The next evening, Tim was seated at the long dining table in Wayne Manor, having dinner with everyone.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNp9elrdEJ
He deliberately picked a seat at an angle, trying to keep the bruise on his cheek hidden in the shadows.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsX5cqOsuu
But it didn’t work—Jason spotted it right away.
“What happened, Timmy?” Jason asked, holding his son in his arms with a raised brow. “Did a woman hit you?”
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Tim pursed his lips and didn’t answer.
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Finn was in the middle of being placed into his high chair by Jason. When he looked up, his eyes widened.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdIyy2o3JA
“Uncle! Your face—what happened?”
Tim tried to dodge, but the child was already leaning out of his seat.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFi2i4LSTh
“Uncle, crouch down! I’ll blow on it for you—”
With utter seriousness, Finn cupped Tim’s cheeks in his tiny hands and gently blew on them.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQXuPsGDcF
“Pain, pain, fly away…!”
Damian froze, struggling to keep a straight face.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZbRMQxE0yr
Stephanie couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing. “That probably works better than Alfred’s ointment.”
Tim sighed and sat back down, while the rest of the table erupted in laughter.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUxxvcaxAW5
Except for him, no one really cared where the bruise came from.
He chewed his bread with a blank expression—he had expected this.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjbExDFa1GW
And he had no intention of explaining.
Finn picked up his kiddie fork and stabbed a piece of pumpkin, but halfway through eating it, he stopped and turned his head.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQg5fsqamuB
“Grandpa,” he tilted his head toward Bruce, “do you have Batman’s phone number?”
The entire table fell silent.
Bruce almost choked on a spoonful of soup, coughing lightly.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhb9VKeeYEk
“Ahem… Why do you ask, Finn?”
Everyone’s attention now turned to the four-year-old.
Finn frowned, visibly upset.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeUNDPl2az
“Ms. Nora didn’t come today. The other teachers said her house got broken into, so she took the day off.”36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvPHA5Br6f
“I think she must be really sad…”
He spoke softly, poking at the mashed pumpkin with his fork.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxMfJnaECe
“So Grandpa,” he looked up, more serious this time,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVzqIu9gHs
“can you ask Batman to catch the thief for her?”
Tim "Thief" Drake lowered his head, thinking about his unbearably adorable nephew—36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhmpRwhyzyR
and desperately wished he could bury his face in the mashed potatoes and disappear.
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Tim sat at his computer, writing down everything he had on Nora in his encrypted folder.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnFbAOPKrWh
He opened the private page only he could access,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EqLkAlwoq
created a new file, and titled it: Nora V.
Below were a few concise categories:
- Writing (Batman-related fanfiction, pen name Nightnest)36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9Isc8101h
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYosxQlfYw - Preschool Teacher (legitimate, clean record)36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGjKKC2gyPB
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3GAt2HqG6 - Minimalist Lifestyle (inconsistent with disaster prep supplies)36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQplYdjslE
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBsHRHDgYIV - Emergency Supplies (food, water, filters, backpack, sleeping pad)36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DsBSK4ijH
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyv53eXUSA6 - Firearms (research history, models, manufacturers)36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAGT3351Opb
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyStCWbqVy - Combat Techniques (Highly concerning)36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0swN4lZPV
36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODb60jyjcZ
Tim paused, staring at the list with a deep frown.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksHNndd4OV
—It didn’t make sense. This combination couldn’t form a psychological profile.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HqgyKA2Qj
It was like someone had forcibly stitched together a “character setting.”
He anxiously stared at the screen.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GKMswpIAA
He didn’t like this kind of unclassifiable presence—this unpredictable variable.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs5Z4Hzo0TV
There was nothing contradictory about Nora, and yet, she didn’t match any known behavioral models.
He took a deep breath and moved the “firearms” section under “emergency supplies.”36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUP4D5kn0JL
Because if that entire guest room really was part of her survival prepping plan,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDXUtAT4Dp7
then researching guns could be a logical extension—a necessary defense for the end of the world.
Still, he typed out a note:
Suspect possesses moderate to advanced familiarity with firearms. Continued monitoring of actual firearm usage recommended.
