Chapter Warnings: This chapter is rated T for Teen for swearing.

The Markings of a Hero

Chapter Seventeen: Biting the Arrow

The building was set to be demolished any day now if the city would actually get to work. For now, it provided Hornet the best cover from the deal that was going on outside. Ignoring the aged stench of paint and whatever animal died in the next room, Hornet looked out of the previously boarded up window. While there was a Tobias Whale-related problem going on, Eli's mind was on something else.

He had to give his mother an answer about transferring schools tomorrow.

"How many do you see?" Black Canary came in through the communicator that she had given him.

"Two, three… Five." Eli counted quietly.

"Driver?"

"…Six," Eli recounted. "Four doing the deal. One standing in front of the SUV. One in the car."

"I'm moving around to take care of the guy in the car. Cover me." Canary ordered before adding, "I hope you packed the non-lethal arrows, Hornet. We don't want this to turn into a bloodbath."

Eli quietly agreed to the terms and reached for the new item on his back. In the past two days, Eli has gone from hating training with the Black Canary to hating training with the Black Canary and Green Arrow. While Arrow was back in Star City for some problem that Eli had no care about, the man had issued a challenge for Eli to use the bow on missions with Canary.

Yes, for the past two nights, Hornet has been carrying extra weight with the collapsible bow and a quiver of an assorted thirty arrows. Tonight, twenty of the arrows were typical "non-lethal" arrows that Green Arrow had developed a while ago. In Arrow's words, the arrows, when shot properly, deliver a "gorilla's punch" to the target without piercing skin. There were five "shock arrows" which were Eli's favorite ones to use. They did as their name implied and shocked whatever they stuck; people, computers, cars, etcetera. Finally, he had five "tranquilizers" which were arrows that had the same knock-out punch that his darts carried.

All in all, Eli had been given a modified arsenal that Green Arrow's protégé, Speedy, carried. The key difference was that Speedy was apparently trained by some Native American master of archery and Eli was a city boy who had more experience using a crossbow on Call of Duty than he did a bow in life.

Hornet reached behind him to grab an arrow, feeling the shaft and fletching to recognize which arrow was which. Grabbing a simple non-lethal arrow, Eli cautiously loaded his bow, taking aim.

"On my mark," Canary instructed. "One… Two… Go!"

Eli fired the arrow, it whistling through the air as it darted for his target. Hornet's aim was at the man's unguarded face, and when the man was knocked clear on his ass from the strike to his forehead, Eli actually smirked. He did not sit with his satisfaction for long though, nocking another arrow and taking aim again and firing at another target. This shot missed his initial target, again the face, but hit the second man in the shoulder.

"The window!"

Hornet ducked out of the window, crouched as he moved towards the doorway that led out of the bare room. Oliver could shoot arrows at fast succession with a form that only Oliver knew. Eli was not that skilled and figured that he never would be. However, with his trusted handguns currently at the Canary's gym, Hornet had already theorized that he would have to either become better with the bow or die.

The Yellow Jacket grabbed an arrow quickly and held it as he dipped inside of another room of the dank building. Leaping over a downed wooden beam, Eli approached another window and pressed his back flushed against it. He knocked the arrow and inhaled, hearing a small hiss from the arrowhead.

Good, he thought, an electric arrow. With this, he did not have to hit a specific body part. Instead he just had to hit the person.

With bated breath, Hornet quickly turned his body left. Now able to view outside of the window, he quickly took aim at one of the unaware men and fired the arrow. The arrow darted to the large man's left thigh where it hit him and gave him a vicious shock. The Yellow Jacket vanished from his spot again and moved to reposition with satisfaction on his face.

"Get down here. It's done."

Eli grunted angrily before pausing in his repositioning. Working alone meant doing everything by himself. There were times when he wished that he didn't, given that he had to knock the guys out and then detain them; which was always a hassle. Yet working with the Black Canary made Eli feel insignificant. She let him search for clues. She let him fight some low tier criminal. But ultimately she did most of the heavy lifting.

