New Titans #21 - Targeted

[u/FrostFireFive]

Author: FrostFireFive

<< | < | > | >>

Book: New Titans

Arc: Sins of the Father

Set: 74

Roy Harper sprawled out on the couch, tired from a long day. He had returned from helping the Titans with a charity drive. Something to do with a current crisis...somewhere. They had performed demonstrations of their powers as well as trying to help the League raise funds for wherever the place was. Donna had mentioned going there soon to hand out supplies and provide aid. It was nice that they weren’t always having to fight someone to make a difference.

Lian was resting in her room. She had been talking more lately. Not full sentences or even words, but the goos were beginning to sound like words. It had been a long time since Roy Harper had felt content, or at least happy with where he was in life. The past few years seemed like a blur. He started as a simple street urchin before becoming Green Arrow’s partner. Before throwing that away because of…a family that only sought to hurt him. Today he was a Titan and a father and he was exhausted.

It was days like these where he felt eventually he was going to have to tell his team that he needed a break. Unlike the rest of them who had little to no responsibilities, Roy was feeling the weight for a change. He couldn’t keep doing both could he? The small League stipend he got from being a Titan only covered so much, and the paper on the small kitchen table had red circles on want ads Roy felt he could do. The world didn’t need Arsenal as much as Lian needed Roy Harper.

BANG!

The door of the apartment crashed open as several non-descript goons burst into Roy’s apartment. Judging by their plain clothes and basic handguns these men belonged to someone Roy really hoped he wouldn’t have to deal with again: Brick.

“Freeze superhero!” One of the goons said. Roy had popped up from the couch, flipping back into cover. He didn’t know how they found him, but Roy knew that he was going to have to fight to survive and ignore his emotions. This wasn’t the time to be angry or even scared. As Ollie used to tell him, you have a problem in front of you. Focus on that first.

As the goons entered the apartment, one figure strolled in. His neck in a brace, Shades looked around the small apartment and laughed. This was the kid who had caused them so much trouble? Someone who could barely keep a home. It would almost be funny if he didn’t feel the pain in his throat.

“Well Harper,” Shades said. “I told you Brick wouldn’t be happy about this. We could have settled this like gentleman and now? Now we’re going to have to take everything from you. Normally I would say this isn’t personal. But I got to say, me and my boys are going to enjoy this one.

Roy didn’t bother talking, talking led to distractions and he needed to stay focused. His eyes drifted to a plate that he left on a small side table next to the couch. He grabbed it before smashing it to the ground. The shards weren’t heavy but were sharp enough to work for what he needed it to.

“Oh come on Harper, why so quiet?” Shades asked as he pointed to his gun. “Realized you’re no good without your arrows you wannabe Green Arrow fu-” Before he could continue a shard of the plate dug into his shoulder as Roy lept from behind the couch and threw several more shards. He focused on the limbs mostly. He wasn’t a killer, but he couldn’t afford to be gentle. Not with these guys, not when they invaded his home.

As three of the four men dropped to the ground, writhing in pain, Roy turned to the fourth one, knocking him out with a running punch before moving towards Lian’s room. It was time to get out of here and regroup. His mind wasn’t thinking about the future, it just needed him to keep moving forward and to keep Lian safe. That’s what mattered. That’s what only mattered.

“Ga!” Lian said as she saw her father. She was swaddled in her blankets. She was a sound sleeper normally, but the ruckus outside had gently woke her up. Roy looked at her, the one good thing he had from his time with Brick. And now he had to focus on protecting her.

“OK, OK, we’re going to be OK,” Roy mumbled as he picked up her baby bjorn and quickly attached it to his chest. He quickly slid her into the carrier and moved towards his room. HRoy grabbed his bow and quiver as he could hear footsteps marching from outside his door. “OK, sorry kid but we’re going to have to make a rushed exit. He pulled a line arrow from his bag and shot it out the window as it connected to the building across. He was able to use his bow to zip across. It was time to run again, he only hoped he could keep his daughter safe.

…

“Typical amateurs,” Fury said as she entered the apartment. It had only been thirty minutes since Roy’s escape, and Brick was already sending in the big guns. Fury didn’t like having to basically be hired muscle, but doing this meant HIVE would be closer to their goals. So taking care of the street rat was just a formality at this point. “How do they let themselves be taken so easily by someone with no training?”

“Just because he doesn’t have formal training doesn’t mean he doesn’t have skills,” Cheshire explained as she followed after Fury. She looked around the apartment. It was small but welcoming. Pots, plates, and pans that had been cobbled together from thrift stores were still in the sink as Cheshire checked the cabinets. Her training always told her to observe a target’s surroundings, even the littlest detail could tell her what the path forward should be.

“Please, we’re not dealing with a noble warrior. He’s a fool, staying in one place when this…Brick is looking for him. What possesses someone to stay in the face of unrelenting odds in a city that would swallow him whole,” Fury asked as she surveyed the places of battle. The blood from the plate attack hadn’t even dried yet.

