These Black Eyes

by P0ST

The ongoing adventures and experiences of the Teen Titans, as witnessed through the eyes of a silent newcomer.

87. And Give to the Poor part 2

87. And Give to the Poor part 2 Final

Speedy stretched with a groan and walked into the room.

He was haggard again.

The archer made sure that the door behind him was closed as he entered. Locked too.

There were things inside that he didn't want anyone to look at…

Speedy more or less limped across the dark interior. His dark clothes from visiting the Soto rave scene were wrinkled and even scruffed up in some spots.

Indeed, he had been in a fight for much longer than I had seen.

He stripped his mangled shirt off and stood before the curtains of the window. Looking out across the Bay.

Sighing.

Silence.

He glanced over through his eyemask at the heroin on his bedside table.

As if to make sure it was still there and untouched.

Whether or not he was relieved or distressed, he quickly swiveled about and trudged on towards the bathroom.

I watched. I had cloaked into stealth form at the precise moment he had entered. He had no idea that I was in his room. He had no idea I had seen his secret….and I knew.

Speedy was an addict. Or was he? Even if he wasn't, the fact that heroin was in his room was not going to settle well with me or any of the Titans. I couldn't imagine what would happen if the news media somehow got a hold of this information. We'd be the laughing stock of heroism everywhere. Villains would get their own chuckle in.

Illegal drugs….found in Titans' Tower.

I shivered. But it was a good thing I couldn't talk. My flipflopping ego and embarrassment couldn't empower me to chew Speedy's head off or go running and tattle-taleing to Green Arrow and Black Canary anyways. I had a motive of patience on my side. So all I did was stand back—invisible with smoke energy—and watch Speedy.

And I again realized who it was that I truly had to be concerned about…

The archer stood with his bare back to me in the bathroom. He stared at the mirror. And, remarkably, he kept his eyemask on.

I was glad for that. I knew I was eavesdropping. I didn't want to discover any more of Speedy's secrets than the one thing I had been discovering right before he returned there.

Speedy ran a hand across his chin. It was as if he knew that—following that night out—his face would become as unkempt and full of stubble as it was in the haggard days before his sudden joy.

His sudden high….

Why had I not seen it??

Speedy exhaled and started to…….peel something off his arms.

I narrowed my black eyes through my invisible shades and watched with curiosity.

Quite literally, Speedy was peeling the skin off where his elbows met his forearms. And I realized suddenly that Speedy had acquired skin grafts. His fighting outfit exposed his entire arms in the heat of battle. His shoulders and inner arms included. And since he was an archer who had to draw arrows in his bow all the time, it was more than likely that anyone in the archer's presence would at least catch a sight of his inner arms. But the skin grafts apparently masked his true skin. And it made sense to me, for I distinctly remember seeing him arrive late the other day to a raid on bank robbers and his skin seemed to be 'hanging off' of him.

When the beige material was peeled off, I saw why Speedy relied on such camouflage. His skin was cratered with red welts from where the needle had gone in. Many…red welts.

I bit my lip as a sore lump formed in my throat.

He tossed the skin grafts casually and didn't even glance at his arms. He must have been so used to it. It was awful. He wandered off into a part of the bathroom I could not see. I heard the shower faucet turning on, and I knew it was time to stop my observance.

But I couldn't just leave him and everything the way it all was.

After Speedy took his shower, who knows what other casual things he might do…

It was then that a wicked light bulb appeared over my invisible head.

Speedy was Green Arrow's responsibility. Not the Titans'. The fact that Speedy could have been a junkie without Green Arrow knowing (which I greatly assumed was the case) meant that the two had something to hash out with each other. Master and apprentice. Father and son.

But things wouldn't change if they wouldn't change.

And that was what I was there for.

I took a deep breath and—while cloaked—went about my business.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Speedy came out of the shower minutes later.

He seemed a bit more relaxed.

But there was a shaking to his nature. As if he was trembling on the precipice of something. Either anticipating or regretting…

He slipped on some slacks and stood on the side of his bed. He took a deep breath and pivoted about to face the bedside table----

Speedy froze.

His recently dried face suddenly began sweating.

Muscles tensed around his eyemask and his lips parted in undeniable shock.

The drugs were gone. All of them.

Speedy panicked. He searched the drawer of the bedside table. He searched under the messed covers of the bed. He looked under the bed. Under his equipment. On tables. In dresser drawers. In the bathroom. In the trash. He started tearing the room apart in a panting frenzy as cold sweat overran his system and he found himself twitching and trembling in the corner.

"How could I have misplaced it……how could I have misplaced it….."

He stammered. His lips quivered. And for the first time since he left the rave scene, he felt the bruises of the fight he was in. And everything came crashing down.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

The next day…

"YAAAA!!" Black Canary dove down with a flip through the height of the gymnasium and mercilessly attacked Green Arrow with twirling jabs of a metal staff.

The emerald archer paced backwards, deflecting with his own training staff.

CL-CL-CLANK!! CLANG!!!

Black Canary growled and spun around with a heavy swing of her staff's length. "RAAUGH!!!"

Green Arrow deflected vertically. SMACK!!!

He skidded back across the mat, recoiled, and lunged low at her.

She backflipped.

He came at her with a flurry of twirling rod edges.

SWISH! SWISH! WOOSH!

She sidestepped, ducked, dodged, and jumped back.

Green Arrow swung too hard, contacting nothing.

Black Canary grinned. She spun at him and struck hard at his backside. "YAAH!!!"

He blocked in reverse, twirled about, and shoved her back with his boot.

She nearly tumbled. "Hey! No feet!"

"I told you there should have been stated rules for this match!" Green Arrow smirked. He glanced at me on the sidelines. "You remember that, right Mr. Noir?"

I smirked from where I leaned against the gym's wall and shuffled a deck of cards in my grasp. I winked under my shades and lifted an ace of spades.

