When Alfred opened the door he definitely wasn't expecting to find the Gotham City Police standing in front of him. However, he was Alfred, so he recovered from his shock before anyone could notice and politely said, "Good morning Commissioner Gordon."

"Good morning Mr. Pennyworth," Gordon nodded in reply. "I was wondering if I could speak to Mr. Wayne?"

"Of course. Would you please wait out here for a moment. Last I checked he was busy doing work for the company."

"Yes of course. I'd never want to inconvenience him."

Alfred nodded and shut the door. He briskly made his way to the den where Roy and Dick were watching tv and Bruce was reading. "The Gotham City police are at the front door, sir."

"Very funny Alfred," Bruce said without looking up.

"I am very well known for my sense of humor sir, however at the moment, I am being completely serious. Commissioner Gordon is at the door with three of Gotham's finest."

"Why?" Dick asked, not missing the way Roy's body went rigid.

"He didn't say."

Bruce stood up. "Go let him in Alfred, but take your time."

"Yes, sir."

"Dick, take Roy downstairs and make sure the entrance is secure."

"Come on Roy," Dick said, grabbing his hand. He led the teen to Bruce's study and then down the stairs to the bat cave. "Here." He went over to the computer and brought up the cameras in the Manor. The small windows showed several rooms, including the hall where they slept. He could see Bruce locking his bedroom door, as well as others. "Stay down here and don't worry, ok?"

Roy nodded. "O-ok."

Dick ran back upstairs and made sure the entrance to the cave was securely shut. He then joined Bruce in the den. "He's all set."

"Good," Bruce nodded. Alfred walked in, followed by Commissioner Gordon and three police officers.

"Commissioner Gordon, sir," Alfred said announcing him.

"Good morning Mr. Wayne," Gordon said, shaking the billionaire's hand.

"Good morning Commissioner," Bruce said. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Well….I've come here for permission to search your home."

"Search my home? Can I ask what this is about?"

"This is….there's no easy way to say this….You're aware that Oliver Queen's ward, Roy Harper went missing almost four months ago, right?"

"Yes, I am. It's terrible. I wish there was something I could do for Oliver." He still felt dirty every time he had to pretend to care about that waste of oxygen.

"Did they find him yet?" Dick asked the commissioner, giving him a concerned look.

"I'm afraid not," Gordon told the boy. He turned back to Bruce. "Mr. Queen seems….convinced that you have something to do with Roy's disappearance."

"He thinks I kidnapped Roy?"

"Yes."

"Are you accusing me, Commissioner?"

"No, no, of course not." Gordon was far too aware of the power and influence Bruce had to accuse him of kidnapping. "I'm good friends with Commissioner Lance in Star City. We both agree that Mr. Queen's accusations are nothing more than the ramblings of a worried parent. I only ask that you allow myself and my officers to search the Manor quickly."

"You're not accusing me, but you want to search my home?"

"I'm just trying to help a friend sir. Roy has been missing for months and Mr. Queen is simply….desperate. So is Commissioner Lance. He's under a lot of pressure to close this case and he just wants to be able to say he did everything possible."

"I'm sure."

"My officers and I will be quick. We'll just do a quick sweep and we won't bother you again, I swear."

Bruce nodded. "Go ahead, Commissioner."

"We'll be fast sir." He nodded to his officers, who left the room.

"Dick, why don't you take Commissioner Gordon upstairs?"

"Sure!" Dick grabbed the commissioner's hand. "Right this way sir!"

Gordon smiled as he let the boy lead him up the stairs. "Thank you, Dick, I'd be worried about getting lost."

"That's ok. It's easy to get lost here." They stopped on the floor where the bedrooms were and Gordon opened the first door. "Is this your bedroom?"

"Yup! Aren't you going to go in?" he asked in confusion as Gordon shut the door.

"No, I don't think I need to." He moved on to the next door, but it was locked. "Locked?"

Dick shrugged. "We don't use all the bedrooms, why should they be unlocked."

