A/N: Sorry, this chapter is so late. I kept getting distracted while I was editing. Anyway... Enjoy!
'I already hate geometry,' Connor thought as he slammed his locker door shut. 'Algebra was bad enough, why did they have to add so many triangles, too?'
"Hey, Connor," a familiar voice said behind him and he jumped.
Connor turned around and swallowed. "Hi, Alyssa…" he said quietly. Part of him wanted to just walk away and go to art, but another part felt that would be rude.
"How was your break?"
"…Fine. You?"
"Good. I went to Coast City to visit my grandparents. Did you go anywhere?"
"Nope. Just…stayed home."
"That's too bad. At least it was relaxing." She took a step closer, making Connor take a step back. The metal handle of his locker poked into his back.
"Uh-huh… Well, nice talking to you, but I should…go."
"Oh come, on, the passing period doesn't end for another three minutes."
"Yeah, but I have to go to art and it's…you know… All the way on the…second floor…" Which took approximately 30 seconds to get to from his locker.
"So, you have time." Alyssa stepped closer again, making Connor back up more. He tried not to wince as the metal dug into his back.
"Uh… Alyssa… I'd appreciate it if you…you know..stepped back?"
"Why? You don't think I'm pretty?" She flipped her hair over her shoulder.
"No- I mean, yes! Yes, of course, you're pretty! And I…like pretty girls…" His voice got quieter as he talked.
"Good." Alyssa stroked his arm, making Connor squirm uncomfortably. It made her roll her eyes. "Come on, Connor. Calm down."
"I'm calm. I'm you know…cool…"
"Uh-huh. Why are you so nervous? Most guys are practically jumping over themselves at this point. Unless…you don't like it when girls give you this kind of attention?" There was a sharpness to her gave that made Connor nervous.
"No! I do! I- I do, it's just… I don't want to be late for class. I like being on time."
"Sure, sure."
Thankfully, Alyssa stepped back and something in Connor's chest loosened. "Uh…see you."
"Bye, Connor." Alyssa winked, then blew him a kiss and left.
Connor took a deep breath. He counted to 10 in his head, then practically raced up the stairs to his art class. Thankfully, none of the teachers saw him, or he'd definitely have gotten detention for running in the hall. But he made it to his class unscathed and sat in his usual seat. His table partner was already there, pencil scribbling in his sketchbook as usual. Connor watched him for a few seconds, trying to see what it was. Then the boy looked up and Connor's heart stuttered. The boy had black hair that and dark green eyes, which looked at him curiously like he wasn't sure who Connor was. (Which made sense because they'd been sharing a table for two weeks already and had never said a word to each other.) Connor opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His brain wasn't on board with the whole…speech plan. The boy titled his head to the side just slightly, as if asking if Connor would say something. Suddenly terrified to say a single word though, Connor could only close his mouth and look away.
There was a burning in his cheeks and his stomach flip-flopped. Connor swallowed, then put his head down in his arms to hide his face. 'He's so…nice looking,' he thought miserably. 'I- I should say hi or something. Be neighborly.' He glanced at the boy, who'd gone back to his drawing. Connor quickly looked away. 'I can't talk to him! What if I say something stupid? I could say I like his drawing…but what if he thinks that's weird? Like…if I tell him and he thinks I'm watching him like a stalker? No, I shouldn't say anything. Plus…what if he thinks I like him?' Which he did. 'But I say that…he might call me a freak or worse. I'll just stay like this until the class starts. Maybe until I graduate.'
Thankfully, when class started, the boy's attention was split between listening to their teacher talked about using watercolors and his own drawing. Class passed by quickly, with Connor making a very sad attempt at a rainbow with his watercolors.
"Hey, that's not too bad," a voice said. Connor froze and slowly turned toward his table-mate. "I mean…it's not good, but it's not horrible either."
Connor just stared, unable to say anything. 'He's talking to me! What do I say?!'
Before he could decide on something, their teacher walked over and put a hand on his table-mate's shoulder. "Kyle," he said. "What's the class rule about supporting each other's artistic endeavors?"
