A/N: It's technically Thursday, but I didn't remember I had to update until late and I didn't want to wait until Sunday because...well, you'll see ;) Leave a review and let me know what you think!
A few weeks after the camping trip, Connor opened his eyes, then jumped and scrambled against the wall when he saw Mia's head hanging down from the top bunk. She stared at him with a wide smile. "Jeez, Mia," he said. "Don't do that." A glance at the window told him it was dawn; the time he normally woke up for his morning meditation. "What're you doing up? You're never up this early."
"Happy Birthday!" Mia's left hand moved and she threw a handful of confetti at his face.
Connor blinked and brushed it off his eyes. "Thanks…"
"Hey, I made that myself at summer school."
"Aren't you supposed to be learning math at summer school?"
"I'd like to see you pay attention to prime numbers while it's the middle of July. At least the classrooms have air conditioning." There was a quiet knock on the door and Mia lifted herself up to look at it. "Come in!"
The door opened and Roy walked in. "Hey Connor- and Mia," he said. "What're you doing up?"
"I wanted to be the first to congratulate Connor on making it another year."
Roy chuckled as he ruffled Connor's hair. "Happy Birthday, Connor."
"Thanks, Roy," Connor replied quietly.
"I was thinking we could go out today, just you and me."
"What about me?!" Mia objected, swinging her upper body down again.
"You have summer school and two online classes to finish before school starts in exactly one month. You have your hands full."
"What're we going to do?" Connor asked.
"I was thinking we could go to bookstore and you could pick out some books. And we could get you a cushion to meditate on so you don't have to sit on the floor."
"I don't mind the floor…but a cushion would be nice."
"Sounds like a plan then. I'll have breakfast ready for you when your morning meditation is done."
"Thanks."
"Roy, watch this!" Mia said. She rolled forward, letting go of the top bunk as she landed don her feet. "Ta-da!"
"I see your acrobatics training is paying off," Roy smiled. "Let Connor mediate in peace."
"I will." Mia waited until Roy left before going over to her dresser and grabbed her school uniform; khaki pants and a red polo shirt with the school emblem on it. "I'll get out of your hair, Connor."
"You're not in my way," Connor said as he made his bed, then went over to the window.
"Mhm. Have fun." Mia slipped out of the room but detoured to the kitchen on her way to the bathroom. "Are you still taking Connor on patrol tonight?"
"Yes," Roy said. "Can I count on you to decorate his cake while we're gone?"
"Bake and decorate. I've got it all under control."
"Good. And you won't burn down our apartment?"
"Count on it."
"Thank you. Now go get dressed."
— —
By the time Mia had showered, gotten dressed, and put her hair up in a ponytail, Connor was done with his morning meditation and dressed. He sat at the kitchen table, reading.
"You're reading and Roy's taking you to get more books?" Mia asked as she sat down.
"I like reading," Connor said.
"Do you have any hobbies besides reading?"
"…I fight crime."
"That doesn't count."
"Says who?"
"Maybe you'll both pick up some new activities when school starts," Roy hinted as he served them veggie omelets. "Your new school has a lot of clubs you can participate in."
"I'm good," Connor replied quickly as he dug into his breakfast.
"I'll probably have enough going on with training and staying caught up in school," Mia said. "Did you know if my grades drop below a C average, I have to go to mandatory tutoring?"
"Mhm," Roy nodded as he joined them at the table. "That's one of the reasons I picked that school. I know vigilante activities won't interfere with your grades."
"Sneaky."
"And don't disregard the extra-curricular just yet. My younger brother was on the math team at Gotham Academy while he was Robin."
"Hard no to the math team. For both of us."
"Both?"
"I can't let Connor do something like that. He's already a huge nerd."
Connor tried not to smile as he ate his omelet. "Thanks…I think?" he told her.
"I think you guys should at least consider it," Roy said. "You should try to have normal lives. Make friends, go to dances, join a club or team…" Both Mia and Connor looked at Roy at the sightly wistful tone in his voice. "Anyways, you still have a month before you need to worry about that."
'I have more important things to worry about,' Connor thought as he focused on his breakfast. 'I wonder if Roy will let me practice in the Quiver today? I know he wants to take me out for fun stuff, but I could use the practice. I'm finally starting to get consistently faster. And I won't have to worry about trying to spend the whole day with him.' Not that Connor didn't appreciate his guardian's attempts to give him undivided attention, but he worried things would go back to how they were before Mia came into their lives. As much as he'd had his misgivings about her being there, Connor had to admit that having a third person made things a lot less awkward between him and Roy. Maybe because Roy connected to Mia based on their similar traumas, or maybe because it gave him something to focus on besides the blonde-haired, green-eyed reminder of his abuser lurking around his home; but whatever the case, it made Connor nervous about how things would be between them once they were alone.
