[sup][h1][center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/019b7205-4b10-7119-93b6-2c37aca13393.webp[/img][/center][b][center][color=black] G R E E N   A R R O W[/color]
[color=67a383]G R E E N   A R R O W[/color][/center]
[/b][/h1][/sup]
[sup][sub][h2][b][center][color=black]  HUNTER-KILLER[/color]
[color=darkgray] HUNTER-KILLER[/color][/center][/b][/h2][/sub][/sup][center][sub][sup][H3][color=darkgray]Part Three[/color][/h3][/sup][/sub][/center]
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[color=silver][indent][center][sup][h3][i][b]There was a time before,[/b][/i][/h3][/sup][/center] 

When Speedy wasn’t yet Green Arrow’s partner, but a nickname. A time when young Roy Harper was still new to the Queen estate, caught up in the euphoria of getting to live with his greatest idol, every day a new exercise in begging the Emerald Archer to let him tag along on his adventures. His thundercrack aim was what had given him the nickname to begin with, surely it would be what gave him the right to fight bad guys, too — but for whatever reason, Ollie wasn’t budging, always [i]soon[/i] and [i]not today[/i] but never [i]now[/i], and so Roy committed himself to finding different angles through which to wear him down. One such angle was one he was sure Ollie would agree was a simple, solid case of logic: the Arrowcar was an important tool in Green Arrow’s arsenal, right? As his future partner, wasn’t it only natural that Roy needed to learn to drive it? 

Once Ollie was done throwing his head back in a fit of roaring laughter, he ruffled Roy’s red hair and, beaming, relented. And so the eleven year old’s first taste of heroism wasn’t through shooting arrows, but driving lessons; not in the Arrowcar in Star City’s streets, but in an old green truck on the Queen estate’s grounds. He ground the transmission to dust between homework and dinner and archery practice, loving every second of it, the responsibility and the feel of it, and once he finally did get out there as Green Arrow’s partner, rare would be the sight of the Emerald Archer driving his own car. Green Arrow would say it’s because he knew how much Speedy liked driving, and that was true, but Speedy could tell he enjoyed the opportunity to relax, too, kicking back and letting someone else take the wheel after nearly a decade of solo escapades.

Here they were now, pulling away from Plesa Park. Speedy driving, still a few months shy of getting his learner’s permit, Green Arrow with his feet up on the dash and bycocket on his lap, humming some Gary Miller as he rubbed his chin in contemplation. Their longbows and quivers rested widthwise behind them in the back, barely fitting at an awkward but well-practiced angle. Green Arrow stared outside at some far off target, his contemplation reaching deep.

[color=#67a383]“I’ve been thinking of growin’ a beard, y’know,”[/color] he said.

[color=#eb6464]“Oh yeah?”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“Mm. One of those short and pointy ones, Robin Hood style. Really lean into the gimmick.”[/color]

Speedy took his eyes off the road for a moment, shooting him an incredulous look.[color=#eb6464] “No way. You’d look ridiculous.”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“[/color][i][color=#67a383]Dashing[/color][/i][color=#67a383] is the word you’re looking for. Handsome. Classy.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“It’s gonna look stupid and you’re gonna regret it. What would Dinah say?”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“You kidding?”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“Dinah gave me the idea.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“Of course she did,”[/color] Speedy muttered under his breath. 

[color=#67a383]“Ah, you’re just jealous the best you can do is peach fuzz.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“Not true. I shave. You [/color][i][color=#eb6464]know [/color][/i][color=#eb6464]I shave.”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“Sorry, pal, but your three chin hairs don’t count. I don’t make the rules.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“One day you’ll be old and bald and sorry you ever made fun of me.”[/color]

A few minutes later they arrived at Parks and Hester, a corner block on the edge of town. Like the rest of Blumebury, this part of the neighborhood was nothing to write home about, run down and litter-strewn, characterized by unremarkable, utilitarian architecture. The place Raf told them about was here, a plain, squat brick building with a small of flight of stairs leading to large double doors, the signage above them reading “Hanley House”. Speedy pulled over at the curb and turned the engine off.  Green Arrow put his hat back on and they exited the Arrowcar, grabbing their bows and quivers from the back and walking up the steps to the shelter’s entrance. Up close they could see fliers taped onto the doors, pleas for more volunteers and donations alongside sternly worded conditions of entry. It was hard to get a read on the place from out here with its spartan facade, but by all appearances it seemed a grassroots operation. With red-gloved hands, Green Arrow pulled open the doors.

