Fic: Under the Radar (Crossover: Batman/Daredevil)

[dragonbat2006]

Fandom: Batman/Daredevil Crossover
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Matt Murdock, Foggy Nelson, Wilson Fisk, Lady Shiva
Words: 3275
Summary: When Bruce Wayne finds himself in a bit of legal trouble in New York, he discovers that good attorneys are easy to find, but hard to keep in the dark—even when they're blind!
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Drama
Warnings: Talk of canonical character deaths.
Notes: Thanks to Kathy and Debbie for the beta!
Credit Daredevil Volume 3, #18 by Mark Waid and Chris Samnee for insight into how Matt's senses would be affected by an automatic sprinkler system.
Timeline: Daredevil near the end of Volume 1. Batman post-Knightsend, pre-No Man's Land.

Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 4

"How is it," Nightwing asked, "that you didn't notice him until now?"

Daredevil sighed. "One problem with enhanced senses is an enhanced noise-to-signal ratio. I was listening specifically for personnel in the area we want to reach. Taking on the whole building would have been overwhelming. Still," he said slowly, "I know Kingpin well enough that I should have caught his heartbeat, had he been there all along. My guess is that he only arrived while we were on the roof and took the elevator up."

"Ah." Nightwing thought for a moment. "Batman's expecting backup. Do you want me to fill that role and leave Fisk to you?"

"Tempting," Daredevil admitted. "But no. This is a team effort. I know where to find Fisk when I need to." He jerked his billy-club free of its mooring and hooked it around another projection, several yards below their position. "Let's go."

---

Security was less tight this far from the restricted area. Batman had the alarms deactivated in almost no time. He was prying the emergency fire door open when Nightwing and Daredevil joined him. "What kept you?" he growled, intent on his work.

"Found out an old friend is on the premises," Daredevil muttered. He brought Batman up to date quickly.

Batman grunted. "Should we be concerned?"

"Only if he decides to engage us directly," Daredevil replied. "Not his usual style, unless he's cornered. He still wants to have plausible deniability when his schemes go awry."

"Good to know," Nightwing smiled. As Batman pushed the door open, they found themselves in an unlit corridor.

Batman turned to Daredevil. "I'd prefer not to suffer a repeat of your trick with the lights," he said tightly. "Is this hallway clear?"

Daredevil smiled. "Nothing to bump into, but it smells like they cleaned the floor within the last hour or so. There might be a few slippery patches; they used a melamine solution."

Batman grunted again. They moved carefully, Batman and Nightwing following closely behind Daredevil, relying solely on the faint illumination that came from the cracks under the office doors. Shortly before the end of the corridor, Daredevil whispered, "Wait."

"What?" Batman demanded.

"I make out a dozen heartbeats on the other side of the stairwell door."

"Do they know we're here?" Nightwing asked.

"I'm not sure. Well. I'm pretty sure they know somebody is here, but whether they're aware that it's us is a different story."

"And we need to open that door to get where we're going."

"Yes," Daredevil confirmed. "Unless you'd prefer to go back the way we came and try a different route in."

"We're not turning back," Batman said. "And since we know they're out there, they won't have the advantage of surprise."

"True," Nightwing said slowly. "But we do..."

Batman turned to Daredevil. "How badly would a smokescreen affect you?" he demanded.

Daredevil smiled. That would get them through the ambush faster. "What are you using? Titanium dioxide?" It was an educated guess. Most of the other common agents caused skin irritation, burns, or worse. Titanium dioxide wasn't harmless, but it would achieve the desired result with fewer harmful side effects.

If Batman was impressed, he didn't show it. "Yes."

Daredevil nodded. With his enhanced sense of touch, he'd still probably feel the sting on any exposed skin, but he could deal. Particularly since his costume covered everything but the lower half of his face, and there was a way to protect that. "If you have a spare breathing mask, I should be fine." Wordlessly, Nightwing held something out to him. He took it. "Thanks," he said, putting it on.

A moment later, Batman pushed open the door, quickly lobbed something into the stairwell, and slammed the door shut again. Almost immediately, they all heard cries of alarm and coughing, followed by quickly-retreating footsteps.

Batman pushed the door open again and the three started down the stairs.

As they reached the first landing, an alarm klaxon began blaring directly overhead. Daredevil stifled a cry of pain and clapped both hands to his ears.

