A/N: Hello, wonderful readers! Please read the warning for this chapter. WARNING: discussions of human trafficking and past child sexual abuse, as well as implied statutory rape. However, nothing is discussed in detail or explicitly.

Please read on and leave a review.

[May 2014]

Red Arrow waited for Green Arrow to join him on a rooftop. The younger archer dropped down next to him and crouched down. "What's going on?" he asked.

"We're helping Detective Rodgseron," Red Arrow replied.

"…Are we helping him with or without his knowledge?"

"That's not the point. We have to start building a relationship with the police somehow."

"By showing up uninvited at their crime scenes?"

Red Arrow smiled. "Detective Rodgseron needed my help tracking down a missing girl as a P.I. We found her, but after he mentioned that he was working on a bug human trafficking bust tonight."

"And how did you figure out he'd be at this exact place?"

"Police radios." Red Arrow scanned the ground and spotted Detective Rodgerson on the edge of the motel parking lot. "Be right back, GA. Stay here and-"

"Stay vigilant. I got it."

Red Arrow nodded, then dropped from the roof of the building. It was only a two-story building, so he was able to drop to the ground and roll to absorb his momentum. "Good evening, Detective," he greeted.

"Evening, Archer," Detective Rodgerson said.

"Funny running into you here."

"Yeah…" There was a moment of awkward silence between them.

"So what's going on tonight?"

Rodgerson sighed a little. "I have intel that says this motel is a…hub for human trafficking."

"And do you need my help?"

"No! I don't need your help. The Star City police don't need the help of vigilantes." It was quiet for several seconds. "But…did me a favor by tipping me off about the bank robbers."

'And I'm sure the fact that every single one of them was arraigned with a list of felonies and will likely be going to prison for a long time has nothing to do with this,' Red Arrow thought. Building common ground and working relationship with at least a few police officers was always worth it to him. "Are you raiding this whole motel or..?"

"The second level rooms 212 through 216. That's the most narrowed down I could get my intel."

"Well, I appreciate the tip-off."

"Mhm…" Detective Rodgerson nodded. "Just don't mess this up."

"You got it." Red Arrow used a grapple arrow to climb back to the roof quickly and rejoined his partner. He watched Detective Rodgerson head back toward an unmarked police car as more cars, all with their lights off, slowly started pulling in. Red Arrow looked at Green Arrow, then nodded his head at the motel. "I was right about the police raiding this place," he said. "We're going to drop in and make sure everything goes smoothly. Neutralize any weapons and try to keep people from getting hurt. Got it?"

"I got it," Green Arrow replied.

"You'll be in an enclosed space, so keep the arrows to a minimum and be extremely careful of any you shoot."

"Ok." Green Arrow nodded as he mentally picked out arrows that he could successfully use in a motel room and keep damage to a minimum. 'We're making it safer for the police. Nice and simple.' It wasn't a glamorous or exciting job, but he didn't mind. As long as he was helping people, it didn't matter.

Red Arrow pointed at the motel that was below them in the adjacent property. "The police will be searching for rooms 212-216. I'll start at 212, you start at 216. Go in through a back window and do a quick sweep for weapons."

"Understood."

"Let's go." Red Arrow leaped from the rooftop with Green Arrow right behind him. The two vigilantes used the smallest ridges to lower themselves to the ground. They used the shadows to run across the nearly deserted back lot of the motel, then split up. Red Arrow looked up at the balcony, then climbed up the railing of the first floor. Standing on the metal bar, he could jump and grab the railing of the second-floor balcony. Red Arrow pulled himself onto the balcony— thankfully the shades were drawn across the doors— and he balanced across the top of the railing, then jumped to the window. His fingers clutched at the small ledge for a moment before he slid the window open. With a nearly silent grunt, Red Arrow heaved himself through the small window where he did a small flip as he landed. He landed in the bathroom, minus the sink and countertop, and carefully crept toward the door. It cracked open and he could only see the slightest movements of the people on the other side.

"—have clients to meet in 10 minutes!" a man snapped, clearly irritated. "Let's go."

"Beauty takes time, Richard," a young woman's voice replied.

"Yeah, we'll make more money if you actually give us more time to prepare," another, younger female voice added. There was a flash of someone's hand through the crack in the door, before it as jerked back. There was a yelp! and the unmistakable sound of someone being slapped. A jolt of anger went through Red Arrow was he flinched.

