ballistic! ━ dick grayson

T W O

star city
july 17, 24:00 PDT

    Night fell upon Star City. Roy Harper was on a roll. He'd already halted Brick's shipment. The gang leader was now encased in high-density polyurethane foam, waiting for the police to arrive and lock him up in the nearest maximum security prison. Roy was hungry for more. This was his first-night going solo. His first night out of Oliver's nest. If the League wasn't going to give him any recognition, then fine. He didn't need them. He didn't need Oliver. He especially didn't need a spot on the Junior Justice League, the constellation prize given to the younger partners of the Justice League. They didn't get varsity so they had to be content with JV. But Roy wasn't settling for less.

He knew that he was ready, no matter what they all said. He'd handled Brick on his own and he was sure there was more in Star City to do. He leaped from rooftop to rooftop in search of something, anything. Roy had his first taste of independence and he was hungry for more. He leaped into the air and for a second he was flying, carried by the air from one rooftop to the next. He landed with ease, not even a moment of hesitation before he ran.

The next roof wasn't vacant. A figure sat on a radiator, shrouded by the darkness of the night. When he reached the roof Roy tuck-and-rolled before stopping completely. He rose from the ground and stared at Cole Lance dressed in his Finch suit, a navy biker jacket thrown over dark combat gear. A yellow finch insignia rested on his belt.

"'B-' for your landing," Cole commented, examining his fingerless gloves.

"If GA sent you tell him he's wasting his time," Roy said.

"No, he didn't," Cole said with a roll of his eyes. "Heard you fought Brick. Would've been easier with help."

"That defeats the whole purpose of 'going solo'," Roy said shortly.

"So, you're going through with it? You're leaving GA?"

Roy looked off in the distance, "He left me first."

"This is about the League thing, still? We have the Team." Cole said.

"Busy work," Roy corrected. "They want you quiet and out of the way. I'm done letting them tell me what to do."

"So, what? You're on your own now?" Cole asked.

A moment of silence passed. Then, they heard the sound of glass shattering. They turned their heads to the street below where two men handling crowbars were breaking into the jewelry store. Roy notched two arrows before Cole could react and let them both fly. Each arrow hit one of the men and released an electrical shock that incapacitated them. Roy turned back to Cole.

"Looks like it,"

mount justice
july 18, 11:16 EDT

Cole stood in the Cave in his civilian clothes; a brown and red flannel, black shirt, jeans, and boots. When he got home Cole found out that he wasn't the only one who talked with Roy last night. Dick, Kaldur, and Wally tried to talk to him but they couldn't get through to him, either. Cole didn't care too much what Roy said, he would be over it soon enough, but he came to the Cave anyway. If there was gonna be real action there was no way he was missing out. He looked up at the holo screen tracking Red Tornado's progress, he was getting closer. Beside him were Superboy, Miss Martian, and Kaldur.