An Uneasy Feeling
Alfred had just woke up, it was 5:00 a.m. He puts on his everyday attire, a suit and bow-tie, and he goes to check on Dick who had made it back late last night and was still in bed. He then makes his toward Bruce's bedroom and opens the door. He finds that the bed had been untouched since he made it up yesterday, which prompted him to go to the only place he could be at the time.
The elevator doors slid open to the batcave and revealed Bruce leaning back comfortably against the chair, still in his under-armor that he wears under the suit.
"I didn't hear you come in last night sir." Alfred said as he walked toward Bruce, "I'm guessing sleep was not in the schedule for last night?"
"I've been up going over the files of the 23 dead bodies. All of them shared similar wounds, either lash marks or an arrow entry," Bruce said as he got up from his chair and walked toward a table holding files and pictures, " but there was something that stood out to me..."
Bruce picked up a picture and gave it to Alfred who cringed at the sight of the dead body.
"I ran a couple more tests on the people who were struck by arrows and found that all of entry wounds in the victims had residue of Teak. It's a wood indigenous to Southeastern Asia and some parts of Africa." Bruce continues, "Most arrows used today are made of carbon fiber or even fiber glass."
"So our perp is "stuck in the middle ages" as they say." Alfred states, placing the picture back on the table.
"Not only that, the entry marks made by the arrow head looks familiar to me. I tried cross-referencing the wounds to customized arrowheads but they came out negative." Bruce said disappointingly as he stared back at the giant monitors.
Seeing that Bruce was clearly stressed out, but did not show it, Alfred tried to take his mind off of things.
"Sir, may I suggest a break?"
"Not now, I'm busy." Bruce says coldly as he starts typing one of the many keyboards at his station.
"May I remind you that you too are a human being and deserve a day off Master Bruce." Alfred says, walking toward Bruce.
"Crime doesn't take a day off, and neither does Batman." Bruce insisted.
"But Bruce Wayne needs a day to clear his head," Alfred argues, "that way you can come to the conclusions you are looking for."
Bruce knew Alfred had a point, it's been the fourth straight night he's been at it and his fatigue was starting to show. Bruce turned around and looked at Alfred,
"What's for breakfast?" Bruce grinned.
"Very good sir." Alfred replied as he made his way out of the cave.
Corto Maltese...
Malcolm Merlyn had just finished packing his bags as Thea walks into his room.
"Going somewhere Dad?" Thea asked.
"Going to see an old friend." Malcolm replied.
"Wow," Thea said as she crossed her arms, "I thought you only had associates?"
"Don't worry, it's for business." Malcolm grinned.
"Well with this Blood Bounty still on our heads, do you think that's a good idea?" Thea asked.
Thea and Malcolm moved back to Corto Maltese where they were still off of the radar, after the events with Brick and him taking over the Glades, they saw that too much attention was being brought to Starling City. So they decided to leave.
Malcolm walked up to Thea and placed both hands on both of her shoulders, comforting her.
"I'll be fine," Malcolm says as he gives her a reassuring smile, "besides, you know Oliver won't let anything happen to you."
"You promised not to bring up his name." Thea forced, knowing Oliver's secret as The Arrow but not knowing that he nearly died at the hands of Ra's al Ghul trying to protect her, nor what her father had her do.
Malcolm took his bags and placed them by the door.
"I'll be back in a couple of days, do not worry about me alright?" Malcolm asked.
Thea agreed before Malcolm took his bags and made his way out of the door.
Wayne Enterprises...
As part of Bruce's "day off", he decides to pay his mother and father's heritage a visit. It's been weeks since he's last been there and as CEO, he needed to see what was going on with his company. He walks inside the building to be greeted by the Chairman of Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox.
"Welcome back Mr. Wayne," Lucius says as he and Bruce shakes hands, "you know I've been going to so many CEO meetings, I'm starting to feel like one."
"That may be soon." Bruce replied, "How are we looking?"
"Well, if you're asking if our ratings and profits are still up then we are looking fine. Though the workers are starting to feel that their CEO does not care about them." Lucius answers,
"Is that so?" Bruce asks, Lucius giving him a look.
Bruce walks over to the front desk and climbs on top of it, automatically drawing attention.
"May I have your attention please!" Bruce yells, "I know I have not been here for a while and I do apologize. For your hard work while I've been gone, I'm doubling all of your salaries. Thank you all so much."
Bruce drops down from the desk as people were now talking to each other over what had just happened and started clapping, Lucius giving him a smirk as he and Bruce walked into the elevator.
