The Blue Sparrow

Chapter 22

    Once we arrived at the manor it was dark outside. We walked towards the front doors and rang the doorbell. Alfred opened the door and greeted us.

    “Good evening Master Oliver, Miss Dinah, Master Roy, Miss Lorelei. Master Bruce has been expecting you.” He said.

    “Good evening Alfred. I hope we’re not too late.” Ollie greeted.

    “Of course not, Master Oliver. May I take your coats?” Alfred asked. We walked in and Alfred took our coats and hung them up. He led us to the ball room where the gala was taking place and it was packed full of rich snobs who only care about money and judging others who aren’t full of it. I eventually spotted Bruce and Dick as they made their way towards us.

    “Good evening Oliver, Dinah. It’s good to see you.” Bruce said. As the adults continued their conversation, Roy, Dick, and I started our own.

    “You ready to put on a show tonight, Lorelei?” Dick asked me.

    I gave him a confused look as I asked, “What do you mean?”

    “Ollie didn’t tell you?” He asked.

    “Tell me what?” I asked, utterly confused.

    “You’re singing a song tonight.” He answered. I stared at him in shock.

    “What?! Since when does Bruce have that at a gala?!” I asked, freaking out a little bit. I’ve never sung in front of this many people in my life. I would only sing around Dick, Roy, and occasionally Dinah and Ollie.

    “What’s the big deal?” Roy asked. “You’re a great singer.”

    “Maybe, but I’ve never sung in front of this many people before.” I said. Suddenly Ollie approached us. “Why didn’t you say I was singing a song tonight?”

    “I thought I did.” He said awkwardly rubbing his neck. “Look, I’m sorry kid. But I knew you wouldn’t go through with it if I told you. Besides, you have an amazing voice.”

    “That’s your opinion. Half of these people would judge me as soon as I stepped on stage.” I said looking down.

    “There opinion doesn’t matter.” Roy said, making me look up at him. “What matters is what we think. We know you’re amazing, and if these rich snobs can’t see that then they must be blind. If you’re scared, just look for me in the crowd.”

    I gave him a small smile and sighed. “Okay.” Just then Bruce approached.

    “You ready Lorelei?” He asked.

    I took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.” He led me to the area just to the side of the stage where I saw the team. “You guys are here too?!”

    “Yeah, babe. We wouldn’t miss this for the world!” Wally said earning him a punch in the arm form Artemis. “You’ll do great.”

    Everyone agreed and gave their encouraging words, which definitely helped. Suddenly Bruce introduced me and everyone clapped as I made my way up to him. He leaned in to whisper in my ear. “You’ll do great. Don’t be nervous.”

    I nodded slightly and walked towards the microphone. As the song slowly started, I recognized it immediately. ‘This Is Us’ by Jimmie Allen featuring Noah Cyrus, but Jimmie starts the song. I was about to start, but a voice cut me off. As I looked around I saw Roy with a microphone SINGING! I’ve only ever heard him sing once, but it’s still amazing; his voice was that of an angel. We sang the chorus together and I sang the next verse. As we sang we slowly approached each other; the song slowly faded away and we pressed our foreheads together. The crowd erupted in applause as we stood in the middle of the dancefloor, staring lovingly at one another. Roy slowly leaned in and I did the same until our lips touched. The crowd cheered even louder and I could hear Dick and the Team practically jumping for joy as we kissed. Once we parted, I smiled and looked up into Roy’s eyes. He was staring right back, eyes full of love.

    It was a wonderful night and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    I woke up the next morning and quickly changed into my suit before heading to the cave. When I walked in everyone was there along with Batman and Red Tornado. “What’s going on?”

    “We discovered the identity of the mole.” Red Tornado answered.

    “It was Red Arrow.” Batman said, making me stop dead in my tracks.

    “What?” I asked, completely shocked. “No, he would never—”

    “The Roy Harper you’ve known for the past four years is another Project Cadmus clone.” Red Tornado interrupted.

    “The Roy you know replaced the original Speedy four years ago, shortly after he became Green Arrow’s sidekick.” Batman explains. “The clone was programmed with a fervent drive to join the Justice League, which explains his intense anger at being denied and why he refused to join the Team. This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor, and his subconscious programming drove him to become League worthy, so he struck out on his own as Red Arrow. When he was finally admitted his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage. Fortunately, I had already deduced that Red Arrow was a clone, we were prepared, Savage was subdued, but Red Arrow escaped.”

    “He is now a fugitive.” Red Tornado continued. “Armed and dangerous.”

    “If you guys hadn’t rescued me from Cadmus…” Connor trailed off.

    “W-What happened to the real Roy?” Dick asked.

    “We don’t know.” Batman said. “He isn’t at Cadmus. We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead.”

    “The clone Roy.” I spoke up. “The Team will find him.”

    “Negative.” Batman denied. “Red Arrow’s a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us.” He took everything off the screens and turned to leave. “You kids stay out of trouble.”

    With that he left, leaving us with Red Tornado. I looked at M’Gann and nodded telling her to link us. As soon as she did I said, “League member or not he’s still one of us.”

    “Agreed.” Kaldur said. “We can search for him covertly.”

    “Did anyone else find it weird that Batman called us kids?” Dick asked.

    “Yeah, that was weird.” I responded. Something isn’t right, and my suspicions grew when Red Tornado shut down.