Cheap linoleum flooring and garish yellow walls assaulted their eyes as they stepped into a small reception area. Seats lined the walls on either side of the doors and up the length of the room, all presently empty. Potted plants in this and that corner broke up the space’s jaundice, made harsher by the white bulbs that gave it light; as far as welcoming appearances went, it could’ve used some work. Only one person manned the reception desk, a young guy with stubble and a bun and an expression of abject fear, or maybe shock, or maybe awe. He seemed unable to speak, seeing them — not an uncommon response, much to Speedy’s bashfulness — but he recovered as quickly as he’d reacted to their entrance, plastering on a pleasant smile.

“Hi,” he said, “Can I, ah… help you?”

[color=#67a383]“Matter o’ fact, you can,”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“Sorry to barge in like this, uh—”[/color]

“Daniel.”

[color=#67a383]“—Danny, but we’ve got a bit of a mystery on our hands, and we’re hoping this place might be the missing link.”[/color]

Daniel’s brows furrowed ever so lightly. “A mystery…?”

[color=#67a383]“Probably the right thing to call it. You hear anything about some homeless disappearances from the residents here?”[/color]

“No… No, don’t think so.”

[color=#67a383]“They’ve been going missing from all over the city, mostly camps here in Blumebury. The latest makes fourteen by my count. Fella named Joe Smiley. You remember if a guy by that name came through here at all in the last two weeks?”[/color]

“I don’t think… Wait a minute, what is this? Why is that so important?”

[color=#eb6464]“Are you serious?”[/color] said Speedy.

[color=#67a383]“Speedy,”[/color] said Green Arrow, half-smiling despite himself. [color=#67a383]“Relax, Danny, no one’s in trouble here. This isn’t an accusation. This shelter’s the last place Joe’s friends can remember him going. We’re just looking to confirm that, hopefully pick up his trail. Okay?”[/color]

Daniel relaxed a little, or at least wasn’t wound quite so tight anymore. Speedy conceded that it probably [i]would [/i]be nerve-wracking to suddenly face two superheroes, regardless of the questions they were asking.

“Right, okay. Still, I can’t say I remember anyone like that. We get lots of different faces through here.”

[color=#67a383]“Is there some kind of record we could look at? A log of who stayed here on which night?”[/color]

“Sure, but I, uh, don’t have access to that. I’ll need to ask my boss.”

[color=#67a383]“Even better,”[/color] G.A. grinned. [color=#67a383]“Lead the way, Danny-boy.”[/color]

“Uh… right. Yeah. Okay.” 

Daniel got up from behind the desk and led them to a hallway to the right of the reception area, long and just as yellow. More potted plants were positioned along the walls, healthy and green, framing six evenly spaced doors on either side. At the far end, the hallway opened up into some kind of mess hall; from here Speedy could make out a few tables and benches, people milling about between them. Daniel stopped at one of the doors, marked with a nameplate for one John Hanley — the boss, Speedy assumed — and knocked, opening it a crack to poke his head in. After a moment he closed it again and continued on towards the mess hall. Speedy and Green Arrow shared a glance, shrugging, and followed him. The hall was a cramped affair, barely enough space to walk between tables. In one corner hung a small television playing the local Channel 4 news, Deborah Chu relaying the latest to a murmur of residents huddled around their evening meals. Speedy recognized some of them from Plesa Park and the surrounding area. He gave them a smile as Daniel led the archers through double doors into the adjoining kitchen.