The three finished their breakfasts in silence. When everyone was done, Roy started to collect their plates. "We're leaving in ten minutes," he said. He smiled a little as he watched Connor and Mia leave to brush their teeth. 'Looks like I'm finally hitting some kind of a routine,' he thought. 'I hope so. We need to establish some normalcy around here.'
— —
On their way to the bookstore, Roy dropped Mia off at summer school.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you guys?" she asked as she got out of the car.
"See you this afternoon, Mia," Roy told her.
"Uh-huh. I'll see you guys at home then."
"Hey, Roy," Connor said as they pulled away from the school.
"Yeah?"
"Do you think I can practice my archery this afternoon?"
"…If you want to, I guess. It's your birthday."
"Great!"
Roy tried not to wince at how Connor seemed more excited about the prospect of practicing his archery than the two of them spending quality time together. 'I thought he'd like some one-on-one time, since I usually have to split my attention between him, Mia, vigilante stuff, and my detective business.' Oh well. It was Connor's birthday and so far he hadn't shown any depression over his mom not being there, so Roy was willing to do whatever he had to do to keep it that way. Even if it might've been a sign that things weren't as good between them as he'd thought. Patrols were still the one place Roy didn't feel like he had to work so hard with Connor. 'As long as Connor's happy…I guess that's all that matters.'
It was silent all the way to the bookstore and reminded that way even when they were wandering among the shelves. Roy left Connor in the teen books and wandered around. As he passed into the nonfiction section, he eyed a shelf that contained parenting books. It'd occurred to him maybe he'd have better luck if he could get some expert help, but most of the books were geared toward parents with young children, even less had books on foster kids and none detailed how to deal with a teenager whose mere presence could trigger your PTSD, creating what felt like an impenetrable barrier between you and said, teen. 'I'm probably the only person with that problem,' Roy thought as he kept walking, looking for something he might like to add to his growing library at home. 'Which also doesn't feel right, because Dinah always insisted my problems weren't limited to me and other people had felt the way I felt before.' It made Roy wish he could tell Dinah about Connor.
'But I can't,' he reminded himself as he kept wandering. 'I trust Dinah, and I know she wouldn't judge Connor for his father was…but one person knowing heightens the chances of other people knowing. And Dinah is a member of the League. It's different than with Kal. He's on the Team. No one will think to ask him, so I wouldn't be asking him to lie.' Then again, who would think to ask if Roy had taken in Oliver Queen's son? 'I need to protect Connor and his identity has to remain a secret until I can be sure no one will hold Oliver against him.' As he walked, he lopped back to the teen section and found Connor was gone. "Connor?" he asked, trying to keep his heart from beating too fast. "Connor?" He passed several aisles, sticking his head down them to see if he could spot him. Finally, he found Connor in a completely different section. Roy breathed a small sigh of relief, even though he knew, logically, that Connor wouldn't have just wandered out of the bookstore. "Hey."
"Huh?" Connor looked up from the book he'd been skimming. "Oh, hey."
"Find anything good?" Roy quickly skimmed the titles nearby. "Crime books, really, kid?"
"What? I think they're interesting."
"Except you don't need to know every crime prevention theory out there. I think you've read everyone I have at home, isn't that enough?"
'If it was I wouldn't have spent my summer reading every book on crime-fighting and crime prevention I could find at the library,' Connor thought as he put the book away. He shrugged. "I just thought you'd want me to be knowledgeable on the subject."
"Connor-" Roy tried not to sigh. "I want you to have a life. A fun life where you have hobbies and interests. And don't say that it is your hobby, because you need more than that. You need normal hobbies, too. So…pick out some books about treasure hunting or something."
"…Fine." Connor walked back toward the teen books, very aware of Roy following him the whole time. 'I don't want normal hobbies,' he thought when he was looking for something to read. 'I want to be a great hero. I don't have time for non-vigilante hobbies. Why is Roy so insistent we be normal anyway? I've never been "normal" so that ship sailed long ago as it is.' Regardless, if he wanted to get to his afternoon of shooting, he knew he needed to pick out some books that Roy would approve of. So he grabbed some books on fictional crime-fighting, hoping it was a halfway point Roy could agree to.
Roy, of course, caught on to what Connor was doing right away, but just shrugged. "Anything else?"
"No. These are fine."
"Let's go then." It was silent from then, through checkout, and all the way to the next store where Roy bought Connor a cushion to meditate on. Here, Connor at least seemed more relaxed as he examined each cushion, feeling them with his hand to find the right one. Roy didn't rush him at all, letting him shop until he found the right one. It was a circle with green and white stripes, resembling the rings on a target.
"Is it ok if I get this one?" Connor asked cautiously, clearly concerned Roy wouldn't let him.
Roy physically bit the inside of his lip. He hated the color green; hated it so much that almost nothing in his apartment was green. Even books with green covers were delegated to the bottom-most shelf where they weren't easily noticed. But it was Connor's birthday. He sighed. "Yeah… That's fine."