"Merchandise, Richard," the first female voice said. "You can't damage the merchandise."

"I wouldn't have to if that girl would stop talking back," the man, Richard, said. "Alexis, get her some cover-up. I don't want her to use this as an excuse for why she didn't meet her quota for the night."

"Just hope it doesn't swell," a third voice, Alexis, said.

Red Arrow moved back from the door and put his hand to his comm. "GA, you ready?" he asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I can hear the police coming," Green Arrow replied as he put his back in a corner. His bow was stowed on his back and his eyes were scanning the room intently. Unlike Red Arrow, the occupants of his room were asleep, allowing him to stand silently in the corner.

"Stay alert." Red Arrow instructed. The pounding of feet on the stairs outside pulled him back to his own room. He took a deep breath, then moved closer to the bathroom door again. It was largely silent from the occupants of the room, save for a few comments about make-up or outfits. Exactly 10 seconds later, there was a loud bang and frenzied shouting.

"Star City police!" a loud voice yelled. "Get on the ground, hands up!"

"What the fuck?!" one of the women yelled as Red Arrow stepped out of the bathroom. He immediately ran into two people, the man, who he assumed was Richard and a girl who clung to his hand like he was going to protect her from the police. Richard grabbed the arm of the girl who was clinging to him and threw her at Red Arrow. The vigilante caught her and the girl immediately started kicking him in the shins.

"Ow! Ow! Hey, stop it!" Red Arrow gasped.

"Let go!" the girl shouted.

"I don't want to hurt you!" The girl took a swing at him and Red Arrow grabbed her wrists. At some point in the chaos, someone turned the lights on. It gave Red Arrow a chance to get a good look at her face. She was young, obviously a teenager, with blonde hair and blue eyes. "Hey, don't I know you?"

The girl stopped struggling and gave him an obviously forced, confused look. "Uh…no?"

"Yeah, I do. It's…Maya- No, Mia! It's Mia, right?"

"…Yeah. You remembered?"

"Well…yeah." Red Arrow released her wrists and looked around. "Looks like all your friends are gone."

"Yeah…" Mia glanced toward the windows where the blue and red lights of police cars bounced around outside, then at the open sliding doors that led to the balcony. "Do you think he-"

"It's not far enough to kill him. Judging by his height, if he dropped from the balcony he'd be fine."

"Oh. Good." Mia looked at Red Arrow, then down at her wrists. The motion allowed the vigilante to see a half-covered up mark on her cheek.

"Did he hit you?"

Mia's eyes went from uncertain to defensive in a half a second. "What's it to you if he did?"

"I just to make sure you're ok."

"Is that why you're restraining me?" Red Arrow released her wrists and Mia crossed her arms stubbornly. She glanced around, but the room was empty except for them. It looked as though the police had left with the other two women in the room. "Are you going to take me to the police?"

"…I don't really have a choice."

"So they can arrest me like Alexis and Jessica?"

Red Arrow hesitated for a moment. "We don't have to go at the moment. We can stay here."

"Just to put off the inevitable?"

"Do you know of anything else we can do?"

"…You could just let me go."

"I can't do that."

"Why, because I'm a criminal?"

"No, because the authorities need to make sure you're ok."

Mia scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Please. I know what's going to happen. They'll send me to juvie or put me in a foster home- where I will run away. So you might as well just let me go now."

Red Arrow's comm beeped in his ear. "I'm moving to the third room now," Green Arrow said quietly. "How're you doing?"

'How am I doing?' Red Arrow thought as he watched the girl shifted on her feet. He put his hand on his comm slowly. "Keep going until Room 213, GA," he responded.

"Why, is everything ok?"

"Everything is fine, I just have something to take care of here."

"Ok."

Mia gave him an apprehensive look. "You letting me go, or what?"

Red Arrow was quiet for a moment. "If I let you go, where will you go?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean where will you sleep? Who will feed you? Clothe you? You're…16?"

"…14."

Red Arrow physically bit his tongue to keep himself from swearing. The outfit and make-up she was wearing made her look older than she was; which he supposed was probably the point. "That just proves my point even more."

Mia glared at him. "I'll find Richard and he can take care of me. Like he always has."

"Richard…the guy who hit you?"

"Don't say it like that. I- I was mouthing off to him and I know I shouldn't have done that."