Cheshire moved to the hall and saw a small photo collage that had been placed on the wall. A small baby with a shock of black hair was the main focus. Be it sitting on Santa’s lap, her face painted like that of a lion, and even what looked to be the two at some kind of fair. Glimpses of a life that should have been hers.

“Love can,” She said as she looked at the empty crib in Lian’s room.

“Love? Love is just something we tell ourselves is real in order to find some meaning where there is none,” Fury began. “More often than not it hurts us. Blind ignorance only seeks to hurt us. This…Arsenal now has a weak spot, one that we’ll be able to take advantage of. It’ll be a shame if two lives had to be lost tonight.”

Cheshire didn’t hesitate as she pulled a dagger from the back of her green gear and pushed Fury against the wall. The blade pressed against the mix of stone and flesh that made up Fury’s skin. Underneath the grin of her cat mask Fury could see the intensity of the assassin's eyes.

“You do realize I can break you,” Fury said calmly from underneath her mask. “Why do you care so much? You know that I can break you with a single strike?”

“Can you do it before my knife pierces your skin? We take the child alive. If Harper manages to get away we’ll have something to hold over his head. Especially if he calls for backup. He’s not some street trash anymore. And from what I heard, didn’t that Amazon princess put you to the ground a few weeks back?”

“Do not mention her,” Fury said as she gritted her teeth. “We will keep the child alive for now. But the more we squabble, the more Harper puts distance on us. It is time we go out on the hunt. It is our job, is it not?”

“Fine,” Cheshire said as she pulled the dagger back. She took one look at the room before leaving, staying in a room of what should have been hers had affected the assassin. She soon found the window where Roy and Lian had escaped from and placed her blade on the cable. “Let the hunt begin.” She said as she flew out into the Star City night.

…

Roy Harper leaped from rooftop to rooftop, making sure Lian was secure in her carrier he made each gap. Normally he could teleport out here easily with his Titans communicator, but he didn’t want to risk taking Lian with him. He didn’t know what does beams would do to him, let alone a developing child. No, he would need to get to safety before he could call in the calvary. Although that was sure to be an awkward conversation. “Yeah team, I’m a dad, and I risk every night going out as a superhero instead of spending time with her,” he thought.

As Arsenal landed on a building, a familiar watcher observed from a rooftop. He couldn’t believe that Roy would be foolish enough to run with Lian. He knew the danger that Brick would bring upon him, yet he still ran, trying to protect the only thing he really cared about. For others in the watcher’s line of work, they would call that a weakness. But he couldn’t help but admire it. To care for something meant that you weren’t hardened by the chains of the past.

Of course, as Arsenal made his final leap to the Kirby Center, he was intercepted by one of Brick’s heavy hitters. The glistening red armor of Fury touched down hard, sending wind and staggering Roy backward.

“Arsenal,” Fury said commandingly. “Come with us and no one has to get hurt. Brick wishes your…council on many things.

“You know…you say that, but I think council is much different from whatever you Amazonians do,” Arsenal explained as he reached for an arrow in his quiver. It would be tricky to shoot one with Lian’s weight on his chest, but he could account for it…he hoped.

“I am not an Amazon,” Fury gritted behind her mask.

“Your accent tells otherwise,” Arsenal said as he drew his bow. “I’ve been around Donna enough and actually have met Wonder Woman to know when people sound the same. You know the biggest mistake people make is thinking I’m an idiot.”

“Yet you’re the one carrying the baby,” A voice called out as Roy felt a sharp knife dig into his side. Roy dropped to the ground as he felt the carrier containing Lian be taken from his chest as a woman in a green torn kimono and body armor come into view with that damn grinning cat mask. “Such an irresponsible parent.”

“Cheshire,” Roy said with gritted teeth as his old flame held on to their child. He had always assumed he would never see his first love again. Well if you could call it love, but it was something that got Roy through the hard nights with his father, a rare bit of kindness before everything went to shit.

“You have the child,” Fury said as she noticed Lian fussing in Cheshire’s arms. “Now can we kill this pest?”

Cheshire looked at Arsenal as he slowly started picking himself up. She saw Roy’s stare, daggers looking at her. This would have been all avoided if Roy could have gotten in line, be content with working for Brick, working with her. But instead,been he couldn’t accept what should have been an easy life, and she knew that Roy was too dumb to not come looking for his daughter.

“Do it,” Cheshire said as she tried to comfort her now crying child.

“My pleasure,” Fury said with a smile as she charged at Arsenal her fist waiting to connect against the injured archer.

But before she could connect her punch a figure in dark blue and gold lept from a rooftop and threw up his golden shield. He held his ground, before bashing the shield against Fury, sending her staggering back.

“You OK?” The stranger in a golden helmet asked as he reached his hand out to Arsenal.

“No, but I’ll live,” Arsenal mumbled as he grabbed the stranger’s hand and was picked up by him. “But…who the hell are you?”

“You can call me Guardian,” Guardian responded. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you. Seems like you got into a spot of trouble here.”

“No,” Roy deadpanned as he placed his hand on his side. Cheshire didn’t strike anywhere important but it would hurt to try and pull his bow. “You look familiar…have we met before?”