"Thanks."
'Why does it have to be green?' Roy thought as he paid. 'Can't this kid like any other color? Even after learning about Oliver, he likes it! I don't understand!' It felt like another brick in the wall between them, but Roy was afraid that force Connor to hide or change his favorite color, something the teen used to express himself, would make him too controlling; so he stayed quiet. "How about lunch?" he asked eventually as they walked down the street and he checked his watch. "I think a new vegetarian restaurant opened a couple of blocks from here. We can drop these bags in the car first."
"…Sure. Sounds good." Connor stared at the ground as he walked. 'Lunch is good. I need some feel before I shoot this afternoon.' And he had noticed the restaurant on his walk to the library every day, it looked really good. "What are we doing for dinner?"
"Whatever you want. It's your birthday."
"…Eggplant parmesan?"
"If that's what you want to have, then well have it."
"Great. Thanks."
The two lapsed back into silence as they walked to the restaurant. It stayed silent even as they ordered and got their food. Finally, once they were settled in with their meals, Roy spoke again.
"Are you excited for school to start in the fall?" Roy asked as he picked some veggies out of his food. Just the ones he didn't like.
Connor shrugged. "I guess," he said. "This is…school number three in less than two years?"
Roy winced. "I'm sorry. I know this must be hard to keep changing schools like this. I just really want you and Mia together so you can look out for each other."
"It's fine. I don't really care about school anyways."
"You should-" The words barely escaped Roy's lips before Connor looked up from his food to give him a half-glare. The look elicited a small flinch from Roy, but the teen pressed on.
"I don't like school. School is dumb and pointless. Stop trying to make me like school, because it isn't going to work."
"Connor-"
"I'm not you, Roy! So stop acting like I am!" Connor sighed and closed his eyes for a moment trying to get a handle on his sudden anger. His hands balled into fists around his plastic fork and knife. 'Calm down… Clam down…' Unfortunately, sitting across from Roy wasn't helping. "I'm not hungry. We're only a few blocks from the- your office. I'm going to cool off for a while."
"O-Ok, be home by dinner…" Roy's voice died as Connor walked away. He watched the teen leave with a heavy heart. "Damn it!" Roy put his head in his hands. 'I- I don't get it. I'm just trying to do the right thing. I'm just trying to give them a good life. The life I never got to have.' How was that a bad thing? Why was it backfiring so spectacularly? The fact that it was still Connor's birthday made it so much worse. It only reminded Roy of what he'd feared from the very beginning. 'I really have no idea what I'm doing. I'm not capable of this.' He shook his head. 'Why is it that training Connor is so easy? How come I never have this problem as Red Arrow?' Whatever the reason, sitting in the restaurant feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to make it better. So he got to-go boxes for their food and left.
— —
The rest of the day was long. After leaving the restaurant, Roy bought the necessary ingredients for Connor's birthday dinner and the cake. He didn't hear from the teen all afternoon. The urge to go to the Arrow Cave and check on him was strong, but Roy resisted. Seeing Connor's green eyes tinted in anger, the way his face pinched in all the right places, it sent shivers down Roy's spine. Picked at the strings in his mind to play on his anxiety. Just thinking about it made him jittery. So Roy stayed away, feeling guilty that his anxiety was keeping him from seeking Connor out to help him.
'Maybe I'm in over my head,' Roy thought as he cooked dinner; glancing at the doorway every five seconds. 'I don't know how to take care of teenagers. I don't know how to do this while being…me.' The door opened and closed and his head whipped toward the doorway. "Connor?!"
"Sorry to disappoint," Mia said as she dropped her school bag. "Sorry, I'm late. That science test took me a lot longer than I thought it would. Aced it though!"
"Great work…" Roy glanced at the clock, then crossed his arms.
"Where's Connor?"
"The Cave."
"Why is he there?"
Roy thinned his lips, then shook his head. "Nothing. Its nothing." He sighed. "Listen, can you go to the Arrow Cave and bring Connor home for dinner?"
"Sure… Back in a flash." Mia left the apartment, mind reeling over this. 'Roy looks so tense. What happened between them today? I know Connor and Roy can have some issues, but it's Connor's birthday. Aren't good kids like Connor supposed to have nice birthdays?' Whatever the reason, she still wanted to make Connor a birthday cake that night while they patrolled, so she went straight to Roy's office. When she got to the Arrow Cave, Connor was practicing his shooting. She stood there watching him for a few minutes before clearing her throat. It only knocked Connor's aim off by half an inch. "Show off."
Connor sighed. "What'd you want, Mia?" he asked, voice strained.
"Geez, who kicked your dog?"
"Mia…"
"Connor…"
Connor dropped his bow arm and looked back as she approached him. "What do you want?"
"Roy wants you to come home, so we can have your birthday dinner like one big, happy, family-unit."
"I'm not hungry." Connor raised his bow again and knocked another arrow.
