If You Love
Someone
If you love something, set it
free
If it comes back to you, it's
yours
If not, it was never meant to
be.
Roy was in trouble.
It was night, and he was being hunted.
Of course he was attempting to track his opponent as well, but he knew
he was at a disadvantage. His enemy had
dark skin and clothes, and although Roy was also in black, he couldn't help but
to think his red hair was giving himself away like a beacon. Although normally forest terrain was to his
advantage since his nemesis stuck mostly to city streets, tonight the trees
seemed to hover over him—ready to grab him like in some B-rated gothic
movie. A movie more suited to his
friend's dark mentor. Currently Roy
stood with his back to a large oak tree with his bow drawn and listened. He could see only a little, and his ears
were hindered by the whistling wind as it tried to force what few leaves were
left to submit to the coming winter. He
tried not to identify with the distressed foliage as he tried to stay
alive. And he knew his opponent was
near. He could feel it.
Suddenly
he heard a thunk, and realized that what he had heard was the sound of a dart
hitting him in the shoulder. He loosed
his bow string and slumped to the ground.
"Damn," was all he had time to say before he lost consciousness…
"Roy! Roy!!"
Roy heard his name as the fuzzy haze lifted. He opened his eyes and for a moment panicked when he couldn't
see. Then he realized he had been out
for only a minute or two and looked up to see his friend's gloating grin. "I guess I used too much tranq. Sorry."
Roy groaned—more for effect than out of necessity—as he
dragged himself to his feet, picking up his bow on the way. "Lucky shot," he protested.
"Yeah,
right. You lost—admit it," Ben
grinned. "You have to go to that séance
with me." That had been the consequence of losing tonight's wargame. Ben had been Roy's top—actually,
only—archery student for about five years now. They had met not quite by chance; Roy had just made the choice
to come clean from heroin, and had to do community service to avoid any legal
problems from his drug use. He had
chosen—or rather it had been chosen for him—to serve as a mentor to a boy who
had become involved with drugs. Roy had
been sixteen and angry at the world, while Ben had been an eleven-year-old
inner-city devotee of the young archer.
Knowing Ben's infatuation with the Teen Titans, and especially Speedy,
Emily, the program coordinator, had placed Ben with Roy. Roy had quickly learned of the boy's
interest in archery, and had offer to teach him. He had even given Ben his old bow. Now five years later, while still not at Roy's skill level, Ben
had become a master archer, and a junior member of the Titans.
But
Ben could defeat his mentor when he put his mind to it. "But a séance?" Roy complained, "They're so
stupid, Ben! It's nonsense!"
"It's
Halloween, Roy! You're supposed to do
stupid stuff like that! The guys at school say she's really good, and besides
you promised if I beat you in tonight's wargames, you'd go."
Roy
sighed in resignation, "Ok, but I want my protest logged." Ben grinned, helping his friend as Roy moved
away from the tree since Roy was still feeling the effects of the tranquilizer. Together the friends made their way back
indoors.
**
"So,
do you do this often?" Roy asked the young woman in an almost pick-up-line tone
of voice. He didn't quite know what to
make of her, which was odd. Usually Roy
would be more than willing to flirt with any woman, but this one—he didn't
know. She was certainly cute enough,
and nice enough, but her skin was chalk white, and her eyes were dark pools as
though they reflected the entire universe.
She had straight pitch black hair that went halfway down her back, and to
top it all off, she wore a simple ankh around her neck.
Despite
her unusual appearance, Roy found himself attracted to her. One look at Ben who sat next to him at the
table told Roy that his friend felt the same attraction, although he was
quieter than his fair-skinned companion, which was often the case between the
friends. They had just come from the
required séance over which Dua had presided.
He and Ben had already planned to come here to Finnegan's, Roy's favorite
Irish pub, and after the séance they had invited Dua along. Much to the men's surprise, she had
accepted, and was currently sitting across from Roy, giving him an almost
knowing smile. "Just when I think it
will be fun," Dua answered with a touch of flirtation herself. "I do it mostly to entertain, but once in a
while I get some wacko that could actually do something harmful to himself or
someone else, so I… convince them to stop."
"So
you're saying you can actually talk to the dead?" Roy said incredulously, as
though he would certify her nuts if she confirmed his question.
She
smiled and shrugged, knowing full well Roy's opinion of her. Her eyes sparkled with an unspoken
knowledge, and, retaining her smile, she answered mysteriously, "Sometimes I do
more." Her eyes danced at Roy for a moment and indicated deep secrets, almost
daring Roy to ask what more she did. Before he got a chance, though, she
continued, "I noticed you were the only one that didn't ask to talk to
anyone. Isn't there anyone you miss?"
Roy
looked into her eyes, and felt himself being pulled into them. It was almost as though she knew the answer,
Roy thought. "I've lost my share of
loved ones," Roy said noncommittally, "But I grew up with the Navajo belief
that the dead should be left to rest."
"Navajo,
huh?" Dua said with interest, although somehow Roy got the impression that she
already knew his 'heritage.' "They have
mystic beliefs," she stated matter-of-factly.
"What makes Navajo beliefs believable and what I do not?" Roy shrugged. He didn't have an answer for her, and he felt as though she were
almost playing with him. "You know,"
she started causally, "Very often people think they've lost someone to the
curtain, when in fact they haven't."
Her
words caused Roy to eye her carefully.
He didn't know what was making him take note of her words rather than
just brushing her off, but he was intrigued that she would dare even mention
such a thing. "What are you getting
at?" Roy asked with a dangerous edge to his voice.
Unfazed
by Roy's antagonist change in attitude, Dua answered offhandedly, "Just that
maybe the last person you thought died isn't really dead. You never found a body did you?"
Roy
burst into anger as he stood up, leaned over the table, pointed a finger at
Dua, and roared, "That's not funny! Not
even one bit! How could you even suggest
such a thing?!"
Although
Ben jumped back, surprised that his friend could display such anger at a woman
he had just met, Dua calmly watched the elder archer turn red and answered in a
placid, level voice, "Just pointing out possibilities."
**
"Come
on, Roy, I'm sure she was just pulling your chain," Ben said, trying to calm
his friend. They had just returned to
the Titans Tower, and Roy had stalked off to his room—Lian was out with her
Auntie Donna—while Ben followed.
After
picking his way across the obstacle of toys on the floor, Roy sat at his desk
and started to brood. Ben took a seat
beside the desk so that he could look into Roy's somber expression. After a moment of thought, Roy looked at his
younger friend and stated matter-of-factly, "I've got to make sure." He shook his head, and then, with his elbow
on the desk, he bowed his head to rest his forehead on his hand as though
puzzling out a difficult problem. After
a moment, he sat up, dropped his hand so that his forearm lay on the desk, and
reiterated, "I've got to check. She
might full of it, but there was something about her." Ben nodded absentmindedly; he knew exactly what Roy meant.
Ben
shook himself to clear his daze, and said, "Let me help." When Roy started to shake his head, Ben
continued, "Come on, you know I can help you, and you need someone to watch
your back. God knows where you're going
to end up."
Roy
continued to shake his head as he said, "I've been in all kinds of bad
situations alone, and I've come out of it alive. I need to do this alone."
"But
wouldn't it have been better to have help?" Ben argued, "You don't have to do
it alone, Roy. I know the situations
you're talking about, and I know that was a different circumstance. Let me help."
The
friends heard a voice from the open doorway, "I don't know what you two are
talking about," Dick started, "But I'd say letting someone help you, Roy, is a
good idea. Bad things happen when
Titans try to do things by themselves." Roy rolled his eyes at his Gothamite
friend. Roy knew that although Dick was
referring to Roy in some instances, he was also referring to himself in
others. Roy also knew that Dick was
right, that when it came down to it, every one of them—even Dick himself—worked
better with a teammate than alone.
"What's this about, anyway?"
Roy
hesitated, for he knew if he said what had happened, he would look and feel
like a fool in front of his flawlessly logical friend. After Dick's questioning glance though, Roy
sighed and said almost apologetically, "The lady who did the séance suggested
that Ollie may be alive." Roy watched as Dick's expression more and more
puzzling; first for the words Roy had just spoken, and then for the fact that
Roy was taking it seriously. At least
that's how Roy interpreted it.
Attempting to explain his apparent gullibility, Roy rushed, "I've got to
make sure, Dick. I feel like an idiot,
but I've got to make sure." Dick nodded.
He understood his friend's position.
If Bruce had died, and anyone ever gave the slighted hint that he
hadn't, Dick would be off on a worldwide search in a heartbeat.
Still
leaning in the doorway, and knowing Roy thought he looked foolish, Dick eased,
"I understand, Roy." He continued, "Ben's right though, you should let us
help."
"Would
you want help if everybody thought Bruce was dead and you got wind that he
might not be?" Roy quizzed.
"No,"
Dick said truthfully, "But I'd be wrong."
Roy gave his friend a mock surprised expression, and Dick returned a
play threatening glare, to which Roy returned a warm smile.
Roy
sighed and conceded, "Ok, you convinced me.
I could certainly use help to find a lead. Right now all I know is what Dua said, which was just that he
might be alive."