"I'm on my way." Hornet responded, his voice changer voicing most of his anger and disappointment.

There was a plus-side to working with Black Canary, Eli figured as he carefully descended down the old wooden stairs. The blonde screaming bombshell was a more talkative teacher than Ben was. She better explained why Eli could not do certain moves off the bat and had a softer approached to it. Not that Eli needed a softer approach, it just felt better listening to Dinah tell Eli that what he was doing was wrong than it was having Ben's intimidating stare on Eli's figure for minutes until Ben simply said, "Do it again."

And then there was Oliver.

Eli didn't know what to make out of the man. Oliver was not a serious as Dinah was (personality wise that is), yet seemed to be just as wise and attentive as Ben is. Oliver had been aware of Eli's noticeable anger, much to the boy's chagrin, though he didn't necessarily push for Eli to get rid of it as Dinah and Ben had in their own different ways. Eli was unsure if he was going to like the rich left-wing (Oliver made it a mission to point out his political stance) Robin Hood wannabe. The guy was the reason that Eli was using a freaking bow and arrows in gunfights.

The alleyway that the scrimmage had taken place in was surprisingly lit and had a few passersby stopping to record the sight of the Black Canary and Hornet. Hornet, of course, ignored the small crowd and walked straight to the blonde who stood with her hands holding a few pieces of crumpled of paper.

Behind Black Canary was a parked white SUV with the driver door opened and lights still on. Two downed bodies lied directly next to the vehicle with four more between the SUV and the blue car parked near the end of the wide alley. Another person sat unconscious against the car which made Eli slightly jealous that Dinah had done all this without him.

"Bow," Dinah chided to Eli without looking up from the evidence she collected. Eli grunted and folded his bow and placed it back in its carrier. "And there were seven, not six."

"Sorry." came the gruff response of Hornet.

"I don't expect you to see the man hidden in the trunk of the SUV." Black Canary said quietly as she looked up at Hornet. "The scene is yours. Don't do too much in front of pedestrians."

"Right…"

Gathering evidence was a part of the job. Without evidence, vigilantes looked like assholes who just ran around beating the hell out of people for no good reason. Then again, some of them did that anyway.

But onto the subject of gathering evidence with onlookers. That was a problem that Hornet had trouble dealing with. Chattering and camera flashing were two very distracting things that made Eli want to shoot innocently annoying bystanders.

If only he had his guns…

Hornet opened the back door of the SUV checking behind the driver seat first. His eyes scanned the vehicle carefully. There were guns, rifles that resembled Killer Moth's brand, on the back seats of the vehicle. The stench of a recently lit cigarette filled the confined space but nothing else really popped out at Eli.

Eli then moved away from the vehicle and studied the unconscious and bound (though he had no idea where Black Canary kept her zip-ties) men on the ground. The Saints Row Children were low-class thugs from Cheshire Square and their outfits reflected that. These men were wearing suits, three in all black body guard-like suits and the other four in assorted gray three-piece suits.

Four cheap three-piece suits, Eli thought as he recollected on the suits that Robert owned. They were paid more than the cut Eric gave his guys for selling drugs but less than the Mozgovs that Eli had run into. As for the men in black, their suits seemed oddly familiar. In fact…

"Pullman." Eli mumbled to himself as he walked towards the car parked near the end of the alleyway. Unfortunately, that meant nearing the small group of people watching the scene.

"It's the Yellow Jacket!"

"Ssh! Don't make him mad!"

"He's smaller than I thought!"

"Dude! He actually has a yellow jacket!"

This was why Hornet dodged media at all costs. Not because people thought of him as some angry gun-wielder that shot the first person that made him mad, because that was alright. But comments such as if the Yellow Jacket actually owned a yellow jacket was beyond the usual level of stupidity that he could handle.

Ignoring his anger for the moment, Hornet entered the car via the passenger side. He examined everything in plain sight first before opening the glove compartment. Several sheets of paper fell out along with a notepad and a cell phone. Hornet grabbed the phone before getting the small black notepad as well.

