[CENTER][IMG]https://i.imgur.com/0xjS780.png[/IMG][/CENTER]

[B]Gotham City, The Rooftops
East End
12:45 AM[/B]

[I][B]BA-BLAM! BA-BLAM![/B][/I]

[color=9e0b0f][b]"Come on, come on! I don't have all goddamn night!"[/b][/color]

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/80z5vCK.jpg[/IMG]

Lawton hurriedly reloads his wrist-mounted weapon as he leaps his way over to the next roof, only barely losing a step as he sprints ahead. I make my presence known when nessescary, to throw him off whenever he gets too comfortable. Not entirely the approach I would've preferred, given I wanted to cripple him before he could take his next shot at Dent, but it works effectively enough under the circumstances. He made for an escape as soon as he realized that I was trying to prevent him from reaching his target. As it stands, we've been engaged in a tense chase for the last twenty minutes. To him, I'm appearing and disappearing at will, leaping out of shadows just long enough for him to miss his shot, before I'm gone and the cycle repeats all over again. It's an old trick I picked up in Tibet, roughly translated to "wrath of the coming ghost". In reality, a bit of well-placed timing and distraction at work, but the method renders me looking as though I'm only a patch of darkness that he can't hope to shoot. And judging by the live readings that ACE is feeding me of Lawton's pulse rate and adrenaline levels, it's starting to get to him more than he's letting on. 

[B][I]BA-BLAM![/I][/B]

[color=9e0b0f][b]"You think this voodoo shit is gonna work forever?! You're an idiot! In case you haven't noticed, we've only been getting closer to your precious D.A. since I made a go of it!", he taunts back at me, firing another round. "How much do you wanna bet on your chances of stopping me when we reach him, Bats?! Because if this were Vegas, I'd be putting my chips on Dent reaching the morgue by sunrise!"[/b][/color] 

In response, a batarang comes hurtling out of the shadows. He only narrowly manages to dodge it, and proceeds to shoot it out of the sky with a laugh. Dammit. Looks as if he's getting harder to hit, himself. As much as I keep thinking that I still have the upper hand in this, Lawton's right about at least one thing, unfortunately. I haven't been able to draw him away from a path to the airport. Something about this approach needs to change, fast. Or he'll get his chance to take Harvey down regardless of whatever distraction I try and implement. Keeping pace as I weave through the darkest corners of Gotham's cityscape to avoid being spotted, I tap the side of my cowl to re-establish voice commands on ACE. 

[color=Gray][b]"Scan the area ahead. Isolate empty floors of each individual building over a five block radius."[/b][/color]

[b][color=fff200]As you wish, Mr. Wayne.[/color][/b]

The read-out through my cowl's lenses are overtaken with a vivid yellow grid that aligns with the buildings that I can directly see, aswell as a few that I can't. It'll take a few seconds for it to produce any results, but ACE is running off of Waynetech's most advance satellite imaging technology. It had the schematics for every building in Gotham pre-rendered before I even asked, I just needed a live status of each floor. Makes the job alot easier for me to carry out. I'll have to congratulate Todd on his work on the 'demo' version of the program. The months ahead will be full of fine-tuning and integrating with my current arsenal, but based on it's performance tonight, I already consider this technology a success. 

[b][color=fff200]You have seven available options ahead of your current trajectory.[/color][/b]

Before I can respond, Deadshot spots me for the first time on his own and fires, forcing me to roll to the left. Rookie mistake, on my part. I was getting too distracted and allowed my enemy to take the given advantage. That won't happen again, is what I have to tell myself. Dent's life depends on it. 

[color=Gray][b]"We're running out of time. Give me the closest."[/b][/color]

[b][color=fff200]The building on 81st and W. Barr Street is currently closed for business. No patrons or staff were identified on the top floor penthouse.[/color][/b]

I smirk to myself, unsheathing The Utility Gun from the holster attached to the armor plating beneath my cape. Shifting through it's settings as I make a run for Lawton, I press the button to activate the tri-grapple. Gives me three targeted shots that are triangulated into the suit's active sensors. 81st and W. Barr Street is just to the right of us. My task is simple from here. Re-direct Lawton's path and ensure that we land in an area that he can't easily escape. Which should make the location ideal, given that it's the site of a top floor restraunt that Bruce Wayne has frequented over the last few months. 

