A/N: We're getting closer and closer... Enjoy!

It didn't take the World's Greatest Detective to see how happy Roy was after his return to the Team. He started spending a lot more time at Mount Justice with Kaldur, usually leaving the Manor after lunch and not returning until dinner. It brought Alfred and Dick's attitudes up to see Roy so obviously happy. Bruce meanwhile wasn't as happy, but he kept his distrustful comments to himself. But, Roy was in the best mood anyone could be in. Even with his restricted freedoms, spending time at the cave with Kaldur was always great.

However, despite his newfound happiness, Roy wasn't oblivious to how increasingly worried and upset Dick seemed to be getting. Just a week after Roy was back on the Team, he returned to the cave to find Dick closing something on the Bat-computer with a worried look on his face. "What's that?" Roy asked as he approached.

"Nothing," Dick said. He turned to look at Roy with a smile. "What were you up to this afternoon?"

"Kal was teaching me how to swim backward."

"Backwards? Wow, moving up in the world." The grin on Dick's stayed even as his brother elbowed him. Their conversation moved on to Dick's day at school and Roy forgot about his younger brother's mysterious behavior.

Until two days later.

Roy knocked on Dick's door, then opened it slowly. "Dick?" he called out. "Are you in here?" As he wandered in, he happened to walk past the teen's laptop. It was open on his desk, displaying the news story. Roy frowned as he leaned over the back of Dick's desk and read the headline. "Second Weapons Theft in Madrid." He furrowed his brow a little bit, but before he could read anymore, the top half of the laptop suddenly closed.

"Why are you looking through my stuff?" Dick asked.

"Uh…I was looking for you and it was just…open. Why were you looking at that article?"

"It's for a homework assignment."

"You had like four tabs open for that one article."

"I like to compare stories." Dick crossed his arms. "What did you want?"

"I just wanted to see if you wanted to spar with me before we leave for patrol."

"Sure. Let's go." It didn't escape Roy that Dick waited for him to leave first. So he did, but not before glancing back at the laptop as he left.

The subject didn't come up again for another few days. The next time it did, Roy decided to join his brother in the den; having been forced to stop practicing his archery by Alfred. As he passed behind Dick, he glanced at the laptop screen and stopped. 'More about the weapon thefts?' His eyes skimmed the article, then popped back up to the web tabs. 'And the schedule for Haly's International Circus?' As if he could sense his presence, Dick suddenly turned around and gave him a half-glare.

"What are you doing?" Dick asked.

"Uh…nothing. I just- What exactly are you doing?"

"I told you, it's a homework assignment."

"Dick…whatever it is, you can tell me."

"There's nothing to tell. I'm working on homework."

"…Ok." Roy sat down in an armchair and opened the book in his lap. It was hard to focus because he kept glancing up at his brother every few minutes. Dick didn't seem to notice though, because he was engrossed in his laptop. However, Roy did notice that Dick's face kept contorting in anger and confusion. It was silent between them for the entirety of the time they spent in den together. After almost two hours, Dick suddenly closed his laptop and left the room. 'Something's going on with him,' Roy thought, pretending to read his book. 'Something. I'm sure of it.'

The week of Christmas, Roy came downstairs to maintenance on his trick arrows when he saw Dick pacing and muttering to himself. It caused Roy to pause on the stairs, standing there watching him. Whatever was on the teen's mind, it was so pertinent that he didn't even notice that Roy was there. Curious and even a little concerned, Roy stood there, silently, and waited for Dick to notice his presence. When it didn't happen after nearly ten minutes, Roy walked the rest of the way down the stairs and cleared his throat. The noise caused Dick to jump.

"When did you get here?" Dick asked.

"…A little while ago," Roy replied evasively. "What's going on with you? I was here for ten minutes and you didn't even notice-"

"Nothing's wrong. I've just got a lot on my mind."

"No, something's wrong. I can tell."

"Roy-"

"Dick. Come on, it's me."

Dick crossed his arms and sighed. "There'd been a string of high-profile weapons thefts in Europe. All of the thefts have coincided with stops by Haly's. I hacked some international databases and…Interpol is investigating the circus. They think someone inside Haly's is committing the thefts."