"Ok,"
Dick said, glad to have his friend's approval to help. He entered the room, stepping over one of
Lian's toys to make his way to Roy's bed on the edge of which he sat. "We
should start with his last known location, which was above Metropolis. Are we sure he was on that plane?"
Roy
shrugged, "As much as we can be.
Superman said he was, although he wouldn't confirm that he saw Ollie
actually get blown up."
"Did
anyone ever directly ask him?" Dick
wondered.
"I
dunno," Roy answered, "I don't remember.
But he would say if he knew something, wouldn't he?"
"I
don't know," Dick said thoughtfully, "I've known him to leave out information
before. He doesn't lie, but he doesn't
always tell the whole truth either."
"So
it sounds like the next stop is Superman," Ben spoke up.
Roy
nodded, as Dick answered, "Yep."
**
The
three friends sat in the small secondary conference room with Superman whom
they had invited to the Tower. They had
offered to meet him at JLA headquarters, but the Man of Steel had declined,
saying it was easier for him to come to them.
The three young men were in their Titans identities—Dick as Nightwing,
Roy as Arsenal, and Ben as Speedy. When
Ben had been accepted into the Titans, and Roy had told him he'd need to chose
a codename and costume, Ben had asked to use Roy's old persona, saying that he
never dreamed of becoming anything useful, let alone a Titan, before he had met
Roy. Roy was, of course, tickled pink,
and accepted Ben's request. Ben's
costume was just like Roy's old Robin-Hood-styled one, except that the red was
more of a brick red, and the yellow was more of a mustard color.
"So
what can I do for you boys?" Superman asked.
If anyone else had called them boys, all three would have taken offense,
but with Superman it was.. different.
They knew he meant no disrespect; in fact it was hard for the Kryptonian
to disrespect anyone.
There
was silence as Ben and Roy instinctively waited for Nightwing to take the
lead. Nightwing, though, finally caught
eye contact with Arsenal and nodded in Superman's direction, indicating that
the archer should lead the session.
Roy
took a few more seconds trying to word his introduction. He looked at the table in front of him as he
spoke, "We.. I.. have ..evidence.. that suggests that Ollie is still alive." He
looked up to see Superman's reaction.
His face seemed to show surprise, concern, and Roy thought perhaps even
a little fear. Roy forced himself to keep eye contact with the Kryptonian as he
asked candidly, "Was Ollie on that plane?"
Nightwing
thought Superman looked uneasy as he answered Roy, "Yes. I tried to evacuate him, but he wouldn't let
me. I've already told you that.."
"I
know," Roy answered, "But I've got to make sure. You understand, don't
you?" Roy asked him.
"Of
course, Roy," Superman confirmed, "But why now? Did something happen?" He
looked concerned.
Roy
shrugged, "I'd rather not say. I will
say I was given reason to believe that Ollie is still alive. Is that a reasonable belief?" Roy looked
into the Kryptonian's eyes, daring him to counter Roy's statement.
Superman
noted the challenge—the question behind the question—as he simply answered,
"Yes."
Roy
released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He raised his hands to his face and rubbed
his face as though he had just woken up.
He felt like he had just woken up.
Nightwing looked at his friend, and then at the Man of Steel, and Dick
thought he saw remorse in the Kryptonian. Dick knew Roy was exhausted, and he
knew that Superman wasn't telling something.
Sympathizing with his friend, Nightwing got to the point. Locking eyes with Superman, he asked
bluntly, "Did Oliver Queen survive the plane crash?" Roy looked at his friend gratefully, and then to Superman
expectantly.
Superman
sighed. Ever since the plane explosion,
no one had bothered to ask him so directly.
Leave it to Bruce's protégé, he thought. He said quietly, "Yes."
Roy
suddenly stood in a burst of rage and demanded, "How could you not tell anyone
that?! Don't you know how it's killed
me to think he died?! I trusted you!! How can I ever trust you again?!" Nightwing
stood with his friend, and put his hand on Roy's shoulder, trying to calm the
archer. Instead, Roy angrily brushed
his teammate's hand aside, causing Nightwing to take a step back, and continued
to be furiously focused on the man before him.
Superman
sighed, braving Roy's anger, and feeling as though he at least partially
deserved it. He stated in a level
voice, "I'm so sorry, Roy. He swore me
to secrecy. It's the only way he would
let me save him. I'm sorry I've
betrayed your trust. I sincerely hope I
can earn it back someday."
Still
standing, Roy glared angrily at the Man of Steel. Then he looked away as he felt angry tears forming. Of all the people he knew and trusted, Roy
had always thought that Superman could be trusted to tell the whole truth. Now Roy had to add Superman to the long list
of people that had betrayed him; something he had thought he would never have
to do. Roy said unbelievably, "So
everything you've told us is a lie?"
Superman
sighed, and said, "No, he was shot badly, and his arm was in a deadman's
switch." He paused, "I took his bow and put it in the other switch. That allowed me to free him. He had enough cohesiveness to tell me that
he wanted his survival to be a secret, so with my JLA transporter, I sent him home while I stopped Conner's
plane from crashing. After everything
was squared with Conner and his friend, I went home to check on him."
Nightwing's
brow furrowed until he realized Superman meant home to Kansas. Then his eyes widened, "Your parents knew?!"
Superman
gave Nightwing a wry grin and stated, "My parents are pretty good at keeping
secrets."
Nightwing
let out a little laugh and received a glare from Arsenal for it. Having blinked the rogue tears away, Roy
turned back to his former friend, and said in a soft, almost dangerous voice,
"Where is he?"
Superman
sighed again, and admitted, "I don't know."
Seeing from Roy's expression that the archer didn't believe him,
Superman reiterated, "I really don't know, Roy. I'm sorry." He offered
tentatively, "When he left my parents' he said something about undoing the
worst thing he's ever done. I don't
know what that is, and you probably have a better idea what that would be
anyway."
Roy
sighed and, with locked arms and closed eyes, leaned against the table for a
moment. Then he burst away from the
table, turning his back on the Kryptonian, and narrowly missing a collision
with Nightwing. Keeping a turned back
to the room, Roy brought one arm across his front to support his other, which
he brought up to support his bent head.
Nightwing watched his friend in concern as Roy apparently tried to sort
his emotions and plans. Finally Roy
dropped his raised hand, so that his arms were crossed in front of him, and
raised his head, keeping his back to the room.
He could see Nightwing in his peripheral vision as he stated
matter-of-factly, "I have to go find him.
I know he probably doesn't want to see me, but I have to go find him."
Nightwing
nodded, placed his hand on his friend's shoulder, and assured quietly, "We'll
go Roy. We'll find him."
Superman
said carefully to Roy's back, "I understand your need to find him, but I.. ask
that you not tell anyone what you've learned here. I am still bound by my promise to Oliver."
Roy
turned around to look at Superman curiously, but, with his hand still on Roy's
shoulder, Nightwing spoke up, "Of course.
We will be discrete, right, Arsenal?" Dick's tone indicated that Roy had
better agree.
"Yah,
I won't tell a soul," Roy said dryly.
**
Having
just shown the Man of Steel out, Nightwing returned to the small conference
room. As he took his seat, Ben
asked, "So where do we go from here?"
as he carefully watched his mentor.
"We
have to figure out what Oliver would consider the worst thing he's ever done,
and then figure out where he might go to try to undo it," Nightwing said
impartially.
Ben
looked at Roy. He certainly had no idea
since he had met Roy's former guardian only a few times. Roy noted his friend's glance and sighed,
exhausted from being so angry. He tried
to purge his antagonistic feelings so that he could concentrate on the task at
hand—something that Dick had always tried to teach him, and at which he was
only partially successful most of the time— as he shrugged and said, "I dunno guys. He may have been my guardian, but I've seen him as much as you."
"Come
on, Roy," Nightwing encouraged carefully, not wanting to reflame his friend's
anger, "I know you didn't have a great relationship with Oliver, but you know
him better than anyone, especially us." Nightwing thumbed himself and Ben. "What would he try to fix?"
"I
really don't know," Roy reiterated. He shrugged again, and his voice betrayed
his frustration as he stated, "He's failed to save people just like any of us,
but I don't know what he'd consider the worst thing he's ever done. Maybe lose
his fortune?" Roy suggested, "Maybe he knows how to get it back."
Nightwing
thought, "Hmm.. maybe. Something
doesn't fit though. I can't explain
it. How would he get it back? It was lost when his accountant stole it
from him, right?"
Roy
nodded. "Ok, maybe he failed to save a
kid. Maybe somehow he can save a kid he
didn't save before."
Suddenly
Dick looked up, and Roy saw the light of an idea enter his friend's eyes. He knew that look, and some of his
frustration was replace with hope.
"What?" Roy asked.
"I
think you're on to something, Roy. What
if *you're* the kid he didn't save before?"
"What
do you mean?" Roy looked puzzled.
"What
if he feels guilty about how he raised you?
Maybe somehow he sees a way to make it up to you." Dick said thoughtfully.
Roy
immediately dismissed the idea, "Come on, Dick, he never worried about his
relationship to me. He didn't
care." Roy shrugged as he tried to make
the comment off-handedly, but both Ben and Dick heard the hurt in Roy's voice.
