A Quiver Full Of Arrows (Connor)

Participants: Mia Dearden / Connor Hawke
Open/Closed: Closed
Location(s): Star City
Time of Day: Late evening
Weather: Overcast
Summary: Connor Hawke and Mia Dearden reunite in Star City to combat the ever-present criminals that swarm its streets.

The lights and sounds of Star City were as familiar to Mia Dearden as her own reflection – she knew each street and intersection, and could find her way blindfolded through the back alleys and underpasses. She knew every shadow and every highlight. It had been her home, coloured by her memories, and for so long, the good had outweighed the bad. But that had changed. In the city she'd once spent her every waking hour, she struggled to spend a single night.

Sometimes, however, needs must.

With Queen gone, the Arrow family had scattered. The Canary had flown to Gotham, throwing herself into her work with the Birds of Prey. Harper had high-tailed to San Francisco, working as a mentor to young heroes. And Dearden – she'd upped and joined a team led by Jason Todd, travelling the United States with a bunch of misfits, stopping crimes when and where they found them.

That left Hawke – an emerald beacon of hope in a city that was just a shell of its former self.

But Star City was too fallen for just one person to manage, and while Mia couldn't remain there for extended periods, she couldn't abandon it either. It meant too much to her, as did Connor, and he needed – deserved – all the support he could get. So she returned – not frequently, but occasionally – offering him help for as long as she could stomach it, or before her work with the Outsiders called her away.

Stood on the flat roof of a high-rise block of shoddy flats, Mia looked out toward the horizon, where the towering silhouettes of business district skyscrapers loomed over the waterfront, beyond which long-armed cranes hoisted shipping containers onto the docks, their cargo ever questionable. With her back pressed against a wall, leaning next to a fire escape – its sign missing a number of letters - she glanced over at Queen's son.

“So what have you got for us tonight?” she asked, raising a brow beneath her mask. “Corrupt cops? Gang warfare? Illegal shipments? Narcotics bust? Human trafficking?” Mia unfolded her arms to shrug – then froze. “Patrol?” She winced sarcastically, then offered Hawke the slightest of smirks, bravado to suggest that she would support that plan of action if it was the one he'd intended on pursuing. Patrolling was, after all, an important part of vigilante work – but it helped her to focus if she had some sort of direction: roaming Star City aimlessly was far more painful than she could ever put into words.

He missed his family. He understood why they had all gone their separate ways, needing space, time, needing to find themselves perhaps. But he still missed them. He'd started out as Green Arrow virtually by himself, doing most of the fighting by himself. But more often than not, he'd had friends to count on, to work with. Then he'd found his family. Working with them hadn't always been easy, especially where Oliver was concerned, but it had worked out in the end and he'd been quite fond of knowing his family was there, having his back. Protecting Star City without their constant help was doable - It wasn't even close to easy but so far he hadn't failed - but it also came with the depressing realization that things had changed within the family, dynamics had shifted, and they didn't seem to have been positive changes.

Dinah and Mia kept in contact with him the most. He still wasn't entirely sure what Mia had been up to, assuming she was doing solo work. He and Roy occasionally talked but not nearly as often as he did with the two women. Oliver was still radio silent.

He hadn't told Mia just how much he'd been looking forward to having her in Star City, even if her return, like it now usually was, was only temporary. He had been looking forward to her company, though, as he was anytime she visited. That and he would never turn away help. He was no longer naive enough to think he could handle everything by himself. Experience, training, and just life in general had taken that naivety away.

Connor met Mia's masked gaze with his own. Truth be told with the way Star City had become, he wouldn't have been surprised if all of the options she spoke were going on in the city right then. Some nights the city started to resemble Gotham. He hoped to put a stop to that one day. If they ran into any of those scenarios, of course they would swoop in and help out, putting a stop to the crime. But he actually had something more specific in mind.

"You're not entirely wrong with one," he explained, "There's this group that's been kidnapping kids, all metas, and forcing them to fight - Often to the death. I broke up their operations in Star City which then led me to Moscow which led me to Blüdhaven." He paused briefly, wondering how much he should tell her about that part - After all he'd teamed up with someone who didn't have the best reputation. However he had no reason to lie or keep her in the dark. "Red Hood actually helped me out there. I'm... still not sure what to think of that, but it would seem while I was gone, this group might have started rebuilding their operations in the city." He still didn't know the name of the group and that was vexing him to say the least. He gave her a smile, though. "Want to help me investigate?"

---

507 words
Mia Dearden

As Conner began to relay their mission's background, Mia blew lazily at a few blonde strands of fringe that had fallen across her face. Still slouched against the wall at her back, she almost appeared bored. However, Conner knew her well enough to know that wasn't the case – she listented intently to every word he spoke, even if her body language suggested otherwise. At the first pause in his recount, she affixed him with a look of mock hurt. “You went on a world tour without me? Rude.” Pushing herself off of the wall she'd rested on, she moved to stand at his side. “How was Bludhaven in the summer? I hear the sunset brings on a beautiful shade of foreboding.”