"Well…are they?"

"No! No one in the circus would ever do anything like this!"

"Ok, ok. So, what're you going to do?"

"The only thing I can do. Find the real criminal and turn them in so Interpol will leave Haly and the circus alone." Dick sighed. "I have to go to Europe."

"You're going to Europe?!"

"Shh! Not so loud, I don't exactly want Bruce to know about it!"

"Yes, because your legal guardian definitely shouldn't know when you're planning to leave the continent."

"I have to do this, Roy. The circus is- was my home. It's still an important part of who I am."

"You can't go to Europe alone, Dick!"

"I'm…not going alone…"

"Who's going with you? Wally?"

"…Actually no, but…the rest of the Team is."

"You're going with the Team?! But you don't want Bruce to know-" Roy stopped as his brain put all the pieces together. "You're going to lie to the Team. You'll tell them its an official mission."

"…Yeah."

"Dick, you can't do that!"

"I have to!"

"Dick-"

"Look, I know you freak out at the very thought of any kind of lie, but not all lying is bad. Sometimes you have to lie for the right reasons. I have to do this. I owe it to Haly and to- to my parents. My dad practically grew up there and Haly's meant the world to them. I have to stop it from being shut down. I have to."

Roy studied the earnest expression on his younger brother's face. 'I know that look…' He sighed. "Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes, fine. I won't tell Bruce. You have to go to Europe and fix this, so we'll go to Europe and fix this."

"We?" Dick frowned.

"Yes, we. I'm part of the Team too, in case you forgot."

"Yeah, but… Roy, Bruce was furious when you went to a dance, how do you think he'll react when you leave the country?"

"He'll be mad." Which Roy felt like was a severe understatement. "But I'm not letting you go to Europe alone."

'It's not really alone,' Dick thought. "Let's go then. We have some thieves to catch."

— —

"Madame and Monsouire. Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Haly's International Traveling Circus!" Haly raised his arms as the spotlights focused on him. "Where the world this evening, is your oyster. And these are your latest pearls: the Daring Dangers! Dan Danger!" The spotlight shone on Robin, who swung from a platform on a trapeze bar. "Dawn Danger." Miss Martian swung out and jumped to Robin's bar as he flipped off it. "Diane Danger. Dane Danger." Arsenal and Artemis each pulled back the arrow they had nocked to their bowstrings. "And finally, Dean Danger." Superboy threw two barrels in the air and the two archers aimed their arrows. Robin and Miss Martian went through the barrels just as the arrows whizzed past. They came out safe on the other side and caught their trapeze bars. "Amazing, folks! You'll never see another trapeze act like this! And all performed without a net!"

Arsenal looked up at his brother. Robin had flipped off his bar again and was flying out toward Miss Martian's hands. For a second Arsenal felt the usual joy he did at seeing his brother on the trapeze; then Robin missed Miss Martian's hands. In the blink of an eye the teen was falling towards the ground, fast.

'Robin!' Miss Martian yelled through the mind link. Arsenal took a step forward subconsciously as his brother fell.

'Don't blow our cover!' Robin called back to Miss Martian.

'Is saving your life ok?' Superboy asked as he threw a barrel up at Robin. The teen landed on it and it carried him back up toward Miss Martian. Arsenal watched with bated breath as Robin reached up for Miss Martian's hands and made it.

'What did I say?'

'The crowd can't see me using my telekinesis from below.'

'Just let her save your life!' Arsenal hissed at his brother through the mind link.

'Besides, I've been using it all night. I'm not exactly the acrobat you are.' They landed on the platform and waved at the crowd down below.

'Yeah, neither am I right now,' Robin replied. 'I think I caught that 24-hour bug that's been going around the circus.'

'Then maybe you should go back to the trailer,' Arsenal told him.

'The show must go on.'

Arsenal rolled his eyes as Miss Martian and Robin climbed down the ladder and joined everyone else. As soon as they were close, Arsenal put his arm around Robin. Instead of complaining, the two of them joined the rest of the team in waving to the crowd.

