Tim opened the folder.
The moment his fingertip clicked, he didn’t expect much—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6YLTwac74
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,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTua2pGGssH
the second glance makes you pause,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVw3KieC43
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0t9lwDasVm
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQovojIzzr
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—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB5LmFZboOk
even heatmaps of likely retreat points when injured.
There were files on other vigilantes too.
Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNJ3HpFyrl
even that new kid, Signal, who’d only just started showing up.
She’d tracked costume changes, appearance frequency, voice comparisons, height correlations…200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfF9moMjE19
to an almost absurd degree of detail.
There were villain dossiers too.
Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXB2Kop4Dl
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,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKFAl8ohMq
Tim told himself, trying to stay calm—mentally running through possible explanations.
Maybe she was saved as a child by one of them.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLegFjXvyyv
Maybe she was just obsessed with mystery.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBGsqLGR0T
Maybe she was a data junkie.
I mean, wasn’t I a total Batman fanboy too?200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwby79sjsW
As a kid, he’d clipped newspaper articles, tried sketching Batman’s fight moves from memory…
Tim reassured himself,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhknG4xVK0
“This is fine… probably.”
Unfortunately, the next folder shattered that illusion.
As he scrolled down, another layer of folders appeared.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTivz3Yy6bl
The titles were clear. Brutally direct.
Each one read:
- Batman x Bruce Wayne200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSo81mSHznV
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGosy2XuSj - Batman x Superman200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1O8I4AzKCn
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdVZZj0SMmk - Batman x Nightwing200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiYERphkIas
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1FGW7nxuyT
All ships.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7i5UHI5wRB
Each with their own titles.
Some were poetic.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8vGqjJS9l
Some just used character names.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJMfk4HLZ9
Some were marked R18 or Mature.
Cover images were clearly screenshots—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0m9DSsK78
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJhYh7xFMy
This was a full-blown database, a creative archive,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsgTE47rfyJ
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP42UAi7dZr
The screen glowed softly.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbHtSNPOYoI
He swallowed dryly, then clicked into one subfolder.
He had to know—was Nora just a collector? Or…
He opened a few files.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPZDc9yH3d
The very first was a 30,000-word longfic.
Polished formatting.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk6DfjQpsyn
Perfect pacing.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGAFfLuoY3
Uncannily accurate character voices.
Confirmed.
She was the author.
Every story bore the name Nightnest.
Not reposted. Not fan-shared.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOmaZunnZB
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—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6jycGsR3h
was, in private…
a top-tier author of Batman fanfiction.
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfOFf5rJle
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTa6TfqOndL
Tim had to clear his name.
He was not reading Batman fanfiction. Seriously.
He hadn’t clicked these voluntarily.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJJ8MNxFur
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnpBve6kxb
The systems analyst.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYC5prAHML
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBZFiVViyL
Even reconstructed critical events.
Some fans were just one step away from identifying Red Robin…200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDmvAo8ZYpH
or pinpointing Batman’s real address.
That’s where Tim stepped in—to misdirect.
He’d plant false clues in forums,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRQigwHgXqI
comment on key stories to steer readers off track,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq96HTryE0d
or even create fake accounts to write misleading fanfics of his own.
In some cases, he’d temporarily hack a fan’s system—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡplBh4wul7j
not to destroy anything, just cause a brief outage, disrupt backups, scramble files.
“We respect creativity…200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLa07JxQQwR
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,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQFVysAjPW2
followed by the line:200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVm4RltTYSl
“Tonight, you are my city.”
Lots of physical tension.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡea3mk2XcpM
Bodies tangling. Uniforms torn. Gloves half-removed—
Tim was losing it.
Some passages were so realistic,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpT97B0nFnY
he nearly shut the whole system down right then.
These days, he had the Batcomputer’s AI scan them for him.
Semantic tagging.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZJcslZIkwZ
Trigger-word filters.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfjOYwkZlqC
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,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaSP2axkWf
and intervene if necessary.
No more manually reading every word,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7K74b1IeBF
no more sleepless 3 a.m. coffee nights thinking:200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWIGcVcvdo
“Would I actually say that?”
Now, Tim sat before the screen in thought.
Before him was the full database—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡITplxmYSTY
Nightnest’s entire creative and curated archive.
Each title marked by timestamp and genre.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmxHx3X2lTI
It looked like a sacred index of someone’s private sanctuary.
A kindergarten teacher with this kind of hobby…200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKIW1fHv9k0
could she really pose any threat to the vigilantes?
Didn’t seem like it.
She hadn’t posted any real identity guesses.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM9XVuYS5pV
She’d never contacted any organizations or joined real-life meetups.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZBBc6Ebs1
She just wrote. Alone. Quietly.
Would she be dangerous to Finn?
Also unlikely.
Her behavior at school was impeccable.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBTI1uLZI0i
Interactions were appropriate.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMehQXXaKl
The kids adored her—and she genuinely seemed to put them first.
I’ll review the database thoroughly before making a call,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmM5adrgEo
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.
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPy9RRCiEI
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—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmh5BU70LI2
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—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP0KSX0SzMN
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,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs35ytdERXn
which side they leaned on when injured—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgDR5ZPIsJP
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCclpji7cSL
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktrZ2sz2Zw
One comment read,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1q4K2GNZv
“I’ve re-read the Whitechapel Nightwing fic ten times.”200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu7ZXPMFnga
Another said,200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwLJ2g4uvmV
“Now that’s how you write post-battle kissing.”
Her writing style was even dubbed:200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBum71Akamc
“Gotham’s Most Dangerous Erotic Weapon.”
Each post racked up millions of views.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Rm2JA2koV
Hearts. Bookmarks. Endless comment threads.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu78tk9FEyj
The sheer numbers screamed top-tier fandom legend.
Some even called her:200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpc6qKBmgag
“The lighthouse of Gotham fanfic.”
And yet—Nora had never written about Red Robin.
Tim had checked.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqewcp0ABX
Multiple times.
He even ran the entire database through his AI scanner—automated search and semantic tagging.
No “Red Robin.” No codename. No face.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAkhctgCeZ
Nothing.
Why?200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuWZgwnUZN
Why no Red Robin?
Tim frowned, scrolling with his fingertip, an odd sort of confusion blooming inside him.
Was he… not worth writing about?200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81bRhP5X3A
Or had she simply never noticed him?
In her entire database, Tim searched.
Red Robin only came up in bits and pieces.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhEB0LagHEm
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—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPf5L7AxAsb
it didn’t bite.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGAZbbjQcDj
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,”200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5jUkFUuIt
pulling the timeline all the way back—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzAYmNuEiHf
hoping to see if fans had ever brought this up.
They had.
One thread from four years ago popped up.
Someone asked:200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXrKDyc8Drf
“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:200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpJkiNKlCv
????????!!!!!!!!
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.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwFq5WFJNeD
Red Robin.200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIjamM8oUq
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—200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7koTwndQ6k
only to realize it had been empty for a while.
Now he didn’t know whether to feel insulted, confused…200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLFBgC8drA
or just a little bit relieved.
200Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDIKomOMVD4
and then Add to home screen.