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Folder: Journal of Night
File Name: Journal of Night #0728
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File “Mission: Make Sure He doesn’t die or get Killed” Log Number “0001” opened.
qeamapeala82a0dfm1.LACVMA"{][_ADfa (See Note{1})
The death of the second Robin, Batman's second son [Date purposefully excluded for protection of identity], was a tragic day. Gotham's villains were ready to snap at the weakness they thought they saw in the next night's patrol, though it was over a month after that first off night when it was confirmed that the second Robin was no more.
To put it simply, they were wrong to assume that the weakness would have them win the fights. Batman's average number of direct (See Note{2}) confrontations per night (See Note{3}) in the four months following then has quadrupled. Instead of a nightly average of 10 confrontations, the nightly average is 41 (See Note{4}). The level of violence (See Note{5}) used by the bat has also increased. The number of injuries left on perpetrators and criminals or would-be criminals tripled because of this increase in violence level. The style of fighting has shifted as well, (See Note{6}) but data is unclear about if that could fully be a result of Robin II's untimely demise at the hands of Joker (See Note{7}) The number of calls put in to alert a select set of officers (See Note{8}) of events which the Bat could not be of help for has halved (See Note{9}).
Those criminals may not have been too incorrect though, because the number of injuries the bat has received per night has increased by 600% (See Note{10}). The severity level (See Note{11}) of injuries given too and by the bat have quintupled and doubled respectively as well (See Note{10}). The spread of the types of crime (See Note{12}) noted on official police records have stayed the same, but Batman’s average monthly number of confrontations with criminals stealing cars, or stealing parts of cars has increased (See Note{ameae0a}). This is likely because of the former Robin’s 01ikajdf094P.a13wka9Note{14}. The Bat is also staying out later each night (See Note{15}) and is missing fewer nights for injuries or breaks (See Note{16}).
Tomorrow may be the first night I let myself be known to someone besides the police or ambulance workers called to clean up after the current, very brutal, methods of the Bat. This will be the first log for those if that should be the case. I feel like this is a afo19a,a0adk49a8df02alkm294mvaks9cpaw.;va.012am1iapeiona-94ad.fada293q-af which is why I will work to make sure the Bat never has to know I know his civilian identity, and work so that he does not know mine. Batman needs therapy, or at least a shoulder to cry on. I can’t be either of those, but I can help make sure he doesn’t do something irreversible that will make him need even more.
Notes:
{1} 1oadmadsilnaoafnliadfsoiia-alakdfj-_naoaif-0q20ajfa lamiadf9flkqwamfia 9alj mq190aafoijm,alkjf0w09840kfo0qkqw0jf1ae4alkfj3856
{2} Direct as defined in the Defins for when being pedantic against self.
{3} Some data may be skewed. See attached spreadsheet file to double check if mode might be a better measure of center in this case. However mode and mean were within one number of each other, so allowing the possible poor statistics use is acceptable. The list of data over the last month, 6 months, and year before this started is organized in that order in the spreadsheets as well. Outliers are noted but not used in calculations. Nights of large scale prison breakouts are a different set of data. Arkham breakouts are different data sets sorted by severity and also compiled for ease of comparison. Data relating to nights the Bat didn’t go out is largely not relevant and those nights tend to be seldom enough that they are caught as outliers. Spreadsheet of calculations related to that here.
{4} The 10 confrontations/ night was consistent as the mean for the most recent full year of almost daily (nightly) observations of the bat in full (Observation on 320 nights out of 366, including notes of which of those nights the bat stayed in, on 300 of those nights the Bat was observed from when he first landed in Gotham proper to when he finally left for his home. Some of the 20 nights missing were to watch Robin and log data relevant to him) as well as within expected range of consistency for the prior years, where fewer and shorter observations occurred. As per usual, data pertaining to large scale breakouts of prisons and any Arkham breakout was listed but in most calculations is separated out.
{5} Level of violence as defined in the Defins for when being pedantic against self file, sorted in this file to show more detailed breakdowns of what meets what level. The data averaging this out shows that the Bat was consistent with himself for what level of crime/criminals got what amount of violence attempted or fulfilled, but since Robin II died, a pickpocket is as likely to end up concussed, with a broken bone, and internal bleeding (Specific examples (3 at time of writing) noted here) as an Arkham rogue actively trying to poison the water supply for the fifth time that year the water supply has been threatened.
