AN: Let's rock and roll.

DISCLAIMER: Nope.

|STAR CITY

|March 22, 14:22 PDT

I paced back and forth in a hallway of a hospital in downtown Star City as Dinah sat in a chair right beside a certain door where a certain person was staying. She sat there, holding a paper bag in her lap and watching me walk.

"Do you have to do that?" She asked me impatiently.

"What?" I asked, not even having realized what I was doing.

"Pace?" She asked.

"I- what?" I stammered.

She sighed and stood up. Walking over to me she placed her hand on my shoulder, "Come on, sit down."

She led me over to the chairs and sat me down next to her. Unconsciously, I began to bounce my leg on the toe of my sneaker. Dinah placed her hand on my knee to stop me.

"Look, I understand that you're nervous, but you have to calm down," She soothed.

"Nervous?" I asked. "Who said I'm nervous?"

She raised her eyebrow at me, a smirk playing on her lips. "Oh, you're not nervous?"

"What do I have to be nervous about?" I asked.

A frown worked it's way onto her face. "Tommy, no matter what happens, you're still Oliver's partner."

I stood up and waved her off. "I know that!" I insisted. I swore under my breath, "Why did we even come here?"

"We're here to support Roy," Dinah's face puckered a little, "Both of them. Ollie too."

I glared at the ground. "I don't want to be here."

Dinah's face softened. She stood up and held my shoulder gently, "None of us do. No one wished that we'd ever have to. And at the same time we all wished that we'd be able to."

"That doesn't make any sense," I complained.

She smiled softly, "Tommy, Roy has essentially come back from the dead. You can appreciate the significance of that can't you?"

I let out a sigh, "I just seriously doubt that he'd ever want to meet me."

Just then, the door opened and Oliver's bearded face poked out. "Tommy, would you come in here please, Roy would like to meet you."

I stared at him for a moment. My eyes darted back and forth from him to Dinah. She smiled encouragingly. Taking a deep breath, I walked into the room. Oliver and Clone Roy were both standing over a red haired boy about my age in a hospital gown sitting in the bed. His right arm looked like it had been removed just under his bicep, which was wrapped in bandages.

"You're the new Speedy?" He asked.

"I'm Tommy," I said awkwardly. "Tommy Crane."

"So where'd you come from?" He asked.

"I, uh," I stammered awkwardly, "I'm Dinah Lance's son."

"Dinah Lance? As in Black Canary?" He asked. "I didn't think that she had a son."

I shrugged, "Kind of a 'long lost' sort of thing."

He frowned at me, then turned back to Oliver. "So, let me get this straight, while I was on ice, you found another Roy Harper, another Speedy, the sidekicks formed their own team, aliens invaded the Earth, and Ollie grew that dopey goatee?"

"We try not to call ourselves sidekicks," Clone Roy complained.

"You don't like the goatee?" Oliver asked.

"I kind of just started," I offered.

"So missing the point!" Roy snapped. "You've both been talking around it all day, now I want answers. What happened to me? How can there be another Roy Harper? And what happened to my arm?!" He understandably shouted the last question.

"OK, OK, we wanted to wait until you were strong enough, but I guess the moments here," Clone Roy relented.

"Moment's passed," Roy snapped, "get to it."

I did my absolute best to hide in the corner as they all spoke, once more wondering of my importance there.

"What's the last thing you remember before we found you in Tibet?" Clone Roy asked. I was going to need something better to call him.

"I've been trying to piece that together," Roy muttered. "I rememberries investigating a Lex Corp shell company that we suspected of smuggling weapons to North Rhelaysia. Some Lex Corp goons got the drop on me. I remember feeling... embarrassed. Then nothing."

Oliver walked over and sat on the bed beside Roy. "That's right, they grabbed you," he told Roy, "the thing is Roy, that was eight years ago."

"What?" Roy asked.

"Lex Luthor and the Light, this criminal organization he works with, abducted you," Clone Roy explained, I flinched a little when he mentioned "The Light," "they amputated your arm."

"Why?" Roy asked. "To keep me from using my bow?"

"No," Clone Roy told him, "they needed an endless supply of your DNA to perfect their human cloning process."

Roy looked at his arm for a moment. Then he looked back up at his clone. "So that's what you are," Roy commented, "a clone."

"Yeah," Clone Roy lamente, "they grew me, or rather, force-grew me. In a matter of months I looked your age. They programmed me with all of your memories and skills and... and worse."

