Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Bruce had been in a lot of hairy situations. Honestly, this one did not make the top ten. It did not make the top fifty . Still, though. It was inconvenient. To be without outside communication at a murder scene, as Bruce Wayne no less, was certainly inconvenient. The body was found floating in the pool, upside down. It wasn’t nearly the most gruesome body he had ever seen, but it was disturbing in a way many others weren’t. Usually when Bruce came across bodies, the circumstances were very different. Those were casualties of madmen, consequential deaths of supernatural war, this was a simple death. A simple murder. It was something that Bruce had honestly not seen for quite some time.

The wifi router had been knocked out, the landlines cut, the road up to the villa covered in what looked like a planned landslide. They weren’t going anywhere for quite some time. A serial killing perhaps? Well, that wouldn’t do at all. Bruce turned on his heel and marched inside the villa, paying no mind to the cries of the other guests as they realized that they were trapped. He had to nip this in the bud, before it got out of control, as these things were liable to do.

The first thing he had to do was search the house, look for other potential traps and such. If he could ruin the murderer’s plans before they began, he could throw them off balance. Bruce was about to set about his budding plan, but paused. Looking through the glass door to the back patio, he saw a small child standing by the pool. By the body. Even to Bruce, it was a bit of a chilling sight. The child stood there, backlit by the moon, staring down at the dead.

If he remembered correctly, there was only one child at the villa. A small boy that had come with two highschool girls, here for a weekend. He considered for a moment, going out to check on the boy. After an experience like this, he was probably very shaken. Death was not something a child should have to witness (he knew.)

Before he could, the boy’s guardians came out and led him back around the front. Bruce shook it off, the boy would be fine. He had other things to do.

He started in the kitchen, and worked his way around the house, mentally cataloging the other guests as he went. First, the victim. A woman in her early twenties, Ena Enomoto. Or, Enomoto Ena, in the Japanese name order. She had come to the villa with her college club for a stress-free weekend.

Second, Enomoto-san’s boyfriend, Azuma Yuuma, a man also in his early twenties. From the little Bruce had seen of their interactions, their relationship seemed very secure.

Third, their mutual friend and clubmate, Amari Hiroko. She was in her late twenties, and seemed very close to the victim.

Fourth, the last member of the college club, Furutani Giichi, a man in his early thirties. He seemed to be particularly good friends with Azuma-san.

Fifth, One of the highschool girls. Sera Masumi. The girl was a self proclaimed detective, and had followed proper procedure in preserving the crime scene. She had no relation to anyone in the college group other than connections made in the one night they had all been together.

Sixth, the other highschool girl, Mouri Ran. Good friends with the detective girl, and from the looks of it skilled in martial arts. She also had no connection to the college group.

Seventh and final guest, the small boy. Edogawa Conan. He seemed to be under the care of Mouri-san, if Bruce had to guess he’d say they were siblings. But they had different family names... Perhaps a half or step sibling? Also no connection to the college group.

Bruce finished his inner catalog just as he finished casing the villa. Nothing looked out of place, so at least they wouldn’t have to worry about traps. He walked back into the main room, where it seemed everyone else had gathered. The boyfriend of the victim sat slightly away from everyone else, crying softly into his hands. His two friends sat on one of the couches, close enough to know that they were comforting each other without actually touching. Across from them sat the two teenagers. The detective girl had an intense expression on her face, obviously thinking hard. The other girl was wringing her hands and glancing around anxiously. The boy was standing next to the couch his sister was sitting on, also thinking hard. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Furutani-san looked up when Bruce arrived, face full of tears “And where the h*ll were you?” he growled.

“I was checking the house. The murderer might have other things set up, I thought it would be best if we found those sorts of things early, to avoid any more incidents.” Bruce said, being as honest as he could. He knew how it looked, a lone man among groups was obviously going to be suspect, especially if they then disappeared while everyone else gathered.

“Or, you could have been setting stuff up! Like you said!” Amari-san hissed, narrowing her eyes and pressing herself further into the fabric of the couch. Azuma-san’s sobs grew in volume.

Bruce just sighed and directed himself toward a vacant armchair. The situation would have been nicer if he didn’t have to deal with irate suspects, but that was a pipe dream.

“Okay!” Sera-san stood up, addressing the whole room. “The whole situation with the phones and road out of here probably means that the murderer isn’t done. They probably have more targets.” Murmurs and gasps spread through the room, mostly through the three remaining college students. Mouri-san made a noise of displeasure, though not one of surprise. The boy said nothing.

“Not done??” Amari-san exclaimed. “We’re not safe?!”

Sera-san sighed. “We’ll probably be safe if we all stay in the same room, right? If no one leaves this room then we’ll be fine.”

“So we’re supposed to stay here forever then?” grumbled Furutani-san.

“Not Forever, just till the cops get here.” Sera-san said, looking almost as irate as Furutani-san himself.

Bruce could admit, Sera-san’s logic was sound. If they all stayed together, the murderer couldn’t get anyone else alone to kill them. They could all wait for the police, and Bruce wouldn’t have to do anything to jeopardize his image.

“The phones are out though, how are we supposed to call them?!” Amari-san shouted, sounding like she was nearing hysterics. Ah. Right. Bruce cursed himself for forgetting such an important detail. From the look on Sera-san’s face, she was too.

“Well!” Sera-san said, making a quick recovery, “We’ll just wait until morning, when it’ll be safer to send a group across the landslide.”

“And leave the rest behind with a murderer? Or worse, send a group with a murderer?!” Furutani-san said, still quite angry.

“I don’t think we’ll have to worry about that.” Sera-san said, looking directly at the little boy. He glared at her. Well, that was odd. Bruce narrowed his eyes at the interaction. It seemed very out of place.

“Ena…” Azuma-san muttered. The anger in the air faded, replaced by a somber mood. Sera-san slumped back into her seat, grabbing her friend’s hand. Amari-san put her face in her hands, Furutani-san huffed and glared at the floor. The boy… was gone.

Bruce sat up straighter, looking all around the room as subtly as he could, searching for any trace of the kid. He found nothing. He tried to keep his heartbeat under control, getting worked up would help nothing. Even if a small child was alone in a house with a murderer in it. At least the murderer was most likely in the room, and not out hunting the boy.

“Hey-” Amari-san hiccuped. “Where’s that kid? Wasn’t he just here?” Bruce fully expected Mouri-san and Sera-san to panic, what he wasn’t expecting was for Sera-san to burst into laughter and for Mouri-san to facepalm.

“Conan-kun…” She said, voice colored with so much exasperation it was reminiscent of Alfred’s disappointed voice.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find him!” Sera-san said, still laughing. Amari-san was looking at her with a horrified expression, Furutani-san looked confused, Azuma-san was still crying. Bruce himself was slightly appalled at their behavior. The logical response would have been worry, maybe even panic. A small child was alone in a house with a murderer. Bruce hadn’t responded that way because of his unique experience with things like this.

Silence reigned in the wake of Sera-san’s departure. The five of them looked from person to person, but said nothing.

“Hey.” Amari-san said, breaking the tension. “Your little brother, or whatever, is alone in this place, where a murderer could very likely be hiding out, why aren’t you more upset?” Mouri-san looked up at her, slightly startled at being addressed. The surprise left her eyes as they dulled into something more cynical.

