It was a cold January night, the New Year had arrived, and with that came the resolutions. During the first week of the year, Rory and the others had seen a steady decline in crime sensing that the inhabitants of Gotham wanted to try and become better people. Maybe they had a family, a lover, or they just wanted to be better people. Whatever the reason was, it made it an easy week.

But like always, Gotham was filled with darkness and it always crept back to the hearts of her people.

The second week rolled around and crime started to pick back up, and with that came new schemes from Gotham's Rogues to welcome the new year. Bruce stayed true to his word, Rory was not left alone in the streets of Gotham night or day and she never involved in a fight with one of the Rogues. He wasn't careful enough once and it had cost him Jason, that wasn't a risk he was willing to take again.

Rory refused to tell Oliver that the Joker wanted her, she even made Bruce promise that he wouldn't tell at League meetings. She knew that the second he found out, Oli would fly his ass down to Gotham and hunt down the Joker before he could get to her abandoning his city in the process.

Usually, she was with Tim during the day, he had taken her to Wayne Enterprises multiple times to show her around and even stopped at a coffee shop, or four, while they walked. But when it came to patrol, she rarely left Batman and Robin's side with the exception being Nightwing and Red Hood. 

With their relationship, they all thought it was a good idea they didn't patrol together. If someone saw Grey Arrow getting a little too cozy with Red Robin, that would put a target on Tim's back and Rory refused to let that happen. Even with Bruce's house rules, Tim stayed in her room through the night. He knew his fears were getting the better of him, but Tim wanted to make sure that Rory wouldn't be taken in the middle of the night. So like usual, he stayed up the whole night working pushing the trivial thought of sleep out of his mind.

Grey Arrow was on patrol with Red Hood that night, Batman and Robin were paying the Riddler a visit and so he had him take her. Red Hood was her favorite to patrol with, the bond they shared was similar to that of a brother and sister. Hood saw her as the little sister he never had, and it made him that much more protective of her. 

The two of them were standing on one of the many gargoyles in Gotham city, watching the streets for anything that they could handle. Red Hood was given one specific rule when he was with Grey Arrow and that was to stay away from the Rogues Gallery, and that was the rule he wasn't going to break.

"You see anything Hoodlum?" she asked, tapping into the detective mode on her mask.

"Hoodlum, really? Hood wasn't good enough for you Arrow?" he asked, a chuckled in his response.

"Aw come on, you gotta at least let me have some fun here. Most I get to do is beat up thugs and robbers, let me have a laugh." she teased, her eyes scanning the upper east side of the city.

"Fine then, I get to call you Arrow-bat." he grinned, watching the southeast side from his position. 

Grey Arrow let out a groan, "That stupid name Harley came up with? No thank you." Ever since Harley had said that at the ballet, the entire city of Gotham had taken to calling her the Arrow-Bat, not Grey Arrow, and truth be told it ground her gears a little. Of course, the most stupid name was what had caught on.

Their conversation was interrupted when Batman's voice sounded through the com. "I'm sending Robin to the both of you, I need to have a talk with Gordon. He'll be more useful with you two."

Before either of them could respond, Batman cut the link, and minutes later Robin was standing there, his cape trailing in the cold breeze. "What are you two doing?"

"We, baby bat, are watching. Boss said nothing too big with Arrow-Bat so that's what I'm doing." Red Hood said, with a grin. Grey Arrow frowned and stood up from her perch and glared. 

"Call me that again, and you get a first-class ticket to the ground. I dare you." she threatened, with a small grin on her face. Red Hood crossed his arms, a grin hidden behind his hood, and jumped gargoyles until he was in front of her.

"Arrow-Bat."

Robin watched as Grey Arrow whipped around and kicked Red Hood in the stomach and sent him off the gargoyle and down towards the ground. Of course, he had his grapple gun and brought himself back up to stand on another gargoyle, a few away from Grey Arrow. "You really like to push people off of buildings don't you?"