"That's
where I think you're wrong Roy. I think
he did care, and just never knew what to do.
Like Bruce. I know he loves me,
but ever since I was a kid, we had outsiders think he was heartless towards
me. That he just wanted to train a
partner."
Roy
sighed, "Ok, let's say you're right, and he wants to fix how he raised me. What would he do?"
"What
about your using?" Roy started to
protest, but Dick raised his hands, "I know you blame only yourself, but I know
Ollie felt responsible too. Dinah said
it, Bruce said it, and I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at you
afterwards." Knowing what his friend would say next, Dick already countered,
"It wasn't disgust, Roy, it was remorse."
"Where
would he go to counter Roy's using?" Ben asked incredulously. Having the same drug history, although not
to the same extent, he couldn't imagine how to undo the damage done.
Now
Roy started to become enticed by the idea, and said thoughtfully, "What if he's
taking on the heroin industry on a global scale? What if he's in Burma where it all starts? If you're right, he'd go after only the
largest, and I know all the main production plants." Roy was familiar with the structure of the illicit drug industry
from his days as a government agent, and he knew that the southeast Asian
country produced sixty percent of the world's heroin. He continued, "And
knowing Ollie, I know exactly which one he went to."
Nightwing
nodded, "Good. I like this theory. Let's go with it. Agreed?"
"Agreed,"
the archers said in unison.
**
Using
the Titans' jet's cloaking feature, the three men landed just outside their
target according to Arsenal. They were
all on edge since Burma was *not* a country known to tolerate outsiders. In fact it was downright hostile. They were currently on the edge of the
forest side-by-side on their stomachs looking at a heavily-guarded compound
complete with automatic-gun-carrying guardsmen. Nightwing watched the movements of the guards carefully as
Arsenal asked impatiently, "Now what?"
Making
sure Arsenal noted his lowered voice and without taking his eyes off the
guards, Nightwing answered, "Now we watch those guards and bide our time until
something happens." He paused and then continued almost as an afterthought,
"Something always happens."
Scanning
the top of the surrounding wall, Ben suddenly spotted something and exclaimed,
"Look!" The elder Titans followed Ben's
direction and saw someone; a teen by the size of him; climbing over the
wall. Even from his distance and in the
back of his mind, Arsenal thought that the teen looked better dressed than any
other Burmese citizen he had seen in the past.
The trio watched with bated breath, and just as the teen jumped down to
the ground, they heard shouts causing Nightwing to curse. "Come on," Dick said to Roy as though it
were a pained exercise they had to do.
He ordered Speedy, "Cover us, ok?"
Ben nodded, rising silently and carefully enough to use his bow if it
proved necessary.
The
Titan pair reached the escaping teen about the same time as the guards, and
Nightwing went into battle mode, punching and kicking his way through the
enemy. Arsenal covered Nightwing's
back, fending off guards if they came too close, but also using his bow to keep
the enemy from overpowering the Titans' self-assigned charge. Just as it looked like the pair might win
the teen's freedom, a fresh batch of guardsmen came to the scene, causing Roy
to yell, "We've got trouble!"
"I
see 'em!" Nightwing responded. Now he
knew they were going to lose this battle.
Distracted
by opponents in melee range, Arsenal couldn't cover the boy—he didn't know why
Ben wasn't covering the teen—and soon they heard yelling in Burmese. Roy didn't understand the words, but one
look at the opponent yelling and Roy got the meaning. The guard had a gun pointed at the boy, and was obviously yelling
at Arsenal and Nightwing to stop.
Reluctantly, the heroes stopped the battle, and immediately a guard
snatched away Arsenal's bow. Roy smirked to himself; while the bow was a loss,
he certainly didn't need it to defend himself.
"Ok!
All right!" Nightwing protested as the American heroes were pushed into the
compound along with the teen they had tried to rescue. Roy warily glanced at their previous hiding
place, but saw no sign of Ben. He had
no time to worry though, as he, Nightwing, and the teen were pushed into a
prison cell.
**
As
soon as they were alone in the cell, the teen, who was sitting next to Roy on
the lone cot in the cell, asked something in Burmese. Roy was about to say in English that he didn't understand, when
Nightwing, sitting on the floor on the other side of the small cell, answered
in Burmese. Roy looked at Dick
incredulously, and Nightwing simply shrugged with an apologetic smile. He
translated, "He wanted to know if we're American superheroes," Nightwing said
with a grin.
"I
hope you said not much of ones," Arsenal responded sarcastically.
Nightwing
let out a little laugh and said, "I said most of the time." He asked the teen something, and then told
Roy, "His name's Thakin." Nightwing
continued in Burmese, and after hearing 'Nightwing' and 'Arsenal,' Roy guessed
he was being introduced, and, as Dick gestured to him, gave Thakin a little
half-hearted wave. Thakin said
something apparently about Roy since he gestured towards Arsenal while he
spoke, and caught Nightwing's attention.
Dick asked a few hard, fast questions, which Thakin answered, and Dick
turned to Roy. "He says you use the bow
like the American. I asked who he
meant, and he said the man he works for," Dick raised an eyebrow at Roy.
Roy
asked hurriedly, "Ask him if he'll take us to him."
Instead
of granting the request, Dick reminded his friend, "Uh, Roy, we're in a jail
cell."
Roy
blushed and rolled his eyes at the same time.
He responded, "Yeah, but it's nothing, right? I mean, we can get out of anything."
"I
dunno, Roy, this looks pretty tight." Nightwing got up to inspect the lock more
closely. As he inspected the lock, Roy
asked, "What do you think happened to Ben?"
Not
turning his attention from the lock, Nightwing answered, "I dunno. I'm actually kind of worried about him; the
Burmese jungle is a far cry from New York city streets, and God knows who he
might run into. If we're lucky,
Thakin's friends grabbed him." Roy
nodded. Dick finally looked up from the
lock and commanded, "Arsenal, lie down on the cot. Thakin, stand over him. Roy,
act like you're sick."
"I
am sick," Arsenal stated dryly, but granted the request, closing his eyes, and
wearing a pained expression.
Nightwing
called the guard over, informing the guard of his sick companion. Instead of having the expected response, the
guard stated sardonically in Burmese, "All three of you are going to die tomorrow
anyway, so why do I care if he's a little sick now?"
The
guard walked away, Nightwing sighed, and Arsenal, having opened his eyes,
looked at his friend from his prone position and said, "Huh, it always works in
the movies. What did he say?"
"You
don't wanna know," Nightwing stated.
**
Ben
watched as his elder teammates went into action, and prepared to assist from
afar, nocking an arrow. He was just
about to let an arrow fly; he had the bow drawn and aimed; when he heard the
command in accented English, "Do not shoot that arrow. Release the tension. Take the arrow out of the bow." Ben carefully followed the instructions, and
then carefully turned his head to see a semi-automatic gun pointed at him. "Stand up.
Hands in view." Ben stood and
held his hands—with his bow in his left, and the freshly unnocked arrow in his
right—out from his sides to show his captor.
Ben thought to himself that the arrow in his hand would be in this guy's
throat by now if he had managed to pick up Roy's skill with hand-held
projectiles. As it were, the arrow and
bow were taken from him. Ben dared not
make any sudden movements and allowed himself to be lead away from the
compound.
As
he was lead through the jungle, Ben tried to ask, "Where are we going?" but was
answered with, "Shut up." Ben did so,
marching quietly along until he and his captor reached their apparent
destination—another base. Ben was
ushered smartly to the office of the commander of the base. The commander had his back to the doorway,
and as he swung around to see who had entered his office, both commander and
captive gasped.
Finally
Oliver Queen visibly eyed Ben from head to toe, and stated sarcastically, "Nice
costume. It was bad enough the first
time." Then he said to the guard covering Ben, "Go, get out of here," ushering
the guard with his hand. The guard turned to leave, and Oliver stopped him
with, "Return his bow to him." As the
guard obeyed and left, Ollie looked into the face of his speechless captive,
whom he recognized as his former ward's student, sighed, and said, "No doubt
Roy is here somewhere." Ben nodded
wordlessly. Queen looked at Ben,
expecting the obvious information to be given without prompting, and then did
prompt with an expression that stated, "Well?"
Ben
finally found his tongue, and, still staring at Roy's former guardian, said,
"Uh. Last I saw them they were trying
to help someone escape from another base."
"Them?" Oliver asked with angered impatience.
"Uh,
Nightwing's here too," Ben admitted.
"Great. This is what I get for trusting an overgrown
boy scout." Oliver said disgustedly.
"Uh,
well, we kinda forced it out of him," Ben confessed apologetically. Ben's initial shock subsided and he looked
around the office. Ben thought it
looked as though whatever Ollie was doing here, he was doing it well, for the
office looked expensive. The objects
that particularly caught Ben's eye were the bow adorning the side wall, and a
picture frame on the desk Ben couldn't
see the photo in the frame, and when he tried to discretely get a closer look,
Queen slammed it face down onto the desk.
Ben caught a glimpse of it though, and he thought it was of Green Arrow
and Speedy. So, Ben thought, he hasn't
forgotten his life in the states. That
train of thought caused Ben to ask, "What are you doing here? Why did you let us think you died?"
