Chapter Text
Today was the day.
Tim had planned this, and worked on it, and secured everything. His computer was a labyrinth of complex encryptions that he himself might struggle to break, and he’d coded them. His set up was entirely untraceable and his research was valuable enough to warrant direct communication. Tim absently smoothes down his shirt, even though it’s not like Bruce is gonna actually see him, and squares his papers, even though it’s not like Bruce is going to actually see those either.
But he’s seen people do those kinds of nervous twitches when meeting with his mother, or applying for a job on TV, so it feels appropriate. This is kind of like applying for a job right? Except he doesn’t intend on taking no for an answer, but most people don’t intend on taking a no at a job interview. They just do. Because they don’t have a choice. But Tim for sure has a choice, and his choice is to work with Batman, so he’s going to do that.
Today was the day Timothy Drake became an intel source for Batman. Officially, that is.
Unofficially, of course, he’d been doing this for quite a bit already. He’d been taking pictures of Gotham’s vigilantes recreationally since he was nine. He’d started taking pictures of illicit dealings in Gotham only a few months later when he heard Batman and Robin (at the time, Dick Grayson) complaining about how the people they threw at the courts tended to wind up walking due to lack of evidence. Well, Tim could help with that, he figured. So he’d began dropping envelopes with evidence off to Gordon, and stuff like that. It helped, and it was enough. The problem really started when Tim started chasing leads of his own. Catching photographs of known criminals doing crime was one thing, connecting the dots of the seemingly virtuous to their well hidden crimes was another. It was more speculative. It meant not only adding to a case that existed, but building entirely new ones. This wasn’t the sort of thing one could anonymously drop at Gordon’s office and hope one of the many many corrupt cops wouldn't put their hands on it and destroy it. The only real guarantee was if he deposited this file directly in the locked drawer of Gordon’s desk where he kept evidence to pass onto Batman, and that would be difficult, and probably compromise his identity.
The idea to go straight to The Detective with his theories had come to him when he’d been following the Bats, and overheard the channel for their comms. From there he’d learned about their system for communicating when those weren’t in range. Once he’d figured out what was, in essence, Batman’s personal email account, his mission became clear.
It had taken…a while to have a set up worth anything. Not many people wanted to sell a ten year old this kind of tech. It took about six dark web pseudonyms and picking up his purchases in increasingly sketchy places to put this all together, but now it’s…well, it’s impressive. Tim is not so humble as to pretend that it’s not. And even better, it can be packed away into his closet very quickly, just in case his parents popped back into the country unexpectedly so he won’t get caught. He wonders if it’s any rival to the Batcave computer.
…probably not, but it’s still pretty good. Good enough to send totally untraceable messages, and that’s all he wants it for.
It’s about 2:00 am. Tim has forgone his Batwatch tonight to make sure everything about his setup is perfect, but Batman should have just gotten home. It’s time for first contact.
He cracks his knuckles, and types out a message.
———
Missive to: the Batcave
Good morning Batman. (Or maybe evening? I’m not sure how often you check your inbox) I have attached here several incriminating photos relating to the most recent Falcone case. See also, my theories, all backed by appropriate evidence about the murder of Carrie Prowler. I think some of my insight may prove useful.
Yours Truly,
Gotham’s Shadow
[gs_fcf_casepics][CP case notes]
———
It’s…too early for this, Bruce thinks.
It’s too early to be getting messages on the private server of the Batcave, but there one is, blinking away as a pop up screen on the monitor, before he’s even taken a sip of out of his bat-mug (so named courtesy of Jason). And…well, now that he’s actually reading it, this message is strange. Bruce blinks. Then rubs his eyes. Then rereads the message and blinks again. Then he looks around, as though Jason, or even Dick will pop out of the shadows and confess to pranking him. Neither of his sons do. He slides into the bat-rollychair (so named at the fault of Dick) and runs a program to scan the message for viruses. It comes through clean. Ok, at least there’s that. He gives a cursory attempt to trace the message's source, but the program won’t return anything. The server this came from must have encryptions of some sorts. Not many computers can bypass the Batcave, which means this probably is some sort of joke. Maybe by one of the teen super hero teams. Or Dick’s friends. He blows out a breath, braces himself for whatever mildly embarrassing joke he’s running into and…
…nope. Those are real photos. Of several of Falcone’s men making deals with one of the lower tier weapons dealers, handing over some strange glowing blue guns. Glowing guns is never a good sign. He scans the pics for signs of doctoring, and once again, the computer reveals nothing untoward.