“When isn’t Conan-kun alone with a murderer?” She laughed to herself, seemingly unaware of how troubling her statement was. “Don’t worry, Conan-kun can handle himself. He’ll be fine.” She sighed heavily, resigned in a way. Her words did nothing to calm the ever-growing ball of worry in Bruce’s gut.

“What?” Amari-san said, incredulous. “What the heck is that ‘sposed to mean?” Mouri groaned.

“Don’t ask. It’s just a series of Long stories.” She said, relaxing into the couch.

“Anything to fill the silence.” Azuma-san mumbled, who had finally stopped crying a few minutes before. Mouri-san blinked.

“Oh, well…” She started. Bruce tried to listen, he wanted to listen to this, but before he could hear anything more, his vision

Went-

Dark…. 

Chapter Text

Conan really couldn’t have an actual vacation, could he? He had hoped, just the tiniest bit, that this time it would actually go well, that this time no one would die. That hope had died as soon as he saw the body in the pool. Well, the least he could do for the poor girl was solve her murder.

Unfortunately, Sera was still being frustrating. For the past few cases, she kept trying to trick him into revealing his intellect. This time, he didn’t have any of his regular sleeping detectives around. He knew that Sera would refuse to solve the case, forcing him to solve it himself.

Or so she thought.

Sera probably hadn’t expected him to dart a random bystander, had she? Conan smirked to himself as he raised the bowtie to his lips. He had only heard Wayne-san’s voice once or twice, but it was enough.

“Instead of that, I have a story you all will find much more interesting.” Conan said, a deep, smooth voice flowing from the bowtie’s speakers. It had taken him a bit to lose Sera in the house though. It would be worth it, now she couldn’t expose his sleeping detective routine. (He may or may not have locked her in the pantry..)

“More interesting than children who apparently run into murderers enough that it’s not an issue?” Amari-san said, incredulous.

“Maybe not to the average listener, but for this audience I assure you, it will be.” Wayne-san had a nice voice, Conan thought idly. It would be good for voice over. “For you see, when I was out searching for potential traps, I was also looking for evidence to Enomoto-san’s murder.” Everyone in the room sat up straighter, except for Wayne-san.

“What? Ena’s…” Azuma-san said, sounding distant.

“Yes. I believe I have discovered the identity of her killer.” Gasps echoed through the room. It wasn’t what Conan would have said, but this was a new sleeping detective. They had to be distinguished from each other, after all. He had been much more careful with deduction style after Hattori discovered him because of his.

“You? You know who killed Ena?” Azuma-san’s voice quivered with hope. Conan smiled into his bowtie.

“I do.” Wayne-san’s voice carried across the room. The sincerity in it left no room for doubt, he was telling the truth. Azuma-san fell to his knees and began sobbing again. Conan waited until they had grown quieter to continue. “The victim was found in the pool at 8:36 PM, at which point we all had been playing games in this very room.” Conan liked this voice, it was powerful. It felt like every word held weight.

“Well, all of us, except for Azuma-san.” All eyes in the room swiveled to the man, who was still crouched on the floor. “Azuma-san was up in his room, complaining of an upset stomach.”

“Yuuma-kun! How could you? I thought you loved her!” Amari-san stood up, shouting at her friend.

“Yeah! What were you thinking?!” Furutani-san roared.

“I- I would never! I would never do that to her!” Azuma-san cried into the floor. Ran put her hand over her mouth.

“I am not finished.” Conan said, Wayne-san’s voice booming out around everyone. It silenced everything, even Azuma-san’s cries. “You may notice that I have not made any accusations yet. You shouldn’t either.” Furutani-san and Amari-san nodded dumbly.

“Enomoto-san herself had left the room to go check on Azuma-san at 8:00. Azuma-san, did she ever arrive?”

“Y-yes, she did. Sh-she came a-and gave me some medicine.” Azuma-san hiccuped his answer. Conan nodded, though no one could see.

“She never returned to us here in the room.” Conan said, solemnly.

“But then- don’t we all have alibis?” Amari-san said, looking somewhat lost. “Wait, are you saying that the killer is an outsider?! Conan-kun and Sera-san are still wandering around the house! What if-”

“Do not worry. They are safe.” Conan said, that tone of Wayne’s voice once again leaving no doubt about the truth of his words. “It may not be obvious, but one among us doesn’t have an alibi.”

“The only other person who left was…” Ran trailed off, turning to stare directly at Furutani-san. Amari-san was staring at him in shock, even Azuma-san had lifted his head from the floor to glare at him. Furutani-san shifted, sweating under everyone’s gaze.

“Yes. Furutani-san, you left to go to the bathroom, didn’t you? Only a few minutes after Enomoto-san left to check on Azuma-san, wasn’t it?” Conan rumbled through his bowtie.

“Th-that's ridiculous! I was only gone for three minutes, that’s not enough time to drown someone!” Furutani growled. Conan likened the sound to that of a caged animal.

“You’re right.” He said, shocking Furutani-san, and everyone else. “It’s not enough time to drown someone. But that’s irrelevant, seeing as Enomoto-san wasn’t drowned!” Furutani-san paled noticeably. Amari-san gasped, and Azuma-san looked like he might start crying again. Ran looked politely shocked. Conan knew that she had probably figured out that much on her own. She had seen enough drowned corpses to know when someone hadn’t been drowned.

“But if she wasn’t drowned, then… Why was she in the pool?” Amari-san said, looking lost again.

“She was placed in the pool for two reasons, the first being to deceive us of the method of murder. The second being to deceive us of the time of murder. If you see a body in the pool, you assume them to have been drowned, and the cool water would mess with rigor mortis.” 

“If she wasn’t drowned, then how did she die?!” Furutani-san roared. For all his bravado, he was still trying to press himself as far into the couch as he could, making the caged animal image all the more prominent.

“She was poisoned.” Conan said, once again using that decisive tone. Everyone was silent. Furutani-san paled further, and started shaking. Conan smiled into his bowtie. He had already won. “Her mouth smelled of almonds, which is indicative of cyanide. Furthermore, Furutani-san, I found three bottles of potassium cyanide in your room, one of which was empty.”

“Th-that doesn’t m-mean anything!” Furutani-san hissed, sounding as though he had suddenly lost most of his confidence. Honestly, Conan didn’t know why he was still trying. Quite a few culprits in other cases had already confessed by this point. “Someone could have planted it there! I’ve been framed!” Conan rolled his eyes.

“I’m afraid there’s no chance of that.”

“How d’you figure?” Furutani-san spat out the words, shaking slightly. Conan couldn’t tell if it was from rage or fear. 

“Enomoto-san wears acrylic nails, does she not?” Conan said, shocking Furutani-san with the change in direction. Conan almost felt bad for messing with him like that. Almost.

“Ah, y-yeah, she does.” Azuma-san said, also confused.

“Strangely enough, she was only wearing nine acrylics when her body was found. Furutani-san, do you have any idea where the tenth could be?” Conan said, Wayne-san’s deep voice complementing the polite tone of the words perfectly. Conan hadn’t thought it was possible, but Furutani-san paled even further.

“I-I don’t-” He cut himself off, looking sick.

“Enomoto-san’s other nails were perfectly intact, if not clean. In fact, her other nails happened to have something quite interesting under them, Furutani-san, do you have any idea of what that might be?” Furutani-san shook his head frantically. “Leather. Furutani-san, Enomoto-san had leather under her nails.” Furutani-san’s shaking problem got worse. Amari-san scooted away from him on the couch.