"It is my favorite pass time you know." she leaned against the wall next to her, still watching the city.

"Are we going to do anything or just sit here and watch you two push each other off buildings?" Roin asked. Right as those words left his mouth, Grey Arrow picked up on something happening with a police scanner. 

"Dispatch, there is a robbery in progress on Bell Street. Requesting back up, over."

The three of them gave each other a glance and they all grinned. Finally, some action. Grey Arrow jumped off the gargoyle first, flying through the air as she plummeted to the floor. Pulling an arrow out, she grappled to a nearby building and swung to it holding tight. 

Red Hood and Robin were right behind her as they all rolled onto the roof. "Race you there boys!" she called and took off running across roofs to get a head start.

"Not even a warning? You're as bad as Nightwing Arrow, he doesn't like to play fair." Hood chuckled as he ran to catch up, Robin right behind him on his heels. Robin enjoyed going on patrol with Batman, but when he was with his siblings it was a whole new feeling. He was able to be freer and play around some, acting like a kid his own age.

Even though she had a head start, Red Hood and Robin caught up quickly their legs were longer and stronger than hers were. "Come on Hood, you're losing your touch." she grinned and jumped across a large alley with the biggest grin on her face.

"Am I?" he aimed his grapple gun at her and pulled her back so he could push into the lead with his laugh echoing across the rooftops. 

"Fuck you, Hood!" she cried and got up to keep running. Pulling out another arrow, she shot a line into a wall right in front of them. Neither Robin nor Red Hood saw it before it was too late and they tripped on it, the string wrapping around the both of them as she ran past their tied up figures to where the robbery was.

"Revenge is sweet!" she grinned, stopping on the rooftop across from the robbery. The GCPD wasn't there yet, and it was a minute before Red Hood and Robin joined her side.

"You boys need a minute to breathe?" she teased, adjusting the finger guard on her hand.

"That was a low blow, Arrow." Robin frowned, "How dare you tie me up with him!" 

Grey Arrow just simply rolled her eyes. "You get used to it." she grinned and watched as Robin threw smoke canisters into the store before jumping through the window, shattering it with her feet.

Glass shards flew everywhere and the robbers were thrown into a panic. "It's the fucking Bat!" one of them cried.

The smoke slowly disappeared and Grey Arrow, Red Hood, and Robin stepped out with their weapons bared. "No, we're much worse." she grinned and aimed an arrow at them. 

"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

One of them grabbed a DVD player and threw it at Red Hood's head who simply just leaned out of the way. "Looks like it's the hard way to me." 

Robin and Red Hood dove at the robbers as Grey Arrow covered the exit, making sure none of them got away before the other two could apprehend them. One of them crept out of the shadows and jumped at her.

Grey Arrow grabbed his arms and threw him over her shoulder and punched him hard enough to knock him out. Glancing at doors, she saw that there were more men than they had originally thought. Putting her arrow back, Grey Arrow dove into the fight.

She was back to back with Red Hood and Robin as they fought, Hood shooting them with rubber bullets, Robin swinging his swords, and Grey Arrow using her bow and fists to keep them at bay. One managed to get their arms around her and Robin jumped up and kicked him in the head, getting him off. 

Both of them had dropped their weapons in the hustle and weren't paying attention to which they picked up until Grey Arrow noticed that she had his swords and he had her bow. Not wanting to waste time, Grey Arrow aimed for the legs sending each man to the floor holding the cut on his thigh and Robin swung the bow, cracking them in the heads.

Once they got a chance, they tossed the weapons back to its owner and took down the last few remaining thugs. By the time the last one was out, the police showed up and the three of them grappled out of there onto a nearby building.

Once out of earshot, Grey Arrow let out a laugh. "Now, that was fun. Nice bow skills by the way Rob." 

He gave her a nod. "You weren't too bad with a sword either Arrow, who taught you?"

"Green Arrow did, he was trained by the League of Assassins and he passed his knowledge down to me and Arsenal. You two have experience with them too yeah?" she asked, stretching out her wrist.

