. She had to check, every day to make sure she just wasn't accidentally shrinking. Sometimes, when she practiced shrinking (she did it in front of the mirror every day…like she used to do for her mother) she secretly wanted to blink out of existence. But she had to make her mother proud.

And life became more worthwhile when she made a friend one day. His name was Matt.

"Um…hi. Is this seat taken?"

"Wha-?" she looked up from her book on molecular biology to see a tall boy with coffee colored skin smiling at her.

"I was just wondering if it was okay to sit with you. This whole lunch table is empty, so…"

"Whatever you want," she said shortly, hiding her shock. Other kids tended to stay away from her, normally because she was always so focused on "the project". They thought she was weird.

He sat down. "My name's Matt."

"I'm Karen Beecher." She said. She really wanted to get back to her book.

"So…molecular biology."

"Mmm-hmmm."

"Don't know much about it myself."

What a surprise. Was this kid new or something? Yes, he was that kid from Ohio who transferred here last week.

"Pretty big school. Bigger than in Ohio," he said casually.

"Uh huh." Please go away.

"It makes me feel…small, y'know. All these kids."

"Wait, what?" she said.

"Oh, it's stupid. I…was just saying I feel small a lot. Here. Silly, huh?"

"No…I…I feel that way too…" she marveled.

"Really?"

And so Matt and the girl became friends, and he joined her search for the sun and the earth. Ever since her mother died, the girl had not been able to talk to anyone, but she could talk to Matt. He knew about her quest to finish her mother's work. He would listen to her talk about it, though he didn't understand what she said. But he listened. But he also longed. He tried to make friends with kids much higher on the social ladder than the girl. But it backfired. He refused to cooperate in something they did (from the way he talked, the girl got the feeling he had refused to sell drugs) and the guys came after him. And it wasn't just for a chat.

"Oh God."

"What's wrong, Matt? I've gotta get home." She checked her watch wearily. She was doing what she did every day, walking Matt to her car so she could give him a ride home, then she would head home, fix her dad dinner, finish her homework in like, thirty seconds and go to work in the basement.

"Here they come."

"They? You mean-?"

"Yeah."

She looked over her shoulder. "Just two guys. Not very big, either of them."

"What, are you saying I should be able to take them? Because I can't, Karen."

"I wasn't talking about you."

She turned around to face the boys, standing up ramrod straight.

"What's going on?"

"We need to talk to your friend," one guy said smoothly.

"Yeah? Well, he doesn't wanna talk, 'kay, Spike?"

"Karen," Matt hissed. "Stop it, you'll get hurt, just get out of here…"

"Shut up, Matt. Let me handle this."

"Get out of the way, girl," the second guy, the one with spiky hair, growled. "You can't protect him."

"You have five seconds to back off," she snapped.

The guy with the buzz cut attempted to push her out of the way to get to Matt.

"Okay, that's five," she before grabbing his head and smashing it directly into her upraised knee. She shoved him into his buddy and grabbed Matt's hand.

"RUN!"

They ran. The boys began to catch up with them soon enough, but not before she reached her car, jumped in dragging Matt with her, put the key in the ignition and motored out of there.

"Whoa!" Matt gasped. "Karen, I had no idea how hardcore you were."

He was her best friend, but she didn't tell him about how her dad had been a self-defense nut before her mother had died and he became a zombie, and all the lessons their family took together. She just kept driving.

Two weeks later, she finished it. Her mothers dream finally realized. At long last. Tears of happiness streamed down her cheeks.

The bracelets, which she modeled after Wonder Woman's (she was a geek, she admitted it) gave her enhanced strength. The wings allowed you to fly as high and far as you wanted to. And the lasers…were her favorite. She'd always had a thing for electricity.

She sat there, filled with joy, imagining how proud her mother would be,

But as soon as she imagined her mother's face, the joy deflated. She didn't think it was possible. Karen thought…if she finished it, she'd stop missing her mother. Stop feeling…empty and useless… and small.

But…she did. Who was she going to tell? Her father? He was asleep upstairs now. This invention wouldn't magically make him better… she knew that. What was she going to do with the stuff? Patent it? Sell it? It all felt so…mundane. What was if useful for? What had her mother been planning to do once she finished?

And she found herself crying. This time, tears of sadness. She didn't even know why. She should be happy! She should have felt the earth under her feet and the heat of the sun returned and…

Her cell phone rang. It was Matt. That was it, she'd tell Matt! Maybe he'd be able to cheer her up!