{6}The Bat used to fight in a combination ads9amlbuja9101r0pai84nadjfo1mcf0a9df-4a9df;lkaj9jfl-9fa;lkja9lfj9asejil9339r0w9qqqwjklasjdjl,c.nvzmzc,vz.e9312094t90/1//afi9dr9cljkcxjkl(%)@*4ea90209mskdfjallkjgKLJLAMVIHBIAJJP()*#*A*W)JVKLJVO)A:AFS<>AFIVA?AFLAFL
Adfafda7} The Joker’s breakout from Arkham had been nearly undetected until for 2q09ajdfal9fealm Robin went to a903q03a90i30 where he died. The Joker was recently found in Ethiopia, using aliases and disguises to have a very successful run in attempting to adsflakdmf93q09eru094qt9-uq0()(*@*@KGO*SLA. More information needs to be gathered, all current information is being stored here.
{8} The list seems to change regularly, but known former and current police officers who have been on the list are here. Investigation into these officers suggest that they are genuinely good or at least mostly good people, which does explain their frequency of being fired from the force. The ones who make the list and do not end up fired often end up having to quit. Gordon’s work on the system is still having some positive effects, but the people who care about people tend to end up in another field in Gotham. Some of the ones called are called after they end up off the force though, for situations where a more calming presence to talk through things is needed than the Batman. However, also, Fuck the police and Acab. Except maybe specifically Jim Gordon but how does he live as part of such a corrupt machine if he’s truly good? Research into if Gordon is genuine goes here.
{9} This is mostly mental health things, non immediate crises. The only time Batman calls in cops for potentially violent encounters are when additional trustworthy hands are needed to stop the violence.
{10} Gathered data for number and types of injuries for the Bat. The information gathered for the now-deceased Robin and the original Robin are less robust and stored here. Both files have notes of additional potential injuries that were not noticed on the night of, but could be the potential reason for what seems to be cover stories.
{11} Severity level as defined in the Defins for when being pedantic against self.
{12} 1209qdisfavamsdlf?MA(WJ)AMLlakjf4()*LKAJ3aodfmla3
asdlfkjasdm32810ama;dkfLKJA930akadA 394a0odf40asldjLAK?FjoealkjdfALKjflakjjsfalsf
a490ads,mcvealgjvlfaj80480f9apd9fualskuf409pas0fi0r28ruasdofmlkaj80efalkdsjflakdjflakdjfkam39ap,fiao389fjalksjfe8aoijdfljaeofjaldfjalmeilfjehfalsidfjhatlkasd
{15} Data for nightly hours here.
{16} Data for nights taken off where also there are no known situations involving the Justice League or other high-level threats here.
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File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0010” Created.
What up it me. why does me wearing a mask and my sweatpants coincidentally being red, I’m sorry, translate into “try to attack the obviously a child” in Batman’s eyes. what the shit man?
Made first contact with the Bat himself directly today. It was unintentional, I had stopped to get a breath, and possibly call it an early night, because Batman seemed like he might be about to do that. My breath was too loud or there was some other clue to my location, because Batman noticed me, and had crossed over three full rooftops very quickly to come scream at me.
Good news is that with him being pissed off at me and yelling at me for disgracing the name Robin (not my name.), he spent less time causing damage to small time thieves.
Bad news is that one of the hits he did get on a small time thief might have shattered a knee cap, will need to follow up on this. Use budget to find room to help that particular patient if so. Ambulance was only thing called for him, not cops, since he might not have even been trying to steal. And that he wasn’t going to call it an early night either, he’d been about to take care of an actual potential big issue. But nooo the child wearing one of your children’s favorite colors is higher priority than the Falcone’s planning a drug deal.
The Bat’s attempts to attack me were most likely just attempts to unmask me, when I think about it, but still was cutting it close. Will stay in tonight and tomorrow night. In part because I think, from what I saw of his grapple when it was aimed awfully close to me, I might have figured out a good way to get my grapple to work better. The plan is supposed to be me doing this so I can more easily keep up with the Bat and call the appropriate emergency services to help, but if he’s going to chase me then I will need to be even faster.
also im so tired what.
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File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0015” Created.
Wow. I admired Robin II a lot, I really did. But what the fuck man.