"Put your hands together for the Daring Dangers!" Holy yelled as they waved.

'Didn't think I could make it through,' Miss Martian said through the mind link.

'Me neither," Robin replied. 'Backstage.' Arsenal forced as he noticed a bead of sweat making their way down his brother's face. "Bro, you can back off."

"Are you sure you're ok?" Arsenal asked. "Because-"

"I'm fine. I-" Robin stopped as Superboy elbowed him. The three of them turned to see Haly talking to two twins.

"-was your slot until you missed the performance in Paris," Haly was saying.

"Carlo was sick!" one of the twins insisted. "He's better now!"

"Plus those Dangers are a sham!" the other one, Carlo, added. "They say they're brothers and sisters, but they don't even look alike!"

"Ah, you just don't like the competition," Haly replied as he brushed past them, right into the face of a man in a suit. "Not you again! We're in the middle of a show!"

"We'll talk after then, but we will talk," the man replied. "Another city, another technology firm robbed, another stop on your tour. If I prove you're responsible, I will shut you down."

"I've got three minutes to grab props and get back in the cinder ring." Holy brushed past the man, who turned to the Dangers.

"Agent King Faraday." He pulled out an Interpol badge and showed it to the Team. "New act?"

"Yeah," Robin replied. "Just joined the tour."

"Probably clears you. Don't get too comfy though. Haly's going down for this." As the agent turned away,

Arsenal noticed that Robin's eyes were narrowed and his whole body was rigid. And like that, Arsenal knew the agent was on his brother's list. Fantastic.

— —

Later that night, the Team converged on a warehouse in Bruges.

'If Interpol's already on this, why are we bothering?' Superboy asked, finally saying the question he'd been wondering since they'd met the agent.

'Batman said so,' Robin replied. 'Why? You have something better to do?' He got no reply.

'How do we know the thieves will hit here?' Artemis asked.

'There are more obvious targets,' Arsenal added.

'And Faraday had them covered,' Robin replied. 'But I've analyzed the tech already stolen and the patterns suggest this is the place.' He wiped his brow with a noticeable grimace.

'How do you feel?' Miss Martian asked him.

'Lousy actually, but I'll manage.'

'Contact, northeast quadrant!' Superboy said suddenly. They all watched as a shadowy figure ran up to the fence around the warehouse and flipped over it. 'Guess we know why Carlo missed a performance.'

'Maybe it was Carlo, maybe his brother. Keep an open mind. And move in.' Arsenal followed his brother closely as they cleared the fence and snuck around the buildings. Not long after that, they heard a huge bang! as Superboy landed. "Anyone see where he went?"

"The warehouse," Superboy said after a few seconds. They moved quickly, taking back to the roofs and going in through the windows near the top of the building. They snuck along the catwalks on the upper level. Below them, the thief used a crowbar to pry open a crate of technology. Robin's cackle suddenly filled the space.

"Caught you red-handed," the teen smirked as the thief stood up and turned around. "Probably red-faced, too."

"Acrobatics can't get you out of this," Artemis said. The thief simply raised something and a column of flames was suddenly shot at them. Arsenal and Artemis threw themselves back to avoid being burned. The Team retreated quickly as the flames seemed to spread and follow them.

Arsenal stopped briefly behind something and aimed his arrow; until the label on one of the crates got his attention. "Those boxes are full of live ammo!" he yelled. "Move!" They headed for the windows but knew they wouldn't be making it in time. They need up under a piece of metal that had formed a small cave-like structure. Superboy and Miss Martian pulled pieces of metal in front of the opening to protect them. The loud explosion that followed the fire made them all jump. After waiting a few seconds, Superboy pushed away from the now slightly fused-together and melted, metal pieces.

"That guy's dead meat!" Superboy growled as he started to run off into the fire.

"Superboy, no!" Robin yelled as he stepped out of their shelter with Miss Martian's arm draped over his shoulder. "You need to get her out of here."

"He's getting away!"

"And that matters more than Miss M?"