"Sorry, Mr. Neil," the boy- Kyle said.
"What do you say to Connor?"
"I like your rainbow, Connor."
"Thank you. Now focus on your now painting and not on your own…private work. Hmm?"
"Yes, Mr. Neil."
"Good work, Connor. Keep painting."
"Yes, Mr. Neil," Connor murmured, moving his paintbrush around in his watercolor tray. Even though he went back to his painting, he thought about the short conversation. 'So his name is Kyle? Good to know.' This would defiantly make it easier to start a conversation with him. 'About what though? He's really talented and I'm…well I try.' Connor spent the rest of the class finishing his rainbow and thinking of things he could say to Kyle. By the time class was almost over though, he had nothing. When he finished painting, he put his paper on the drying rack. By the time he got back to his seat, the bell rang and Kyle grabbed his bag.
"Bye, Connor," he said as he darted out of the classroom.
Connor watched him go and waved a little before scowling at himself. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid,' he thought as he grabbed his backpack. 'I'm such an idiot. Who waves? I'm not five.' At this rate, Kyle wouldn't even give him the time of day. 'I don't see why I should expect anything less, either. I mean, what do we even have in common? He's this crazy talented artist and I'm…just me. What am I supposed to say? Hi, I'm Connor. I'm a Buddhist, my mom is dead, my father is in space prison, and I'm being raised by a guy my father abused when he was just a teenager?' Connor shook his head as he stopped at his locker to grab a textbook and swap out some notebooks before heading to meet up with Mia.
"Took you long enough," Mia said when he found her outside the entrance to the high school building.
"Yeah, yeah-" Connor froze when someone grazed his back with their hand. He glanced back at Alyssa, who blew him another kiss. He shivered before pulling on his windbreaker. "Come on, let's go home."
Mia was quiet for a few minutes until they were walking down the street and several yards from the school. "So, you and Alyssa are…friendly still?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Come on, Connor. You can talk to me." When he glanced away she sighed. "Come on, Connor, you don't have anything to be embarrassed about. She kissed you-"
"Shh! Do we really have to talk about that?"
"Fine. What did she do today?"
"How did you know-"
"Call it woman's intuition. So?"
Conor sighed. "She just…talked."
"That's it? That's what has you so jittery?"
"And…she was you know, close to me. In my personal space and all that."
"Did you tell her that leave?"
"I told her I wanted to go to art class, but she was right in front of me and I was against my locker-" He stopped when Mia swore under her breath.
"That girl. You should just let me punch her-"
"No! Don't hit anyone, Mia! That's…wrong!"
"But this girl kissing you without your consent and holding you hostage at your locker isn't?"
"She wasn't holding me hostage. And that was one-time last year."
"It still happened. Either you tell this girl to back off, or I will."
"Please just leave it alone, Mia. I don't want any trouble."
Mia didn't say anything. 'Someone should do something. He can't go to the teachers. If someone finds out he's complaining about a girl bothering him, the poor guy will never live it down. I'll have to do something though. I can't let Alyssa keep taking advantage of Connor like this. He clearly doesn't like it and he's too…nice to do anything on his own. Connor's really embraced the whole chivalry aspect of being a hero. I'll think of something though. I'll make Alyssa back off.'
— —
When they walked in the front door, Lian was in the living room with Jade. Mia immediately dropped her bag and sat next to the playmat Lian was laying on. "Hey, cutie," she beamed. "How was your day?" Lian babbled in response. "Exciting."
Connor smiled as he grabbed her bag. He dropped it in her room, then went to his own. 'If I get a jump on my homework now, I'll have more time to practice before patrol tonight,' he thought. Even though the new semester had just started, high school was already proving to have a lot more work; and it didn't help that he'd tested into a couple of higher-level classes. Even if Roy had taken them out for ice cream to celebrate, the extra homework was proving to be a pain the neck. 'I don't have as much time to practice before patrol anymore. And I can't just practice on the weekends. Roy said he practiced practically day and night to get as good as he is.' Which was probably a good reason why he didn't have the courage to talk to Kyle. 'I don't have time for…whatever this is. I don't even have any friends. I just need to stay focused. Roy is finally starting to let us go off by ourselves. I have to keep getting better."