"Long
story, kid. One I'm not getting into
now if at all. Right now, we've got to
track down that stupid kid of mine." With interest, Ben noted the possessive
quality of Oliver's statement. "With any luck, that 'someone' was Thakin, and
they didn't screw up."
**
Sitting
on the old, moldy cot, Arsenal and Thakin watched as Nightwing scoured their
small cell for usable components. They
watched as he took out a small knife, scraped some residue off the wall,
smelled it, and dropped it in a tube he had produced for testing. Nightwing watched the tube thoughtfully, and
then turned his attention to the cot.
Causing his companions to stand, he removed the old moldy mattress, and
started to inspect the strings underneath.
He pulled and twisted, testing elasticity. As he turned his attention to the single light bulb in the cell,
Arsenal finally commented, "Why do I feel like I'm in a MacGyver episode?"
Nightwing
half-glared at his friend, and Arsenal grinned back. Then he started to do his own investigation, inspecting the lock
on the door and the springs in the cot. "Ok," Arsenal started, "You got one of
those freezy pills of yours? Or the
kind that go bang?" Nightwing nodded. "Put
the bang kind in the lock," Arsenal instructed as he started to take apart the
cot. Thakin, and then, after he had
followed his friend's instructions, Nightwing, watched with interest as Roy
made a makeshift bow from the outer frame and elastic springs in the cot. He tested the 'bowstring,' grinned, and took
a more stable, straight piece of wire and placed it in the handmade bow. Then Roy pulled the spring, eyed the lock,
and let the wire fly. Of course the
wire hit its mark, causing the firebomb Nightwing had placed to go off, and
exploding the lock. One good kick from
Nightwing, and the door swung open.
"You're
welcome," Arsenal grinned.
"Great,"
Nightwing said hurriedly, "Let's go!"
The three men rushed out of the cell, with Nightwing pulling on Thakin's
arm to make sure the teen kept up.
Finally Thakin pulled away, and ran alongside the heroes. Knowing where the guard would be from the
trip down to the cell, Nightwing and Arsenal had relatively no trouble reaching
the outer gate. When they reached the
outer gate though, the guards were obviously waiting for them, and had the
trio, who had their backs to one another, quickly surrounded.
As
the circle parted allowing a man obviously in charge to enter, Nightwing
partially straightened his defensive stance, causing his partners to look in
his direction. Roy and Thakin saw the
man and straightened and faced him, breaking the back-to-back triangle. "You didn't really think I would have two
American superheroes in my custody not watched carefully, did you?" he
started. He looked at Arsenal. "Since you're the one that broke the lock,
you'll be the one to bear the punishment of your misdeed." Although Roy wanted to look uncertainly at
Nightwing, instead he gave the man a defiant expression. The man responded by grinning amusedly. He commanded, "Take those two to another
cell. Take this one to my office."
**
"So,
my American friend, why are you here?" Roy responded with a continued obstinate
expression. He was being held with his arms behind his back in front of the man
who was sitting at his desk. Roy
quickly glanced around the room, and his eyes rested on his bow in the corner
behind the desk of the man. Noting the
hero's gaze, the man smirked and leaned back in his chair. "I don't know much about bows, but that one
looks pretty nice. I imagine you want
it back," he sneered. Arsenal's only
response was a glare. "So you're after
the American, eh?" the man continued to prod, "An archer after an archer," he
continued almost thoughtfully, "I guess that makes sense. Normally I'd help you if that's what you had
in mind, but I can't let escape attempts go unpunished. You're awfully brave coming here," he continued,
obviously trying to get Roy unraveled, "Being American won't help you here. Your American Embassy can't help you when
you get into trouble."
The
man looked into Roy's defiant eyes for a moment, and then stated, "Well,
apparently you have nothing to add, so we might as well get started." He nodded to the guards at the door who
brought a chair to where Roy was standing.
The men holding Roy pushed him into the chair and started to tie his
arms to the arms of the chair. During
his bonding, Roy did not take his eyes off the man, and continued to give an
obstinate, focused expression. "I have
this new mix, and I needed a volunteer to test it on. Thanks for volunteering," he sneered. He produced a syringe, holding it in front of him and examining
it theatrically. At the sight of the
drug, Roy started to lose his composure as his eyes went wide. At first he resisted the urge to struggle,
but as the man and the needle came closer, Roy failed and started to struggle
against his bonds.
"No!"
Roy protested against his will to be defiant.
"Stop! Please, stop!!" He was
desperate. He had gone five whole years
against that little voice that told him do it again just once—it would feel so
good. His thoughts went to Lian. Every single day had been a struggle, but she
had been his saving grace, and now he was going to lose because of events out
of his control. Although Lian was only
three, Roy found himself imagining her disappointment in her father, making him
even more despondent.
"Ahh,
I think we found his weak point, boys," the man said. The guards grinned. The
man walked to where Roy was struggling, and noted his already-scarred
arms. "Looks like you know what you're
in for, my friend." Ignoring Roy's
pleas, the man tested the flow of the syringe and then punctured Roy with it,
emptying the contents into Roy's arm.
Roy
felt the familiar warmth—the warmth he had been craving for five years—spread
throughout his body as he cried, "Nooo!" and hung his head.
The
man watched Roy's devastation in amusement for a moment, and then commanded to
the guards, "Get him out of here. Take him to a cell. I want to see what it does to him. You two," he pointed to two particular guards, "Go get his
friends and take them to the range. We
have no more use for them." That guards nodded and left the room. The guards that were left untied Roy, and
underestimated him, thinking that the newly-introduced drug would make him easy
to handle. Instead Roy fought with
renewed vigor, and got his hands on the syringe used a moment ago. He threw it at the throat of one guard, and
even with the drug's hindrance, the projectile hit its mark, causing the guard
to slump. Roy fought the other
guard—the man in charge had backed away from the scene—using the hand-to-hand
techniques Dick had taught him until he could find another weapon—this time a
pen on the desk—and threw it at the guard's throat. Almost free, Roy forced himself to continue despite his
drug-induced daze. The silver lining
was that Roy knew what to expect of the heroin he had been given, and
remembered how to counteract it better than if he hadn't had history with the
drug. The effects were as he
remembered, and he didn't have any immediate concern that the drug he had been
given was a 'new mix.' [Little favors,]
he thought to himself sardonically.
Even
in his daze, Roy had enough sense to slam the door shut, jamming it locked with
a knife from his boot. He turned on the
man in charge, who had started to cower in the corner. He stalked towards the man, picking up his
bow on the way. When Roy reached him,
Roy gave him a disgusted look, and hit him across the head with the bow. The man fell unconscious, and Roy had to
catch himself on the desk. Safe for at
least a few seconds, Roy took the time to try to clear his head. He could tell that he was given a fairly
high dose of the drug, but he knew he didn't have time to mourn the loss of his
work to stay clean; Nightwing was in trouble. Roy staggered to the window, and,
seeing that the way was clear, climbed out.
From
being escorted through the compound, Roy remembered seeing a firing range, and
guessed that that was where Nightwing and Thakin would be taken. Despite his stupor, Arsenal was able to stay
hidden until finally he saw the remembered range. He wasn't seeing clearly, but he could see well enough to see his
friend and Thakin being tied to stakes, and he could see the row of armed men
preparing to fire at his friend and their charge. From his vantage point, Roy couldn't see Nightwing's and Thakin's
bonds, but he could see his friend discretely looking for him, although Roy
didn't think Nightwing looked very hopeful.
After squeezing his eyes tight and holding onto the building he was
crouched beside for a few seconds, Roy moved stealthfully to get the right
angle to cut the bonds. He found the
angle, took a deep breath, and, kneeling, skillfully nocked an arrow. With barely a pause and holding his bow
parallel to the ground, Arsenal anchored against his rib cage and let the arrow
fly. Although it wasn't a perfect shot,
it flew true enough to release Nightwing of his bonds. Another arrow flew a few seconds later and
freed Thakin.
Nightwing
hardly seemed surprised as he shook the ropes from his wrists and went into
action, attacking the men who had just bonded him. While not as skilled as Nightwing, Thakin was able to assist in the
fight, and took down one guard to Nightwing's four. The firing squad hadn't
started to fire yet, and Roy thought it was because they were afraid of hitting
their own men. The guard apparently in
charge yelled a command in Burmese, and the men with guns started to raise
their weapons. Roy prayed to whomever
might be listening as he nocked and fired multiple arrows at a time, hoping
that his archer's instinct would be enough to overcome the drug. His prayers were apparently answered as,
although not every arrow hit its mark perfectly, each did well enough to take
out its target.
Freed,
Dick looked in Roy's direction which also happened to be the direction out of
the compound. Nightwing and Thakin ran
to Arsenal, and started to run past, expecting Arsenal to keep up. When he didn't, Nightwing paused, looked
back at his friend, and rushed with concern, "Roy! Are you ok?"
"No,"
Roy said, hearing the slur in his own voice, "They drugged me." The revelation caused Nightwing to curse,
and he grabbed his archer friend by the arm, half-dragging him to the
entrance. Nightwing's original thought
had been to scale the wall as Thakin had originally tried to do, but now in the
condition Roy was in, Dick knew the front gate was the only possibility.