If Batman ever decides to do like Robin 1 did and rebrand, Bullman would fit for many reasons. He’s full of bullshit is one I am close to saying, but the big one. The big one is that Batman went after me, for wearing a red beanie. Not sweatpants or even a sweatshirt this time because I tried not to provoke him and his bull instincts (yes I know it’s the motion not the red shut up brain), but even a hint of red is too much for him. Also his yelling about his attempts to catch me being for my safety would sound a lot more believable if not for the fact that he did in fact shatter that guy from log 10’s kneecap. And then nearly biting the head off of teenagers that live in the Narrows and frequently lose the key to their house. Because he thought a thirteen-year-old and a fourteen-year-old were breaking and entering. And that it might be worth physical violence if they were. He does seem to be getting a bit less violent in general over time, if you ignore the fact that he definitely broke the wrist of a mugger before he broke the bone in the mugger’s arm.
Going to go more shadowy again for a few days, still following and still out, but using not-me as distractions to keep him from going too far. And not wearing red at all despite the fact that most of my warm clothes are red and this is winter in Gotham you nocturnal fool too stubborn to get therapy and who would be terrifying your deceased child if they were seeing you now.
“I adopted a child who most likely had to steal to survive. His dad was a criminal and is now dead. Man, you know what would be a great way to grieve my child who I loved and who has died? Terrifying other children in his exact situation!”
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0016” Created.
Writing this before going out instead of after.
Joker got out. Was going to avoid going to the streets today but helping get some of the street kids to the questionless shelters won’t put me on his radar. Won’t update this tonight, any important information will be included in the next log.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0017” Created.
So much happened… but this was physical proof some of what I am doing is needed.
The fights my presence stopped the Bat from taking (because he had turned his concern into trying to stop (what he sees as) a Robin impersonator from having the fate of his son, and instead just chased me down), would have given him injuries making yesterday’s fight not survivable. Even with the older injuries, from the earlier nights basically attempting to kill himself, he wasn’t up to his normal standard, and couldn’t catch the Joker. I made sure to be in plain clothes when following, and to be less direct than usual, and spent most of my time ‘following’ to be helping make sure other kids were being safe.
Still ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time for a bit though, and when a few random kids were picked up by some of the Joker’s henchmen for an impromptu kid soup in the Gotham Harbor, I was one of them. Unluckily for those henchmen, almost all of those kids were street kids, so most kids were able to get free entirely on their own, myself included. There were maybe a dozen of us total, and of the four kids that couldn’t get themselves free, three were freed by the street kids and I before Joker had even finished monologuing that part about his plan. The other part was something about a bomb, but I didn’t hear it, because I was busy forgetting that I never had swimming lessons.
Very bad idea to jump into an extremely polluted harbor after a 6 year old who is almost half your size, when you can’t swim. Since the other street kids were busy running from or being interrogated by the police, the child wouldn’t have been noticed by anyone else. Me, the child, and the whole city got lucky.
Me and the kid got lucky in that I had still brought my grapple with me. I couldn’t recreate it if I tried again for hours, but somehow... I was able to get to the child in the air easily enough, and was briefly just accepting my untimely demise before I remembered I had (and began desperately trying to get a blind shot onto something stable to hook with) my grapple. Magic and aliens we’ve known about but now we can know for real that there is some sort of higher power out there too, because the grapple successfully got hooked on something right as the child and I landed in the water. We were soaked, and even with the child flailing in panic, I was able to pull us both up enough to explain to the child how to hold on to me. I then clambered up the rope with the kid suffocating me from the chokehold on my neck.
The entire city got lucky in that the kid didn't die. Mostly since he looked like Robin II did when he was extremely young. In the “dark hair, malnourished, distrusting, but incredibly brave” way. If the Joker had been at fault for a death of someone looking so much like Robin II, so soon after that death, then Batman wouldn’t have been stoppable in his rage. And quite honestly, I probably wouldn’t want to stop him. When I finally got up to the outcropping again, I had nearly collapsed on the ground before an officer caught me. Batman was in the area, talking to the officers, because sometime in my involuntary (oh huh I guess me jumping after the kid made it voluntary nevermind) dip into and climb out of the harbor, the Joker had escaped. To just about anyone, the pause Batman made when he saw the kid was noticeable. To me, it was a great opportunity to quietly get my grapple and walk away. If the grapple had been noticed, things would have been a lot more difficult, if not impossible for the next while.
Anyways sometime in that my shoulder got dislocated and I’m not used to that so it hurt to fix.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0018” Created.
The Joker didn’t make much of a game out of the timing of things. Normally that is part of his work, a show for him and Batman of him being slow and torturous. This means he has a plan of some sort. He’s kidnapped Barbara Gordon which is bad for more reasons than can fit here and don’t think too hard into that.
