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Roy Harper was in a mood to feel sorry for himself. It was 7:00 pm on a Friday night, and he was alone in the house with his thoughts. Oh, he'd *had* a date, it had gone south in the one way he couldn't protest.
The monitor screen had been quiet. The other Titans were all off on other business -- personal or heroic. The sun was setting beautifully on the Hudson, and the pretty lady was in his arms. Now, though, he sprawled across the sofa in the media room, costume half off, and half-watched "I Know What You Did Last Summer" on DVD. ~Thank GOD Dick's not here -- it's never any fun to watch a slasher flick with him. He solves it in the first five minutes!~
He'd been *this close* to gettin' jiggy wit' Donna Troy. *This* close! So naturally, Raven, with her inimitable sense of timing, had showed up out of nowhere just as his fingers had found their way to the bra clasps. ~What the hell?~ he'd thought and regretted it immediately as Raven explained that she'd been ferrying heroes to Heaven, only to be shunted violently back to earth because of her own half-demon heritage.
~It just *had* to be the fate of the world,~ Roy thought wryly, and stepped back to allow Donna to go. No way he could go with her. The Titans had recently been to Hell (well, a suburb anyway, called Dis) and Arsenal had almost been stuck there forever. With that kind of smear on his already besmirched soul, he knew damned well -- pun intended -- that he was going to be of no use to Troia on this one. So she went to heaven alone, with Raven.
As if that hadn't been enough, he'd had to take static from his daughter's babysitter, Chanda. "Wow, I thought they didn't call you Speedy anymore." Ha-freakin'-ha. Well, his plans were aced for the night, so no need for the babysitter. Chanda and he were sort of on edge around each other now, since she'd discovered that Liam's mother was
the terrorist known as Cheshire.
Okay, Chanda had had a *right* to be angry and upset, considering she was Quraci, and Liam's dear, dear mother had *nuked* the place right out of existence. But Roy hadn't particularly enjoyed having to explain exactly how he'd come to have the colossally bad judgement to fall in love with Jade. He especially hadn't enjoyed Chanda's observation that he wasn't "as together as he looked." ~Like I need my nose rubbed in it.~
He was brooding and he knew it.
"DAAAAAADDDEEEEEEE!"
~Liam!~
He was on his feet like a rocket. Chanda's jibe about his old sidekick moniker "Speedy" came briefly back to him, but it vanished from his thoughts. Concern for his daughter crowded out everything but the need to *get* to her and to *protect* her. Even without his entire costume on, he was still Arsenal. He was still dangerous, still deadly, and heaven help whatever had made his little girl scream. His mind had already gone through lesser possibilities -- there was no crash or thump, so she hadn't fallen. She'd been peaceful and quiet up to the scream, so whatever it was had genuinely frightened her. His little girl had faced down Vandal Savage...so if she was calling him, it was serious.
"It" turned out to be a creature the approximate size and shape of the Hugga Tugga Thugee dolls that Logan had sent her from California. Roy had instructed Chanda not to let his little girl watch that 'brain rot,' though -- and he was glad of it when he heard later that the kids who *had* had tried to kill their parents and guardians.
Analysis mode on, then: Liam was nowhere to be seen, but when Roy called out her name, she yelled back. Under the bed, then. That jibed with the batwinged creature's actions. It was on its belly, reaching skinny, gnarled arms under the bed. It hissed and snapped its frustration, but its wings wouldn't fold flat enough to let it slither beneath the box spring toward its prey.
"HEY!" Roy yelled again, and was successful in getting the demon's attention. Dimly, he recalled Raven's plea had included some explanation about Hell on earth. He'd been too annoyed and too busy trying to quell a distinctly obvious physical reaction to his situation with Donna to have paid full attention. He was just glad that his hindmind had picked up on it -- the creature threatening his baby had to be some manner of lesser demon.
Three shuriken flew from his hands, then he was sliding on his butt like a base runner, feet in front of him. The metal stars pinned the demon into the wall with a wet SCHLUCKT sound. His feet did the rest, boots crushing in its skull as he slammed his full weight into it. The room was filled with a profound stench -- sulfur, blood and offal. But a quick glance around the room indicated that the Hugga Tugga Thugee was the only one of its kind in the room. "Daddy's here, Liam. Come out, honey."
She swarmed into his arms so quickly, Roy wondered with faint, brief amusement, whether Wally or Jesse had been teaching her to tap the Speed Force. "It's okay, baby," he whispered, stroking her black hair and rocking her to calm her sobs. "You're safe now. I got you. Everything's okay now."
"What *was* that thing, Daddy?" Liam asked. She had dried her tears, and was inquisitive now; secure in the knowledge that Daddy would NEVER let Anything Bad happen to her. Even though bad guys occasionally came to bother her, Daddy and his friends *always* came to rescue her. For her, it was normal.
