A/N: Here's the next chapter! Let me know what you think!

'Why do I have to memorize all the state capitals,' Mia thought irritably. 'Who cares what the capital of Maine is! Who even lives there?!' The only capitals worth knowing were California's and America's. But here she was, struggling through a quiz on all 50. 'This has to be some kind of crime. Pointless education wasting everyone's time. Aren't we supposed to be learning useful stuff here?' She quickly scribbled down answers for the remaining five answers just as the bell rang. Mia handed in her quiz, then bolted from the social studies classroom. 'Only one more class before the end of the day!' She went downstairs to get to science and just turned the corner when she suddenly stopped. Down the hall, Connor was getting something out of his locker. A mischievous smile crept across Mia's face as she envisioned herself sneaking up on Connor and scaring him. As soon as she started down the hall though, another girl came up behind Connor.

'Alyssa,' Mia realized, recognizing the girl almost instantly (which wasn't hard to do in a school this size). She watched as Alyssa tapped Connor's shoulder, then immediately got in his personal space when he turned around. A scowl slowly grew on Mia's face as she watched. 'He's obviously uncomfortable,' she thought, watching Connor's body language. 'Alyssa's not blind! She has to realize how uncomfortable he is!' It didn't seem like that was the case though, because the girl kept talking to Connor, leaning closer and closer despite him trying to move away. Mia's fist clenched at her sides. As much as she wanted to do something, she knew she couldn't just go over there and make Alyssa back off because 1) it would cause a scene which would make Connor more embarrassed than he already was and 2) he would never live it down with the other 15-year-old boys in their grade that he'd needed to be saved by his foster sister. 'I have to do something though.

'I can't let her keep bothering Connor like this. The poor guy deserves to have his personal space respected.' And she was still mad about Alyssa kissing Connor the previous spring. 'I need to get her alone.' Just as Mia was trying to decide how she could Alyssa alone (they were in very different places in the hierarchy of high school), she suddenly left Connor, blowing him a kiss as she did. Mia stayed just long enough to see Connor slam his locker shut, then bolt up the stairs, before she followed Alyssa. The other girl thankfully didn't go to her next class, but instead went into the bathroom. When Mia walked in, Alyssa was looking at herself in the mirror, fixing her make-up. "Hey!" Mia practically snapped as she approached her.

Alyssa jumped, then turned around. "What the fuck?!" she asked irritably.

"I want to talk to you."

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Mia. Connor's sister."

"…Ok." Alyssa rolled her eyes as she went back to reapplying mascara in the mirror.

"You need to leave Connor alone."

"And why should I do that?"

'Seriously?!' Mia scowled even more as she came to stand next to Alyssa. "Because you make him uncomfortable."

"I know."

"It's really- Wait, you know?"

"Mhm."

"But- Then why do you do it if you know it makes him uncomfortable?"

Alyssa smiled amusedly, still engrossed in her task. "Because it's so adorable. He's so reserved and quiet that it surprises him. It's better than the other boys constantly boasting about things they've definitely never done."

'She's amused by how upset he gets?!' That sent anger burning through Mia's vein and for a second, she envisioned herself punching the other girl. 'I can't though. Roy will get mad and ground me, plus Connor will get upset I'm using violence.' So she took a deep breath and slowly unclenched her fist. "It's not…cute, it's gross. You need to leave him alone."

"Oh, come on! You don't think it's even a little cute how flustered he gets when girls so much as look at him?"

Mia bit back the urge to point out that Connor didn't even like girls. But she knew that would only bring him more trouble; and it wasn't her place to be going around telling people. "It's not cute."

"It's a little cute. Especially when you consider how hot he is. I mean, most guys who look like him are so full of themselves and insufferable. Like, they know how hot there are and they act like it." She quickly applied some lip balm. "But Connor is so…down to Earth, it's like he doesn't even realize how good looking he is. If he were more aware of himself, he could probably have any girl in the 9th grade." She turned to face Mia, one hand on her hip. "But he's not aware. He's quiet and simple, therefore perfect."