"Well, if that be the case, then I imagine the gloves are off," Black Canary said.

"Dear, what are you getting at—"

"RAAAAAUGH!!!" Black Canary became a veritable flipping demigod of twirling metal fury as she soared at Green Arrow.

The emerald archer's eyemask bulged. He deflected chaotically. His teeth gritting. Sweat running down his face. He neared the edge of the mat more and more. A second more of Black Canary's offense and he'd be out of the ring.

I winced. I pretended to be more interested in my trusty cards than in the match itself.

"You…… seem….. to….. be….. losing…… your…. defense….. 'dear'……," Black Canary winked amidst her blazing attack.

"Merely regaining it, I assure you," Green Arrow managed. He stabbed his staff towards Black Canary's chest.

The woman gasped and hooked the staff to her side with her weapon.

But that was exactly what Green Arrow wanted. He let out a growl and hoisted his staff up, tossing Black Canary's body over his and outside of the mat.

I whistled.

"I do believe that would be a match point!" Green Arrow struck a pose with his staff over his shoulder like a bow.

Black Canary growled and got up. "Rematch!"

"Oh come now…surely one of the world's greatest martial artists can't be that desperate!"

"Surely one of the world's 'greatest martial artists' had a little too much egg to eat this morning and was disoriented in the last round when a punk bearded guy in a merry men cap took advantage of her! Rematch! I'll wipe that damn grin off your face!"

"Well, as long as you wipe something!"

I chuckled breathily.

The blonde fumed at me. "What's so funny, kid?!"

I whistled innocently.

"Hmmph!!" Black Canary folded her arms and tossed her head to the side. "What a misogynist den of thieves I've stumbled into!"

"Oh don't go pulling that card, Dinah! You were the one who wanted to hang out with us!"

"And be glad that I have!" she cackled. "Many a bad thug would be running rampant in this City if it weren't for my intervention! Not to mention Red's backside in tact!"

As if on cue, Speedy stumbled into the gym.

"Speak of the little devil!" Black Canary grinned.

"Hey there, champ!" Green Arrow waved. "It's about time you woke up!" A beat. "Wow, you look beat."

Speedy looked beat.

But it was a different kind of beat than his lackluster performance the days previous, thus the reason for Green Arrow's remark.

The redheaded archer seemed edgy. Frightful. Panicky. Nevertheless, he did look sane. Just a very anxious and difficult-to-categorize sane. He ran a shaking hand through his short mat of red hair, swallowed, and uttered:

"S-Sorry for being in bed so long….I-I---"

"Kid, relax," Black Canary rolled her eyes. "You're young yet."

"Who's asking you?" Speedy glared.

"……," the woman was silent.

Green Arrow cleared his throat. "We had no mission or special objective today, apprentice! If there was something planned, then consider the fact that your ear would have been properly chewed long before now."

"But….b-but…," Speedy stammered, "Surely we've got something to do! Some crime to stop! Something to get active with!"

"Heheheheheh! Nothing as of late! Why? Are you eager to start bashing bad guys' skulls in or something?"

"I dunno….just…w-we wouldn't be much of a group of heroes if we didn't do heroic st-stuff while the Titans were away…"

"The multiple robberies and hostage situations we've had to stop over the past week weren't enough for you?!"

"Come on!! Isn't anyone else restless?!" the shifty Speedy cackled.

Silence.

"Uh…….no," Black Canary said.

Speedy growled. "For the last time, I was not asking you—"

The lights flashed above us. A siren filled the Tower.

Green Arrow looked up, then glanced over at Speedy. Smiling.

"Well…don't that beat all? Satisfied now, ward?"

"……"

"Speedy?"

"Huh?! Wh-What?!"

"What's egging you, boy?"

"N-N-Nothing!! I'm absolutely f-fine….in fact….I…er….," Speedy fumbled. His face was flushed. Sweat rolled down his forehead. He shook and trembled, but straightened himself out in time to utter: "L-Let's go! There's a City that needs saving!"

"Speedy, is there something the matter—"

Green Arrow's inquiry was cut short as Speedy ran past me and up the stairs to the Main Room to investigate the situation for the siren.

Black Canary leaned her hands on her hips. "Well….that was certainly interesting." A beat. She looked at the emerald archer. "Are there many girls in that kid's life?"

"You mean besides you?"

"I'm asking about his life. Not yours."

"He's a complex kid, Dinah. That's why he wears a mask."

"Now that's a lazy excuse."

"Yup. Want to reschedule the rematch?"

She smirked. "I think a good crook-thrashing will put me back in the spirit of things."

"Good. Then let's get to it." They put their staffs away and made for the stairwell. Green Arrow looked my way. "Shall the resident Titan lead the way?"

I nodded. I was already pocketing my cards away and rushing to equip myself with Myrkblade….

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

It was a fire. A tall, looming blaze of frightening proportion stretching into the thin afternoon sky.

When the four of us got to the scene of the infernal apartment building in the Eastern District, the heat was positively unbearable. Firetrucks were late on arrival. Supposedly the fire had started suddenly and increased with unnatural fury.

Speedy and Green Arrow rushed to adjacent building sides and launched volleys of extinguishing and frozen arrows. Combined blasts of frost and carbon dioxide pushed back the tongues of fire.

In the meantime, Black Canary and I braved the lower levels of the complex. To our relief, the complex was largely uninhabited. It was a newly erected structure. The rooms for rent were of the luxurious type that only the rich city dwellers could afford. However, the one room—and first room—truly being occupied was an apartment on the fifth floor. And that's exactly where the flames were erupting from.

We approached the fifth floor but instead found two figures huddled together in a closet of an empty apartment on the fourth story. A young woman—a babysitter—and a girl from the living space above. Through the flames and chaos, they managed to tell us that they were the only ones they knew in the building. We hurriedly brought them down to the first floor just as the firetrucks arrived.

