Tim opened the folder.
The moment his fingertip clicked, he didn’t expect much—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTnxyV8uBkY
just wanted to see what kind of secrets an ordinary teacher might tuck away in an encrypted file.
It felt like opening Pandora’s box.
The kind where the first glance seems fine,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡONQZg47VRx
the second glance makes you pause,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBy55y9htc9
and by the third, you’re breaking into a cold sweat.
Tim was now progressing through all three stages.
He froze.
No exaggeration—his breath actually hitched.
The files on screen weren’t private notes, nor work journals.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLmLHDoPxL
They were… an unreasonably large information archive on Gotham’s vigilantes.
An entire hoard of data.
The top layer was organized into folders—image logs, character analyses, action records, tagging systems, archived anonymous forum discussions.
Each section held hundreds of entries.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnE7YCN8Fpq
Some even dated back to before Tim had officially put on the costume.
There were files on Batman.
Photos from every appearance, movement analysis, battle-style predictions—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCb0LjNFF5K
even heatmaps of likely retreat points when injured.
There were files on other vigilantes too.
Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGTUI2U9lDh
even that new kid, Signal, who’d only just started showing up.
She’d tracked costume changes, appearance frequency, voice comparisons, height correlations…242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXfBOwFxF0Z
to an almost absurd degree of detail.
There were villain dossiers too.
Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHFydZF7g7o
each with personal profiles, connection maps, and “interaction intensity with Bat Family” tags.
Okay, maybe she’s just a weird fan of Gotham’s masked population,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvblW5wTGc
Tim told himself, trying to stay calm—mentally running through possible explanations.
Maybe she was saved as a child by one of them.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvJ2aTGgDR8
Maybe she was just obsessed with mystery.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71yXCJgYjC
Maybe she was a data junkie.
I mean, wasn’t I a total Batman fanboy too?242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe6rAiHbOWt
As a kid, he’d clipped newspaper articles, tried sketching Batman’s fight moves from memory…
Tim reassured himself,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6WMyjWkns
“This is fine… probably.”
Unfortunately, the next folder shattered that illusion.
As he scrolled down, another layer of folders appeared.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFO5s9KCgNc
The titles were clear. Brutally direct.
Each one read:
- Batman x Bruce Wayne242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdOByyatSYp
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsbMN8AXVcN - Batman x Superman242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbAtDwI5mqJ
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuPbJGPi7rT - Batman x Nightwing242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCEtfiTgB4y
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2UeM9jGf9N
All ships.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6gcIyLiwp
Each with their own titles.
Some were poetic.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcCfnRS1qH6
Some just used character names.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAYGJpDbWO1
Some were marked R18 or Mature.
Cover images were clearly screenshots—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ70bSgTfnRp
some were even re-edited from surveillance footage angles Tim recognized.
Altogether, the files totaled terabytes in size.
This wasn’t your average fan collection.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ26Ipiw7Eeq
This was a full-blown database, a creative archive,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNg8FgYnpv
an annotated, curated, fanfiction hell-library.
Tim went completely still.
His knuckles whitened slightly, the hand holding his coffee frozen mid-air.
He glanced side to side—confirmed he was alone—and took a sip of coffee.
The room was silent.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjzIiGXOVPL
The screen glowed softly.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdiXucPm2bK
He swallowed dryly, then clicked into one subfolder.
He had to know—was Nora just a collector? Or…
He opened a few files.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwZemZTljR
The very first was a 30,000-word longfic.
Polished formatting.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdv2OA3ckk
Perfect pacing.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMp5tYe25l2
Uncannily accurate character voices.
Confirmed.
She was the author.
Every story bore the name Nightnest.
Not reposted. Not fan-shared.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5kQGnukc8
Originals—with footnotes, reader comments, and her own replies.
This wasn’t just some writer.
She was the kind of creator Tim had seen before.
Now, he knew who she was.