"The fire's killing her," Arsenal added as he pulled Artemis out of the shelter. The other archer gave him a look and shoved his hand away. However, his words made Superboy stop and think.

"Right," Superboy nodded. He took Miss Martian in his arms and took off running.

"Artemis, Arsenal," Robin said. "Go after the thief-" He suddenly stopped talking when he pitched forward.

"Because he matters more than you?" Arsenal asked as he and Artemis caught Robin, then helped him to his feet. "Yeah right. You're still off your game, bro. We're getting you out too." They each pulled one of Robin's arms over their shoulders and helped him out of the burning warehouse.

— —

The following day, they were leaving the circus tent and heading for their assigned trailer when they saw Haly talking to Agent Faraday. "Another weapons plant is hit, and once again the circus is in town," the agent said. "I don't believe in coincidences."

"I don't care what you believe," Haly replied. "My people are not responsible. I did a bed check last night, every single member of my troupe was asleep in their bunks."

'Well, we sure weren't,' Artemis noted through the mind link. 'And if he's lying about us…'

Robin glanced down, which caused Arsenal to put his hand on his shoulder. 'Let's go back to the trailer so we can regroup,' Robin said, brushing his brother's hand off.

Arsenal frowned little and started to follow, bringing up the rear of the group, when something made him stop. He looked to his right and saw Haly, now alone, watching him. Unsure if he should say anything, Arsenal ducked his head and quickly caught up with the others. It was lightly snowing as he walked across the circus grounds. A shiver went through the archer's body as he made his way to their trailer. 'Snow is even colder when you're just wearing a vest.' He pulled open the door of their trailer and let himself into the room where everyone was sitting.

'So two thieves, right?' Artemis asked in the mind link. 'The fire breather and the acrobat.'

'Just in different clothes,' Miss Martian agreed.

'Maybe more than two,' Robin replied as he activated his hologolve. "Here's the Madrid security footage.' Everyone watched closely as they saw a man trying to open a window, and then the footage changed to another one walking across some wires like a tightrope.

'So…the clown and the strong man too?' Arsenal asked cautiously. 'If they're also involved than Haly himself might be the mastermind.'

'It would explain his lie,' Miss Martian agreed.

'We don't know that!' Robin almost snapped, glaring at his brother. "I told you to see an open mind!' Without saying another word, he got up and left the trailer.

Arsenal winced a little as Robin left. "I'm gonna go talk to him." He let himself out of the trailer and a small smile grace his lips. Robin's feet had made tracks in the freshly fallen snow. Arsenal followed the tracks slowly so he wouldn't miss anything. It led him away from their trailer, and the newer parts of the train. It wove to the cars that typically held equipment and seemed much older. The walls of these trailers were covered in posters of old acts from the past. Arsenal came to a stop when he saw Robin standing in front of one. He hesitated long enough that Robin started walking again, apparently talking to himself. Moving as silently as he could, Arsenal snuck up to the poster that Robin had been looking at. When he saw it, his face fell even more and his stomach dropped. It was a Flying Grayson's poster, identical to the one in his brother's room at home. 'Oh, Dick…' he thought sadly. 'I knew coming back here would be hard for him.' Arsenal turned away from the bright poster and continued following Robin. He found him standing in front of a poster of a woman painted in a rainbow of colors.

"What do you want?" Robin asked, not even turning around.

"To talk." Arsenal walked closer as he talked.

Robin scoffed. "You've already made your opinion perfectly clear."

"Robin-"

"You know, I thought you of all people would understand what Haly's means to me-"

"Robin-"

"Or what it's like to be judged based on the actions of others-"

"Dick!" The last word came out as a hissed whisper since Arsenal was very aware that they were on a "mission". "I'm sorry. I know you don't want to hear it, but right now all the evidence is pointing toward Haly and various members of the circus being guilty. You have to admit how the evidence makes this look."

Robin turned around to face Arsenal. "What if you were me? If it was someone from the reservation being accused, would you believe the evidence?"

"…No. I wouldn't."

"Exactly. I have to prove it's not Haly because it's not."

"I know, but-"

"I need you to be with me on this, bro. Please."

