Chapter 7 – Capture

AN: Only fair to warn you guys that I have changed the rating on this to 'M' just to be on the safe side for this chapter and others that will follow it.

WARNING – this chapter does include torture, slightly beyond that shown on the show. If you are at all sensitive please exercise caution.

AN2: To thank you all for the reviews, and to make up for that long delay you all put up with, I've written a longer chapter for you this time :-) Rennie75 has done her usual fabulous job of beta-ing, despite the real world attempting to get in the way - thanks hun! All mistakes remain mine though :-P

Disclaimer: Usual stuff – Arrow is owned by CW in it's entirety.


"We need back..." Lance got no further than that before dropping to the ground, a fresh knife wound to his arm taking his breath away. Drugged blades his mind registered dimly as everything around him went dark. All the Detective could hear was a dim whistling sound as he passed out.

Lance's POV

Lance came round to find himself tied to a metal chair in a dingy warehouse. As he gradually regained his senses he became aware of his name being said repeatedly.

"Oliver?" He asked confused. "What happened?"

"The Lee brothers were already there, the blades of their knives were coated in some kind of drug." Oliver answered succinctly, sounding pretty angry.

Lance couldn't blame him, he wasn't too impressed with their situation either. Drugged blades, that was a new one on him. Now that Oliver had said it though Lance could remember thinking something about the blades being drugged just as he'd passed out.

Lance looked around him, assessing the situation even though he was sure that Oliver would have already done the same. Doesn't hurt to be thorough. Oliver was hanging from a sturdy looking chain in the middle of the warehouse to the side of Lance's position, his feet just barely touching the floor. There were no windows that Lance could see and only one door. Which meant that whilst there was only one way out, there was also only one way in too for any guards/lowlifes the brothers had working with them.

The only other things he could see in the warehouse were a small table and a second metal chair which were both on the other side of Oliver to Lance. The table had something on it but it was currently covered with a blanket so Lance couldn't make it out what it was. The chair was placed near the table although that chair was empty at present.

Lance couldn't see anything else in the warehouse so his gaze returned to Oliver. Whilst he seemed to have multiple cuts on his torso and arms, none of them appeared to be too deep so Lance wasn't that worried about them. What he was far more worried about however was the fact that Oliver's hood and mask were missing, there was now nothing concealing his identity. He knew from personal experience just how protective Oliver was of his identity and Lance wasn't sure how he was going to react to it being revealed. Lance also noted that Oliver's jacket and shirt had been removed. Before he could get a chance to say anything else to Oliver though Oliver's head suddenly turned towards the door. It took a few more seconds before Lance could also hear the footsteps that Oliver must have reacted to.

Shane Lee came in with a smile on his face that instantly had Lance worried. He knew how twisted both of the brothers were so seeing him smile like that was concerning.

"Well well so what do we have here – the Detective working with the Arrow - a criminal who apparently is none other than Oliver Queen! Doesn't your family have close ties with the Queen family Detective? Wonder what other secrets you're hiding along with your criminal connections Detective – oh no wait you're not a Detective anymore are you. Busted down for working with the Vigilante wasn't it?! Just how far do you think they'll bust you down this time Officer Lance."

"Go to hell." Lance replied refusing to be riled by Shane Lee's predictable attempts to get a rise out of him. Even though there were more ties and connections than Lee could possibly realise between the Lances and the Queens the odds of him discovering them was almost non-existent. Besides if either Lee brother did somehow find out then they would be going up against both Oliver and Sara in angry mode – and the rest of their Team for that matter. Lance knew he had nothing to worry about there.

"How do you think the DA would feel about that information Officer?" Shane sneered. "Of course, that's nothing compared to all those men who will go free when their attorneys find out that the cop who convicted them is bent. Now just how many people would that be again Officer Lance?!"

Lance knew that Shane had a point, but right now it was something he couldn't do anything about. He was also aware that Shane was just trying to get him angry and talking so that he could get the information he truly wanted out of Lance. Just how green does he think I am?

"Okay enough messing around." Devin Lee said as he entered behind his older brother. "Time for some real fun. It's quite simple Detective, I mean Officer Lance, you stole Karen and Lisa from us. That was a mistake and now you have to pay for that. Tell us what we want to know and you can make it easier on yourself though. Where are they?!" Devin finished ominously.

Lance stayed silent, he wasn't going to give them an opening, any opening at all. He was relieved to hear Devin still using Sarah and Lauren's former names and hoped that meant the brothers didn't know their new ones.