Two squad cars and an emergency ambulance also arrived, answering to the 9-11 phone call the babysitter had made. Later it was confirmed that the blaze took no lives. The babysitter and the little girl from the apartment were saved from the flames by our combined efforts, though. And that made the trip all worthwhile. Even as the fountaining waters of the firetrucks saved merely a smoldering skeleton of what was once the apartment building.

Eventually, the intensity subsided. The heroes regrouped. And as the last of the ashes stopped flickering, the theorizing began…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Arson," Green Arrow nodded his head. "It has to be."

"How're you so sure?" Black Canary asked. "There were no suspects found at the scene."

"That's still up in the air," the emerald archer exclaimed. "Are the little girl's parents back?"

"No."

"When they've recovered from the shock of this ordeal…I should like to question them."

"Interrogation??"

"No, Dinah. Just an interview. To see if they have any enemies."

"Will that really solve everything?"

"Perhaps not," Green Arrow stroked his beard. He looked at the emergency crews sauntering through the ashes across the street. "Speedy and I will take some of the debris back to the Tower for testing."

"To search for an arsonist's chemicals and what not?"

"Exactly."

"Well, whatever. As long as you do all the boring stuff and I get to handle whoever we beat up," Black Canary shrugged. She looked over at the ambulance. The little girl sat on the rear of the vehicle all by herself, wrapped in a blanket. She was trying her young best not to cry. The babysitter was inside the ambulance, being given oxygen for her duress in bravely rescuing the little girl to safety before we all found her. "Gimme a second, boys," Black Canary stood up and wandered over. "I'll be back shortly."

Green Arrow nodded. "And I'll go get some samples of the arson site." He walked off.

It was just me alone.

Me and Speedy alone.

I looked over at the redheaded archer.

He seemed unphased by the recent fiasco. In that he was being utterly and violently phased by another matter that took precedence in his head.

He was stroking his arms shakily. Leaning like a crooked scarecrow against the wall of a building next to our sidewalk. Sweat was quite obviously sheening his skin. And I could visibly see goosebumps on the surface as he trembled, as if freezing in spite of all the heat we recently battled.

Whether or not he saw me looking at him or not, I didn't know.

But I listened as he suddenly uttered with a shaky voice: "I….I seem to have lost something….N-Noir…."

I leaned my head to the side.

Perfectly ignorant.

As if…..

"Well….lots of things. Everything….e-everything is collapsing……and I feel so bad for once. Like….maybe it was me all this time. And not….and not…."

He swallowed a lump down his throat. Shivered. Sighed. Stammered:

"I'm making no sense. I just….I-I gotta keep things under control. Gotta be the cool apprentice of the bow and arrow that America loves, right??" He smiled bitterly at me. "Heheheheh….I just gotta be me. But things are missing from the 'me' I know I should be. That I know h-he would have me be. I….I…."

His whole body slumped in an exhale. He ran two nervous hands through his hair. "I can't do this. I can't be here. I just gotta go back to the Tower and…an-and shower. Yeah….Green Arrow won't mind. Would he?"

I said nothing.

"Right. My own choice. Talk to you later, Noir."

I watched silently through black eyes as he shot a corded arrow up to the top of a building and climbed out of sight.

A beat.

I whipped out an electronic device from a pocket in my outfit and clicked a button on it.

The device beeped and a little red light on a digital map beeped. The tracker I had secretly placed on Speedy's equipment within the last twenty four hours was working. I had my black eyes on him.

Just in case….

I put it away and glanced over at the scene.

And that's when I saw Black Canary, kneeling in front of the little girl and smiling warmly. The voluptuous vixen of martial arts goodness was gone, and I could have sworn I saw a mother in its place as words softly warbled out in a volume I could scarcely discern from where I stood….

"You're a brave little girl. You know that?"

"I did nothing…," the child muttered. Sad eyes cast aside as she hugged herself inside the blanket. "Becky, she saved me."

"But that's just it," Black Canary smiled. Her teeth showed pleasantly. "People who get saved are the bravest people of all! Who ever wants to be in danger, huh? That's some tough stuff to go through! You should be proud of yourself!"

"I feel bad…," the little girl said.

"Why's that?"

"I let our home burn down."

"Listen to me."

The girl's sad eyes looked up.

Black Canary stroked a loving hand through the little girl's hair and said in gentle firmness: "What happened today. It was not your fault. It was not your fault at all. Now you and your family are going to take a while to recover from this. But none of that is gonna matter if you blame yourself for something that you didn't do! Especially this early on! We already know that you're brave for what you've gone through. Now please be brave again and admit that it wasn't your fault! If not for yourself, then for Becky? Your parents?" Black Canary winked. "For me?"

The girl bit her lip. She stuttered: "I-It was not my fault…" And the tears welled up in her eyes.

"There now…," Black Canary hugged her gently.

The girl sobbed quietly over her shoulder.

The blonde superhero stroked a hand on the girl's back and said: "It hurts so much…when bad things are done to us when we don't deserve it. Believe me. I know what it's like. You shouldn't have to go through it. You're so young and beautiful. But the fact is, that it has. But you're a brave girl. And you'll pull through it. But not by yourself. You still have your parents to struggle through this with."

The girl wiped a tear from her face and looked in Black Canary's eyes. "Thanks, Missy. I will…I-I will be brave!"

"Don't tell me," Black Canary chuckled. "Tell them!"

The little girl looked over with wet, confused eyes.

A rich car screeched to a stop.

The doors flew open.

The parents—dressed regally for a dinner engagement—had returned impromptu. They ignored the wrecked apartment and the ashes and instead made a bee-line for their little girl.

"Rachel!!"

"Rachel!!!! There you are!!"

The girl beamed. "Mommy!! Daddy!!"

Black Canary let go.

The girl hopped out of her arms, dropped the blanket, and ran on little legs over to her parents who knelt and scooped them up in warm, embracing arms.

