Thanks to Kathy and Debbie for the beta!

Chapter 11

In Gotham City, Barbara Gordon—also known as Oracle—attempted to reach Bruce and Dick again. Then she slammed her hand on the console in frustration. Telephone, internet, satellite communications… nothing was working. She'd even tried to go through the JLA communications grid to no avail. She could not find a channel into New York. It was as though the city didn't exist on any network. She tried a different tactic.

All at once, her screen went black. Then, two lines of glowing letters in an eye-smarting shade of pink danced across it, flickering on and off in a strobe effect.

ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US

LOL LOL LOL

Barbara blinked. "Now that," she said to nobody in particular, "is just obnoxious."

Dick slammed his hand down on the desk in frustration. "No communications whatsoever," he snapped. "I'm trying all frequencies. It's…" His eyes grew wide. "It's like the city got hit by an EMP."

Without a word, Bruce got up from the sofa and walked into the other room.

"Uh, Bruce? That's where I'm sleeping. Your bedroom's the other one."

"I'm well aware," Bruce called back. He returned a moment later holding a small device about the size of a thumb drive, the wire to the attached earbud headphones wrapped several times around his hand so that they wouldn't trail on the floor. "I assumed you'd have brought this with you."

Dick shrugged. "Well, yeah. I like music when I'm flying and the airlines never have my favorite groups. So?"

Bruce pressed a button and the faint sound of an electric guitar solo emanated from the headphones. "Clearly, the airlines have some taste in music," Bruce remarked, deadpan.

"One sample isn't enough to prove a hypothesis."

"Maybe not about music appreciation," Bruce conceded. "However, one sample is enough to disprove one. Had an EMP on the scale necessary to impact the city been involved, the circuits in any electronic device—including your MP3—would have fused. Power is out. Communications are down. But it would appear that an electromagnetic pulse isn't our culprit."

Dick smiled. "That's something, anyway. We've already got our work cut out for us with no communications and no electricity. If our electronic devices all go dark…" He shuddered.

"Daredevil did say that our culprit was an expert hacker. If she meant to hamstring us," Bruce's voice was sour, "you have to admit that taking the communications systems offline is an effective way of cutting us off from Oracle. Taking down the power grid ensures that we'll have our hands full with street crime and rescue operations."

"Keeping us so busy we haven't got time to think and making sure that, even if we somehow find the time, we can't share our thoughts with anyone not standing next to us. It's… kind of brilliant in a twisted sort of way."

"Save your admiration for later," Bruce snapped. "You've got work to do."

"You're right," Dick said, sobering. "Give me a couple of minutes to suit up and I'll head out there."

"Do you have a starting point in mind?"

Dick shrugged. "Offhand, I'd say hooking up with the one guy who won't be fazed by a blackout in the slightest strikes me as a good idea…"

From his perch atop the Chrysler Building, Daredevil listened to the city and frowned. There was too much going on and not enough coherence to the sounds below to tell him what. Hearing too much was sometimes as bad as hearing nothing.

He listened for a few minutes longer, trying to home in on a thread of conversation, a single sentence even, that would tell him what was going on. There was too much noise, too many screams, too many car horns honking, and too few contextual cues for him to be sure where he was actually needed. Exultant cries and howls blended with shrieks of delight and rage and pain. The scene below was an incoherent jumble to his radar sense.

Enough was enough. As much as he prided himself on being able to use his remaining senses to compensate for his blindness, he wasn't about to let that same pride paralyze him into inactivity. He might not be able to navigate Manhattan at street level tonight, but he knew every flagpole along the 4.2-mile stretch between his current location and the Ritz-Carlton Battery Park.

He cast his grappling line and swung out, headed southwest toward East 42nd Street.

Daredevil was at East 14th Street, right where Union Square East became Broadway, when he picked up a familiar heartbeat and an equally familiar figure in a form-fitting outfit headed his way. Smiling, he swung over another two blocks, to touch lightly down on the roof of the venerable Strand book store. "I'm guessing you're wearing night-vision goggles," he greeted Nightwing.

The younger vigilante grinned. "So, you do know what's going on down there," he said. "I was wondering."

"More like 'night-vision goggles have a characteristic whine I've learned to recognize,'" Daredevil replied, "but I know about the power outage. Mostly because I've found I'm more effective in a fight when my opponents can't see and the way they react when I kill the lights?" He gestured toward the street below, "I'm hearing it down there. Amped up to eleven."

Tersely, Nightwing filled him in on what Batman had deduced. "I guess we should have figured on something like that happening," he admitted. "With Infomorph being a master hacker, she could have intercepted some of our back-and-forths with Oracle and jamming communications while simultaneously causing chaos…"

"I know," Daredevil sighed. "It would be nice to be able to find out who else is out here tonight. If the Avengers are in town, chances are they're already around and lending a hand."

