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"Speedy's house got blown up," Cassie said. "They were coming back from rescuing Arsenal and - boom! She's lost all her clothes, all her CDs, everything."
Cissie raised an eyebrow but didn't look up from her textbook.
"And the Green Arrows had only just been patched up at Outsiders HQ as well! Apparently Ollie was pretty badly injured."
That made Cissie look up. "Life-threatening?"
Cassie shook her head. "Just bruised and battered and broken a bit." She beamed. "Alliteration. Ms. Potter would be proud."
"She'd be prouder if you finished your essay," Cissie said and Cassie sighed and picked up her pen.
Cissie had read the same page five times when she gave in and looked up. "Cassie?"
"Hmm?"
"Could you do me a favour?"
"As long as it doesn't involve doing your homework."
"Could you get Speedy to get me a few strands of hair from Ollie's hairbrush?"
Cassie blinked. "You're a Green Arrow fan? Because I'm sure she'd get you his autograph if you wanted."
"It's not a fan thing. I just need some of his hair. Or blood, but hair would be easier for Speedy to get."
"Have you been talking to Anita?" Cassie asked. "Because I don't think you should be doing voodoo on Green Arrow."
"It's not that." Cissie pushed her hair behind her ear. "Look, just forget about it. It doesn't matter."
Cassie looked serious. "Speedy'll want to know why you want it."
"I don't want her to know."
"But if you tell me, I can come up with a story that's nowhere near the truth." Cassie grinned shamefacedly. "Plus, I'm nosy."
Cissie couldn't help smiling back. After a moment, she said, "DNA test."
Cassie's eyes were wide. "Whoa."
"Mom said something once, about the first Green Arrow being my father." Cissie shrugged. "He was dead at the time, so it didn't seem to matter. But I've been wondering. Mom and Dad both had brown hair and I'm so blonde. I know it's possible and everything but... It'd be nice to know."
"Yeah." Cassie touched Cissie's arm. "I know what you mean. I'll see what I can do."
"One of the girls at school," Cassie said, "is a huge Green Arrow fan. And she made me promise to ask you if you could get her some little thing. I don't know, a lock of hair or something."
"From Connor?" Mia said. "He keeps it so short, I don't think I could."
"Not Connor," Cassie said. "The other one. Ollie."
When Mia finally stopped laughing, she had tears running down her face. "A schoolgirl? Crushing on Ollie? I can't wait to tell him!"
"Here you go," Cassie said, and handed a plastic bag containing some strands of hair to Cissie. "Freshly stolen from Oliver Queen's hairbrush and I even made sure there was skin on the ends. Which, y'know, is really gross. Also, he isn't as blond as I thought he was."
Cissie managed a smile as she accepted the bag. "Thanks."
"So when are you sending it off for the test?"
"I don't know." Cissie studied her fingernails. "I'm not sure I really want to open the box. Best to leave the cat where it is and not collapse the waveforms."
"But don't you want to know for sure?"
Cissie folded the bag and slipped it into her pocket. "I don't know."
"At least send it off and then you can decide whether or not to open the answer when it arrives."
"Yeah," Cissie said, and tugged a few strands of hair out of her scalp. "You're probably right."
Two weeks later, Cissie got a letter in a brown envelope with a familiar address on the back.
"You've got to open it," Cassie said.
"Not yet," Cissie said. She spent that evening looking at photos of Bowstring Jones, trying to find some family resemblance.
A week later, Cassie dropped on to Cissie's bed. "How about I open it? And I won't tell you if you don't want me to."
Cissie shook her head. "I've already opened it."
"You have?" Cassie grabbed Cissie's hand. "Well? Tell me!"
Cissie shrugged. "It was positive. Ollie Queen's my father."
"Wow." Cassie sat back. "What do you do now?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to know." Cissie shrugged again. "Now I do."
"Oh, Cassie," Mia said. "I meant to give you this earlier."
Cassie looked at the plastic bag with a few hairs in it. "You already did?"
Mia grinned. "Turns out that wasn't Ollie's hair. Okay, your friend would probably never know but I felt a bit guilty."
"It... It wasn't Ollie's hair?" Cassie swallowed. "Uh, do you know whose it was?"
"Arsenal's."
"Arsenal." Cassie buried her face in her hands. "Oh. Hera's. Handbag."