Sorry about the no chapter over the weekend, moving took WAY more out of me than I thought it would.

It was brutal. Like 1/10.

Anyway, here's the chapter. I have A LOT of feelings to get out in certain scenes and I'm not sorry.

Oliver walks up to his first protége. Offering a hand again. "Roy, come back to Star City. It will be like old times. You and me training, fighting crime," Roy finally moves, his fingers curling, trying to dig trenches into the roof, his shoulders curl in a more obvious show, "just hanging out, shooting the-"

Roy stands, glaring up the small bit of distance between him and the older man, closer to him than he's been this whole time. "You're confused." his voice is seething, rough, but quiet. "Probably thinking of the other guy. The original. The one you stopped looking for." he starts to walk away. "Me, I'm just-"

"We get it." Guardian's voice snaps. "You're a clone. But you're not the only clone on this rooftop." the older ginger walks towards him. "And I know from personal experience how tough it was to come to grips with being a copy of someone else. That's why I gave up my identity as Guardian. So that I could figure out exactly who Jim Harper is supposed to be."

"That's not the only thing you gave up!" Roy growls.

"Roy, you know we both spent years looking for the original Speedy. And everyone else here did the same." he gestures to the other on the roof. "We never found him because the Light didn't keep him alive." Roy raises his eyes just enough to glare. "It was CADMUS policy to delete the source material." he lays the facts out cold before his voice finally softens. "He's dead, brother. Which is all the more reason you have to live. To honor the Roy that was."

Roy drops his gaze, eyes pinched behind the mask, and grimacing.

<>X<>X<>

The SuperCycle speeds over the forest.

"How're the ears?" Blue asks warily.

"FINE!" Conner shouts back, then realizes that that was too loud; huffs, and tries again. "Fine, but what were you thinking using sonics against an Appellaxian?"

"Dude!" Blue snipes. "Never even heard of an Apple-laxative before tonight!"

Conner sighs. "You freshmen never do the homework." he grumbles then turns towards Blue. "Haven't you read the case file on the League's first mission? Haven't you taken the guided tour of the Hall?"

"Those are rhetorical questions, right?" Blue asks.

As Conner turns forward again his eyes roll. "The Appellaxians were an alien race of energy beings that attacked Earth twelve years ago. They inhabited elemental host bodies including one made of crystal that could absorb and redirect a sonic attack!" he says the last bit over his shoulder quite pointedly.

"Ooooh." Blue mumbles, getting it. "So... what were they doing inside the Hall?"

"The original seven members of the League drove the energy beings off-world. The empty husks the aliens left behind became the League's first trophies. Ugly's device must have reactivated the husks. Combined them somehow into a creature he could control." he muses to himself before looking down at the readout screen. "Sphere's tracking the device's Apokoliptian energy readings."

Sphere trills as the screen's readout almost seems to become an arrow, pointing them in the direction they need to go.

"We're closing in."

<>X<>X<>

Arlington, Virgina; February 13th, 22:45 EST

The Apellaxian golem lands in a large clearing, letting the two humans down to the ground, remaining kneeling before them.

Low sounds that had only been slightly audible in the fight are the only thing to be heard other than the beeping of the technology in Ugly's hands.

Whisper's harshness drops away as the sound continues to resonate. "It sounds... sad."

Ugly turns to her instantly. "Don't go sentimental on me A'Daire. It's a construct of wood, stone, etcetera." he says dismissively, turning back to the device. "This gizmo pulled together the residual psychic energy of its former alien hosts. But that monster doesn't feel anything. And with this thing as my enforcer, I can expand InterGang's reach ex-po-nen-tiall-y."

"Wow, five syllables." Conner voice catches both of them off-guard, but they look up to the source instantly. "I didn't think you knew any words with more than two." he continues, dropping below the tree line.

"Hilarious." Ugly drawls. "But we'll see who's laughing when I-"

Conner cuts him off. "New Genisphere, jam all Apokoliptian signals in the area."

Sphere's highlights glow and it revs.

The device in Ugly's hands sparks, violently. He tosses it away and the device shatters on impact with the snow.

The Golem stomps a foot just in front of the two InterGang members.

"Uh-oh." Ugly mumbles.

The Golem takes a swing and knocks the two of them back with a roar.

The attention turns to Sphere and with a jump it slams a massive fist into the SuperCycle, forcing all three to ditch.

Wolf lands beside Conner and immediately runs forward.

He glances back over his shoulder, wondering where it went, and the Golem is coming down hard in the center of the clearing.

Conner takes cover behind a tree, the wind pressure nearly knocking him off his feet.

Wolf uses the dust-up of snow as a cover and charges to take another bite at the piece of tree on the Golem's arm.

