Gateway City
11:29 PM

I didn't want to be a hero.

Sitting on the rooftop, the blond woman kept her eyes trained on the dark blue car below. A bow resting at her side, fingers itching to grab an arrow and send it straight through the windshield of the car below.

After over an hour of watching, a man finally exited the building nearest the car. Glancing in both directions, the man fumbled with the keys a moment before climbing in. A smile managed to find its way to the woman's lips as an arrow finally came to rest on the bow. Pulling it back, she took in a deep breath and—

I'm not the hero either.

Let the air fly as she exhaled. The sound of the windshield shattering was satisfying, followed by the man's screaming. She watched in slight amusement as he finally noticed the note stuck to the arrow. She began counting off in her mind.

One. I've done this before. Two.

The man's eyes went wide as he read over the letter.

Three. The other's had the same reaction. Four

He attempted to shove the key into the ignition.

Five. They never get away. Six.

Finally getting the car to start, he almost looked relieved.

Pulling another arrow back with the string, the woman aimed at the man. She never missed a target, especially not when they had parts for a time machine she needed built. Letting the arrow fly, she smiled slightly as the man spotted the speeding arrow and screamed out for help.

I don't think I ever was a hero.

Silence.

Gateway City
January 14th 5:50pm PM

Cissie King-Jones. Former Arrowette. Olympic Gold medal winner for archery. I'm not much to most people. I still have a high standing profile, but as a normal person. Sort of. I'm a Gold winner and I was on Wendy the Werewolf Stalker and that's all that makes me special now. Not that I mind though. I prefer it actually.

"I'll see you Friday, Jones." A man called from an office in the corner of the shooting range.

"Sure thing!" the blond girl called back, a smile grazing her face, not a worry in the world, other than whether she would pass her next test in Pre-Calculus that is. Exiting the building, she glanced around in search of somebody. Well, two somebodies. Greta Hayes, her longtime friend, both girls had once been Superheroes on a team called Young Justice. They worked alongside Impulse, Robin, Wonder Girl and Superboy. Arrowette—Cissie was the first to go. She had let her emotions get the best of her and nearly took the lives of two men. She put down the bow after that, well, the hero version of her bow that is. She kept up with her archery but only as a sport and competition. Greta, she was another story. The girl had been killed by her own brother, she had been bound to this earth after that, seemingly due to having unfinished business. Eventually though, they did bring her back but that's a story for a different time. Long story short, Greta was alive again and had decided upon a normal life.

The other person Cissie was searching for was a recent friend. A girl by the name of Sarah Monteyo. A friend she had made shortly after giving up the hero gig and somebody she trusted with her life.

Glancing at her watch, Cissie noted it was already six. Normally the two girls were here by now. Every Wednesday, Cissie came to the shooting range for practice until six, afterwards she, Greta and Sarah would head to the local ice cream shop then head home to finish homework. It was odd that the girls were late.

I'm a senior in high school. I've got scholarships lined up for me due to my Gold Winner status, not that I mind. I'm hoping to go to Holliday University here in Gateway and I'm going to be a pre-med student. I want to be a Physician.

Sitting on the nearest bench, Cissie stared at the sky as it changed colors, eventually being swallowed into the dark blue of the night. Seven o'clock. Worry struck deep in her gut but she had to head back to campus. Dialing Greta on the way, she got nothing but her voicemail. Sarah was something similar. Her phone rang, but she never answered.

Nine o'clock rolled around and she half contemplated calling the principle, something was wrong. It was too late at night for Greta and Sarah to be out and about, they would've called by now, they would've come back. Swallowing down her guilt, Cissie picked up the dorm phone fully intent on dialing the principle when a knock at the door had her dropping the phone and racing to answer it in hopes that Greta would be standing there.

That hope was of course shattered by the principle herself standing in the doorway, a look of pure sorrow on her face. She didn't have to speak a word, Cissie knew immediately something was way wrong. And without being told, Cissie rushed out into the hall and towards the exit, the principle close behind her.

The ride was quiet. Not a word spoken, not even a tear shed. Upon spotting the hospital, Cissie let out a sob that had been building in her chest. Her friends had been hurt and Cissie hadn't known this whole time.