Expecting
the Americans to be safely tucked away, the guards were relatively light at the
front entrance. This time, Nightwing
took them out relatively quickly, and, with Arsenal in tow and Thakin running
alongside him, rushed to the edge of the jungle.
When
they were in the relative safety of the jungle so that Nightwing heard no more
shouts, he stopped and leaned Arsenal against a tree. "Roy!" Nightwing looked into his friend's eyes, "Roy!" he repeated, gently shaking his friend.
"What did they give you, and how much?" he asked urgently.
Roy's
glazed eyes looked at his friend until he closed them. He answered sluggishly, "Heroin. A lot."
Roy
started to slide down the tree as Nightwing swore, "Damn," and got his arm
under his friend's shoulder. He knew
how hard his friend had worked to stay clean. "Come on, Roy," he encouraged,
pulling Roy back onto his feet, "You've got to stay with us." Roy nodded.
Still supporting Arsenal, Dick asked Thakin urgently, "The American you
work for. Can you take us to him?" Thakin nodded mutely, watching the American
archer, and knowing exactly what was happening to him.
**
The
trio started the trek to Thakin's home base, moving at Roy's pace. Although the archer was able to walk on his
own, he could not keep a normal pace and kept his eyes on the ground as
Nightwing spotted him closely.
Suddenly Roy stopped, and called, "Nightwing," to get his friend's
attention. Nightwing stopped, looked at
his friend, and then, seeing that Roy hadn't taken his eyes off the ground, followed
the archer's gaze. On the ground in
front of them was a arrow fletching.
Afraid to bend down to retrieve it, Arsenal continued to stare at the
fletching until Nightwing recovered the feather. He handed it to the archer, and, with little inspection, Arsenal
stated, "It's Ben's. He must have
dropped it."
Nightwing
nodded, and said, "Thakin told me earlier that some of his friends were hidden
in the jungle waiting for him. I'm
guessing they picked up Ben and took him to where we're going."
"Makes
sense," Roy said. They walked silently
for a few minutes, until Roy commented slowly and dejectedly, "With our luck,
it's not even Ollie. We're probably
walking into a trap."
Nightwing
nodded. He had certainly thought of
that, and he countered, "True, but we saved Thakin. That's gotta count for something. He seems like a kid well taken care of. I would think his boss would be grateful for what we've done." As
an afterthought, and as though he was surprised at the revelation, Nightwing
said, "Though I never did ask his boss's name." Nightwing did so, turning to Thakin and asking in Burmese.
Thakin
answered, "Choa."
"Damn,"
Roy cursed. He stopped and leaned on
his bow for a moment. "All this time I
thought.. I mean.. Thakin said he was an archer.. how could he not.."
Dick
put his hand on his friend's back and whispered encouragingly, "Roy, Choa is
Burmese for Queen." Roy looked up at his friend with an expression of
disbelief, and Dick returned a smile.
Dick pressed gently on Roy's back, prompting him to move again. Roy actually felt pretty sick. While it had been five years since he last
felt the effects of heroin and while he knew he had been given a high dose, Roy
didn't remember the effects being so strong or lasting so long. He started to wonder if the effects had
something to do with the drug being a 'new mix.'
By
the time the trio had reached the entrance of Thakin's home base, Arsenal was
leaning pretty heavily on Nightwing as Thakin led them into the compound. Even sick as he was, Roy noted that the
guards and other Burmese citizens looked as well dressed as Thakin. Whoever was in charge of this place, he
thought, took good care of his workers.
Thakin led them into his boss' office, and they were greeted by Ben who
had been sitting against the wall but had gotten up at their entrance. Ben immediately saw that Roy was ill, and
looked questioningly at Nightwing. But
before they could converse and before Nightwing could observe his surroundings,
Oliver Queen spoke up, "Jesus, Roy, only a couple days in Burma and already
you're high."
Getting
enough energy to release himself from Nightwing, Roy angrily threw his bow at
his former mentor and shouted, "You God-damn son of a bitch!! How dare you
judge me?!" Roy stumbled forward,
forcing Nightwing to catch him. Having
regained his balance, Roy released himself from Nightwing's grasp and moved
forward to lean on the desk. While
making eye contact with his former mentor, Roy stated in a steady, angry voice,
"I've been clean for five years and this is not my fault. At least I don't let the people that care
about me think I'm dead."
Ollie
picked up Roy's thrown bow—he knew Roy must really be angry to throw a weapon
that any archer worth his salt knows must be cared for carefully—and leaned it
against the wall as he said, "Oh stop being so dramatic, Roy. You know now don't you?" Ollie eyed his
former ward. "Nice costume." He said
the words a little less bitingly as he had to Ben, although they still held
sting.
Roy
looked down at himself as though he had to be reminded what he was wearing, and
stated sardonically, "Thanks. I thought
I'd go back to a time in my life when I knew at least one person cared about
me." He glared at Ollie with glazed
eyes. Ollie returned his gaze with a
hard expression, and then turned from the younger archer disgustedly. Immediately though, he turned back, and
asked, "What are you on, anyway?"
Roy
tried to clear his head, as he answered, "Heroin. But you'd know all about that wouldn't you?" Ollie eyed Roy questioningly, and Roy
elaborated, "What else gets made here?
Especially that can produce an office like this?" Roy waved his hand in
the air.
"You
don't actually think.." Ollie started.
Hardening
his gaze even more, Roy looked into Ollie's eyes as he said strongly, "I don't
know what to think anymore."
Ollie
sighed and took his eyes off his former ward to look at the other people in the
room. Nightwing held a hard but
concerned gaze, while Ben and Thakin looked questioningly at the pair of
archers. Ollie turned his attention
back to Roy, "Who shot you up?"
Having
closed his eyes for a moment, Roy opened them again, and looked unfocusedly at
the desk. The adrenaline he had felt
from his anger was starting to subside, and the effects of the heroin was
taking precedence again. Slurring his
words, he answered, "I dunno. Your
neighbor. Ask your friend," he waved
his hand in Thakin's direction.
Ollie
looked at Thakin, and then at Nightwing.
Understanding what Ollie was thinking, and surprised, but then not
really, that Oliver had never bothered to learn Burmese, and then noting that
Ollie assumed that he could speak and understand the language, Nightwing
translated the question. Thakin
answered, and Oliver looked at Nightwing.
Nightwing stated, "He said Ne Win gave it to him. That he has some kind of new mix."
To
Nightwing's surprise, his words sparked Oliver into panicked motion as he
commanded Thakin, "Go get Kyi!
Now!!" Thakin looked at
Nightwing uncertainly, and then rushed out of the room; Dick guessed that
hearing the name was enough for Thakin to understand what his employer wanted.
Shocked,
Roy watched Ollie as the elder archer moved quickly around the desk and took
Roy by the shoulder and arm. "Sit down,
Roy," he commanded. When Roy tried to
resist in confusion, Ollie said, "This is not the time to be stubborn. Sit down!"
The strength of Ollie's words was enough to make Roy obey, and he found
the seat Ben had been sitting in.
Ollie's panicked attention to Roy's condition forced Roy to acknowledge
how he felt, which was pretty terrible to the point that Roy wasn't sure he
could stand again if he wanted to. Roy
put his head in his hands as if to clear it, which did no good; the room was
still spinning.
Nightwing
became more concerned now, and crossed the room to stand next to Roy and
Ollie. He said to Ollie, "What is it?"
As
he did a visual and tactile examination of Roy, which Roy resisted weakly,
Ollie said, "Ne Win's been experimenting with poisons in drugs. Besides the drug itself," he clarified. He gave a disgusted look to Roy as he said,
"Contrary to apparently popular belief, I'm not here to further the drug
trade. I'm trying to destroy it, by
infiltrating and shutting down when I can.
Ne Win is the worst of them all, so I've targeted him. Thakin was on a little fact-finding mission
when you ran into him." Then to
himself, he muttered, "Where is she.."
Ollie's obvious concern caused Roy to look at Nightwing worriedly, which
Nightwing mirrored.
As
if to answer Oliver, Kyi rushed into the room with a syringe in her hand. She looked at Oliver, who nodded to Roy, and
Kyi turned her attention to the younger archer. She warned, "Hold still," as she administered the contents of the
syringe to Roy.
As
she did so, Ollie explained, "Kyi is my head pharmacologist. We had just learned of this new poison, and
Kyi, the wiz that she is," he smiled at her which she reflected bashfully,
"discovered that the poison makes the victim actually life-dependent on
heroin." He watched Roy's physical
reaction to the drug as he revealed apologetically to Roy, "She just shot you
up with more heroin. It's needed to
keep the poison from killing you.
Unfortunately it does nothing for the symptoms of the poison. And you'll still feel the effects of the
heroin. We know that Ne Win has an
antidote, but we haven't been able to find it yet. Kyi's also working on it, but it's pretty complicated."
"My
worst nightmare," Roy mumbled to himself so that his friends barely understood
him.
