Tim opened the folder.
The moment his fingertip clicked, he didn’t expect much—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1RNWd4HR1
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,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBliolpwWOp
the second glance makes you pause,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZZ6AIH2Ss
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWPL7AKTRyy
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ68DAGJkovk
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—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrPeLfbCNw
even heatmaps of likely retreat points when injured.
There were files on other vigilantes too.
Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Batgirl—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrYKdkAE690
even that new kid, Signal, who’d only just started showing up.
She’d tracked costume changes, appearance frequency, voice comparisons, height correlations…241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxn3E65yUu
to an almost absurd degree of detail.
There were villain dossiers too.
Joker, Riddler, Poison Ivy, Mr. Freeze—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3bfAQqQVQh
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,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ0BdBJnZsa
Tim told himself, trying to stay calm—mentally running through possible explanations.
Maybe she was saved as a child by one of them.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJKTtYoFMf
Maybe she was just obsessed with mystery.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRr4kw3k9RB
Maybe she was a data junkie.
I mean, wasn’t I a total Batman fanboy too?241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXLnJaErY5
As a kid, he’d clipped newspaper articles, tried sketching Batman’s fight moves from memory…
Tim reassured himself,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvSUVHGB6S3
“This is fine… probably.”
Unfortunately, the next folder shattered that illusion.
As he scrolled down, another layer of folders appeared.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFf3JAXfwo
The titles were clear. Brutally direct.
Each one read:
- Batman x Bruce Wayne241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhbZxNtw6iS
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvQyo4uTfW - Batman x Superman241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV90RQtmu2H
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kINUym0G4 - Batman x Nightwing241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8L7g7JwZG
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Th4luLogP
All ships.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDelu126XBa
Each with their own titles.
Some were poetic.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsf208ELJtO
Some just used character names.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIluh25XBml
Some were marked R18 or Mature.
Cover images were clearly screenshots—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKuY5FQ6Nz
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpFGGKUzoN
This was a full-blown database, a creative archive,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnL9bouhAOq
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeM4RmBvBRq
The screen glowed softly.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQGoKkdelj3
He swallowed dryly, then clicked into one subfolder.
He had to know—was Nora just a collector? Or…
He opened a few files.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSGvgMb1EwB
The very first was a 30,000-word longfic.
Polished formatting.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw60QntspPg
Perfect pacing.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwxPVz8bGZ7
Uncannily accurate character voices.
Confirmed.
She was the author.
Every story bore the name Nightnest.
Not reposted. Not fan-shared.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG1YnkRZdy
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—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0xm7bmzMQY
was, in private…
a top-tier author of Batman fanfiction.
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJRCNCa1gn
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUud6DICkkA
Tim had to clear his name.
He was not reading Batman fanfiction. Seriously.
He hadn’t clicked these voluntarily.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZmDUWjcRV
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQ3Bauy1JS
The systems analyst.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0l7B2LFtu
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvMzT9ENyA6
Even reconstructed critical events.
Some fans were just one step away from identifying Red Robin…241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rG9fH50L4
or pinpointing Batman’s real address.
That’s where Tim stepped in—to misdirect.
He’d plant false clues in forums,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRMxQCNIWQ
comment on key stories to steer readers off track,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBbNaECiGV
or even create fake accounts to write misleading fanfics of his own.
In some cases, he’d temporarily hack a fan’s system—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRcNExPaqu
not to destroy anything, just cause a brief outage, disrupt backups, scramble files.
“We respect creativity…241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd19lqaaRmi
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,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkpCAjfcmqz
followed by the line:241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwf8Ido7RCr
“Tonight, you are my city.”
Lots of physical tension.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOvWyB6sQgO
Bodies tangling. Uniforms torn. Gloves half-removed—
Tim was losing it.
Some passages were so realistic,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepMWX0cJc5
he nearly shut the whole system down right then.
These days, he had the Batcomputer’s AI scan them for him.
Semantic tagging.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoJ8tiNgq8
Trigger-word filters.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRqfn0xgZ6J
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,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRpg4tD8xej
and intervene if necessary.
No more manually reading every word,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqgahJMLr0h
no more sleepless 3 a.m. coffee nights thinking:241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvgaDZcSrM
“Would I actually say that?”
Now, Tim sat before the screen in thought.
Before him was the full database—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1wpt5WNVX
Nightnest’s entire creative and curated archive.
Each title marked by timestamp and genre.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrX41390BN
It looked like a sacred index of someone’s private sanctuary.
A kindergarten teacher with this kind of hobby…241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH7dnqYZ99
could she really pose any threat to the vigilantes?
Didn’t seem like it.
She hadn’t posted any real identity guesses.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgY7TZ5DwVR
She’d never contacted any organizations or joined real-life meetups.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjfqQP9Clz
She just wrote. Alone. Quietly.
Would she be dangerous to Finn?
Also unlikely.
Her behavior at school was impeccable.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmecPDpEnS
Interactions were appropriate.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcElaNQH7MG
The kids adored her—and she genuinely seemed to put them first.
I’ll review the database thoroughly before making a call,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY5Kvu2xwJT
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.
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZ5r8t4Mf0
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—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnj6gicAXN
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—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4YUFYtYyO
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,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfbjXFSFiD9
which side they leaned on when injured—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNGDDXmseT
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyccww2AuwQ
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfkvOW1EW4J
One comment read,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnjWUmdjxDo
“I’ve re-read the Whitechapel Nightwing fic ten times.”241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjDzg2EzQKk
Another said,241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvfokGfSoKe
“Now that’s how you write post-battle kissing.”
Her writing style was even dubbed:241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXJF3OD2dk
“Gotham’s Most Dangerous Erotic Weapon.”
Each post racked up millions of views.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ5MTZCbOEM
Hearts. Bookmarks. Endless comment threads.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshsyk9SVxd
The sheer numbers screamed top-tier fandom legend.
Some even called her:241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEltPAYMIp4
“The lighthouse of Gotham fanfic.”
And yet—Nora had never written about Red Robin.
Tim had checked.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0JULdkd8tX
Multiple times.
He even ran the entire database through his AI scanner—automated search and semantic tagging.
No “Red Robin.” No codename. No face.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWFE0hOzVFk
Nothing.
Why?241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPxGL6WlEt
Why no Red Robin?
Tim frowned, scrolling with his fingertip, an odd sort of confusion blooming inside him.
Was he… not worth writing about?241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5NEOvXstID
Or had she simply never noticed him?
In her entire database, Tim searched.
Red Robin only came up in bits and pieces.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA4OBPSrPC
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—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAXHj9ks0cJ
it didn’t bite.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmmGIngTqy
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,”241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62TgeALvio
pulling the timeline all the way back—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkUEcwyeB8E
hoping to see if fans had ever brought this up.
They had.
One thread from four years ago popped up.
Someone asked:241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTn2ep3NgAL
“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:241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlVDVbXpCZr
????????!!!!!!!!
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.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRY54mDoLaD
Red Robin.241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNLnTf30QIx
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—241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kf8uEzIVv
only to realize it had been empty for a while.
Now he didn’t know whether to feel insulted, confused…241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUNwXfVufl
or just a little bit relieved.
241Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5pARAvkFoO
and then Add to home screen.