“Giichi-kun…” She whispered.

“Furutani-san, if I’m not mistaken, you’re wearing leather shoes, correct? In fact, I do believe you’re the only one here wearing any leather at all!” Conan grinned. If he hadn’t had him before, he had him now. “It would be a shame if there happened to be claw marks on those shoes of yours, wouldn’t it? It would be even more of a shame if Enomoto-san’s tenth nail was found inside your shoes.” Furutani shook so much that he slipped off the couch entirely onto the floor. “I do think that would count as decisive evidence.”

In one smooth movement, Ran slipped off her chair and over to Furutani-san. The man yelped as she tugged off his shoes, too quick for him to react. As she shook both of them upside down, a single acrylic nail fell to the floor. In that moment, the only sound anyone heard was Furutani-san’s uneven breathing. In the next…

“GIICHI!!” Azuma-san roared, leaping forward to grab the man by his collar. Amari-san also leapt up from the couch with a shriek. Ran stood to the side, eyes darting between the two men, ready to intervene if she needed to.

Conan lowered the bowtie, smile dropping from his face. While the rush from cornering the culprit lingered, it was overshadowed by the grief and sorrow for this girl that he had barely met. Yet, he felt Azuma-san’s cries echoed in his own heart. 

“WHY?!? How could you do that to her??!” Azuma-san shook Furutani-san by his shirt, his head rolling with the motion.  Furutani-san looked up, rage glinting in his eyes.

“Why? WHY? SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MINE!” He yelled, shoving Azuma-san off of him. Amari-san stumbled away from the both of them, tears pouring down her cheeks. “She was going to be my queen! She was going to be my greatest achievement!” He said, the anger and hostility that had drained during Conan’s deduction show returning in full force. “And yet… she turned me down. She turned me down for you. How could I do that to her!? How could she do that to ME! How dare she claim you superior to me, when you’re a ****ing weak little crybaby! How dare HIROKO-CHAN-” He rounded on Amari-san, who backed up even more, confronted by her old friend. “How dare she even introduce you two! It’s her fault, all her fault, all YOUR FAULT!” He roared, rushing her.

Amari-san screamed, and Ran rushed in, standing between her and the enraged murderer. Not missing a beat, Furutani-san pivoted away from the girls and over to- Conan.

Conan suddenly found himself in the air, held just a little too tight by the arms of Furutani-san himself. He felt a hand around his throat, though it wasn’t constricting yet, it was obviously meant as a threat. Everything in the room went completely still, white hot anger becoming cold horror in seconds.

“You!” Furutani-san said, motioning as best he could toward Azuma-san with Conan held crudely in his arms. “Kill yourself, or the kid dies instead.” Amari-san screamed again, and Ran tightened her hands into fists, eyes alight with rage. Azuma-san went white as a sheet and backed away, tears beginning to slide down his face once again. Conan tensed in his captor’s arms. This was… a bit worse than usual hostage demands.

“B-b-b-ut I c-c-c-an-an’t…” Azuma stuttered, shrinking into himself. This, this was bad. Conan furiously searched for a way out. He had used his only dart on Wayne-san, so that was out. He couldn’t reach the dial on his shoes with his hands, and he didn’t want to risk turning them with his feet. Too high of a setting and he would end up killing Furutani-san. Maybe he could find a way to activate his ball dispensing belt…

“No locks can hold-! Wait.” A victorious shout echoed across the room, contrasting terribly with the thick atmosphere the rest of them had cultivated. Everyone froze once again, five heads turning in unison to see Sera standing in the doorway, looking out of breath but otherwise fine. She took in the scene in a single moment, understanding the situation instantly. Furutani’s grip had loosened in surprise when Sera had entered, and hadn’t tightened it again. His mistake.

In a single, impossibly fluid motion, Sera dashed forward, releasing Conan from Furutani’s grasp, and sweeping the man off his feet before anyone else could react. He hit the floor with a loud thud that made Conan wince in sympathy. Ran rushed forward to join Sera in holding him down. Conan stumbled away, taking a deep, shuddering breath as he did so. He hated being a hostage.

“Does anyone know where to get some rope?” Ran asked the room at large.

“I believe there’s some in the cupboards in the entryway.” A deep voice said. Conan froze. When did Wayne-san wake up? It had better not have been during the deduction… This is what he got for using a new detective. Conan chanced looking at Wayne-san only to find him staring back, scowling. Ah. This wasn’t good.

While Amari-san went to get the rope, Conan cursed his horrible luck. If anything about his life was consistent, this was going to become a problem.

Palpable relief spread across the room as everyone heard police sirens in the distance. Conan didn’t know how the police had found out about their predicament, but he was grateful, however it happened

‘I am so glad that that’s over’ Conan thought, listening to the sirens get louder and louder. He was lying to himself. It wasn’t over and he knew it.

Chapter Text

Bruce had been waking up slowly, until he heard a voice shout “No locks can hold-! Wait.” That had been what startled him fully into the world of the wakeful. He, like everyone else in the room, looked at the source of the shout. Sera-san stood in the doorway, out of breath, apparently returning from her mission to retrieve Conan- who was being held in a very threatening way by Furutani-san.

Bruce quickly assessed the situation, Furutani-san holding a hostage, his friends regarding him with horror, Mouri-san’s defensive stature… Furutani-san had killed Enomoto-san, and everyone else had discovered this somehow. In an act of desperation, Furutani-san had taken Conan-kun hostage. Well.

Bruce prepared himself to join the scene, to save Conan-kun, but he never got the chance. Before he could do anything, Sera-san sprung into action, bringing down Furutani-san as quickly as any Robin would have.

“Does anyone know where to get some rope?” Mouri san asked. Bruce shook himself out of his remaining stupor, he knew where some rope was.

“I believe there’s some in the cupboards in the entryway.” He said, running through his memories, trying to ascertain what had happened. They had been talking about Conan-kun, who had gone missing. Mouri-san had just been about to share some stories, when his vision had darkened. Assessing his current state, he found that his mouth felt dry, almost cottony. Had he been hit with a sedative? He glanced at the clock. He had been out for almost half an hour. Hmmm. If it was a sedative, it had to be one he had never encountered before, he had built a tolerance to any common sedatives years ago.

He looked around the room, hoping to find more clues to exactly what had transpired. Furutani-san’s shoes were lying on the floor, next to what looked like an acrylic nail. Ah. so that’s where her tenth one went. The second thing his eyes caught on was the small boy, Conan-kun. He had been missing when Bruce had been knocked out. When did he return?

Conan-kun turned, and locked eyes with Bruce. The boy had such large, innocent blue eyes. They were filled with childlike wonder, but also- fear? 

It made sense, in a way. The boy had been used as a hostage for an insane madman, if what Bruce saw was any indication. But this fear almost seemed directed at Bruce himself. He tore his eyes away from the child’s, and turned away, looking for something else. Conan-kun had no reason to be afraid of him. He had just spent too much time around children who had perfectly good reasons… 

“Wayne-san!” Amari-san said, coming up to him, tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much for telling us what Giichi-kun did. I think you might have saved my life.” She bowed deeply to him in gratitude.

What.

“Yeah, I don’t know how I could repay you for bringing Ena some justice.” Azuma-san bowed to him as well. Bruce smiled and nodded.