[color=Gray][b]"Lawton!"[/b][/color]

Firing the tri-grapple, I leap into the air and allow the first line to fire out as a dummy hook, causing him to fire his next shot in the opposite direction. With the momentary distraction, he doesn't notice as I kick him directly in the chest and fire out the second line, attaching itself to a nearby railing. Working off of the proper momentum built by the attack, I attach a twin pair of sonic emitters to both of his wrist-guns before he can line up another shot, ignoring the pain as he manages to elbow me in the jaw. I slam my forehead directly into his, pulling back on the line and propelling us into the air. Lawton begins to fall, but I grab him by the throat and continue on with the swing, targeting the glass roof of the restraunt. 

[color=Gray][b]"About my chances. You might want to rethink your odds."[/b][/color]

Laying a hard right hook across his face, making sure to strike the broken nose I gave him just a few nights ago, I let go of the line and tackle him mid-air, preparing us both for the considerable descent. He tries to fight me off, but we're already airborne. There's nothing for him to do  now but realize what's happening and brace himself. Silently, he relents and allows it to transpire, just seconds before we hit the glass. This isn't going to be pleasant for either of us, but it has to be done. 

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/Qmg5ZdB.png[/IMG]

The force of Deadshot's spine compromises the integrity of the glass, and our combined weight is what shatters it. If neither of us were wearing kevlar or some type of protective armor, this would've meant either of our deaths. But instead, we're both very much alive, unable to control the fall as we tumble down onto the hard marble floor of the empty establishment. He yells out in pain as he lands shoulder-first, and I twist myself to the best of my ability, allowing me to take advantage of this otherwise disasterous scenario. Landing on the sharpened spikes of my gauntlets, I use them to propel myself upwards and into somersault, giving into a roll across the floor. 

By the time that Lawton painfully forces himself up, he can't see so much as a glimpse of me amongst the darkness. Reaching up with both wrist-guns intent on a kill, he attempts to fire them both multiple times - only to realize that neither one are working. The sonic emitters did their job. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"You... absolute... son of a bitch..."[/b][/color]

He wheezes, stumbling against a dining table as he removes the weapons from his wrists. By now, he's realized that I used the emitters to jam the firing pin that's hidden away in both of the gauntlets. I crouch behind the counter to the kitchen, just a few feet away from him. Watching to see what he'll do next, as it informs my next course of action. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"I'll kill you for this. I really, truly will. You have no idea what the fuck you just did by costing me this job. You don't get it, Batman. Stopping me never would've made a difference. Either way, someone was gonna die tonight. Either Dent or somebody else, just incase I failed. I never had a choice in the matter, and you just made sure of that!"[/b][/color]

I narrow my eyes, wondering if he's telling the truth. I already know he is, but I just don't want to consider it's possibility. ACE is feeding me enough information about him on the cowl's feed to give me a rough form of a polygraph. Whoever hired him must've gained some form of collateral, because Lawton seemed alot more desperate tonight from the moment I tagged him. It could be something that I could use to my advantage, but that hardly matters compared the impending danger to someone else in Gotham. I need to force a confession out of him.

Manually adjusting the voice-scrambler inside of the throat plate attached to my cowl, I ensure that the pitch makes it seem as though I'm speaking from the other side of the room before speaking. Don't want to give my position away just yet.

[color=Gray][b]"No one's going to die tonight, Lawton. Tell me who hired you. Do it now, and I'll still be able to save whoever else is in danger."[/b][/color]

Pausing, perhaps to momentarily consider the offer, he nevertheless reaches into his boot to produce a customized .47 semi-automatic. Unclipping a latch attached to the hilt, he pulls the weapon apart, revealing that the one gun is actually [i]two[/i], and both are equipped with laser sighting and a flashlight. I silently advance from the kitchen into the dining area as he starts to make a sweep for me. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"Oh, we're way past the point of negotiation, you goddamn freak. If someone's gonna put a bullet into somebody that I love tonight, you're gonna have the decency to join them in death when I put one right between your eyes. That's the least I can do to try and make this right."[/b][/color]

Producing another batarang, I toss it low and aim for a chair just behind Lawton. He hears it and immediately fires off in the direction that he believes I'm hiding in.

[I][B]BLAM! BLAM![/B][/I]

[color=Gray][b]"You're not listening."[/b][/color]

His heart rate increases, as if to tell me what he's thinking. Or more accurately, what he's feeling. And that's pure, unbridled fear. Certainly not of me, but likely of what'll happen to whomever this third party is if he isn't able to carry out his hit on Dent. He's already given up on the job, but I refuse to let the person who hired him commit another murder. 