The search is fully on for her, meaning the Bat isn’t doing a normal patrol to be nearly-killing people on. I went out in mask to take care of what I could while he’s distracted. It is official that the only one that thinks my outfit resembles Robin is the Bat though.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0019” Created.
Nightwing is in the city to help the search for Barbara Gordon, his first time seen in the city since before Robin II’s death. Also, the “slightly armored hoodie + mask + sweatpants and a satchel of gear” looks like Robin to him too. There was no red, yellow or green. It was all blues and greys, I resembled him more than the Robin outfit, but he’s grieving so I won’t give him too much shit.
I didn’t know I had been seen of course until after he chased me down with a lecture aimed at the Bat. Nightwing was very concerned at the callousness of making another child Robin, especially so soon after the death of Robin II. Going from his sudden shift in conversation though, he either was told the truth by the Bat over some communicator, or figured out parts himself.
He still demanded to know my identity though, and attempted to reach for me and unmask me multiple times. Unlike the Bat, I think his were genuinely out of concern, because it was less than a dozen attempts before he put his hands up and asked for a name to call me.
Apparently saying “I’m Here.” is annoying to heroes. It’s what they get though. They try to get themselves killed over the death of their child (while causing undue harm to others), and I get to be petty and inconvenience their filing systems. Nightwing’s face conveyed the deadpan wonderfully, even through the mask. I continued on, just ignoring him and slipped into focus as I wrapped up the small pseudo-patrol I had been doing. When I was done, I simply smiled at him as I walked directly into the swarming building that was Gotham Mall, and crashed in the ceiling of the bathroom. My dead drop of clothes were there, and Nightwing would have less accurate data to deal with to track me down, especially since the entire mall’s cameras just so happened to have looped footage for the rest of the night. I’m still in the ceiling now, and I would have just slept instead of doing the logs if I wasn’t reminded so much about how Barbara Gordon’s disappearance feels like Jason Todd’s disappearance. Jason Todd was kidnapped and killed around six months ago now, by the Joker. Details are unclear since Bruce Wayne has always tried to be private about the matters of his family. Even the normally lighthearted Bruce Wayne has been downtrodden since his kidnapping, and even more since his son had been confirmed dead.
Jason had deserved better, and I can only hope that Barbara doesn’t have his fate. That’s what keeps looping in my thoughts.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0020” Created.
Apparently, me existing is important enough to distract them from the quest of looking for Barbara Gordon, and I can not put into words how much that angers me. They spent most of tonight chasing me. No one accomplished anything. I’m hiding out in the mall again, and incredibly grateful I had more than one dead drop here.
The only way I can help then, is by trying to get information in civvies. No direct hero work except for that, since their worries over a repeat of Robin II are making them unable to think logically.
The fact that Robin II wouldn’t be having this issue with me is not going unnoticed. He might even find my name of choice funny, especially if I conveyed the reasoning of “annoy the Bat into not paying attention to me”. His father and his brother miss him, and right now me being out there would just have them join him.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0021” Created.
Narrowed Joker’s possible hideout locations down. Sent physical copies of reasoning and evidence to the police office, including breaking my rule for today to put on the mask and climb into Gordon’s fill-in’s office, since the man admitted right now he would be too emotionally compromised to be of help. The woman was nice, and offered me a candycane. Because it’s December and I managed to not notice until four days in.
I rejected the candy cane, but since the house felt too empty, I’m sleeping in the rafters of the subway station nearest the house tonight. Again, breaking the instruction I gave myself, since to be up here safely for sleep, I did tie myself with my grapple.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0022” Created.
Jim Gordon has been captured. The GCPD has their work showing they’ve narrowed the list of around 100 possible locations of the Joker down to around 50.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0023” Created.
GCPD narrowed it down to 5 highly likely and 5 suspected. There was no better way, I had to go out in costume again. Was able to give the material to the bats, and I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to cry when Nightwing physically stopped me as I went to leave and begged I not check any of those locations myself.
The house is empty, just like the Gordon’s would be. I couldn’t handle that tonight, and I needed to restock the mall dead drops anyways, so it was the mall again. This time it will be on a bench inside of here.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0024” Created.
I’ve realized a place I didn’t think of when I made the initial list of a hundred. I’m writing this report before I go out, but I’m going to scout what I can of it before I try to get the Bat’s attention.