Arsenal sighed. "Ok, fine. But are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Dick…"

Robin took a deep breath and sighed. "Whether or not I'm ok is irrelevant. I need to clear Haly's name, so I will."

Arsenal didn't like the answer, but he didn't think he'd get a better one. "Ok."

"Let's go warm up before the show."

"Uh-huh." Arsenal followed Robin back towards the circus tent. 'He says he's fine, but he's not taking us past the poster again.' A small stone of guilt settled in his stomach. 'Maybe I should've told Bruce and stopped him from going. But I couldn't do that. Nit even Bruce would've been able to stop him and I would do the same thing in his position.' It looked like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

— —

The show went off without a hitch that night, much to Arsenal's relief. He really couldn't handle watching his brother almost fall to his death another time; even if Robin was feeling better. As they were leaving the tent, they heard Haly yelling to the crowd, "And that's our show! Farewell, good people of Bruges!" A few seconds later he stuck his head through the curtain. "Pack it up! The train leaves for Geneva in two hours!"

Arsenal had his doubts that the whole circus could be packed up in two hours, but he was incredibly surprised. With everyone doing their assigned jobs, which included Arsenal and Superboy helping to take down the trapeze rigging and the tent poles, the large task was finished in just under the two-hour time frame. It crossed Arsenal's mind that was probably the kind of work Robin's dad, uncle, and older cousin had probably done when packing up before they moved on. A glance over at his brother showed him that Robin almost seemed to have a smile on his face as he packed equipment away. A twinge of something Arsenal couldn't really identify pulled at his chest. After everything was packed away, Arsenal and Robin were standing by the train, watching Miss Martian talk to Ray about something when Haly walked by.

"Everyone, all aboard, now!" he ordered.

'He's in a hurry,' Arsenal thought, but wisely kept his words to himself. He followed Robin to their car on the train, then into one of their assigned rooms. The rest of the Team joined them, with Superboy helping Miss Martian in.

"I'm not feeling too well," she said as he helped her lay down.

"Maybe you have what R- Dan had," Artemis suggested. She looked at Robin. "You look better."

"I feel better," Robin replied. "Sorry, M- Dawn. I hope you didn't catch it from me."

"I feel so silly," Miss Martian replied. "Who knew a Martian could be vulnerable to a human virus?"

"Uh…H.G. Wells?" Arsenal rolled his eyes. "Look, when did you first feel sick?"

"Just after we boarded the train. It came on suddenly."

"Same with me the other night. Right after Ray rubbed my head for good luck before we went on."

"Ray?" Superboy asked, his interest piqued. "The roustabout? He touched her before we boarded. The guy must be a walking petri dish."

"Yeah, yeah, maybe." Without any further clarification, Robin suddenly ducked out of the room. everyone looked at Arsenal, who shrugged. They followed their younger teammate out into the small hallway where they found him talking to Haly.

"Ray?" Haly asked. "Picked him up at the start of the European tour. Poor guy's down with the flu like the rest of them."

"We'll check on him," Artemis said. "It's the least we can do." Arsenal and Superboy followed her to Ray's room. When they walked inside the light was out, automatically causing Robin and Arsenal to be on high alert.

"He can't be that sick," Superboy noted when the group saw the empty bed.

Something else had attracted Arsenal's attention though; a crate with the word 'Elephant' stamped on it. "Does this circus have an elephant I don't know about?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Not on foreign tours," Robin replied as he walked over to his brother.

Arsenal pulled the top of the crate off. "Empty-" A change in the texture of the bottom of the crate caught his eye. "No, wait." He reached in and ran his finger along the bottom. "Ash."

"The fire in Bruges…"

"Uh, guys," Artemis said. She had another crate open. "I found Ray." She pulled out a mask of Ray's face.

"Split up! Search the whole train!"

"I'll go with you," Arsenal said to Robin.

"It'll go faster if we each go alone-"

"I'm going with you." The two of them had a short stare-down, which Arsenal eventually won.

"Fine. Let's go."