"Too bad." Mia stood between Connor's arrow and the target. "What the hell is wrong with you? Normally you're all…calm and nice, but right now you're so…angry, like-"
"Like who?" Connor lowered his bow. When she didn't say anything, he pressed her. "Go on, Mia. Finish the sentence."
Mia crossed her arms and met his glare with her own. "Like Oliver Queen." The flinch on Connor's face didn't faze her. "What happened?"
"Roy just doesn't get it! He tries, but he doesn't get me and I don't get him! He wants me to be happy having a normal life going to school and being a kid, but I can't! I want to be a vigilante and decorate my room with the color green, but he can't stand it! There's just this…distance between us. This…shadow on our lives that keeps us apart." Connor hung his head and ran his hands through his hair. "It's like we're on different pages, and the worst part is…he's all I have. Social Services won't let me go back to Arsham. My mom is dead, my father is…evil and deranged, imprisoned on another planet. All I have is this man who means well, but doesn't understand me and can barely stand to be around me sometimes."
"At least you have him. And I'm trying not to be hurt that I'm not important enough to make it onto your pity list of people in your life."
"Please-"
"Don't roll your eyes at me. I think this is the first time I've seen you roll your eyes; don't do it anymore. You and I might not be best friends, but we're roommates. Soon to be teammates. If someone tried to murder you, I'd totally kick their ass and save yours."
"…Thanks… I think?"
Mia smirked. "I think this is Roy's first time doing the…parent thing. And he's only 21. 21 and suddenly raising two teenagers while trying to keep a whole city safe as a vigilante. I think he's entitled to be a little bad at first."
"I guess…"
"Look, just come home and eat the weird…eggplant thing that Roy made."
"Eggplant parmesan is delicious."
"Then go on patrol and be his sidekick. At least try to have a good birthday. And give him some time. He has that whole good-guy-hero complex, so…I think he'll try to bridge the gap."
"Ok… Fine." Connor put his bow and quiver away, then followed Mia back up the stairs. 'I don't want to fight with Roy. He's nice and I know he wants to help me…but I'm not him. I don't need what he did. And he doesn't see that.' But Connor also didn't know how to make Roy understand. It was like he told Mia, they were on completely different pages; probably different books. 'Patrol will be better. It's so much easier with Roy when we're vigilantes.' When they got back to the apartment, dinner was ready and Roy was getting ready to serve it.
"Oh, hey… You guys are back," Roy said as the two teens walked into the kitchen.
"Yup," Mia replied as they sat at the table. "Let's eat this…weird eggplant thing."
"Vegetarian food isn't that bad."
"Says you."
Roy smiled a little, then looked at Conor who was focusing solely on his plate. "How was your afternoon?"
"Fine," Connor replied simply.
"Practicing your archery was good, then?"
"Yeah."
"That's…good." Roy let the conversation drop when Connor kept eating and didn't say anything else. Inadequacy and guilt twisted his gut, making him not hungry; but he was going to be patrolling that night, so he forced himself to eat. The silence weighed heavily on both Connor and Roy, while Mia tried to ignore it. When dinner finally ended, Connor went straight to the living room to wait until patrol. Roy sighed quietly to himself and gathered up the dishes.
"Can I still make Conor's birthday cake?" Mia asked as Roy did the dishes.
"Yes, we have all the ingredients and plenty of frosting and sprinkles to decorate it."
"Cool! It'll be ready for you guys when you get home from patrol!"
"Sounds good." For a moment, Roy briefly considered not taking Connor on patrol, but he knew if he did the teen would just hide in his room. Plus, Roy felt that he'd already made Connor's birthday hard enough and didn't want to disappoint him anymore. So, steeling himself and determined to make the most of the rest of Connor's day, Roy walked into the living room and cleared his throat. "Ready to head out?"
"Let's go," Connor said simply as he stood.
Roy let him lead the way to the Arrow Cave. Neither of them said a word on the walk to their headquarters, or while they were changing into their suits. It made Roy feel even more guilt as he double-checked his quiver, then reached for Connor's only to discover the teen had already checked it
"Are we leaving?" Green Arrow asked.
"…Yeah. Let's go, kid," Red Arrow replied. He strapped his quiver on, then he and Green Arrow headed for his bike.
— —
At first, the patrol was really quiet. They stopped a couple of vandals and escorted some teenagers home so they wouldn't cause trouble. Red Arrow looked around from their perch on top of a building. "Guess everyone's hiding tonight," he observed.
"Guess so…" Green Arrow replied, back mostly turned toward his mentor.
'I could at least use an arms deal or something to give us something to focus on besides each other.' Red Arrow considered moving to a different neighborhood, trying to think of a place that might have more activity, when he saw it. A shadow ran across the rooftops a few blocks away. Both archers stood up straight and watched the shadow move.
"Red…who's that?"