“Ah, no payment necessary.” He said, rubbing the back of his head in a display of humility. Internally he ran through the clues again and again and again, trying to figure out in what world he could have solved a crime he didn’t know the culprit of while asleep- wait.

That particular thought dug up a piece of information, a memory, of a newspaper. He had read a news article on the train about a detective who solves crimes in his sleep. If Bruce remembered correctly, and he did, the news article had called the man Mouri Kogoro. Mouri. Mouri, as in, Mouri Ran.

That was definitely worth looking into.

It was at that moment that he heard the sweet sounds of police sirens. Alfred must have notified them when Bruce’s signal went dark. He heaved a huge sigh of relief. He had a lot of research to do, and he still had the reason he had even come to Japan, but he was ready for this night to be over.

“Man, as soon as we get wifi back, I am telling my girlfriend everything . She is not going to believe that Wayne Bruce himself became a sleeping detective!” Amari-san squealed, seemingly distress free. She didn’t fool Bruce though, he could see that her hands were still shaking. Azuma-san laughed, but he too still had tears in the corners of his eyes. Bruce said nothing. They deserved some levity after what they’d been through.

Bruce mourned his image. He had been trying to avoid doing anything even resembling detective work, this was the opposite of what he wanted. Any similarities between Batman and Bruce Wayne were dangerous, and he had just gained a huge similarity. Batman was acclaimed as the ‘world's greatest detective’. Bruce Wayne could not be associated with detective work. Yet, here he was. And to make matters worse, he still knew next to nothing about what had happened while he had been sedated. He still had no idea how he had become sedated! Amari-san was not the only one who wanted signal back. But, it seemed that he would have to wait until they were freed from their villa prison before throwing himself into research.

He spent the time until the police arrived sitting on one of the couches and staring out a window. The shadows of trees in the moonlight reminded him of a moment just a few hours prior, of a child standing next to a corpse. He closed his eyes, banishing the image. It was inconsequential.

The police arrived right at that moment. After that, it was a whirlwind of explanations, car rides, statements, and more. The hustle and bustle was good, it didn’t give Bruce any time to stew on his inability to know what he wanted to know right at that second.

In seemingly no time at all, he got his chance. He walked out of the police station, seeing Alfred waiting for him. He grinned a Brucie grin as he got into the back of the car, watching the police station fade away into the night.

“Thanks for the save, Alfred.” Bruce relaxed into the seat, letting the stress of the night bleed away into the familiar presence of his pseudo grandfather.

“I've heard that you’ve had quite the night, Master Bruce.” Alfred said, pulling the car into a perfect right turn.

“Yeah. And it’s not quite over yet.” Bruce said, sighing. He still had a lot of research to do.

“Oh?” Alfred said inquisitively, though with the air that he already knew everything. Bruce smiled slightly. The familiar tone was nice after the cold hostility of the police station.

“Say Alfred, have you ever heard of “Sleeping Detectives?”” Bruce said. Alfred’s eyes crinkled in a smile.

“I can’t say that I have, Master Bruce.” They pulled up to a very nice looking hotel. “You can tell me all about it, inside.” Alfred opened his door for him, and the two entered the hotel. It really was nice, five stars, probably. Alfred guided him to the elevator, and then to a room on the top floor. The suite was cozy and warm, which was good. Better than that though, was the portable version of the batcomputer set up on the coffee table.

Time to get to work.

With Alfred carefully watching over his shoulder, Bruce searched for sleeping detectives. He had only read about Nemuri no Kogoro in the paper, but Amari-san’s comment had made him think that he wasn’t the only one. Mouri Kogoro was certainly the most popular and most common Sleeping Detective, but there were others.

Mouri Kogoro himself had been a hack detective before he started sleeping on the job, at which point his reliability skyrocketed. Though he was still reported to make an incredible number of errors and false accusations before he sleeps.

Suzuki Sonoko is the second reported Sleeping Detective. Though she doesn’t do nearly as many cases as Mouri, and she doesn’t do detective work professionally, she still did enough to get a reputation online and with the police for it. Suzuki-san herself was the daughter of a massive Japanese conglomerate. Bruce had actually met the girl at a few parties and balls over the years. She had always seemed to be a bit of an airhead, definitely not the type of person capable of the kinds of deductions she delivered under the moniker “Deduction Queen”.

Yamamura Misao is the third most common Sleeping Detective. He himself was a police inspector, but from the looks of various complaints and such, not a very competent one. The less that was said about his protocol whenever the supernatural was mentioned, the better.

There had been a few other Sleeping Detectives, but they either didn’t reoccur or appeared so seldom that they weren’t worth mentioning by name. All their names went in a new file on the batcomputer though.

There was one constant throughout all of the Sleeping Detective cases. Only one.

Edogawa Conan.

Mouri Kogoro only became Nemuri no Kogoro once he started looking after the kid. Conan-kun never appeared in cases with Mouri before he became a sleeping detective. When Mouri wasn’t on the scene, another would become the sleeping detective in his place. It was what had happened to Bruce. Mouri Kogoro hadn’t been there, and the case needed to be solved.

The key was Edogawa Conan. He was causing the Sleeping Detective phenomena somehow. That meant that he was probably the one who was actually solving those cases. Once again, unbidden, the image of the child standing next to the corpse came to him, this time in a new light. He hadn’t just been looking at the corpse. He had been looking at her hands . Her hands, which had been missing an acrylic. The very same acrylic that had been the key to solving the case.

This new knowledge brought more questions than it did answers.

Conan was a child, a six year old. How in the world was he capable of solving murder cases that even experienced police detectives couldn’t crack? Why was he hiding his obvious intellect by handing out the credit to others? How did a six year old stumble across that many murders in the first place?

He set aside his research on the various Sleeping Detectives, and began research on Conan Edogawa himself. What he found was… slightly disturbing. Information on Edogawa Conan was simultaneously nigh nonexistent, and endless. For a six year old, Conan was caught up in entirely too many newsworthy incidents. Murders were only the beginning. He was also often involved in robberies, bombing cases, and terrorist attacks. In almost every incident, Conan played a bystander, and elementary student who happened to get involved. On the surface, at least. If you looked deeper, you could see just how much influence Conan had on whatever was happening around him. It was amazing. Admirable, even. Or, it would have been if it had been anyone but a six year old. The more he read, the more he felt his heart break. This was a child. He shouldn’t have to deal with any of this. Even Bruce had never felt the need to inflict his ways on a six year old.

That was, of course, ignoring the other half. The lack of information. Conan was involved in so much, and yet, when Bruce found his birth certificate, he knew with only a little bit of digging that it had been faked. All information about Conan Edogawa before he enrolled in Teitan Elementary almost a year ago was faked. He didn’t even exist. It was a chilling combination. He had seen this kind of background before, the kind that shouldn’t be. But he had never seen it on anyone under the age of ten. No child should ever be put in the kind of situation where this would be necessary.

In a slight attempt to distract himself from the picture painted by Conan’s non-existent past and all-too-full present, he busied himself by searching for Conan in less official channels, Social Media.

