The moment he heard Hawkeye say, "I don't know where Black Widow is," Batman immediately deduced a string of intelligence.
Hawkeye isn't lying. There are likely two reasons why he knows nothing about the situation.
One is that Hawkeye was on a solo mission, cut off from outside information. The other is that after Dr. Banner was sent from the Cube to New York, Hawkeye remained at the Cube.
Hawkeye and Black Widow are partners; the probability of the first scenario is low, but not nonexistent.
As for the second scenario, why would Hawkeye be left at the Cube? Because Black Widow needed to execute another mission, such as the theft of the Tesseract data from the Adirondack Mountains base that I deduced earlier.
Based on that deduction, the Adirondack base had fallen into Hydra's hands, so Black Widow must have infiltrated it under the identity of a Hydra agent.
Batman's hands clamped firmly around Hawkeye's wrists, rendering this S.H.I.E.L.D. agent unable to move a muscle.
The thought process took only an instant. Even though Hawkeye's hands were bound, it didn't mean he had lost the ability to resist.
As an agent, he had too many tricks up his sleeve, but Batman didn't give Hawkeye the chance to continue resisting. He directly asked the necessary prerequisite for the second scenario he had just deduced:
"For the past month and a half, have you been staying at the Cube?"
"...That's right," Hawkeye retorted. "Is there anything you don't know?"
In front of Batman, Hawkeye felt a sudden sense of transparency, as if Batman could look directly into the memories within his brain.
"There is much I do not know. But since you have been at the Cube, that tells me something else: Black Widow is currently a Hydra agent."
As he spoke, Batman released his grip on Hawkeye's hands.
From the start, based on the physiological data scanned by the Arkham suit, Batman judged that Hawkeye was an ordinary human. After their brief skirmish, Batman had thoroughly confirmed this judgment.
Since he was an ordinary human like Green Arrow Oliver, Batman didn't need to control Hawkeye the way he controlled Gamma monsters.
Just as he didn't need to prepare a specific chain of contingency plans for Green Arrow Oliver, Hawkeye didn't require them either. Batman had enough confidence and ability to handle Hawkeye.
"Black Widow is Hydra?" Hawkeye shook his slightly sore wrists and took a few cautious steps back. "I can overlook your other sources of intelligence, but you must explain this point clearly."
Rat-a-tat-tat...
The explosion triggered by Hawkeye's "beep-beep-boom" device kept the red alarm lights in the museum flashing, and ear-piercing sirens continued to wail.
In the brief moments they had been talking, a flurry of footsteps had approached from afar; clearly, guards were rushing toward them.
Batman and Hawkeye looked toward the source of the sound simultaneously, then turned to look at each other.
Without wasting another word—Batman didn't wish to be discovered by the guards—he raised his hand, firing a line of pitch-black spider silk that pulled him away into the distance.
Hawkeye likewise had no desire to fall into the hands of the guards. Without a second thought, he reached back, drew an arrow, nocked it to his bowstring, and fired in Batman's direction.
This time, Batman didn't dodge or catch the arrow, because this shot wasn't aimed at him.
The arrow whizzed past Batman and nailed itself firmly into the museum wall.
Attached to the tail of the arrow was a thin cable, the end of which Hawkeye had wound around a retraction device. It pulled him along, whisking both him and Batman away from the scene at high speed.
Top of the Empire State Building.
When Hawkeye arrived, Batman was already standing at the edge of the roof, facing the fierce high-altitude winds, having waited for some time.
"Based on my understanding of Black Widow, she can't be Hydra. It's more likely she's a deep-cover spy."
"What is your evidence for saying she is Hydra?"
Hawkeye stood by Batman's side, overlooking the brightly lit streets of New York with him, and asked.
Batman briefly shared his deductions with Hawkeye, starting from the theft of the Tesseract data at the Adirondack Mountains base, all the way to the intelligence he surmised based on Samuel Sterns becoming The Leader and his prior status as a cargo worker at the Adirondack base.
Hawkeye listened to Batman's deductions in silence. He knew there were many details Batman simply hadn't told him, such as how he knew about the Tesseract data theft or why he was looking into Samuel Sterns' information.
"If you knew whether the Cube was holding any Hydra agents used by Black Widow as a human transport channel, perhaps the answers to all these questions would be readily solved."
Hawkeye sighed. "It's a pity. Although I was kept in the Cube the whole time, I didn't get the chance to see the other imprisoned criminals, so I can't provide corroboration for your deduction."
Batman's voice remained completely flat. "Calculated by probability, there is an eighty percent chance that Black Widow is not truly Hydra, but a double agent planted within Hydra by Nick Fury."
"And the other twenty percent?" Hawkeye gave a bitter laugh. "I don't even know where she is right now."
Batman didn't reply, until Hawkeye couldn't help but speak up again.
"Although I am a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, I tried contacting Director Nick Fury, only to find my communication channel completely dead."
"I might need your help, Batman."
Only then did Batman withdraw his gaze from the streets below and look at Hawkeye.
Green Arrow Oliver had once faced Batman like this and said similar words. How similar their tones were.
"I will help you find her. You help me accomplish one thing," Batman said.
"What thing?" Hawkeye looked at Batman.
"Go to Yokohama, Japan, and help me investigate a company named the Dark Wind Group," Batman said.
Batman had originally intended to assign this to Black Cat, but now he had a better candidate.
"Investigate what?" Hawkeye asked. "I need to know what the mission is first."
"Trade records," Batman said. "The museum theft is related to the Dark Wind Group, but the Dark Wind Group is merely a front. The employer behind it is someone else. I need to know who the Dark Wind Group is trading with."
Hawkeye still didn't quite understand and signaled for Batman to explain in more detail.
From start to finish, what Batman spoke of was content that wouldn't expose his real identity, and this time was no exception.
"I once sent the gang leader Kingpin, who claimed territory in Hell's Kitchen, to prison. During a previous prison break at Ryker's, I learned that Kingpin was looking for a Japanese man named Kenji Oyama."
"And this Kenji Oyama is a man of the Dark Wind Group."
"I promise to find Black Widow within half a month. Likewise, I need you to obtain useful information within half a month."
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