Update: There’s definitely something there.
Update2: Nightwing was reluctantly doing a regular patrol while Batman presumably was checking the other places, and as soon as I said I might have found something he was running after me. It was to ask me to stop, but I couldn’t risk Barbara’s health.
What we found was Joker’s sidekick, former therapist, and obviously abused girlfriend. Ex sidekick and ex girlfriend now, presumably, since she was tied up, and had been there for over a week. Doctor Harleen Quinzel couldn’t even squirm. She called for Poison Ivy as soon as she had her mouth free, and while Nightwing and I tried to prepare for a fight, Harley prepared for Ivy’s quick arrival, and defused the whole thing before either group could panic and attack the other in assumed self-defense. Harley gave us what information she had, and in exchange me and Nightwing happened to be very fascinated in the ceiling while Dr. Isley whisked her away.
The information wasn’t a ton, since Joker had tied her up before kidnapping Barbara, but saving her was still worth something. Nightwing agreed, and went to ruffle my hair as if I was another, slightly older, and extremely differently dressed, boy. The full body flinch as he realized what he had almost done was enough that I felt bad. So I what I’d seen people do to concerned friends before. I extended my arms to offer a hug. I fully expected it to be rejected and the gesture to be enough meaning, and for me to end my night peacefully not having to squirm out of an octopus hold.
It wasn’t.
The three trackers he planted were easy enough to find though, and I was able to remove them as soon as I freed myself from his death grip of a hug.
I still wouldn’t be able to sleep in my house tonight though. It being empty would just remind me that the Gordon’s house is empty. I broke into their house to feed their cat, and then went to the park only Ivy and idiots go to. The dead drop of clothes there were several years old, but still fit, and as I type this log I am on the bench closest to Robinson park’s main attraction. Ivy’s plants being everywhere means she most likely already knows my identity, like she does with all the heroes, and she protects children.
Tonight, I deserve to let myself be a child. Tomorrow I’ll continue looking for the Gordons.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0025” Created.
Details unknown, the Gordons were rescued, both are in the hospital. Nightwing was pacing the roof nervously, so out of it that he wasn’t realizing how easy his identity would be to find out from his reactions. So. A suggestion to patrol, and a promise of answering some of his questions if he went with me.
I didn’t answer his ones meant solely to lead him to my identity, but I did end up letting enough slip where he might have realized I know his. Which is Bad.
He asked why I was doing this. I gave him the flash drive with the fully safe version of these files, without any identifying information about me. The data gathered was all there was well, as I mentioned before I explained what data it is.
He didn’t react very well to me casually revealing that I’d been following the bats around in civilian wear at night since I was seven. He does officially know my age though, since I let it slip that I became more consistent after the quadruple flip he did when I was nine, reminded me of something I’d seen when I was three. Oops.
Lots of 13 year old boys in Gotham. I should be good.
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File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0048” Created.
Tonight when Batman saw me, he called for Robin to help him by holding the mugger’s arms together. He then froze for a fraction of a second, and to avoid him breaking his record streak of 5 days without injuries (from ignoring his needs or that he got because he has too busy hating himself to duck, ect), I jumped down to help. I was nicer than normal with my “I’m not Robin”, this time. When he had them secured, and he grappled onto a building, I took the cue and followed him to that specific one.
It was actually the first time he asked me for my name. He’d been spending so much time accidentally calling me Robin, wanting to attack me and calling me Not-Robin, and ignoring me, that he’d never actually bothered to ask for anything besides a civilian name.
He didn’t take well to the name, but. That might be because he read a bit more into it than needed. “I’m Here” was not meant to be mocking that his son isn’t, but just to state that I’m just there so he doesn’t kill himself.
I don’t know if Nightwing ever read the data I gave him actually, and I’m pretty sure even if he did then he didn’t share it with Batman. Batman looked as violent as he had before I started for a second, but was able to calm down enough that he just quietly listened as we continued going from rooftop to rooftop looking to see if anyone needed help. It was a quiet night, so we ended up on top of Wayne Enterprise’s building for a while, when his silence finally cracked me enough. I offered him my other ‘safe’ flashdrive, and I really need to get more. More logs had been added since the one I gave to Nightwing obviously, but the important part would still be the spreadsheets.
He rejected it. I left. He followed a bit, and I wasn’t comfortable going to the house when he was, so I did the usual stuff for crashing in the mall ceiling. He finally left his hiding spot outside of the mall, fairly used to my tricks of crashing in the mall and disappearing into the crowd or entirely, and I considered heading to the house.