So this is likely not a prank. If these photos were in his son's possession, they wouldn’t be making a game out of it. They may joke on the job, but neither of them would withhold this information if it would get people hurt. The timestamps say these photos were taken last night, while Batman and Robin were wrangling Killer Croc, and Nightwing was running basic patrol in Bludhaven.
So then what? This is just some Good Samaritan who stumbled upon these moments? That would be fine, if Gordon had been the one to receive these photos, but they’d been sent to the Batcave’s private server. Even the Justice League didn’t contact him on this server, it was reserved for Dick and Barbara. And Jason, although he currently didn’t have much use for it.
Bruce frowns, and types up a quick response.
———
Missive to: The Rooftop
Who is this? How did you find this system? Where did you get these photos?
———
Batman works fast, Tim thinks, grinning widely. He expected nothing less. No comment on the casework or the photos, but that’s alright. It makes sense. For all he knows, Tim could be some kind of supervillain, who’s jumping all the carefully placed security around Batman’s computer for nefarious purposes. He wouldn’t be Batman if he didn’t double check his leads. Tim smiles wider. This is Batman. He sent evidence to Batman. He is being interrogated via email by Batman. This is the best day of Tim’s life. Even better than if he was being interrogated in person because, well, torture. Not that he thinks Batman would torture him…probably. But he didn’t have much interest in being dangled off buildings until he spilled his guts either, and he’d seen Batman do that. So email was better. He squares his shoulders and types out what is hopefully a mollifying response.
———
Missive to: the Batcave
Fair questions. In order:
1. I’m Gotham’s Shadow. I have been sending anonymous tips to the GCPD with my findings for a while, but it’s difficult to keep my work out of the hands of dirty cops.
2. I looked. I figured it was time to skip the middle man. Everyone knows that you’re the one who solves crime in this city. Unless I could dump all my evidence directly into Commissioner Gordon’s lap (which proved difficult) this was the only way to ensure my findings would be used to their fullest potential.
3. I took them. :D
Yours Truly,
Gotham’s Shadow
———
The response comes much quicker than Bruce thought it would. Whoever this guy is, they must be actively on their system right now, waiting for his reply. Bruce reads it over, frowning deeper at the information he’s being offered. He notices the lack of an actual answer to his question, which is not surprising, but it is unfortunate. This person has no good reason to hide their identity.
…Well. This person has no good reason to figure out things that had nothing to do with them while also keeping their identity hidden.
…well…well Bruce has no intention of letting a stranger have access to their systems without knowing who they are.
…Yeah. That's the ‘not hypocritical’ option. He’s gonna go with that one. Bruce sets a couple algorithms to run and try to pick into this foreign system, and logs the evidence the stranger has given into his own case files after making absolutely sure they were legitimate and useful. Which they were. And the insight into the Prowler case was useful as well.
While he may not like having a stranger in his system, he’s not so proud as to chuck away evidence that could save lives. He’s still not letting this continue though. Not without knowing this person, at least. Batman doesn’t trust in the secret identities he hasn’t discovered or been told. He doesn’t trust other people’s secrets.
…Jason would be calling him a hypocrite for that thought if Bruce hadn’t kicked him out of the cave to go to bed. Dick would be calling Bruce a hypocrite, and a good deal of other names. Alfred would raise one eyebrow and give him That Look.
Whatever, Bruce thinks, as he sets the computer to trace the messages. They don’t need to know right now.