The old GCPD building had always looked ominous to Bruce as a boy, shaped like a courthouse. He never got a look on the inside…not until the Batman was born. He would often gain access to Jim Gordon's unlocked office window to confer with the great Commissioner on case-after-case. He entered through the hole in the rear wall again, and walked into Freeze's lab.
"Victor," Batman greeted, seeing the Ice Man lift his head inside the suit, to acknowledge Batman's presence.
"I trust you have returned with information for me?" Freeze quipped, straightening from the desk.
"I found her, Victor, she's being held inside an old Falcone warehouse." The Dark Knight replied, holding out a microchip, "I have the location in here. But first, I need you to analyse these particles for me, they will help with my investigation." He added, placing the chips on a small palate and under the microscope.
"We had a deal, Batman." Freeze said coldly. "Show me where my wife is, and I will tell you what you need to know."
Batman watched Victor as he handed over the microchip. Freeze took it, inserted it into the right forearm gauntlet of his suit, and a holographic display illuminated from it, showing Freeze the quickest, most vulnerable point of access.
"Satisfied?" Batman asked.
"For the moment." Freeze replied, and looked down the microscope. "Interesting, coupled with the elements you had me look at before, I can narrow the compounds down to a mix used on power substations around Gotham City." Victor replied, looking at Batman again, "There are several possible locations, where the two compounds co-exist." He added, reprogramming Batman's microchip with the locations.
Batman took the chip and inserted it into his cryptographic sequencer, syncing it with the micro-terminal to the Batcomputer in his belt. "Thank you, Victor."
"No, thank you, Batman." Freeze replied.
Batman turned to leave, heading towards the door.
"Victor…" He said, turning to look at the fallen scientist. "Cure her. And leave this life behind. You're better than this."
Freeze stared at Batman, and then at the spot where the Dark Knight had stood after he disappeared.
Outside, Batman made his way south, to investigate a substation in the Industrial District. After locating the substation, removing the access panel and discovering nothing but old and faulty wiring. Gritting his teeth, Batman mentally crossed off that location, and dove down into the sewer system. He made his way through the dank, dark tunnels, crumpling his nose at the smell.
"Croc's been busy down here." He commented, more to himself, than anything.
"Pardon?" Oracle's voice responded.
"Nothing…I'm in the old sewer system, investigating the lead on Deadshot, the compounds I found at the second and third crime scenes have led me to investigate several of the old power substations around Arkham City. One of them is located in the subway terminal."
"I see…" Oracle said.
"Don't worry Barbara, I'll report to you when I've found something."
Batman climbed into the subway terminal, and paused, sticking to the shadows. He activated the thermal imager in his cowl and flinched when it fizzled out, only shadows and outlines visible. Damn, he thought, Someone in here has a signal scrambling device. He crept out, and grappled up to a gargoyle, surveying the scene. Four thugs, all armed. Two-Face's men. I guess they haven't all deserted him, yet. He thought as he noticed a thug sticking to the lower levels, hiding under a walk way. He was wearing a large pack on his back, with the signal emitter sticking out like a sore thumb. Gotcha. Batman thought with a smirk. He glanced around, spotting the other thugs, and dropped to the ground silently, behind one. Taking him down without a sound, and then moving towards the thug with the signal pack. He crept up behind, and took the thug out, cutting off his air supply until he passed out, and breaking the antenna off of the pack. A couple of well-timed, and well-placed batarangs took out the two remaining thugs, and Batman could reach the substation uninterrupted. Again, just bad wiring and a lot of rust.
Substation after substation turned out to be dead ends, all across Arkham. He even found himself checking substations there weren't picked out by Freeze, just in case Deadshot had decided to change base. He reached the final location marked on his map, between Ivy's hideout, and Freeze's lab in the old GCPD building, and approached the substation wearly, watching Ivy's mind-controlled henchmen patrolling on the next rooftop. He would assume that, if he showed no hostile intent, they would not harm him; after all, they were only to protect Ivy herself.
Batman knelt, and ripped off the substations access panel.
"Oracle, I've found it." Our hero exclaimed, almost happily, "Deadshot has been using this substation to store his equipment and…" Batman reached forward to pluck something off of the shelf inside. "A P.D.A….But its encrypted, give me a second to hack into it, and I can find out what he's doing here."
"I have you on the satmaps." Oracle said, as Batman plucked out the sequencer and opened it, focussing on the signal generated by the device's mobile system. He hacked the password in a few seconds flat. Headshot.
"This P.D.A. was definitely given to Deadshot by Hugo Strange," Batman informed Oracle. He must have been smuggled into Arkham City to eliminate any threats to Strange's rule here. He thought. He scrolled through the lists of equipment, finally reaching the list of intended targets. "He only has three targets left; Jack Ryder, Bruce Wayne, and Batman."
"So Strange didn't tell Lawton that Bruce Wayne and Batman are one and the same?"
"Probably Strange's way of keeping Lawton here. Taking out Bruce Wayne would mean Lawton would never find Batman, keeping him here under Strange's thumb, most likely to be killed during Protocol 10."
Before Oracle could respond, Batman noticed a little timer flickering at the top of the screen, and times illuminated in green next to each targets picture. "Damn!" Batman roared, dropping the P.D.A. into the dirt, "He's working to a schedule, Jack Ryder is his next hit. I bumped into him earlier, near Dent's campaign offices, I've got three minutes to reach him before Deadshot takes him out."
He was already running across the roof, taking the grapnel gun off his belt.