"I don't know…" Red Arrow watched as the shadow paused for a moment, then continued on. "Let's go find out. You go East, sneak up on their right side, I'll come up on the left."
"Got it." They split up and Red Arrow shot a grapple line down the street. Without losing momentum he dropped on the line and zipped down on his bow. He zip linked down the block, using the line to jump up to the next rooftop and kept running. "GA, where are you?"
"East Main," Green Arrow answered. "Boy…the shadow is fast!"
"Have a foam or glue arrow ready. We want to immobilize them as soon as possible."
"Got it."
Red Arrow pulled a foam arrow from his own quiver as he ran. He nocked the arrow to the bowstring as he leaped the gap between two buildings. 'Just a little closer… A little bit more…' When he got within thirty feet he shot his arrow. It hit the ground next to the shadow, but they jumped and did a flip onto a chimney to avoid it. As soon as they landed another arrow shot at them from behind and they leaped back onto the rooftop. Red Arrow already had another arrow on his bowstring. He shot it at the shadow, who was running again. The arrow missed and his heart stumbled in it's beating as he once again gave chase. 'Come on, come on, come on…' Red Arrow shot an electroshock arrow, which missed when the shadow suddenly dropped to the rooftop. They slid across the roof and right over the edge. "Oh no!" Red Arrow's heart leaped into his throat as he ran to the edge.
Green Arrow joined his mentor and cautiously peeked over the edge of the rooftop. "Uh…where'd they go?" The street below was completely empty. No signs of the shadow they'd been pursuing.
"I don't know…" Red Arrow surveyed the area carefully. "Let's go down there and sweep this street and the next one."
"Ok."
The two archers climbed down to the street and looked around. Behind every mailbox and car; down every alley. However, the longer they searched and didn't find anything, the more Red Arrow couldn't shake the uneasy feeling in his stomach. 'Something's not right here,' he thought. 'Why is someone running across the rooftops like that?' Two reasons jumped to mind. The first was another vigilante. Given how the reception of vigilantism in Star was lukewarm at best, that seemed unlikely. But the other option wasn't a lot better. 'Someone trained in stealth, evasive maneuvers, mostly likely experienced against archers specifically. They're agile and clearly well trained.' When he finished his search, Red Arrow sighed and rubbed his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"I have a really bad feeling about the shadow…"
"Why?"
"I think they're an assassin."
"An assassin?! Why do you think that?"
"Did you see the way they moved? That's training, very elite training, to evade all our arrows like that."
"So…if they're an assassin, who do you think they're here to kill?"
Red Arrow shook his head. "I don't know…" It made him simultaneously sick to his stomach and enraged that someone was likely going to be murdered in his city that night. 'No! I won't let it happen. Not while I'm the vigilante here.' He closed his eyes for a moment as he took a deep breath, then opened them. "Here's what's going to happen, GA, we're going to try and track down the assassin."
"How?! The city is huge and if they're as skilled as you say…there's only two of us…"
"We'll have to split up. You keep an eye on the south side of the city and I'll take the north. Stay on the rooftops and keep an eye out. Reach me on the comms if you see anything suspicious."
"And if I see the assassin?"
"Incapacitate them immediately, but keep to a distance. Don't get sucked into a close combat fight and contact me right away. Understand?"
Green Arrow nodded, trying not to acknowledge the fear that was creeping up his insides. 'I go this,' he thought. 'I helped take down Black Manta's henchmen, I can do this. No problem.'
"Good. Stay sharp. I'll check on you in a bit over the comms."
"Ok." Green Arrow took an arrow from his quiver and shot it at a rooftop. He grappled up to the top of the building then, nocked an electroshock arrow to his bowstring before using the rooftops to make his way down the block.
'Be safe, Connor,' Red Arrow thought as he quickly got to a rooftop as well and went off in the opposite direction. 'Please stay safe.' His heart was beating faster and his chest tightened at the thought of separating from his partner like this. He'd never allowed Green Arrow to be more than a few blocks away from him on patrol, but now he was sending the teen off to the other side of the city with a deadly assassin on the loose. Even if it as the only way they had even a chance of catching the assassin, it still felt wrong to leave Green Arrow on his own. 'I have to trust him,' Red Arrow thought as he headed farther north. 'I have to trust that he'll handle himself. And he can. I believe in him. He's a smart kid, he'll be fine.'
Everything was quiet for a while. There were no signs of the shadow as Red Arrow moved from rooftop to rooftop. He kept two arrows nocked to his bowstring as he searched the city. In trying to find the assassin, he gravitated more toward neighborhoods he knew had more crime. If someone was going to be murdered, it'd make sense to do it in an area where crime was higher. 'Where are you?' he wondered as his eyes scanned the streets. The desire to keep his city safe made him antsy. After a while, he checked on Green Arrow. "How's it going?" he asked as he zipped across a street.
"No signs of the shadow," Green Arrow replied. "You?"
"Nothing yet. Keep your eyes peeled."
