Found Among Dusty Shelves (Part 4)

Found Among Dusty Shelves

Arsenal followed the tracker, snow crunching in his boots and his teammates right behind him. Nightwing and Red Robin had larger matters in Gotham, but Guardian and Red Arrow had stayed with him. Soon the tracker stopped, as the group arrived at a small cabin. "Looks like this is it."

"Looks like it." Red Arrow stepped up behind the 19-year-old, then looked over at Arsenal. "Are you sure you wanna go through with this? You haven't seen him for 12 years, he could be vastly different from what you remember." The amputee looked up at him, then back at the tracker. Red Arrow wasn't wrong. Arsenal had remembered him 2 days ago, and even then he had to look at his things to remember just bits and pieces. All he knew was that he and Carson were very close, and that Carson had been looking for him for all this time. 12 years was a long time... and plenty long enough for someone to change. But he needed closure on this. He needed to find him. Arsenal nodded at Red Arrow, as Guardian caught up. "Alright." Guardian tilted his head at the cabin, pointing at the windows.

"I don't think anyone's home." He told the other Harpers. "Are we going in?"

"We came too far not to." Arsenal surged ahead, getting to the door. He opened it, the inside of the cabin dark and hard to see in. He raised his mechanical arm, turning on it's flashlight as Red and Guardian followed him inside.

"Annnnnnd now this feels like breaking and entering." Red Arrow frowned.

"Hey look." Guardian went to a coffee table, picking up a set of papers. "Arsenal, do you mind shedding a light on this?" Arsenal obliged, pointing his arm at the papers. They were blueprints for... an arm? Arsenal smiled a bit. Carson must've seen they took it. From what he could see of the papers, he could tell he was pretty smart. While nothing could beat his current arm, to see these told a lot about Carson and their relationship already. "Well won't ya look at that. Kid's smart."

"Yeah he is." Arsenal agreed with Guardian, removing the light from the papers and investigating more. Scorch marks were on the walls, and many things, such as the blueprints from earlier, were either singed or burnt. He furrowed his brow with worry. "And it also looks like his powers got more and more out of control as he got older." There were sure signs that shit went down, but Arsenal shrugged it off as Carson having more problems with his metagene.

"Arsenal. Look at this." Red Arrow called. Arsenal tilted his head, walking over to him. His eyes widened when he saw what Red Arrow had found.

It was a board filled with leads and photos, plus writing. He looked over at the picture of him in the pod still, his stump circled and arrows pointing at him and the circle. The writing was "Where is his arm?" and "So close!!". It was enough to nearly bring Arsenal to tears. All the work and dedication... he had done so much to find him. By the board was a bow and quiver, the quiver filled with arrows that had mint and purple fletchers. The bow matched the color scheme, as did the quiver. Arsenal moved away from the area, spotting a hallway. He composed himself, shining his flashlight into it. "This way." He ordered, heading into the hall. He followed it to a new room, opening the door. Red Arrow spotted a switch, and flicked it upwards. A light fizzled on, revealing a messy bedroom. The blanket was soiled with dirt and grime, and the desks were cluttered. A computer was on, and a window showed a ton of files - video ones, to be specific. Arsenal turned off his flashlight and made a move to the desk, brushing off the chair while Guardian and Red Arrow pulled their own investigations. He sat down, clicking the top file of the set. A new window popped up, revealing a scarred person missing one eye. They wore a tank top, which showed their insanely withered arm that was completely burned. The person had a look of joy on their face. He tilted his head, playing it.

"September 19, 2020, log 4490 of Finding Roy." The person said excitedly. Arsenal's eyes widened. 4490?! That many?! "The tracker on his hoodie went off!! He found Jim!! Roy got out!!!" They cheered. "He's coming here right now as we speak - I'm so happy that he's okay!!!" Their smile fell, then they looked at the ground kinda sorrowful. "Only problem is.... World just wants us apart.... About a second ago someone knocked at my door. I'm gonna keep my guard up but I can hardly fight back..." He raised his arm. "This is from 12 years of searching.... I can't shoot." Arsenal's eyes widened. "So while it's amazing to know Roy's alright.... I'll never see him again-" A sound of a door opening went off, and the person quickly looked behind theirself. "Shit - I have to go." They looked back at the camera. "Roy - if you're watching this- I hope you find me too - I'm sorry I failed you-" They took a breath, grabbing a pistol. "This is Carson Kaze, signing off, possibly for good." The video stopped, and now tears were leaving Arsenal's eyes. This video... it was just taken this morning... Carson had been taken. Red Arrow went over to him.