Three days.
Bruce hadn't slept more than four hours total across all of them. He sat in the cave's main operations area surrounded by screens, empty coffee cups, and printed intelligence reports. His tux from the spring formal was still draped over a nearby chair where he'd thrown it three nights ago.
NEXUS had compiled everything on Floyd Lawton. Military records, psychological evaluations, mission reports, suspected contract kills. The file was extensive and deeply unsettling.
But Bruce had an advantage NEXUS didn't know about. An advantage nobody knew about.
He knew Floyd Lawton from somewhere else entirely.
'Deadshot,' Bruce thought, leaning back in his chair and staring at Lawton's photo on the main screen. 'Appeared in Batman comics originally in 1950. Reinvented in the 80s as a complex antihero with a death wish. Precision shooter who genuinely wants to die but refuses to let anyone else pull the trigger. Takes impossible contracts to chase the thrill of the perfect shot.'
The meta-knowledge from his transmigrated soul was as reliable as ever. Nine years of living in this DC Universe had confirmed that the comics were roughly accurate as a baseline, even if specific details varied.
And Deadshot's psychology was exactly what the comics had always portrayed. A man who wasn't really hunting Batman. He was hunting the feeling of having beaten something worthy.
'He doesn't actually want me dead,' Bruce reasoned, pulling up the message Deadshot had sent to the Gazette. 'If he did, I'd already be dead. He had clear shots during at least three of my operations. NEXUS confirmed surveillance footage of him observing from optimal firing positions. Any one of those nights he could have pulled the trigger.'
But he hadn't.
Because Deadshot needed Bruce to know he was coming. Needed the challenge to mean something. A target that didn't know they were hunted wasn't worth hunting.
'Classic Deadshot psychology,' Bruce thought. 'He's bored. He's looking for the one target that makes him feel alive. In the comics it was usually Batman or Waller who gave him that. Here, it's going to be the same.'
Bruce pulled up a city map and began marking locations. Every sniper position Deadshot could have used during the past three weeks.
NEXUS had already calculated probable firing angles based on bullet trajectories from the incidents they'd identified. Bruce cross-referenced them with his meta-knowledge of how Deadshot operated.
'He prefers elevation. High floors, rooftops, construction cranes. He likes sight lines over 800 yards where possible but is comfortable closing to 400 yards for more difficult shots. He always has a primary and two backup positions prepared. He never fires from the same location twice.'
Bruce traced patterns on the map. 'And he always scopes his target's patterns before engaging.
Which means he knows Batman's operational routes. He's been studying how I move, where I go, what my habits are. He's building a profile on me the same way I'm building one on him.'
"NEXUS," Bruce said. "Based on Deadshot's observed surveillance positions and Batman's six operations, calculate where Deadshot would predict Batman's next operational location."
"Calculating," the AI responded. "Based on Batman's pattern of targeting mid-level criminal organizations in the Narrows, the Bowery, and the East End, the most probable next target would be the Zsasz operation on Meridian Street. Abandoned textile factory. Next logical step in dismantling the current criminal hierarchy."
"And if Deadshot has done the same analysis?"
"He would reach the same conclusion. Probability: 89%."
Bruce nodded slowly. "So if I set up an operation at that location, Deadshot will be there. Waiting."
"Correct. However, this presents a significant tactical problem. The textile factory has three rooftop firing positions within optimal range. Deadshot could cover all Batman approach vectors simultaneously. Survival probability in that scenario: 31%."
"But what if Batman controls the approach vector entirely? What if instead of Deadshot choosing where to set up, Batman chooses where Deadshot can set up?"
A pause while NEXUS processed. "Elaborate."
Bruce stood up and walked to the map, pointing to the textile factory and the surrounding blocks. "Deadshot needs elevation and sight lines. If I can control which positions offer both, I control where he sets up. And if I know exactly where he is before I arrive, his range advantage becomes irrelevant."
"You would need to block or compromise every other viable firing position within 1,500 yards. That's seventeen buildings."
"I don't need to block them all. I just need to make one position significantly more attractive than the others. Give him the best view of the stage. Just make sure I control what happens on that stage."
NEXUS was quiet for a moment. "This approach has merit. If Deadshot takes the predetermined position, Batman can approach from the blind spot. Close to melee range before Deadshot can acquire target."
"And at melee range, his accuracy advantage disappears."
"Correct. However, Floyd Lawton is also a highly trained combatant beyond his marksmanship. Military hand-to-hand training. Significant physical strength. Even neutralizing his range advantage does not guarantee favorable outcome."
"Nothing about this guarantees a favorable outcome," Bruce said. "But 31% versus maybe 60% is a meaningful difference. I'll take 60."
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