The Green Arrow then continued, looking somewhat apprehensive about the revelation he'd worked alongside Jason Todd in Gotham's sister city; no doubt disapproving of the Red Hood's supposed methods and vigilante work. Luckily, he was in good company – working as one of The Outsiders had changed Mia's opinion of former Bat protégé; she would have perhaps described them as friends. Drunk. And drugged. It represented a positive change of opinion, a step in the right direction – all she had to say about him previously was that he'd once taken her hostage.

Having turned her attention back to Star City, she cast a quick sideways glance at Conner, and shook her head in disbelief. “He must really have a thing for Arrows. Did he kidnap you too?” She paused, hiding the slight smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. “I didn't think you were his type, honestly...”

She let a moment of silence pass between them after Conner had finished, and when she spoke again, Mia was firmly focused on the meta-human traffickers he'd referenced, more than happy to offer her aid in locating their renewed operations. “How can I say 'no' to that smile?” Turning toward him, she nodded her agreement. “I'm in.”

In a fluid and practised motion, she removed her bow from where it been strapped – to the side of her quiver – and began checking its string and sights. “So what are we looking for, and where do we start?” Ma Dearden had never been one to waste time – she'd always been straight to the point.

Connor Hawke

He snorted out a small laugh at Mia's comment about a world tour. Leave it to her to find something to tease him about. He'd missed that. She kept him on his toes and a smile on his face. "I wouldn't recommend it as a vacation spot," he quipped back, having gotten better at his jokes. "It lacks Star City's charm." Of course Star City was a shadow of its former self. Any charm the city had once had was duller but he'd been chipping away, polishing it up. He still believe in this city. He still believed in the good it could once again be.

He had to believe.

It took Connor a second, brows scrunched together with confusion, to understand what she meant by being Red Hood's type. Once he realized what she meant, he huffed out a breath and shook his head, eyes rolling behind his mask. Honestly he still didn't get that type of sense of humor. It just made him feel awkward, face hot with embarrassment - at the implication or how long it'd taken him to get the joke, he wasn't entirely sure.

"I think he was looking for the kids too," he informed her, "Or maybe it was a coincidence? Either way he helped me." He paused, finger hooked and held against his chin, lips a thoughtful frown. "He might be trying to change his ways." He shrugged at that. "But if that's the case, we'll likely hear about it from someone in Gotham - Nightwing or perhaps Red Robin." He knew better than to think Batman would actively keep either of the two archers in the loop.

He knew she'd be in because he knew her. There was good to be done and she was far too good of a person to ever say no - even if she didn't always feel like she was.

"They were hulled up in an abandoned train station," he explained, "I doubt they'd be stupid enough to return there but we should check it either way in case they are."

---

341 words
Mia Dearden

Mia kept a perfectly straight face as Connor Hawke became flustered at her pointed joke and its many insinuations, and continued to stop herself from smiling too broadly as he tried to cover it by musing upon the possibility of the Red Hood changing his ways, the infamously violent vigilante having helped the archer in his quest to find and free captive children. She could have easily confirmed his suspicions - she was, after all, a member of Jason’s newly formed team, an Outsider. But it wasn’t something she particularly wanted to discuss, at least, not yet. While working with the Green Arrow, her attention was entirely on Connor and Star City.

“Who knows,” she responded with the mildest of shrugs, “maybe there’s a girl involved.” She knew, for a fact, that there was.

Hawke went on to suggest a starting point for their search, an abandoned train station that had once been the kidnappers’ base of operations. It made perfect sense: traffickers liked to hole up in quiet places with good transport links, and she couldn’t instantly think of anywhere that matched those criteria any better. It was unlikely they would have returned to an area in which they’d already been caught, but something could well give the archers a clue as to their new whereabouts. Or perhaps they’d just get lucky: criminals in Star City had never been the most cunning.

“Sounds like a good place to start. Last time I checked, Star City’s criminal population were lacking in tactical acumen…or…any acumen actually.” She made her way toward the edge of the rooftop the pair had met upon, plucked an arrow from her quiver, and nocked it to her readied bow. “And if they have managed to find a few brain cells lying around while I’ve been gone…” she smirked a little at Hawke as she paused, “we’ll probably find them the next place we look.” Which could well have been a plot of land next door.

“After you,” she gestured to the city ahead, letting Connor take point. It was his protectorate, as it had been his father's before him. It was Mia's turn to follow his lead.

