Dre sighed as he stared through the small, barred window of his cell. The gray light spilling through the glass did little to brighten the room, illuminating little more than stained concrete walls, a metal toilet, and the miserable excuse for a bed shoved against one side.
The bars were almost insulting. After everything he had survived in Gotham, after everything he had built with the Underpass, after years of slipping through police fingers without so much as a record attached to his name, he had somehow managed to get himself arrested.
Dre shook his head, a rueful smile briefly touching his lips. Of all people, it had to be him. He could already imagine Nolan laughing when he heard about this, and somehow that thought was almost more irritating than the throbbing pain in his leg.
He continued staring through the window until something shifted behind him. He hadn't heard footsteps, the opening of a door, or even the distant clatter of a guard approaching. There was simply the sudden awareness that he wasn't alone anymore. Dre slowly turned his head and found a figure standing in the shadows near the opposite wall, green and black barely visible beneath the dim lighting. His eyebrows rose.
"Arrow," he said, limping toward the bed. His injured leg still throbbed from where the arrow had pinned him to the pavement, and every step sent a dull pulse of pain through his body. He lowered himself onto the mattress with a grunt and leaned back against the wall. "What do you want?"
Oliver Queen stepped out of the shadows. "Kieran Everleigh."
Dre stared at him for a moment before laughing. It wasn't a nervous laugh or the uncertain chuckle of someone caught off guard. It was genuine amusement. "What about him?"
Oliver's expression hardened. "Tell me about Kieran Everleigh."
Dre shrugged. "Why would I know anything about that rich prick?"
"Don't play games with me, Dre."
"I'm not."
Oliver stepped closer to the bars. "You came to Star City at almost the exact same time Everleigh did. You're a known associate and one of the leaders of the Underpass. You operate inside his hotels, you control people on his behalf, and you've been seen meeting with his representatives."
Dre raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like you've been doing your homework."
"I have."
"Then you probably know more about me than I do."
Oliver's eyes narrowed. "Then tell me something I don't know."
Dre leaned his head against the wall and let out a long breath. "Listen, dude, I really don't know what you're talking about."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I don't particularly care what you believe."
Oliver's jaw tightened. "You're protecting him, it's admirable but will you keep protecting him when you're locked away at blackgate? I heard a lot of the inmates there aren't fond of the underpass I wonder how long you will survive."
Dre looked at him for several seconds before a faint smile returned to his face. "Am I protecting him? I genuinely have no clue what you're talking about and why would I go to blackgate? I'm the victim here."
Oliver reached behind himself, and the faint creak of a bowstring being drawn filled the cell. Dre's eyes flicked toward the weapon. Oliver had an arrow nocked and aimed directly at him. "This one goes into your other leg."
Dre glanced down at his uninjured leg before looking back up. "There goes my other leg, then." His shoulders rose in a careless shrug. "Won't change the fact that I don't know what you're talking about."
Oliver's eyes narrowed further. "You think this is funny? Your people have killed more star city citizens in the short time of your being here than most of the other gangs combined."
"No I don't think it's funny." Dre's smile disappeared. "I think you're wasting your time."
Oliver lowered the bow just enough to reach into his jacket and pull out several photographs, which he pushed through the bars. They landed on the mattress.
Dre looked down at them. The first showed him standing outside one of the Continental's properties. The second showed him speaking with several Underpass members. Another showed him entering a vehicle alongside people Oliver had already identified as members of Kieran's organization.
There were more. Dre picked them up one by one, his expression remaining carefully neutral as he studied them. His stomach tightened, not because Oliver had found anything particularly damning—most of the photographs showed things Dre had done openly—but because of how many there were. Oliver had been watching him. More importantly, he had been watching for longer than Dre had realized.
Some of these were in Gotham too. Which means Batman that sorry fucker supplied them.
"Dre," Oliver said quietly, "you came to Star City with Everleigh. You've been seen working alongside his people, and you're one of the most prominent figures in an organization that seems to revolve around his interests."
Dre stared at the photographs. "So? Even if what you accuse me of is true these look fake possibly doctored I'd say."
Oliver's gaze hardened. "So tell me who he really is how he operates and who are his trusted allies."