In what wasn’t the strangest discovery of the night, but what maybe should have been, he found that Conan was considered something of a cryptid in Tokyo. There were countless reports of “That kid in the glasses” doing things that were completely absurd for any normal person to be doing, much less any child. There were stories of him blazing around on a skateboard reported to be as fast, if not faster, than the cars on the road. There were stories of him and his friends (The Detective Boys, Bruce remembered them from the news stories.) wandering around Tokyo, doing odd things in odd places, and asking odd questions to seemingly random people. With every story, the tales got taller and taller. Bruce refused to believe that Conan had actually caused an avalanche to stop a flood from destroying a small town using nothing but an unnaturally fast snowboard.

Well, he hadn’t believed it until he found the news article.

And ALL OF THIS, was without even getting into his title as “The KID killer”. The heists of seemingly the most celebrated phantom thief of their generation looked to be the only setting in which Conan didn’t hide his intelligence. And the full scope of it turned out to be almost enough to beat the thief that galavanted around in white, yet evaded capture. Bruce set aside the information on Kaitou KID for later. That was something else entirely to look into.

Bruce turned off the screen and looked at the curtain covered window. Light was beginning to creep around the edges of the curtains. Well, he’d made progress, and made quite the portfolio on the child that should not exist. He still had much research to do, but unfortunately it wasn’t the kind that could be conducted over the computer. He would sleep, first. Then, he would work on what he came to Japan to do in the first place, After that, though. After that he would get to the bottom of this.

Chapter Text

Conan was having a crisis. This was not unusual. Using another Sleeping Detective was necessary in that sort of situation, but it didn’t mean that it was a good idea. Many necessary things were not good ideas.

Making a random person that he barely knew at all was not a good idea for a few reasons. First, he had no idea if they would play along when they woke up. He usually selected Sleeping Detectives specifically for the high chance that they would just go along with it for the clout, and wouldn't mind the memory gap. He hadn’t been given much to work with in the villa. Azuma-san was grief stricken, and no one would believe him composed enough to give a deduction. Amari-san definitely wouldn’t go along with it, she seemed the suspicious type. He couldn’t dart the murderer for obvious reasons, so that left him with Wayne-san.

Wayne-san had barely spoken to anyone after arriving, and while he did technically stay in the room with them while they played games, he didn’t participate. Even his introduction had been short and antisocial. A simple, “I’m Wayne.” Conan had been hoping that he would go along with the memory gap to avoid talking to them.

His feeble hopes had been shattered as soon as he heard Amari-san refer to Wayne-san as ‘Wayne Bruce’. Conan knew he had seen Wayne-san somewhere before, but he had never imagined that he would be someone that important. Wayne industries was one of those companies that was influential worldwide, the kind of company whose CEO was more important than some country leaders in terms of international relations. And Conan had shot him with a tranquilizer dart. He could only hope that Wayne-san was as much of an airhead as the media made him out to be, even if Conan’s own impressions of the made told the opposite story.

He would have almost rather submitted to Sera’s schemes.

Almost.

He may not still have dignity, but he did have spite.

Anyway, Conan was freaking out. This hadn’t blown up in his face yet, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. It was all a matter of waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the meantime, he had done research on Wayne Bruce. None of it matched up with the man he had met. At All.

Conan had not met a spontaneous, airheaded playboy. He had met a very quiet man who barely spoke and was mostly glued to his phone the whole time. Even when the wifi went out, He struck out on his own instead of staying with the group. Not at all like the man in the media. That man probably would have tried to cozy up to Amari-san. Not that it would have worked, though.

Conan sighed and let his head fall onto his desk. At times like this, he really wished that school was more engaging. Unfortunately, this was elementary school, which had never been engaging for him, even when he was the proper mental age for it. Maybe he had never been the proper mental age for it, only the proper chronological age.

At least he wasn’t alone in his boredom/anxious thoughts. All four of the other Detective Boys were staring off into space as well. Or at each other, though they tended to do that less since they would start giggling uncontrollably, which would get them in trouble. It was partially his fault, he knew. He didn’t hesitate to answer any of their questions regarding academia, so they were already far ahead of their peers in that way. They got good grades anyway, so Conan didn’t worry about it too much.

Haibara caught his eye, and gave him a Look. In most cases, Conan thought that he was fairly good at hiding his anxiety. ‘Most cases’ was not Haibara. He knew what that Look meant. He was going to be explaining himself later, then. He groaned, just quiet enough that Kobayashi-sensei wouldn’t hear him. Haibara smirked at him as a few students in their vicinity giggled. He shifted so he was looking straight down at his desk. Might as well try to get some sleep, if he wasn’t doing anything else constructive.

It was only a few hours later that Haibara cornered him. At least Hakase’s house was a secure place to talk about things like this. That was probably the only reason she had waited this long, honestly.

“So? What happened.” It was more of a demand than a question, but that’s just how Haibara did things. Conan sighed, flopping onto the couch. “Is it about the detective agency girl again?”

“What? No, things with Ran are fine.” He protested, sitting up and looking her in the eye. Her eyes had changed so much since the first time he had seen her. When he had first met her, she had broken eyes. Defeated eyes. Now, they shined with confidence and defiance. It was a good thing, when it wasn’t directed at him.

“It was the case last weekend.” He said, flopping back down on the couch. Haibara raised an eyebrow.

“Which one?” She said, amusement dancing in her voice. He glared at her.

“The one at the villa.” He grumbled. 

“Ah.” She said, “What about it?”

“I had to use a new Sleeping Detective. I had no choice, but I have a feeling it’s going to come back and bite me.”

“And who was this unlucky soul you’re so worried about?” She said, simultaneously teasing him and actually interested. Time to bite the bullet.

“Wayne Bruce.” Conan said, in a slight imitation of her previous tone. Haibara paused, expression freezing on her face. She turned to him, and her features morphed into the picture of incredulousness. Conan shifted under her intense stare. So far, better than he had anticipated!

“What.”

“Wayne Bruce, the CEO of Wayne Enterprises?” Conan clarified, he knew that she already knew, and that this would just make her mad, but he couldn’t help it. Some opportunities were too good to ignore.

“I know who Bruce Wayne is!” She snapped, bursting into motion and life once more. “You tranquilized one of the most influential men on the planet Kudo-kun!”

“I am aware.” He said, gulping slightly. She gave him a look that could only be described as ‘no duh’.

“And?” She said, eyebrows raised, expectations lowered.

“In my defense, I wasn’t aware at the time.” He said, each word enunciated carefully. She face palmed with an audible ‘slap’.

“Kudo-kun,” She said into her hands. “You. Are an idiot.”

“I’m not even going to argue with you at this point.” Conan said, staring numbly at the ceiling.

“The only way you could have done worse is if you’d tranquilized a member of the Justice League.” Haibara mumbled, face held in both hands now.

“Nothing has happened yet, but it’s only a matter of time. At this point I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Conan said, still staring up at nothing. It was the worst thing to happen to them in a while, and it didn’t even directly have anything to do with the Black Org. If it did he knew that he would have gotten off with a lot worse than just being called an idiot.

“Kudo-kun how could you not know ? He’s supposed to be one of the most recognizable people in the world!” Haibara said, finally removing her head from her hands. She was looking at Conan with so much disbelief that it was nearly tangible. He flinched, and laughed nervously.

“Well, he was nothing like the media would have you believe. Turns out, behavior goes a long way toward recognition. Who knew?” He gave her a pointed look.

“Alright, that’s fair at least.” She said, rolling her eyes in exasperation.  “But why him? And if he didn’t act how the media portrays him, what’s he really like?” She asked, voice edging more into innocent curiosity rather than ‘Kudo you’re an idiot’ close to the end of her inquiry. It was Conan’s turn to roll his eyes. Right, Haibara was interested in celebrities. With all her edge and snark, he often forgot. 