"Then they spoon fed me clues to your location," Oliver chimed in. "I thought I was doing detective work, but in hindsight... You'd been missing three months! I'd been going crazy, so when I found you- him, I didn't question the good fortune. I didn't know it wasn't the real, the original, you. No idea Luthor had stored you on ice all this time."

Roy's brow furrowed. He looked at Clone Roy, "So, what you're saying is, you took my place. You've been living my life for eight years."

"And he's been tirelessly searching for you for five of those years," Oliver came to his defense.

"Huh, but not you Ollie. You gave up on me," he summed up.

Clone Roy stood up. "I don't want to be the cause of more conflict between you two. I'd understand if you never wanted to lay eyes on me again."

Roy looked from him to me. "I don't know, seems to me like the clone didn't do anything wrong. He didn't ask to be created. Plus he found me. And new guy over there wasn't involved. I can't blame them for this." He lurched up and grabbed Oliver's arm, shouting, "But I can totally blame you!"

"Roy I-" Oliver stammered.

"We were partners, friends!" Roy snapped. "How could you not know I'd been replaced? How could you have left me in Luthor's hands for eight years?!" Oliver looked away, unable to dispute the accusations. "And how did I not realize how useless you are?"

I glared at the floor, Clone Roy seemed to notice. I opened my mouth to defend Oliver, but before I could, Clone Roy looked at me and shook his head, stopping me. I growled to myself, but didn't say anything. It may not have been my place, but it still pissed me off. I didn't care if I wasn't there. I didn't care if I knew nothing about the situation. I knew that Oliver didn't deserve any of that.

"Get out," Roy ordered. "Get out!" Oliver solemnly stood up and left the room.

Roy turned to face his clone and said to him, in a confused voice, "Look, uh, Roy, I need some time to process all of this."

"I understand," Clone Roy said. He followed Oliver out.

I turned to follow them both out, but before I could reach the door, Roy said, "So that just leaves you."

I turned to face him. I couldn't tell what was on his mind. His expression was impossible to read.

"You got something to say to me now?" I asked.

His brows came together. "I just wanted to say, I don't have anything against you. You weren't involved with any of this, you got dragged in after the fact, but I will warn you now. Stay away from Oliver Queen. He'll bring you nothing but pain."

I locked my eyes with his. I couldn't help but think of Artemis. All of the past three partners of Oliver wound up in some sort of trouble, or worse. And yet, as I looked at him, I just couldn't get over what he'd said to Oliver. I just glared at the tiles of the floor. Finally, when I couldn't contain my anger, I stormed out the door before I started shouting at him.

Dinah was sitting right where I had left her, nibbling absent-mindedly on a burrito. She looked up at me with sad eyes. "I take it by everyone's expressions that it went poorly."

I set my jaw angrily. "They should've left that prat on ice."

"Tommy!" Dinah gasped.

"It would've been better for everyone!" I snapped.

Dinah just sighed at me as I sat down beside her. She handed me the burrito and I angrily took a big bite then handed it back. I didn't even taste it, I was just too mad.

"You need to be patient with everyone right now," Dinah told me, "Roy and Oliver especially."

I didn't respond. I just sat there angry. "Where's Oliver?" I asked, "I want to talk to him."

"He and Roy- well, Roy's clone went to the hospital's chapel," She told me.

I got up to leave but paused when she didn't follow. "You coming?"

"I think I should go actually. One of my friends is getting married and I'm late for the bridal shower," She explained.

To me it sounded like an excuse, but I didn't argue. Everyone seemed to be avoiding each other with all of the recent events. I wasn't surprised, though it did make things complicated. She gave me a quick hug, I didn't resist, but I didn't hug her back, and then she left.

When I got to the chapel I paused at the door. I had never been to a chapel or church before. For any religion. My father was a man of science and said that religion was just stories people told each other to help them know what to think. He never said if he had a religion and when I asked him about it he usually just gave me a run around.

"It's a curse, isn't it, having me for a mentor?" I heard Oliver's voice from the other side of the door. "Speedy, Red Arrow, and... Artemis, the three of you, all poster children for the 'stay away from Green Arrow club.'"

I froze, unsure if he was talking to me. I was relieved when I heard Clone Roy answer. "I may not have always shown it over the years, but I don't feel that way. Neither did Artemis. And trust me, I know Roy doesn't feel that way, either. Not really."

"I don't know," Oliver sighed. "With everything that's come up, I'm starting to think that I should just let Tommy go. He'd be better off without me."