Mia's eyes darkened at how condescending that sounded. "Connor is great! He's not simple, he's reserved and pious! And there's nothing wrong with that. He's allowed to be as…promiscuous or non-promiscuous as he wants! Not to mention he's the most thoughtful person I've ever met in my life, which is a surprisingly high bar! He's wonderful and deserves way better than a Barbie-wanna-be like you!"

The amused smirk never left Alyssa's lips as she appraised Mia. "You seem to know an awful lot about him. Sure you're not just jealous?"

"Jealous? Gross, no! I'm not-"

"Are you sure? I mean, I know you guys are foster siblings, so it's basically incest, but that wouldn't stop someone like you, would it?"

Mia's cheeks burned scarlet and everything got so quiet the only thing she could hear was her heart beating in her ears. "What'd you mean…someone like me?"

"You know what I mean. Because you're a whore."

As soon as the last word crossed Alyssa's lips, Mia surged forward and grabbed her by the hair. Without thinking, she used her other hand to turn the water on as high as it would go, then shoved Alyssa's head under it. The other girl shrieked and tried to pull away, but Mia had months of archery training to her advantage. She held Alyssa there just long enough to soak her head and face before she released her. As Alyssa stumbled away, she crossed her arms. "Don't ever come near Connor again."

"Psycho bi-"

"Did you hear me?! Don't come near him again! He's not some doll for you to play with! He's a person with thoughts and feelings that you're hurting! Leave him alone, or next time I'll mess up more than just your make-up." The bell rang, so Mia left the bathroom without looking back. 'Hopefully, she'll stop bothering him now,' she thought as she hurried to her last class. 'God, I can't believe her. How dare she talk about Connor like he's some kind of…plaything there for her amusement, without even considering how she's making him feel!' Then there was what Alyssa had said to her. 'I may be a whore, but at least I don't act like a predator. There are worse things in this world than having a lot of sex.' Be that as it may though, she couldn't quite shake the burn of humiliation in her stomach as she entered the classroom.

— —

All through art class, Connor was convinced this would be the day he finally talked to Kyle. He had a plan, a good plan, to finally make it happen. They were tracing with special pencils and paper today, so Connor "accidentally" ripped his page. He leaned over to ask Kyle for a new sheet. Connor's head hesitated at Kyle's shoulder, heart pounding. 'What if he doesn't want to give ma another one? What if I say something stupid? No, I won't. All I have to do is say 'Can I have a sheet of tracing paper?' It'll be fine! I can-' A movement in the corner of his eye from his other side.

"Here you go," Mr. Neil whispered as he put several pieces of tracing paper in front of Connor. "So we don't have to bother Kyle."

"…Thanks," Connor whispered back. The teacher gave him a pat on the shoulder before moving on. Trying not to audibly sigh, Connor glanced at Kyle, who was so entrapped by his tracing that he didn't seem to have noticed anything. 'Well, maybe it was a really terrible plan, anyway,' Connor thought glumly as he started tracing again. 'Maybe I was going to make a complete fool of myself and this was the universe's way of intervening before I could do that.' Hopefully, that was it. 'It's Friday, but then I have all weekend to think of ways to talk to him!' Connor almost cringed at how weird that sounded. 'I'm hopeless…'

Thankfully, the class didn't drag and before he knew it, he was turning in his most acceptable sketch (traced onto another page as well). As usual, by the time he made it back to the table, Kyle was gone. Connor tried not to feel disappointed as he grabbed his bag, then left the classroom. 'Try to think positive,' he told himself silently as he went to his locker. 'I have a whole weekend of training and patrol to look forward to.' Hopefully, Roy would have time to help him and Mia with their paired shooting like he kept saying he would. While Connor understood the man was busy helping Jade with Lian on top of all his other, usual responsibilities, he couldn't help but wish Roy had more time to help them train. 'We can manage on our own, but it's not the same as having Roy there.' He found Mia in their usual meeting spot by the school gate. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied simply. "Ready?"