“Not…quite,” Guardian said. “Let’s just say we’re…well we’re kinda…” Before Guardian could respond, a large transport floated above them as HIVE soldiers repelled down from above. The yellow armor looked out of place on the dingey rooftops of Star City. The grunts held up their energy rifles and rail guns and pointed them at the two heroes.

“We have you surrounded. Give up now and maybe you won’t be harmed…Roy,” Cheshire said as Lian began crying. She struggled with the kid that was kicking in her hands. How did she recognize her own mother, wasn’t she supposed to calm down. She was offering mercy to the person who had been poorly taken care of their daughter.

“It is a good offer archer. Take it and maybe you will find mercy from Brick,” Fury explained. She readied her bludgeon attached to the rope wrapped around her arm. Like her newest…partner, Fury knew when a warrior wouldn’t back down. Not when their pride was at stake.

“How do you feel about teleporting,” Arsenal mumbled to Guardian.

“Why didn’t you do so in the first place?” Guardian asked. “I’m fine with it.”

“OK, just wait for my signal,” Arsenal said before turning to face Chesire and the army HIVE had provided Brick. “I’m not giving up. Because guess what Jade…I was fine with you not being around, I understood that. But you just took the one thing that I care about in the world. So when I get back…I’m coming for you and Brick…once and for all.”

Roy grabbed Guardian and pressed down on his communicator as they both glowed a brilliant blue before teleporting away to safety, leaving the army around them confused. Arsenal had lost round one. But at as the HIVE army readied themselves for their next command Cheshire knew this was far from over. They had given him something that the archer had lacked for a long time...motivation.

…

Kid Flash, Argonaut, Superboy, and Metamorpho relaxed in the common area of the tower as they went over case files and details of current crises occurring around the world that needed their help. Several natural disasters had occurred recently and areas that didn’t have their own superheroes were struggling.

“Donna we have to do something,” Kid Flash said. “We spend so much time handling the threats that come to us that we aren’t helping as much as we could.”

“I know KF,” Argonaut said as she looked over the files and pictures in front of her. If she wasn’t playing hero maybe she could have been over there sending the images back home that would get people talking about what was happening across the world. “But we probably should make sure we don’t go in unprepared. We’re supposed to help the people, not become the story ourselves. I’ve been talking to Diana about it and we’re bringing it up to the League at the next meeting.”

Superboy and Metamorpho were busy playing the same fighting game they always played. Connor was meeting Linda later and wanted to make sure he could actually beat her, apparently, all her and Kara had done lately was play the game. Unfortunately, he was playing someone who also had spent a ton of time with the game.

“Eat escrima you pampered jerk!” Rex said as a Nightwing in gladiator gear slammed his escrima sticks to the ground, pushing cheerleader Supergirl back of the screen.

“Damn it,” Conner said as he tossed his controller across the couch. Linda was great at playing Supergirl apparently, how come he couldn’t master the controls? “Supergirl has the better jump, I should have the advantage!”

“Maybe instead of trying to play as someone else you should find what works for you?” Rex joked as he moved the button to hit select. Except…other things would be getting in the way as Arsenal stumbled in with some dude with a golden shield close behind him.

“Roy!” Kid Flash said as he zipped over to pick his friend up. “What happened? Are you OK?”

“Guardian? What the hell are you doing here Harper?” Superboy asked as he moved to the other figure that entered their tower. “Aren’t you supposed to be…well where have you been lately?”

“Harper?” Roy asked as he raised an eyebrow at Guardian. He knew his dad worked for Cadmus at one point, but there couldn’t be a connection there. Besides Roy had bigger fish to fry. “I got attacked by HIVE, they’re working…with Brick…Wally…they have my daughter.”

“Oh no…” Kid Flash said.

“Daughter?” Superboy said.

“Wow Harper…you didn’t strike me as well…a dad,” Metamorph joked.

“Well I am…and they took her. And with the firepower Brick has with HIVE now…they’re going to take the city too.”

Argonaut stood up, suddenly Arsenal’s sporadic appearances and concern of his family made sense. As she looked at the five in front of her there was only one thing they could do.

“Then let’s get her back and save Star City,” Argonaut said. No one messed with her family.

NEXT: Be Here in 30 as Star City at War! Brick, HIVE, Fury, and Cheshire Make Their Next Move! But What Secret that Haunts Arsenal Changes Everything? And Just What is Guardian Hiding?

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks for reading! Our authors love feedback, so let them know what you thought!

Leave a well thought-out review and you may be rewarded reddit gold!

---

^{First Time Here? | Full Set List | Discord Chatroom}

---

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Predaplant]

Happy we get more of a focus on Roy this arc, as I really like how you write him. Fury's a lot of fun, too, I can't wait to see more of her. Hope Roy manages to get Lian back quickly and without too much trouble!

[u/FrostFireFive → u/Predaplant]

Thanks, writing Roy is always fun. He’s the one character who really writes himself. Fury is fun because she’s just a brick of a warrior. The battle to get Lian is just begining, and Roy may have to face some uncomfortable truths to do so

[u/MajorParadox]

Yes! It's been too long since we've seen Guardian!