Pandora~ A Young Justice Fanfiction

Salvage

Anastasia's POV

I step out of the shadows by Wally's side trying to keep the sorrow off my face as I watch one my friends do this to himself. It's really hard seeing him like this, and I'm starting to worry that I should've done more.

"I have nothing to say to any of you; nothing to say, nothing to explain, nothing to justify-" he turns to leave, but Green Arrow reaches forward snatching the wad of cash he smuggled, and my hopes for this going well sink more. "Nothing?" The older man asks carefully clearly irritated, but also sounding worn and tired.

"It's not what it looks like..." He starts softly like he's remembering who he used to be with us now that we're all in front of him watching him do these terrible things, but it's gone just as quickly as it appeared. "That store owner won't miss it, he offered me a reward anyway. Besides I deserve it! The guy wouldn't have any of his money back if I hadn't have stepped in."

"Dude are you even listening to yourself?" Wally barks, and I silently set my hand on the small of his back holding him back while calming him down. "I need it!" He heaves breathlessly taking the money back. "To find Speedy, the real Roy Harper. A search like that is expensive, especially when the rest of you have given up."

"Roy I know you feel lost, but that doesn't mean you're alone." Dinah tries to reason stepping forward, and even through his domino mask I can feel his eyes attacking each of us. "I'm not the one that's lost." He seethes stare landing on me, and I curl into myself as he turns to leave. Wally instantly wraps a comforting arm around me holding.

"When was the last time you trained, last time you slept?" Dinah continues, and I know she's hoping to push him over the edge so he opens up but that's not how I see this going. "I'm in the best shape of my life." He growls out muscles clenching as his annoyance and anger grow.

"Oh really?" Before any of us can do anything Dinah lunges for him, and her first kick he just manages to avoid but the rest are him fumbling from foot until he nearly falls off the roof. Thankfully Dinah stops and reaches out and grabs him.

"Really best shape of your life that was me holding back." She scolds releasing her grip so he fumbles forward, and I step forward offering my hand. Even though at first he doesn't take it, in fact he tries to ignore me, I don't move until he finally sets his in mine and allows me to pull him up.

"You want to punch me too?" He asks sharply pulling his hand away, and I give him a firm but gentle glare hoping to silently say I'm not going to tolerate that. "I usually only fight people that stand an actual chance." He kind of chuckles almost like he used to, but he stops just as quickly looking out across the city instead of at me.

But for that fraction of a second I relax knowing that the old Roy is still somewhere in there. The Roy I started to see as a big brother is still in there and it's honestly calming.

"Roy I don't know what happened, you used to treat your body like a temple-"

"My body's not a temple it's a cheap knock off, a clone." He scowls cutting Dinah off, and the both of us look to the guys behind us for help. Ollie strides over to us his worry reflecting our own, and he tries to set a hand on Roy's shoulder but he pulls away sharply.

"Come back to Star City. It'll be like old times, just you and me training, fighting crime. Just hanging out and shooting." The older man tries to reason even as his protege pushes him aside. I feel for the guy, Roy is like his pseudo son, and here we are the red head refusing to even look at us.

"You're confused, probably thinking of the other guy, the original. The one you stopped looking for. Me? I'm just-"

"We get it you're a clone, but you're not the only clone on this rooftop, 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 I could figure out who Jim Harper is supposed to be." I give the taller clone a reassuring smile even though I hardly know him, but I'm sure opening up like that isn't easy. Especially in front of people you don't really know well.