“He was quiet and reserved. Seemed like the most likely to go along with it if he suddenly found himself with a memory gap and a closed case tied to his name.” Conan said, closing his eyes. He pictured the case one again. Wayne-san sitting on that armchair, so perfectly set up. It was like fate had been begging him to mess up.

“Hmm. That makes sense then. You’re still an idiot.”

“As you’ve so kindly informed me.” Conan sighed. “I was right about one thing, though. He did actually go along with it.”

“What?” Haibara stared at him with more intensity. “If he went along with it, and nothing’s happened by now, why worry about it? It seems as if fate has actually thrown you a bone for once.”

“I don’t know. Just a feeling.” He said. Haibara nodded. She understood. Gut feelings were nothing logical, they had no legitimate credibility. But Haibara knew, just as he did. Gut feelings could save lives. They would both be dead by then if they hadn’t listened to their instincts. Them, and countless others that had been counting on them, whether they knew it or not.

“So what do we do?” She said, looking away.

“Nothing, yet. Since it is just a feeling, I’ll stew in anxiety until something happens.” He sighed. Haibara snorted with laughter.

“You can join me then, I’ve been stewing in anxiety as long as I can remember.” She smirked at him. He smirked back.

The silence they fell into after that was companionable. Just as it always was.

A few hours later, as night began to fall upon the world, Conan got a text. It was from Ran, asking for him to start heading home. He said his goodbyes to Haibara and Hakase, and started out the door.

He was almost home when he noticed it. His anxiety spiked, and he whirled around, activating the nightvision on his glasses to see into the unrelenting shadows. He didn’t see anything, but he knew. He walked on, making no more reactions. But he knew. For anyone else without his life experiences, it would have been impossible to realize. But Conan wasn’t exactly normal.

Still though, whoever was following him was good.

Chapter Text

Finally, Bruce was finished with his original mission. He had confirmed that minor criminals from Gotham were moving to Japan en masse. When he had cornered one of them, he had been given the reason. There was a very promising job offer over here that catered to the less than lawful. Apparently the rogues were becoming too much for some of the saner of their numbers. Oh, well. By this point they were outside his sphere of influence. He would alert those who did deal with Japan and take his leave.

Right after finding out what the h*ll was up with one, Conan Edogawa.

Having exhausted online methods, he was forced to gather information the old fashioned way. Unfortunately, that kind of work could not be done by Bruce Wayne. It also was unsuitable to Batman, whose work in Japan was finished. In a compromise of sorts, Bruce donned a simple outfit in black that wouldn’t be out of place in a crowd, but would also conceal his identity.

First order of business, taps. Luckily for Bruce, all members of the Mouri residence were away when he planted them. Either at school or on a case. Not that Nemuri no Kogoro would have any luck without his tiny shadow. Unluckily for Bruce, the object of his investigation didn’t seem to return home with the other two members of his family.

That led to step two, Observation. The boy had gone to an old inventor’s house after school. Bruce made a note about the many odd objects that Conan had been spotted with. He wondered what possessed the man to give something like that skateboard to a child. (Bruce had found video clips). He also wondered why someone with a known propensity for accidentally running into danger was allowed to walk home alone.

It was odd. He looked so normal. Even most people who pretended to be normal had something that let you see past the facade. Clark had eyes that were a little too blue, skin that was a little too perfect. Speedsters tended to make little movements constantly, and much faster than any normal person would. Bruce’s own children had their own tells, if you knew to look for them. Conan looked the picture of a normal child walking home from his friend’s house. It was unsettling, knowing what Bruce did.

It was almost… too normal.

A second later, that perfect picture was shattered as the boy whirled around. A second before Bruce ducked out of sight, he saw those eyes. They were alight with a blue fire, focused and crazed at the same time in a way Bruce had only ever seen on other people in his line of work. He heard a click, and a quiet mechanical beeping that he wouldn’t have heard if his hearing had been any less honed. A moment of silence. Conan kept walking.

Bruce had been noticed. By a child.

He continued following the boy until they reached the detective agency Conan called home. He wasn’t noticed again. Or at least, he couldn't tell if Conan had noticed him or not. Wasn’t that a thought.

Bruce continued to tail the boy for the next few days, while also digging for as much information as he could in other ways. He hoped he would find something that would tie it all together, help him solve exactly what was going on with Conan. He didn’t even know exactly what the mystery was, only that he knew that he didn’t know quite a lot, and it frustrated him. If his ignorance was connected to a child’s wellbeing, that was neither here nor there, no matter how much Alfred hinted at it.

What he learned was… Insightful. Bruce witnessed the boy solve not one, but three murders over the course of just four days. He also had the fortune of witnessing the method Conan utilized to pull off the Sleeping Detective act. Bruce was right, it was an anesthetic. The boy would shoot a tranquilizer dart out of his watch at the victim. It was obviously custom made, Bruce hadn’t had any resistance to it nor had he felt the needle. It was incredible. Then Conan would hide behind his victim and mimic their voice somehow. Bruce hadn’t gotten close enough to see.

It was on the fifth day of his impromptu investigation that something changed. Conan was once again walking home from his professor friend’s house. Alone. At night. Bruce wouldn’t be lying if he said that at this point some of the purpose of his tailing was to keep the boy safe. He had no idea why anyone thought it was a good idea to let him go anywhere alone.

The boy turned down a corner, one that didn’t lead to the Mouri detective agency. Eyebrows furrowed in worry, Bruce followed. There weren’t many reasons that he could think of as to why the boy had changed direction, what if- Bruce turned the corner only to find himself face to face with the business end of that very special watch of his.

“Hello.” Bruce said, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible. Conan’s eyes hardened behind his glasses.

“What do you want? You’ve been following me for almost a week now.” Conan said. His voice… it was different. Not fundamentally, but different. It wasn’t the high pitch he used for his family, nor was it the natural flowing cadence he used around his friends. No, this was deeper, intentionally changing Bruce’s perception of him to seem less like a child, and more like an actual threat. Smart. Though, not incredibly surprising given what Bruce already knew of him.

Bruce considered what to say. A lie would be seen through in an instant, so that probably wouldn’t work. The truth then? Not all of it, not right now.

“You piqued my curiosity.” Bruce rumbled, pitching his own voice lower, further into Batman territory. Conan narrowed his eyes.

“Oh? And how did I do that?” He said, a note of danger in his voice. Bruce had a strange moment of dissonance. He had heard that same kind of danger countless times before, but never accompanied by a child’s voice. Conan was just so incredibly familiar and foreign all at the same time. It was not the first time he’d had the thought.

“You are an odd child.” Bruce said, coloring his voice with as much calm as he could muster. He didn’t want to provoke the kid, at all. To Bruce’s faint surprise, Conan relaxed slightly, looking up at him with those same wide eyes that he had seen back at the villa. “I wanted to see how odd.” Conan blinked.

“And?” Conan said, guard still raised but almost all sense of hostility gone. Bruce paused. This was unexpected. He had not said anything in particular that should have caused this reaction…

“Your birth certificate is faked.” Bruce said, taking a chance. If he could count on the lack of hostility, then perhaps this encounter could turn out profitably. Conan stayed silent for a long moment, presumably choosing his next words.