But it wasn’t just about the gun.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQMcyKDQ04d
It was her fighting style.
That was the part Tim couldn’t let go of.
In the Bat-family, combat followed a system.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFTUqhNsLf
Even someone like Jason, who’d gone rogue, still showed traces of Bruce’s original techniques.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkn1hhq5WN
The form might’ve drifted, but the foundation was still there—like a sword that had gone crooked, but still learned its first cuts in a dojo.
But Nora wasn’t like that.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqm19XF2g9O
Her every move looked like it came straight from the streets.
She had no form, no discipline—only intent.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKdNTQydevL
She climbed walls, flipped mid-air, punched—all aiming directly for vital points.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYE8NHiwFPD
She didn’t care about style, or about hurting people. She just wanted to take you down.
Tim gently touched his still-swollen cheek—he had no desire to go through that again.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewdaJaFUtX
He typed another note:
Likely exposed to life-threatening combat. Unorthodox training. Goal: neutralization, not traditional fighting. Avoid direct confrontation if possible.
After a pause, he added one last line:
These are not skills a preschool teacher should possess.
Then he saved the file and closed the encrypted folder.
As the screen dimmed into dark mode, his own reflection appeared faintly in the glass—36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfj458zNgv
the bruise still visible on his face.
He looked at the man in the glass, and a single sentence surfaced in his mind:36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrohHeuiZtU
—"Who the hell is she?"
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Because of last time’s failure,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQrUwMt82Af
Tim decided to hold back this time—36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbF1lEuAfuM
to wait for the right moment.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUqhAZ7oXP
He knew he’d already spooked her.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiqXUdUyK6
The signs were there.
Finn had been gloomy for an entire week.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMFjFSrHp7
He didn’t want to draw, didn’t want to play games,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe7LyQcZuGz
and even his favorite snacks—he took a single bite and said, “I don’t want it.”
That’s not normal, Tim thought.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghAyfEjfmS
Four-year-olds don’t suddenly change like that.
Then came the decisive piece of information:36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmpuLcgLiY
Ms. Nora was moving.
She had taken a week off, stating the reason as “handling personal affairs related to moving.”
And—she didn’t report it to the police.
Tim drew a line in his notebook.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH5jgk6dnlx
Moving house + not calling the cops =36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAr514NVVzI
She didn’t want anyone seeing that room.
She didn’t trust the police.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXXKvK0oIus
Or perhaps, she didn’t want any official agency to find out about her prepper stash.
It was also possible she had long since grown used to handling everything on her own—36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkcC59X618
He’d seen that pattern before,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkwHBsq0wz
in war zones, in disaster areas,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPqTsrg8Mq
in places where staying alive mattered more than obeying the law.
And just as he was thinking that—36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp8z4KB6QJO
the perfect opportunity came.
His sister, Leila, received an invitation from an old friend—36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bRmgMSekY
to board a luxury cruise in the Mediterranean for an entire month,36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqY0c2miTou
performing while enjoying a long vacation.
Leila hadn’t wanted to go.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfqxsZiE3H4
She always treated performing as a career, not a pleasure trip.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFDoTFImgM
Besides, she had a child to care for.
But Jason had other ideas.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccw1v5E4XZ
With that damn persuasive tone of his, he told her they finally had a chance to “leave Gotham behind”36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu39m2EUJsG
and “live like an actual couple for once.”
“This is the one thing I’m begging you for,” Jason said to Leila.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXhvLUkxW3Y
“For four years, you’ve been Finn’s mom.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWc2vNhJcUR
This time, just let me be a husband for one month. Please?”
And that’s when Tim got Leila’s message:
“Timmy, I’m counting on you to watch Finn.”
Tim stared at the message, then leaned back in his chair in silence.
It sounded exactly like a script—handed to him by fate.
One month.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnVKv4UylI
An entire month.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIpkZDEKDO
Finn would be in his care.
He looked down at the planner on his lap.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyW3lFfGpE
His finger rested on that long, blank stretch of days.
—Here it is, Tim thought.36Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtJXvP68aeu
The perfect chance.
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and then Add to home screen.