Gotham City

All in all, it was surprisingly easy to find Scarecrow once they had the location of Laurel's encounter with him. The man had opted for a base in one of the more derelict sections of the Narrows, not far from where Laurel was patrolling. Bruce speculated that it was deliberate, as it would allow him to observe Black Canary and her habits and devise a sufficient scenario where he could catch her off-guard.

It was in the middle of the night when they hit the place, guns-a-blazing and with gas masks on to filter out the fear gas. Scarecrow had been prepared for them, of course, already having several thugs under his employ with heavy artillery ready to defend his work. Unfortunately, this time Laurel was prepared as well, and she didn't hesitate to take them out with a well-placed Canary Cry. All of them were blasted back, hitting the wall and knocking them out in short order.

By the time she was done, Bruce and Dick had already taken down Scarecrow between the two of them. The man had been too shocked about her ability and had been easily caught off guard by the Dynamic Duo. Within minutes, they had him and his men tied up and prepped for the police.

"Do you know where the Calculator is?" Batman demanded as soon as Crane was roped up.

Scarecrow, still a little stunned, shook his head. "He was very careful when conducting business with me. All intermediaries, any direct conversation made with a modulator, dead drops, and untraceable wiring when it came to delivering my funding."

Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Surprised you're selling him out so easily like this."

The rogue shrugged. "He is an outsider. No matter how great our rapport was, I owe him no loyalty."

"Oh?" Black Canary said as she came up from behind her two teammates, standing side-by-side with them as she faced the man who would be responsible for her nightmares worsening the next few weeks. "If that's the case, mind giving us any other useful information about him so we can find him?"

Instead of answering, Crane leered up at her instead. "And just why should I do that?"

Laurel gave him a small, playful smile… and then stomped down on his balls with all her might. The supervillain let out a pained shriek and collapsed to his side as Batman and Nightwing winced in male solidarity. Their female partner ignored them both and instead leaned down to speak to Scarecrow more directly. "That enough of an answer for you?"

The man glanced up at her with a bit of fear in his eyes. "She really is one of yours," he declared to Batman.

"I'm losing my patience," Laurel added, mentally rolling her eyes. She kicked Crane to the side for good measure.

"Wait, wait! The supervirus he's using to crack open the banks, I know what it is!"

"Really?" The rookie vigilante grinned. "Mind giving us a name?"

Crane whimpered.

"The x-axis bi-numeric algorithm," Barbara whistled as the rest of the Bats congregated behind her in the Clocktower. "That is one nasty piece of work right here."

"I take it you've heard of it?" Bruce asked.

The information broker nodded. "Around two years ago, Cooper Seldon, a hacktivist at MIT, created it and tried to use it to access the servers of the Department of Education so he could wipe out all student loans. He was caught, arrested, and sent to jail. Officially, he committed suicide during his imprisonment; unofficially, the NSA faked his death so they could recruit him as one of their indentured techies."

Laurel frowned. "Do we want to know how you know all this?"

"Probably not," Barbara admitted, pushing her glasses back as she began typing away at her computer. "Regardless, I know how the virus works, and I think I can use it to backtrace it to its origin, and thus the Calculator's location. The only issue is I need to be on the server before he infects it with the virus to properly trace the point of origin."

"Which means we need to predict the next bank the Calculator is going to hit," Dick concluded. "That will be… tricky."

That was putting it mildly. The Calculator had hit up several banks already and had only increased the frequency of his heists. Four crews a night, all hitting simultaneously, ensuring that at least one of them got away before the vigilantes could stop them. Seeing as he had gone out of the way to take out Laurel, that insinuated that he was still planning to stay in Gotham for a good while, but for how long, they couldn't say.

"We need more information," Laurel decided. "I think I know a way to figure out when and where the Calculator is going to hit next, though."

"How so?"

Laurel, as "Myra Kallen", was all smiles as she entered the Park Row Community Center. She had been volunteering less often due to her "new job", but had made an effort to visit at least once a week just to keep up with everyone. This was going to be her visit for this week, and she had a specific person in mind that she wanted to see.

Jason had a habit of coming to the community center occasionally to play some basketball and pick up books from the center's small library. Always in the afternoon, though which days were irregular. Laurel was banking on him being here today; Jason had been the one to inform her about the heists in the first place, after all. Perhaps, if she was lucky, he would know more — like where the Calculator was going to hit next.