Connor Hawke

He raised an eyebrow at Mia's suggestion that a girl could be involved. Why did it seem like there was more than she was letting on? That perhaps she knew more on this topic than she was admitting? He lightly shook his head, more at himself than her. No, he was overthinking things because of what had happened with Ollie. "Or a guy," he suggested, mainly in an attempt to throw Mia off like she'd done to him earlier. He wasn't as good at it as she was, though. Perhaps he needed to look more into Red Hood and see what he was up to - Was he truly turning a new leaf? That seemed more like a task for Gotham's Bats, though. He had Star City to worry about. And technically Red Hood, no matter what he did, wasn't Connor's problem until he made himself Connor's problem.

Connor huffed out a small laugh, a smile on his face, at Mia's comment about their city's criminals. She wasn't wrong. He'd learned that quickly when he'd first picked up a bow and put on a mask. The criminals of Star City could be predictable. It could make patrols boring but he preferred it that way. Being able to predict them made them easier to stop and thus it was easier to protect the citizens of the city. However he also knew it risked him getting comfortable which was a dangerous thing for a vigilante. Comfortable could easily lead to mistakes.

He watched Mia put an arrow to her bow. He couldn't help matching her smirk. He'd missed having her to watch his back. He wondered if she'd missed having him to watch hers as well. He wondered if she'd tried to contact Ollie. He wondered if she stayed in contact with Dinah. He wondered what she did, if she was happy working more... solo than she had before. He wondered if she missed being in Star City as much as he missed having her around. He wondered if their family would ever find themselves working together again, close and happy.

He grabbed his own arrow and nocked it into place. He wasn't sure where the next best place to look would be but that was a bridge they could cross when they got there, if they ever did. And he had a feeling with her, they'd figure it out no problem.

"Let's hope they've gained some brain cells," he commented, arching an eyebrow behind his mask. "A challenge might be fun tonight." He didn't want the task of hunting them down to be impossible but... Mia was like a sister to him and like a sister, she had a habit of making him just comfortable enough to be willing to have some fun. It was easy to fall back into the habit of bouncing off her energy.

At her gesture, he let the arrow fly, rope trailing behind it. "I hope you brought your bike," he added, grinning at her. "I'd hate for you to have to walk." With that he hooked his bow into the rope and slid down to the darkened alley where his own bike was stashed.

---

528 words
Mia Dearden
Let me know if you need more! 💕

Connor fired a nocked arrow out over the building’s right edge, a metallic rope trailing behind the projectile, before hooking his bow to the line and sliding down it into the dark alley below. Mia followed in kind but moments later, though she took to the street on the left side of the rooftop – the area in which she’d parked her arrow-cycle. She mirrored Connor’s actions almost to perfection, displaying a similar bowmanship – hallmarks of their time studying archery under the same tutor.

Following a quick descent, Mia fleet-footed toward her stored vehicle, hidden behind an overflowing skip. She mounted it with a practised ease, and quickly stashed her bow in a compartment near her left thigh. Should she require it while mounted, the firearm proved much easier to draw when it lay in front of her. Gloved hands reached for the handlebars, and the bike registered her presence, scanning her before the engine roared to life.

Turning sharply, the arrow-cycle far more responsive than civilian models, she quickly drove from alleyway to main road, pulling up and letting her engine idle close to the exit from which she expected Connor to emerge. She waited no more than a few heartbeats before he came into view. “So what are the co-ordinates for this train station?” she shouted over both vehicles’ loud rumblings. “I’d say I’d follow you, but you drive like an old person.” If Dinah had been there, Mia was sure she’d have felt a withering gaze directed her way. However, she wasn’t, and Speedy expected Connor to provide a much more amusing reaction.

Connor Hawke
_{(OOC: Feel free to skip them forward once Connor has responded! We don't need to write them driving to the station unless you've an actual desire to do so!)}

His feet landed on the ground and he easily retrieved the arrow and retracted the metallic rope. He watched her moments later slide down to where he assumed her cycle was. He put his helmet on first - safety first after all! - then swung a leg over and sat down on his own cycle, stashing his bow as well. The engine hummed to life and he revved it instinctively to make sure it was working right before meeting her on the road. At her request, he sent the coordinates to her cycle. His eyebrows rose at her comment about his driving and he gave what was the closest equivalent to a pout that he got - which was pretty close.

"I don't drive like an old person," he insisted, though there was more question to his tone than he would have cared to admit and he knew she'd catch it because she always did. It was hard - practically impossible - to get anything past Mia.

- - - -

Connor arrived at the coordinates - after Mia, probably much to her glee. He could already picture her being smug and teasing him about it as he pulled up. The coordinates were behind an abandoned subway platform. They'd have to walk from there. He stowed his cycle away, removing his helmet and retrieving his bow, meeting her at the subway entrance.