Arsenal could feel the weird looks he was getting from the others, but he ignored them. 'Dick's not thinking straight on this case. I need to keep his focus objective and clear. Plus, he needs someone right now. I'm not letting him out of my sight if I can help it until the mission is over.' The two of them wandered down the train, looking for Ray or anything suspicious that could point to his whereabouts. They actually passed their own room, which allowed Arsenal to quickly grab his bow as a precaution. Robin was quiet the entire time, whether it was from irritation or focus Arsenal couldn't tell. The two of them were walking down the train when a muffled banging and shout caught their attention. Robin stopped and located the sound within seconds. He kicked down the door closest to him and gasped. Arsenal followed him into the small room where Haly was tied up and gagged against the wall.

"Who did this to you?" Robin asked as he pulled the gag off Haly's mouth.

"Ray!" Haly replied. "Ray the roustabout! Right after the train left Bruges!" Robin got up and ran out of the room, Arsenal right on his heels. "Hey, I'm not Houdini here!"

Robin was weirdly quiet as they ran down the hall. Before Arsenal could say anything though, his brother's hand felt to his comm. "Dawn, come in," he said. "I tried to reach you…uh, the other way." He was quiet for a moment. "That clinches it. Dean, Diane, come in. We're chasing someone who's stolen Dawn's, act. Whole shtick if you catch my drift."

'Of course!' Arsenal thought. 'Looks like Dick might've been right.' Everything was quiet for a few moments as they searched for 'Ray'.

"Got him!" Superboy said suddenly over the comms. "But he's on to me! Exiting the dining car now!" Another few seconds of silence. "He's gone topside!" The two vigilantes ran for the closest door to get them outside. As they pulled themselves up to the roof of the train, they heard Superboy say, "That won't work on me clown!"

"That's no clown!" Robin said, pointing at the clown. "It's Parasite. The guy who once stole Superman's powers!"

"As if you kids are who you claim to be. Please," Parasite replied. He titled his head back and the clown face melted away.

Arsenal and Superboy started to approach him, but Robin stopped them. "Stay out of his reach. There's no flu going around. The weakness comes when he gets physical contact and feeds off the powers and abilities of others."

"I have been a bit of a glutton today. I've chowed down on the skills of nearly every loser in this troop." Arsenal had to grab Robin's arm to keep him from bolting forward in anger. "But my…the piece de resistance was Dawn Danger." As he spoke Miss Martian climbed up onto the roof with them. "Or whatever her real name is. Thought I'd munch on her trapeze skills. Imagine my surprise when she tasted like Martian Manhunter instead." As he talked Artemis joined Superboy on his side of the roof. "She made a lovely appetizer, but guess who I want for my entree." Before they could do anything, he waved his arm and used telekinesis to pull Superboy to him. He lifted the clone up by his neck as Superboy struggled to pull away. Artemis and Arsenal both raised their bows."Now that's the full-bodied Kryptonian flavor I love!"

"Everyone, stay whelmed! Subdue, but keep your distance!"

In response to the bows, Parasite blasted Artemis' bow and then Arsenal's with laser vision before they could even react. "You know, I almost never say this, but I'm sated." He dropped Superboy. "Hate to eat and run." He started to fly away, using telekinesis to levitate the trunk he had behind him. Robin leaped into the air to follow, using the trunk as a jumping off point to try and reach Parasite. "No hitchhikers." The thief reached back and knocked Robin back to the train, where he bounced off the roof and over the edge.

Miss Martian reached the acrobat first and caught his hand to keep him from falling. She was still weakened though and struggled to pull him up. Arsenal was at her side in an instant and put his hand on his brother's wrist. As he started to pull with her, Artemis joined him and they all pulled Robin back onto the train. When his brother was safely back on board, Arsenal put a hand on his back. "Conner!" Miss Martian yelled, running over to Superboy. "You alright?"

"Fine, fine," Superboy replied as he got to his feet.

"You're drained," Robin said as he pushed himself to his feet and brushed off Arsenal's worried hands. "Parasite took more powers than you even have. Heat vision?"

"I have the genetic potential for it. Must've been enough for him."

"Gah!" Robin walked back towards the door to the train and the others followed.