She flipped her phone open.

"Matt, you won't believe it, I-!"

"Karen! Karen, they're after me, oh GOD, Karen, they're going to kill me!"

"What? Matt, why would they kill you? Just because you won't sell their drugs?"

"YES, dammit, they're crazy! They broke into my HOUSE! I'm on the run! You have to help me!"

"I'll call the police-"

"NO, you can't! They're in on it!"

"What?"

"Please, Karen, there's nothing you can do…it's all my fault…"

"What? It's not your fault, why are you…?"

"I just wanted to say goodbye. So goodbye, Karen, okay? Goodbye. I'm sorry."

"Matt, WAIT!"

But he'd already hung up. She stared at the phone. What could she do? She should call the police. But Matt said they were in on it…whatever "it" was…and even if they weren't they might not get there in time. But what could she do?

It was like she was losing everything.

She looked miserably around the lab. And then it dawned on her. The obvious. The bracelets…the lasers…the wings…she could use them to help Matt! This was what she'd created them for, this was what her mother would have wanted!

She was in a skirt, sandals and a T-shirt…that wouldn't do for fighting. Her mother had some old clothes in the basement. Quickly as she could, she found some black stretch pants and a top. The top fitted her a little snug, but that was all right. The only shoes she could find were some heels, but she'd be flying anyway, and they'd make her kicks even more painful. And finally, she put on the bracelets, clipped the lasers to her pants, and strapped on her wings.

She was out of the house in two minutes.

She flew high over the town, too anxious to even enjoy the feeling of soaring through the sky. Fortunately, she found Matt rather quickly. Two guys and one girl were chasing him. They had guns. She swooped down, and the element of surprise let her grab the guns out of the guy's hands. The lone girl with a ski cap turned quickly with her gun pointed, but she was able to kick the weapon out of hat-girl's hand. The boys, after a second of nonplussed staring, tried to attack her, but with one punch, she downed both of them. The bracelets really worked!

Karen kicked the girl in the ski cap in the stomach and the assailant doubled over.

"K-Karen? Is that you?" Matt was still standing on the sidewalk.

"Matt! Are you okay?" She ran to hug him.

"Yuh-yeah…"

"I finished my mother's invention's, isn't it great?"

"I…, look out!"

Karen spun around, letting go of Matt. The girl in the gang had gotten her bearings, and retrieved her gun.

"I don't know what kind of superfreak you are, but this boy owes us money," the ski-cap girl said with gritted teeth.

"Money? What's she talkin' about, Matt?"

"Karen…I… I'm sorry…I lied to you…"

"And you lied to me," said the ski-cap girl.

Karen heard a click and without thinking, grabbed the laser from her belt and zapped her assailant's hand with a burst of electricity. The girl dropped the gun, clutching her hand, and Karen nailed her with the knockout punch she'd used earlier.

She watched the unconscious girl for a minute, her breath misting the air.

She turned to Matt.

"You lied to me."

"I…Well, I wasn't selling drugs…"

"Just buying them. And not paying. Show me your pockets."

Matt sheepishly took some small bags of cocaine out of his jeans.

"Karen…I…you saved my life…I'm sorry…"

"Save it. I feel so stupid." She turned away from him and looked up at the night sky. Stars winked back at her. "…And small."

"Karen…"

But she was shrinking. Shrinking smaller and smaller, until Matt could have squashed her like a bug if he wanted too. But he just stared in shock as she buzzed away into the night.

The next few days, Karen stayed home from school. Her dad didn't notice. Without exactly knowing why, she went to work sewing on her Mom's old clothes. She modified her top so it was striped yellow and black and cut holes into the too-long stretch pants so they hooked onto her heels. She modified the lasers so they were shaped like B's. Her Mom's name had been Beatrice, but really, Karen wanted them to match her new top and her wings.

She was a bug smashed on a windshield. Might as well be a Bumblebee and get some nectar along the way.

One night, she was cooking dinner for her sleeping father when she heard a news report. Something about a guy who seemed to be taking in young superpowered kids and exerting some sort of control over them. Right near her town , too.

"Control, huh? Let's see how well he controls me," she said to herself.

She left a note for her dad and took her…personal effects.

After all, every girl has to find her way to shine.

Aqualad

"I was abandoned as a kid because of some prophecy that said I'd bring doom or something. Lots of kids ended up like that in that part of Atlantis, the Idilysts were kind of crazy. I didn't bring doom, but I had some nice powers, who knows why. That's why I survived, and met Aquaman. We've always worked with each other, but not necessarily sidekick and hero. So I'm my own man."