Sure enough, Jason was sitting at one of the library tables, reading through an old beaten copy of Pride and Prejudice. One of the surprising things she had learned about her young friend over the last few months is that he was a great lover of Jane Austen and Shakespeare. She would have to introduce him to Alfred one of these days — Laurel had a feeling the two of them would get along splendidly.

"Hey, Jay," she greeted him, pulling out one of the chairs on the other side of the table so she could sit across from him. "Pride and Prejudice again? Is Mr. Darcy really that charming?"

Jason, to her amusement, openly scowled up at her, looking highly offended on Mr. Darcy's behalf. "Mr. Darcy is amazing," he declared. "How you can ever doubt him is beyond me."

"Well, I don't know him quite as well as you do," Laurel pointed out, smiling lightly.

The teenager pouted. "You would if you just read the book again. When's the last time you read a good novel, Myra?"

Too long, truth be told. Laurel used to enjoy a good book as much as anyone, but her life had been consumed with preparing for law school in the last year before the Gambit. Then came the shipwreck and the last thing Laurel had to concern herself with was reading books. It wasn't until she had effectively moved to Gotham that she had any access to any recreational reading, and even then she didn't have enough leisure time to seriously consider finding something to devour. Bruce was enough of a taskmaster on his own.

"Maybe some other time, Jay," Laurel told him, plastering on her best smile. "Anyway, there's something I need to talk to you about. Something private. Mind coming with me outside so we can speak?"

Something in Jason's expression shifted, and there was now an odd glint in his eyes. Nonetheless, he nodded, bagging his newly-checked out book and following Laurel outside the library and out of the community center. They found a small, private alley where they wouldn't be overheard, and it was there that Laurel started her spiel.

"So, the bank where I deposit was hit by one of the Calculator's heists. Nothing was stolen, but I'm a bit iffy about the security—"

She was cut off by Jason sighing, lifting his hand in a silent plea to stop. "Myra, we're friends, right?"

Surprised, Laurel slowly nodded.

"If that's the case, then can you cut the bullshit?" the Gotham native stated bluntly, causing her to blink.

"Jason—"

"Stop. I know you're her."

The vigilante froze but recovered quickly. "Who, Jason?" she asked, trying to inject some confusion into her voice.

Jason's expression, if anything, grew flatter. "I mean the woman I saved a few days ago. The one who I had to save from choking herself to death after being doused with fear gas."

"Wow, Jason, you saved someone—"

"Myra."

Dammit. He's not going to budge. Finally realizing the jig was up, Laurel sighed and crossed her arms. "How'd you figure it out?" she asked, no longer putting up a front.

"I didn't remove the mask, if you're wondering. But your facial structure is the same, and it's not like you did much to hide your voice. Combined with the fact that BC is a newbie in Gotham…" Jason shrugged. "Easy to connect for those who know you."

"Well, you've just given me a lot of ideas on how to better disguise myself," Laurel said dryly. "Like investing in a voice modulator."

"Good luck with that. So, why do you need to know where the Calculator is going to hit next?"

Grateful for the change in subject, Laurel answered him. "We think we have a way to track him down to his physical location. But it requires us to know which bank he's planning on robbing next. I was hoping you would have some idea where."

"I do," Jason claimed. "Word going around the street is that the Calculator plans on hitting the holy grail of all the banks in Gotham and is recruiting aggressively to prepare for that."

"The holy grail?"

"Gotham City National Bank," he clarified. "It's the biggest bank in the city, and by far the most secure. Even with whatever the hell he's been using to crack open their security systems, he's going to need a strong crew to deal with everything else the bank has got up its sleeve."

Figures. At least that meant there would be less street crime for the foreseeable future. "Thanks, Jason," Laurel said in gratitude. She tilted her head, taking on a slightly worried expression. "You're going to keep quiet about me being… you know, right?"

Her friend smirked. "'Course I am. You've been good to me in the time we've known each other, and like I told you the other night — the Bats are the only ones who keep Gotham from going to the pits. It would be in poor taste for me to out you now."

Laurel found herself blinking again at his response, before smiling wildly. Before she knew it, she was pulling Jason into a fierce hug. "You're the best, Jay."

"Don't mention it, Myra," he replied, blushing.