Not bothering to wait for the car to stop, Cissie pushed the door open and stumbled out as she managed to stay on her feet. Racing inside, she could hear the pitter patter of her bare feet on the cool hospital floor. She hadn't even bothered to pull on her shoes. Nearly crashing into the front desk, she couldn't seem to find her voice, eyes wide, shaking, she seemingly just stood there until the woman behind the desk spotted the principle and spoke up.

"Room A104 on the first floor sweetheart."

Not even a "thank you" was uttered before Cissie took off. The room number coming into focus as she pushed open the door, stumbling in, the first thing she spotted was the mess of black hair that belonged to Sarah. She couldn't find it in herself to rush to the girl's side, instead she slowly shuffled over as she took in the sight before her. The girl had a black eye, her bottom lip was busted and her cheeks were puffed and bruising. Her left leg in a cast as well as her right arm. She wasn't wearing a gown, she had bandages wrapped around her chest and abdomen and the blanket was resting at her waist where the line of hospital pants could be seen.

With shaking hands, Cissie reached out to touch the other girl's hand. Tears built in her eyes but refusing to pour out. A nurse entered and began to move about the many machines around and hooked up to Sarah. Finally finding her voice, Cissie spoke up, the nurse jumping slightly at the sudden sound.

"Greta?" she wasn't sure if she had even spoken. Her voice sounded raspy, strained, almost like it didn't want to work. Had the nurse understood her? Why was she just staring? And when she shook her head, Cissie felt a pang in her chest. Like a knife. A pain worse than when an arrow had pierced through her body. A pain worse than when she had been beaten to unconsciousness. A pain worse than anything else.

She had lost Greta yet again.

"No." she shook her head. It couldn't be. "No! Y-you liar!" it came out louder than she had intended. "L-liar! W-where's Greta! Where is she?" she was shrieking, she must've sounded hysterical because two more nurses rushed in to see what the commotion was about. "W-why?! Why are you—you're lying!"

"Cissie, please." The principle sounded…a word wouldn't register for how she sounded. Hurt? Upset? Pained? Angry? Cissie couldn't name it, but her voice made Cissie slip to the ground, tears finally pouring down her cheeks, shoulders shaking as she struggled to breathe in.

And so the hours crawled by as the room cleared. Cissie refused to go back to the dorms so the principle allowed her to stay before leaving herself. She kept her eyes trained on the girl lying motionless on the hospital bed. She didn't leave to get a drink, she didn't leave to eat something. She didn't leave.

And by the time Sarah woke up, Cissie was half asleep before shouting caught her attention.

"It's your fault!" she shrieked. And so confusion settled in. Cissie was to blame? "I-it's because…you…Arrowette. You stopped—she said—she needed Arrowette. She said…you c-could've stopped it—prevented it. You could've prevented all of this if you—hadn't s-stopped being Arrowette." Sarah choked out, wincing with every few words. "This is y-your fault."

And so the guilt was pinned to Cissie. Something she could never live with. Guilt. It had driven her to give up Arrowette, to risk giving up her friends. And now it was threatening to drive her back to the mask and bow.

Sarah pointed to the dresser with her good hand before turning her head away and then her breathing evened out. She had gone back to sleep. Cissie blinked as her attention turned to the note on the dresser. The one Sarah had pointed to. Picking it up, she quickly read the writing on the outside.

"For Cissie King-Jones only. Anybody else dare to read this and I will come back for the other girl."

The killer had written this and the hand writing looked familiar. Painfully. But she couldn't quite pinpoint whose it was.

With shaky hands, she pulled the note open, the hand writing catching her attention yet again. All too familiar but unsure of where it was from.

"You could've prevented this but instead you wanted to be normal. Well normal people lose their friends. Watch out."

She had just been threatened through a letter. And she was going to take this seriously. They…wanted Arrowette back. They were forcing her. Giving up her childhood hadn't been enough, no, now she had to give up her whole life for it? Crumpling the note in her hand, she returned to the chair, the note slipping to the ground, her eyes resting on the glossy floor as it blurred behind tears. There was no escape.

Arrowette would return.

A/N: A comic idea I've had for a while. I have 35 chapters outlined and hopefully I'll think of another story arc after that! Arrowette is a great character and I'm hoping to shed some light on her! If you have any questions feel free to ask them here or on A03 or at .com! I'll be posting a chapter every Monday! Eventually might be every other Monday but for now it's every monday.