"I don't know, sweetie," Roy answered. "But what say you and me check the security system and make sure it didn't have any friends."
Liam nodded emphatically and took her daddy's hand.
Roy winced, noticing that his boots were leaving sticky rubber footprints on the floor -- apparently the demon blood had melted the soles. It'd be hell to clean up. Haha. But his first priority was to his daughter. And then, once making sure she was safe -- to the Titans.
He took a moment to call Chanda as well, to warn her to lock herself into her house, and if she knew any prayers to say 'em. He didn't know for sure if they'd help against demons trying to break into her home, but he was sure they wouldn't hurt. He confirmed the status of the Tower's security systems and upgraded to the highest level of security. For once, he was grateful that Nightwing's tendencies were toward paranoia.
Dick, it turned out, knew. But he was recouperating from injuries sustained on a mission for Batman in the ruins of Gotham City. He informed Dick that Donna was en route to Heaven to help, and promised to roust the other Titans and get them out where they could be of help.
Victor had been unamused himself. Roy thinned his lips into an expression of wry sympathy -- apparently Vic was trying to winnow his way back into the arms of his lady love Sarah. ~Sorry, bro -- but nobody gets any tonight.~
Kory and Argent, it turned out, were already in the thick of things. Kory had answered briefly that she was en route to low earth orbit to retrieve the Spear of Destiny. Roy had seen on the national news what had happened to Argent. Her eyes had been turned to squirming maggots, with Wildcat beside her. Heroes or not, what kind of mind could handle *that*?
Damage was doing -- well, damage control in the city. Jesse had answered in superspeedspeak. Roy had no idea what she was saying, but assumed that she was doing her part as well.
He'd been unable to reach Tempest -- presumably Garth was in or near Atlantis. Roy couldn't blame Garth for sitting this one out -- he had a baby on the way. Some things had to come before saving the world. Dick could rage at him later, but there was *no* way, no way on earth that he was going to leave Liam alone tonight.
Outside, all hell was breaking loose. He watched the news with one eye, and breathed a grateful sigh of relief when Xanadu and the Sentinels of Magic had restored Argent, Wildcat, Superman, and the other heroes who fell under the Demonic Spectre's magic.
In his arms, though, Liam had finally curled up into a precious little ball and fallen asleep with her head over his heart. Tonight, Roy reflected, he was going to have to indulge her. His life might have been chapter and verse of "Roy Harper's stupidest mistakes" but Liam was the one thing he'd done *right*, and he was going to do right by her. Tonight she would spend this insane night with her Daddy beside her. If she woke up crying from a nightmare, Roy wanted to be so close that he could be comforting her before she even finished calling his name.
There were superheroes out there doing their best and getting taken DOWN for it. There was *no* way, no way in *hell*, that Roy could risk going out there and falling. Who would care for his little girl? The Titans might fight to keep custody of her, but that could be costly and painful beyond their capacity to deal with. Most of them had secret identities and lives to protect. Jade, as Liam's blood mother, stood the best chance to get her child back, though. But would they do that? Would they put an innocent little girl into the hands of an international terrorist just because of blood?
Unthinkable.
No, Arsenal was off duty tonight. ~It may be a mistake. It won't be my first, and it more'n likely won't be my last. But Liam wasn't a mistake, and neither is protecting her. My little girl means more to me than the world, and the world -- just this once -- is gonna have to wait.~
*****
Donna Troy came in just before midnight, after identifying herself to Titans Tower security. She and Raven had had a long talk about why she hadn't been able to enter Heaven either. Then she had gone and helped out with the rescue efforts in New York. She had found it comforting that what Wally had called "the purity of her heart" had been anathaema to demonkind. Her punches and kicks had sent them screaming back for the fissure, or seeking easier prey elsewhere. She hadn't been able to get into Hell either -- but apparently Hell's denizens didn't handle her touch well.
She found Roy asleep in the recliner, remote hanging from limp fingers. Liam was curled up asleep on his lap, smiling contentedly. ~I owe him a raincheck,~ she reminded herself. ~But it's been a long night.~ She noticed his boots were melted and crusted in muck. ~For all of us, it'd seem.~ She bent and kissed him on the cheek. "Sleep well, Daddy."
Then, taking off her silver boots, Troia tiptoed up for a shower, leaving Arsenal and his daughter snoozing peacefully beneath a quilt.
Ringed around the chair in which father and daughter snuggled, though, Arsenal had placed his own take on a circle of protection. Every weapon on his costume -- crossbows, arrows, knives, daggers, and garrottes were all in arm's reach. And every thing in the rec room that could possibly have been used as a weapon was neatly lined up on either side of his chair.
--fin