"Let's go." They started walking home. "Hey, do you want to practice paired shooting when we get home?"

"Sure! Do you think Roy will be able to help us?"

"I hope so. Even if he doesn't I guess we can keep practicing with just the two of us."

"Yeah. It's not really the same without him, though. We don't have his expert opinion to tell us if we're doing it correctly."

"What else can we do? He's got a lot going on right now."

"I know. And we can't just…not practice."

"Exactly. Even if he can't be there, we can figure it out."

Mia gave him a smile. "Glad you have so much confidence in us." When he returned her smile, Mia thought back to what had happened with Alyssa in the bathroom. 'Male or female, he deserves someone who will take the time to actually get to know him. And is willing to wait for him to start showing interest in them before they start invading his personal space.' They turned a corner and she almost stopped. 'What was that?' It'd almost looked like someone ducking behind the column of a building. Not wanting to worry Connor, she stayed quiet as they kept walking. All through the walk, she kept an eye out. Since they'd moved in November, the walk was a lot longer than it had been before, giving her plenty of opportunities. She thought there was someone in the corner of her eye when they were halfway, home when she turned her head she couldn't see anything. So, she shrugged it and kept walking, but couldn't completely shake the feeling that she was being watched until they let themselves into the building through the backdoor.

As soon as they got upstairs, Connor and Mia took just enough time to drop their belongings in their rooms and say hi to Lian before they went downstairs. "We should ask Roy if we can set up some targets in the backyard," Connor commented as he filled his quiver. "So we can practice outside in the summer."

"I overheard him telling Lian how he wants to fix up the fence and re-seed the yard so there's grass when he was giving her a bath last week."

"I hope so, I'd like to help him with that."

"Why?"

Connor shrugged. "We used to do gardening all the time at the monastery. Maybe Roy will let me start a vegetable garden."

'Why do the simplest things bring him so much joy? Maybe it's a…Buddhism thing.' Mia finished filling her quiver, then joined Conor in front of the targets. "Ready?"

"Let's see how we do without talking." Using their peripheral vision, the two teens started shooting in sync with each other. The shot arrow after arrow into the bullseyes of their respective targets. They kept an eye on their own shooting speeds and when the arrows hit their marks. After three minutes, they'd emptied their quivers, then moved to retrieve the arrows.

They were still shooting when Roy came downstairs. "Jade said you guys were down here," he smiled as he watched. "Your paired shooting is really coming along."

"Do you think you could help us tonight before patrol?" Mia asked hopefully.

"…Sorry, but I don't think so. I told Jade I'd take care of Lian before I leave for patrol so she could get some exercise."

"What does Jade do when she gets…exercise?" Connor asked.

"It's probably better we don't ask."

"Right."

"Why don't you bring Lian down here?" Mia suggested suddenly. "She can watch us."

"Because the Arrow Cave isn't safe for a baby," Roy laughed. "You guys are doing fine. Maybe tomorrow I'll give you some pointers. Ok?" He got two nods and turned to go back upstairs. "Don't tire yourselves out before patrol." Roy went back upstairs and found Jade laying Lian down on her play mat. "Have fun."

"Always do," Jade answered as she headed for her room.

Roy smiled as he laid down on his own stomach so he could be face-to-face with his daughter. "Hi, baby," he cooed quietly. "Hello, beautiful. Whatcha got there?" Lian simply put the end of the rattle in her mouth. "Is that tasty?" She just kept sucking on the toy. "When you start going some teeth Daddy will buy you all the yummy treats you want. How's that sound, huh?" Roy reached out to pick her up, then smoothly turned onto his back so he could hold her above him. Lian laughed and cooed, swinging her rattle as Roy brought her down close to his face. "Who's a happy baby? Huh? Who's a happy baby?" He kissed her forehead, then lifted her back up again. She put the rattle back in her mouth. "Are you that hungry, huh, baby girl?" Lian giggled in response and kept sucking on her rattle. "Let's get you a snack then."