"Are they?" Nightwing asked.

Daredevil frowned. "With so many people in range, it's harder for me to get a good read on a heartbeat. I didn't spot you until you were about four blocks away and you weren't in a quinjet or down on the ground."

Nightwing thought for a moment. "Let's swing by Titans Tower," he said. "They're an island; they might not be affected by the power outage. And if they are, I don't need electricity to steer a T-Barge across the river; I just won't be able to signal them that we're on our way. Besides, Cyborg might have some insights about Infomorph that he didn't have earlier."

Daredevil smiled. "Now that sounds like a plan."

Finding the Tower was no problem. Thanks to a high-powered generator, it was fully lit and Nightwing spotted it from miles away. "We do have an issue," Nightwing admitted. "I can see the building just fine, but this far inland, there's no lighthouse. I'm not sure whether the buildings on the opposite shore will give me enough illumination to navigate. At this hour, the office buildings are staying dark; the lights are mostly going in hotels and hospitals. How good is your radar sense at picking up obstacles?"

Daredevil smiled. "Take it slower than usual. Remember that when the lookout on the Titanic spotted the iceberg, the ship was going at almost full speed and they didn't have time to turn away."

"Roger that," Nightwing said, shining a flashlight on the dock, where several T-barges were moored. He patted one of them and Daredevil climbed aboard without hesitation. Nightwing made a face. "I can see your radar sense is already giving you an advantage," he muttered, as he used the flashlight to see where he was stepping, while he struggled to maintain his balance, as the boat rocked under his feet.

Daredevil laughed. "Need a hand?"

For answer, Nightwing pocketed his flashlight after taking a mental snapshot of the floor of the T-barge. He placed both hands on the railing, pulled into a handstand, and flipped into the barge. The boat rocked violently, but he'd planned his landing well, making sure that if he pitched backwards, he'd land on one of the padded seats.

"Nice trick," Daredevil remarked and Nightwing frowned, wondering if his companion was referring to his boarding, or to the way he'd made falling onto the seat look intentional. Then he smiled, shrugged, and bounded over to the controls.

"Got a good view?" he asked.

"Clear as day," Daredevil replied easily.

Nightwing grinned. "I'm just going to assume that's a good thing. Unmoor us while I get the engine started."

The sound of the motor didn't quite drown out Daredevil's chuckle.

As they were mooring the boat to the dock below the Tower, Cyborg's voice sounded over the intercom. "I was wondering whether you were going to show up. The rest of the team—those of us in town this week—are out assisting the NYPD. I'm holding down the fort here. Head up to the Monitor Room when the T-barge is secured." There was a fractional pause. "Oh, and Daredevil? Welcome to Titans Tower."

"It's the isolation that's the trouble," Cyborg said, after the other two heroes joined him in the Monitor Room. "Normally, I'd be able to work on getting the communications networks back up, but since I can't connect to them…" he sighed. "Any idea how far away you can see a flashlight signalling in Morse code?"

"No need," a voice said from behind them.

Nightwing and Cyborg tensed for a moment, but their reaction was as nothing compared to Daredevil's. For a moment, Dick thought that the scarlet swashbuckler was about to jump out of his skin.

"Raven," he greeted the newcomer. "Where'd you 'port in from?"

Raven pushed her hood back slightly. "Gotham. I considered that it might be prudent to apprise Oracle of our situation. She is having difficulties of her own, I'm afraid."

Nightwing took an involuntary step forward. "She's not hurt, is she?" he demanded.

"No," Raven shook her head. "Forgive me for startling you," she added, turning her head to encompass Daredevil in her apology. "She is well. However, the entity that has disrupted power and communications here is also attempting to gain control of her network."

"Trying?" Cyborg repeated. "They haven't succeeded?"

"Oracle thinks not. The infiltrator could not resist gloating over their activities, which alerted Oracle to the threat. Her systems are now offline and undergoing a full diagnostic. She expects to be operational again soon."

Nightwing sighed, partly in relief and partly in annoyance. "Soon might not be soon enough," he said. "Damn. Informorph knows how to hit us where it hurts. If we can't communicate with each other we're operating bli—" He broke off abruptly, and glanced at Daredevil. "Um…"

"I agree," was all Daredevil said, not sounding at all offended. "So…"

Cyborg glanced from Daredevil to Nightwing and then to Raven. "Uh… did I just miss something?"

Raven quirked an eyebrow. For an instant a faint smile danced on her lips. "Nothing particularly relevant to the matter at hand," she said firmly. "However, I am able to communicate telepathically with Oracle and with S.T.A.R. Labs. I imagine that if you work in concert, you will find a way to neutralize the current situation."