Oliver
sighed, and Nightwing suspected that his eyes were playing tricks on him as he
thought he saw unshed tears in the elder archer's eyes. Ollie said, "General operating procedure is
to avert any shipment out of Ne Win's plant and 'water it down' with a chemical
Kyi's created. That way, he doesn't
know his shipments are being messed with, yet the smack he ships doesn't have
nearly the potency it did when he released it. Fortunately he hasn't started to
ship the laced heroin yet, but we're running out of time."
"Wait,"
Roy said through his drugged fog.
"You're saying you can water down heroin right at the source?" Kyi, knowing that her employer didn't need
her to answer Roy's question, and after looking at Oliver for confirmation and
receiving a nod, left the room. Ollie
knew she'd return when Roy needed another dose.
Having
barely understood Roy through his drug-induced slur, Ollie confirmed, "That's
exactly what I'm saying, kid. It's not perfect, but things would be a hell of a
lot worse up there if we didn't do what we do." After a moment of thought, he asked, "How the hell did you find
me, anyway?" Knowing that Nightwing was
the detective in the group, he turned his attention to Dick.
While
watching carefully for Queen's reaction, Nightwing stated matter-of-factly,
"Superman could only tell us that you wanted to undo the worst thing you've
ever done." His voice got drier as he continued, "After a little brainstorm, we
thought maybe it was your ignoring Roy to the point he turned to heroin." Ollie broke eye contact with the young
vigilante, and then quickly regained contact, trying to hide his reaction. Nightwing had already seen it though, as he
continued, "Roy knew the industry over here from his days as a government
agent, and basically we guessed."
"Hell
of a guess, kid," Ollie said, to which
Dick shrugged. The young heroes had hit
on Ollie's motivation exactly, but he didn't want to let the weakness show. Act like you don't care, keep people at a
distance; that's the only way to work if you're going to keep them safe, Ollie
thought. Now, because Roy wouldn't let
it go, Ollie's entire plan was in jeopardy.
Now Ne Win knew about Roy, and had already taken fatal aim at Ollie's
son. That thought caused Ollie to yell
angrily at Roy, "I had everything under control until you three showed up. You probably ruined everything."
Still
holding his head in his hands, Roy looked up with surprised, dilated eyes as he
realized he was the one Ollie was addressing, "Now who's being dramatic," Roy
shouted back as well as he could. He wanted to stand to be in his former
mentor's face, but as soon as he tried to stand, he lost balance and was forced
to grab the nearby desk to stay on his feet.
Ollie instinctively reached out to keep his son from falling, but Roy
brushed away the gesture angrily. "If
we hadn't been here, Thakin would probably be buried in Ne Win's backyard! You're welcome!!" He took his hand away from
the desk to use it to gesture angrily as he continued, "And if you had told us
what the hell you were doing, I would have accepted that and let you do your
own goddamn thing!!" He spoke quickly, for he could feel himself failing, "
Thinking you're dead—and then finding out
you might not be—that I couldn't handle! I had to know, goddammit!!
You're the closest thing I had to a father, and because of that I'm
sorry for both of us!" Finally his last bits of energy were spent, and Roy was
forced to collapse back into the chair.
Roy
barely heard Ollie's rebuttal. "Look, Roy," Ollie started heatedly, "I never
was good at the parenting business—we both know that. I never considered you my son, and now that you're grown, I think
it's better we forget that the other exists," he lied. Ollie just wanted Roy to go away so he could
protect him again.
Ollie's
words caused surprised hurt in Roy so that he looked like he was about to lose
consciousness from the shock until Nightwing, who had moved to the desk without
either archer's notice, spoke up holding the photo frame that had been face
down on the desk. "Is that why you have this?" he asked dryly, holding the
frame so that the room could see the photograph housed within. The photograph showed a smiling Roy and
Ollie, both in costume, and once Roy saw it, his jaw dropped. Ollie glared at the young Gothamite, and
Nightwing continued, "Why do you lie to Roy like that? Don't you know how much it hurts him?"
Through
narrow eyes and avoiding Roy's gaze, Queen stated, "It's complicated." Then he changed the subject with, "I don't
have time for this. I have to make sure Ne Win's next shipment doesn't go out."
"Let
us help," Roy spoke up so suddenly that he even surprised himself. When Ollie started to shake his head, Roy
continued in almost a whine, "Come on, you know me, Ben, and Nightwing can take
it. Just this once, let us help, and I
promise I'll go away and not tell anyone you're down here." Truthfully that was the last thing Ollie
wanted, and he certainly didn't want to have to worry about Roy in the enemy's
compound. Never mind Roy did stuff like
that all the time and Ollie knew it.
"God,
Roy," Ollie countered, and Nightwing thought he heard compassion in the
archer's voice, "You can barely stand.
How are you going to help take out Ne Win?"
Instead
of answering, Roy put his head in his hands again. He knew Ollie was right of course, but he hated to feel so
useless. Especially since the cause was
heroin.
Suddenly
everyone in the room became aware of a struggle coming towards them, and they
stopped and waited for the struggle to enter the room. Ben had the best view of the hallway, and he
piqued everyone else's interest when his jaw dropped at the sight of the
struggle. There was an audible gasp as
the woman and her two captors entered the room. The woman was yelling, "Get off of me you big dumb oafs! If you wanted me, all you had to do is ask!"
Roy
was the first to react when, even in his hazy state he said in disbelief,
"Black Canary?!"
Roy's
vocal reaction caused Dinah to look at him first, and she asked, "Roy! Are you
ok? Oracle sent me.." As she spoke she
took in the rest of the room, and her struggles turned limp as her eyes rested
on Oliver. " What the.. Ollie?!" She
spoke disbelievingly, as though she were looking at a ghost. "Is it really
you?" She regained her feet and pulled
away from her captors annoyingly.
"How.. What.." she stumbled forward, and then getting her voice back she
said, "I'm gonna kill Oracle."
Suddenly
it hit Nightwing; he hadn't checked in with Oracle since they had been
captured. It must have sent Barbara into
panic mode and she sent Black Canary after them. Nightwing spoke up, "She didn't know. We didn't tell her why we were coming here."
"Dinah,"
Ollie started, carefully gauging her reaction, "How are you?" he asked, for lack of a better thing to
say. Black Canary seemed to finally get
her full senses back as she burst into joyful tears and crossed the gap between
her and Ollie to wrap him in an emotional embrace. With an expression that combined surprise and relief, Ollie
returned the embrace. Roy was still
facing Ollie and could see the elder archer's uncertain expression from his
seated position.
Roy
found the elder archer's expression comical, but refused to allow his
expression to indicate his finding. Afraid that he might show positive emotion,
and frustrated at Black Canary's upbeat reaction to Oliver, Roy suddenly and
uncertainly staggered out of Oliver's office.
Black Canary, Nightwing, and Speedy called to him, but he ignored them
as he turned the corner of the doorway.
Ollie sighed discontentedly at the door, and then broke the embrace
enough to look smilingly into Dinah's eyes.
"How's
my pretty bird been?" he asked, grateful for her acceptance of his being alive.
"I've
been.. fine.." Dinah said, having a loss for words and looking into Ollie's
eyes. Looking from eye to eye, she
said, "Is it really you? What
happened? Why did you let everyone
think you were dead? What were you
thinking?" Her voice started to get
upset, and Ollie broke their embrace so that he could use his hands in a
calming gesture.
"I'll
explain later, ok?" When Dinah's expression started to indicate that it was not
ok, Ollie continued, "Right now I'm worried about Roy. He's very sick, and although we still have
his bow, God knows he doesn't need it to be effective, and I'm afraid he's
going to do something stupid." Dinah
nodded, her puzzled, concerned expression indicating that she wanted to ask how
Roy was sick. Conversely, Dick pleasantly
noted Oliver's acknowledgement of Roy's abilities, as well as his obvious
concern for Roy.
"We'll
go find him," Nightwing offered, volunteering Speedy, and allowing the former
couple to stay together for a little longer. Speedy acknowledged Nightwing's
statement and moved to stand next to his leader. Oliver recognized the offer gratefully as he nodded to the Titans
leader, and the teammates left the room.
Ollie
motioned for Dinah to take the seat Roy had occupied and he went around his
desk to drag the desk chair to a spot next to his former lover. He sat and took Dinah's hands into his own
and tried to look into her eyes. He
couldn't though because Dinah was focused on the open doorway. Ollie reached up with one hand to guide her
gaze to his, and he could see the concern in her eyes. "What's wrong, pretty bird?" Ollie asked. It felt so good to be in the same room with Dinah again.
Allowing
her attention to be drawn to the door again for a moment, she looked back at
him and said, "Roy's sick? You sure
he'll be ok?"
Ollie
responded, "Nightwing and Speedy—I still can't believe he's taken that
God-awful name—will find him. He's been
hit with a poison that actually makes him need heroin to stay alive." He saw shock and concern in Dinah's eyes. He looked away from them before he
continued, "They'll find him and bring him back. I know there's an antidote out there, and now that Roy's been
hit, I *will* find it."
Dinah
looked with concern at Ollie again, and was partially comforted by the
determination she saw in his eyes. She
knew that whenever that determined light existed, Ollie would be successful in
his quest. She forced herself to forget Roy as she embraced Ollie again, and
this time both kept the embrace tight for long moments. "I can't believe it," Dinah whispered, pulling
away to look at Ollie again. "I just
can't believe it."