So that blonde, kind-looking teacher—who loved children and gave her all for her students—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡumXv4kWTlh
was, in private…
a top-tier author of Batman fanfiction.
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTbabPBOTf
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMzNzeo42kY
Tim had to clear his name.
He was not reading Batman fanfiction. Seriously.
He hadn’t clicked these voluntarily.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXhqE3J2ke
It was for investigation. For documentation. For precaution.
He was not the type to scroll forums late at night to see how people wrote about him.
Absolutely not.
But he had to read it.
He was the intel coordinator.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1sYcqSApR
The systems analyst.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EH0T5fjRq
The Bat Family’s information manager.
It was his job to know how deep Gotham’s collective fantasy ran.
He had to assess whether any of these Batman fans were getting too close.
Some people guessed too accurately—it became a threat.
Some creators unintentionally pieced together real-world connections.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfpaV7pt8N
Even reconstructed critical events.
Some fans were just one step away from identifying Red Robin…242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvBd0hEICOw
or pinpointing Batman’s real address.
That’s where Tim stepped in—to misdirect.
He’d plant false clues in forums,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrstQIO8rWF
comment on key stories to steer readers off track,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRi2yA2MUH
or even create fake accounts to write misleading fanfics of his own.
In some cases, he’d temporarily hack a fan’s system—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwFOfffDjq
not to destroy anything, just cause a brief outage, disrupt backups, scramble files.
“We respect creativity…242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJx3uRnpGZM
but not if it accidentally blows up our lives.”
Honestly, most fans didn’t care about the truth.
They just wanted the smut.
They wanted to see someone slammed against a wall, cape tossed aside,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQ5eVCKKia
followed by the line:242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxiuwKQg9Y
“Tonight, you are my city.”
Lots of physical tension.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKLTgvVju0
Bodies tangling. Uniforms torn. Gloves half-removed—
Tim was losing it.
Some passages were so realistic,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl95ca8QDiK
he nearly shut the whole system down right then.
These days, he had the Batcomputer’s AI scan them for him.
Semantic tagging.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOpYtJPfIV
Trigger-word filters.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTxDTichtJm
Subject detection.
If there was an issue, the AI flagged it.
Only then would Tim step in.
He’d review the summaries, check engagement levels,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9fSyJuDpyY
and intervene if necessary.
No more manually reading every word,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjOQZQbmV2
no more sleepless 3 a.m. coffee nights thinking:242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVcHdXBHAn
“Would I actually say that?”
Now, Tim sat before the screen in thought.
Before him was the full database—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxw54AvXBXD
Nightnest’s entire creative and curated archive.
Each title marked by timestamp and genre.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR8ODE8CUys
It looked like a sacred index of someone’s private sanctuary.
A kindergarten teacher with this kind of hobby…242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNCpgtFSAYz
could she really pose any threat to the vigilantes?
Didn’t seem like it.
She hadn’t posted any real identity guesses.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSSs1Ci403g
She’d never contacted any organizations or joined real-life meetups.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXkNfWguxEz
She just wrote. Alone. Quietly.
Would she be dangerous to Finn?
Also unlikely.
Her behavior at school was impeccable.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WE3EYlIDj
Interactions were appropriate.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQIlBlonIyd
The kids adored her—and she genuinely seemed to put them first.
I’ll review the database thoroughly before making a call,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceu3d47XNU
Tim decided.
He tapped a few keys, launching his analysis program.
This time, it wasn’t just for the Bat Family.
It was also… to figure out who she really was.
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcbSYjkC9f
Completely against Tim’s expectations—
Nora’s database was mostly focused on character development.
He had anticipated rows of logic deductions, tactical predictions, maybe even attempts to unmask their identities.
But in reality… almost none of that was there.
Nora wasn’t the theorizing type.
She wasn’t trying to deduce the truth from scattered clues, nor had she built any massive real-world matching web.