Lian shrieked happily as Roy swung her again, standing. He settled her in his arms, then carried her into the kitchen. Once she was settled in the high-chair, Roy grabbed a banana and a spoon. He peeled it, then snapped a piece off. He set it on the tray of her high chair then thoroughly crushed it with the spoon. With the banana now mush, Roy scooped some up on the spoon, then held it out to her mouth. Lian gurgled with a smile before she basically threw her whole body forward to reach the spoon. "Still working on those gross motor skills, hm?" Roy asked her. "Don't worry, soon you'll figure out what all those limbs are for. You'll be standing, then walking and running. Before we know it, Daddy will be teaching you archery." Roy broke off another piece of the banana and crushed it into mush as well. "You'll like that, won't you? To learn how to shoot like Daddy?" He caught a little bit of banana that dribbled out of her mouth so she could try eating it again.

"You know, my dad taught me archery." Another piece of the banana was broken off, then turned into mush. Lian grabbed at the much with her fingers, then shoved her hand into her mouth. "Some of my happiest memories are with him, practicing my shooting for hours without stopping." He watched as Lian shoved another handful of banana into her mouth. "I wish he could've met you. Brave Bow probably would've adored you. He'd show you off in town to all his friends. Everyone would've heard how wonderful and beautiful his granddaughter is." Roy reached out smoothed down her hair as she ate another handful of the banana mush. "Maybe someday I can introduce you to my adopted family. Bruce, Alfred, Dick, Barbara, Tim. They're nice people if a little stubborn. They'll love you too."

Lian just smiled at him and reached out, her tiny fingers opening and closing expectantly. "Eh!" she cried out.

"You want more? Huh? More banana?" Roy ripped off another piece of banana, took a small bite, then started squishing it. "Yummy, huh?" When Lian grabbed another handful, Roy leaned closer. "Can Daddy have some?" He carefully ate some banana off her fingers. "Thanks." Roy snacked on the rest of the banana himself, then got up to grab a paper towel. "You made a mess." Lian giggled as he wiped down her face with the wet paper towel. "Let's go play with some toys, hm?" He picked Lian up and bounced her a little bit. "How does that sound?" Lian giggled and grabbed at his hair. "No, no! Don't touch Daddy's hair." Roy held her against his chest as they went to her bedroom. As soon as they walked in though, his phone started ringing. "I'll get that."

Roy set Lian down before he answered. "Hello?"

"Is this Raymond Wayne?" a woman asked.

"It is."

"This is Cynthia Wendell, Assistant Principal at Star City Charter Academy. I'm in charge of the high school students."

"What can I do for you?"

"I just received a…distressing call from the parents of Alyssa Newman. They claim your foster-daughter, Mia Dearden attacked their daughter today."

"Attacked her? How?"

"Alyssa claims Mia attacker her in the bathroom, completely unprovoked and held her head under the water."

"Does she have any proof?"

"No, and her parents haven't reported any marks on Alyssa. For that reason, I will be calling me down to my office on Monday and letting her off with a reprimand. It's just our policy to call and inform you whenever we take any disciplinary actions."

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Roy hung up and sighed. "Looks like we need to go talk to Mia. Come on, baby girl." He picked up Lian, who was chewing on a small, canvas book, and carried her downstairs. 'Don't jump to any conclusions,' he thought as he walked down the stairs. 'Maybe it's not as bad as it sounds.' When he got down to the Arrow Cave, the two older kids were still practicing. "Mia."

"Yeah?" Mia replied as she shot another arrow. She turned around to look at him. "What's up?"

"I just got a call from your school. They said you attacked another student today."

'Oh shit…'

Connor frowned. 'Mia attacked someone?' he thought in confusion.