"That's a fair point." Truthfully, Commissioner Gordon wasn't truly invested in this search. He knew it was pointless. Bruce Wayne wasn't involved in Roy's disappearance. This whole search was for show so he could tell Lance he'd done it. They both knew there was no merit to the accusations. Oliver Queen was simply a worried father who wasn't sleeping enough. Lance wasn't much better. The case was highly publicized and any mistakes on the part of the Star City police would be highly criticized. That, Gordon definitely didn't envy about his friend. Cases like this were hard enough, kids getting snatched from their homes, but with someone as public and rich as Oliver Queen? Gordon would rather be chasing down Arkham escapees. He knew despite having their best detective on the case, the SCPD had no leads and no clues, and the length of the case didn't help. Four months for a kidnapping case usually never ended well. The chances of finding Roy at this point was slim, and getting slimmer. Statistically, the poor kid was probably long dead. Gordon knew in his gut this case was destined to be filed in cold cases and spend eternity gathering dust. 'I suspect Lance knows that too,' he thought as he moved on from another locked door.

"You ok Commissioner?" Dick asked innocently. "You looked really serious."

"I'm fine Dick. This is just a very serious situation."

"I hope they find Roy soon."

"Did you ever meet him?"

"Once. We played video games together. He was really nice, but he was shy too. Still really nice though."

"Was he good at video games?"

"He was great. I was really sad when Bruce told me he was missing." Dick hung his head and feigned sadness. A few incoherent, yet sad sounds escaped his lips and he looked up at Gordon. He forced a couple of tears out of his eyes. "It's so sad and now Mr. Queen thinks Bruce did it…."

Gordon quickly knelt down to comfort the boy. "I'm sure he doesn't mean it. Mr. Queen is under a lot of stress right now and he just wants answers."

Dick sniffed. "Do you think you'll find them?"

"If we do, they won't be here in Wayne Manor or even in Gotham; I assure you."

"Ok…" Dick pulled away and Gordon swallowed nervously. He felt really bad for upsetting Dick. One: making children cry was something he tried to avoid. Two: making Bruce Wayne's kid cry was never a good idea.

"Let's go back downstairs, I don't think I'm going to find anything."

"Ok…" Dick lagged behind, quickly wiping his eyes. He smirked as he followed the commissioner. He felt kind of bad for playing with Gordon like that, but he knew they had to get the police out of here as quickly as possible. As soon as Gordon had turned back towards the den Dick went to find another one of the cops to shadow.

Which was also Alfred's current task. He was scrupulously watching the young officer who was methodically going through the rooms on the second floor. "Do try to not make a mess sir," Alfred advised. "After all, I will have to clean it all up and I don't wish to."

"Of course," the officer replied. He licked his lips nervously as he moved on to the next room. He was just a rookie, this was his third day on the job, and as such he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of not only Commissioner Gordon himself, but the richest man in Gotham as well. The butler watching him like a hawk wasn't helping either. After months in Gotham's police academy and getting assigned to the grumpiest desk sergeant in the force, he still had never met a gaze sharper and more severe than Bruce Wayne's butler. In his head, he tried telling himself to go through the usual checklist of things to do when searching. 'This isn't an official search and seizure,' he reminded himself. 'Gordon is just doing this to get the Star Commissioner off his back.' If this was a real search he certainly would've brought more than 3 officers, and they wouldn't be two rookies and an officer who was taken off his beat for reckless endangerment.

"Is this going to take much longer sir?" Alfred asked the cop as he followed him into the fifth room. "I do have other work to do, as does Master Bruce."

"Of course Mr. Pennyworth, we would never waste yours and Mr. Wayne's time."

"I should hope not."

The officer went back to his search, but he tried to move a little faster. He didn't look everywhere, it wasn't like he expected to find this kid hiding in a closet or something. He skipped corners and gazed quickly through each space. With each room, he could actually feel the butler's gaze getting sharper. It got to a point where he started just doing quickly loops in the room to get out as quickly as possible. "I think I'm done here."

"Very good sir. I shall show you back to the den."

Elsewhere in the house, Bruce was watching the officer he shadowed with just as much scrutiny as Alfred had. He let a little bit of his annoyance shine through as he did. This situation was less than ideal. He didn't worry about the Gotham PD finding anything per say, but he knew it wasn't making Roy feel any better; on the contrary, the teen was probably having a panic attack in the Bat cave at that moment. "Is this going to take all day?" Bruce asked the officer. "I have work to do."