"You might want to see if you can reach Tony Stark as well," Daredevil suggested. "He probably has some gadget gathering dust in the Avengers Mansion basement that can get the job done."

Raven nodded. "Judging by Mr. Stark's reputation," she acknowledged, "you may be correct."

"Meanwhile," Nightwing added, "we need to find Infomorph. The hacker," he added, in case Cyborg and Raven weren't clear. "Any suggestions?"

Cyborg frowned, thinking. "I know something about her. If she's going to keep annoying us, she'll need a place with access to computers—one that's still up and running. And someplace where she can keep an eye on what we're up to."

"She's also a shapeshifter," Daredevil reminded them. "If she's caught…" His voice trailed off. "Raven!" he snapped. "Am I right?"

The young empath nodded slowly. A moment later, the three men heard her voice—not in their ears, but in their minds.

She is here. Inside the Tower.

"Can we pinpoint her location?" Nightwing demanded. "Can we, at least, rule out that she's currently impersonating one of us?"

Raven shook her head. "I've reviewed her file. Since she is able to access both the powers and memories of the person she… replaces, there is no code, no obscure shared experience that would establish our bona fides. Thought processes are a different story. I know that you three are who you appear to be. Unfortunately," she added, "you have no way of verifying that I am who I appear to be."

"I've fought her," Daredevil said. "I know of one weakness. If you all wouldn't mind standing close to one another…?"

The other three exchanged puzzled glances. Then Cyborg shrugged. "If you say so. Okay, team. I guess we huddle."

The four stood together in a tight circle, shoulders nearly touching for what felt like a long time. It probably wasn't more than a minute or two, but it was long enough for Raven to show signs of discomfort and Cyborg to feel more than a little foolish. Finally, Daredevil nodded. "We're okay."

"What was that about?" Cyborg demanded, returning to his seat at the console.

"Infomorph can't control her power all that well. When last we fought, I maneuvered her next to a beehive. I think. It might've been a wasps' or hornets' nest. Anyway, she involuntarily took on some of the thoughts of those insects—whatever they were. And since insects don't exactly think the way we do, the experience left her temporarily disoriented. I imagine she's sort of a psychic chameleon, taking on the characteristics of whomever or whatever she's closest to. Once she's imprinted, she can maintain that form for a while, just so long as she doesn't get close to anyone else for any length of time."

"So, by having us all stand next to each other…" Cyborg nodded.

"That," Daredevil smiled, "and I figured that between your cybernetics," he nodded to Cyborg, "your telepathy," he tilted his head toward Raven, "my enhanced senses, and," he turned to Nightwing, "your normal thought patterns," going by everything I know of her, she wouldn't have been able to keep up her camouflage for long."

"Like sticking a chameleon on a bolt of plaid fabric," Nightwing said, smiling.

Daredevil nodded. "Close enough."

"Enhanced senses?" Cyborg repeated Daredevil's earlier statement curiously.

Daredevil nodded. "Well, four out of five, anyway. My eyesight isn't anything to write home about." He frowned for a moment. Then a slow grin spread across his face. "Actually… I think I might have an idea on how we can contain her."

"You sure you're up for this?" Nightwing asked, as the two made their way down a long corridor. "You seemed a little jumpy back there."

Daredevil smiled. "Not quite in keeping with the 'Man without Fear' nickname, you mean?"

"Um…"

Daredevil paused for a moment and leaned one hand against the smooth metal wall. "I got rattled," he admitted, a trifle sheepishly. "With a radar sense that gives me a 360-degree field of… perception, to say nothing of my absentmindedly taking note of the number of heartbeats in a room the same way that you probably do an automatic head-count, let's just say it's hard to sneak up on me under normal circumstances. A person who suddenly materializes a couple of yards away with no fanfare? Not normal circumstances." He shrugged. "She startled me is all."

"Ah," Nightwing grinned. "If it helps, it took us a little while to get used to Raven, too."

"By the way, thanks for not blowing my cover."

"Sorry?"

"I'm not self-conscious about being blind, but it's not something I actively broadcast. Something like that getting out could hurt my effectiveness in the field."

"Batman told me about that stunt you pulled with the light switch."

"Old trick," Daredevil admitted. "If the lights are on, turn them off. If they're off and you hear the whine of night-vision goggles, turn them on. Even if you don't hear the whine, turn them on, because the sudden change in illumination will temporarily blind them, putting them at a disadvantage. Oh, and always try to be aware of the time of day, because the only way this ploy works at high noon is if there are no windows in the room."

Nightwing laughed.