Rock-a-bye baby…

At the bottom of the sea…

With any luck…

You won't die too slowly…

That song is my earliest memory. I don't know who sang it or where…I just remember it being there…

After that, it's just me…and the water…

The water bought me food. The water bought me sustenance…and sleep…and care.

It spoke a language I understood as I grew. It sang to me, and it did whatever I wanted…

We were happy, the water and I…

Until the giant seahorse invaded.

"AGHHHHHH!"

The huge pink creature framed the entrance of my cave. There was something on it as well, something built like I was, only large with yellow hair. But he didn't scare me as much as the fish.

I wanted it to go away I wanted it to go away SO BADLY.

And then my prayers were answered. It gently bucked the blonde guy and retreated.

"Smoky, where are you-oh, what?"

I couldn't understand what the blonde man was saying. I didn't remember words back then…

"You have telepathy, boy? You communicated with Smoky? I've never met an Atlantean outside my kingdom that could- what's wrong?"

His voice was scaring me. I retreated to the back of the cave, shaking.

"Hello, can you…can you…your eyes…great…Neptune! You're an abandoned Idylist child!"

Goawaygoawaygoaway…

Suddenly thoughts floated into my head. Thoughts like water, flowing moving changing…showing me what they meant through the way the moved …I understood them. They came from the yellow haired man.

I'm not going to hurt you. I want to take you home, where it is much nicer.

I believed him. Somehow, I trusted him.

I let him take my hand. He turned and I could tell he was about to call the pink monster back.

I shook my head, trembling, tugging at his hand.

"No Smoky? Okay. You'll get used to him later."

He took me home to his palace where there was food and warmth and love. He taught me to speak through telepathy. The only thing he couldn't teach me was not to be afraid of fish. They scared me so badly, ESPECIALLY when I heard their voices in my head. I didn't like the voices, they were like water, but solid. And slimy. And that was wrong.

My isolation for the first four years of my life had made me into a bit of loner. I liked to go outside of the palace, and sit in the quiet spots of the city. As long as I didn't run into any fish, I could sit for hours, just thinking.

My guardian, King Arthur, was also Aquaman, a super tough hero who fought for Atlantis on the surface world. He had powers like me, only he couldn't control water. Actually, I'd never told him about how I talked to the water or how I made it move for me. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I could tell he wanted me to fight crime with him, and I was just content being me.

One day, I was sitting in the park and these two mermen floated by me, arguing. They didn't seem to notice me. That happened to me a lot.

"…We'll need a mechanic if we're going to pull the job."

"What about Tramm?"

"He'd never do it."

"He won't have a choice. And after that, we'll make sure he never tells out dirty little secret."

"Okay, we'll have to go get him now though."

I was nonplussed as I watched the men float on. This sort of exciting stuff never happened to me! Well, it looked like Tramm was in danger, whoever he was. I'd follow these two men to see where Tramm was, then I'd call the Atlantean guard, or Aquaman.

It was pretty easy following the mermen, they weren't the most attentive pair. Soon they reached a house, that appeared to be made from spare parts and tin cans dropped in the ocean by surface dwellers. Weird.

The two men opened to door.

"Hey, Tramm. Trident gave us a job to do, and our rides totaled." The first guy said.

I heard some babbling from Tramm, but I could also hear his thoughts. His…slimy…fish…thoughts.

" Trident's a loser. I'm not doing anything for you two."

Augh! Tramm was part fish! Slimy…slimy…fish…

I had to get out of here, or else I was going to throw up. The smell… But the other guy was drawing a water missile gun, to "convince" Tramm probably. Agh, he was aiming for Tramm's knee, I wouldn't be able to get Aquaman in time…! But Tramm was just a fish…but he could feel and think just like me…I couldn't just…WATER DO SOMETHING!

And the water around them catapulted the bad guys straight up. Tramm looked over at me in shock.

"RUN!" I screamed. "NO, WAIT, NOT TOWARDS ME!"

But it was too late. I bolted, and Tramm bolted after me.

"Wait, who are you? What's your problem?"

"GO AWAY! AGH FISH SLIMY!"

"Huh?"

"FISH! I HATE FISH!"

"How can you hear my thoughts? Hey, wait! You're that kid that hangs around the King. That aqua…lad."

"Aqualad?"

