Chapter One: Preparations

"Are the preparations complete?"

It was a few minutes past midnight, and rain was falling heavily, creating large puddles on the ground next to the warehouse. The clouds overhead extinguished any light that might have come from the moon, so that it was difficult to make out where the wall of the warehouse ended and the night sky began.

"Oh yeah, everything is exactly as you wanted"

The second man to speak looked across at the figure who stood next to him as he searched for the key to the warehouse door. As ever, the man was impeccably attired, a dark designer suit seeming out of place in this run down area of Metropolis. A man of expensive tastes, that was for sure, and that was about all he really knew about this guy. Apart from the fact that he was English – the accent was a dead give away. He wanted to know more about this mysterious Mr Brown, but in the two months since he'd known him fresh information had not been forthcoming, and there was something about him that meant you just didn't ask questions. Part of him was unsettled by this, but the man paid well and after he'd got out of hospital he'd needed the cash. The compensation he'd received from LuthorCorp was worthless – it was as if they hadn't wanted to acknowledge his existence after the explosion. And as for the future – well, if the plan worked out he'd be set up for life.

Finally he felt the right shaped key and inserted it into the lock. He opened the door and was glad to step inside out of the rain. He felt for the light switch on the side of the wall, and eventually a dim light illuminated a stairwell leading downwards. Brown stepped past him and began making his way down the steps.

"And you are certain that we will not be disturbed?"

"The whole area is due for demolition in a month's time, and everyone's moved out – we'll have the place to ourselves"

"Good – we wouldn't want anything to distract out attention away from our guest, now would we?"

The other man smiled. When Brown had first outlined the plan to him two months before he'd been excited, but now that it was so close he sometimes could hardly believe that it was happening. And the thought of the next week – well, it was going to make the pain of the last year all worthwhile.

At the bottom of the stairs another door blocked their path. Brown opened it and stepped through. The room beyond was large, and had clearly once been used for storage. Now all that was left were crates and pieces of disused machinery. The air was musty, and the light bulbs cast long shadows into the corners of the room.

"Steve, did you bring me my cigarettes?"

Brown turned toward the direction of the voice. In one corner of the room a small area was well lit, and a young woman lounged across a chair, a magazine in her hands. She wore a pair of tight jeans and a denim jacket, and the collection of stubbed out cigarette ends in the ash tray beside her on the table stood as testimony to her addiction to nicotine.

Steve reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a fresh packet. He threw them across to the woman, who caught them and wasted no time in setting about getting her next hit. She then offered them across to the fourth person in the room, a massive guy who sat staring at the flickering TV located in the far corner. He rejected them with a grunt, and instead took a gulp from a can of beer grasped in his right hand.

Brown considered the team he assembled for this mission. Steve Stadler had taken on the role of number two in the operation, not least because, after Brown, he was the only member of the team with any intelligence. Brown had recruited Stadler two months before, and his enthusiasm for the job convinced Brown that he had chosen wisely. An ex intelligence services operative, he'd be sacked for being a little too enthusiastic about his work. His colleagues had reported him for going too far in interrogation sessions, and at least two suspects had died as a result of what they had endured at the hands of this man. He'd then been employed by LuthorCorp to head up a security operation where his particular talents were more appreciated, but when the facility he was in charge of was attacked and blown up he'd been hospitalised and his new employer, having no further use for him, let him go. The attack had also left Stadler with a deep scar down the right hand side of his face, and a thirst for vengeance – a thirst that Brown had offered to satisfy. Yes, Stadler was a good choice for this operation – his knowledge of LuthorCorp communication protocols had been invaluable, and his personal take on the mission meant he could be relied upon to take orders.

The other members of the team impressed Brown less, but they each had talents that the operation required. The girl was little more than trailer trash. Carly was an aspiring actress who had no chance of making it, and so she had turned to another profession in order to make ends meet. Brown viewed her with contempt, but the plan required a performer and the money he was paying would keep her in line. As for Dom, well, he was like every other example of hired muscle on the planet – you pay the wage and they will do whatever you want.

Brown walked towards the centre of the room, where a table was located. As he got closer he could see that a number of thick leather straps had been fixed to its sides, some forming cuffs and others stretching its full width. He took one of the straps in his hands, testing its strength.

"Don't worry Mr Brown, they'll keep him under control", said Stadler, joining Brown at the table.

"I don't doubt it, Mr Stadler, I don't doubt it."

There was a few seconds pause as Brown stared around the room.

"Then I think it is time we welcomed our guest, don't you?"

Steve smiled. So it was on. Tonight he would do what he'd dreamt of doing for two months. Tonight he would capture the Green Arrow.