Spoiler warning

39.

In Mount Justice

"We have reason to feel proud of yesterday's victories but one thing has not changed" Aqualad tells us as we walked through the hallway. "Somehow the bad guys are still getting inside intel about us" Robin said as I walked beside us. "That means that a mole still exists" I said to them, my voice was dead serious. "Yeah, but at least we know that none of us are the mole" Wally said in excitement. "Yes, which means that the pool of mole suspects just got a whole lot bigger" I said to him as I shook my head. "That's correct" Batman said as he and Red Tornado came into our view. "The mole was Red Arrow" he said as he turned and stared at a Holoscreen as an image came up on the screen. "Roy?" Robin asked as Wally gasped in surprise. "No way!" The speedster yelled. "Batman, that cannot be, he was Green Arrow's protégé. We have all known him for years" Aqualad said as I nodded, I was trying to hold back my tears. "Unfortunately, the Roy Harper we have known for the last 3 years is another Project Cadmus clone" Red Tornado stated.

"We've learned that the real Speedy was abducted and replaced immediately after becoming Green Arrow's sidekick" he revealed. "You're lying, please tell me that you're wrong" I cried out as Robin placed his hand on my shoulder. Batman looked at my display of emotion with cold eyes. "The clone was preprogrammed with a drive to join the Justice League" he said as I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Which is why he was so angry over any delays to his admission and why he refused to join the team" he said as I thought about his bitch fit at the Hall of Justice. "This Roy Harper had no idea he was a clone or a traitor" Batman said as I cried. "And his subconscious programming drove him to become League worthy so he struck out on his own as Red Arrow" he stated as I nodded. "When he was finally admitted his secondary programming kicked in and he attempted to betray the League to Vandal Savage" he said as I looked away. I felt betrayed by him. "Fortunately, I had already deducted that Red Arrow was a clone. We were prepared" he said as Red Tornado started talking shortly.

"Savage was subdued but Red Arrow escaped. He is now a fugitive, armed and dangerous" Red Tornado informed us. "If you guys hadn't rescued me from Cadmus" Superboy said as he rubbed the back of his neck, I could tell he was nervous. "What happened to the real Roy?" Dick asked as I listened. I was also curious. "We don't know, he wasn't at Cadmus" Batman tells us as I look away. "We have to face the possibility that the real Roy Harper is dead" I said as I looked down to the floor. Robin looked defeated at the ground as Zatanna placed her hand on his shoulder. I could tell that Artemis wanted to the same for Wally but she decided against it before her hand even touched him. "The clone Roy, the team will find him" Aqualad said as I nodded. I needed to find the man I had grown to love over the past year. "Negative. Red Arrow's a member of the Justice League now. Leave him to us." He said as I looked away from my father in anger. "I'm needed on the watchtower" Batman said as he hit a button and the Holoscreen quickly disappeared.

"Tornado, stay with the kids" Batman said as he turned to face the android before leaving. "Clone or no clone, Red Arrow was one of us. We will go after him" Kaldur said telepathically as he turned around to face us. I watched as Red Tornado walked up behind him. I watched as Red Tornado shorted out and stopped moving. "Tornado" M'gann said worriedly. "What happened to him?" Conner asked. "He's totally powered down" Wally said as he looked at the robot. "All functions offline" Robin said as he inspected the inner workings of the android. "Guys, I'm sensing a low level mystic force at play" Zatanna said as she placed her hands on the sides of her head. "I-I don't know if it caused his shutdown but now that I think about it I was getting the same buzz off Batman" she said as she looked confidently at me. "He did seem a little off" I said as I looked over at Dick. "Batman. He called us kids, he never does that" Dick said as I nodded. "You're right" I said as I was drawn over to Wally as he pointed at Tornado's hand. He was holding something.

"Look" he said as I walked over and plucked it out of his hand. "One of those biotech chips we confiscated off Cheshire" he said as he grabbed it from me and held up the object. "Something is not right. Robin, Kid, Zatanna, Rocket see if you can get Tornado back online" Aqualad said as he stared intently at the object. "The rest of you with me to find Ro...Red Arrow" Aqualad said as he corrected himself. We turned and followed him, I was still not convinced that Roy was the problem here. "Are you okay? You did just find out that your boyfriend betrayed you" Artemis asked me as we ran to the BioShip and got on before taking off. "I'm as fine as I'll ever be" I said as I turned away and looked out the window. "Computer logs indicate that Red Arrow's headed to the Hall from the Watchtower, be he could be anywhere by now" Artemis said as we flew quickly to Washington DC. "After Roy went solo he installed little man caves in several major cities, one is here" I told them as I looked away. We were above an old abandoned apartment building.