Wayne Manor...
Dick attended a very prestigious and scholastically credited High School known as Gotham Academy. Being the adopted son of Bruce Wayne, he really had no other choice. He hated the uniforms, but one thing he loved was being around Barbara Gordon. He and Alfred had just got inside the manor when the door rings.
"I'll get it!" Dick yells to Alfred as he walked quickly to the front door.
He opens the door to see a man in a suit and trench coat who gave Dick a friendly smile.
"Can I help you with anything?" Dick asked.
"Yes, I was wondering if Bruce was around? I'm an old friend." The man said.
"Umm, no I think he's out, but if you can give me a name and number I can get him to contact you later on?" Dick replied.
"That's ok, I'll come back another time. Thank you." The man says before walking away, Dick shrugging as he closes the door.
"Who was it Master Dick?" Alfred asks.
"I don't know, some guy in a suit saying he's an old friend of Bruce." Dick says before heading up the stairs.
Wayne Enterprises...
"So Mr. Wayne, how is the new suit?" Lucius asks as he and Bruce sat at Lucius' desk in his office.
"Functional. The Detective Vision you installed in the cowl is phenomenal, and the fire resistance in the suit comes in handy." Bruce says.
"Well when going up against people like "Firefly" who almost burned down the entire city, one must take precautions." Lucius joked, "Any word on the recent murders?"
"Working on that. Whoever is behind it doesn't leave much behind." Bruce answers.
"Well if there is anyone out there who can get answers, it's you Mr. Wayne." Lucius says positively.
Lucius' secretary knocks before she walks in on the two businessmen.
"Sorry to interrupt Mr. Fox, that meeting with the Shareholders is in 5 minutes. Hello Mr. Wayne." The secretary blushes.
"Hello Karen." Bruce says with a smile, making Karen smile harder.
"Well Mr. Wayne, duty calls." Lucius says as they both get up and shake hands.
Elsewhere...
(Two weeks ago)
The place was dark, lit up only by torches around the room. The room was filled with two rows of men who wore gray trench coats and black hoods, assassins.
They were all lined up in front of a man standing in front of what looked like a throne, a throne in which belonged to one of THE most dangerous men in the world, Ra's al Ghul. Beside him was a woman dressed in an elegant assassin attire, his daughter Nyssa al Ghul.
Ra's stood firmly in front of his throne, dressed fitly in ancient garments, robes, and jewelry while sporting a sword when a women walked in, making the rows of assassin split and bow at her feet as she walked toward Ra's and Nyssa.
The woman was brunette, she wore a skin-tight leather catsuit fitted with armored plating on her shoulders and forearm area. She stopped in front of Ra's and Nyssa and kneeled before The Demon and The Heir. Ra's stepped down the podium toward the woman and looked down at her.
"ارتفاع." (Rise.) He says, the woman doing so, "Welcome home my daughter."
Wayne Manor...
It was dead of night and Bruce was in the cave at the monitors going over evidence once again. He just couldn't get over the familiarity of the weaponry. He pressed a call button on the station's keyboard and his monitors started ringing when a female voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Felicity. It's me, Bruce Wayne."
"Bruce? How did you get my number?"
"You're not the only one who can PING a phone Ms. Smoak." Bruce joked, he could hear Felicity smiling.
"Well,I'm guessing this isn't just a friendly chat among friends."
"There has been several murders over the week here in Gotham. One of the suspects used a bow and arrow and since archery is not my forte, I was hoping if Oliver could help me pinpoint the origin of the arrowheads used."
"Oliver is out at the moment, but if you want, you can send me the details and I can have S.T.A.R Labs look into it?"
"That'd be perfect, thank you." Bruce says before hanging up.
Bruce leaned back in his chair as he started twirling around a bat-shaped shuriken that Dick named batarangs. Looking into the monitors, he sees a reflection of a figure that he knew was not Dick or Alfred. Bruce, in one fluid movement, quickly rises from his seat and throws the batarang at the mysterious figure.
The figure uses a nearby book to block the batarang as it lodges itself into the cover. The figure was a man in a suit, the same man who Dick had told Bruce about. Bruce knew all too well who he was as he glared at the man. The man slowly lowered the book with the batarang lodged in it.
"Merlyn." Bruce says, his voice a serious and gritty tone.
Malcolm Merlyn stood tall as he smiled at the billionaire.
"Hello Bruce. We need to talk."