"Mia-" Roy hesitated, knowing that trying to tackle that particular topic right now wouldn't get him far, so he took a different route. "Richard traffics you-"

"No, he doesn't! Trafficking happens to people who are kidnapped in white vans and tied up! I can leave at any time."

"…Can you?"

Something akin to fear flickered across Mia's face for a moment before she banished it and doubled-down on her glare. "Of course I can. I just choose to stay."

"Why?"

"Because- Because Richard loves me! He takes care of me!"

"By making you have sex with men for money?" While she was under the age of consent.

"He doesn't…make me. Richard took me in when I had nowhere to go and helped me when no one else cared what happened to me. So he asks me to help out by earning some money. I'm 14, how else am I supposed to do it?"

There was a long moment when Red Arrow didn't know how to respond, but Mia kept going.

"He does everything for me and all he asks in return is I do something for him. It's what any good girlfriend would do."

"And the two other women who were here…they're also his girlfriends?"

"So a guy can't have more than one girlfriend? Didn't know you were such a prude."

Red Arrow resisted the urge to sigh. 'How do I get through to her?' He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "I know how it feels to think that you owe someone like that-"

Mia snorted. "Yeah, right."

"I do."

"Please, don't make up some stupid story to try and-" She stopped when Red Arrow pulled off one of his gloves and showed her his hand. Mia examined it cautiously. Her eyes slowly widened when she realized it was a burn scar. "Holy shit- What the fuck happened?!"

"Language When I was younger— I was your age actually— my…guardian was abusive. He hit me and neglected me. I had the opportunity to leave, but I didn't though because I was convinced I had to stay out of an obligation to him. But I didn't owe him anything and you don't owe…Richard anything."

Mia looked down to hide the unsure look on her face. "Maybe I don't owe him, but I want to do it."

"Do you?" There was no immediate response. Red Arrow tried not to sigh as he put his glove back on. "Mia, if you come with me, I promise I can get you help. I'll take you to people who will take care of you and you won't have to do this anymore."

Mia rolled her eyes. "Yeah… Sure…"

"I mean it. I'll be there with you-"

"Yeah, until you dump me with the police so you can move on with your life and never think about me again."

Red Arrow was quiet for a moment. "How about this, if you let me take you to the police, an officer who I trust and can attest for, and you go with them and do what they say…then I'll come to visit you."

"What if they send me to juvie?"

'If I have to I'll talk to Rodgerson and see if he can't pull a few strings to keep her out of there,' Red Arrow thought. 'She may have broken the law, but she's underaged and a victim. Not a hardened criminal.' He shrugged. "I have my ways. So, how about it?"

Mia mulled it over for a second. "You swear you'll come to check up on me?"

"Yes. I promise."

"…Fine." Logically, Mia knew she had no reason to trust the vigilante. 'Except he's helped me before and he…gets my situation. Kind of. Even if Richard will be pissed if I went with the police.' She glanced in the direction of the sliding doors as she followed Red Arrow out of the motel room. 'And it's not like it'll be forever. Just a few days. And it'll be nice to have a few nights off before Richard comes to get me.' Because he would come to get her. 'He always says I'm his favorite. It's just like a vacation. I'll be fine.'

Red Arrow led Mia outside and down the stairs to the parking lot. He did a quick scan of the area before he spotted Detective Rodgerson and looked back at Mia. "This way," he said.

Rodgerson gave him a look surprise, which quickly morphed into suspicion when he saw the teenage girl walking behind the vigilante. "What's going on?" he asked.

"Detective Rodgerson, this is Mia. Mia, this is Detective Rodgerson, he's a …ally of mine. We've worked together."

"Sup?" Mia nodded, crossing her arms to hide her uncertainty.

"Nice to meet you, Mia," Rodgerson greeted, most of his suspicion gone in a second.

"Mia is…one of the young women who were caught up in your raid," Red Arrow explained to the questioning look he got from the detective. "I assured her I would escort her safely to a responsible officer who will take care of her."

"Of course." Rodgerson smiled at Mia. "Why don't you come with me and I can take you down to the station."

"…Do I have a choice?"

Rodgerson opened his mouth, but Red Arrow jumped in before he could say anything. "Of course you have a choice," he said. "But we had a deal…remember?"

Mia nodded. "You'll keep your promise?"

"Of course. What kind of hero would I be if I didn't keep my word?"

Mia shrugged. "True, I guess. Ok, I'll go to the station."