I could feel my muscles tense up. He wouldn't dare back out on our deal, would he? Slade's smug, smiling face appeared in my head. Unintentionally, I clenched my fist so hard that my fingernails cut into my palms.

"Don't you say that, Ollie," Clone Roy insisted. "He needs you just as much as Roy does. Not to mention that you need him too. Ever since you took on another partner, you've been more like yourself than I've seen you in a long time. You two work well together. Roy and Tommy, they're a lot alike. Both have been through a lot. They're both good kids, who deep down want to help people. They've just been hurt too much. You can help them. You're a good man, Ollie, so get back in there. Roy and Tommy both need you, whether they know it or not."

My clenched fist slowly released. As I listened to them, something inside of me hurt. I couldn't tell what it was, but it felt like something was gnawing at my insides. Just then, I heard them getting up. I quickly backed away several meters. I faked as if I were just coming down the hall and hadn't just been spying on them.

They both stepped out of the doors seeming to be surprised that I was there. I stood there awkwardly.

"Why'd you both leave me alone with that jerk?" I asked.

The corners of Clone Roy's mouth curved downward as he looked at me. "We were just having a discussion," he said.

"Anything interesting?" I asked.

Oliver half-smiled, "Not really."

"Huh," I put my hands in my jacket pockets, "so what now?"

"We're going to go back and talk to him again," Oliver said, much more determined.

I scowled, "Does this really have to involve me?"

Clone Roy smirked and put a hand on my shoulder, "Come on, you're a part of the Arrow Family now."

They led me back towards Roy's room. "So everyone keeps saying," I griped. "Hey, by the way, what are we supposed to call you now?"

Clone Roy raised his eyebrow at me, "What?"

I shrugged, "I mean, 'Clone Roy' sounds rude."

He gave my head a playful shove. "That's enough of that."

"Hey!" I complained. "I still need to know what to call you."

"Is this really the best time to talk about this?" He asked.

"Hey, if I'm 'part of the family' now, I need to know what to call you. 'Mr Harper' is too formal," I pointed out.

Clone Roy looked to Oliver. His mind seemed to be elsewhere. After a moment he said, "Just call me Red."

I nodded, "See that's simple and easy to remember. I like it."

He gave my head another playful shove. "Quit it Grant!" I said, reflexively.

"So much for easy to remember," Red scoffed. "You already forgot. Who's Grant anyway?"

I hesitated for a moment. "No one," I stated flatly. I quickened my pace so that he couldn't pursue me further on the topic. We got back to Roy's room and Oliver opened the door.

"Roy, listen. I-" he was cut off as we all entered by the flapping of the drapes. The room was empty and the window was open.

"Here we go," I grumbled.

"Come on, I've got an idea as to where he might go," Oliver ordered.

Oliver lead us inside to one of our weapons cashes at the back of an alley downtown. There was a false brick wall concealing the door. "This is the only place I've maintained since Speedy's day." I frowned at him. "Uh, the first, Speedy."

"See, this is why we figured this out earlier," I said. I pointed a thumb at my chest, "Speedy," I then pointed my thumb at Red, "Red. And the original is Roy."

"I guess it was good you brought it up," Red muttered.

"I'm not as dumb as I look," I said.

"Um, anyway," Oliver stated. "There are other places that Spe- uh, Roy might go."

"But not where he could get himself in trouble," Red finished.

Red placed both of his hands on the brick wall and leaned in close. A panel opened up and a retinal scanner scanned his eyes.

"Recognized. Red Arrow," the computer announced. An alarm buzzer started beeping. "Error. Red Arrow already inside. Security breach. Lockout."

"Perfect," both Red and I said simultaneously.

"Override lockout. Green Arrow, zero-eight," Oliver said, stepping forward and letting the scanner read his rentals.

The wall split apart and we all rushed in to see a room with weapons and outfits lining either wall. Roy wearing an old Speedy uniform, minus the hat, was standing in an active Zeta-tube directly in front of us. He had a mysterious bag over his shoulder.

"Roy wait!" Oliver called.

"Sorry, G.A., can't let you stop me," Roy told him. With that, he disappeared into the Zeta-tube, leaving his hat and a beeping grenade.

"Get down!" Red shouted, tackling Oliver to the ground.

I lept back out of the compound just in time for the explosion to blow my eardrums halfway to kingdom come. Fire spread throughout the cashe. Instantly the anti-fire sprinkler system kicked in to quell the blaze. When it was over, the Zeta-tube was nothing but debris.