"Got it."
Red Arrow stopped after another block and looked around. 'How would I even know-' A gunshot rang out on the nearly silent street and he ran toward it. He cleared the alley between two apartment buildings with ease, then shot a zip-line down the street. In exactly 15 seconds, he was on the ground and sprinting toward the sound. As soon as he rounded a corner, he ran into someone. Red Arrow grunted and fell to the ground. His eyes widened behind his mask. "Cheshire?" he asked in confusion. Cheshire, who'd also fallen, looked at him, then back in the direction she'd come from. In the light of the streetlights, Red Arrow could see she was holding her side and dark red blood was staining her green suit. "Are you-"
"She went this way!" a voice shouted.
"Cheshire-" Red Arrow reached for her, but she jerked her arm away and kicked him in the chest. He fell on the ground again with another grunt. "Cheshire, wait!" He grabbed his bow and followed her down a narrow alley. A trail of blood drops gave him a clear path to use down the alley and onto a side street. He looked around, then followed the trail to a store. The blood stopped outside the door and the handle was covered in the red liquid. Red Arrow pulled it open slowly and just enough for him to slip in. It clicked shut quietly behind him. It was some kind of cafe, with empty glass display cases casting a dim light of the room. He took a few steps forward, then dodged to the side as a shuriken flew out of the darkness. "Cheshire, it's Red Arrow. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Yeah, right," Cheshire replied, invisible to him. She coughed loudly. "Don't think I didn't see you and your little sidekick following me earlier."
'So that was her.' Red Arrow kept advancing but had to throw himself to the floor to avoid another shuriken. "I noticed you're bleeding. A lot, by the look of it. What happened?"
"Nothing! I don't need help, especially from a hero!"
"That's what heroes do, they help people." Red Arrow crept closer another few feet and dodged again. "Who's chasing you?"
"None of your business! Now get out of here before your sidekick has to go home alone!"
"Cheshire, I wan to help-" Shouting outside the cafe made him stop. Red Arrow glanced back, then dropped to the floor when he saw several men and women standing outside. He stayed low to the ground so he could crawl away from the door and hide at the edge of the counter. For a few seconds, nothing happened, then the door opened. 'Not good.' As stealthily as possible, he pulled an arrow from his quiver and nocked it to his bowstring.
"The blood trail leads in here," a man said. In the dim light of the display cases, Red Arrow could see guns in their hands. "Spread out and look. We got her good before, so she can't get far."
'These guys hurt Cheshire?' Red Arrow made sure no one was looking in his direction, then quickly somersaulted behind the front counter. As he crawled on the floor, he stopped after a few feet. There was Cheshire, curled up in the corner behind the counter. Her make was gone, revealing the already heavy bruising on her face and several long, bleeding gashes on her face. One of her hands was still on her side, covered in blood. She glared at the vigilante, eyes hard with suspicion. Maybe he was crazy, maybe he was soft, but at that moment Red Arrow knew he had to get Cheshire out of there and get her some medical help. He put his finger to his lips, then pulled another arrow from his quiver. 'There's 7 of them. I just need to scare them off.' With both arrows nocked to his bowstring, he took a deep breath, then stood up.
The sudden appearance of the vigilante took the group chasing Cheshire by surprise. Before either could do anything though, he started firing. Aiming for gun barrels with such limited lighting was difficult, but he still aimed true. By the time the people realized what was going on, he'd already disabled half the guns. They started shooting, but he ducked and waved, careful not to lose his footing on the counter. He missed a couple of the guns but kept shooting guilt he'd disabled each of the guns. That didn't stop them though, because they pulled out knives and came at him.
'Yeah, attacking me head-on after I've already shot out the guns is a great idea,' Red Arrow thought with an eye roll. He jumped off the counter, using his bow to whack one of them in the head. Two knives came at his head, but he ducked under them and grabbed one of the arms. He twisted the arm, then used the man as a shield against the woman who came at him. A solid shove from the man sent them both onto the ground. Another knife landed a shallow bow on his face, but Red Arrow used his bow to deflect most of the blow and stepped toward the attacker, knocking him off balance. A quick punch to the solar plexus had him doubled-over. Red Arrow kneed him in the face, then shoved him to the ground. Immediately after, he ducked under another knife, then kicked the woman in the back of the knees, then trapped her hand under his boot to disarm her.
A man grabbed his arm, but Red Arrow was faster and grabbed the hand. He stepped back to stomp on the man's foot, then twisted his arm. The man yelled and Red Arrow elbowed him in the side as hard as he could. With another yell, the man was on the ground and Red Arrow faced down the remaining three men. They attacked him all at once and he dropped to the ground to somersault toward them. It took the men by surprise and he took advantage to deliver a vicious kick to each of their ankles. The kicks took out each of the men and Red Arrow jumped to his feet.