"Useless peons! Never again will I allow others to do my work for me! No one can live up to my perfection!"

"That was a weird thing to think."

"That wasn't me! It was…"

I crashed into a scaly wall before Tramm could finish his thought. In fact, it wasn't a wall it was a big reptilian…guy with yellow eyes.

"Ah! I was planning on those fools helping me assassinate King Arthur, but now I have his son as bait, he will come to me! Witness my excellence!"

The reptile's scaly hand grabbed me by the throat, and lifted me up. I struggled to breathe, but I couldn't suck in any water.

[I "Hold on, kid from Atlantis! I'll save you[/I Tramm tugged uselessly at Trident's vast arm.

[I My…name…is…Garth[/I I couldn't concentrate; I couldn't speak to the water… my head ached so badly…

"Fool!" The reptilian monster shook Tramm off easily. "I am perfection! I am excellence! I am Trident! And now I have the King's son for my own! TO MY SUBMARINE!"

Tramm attempted to follow Trident but was stabbed with his…well…trident. I could feel Tramm's consciousness blinking out as he fainted, and it hurt. It was like I'd gotten used to his thoughts, slimy as they were.

Trident dragged me into a submarine and threw me in the brig. Inside here there was nothing but air. No water for me to control. Wasn't powerful enough to make the water crush the sub from the outside…

"Yes! Behold, my greatest plan yet! Trident victorious!" The megalomaniac ranted as he turned on his sub. "I am truly a specimen of grandeur! This filthy Idylist cannot compete!"

"Filthy…what?" I coughed.

"Idylist, boy, Idylist. I can tell of your mongrel heritage because of your unusual eyes."

"What's an Idylist?"

Trident stopped, and turned around as the sub floated upward. "You mean, you do not know? Tell me, boy. Can you control the water?"

"Yuh-yeah, how'd you-?"

"Ah HA! So, Aquaman never told you of your origins, little Aqua lad? Did not wish to trouble you perhaps?"

"Why do people keep calling me Aqualad? My name is Garth! What about my origins?" I snapped.

"Boy, don't you know that every Idylist born with the ability to control water, as quite a few of them are, is left to die at the bottom of the sea? The Idylist is a traditional race, and believe those with strange powers are cursed! Not like myself, I rely on science! But that is because I am-

"Perfect. Yeah, I know," I said, unnerved. So that was how it happened. That song I remembered…my mother had sung it, I knew that now. Was the song some sort of sick Idylist tradition? I wondered if they were still alive. My parents.

"Was that sarcasm, boy? Backsass? Do you not believe Trident is better than you in every way? Perhaps you need a lesson…a painful one!" Trident threatened me with his weapon. I shrank back as he moved forward. How did I get into this?

Suddenly there was crashing noise and the submarine stopped dead.

"What the-?" Trident muttered.

Then the whole ship fell apart around us.

Next thing I knew, I was dropping through the water, along with a lot of debris. The weight of my cage kept me from swimming instead of falling, and I banged painfully against the bars. Suddenly, Tramm was floating along beside me with a tool belt.

Hold on, Garth!

It was about a second before Tramm pried the door open and pulled me out. My cage crashed to the bottom of the sea.

"You saved me!" I thought to Tramm with astonishment.

"That submarine was shoddily built. Maybe fish-people aren't so bad after all, huh?"

"No, they're not," I agreed. "In fact, I think I might like fish-people quite a bit."

"Trident's gone, though".

"That's cool. If he comes back, I'll be ready. And with Aquaman gone to the surface world so much, maybe Atlantis needs a protector."

"An…Aqualad!"

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

And we swam away home.

Mas y Menos

"What about the twins? Oh wait, I forgot."

"Nacimos con siete veces la habilidad de ser mas rapido que el sonido, pero solo somos poderosos cuando nuestros cuerpos se rozan asi!" They said together.

"Yes, we know you were born with the ability. But how did you end up on your own?" Aqualad sighed.

"Que? No hablamos inglais," they said together again.

"Fine, don't tell us then."

Marianella Bauer had been very, very poor. That was to be expected when someone crosses the border to escape an old boyfriend. America was supposed to be the land of opportunity, but for a young girl with twins on the way and no green card, the only job she could find was as a test subject.

They said the tests wouldn't affect the babies. She had believed them, perhaps out of desperation. And it could have turned out much worse. The babies could have been subject to all sorts of horrible mutations. Instead, they were fast. Really fast.