"Great, we can't follow," Oliver complained.

"But we can find out where he went," Red rushed to a computer along the wall and began to work. Before long he pulled up a map. "He zeta-ed to Metropolis."

"Metropolis? Why would he-" Oliver asked.

"Luthor," I said.

"What?" Red asked.

"He's going after Luthor," I explained.

Red shook his head, "Roy wouldn't-"

"No, you wouldn't," I corrected. "Roy's not the same as he was when you knew him, Oliver. And whether or not you realize it, you're different from Roy, Red."

Oliver and Red shared a look. "He wants revenge on the man who stole his life and his arm," Red realized.

"If he goes after Lex Luthor, then Luthor will kill him," Oliver stated.

"We have to get there first," Red insisted.

"Then what are we waiting for?" I asked. "Let's suit up."

|METROPOLIS

|March 21, 19:11 EDT

Once we got to Metropolis, we split up. Luthor was the type of man that could've been anywhere. Naturally the first place to check was Lex Corp tower, but in reality, we weren't even sure he was in the city. Of course when I saw the four story fireball coming from the top floor, I had a pretty good idea that he was.

"You hear that?" Red Arrow asked over the Com-link.

"I see that," I confirmed. "Moving to intercept the shooter."

"No, wait for back up," Green Arrow ordered.

"There's no time!" I hissed, "I'm going."

Traveling over the rooftops, I rushed to the top of the building opposite from Lex Corp, where the rocket had come from, to find a discarded bazooka and binoculars. I must've just missed him.

That was when the Lex Corp strike team showed up, breaking down the door from the building. They all trained their weapons on me. I swore under my breath at my stupidity.

One of the soldiers put a finger to his ear. "Sir, we've found him. It looks like it was Speedy."

"Hey, hey, hey, guys, it's not what it looks like!" I told them.

None of them listened to me. I'd didn't seem like they were in the mood for a dialogue. My bow felt a bit heavy in my hand as the situation tensed.

"Oh, I don't have time for this!" I shouted.

I jumped forward, knocking down the first soldier with a solid kick to his chest. The remaining guards began to shoot at me, but I didn't stay one place long enough to let them hit me. I charged the closest guard, grabbed his gun and used its sling to drag him toward me. Then, using the stock of his owngun, I smacked him across the face. Using my bow, I slapped another guard across the chest, knocking the wind out of him. One guard behind me took out a knife and tried to stab me in the back. Before he could, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the knife. I caught it before it hit the ground and used the handle to punch him in the face. He backpedaled as he held his face in pain. I hooked my heel behind his ankle, tripping him. Before he even hit the ground, I raised my boot into the air and slammed my heels into his face, driving his head into the floor. The guards reasonably began to panic, getting more and more erratic. As I fought with one of their men, another threw a grenade at me. Quickly, I dove forward it, grabbed it and slapped it to anotice arrow, then fired it upward just before it exploded. Quickly, I rushed forward and dispatched the last guard with a strong jump kick to his solar plexus.

"Huh," I breathed, having finally knocked them all out, "tedious."

"Now," I muttered to myself, "where did you go..."

More guards would be arriving soon, I needed to find Roy. I walked back over and inspected the smoking building. Roy would've been trying to get to Luthor, but he was much too smart to think that a simple missile would kill him. He must've just been trying to flush him out, but to where? I spotted an entrance/exit to an underground carpark at the base of the buildings. It was standard evacuation protocol to get all high ranking persons out asap through the basement in the event of attempted assassinations. Grant, Rose, and I had trapped many people using such knowledge. Well, more than trapped...

I took out a grappling hook arrow from my quiver and shot it at the entrance to the underground parking garage. It hooked into place just above the "Exit" sign. I hooked the second end of the rope to a spike which I firmly implanted into the roof. Before I could slide down, more guards appeared on the roof.

I smiled at them all, "Sorry boys, can't stay and chat. Kiss kiss."

Before any of them could react, I ran and jumped off of the roof. In mid air, I hooked my bow over the top of the cord and slid down, rolling when I landed. I only had time to cut the cord with an arrow before the soldiers began shooting at me from the rooftop. I quickly ran down into the parking garage.