Decided against it for the night since the house would be empty for another couple of days, and the mall at least felt lived in.
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File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0056” Created.
Backslides are common. Progress occasionally slips away when someone is recovering from something traumatic or heartbreaking and that’s okay.
Batman picking a fight and actively trying not to win it, wasn’t. I forced myself into the fight and kept him from getting too injured by actually restraining the people he was barely pretending to defend himself against, taking advantage of my cursed tiny existence to be useful. All things considered; it went smoothly until Batman pretended to ignore a knife directly aimed at his heart.
I was able to push him out of the way and like the hypocrite he is, he immediately started actually fighting the gang, fuming silently until the moment they were all restrained when he just started fuming.
The flinch at his yell definitely didn’t help.
The fact that it revealed I that I do have a stab wound wasn’t great either.
The fact that he yelled again right afterwards, because of me getting hurt, and that I still flinched because of it is just a sign I still need to grow out of some of this childishness. It also served as a lesson in “Flinching when there’s a stab wound in your shoulder is painful.”
He was more persistent than normal in attempting to follow me today. He actually tried to catch me entirely again, which he hadn’t tried to do since the first week of him noticing me helping. Going to the mall and crashing there was a no go since he’d end up actually finding me with how upset he was… and my medical kits at my dead drop locations were all used up already. I did the standard procedure for if I was going to crash in the mall though, and then left with the crowd.
Pretending to not notice the man I’d spent year training myself To notice was hard, but I did succeed. Just in case though, I went through standard procedure at a couple of my other dead drop locations, the park and the subway. Unlike normal with the subway, I actually took it. The house would be empty, but empty would be good tonight.
And it was. The quiet let me focus while I did my stitches sitting on the bathroom floor with a candle as light.
I actually fell asleep for a few hours there, and am typing this before I sleep in an actual bed for another couple of hours.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0057” Created.
The former Batgirl has apparently gotten herself out of retirement and into a new position. She’s made herself “Oracle”, and among other things seems to help with tech and hacking for the Bats… which means my mall dead drop is as good as toast, since the former Batgirl was amazing at hacking.
Batman was too distracted to attempt to follow me to my house today, but he wasn’t so distracted that it seemed like a suicide attempt, so I think yesterday’s dumbassery might have been unintentional after all.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0058” Created.
First time any villain has attempted to use me as a hostage was tonight. Was not fun, I do not understand why the first Robin joked about it when its just boring or terrifying and never anything else.
The attempt to negotiate included the henchman holding me by the hood of my hoodie over the edge of a building.
There’s a reason my hoodies are oversized and its not just the comfort. While he was trying to negotiate with the Bat, who was looking far more willing to cooperate than appropriate since I’m not his responsibility, I took the chance. I lifted my arms up, and let myself slide down and out of the hoodie…
Batman yelled “No!”, so I probably reminded him too much of a Robin then, but I had seen a narrow ledge below me. If I had fallen from the man dropping me, there’d be no chance of me being able to get my bearings fast enough to latch onto it, but with the fall being entirely on my own terms, it was doable.
I latched on and yelled an “all good” to the Bat, who took care of the actual fight while I knocked on the window and politely walked through the old lady’s apartment and into the hallway so I could get back to the top.
My mask wasn’t enough to make me feel comfortably anonymous for more than a few minutes, but my gear bag had stuff that the Bats might be able to use to piece together my identity. So getting that, thanking the Bat, and then bailing was the plan.
I was so rushed, that I almost didn’t notice the look on the bat’s face become more pained when he saw me. I was a block away when I realized why. I had some surface level resemblance to the second Robin, and the shirt under my hoodie had been red today. Even before the Bat knew what I looked like, me being in red at all had been enough to make him angry about me risking myself and wearing a dead boy’s name. (I’m not Robin, I’m Here.)
I was another four away and, in the subway, before I remembered to look for trackers. I found six, twice the usual for him. Since there was no good way for me to trust that I’d be able to use that dead drop again, with the trackers showing me spending time there for more than a few seconds, I grabbed all of the stuff from there that I could hold, and walked the subway tracks down to the station closest to my house. Took a nap because that was about 10 miles of walking, and then walked the other two miles to my house.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0059” Created.
Nightwing has been called to help the Bat find me. I don’t know what his plans are, but I can’t let the Bat know the level of things I know about them, since that might reveal my own identity in turn.
