Arsenal

Roy Harper smiled as he walked down the street with his daughter Lian. "So, what do you want to do now?" he asked, still feeling cheerful after the end of the Disney movie they'd just seen.

"Ice cream!" Lian said, smiling.

"Ice cream it is," Roy said. He opened his wallet and peeked inside. "Uh-oh," he said. "We're going to have to stop off at the bank for a second. Daddy's broke."

Lian grinned. "Just like always."

Roy stopped for a second. "Who told you that?"

Lian shrugged. "Everybody. Uncle Dick, Uncle Garth, Uncle Wally says it a lot - "

Roy shook his head. "Remind me to do some pruning on our family tree. You've got too many uncles who are up to no good."

Lian just grinned and squeezed her father's hand again.

"Here we are," Roy said as they reached the bank. "Now remember to be quiet in here. It'll just take a few minutes and then our next stop is Baskin-Robbins."

"Okay, Daddy," Lian said. "What are you going to get?"

"I don't know," Roy said as he led her inside. He grabbed a pen on a chain (that was too short) and started filling out a withdrawal slip. He licked his lips for Lian's benefit. "I think I'm in the mood for some strawberry cheesecake. You?"

"Chocolate chocolate chip," she replied.

"Ah," Roy said as he took his slip and they got into the line for the teller. "The infamous double chocolate. I think if we got you triple chocolate you'd have so much energy you'd be able to outrun Uncle Wally."

"Can we try it?" Lian asked.

"Wait until the next time he's babysitting you," Roy said. That'll teach you to comment on my finances, Wally, he thought. In his mind, he was singing along with the easy listening music that was playing softly.

Lian smiled. Roy heard gasps and turned around. A gang of thugs was behind him, guns trained on everyone.

"Nobody move!" the head thug said. He smiled, exposing rotten yellow teeth. "Just fill up the moneybags and nobody gets hurt."

Great, Roy thought. Not today. Not while she's with me. He looked down at his daughter and whispered. "Honey, stay put. Daddy's going to take care of this. Don't be scared."

"Okay," Lian whispered back.

Roy slowly moved his arm to a pen. Just then, a thug noticed him.

"Hey!" the thug yelled as he started swinging his gun to bear. "What're you doing?" It was too late. Roy was already in motion.

He'd counted five would-be robbers. He took care of the squealer by snapping the chain on the pen and throwing it. The pen embedded itself in the robber's hand. He dropped the gun and fell to the ground screaming. A punch later, he was out. One down.

The second fell to a quick kick. The butt of his gun, when applied liberally to number three's jaw, took care of him.

Roy threw the gun, striking number four and sending him to the ground. He was running across the room at number five when time stopped.

Roy heard the gun fire and quickly glanced down to make sure he wasn't hit. That was when he heard the scream. He looked back and saw his daughter falling to the ground. Roy's blood ran cold when he saw the crimson spreading across Lian's face.

"Bastard!" Roy screamed as he ran forward and grabbed the stunned robber. "That's my daughter!" Tears flooded Roy's eyes as he kept firing his fist into the thief's face. Oddly enough, a part of his mind stayed detached, keeping track of the thief's injuries. Broken nose. Missing teeth. Dislocated jaw. Finally Roy threw the bloodied wreck of a man aside and fell to his knees. "Lian," he whispered as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Dad--- Daddy?" he heard faintly. Roy ran over and knelt beside his daughter. He gently began stroking her hair, ignoring the sticky redness that was now covering his hand.

"It's okay, sweetheart," he said. "Daddy's here." Outside, faint sirens grew louder.

Roy hated hospitals. He always had. He forced himself to ignore his surroundings and focus on what the doctor was saying.

"She was very lucky, Mr. Harper," the doctor was saying. "The bullet creased her skull, but didn't do any serious damage. There was no skull fracture."

"So she's okay?" Roy asked.

"Yes," the doctor replied. "I'd like to keep her here overnight just to monitor her condition, but she should be ready to go home in the morning."