A plan was formed after Laurel relayed Jason's information to the rest of the team. They would do a two-prong attack: Nightwing on one team, Batman and Black Canary on the other. When the Calculator's crew attacked the bank, Nightwing would be the one to respond to the call for help while Batman and Black Canary waited in reserve as Oracle traced the virus. Once Oracle had a location, they would go and capture the Calculator and finally end his crimes.

It was a simple but effective plan, designed as much to make sure their enemy wouldn't get suspicious. Bruce had told Laurel that usually, simple plans were for the best; complex schemes might be more effective in certain situations, but they required a level of attentiveness and luck that a vigilante couldn't offer most of the time. Ultimately, it was better to have a simple plan to follow that could be easily adjusted at a moment's notice for any unexpected factors.

The following night, just like clockwork, the Calculator used the x-axis bi-numeric algorithm to hack the main servers of the security system of Gotham City National Bank. Oracle was already waiting in the wings and discreetly trying to backtrace him, while Nightwing, having been deliberately assigned a patrol route in the area, responded to the distress call. Both Batman and Black Canary stopped their patrolling and instead prepared to leave for the Calculator's secret base.

Finally, Barbara gave them a name. "Amusement Mile," she said grimly.

Laurel frowned as she turned on the ignition of her motorcycle. "The old amusement park? Why there?"

"It used to be one of the primary hideouts of the Joker," Bruce explained as he did the same for the Batmobile. "It was completely abandoned after Harley Quinn and he were killed by Ra's all those months ago. Normally, supervillains have no issues appropriating another's hideouts once that villain is dead, but even the worst of our current rogues want to forget he ever existed. That makes it the perfect hideout for an outsider like the Calculator — he wouldn't understand or care about the taboo."

She couldn't help but flinch when she heard the Joker's name. Even though she knew the man was gone, never to return, her brief encounter with him and his partner still sent chills down her spine. What little she had read up on their files before chickening out had only reinforced that fear — no doubt, their deaths were one of the few times where Ra's was fully justified in taking another's life.

"Let's go," Bruce grunted over the comms. "We better get there before he realizes something is wrong."

By the time Laurel arrived at Amusement Mile, Bruce was already there and engaging several of the Calculator's guards. She had quickly parked her motorcycle and rushed to join him, only to stop when he told her not to. "He's in the comms tower!" he shouted at her, gesturing up at the aforementioned tower. "I'll distract them — you go after him!"

The Black Canary nodded and turned in the other direction, heading directly to the tower. It wasn't far, but when Laurel made it to the door, she was attacked by a sword before she could jimmy the lock open. She jumped backward into a roll, drawing her quarterstaff as she faced her new opponent.

It was a man wearing gray-white armor with some kind of hood and face mask. He had a sword drawn out in a stance that, for some reason, tugged at Laurel's instincts. She tensed as she prepared herself for battle. "Who are you?"

"Just call me Orphan," he answered, "And you are the Black Canary. My current employer wasn't happy when he found out you survived Scarecrow's attempt on your life."

"Well, sucks for him," Laurel shot back, before attacking.

Orphan blocked her initial blow with ease, deflecting it aside. Laurel had to duck to dodge another swing before trying to kick out his legs, causing him to swiftly jump back to avoid it. The two began a deadly dance of clashing metal, and it wasn't long before Laurel realized what it was about Orphan's technique that was nagging at her. "You're former League, aren't you?"

Her opponent's eyes darkened, and his swings grew more furious. She felt herself struggling to block these blows, even as she continued to speak. "Touched a nerve, haven't I? I take it you didn't leave the League on good terms, did you?"

"Neither did you, I presume," Orphan growled as he locked his sword against her quarterstaff. "Did you think I wouldn't notice you are former League as well? What did you do to cause yourself to be cast out completely? The master would never allow you to live long enough to side with Batman otherwise."

"Oh, that's easy," Laurel answered. "I saved the League."

There was a shift, and then a stillness. Clearly, he hadn't expected to hear that. Laurel found that she didn't care, and quickly used the opening to disarm Orphan of his sword. He stumbled back as the weapon went flying in another direction, but quickly recovered and charged at Laurel with his fists instead. Laurel smirked and sheathed her quarterstaff as she re-engaged him, her fists held high.