Like the mess hall it was a narrow space, a commercial kitchen in miniature. Too-big sinks, stoves and metal countertops squeezed together, stacked high with dirty dishes from the evening’s cooking. Between them all was a man anywhere between fifty and seventy, busying himself with unpacking boxes of canned foods and other non-perishables into the wall cabinets overhead. His hair was white and wispy, his face once handsome, now pockmarked and weathered by the years gone by. Wiry arms lifted bundles of heavy tins with an animated energy that boasted good health. 

“Hey, John,” said Daniel, “Where’d Shel and Mitch go?”

“I asked them to fit the beds with fresh sheets. Why?” The man paused his work to look in Daniel’s direction, his eyes widening at the sight of the bowmen. “Oh.”

[color=#67a383]“Hi, John,”[/color] said Green Arrow.

“Hi there. I can’t say I was expecting this particular surprise.”

[color=#67a383]“That tends to be how surprises work.”[/color]

John barked a laugh. “You’ve got me there. John Hanley.” 

He leaned over the boxes, offering an outstretched hand to Green Arrow and Speedy. They both shook it, and with a grateful smile he returned to unpacking the food.

“Sorry about the mess,” he said. “We don’t have much room here, but we make do. How do you like the place?”

[color=#eb6464]“It’s cool,”[/color] said Speedy. [color=#eb6464]“Very yellow.”[/color]

“Matches your hat.” John grinned. “It’s how we got the place. If we had Queen Foundation money a renovation would be first on the list, but as it is we have to pick our battles.” 

“They’re investigating something,” said Daniel. “Disappearances. They want to look at our logs.”

John flashed him an annoyed look. “Yes, thank you, Daniel. Here I thought they just popped by for a visit.”

An uncomfortable silence filled the room, taking up the already limited space. Green Arrow looked at Speedy with a bemused smile, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand.

“Right. Well, just thought I’d let you know.”  And with that Daniel turned and left, leaving the archers alone with John. 

“Sorry about him,” said John. “That’s one way to cut the small talk, I suppose. Disappearances?”

[color=#67a383]“Yeah,”[/color] said Green Arrow, [color=#67a383]“Homeless. We heard one of them might’ve come through here before he went missing. Danny said you might be able to confirm it.”[/color]

“Danny? He let you call him that?”

He leaned his longbow against the middle island, bending down to help with the cans. [color=#67a383]“He didn’t not.”[/color] 

“Oh, no no, please,” said John, “I’m not [i]that[/i] old. I’ve got it.”

[color=#67a383]“Sure,”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“Anyway, it’d be a big help. Maybe even give us some new leads to where he went next.”[/color] 

 “What about the police?”

The archer scoffed. [color=#67a383]“The day the cops care about anyone below the poverty line’ll be the day the world ends.”[/color]

“I’m surprised to hear that from you, of all people. Some would call you Star City’s premier lawman.”

[color=#67a383]“Don’t confuse the law with justice, Mr. Hanley, or me with a cop. I fight for what’s right.”[/color]

“Hm.” John put away the last of the non-perishables in the cabinet and closed it. There was something smug twinkling in the shine of his eye, like he knew better than G.A. and pitied him for it. Speedy felt a pang of defiant anger and fought to push it down. “I’d be more than happy to help, of course. We keep track of our resident intake in a logbook. It’s in my office.”

John motioned for them to exit the kitchen. They pushed the double doors open and he followed them out, overtaking them on the way back to the hallway. He opened the door marked with his name and led them into what was by now a cliché: offensively yellow walls, potted plants, tacky linoleum floor. It was a small office, wooden desk and swivel chair in the middle, backed by a bookshelf and a locked filing cabinet. On the desk was a computer screen and a small picture frame, a loose assortment of stationery between them. He pulled a key out of his pocket and opened the filing cabinet, rummaging through files and loose sheets in search of his logbook. With an [i]ah-ha![/i] he found what he was looking for, pulling out a binder that had been carelessly deposited in the back of the drawer and laying it on his desk. 

“Here we are,” he said. “Now, who is it that we’re looking for?”