"Get out of here!" he snapped at them. The group ran out of the cafe, not daring to look back. Red Arrow shut the door behind them, then stowed his bow on his back. He shook his head as he went back to the counter and leaped over it. "Cheshire, they're-" Red Arrow stopped when he saw the corner she'd been in was empty. "-gone." He sighed, then saw the blood trail and followed it again. It led him through the small kitchen to a backdoor, which had a bloody handprint on it. "Cheshire?" Red Arrow stepped outside, into the warm night air. There was one overhead light in the small alley, just above the door, and from the doorway, he could see a foot by the dumpster. The vigilante approached slowly. "Cheshire-"
"Leave me alone, hero," Cheshire hissed.
"You're hurt. You need help-"
"Why would you help me?! I'm a hired killer."
"I know, but you're hurt and if I don't help you, then you could die."
"I'll be fine on my own. Always am."
Red Arrow sighed. "Just let me at least help you. Let me fix up your injuries."
"So you can arrest me after?"
"Have you killed someone tonight?"
Cheshire sighed. "No. I was set up, the bastard was waiting for me."
"Come with me and I'll help you. I swear."
For a few seconds, nothing happened, then Cheshire nodded. "Fine. But the second I'm healed, I'm out of here. Got that?"
"Got it." Red Arrow reached out and helped Cheshire to her feet. He let her lean on him as they made their way out of the alley. When they got to the street, he put his hand to his comm. "Hey, GA?"
"Yeah, Red?" Green Arrow replied right away.
"I found our…shadow. Do you remember where we left the bike?"
"Mhm…"
"Good. I'm on 5th Street, by a cafe. I need you to come pick me up."
"Are you hurt?"
"No, but someone else is. I'll explain when you get here."
"Ok…"
Red Arrow helped Cheshire sit on the ground and lean against the wall. "We're going to have to wait here until my partner gets here with our transportation."
"Kind of out in the open, isn't it?" Cheshire remarked.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you." Red Arrow knelt down and reached out for her. "Can I look at your injury?"
Cheshire shrugged. "Go for it."
Red Arrow carefully lifted her shirt and sucked a breath through his teeth. There were two deep cuts on her torso, both bleeding profusely. "Well, that's not good." He pulled some first aid supplies from one of his pouches and held gaze against the wounds. "They'll need stitches for sure. How'd this happen?"
"Classified."
'Great,' he thought as he pushed more gauze against the wound and wrapped bandages around Cheshire's torso. Once he'd done the same to the second stab wound, he sat back on his heels. "That should hold for now."
"Where are you going to take me?"
"My headquarters. I'll have the medical equipment I need to treat you." Red Arrow stood and looked down the street, but they were alone. 'Good. I don't need to be fighting those guys off again.' It silent as he waited for Green Arrow, occasionally checking on Cheshire to make sure she was still alive. When he heard a motorcycle approaching, he stepped back into the mouth of the alley, letting the shadows keeping him mostly hidden. Thankfully, it was Green Arrow on his bike. "Good to see you,'" Red Arrow said as he stepped out onto the street.
"What's going on?" Green Arrow asked.
"Come see."
Green Arrow approached his mentor, then froze in the front of the alley when he saw Cheshire sitting against the wall. "Who's that?"
"Cheshire she's…injured."
"…Is she the shadow?"
"She is. We're taking her back to the Arrow Cave-"
"What?! Why?!"
"Because she needs help and we have to help her." Red Arrow turned his back to his partner, ending their conversation, and helped Cheshire to her feet. "Are you able to hold onto me? It'll make it easier to drive that way."
"Of course," Cheshire replied easily. She grimaced, but grit her teeth as she wrapped her arms around the vigilante's neck.
Red Arrow gave her a small smile, then picked her up and carried her over to the bike. As he got on and settled Cheshire in front of him, Green Arrow got on the bike behind him. The teen remained silent, swallowing his protests as they drove back to their headquarters.
— —
When they got back to the Arrow Cave, Red Arrow took Cheshire straight over to his medical area. He laid her on the cot, then took off his gloves and started gathering the medical supplies he needed. As he did, he noticed Green Arrow standing off to the side, watching him. "GA, why don't you go home?" he suggested. "This will probably be a while and I'll have to stay until she's well enough to leave."
"Ok…" Green Arrow replied quietly. He gave Cheshire a look she couldn't decipher with his mask on, then went to change.
"Can you take off your shirt?"
"Trying to get me undressed?" Cheshire smiled, voice tense with pain as she slowly slipped off the shirt of her suit. "I thought you'd never ask."
"I have a boyfriend." Red Arrow cut away the temporary bandages he placed on her torso and removed the gauze.
"Doesn't mean you can't look." Cheshire smiled when the vigilante kept his eyes only on her torso but grimaced a second later as pain shot through her body.
"Do you want some pain medicine?"
"Got anything good?"