Nightwing grabbed him. "Come on!" he said, hoping that Daredevil could understand him through that noise.

The crimson swashbuckler managed a nod and a step forward.

That was when the automatic sprinklers came on.

---

Daredevil had known that, sooner or later, someone was going to use one of those systems against him. He felt like he was getting pelted by hailstones. The high-pressure water discharge muffled all other sounds and negated his sense of smell. It worked like chaff on his radar, causing him to lose his bearings.

He seized hold of the banister with one hand and considered his options. The deluge from the sprinklers showed no signs of stopping and he wasn't about to stand around waiting and hoping that it would end soon. He wasn't sure whether Batman and Nightwing were still with him or whether they had moved off, assuming that he would be right behind them. He took a cautious step forward.

Someone gripped his elbow then and he slid into a defensive posture. The hand withdrew. A moment later, Daredevil felt something press into his hand. It was flat with sharp, curved edges, and slightly wider than his palm. He smiled. He'd never held one before, but he remembered the contour of the throwing knife that Batman had embedded in the office wall the night before. This had to be another one like it. He relaxed. Somehow, he didn't think that a hostile would be pressing a weapon on him. This time, when he felt the grip on his elbow, he nodded and let Batman guide him down the stairs to the next floor.

The sprinklers continued raining upon them as they moved.

---

"They're on thirty-five, Mr. Fisk," the technician said. "Moving west."

"Keep using the sprinklers," Kingpin ordered. "I want them in no shape to resist when I send in my people to finish the job."

"Acknowledged. Uh..."

When the technician didn't continue, Fisk laced his fingers together and flexed them. "Well?"

"They're attempting to get into the R&D lab. If we turn on the sprinklers in there, I can't guarantee that the data on the computers will survive intact. Some of those projects are highly classified. While backups are generally a wise precaution, given the sensitive nature of some of that material and the repercussions should a copy fall into the wrong hands, I'd be remiss if I didn't consider the possibility that, should we lose those computers, we might stand to lose a significant amount of our research." He turned nervously to Fisk. "Those computers are on their own network. I can't remote-hack or otherwise extract their data from here. If we lose it, it could set us back weeks."

"I understand your concern." Fisk's voice was calm, but one hand clenched around his armrest. There was a cracking sound. He glanced at the third man in the office. "Well?"

"The sprinklers are hindering them, not stopping them," the other man pointed out. "There's a decent chance that we'll destroy our research and they'll still fend off our squadron. If that happens, it really won't matter if we manage to throw them off our trail or not. We'll still be finished in the industry." He shook his head. "I don't think we'd be able to recover from a setback that huge."

Fisk nodded. "Very well, Lewis." He turned to the technician. "Keep the sprinklers running in the corridor for as long as you are able. Perhaps, we can contain our intruders for the time being. Meanwhile," he leaned comfortably back in his leather armchair. Although he still addressed the two men in the room, he glanced intently at a shadowed corner of the office, where a third figure stood silently. "I'll listen to your suggestions for a more permanent solution to this problem..."

---

It was dry inside the lab, but they could still hear the water spraying down in the hallway outside. Nightwing leaned against the door. "I think I just figured out why the New York metro area is at second-highest risk for water scarcity," he announced.

Batman turned to Daredevil. "Are you all right?" he demanded.

Daredevil nodded. "Thanks. I didn't mean to—"

"It was disorienting for us, as well," Batman cut him off. He stalked off to the far wall and made a disgusted noise. "These windows are barred. It'll take more time than I'd like to cut through them and..."

Nightwing finished the sentence. "...and there's no telling whether an acetylene torch won't set off the sprinklers in here." He frowned. "Hey. It's stopped out there."

"They don't need to flood the hallway, if we aren't in it," Batman pointed out. "Should we venture outside this office, they can always turn the sprinklers back on."

"Why haven't they turned them on in here?" Daredevil asked. "Whoever's controlling them almost took us out from a distance."

"Almost." There was a note of triumph in Batman's voice. "I have someone in my corner who's able to hack some of the systems here. She's working on accessing the others, but for now, she was able to locate an area that our observers would be loath to deluge. She was also able to uncover the file with the pinpad code to unlock the door."

