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"Who?" Allen answered casually, as if her question meant nothing.
"Whose perfume smell is on you?" Felicity narrowed her eyes, her voice steady but carrying the weight of suspicion.
"Is there a perfume smell on me?" Allen raised his arm and gave himself a sniff, frowning slightly.
"I took a shower... maybe it clung to me afterwards somehow?"
But even as he spoke, he smelled nothing.
No trace.
Still, he knew better than to argue.
Sometimes, a woman's sense of smell was sharper than a bloodhound's.
Without giving her a chance to dig deeper, Allen stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, smiling warmly.
"I supervised Laurel's training this morning, and then helped someone get rid of her bodyguards in the afternoon. After that, I caught a ride to Central City. I just got back now."
With a shift in topic, he reached into his bag and pulled out the device.
"Here's the sonic equipment I picked up for Laurel. Maybe you can give it a check, and see if there are any flaws or issues."
He leaned in, pressing a kiss gently against her cheek, then walked toward the bathroom like nothing had happened.
"I'm going to take another shower. Is there anything to eat at home? Heat something up for me if you can. I haven't eaten all day."
Felicity stood frozen for a moment, thrown off by his nonchalant attitude. "…Sonic equipment?"
Looking down at the device in her hands, she furrowed her brows and moved to the kitchen.
She tossed something quick into the microwave and returned to the living room, curiosity piqued as she examined the small but intricately designed gadget.
The more she looked, the more impressed she became.
The design was incredibly refined, sleek, compact, and packed with power.
The sonic pulses were adjustable, separated into distinct intensity levels.
If someone was caught off guard, this thing could do serious damage.
When Allen returned, freshly showered and now with a plate of food emptied, he sat beside her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin lightly on her shoulder.
"How is it?"
"Very powerful," Felicity said, still holding the device.
"No structural defects, but… there's one issue. The user will be affected too when it's activated. They'll need to prepare in advance."
"That's not a big deal, the user can just use a pair of high-quality noise-reduction earplugs," Allen said with a wave of his hand, brushing it off.
Felicity nodded slowly.
"Yeah… that could work."
Professional-grade equipment required professional-grade accessories.
While Felicity could theoretically create the earplugs herself, she lacked the resources.
She had no budget, no materials, and barely any time.
Allen wasn't going to provide any of it either.
His idea was to let Laurel handle it herself.
After asking Felicity to help confirm Talia al Ghul's phone number, Allen met Laurel once again, at the exact same hotel, in the same room as the day before.
Laurel looked around awkwardly as she entered.
"Do we really have to come here again?"
"What, are you afraid someone might see us?" Allen teased with a smirk.
"I just don't have enough money to keep getting rooms every day," Laurel grumbled, clearly frustrated.
"Then go make some. If you want to be a hero, protecting this city and taking down bad guys, you can't do that while broke. This isn't charity work. Anyway, here's the equipment I told you about."
Allen handed over the sonic device.
Laurel stared at it for a moment.
'Who said I want to be a hero…?'
"You kidnapped someone again to get this, didn't you?"
"Don't like it? Then get stronger and stop me," Allen replied flatly.
"This is how it works…"
Then he explained the device's functions in detail before continuing, "You won't be able to use this properly right away. Focus on building a strong body first. We'll talk about it again when you're ready. Now stop wasting time. Let's start today's training."
"In the morning, we'll stick to physical training. Afternoons are for combat drills."
Life didn't ask for permission.
Sometimes, it just pushed you off a cliff.
Laurel didn't know whether Allen's methods counted as guidance or just brute force, but she knew one thing: she had no choice.
With a resigned sigh, she took off her jacket and glared at him lying on the bed again. This time, she wore training clothes.
She clenched her jaw and got to work.
Just like yesterday.
She concentrated intensely, knowing any lapse in attention meant getting shocked by the training equipment.
Still, despite her best efforts, the electricity got her repeatedly.
It hurt, but she felt like her tolerance was gradually improving, or maybe she was just going numb.
After the grueling morning session, she took a shower and rested briefly.
No food, no break.
The afternoon brought a new layer of pain.
Allen had noticed she lacked combat awareness, so he pieced together a custom style, drawing from Muay Thai, French kickboxing, freestyle combat, and taekwondo.
For anything more advanced, he figured he'd wait for Batman to return.
For now, these styles were more than enough for Laurel to train with.
And when it came to actual sparring, Allen showed no mercy.
Gender didn't matter.
He didn't hold back. Not even when she was still drying off after the shower, or when bruises covered her body.
If she left herself open, she got hit.
By the time they finished, Laurel was pale and barely able to stand, her body aching all over.
"Go home and rest. Don't be late again tomorrow," Allen said calmly as they left the hotel.
"I… might not be able to come," Laurel muttered hesitantly.
Allen glanced sideways. "Something going on?"
"I'm moving tomorrow. New place," she explained.
"Living alone?"
"Yeah."
"Good. That'll make things easier. I'll wait until you're done moving."
"Mm." Laurel nodded faintly and limped away down the sidewalk, exhaustion dragging at her steps.
Allen turned a corner and found a public phone booth.
He stepped inside, dialed a number, and waited.
"Hello?" a familiar voice answered.
It was Talia al Ghul, and her icy tone was enough to lower the temperature around him.
"Hey," Allen greeted her back.
"It's you!" One could tell she was annoyed just from her tone.
The anger in her voice was unmistakable. "What do you want?"
Allen chuckled softly.
"Wow. You remember my voice that well? Does Bruce know how much I've gotten under your skin?"
Her sharp inhale was full of resignation.
"What. Do. You. Want?"
"I want a suit," Allen said plainly.
"Same material as Batman's. I'll give you the measurements and specs."
"You're threatening me now?"
There was a beat of silence.
Then Allen replied without hesitation.
"Yeah. I'm threatening you."
His voice turned colder, more deliberate.
"If you don't make it, I'll expose your identity. I'll release everything I have and know about you. Imagine that going public. How would the League respond?"
He paused, letting the silence build, then added, his voice practically a whisper:
"Are you okay now? You shouldn't be. Doesn't this whole situation make your skin crawl? Doesn't it burn, knowing someone like me has power over you?"
He laughed again, not out of amusement, but out of knowing he had her cornered.
"You feel uncomfortable? Yeah?"