Someone knocked on his door, but it opened before he could say to come in. Mia walked in and threw herself down on his bed. "Are we going to practice with some of the new trick arrows tonight?" she asked him, hanging upside down off the edge.
"Not if you don't get your homework done," Connor replied, opening his geometry textbook.
"Ugh! I hate Algebra. You passed last year, will you do it for me?"
"Absolutely not."
"Jerk." She sat up suddenly and smiled at him mischievously. "So, I was thinking-"
"Uh-oh…"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Connor sighed. "Every time you have an idea, we get in trouble."
"We don't get in trouble every time. Besides, this is a good one."
"Fine, what is it?"
"We should ask Roy about joining the Team!"
"Team?" Connor set his pencil down and spun around in his chair. "What Team?"
"You know Roy's team. The one he founded! With the other sidekicks!"
"Why?"
"Why not?! Come on, you don't want to go on top-secret missions to save the world and get to work with other teenagers who are also heroes?! Like Robin and Batgirl! I mean, they're practically Roy's adopted family, we should work with them!"
"It would be cool…" Connor tapped the eraser of his pencil off the desk.
"Do you think he'll say yes?"
"Why wouldn't he? We've been working hard and we're good enough together that he's letting us go off without him on patrol."
"That's true… Do you think we're ready though?" The last thing Connor wanted was to make himself look like an idiot in front of a bunch of other sidekicks.
"Of course we are! Let's ask Roy tight before patrol. I'm sure he'll say yes."
"Well…ok. But you'd better go get your homework done though. Or you're not going anywhere tonight."
Mia rolled her eyes, then climbed off his bed and left Connor's room.
He went back to his homework, but his mind kept going back to the conversation. 'I hope Roy says yes,' Connor thought as he worked his way through his math homework. 'It'd be so cool to work on the Team. Roy's been on it, so that's probably what I need to do if I want to be a great hero too. Plus, it's being run by his younger brother right now. It'll be great!' The excitement/anxiety over asking Roy kept preoccupying Connor while he worked. He was barely done with his homework by dinner (in which he and Mia kept looking at each other), so he doubled down to get it all done by patrol. He'd just finished writing the last word on his essay when Roy called for them.
"Connor! Mia!" Roy yelled. "Let's go!"
"Coming!" Connor called back. He grabbed his shoes and ran out of his room. When he got to the living room, he only stopped long enough to put his shoes on. Mia came running in, attempting to put her shoes on while in motion.
"You know, that'd be easier if you stopped and sat down first."
"No time! We gotta go!" Mia replied.
"And you guys do remember you don't need res, right? We're just going downstairs."
"..Shoot, you're right." Mia kicked her shoes off. "Come on, Con!"
"I'm coming. I'm coming," Connor muttered. He'd just gotten his laces tied, so he kicked dish shoes off and stood up. "Ok, let's go."
Roy chuckled as he kissed Lian, then handed her off to Jade. "You be a good girl for Mommy, ok, Lian?" he told her.
"Come on, Roy!" Mia called.
"I'm coming guys." Roy shook his head as he followed them out the door. 'Why are they so excited tonight? It's just an ordinary patrol since we wrapped up that drug trafficking case last night. Must be a side-effect of going back to school. They've probably got a lot of energy.' Understandable for two 15-year-old vigilantes that had spent their winter break chasing down criminals. 'That's good. They'll be plenty focused and eager once we get on the streets. I should set them up in the Cliffvale neighborhood tonight. Make sure they get enough exercise.' Predictably, Mia and Connor beat him downstairs and were already in the process of getting their suits on when he got there. Roy just smiled and shook his head as he changed into his own suit.
"When should we ask?" Connor whispered to Mia once they'd changed into their suits and were filling their quivers.
