He really didn't need them. Red Arrow thought this as Sportsmaster escaped once again. Sure, the fight had been a struggle and he was left alone once again but that didn't mean he had to call in the Junior Justice League.

Roy was still reminding himself of this when he got home. He felt stupid and angry for dwelling on it so long. Still, it seemed like only yesterday that Kid Flash and Robin were over at his apartment. They had acted liked best friends. The two of them really were…Roy was just there for the moment.

His place was messier than back then. It was really only a few months ago but somehow the general filth of the place had doubled. Roy cringed when he heard a crunch under his foot.

"Fuck!" he cursed loudly, kicking the broken needle out of the way. Thank goodness he hadn't taken his shoes off yet.

Roy headed into his bedroom to get a coat before leaving to meet a guy in the nearby park. He didn't need them, he thought again. He had new friends now.

-x-

"Things are almost boring around here without your constant drama," Artemis teased Wally.

"You're just jealous!" He stuck his tongue out immaturely, "I'd like to see you get a boyfriend half as hot as Supey."

She couldn't really say anything to that. She wondered how Superboy…Connor now- a name he decided on for himself as a sign of, as Artemis like to put it, not giving a shit about what others think- felt about half of their team finding him attractive.

The two boys had been dating for only a few months but before that, there was so much drama. It was ridiculous. Now everything was calm and they could actually focus on real problems. Like whatever it was that Lex Luthor was up to.

Wally jumped up and raced to the main entrance of Mount Justice. He was there before the recording could finish announcing the arrival of Superboy. The teen had spent the day with Superman who, thanks to Batman, had become a part of his life.

"Hey," Connor kissed him hello.

Behind them, Superman cleared his throat. He was okay with them dating but that didn't mean he was comfortable with standing awkwardly while they kissed. Wally blushed but Superboy just kissed him again.

"Connor!" the younger boy shoved him away jokingly, "Not in front of your dad!"

-x-

Kaldur tried calling Roy once again. They had been getting along more and more since that one day Roy got in over his head and asked for help. Then suddenly, it was as though Red Arrow fell off the face of the earth. Now he was being taunted by Sportsmaster and Cheshire in cryptic comments about Roy's whereabouts.

"Pick up, Roy." He muttered.

M'gann floated into the room, "What's going on Kaldur?"

Aqualad ended the call and turned his attention to her. He would worry about Roy later. Maybe he had decided not to be a part of them team at all, even unofficially. A few times working together didn't mean they were friends.

"Nothing." he smiled at M'gann.

Nothing except for certain villains making snide remarks about where Red Arrow is. They keep saying he has a whole new kind of company and his missions involve a lot of shooting. He won't answer his phone but surely it's nothing.

"Batman's here with a new mission for us." She said.

M'gann decided not to push for a more honest answer. Now wasn't really the time. She just hoped that whatever it was, it wouldn't cause as much drama as before. Maybe Batman would talk to him. He seemed to be good at forcing them to work out any personal issues.

"Another covert mission," Batman stated, "We need you to split into teams-one team to Happy Harbour and another to a harbour in Gotham. That one will be led by Robin since he knows the location."

"What is this about?" Kaldur asked.

"Dibs on Rob's team!" Wally interrupted, "And Conner's coming with us too!"

Batman glared at him, "No, you can't all be on the same team. We just need you to find out whether or not they're receiving shipments of the same drug."

"Artemis and Superboy should go with Robin." Kaldur suggested.

He figured that if they had to split up, it would be best if they weren't with people who might distract them. He was all for Connor and Wally's relationship but there had to be limits.

"Sounds good to me." Batman agreed which made the decision final.

Wally started to complain but stopped when he was bat-glared. They all tried to focus on the rest of the information they were given. Kaldur tried not to worry about whether Roy would show up or not. He was probably fine.

-x-

The phone was ringing but he didn't realize it. He was sitting in his newly cleaned apartment trying to count ceiling tiles. Well the apartment was kind of clean...he picked up the broken glass after getting back home. His night had gone by in a blur. Maybe there was a girl...or two. Maybe he had kicked ass.

Whatever happened, it was over. Roy woke up to half a dozen messages from Kaldur. He groaned, deleted them, and dragged himself up off the floor. It was only 3 in the afternoon...wait, when did he start thinking that sleeping that late wasn't a big deal?

His head was killing him though. He staggered to the washroom where there was some Tylenol in the medicine cabinet. Except when Roy opened the cabinet, there wasn't any there. He slammed it closed again.

Roy was pretty fucked up. He still had his phone in his hand-the screen was cracked. He tried to think of someone to call up. He needed something for his headache. A doctor would be a bad idea, of course. He didn't speak to Green Arrow at all since Artemis showed up and there's no way Kaldur would show up with a bottle of Tylenol and not question anything.

So instead he splashed water on his face and began the search for his shoes. He was still in civvies from the night before and figured he could go to the drug store. It wasn't a far walk from here. It was then that Roy felt the need to throw up. He couldn't even remember what he had the night before but apparently it was coming back up.

"Ugh, guess I'm staying here." he said to himself.

The bathroom floor was cold. It was nice. He started to fall asleep again. His eyes closed slowly. Roy almost laughed when he realized he was too tired to close his eyes but then felt sick. He rolled on his side and threw up again. He felt like he was dying.

His phone rang again.

-x-

"I think that was the first mission you guys had where you managed to stay covert," Black Canary was standing in front of the teen heroes who were all ready to start the day's training, "Congratulations."

They had discovered that the drugs being imported were two entirely different kinds. Neither of them even seemed that harmful. Both groups sent data back to Batman so he could check it out further. Neither had been caught snooping around either which almost seemed suspicious.

"Now that your fighting is improved, I figured we'd have a tournament. See which of you is the best fighter-just for fun." She continued on, "Okay, and to see where your weaknesses are."

"What?" Wally sped over to her side, "I...we can't fight Conner! He'll crush us!"

"I would not." Superboy frowned.

"Look, that's the point. What if you come across a villain just as strong as him? You'll have to know how to defeat him-use his strength against him." Black Canary wasn't going to give in, "And no going easy on anyone. I don't want you to hurt your opponent too badly but if I catch anyone letting a certain someone win..."

Robin nudged Superboy and giggled. Artemis rolled her eyes. This was going to be interesting to say the least.