Both Red Hood and Robin nodded, Grey Arrow smiled and let out a laugh that was quickly cut short. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of black and orange. Without another word, she quickly turned and shot an arrow behind her with such speed the Flash would be proud,

She was startled to see nothing behind her but the building across the way.

Red Hood and Robin blinked, noticing what she had done after a few moments. "Arrow, you alright?" Hood asked, stepping towards her.

Grey Arrow didn't speak, nor did she move. To the untrained eye, she seemed like a statue she was standing so still. Her eyes didn't leave the building, watching for any kind of movement. She swore she saw it, the two colors that haunted her nightmares.

The atmosphere went from playful to tense, as she stared down the building the only thing in sight were the curtains moving in the wind on the top story window. Had he followed her here? She wasn't exactly keeping a low profile, so it would be easy for him to find her especially since he knew of her identity too.

Robin stepped forward and tapped her on the shoulder, Grey Arrow turned and shot the arrow at him out of instinct. He deflected it with his katana as a look of shock spread across her face. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"What the hell happened? It's like you shut down or something, did you see something?" Red Hood asked, glancing at the building across from them. Grey Arrow shook her head and looked back at the building, she swore there was a glimmer of silver but was brought out of her thoughts when Red Hood grabbed her face and made her look at him.

The look on her face worried him, it was like looking at a stone. There wasn't a trace of emotion on her face anywhere to be seen. "Alright, we're going back to the cave." 

"Oracle, we're coming back early."

"What happened, is something wrong?"

Red Hood glanced at Grey Arrow again, she was staring at the building still as silent as the night air. "I'm not sure, you'd have to see it to believe it." 

"Alright, I'll inform Batman. Stay safe guys." 

"Always am." Hood then ended the call and he and Robin shared a glance. Whatever Grey Arrow had seen, it had shaken her to the core. "Get her bow," he ordered. "I'll get her back to the cave." Robin gave him a nod and grabbed her black bow from her hands and started back to the cave.

Grey Arrow's eyes narrowed, something wasn't right and she knew it. Feeling Red Hood grab her, one thing rang in her head. That window wasn't shut, but before she left there was another flash of orange and it was shut.

When the three of them got back to the cave, Barbara saw what Jason was talking about. Rory wasn't talking, the second she got off the bike she scooted Babs away from the bat computer and logged into her suit footage.

Rory was sure she had seen it, there was no possible way she was wrong. Forwarding through the events of the night, past pushing Jason off the gargoyle, their race to the robbery, and the fight she stopped.

Both Red Hood and Robin nodded, Grey Arrow smiled and let out a laugh that was quickly cut short. Without another word, she quickly turned  the camera panning with her suit and she shot an arrow behind her with such speed the Flash would be proud,

She was startled to see nothing behind her but the building across the way.

She went back and rewound it, watching the same scene over and over. There had to be something there, she couldn't have imagined it. It didn't matter ho many times she watched it, there was no flash of orange or black in her footage.

Letting it resume, the footage was silent other than Jason and Damian trying to get her attention. It came almost as soon as it left, the glimmer of silver she didn't imagine. It was right there plain as day, a flash so subtle that she would have missed if she wasn't looking for it. 

Watching more, she saw that the window was open still but when Jason turned her to look at him and she turned back the window was shut and this time there was a flash of orange and black that she knew too well.

The cup of water she was holding fell out of her hand and shattered when it hit the floor. While she was searching, she hadn't noticed that Dick, Steph, Cass, and Bruce had all returned. All of them tried to get her attention too, but Rory had tuned everything out. Tim had just entered the cave when he heard the glass shatter. 

Looking over he saw Rory's face and the glass at her feet. Jumping off his bike, he pulled the cowl of his head and rushed over. "Rory!" Everyone was looking at the screen, confused about what had her shaken up so badly. When Tim got to her, he grabbed her wrists and turned her to look at him.