"…Now," Mia told him. "We ask together. Deal?"
"Deal." They shared a small high-five, then quickly put the rest of the necessary arrows in their quivers before standing. Connor looked around. Roy was over at the computers, checking on something like he usually did right before patrol. "Hey…Roy?"
"Hm?" Roy responded stilling reading whatever was on the screen.
"Uh… We had a thought."
"And what is that?"
"…Mia and I want to join the Team."
Roy froze and looked back at them. "What?"
"You know," Mia supplied helpfully. "Your team. The one with all the cool sidekicks? We want to join."
"…No."
"Why?!"
"Mia…" Connor said, trying to calm her. Getting upset wouldn't get them anywhere. "Why not?"
"Because… Because you're not ready." Roy winced at his phrasing, which only earned more outrage from Mia.
"What do you mean we're not ready?!" she demanded. "We've been working so hard! We can even take a few blocks by ourselves!"
"I know. I know-"
"So why can't we join?" Connor asked.
"There's a difference between taking down a purse snatcher and taking down A-list villains."
"But you joined the Team when you were our age. Heck, you founded it!"
"I know, but that's different."
"How?!" Mia demanded.
"It- It just is! I had more experience by the time I was your age. I'm sorry guys, but the answer is no. Maybe in a few more months." Part of Roy cringed at the upset looks on their face. Mia glared at him before putting on her mask while Connor just looked on sadly and tied on his own mask. Roy sighed as he turned back to the computers. 'I don't want to crush their hopes like that,' he thought. 'But…I can't let them join the Team. I just can't. If I just show up at Mount Justice with a hero named Green Arrow…. I know it was before a lot of these kids' times, but… That's still kind of a notorious name. Who knows how they'll react, not to mention the League. Plus…I'd like to introduce Connor and Mia to Bruce and the rest formally before I put them on the Team. I mean…they're my family. They deserve to get to know the kids.' And there was the fact that Roy was just…worried about them. 'They're good kids, but… I don't know if they're ready to go out and save the world yet. A few more months of training, especially with the new trick arrows I've designed, and then they'll be ready. Just a few more months. Plus, maybe Bruce will be back from Rimbor by then and I can let them meet Batman. I'm sure they'll love that.' He put his mask on, then turned around. "You guys ready?" All he got was two nods. "Alright, let's hit the streets!"
— —
Green Arrow and Speedy were silent as they started out the patrol. They started with the neighborhood Red Arrow and pick out for them, where he left them on a rooftop. "Ok guys, stay in this neighborhood. Eight blocks in either direction from this spot. Got it?"
"Mhm," GA nodded.
"Good. I'll be on the comms if you run into trouble. Watch each other's backs and stay on your toes." Red Arrow waited for a moment but didn't get a response. "Ok, then. I'll be back for you guys in a few hours." The pair of teens just turned away silently. He sighed. 'They'll get over it,' he thought as he drove away. 'A good night of patrol and they'll forget about it.'
It remained silent between Green Arrow and Speedy as they took to a rooftop to look for trouble.
"I can't believe he said no," Speedy sighed eventually. She glanced over at Green Arrow. "Well… Say something!"
"Nothing to say," Green Arrow replied quietly. "He said no." And clearly didn't think they were good enough. 'Yet. We're not good enough yet. But we can get better. I can get better. I have to.' He spotted some men following a couple of teens down an alley and nudged Speedy. "Let's go." They zipped to the ground, then ran after the men. Following their usual routine, Green Arrow pulled ahead so Speedy could cover him from behind. He entered the alley in time to see one of the men holding a teen against the wall by his shirt. The vigilante focused on this one as he came upon the man very quickly and punched him in the face. It forced the man to release the teen, who sprinted out of the alley. Green Arrow pulled an arrow from his quiver and shot it at the man's feet. The glue dispersed quickly, solidifying before he could attack the archer. "Don't you know you shouldn't pick on kids?"
"Yeah?" Speedy added as she shot an arrow at another man, covering him in fast hardening foam. "Not very manly to go after a bunch of kids like this."