Eli heard the distant sirens growing and realized that Black Canary had left some time ago. This made Hornet pocket the notepad and cell phone before eying the small crowd.

"Hey Yellow Jacket! Are you from New Camford?"

"Are you dating Black Canary?"

"How old are you?"

Eli pulled his hood over his masked face before grabbing a small marble-sized ball from a pocket. He eyed the group of citizens boringly before flicking the sphere towards them. The smokescreen turned the crowd into a coughing frenzy.

The smoke slowly lifted with the small pack looking around for either Hornet or Black Canary. Most with cell phones in hand and hearts sunken searched for minutes until one child who was fortunate enough to be walking home with his father spoke out,

"That… was…. awesome!"

Alexander Wyvern was not an easy man to spot in a crowd, even with his description plastered on APBs across the nation. Hell, he had published a novel called Telltales of Gotham that had his picture in it and people still had a hard time recognizing him. He was just that mundane. Standing at a full height of five-five, the thin pale-skinned man was always swallowed by the colorful tourists that flocked to the city of New Camford.

Of course, he gave credit to his hideaway to the man seated in his study. Alexander was not necessarily fond of people in his study- and he definitely detested people in his chair- but that was beyond the point. The point was, the mysterious blond from earlier had returned with a favor no doubt.

"Sorry if I made myself comfortable without your knowledge," the blond said. "But we have business to talk about. I need you to play your role in the game, Bookworm."

Alexander stepped into the lavished study in his home in Venice Terrace. The room was furnished with a nice cherry-wood executive desk with his thin Dell notebook atop of it and an LED table lamp near the upper-left corner. The two bookshelves that lined the walls to Alexander's right and left were matching color of the desk, both stocked with several of his favorites.

But of course, his attention was on his uninvited guest.

"What is it this time?" Alexander, also known as Bookworm, asked the blond young adult.

"Oh, nothing big. You just have to kill the Yellow Jacket, that's all." Bookworm didn't respond to the request initially, his brain trying to find sound logic to him even encountering New Camford's Killer Bee.

"You want me to kill the Yellow Jacket?" Bookworm replied after a moment of silence. When the blond nodded his head, Alexander continued. "And for what reason would I do that? The Yellow Jacket doesn't guard Venice Terrace and, if the paper is right, has only been here in search of the Russians with the club. None of that has anything to do with me, or you for that matter."

The businessman sat up with a laugh. "You would think that, wouldn't you? Oh, you low-leveled bosses are so quick to assume things!" The man's laughter slowly died, he wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. "No, you have things wrong. Yellow Jacket is a player in my game and he's ruining it! I want Whale to become the power boss in New Camford. And you will help me do it."

Bookworm snorted. "And what makes you think that I would do that?"

"Because this," the man said twirling his index finger in the air. "Is all because of me. So if you want to continue to live here without Batman or Nightwing finding you, then you will play your role. Or lose."

Alexander stood quietly as he figured that the man had him beat. When Bookworm had escaped from Gotham City, he had met the man who was "impressed" by the fact that Bookworm had found a pathway out of the hectic scene. He had offered Alexander a task in this "game" of his which kept the Gotham City PD off of Alexander's trail. In return, Alexander did "favors" for the mysterious man when asked.

However, Bookworm had one final problem to voice.

"While I normally stay away from social media," Bookworm began as he pushed his glasses up. "One of the things trending is the team-up of the Yellow Jacket and Black Canary. It has the hash-tag of 'Black and Yellow'. What are you going to do about her?"

"Black Canary is an NPC that is still nothing more than a background. Your main rival is the Yellow Jacket. Delete him." The blond said as he stood up from the chair. "I'm sending the Hound into the game first, something like the sub-boss to a really low level. I couldn't care less if he succeeds or not. Chances are he won't be in the next game anyway."

"Uh-huh…" said Alexander giving the blond a thorough look over. "I never caught your name."

A tense bout of silence followed with Bookworm being leveled by a heavy stare from the businessman. The man in the light gray suit reached into his inner coat pocket and revealed a business card.