"Mia, did you attack another girl today?" Roy asked her.

"Uh… Technically, yes."

Roy sighed. "Mia-"

"But I didn't hurt her! I just wanted to…get my point across."

"There are better ways to get your point across without using violence."

"I didn't even hurt her!"

"Why did you attack her?"

Mia hesitated, trying not to glance at Connor. "Because… Because she called me a whore." At least it wasn't a total lie.

Some of Roy's anger evaporated. "While I understand why what she said hurt you, Mia, the answer is never to hurt someone else; especially in anger."

"Alyssa had it coming."

'Alyssa?!' Connor thought, shocked. 'As in… Oh no, Mia, tell me you didn't.'

"Regardless," Roy told Mia, "you shouldn't be fighting. If you're not in costume, your skills should only be used in self-defense and never done because someone else made you angry. Is that understood?"

Mia sighed. "Yeah, understood."

"Good. You're benched all weekend."

"Benched?! That's so unfair!"

"That's the consequence of your actions. Now go upstairs."

"…Fine." Mia put her bow and quiver away, then followed Roy back up to the apartment.

— —

After parol, Connor went to Mia's room. His hand hesitated for a second before knocking on her door.

"Come in," Mia said. She was brushing her hair on her bed. "What's up?"

"Did you- Did you attack Alyssa because of…me?"

"Of course."

"But- I told you not to hurt her-"

Mia shrugged. "And I didn't. Seriously, all I did was mess up her make-up. Besides, someone had to do something to stop her."

"It wasn't that bad." Connor sat at the foot of her bed. "It was fine-"

"It wasn't fine, Connor. She was making you uncomfortable. You shouldn't have to put up with that."

"It's not worth you getting in trouble over!"

Mia crossed her arms. "It is."

"No, it's-"

"Yes, it is! Look, I don't know who told you otherwise, Connor, but you're worth getting in trouble over. You're a good guy, you don't deserve to be treated the way Alyssa treats you."

Heat slowly spread across Connor's cheeks. "…Thanks." He was quiet for a moment. "I'm sorry you got benched because of this."

"It's fine. Besides, it's only for one weekend. We've had worse."

"Yeah, that's true." Connor glanced down at the bed. "Thanks. For you know…sticking up for me. No one- No one's ever done that before." No one beside his mom.

Again, Mia only shrugged. "No problem. I've never had a…brother before— or any siblings— but I think this whole, protecting each other thing is part of the gig."

"Yeah. I mean, I've never had a sister, but…I think you're right."

"Plus, as a vigilante, I'm completely into this…helping people stuff."

"I'm glad. You're really good at it."

"Thanks."

A thought popped into Connor's head. He hesitated for a moment before talking. "Can I um…ask you something?" He didn't hear a verbal response, but when he looked up again, Mia was giving him a "go on" look. "So… There's this boy in my art class…he sits next to me and he's…awesome."

Mia grinned widely. "Awwww! You have a boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" The heat in Connor's cheeks spread down to his neck. "I've never even talked to him before…"

"Why not?"

"I- I don't know what to say!"

"You can start with hi."

"I'm serious." Connor looked at the bed again. "I- I don't know what to tell him, Mia. He's so talented."

"Try complimenting him. Maybe he'll be interested if you like his art."

"But..what if I say something stupid?

Mia rolled her eyes. "Come on, you're so smart. I doubt you'll say something stupid."

"You don't know that."

"So you're telling me, oh Zen one, that you're brave enough to take down a whole gang of drug dealers alone with nothing but fast, pointy sticks, but you're too chicken to talk to one boy?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god! Just talk to him, Connor. I promise it won't be that bad."

"…I'll try." Connor smiled a little. "Thanks, Mia. You know…you're pretty smart yourself."

"Of course I am."

"Night."

"Night, Con."

'If this is what it's like having a sister,' Connor thought as he went to his own room. 'then I think I've been missing out.'