[color=Gray][b]"I can get to the person who's responsible for this faster than you. Just stop and think about it, Floyd. This person wanted Dent dead. They let you carry out the hit, but allowed me to be blamed for it."[/b][/color]

Deadshot laughs, scanning the room with the loaded pistols. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"Oh, forgive me if I don't weep for your professional image."[/b][/color]

Ducking beneath a table just before his spotlight can give me away, I remain entirely still as he passes by. 

[color=Gray][b]"That's not the point and you know it. You're letting them use you. And if they already knew how to get you to cooperate, killing Dent was never going to make a difference. You [i]know[/i] that."[/b][/color]

He stops in his tracks. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"You don't know a damn thing about this, asshole. I could've made it work if I did the job well enough. I could've saved her! You're the one that stopped me from doing the job! You're the reason this went sideways! If it weren't for you, Zoe wouldn't have to die!"[/b][/color]

[i]Zoe.[/i] 

I looked into Lawton's file shortly before I left The Cave. Alfred procured it for me whenever he told me the true identity of Deadshot that he was able to garner from his contact inside of SHIELD. Floyd's right to be scared. Zoe Lawton is his daughter. His young, innocent daughter who never should've been put in the crosshairs of the person pulling Deadshot's string. I can either blame him for that and risk the girl's life, or I can appeal to his sensibilities and reason with him long enough to get a name. 

[color=Gray][b]"Your daughter will remain safe if you give me a name, Lawton. Stop letting your pride dictate how this goes down. No one in Gotham is untouchable."[/b][/color]

Bullets bounce off of the nearby tables, as he starts flipping them over to see if I'm under one of them. He's getting more frantic. Even more disoriented than before because of the grief that's consuming him. Lawton clearly loves his daughter more than he would ever admit, but it's blinding him to the opportunity that he has to save her life. There's no reasoning with grief, especially coupled with loss. I know a great deal about that myself. There's only cold hard facts. And right now, Deadshot isn't going to want to hear any of those, either.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"I don't know how the hell you know so much about me, but it doesn't matter! This is only gonna end one way, Bats! Come out and face me like a man! I'll do it quick or I'll do it slow, however you want it! But you're gonna die for this! You think you're some big damn hero, but you don't even know the half of what you're up against! The shit I've seen would make your hair stand on end! There's no arresting this freak of nature! No jail that can even hold the bitch! So you're wasting your breath in even trying to get me to talk!"[/b][/color]

My mind races to try and discern whom he's referring to. A female, obviously, which leaves me with considerably few known figureheads or connections to one of the Five Families. The way he speaks of the woman, she must be metahuman, mutant, or otherwise especially gifted. Selina Kyle made mention of the fact that The Penguin is assembling a group of colorful hitmen. One of his, perhaps? Or maybe a new player altogether. 

[color=Gray][b]"Final warning, Lawton."[/b][/color]

[color=9e0b0f][b]"Fuck off! Just fuck off!"[/b][/color]

This isn't a road I can go down. There isn't enough time. I'm thinking about this too logically. Letting what I know of the criminal underworld shift my theories into opposing directions. Deadshot's the only one that can give me an answer, and if I have to force it out of him, it looks like now is just as good a time as ever if there's still a prayer of saving his daughter.

[color=Gray][b]"Fine. Then we're doing this the hard way."[/b][/color]

Removing another set of sonic emitters from my belt, I toss them across the floor and allow them to roll under the remaining tables that Deadshot hasn't upended. These are especially potent, but I'm not looking to jam his firearms, this time. The emitters that I just laid out were built with a specific purpose in mind, and it wasn't to affect the environment. It was project sound. Specifically, the sonar frequency of a certain animal that I've come to know well. Reaching down to the buckle of my belt, I slowly twist a dial that controls their pulse.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"ARRRGH!"[/b][/color]

Holding his hands over his ears, Lawton drops to his knees and - more importantly - drops both weapons in his hands as the hunting cry of twenty thousand brown bats threatens to just barely avoid splitting open his skull. Taking the opportunity while he's distracted, aswell as ensuring that I don't deafen myself as I approach by lowering the pulse to a more managable level, I throw the table that I'm positioned under off of me and make a mad dash for Lawton. He tries to recover, still in excruciating pain and likely to have a burst eardrum, but I jump into the air and force my knee into the back of his neck.