"I've been shot, of course, I do." Red Arrow rummaged through his small pharmacy of medicines before he found one he was looking for and handed her three pills. Cheshire swallowed them immediately. "I'll numb the area, then start stitching you. You need to take it easy for a few weeks."
"I can't be down for that long."
"You must have a safe-house where you can stay."
"Maybe…"
"Well, you should think about hiding out in one of those until you're better." Red Arrow started stitching the wounds closed. "Still don't want to talk about how this happened?"
Cheshire sighed. "I was hired to kill some mob boss by a rival in Coast City. Only when I got there…they weren't asleep like I was told they would be. No, they were awake and had guns ready. There was also a lot more people than I was expecting."
"Well…try to be more careful."
Cheshire frowned at Red Arrow. "Why do you care?"
"I don't."
"Then why are you helping me?" She didn't get a response. "Spill, hero."
Red Arrow sighed. "I don't know. I just…can't let you die."
"Even if I'm a murderer?"
"Yeah."
Cheshire studied him for a few moments. "I"m not my sister, you know. She might've been happy playing hero but I sure as hell wouldn't be."
"I never said you were. Besides, these days Artemis is happy to just be a college student."
"Humph. Can't see why."
"Can't you?" Red Arrow moved on to the second wound. "You've never thought about a normal life How great it would be to be like everyone else?"
"Of course I thought about it; years ago. But wishing and praying that I had a different life won't change anything. Feeling sorry for myself won't keep me alive or safe."
"I know."
"Do you?"
"I do. We might have different paths now, but you and I aren't that different, Cheshire."
"…I guess not."
"It was silent between the two until Red Arrow was finished stitching the second wound. "There. Now you won't die."
"…Thanks." Cheshire tried to get up, only to cry out as soon s she straightened her torso, then doubled-over in pain.
"Careful. Lay back." Red Arrow helped her lay down. "Your injuries are still fresh. Maybe you should-"
"What? Stay here?" When Red Arrow didn't answer, she smirked. "You'd trust a trained assassin alone in your secret headquarters?"
"I didn't say I'd leave you alone. I have some case files I'm behind on anyways. Just…rest. Get some sleep."
Cheshire hesitated for a moment, reluctant to accept his help. But she was also very injured and knew if she was attacked it'd be hard to defend herself. "Fine. But I'm gone as soon as I wake up."
"Fair enough." Red Arrow grabbed a blanket and spread it over her. "Get some sleep. You'll need it to heal faster."
Cheshire smirked. "I didn't know you were a doctor."
Red Arrow smiled. "Good-night, Cheshire."
"Night, hero."
— —
The sound of the door opening made Mia smile. She quickly finished putting candles on the cake and practically ran into the hall. "Connor?" she asked in confusion when she saw him alone. "Where's Roy? Did you ditch him?"
"No," Connor replied with a small shake of his head. "We had some…trouble on patrol."
"What kind of trouble?"
"We saw a shadow on the rooftops and when we lost her, Roy deduced it was an assassin. So we split up to search. A while later, he got a hold of me on the comm and said to bring the bike to his location. Roy found the assassin and she was injured, so he brought her back to the Arrow Cave to help her."
Mia's eyes widened. "Roy brought an assassin into the Quiver?"
"Yeah."
"…Wow." That felt like a bad idea, but then again Roy was the professional, so what did she know. "When's he coming home?"
"No idea."
Mia glanced at the time as Connor walked past her. "It's only…12:30 am…" She watched him walk into their shared bedroom silently and shut the door. 'Well…just because Roy apparently forgot its Connor's birthday doesn't mean I am.' Feeling slightly bad, Mia cut the cake so she had two pieces, then grabbed two forks and dug out a lighter. When she walked into their bedroom, she found Connor sitting on the floor. "Perfect, you're still up."
"Hmm?" Connor looked back and almost smiled. "Mia, you don't have to-"
"Sure I do." Mia sat on the floor with him and lit the lighter. "We're roomies, and I think this falls under our responsibilities to each other." She lit the two candles, then quietly sang Happy Birthday. When she finished, she waited for a second, but Connor didn't move. "Come on, Connor. Blow out the candles."
Connor did so, then picked up his piece. "Did you make this?"
"I did. I've never had a birthday cake before so I hope it turned out good." She took a bite and nodded. "I mean it tastes good to me."
Connor froze with his fork halfway to his mouth. "You've…never had a birthday cake before?"
"No. My parents weren't exactly the kind of…loving folks who would give their daughter a birthday cake. And Richard's idea of celebrating my birthday was lowering my quota for the night so I had more time to have sex with him instead of clients." She took another bite and nodded. "Wow, I've really been missing out, this is great." As she took her next bite, she noticed Connor was staring at her. "Is something, wrong? Did I make it wrong?"
"No. No." Connor quickly ate two bites. "It's delicious. Thank you, Mia."
"You're welcome. One of my many talents."
Connor smiled and ate another bite. "Guess so."