"Go, I'll manage," Arsenal heard Superboy say to Miss Martian as he lowered himself back into the train.

When they got back to their rooms, they changed into their suits and reconvened. Robin held up a flash drive. "It's not a complete debacle," he explained. "I picked Parasite's pocket. I got this flash drive." He plugged it into his hologlove while Arsenal rolled his eyes.

'At the expense of nearly falling off a damn train,' he thought. He didn't get a chance to dwell on his irritation though because Robin had the flash drive contents hacked in no time.

"Looks like Parasite's working for Intergang. Everything he's stolen, they're all pieces of something. Putting together a weapon that generates…blackholes?!"

"Come on," Arsenal replied in disbelief. "To build that you need a particle accelerator."

"Like the large boson collider in Geneva?"

"The circus' next stop! But now that Parasite can fly he's got a big head start on us."

"Sorry," Miss Martian said.

"Not your fault," Robin told her. "But this thing could wipe out entire cities. We need to hurry."

"You and I need to hurry," Arsenal said as he reached up to the bunk above and pulled an extra bow from under his mattress. "Without powers, the others will hold us back."

"Hey," Artemis objected. She pulled out a small crossbow. "You're not the only one with a backup bow."

Arsenal had to bite back that a crossbow wasn't a real bow and, in his mind, didn't even qualify someone as a real archer. Before he could say anything at all though, a sudden bang made him jump. He looked over at Superboy and discovered their teammate had punched the wall of the train.

"My powers are back," Superboy explained. "I guess Kryptonians recover faster than Martians."

"Don't even think about leaving me behind," Miss Martian added.

Arsenal was a little hesitant, not able to shake the feeling that something just wasn't adding up here, but he nodded anyway. 'There's no time to argue. We need to stop Parasite.'

— —

When they got to Geneva, the Team split off from the circus quickly. Upon reaching the facility that contained the large boson collider, they found a guard injured and nearly unconscious outside.

"Trail of destruction," Robin noted. "This way." The young heroes ran on past the guard, who they all knew would live, and into the facility. When they got inside, they crouched down behind Robin to look at his hologolve. He pulled up a feed of the security cameras to see what Parasite was doing. Unfortunately, they witnessed Parasite starting up his blackhole generator. "We need to take him down," Robin whispered. "At least lure him away so we can safely disengage the-" Before he even finished Superboy ran over to the wall with a scream of rage that caused Arsenal to jump back and punched his way through the wall. "Wait-"

Unfortunately, Superboy didn't listen and right on up to Parasite. "Seconds?" Parasite asked. "I couldn't." The villain dragged him closer with Miss Martian's powers, but Superboy was prepared and punched. The momentarily freed him so he could get a few feet of distance, but Parasite recovered quickly. He punched Superboy off his feet, then dragged the young hero back again.

"What's wrong with him?" Arsenal growled in frustration. He raised his bow, glue arrow ready, but Miss Martian stopped him.

"Wait," she instructed.

While she explained her plan, they watched as Superboy was thrown into the ceiling and fell all the way back to the ground. He got to his feet relatively quickly, but then Parasite pulled him in and lifted him by his neck again.

"How do you do it, kid?" Parasite asked. "Even Superman never re-charged this fast." Superboy groaned and went limp in the villain's grip. Parasite threw him to the side as the generator continued powering up. "Alright, Dangers, come on out. Only a couple minute before this baby's done warming up. And eating Geneva."

"What do you think?" Miss Martian whispered.

"Big risk to take on a theory," Arsenal replied in repose to her plan.

"Do it," Robin instructed. "Go!"

Miss Martian went out first and walked right up to Parasite fearlessly. "So what'd you have against Geneva, anyway?" she asked.

"Never liked the food," Parasite replied. "But it keeps improving."

"I'm just the appetizer, remember?" As Parasite dragged her forward, she rolled dune this arm and kicked his feet to distract him. While his attention was diverted, Arsenal shot him with a foam arrow.