"No, Mr. Wayne," the young officer assured him. "We'll be done quickly. I promise."

"You'd better be." He needed to watch himself so he didn't look suspicious. The last thing he needed was the police thinking he was hiding something.

The officer moved at a relatively fast pace, wanting very much to get out of Bruce Wayne's intense gaze. Like his friend, he'd only been on the job for three days. Unfortunately, fake searches weren't covered at the academy, so he had to guess how to get through this. In the end, he decided to just do a quick sweep of the room. Walk in, walk in a circle back to the door while looking, then move on to the next one. Mr. Wayne was never more than three feet from him, which really didn't help. He walked as fast as he could without running. The sooner this was done with the better off everyone would be. He was so relieved when he finally reached the last room and was able to say, "Ok, I'm done here, Mr. Wayne."

"Good."

'God this is boring,' the officer thought as he followed the billionaire. 'Why couldn't I have gotten a bank robbery or something?'

Bruce hoped Gordon and the other two officers were done too as he led this one back to the den. He wanted them out of the Manor.

— —

Down in the bat cave, Roy was pretty sure he'd never remember how to breathe. As soon as Alfred said that the police were at the front door his heart had stopped. 'Oh my god they found me,' was the only thing he'd been able to think while Dick brought him down to the cave. 'They found me, they know I killed that guy and they found me-' His panic didn't get better when Dick left him alone. Despite the ability to see everything that was happening upstairs, he couldn't calm down. The police were in the Manor, it was only a matter of time before they found him. Either one of two things would happen here.

One: the police were going to arrest him for killing that guy

Two: the police were going to arrest Bruce for kidnapping him and send him back to Star City.

Roy swallowed and tried to breathe like Alfred and Bruce were always telling too. 'In…Out…In…Out…In….Out…' His eyes found the camera that was in the hallway with their bedrooms. When the commissioner turned the handle on his room he stopped breathing. Luckily it was locked and after a quick word with Dick, he moved on. 'In…Out…In…Out…' Roy pulled his legs up and hugged them to his chest. His eye never left the screen, flicking between the different officers and trying to figure out if any of them had found evidence of him yet.

Dick shadowed the officer who was looking through study. The man passed by the grandfather clock and Roy stopped breathing. Dick said something to the man who nodded and followed him back out. They went into another room on the first floor, but the police were spending less and less time in each room. There was a burning in Roy's chest as he followed their progress. His hands shook with the prospect of having handcuffs on them. Three of the cops were now back in the den and under the watchful eye of Alfred. The burning got worse and Roy realized he was still holding his breath. He exhaled and forced slow air into his lungs. Panic still had a choke hold on the edges of his mind. He didn't want to go to jail….but he didn't want to go back to Star even more. Just the thought of being taken back to Oliver was terrifying. It made his heart pound and a cold feeling descended in his gut. It was pure terror. He shivered and dared to take his eyes away from the screen so he could put his face in his legs. He stayed like that until Bruce finally came down to the cave.

"Roy?" he said cautiously. Alfred was showing Commissioner Gordon and his officers out. (After more apologizing and reassurances of Bruce's innocence from the commissioner.) Bruce found the boy curled up in his chair. He crouched down in front of him. "Roy the police are gone now. Everything is ok."

Roy slowly brought his head up. "They're gone?"

"Yes, they are."

"They didn't find me."

"No."

Roy swallowed. "They-they would've taken me back to Oliver."

"Roy you're not going back there."

"If the police had found me I don't think it'd be my choice."

"No, but someone from the Justice League would step in."

"How do you know?"

"Because I planned for it." Roy gave him a confused look. "If someone finds out you're here, then Flash will take you to Central City."

"Really?"

"Yes. We'll keep you away from Oliver, I promise." Roy looked down at his legs but didn't lower his head; which Bruce was a little pleased about.