Daredevil sighed. "Once word gets out that I can't see, well, to be honest, half the time, my life would be easier. That thing I told you about where people forget that I can hold my own in a fight once they find out about my blindness? It would work on some of the crooks too, no question about it. What concerns me are the smarter ones. The ones who'll start to think about how I must be getting my information if not through visual cues. Kingpin's not the only guy who can activate an automatic sprinkler system, but so far, he is the only guy to realize what that thing does to my hypersenses. Not to mention stink-bombs, ultrasonics, dog whistles… Believe me when I tell you it's very much to my advantage that everyone assumes I can see, and not just so they don't connect Daredevil with a certain local defense attorney."

"A lot of the people we deal with tend to think that Batman's some sort of silent, scary demon who's impervious to bullets and walks through walls," Nightwing replied easily. "Believe me, I get image. Cyborg won't find out anything from me. Raven's a telepath though. She might have—"

"She has," Daredevil admitted. "She told me mentally back in the Monitor Room. But, like you, she'll keep it to herself." He sighed. "I guess it can't be helped. Still, at times, I worry that too many people are already in the know about it and, one of these days, it's going to bite me. For now, though…"

"You sure you're okay with this?"

Daredevil nodded. "I've had a lifetime to deal with this particular double-edged sword. She hasn't. It's not going to be fun for me, but for a tyro at heightened senses? Even if all she gets are the hypersenses, minus the blindness, she's going to have her hands full."

Nightwing nodded back. "We hope."

"Always."

Despite what he'd told Nightwing, Daredevil felt more than a little apprehensive as he and Nightwing did a sweep of the Titans' living area, stretching his hypersenses to what felt like their limits, while Nightwing donned infra-red goggles and brandished a hand-held scanner.

"I'm coming up empty," Nightwing admitted. "How about you?"

Daredevil sighed. "The same."

The intercom crackled to life then and Cyborg's voice filled the room. "I've been at this for almost fourteen hours," he said, sounding like he was smothering a yawn. "Could one of you take over for an hour? Raven went back outside and I need a break."

Daredevil turned to Nightwing. "Would you rather?" he asked politely.

Nightwing considered. "Maybe you ought to. No offense, but I know this building better than you do. I might think of some more possible hiding places if I keep at this."

"Noted," Daredevil smiled. "How do I respond?"

Nightwing gestured vaguely toward the wall. "There are two buttons at the bottom edge of the box. Hit the one on the right."

"Guys?" Cyborg called again.

Daredevil was still smiling as he walked over to the wall. To his radar sense, the intercom box appeared like a square protrusion on the wall. "This is Daredevil," he replied. "On my way."

"You remember how to get back?" Nightwing asked.

"I think so," Daredevil replied confidently. "Not sure if I can work the equipment, though."

"Odds are, you won't have to," Nightwing replied. "We just need someone on-duty at all times. Cyborg will show you how to handle communications. If anyone checks in, assuming it's not urgent, take a message. If it is urgent, or if anything else comes up, call."

"Roger that." He turned on his heel and left.

Nightwing did a final sweep of Gar's room, smiling a bit as he took in the origami menagerie that occupied the top two shelves of his fellow Titan's bookcase. Then he exited and continued on to the next room.

Daredevil was sitting at the computer array pretending to monitor the numerous computer screens. Cyborg had shown him how to work the communications console should communications be restored, but thus far, they were still offline.

He heard the door hiss open behind him and, although with 360-degree radar, he had no need to turn around he did so for the sake of politeness.

"Find anything?" he asked, as Nightwing entered. Nightwing didn't answer immediately. He felt a faint twinge in his skull, not pain precisely, but not pleasant either. "Hang on," he said to Nightwing. Then, "Go ahead, Raven. I'm here."

As Raven relayed her information, he smiled. "Thanks," he said. "Keep me posted."

"Good news?" Nightwing asked, coming over to stand behind Daredevil's chair and resting his hands on the top of the seat back.

"I'm not sure," Daredevil admitted. "Power's already back in some parts of the city and she thinks that some communications will likely be restored within the hour."

Nightwing frowned. "So, how is that not good news?"

"Well," Daredevil said slowly as he noted Nightwing's hands slipping off of the seat leather, "it is for me and the Titans, but," he locked his hands on the other man's wrists before they could encircle his throat, "it kind of puts a crimp in your plans… doesn't it, Infomorph?"

Under his grip, the wrists seemed to shrink and flatten and he held on tightly. Then, without warning, they expanded once more, forcing his hands open.

"What gave me away?" Infomorph demanded, still speaking in Nightwing's voice. "Not that it matters. With this equipment, my victory is assured."

"Maybe," Daredevil said, rising to his feet, "but you'll have to go through me to get to it."

Infomorph laughed. "You have no idea how eagerly I'm looking forward to that."