Conner goes to assist but is caught by the other arm.

Wolf is thrown to the ground with a whimper and Conner is sent through a tree a moment later.

Blue's arms have formed a battering ram and he tries to hit it in the shoulder, but it only sends him flailing out of control.

He hits the ground with a grunt.

"I warned you that tactic would be ineffective."

"Por favor!" he gripes, rolling to get back up. "I'm trying to-"

The stone fist of the Golem comes down on top of him with a roar.

The roar dissipates to more somber noises as it catches sight of a structure in the distance.

The wings on the back fold up and disappear and the Golem begins to walk in that direction.

Leaving everyone unconscious in the field.

<>X<>X<>

The structure becomes terrifyingly more obvious at the sight of large circular towers that have steam rising from them, even before the Arlington Nuclear Power Plant sign can be read.

One of the guards, at the front of the premises, slams a red button in the booth that sends alarms blaring. A second guard joins him, looking harried

"What is that thing?" the first questions, as the Golem breaks through the trees, joining her in front of the draw gate, guns out.

"Something we don't want within a mile of the nuclear reactor!" she says quickly. "Open fire!"

They do and nothing happens.

From up the ridge, two shadows watch.

"Mixing an Appellaxian husk with the potential for nuclear meltdown pretty recipe for disaster, or hilarity." a growly voice that's deep but also seems modulated, speaks. "I haven't decided."

"Want me to stop the thing?" Sportsmaster's voice asks.

"No." the unknown replies quickly. "This incident taken to its ultimate extreme may prove... useful." the two guards run away as the Golem destroys the booth, slamming the shreds to the ground. "But, you could deal with the interloper meat back in the clearing."

"Happy to oblige. Partner." Sportsmaster says easily, coming down the back side of the ridge.

<>X<>X<>

Conner slams Ugly and Whisper into two neighboring trees. Whisper immediately turns her glare on her boss.

"You freed the beast, Super-brat." Ugly grouches. "Now no one's controlling the monster."

Conner ignores him, glancing around before his gaze lands on Blue and Wolf walking up behind him. "Blue, lock 'em down."

His hands shift and two large staple-like prongs fire from each hand. One for each shoulder of the InterGang members, securing each to their own tree.

Ugly grunts as he tries to get free as Conner turns his back heads to Blue.

"That tactic would be more effective if you fired through bone." the Scarab tells him.

He cringes immediately. "Ugh! No."

"Blue, let's go! Fight your inner demons later." he and Wolf climb onto the SuperCycle.

"Demon. Singular." he corrects, but follows. "One's enough. Believe me."

<>X<>X<>

The Golem slashes into the concrete, causing fires and sending the stone crumbling to the ground.

The male guard pulls his partner back as a chunk of the wall comes flying towards her.

The Golem roars but is hit in the chest by blue lasers.

The SuperCycle comes to an abrupt stop in the air.

"Deploy! We can't let it breach the reactor!" Conner jumps down and Blue takes to the skies, Wolf jumping off as well before Sphere zooms on in her own direction.

Conner hits the ground hard enough to crack the solid concrete base, and immediately leaps towards the Golem with a scream of his own. Slamming hard into the chest.

Wolf follows his lead, jumping at the other arm, further how much Conner had knocked the Golem off balance.

The Golem manages to throw Wolf off, but Blue is already using the battering ram to take out a leg and send the Golem crashing to the ground.

As the Golem tries to get up again, Sphere- now rolled up- hits the chest, sending the creature back down to the ground.

Wolf and Conner immediately rush in.

Wolf taking one arm, while Conner takes the other.

"Hold it down!" he catches movement of the forearm out of the corner of his eye and jumps for it. "Lock it down!"

"Working on it!" Blue calls, flying above them and his hands form a giant staple shooter, slamming two in place on each arm and another over the 'neck'.

Conner still has to work to hold it down. "Sphere! Pill Bug mode!" Sphere shifts and looks exactly how the mode implies she would, but also kind of like how she did when Conner first met Bear and the other New Gods. "See if you can take control of it!"

When Sphere jumps for the head, the Golem comes loose from the staple and headbutts Sphere away.

The other limbs come free easily and Conner is thrown directly into Blue Beetle. Then Wolf is also thrown off the two hit the ground with thuds.

Conner and Wolf lay next to each other, down for at least a bit.

Blue lifts his head. "I don't suppose we could just ask it to play nice." he grumbles.

"Such a tactic would betray weakness." the Scarab says as the Golem continues to go after the stabilizers.

"Wait, you mean it's possible?" Blue asks, confused.