"Kind of cowardice if you ask me." The fight was over before it even began really and within the minutes, the two young vigilantes had the men restrained. Green Arrow alerted the police as they made their way back to the rooftops. Speedy sighed when they got there, making Green Arrow give her a strange look. "Why so bummed?" he asked. "I think that was one of our fastest takedowns ever."
"It doesn't matter if Red's never going to let us do anything other than chase down criminals."
"He didn't say he'd never let us join-"
"Practically!"
"What he said, was that we weren't ready yet. If we keep working, we'll be ready soon!"
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. We'll keep working and in a few months…he'll have to realize we're ready."
"Really?"
"Of course."
"…Ok. If you say so."
"Then let's go keep catching and guys. The more we practice, the sooner we'll be ready to join the Team."
The prospect seemed to cheer Speedy up because she gave him a mischievous smile. "What're we waiting for then? Bet I can take out more criminals than you!" She took off running across the rooftops and Green Arrow watched her smile for a moment before he followed.
Meanwhile, Red Arrow had just left a crime scene. He ran down a side street, then another, a slight smile on his face. 'God, I love working with the kids, I do; wouldn't trade it for the world, but I kind of miss doing this alone.' It was nice to be patrolling without having to look over his shoulder every other minute to check on GA and Speedy. Part of himself guilty for thinking that, but he couldn't help it. It was just too nice to have a little bit of time to himself, especially while knowing the younger vigilantes were watching each other's backs. As soon as he started walking down a back alley though, the small smile left his face and any sense of freedom vanished.
There was a dead body in the middle of the alley, a small puddle of blood under it. However, it wasn't just the body that disturbed him. As Red Arrow got closer, his eyes were drawn to the projectile sticking out of the woman's neck. When he was right next to her, his hand shook as he reached for the arrow sticking out of her. It was pitch black, including the fletchings. His fingers had just about fazed the synthetic feathers before something inside of him jerked his hand back. 'Killed with an arrow?' he thought, stomach-churning. 'Oh God.' Swallowing, Red Arrow stood and did a quick search. Nothing in the immediate area gave him any hints as to who this woman was, why she'd been killed with an arrow, or who had killed her. Red Arrow put his hand to holo-glove to alert the police, but he froze.
'I have to call the police,' he thought, hands still hovering above his wrist. 'I have to. But…the arrow…' It felt like a weird order of priorities, but the sigh of that arrow made him hesitate. 'I've worked so hard to cultivate a good relationship with the police. To convince them I'm not like Oliver. That I won't attack their men or kill the citizens.' And if the police showed up and found this woman dead with an arrow in her throat…it would ruin everything. The police would definitely label him as suspect number one. 'I'd have to start dodging bullets again. Not just me, but Connor and Mia too.' And if the police thought one of his kids had killed this woman? Especially the one who had named himself after the very vigilante that had spent years murdering people with arrows…
Very slowly, Red Arrow's hand fell from his wrist. Trying to ignore the voice in his head that insisted he was doing something wrong, he pulled the arrow from the woman's neck. 'It doesn't change that much,' he thought, holding the arrow by his side. 'I'll still tell the police where she is. They'll still know she's dead. Her family will still find out and they'll still open a homicide investigation. This will just…make it harder to figure out what killed her. Besides, there are no security cameras or anything back here. Even with a murder weapon, a case like this will be hard to solve.' And he'd be working the case too. 'I can work the case with the murder weapon while the police do it without. This isn't just to protect me, it's to protect Connor and Mia too. The last thing I need is the police thinking any of us murdered someone, especially the kids.' Mind made up, Red Arrow snuck back to where he'd left his bike.