He hits the floor hard, allowing me to stomp on his spine hard enough to prevent any notion that he had of getting to his feet. His fingers twitch, as though he's about to reach for some previously unseen weapon on his person, but I lean down and immediately grab his left hand. Using my knee to keep him down, I place the hand against my heel.

[color=Gray][b]"Who hired you to kill Dent? Who's threatening your daughter?!"[/b][/color]

[color=9e0b0f][b]"I'LL KILL YOU! I SWEAR TO GOD, I'LL---AAAAAAAAAH!"[/b][/color]

His threats turn into a loud scream as I break his hand under the weight of my boot. Each individual finger suffers, but the bones are going to need to be set throughout the entire wrist down. A job for Elliot Memorial Hospital, not me. Forcing him onto his back as he grasps at his broken hand in agony, I look at one of the pistols he dropped. Torture is something that this man has been trained to withstand. He's ex-military, worth at least a dozen decorated marksmanship medals. He's been through this before. But what he isn't prepared for is a wildcard. 

I pick up the gun, turn off the safety, and aim directly in his face.

[color=Gray][b]"WHO IS IT, LAWTON?! TELL ME WHO IT IS!"[/b][/color]

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/6uNgmrC.png[/IMG]

[color=Gray][b]"TELL ME WHILE YOU STILL HAVE THE CHANCE!"[/b][/color]

He stares back at the gun. But something about his blood pressure changes. Instead of spiking, it... normalizes. Doing something that I wouldn't have expected, he raises himself ever so slightly and places his forehead against the barrel. My eyes widen as he reaches up to grab my hand and force me to pull the trigger.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"A life without Zoe isn't a life worth living. And this life has always been shit to me, anyway."[/b][/color]

He... wants me to kill him.

He wants me to end his suffering now.

Gritting my teeth, I push his hand back and smash him across the face with the barrel of the gun. Then immediately empty the cartridge and toss the weapon over my shoulder, far from either of our grasp. I won't give into what he wants. This isn't about his livelihood, it's about the life that he still has the chance to save. But I refuse to take a life - [i]any[/i] life - for as long as I live. It's not the way I ever intend to do things, and I'm sure as hell not going to start now just because an assassin-for-hire has a deathwish. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"What? No! No, damn you, I wanted you to do it!"[/b][/color]

I jab him directly in the face, irritating the injury sustained to his nose.

[color=Gray][b]"I know you did, psychopath. But you're not getting out of this [i]that[/i] easily."[/b][/color]

Grabbing him by the front of his outfit, I lift him to me and stare him directly in the eyes.

[color=Gray][b]"You're going to tell me what I want to know, or I'm going to do something worse than kill you. I'm going to wait right here, and allow your employer to realize that you failed. I'm going to watch you realize that you're killing your own flesh and blood by denying me the answer."[/b][/color]

Lawton looks back at me, horrified. 

[color=9e0b0f][b]"Jesus Christ..."[/b][/color]

[color=Gray][b]"What's it going to be, Deadshot?"[/b][/color], I ask him, enraged. [color=Gray][b]"Life or death?"[/b][/color]

He tries to fight me off even further, but between his broken hand, his injured face, and his completely tarnished spirit, he eventually stops and falls limp. Still conscious, but ready to face whatever fate awaits him. If he had the chance, he'd probably take out one of the guns still on his person and put it to his own temple. But he doesn't have the will anymore. He doesn't have what it takes to murder his own daughter by inaction.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"Ivy."[/b][/color]

My fist stops short of laying into him again, surprised.

[color=9e0b0f][b]"She... calls herself Poison Ivy. And she has the power to control what other people do for her, with no say in it for them. She controls everything that's about to happen to Zoe. You couldn't even begin to stop her if you fucking tried."[/b][/color]

Poison Ivy. The rumored drugrunner that was giving the Five Families a bit of trouble a few weeks ago. Moving product that was far more potent than anything currently circulating the streets of Gotham, and doing it in a way that no one could track. If she's a meta, I just discovered how that's possible. But what's worse is that if she can do what Lawton says she can, it's too high of a risk for me to seek her out on my own.

There's only one alternative.

[color=Gray][b]"One last thing, Floyd."[/b][/color]

Grabbing him hard by the throat again, I lift him off of the floor and stand, letting him start to choke. He doesn't know it, but I just became the best chance that Deadshot has of saving the life of the only person he may still have left in this world to care for.

[color=Gray][b]"Your ex-wife's current address."[/b][/color]