The three huddled together, sobbing happily for their trifold safety.

"We were so worried…."

"We came as fast as we could…"

"Mommy! Daddy! We're okay! We'll be okay! Won't we?!"

"Y-Yes Dear…"

"As long as we're together…"

"I m-missed you so much, Mommy…Daddy…"

"We love you, Rachel."

"You mean the world to us…"

Black Canary stood up and folded her arms. Smiling.

I drifted over to a stop next to her. I stared at the scene silently.

A beat.

I looked over at the blonde vixen.

She was giving me a knowing smirk. "What??" she uttered in a soft voice that betrayed the adult in her. "It's called 'happiness', if you're wondering."

I slowly nodded.

"Pfft…kids these days…so angsty and apathetic," she brushed past me with a chuckle that only the two of us could hear.

I turned and watched her leave. She didn't know the truth about me.

But I was okay with that. I think I just got a glimpse of the truth in her…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

That night and the morning after, Green Arrow brought back samples of ash and debris from the fire. He put Speedy and I on the task of analyzing the material for any chemical that could be used in a purposeful setting of a blaze.

In the meantime, he and Black Canary arranged a meeting with the adult residents of the charred apartment to discuss possible suspects in an act of arson.

The separate groups took the better part of the day to complete their tasks.

I had little knowledge of the strenuous nature of Green Arrow's and Black Canary's interview, but I certainly had my hands full at the Tower. But I wasn't one to complain. I anticipated the trouble.

Speedy was a basket case. He was right. Everything indeed was 'collapsing'. And I knew it. And I watched it. I watched him. Carefully. Being mindful that he wasn't going overboard. Still, the anxiety increased. His nervousness was terribly evident. He was constantly shaking. Losing interest in things. Sweating. Panting. Goosebumps and shivers…

It's safe to say that I single-handedly conducted the experiments on my own. I did so quietly and efficiently, using the equipment in Cyborg's laboratory. Speedy sat on a stool and leaned against the corner of the room. And soon he fell asleep. Either that or he finally blacked out. Whatever the case, I checked his health and gently laid a blanket over him and let him slumber.

He had to have been exhausted. And yet…I knew I had to keep things going they way they were. I had everything planned. And once we started chasing down this mysterious arsonist—as the experiments were starting to support—I would have everything worked out. But as long as Speedy was safe. I made certain of that.

When Green Arrow and Black Canary returned…we all had some interesting information to share…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

A blip on the screen, and a schematic of a building in the southwest district of the City appeared.

I typed away and highlighted interior parts of the building and hand signed in the air.

Black Canary and Green Arrow stood behind me in the computer chair of the Main Room.

"He says it's a tiny warehouse owned by a private distributor of paint products," she interpreted. "It's a very old brand of paint, which is why no corporation circulates it."

I nodded. I typed away. A list of information flew up on the screen.

Green Arrow's eyemask narrowed as he read a highlighted section of the screen. "'Highly flammable microtoxins make this one of the most common recalled redecoration item of modern times…'." A blink. "Well, if that doesn't wave a red flag, I don't know what does!"

"But…wh-what's flammable paint got to do with this arson?" Speedy remarked. "Kinda silly to be spreading paint around to burn down a building, isn't it?"

Green Arrow and Black Canary looked back suspiciously at the redheaded archer.

"Say…weren't you examining this stuff with Noir all day?! What are you talking about?"

Speedy blushed and stammered shakily: "I….I-I…."

I cleared my throat. I gathered the two adults' attention and pointed towards the screen as I brought up more information. I hand signed to Black Canary.

The blonde interpreted: "The warehouse and the paint distribution business is owned by……Richard Travis…."

"Well I'll be damned…," Green Arrow muttered.

I swiveled about in the chair and glanced at the man.

"'Richard Travis' is the name of the mother's ex-husband. You know…the woman of the family whose apartment burned down?"

I nodded.

"Apparently, she and Mr. Travis were not on very good terms when they divorced. That was ten years ago. Ever since then, Mr. Travis has been….a n-nuisance. Basically, the poor woman has resorted to getting restraining orders from the local judge and all that good stuff."

"The residents made a point to mention Richard Travis over and over again during the interview," Black Canary nodded and looked at me. "It's more than obvious that they suspect him above everyone else."

"Then th-that settles it!" Speedy jumped up. Anxious again. He waved jittery hands and uttered, sweating…. "We should go to that g-guy's warehouse and….ya know…..look around and stuff!"

"For what, exactly?" Black Canary griped.

"Well….him, for one thing!"

"Hmmmmm," Green Arrow stroked his beard. "Everything does seem to converge on his business…"

"Yeah…," Black Canary nodded. "With the flammable paint chemicals and all…"

"Not to mention that restraining order story!"

I suddenly wished the Titans were here now. If there's one thing you learn from working as a team, there shouldn't be any idle standing around and doing nothing. Especially when the facts are so….freakin'…..obvious!

I stood up.

All three looked at me.

I took a breath, smiled, and pointed towards the elevator.

"Go time?" Black Canary asked.

I nodded. She smiled. "Go time!"

"Allrighty!"

"Move out!"

Finally…

I kept an eye on Speedy as we departed under the cover of night.

It was almost time…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Man…this place is empty."

"Abandoned, perhaps?"

"Shhhh!! Noir…can you get a good look?"

I held a finger up. I took my shades off. With naked, black eyes…I scanned through the small warehouse's interior. The four of us had snuck in through a back window which Black Canary had expertly unlocked. Speedy and Green Arrow made quick to eliminate the security devices with their projectiles. If we weren't so positive as a group of heroes that the owner of this place was bent on burning a former spouse's apartment, then we would have been a regular pair of robbers.

"See anything worthy of us coming into this hellhole to begin with?"