"I really don't want to go back." It honestly surprised Roy how true it was. How scared he was to face Oliver again. He knew Oliver didn't care about him, but he wasn't sad about it. He just wanted to avoid ever seeing the archer ever again. "I'm scared." The confession surprised Bruce.

"You have every right to be. I promise Roy, Oliver's not going to hurt you again." Roy gave him an uncertain look. "I know you don't trust me yet, but it's true." The teen seemed to curl in on himself even more. Bruce was at least on top of things enough to know this meant he was done talking. "Let's go upstairs before Dick and Alfred worry." He stepped back to give Roy space as he got up and walked slowly up the stairs. Bruce walked just behind him; slightly concerned about the silence from Roy. Dick met them in the study and wasted no time grabbing Roy's hand and leading him out.

"How severe was his panic attack sir?" Alfred asked Bruce as he shut the entrance to the cave.

"He didn't have one."

"He didn't?"

"No. He was scared and a little worked up, but no full-blown panic attack."

"Impressive. Did you congratulate him?"

Bruce frowned. "Are you…being sarcastic?"

"Certainly not sir. You did tell Master Roy he did a good job by not having one, correct?"

"No."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "I take it you didn't tell him you were proud of him then?"

"Did I need to?"

Alfred sighed. "Master Bruce, I know compliments are something you think should be given out only when pigs fly, but with Master Roy, you should re-think that. He has very little self-esteem because he was belittled by Oliver Queen for two years. He needs to know that you believe in him and he needs to be told when he's doing well."

"Right…"

"You need to go against your usual habits Master Bruce. Master Roy's mental health depends on it."

"I know." Bruce sat down at his desk and rubbed his face. "This nightmare is far from over."

"How so?"

"I have a party in a few weeks. It's a charity event so all my richest "acquaintances" need to be there."

Alfred nodded, catching up quickly. "Including Oliver Queen."

"Yes. You saw how he reacted to the police Alfred, Roy wouldn't be able to handle Oliver getting this close."

"Can we simply say him sending the police to your house are grounds for no invitation?"

"I wish. I worry that if I don't invite him it'd look too weird and he'd suspect I have something to hide. He already suspects Bruce Wayne has something to do with Roy's disappearance."

"Do you suspect he may have known about Batman and Robin's identities?"

"No, not even he's that good. At most he probably thinks Bruce Wayne is in league with Batman."

"What shall we do sir?"

"I wish I knew Alfred. If I don't invite him it'll make me look guilty. If I do invite him it'll be risky and Roy will probably have a heart attack."

"I trust you to make the right decision sir."

"Thank you, Alfred. I just wish Roy felt the same."

— —

Bruce spent a few hours in his office pretending to work, but really trying to solve his problem. In the end, he gave up and sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. 'If I could just eliminate Queen from my life I'd be happy,' Bruce decided as he stood up. 'I need to work out.' A few rounds with his punching bag would probably make him feel better. Or at least give him an outlet to direct his anger at. So he changed into some more comfortable clothes and made his way down to the Manor gym. He walked in and was taken by surprise when he saw Dick and Roy were already there. Dick was practicing his acrobatics, while Roy was beating on a punching bag. Apparently, Bruce wasn't the only one who needed to get rid of some pent-up energy. He watched Roy for a minute, taking in the punches and kicks that the teen sent at the immobile target. He'd progressed a lot, Alfred was right he was a quick learner, and he was going to need a heavier bag soon.

"Roy," Bruce said, approaching the teen. Roy stopped but didn't back away as Bruce walked towards him. "You've been…doing very well with your fighting skills."

"Thanks," Roy mumbled.

"Since you're doing so well maybe we should bump you up from a punching bag."

"Huh?" Fear started to creep on Roy's face and Bruce knew he had to tread lightly.

"We should start sparring."

"Oh…"

"If you're ready for it though."

"Y-yes. Of course. I-I can do it."

Bruce led Roy over to the part of the gym with the sparring mats and Dick followed them. 'This is dangerous,' he decided as he sat down on the edge of the mats. He had no idea how Roy would react to the sparring and was prepared to step in and help him if needed.