“So?” He said finally. Bruce was honestly surprised he had admitted it. “What would a single birth certificate-less kid matter to someone like Wayne Bruce himself?”

Bruce paused. He had been recognized. He had… not expected this. Somehow, this child kept surprising him. “More than you would think.” He said, easing out of his lower pitch into his regular voice. No point in straining it for nothing.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Conan said, as cautious as ever. Walking on eggshells did not even begin to describe their conversation.

“You’re very intelligent.” Bruce said, deciding it was better not to answer. Conan scowled at him. Bruce supposed he deserved that.

“I might be. Again, what is it to you?” He still hadn’t lowered the tranquilizer watch. Bruce had no doubt that he could land the strike, too.

“You’re hiding it.” Or, at least trying to. The situations he often found himself in probably made it harder than it should have been. Conan didn't even say anything this time, just emphasized his grip on his watch. His glare was quite something, it might have made a lesser man feel guilty even if he hadn’t done anything. “There are few reasons a child should feel the need to do that. Or fake a birth certificate.” Conan bristled. Not as bad as when they had started talking, but it was definitely there. “You could say I’m… worried.” Bruce felt a sliver of vindication at the surprise he saw on the child’s face. Conan had been surprising him since they had met, it was Bruce’s turn.

“You don’t need to be, I’m fine.” He sounded perfectly sincere… on the surface. It was buried deep, and Bruce couldn’t quite see what it was, but there was something else. Something that made his heart break.

“Your records are reminiscent of someone in witness protection, and as far I’ve been able to see, not even your current guardians are aware of your unique position.” Bruce looked down at Conan. He was so small, so… so many things.

“What is this ‘unique position’ of mine?” He said, an almost playful edge to his voice.

“Even I was not able to find out.” Conan smirked. “But I assume it’s something dangerous. Something that someone your age should not have to deal with.” Bruce said. Conan didn’t startle, nor bristle, this time he just looked… a little sad.

“Maybe not. But sometimes you don’t have a choice.” He muttered, voice almost a whisper. There was a tremor in his voice. Bruce hardened his resolve to help.

“Sometimes you do. And right now, I’m giving you one.”

Chapter Text

Well, Conan thought. At least he wasn’t black org. Though, a suspicious rich guy was almost as bad. Sorry, not suspicious, worried.

The other shoe had dropped.

It was good, though. He hadn’t told anyone what he’d learned, even if he had managed to learn it, and he seemed more like a friendly presence than a hostile one. He also hadn’t learned the most important things, either. He didn’t know about his fake age, and he didn’t know about the BO. That was good.

What was not good was his insistence in… something. Conan still couldn’t figure out why one of the richest people ever would spend nearly a week tailing a kinda suspicious six year old. He wasn’t leaving it alone, either. Conan had assured him that he was fine and all, but he still didn’t leave, didn’t leave well enough alone. Not behavior one would expect of Wayne Bruce. Though, Conan had yet to see him act as one would expect of him at all.

“What kind of choice?” he finally asked after weighing his words carefully. It would hurt nothing to hear the weird business man out.

“I have resources that may be useful to you.”

Conan didn’t drop his guard. He still had no idea why the man would want to help him specifically, but if he was telling the truth, (It felt like he was, oddly enough) what kind of resources could he possibly be talking about? Of course, the man had money, but Shinichi had money too. Sonoko, and even Agasa Hakase had money, Shinichi was certainly in no want of the stuff. So if not money, then, connections? Conan was also in no want of those. He knew the FBI, the CIA, and an incredible number of Japan’s own enforcement agencies. Not to mention many celebrities and talents in other fields.

“I doubt you have anything I can’t already get for myself.” Conan said honestly, testing the waters. It was a little bit of information, how would he react?

“Your doubts are unfounded. I know everyone who has what I am offering to you.” He said it with such certainty, the same kind of voice that left you no choice to believe that he was completely right. Conan had loved using it when he had darted Wayne-san, but being the focus of it was a little disconcerting.

“And what exactly are you offering me?” Conan asked, staring Wayne-san in the eyes. Neither of them blinked, both gazes as hard as steel.

“Safety.” Wayne-san rumbles. Conan quirks an eyebrow.

“I don’t think it’s possible to know everyone who has safety, Wayne-san.” Conan says, letting a joking tone slide into his voice. He saw Wayne-san’s eyes change upon hearing it. He really did care, didn’t he.

“This safety.” Wayne-san said. It was perhaps the softest thing that Conan had ever heard him say.

Conan shook it off. It wasn’t like people much worse than Wayne-san hadn’t been soft to him before. “That’s still not specific enough.” Conan said, his own tone returning to its more serious state. For some reason, Wayne-san almost looked… sad… when he said that. Though upon closer look, his face hadn’t changed at all. Conan wondered what had given him the impression…

“I can’t get more specific until you trust me.” Wayne-san said, voice still soft, though not as much as it had been.

“I can’t do that. If you know as much about me as you say, you should know why. Or at the very least, expected that I would react this way.” Conan said. Bruce looked almost… sad. Yet, unsurprised.

“We’re at an impasse, then.” Wayne-san sighed.

“Seems so.” Conan said. He still didn’t lower his watch though. He was going to wait for Wayne-san to back down completely before lowering his guard. Anything else would feel like defeat.

“Well,” Wayne-san said, leaning back. He didn’t actually move his feet back in any way, but the motion still made it seem like he had, made him loom less. Conan appreciated it. “It looks like we have nothing else to talk about at the moment. Though, I do hope I can earn your trust somehow, and we can revisit this topic.”

“You can try.” Conan said, smirking a little. He honestly wasn’t entirely opposed to that. Though, Wayne-san would have to work very hard if he wanted to count himself among Conan’s trusted few.

Wayne-san nodded, before walking backwards into the shadows. That… was an odd exit. Though, Wayne-san was an odd man so Conan couldn’t really fault him for it. Conan blinked into the darkness, waiting until he couldn’t hear or sense anything before lowering his weapon, and continuing his own walk home.

---

“What?!” Haibara stared at him incredulously, magazine in her hands slipping to the floor. Conan sighed and picked it up, sliding it back into her hands before answering. She would probably have blamed him if it got stepped on later.

“Wayne-san was the one who’s been stalking me for the last few days.” He sighed, repeating himself. She blinked at him, a strange look on her face. Ha, if the situation were any less serious, he would have tried to get a picture of it. It was a funny expression on someone who was usually so stoic.

“ Why?! ”

“He says he’s worried about me.” Conan said, massaging his temples. Last night was… weird. Strange even by Conan’s standards, which were, as everyone (Hattori) kept telling him, astronomically low.

“Worried?” Haibara squinted at him, as if an adult actually giving a crap about their well being was somehow unthinkable. Conan rolled his eyes.

“That’s what he said. He sounded pretty genuine too.”

“Yeah, and why is it that the only adult who seems to care immediately goes to stalking as his solution?” Haibara asked, finally getting over her shock and slipping back into the sarcastic firecracker he knew.

Conan shook his head. “No idea. Strange attracts strange, I guess.” She gave him a look, as if implying that she was strange was somehow false.

“Alright, you said that he said that he was worried. You talked?” She said, pretending to inspect her magazine for damage. She always feigned disinterest in this kind of thing, and he knew that she knew that he knew that she was faking it so really she only did it to annoy him. It worked regardless of his knowledge.