"Why?" Daredevil massaged his forehead with both hands. "What's so special about this room?"

"It's part of their R&D department," Batman answered. "Completely cut off from the main network, with very little stored in the cloud. If these files go, and if there are no backup files, all the data goes with them."

"How do you know that there are no backups?"

"I didn't. I suspected. The fact that the room is still dry bears out that suspicion."

Daredevil smiled his appreciation. "Thanks."

"Don't thank us yet," Nightwing said. "We're still sitting ducks in here." He made a disgusted noise. "If we have to fight our way out, I'd rather not do it with the bad guys calling the shots. Like this, they can hold us at bay with the sprinklers until they can get an army outside the door."

"And if we go out," Daredevil sighed, "they can use the sprinklers to herd us anywhere they want to." He frowned. "Tell me I'm not holding you back."

"No," Batman said tersely. "Nowhere near as much as insufficient equipment is, at any rate. If we were back in Gotham, I have equipment at my base of operations that could counter these defenses. I have an... aide who could assist somewhat in delivering that equipment. In New York, we're down to what we're carrying with us right now. None of which will prove helpful against a sustained attack by those sprinklers. We'd need to shut them down at the source."

"Which we can't get to without having to deal with the sprinklers," Nightwing sighed. "They've proven they can monitor us."

"What about your hacker?" Daredevil asked. "Can she do anything about it?"

"Not without letting them know that they've been hacked," Batman said. "If at all possible, I'd prefer not to disclose that much to our adversaries."

"He gets more mileage out of people thinking he's doing it all himself because," Nightwing dropped his voice an octave, "he's... Batman."

"Next mission," the caped crusader growled, "you're staying in the hotel." To Daredevil, he said, "While Oracle is not without defenses, I am concerned about their effectiveness, should someone with Fisk's resources be able to trace her location. I won't ask her to compromise her safety. She'll communicate advice to us: passwords, building schematics, and the like. I draw the line at asking her to infiltrate their security systems directly or otherwise letting our adversaries know that she's involved."

"He also won't tell her he said that or she won't take his calls for a week," Nightwing added.

Daredevil smiled. "So, we're on our own," he translated. "Fine. " He turned to Batman. "Earlier, you said that you were shielded from their cameras before."

"I was," Batman confirmed. "I had another advantage then. They didn't know where I was. Now they do. The instant we crack open the door to this office, even if they can't see us, they'll know we're on the move and they'll keep the deluge coming."

"Is there another way out?" Nightwing asked. "A fire escape?"

"Ten feet down the hall in one direction, fifty feet down the hall in the other," Batman replied. "Safety regulations don't require an emergency door in every room."

All at once, Daredevil smiled.

"What?" Batman snapped.

"Why haven't they come in to try and rush us?" he asked.

"We've been over that."

Daredevil sighed. "Think of this as courtroom practice. You respond that way under cross and any lawyer worth his salt will demand you answer the question. Humor me."

"With the sprinkler system outside," Batman said irritably, ignoring Nightwing's muffled chuckle, "they can afford to wait and plan. They have no need to force their hand, yet."

Daredevil's smile was back. "What if they did?"

"Explain."

"Why haven't they turned on the sprinklers in here, yet?"

Nightwing sucked in his breath. "Because they don't want to risk losing their data!" he said, beginning to see what Daredevil was leading up to.

Daredevil nodded. "So, if someone in this room—someone without authorization—was to try to access that data... Say, maybe someone with a hacker in their corner..."

Nightwing began to laugh. "Assuming that they really can't afford to lose what's on these systems, they'll almost have to engage us now. With fewer people and maybe even poorer armaments than they'd prefer."

Batman nodded slowly. "It's better than waiting for the inevitable. And we may learn something useful." He paused for a moment, thinking. When he spoke again, his voice was brisk. "The two of you, guard the door, for now. Nightwing, if there's time to unlock two computers, I may need you. At the moment, just stay alert for any surprises. I'll have Oracle walk me through this."

As the two other men complied, Daredevil said, "So. 'Oracle' is the hacker in question, I take it?"

"And much more," Nightwing replied.

Daredevil smiled. Nightwing's tone painted a clearer picture of his feelings toward this Oracle than a thousand words ever would.