"Ready?" Bruce asked Roy. Roy nodded. "Ok." Bruce took a breath, then swung an easy punch at the teen. Roy stepped back to dodge it with ease. Bruce swung another punch, but Roy dodged it as well. "Good." Another swing was met with another dodge. Bruce moved slowly, taking time for Roy to see what he was doing and when he was coming. The last thing he wanted to do was overwhelm Roy. After a couple of minutes, he sped up and made his punches a little harder. He was still going way easier than he normally would, even against Dick. Another three minutes later though, he noticed something. Roy was staying calm and he was dodging every hit, but he wasn't making any moves to hit back. "Roy you can hit me." Roy just shook his head. "It's ok that's how sparring works."

"N-no." Roy knew he was supposed to. That was the point of doing this after all….but he couldn't bring himself to. His muscles refused to agree or move to strike Bruce. He couldn't shake that nagging feeling in his head warning him not to fight back.

Bruce stopped. "Roy it's ok to hit me."

"I-I can't."

"Let me try Bruce," Dick said. He got to his feet and walked over to them.

"Ok," Bruce nodded. He stepped back and allowed Dick to take his place.

"Come on Roy, let's show him how it's done." Dick swung at Roy with a bit more force than Bruce had. Roy still dodged but didn't raise his hands to hit back. Bruce watched them. Dick was obviously goading Roy into hitting back. Unfortunately, it wasn't working.

"Stop. Roy, it's ok to hit back."

"I-" Roy stammered. "Sorry…"

Bruce sighed. "You don't need to apologize."

"It's easy Roy," Dick told him. "Why won't you do it?"

"I just- I can't."

"Why?"

"You're too small…" Roy looked down at his feet. "I can't- not when you're so small."

Dick clearly didn't understand, but Bruce did. Oliver'd beaten on someone who was smaller and weaker than he was, but Roy didn't want to be like him. "Roy, Dick is perfectly capable of handling himself. If anything he's more of a danger to you than you are to him."

"I can't…"

"What about Bruce?" Dick asked. "He's going easy on you."

Roy kept looking down. He mumbled something but Bruce couldn't make it out. "What was that?" he asked.

"O-Ollie didn't like it when I fought back. It made it worse…"

Realization dawned on Dick's face. "Roy," he said, "it's not like that."

"I know."

'He's not ready,' Bruce decided. "Dick you and I are going to spar. Roy, you should go find something to do."

"Yes, Bruce." Roy left the room and Dick gave Bruce a look.

"Don't give me that look."

"I thought Roy learning to fight was going to help him."

"It will, but we can't push him too hard."

"Do you really think hitting a punching bag will make him more comfortable with hitting people?"

"We don't have anything better. Let's get to work. I have a League meeting tonight and then we have patrol."

"Ok."

— —

"So how's your crazy endeavor going?" Superman asked Batman.

"What'd you mean?" Batman asked.

"Teaching Roy to fight."

"You're teaching Roy to fight?" Flash asked in confusion. "Why?!"

"Is he any good?" Wonder Woman asked.

"He is…progressing well. However, there is a slight problem."

"What is it?" Martian Manhunter asked.

"Roy won't raise his fists to another person. In front of a punching bag, he's doing remarkably well, but he won't fight back against me or Robin."

"Well, you probably remind him too much of Green Arrow," Flash pointed out. "I'm sure if he ever tried to fight back against Oliver it didn't end well for him."

"It's the size of them," Green Lantern agreed. "Batman is a lot bigger than Roy is, but Robin is too small."

"What about Aqualad?" Aquaman offered.

"What about him?" Superman asked.

"He and Roy are the same age."

"They are?!" Flash asked in shock. Truthfully, none of them had really known Aqualad's exact age, or how that translated to human years.

"Of course. They are roughly the same size. Perhaps Roy would feel comfortable fighting with him."

"It's not a bad idea," Wonder Woman nodded.

"Bring Roy next week. Maybe Aqualad can make some progress with him."

Batman nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, this wasn't a terrible idea. "I will." He hated getting help from the League for anything, but to help Roy he was willing to let Aquaman help. Besides, Flash had already helped. And Clark. At this point, what was one more? Besides, Aqualad seemed to have plenty of commons sense. Batman doubted it could hurt.