With These Hands

-[Batman]-

He got something. 

At least, he believed he had something. After days of monitoring and keeping a close eye on Vincent, he wasn't much closer to figuring out who the mysterious savior was. 

He did find something odd. William Anderson, a childhood friend who's mother passed away last year. He was the typical fat kid who got mean looks from his peers but that wasn't what he observed. 

The dark haired boy that now hung out with Vincent was a sharp contrast from the pictures or status on public records and profiles. 

After some research, he'd found out that the change happened over two weeks ago and suddenly at that. 

Some snooping through the school database told him that his test scores had also shot up around the same time. 

Nobody changed that fast. That wasn't the only difference. He was supposed to be a secluded nervous kid but he was anything but that given the confidence he walked with. 

He sympathized with William's loss but he had a case to solve. 

The boy was out tonight so he'd taken the opportunity to sneak into his home and snoop around a bit. 

Looking for anything out of the ordinary proved useless. The most interesting thing he'd found were a few textbooks on advanced sciences and a container of flatworms. 

The kitchen was quite interesting. He'd found a powdered substance in a glass container. It didn't look like any kitchen condiment or spice he was familiar with so he took a sample to analyze later. 

He was just about done placing bugs around the place when his suit received a notification from Robin who was watching out from the rooftops. 

William was back. 

And so, he quickly left through the window he'd come through, leaving no evidence behind. 

Making his way to the roof, he landed beside Robin who was looking at the streets below. 

"Where is he?" He asked, startling the boy who tried to hide his reaction. 

"Down there." Robin answered quickly, handing him the binoculars to see William making his way to the building.

They watched him enter and, from the bugs he planted, settle in casually. For the next few hours they watched him move about his life, nothing out of the ordinary happening. 

'This could take a while.'

Xx-Xx-Xx

That was an understatement. 

They'd watched him for two full days, taking turns on surveillance duty. It was tiring and he was beginning to question a lot of his previous theories. 

He wasn't done analyzing the powdered substance he'd found in the kitchen. Hacking the phone company and monitoring his calls and texts was easy but there was nothing suspicious about it. 

Until now. 

William had received a message which was simply an address with no added context. The boy clearly knew what it meant given how he got dressed in a hurry and set out. 

Finally he had a lead. 

Shooting out of the seat in front of the batcomputer, he started up the batmobile and took chase. 

With William out of the building, the only method of tracking him was through his phone. Following that was easy. 

With the speed he was driving, it didn't take long before he was tearing through the streets in pursuit. After his latest string of no success in this case, he was glad to see some progress. 

Tailing the phone, he was momentarily surprised when the signal disappeared. 

'He turned it off?' He contemplated before analyzing the route William was headed. It matched the location that he was sent which meant that he knew where to find him. 

He just had to get there fast enough. 

Xx-Xx-Xx

He soon arrived at the location; an abandoned warehouse near the port. The Batmobile was hidden from sight as he snuck around, securing the perimeter.

Seeing nobody outside, he peeked inside through the glass window in the ceiling, frowning as he saw that an arrow had been spray painted onto the floor, pointing to a folded piece of cardboard also on the floor. 

Beside it was sprayed 'Open me'. 

It was reminiscent of the question marks that riddler usually left around Gotham but the man was in Arkham at the moment. 

After making sure that nobody was present as well as no traps were set, he made his way down and into the warehouse. Snatching the cardboard from the ground, his blood froze. 

'Stop following me Bruce.' Was written in bold ink on the cardboard.

How?

How did he know?!

-[Liam]-

He resisted the urge to whistle a tune as he waited for Penguin's men to show up. 

He'd realized that someone had been in his home the moment he set foot in it. His senses had been largely enhanced since the merge. Thus, it was easy to catch the mystery of a scent that lingered in the house. 

It was a weird mix of musty and earth as well as sweat. The scent, as well as the person it belonged to, came through the window and ventured through the house. 

The bedroom, the kitchen, the living room as well as the bathroom. All places that it lingered meaning that whoever it was stopped in each place for a while. 

He didn't need to think too hard to figure out who it was. 

Knowing that, it wasn't hard to find the bugs that were planted in said locations. The problem was finding them while being discreet as well.

They didn't know about his 'work' phone so using that to have David get a burner phone wasn't hard. It was equally easy to have him send a location to his phone before tossing it. 

Why do all this? He made a deal with Penguin for the drugs and he wasn't going to let this stop him. 

Faking haste, he made his way towards the direction of the location for a while before stashing the phone in his inventory and dashing towards his real destination once he was hidden enough. 

Was it stupid to do this and reveal that he knew Batman's secret identity? It absolutely was but he did it anyway. 

While playing possum, he'd had an epiphany. 

He'd been plucked from his life once already. His life there was over. He wasn't going to spend this one hiding, being scared or playing house. 

He wasn't scared. If anything, it was exciting. 

His ears perked up, turning his head to see Penguin's men strutting in, one with a case in his hand. 

'This new life of mine,' he started, a grin surfacing as he grabbed the case filled with Euphoria he brought with him. 

'I'll build it with these hands. Bring it on DC, I'll take you on!'

**********

A/N: I'm not satisfied with this chapter but here it is anyway. I also started a new book and you should check it out.