<>X<>X<>

Roy sits back on the AC unit, slumped forward, elbows on his knees. "I'm whelmed by all this attention." he grouches, then raises his gaze, his eyes narrowing as they settle on one person in particular. "What're you even doing here, West? I thought you ditched the Hero game."

"Ditching the game doesn't mean ditching my friends." Wally says quickly. "And before you round back to the ＂original Roy＂ again let's face the facts. He was never our friend."

Roy's eyes narrow.

"We've all done the math." Dick speaks up, arms crossed. "Speedy was abducted before any of us met."

"You're the guy we trained beside. Fought beside. You're the only "you" we know."

Roy's gaze slowly raises again, face finally starting to open.

"You're our friend." Dick states plainly. "Just 'cause you're a clone with anger management issues doesn't change that."

"Seriously, have you met Superboy?" Wally says with a smirk.

Roy's gaze drops again, but his expression hardens again too. "All done?" he asks lowly, standing back up. "You want to salvage someone's soul? Go get Kaldur to see the light. From what I hear, he needs course-correcting. But leave me out!" he walks close enough to both Jim and Wally and Dick that they need to move to not get shoulder checked or have their feet stepped on as Roy crosses the entire roof. "Write me off. Or don't. Either way. Blow."

Then he jumps over the edge of the building to the alley below. Dick and Wally can only stare, wide-eyed. Jim closes his eyes in resignation and Oliver and Dinah share worried looks.

<>X<>X<>

The Golem continues to attack the reactor.

Blue comes up behind the Golem, hand once again turned into a Sonic Cannon.

Conner, seeing it runs towards him and tries to give the second warning. "Stop Blue! Sonics don't work!"

"Not as an attack. But maybe as a-" Blue tries to explain.

"Frequency adjusted. Proceed." Scarab cuts him off.

The blue waves hit the back of the Golem and red waves start coming back down.

Blue screams as they hit.

"Blue! Break off!" Conner shouts, running towards the newer member again. "Whatever you're doing, break off before it kills you!" he grabs the cannon, ready to force it if needed.

"No! It's not attacking. It's communicating." Blue tries to explain, getting back to his feet as Conner blinks, stunned. "Communicating its pain." Conner looks towards the Golem. "Listen."

That has Conner's attention snapping back and the fear written all over his face.

Blue turns to him, the eyes of the suit glowing fully yellow, and his inflection and accent are completely gone. "Where is the stillness of wood? Of stone? Of crystal? Of metal?" Golem, hearing the thoughts aloud turns towards the source. "All this noise. All this life. Is pain. We sense the power in this place." Both Blue and the Golem point to one of the large reactor cores. "Power enough to destroy us. To end the pain. To be still. Again."

"I can relate." Conner murmurs, but turns back to the Golem as Blue's eyes turn to him. "I mean... We can help you. We will help you." (Right, yeah, UHM YJ!?! That NEEDS talking about!)

"Sorry, Meat." the modulated voice of 'Partner' says. "But we can't have that."

Very familiar shape, though still mostly covered in shadow, glints before firing.

As the Sonic Waves come over Conner's head he screams, covering his ears, Wolf doing the same.

The massive waves hit where Blue is already firing, and it knocks the Golem back, Blue screams out as well.

The Golem begins to crack apart, high-pitched whines the only noise to come as the creature comes apart at the seams. When the symbol in the middle of the chest starts to crack golden-orange light explodes out.

Blue falls back, nearly unconscious and Conner catches him before he can fully hit the ground.

As he looks to the Golem, there are only small pieces of the elements that made up the Golem's body, and golden-orange lights that fall and fade from view in the fire.

The Partner leaves the vantage point and walks away.

Conner looks around and the area is empty.

The two guards run up behind his back and stare at the carnage.

"Don't know who you guys are, but you took that thing down! Probably saved the whole East Coast." the male guard says brightly.

Blue eyes begin to crack open, finding the orange lights. "It was alive." Conner turns at the sound of his voice. "And now it's gone." he reaches out to catch one of the lights and it dims into nothing just above his palm. "Who attacked? Who killed it?" he begs.

"Someone ugly." Conner snarls, eyes back on the forest.

<>X<>X<>

"I'm telling you, they're long-" Conner stops short just over the hill when he realizes they aren't, "gone."

But there is something distinctly wrong about them, drooling, eyes unfocused.

Conner heads to them while Blue's armor shifts again.

"They're alive." he reports. "Breathing. Steady heartbeats. But non-responsive."

Conner snaps in front of Ugly's face and nothing happens.

His eyes widen before his face hardens.