[color=#67a383]“Joe Smiley,”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“We don’t know an exact date, but he went missing about a week ago. Could you check back two, just to be sure?”[/color]

John nodded and opened the logbook. “Smiley… Smiley… ah, here he is. Joseph Smiley, in at four p.m. this past Friday, out the next morning at nine. Brief stay. I think I remember him — young, veteran type?”

Green Arrow nodded.

“He left in a hurry, if I recall. Had his breakfast and was out the door.”

[color=#eb6464]“Did he say where he was going?”[/color] asked Speedy.

“I’m afraid not. We get a lot like him through here. Transients looking for a warm meal and a bed on their way to the next place.”

[color=#67a383]“Joe isn’t a drifter, Mr. Hanley,”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“He has roots here.” [/color] 

“Ah, of course. My mistake,” said John, offering an apologetic smile. “In any case, he seemed like he had somewhere to be.”

[color=#eb6464]“Well, gee, that sure helps a lot,”[/color] said Speedy. Green Arrow huffed a laugh, flicking the tip of his hat with a finger in light-hearted reproach. Speedy caught it before it tumbled backwards off his head. [color=#eb6464]“Come on, G.A., we’re back at square one here.”[/color]

Green Arrow sighed. 

[color=#67a383]“We’re not gainin’ much ground, that’s true.”[/color] He picked the picture frame up from John’s desk, turning it over. Speedy thought he saw the hint of a frown before he put it down again, any trace of displeasure gone from his face. [color=#67a383]“Say, I’ve been meanin’ to ask. This place is pretty new, right? I haven’t heard much about it before today.”[/color]

“Oh, we’ve been around for a little over a year now, I’d say, but I suppose in the grand scheme of things we’re fairly new,” said John. “From readying everything and opening our doors, getting the word out’s been pretty slow going.”

[color=#67a383]“And you run the show?”[/color]

“Yes. You could call this my new life’s mission, I guess.” He gave a bashful shrug. “One chapter closed rather abruptly. I spent a long time wondering how I should open the next. I love this city, and I had some money. I landed on this.”

[color=#67a383]“You mind if I ask what you did before?”[/color]

“Not at all,” he smiled. “I was in show business. Volatile industry. As much as I regret some things, leaving it did me a whole lot of good.”

[color=#67a383]“I can imagine,”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“As far as new chapters go, you picked a great one.”[/color]

“It certainly has its rewards.”

[color=#67a383]“That’s for sure.”[/color] The archer glanced at Speedy, who raised his brows in turn. Whatever he was trying to communicate, Speedy wasn’t entirely sure. [color=#67a383]“Guess we’ll get out of your hair now. Thanks for your help, Mr. Hanley. You have a great night.”[/color]

“Of course. It was no trouble at all. Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do,” said John. 

They were halfway out to the hallway when John spoke up again.

“I hope you find him.”

[color=#67a383]“Yeah,”[/color] said Green Arrow, [color=#67a383]“Me too.”[/color]

[center][sup][h3][i][b]All was quiet in the Arrowcar.[/b][/i][/h3][/sup][/center] 

Green Arrow didn’t say anything as Speedy pulled away from Hanley House. His arms were crossed, eyes distant, mouth dipped into a passive frown. Something was bothering him, that much was clear — but something bothered Speedy, too. There was more they could have done in there, more they could have asked Hanley, so why didn’t they? G.A. knew what he was doing. He was the best. So why? Why, when what they learned just led them back to where they started, with Joe in the wind and no ideas about what happened to him, to the others? He simmered with these questions for as long as five blocks, Green Arrow silent, lost in thought.

[color=#eb6464]“We shouldn’t have left yet,”[/color] said Speedy. [color=#eb6464]“We need to go back. I mean, shit, Ollie, why didn’t you ask for a copy of the logbook? Maybe Joe talked to whoever was staying there with him, maybe he said something. We could’ve had some names, we could’ve talked to them.”[/color]

The silence stretched on. Green Arrow watched the buildings blur past, lights streaking in the dark.