I ignored Black Canary as I focused in on a desk on the far side. I walked past stacks of pant cans on metal racks and graced the desk. I looked it over. A beat. I glanced at the wall. I found a lightswitch. I pulled my shades back on, drifted over, and turned the lights on.

Everyone shaded their eyes for a half second before they glanced at the desk and collectively mumbled in wonder.

There were vials and open paint cans and buckets full of questionable liquid. But what truly sunk the dagger in was scribbles of anger and hate mail in Richard Travis' handwriting across leaves upon leaves of crumpled paper between old photographs of the mother and her child.

Black Canary sweatdropped. "Okay….so….when do we kick his ass?"

"Just wait a second….," Green Arrow muttered. He sauntered over to the desk and looked the stuff over. "Is there any evidence that he might have pursued burning down that one apartment building?"

I glanced over. I pointed at the corner of the desk.

Green Arrow smirked. He pulled a map of the Eastern District out from the piles of junk. There was quite clearly an obsessive highlighting of the apartment complex in the right sector of the schematic.

"Bingo."

"Um….I-I-I think someone is h-here…," Speedy wrung his hands in the corner.

Black Canary smirked at him. "Don't be silly, Red! It's way after hours! What kind of neurotic creep would be hanging out at his place this late at night---"

Another light switched on.

We spun about.

A man stood halfway out of a door from the front of his warehouse. A middle aged, balding man. Richard Travis.

He took one look at us and froze in place. Blinking.

Green Arrow grumbled: "The kind of neurotic creep who would burn his own relatives down…"

"Aw shit, I knew it," Travis spun around and ran towards the front.

"You there!! Freeze!" Green Arrow shouted.

I blurred towards the door.

SLAM!!!

It shut before I could reach it.

I shoved against it, gritting my teeth. I tried the knob.

It was locked.

I took a breath and kicked at the thing.

"H-H-He's getting away!!" Speedy shouted. He leapt out the window through which we entered. "We gotta get him!"

"Speedy!!" Green Arrow shouted. "Wait!! We'll search togther!!"

The redheaded archer was gone.

"He listens to you well," Black Canary mused.

Green Arrow groaned. "Not now. Come on."

The two rushed out the window. Green Arrow looked back at me and pointed towards the front of the store.

"Can you follow him?!?!"

I nodded.

I unsheathed Myrkblade.

CHIIIIING!!!

I held it up high and brought it down onto the door.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

SMASH!!!!!

Splinters and wooden bits flew.

I charged through the doorframe and into the front of the warehouse. I leapt over a counter and down aisles of metal where paint rested in endless series of cans. Moonlight reflected off the checkerboard tile beneath my blurring feet. I looked up and saw a stretch of glass doors ahead of me. One was slowly shutting on its own.

I burst through and looked all around the night-shrouded street. My black eyes darted left. A lone van coasted by. My black eyes darted right. Two or three streetlamps flickered desperately to stay alive. Other than that, nothing.

A beat.

"……"

I looked straight across the street. A frighteningly tall apartment building of old mortar and brick stretched up above me. Eleven stories. It had a rusted, old fire escape clinging to the west side. And a lone figure was desperately scurrying up the steps and platforms.

The lone figure of Richard Travis.

I didn't pursue him.

Instead, I took a deep breath and calmly switched into stealth mode.

Cloaking into invisibility.

I wasn't about to be the first vigilante to catch up with him…..

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Travis panted and panted and panted and panted…

He rounded the last fire escape and ascended onto the rooftop of the eleven story building.

He held a hand over his throbbing heart cavity and leaned on a nearby radio antenna for support.

His lungs heaved. His body sweat like a wet sponge.

He gulped, finally gathered some strength, and limped forwards for a place to find cover.

PTWING!!!

SWIIIIISH!!!

"H-Huh?!?!" Travis gasped as an arrow flew past, arched around him, and wrapped a thick cord around his figure. He struggled where he stood. Gritting his teeth and trying in vain to get free of the sudden bondage.

Speedy walked into view. He trembled, but did his best to hide it. Sweat rolled down his face as he uttered through a half snarl: "You picked the wrong week to endanger an innocent family, punk!"

"Oh, save me the speech, kid!" the man barked back at Speedy. "You would have done the same thing I did if that bitch deserted you after so many years of faking it!"

"Nothing excuses trying to burn someone alive!!" the archer retorted. "And quite frankly…I think the judge will agree with me once we turn your sorry ass in!"

"A hero who cusses!" the man mocked gasped. He then grinned. "You don't seem like you look in the papers, Mr. Speedy! Why, is something wrong?!"

"Don't start with me…," Speedy grumbled. "You're getting a life full of prison!"

"And you're getting a face full of floor! RAAUGH!!" Travis twisted his body swiftly. The cord yanked. And Speedy—his coordination lost—was pulled hard to the rooftop by his own grip.

WHUMIP!!!!

"Aagh!!" he winced. His bones ached all over. It was the worse a simple bump had felt for him in his life. His nerves were on fire. Everything was firing wrong in his synapses. He gasped for breath and looked up only to see Travis—free of his bonds—rushing over and kicking the archer hard in the side.

THWAP!!!!

Speedy's body rolled. He clumsily lost grip of his bow and arrow in the process. He stood up, wincing, and gasped when he realized he was teetering over the edge of the dark alleyway. Eleven floors of death loomed beneath him. The ground shot away as vertigo seized his perception. His body turned into an icicle and melted through his pores.

Before he could back up to safety--

WHACK!!!

He was struck hard in the back.

"NOOOOO!!!!" Speedy screamed. He fell. He….

SCHLUMP!!!!

The archer's body yanked and dangled ten and a half stories above certain death. The back scrap of his outfit caught hard on a jagged edge of the top catwalk platform. The structure acted as a hook, tearing into his clothes and dangling him helplessly far above the hard ground of the alleyway.

The young man's breath left him and his arms flailed about. But he kept them absolutely still the soonest realized that any little movement he made tore the hole in the back of his costume more and more.