---

Watching the office on one of the many security monitors of Baron and Baron's control hub, Wilson Fisk gripped both armrests of his chair so tightly that the wooden supports—already weakened from similar treatment earlier—splintered.

"M-Mr. Fisk!" the young man at his left gasped in horror. "Are you hurt? I can get a first-aid kit. I am so sorry. Someone must have tried to pass off shoddy f-furniture. I'll get to the b-bottom of it. I'm so sorry..."

"Remain here, Lewis," Fisk replied. His voice was calm, even benevolent, betraying no hint of the temper that had caused him to destroy the chair in which he still sat. "Tell me. What are the possible repercussions if they are able to extract that data?"

Lewis swallowed. "We... it depends on the terminal. Some of it is relatively innocuous. Marketing research and the like. However, about half of our team is dedicated to facilitating your needs. Although you aren't mentioned by name, anyone with a clear idea of your holdings and the distribution of your finances would be able to identify you in short order. Should that come to light, I wouldn't be sanguine about our odds of coming through the fallout unscathed."

"And if we turn on the sprinklers?"

Lewis swallowed again. "We... well, we didn't keep scanned backups of most of what you gave us, for fear of discovery. We're currently being audited. I don't think I need to explain what could happen should a third-party regulatory commission discover what goes on here..."

Fisk leaned back in the remains of his chair. "I'm grateful for your vigilance," he said. "You could not have predicted this. Very well. Destroying the records is unacceptable. Allowing them to uncover them is worse. Your team is still five floors below them?"

Lewis nodded. Fisk turned to the technician, who had been listening silently to their conversation. "Lock all access points to that area except for the stairwell closest to the R&D office. Lewis. Assemble your team in that stairwell. When all are present, send them in carefully. Let your people wear our intruders out. Then..."

Lewis nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silken hood, which he slid it over his head. It covered his face balaclava-style. "Then I'll go in with Team Two and pick up the pieces."

"Use caution, Lewis. We may have them cornered for now, but that will, assuredly, make them more dangerous."

"True," Lewis acknowledged. "But they've got us pinned down, too. We can't let them get their hands on what's stored on those systems. So, I guess it's up to me and my people to stop them."

Kingpin nodded approval. "Carefully, Lewis. They may not use lethal force, but they are dangerous."

"Call me Zeren," Lewis said, as he began unbuttoning his shirt, revealing a form-fitting costume beneath. "And so am I."

After the younger man left, Kingpin turned to the other figure in the room. "Well?" he rumbled. "Your thoughts?"

The woman came forward, a faint smile on her face. "He will fail, Kingpin. He's a solid enough fighter and a superior athlete, but to engage even one of those three, he would have done better to have those strengths reversed."

"I concur," the large man nodded. "So. It appears that tonight, I will need to engage your services further. You've trained my people well. Your advice in this matter has proven invaluable. But I believe I will need you to step in and show your best student," he pointed to the monitor that showed Zeren making his way down the corridor, "how much more he has to learn."

Lady Shiva's smile grew predatory. "And their disposition?"

"Much as I would like them out of the way permanently," Kingpin sighed, "I think I must leave them alive if possible." His expression was sour. "I have no wish to engage the Avengers or the Justice League at this time and, should those three perish or disappear, one or both of those groups will likely investigate the circumstances. Incapacitate them. Humiliate them. And if, despite your best efforts, you should happen to kill them, I trust you know how to dispose of the bodies and the evidence?"

"You must think me an amateur if you can ask that question," Shiva sniffed. "But never fear. I'll keep them alive, since that is your preference." She glided toward the door.

As she slipped out of the room, Kingpin sighed tolerantly. He'd fought Daredevil before on numerous occasions and he had more than a passing familiarity with Batman and Nightwing's prowess, as well. Lewis Baron was doomed to failure before he'd even left the room. He had better hopes for Lady Shiva, though he wasn't fool enough to assume her victory was guaranteed either.

However, between the initial security team, Zeren's elite squadron, and Lady Shiva, there was a good chance that—by the time the vigilantes caught up with him—they would be weary and spent. They might be sporting fresh injuries. When Kingpin stepped in—as he knew he might have to—the odds, already stacked in is favor, would be significantly improved.

Much as he didn't like getting his own hands dirty, he had to admit that he was looking forward to the opportunity to engage Daredevil once more. As for those other two... well, the more the merrier.