Tim was sitting across from Romero Donnelley who looked equally annoyed to see him there. His wrists were cuffed but he was in the same cell he had met Roxanne in.

"Just because I told her not to come to see me again didn't mean I would entertain the thought of talking to her pet," Romero muttered darkly after the guard had gone to stand outside the cell.

"She didn't send me," Tim spoke up, "in fact, I have no idea where she is."

He raised an eyebrow, "how would you not know? Weren't you supposed to be her bodyguard?"

"I signed the contract but she terminated it."

He shrugged, "if you had any idea what you were getting into, the only smart thing you could do was throw that wretched document in the fire."

"But that's not the reason I am here. She has just vanished. Her last tracked location was Gotham Airport." Tim knew despite his dislike for Romero Donnelley, he had to get him to cooperate with him as he could be the only one having any idea about what Roxanne was up to.

Romero looked somewhat surprised to hear that, "and she's not responding since...?"

"Exactly and her phone is switched off so she can't be tracked. Our initial guess was Dublin but she isn't there too," he explained, "can you tell me where she could have gone?"

"Dublin... She would never go there," Romero remarked, "but first, you tell me what she had been doing ever since she got me imprisoned. I need to know."

Tim considered but then knew Romero couldn't do anything with that information as he was already in prison. So he told her about Roxanne shutting down several branches of their company, including the one in Gotham.

Romero listened closely, his brow knitted in a thoughtful expression.

"I think she could have gone to your family so if you could tell me where they are..."

But Romero interrupted him roughly, "no. She won't go there. I warned her to stay away from them."

"Do you think she would listen to your warning?"

He paused, "but still, I can not tell you about them."

Tim considered how to convince him but then recalled something very important, "alright. I won't ask you about them. But you have to tell me something in return. I told you everything I knew she had done after you got imprisoned."

"If it's about my wife and son, I will not answer," he repeated.

"I know and I am not asking about them," Tim resumed, blue eyes focusing on his dark brown ones, "it is about Roxanne and you. I want to know everything that happened to Adrian Castellan."

A derisive chuckle escaped him, "why? You escaped meeting a similar fate, thank your stars for that."

"You told me she had killed him but he's alive."

Tim watched him stop laughing immediately, his eyes widening in shock as the color drained from his face, "wait, what?"

"Adrian Castellan is alive and ever since I found out about him, I think he's the one sending her death threats," he explained, "right now, none of us have any idea where Roxanne is and she could be in trouble."

"She killed Adrian. How can he be alive?"

"I am not lying to you, Mister Donnelley. In a few days, I will have proof too that he hadn't died at all. But I don't have enough time to wait to show you the proof. I need your help."

He was still processing the shocking revelation, "but Adrian... I saw his dead body. The bullets he died from were given by my gun although I did not kill him. But he was dead, he... He couldn't have survived."

"We are still trying to find out how he survived. So it would be easier if you told me everything about Adrian and all that happened that night."

Romero looked at him distrustfully, "how am I to know that you are not tricking me?"

Tim nodded, "I don't have any recording device on me. My phone was submitted outside as well according to the visitor protocol. I am not recording anything, I just want to hear from you and will keep it to myself."

Romero considered, trying to judge whether he was being fooled by Tim too or not. There was just something about Timothy Drake that made it so clear that he was not being dishonest and that didn't escape the elder man's notice either.

And then it just struck him how easy it would have been for Roxanne to trick a man like Timothy Drake. He may be smart but his biggest weakness was his sincerity.

"What do you find so amusing?" Tim asked, feeling unnerved by that grin on the man's face.

"Just wondering how delightful you would have been for her to play with," he remarked, his eyes sparking in that meaningful glint that made Tim feel more uncomfortable, "are you this genuine with every person you meet? It's a trait you should fix, kid, or people like her will end up taking advantage of you."

He shifted in his seat, "and what does that mean?"

"You don't have to pretend with me, Tim," he leaned back in his chair, brown eyes scrutinizing him, "the fact that you don't know where she is makes it very clear to me that she fooled you too. Do you know what makes her so adept at fooling people? She's a dark horse, you never see her coming until it's too late. I didn't see this coming either."

His gaze had dropped to the handcuffs for one brief instant before connecting with his eyes again. It was clear that he was referring to his imprisonment as unexpected.

"And you, my boy, are too naive for your own good. You saw her as a victim; a poor girl abused by her brother and being threatened by someone bent on taking her life at the same time. You saw her as someone who needed help," his voice had lowered but the more he spoke, the more disturbed it made Tim, "and you helped her. Out of goodwill, love, or contract, that doesn't count. The truth is that you helped her and she used you."

"You can't say that..."

Tim no longer wanted to hear about Adrian's murder either as Romero's words had pushed him into a conflict. That small cell felt suffocating and he wanted to step out to calm himself down.

"I can," Romero remarked breezily, "because I am still her brother and probably the only one who knows all sides of her. You saw the one she showed you and didn't let you see the rest. I've seen it all. And take it from me, there is no one sending her death threats. Even if Adrian is alive, he wouldn't dare."

Those words were a shock once more, "what... Then the letters she showed me..."

"She could be sending those threats to herself," he shrugged as if it wasn't something unbelievable for him, "you should have considered this possibility too. Why do you think she terminated the contract now of all times? I am behind bars and there is no one endangering her anymore. So of course, there's no use for you to stay around her either. She kept you around for as long as she needed and soon as she got her goal, she got rid of you from her life too."

Romero could see that his words were having the desired effect on Tim. He had his jaw and fists clenched, trying to keep himself composed but failing.

It was so obvious to see that Tim had somewhere along the way fallen for Roxanne too and now it hurt him to hear her brother say such demeaning things about her. Or perhaps it hurt more to see that his accusations weren't far from the truth.

"Do you know, I wasn't abusive from the start," Romero remarked abruptly and Tim looked up, taking in a sharp breath, "she made me into what I am today."

"You can not blame her for your crimes," he replied, standing up from his seat, "you were the one who was hurting her and there is no way in hell I'll believe that she would ask you to do that."

Romero's eyes sparked again as if the conversation had taken an unexpected yet amusing turn, "yes, she never asked me to. But she got me used to it. Until I became so dependent on her that each time I felt like I was losing my mind, I had to go to her to release myself of it. Don't you see now, Tim? I wasn't the only toxic one. She is just as much to blame."

Tim did not want to see things from that perspective. He did not want to see Roxanne in a darker light but Romero had left him no choice.

"I suppose this meeting has been too much for you," Romero spoke up as Tim stayed painstakingly silent, "I will do you a favor and tell you about Adrian some other time. I can see that you need to get some fresh air."

Tim did not know whether it was the man's attempt at being kind to him or was it another attempt to ridicule him. But he felt he couldn't stay there any longer. So he stepped back, telling the guard that he was going to leave.

The guard was taking Romero out of the cell when the man paused in front of Tim and spoke, "if you want to find her and if Adrian really is alive, find him first. She will be wherever he is hiding."

***