<>X<>X<>

"As requested, Ugly and Whisper are now a living warning to anyone else straying from the path of the Light." Sportsmaster says, walking up to the shadowy figure of the Light's Partner. "But why blow up Gruesome? Seems like a wasted resource." the two stand on a ridge so far back that they can only make out some of the light from the fire at the Power Plant.

"A resource falling into enemy hands is a resource best disposed of." the voice returns.

"Partner. I like the way you think."

<>X<>X<>

Palo Alto, California; February 14th, 00:03 PST

Wally walks in the upstairs door of the duplex home. Coming in and taking off his jacket, walking past the couch with a dog sleeping on it, to the kitchen table where he slouches in it.

"How'd it go?" Artemis asks

"It didn't. We talked. He wouldn't hear us." he goes from working out the crick in his neck to scrubbing his hands down his face as he groans. "And on top of that, my Vietnamese lit. paper is still due at eight am." Artemis, dressed in sleepwear, runs a hand along his shoulder and he turns to her. "I don't suppose I could copy off yours?"

Artemis chuckles, leaning down to fully wrap her arms around him, then kisses him on the cheek. "Not a chance."

"Hey, it's after midnight." Wally murmurs. "Happy Valentine's Day, Artemis."

"You remembered." she says with a smile.

"Come on, what kind of jerk would I be if I forgot Valentine's Day?" he questions with cockiness in his voice that immediately falls away. "For the fifth year in a row."

"Well, I remembered too." Artemis muses, heading to the fridge. "I got you your favorite food." she pulls it open. "Everything."

"Babe. You rock." Wally says, eyes wide and getting up out of the chair.

The two of them hug, but it only lasts a moment.

"You're still worried about Roy." it's not a question.

"He's lost, babe. Alone. The guy just won't let anyone in."

<>X<>X<>

Sirens blip, as a cop car drives down the street, disturbing a cat, but Roy- heading in through the fire escape pays neither any mind.

The apartment is run down, but the same safehouse Kaldur found him at five years ago, though still as derelict as it was then, despite Roy currently residing there.

He takes his domino off, glaring at it with eyes that have bags that look almost like bruises. He tosses it away, dropping his bow on the couch before taking a seat beside it and sighing.

"Someone looks worse for wear." Roy jolts at the sound, bow in hand and rolling off the couch with an arrow nocked before the voice is even done speaking.

It's no surprise who steps out of the shadows.

"Cheshire." Roy says, voice still harsh but face conveying his confusion at her presence.

She takes the mask off. "Chill, Red. I'm not here to fight. I'm here to make you clean up your act."

Roy loses the tension in the bow and slumps forward, sighing. "Not you too." he stands up, arrow still strung, but both held in his left hand. "Well, forget it, Jade. You lost the right to backseat drive when you left me to return to a life of crime." he goes back to the couch, voice angry but expression hurt as he distinctly does not look at her and sets his bow and arrow back down.

"That's not why I left. It was just a... side benefit." she muses with a smirk. "Besides, I'm still your wife. Legally. Grants me certain privileges to knock sense into you." she leaves the small kitchen and walks towards him. "Roy. I left because your obsession with finding Speedy was all-consuming. There wasn't room in your life for anything else, or anyone." she stops in front of him and kneels down. "Not me, and not our daughter." she turns to reveal the reason her right hand hasn't moved is that there is a small infant in the pack on her back.

Lighter complexion than Jade, but dark red hair that's already growing in strong, but she's asleep so not much else can be seen to link her one way or the other.

(Glaring at this Jade vs S4 Jade... I want to hear NONE of your shit Jade, NONE! Eat my left shoe! You are SO full of crap, and also fuck you for pointing out that you're still legally married even though you clearly haven't been here, for- what?- at least a year if not 18+ months? You are that specific kind of person I just HATE with a passion.

Also, whoever came up with prospect that a baby somehow FIXES something, anything- gods forbid everything- in a relationship should be taken out back and SHOT! WHAT THE FUCK!?!? [I say this as the child of someone who was one of those kids, knowing full well that I would not exist if that logic didn't, and that fact weighs HEAVY on my dad, always has and so I think I'm pretty sure I know what I'm talking about.] Do people not see how that "logic" is SO fucked up?!? Like seriously!?!)

"We..." Roy can barely process it, finally managing to sit up straight. "We have a daughter?"

Jade takes her off her back. "Lian Nguyen-Harper. She needs her father, Roy. You have to get your head on straight, for her." she hands her over to Roy, who is already moving, purely by instinct, and once she's in his arms do the terror and shock hit. "And that means you need to exorcise Speedy's ghost, once and for all." Jade stands back up. "So... while I was away, I called in every chip I had. I got us a lead, Red. One last chance to find the original Roy Harper."

Slowly Roy's eyes lift from Lian to Jade.