Work Text:
Breaking Protocol
“I’m just a stray cat who needs to talk to you,” the message on her screen said causing her to pause and stare at it. If you had told her two weeks ago when Batman asked her to dig into Arthur Brown’s electronic life that she’d end up being contacted by their target she’d have never believed it but after all the inconsistencies she’d found it almost seemed inevitable.
“I’m not sure why you’d want to talk to me Mr. Stray cat,” She sent quickly and began to trace the original communication. She had to respect their target’s skills with a computer especially if the evidence she’d uncovered that made it look like he had framed Arthur Brown to get him killed was accurate. There were discrepancies that made it look like the initial communications that alerted Batman were fake and that the bank records had been tampered with to make it look like Arthur Brown was the only one not robbed. She wasn’t surprised when a direct message popped up.
Mr. Stray Cat: Look Oracle my teacher told me all about you and also never to contact you but I have to break protocol now.
Oracle: Your teacher was unusually well informed.
Mr. Stray Cat: Not really half the underworld suspects your existence my teacher was just one of the few who knew you did exist and I have to ask are you really Batman’s mother?
She couldn’t tell if he was joking and screwing with her or he was repeating one of the rumors she’d seen for herself. The popular theory that the mysterious hidden voice that rumor said worked behind the scenes was Batman’s mother or father was one of the more popular ideas. They believed Batman had to be trained from birth to be what he was.
Mr. Stray Cat: Look I’m being set up, I admit I trolled the Bat’s ex boy toy and the pretty bird but that was just for kicks I don’t do murder.
Oracle: So that’s why your breaking protocol and talking to me?
Mr. Stray Cat: Yes my teacher was adamant that the best advantage we had over you was that you didn’t know we knew about you but given who set me up I need help from someone well connected.
That made sense but he was obviously well versed in electronic matters because she hadn’t found him yet despite the direct message. She began trying a different trick to find him while she considered what to say. The worst part was there was enough evidence of tampering that he could be telling the truth but if so that meant they had someone very dangerous to deal with.
Mr. Stray Cat: Look I know your killing time while you track me down so let me be blunt this is all the work of the Daughter of the Demon. She’s out to get rid of the pretty bird for some reason and between my robbery and me trolling her she saw her chance to get rid of her. Just find the proof and get Batman off my back he’s killing my work opportunities.
The message ended then leaving her staring at the screen. She’d tracked him to somewhere in Europe where Bruce and Dick were currently looking for him. She now had a problem to solve if she told Batman about this she knew he’d dismiss it. The fact their target had found her would simply be seen as yet another mind game but his claim could also fit the evidence. She resolved to do some digging and see if there was any proof that Talia was involved and had a vendetta against Robin. She almost hoped this was just another mind game from their target Talia was a terrible enemy to have taking aim at Stephanie.
The End.