A/N: I have really liked writing this story so far and we are getting towards the climax of part one. And part two will spin directly out of the first part, so I hope you like the first part. I will have more details on the second part in the next chapter.
Arrow: Hooded Adventures
Part 1: Knight
Chapter 3: Detective
"How was your night Mr. Wayne?" Alfred asked when he realized the Bruce was sitting in the armchair, "Did you bust the skulls of this city's criminals?"
"I met the vigilante," Bruce said, as if he hadn't heard what Alfred said, "He's good. But I think I'm better."
"That's a very complacent attitude, but what are you going to do?" Alfred asked, genuinely curious about Bruce's answers.
"I don't know," Bruce said, his head in his hands, "But I do know that I have a meeting with Oliver Queen in 25 minutes and shouldn't be late for that, he said it was important."
"Well, I do hope it goes better than the last one,"
"So do I."
"Bruce," Oliver stood up and motioned to an armchair in the corner office of Queen Consolidated, "Please sit down."
"Perhaps me being invited might make the conversation go better than our previous encounter," Bruce laughed, as he sat down in the chair, "Now what did you want to talk about."
"You just acquired the Merlyn Global Group," Oliver spoke tensely, "Did you not?"
"I did tell you I was going to do that? Did I not?"
"Yes," Oliver was still quite tense, "But I wanted to make sure."
"Is there a point to this meeting beyond a few formalities?"
"Yes," Oliver stood up and walked to the window, "I had my friend here," He motioned at Diggle, "Call in a few favors, and he found that you went to the same place the Malcolm Merlyn traveled, Nanda Parbat."
"Are you suggesting that I am trying to recreate the device the Malcolm Merlyn used to destroy the glades?" Bruce's eyes narrowed.
"There is a huge hole in your R&D budget," Felicity chimed in.
"Who is this?" Bruce motioned at Felicity, "Your mistress?"
"I wish," Felicity's face went bright red, "I didn't say that out loud did I?"
"You did," Diggle said smiling.
"That's a nasty cut you've got there Oliver," Bruce said changing the subject. "Where'd you get it?"
"I got into a fight with a blender at my club last night," Oliver swiftly evading the question.
"Oliver," Bruce stood up, preparing to leave the room, "If you go public with this story, I have something equally damning about you to go public with. Just remember that," Bruce left the room.
"Wow," Felicity said breaking the silence, "That was like Clash of the Titans."
"Oliver," Diggle said wearily, "What was he talking about?"
"I have no idea."
"How did the meeting go Master Wayne," Alfred spoke as Bruce opened the door of the limousine, "Did he apologize."
"No, that's not his style," There was a minute long pause then, "He thinks I'm trying to recreate the bomb that Merlyn used to destroy the Glades, finish his job for him."
"I would hope that you would inform if you planned to do so," Alfred nearly laughed at this comment.
"It's not far off," Bruce started to muse, "I mean I have a huge hole in the R&D budget and I did just purchase his company. But that's purely circumstantial evidence, they have no smoking gun to put it together. On another note I now know who the Starling City Vigilante is."
"Please don't keep it from me," Alfred said in deep sarcasm.
"Oliver Queen,"
"I do remember something about him being the vigilante about eight months ago. But I believe that he was acquitted of those charges a few days later. How do you know it's him?"
"I gave the vigilante a cut last night, and Oliver had the same exact cut, and when I asked him about it he got pretty shifty,"
"The evidence seems pretty circumstantial to me," Alfred smiled grimly, "But you are the detective not me."
"You have to bring that back on me, don't you?"
"Yes, yes I do,"
"I'm going to call him."
"Let's see," Felicity and Diggle were running down the list of things that Oliver be blackmailed about, "Have you ever killed someone?"
"Really, Felicity?" Oliver raised his eyebrow, "I think you know the answer to that question."
"Maybe he knows you're the vigilante," Diggle said, lifting his head from his hands.
"John are you okay?" Oliver almost never used Diggle's first name, that's Felicity knew something was up.
"I'm going to take a bathroom break," Felicity said with a noticeably fake smile, and with that she left the room.
"I can't stop thinking about him," Diggle said, "I don't know why now more than ever, I just can't stop seeing Andy's face, his unmistakable smile."
"Do you need the day off?"
"No," Diggle nearly shouted, "You need me now, possibly more than with Merlyn. You need somebody to tell you that Batman is not the bad guy. And you definitely need somebody besides Felicity to help you figure out what Wayne knows."
"All right," Oliver held up his hands, "I was just trying to be nice."
RING Oliver's phone started to ring, RING RING RING
"You going to answer that?" Diggle asked, as Oliver looked at the phone.
"I don't recognize the number."
"You should still pick it up."
"Hello," Oliver said as he answered the phone, "Who is this?"
"This is Batman," The voice masked by the same technology that Oliver used for talking to Detective Lance, "I think we should cut a deal."
"What kind of deal?"
"Cut the crap Queen," The voice was only becoming more menacing, "I know you're the vigilante. But I also know that we are not on different sides."
"What do you want?" Oliver asked trying not to sound scared.
"There's a contract killer that just moved here," Batman said, "His name is Lawrence Crock, he also goes by the Sportsmaster, He's meeting with the head of your triad, China White, tonight. I think a combined effort will be very helpful in this attack."
"How do I know that I can trust you?" Felicity walked in at that very moment.
"Hey guys you ok..." Diggle waved her off.
"You don't," Batman said again, "Meet me on the top floor of the Wayne Enterprises building, tonight at 21:30. Don't be late."
The phone went dead, and Oliver's face went white.
"Who was that?" Felicity asked with much trepidation.
"Batman," Oliver said, "He wants me to meet him on the top floor of Wayne Enterprises tonight at 9:30."
"Are you gonna go?"
"Yes. I need to."
"You said you were going to visit your mother today." Diggle said, concerned
"This takes precedence."
"If you're sure."
NEXT: LAUREL &... BRUCE?!
A/N: So tell me what you think! Do you have any suggestions? I'd like to hear them.