Thus, Speedy was paralyzed, with nothing beneath his feet but gravity itself. He panted. Sweating. Shaking. At the end of a string.

Travis' kick had endangered Speedy more than anything else ever had before. Only…it was not Travis who kicked him. The arsonist had run away and leapt to the next buildingtop.

I stood on the catwalk above his dangling body where he could not see me. I slowly…quietly sheathed Myrkblade. I was close enough and attentive enough that—no matter when or how Speedy fell—I would be fully capable with my powers to blur down the buildingsides and effortlessly rescue him.

In essence, Speedy was in no danger at all. But that's not what I wanted him to think.

Before I cloaked myself into stealth mode, I whipped out a communicator and tossed it onto the next catwalk beneath Speedy.

CLANK!!!

The boy gasped. He eyed it through a quivering eyemask.

The red light to the communicator was on.

For all Speedy cared, it had fallen out of his pocket. Regardless, nothing stopped him from shouting at the top of his lungs for someone—whoever—to hear on the other line of the communicator:

"Help!!! This is Speedy!! I-I'm in danger!! Noir!! Green Arrow!! Black Canary!! Anyone!! Do you read me?! I need help!! I n-need help!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Richard Travis scurried down the steps of another apartment building and ran out through the front entrance. He gasped and smiled as he saw stairs leading to an underground subway across the street. He made a bee-line for it, lungs heaving as he sought solace in the one place that could help him get away from these relentless vigilantes once and for all---

SWIIIIIISH!!!

An arrow flew in and skewered the back of his shirt.

"YAAUGH!" He gasped. His body was catapulted into the side of a parked semi truck. He dangled from the vehicle, struggling.

"Scream all you like, punk."

Travis looked up. "Huh? OOF!!!"

WHUMP!!!

Black Canary sailed in with a fist deep into the man's gut. The breath left him…and soon did his consciousness as he blacked out and moaned asleep.

Black Canary dusted her hands off and leaned them on her hips with a smile. "I guess that'd almost count as a roadkill."

"Nicely done," Green Arrow clapped. He tossed her a pair of handcuffs to manacle the arsonist with. "I think we can make a delivery to the police department pretty soon."

"Think if we're a minute late they'll charge us for another thug?" she asked. "We haven't thoroughly beat this one up, yet."

"Just handcuff him, Dinah."

"Pfft. Whatever."

Green Arrow chuckled and whipped out his communicator. He flipped it open and spoke: "Noir! Speedy! You can stop your chasing! We've apprehended the suspect---"

"Someone!! Anyone!! I'm really high up and I can't get myself out of it!! I'm going to fall anytime soon!! Please help!!"

Green Arrow's face fell.

Black Canary looked his way.

"Augh!! I'm……I-I'm slipping!! Someone, please!! This is Speedy!! I'm…I-I'm hanging off the f-fire escape of the apartment building a-across from Travis' warehouse!! I can't get myself loose!! I'm going to fall!! Someone…please help! Green Arrow!! Noir!! Somebody!!"

"He's….He's in trouble…," Green Arrow gasped. A beat. He snapped out of it and worriedly exclaimed into the communicator: "Speedy!! Hang on there, my boy!! I'm coming to help you!! Just hang tight! Don't move!!"

"Should I—," Black Canary began.

"No!! Stay here with the suspect! I can handle this!" the emerald archer aimed at a high buildingtop nearby and shot a corded arrow. He ran to the surface of the structure and climbed up in a flurry.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

Speedy hyperventilated.

The scrap hooking his costume and his body to the firehouse gave way a little.

He let out a cry and spun in his dangle.

Sweating.

Cold all over.

His life flashing before his masked eyes and other things.

"I….I can't hold on…," he was whispering now. never hold on…..th-there was nothing to hang on to. I thought there was….but there wasn't…..maybe….m-maybe I should just fall…."

"Not while I'm alive!"

Speedy tilted his head up. He gulped. "G-Green Arrow?! Th-That you?!"

CLAMP!!

The emerald archer landed on the top fire escape platform. He put down his bow and arrow and flattened his body down against the surface, reaching down and grabbing the boy's shoulders.

"Keep still!! I'm going to hoist you up!"

"I-I'm gonna slip!!"

"No you're not!! Now work with me!!"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I perched—cloaked and invisible—on the ledge of a huge window in a buildingside across the way.

My black eyes narrowed through my shades as I watched the master hoist his apprentice up to safety from an inevitable fall.

I calmly took a breath, reached into my pocket, and pulled out a deck of cards.

I leaned back and—still invisible—shuffled through the cards while silently observing the two across from me…

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Nnghh!" Speedy's breath was caught as he stumbled onto his feet on the rooftop. He bent over—hands resting on his knees—and panted desperately.

Green Arrow was also out of breath. He picked up his equipment and leaned on his bow as he stared at his apprentice through his eyemask. He swallowed and said: "Was it Travis?"

"Y-Yeah…."

"How'd you let him catch you so….so…clumsily?!"

"…….."

"You've been slipping lately, Speedy. You've been slipping and speaking out of turn and losing your focus and—"

"Look, you think I don't friggin' know that?!?!" the apprentice snapped at his master.

For some reason, Green Arrow didn't rebuke him for that. As if he felt a boiling cauldron in his ward over the past few days, he silently approached Speedy with caution. He walked over and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Listen…I'm sorry you had to go through that. It's just that—"

"It's just nothing!!! Don't you see?!?!" Speedy spun and let it all out.

Just like I knew he would….

"It's nothing, Oliver!!! Maybe it was something to begin with, but it sure as Hell isn't now!!"

Green Arrow winced. "Speedy….please….my alias. Use my alias—"

"Screw your alias!! It's you I'm talking to, Oliver!" Speedy fumed. He shook all over. Trembled. Sweat. "What are we these days?! What are we these days than just names!! Names and legends?!"

