At the Iceberg Lounge

"Dr. Adam Harkins. What do you know?" Laura growled as she pinned Oswald Cobblepot to the wall of his office, her claws grazing his throat.

"Easy there, kid. I'm the best chance you have of finding this guy," Penguin retorted. "Now, if you could put the knives away, we can all calm down and discuss things like rational adults."

Laura paused for a moment and retracted her claws before dropping Penguin to the floor. "All right then, talk. And pray that I like what I hear."

"Right. So, last I heard, he's holed up in some run-down apartment in the Bowery. I even got the address written down here -- as a show of good faith, I'll even let you have it for free," Cobblepot said as he scribbled an address on a post-it note.

Laura reluctantly took the note from Penguin and stared him directly in the eye. "If he's not there, or this is a setup, I'll be back... and I won't be as friendly next time."

"Yeah, I saw what you did to my boys out in the lounge... that'll take days to clean up. Now get the hell out of my office," Penguin spat as Laura turned to leave.

"You know you're walking into a trap, right?" Laura heard Selina's voice call out to her as she walked through the lounge to the exit.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Laura shot back. "I should have known I'd run into you two here. You planning on sticking your nose in my business?"

Felicia shrugged. "You know us... that's kind of our favorite hobby," she said. "In this case, though, your business is our business."

"How so?" Laura wondered.

Barbara and Kitty stepped forward. "We've been investigating the disappearances of several female assassins and mercenaries," Barbara explained. "The League of Assassins is working with the Hand to take them down, and since you were born and bred as a living weapon, that makes you a prime target."

"Huh. That complicates things," Laura admitted. "Not that it changes anything. I'm not sure when I'll get an opportunity like this again..."

"Look, I know better than to try and get in your way," Kitty remarked. "I'm not asking you to abandon your hunt. I'm just asking that you let us help you. If you're gonna walk into a trap, I'd feel better knowing that you went in prepared."

Laura looked at the worried faces of the women standing in front of her. She didn't want to admit it, but seeing the genuine care in their eyes made her reconsider her solo approach. "...Fine. I'll give you a couple days to figure something out. But if I get the slightest hint that Harkins is getting ready to skip town, I'm going after him, with or without your help."

"We'll take it," Barbara agreed. "I'll get as much info as I can on this Harkins guy for you. In the meantime, you should lay low... I can arrange a safehouse for you if you'd like."

Laura nodded. "I'll take you up on that. I'll get in touch with you tomorrow." She turned to leave, but Selina put a hand on her shoulder.

"Laura, honey... be careful," Selina told her, sounding genuinely worried..

Laura looked back at the two thieves and nodded again. "I know how to stay off the grid. I'll be fine."

Laura left the Iceberg Lounge, leaving the others to continue the investigation. "Y'know, she could really help our investigation," Kitty thought out loud. "She can hunt down almost anyone... I just don't want her in harm's way."

"None of us do," Felicia agreed. "But she's not going to stay cooped up inside doing nothing for long."

Barbara sighed. "Neither is Elektra. And Cassandra's going to be out for blood the moment she can get out of bed... Looks like it's gonna be a busy couple of days."