It wasn't apparent at first, but when they started crawling, they seemed to gravitate to each other. And all they had to do was touch and Marianella couldn't keep up with them. It frightened her, so she kept them apart, in separate rooms, until they were old enough to be able to understand they couldn't use their powers.

Martin and Michael were energetic boys, and joined at the hip. Despite Marianella and the school teaching them English the best they could, though they understood it, they didn't like to speak it. It was like a secret language for them, speaking Spanish. Nobody could understand.

But the family had big problems. Marianella has more side effects from the testing. She felt sick all the time. It seemed to get worse every day. But she had to go to work, or the family would starve. And she couldn't afford a doctor.

Micheal and Martin skipped school a lot, using their powers to get tips from lazy construction workers and manual laborers, sometimes able to score steady jobs from a few who didn't care about the laws against child labor. But none of them lasted very long. The twin's hope was to earn enough money so their mother could stay home, get a doctor and take care of herself, but it was never quite enough.

Marianella knew about the jobs (and disapproved, but didn't really have the energy to stop them) but she didn't know the twins used their powers when they did them. She had, in fact, forbidden them to ever use their powers.

We don't know how they work and we can't afford anyone knowing! For all we know, every time you run, you could be taking years off you life! She warned them often.

But to the twins, running could never be bad. It tasted like freedom and felt like flying. It brought forth endless options…both good and bad.

Every night, the twins would have the same argument.

We're never going to make enough money. Nobody's going to cut us a break! If we don't want Mom to die, we're going to have to-

We can't DO that, Mike. Mom would never approve.

She doesn't have to know! Michael rolled over on the bed, glaring at his brother. As long as we don't tell!

We can't. We can't take anyone hostage, we can't steal to get the medicine…it's not what we were taught, Martin shook his head.

So you want her to die.

No!

I can't do this without you, you know that…

One day, Marianella couldn't get out of bed. The twins stayed home from school, pooled what little money they had, and got a doctor. She told them that their mother would die within the week, maybe within the day if she didn't get some serious medical attention right now, from a hospital.

Michael looked over at his brother, waiting.

Martin sighed and nodded.

Where are you two going? Marianella asked.

Out, The twins said together.

You're not going to finally do that insane plan to hold the lab hostage to get me treatment, are you? Marianella said sternly.

The twins stopped dead and looked at their mother in shock. How did you-?

I'm sick, not stupid. I know what's going on in my own house. I also know you use your powers often. And I absolutely forbid you to steal for me.

There was a silence as the twins stared at their mother, pale, drawn and determined. Michael looked at Martin. Martin looked at Michael.

"Lo siento, madre…" Micheal said

"…pero tenemos correr." Martin finished.

"WAIT!" Marianella yelled before the two of them could touch hands. "Ven a la tele!"

She gestured to the television and turned it up with her remote.

"…A monster is attacking downtown New York, killing people left and right."

You have a choice, Marianella said firmly. You can be selfish and save one person…or be selfless and save many. You know what I want you to do. I trust you to the right thing.

They hesitated.

She glared, then broke into a fit of coughing.

We will be back as quickly as we can, they said.

"Yo se," she said with a smile. Me encanto ustedes.

We love you, too.

And they ran. They reached downtown New York in less than a millisecond, and swept people out of the monsters way.

Are you okay? They asked the last girl they rescued, who has almost been crushed.

"Ohmigod, that was amazing! You guys totally saved me."

" Eh, mas o menos," Micheal shrugged.

"Mas Y Menos? Is that some Spanish name?"

"Que? Es no Mas y Menos, Mas O Menos! No es nuestros llamas, tambien!

Forget it "Menos", let's go! Martin snapped.

They used their speed to create a tornado and airlift the monster to the middle of the ocean. Police 'copters converged on it from there and the twins ran home as fast as they could. But even then, some part of them knew what they'd find.

She…She's sleeping, right?

No. No, she's not.

They watched the ambulance haul her away, the sirens calls merging with the night.

I don't understand why you never let us get her medicine. Do you really think it would have been wrong to steal for a good reason like that? Michael asked his brother.

No. No, I didn't. But she would have. She would have hated it.

So…what do we do now ?" the boy looked up at the sky.

…What she would have wanted. The right thing, Martin said.

Michael looked at Martin. Martin looked at Michael. And held out his hand.

"Mas y Menos?"

Michael gripped it, and everything seemed to crackle.

"Si podemos."

And they took off into the night.