[color=#67a383]“We’re not just looking for Joe.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“What?”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“C’mon, Roy. Joe isn’t the only one who’s gone missing. Say we find out where he went next, okay, sure. What then? Everything we have so far points to him, no one else. These people didn’t disappear for separate reasons, there’s just no way. There’s gotta be a link here, and I can only think of one.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“What, the shelter? You think someone there’s responsible?”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“It’s the only theory I’ve got right now.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“All the more reason we should’ve looked at the logbook ourselves!”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“And we will,”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“It’s just…”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“What?”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“Hanley.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“What about him?”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“Didja see the picture on his desk?”[/color]

Speedy shook his head.

[color=#67a383]“It was of him. Way younger, head full of hair, shit-eating grin. Posed up with a rifle next to a lion I’m bettin’ he shot. He’s a hunter. Big game.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“Okay…”[/color]

[color=#67a383]“The entire time we were there, I had this feeling. Somethin’ about him seemed so [/color][i][color=#67a383]familiar[/color][/i][color=#67a383]. I wasn’t sure what it was until I saw that picture.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464][center][sup][h3][i][b]“Have you ever heard of  [/b][/i][b]The Hunt Begins[/b][i][b]?”[/b][/i][/h3][/sup][/center][/color]

Mia stares at Roy blankly. [color=#fbdf8a]“Yeah,”[/color] she says, [color=#fbdf8a]“Who hasn’t.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“It’s an old reality show, aired maybe forty years ago now. Hunting and survival, that kinda jazz. I’ll give you five bucks if you can guess who the host was.”[/color]

[color=#fbdf8a]“Hanley.”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“Nope,”[/color] says Roy, [color=#eb6464]“Not what he called himself back then. He had a professional name. Hunt.”[/color]

[color=#fbdf8a]“John [/color][i][color=#fbdf8a]Hunt?”[/color][/i] Mia scoffs. [color=#fbdf8a]“Creative. And fuck you, that totally counts!”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“The five bucks were metaphorical.”[/color]

[color=#fbdf8a]“You cheap bitch.”[/color]

Roy picks up the pen she threw at him earlier and flicks it at her forehead. She glares at him, scowling, as it bounces back onto the ground. [color=#eb6464]“Hush. I’m telling a story here.”[/color]

Mia crosses her arms and glowers. He does his best to ignore her.

[color=#eb6464]“Anyway, this show, it was pretty successful. As successful as a reality show about hunting can be, really,”[/color] says Roy. [color=#eb6464]“Season after season after season, huge episode count, celebrity guests. Hunt had a bunch of articles and columns, I’m talking thousands, in different wildlife and hobby magazines. He was a pretty big name in his circle. But you know how he said that chapter of his life ended suddenly?”[/color]

Mia nods.

[color=#eb6464]“The show got canceled. They were shooting out in Ethiopia, I think, hunting who knows what. Leopards, elephants, I don’t know,” [/color]he says. [color=#eb6464]“Production was shut down after a few days. He got dropped by everyone — his agents, his network, all the outlets he wrote for. Completely blacklisted in the span of maybe two weeks. Back to being boring old John Hanley, just like that.”[/color]

[color=#fbdf8a]“What? Why?”[/color]

[color=#eb6464]“Three of his crew disappeared.”[/color]

[center][sup][h3][i][b]The moon was out when they arrived.[/b][/i][/h3][/sup][/center] 
 
Beyond the city’s outskirts, between the redwoods and the mountains. Gentle howl of wind between rustled leaves and branches, dark clouds rendering it a solitary spotlight as they choked the stars out of the sky. John Hanley’s estate was much like the Queen family’s, if only fallen further into disrepair. Ivy climbed the low walls bordering the manor gates in tandem with the cracks that webbed along their surface; it paired well with the house, itself a monolith of faded paint and overgrowth, the grounds surrounding it untended, left to run wild. Speedy tried not to think about how much it reminded him of a mausoleum as he brought the Arrowcar to a stop outside the gates. A foreboding feeling had been swelling up in his chest the entire drive here, one he was coming to understand was panic, telling him that all his worst fears awaited him in this place. He wanted nothing more than to be wrong. 

