CHAPTER 57

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[David Lance POV]

As I had initially suspected after finding Batman's assignment somewhat incomplete, Grey Shadow was to be my teacher in the art of stealing. A fact Batman himself confirmed over some texts, while not particularly happy I was helping her steal, I knew that the skills she was teaching me would come in handy down the line.

Then again, If I gave my feelings some thought, I had to admit I wasn't particularly angry about the stealing part of the course. Most of Grey Shadow's targets were the textbook definition of legal villains- like, corrupted politicians, evil millionaires, and such. So, in all reality, I wasn't that bothered about helping her.

Besides, she was a good person, at least from what I could tell from our interactions so far and other cues. Like a Robin Hood without the charity part of the character.

For the most part, her training consisted of the importance of thorough research before any type of mission. So, most of the time, she would have me do extensive research on various security systems and security techniques.

This was so that I could learn how to disable them or find their weaknesses.

While I wasn't researching, she would teach me other stealing techniques, like, for example, how to hotwire a car or how to pick locks correctly. All of which I proved to be quite proficient at in a manner of seconds.

Granted, that was because most of the things she was teaching me were stuff that Batman, Dinah, or Oliver had taught me beforehand on a surface level. So, in reality, what she was really doing was polishing what was already there for the most part.

But be that as it may, it was good to have a refresher/improvement on those skills from a master in the subject.

For example.

Right now, we were having a test, at least according to her, where I would steal a chip from a government facility, with her shadowing me at every step of the way to ensure I was applying what I had learned from her accordingly.

"You are perturbingly good at this kid," Grey Shadow remarked, staring at me in a mix of disbelief and pride after I had successfully bypassed a particularly complicated security system to crack in under thirty seconds. "We started your training a month ago, and you already work like a master."

I smiled before continuing with my test, having a strong feeling I would get an 'A+' on it, but before that, I had to get the chip, which according to the schematics of the facility I had downloaded from their servers, it was three levels down from where we were.

"So far, so good, kid," Grey Shadow observed as we made our way down the chip, "But there's one thing you're missing."

I cocked an eyebrow in confusion, not sure what she was getting at.

"When something is valuable, there's always competition," Grey Shadow clarified with a grin. Before darting ahead of me, making her way to the chip.

I smiled; for a woman in her late fifties, she was quite playful when it came to these kinds of things. Shaking my head with a sigh, I quickly followed after her, easily catching up to her in a matter of seconds.

I mean, what did she think would happen? I can dodge bullets; I can easily outrun an average person regardless of their training.

"Hm," Grey Shadow smiled before letting out a sigh. "Somehow this feels... Unfair."

I nodded; after all, she was right. It was indeed unfair for her to race against me, just like it would be for me to race against the Flash.

Grey Shadow chuckled softly. "Honestly, I'm starting to feel a bit like a proud parent of the kid I never wanted to have; oh my, I must be getting old."

I rolled my eyes at her before quickly taking off ahead, using my superior speed to leave her behind in a symbolic cloud of dust, quickly reaching the elevator that would take us to the lower levels, where I took my time to hack the elevator open, as well as to check on the security guards and their locations.

Whereas so far, I hadn't seen anyone on my way down here, mostly because I had made sure to avoid their patrols and such, it was always best to keep tabs on every hostile target in the area in order to avoid them; this was, after all, a stealth mission at its core.

Once I had confirmed the guards were far away, I closed my laptop, turning towards Grey Shadow as I waited for her to reach up so that we could take the elevator together.

"My, and here I thought chivalry was dead," Grey Shadow smiled, reaching just as the elevator had opened,  pushing the button for the lower levels as we entered, "But alas, here you are proving me wrong."

I smiled, watching the elevator reach our destination in a matter of seconds, the doors opening to reveal a long empty hallway with a door at the end of it, one that led to the chip room. At the sight, I grinned before making my way toward the door,  where I effortlessly picked the lock before making my way inside.

"And here's where things get interesting," Grey Shadow muttered, following after me into the room.

I cocked an eyebrow in confusion as we entered the room before realizing after a quick glance that the room had more security lasers than a rave party. Taking a step back, I opened my laptop once again to analyze the lasers, quickly finding their patterns and weaknesses in the facility's database.

"You almost make this look easy," Grey Shadow smiled before taking a seat on the floor, crossing her legs as she watched me work.

For the most part, it was. All I had to do was to hack into the isolated servers of the room, disable the lasers and other security measures in the room, and then get the chip, which was located in a small case on the other side of the room.

"My, my, are you having troubles?" Grey Shadow teased, her voice echoing in the now empty room.

I rolled my eyes, not dignifying her comment with a response as I finished turning off the security in the room before making my way to the case, taking out the chip before showing it to Grey Shadow.

Grey Shadow smiled, clapping. "Congratulations, this old thief has nothing to teach you."

~Really?~ I smiled.

"Now, if you'll excuse me," Grey Shadow said as she stood up, making her way back to the door, "I have things to do, and you are no longer my problem, so... Do as you wish with the chip, and take care."

I smiled softly before shattering the chip under my hand. Based on what I had managed to discover in their database during this little mission, the chip was a weapon in the making that an evil politician was trying to develop for obviously terrible reasons, which is why I had destroyed it.

After all, I had no need for such a weapon, and neither did he.

I wonder what comes next? My training under Batman had started less than two months ago, and so far, I had cleared all challenges in record time. I wonder if my next teacher will be in France, so far, they all have been here.

I guess I'll find out soon enough.