"Foam? You think foam can hold me?" His eyes glowed and Arsenal's bow was suddenly ripped out of his hands. The archer was dragged dint the air and his limbs contorted painfully. "Or crushing you with a thought? Combined Martian and Kryptonian powers here." He leaped up out of the foam, which held fast.

"But what do any of those free you before I sabotage your death thingy?" Robin asked, already at the controls of the generator and typing away.

"This one does." He shot at Robin with his laser vision, forcing him to retreat from the panel. Artemis shot a crossbow bolt at him but he shot the weapon out of her hands, but not before the bolt hit him and dispersed a gas. Arsenal dropped to the floor beside her as the laser vision set the foam on fire. The flames surrounded Parasite as he stood up, now seemingly freed. "So clever. Trick me with igniting flammable gas. But you forgot, invulnerability. Fire…can't…touch me…"

"Unless you make a meal of my powers," Miss Martian noted. "And get my weaknesses as a side dish."

"No!" Parasite looked down at the flames in horror, but it was too late. He fell to the ground, nearly unconscious in seconds.

"Aww, poor baby. Something you ate?"

Meanwhile, Robin walked over calmly and powered down the generator with just a few keystrokes. The vigilante let out a sigh of relief when to had powered down completely.

"We'll take it from here," Agent Faraday announced as he walked in with two other agents, who were carrying fire extinguishers. They put out the flames as they walked, then quickly snapped an inhibitor collar around Parasite's neck. "Thanks for the tip by the way. Definitely helps to prep the inhibitor collar in advance."

"Glad to be of service," Robin replied.

Meanwhile, Arsenal was trying to get to his feet when he saw Artemis' hand. He hesitated for a moment, then took it. "Wow," Artemis smiled. "He danes to touch my hand."

"Mind open," Arsenal replied, remembering what Robin and said earlier. 'We lied to the Team for a very good reason. I guess maybe, whatever she's hiding…it might not be such a bad thing after all.'

— —

When they got back to the circus train, the rest of the Team started to head to their rooms to get their stuff. "You guys go on ahead," Robin said. He grabbed Arsenal's hand to stop him. "We'll see you in a few."

"Where are we going?" Arsenal asked as his brother pulled him toward a different part of the train.

"We have to give Haly the good news."

Arsenal wasn't sure why he needed to be there for that since Robin was really the only one who believed in Haly's innocence from the very beginning. "Even if you got very emotionally invested in this case."

"Hey, some cases deserve an emotional investment." Robin glanced at Arsenal with the last couple of words.

When they entered the ring master's trailer, Arsenal hung back as Robin told Haly both his and the circus' names were officially cleared.

"So the show will go on," Haly said, "And I have the feeling I have you, Dangers, to thank."

"Don't know what you mean," Robin replied.

"No, of course not. But I'm guessing you'll be leaving now."

Robin nodded and shook Haly's hand. "Time to move on."

"Well, Dick, I'll miss you."

"D-Dan! Dan Danger," Robin insisted while Arsenal boiled up straight in the doorway.

"Son, you've grown, but some things never change. Like the sight of a Grayson on the trapeze. Can't fake that, can't hide it."

'You really can't,' Arsenal thought in silent agreement.

Robin glanced at Arsenal from the corner of his eye, then smiled. "Since the cat's out of the bag, Haly, there's someone I want you to meet." He gestured to Arsenal, who hesitated, then slowly walked further into the room. "This is my older brother, Roy."

"Nice to meet you, son," Haly said warmly as he shook Arsenal's hand. It made him genuinely happy to know that Dick had found a new family. "I hope you're taking care of our little acrobat, here."

"I'm…doing my best," Arsenal replied.

"I'm sure you are." Holy turned back to Robin. "So, will you do an old ringmaster one last favor?"

— —

That night, Arsenal stood in the ring as Haly announced the farewell performance of the Daring Dangers. His eyes almost never let this younger brother as he flipped and flew through the air with ease; a glorious and radiant smile across his face. 'Maybe he's right' the archer thought as he aimed his bow, thinking back to what Dick had said before. 'Maybe some cases do deserve an emotional investment. Even if it's going to come back and bite us in the end.'