After Green Arrow confirmed his suspicions about Hanley’s identity they’d returned to the shelter, sneaking in under the cover of night for another look at the visitor’s logbook. They hoped to find the names of the other missing homeless, confirmation that the shelter was what linked Joe’s disappearance to the others. What they found instead was nothing. They turned over the entire shelter, searched Hanley’s office, reception, the kitchen, every supply closet and storage room, but it was all fruitless. The log was gone. And if it was gone, it meant they had no time to lose. 

They didn’t speak a word as they exited the car, helping each other over the gate wall with practiced ease. G.A.’s face was set in stone. Speedy had seen him angry before, loud and animated, always making it everyone else’s problem. This was something else. They walked up the driveway, a long stretch of road wrapping around a once-ornate fountain in front of the manor’s front steps. A beat up old sedan was parked there, distinctly out of place; Green Arrow didn’t spare it a single glance, marching past to the intricately carved front doors, chipped and peeling, paying no mind their already ajar state. He pushed them open in silence, Speedy following close behind, and before the young archer knew it, he loosed two arrows into the darkened foyer before them.

A surprised yelp and a thud as they met their mark. Streaks of moonlight punctured the shadows from a skylight overhead, illuminating a large figure now slumped over the massive staircase that led away from the foyer towards the manor’s second floor. An arrow pinned him above each shoulder through his shirt, and he remained there unmoving, as though processing what just happened. In his right hand, laying dumbly by his side, was a gun.

[color=#67a383]“Hello, Danny,”[/color] said Green Arrow. 

Daniel didn’t say a word. His breathing was heavy, uneven. Panicked. His grip on the gun tightened. 

[color=#67a383]“Don’t even think about using that thing. I promise you, however fast of a shot you are, I’m faster. But the way I’m feeling? I really hope you try.”[/color]

Daniel didn’t bite. The gun clattered down the steps onto the floor, pointing uselessly into the dark. Speedy watched on in silence, the anxiety in his chest growing. He didn’t understand. Why was Daniel here, alone?

[color=#67a383]“Where’s Hanley?”[/color] said Green Arrow. [color=#67a383]“He knew we’d be coming. Where is he?”[/color]

Nothing. 

An arrow sank between Daniel’s legs, inches away from his crotch. He yelped louder, his breathing heavier, panic mounting.

[color=#67a383]“The next one won’t miss, Danny.”[/color] Green Arrow nocked another arrow. [color=#67a383]“Where’s. Hanley.”[/color]

“I-I don’t know,” said Daniel. “I don’t know! H-He left when I got here. He told me to watch the door.”

[color=#67a383]“Yeah?”[/color] said Green Arrow, [color=#67a383]“Great job there. Now, I’m gonna ask you some more questions, Danny, most of which I already know the answers to. If you want this arrow to stay on the bowstring, you’ll reply honestly. Sound good?”[/color]

Daniel nodded.

[color=#67a383]“Verbal confirmation, Danny.”[/color]

“Y-Yeah. Okay.”

[color=#67a383]“Okay, good,”[/color] said the bowman. [color=#67a383]“Hanley. He’s John Hunt.”[/color]

 “Y-Yes.”

[color=#67a383]“He’s behind the disappearances.”[/color]

“Yes.” 

The anxiety in Speedy’s chest flared. Please, don’t let them be right.

[color=#67a383]“Hanley House. It was all a ruse?”[/color]

“N-Not at first. But eventually. Yes.”

[color=#67a383]“And you, Danny? You’ve been helping him?”[/color]

Daniel’s breathing slowed into deep, haggard breaths, in through his nose, out through his mouth. Moonlit eyes revealed his panic slowly giving way to something calmer, less readable. “Yes.”

[color=#67a383]“Okay. Last one. And I’m really hoping, for your sake, that your answer isn’t what I think it’ll be. The people you kidnapped. What have you done with them?”[/color]

From behind them, Hanley spoke. “I’m afraid he’s going to disappoint you, friend.”

And then he shot Green Arrow through the leg.
[/indent][/color]