"Good. Take it easy, kid, ok?"

"I'll…try."

"Ok. Detective."

"Archer," Rodgerson replied.

Red Arrow left and joined Green Arrow on the rooftop of the building where they'd been earlier that night. When he got to the rooftop, he looked back for a moment, but Mia had disappeared into the back of Detective Rodgerson's police car.

"Red Arrow?" Green Arrow asked. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah… Everything's fine."

"Are you sure? Because you only swept one room and then you went radio silent for a while."

"I…was talking to someone." He sighed, then checked the time. "Let's go. We can probably get another couple hours of patrolling in before I have to get you home."

"We could stay out later tonight."

" Nope. You have school tomorrow."

"Ugh… Fine…"

— —

Mia didn't move until she'd watched Red Arrow disappear into the darkness. Only then did she turn to the man beside her. "Lead the way Detective Rogers," she said.

"Detective Rodgerson," he replied. "Come on."

'There's no sign of the others…' Mia thought. "Do you know where two girls named Alexis and Jessica are?"

"I don't. Were they in the room with you?"

"Yeah."

"Are they minors?"

"…No. Alexis is 18 and Jessica is 19."

"If they're adults then someone has probably already taken them to the station. Come on." He opened the back door of his car and Mia hesitated for a moment before she slid in.

The door closed and she put her hands in her lap and squeezed them into fists to try and hide the shaking. A shiver went down her spine as goosebumps rose on her arms. It was chilly in the car and the skimpy dress she was wearing wasn't doing anything to help. She kept her head down and tried not to let her hands rub her arms as the detective got in the driver's seat.

"Are you cold?"

"No. I'm fine." Mia looked out the window at the city as it passed. Her cheek was still stinging a little from when Richard had hit her earlier. 'I bet he won't even buy me a new necklace like last time. He'll just say this little vacation was all I needed. I wonder where he ran off to. If the police got him too or just me and the other girls.' The thoughts of her boyfriend stayed with Mia until they reached the police station. The detective helped her out of the car, then she followed him inside. There weren't a lot of people around, but the few that were turned their heads and stared at her. Mia felt her metaphorical hackles raise that the judgmental hardness in their gazes. 'Like none of them have ever seen a prostitute before,' she thought.

Detective Rodgerson led Mia into his office, then shut the door so it was only cracked open. "Ok, Mia," he said. "What's your last name?"

"…Dearden."

"Mia Dearden. Ok. Just wait a minute, Mia." Detective Rodgerson picked up his desk phone. "Hello, this Detective Micheal Rodgerson with the Star City police. I have a minor at the station who was picked up in a human trafficking sting and I need a caseworker. OK. Thank you." He hung up and looked at Mia. "Department of Human Services is sending a social worker over."

"Why do I need a social worker?"

"Well…It's the standard practice in these situations. Once I gather all the facts about your background, your social worker and I will make a determination about where you need to be in regards to going home."

Mia stiffened. "I don't want to go home. You might as well just send me to juvie."

"Why don't you want to go home?" All he got in response was a glare and Detective Rodgerson wisely decided to move on. "It's standard policy to run your name through our database for missing children. Any clue if it'll come up?"

"…Probably."

"Were you taken against your will?"

"No. I ran away from home when I 12."

"Why?"

Mia's hands clenched the seat of the chair where she was sitting. "…Because."

"Because, why?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"It's my job to know these things. I'll need to know what to tell the social worker who comes to collect you."

Mia bit her lip before slowly lowering her gaze to glare at the ground. Her voice visibly shook when she spoke again. "Because my dad was raping me every night."

"I'm very sorry to hear that, Mia. Was child protective services ever called?"

"No."

"Did you eve try to tell anyone?"

"No."

"And how long have you been trafficked-"

"I'm not being trafficked! Christ, why does everyone keep saying that?! Kids who get trafficked are snatched from playgrounds by pedophiles! That's not what happened! I ran away from home willingly because my dear old man wouldn't keep his hands off me and when Richard needed me to help out I agreed to the prostitution! It was all consensual!"

Detective Rodgerson tried not to blink. It was physically painful for him to see such a young girl so oblivious to the true nature of her situation. He wasn't, however, surprised. Having experience with trafficking victims, he knew what topics to push and which to let go. "Who's Richard?"