"Call me elite."

Alexander cautiously moved to the blond and took the card, frowning upon reading the name.

"E-seven-three-three-T? That does not spell 'elite'." Bookworm announced.

"It's E733T. Chief E733T." The blond stated as he moved by Bookworm. "I'll be checking in on your status within the week. Hopefully you'll get the time bonus."

Bookworm smirked. "Hopefully."

Killing the Yellow Jacket was never on the agenda but it was now. Now the only issue was whether or not he should let that hooligan Hound die before or save him.

Or he could just kill him too.

Dinah was actually impressed. Eli had, not only tracked down another drug deal and stopped it single-handedly, but had also returned back to Ivy Town for some one-on-one training. Said training turned into her practically beating him inside of the boxing ring upstairs until he finally, and begrudgingly, forfeited. That had occurred five minutes ago, exactly five minutes ago from the current time.

Now Eli was looking over evidence as if Canary's earlier blows to him meant absolutely nothing to him.

The blonde sipped some of her warm coffee from her stainless steel travel mug. Her assessment of the kid was that he was, for all his worth, still quite reckless. His ambition caused him to have tunnel vision and that sometimes put those around him in more danger than needed. And while that tunnel vision helped his aim, more with his darts and guns than a bow and arrow, it caused him to get flustered easily when someone or something snuck up behind him. Then again, he was just a kid and had years to learn how to take in his surroundings before locking in on a single target or goal.

Dinah learned that Eli had become inured to pain for someone his age and size. His miscues in his landings and the blows he took from taking down two members of the SRC, and subsequently from her, were signs of this. It was almost as if he welcomed it at some points, like he had to endure something to get what he wanted. That alone scared Dinah and made her think that Ben was right. Eli could go down a dark path without someone intervening.

"How was your trip to Ivy University?" Dinah suddenly asked. Eli, who was looking over a notebook stolen from the first deal, paused in his search for whatever and glanced over at Dinah.

Admittedly, she had not planned on how to start a conversation with Eli. The words just seemed to come out before she had a chance to stop them. Yet, judging from Eli's reaction, this was not the best start to a great- hell, not even good- conversation.

"It was alright." answered Eli in a dread-filled monotone voice. Dinah was actually impressed. It almost sounded as if he still had his voice changer on without his suit.

"It had to be more than 'alright' Eli. You seem stress." Dinah pointed out. Eli shifted in his seat on the couch. "Remember our deal, you tell me so that I know whether or not to pull you from action."

Eli juggled his options in his mind for a moment before relenting altogether. He was in pain, both physical and mental anguish, and had decided to retire for the night. The last thing he needed was to piss Dinah off before he left for home.

"I had to deal with Mrs. Nolan's shit for half an hour while listening about school. How do you think it went?" Eli returned. Dinah's firm stare told him to retract his statement, and tone, and try again, which he wisely did. "She told me things about my dad, things I never knew and didn't think she knew. Apparently they were talking since she left."

Dinah's eyes softened, but only slightly. "It's a thing called love Eli. Why does that bother you so much?"

"Because…! Because she knew that he was Army Ant and did nothing." Eli told his new mentor, trying his best to remain calm. "Those days when Dad would waste money gambling and she would just yell at him… She never helped. She never does anything."

"On that same notion," offered Canary. "You did nothing as well." Eli scoffed and turned back to the notebook. "Your anger towards your mom is solely on the fact that she married another man. But you're too angry or stupid to see that you're doing the same thing as she did."

Eli's eyes snapped up at the woman. "How? I'm saving people, not lawyering for some of the corporations that are hurting them."

Eli felt uncomfortable when Dinah set her drink down and approached him. If the tension was not so high, the thought of the fishnet-wearing heroine approaching him on a couch would have been the highlight of his day. But Dinah's face warned him of a lecture with a high chance of pain and he wanted nothing to do with it.

And then, her anger diminished and she sat next to him with a soft sigh.