"The life of vigilantism lacks its luxury," Green Arrow frowned and pointed. "I told you from day one that if you were to join me, you would have to expect that!"

"Yes, Oliver! I wanted to join you!! But it wasn't for this!!! I once thought it was this…back when you and I were the master and apprentice! The inseparable sidekicks!! The archers of justice!! You told me something else in the beginning, Oliver!! You told me that the bond of the teacher and the student was important!! That it couldn't be tainted by anything or else the act of crime fighting itself would be faulty!!"

"Speedy…," Green Arrow leaned his head to the side and remarked breathily, "Is this about Black Canary?!"

"It goes way beyond that, Oliver!! You know as much as I do—hell, maybe even more—that she's totally stolen your life, your attention, and your respect away from me on many occasions!"

"Speedy, now that's not tr—"

"It is!!! Don't' lie to me!! Don't you freakin' lie to me!! For the past four days since she's shown up again you've done nothing but hung out with her!! Haven't you!!"

Green Arrow faulted. "I…..well…"

"Haven't you?!!?!"

"Why didn't you say anything if you felt left out, Speedy?! I'm only a human being!! I can't be responsible for your feelings twenty four seven!!"

"It's not my feelings I needed you to be concerned about!!" Speedy spun around and hugged himself. He shook and bit his lip. "I……I…."

"What is it, Speedy?! If it helps at all, you have my attention now. Just tell me!!"

He spun around and I realized—from a long distance—that the red archer's eyemask was gone. They fluttered to the rooftop and in the hero's place stood a teenager with moist blue eyes and the emaciated face of a lonely junkie.

He emotionally vented to his master. "I joined you not so much because I wanted to be a crime fighter…"

"Then why did you let me take care of you, Roy--?!"

"I wanted a father, Oliver!!!" the boy shook. "When Brave Bow died…I felt like I was alone all over again! I looked up to you!! I wanted to be like you!! As long as I wasn't alone!! And those first few y-years were really happy, Oliver! I felt like I belonged to someone! L-Like I was part of a family! B-But slowly…I could see how easily distracted a person you were!! You're no father. You're just a playboy in a costume punching villains around for the fun of it! Like we all are! And you started hanging out with other superheroes and stuff and then there was Black Canary who practically stole all your attention away and…well…I felt like I was nothing but the superhero you tutored! And not the son I always thought I w-was!! And I keep trying to ignore it, Oliver!!" He clenched his skull in two shaking hands and shivered all over. "I walked into this Town and tried to see what life with the Titans would be like! But I couldn't stand a life when I was nothing more than a superhero!! That's all I am to everyone!! Including you now!!" He released his head and sniffed as tears rolled down his haggard face. "You were once a father to me! Or so I thought! But all the time, I was only fooling myself! An-And I thought you were fooling me!! And…and…I'm just so sick of it!! I'm so sick of being alone!!"

He spun about and hugged his trembling self again.

Green Arrow wandered over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Roy…all of the time, all you needed to do was tell me these things!! I would have listened!! I want to be like a father to you!! I do!! But at the same time, I wanted you to be independent! I wanted you to be strong!! And maybe I have made mistakes. But if so, then I was mistaken to think that you would have been allright with this sort of lifestyle! Tell me, Roy….d-do you no longer want to be a crime fighter??"

"I…..I don't know…," 'Roy' bit his lip and shivered a little less. The tears flowed more though. "Maybe just a break. A break from all this…craziness. We're never truly looking at each other, Oliver. I glance your way and I don't see a father. I see the Green Arrow. It's driving me crazy. I can't have friends. Only partners in battle or the ever so cold and lonesome darkness of the night! I hate it!! I have to get away…e-even if just for a little while…."

"So then…a vacation….l-like the Titans are having?" Green Arrow gave a humored grin.

Roy sniffed and hung his head. He sighed. "I-I'm sorry….there's so much I haven't told you. So m-m-much that I'm sorry for…"

"Like what, Roy?"

"Just how desperately pathetic and stupid I am…," the boy covered his naked face with his hands and shuddered. His voice was muffled as he went on, "It's not your fault. It's not your fault. I just want to wake up. I just want to wake up…"

"Hey….," Green Arrow placed his other hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's nobody's fault if we can just work this out, huh? I promised from day one that I would take care of you as my ward, and I'm not going to abandon you, Roy! Even though it may seem like my attention is elsewhere…I never stop thinking of my commitment to my sidekick!"

"You….y-you came here in an awful damn hurry, didn't you?"

Green Arrow laughed. "Ha ha ha!! I nearly had a heart attack!! What the Hell were you doing hanging up here by yourself anyways?!"

Roy swallowed and smiled a quivering smile. "Just….clumsy….I-I guess…."

"Roy…I know I've been pushing you lately. But I can see that's not what you want. If you want to live a normal life, by all means I'll let you. But you must understand…I have commitments of my own to stop crime in all of its forms. I can be for you the best that I can…but I don't know if that'll live up to your standards…"

"You're doing okay right now…," the boy sniffed. "You're calling me by my real name. I-I need that…I really do…"

"Then it's settled? We'll work on this together?"

"Y-Yes, sir…"

"You can still call me Oliver, you know."

"It feels good to call you 'sir'…," Roy sighed. "It makes me feel….like I belong."

"You've always belonged, Roy. I wish I could tell you tha—"

The Green Arrow's voice was cut off as the apprentice spun around and gave him a bear hug. Rather awkwardly, the emerald archer managed a brave smile and patted Roy's red head of hair.

"Don't get too touchy feely now, eh kid?"

The boy sobbed out a laugh and then said with his eyes closed. "I just want to start over again. Is that too much?"

"Not at all, apprentice. Not at all…"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I watched the two from across the building.

I shuffled the deck of cards one last time and deposited them away into a satchel by my belt.