Mia tried not to gasp as cold fear flooded her veins and her heart stopped. 'Oh fuck. Fuck, tell me I didn't just give his name to the police?! Jesus fucking Christ, Mia, good job.' Her stomach churned at the thought of what Richard would say— what he would do— when he found out she'd just given his name to the police. "Th- That's not his real name! It's a fake!"

"A fake?"

"Yeah!"

"Ok." Detective Rodgerson made a note on his notepad. "Given your…situation. I'll probably recommend your social worker take you to an emergency foster home tonight."

"You're not going to arrest me for being a hooker?"

"No. While I do have to file a complaint in juvenile court, it'll be a few days before you have to appear before a judge and there are…other avenues we can pursue before considering criminal charges."

"Oh. Ok."

"Can you tell me your parent's names?"

"My dad's name is Travis Dearden and my mom's name is Lillian Dearden. Don't bother with my mom though. She ran out on me and my dad when I was young." She clenched her teeth. 'Which is when everything went to hell.'

"And what is your dad's last known address?"

Mia gave him the address of the tiny one-bedroom apartment where she and her dad had been living when she left for school one morning and never came home. "Why do you need to know if you're not sending me back?"

"We still need to do an investigation around the circumstances of you running away."

"Oh." Mia's stomach growled and she felt her face flush.

Detective Rodgerson merely smiled and pulled some money out of his wallet. "There's a vending machine down to the hall, take the first left. Go get yourself a snack. You earned it."

"Uh…Thanks." Mia took the money, then went off to find the vending machine. She kept an eye out for Alexis and Jessica as she walked, hoping she'd see them, but they were nowhere to be found. 'I wonder if they got in more trouble than I did because they're adults.' She hoped not. That seemed really unfair. After all, she'd consented to the sex they had just as much. Even if she didn't find her friends, she did find the vending machine and got herself a pack of gummy worms and a small bag of crackers. She tore into the gummy worms on her walk back to Rodgerson's office and was halfway through them by the time she got back. When she walked in, she was momentarily thrown off by the new addition sitting there. The newcomer was a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair who was surprisingly well put together for it befit the middle of the night.

"There she is," Detective Rodgerson said with a smile. He gestured to Mia as she sat in the other chair across the desk from him. "This is Mia Dearden. Mia, this is Sophie Greggs, your caseworker."

"Temporary caseworker," Sophie corrected as she held out her hand Mia. "You'll receive a more permanent social worker once we figure out what we're dealing with."

"Ok," Mia responded simply.

"Here." Sophie handed her a backpack. "There's a change of clothes in there for you."

"Oh… Thanks." Mia looked at Rodgerson, who nodded encouragingly.

"Bathroom's in the same hall as the vending machine."

"Why don't you go change while I talk to Detective Rodgerson?" Sophie suggested.

"Sure…" Mia agreed. She stuffed the rest of the gummy worms into her mouth, then grabbed a strap of the backpack. When she got to the bathroom, she locked herself in a stall and started pawing through the bag. Inside was a pair of jeans. a t-shirt, a pair of socks, underwear, a pair of shoes, a thin hoodie, and a set of pajamas. 'Just some essentials, then,' she thought as she wiggled out of the dress she was wearing. The jeans were a little big, but Mia simply used the small sash from the waist of her dress as a makeshift belt. Everything was too big, but it was better than nothing. She shoved her dress and heels into the bag, then exited the stall.

When she looked at herself in the mirror she was struck by how weird she looked now. Her hair and make-up looked so out of place with such bland clothing. She dropped the bag and grabbed several paper towels. Wetting them didn't remove the make-up as easily as make-up wipes, but it got the job done. Off came the eye shadow and mascara. Gone was the carefully applied concealer and contrast meant to make her look older than she really was. When she was done, Mia stared at herself in the mirror for a few seconds. The hoodie was too big, like everything else, hiding her body from the world; which was a stark difference from the types of clothes she'd worn the past year. She looked like a regular 14-year-old now.

'Except I'm not normal,' Mia thought as she grabbed the bag and left the bathroom; her bag of crackers stuffed into the front pocket of the hoodie. 'I'm a whore. A fucking prostitute. Richard may have his issues but he loves me for who I am. Maybe it's not a great life, but it's mine. This is just who I am. This is what it's been like the majority of my life. What other life could I have?' And who, in complete honesty, would be willing to give her a good life like Richard? Who would look at her and see anything other than what she currently was?