"Eli," Dinah began. "You miss your parents." Again, the teen scoffed though his attitude was halved when Dinah placed her hand on his shoulder. "You miss your mom too, Eli. And the sooner you admit it, the sooner I can teach you the real stuff."

Eli's demeanor flattened instantly. He was not a kid, not like Sam was. He knew bait when it was thrown in front of him now. However, she had piqued his interest. It was hard to deny her when she was dangling one of two baits he could not refuse.

"Fine," the boy was disinclined to settle at the moment. But he had to do something, anything, to draw the attention away from his personal problems.

Dinah smiled. "Good. Now here's one of the strongest attacks I know."

Eli flinched when her arms went around him. He could already predict how far she could probably toss him if she tried. But the toss never came. Instead, Dinah pulled the boy into a comfortable hug that he him frozen with confusion.

Dinah took in a quiet breath and held Eli's body against hers. She thought about the day she met Wildcat after her parents' funeral. He had caught her assaulting a petty thief and took her back to his gym to train. Needless to say, he beat the hell out of her, but he ended it in a hug.

Slowly, Eli reciprocated the hug, finding some comfort in the blonde's hold. Of course, this alerted the blonde to some degree. Regardless of the fact that he was out of costume, Eli carried some of his darts around for safety. This was the perfect moment for him to jab her with the sleep inducing agent. Instead, Eli paralyzed her with something else.

"Dinah… Thank you."

The following morning, Eli woke up in his apartment alone. He half expected Jade to be in bed next to him telling him that he snored or trying to break into his laptop. A part of him would have settled for Leila or Sam knocking on his door for whatever stupid reason that they found fit to interrupt him. Instead, he was alone with no one but the silent ghost of his dead father lingering around.

Eli huffed as he shuffled out of bed. Malcolm was not a secretive guy- bar the whole vigilante thing- and it was easy for people to see things on him. When the man began gambling again, Eli knew. Eli could see it on Malcolm. Yet, Eli missed the your-dad-is-a-vigilante sign somewhere along the way.

Maybe it's because you never cared, a voice popped inside of Eli's head.

Eli ignored the voice as long as he could as he trudged to the bathroom. Jade had mentioned that to him; that he never cared as much as he acted like he did. Truthfully, Eli found that statement to be unfair. He had a life of his own, as did his dad. Was he supposed to stay under Malcolm's watch all day to find out if his father was secretly a vigilante or not? Eli certainly didn't think so, but Jade still pressed that Eli took his dad's, and mom's, life for granted.

Of course, this was the girl who was secretly planning on killing her dead-beat father.

Eli studied his reflection. Once more, his physical features remind him of his father yet the mental focus and anger that was visibly seen was a clear cut from his mother's genetic coding. His eyes trailed to his body.

Damn the bruises were beginning to show up. Eli was not comfortable walking shirtless around Leila, not like he did it much around her anyway, but now it was becoming a larger problem. His time as Hornet was beginning to leave marks all over his body. In his mind, it would have been much easier if Barbara had given him a hickey and Leila had seen it than to try to find some sort of lie that would justify a wooden bat made bruise under his left arm.

Naturally, Eli's morning would not be completed without his cell phone chiming loudly to get his attention. Eli rushed out of the bathroom and across the hall to his bedroom to answer it.

"Kid," Nick spoke from the other line. "Are you up? Damn it kid, check the news! This is bad!"

Eli grumbled quietly as he fumbled the remote off the stand in his bedroom before turning the TV on. He flipped to the news, which he assumed Nick was watching, and promptly dropped the remote after he did so.

"Bookworm…" Eli muttered as he read the header on the live feed.

"… some sources of the deceased say that Andrea received a mysterious phone call a little after one this morning asking her to play a game. She would be murdered an hour later by, what detectives assume to be, a reemergence of the renowned Bookworm…"

"What are they talking about?" Eli asked Nick.

"Bookworm is apparently back and he has some new friends." Nick answered grimly. "They attacked Andrea Campbell- Danger Girl. Cops are just assuming that the murder was done by Bookworm, but given the details of it and what we know, it most likely is Bookworm. And that's not even the half of it."