Dre slowly looked up. "I don't know."
Oliver's patience visibly thinned. "You're going to protect him even now? You are screwed Dre he cannot save you now."
tossed the photographs back onto the mattress. "You've got the wrong guy."
"You expect me to believe that?"
"I don't expect you to do anything. We are talking in circles at this point." Dre settled back against the wall. "You're a superhero. You guys don't exactly strike me as the listening type."
Oliver stared at him, and Dre could practically feel the man's frustration radiating through the cell. Good.
Frustration made people careless. It was something Nolan had taught him long before Dre had understood how valuable the lesson was: never interrupt an angry man. Let him talk. Let him reveal what he knows.
Oliver glanced toward the photographs again. "You're afraid." Dre snorted.
"Of you?"
"Of what happens if you talk." That earned Oliver a pause.
Dre's expression remained neutral, but Oliver caught it—the smallest hesitation. "You don't have to be afraid of Everleigh," Oliver continued. "Whatever hold he has over you, whatever you think he'll do, I can protect you."
Dre laughed, and this time there was genuine disbelief in it. "You?"
"Yes."
"You're going to protect me from the Underpass?"
"If that's what it takes."
Dre shook his head. "You really don't understand what you're dealing with."
Oliver stepped closer. "Then help me understand." Dre looked him directly in the eyes
"They say the boss is.." Dre hesitated and Oliver leaned closer to the bars, "Bruce Wayne, they say he controls it all. I'm not sure who this Kieran guy is but I'd look into Bruce Wayne."
Oliver stared at him for several seconds.
Dre smiled faintly. "You'll protect me right?"
Footsteps echoed somewhere beyond the cell block, and Dre heard them before Oliver did.
His eyes flicked toward the hallway. "Sounds like the guards are coming."
Oliver didn't move. "You have until tomorrow night."
Dre's eyebrows rose. "Until tomorrow night for what?"
"To make the right decision." Oliver's voice dropped. "Give me Kieran."
Dre stared at him, studying the vigilante's expression. For several seconds neither man spoke.
Then Dre yawned and stretched himself across the miserable mattress. "Oh, yeah?"
Oliver's expression hardened. "You think I'm bluffing?"
"I think you should probably get out before somebody catches you."
Oliver stepped backward, allowing the darkness to swallow him. "Make the right decision, Dre."
Dre watched him disappear. A moment later, a uniformed guard rounded the corner and walked past the cell without so much as glancing inside.
Dre stared at the empty shadows for several seconds before shaking his head. "How the hell do Batman and this guy keep doing that?" He rubbed his face and settled deeper into the pillow, closing his eyes. "One day, I gotta learn how they teleport."
The guard stopped several feet away and slowly looked back toward the cell. Dre didn't open his eyes. "I'm serious."
***
Kieran finished up his call and then turned to Amanda, "So you heard I suppose?" He asked
"Dre got arrested." She replied nervously
Kieran sometimes forgot how intimidating it must be for someone in the underpass he rarely sees to meet with him. Dre and the others are used to him but the amount of times Amanda has met him could probably be counted on one hand.
"He has, as a manager you will have to deal with these situations in the future. Granted usually you would be dealing with them along side Dre." He laughed, "So what do you think we should do?"
"Break him out?" Amanda ventured
"Close but no. Breaking him out is a last resort, we have lawyers for these situations. Our lawyers will work on getting Dre out legally, we can always do a bribe too by the way."
"I see, what should we be doing then while the lawyers try to get him out?" She asked
Kieran smiled, "Our options are limitless. We can have the underpass be more active, putting pressure on the cops and the arrow. We can lean on the cops we have information on. We can even do nothing, Dre understands all avenues to his release."
"What are we going to do then?" Amanda asked
"You're going to be a manager Amanda, you tell me."
Amanda thought for a moment, "We should lean on the cops we have information on." She finally said, "Using them to get what they have on Dre early before the trial even starts."
"Smart but what about the arrow?" Kieran countered, "He is certainly paying Dre nightly visits."
Amanda frowned, "I don't know."
Kieran nodded, "I want you to pay close attention to everything Amanda. This is your time to shine."