"Believe
it, pretty bird. I'm here. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I had to
stay hidden to do what I do now." Dinah
asked what that was, and Ollie filled her into his operation. He confided in his former partner, "The kids
hit it right on, but I couldn't tell them that—I'm here because I couldn't help
Roy when he needed me. I thought I
could stop some of that poison from reaching other kids, but now I've just made
it worse by allowing Roy to find me here. Now if we don't find that antidote,
I'm going to lose a son." By way of explanation he said, "I'm sure Ne Win means
for the poison not to touch the victim as long as the victim keeps shooting up,
but now the heroin is an imperfect shield." His voice got quieter as he finished,
"The poison is still touching him.
Eventually it will kill him."
Dinah
paused for a moment trying to absorb the news while at the same time getting
her emotions in check. Bypassing the
devastating news, she looked down at their clasped hands and asked softly, "Why
can't you tell them that, Ollie? Why
can't you let Roy know you care about him?" She looked up into his eyes,
expecting an answer.
Oliver
looked at their hands and sighed. He
started to caress her fingers. If it
had been anyone else, Ollie would have given a flippant answer, but he just
couldn't to Dinah. Especially after
being reunited after so long. Finally
he confided, "I don't know. I want to,
but every time the opportunity comes up, some smart-ass comment comes out
instead. I guess I think if I keep him
at arms length, nothing I do can hurt him."
"But
don't you see?" Canary started, "You keeping him at arms length hurts worse
than anything that could happen because of his association to you." She leaned
towards him, breathed, "There are other ways to protect those you love," and
touched his lips with her own. Ollie
smiled at the gesture and made the touch more of a solid kiss.
**
When
Dick and Ben found Roy, he was sitting against the outside wall of Ollie's
building. Dick got the impression that
Roy collapsed where he was. Roy looked
up at his friends, and Dick and Ben sat on either side of Roy. Dick asked, "How're ya doin'?"
Roy
sat with his knees to his chest and his arms across his knees. He rested his head on his arms as he
shrugged, and slurred into the space between his legs and his chest, "I
dunno. I don't know what I'd think I'd
find when we found him. Nothing's
changed. I don't know why I thought it
would be different."
"Because
you have hope," Dick said. "We all saw
evidence that he cares, Roy. What about
that picture of you and him?" Roy shrugged. Dick said candidly, "You're awfully
defensive with him though. Maybe if you
dropped your shields with him, he'd respond."
Dick watched for Roy's response, but he couldn't tell because his
friend's face was still hidden. While
normally Dick would take Roy's static position as uncaring, Dick knew his
friend was probably too sick to look up.
Dick offered, "Right as Ben and
I were leaving, he acknowledged your skill.
He said you were formidable even without your bow."
Now
Roy did look up with weary, blood-shot eyes at his oldest friend, "He really
said that?" Roy was used to his skills
being put down by his former guardian.
Dick smiled warmly and nodded. Roy said slowly and thoughtfully, as
though he had to force the words out, "They say you become your parents… if
that's true, he's the closest thing I ever had to a parent.. I don't want to
turn out like him. I don't ever want
this kind of relationship with Lian." That thought made his eyes start to tear,
and he dropped his head.
Nightwing
put his hand on his friend shoulder as he said, "You'll never have that kind of
relationship with Lian. You're too
careful."
Ben
added, "You weren't like that with me either.
I never would have guessed you had a parent like Ollie. You were always encouraging, and always
corrected me gently when I needed it."
There was no reaction from the red-headed archer, but instead of
discouragement, Ben felt concern.
After
a moment of silence, Nightwing said, "Let's go back, ok?" Roy sighed and nodded. Nightwing and Ben
stood and, after a non-verbal indication from Nightwing to Ben, both heroes
knelt and took an upper arm on Roy, hauling the sick archer to his feet. Barely strong enough to stand on his own,
let alone walk, Roy leaned heavily on his friends as the threesome slowly made
their way back.
**
When
the three Titans arrived, Roy was still leaning on Nightwing although he felt a
little better, and they found Ollie and Dinah seated face-to-face apparently
simply talking. When they entered the
office, both Ollie and Dinah gave Roy such a regretful look that the younger
archer responded with, "What..?"
"Nothing,"
Ollie responded, although there was no bite to his voice as Roy would expect,
and it was clear that something was on his mind. Dinah confirmed the observation by switching her gaze sadly to
Ollie. Roy furrowed his brow at the
pair, wondered what was going on between them, and then shrugged it off.
Wanting
to rid himself of the uncomfortable silence, and hoping to ignore how he had
stormed out, Roy released himself from his friend and declared, "Well how about
that field trip to ol' Ne Win's place?
Who's goin'?" He looked at each person in the room.
Immediately,
Ollie spoke up, "I'll go."
Black
Canary spoke up with authority, "No, Nightwing, Speedy, and I will go." Both Roy and Ollie were getting ready to
interrupt when Canary staved them off with a raised hand and continued, first
addressing Roy, "You're in no shape, Roy, and you," she continued turning to
Ollie and with a serious tone, "Need to stay here with your son." She saw Roy disagreeing expression, and she
knew he doubted her choice to call him Ollie's son. "We'll find what Roy needs,
Ollie," BC comforted, which confused Roy even more. As a final argument, she added,
"Besides, I think you two need to talk." Roy looked at Canary suspiciously, but her expression did not
betray her thoughts.
Roy
looked at Nightwing, hoping that Dick would argue Roy's position with Dinah,
although since the simple turn of his head caused Roy to have to catch himself
on the nearby wall, he didn't think it was very likely that Nightwing would
agree. Roy received a slight shake of
the head and an apologetic expression.
Dick confirmed his gesture, "Sorry, Roy, I think Canary's right." Plus,
he added silently, hopefully they'll get the mess between them straightened
out.
"There's
no way I'm staying here!" Roy exclaimed, with one hand still on the wall. "That son of a bitch did this to me—ruined
five good clean years—no way in hell I'm going to stay here while you take him
down!!" Roy's voice had risen to the point of shouting at Nightwing, until he
had to finally end his tirade in a series of violent coughs. He was glad he had
a hand on the wall, because he was sure that was the only thing keeping him on
his feet.
"My
God, Roy, look at you," Dick said levelly.
"You're sick. Let us take care
of it. I promise somehow you'll get a
piece of him." After a moment Roy
nodded resignedly, and moved to take the chair Dinah had vacated. Dick looked to Ollie to see if he was going
to offer resistance, and as though Ollie knew what was going through the young
vigilante's mind, slightly nodded his head indicating he was ok with the situation. He wanted to take down Ne Win just as badly
as Roy did, but he knew Dinah was right—she usually was when it came to stuff
like this—he had to stay with Roy.
Nightwing responded with a grateful nod, and Ollie thought he saw in
Dick's eyes a promise to allow Ollie a piece of Ne Win as well.
As
the three heroes were preparing to leave, Ollie offered a guard, probably
Thakin, which both Nightwing and Black
Canary declined. They both said it was
too dangerous, and Nightwing was sure he could find his way back to Ne Win's
compound. As the three heroes gathered
their things to leave, Ollie locked eyes with Black Canary and said seriously,
"Make him pay. And get that antidote."
Black Canary saw the anger, concern, and fear in her former lover's eyes, which
brought tears to her own and she nodded silently. Finally, after a worried glance to the sick archer, Black Canary,
Nightwing, and Speedy left the office, leaving Roy and Ollie alone with each
other.
As
soon as they were alone, Roy immediately tensed up. Then, aware of his automatic reaction, and remembering
Nightwing's suggestion, he consciously relaxed and softened his
expression. Ollie eyed his ill child
for a moment, trying to start what had to be said. Instead, he stalled by taking a closer look at Roy and laying the
back of his hand on Roy's forehead.
"God, you're burning up," Ollie stated with concern. Roy had no
reaction; he knew he was feverish; and Ollie continued, "I want you to come
with me. We'll get you into a bed where
Kyi can keep a closer eye on you."
"I
don't need that," Roy moved his hand while keeping his head down as tried to
wave the elder archer off, "I'll be fine here."
"You're
not ok, Roy. You of all people should
know that. Come on," Ollie bent to get
an arm under his son's shoulder and haul Roy to his feet. Roy was made nauseous
at the change in position, and he groaned in protest. "Yeah, you're ok, you
stubborn goat," Ollie said as he reached around to grab the photograph off his
desk. He tucked the photo in a pocket
as, surprising himself, Roy let out a little laugh in response to his surrogate
father's words. Then Ollie lead him out
of the room.
Ollie
and Roy entered the compound's infirmary, which was furnished with rows of
simple beds, only a few of which were occupied. There was a variety of personnel present—so many in fact so that
it seemed as though they were employed simply so that they would have an
income. Kyi was present and talking to
a nurse, but as soon as she saw her employer enter the room supporting his very
sick son, she rushed over to help.