"What is it?"

Nick sighed heavily. "Earlier they were talking about a message that was found at the scene. A note for all heroes in New Camford especially the Yellow Jacket. You need to find this guy before more people end up dead."

"Damn it," Eli quietly swore. "He came to her house so he knew who she was. Just like Dad."

"Eli, I don't think-"

"It's not the Hound. It's the guy above him. Nightwing told me about it in Gotham." Eli interrupted. "If I find out more, I'll tell you about it. Until then, I need to get into touch with Canary."

"Eli, if this is too much for you, stay back. Miles and Trent are bad enough. I won't have you on my conscience as well." Nick's voice was as serious as it has been since he called, further alerting Eli about the severity of the situation. "But I know who your parents are kid. You'll do what you think you have to do. Just be careful."

Eli's eyes narrowed at the scene on his TV screen. He had drifted away from one of his main objectives and now Bookworm- or the guy above him- was looking for the Hornet. Did that mean that they knew who he was as well? No. They would have attacked him instead of some woman living in Salisbury. Now she was dead and Bookworm was after him.

"I'll be more than careful." Eli finally said. "I have to go."

"Be smart Elias. Smart and patient."

Eli agreed before hanging up. It was time for him to actually take down Bookworm before someone else got killed because of him. Hornet was not Batman. People did not die because he could not detain or eliminate threats. He would save the city that his dad attempted to save one way or another.

Hornet was not big on working directly with the cops but knew that they held some of the answers to his questions. Still, as he repelled onto the sidewalk with Black Canary landing beside him, he was still nervous about the whole ordeal. Worse, there was a larger crowd present than there was last night.

"Holy shit! It's Black Canary and Yellow Jacket!"

"She's so hot!"

"Does he have arrows now?"

Hornet removed the hood over his masked face and walked through the crowd to the yellow tape that divided the crowd and the crime scene. The officers standing there eyed him anxiously, more aware of his actions towards the GCPD than anything else at the moment.

"I need to get in," Hornet spoke through his voice changer. "If it's Bookworm, I will know."

He wouldn't but they didn't know that. For all the cops in New Camford knew, the Yellow Jacket was a see-all know-all kind of guy.

"Let him through. We might need his help." Eli looked passed the two men that prevented him from getting by to see an Asian-American officer speaking. "He'll probably be more help than you guys anyway."

The two officers grunted before raising the yellow tape, Hornet and Black Canary ducking beneath it and walking towards the cop that granted them permission.

"Officer Matt Li. I've heard about both of you," the man said before tipping his hat towards Black Canary. "Kind of a fan."

"Of me or him?" Canary responded.

"Would you blame me if I said you? Word in Gotham is that he's as tough on the criminals as he is on the cops. Call me biased but I'd rather not be knocked out by the Yellow Jacket- or worse." Officer Li lightheartedly joked as the trio entered the apartment building Andrea lived in. "So… Who are you? I mean, are you from Cheshire Square or Venice Terrace? Hell, you could be from Calvin City."

"He's not that talkative," Black Canary voiced while walking up the stairs to the deceased woman's floor. "And he prefers Hornet."

"Noted." said Officer Li before approaching another cop. "Let them inside the apartment. Hornet knows things about Bookworm."

Without a word the officer guarding the door stepped aside and allowed Hornet and Black Canary inside.

The one-bedroom apartment was rather small though well furnished. The shattered glass table and ultimately destroyed black couch were signs that Andrea had some income coming into the place. Eli looked down at the body lying on the floor to the kitchenette.

"Bookworm has henchmen? That's not good." Black Canary voiced.

Hornet studied the downed man from his position. The henchman was undoubtedly dead, blood pooled beneath his body. Eli wondered why the body was still here hours after discovery but said nothing aloud about it. Instead he examined the position and the wound from his vintage point. And then he found the bloodied kitchen knife in a Ziploc bag on the counter.

