Disclaimer: I own nothing besides plot and any non-canon character backgrounds. (Mainly Helena and Damian Kyle)

Star City: Pre-Series

It was a sad Sunday afternoon when the only interesting thing for a teenaged girl and a house full of cats was to watch a microwave as it popped popcorn. It drove the cats crazy, and they pawed at the glass, meowing every time one of the delicious butter coated kernels popped inside the bag. The scent was captivating, and the girl could remember, distantly, telling her mother that butter popcorn was secretly crack for cats. That had been the excited exclamation of a seven year old who had just tasted popcorn for the first time. Now the excitement was just from having something to do. For the last two weeks the house had been muted, a shadow of what it usually was when her mother was home. The girl came and went to school silently, only rousing the cats when her key clicked into the lock.

When the doorbell rang, Katherine Kyle hardly gave it any notice simply yelling, "Mom, did you forget your keys again?" There was no response, but the bell rang three times again in rapid succession. "Would you chill out? I'll be right there!" She snatched the bag out of the microwave and walked to the door, deliberately taking her time in order to further exact revenge on her mother for her long absence.

But the face that greeted her when she opened the front door to the Star City apartment was not that of her mother. The woman on the other side of the door was Red Claw. "Hello, Kitten, expecting someone else?"

Katherine backed away from the door, dropping the bag of popcorn to the ground, causing an explosion of the kernels. "What do you want?" She asked slowly, eyeing the two bulky men that stood behind the masculine woman.

"You, Kitten, but let's make a deal. I'll give you a five minute head start. That way we both win, you get five minutes to run, and I get one hell of a chase." She bent down, picking up Katherine's disposed popcorn bag. "How sweet are you, now I have a little snack. How's that sound, Kitten?" The older woman asked, grinning.

Katherine knew better than to waste time responding, and instead called her protector and his friends into action. "Phantom!" She yelled, dropping to her heels and sprinting to the glass door to the balcony of the apartment as the black cat lunged at the intruder, the rest following behind him, claws drawn.

She broke through the glass, apologizing internally to her mother for the shards that now littered the solid white carpet. She flipped up to the above floor and jerked that glass door open. "Damian!"

The dark haired five year old rushed from his crouch in the corner to her, throwing his arms around her neck. "Fuzzy?" He asked.

"They'll find us." Katherine said, soothing the child and walking back to the balcony swiftly, looking down. It took her two seconds to make the decision to jump from the third story window, and the air was nearly knocked out of her as she landed on her feet, hard. She used that energy however, to throw herself into a run, her arms wrapped tightly around the boy.

She ran as fast as she could, considering the added weight she held in her arms, but the noise of yowling cats told her that Red Claw wasn't far behind. Desperate to find a populated area to immerse herself into a crowd, Katherine headed for the pier. It was a short distance, but there was suddenly a sharp pain on her shoulder. Her balance was nearly instantly thrown off kilter by what she assumed to be a tranquilizer.

She stumbled into a wall only to bounce off and veer off the side of the boardwalk, slipping into the cold water below. Before unconsciousness could completely overtake her, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her and the child she held.

When she woke up, Katherine expected to see Red Claw's face looming over hers, but there was no one. She was in an alley way, and it was dark outside, night having fallen while she was unconscious. Her clothes were wet, but her skin had dried, a thick blanket wrapped around her. Damian was asleep, wrapped in a separate blanket tucked into her own.

"So why was Red Claw after you?" Said a male voice.

Katherine's eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness when she sat up, looking around, resting Damian on the blankets. A boy, about her age, in a red and yellow costume sitting on a metal barrel. "I don't know." Katherine mumbled.

He raised a red eyebrow, "You're a pretty terrible liar."

She winced, standing up and rolling her shoulders stiffly before hopping up to sit on top of the dumpster next to her hero. "So I've been told. So what's your name? I need to thank you."

"You can call me Speedy." He said curtly.

Katherine felt a smile tease at the corner of her mouth, "I meant your real name, not your alias." He just stared at her. She sighed, but hadn't expected for him to tell her. "Well then 'Call Me Speedy', thank you for saving us."

"Well I couldn't let you drown, and I couldn't let Red Claw kidnap you." He sighed, looking over the girl he saved. "So what's your name?" He asked awkwardly, unused to talking to a non-League member with his mask on. He usually avoided the public while he was Speedy.

She bit her lip to suppress her smile, "My name's Katherine."

Her blue eyes were fixed on him, and he found them unreasonably familiar. She was pretty, even with her dark hair sticking to her face. "Pretty name. What's his name?" He asked, looking at the sleeping child.

"That's my little brother Damian." She said, smiling wistfully at her brother.

"He looks like you." He murmured, and Katherine felt bold, leaning down towards him.

"You know, I should give you something for saving us. That's what's done, right?" She asked blithely.
He flushed, "I don't need anything."

"Of course you do!" Of all the many things she was, Katherine was not stupid. "I need to thank you for not calling the League."

"They wouldn't take anything I say seriously. I'm just a sidekick." He said, surprising her with the venom in his tone.

"Well, Red, sidekicks grow up. You'll get your own place someday, I'm sure." Katherine said brightly despite beginning to shiver from cold.

"Red?" He scoffed. "Why do you keep calling me that?"

She chortled enthusiastically, "I can't very well call you Speedy. Everyone calls you that!" She reached out and ghosted her fingers over his hair, shivering again slightly. "Plus, you've got red hair."

Roy Harper suddenly felt uncomfortable, "You're cold, he must be freezing. Why don't you two get going to someplace warm and safe."

She smiled indulgently, hopping off the dumpster to stand in front of him. "Well I guess this is goodbye then, Red. I hope we see each other again someday." She began to turn away, but couldn't deny her instincts. "Thank you." She said, catching the stunned hero in a kiss. Grinning wildly, Katherine stepped away, scooping up her brother and disappearing into the night calling, "By, Red!"

It would be another three years before they would see each other again, but it wouldn't be Speedy that Katherine encountered. It would be Red Arrow.

"No one told me
I was going to find you,

Unexpected,
what you did to my heart,

When I lost hope
you were there to remind me
this is the start"

At The Beginning By: Donna Lewis & Richard Marx

Just testing these Young Justice waters! I'm including the events revealed in Auld Acquaintances for this story shortly!

Please, if you'd like to see more, leave me a review! I want to know how much interest there is in a Red Arrow/ Katherine Kyle story. (Some of you might know this character as Helena Kyle, but I've changed her backstory.)

Review!

-Jenn