While she was an expert with the weapons she had been taught to use over the past few years, Laurel found that she preferred hand-to-hand combat more than anything else. That wasn't always practical, which is why she had a quarterstaff and other hidden weapons on her, but whenever offered the chance to beat someone's face in with her fists, Laurel took it with glee.

As expected of a former member of the League, Orphan was no slouch when it came to hand-to-hand. On the contrary, she would hazard to say he was as good as Al-Owal if not better, and usually something like that would intimidate her. But Laurel had been training with Bruce and Dick for months in addition to all the training she received with the League, and she knew Al-Owal's style like the back of her hand. It was easier to figure out Orphan's tells and take advantage of them.

Finally, after several minutes of frustration at being unable to pierce through her guard, Orphan lashed out at her with a wild haymaker. Laurel smirked and grabbed his arm, giving it a harsh, arm-breaking twist. He shrieked in pain as he fell to his knees, before letting out a loud 'oof' as Laurel kicked him in the chest, stretching out his arm while pushing back his neck with her foot in an effective and unorthodox chokehold. "Yield," she commanded.

Orphan stared up at her with something akin to respect and horror. "You're just like her," he whispered.

Laurel didn't bother responding to that, instead kneeing him in the chin, effectively knocking him out. She took out her zip ties and tied him up, before getting up to head to the tower — only to find herself face-to-face with a stoic Bruce. She blinked. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not very long," her mentor answered honestly, lifting an unconscious graying middle-aged man. "I had to capture the Calculator first."

"Huh," Laurel said, glancing down at the unconscious Orphan. "That fight took a lot longer than I thought it did."

Bruce grunted. "Something we need to work on then. You need to be aware of how much time has elapsed constantly for time-sensitive tasks."

Seriously? The Black Canary shook her head. "Never change, Batman. Never change."

An hour later, they were watching the Calculator being taken into custody by the GCPD. Jim Gordon himself was present to handle the arrest, having been tipped off by Nightwing about the situation while handling the recent attack at the Gotham City National Bank. "Good work, Batman, Black Canary," he said as they watched the Calculator be cuffed and pushed into a police cruiser. He glanced up at the night sky, where there were a bunch of news helicopters beginning to gather. "You better get out of here soon, though. Don't want the media catching sight of you."

"Thanks, Commissioner," Batman told him, before heading to where he had parked the Batmobile. Black Canary gave the older man a similar nod of acknowledgment before moving to do the same with her motorcycle.

Before she could, however, something caught her eye. Orphan, who had been restrained and directed to a different police cruiser from his former employer, had managed to free himself from the police escorting him and somehow slip his cuffs. With his working hand, he drew out his sidearm and aimed it directly at Black Canary — and by extension, Barbara's father as well.

"Look out!" Laurel shouted, reacting on instinct. She sprinted forward and pushed Gordon out of the way, ducking beneath the bullet to release a low-pitched Canary Cry that was almost invisible to the eye. The attack struck Orphan's legs, causing him to fall backward with a groan, allowing Laurel to pounce on him and smack his head face-first with the concrete, solidly knocking him out.

Laurel panted as she recovered her breath from those shocking few minutes, only still when she noticed the light on the ground surrounding her. She immediately snapped her head upwards to notice one of the news crews in the helicopters had shined down their spotlight on her, likely capturing the entire confrontation on tape. Shit.

There was no other option. Laurel got up from Orphan's unconscious body and ran towards her motorcycle, trying to outpace the chasing spotlight and failing badly. The last shot anyone had of her was getting on her bike and speeding away from Amusement Mile, as fast as the wheels could carry her.

The Gotham stuff was fun, though not easy to write. I think part of it is because the Calculator isn't a strong villain to write with and didn't have a strong presence in the story. Then again, he's only a vehicle for some of the more important developments, namely this one — the Black Canary being caught on tape, on live television. This has major ramifications for Laurel's fifth year, and indeed, for this story in general.

As for Orphan, he's important too, though how I'll keep mum for now. I will say, this though — if you read the comics, namely the Batman mythos, you probably already know who Orphan is and why he's important. I'm not sure if he's going to appear again later, but his confrontation with Laurel will have an impact on her path as well.

And of course, Jason takes on the next step to his own destiny as a vigilante. That should be fun.

Next Chapter: Laurel learns of her newfound fame, while Sara seeks solace for her impending breakup with Alex.