Humming quietly, Hornet walk towards the backroom where the bedroom was located. Inside he found the long-haired brunette lying in a black leather cat-suit that highlighted her figure. The woman was seated against the bed on the floor, her right hand opened while her left arm was draped against her injured midsection.

"The Yellow Jacket!" The photographer stepped out of the bathroom and greeted the hero with shock and fear. "Wh… What are you doing here?!"

"My job," Eli grunted. Changing the visions of his goggles, he scanned the floor. "Where's forensics?"

"They came by earlier." The photographer stated. "Vigilantes have a different procedure then regular citizens. We're waiting for the other guys to get here and investigate." Hornet nodded his head and squatted to eye the carpet better. "Are you… Are you going after him? Bookworm that is?"

Hornet was silent as he spotted a boot print in the small trail of blood next to Andrea's bed. He remembered his dad's notes- Bookworm was a man in a cheap business suit. This was a boot print which was something that people didn't wear with suits. Of course, Eli figured, there was the chance that Bookworm had stolen boots from prison or anywhere else. But it did not fit Bookworm's careful forte.

"They say that there could be another person that broke in. One that attacked her after the first was killed." Black Canary expounded from behind Hornet. "I'll make a call to see if Bookworm has some known associates in Blackgate before the riots."

"She was strangled with some kind of wire, most likely from behind," Eli stated, noting marks he had seen on guys that had pissed off Eric in the past. "And she was stabbed multiple times in the stomach." Hornet paused before standing up. "They jumped her."

The photographer whistled. "Wow… You really are smart." Hornet turned his attention to the thin redhead woman, who immediately flinched. "Uh! I m-mean, you are r-really smart to repeat what the lady from the CSI said!"

Eli shook his head and walked towards the window in the bedroom, ignoring the bed, and the object on it, for last. Andrea's bedroom faced the front of the building which meant that whoever attacked the woman did not leave here. However, the window was opened so…

"What's he doing?" the photographer asked as she watched Hornet duck his head out of the window.

"Thinking." Black Canary answered with certainty. "Hornet may be a lot of things but he's no idiot."

"Right, right. So is he- Oh!" the redhead gasped when Hornet's body zipped out of the window and upwards. "So those things on his arms are what exactly?" Black Canary eyed the petite woman. "I'm sorry! I just never met him before!"

"Well, you are in luck. Hopefully." Dinah muttered the last part, unsure if Eli was in a better mood since he had called her or not.

Moments later, Hornet repelled back down and slipped back into the bedroom's window. Dinah noted that, while Eli was learning, he still was not as smooth as she would prefer. But he got the job done, she thought, mostly.

"He got onto the roof." Hornet noted before revealing a thin wire in his gloved hands. "What was used to choke her, I'm guessing."

"Anything else?" Canary asked.

"I doubt he left by helicopter. No one has mentioned that, yet." Hornet continued. "So he probably left down the fire escape. Avoided security camera somehow."

"What does the book say?"

Canary's question brought Eli's focus to a detail he purposely put off for last; the opened book on the bed. It didn't take a genius to see that Bookworm left said book there on purpose. Eli left the book be until he was sure that nothing crazy would happen if he touched it. No one could be too safe as of lately. But Black Canary was eager to get some clues and leave.

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. Without Calvin, this place in New Camford would be this." Black Canary looked at the Yellow Jacket. "For the record, I hate puzzles."

"Oh! That quote is from A Tale of Two Cities!" the photographer admitted aloud.

"That isn't the note," Hornet mumbled before speaking. "And he's going to Ivy Union neighborhood."

Black Canary crossed her arms. "You have to be right about this, Hornet. If you're wrong-"

"Ivy Union is the 'tail' between New Camford and Ivy Town. If she's right then that's the answer to the puzzle." Hornet stated with certainty. "I know my city. What I don't know is the letter that was for the other heroes."

"Oh! They took that… With… Them…" The photographer's enthusiasm slowly died as she could practically feel Hornet's death glare through his sinister black goggles. "Um…"

"What did it say?" The threatening voice of New Camford's Killer Bee had the photographer's fingers shaking around her camera.