"Don't feel like answering questions? That's alright Lance, means I get to have more fun with your friend here." Devin Lee looked over at Oliver with an evil look on his face. "So you're the Arrow then ... Oliver Queen is the Arrow. You've killed a fair few of our friends Oliver, so now it's time for you to pay too."

Devin walked over to the table and grinned at his brother before turning back to face Lance and Oliver as he pulled the blanket off the table. Shit! Lance immediately looked at Oliver but the kid gave no reaction to the car battery now displayed on the table along with a set of leads and crocodile clamps.

The look of pleasure on Devin's face as he'd revealed the car battery was truly disturbing. Lance looked to Oliver for direction on what to do next. Much as he knew he had to protect Sarah and Lauren he couldn't just sit here and let them do this to Oliver. He had dragged Oliver into this after all. Oliver just stayed blank though, not reacting to the sight at all.

"Oh, and just in case you don't think we're serious here's a little taster for you Oliver." Shane sneered as he threw a bucket of water over Oliver, while Devin dragged the table close enough for the leads to reach him. He connected them up before touching the clamps to Oliver's arm and chest. Devin shocked Oliver for a few seconds before stopping and replacing the clamps on the table. He was laughing along with his brother as they both walked towards the door.

Shane stopped just before he left the warehouse and turned back saying "We'll give you a little while to think on things Officer so you can figure out which life means more to you – theirs, or his." He finished with a pointed look at both Oliver and the table.

"Not a word Detective." Oliver growled out the order as soon as the brothers were out of earshot.

Oliver was panting slightly but apart from that he gave no sign of the pain he'd just experienced. Lance couldn't believe that Oliver had barely even made a sound whilst being shocked. How on earth could Oliver do that?

"Are you okay?" Lance said, concern and worry clear in his voice.

"I'm fine Detective. You just make sure you don't give them anything to go on." Oliver ordered completely disregarding what had just happened to him.

"What if it gets too much though, if you can't take any more? Oliver it's my fault that you've been caught up in all this, I can't just sit back and watch them do that to you, watch them torture you!" Lance said letting the distress he was feeling show through into his voice.

"Yes you can Detective!" Oliver insisted emphasising the moniker and Lance realised he was reminding him of his job, his duty as a police officer. "You have an oath to keep, a duty to protect that information and you will keep it. I will not be responsible for those lives being lost because the brothers found out where they are!"

"What about your life Oliver?!"

"My life doesn't count." Oliver replied bluntly. "I made a choice to do this just as you made a choice when you became a cop."

Lance nodded. He agreed about the duty part. But he seriously disagreed with the part about Oliver's life not counting. For that matter he didn't truly agree that Oliver had made a choice either. Oliver hadn't known what would happen when he'd gone on that damn boat. He hadn't chosen to be marooned on that island for five years. Oliver hadn't chosen all the things he would go through there. Not that he's told me much about what the hell did actually happen there!

However, Lance realised that whilst Oliver hadn't chosen any of that, he had chosen how he would deal with all those things, how he would react to them – and he had chosen what he would do, what he did, once he made it back to Starling City.

"So I'm just supposed to sit here and watch them torture you?!" Lance said incredulously. Much to Lance's surprise Oliver didn't seem to be even slightly fazed by the thought of what the Lee brothers had promised was to come, by what Devin had already done.

"Yes Detective, silently. You will not breathe a word to them." Oliver ordered. "They will not be finding out where their victims are now." He finished, growling the rest of the order.

Lance noticed that Oliver wasn't using Sarah's or Lauren's names even though he knew them. He realised that Oliver wasn't taking any chances on the brothers finding out even the smallest amount of information about their new identities.

"And what if it's too much for you?" Lance repeated his earlier question with genuine concern.

"That won't happen." Oliver replied sounding incredibly certain.

Lance realised once again that Oliver wasn't bragging, he was simply being honest. Lance couldn't understand how Oliver could be so very sure of himself when they were stuck in this position – especially when that the car battery had just been used on him, had been purposely left in full view of them both – and yet, somehow, Oliver was that certain he wouldn't break.

"Because I've survived far worse than they can ever imagine." Oliver said without elaborating and it was clear the matter was closed. Again with the mind reading!

Lance nodded going quiet. Thoughts of just what the hell had Oliver gone through to make him not the slightest bit daunted by the promise of electric shock torture, or by what Devin had already done to him, went through Lance's head. Yet just one look at the kid's face so full of determination, his body covered with the evidence of his past, was enough to convince Lance of the truth of Oliver's words.


AN2: You know the deal guys - please do let me know what you think. Favs, follows, and reviews feed the Muse! Thank you :-)