First, he left an anonymous tip to alert the police as to where the body was, then went back to the Arrow Cave. Despite having touched the arrow. He took it to the small "forensics lab" and go to work. 'It's covered in the woman's blood, but maybe I can pull some DNA or fingerprints off the shaft to give me a clue,' Red Arrow thought as he worked. While he'd touched the arrow himself, his gloves were specially designed not to leave any fingerprints on his evidence. However, there was nothing on the arrow. "Killer seems petty smart. Probably wore gloves to prevent leaving prints." He sighed and studied the arrow carefully. The arrowhead had a double barb, making it extra lethal, but nothing about it stood out to him. "Looks like a perfectly normal arrow to me." Looked like he'd have to do some detective work. Red Arrow put the projectile in a metal box to keep it hidden. 'I don't want to scare Connor and Mia. I'll keep working the case and solve it before this gets too far.'
— —
Back in their neighborhood, Green Arrow and Speedy were having a good patrol. Their contest of trying to catch the most criminals had led to seven separate take-downs in the following two hours.
"What's the score now?" Speedy asked as they left their latest crime scene.
"Six for me, five for you," Green Arrow replied.
"How do I only have five?! I took down that guy with the brick."
"I took him down."
Speedy stopped and crossed her arms. "How do you figure?"
"I shot the brick out of his hand."
"Well, I shot him with an electroshock arrow."
"…How about we split-" Green Arrow froze suddenly, making Speedy frown.
"GA?" she asked quietly, immediately lowering her voice. "What's up?"
"Nothing I…" Green Arrow looked around, but they were alone in the alley they'd stopped in. "I just…had a weird feeling."
"What kind of feeling?"
"Like we're being watched."
Speedy glanced around, but there was no one there. Granted, they were also standing in a shadow, but there was no movement around them or telltale sounds of someone nearby. "You think we're being watched?"
"No, but… Forget it. I'm probably imaging things. I just had a funny feeling and last time it happened we got jumped by that gang. It's probably nothing though."
"Well…why don't we keep moving? Just in case?"
"Sounds good." The two vigilantes walked down the alley and turned down the side street on the other side. However, they only got several yards down this street until they saw a familiar red liquid. "Oh no…"
"Geez…" Speedy sighed. "We have to go investigate the blood don't we?"
"Yeah…"
"Ok. You first."
Green Arrow rolled his eyes as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. He nocked it to his bowstring as he entered the alley. It was narrow, much narrower than most of the alleys in Star, forcing them to walk in single file when they reached a dumpster. On the other side of a dumpster though, Green Arrow came to a sudden stop. He barely even noticed when Speedy bumped into him.
"What is it?"
"….He's dead…"
"Huh?" Speedy pushed Green Arrow to force him to move closer to a wall. As soon as he moved though, she got a good look at the body and her stomach dropped. "GA…?"
"Yeah?"
"Is… Is that an arrow in his chest?"
"Looks like it…"
The man was propped up against the wall opposite Green Arrow. A black arrow stuck out from between his ribs and a river of blood trailed from the body, which was what had caught their attention. For a few seconds, neither of the vigilantes said or did anything. "What do we do?" Speedy asked.
"Call Red. We- We have to call him. This… This feels…weird."
"Agreed."
Green Arrow put his hand to his comm, unable to pull his eyes away from the dead man less than a few feet from him. "Red Arrow?" he said, trying to keep his voice from shaking.
"Yeah?" Red Arrow answered.
"We- We found a body."
"A body?" There was a tenseness to Red Arrow's voice. "Where?"
"An alley just off Greenwall Ave. By a record store."
"Ok, I'll be right there."
"And Red? The man…it- It looks like he was killed by a black arrow."
There was a solid thirty seconds of silence before Red Arrow said, "I'm on my way right now. Keep your bows nocked and stay on your toes. Don't touch anything. Got it?"
"Got it." Green Arrow pulled an arrow from his quiver, then nodded for Speedy to do the same. "Red's on his way."
"Ok," Speedy nodded. 'Just the two of us…and this dead guy in a narrow alley. Cool.' She shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. 'Someone just…murdered this guy with an arrow. That's so…weird. Who would do something like this?' Whoever it was, she had the distinct feeling she and Green Arrow were about to face their first real test as heroes. And standing in that dim alley, it terrified her.