There was a low murmur as the personnel recognized their benefactor and
speculated who the young, fair, obviously sick, red-headed man with Mr. Queen
was. Kyi and Ollie lead Roy to an empty bed, and although he had protested most
of the way, Roy had to admit he felt better—and safer—lying down. Both Roy and Kyi knew that the effects of
the heroin were wearing off—Roy because he felt the remembered withdrawal symptoms,
and Kyi because Roy was sicker than he would be from just the heroin, so that
she knew the poison was having more of an effect—and Kyi left and quickly
returned with another dose for Roy.
After
Kyi administered the dose and left with a sad smile for Roy—she knew his
history with the drug from Ollie—
Roy
curled up on his side, trying not to enjoy the familiar high, and, a bit to
Roy's surprise, Ollie pulled up a chair to sit by Roy's bedside. He sat
silently next to his son and glanced around the room self-consciously to see if
they were being watched and noted thankfully that the others in the room had
mostly gone back to their previous tasks. What he wanted—needed—to say was as
hard as ever, but, although Roy didn't know it, if Nightwing's team didn't find
that antidote soon, this would be Ollie's last chance. The thought forced him to fight back tears
as he started awkwardly, "Back in the office, I just wanted to tell you," he
paused, and Roy looked up enough to see Ollie as he spoke. Roy thought he almost looked to be in pain
trying to word what he wanted to say, "That Nightwing was right.. I did lie
when I said I never considered you my son.
I've always cared about you. I
guess I just didn't know it before I came here. I've always been proud of you, and it devastated me when you had
to turn to drugs to get some attention." Ollie paused again, relieved that that
had been said. He looked at Roy and,
through the pale face and dilated, bloodshot eyes, saw a shocked, disbelieving
expression. He broke eye contact and
continued, "You're everything anyone could ask for in a son." By this time, Roy
was able to partially sit up and did so, supporting his weight on his
elbow. His mouth hung open which caused
Ollie to roll his eyes and say in a lighthearted tone, "Close your mouth, will
ya? This is hard enough." Roy
immediately snapped his mouth shut and allowed a small smile to creep across
it.
After
brushing off Ollie's attempt to make him go back to a prone position, Roy eyed
his former mentor. He was looking for
some hint of betrayal, and, seeing none, said in disbelief, "You mean that,
don't you?" Ollie gave a small
nod. Remembering their past, Roy said,
"It's not because I'm so sick is it?
Because frankly, I can't take it again."
"It's
not because you're sick. Ever since I
left the states, you've been on my mind." Ollie paused and then said softly, "I
do love you, Roy."
Those
words caused Roy's heart to jump—he had never, ever heard those words from his
guardian, even when Ollie was trying to make amends just to break them
later. He felt lightheaded again, and
lay back down. He rolled onto his back,
let out a groan, and covered his closed eyes with his arm. He lay still for a moment, and he knew that
Ollie was anxiously awaiting a reaction.
He was too sick to take this kind of news. Moving his arm and opening his eyes just enough to see, Roy
asked, "After all this time, why now?
Why couldn't you have told me this when I was fifteen?"
Ollie
shrugged, "Being in a strange place for so long.. letting everyone you care
about think you're dead.. it changes a man.
I know more now what's most important to me, and you're right there at
the top. My initial reaction when you
showed up—believe it or not, that was me trying to protect you." Roy's face scrunched in puzzlement, and
Ollie elaborated, "If I could get you to go away and forget you ever saw me, I
didn't have to worry about people like Ne Win ever hurting you. Now because you
came after me, you're in the shape you're in now." Ollie felt unbidden tears which he blinked away. "When I see what he's done to you, I want
to go over there and rip his throat out myself."
Closing
his eyes and replacing his arm, Roy lay still allowing himself to catch up with
his reeling mind. He so much wanted to
believe his former mentor, but he had been caught by this trap before. But somehow, Roy thought, he seemed
different this time. He didn't seem
so—nonchalant—like he was just saying off the top of his head. Roy hoped it wasn't because he hadn't seen
Ollie in years. Roy remembered back to
when the plane had crashed, and unbidden tears formed. Just as Ollie began to suspect that Roy had
fallen asleep, Roy told Ollie in a soft, cracked voice, "Do you know… They
didn't even invite me to your.. funeral.. wake.." he choked, "Whatever.. I had
to crash the party.. They didn't even let me talk.. Nightwing.. Dick.. made
them.. let me…" he paused, "I'm sorry I gave up on you that day.. I didn't see
it.. I wasn't with Eddie and Conner.. I gave up.."
Ollie's
heart ached at Roy's pain, and he comforted, "I didn't want help, Roy. I wanted you to give up. The only reason Conner didn't give up when
you did is that he hadn't had a chance to know me like you did. He hadn't had a chance to be frustrated by
me. I wanted him to give up too." Ollie didn't know what to say about the
funeral. It pained him that his friends
would have left Roy out of something like that, but he guessed it made
sense—his and Roy's estrangement had been legendary. At the following silence, Ollie reached into his pocket and
retrieved the photo of himself and Roy. He said thoughtfully, as though
remembering himself, "Do you remember when this was taken?" He looked at Roy and turned the photo so his
surrogate son could get a better look.
Roy lifted his arm and turned his head to see the photo, which appeared
blurry because of the pressure his arm had had on his eyes, and shook his head
as he looked at his former guardian.
Turning the photo back towards himself, Ollie said thoughtfully, "Remember
when the JLA and the Titans had that picnic so we could get to know each other
better? And after the team photos,
Wonder Woman insisted that all the senior and junior partners got their
pictures taken together?" Ollie held up
the picture, indicating that it was their portrait.
Roy
was dumbfounded. He allowed his arm to
drop to the pillow above his head as he gave Ollie a shocked, disbelieving
expression. Once he found his voice again, he said, "I thought.. I remember
that picnic, but I thought that picture was never printed or something.. I've
never seen it."
Ollie
smiled knowingly. He knew Roy thought
that picture never existed. "I've
always known where it was," he said, examining the picture. "I don't know why I never put it out. I guess I was never home long enough to
think it should be out." He put the
photo back in his pocket. "I'm sorry
about that too," he started, looking pained again. "I just kept screwing up with you," he sighed. Roy was absolutely speechless, and brought
both hands to cover his face as he groaned.
These were words he had always heard in his dreams, but never ever
though he'd hear in reality. And now he
was too sick to think straight—to try to puzzle out if Ollie was just blowing
smoke like he had done so many times in the past.
"I
don't know what to say," Roy said as he dropped his hands to rest on his
chest.
"Say
you believe me," Ollie said seriously.
Roy
continued to study his surrogate father.
Just the fact that Ollie wanted to hear Roy say he believed him made the
moment surreal. "I want to," Roy started, looking past Ollie, and then back,
"You know I do. But I need time." Granting himself the time, Roy put his hands
under his head, ignoring the dizzying feel the movement caused, and changed the
subject, anxious to test the new relationship, "What have you been doing down
here?" he asked conversationally, "Do you ever get a chance to use your
archery?"
Ollie
smiled, recognizing the test, and answered, "When I first got here, I made a
name for myself with my bow. I haven't
used it for a long time though. I miss
it."
"Well,
now," Roy grinned, "That sounded like a challenge to me."
Oliver
laughed good-naturedly. "Later," he
said, "Now I want to find out what's been happening. How is everyone? How is
Lian?"
Ollie
saw Roy beam at the mention of his daughter, and Roy gushed, "Lian's
great. Smartest three-year-old on the
block," Roy beamed with fatherly pride.
Ollie noticed the light in his surrogate son's eyes even through his
illness as Roy continued, "She is always coloring things for me and her
'aunties' and 'uncles.' I think she might be an artist when she grows up," he
grinned, "Or a full-time archer. She's
real good with a bow already."
"You
have her shooting already? At three?"
Ollie asked, surprised.
"Well,
no," Roy admitted, "But I can just tell she's got it. She takes after her daddy," he grinned.
Then
Roy's grin faded as he obviously turned his thoughts to something more
serious. Seeing his son's change in
expression, Ollie asked with concern, "What is it?"
"You've
got to find that antidote, Ollie. I
can't leave Lian. She can't be an
orphan." He felt the tears in his eyes as he looked to his father. "Promise me?"
Ollie
looked to the floor for a second, trying to control his own tears. He couldn't even protect Roy from the truth;
his son was too experienced not to know what was happening to him. When he had stopped the rogue tears, he
looked back up at his waiting son, and vowed, "I promise we'll make you well,
Roy."
Ollie's
tone seemed to convince Roy, at least for the moment, and after a minute he continued solemnly, "She misses
her Grandpa Ollie. We all do." Roy
paused. "Now that we know," Roy started
carefully, "What are you going to do?
Are you going to come back?"
"I
don't know Roy. I feel like I'm doing some good here. I feel like I'm successfully doing penance for letting you get
into drugs. And like I said before, I
want to make Ne Win pay for what he's done to you."
"You
didn't 'let' me, Ollie," Roy stated forcefully. "That was a mistake *I* made.
And I hope to get a piece of that bastard myself. But if you mean what you said earlier, I
want time with you. I want another
chance." Roy paused. "I want Lian to know her Grandpa Ollie
better."
Ollie
nodded. "I was serious, Roy," he
reiterated. "But we'll have to see."