A Visit to Gotham. Written with neverontime.
The bat cave was oddly comfortable for Bruce, even with the damp walls glistening with condensation. His suit kept him warm and the fact that no one was around, well, that definitely helped with the atmosphere. Sometimes, he just liked to sit there, even if he had no active cases going on (which really was a lie -- he always had active cases, just some he liked to work on more than others). Tonight, however, he really did have one that was just driving him nuts. It wasn't any criminal he was aware of, and he was getting more and more stumped by the moment. In fact, he was sitting in front of his monitor, clicking through various news reports when Alfred came over, clearing his throat.
"Master Queen is upstairs, sir."
Bruce nodded, a smile involuntarily crossing his face. It'd been a few days since he'd talked to his best friend and as usual, his timing was perfect. He could run some ideas past him. It didn't matter that Ollie's territory was Star City, and Bruce's was Gotham. They helped each other when they could, watched each other's backs, as it were. This had annoyed Tim once or twice, but Bruce ignored him. Tim needed to focus more on his own work, and stop worrying about Bruce's.
Coming upstairs, Bruce changed quickly into a pair of slacks and a tshirt, and walked into the sitting room where his friend was waiting. "You're looking old, Ollie," he stated matter-of-factly. "I can refer you to an excellent plastic surgeon if you'd like. Does wonders with hair plugs."
Oliver smirked in return. "You would know," he responded, leaning back on the sofa he was sitting on. It had been awhile since he'd been to Gotham, and while he didn't miss the city, he had missed his friend. "What's new?" he asked, raising his eyebrows as he studied Bruce intently.
Bruce thought for a moment before answering. "You want the public information or the private information?" Obviously, there'd be a rather large difference between the two.
"Both, actually." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
Where to begin? Bruce wasn't even sure, but he tried anyways. "Well, on the public front, I'm pretty sure Wayne Enterprises is making more money than your business, so that's always a plus. On the private front....well, I'm not so sure. There seems to be a new criminal around, and I don't know anything about him. But, let's be honest here: I'm amazing, and I'll figure it out. How are you?"
"Actually reputable sources say our businesses are tied financially but apparently we're both making less than Lex Luthor." He made a face. "Tell me more about this new criminal," he said with interest, watching his friend intently.
"Reputable sources are boring, Ollie," Bruce stated matter-of-factly. "I like to think I'm doing better, and we'll just leave it at that." And now on to the next topic. The smile that was on his face tightened, but didn't leave. "I don't know much about this new one," he confessed. "There's something about his style that reminds me of someone, but it definitely isn't a Gotham criminal." Moving over to the computer, he typed in a few things, and an image came up on the television screen. "This is Katie Roberts." The girl in question was smiling and looked happy. "She's been missing for three days." He clicked another button. "This is Felicia Tannis." The similiarities between the two girls was startling. "Missing for a week." Another button clicked. "And this is Samantha Lehey." It was as if the girls were triplets. All blonde hair, blue eyes, delicate features. "Missing for a month." Bruce frowned and looked at Ollie. "They're the same age, same grade, same interests, same features...and yet according to their parents, the girls had never spoken to one another. Felicia was from the Narrows. Samantha from the country club set. Katie's parents are teachers, middle class." He crossed his arms, his jaw clenching a little. "I don't even know what to make of it."
Oliver grimaced as he looked over the images, knowing all too well that this wasn't good. "What makes you sure it isn't a Gotham criminal?" he asked, glancing at his friend curiously before looking back at the screen and studying the three girls intently. He frowned deeply, his own muscles tense. If someone was taking girls at decreasingly regular intervals, the next one would be soon. Possibly that same day even.
Bruce didn't answer at first. It was a good question and he had absolutely no facts to base it on. "I just have a feeling. If it was Joker, or Riddler, I'd have some clues. They can't handle anonymity. If it was Two-Face, the girls would have shown up dead by now. In fact, they would've shown up dead regardless of who they are....as it is, we have nothing. They vanished. Got on the bus to go to school, and never showed up at school. How the hell do three girls disappear on a bus full of people?" Bruce had tried to figure out the answer to this for a while. "I've done a search on other girls that match the physical description perfectly, but it's too many to count. There has to be another link. Has to."
"I assume you've checked out the drivers already," Oliver murmured, his own frown deepening. "Or did they all ride the same bus route?" He continued to stare at the screen, willing something to become obvious, willing a clue of some kind to come to them.
His friend nodded. "Different bus routes. Different drivers. They all say the girls rode the bus to their destination, and got off in front of the school. Somehow, they didn't make it inside though." The smile was now long gone as Bruce tried his best to think. "I have a feeling they're alive, but for what reason, I don't know."
"And they all attended the same school?" Ollie questioned, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.
Again, a shake of the head. "Three different schools, all religious though....Catholic, Anglican, Christian."
"What the hell," he murmured. "Have the police interviewed the other students?" He glanced at his friend. "Three girls disappearing from three different religious schools before they get inside? Someone had to have seen something."
Bruce let out a snort. "It's Gotham PD. You think they looked to hard into any of this? Maybe into Samantha's; after all, her parents have money." Typing another thing into the computer, he pulled up a picture of a knife. It was adorned with jewels, and had a curved handle. It looked old, and dangerous, especially since the tip was covered in blood. "The only thing found on the scene of Samantha's. It's her blood, but no prints. Nothing."
