Title -Deadly Secrets

Summary- Green Arrow enlists the held of the master detective to find his missing ward.

DC owns all characters.

Rated M+

Part 1

A cool wind whispered across the rooftops as a shadowy figure appeared, silhouetted in the darkness by the moonlight that shone behind him..his paused, eye's watching the streets below for signs of movement, standing solidly, his arms folded across his chest. It had been a rare quiet night on the streets of Gotham..with only minor crimes that required the intervention of the city's resident vigilante crimefighter..Batman made the decision the return home..and readied himself to move off when a soft sound from behind him reached his ears. He froze, listening carefully..then relaxed slightly as his carefully attuned senses registered who had made the small noise.

"What do you want?" he asked without turning..his deep voice emotionless.

"Sheesh Bats..one day you're gonna have to tell me how you do that."

Batman turned and cast his eye over the colourfully clad Archer that had moved to stand behind him. "I'm sure this isn't a social call Arrow..I'll ask again, what do you want?"

"Friendly little chap ain't ya..Nice to see you too ya big lug." Green Arrow replied..walking to the edge of the roof, and peering down on the street Batman had been watching moments before.

Batman scowled, and resisted the urge to sigh in frustration..very few men could get under his skin in quite the way Green Arrow did..the man irritated him almost as much as the Archers former ward did..But at least Arsenal could blame his irritating ways and lack of restraint on youth and being raised be the annoying Bowman who now stood beside him..Oliver Queen had no such excuse. "I don't have time for games!" he said gruffly.

Green Arrow turned to face the Dark Knight and looked briefly at his eyes before looking away..he found the opaque lenses that covered the eye holes of the other hero's cowl just a little too creepy for his liking..but then he was talking to the king of creepiness here. "Okay..all right, don't get your long johns in a knot..I need your help with something." he said.

"My help?"

"Yeah..that's what I said didn't I!" the Archer replied.

"And you couldn't just pick up the phone?"

"I thought I'd have more chance of gettin ya help if I spoke to you in person..side's the case I'm working on kinda brought me here..So..here I am...You gonna help me or what?"

"What is it you need?"

Green Arrow sighed deeply and turned back to the street..he pulled off his cap and ran his free hand through his hair, before placing the cap back on his head. "One of my boy's has been missing for a week..I've followed every lead I can find... and I haven't turned up nothing worthwhile..The lead I followed here turned out to be worthless." he sighed again.."I need someone who's able to dig deeper than I can to assist on this."

Batman remained silent for a moment, studying the archers demeanour..the Bowman was worried, and it showed clearly. "Which one?"

Arrow turned back to look at the other hero. "Roy..Arsenal..but he wasn't on a case or anything when he vanished..he disappeared as Roy Harper..That alone has me worried, I can understand him getting into strife as Arsenal..but .."

"I'm of the understanding that Harper can be a little..impulsive at times..You've made sure he hasn't just taken some time out..perhaps gone camping..which I've heard he's quite fond of..without telling anyone?"

"He left Lian with a sitter for a couple of hours and never came back...The kid doesn't do that..he'd never leave Lian without making sure he called or contacted the nanny to let them know he wasn't coming home if he suddenly had to go on a case or something...He's a good Dad, that kids his life..No, something bads gone down I know it..I can feel it in my bones."

There was silence for a moment before Batman replied..he had to agree that it would be out of character for the Roy Harper he knew to leave his daughter without making proper arrangements for the child..that was one thing he had to admit, the boy might be impulsive and irritating..but he had his head on right in most cases when it came to his child. "Very well..follow me." he ordered as he turned his back on the other man and shot out a grapnel line, before disappearing over the side of the building.

"I'll take that as an agreeance to help...Though a simple yes Arrow I'd be glad to lend a hand woulda sufficed." the Archer grumbled as he shot off a line of his own.

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Roy swallowed hard as nausea threatened to overwhelm him, he moaned softly and held his stomach as he shivered from cold and shock. Every inch of his body was covered in bruises and abrasions and his muscles ached unbearably.

He opened his eyes and stared at the brick wall of his cell..the smell of stagnant water from the drain outside the small room..and mould from the thin lumpy mattress he was laying on was almost unbearable...He slowing, agonizingly pushed himself to a sitting position..coughing in pain as he did so and spitting blood out onto the floor..once upright he sat still..shaking uncontrollable as he struggled to push the pain and nausea down.

"You shoulda just talked ya stupid bastard."

Roy turned to look at the guard that had appeared by the door..his vision so blurred that he wasn't able to make out more than the man's shape..he said nothing and looked back at the ground, it took too much energy to hold his head up to look at the man.

"They'll leave ya alone for a day or two..So ya better use the time wisely and think about telling them what they wanna hear." the man said as he jingled a set of key's against the cell door as he opened it.

"I..I don't know what they want." Roy whispered hoarsely.

The guard laughed. "I'm sure ya don't..now..It's amazing how much a couple more interrogation sessions can help loosen tongues...Here..eat it, it's all ya get till tomorrow." he said as he placed a bowl of lumpy gruel like food on the mattress beside the red head.

Roy looked at the blurry, slimy grey mess and felt vomit rise to his throat..even the thought of eating it almost made him lose control of his churning stomach..At least until today they had been feeding him something that resembled real food..not this disgusting slop..But today a lot of things had changed..they had tried to get the information they were after in more subtle ways until now..He knew what they wanted..and they knew he knew what they wanted..They'd upped the stakes today..the game had just gotten harder to play, and Roy hoped he had what it took to get through what lay ahead.

end 1