"Um, something about a contest with people like you." When Hornet released a grunt and Black Canary visibly scowled, the redhead revisited her words. "I meant heroes! Heroes like you!"

The two heroes present exchange glances. From Army Ant's records, Bookworm was not someone who just ran after random no-named heroes and attacked them in their homes. His rage was meant specifically for those who had wronged him, including the fifteen killed in New Camford. If Bookworm was calling heroes out for a "contest" then there had to be a reason for the change.

Eli compared Bookworm's past motives to those of Eric's; selfish and hackneyed. The moment Eric decided to up the ante and use different drugs, Eli knew that something was strange and easily found Tobias Whale and Holocaust to be the reason behind said change. Now, Eli wondered what caused Bookworm's apparent change.

"We should get out of here and see if we can't find where Bookworm will strike next." Black Canary announced. "We'll check out areas in Ivy Union, if you think he or the next clue will be there."

Hornet turned to her. "And the note?" Black Canary gave him a firm look which reminded him that he had not worked all of his anger out the previous night. "Fine. I'm going to patrol the area to see if I can find more clues."

"Don't go too far." Hornet gave a solid nod, his dislike for her hovering over his patrols shown, but left thereafter without a single word.

"Is he, like, your son or something?" the photographer asked quietly.

"How old do you think I am?"

Eli heard the shout from outside the unit as he made his way out of the apartment building. He felt unnerved being surrounded by so many cops. They obviously did not like him, for one reason or another, and he obviously did not trust being with them with a bow and arrow as his main go-to weapon.

"Hornet," Officer Li jogged towards him, waving a small piece of paper in the air. "Here's something that might help."

Eli paused in mid-step. "You're helping me? For what?"

"I've been on this force for five years now and I've gotten to know some of the unsung heroes of this city," Officer Li stated as he held the note out to the Yellow Jacket. "I never knew Danger Girl personally- hell, I don't know any of them personally! But she was a kickass partner off the books. And now I need someone to bring her murderer to justice."

The teen was unsure how to respond. Hornet's form of "justice" normally caused some sort of debate on the local news programs where he was revered as a murderous monster with little to no conscience. This cop was referring to Hornet's style of justice which borderlines vengeance.

Officer Li released a quiet sigh. "I heard what you did for the other guys, Army Ant and his partner. You went down to Gotham and got those guys and turned the Hound and Killer Moth over to the cops. Can you do that for Danger- no, she deserves her name- Andrea's killer?"

Now Eli understood what he was being asked to do; whatever it took to bring justice for Andrea Campbell. It made Jade's words echo in Eli's mind for a moment. People would look to him as a hero whether he wanted it or not. It bothered Eli as he wanted to quit this entire thing once Whale was stopped and Jade either killed dad or walked away from her goal.

"Thanks," Officer Li stated as soon as Eli took the note. "And hey, if whoever is going after the men and women under the masks, you should be on the lookout. Our city has had enough of our heroes dying, don't you think? It's time for us to keep you all safe."

Hornet turned and pulled his hood over his head. "Noted."

With that single word, the teen fired a grappling hook from his gauntlets to a nearby rooftop and ascending quickly. Officer Li simply tipped his cap towards the departing teenager with a growing smile on his face.

"Go get 'em kid."

Author's Notes: Okay, so here's a glimpse to the main antagonist of the story, Chief E733T (Elite). Be prepared for Eli/Hornet to become a major part of this "game" of his later on. Officer Matt Li will also have small parts going forward; sometimes aiding Hornet (like now) and other times trying to stop or persuade him. Dinah will play an important role to both Eli and Hornet, being at times more of an older sister than a mentor with Oliver being the "unapproved boyfriend" who Eli at times bump heads with. Unfortunately, most of next chapter will not deal with Eli or New Camford. Instead, more than half of it will be focused in a city known as Dakota, Ohio. More of Tobias Whale's connections with Holocaust will be revealed in a rather "shocking" chapter. Till then, leave a review or PM for any questions, thoughts, or comments and I will address them in the next review corner. Bye.