I stood up, took a deep breath, and squinted my black eyes at the two through my shades.

A thought crossed my mind, making me wonder what Robin would say if he saw this. But then, I realized it didn't matter.

I hadn't even 'seen it'.

I made up my mind to that as I blurred down the building invisibly and walked off towards the rendezvous point.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

"Is the kid allright, Ollie?"

Black Canary sat, smoking, on the edge of the Tower's rooftop the next morning.

The Green Arrow stood, looking out at the sunrise over the Bay.

He took a deep breath and uttered: "There's a lot that the two of us have to hash out. Old old stuff that I thought was buried. I can't help but feel somewhat bad." He looked her way. "As if I've neglected him, you know?"

"Pfft!! If that kid's neglected, then I'm Little Orphan Annie!"

"I'm serious, Dinah," the emerald archer looked back out at the morning scene and sighed. "I have to admit. I've always been scared to be a father. A true father, that is. I never thought I could handle the responsibility of looking out for one of my offspring for so long. When I adopted the boy into my care, I treated him as I saw him on the surface. A crime fighter. A superhero. As long as we both lived in that respect, it was of little consequence to me how his true ego felt. Lord knows, I've abandoned 'Oliver' a long time ago in exchange for the bow and arrow. But…perhaps it's about time I realized that there's more to a person than what's on the surface. There's a hurt, lonely soul in each of us. And that's probably why I chose to raise him the way I have. I was lonely for someone to belong to me as much as he wanted to belong to someone."

"And what about me?" Black Canary slyly smiled.

"You just keep smoking and pray you don't die from it!"

The blonde chuckled. She said: "Heheheh….seriously, Ollie. I'm proud of you."

"What for?"

"For being so soft and round and caring under that kickass exterior of yours!" she smirked. "I find it kind of sexy, actually."

"Heh…lucky me."

"Yes, lucky you."

He looked his way.

She blew a kiss.

He smiled. He shook his head and uttered: "What am I ever going to do with you, Dinah?"

"I dunno…but I'm catching onto the way you're calling me by my first name. I can see why the kid would like it so much."

"I get the feeling though…," Green Arrow said, "…that there's more to this situation than Speedy's telling me. I feel that he is hiding something drastic that's made him so emotional. And I'm afraid to ask what…"

"Well….I'm sure the two of you can work it out," she finished her cigarette and flicked it off the edge. "What's family for?"

"Heh. Exactly. Family." Green Arrow sighed. He smiled.

Black Canary stood up. "Well…if you excuse me. I have a message to deliver."

"Oh?"

"There was a phone call today."

"To the Tower?? From who???"

"Who else?"

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I walked into the Main Room, dressed casually.

I paused in my step.

Speedy stood in front of the wide stretch of windows. Looking out onto the City.

He slowly turned to look at me. He was calm. Collected. Smooth. Smiling.

I winced. I was almost afraid that he had found some more--

"I've lost a lot this week, Noir…," he uttered. His eyemask glistened.

I leaned my head to the side, curious.

He glanced aside, his smile lingering. "At least….I once thought it was a lot. But it's really all trivial."

A beat.

He looked back out at the window and the bright morning. "It's really horrible…the things we'll do…the lengths we'll go to distract ourselves from something so pathetically simple…."

I walked up to his side. I stared out with him through my shades.

Silence.

"I'm…..going to toss this mask away…"

I looked at him with well-acted shock.

He glanced at me. "For a while…at least. I need to collect myself. I need to get things together. This whole superhero business is okay and all…but it's not comfortable for me. Not yet. And I'm tired of pretending."

I smiled and nodded gently.

He didn't suspect a thing. And yet, everything was changing for good.

"The Titans and their vacation…….heh…..I've always been envious of you guys," he said. "Except for you, Noir. You're crazy enough to come back here and fight in the streets when instead you could be cruising for chicks in California or something!"

I chuckled breathily and scratched the back of my neck with my hand. I had my habitual distractions too….

"Basically….I need time to think," Speedy lowered his head, sighed, and smiled. Relaxed. "Become a better person, ya know? Give up crappy things and walk a straight line. Then after all is said and done, maybe I'll have a good enough arsenal in my possession to reclaim my title as a legendary crime fighter, eh?"

I nodded. I patted his shoulder as if to utter: 'good luck'.

I left him alone with his thoughts.

-T-T-T-T-T-T-

I was halfway down a hallway to enter the gym when a voice spoke from the shadows.

"You took the drugs from him, didn't you?"

I jerked to a stop. Wincing.

I spun around and sighed exasperatingly at who it was.

Black Canary walked out into the dim light, her arms folded.

"That's why he was acting so jittery the last forty-eight hours. He was going through withdrawals. And because of that, he was emotional enough to let it all out with his mentor. You planned all of that, didn't you?"

I blushed. I was cornered.

Slowly…the blonde smiled. "You know the art of happiness more than I thought, kid."

I simpered.

"And don't you fret," she sighed and strung a hand through her hair casually. "I'll keep it a secret. You're keeping his drug addiction secret for some good reason. So I'm gonna trust you and do the same. It's done Speedy and Green Arrow a lot of good, huh? No harm in that!"

I nodded. I then performed a hand-sign gesture.

"How'd I know?" she responded. She smirked. "Doesn't take a super-veteran crime fighter to detect the signs of heroin addiction, ya know. The only reason Green Arrow didn't see it in his own apprentice is because he looks for the good things in everyone he works with and knows! Ask him yourself! He'll tell you I'm a good kisser."

I didn't plan on asking Green Arrow anything.

"Anyways," she playfully scratched a pair of fingers under my chin as she walked past me down the dark hallway. "Get ready for your little buddies to show up."

My black eyes widened and my lips parted.

"What, you mean you didn't know?" she winked back at me. "They called this morning! They'll all be here before sundown! Vacation time's over, cutie!"

I smiled a very happy smile.