"Rory, what's wrong?" He searched her face for anything, but it's like she wasn't there. Sure she was looking at him, but she wasn't. Rory was looking through him, trapped in her own thoughts. The orange was burned into her mind, he was there in Gotham and he was watching her.

Tim looked at the others for help, she wasn't responding to anything he was saying. Damian watched as the others tried to bring Rory out of her shocked state, there was something they hadn't tried and he wasn't afraid to do it.

"Step back, let me try something." The tone is his voice stunned the others, it was stiff but caring at the same time. Slowly the other took two steps back and Damian stood in front of Rory, her gaze didn't shift and she didn't flinch when he waved his hand in front of her eyes.

"Sorry about this Sonnet." and he punched her across the face.

Feeling the force from his fist, Rory snapped back into reality and twisted Damian's arm and kicked him to the floor, a knee pressed into his back and a hand pressing his face into the ground.

Damian hit the ground with an 'oof' and she realized what she had done. Quickly she got off of him and helped Damian to his feet "Sorry Dami." she muttered.

He shook it off and waved his hand. "It's fine, no one else could get you to react so I gave it a try." 

Rory's face was still void of emotion, but she was responsive. Tim turned her towards him, grabbing her shoulders. "What the hell happened?" 

"You remember when I told you and Jay that I didn't know who was responsible for the death of my parents?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. 

"Yeah, we said that we would help you figure it out," Jason said, leaning against the desk.

Rory swallowed and she looked around. "I lied. I know who is responsible for it, it's the same man who's responsible for the Grey Arrow," she said, her eyes locking with Tim's. He knew exactly what she was talking about, it was the night the White Arrow died.

"What the hell are you on about, princess? Are you saying Oliver killed your parents or something?" Jason asked, concern in his voice.

Tim shook his head. "No, she's not talking about Oliver. Rory, you need to tell them the full truth about the Grey Arrow." Rory looked up at him, she needed to tell them about the White Arrow.

"What does that mean?" Steph asked, looking between Tim and Rory.

"It means, I wasn't always the Grey Arrow. I was someone else before that." Rory started.

"You mean Arrowette?" Dick asked, he had worked with her years ago when Roy was still the Red Arrow and Jason was Robin as she was just starting out. Of course, he had no idea who she was until she came to the manor.

Rory shook her head. "Again, no. I was someone else between Arrowette and Grey Arrow." 

Bruce watched her, he caught onto what she was telling them. He had never gotten the full details from Oliver on what happened that night, just that Rory had gone through a lot.

"Will you stop with the cryptic answers and give something?" Damian snapped.

"I was Arrowette until I turned eighteen. It was then I had decided that I was ready for more and Oliver agreed so he helped me form a new persona to adapt. We both chose a color the represented me and what I fought for, and I became the White Arrow." she explained.

The realization hit everyone's face. The White Arrow was a hero who had pure intentions, but she fell off the face of the earth saying that she was killed in battle.

"Hold up, you were the White Arrow? But all the news coverage said that she died in a battle in Star City." Jason spoke up.

"Did it say how she died?" Rory asked. Jason shook his head, "It was always vague on how or why."

"That's because I wasn't dead. Not literally at least. That night the White Arrow died and Grey Arrow was born." she explained.

"But what does that have to do with what happened tonight?" Barbara asked.

"Because the man that killed my parents and the man that I fought that night is the same person. What I did because of him, I couldn't be White Arrow anymore." Rory said, her gaze lowering to the floor.

"And that man you saw tonight, you know who he is?" Cass clarified.

Again Rory nodded. "Yes, what do you know about Slade Wilson?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So Slade is back in Gotham and is after Rory. Our poor girl can't catch a break. Next chapter is a big one, so watch out. 

Also I accidentally published this last night, oops. It wasn't ready and my brain basically collapsed. Oops.

ANYWAY chpt 20 is done and ready to goooooo and it depends on how much groveling you do if I post it or not

Until Next Time,