As I checked through the parking garage for any sign of either Luthor or Roy, I couldn't shake this serious uneasy feeling. The whole day, I had been so uneasy. I hadn't told anyone about it, but I was starting to get really worried about my role. I tried to not think about it, but still the question pervaded my mind. "What if Roy still wanted to be Speedy?" The thought made me angry. I honestly didn't know what Oliver would say if it came to that. We had had a deal, yes, but it was more than that. I felt like I had earned my place by Green Arrow's side, by Oliver's side. I was his partner now. I was Speedy. It bad become the one thing that I was sure of. It was the one constant I had left. I wasn't going to let Roy take that away from me.

Ahead of me, I saw Roy crouched behind a car, hiding with a rifle in his hand.

"Roy!" I shouted.

He looked up at me and scowled. "Get down you idiot, you'll blow my cover!"

I paused when I saw him, unsure how to react. "What are you planning, Roy?" I asked.

He stared at me, "You really have to ask? I'm going to get revenge on Luthor for taking my life from me. Not to mention my arm." We locked gazes for a moment. "By the way, nice suit. I never did like the stupid hat."

I glared at him. I was so conflicted. If I didn't stop him, he'd kill Luthor, or die in the process. At the same time, could I stop him? In reality, his goal was no different from mine. He only had a different target. In stopping him, I'd be admitting to myself that it was wrong. However, I didn't know if I was prepared to watch him kill a man in cold blood. Slade's face once more plagued my mind.

"You're not going to try and stop me," he pointed the rifle at me, "are you, Tommy?"

My scowl deepened. "The name's Speedy."

"Yeah, right," he scoffed. "If you're not going to stop me than get out of my-"

"You know what, Roy, I realize that you went through some tough crap," I said, "but you're still just a dick."

He scowled at me. "What?"

I glared at him, "Bad things happen to good people. That's life. You lost your arm and slept for a while. I know people that wish they had it so good, so you can quit your crying and grow up already."

"I lost eight years of my life!" He shouted.

"I grew up as a science experiment! You don't see me crying about it!" I snapped. "And you don't see me taking it out on my friends either."

He pointed the gun directly at my chest. "You gonna try and stop me, Tommy?"

"No. That would be too hypocritical," I said, standing up. "If you die, it's your fault."

He smirked, "So be it."

A little while later, I waited outside of Lex Corp, staring at the building as it still smoked. Helicopters and sirens filled the air. I sat against the hood of a car, turning a knife in my hands. Green and Red Arrow both ran up to me.

"No. We can't be too late," Green Arrow gasped at the sight. "I cannot have failed him again!"

"No, wait. Look!" Red Arrow called.

We all looked to see Roy walk out of the smoke pouring from the parking garage exit. He was carrying a metal briefcase and smirking.

"Hey, guys," he greeted, "what took you so long?"

"You're alive," I commented.

"Mostly," he shrugged.

"Roy! Are you alright?" Green Arrow asked.

"I'm good," he responded casually. "Well, better than I've been in eight years anyway."

"You didn't-?" G.A. asked.

"Kill Luthor?" Roy finished. "No. Not tonight."

"What's in the case?" Red Arrow asked.

Roy displayed it proudly. "Satisfaction." He placed the case on the ground and opened it up, revealing a large black metal arm. "It's not elegant. It won't fool anyone into thinking that it's actually flesh and blood. But it's more powerful and versatile than the model Luthor gave his own bodyguard, and it will literally make me a living weapon. No one's putting me on ice again. Ever."

"Speedy, you sure you're OK?" G.A. asked, concerned. I felt a twinge in my chest as he called Roy Speedy.

Roy jerked his thumb at me, "He's Speedy now. But I kind of like the sound of Arsenal."

I inspected the arm. Then looked up at him. "The whole 'living weapon' thing is overrated," I told him. "Trust me."

He just smirked, "As if you'd know."

I turned away from them and began to walk away, "You have no idea."

"Speedy," G.A. called out, "where are you going?" I ignored him and kept walking. "Hey, Speedy, wait!"

He reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I whipped around and snarled at him, "OH, you're talking to me now, are you?"

He jerked back in surprise, "Speedy, are you-"

"I don't know, am I?" I roared.

He frowned at me and placed his hands on my shoulders, "Hey, Tommy, what's wrong?"

I threw his hands off of me, "Nothing's wrong. You've got the real Speedy back. Why don't you three go and celebrate."

"Tommy, I-" G.A. said.

"No, I'm done," I hissed. "I'm going home."

Before he could say anything else, I stormed off.

AN: TENSION IS RISING! Ah! I am so pleased with this chapter. And as always, thank you for reading.