"They're probably not here," he explained, "Unless they're stupid." His head tilted to exchange a look with her, knowing there was a good chance she was expecting these kidnappers to be just as idiotic as he was. Not many criminals tended to be geniuses when it came to avoiding getting caught by heroes, especially when they were in those heroes' home turf.

Getting onto the abandoned subway track was easy enough, hopping over the checkpoints that had once been used to keep people out. The place being abandoned, though, meant there was no light. He got out his own small flashlight and flicked it on as he walked down the tracks, glancing back at Mia briefly even though he knew he didn't have to check to make sure she was following him. He wasn't sure how long they'd been walking for - several minutes at the very least - when he paused as the sound of voices reached his ears and then he saw what was clearly a light at the end of the tunnel - a literal light.

He clicked the flashlight off and put it away with one hand, unfolding his bow with the other as he looked to Mia, giving her the closest to a mischievous grin as he could get - and it wasn't really all that close. "It seems they're stupid."

---

444 words
Mia Dearden
Let me know if you need more! 💕

Mia pulled up at the abandoned subway platform, the out-buildings and rail lines about it in disrepair. At a glance, it seemed to be one of Star City’s many abandoned public works projects, crime or a loss of city funding halting improvements that could have made lives better for the people in the poorest of neighbourhoods. They lay littered around the city – destitute sites, ghosts of former hopes and dreams: half-finished factories, piers that fell away into the ocean, boarded up apartment blocks that had never seen a single tenant. They became breeding grounds for criminal enterprise, regions that both innocents and lawmakers avoided at all costs.

The Arrows, however, sought them out on every patrol, hoping to at least cleanse the areas of the delinquents that had taken hold of them.

When Connor pulled up in the near-distance, she had been surveying the site for a good few minutes, stood at the entrance of the subway having stowed her bike. She offered him a smug smile as he removed his helmet; she didn’t need to verbally taunt him about his arriving after her, her expression alone was capable of that. Eyeing his face, Mia thought she caught the briefest flustered blush darken his cheeks, but he quickly busied himself hiding his vehicle and readying his bow, before he jogged to meet her at their point of entry.

‘They’re probably not here…unless they’re stupid.’

The two Arrows exchanged knowing looks: the basic criminal element in Star City was not renowned for its genius. No matter how many times their organisations were forcibly halted and half their thugs detained in jail cells, they refused flatly to change the manner in which they operated. To most, it would seem obvious not to return to former hideouts if they’d been previously unearthed, but neither Mia nor Connor would have been surprised if they encountered the band of lowlifes they sought in one of their former hovels.

Connor led the way forward, nimbly crossing barriers designed to keep civilians from the subway, before descending into the darkness of unfinished tunnel. Mia followed his lead, and then moved slowly behind him, letting him lead the way with the beam of his torchlight. However, they did not have to go far – as the tunnel began to widen, no doubt intended for a service platform or emergency exit, voices could be heard echoing around the enclosed space.

‘It seems they’re stupid.’

Connor’s words, accompanied with an awkward half-smile and the readying of his bow, summed up the situation accurately. “Did you really expect anything else?” With a sign, Mia pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her bow - already readied. “You know, sometimes I get the feeling they maybe want to get caught...”

Connor Hawke

He huffed out a quiet laugh at Mia's question. Back in his early days as Green Arrow, he would have expected the criminals of Star City to wise up and learn from their mistakes, becoming more of a challenge the next time he'd run into them. So far the only thing in Star City that had proven more and more challenging with time was his relationship with Oliver. But that was a train of thought he didn't want to follow. It'd lead him to wondering what his dad was doing, if he was safe, if he thought about any of them at all, if he regretted how they'd left things... He needed to focus on anything except those questions because the answers weren't coming.

"Perhaps it's their way of asking for an intervention?" he supplied, voice quiet. He crept closer to the light, arrow ready, stopping just outside the entrance, looking past a corner. He noted at least twenty thugs, possibly more that he couldn't see. There weren't any kids but he wasn't going to assume they hadn't taken any just because he couldn't see them yet.

<"Gotta get a shipment out by tomorrow night,"> one was saying in Russian, <"Said the shipment from Wednesday wasn't good enough.">

Connor frowned. That was three days ago. s**t. How long had they been back in Star City? His suspicions about them returning had proven fruitful but he'd clearly been wrong about the timeline. They'd already taken children, most likely metas, and shipped them off to who knew where. His grip on his bow tightened. If they could take this group out, there was a chance they could find out where the kids had been shipped to and still rescue them. Hell, there was a chance he could finally find out where the headquarters for this ring was.

He pulled back from the corner and turned to Mia, quietly informing her, "At least twenty guns. I can't see any kids but they might still have some. They've... already shipped some out three days ago. Let's take them out fast and see what we can find out."

With that, he turned the corner and fired off an arrow that lodged itself into a gunman's shoulder.

---

371 words
Mia Dearden