Her interests were clearly elsewhere—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTeS4a2HEQF
storytelling, character arcs… and smut.
The only thing she seemed remotely analytical about… was the body.
Especially character height and physique.
And oddly enough, her guesses were pretty accurate.
Tim opened a few of her works focused on Nightwing—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIzXPkeGdeb
and realized the body proportions she used were almost a perfect match to Dick’s actual measurements.
But that, to be fair, was inevitable.
Photos gave away a lot.
How tall someone looked from certain angles, how broad they seemed standing next to others,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1AvAwdsoP
which side they leaned on when injured—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcEEHeyYOZC
observe long enough, and anyone could start estimating the truth.
What Nora was really good at… was writing sex scenes.
She was very good at it.
Detailed, fluid, full of tension, and disturbingly polished.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiXM9tXYFd5
Her prose carried weight, restraint, and that addictive pull that made it hard to stop reading.
She even tracked outfit variations just to write better undressing sequences.
Her fans loved her NSFW content.
On forums, her ID was constantly mentioned.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlkNkXVf1t
One comment read,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvo0fHKrg2Y
“I’ve re-read the Whitechapel Nightwing fic ten times.”242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjlNwX1YnS
Another said,242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAc9SWiqRch
“Now that’s how you write post-battle kissing.”
Her writing style was even dubbed:242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBzXbofUpsR
“Gotham’s Most Dangerous Erotic Weapon.”
Each post racked up millions of views.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsu0noaVRT
Hearts. Bookmarks. Endless comment threads.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMLKldVYW2l
The sheer numbers screamed top-tier fandom legend.
Some even called her:242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU6HgN4qkIx
“The lighthouse of Gotham fanfic.”
And yet—Nora had never written about Red Robin.
Tim had checked.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9ev85rO35
Multiple times.
He even ran the entire database through his AI scanner—automated search and semantic tagging.
No “Red Robin.” No codename. No face.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡflpKOcYY19
Nothing.
Why?242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PplDsSJSe
Why no Red Robin?
Tim frowned, scrolling with his fingertip, an odd sort of confusion blooming inside him.
Was he… not worth writing about?242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1iLaKe39f
Or had she simply never noticed him?
In her entire database, Tim searched.
Red Robin only came up in bits and pieces.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOf8dsCiTy
Scattered notes, short mentions—mostly minor relational footnotes with other characters.
Meanwhile, Nightwing and Red Hood had dozens of pages.
Some even had dedicated folders, quotes collections, post-battle psychological interpretations.
That question began to coil in Tim’s head.
Like a snake with no head or tail—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gKvjS51oQ
it didn’t bite.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzyYnHhPCCq
Just… slowly wrapped itself around his nerves.
Tim started digging into Nora’s replies to readers.
On the forum, he searched for the keyword “Red Robin,”242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6JqIdufuGA
pulling the timeline all the way back—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOJgPGWnkzc
hoping to see if fans had ever brought this up.
They had.
One thread from four years ago popped up.
Someone asked:242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRP9t7nuIfD
“Why do you never write Red Robin? I think he’s super hot.”
Tim scrolled down.
Among the comments was one posted by Nightnest herself.
Calm tone. Short. No twists or detailed reasoning.
Nora replied under her pen name:
“He’s a kid. I don’t want to commit a crime.”
Tim:242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjBjtwLMaL
????????!!!!!!!!
He stared at that line for five whole seconds before his brain rebooted.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t seen people make jokes like that online before.
But now the subject was him.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR82Iigspnt
Red Robin.242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vfxA4qRDJ
Tim Drake.
And her reason for excluding him entirely from her work…
Was because “it would be illegal.”
Tim slowly raised his coffee cup and took a sip—242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHkjyppF64
only to realize it had been empty for a while.
Now he didn’t know whether to feel insulted, confused…242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv91hqZ7B0Q
or just a little bit relieved.
242Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1M8udLE6z1
and then Add to home screen.