He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his face. The fact that there was blood on the knife didn't sit well with him. The girl had been injured, at the least, if not killed, although Bruce said his gut feeling was the girls were alive. And Bruce's 'gut feelings' were usually accurate. He shook his head a little. "This is one of those times it'd be nice if we weren't both famous billionaires," he mumbled. When the police didn't do their job, he and Bruce had to do it for them. Unfortunately in cases like this, their status made that damn hard.
Bruce had to laugh at that. "True, but at times, it's a good thing too." Walking over to his desk, he rifled through some letters before finally finding the one he wanted. Flinging it at Ollie's chest, he continued speaking. "Samantha's parents are holding a benefit for their daughter." Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Only the rich would have a party for their missing child. "Pool together all of the who's who of Gotham. See if anyone knows what's going on...." He cleared his throat and leaned back on his desk, his hands holding him up. "If you promise not to be gay about it, you can be my plus one. Unless you have someone else you'd like to bring. I'm sure Pippa won't mind if I tell her you're interested in coming. She'll be thrilled. A billionaire she hasn't slept with."
Oliver smirked in response, immediately thinking of Chloe Sullivan. Granted, they'd only had one actual date, but he could see her getting interested in this story pretty quickly. And since she was a reporter, it wouldn't even be suspicious if she was asking questions that the police should be asking. Questions that he and Bruce couldn't ask for the possibility of raised brows. After all, two notoriously womanizing billionaires asking a lot of questions about the disappearances of three girls wouldn't exactly be considered normal. It would raise too much suspicion, something neither of them could afford. "Actually, I may have a solution to our problem."
Bruce quirked an eyebrow at his friend, the smile finally warming again. "Do tell." He was oddly pleased that Ollie was referring to it as 'their' problem. Now that's what friends were for.
He offered Bruce a smile in return, this one a big smugger than usual. "As it happens, I met a reporter last week. She just moved to Star City. We went out. It went pretty well. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to attend if she knows there's a story like this that needs told. And she knows how to ask the right questions."
"And now, at the expense of my manhood, I have to ask for details."
He smirked. "What kind of details?"
"Ones that won't bore me," Bruce replied. "And also, I'd like to know how you're going to get her to investigate this without giving away anything." Mainly their identities.
He shrugged a little. "She's been writing stories about the Green Arrow, but she's aiming to be the first one between her and her journalist cousin to get a Pulitzer. We have another date coming up. I figured I'd just casually mention the disappearances here in Gotham, see if it strikes her interest." He was willing to bet money it would.
"Wait, hold on, she's writing about Green Arrow....and so of course, you have to date her? I don't date Vicki Vale, and she writes about Batman constantly." Bruce was bordering between amused and annoyed. If Ollie didn't care about his secret enough, then that worried him.
Oliver gave him a look. "Actually I asked her out before I knew she was a reporter." Then of course, things had gotten slightly complicated.
"You still asked her on a second date," Bruce pointed out. "And now you know she's a reporter."
"I like her," he admitted with a slight shrug. "Doesn't mean I'm going to tell her I am Green Arrow."
"I should hope not." There was a pause while Bruce tried to process all this information before he finally agreed. Reluctantly. "But," he clarified, "be careful. Just because you like her doesn't mean you can start outfitting her for a side kick costume. It doesn't always work that way." He should know. The amount of side kicks he'd gone through was astonishing.
He rolled his eyes. "The sidekick thing is more your style than mine anyway," he responded, vaguely amused by Bruce's warning. "I fully intend to keep the two things separate, Old Man." Besides. He didn't want her to end up getting hurt because of his other identity. That alone would keep him from ever telling her who he was.
"Watch it," he joked, "or this Old Man is going to have to teach you a lesson in respect." A pause. "But I am glad you're helping me with this. Don't know if I could do it on my own." And that was a hard for Bruce to admit to. What with Tim already wanting to do his own thing, and Dick fully in his Nightwing persona....well, he didn't have as much help as he used to have.
Oliver grinned innocently, then nodded a little. "That's what friends do," he said with a shrug, well aware of the struggles the other man had gone through with his sidekicks.
Bruce let the moment pass for a while before clapping his hands. "Right. Enough emotions. Let's go try to kill each other downstairs. I've been playing around with some body suits, and I think I've found the perfect combination between bullet proof and flexible, and I know you've been dying to use me as target practice."
He chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "Only because Batman's more popular than Green Arrow," he joked, rising to his feet.
"It's the cape," Bruce answered, leading the way out of the door. "Maybe if you added a codpiece, the ladies would be all over you."
"They're all over me just as I am, Green Arrow aside." He followed his friend, grinning.
"Money makes the world go round," he quipped back. "If you were broke, not even your amazing hair would help you out."
"Hah," he scoffed good-naturedly. "I'd still have my boyish good looks and charm at work for me. But I'm sorry you're insecure about your own dating abilities sans money."
"Insecure? Me?" Bruce smirked. "Do you not know who I am? Even in high school, I was getting more than you, on a regular basis. And I didn't even have access to the money. I'm not concerned at all. Besides," he added, "girls prefer if I don't talk. I'm a man of action, you know."
He chuckled. "I don't know, Bruce, sometimes I think you're all talk and no action at all," he teased.
And that earned Ollie a glare. "We'll see about that, Ollie. To the bat cave."
Oliver simply laughed and followed him. It was good to be back in Gotham.