Tonight was one hour of patrol before five hours of dodging both Batman and Nightwing’s attempts to chase me down and corner me, with neither saying why.
With Batman improved as much as he is, I can take a few days away guiltlessly, and hopefully soon will be able to stop entirely. I don’t really know what he’d do to me when he knows who I am, and I don’t want to find out.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0060” Created.
I stayed away a full week, and added a couple of extra things to the protection of my hoodie.
- More strengthening of the fabric and seams themselves of the jacket
- a rope, hidden in the inside lining of the jacket but easily accessible from the sleeves if you’re wearing it, and anchored inside but easy enough to undo from inside. Meaning in situations like last time I was out, I wouldn’t have to depend on the ledge.
- an extra layer of identity hiding, in the form of a front to the hood. It had holes where appropriate for vision, but the real treasure was the material I used to make it. When I was just a kid following the Bat at night, once Batman’s cape had been caught and had to be left behind. It was heavy for me, I was still very weak then, but I had been able to get it home. Using a scrap of it, modifying where needed to add extra vision, felt nice, and was a reminder that I was really doing this. I’ve been planning on stopping after six months of me doing this maximum anyways, but using the cape piece for something is just nice. It was like having a physical reassurance that whatever Batman trusted to cover his back was being used to cover my face.
- I basically stitched an entire additional hoodie over mine, leaving holes at appropriate places for me to add filling of whatever protective thing I decide I need or can use, including some test strips of Velcro to secure any protection to vital areas, like above my heart
- One of the objects I had tested the velcro’s hold on was a semi-broken white noise generator I had gotten years before, when I was first trying to find good ways to stim. In general it didn’t really work for me, but it was old enough now that it’s faint hum was barely audible even while listening actively for it in my empty house, with my ear on it. The very rare occasional clunk it made, and the warmth it was not supposed to make, were both comforting though, so I went ahead and added it into the hoodie. Above my heart, because it felt nice.
Doing so saved me from whatever fate it is the Bat has planned for when he catches me.
Apparently, he’s deemed me enough of a threat that Nightwing wasn’t enough, and he called in for help from Superboy. Its an honor to be the reason Batman broke his own “No metas in Gotham” rule, I suppose. I don’t know much about him, but apparently white noise generators work to keep him from learning heartbeats like they supposedly do with Superman. Since I was able to hear Batman instruct him to track me down, but he hasn’t, despite me having to run and hide and give him the slip multiple times.
Giving the slip is perhaps generous use of the term though. What happened to give me the final edge was that Batman and Nightwing were both somewhere else fighting the Riddler. Superboy had taken my gearbag away, and had effortlessly restrained my hands. He attempted to try to figure out how to remove the front face of the hoodie, and tore it when he did.
It seems, some parts of Batman’s old cape had pieces of Kryptonite. In addition, right before he touched the Kryptonite, he had suddenly looked up and towards Wayne Enterprise. Those perfect scenarios combined, and I had to take the chance to go. His grip on my wrists had loosened, but not enough for me to pull away entirely. As he groaned at the sensation of Kryptonite and tried to wait for the small amount he had touched to stop having effect now that he’d moved the torn piece to cover it again, I pulled myself free of the hoodie, mourned my white noise generator, and grabbed my gear bag before I bailed.
File “Mission: Make sure He doesn’t die or get Killed”, Log Number “0061” Created.
Oracle found something of me, too much for me to argue, but not enough for her to properly place. She had been able to find and connect to this laptop remotely somehow, presumably an accidental log in to a public network led to her having access to just the right permissions to enable remote desktop. If not for me being so paranoid over this, I never would have even noticed she accessed any of my files, but one accidental click when she was presumably saving all of the files to a flashdrive gave away the whole situation.
None of the files directly say anything too revealing about me, and I know the physical location of the laptop is untraceable, but this is the end I think. It’s for the best that it ends now anyways, since he’s gotten healthy enough to ask for help with situations again. I just. Wish me being an enemy for some reason wasn’t the situation? I don’t really think I did anything wrong, but who am I to argue with a man who punches criminals to grieve his parents and nearly kills criminals to mourn his son.
He's not trying to kill himself anymore either, so Gotham isn’t at risk of losing her protector even if he goes back to being unable to ask for help.
I was Here, signing off for good.
And Oracle, I’m glad to know that what the Joker did to you didn’t stop you from being amazing.