"Thank you, doctor. Can I see her?"

"She's asleep right now, but you can go in." The doctor opened the door and let Roy in.

Roy stood in the room and looked down at the little china doll lying in the bed. Lian's eyes were closed, and he could believe she was all right if not for the bandages on the right side of her head. Roy sat down and took her hand. He gently stroked it until he couldn't stand it anymore and fled.

Sitting alone in his small apartment, Roy cried. The beers he'd bought to help soothe the pain of his daughter's injury sat unopened on the table, just getting warmer. He sat on his daughter's bed in her room, looking around at her things.

"She was very lucky," the doctor had said. "How much longer can her luck hold out?" Roy asked. He forced himself to stand and walk out. He wanted to break something but wasn't about to damage anything in this room.

He walked into the kitchen and saw the bottles of beer sitting on the table. In a rage, he picked up the bottles and threw them onto the floor. They shattered on impact. A shard of glass flew back and nicked Roy's cheek, but he didn't even notice. He fell to the floor, crying harder than he had at any time since his father had died. The worst part of it was that he knew what had to happen next.

Donna Troy was watching All My Children when the doorbell rang. She stood and answered the door. "Roy?" she asked.

A smiling Roy stood in the hall holding Lian's hand. "Hey, Donna," he said. "Can we come in?"

"Sure," Donna said as they walked in.

"Daddy, can I go see the baby?" Lian asked.

Roy looked as Donna gave a discreet nod. "Sure, honey," he said. "Just don't bother him if he's sleeping."

"Okay, daddy," she said, walking toward the baby's room.

"Roy, what happened to her?" Donna asked.

Roy ran a hand back through his hair. "We got caught in a bank robbery and she got shot."

Donna's hands flew up to her mouth. "Oh, Rhea. Roy..."

Roy shook his head. "Don't worry. She's fine. She was lucky."

Donna sat down. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Roy shrugged. "How can I be?" he asked.

Donna looked up as she heard a cry from the other room. "Robert," she said as she stood. "Roy, can you give me a second?"

"Sure," Roy said.

Donna hurried toward the other room as Lian walked out. "The baby's awake," she said.

"Thanks, sweetheart," Donna said, patting Lian on the head before disappearing into the other room.

When Donna came back out, Lian was sitting on the couch. Roy was gone. "Daddy said that you're babysitting me for a little while!" Lian said with a smile on her face.

Confused, Donna looked around the room. Finally her eyes lit on an envelope lying on her kitchen counter. It had her name written on it in Roy's handwriting.

"Can I watch TV?" Lian asked.

"Of course," a distracted Donna answered as she crossed the room. "Just keep the sound low so we don't wake up the baby."

"Okay," Lian said, turning on the TV and flipping channels until she discovered the Powerpuff Girls.

Donna ripped the envelope open with shaking hands and quickly read the note. It said:

Donna. This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I know that you were right. This life isn't right for somebody trying to raise a child. As I write this, I'm in a hospital room watching the little girl that I love more than life itself. She was shot because of me. Because I had to try to be the hero. Because I couldn't protect her. I've faced down Cheshire for the right to hold her, and now that she's been given to me, I can't protect her.

I'm not doing this because of any misplaced loyalty to Chesh. She's not a factor at all. I can't even write a letter to her explaining what's happened, because I just don't see anything positive coming from it. How do you tell a mother that her child's been hurt because of you?

That's why I'm leaving. Donna, I know you. You were always the voice of sanity for all of us in the old days, and God knows that you're the one person I'd be willing to trust with the one thing I value most. That's what I'm doing now. Take care of my baby, Donna. I can't. Raise her well. Try to understand why I'm doing this, and try to help her understand why her daddy had to leave her when she gets older. Forgive me.

Roy

Donna looked up as tears ran down her cheeks. "Roy?" she whispered.

To Be Continued...

Next Issue: We catch up with Roy as we see where he's gone to cope with this tragedy. And how will he react when he gets a chance for redemption?

Previous Issue | Next Issue