“Yeah, we talked. I cornered him while he was following me.” He said, matching her disinterested tone in kind.

“As you do.”

“Exactly. Anyway, he knows enough to be annoying but not enough to be a threat.” Conan said.

Haibara raised an eyebrow. “Elaborate?”

“He knows that ‘Edogawa Conan’ is a fake identity, and that I’m behind the sleeping detective cases. He doesn’t know about my age or the Organization.”

“Oh.” She blinked. “That does sound annoying.”

Conan closed his eyes, remembering Wayne-san’s solemn face. “He also… offered me something.” He said, dropping his voice a little to match the seriousness of the topic.

Haibara lowered the magazine, all pretence of disinterest gone “what did he offer you?” They both knew how influential this could be on their lives.

Conan rubbed his forehead “he said it was... safety. But he wasn’t very specific, and when I tried to pry at what he meant, he dodged it.”

“Oh? That’s odd. Most people are very clear when stating potential deals like that.” Haibara muttered, leaning back. Her eyes turned sharp. “Did you accept?” she asked, voice almost dangerous.

“No, of course not.” Conan shot a quick glare her way “I'm not that naive. Or stupid.” She smirked. “Besides… I have no real reason to trust him yet.”

“And you're considering it anyway…” She said, slightly disappointed but not surprised.

“Not like that. I still don’t know exactly what he wants, or what his offer really means. I can’t trust him. If he did manage to prove trustworthy… it would be interesting to see how it plays out.” He said, sighing and leaning back into the couch. Haibara shrugged.

“I suppose. This is, of course, assuming that this is genuine at all.” She said.

“That’s actually something I have no doubts about. He means this.” Conan said, picturing Wayne-san’s sad eyes.

“Oh?” Haibara raised an eyebrow. “Well, doubting your instincts has never proved useful in situations unrelated to the Mouri girl-”

“Hey!”

“-So I’ll trust you on this one. But I’m also trusting you to work on more than just instinct on this, alright?” She sent him a pointed look. “We’re going to research as many facets of this as we can- together. So I know you won’t hide anything from me about it.”

Conan ran a hand through his hair. “You know why I do that. You do it too so you can’t really complain.”

She gave a wry grin. “Yes, well. There’s no reason that I can see this time, so forgive me for being cautious.”

“Yeah yeah, I got it. We’ll do it together.”

“Excellent! Meet me here tomorrow and we can get started.”

Chapter Text

Justice League of Earth (Server) #bat-chat

Batman

The original mission for which I went to Japan has been completed.

However, something else has caught my attention.

It is not urgent, but I will not be home for a while barring an emergency.

Nightwing

Every day is an emergency B

Batman

Correction, an extreme emergency that you need me to be there for.

Red Robin

So what’s this new thing?

The one that’s caught your attention?

Oracle

I think I know what it is

Red Robin

You know everything

Oracle

Well

Not everything

But a lot

Including this

<News article. The heading reads “Wayne Bruce Latest Sleeping Detective!” in Japanese.>

Nightwing

Um.

What.

Red Robin

I thought you were going low key this time??

Oracle

Well, he was

Until this happened

Read the article

Red Robin

I’m doing that as we speak

Oracle

Type

Red Robin

Same difference

Nightwing

What the heck is a sleeping detective??

Oracle

Like I said, read the article

And the many ones it links to

Red Robin

So

Let me get this straight

In Japan

Right now

There is a phenomenon where seemingly random people at times just

Fall over

And start giving expert deductions???

And the great BATMAN fell victim to whatever this is?

Oracle

I know

Golden, isn’t it

Nightwing

I mean

Something like that would be weird, but not out of place in Gotham

But in Tokyo???

Batman

Hence why I am staying for longer to investigate.

Red Robin

Okay this is too interesting

@Red Hood

@Robin

@Spoiler

@Black Bat

@Signal

Get a load of this

Robin

What?

Red Hood

Oh HEY!

Sleeping Detective phenomenon!

Nightwing

You know about this?

Red Hood

Not more than rumors

But some crazy rumors they are

Spoiler

Looks like it

Wow

What the frick??

Black Bat

It certainly is interesting.

Red Hood

And B is a sleeping detective now?

Oracle

Yeah

Red Hood

You know B, that’s not really going to fly in Gotham

I can imagine it now, you slumping over to deliver some deduction and getting your head knocked off

Robin

Father would never do something like that, you imbecile.

Spoiler

Oh my gosh nooooo

But seriously though

How did this even happen??

Nightwing

That’s what I’d like to know!

Oracle

Yeah B, how’d this happen?

Batman

I am investigating the prime suspect.

Red Robin

Wow what a non answer

Red Hood

You’re not fooling us B

Spoiler

Give us the details 

Or else Oracle WILL

Oracle

She’s right

Batman

You will be informed at a later date, when I know more about the situation.

Red Hood

Bull****

Nightwing

Not even a hint?

Robin

I have to admit, I am curious.

Red Hood

Even Demon Spawn is getting in on this!

You can’t NOT tell us now!

Oracle

I swear the only reason he doesn’t want to tell you all is that he’s trying to avoid all of the teasing that’s sure to follow

Spoiler

Well if I didn’t want to know before I DO NOW

Red Robin

Oracle give us the goods

Red Hood

Ohoho

Well well well

B we’re gonna tease ya either way

You might as well bite the bullet

Batman

If Oracle really wants you to know, she will tell you.

Oracle

I’ve decided I do actually

Spoiler

HECK YES

Red Robin

Here we go…

Oracle

And the perpetrator behind the Sleeping Detective Phenomenon is…!

Batman

Before you go any further, this Does Not Leave this chat, understood?

You will not tell even other contacts in this server until the situation has been further handled.

Red Hood

Sheesh got it

Red Robin

I thought you said it wasn’t an emergency?

Batman

It’s not an emergency.

Things can be delicate without being an emergency.

Nightwing

Delicate?

Oracle

Well, as I was saying, the cause of the Sleeping Detective Phenomenon is a 6 year old boy named Conan Edogawa

So yeah, a little bit delicate

Red Robin

Six?????

You’re sure you typed that right?

You don’t actually mean 16 or something, do you??

Oracle

Nope, he’s 6.

Spoiler

Oh my gosh

What

That’s-

I don’t even know what that is

Nightwing

Oh

That’s what you mean by delicate

Red Hood

Mad respect to be honest

If those deductions really are coming from a six year old

That’s insane

Oracle

But wait-

It gets better

Spoiler

It had better not

Oracle

This kid, Conan, uses a tranquilizer gun disguised as a wristwatch to put his victims to sleep, and then uses a nigh perfect voice changer disguised as a bow tie to mimic their voices, creating the illusion of the Sleeping Detective

Red Robin

Okay so first of all

That’s cool as frick

Second of all

B got hit with this???

Spoiler

Oh

Oh wow

B

The kid is literally 6 B

Are you losing your edge??

Red Hood

You actually let a 6 year old put you to sleep huh

You’re not going to live this one down for a long time

Batman

I’m aware.

Robin

Father.

I am honestly a little disappointed.

Red Robin

Same wow

You know, I’d think that your guard would have been higher in a foreign country, not lower

Batman

It wasn’t.

Nightwing

What?

Oracle

It really wasn’t

This kid just has some skills™ 

Nightwing

A six year old who can sneak up on Batman…

Meta?

Oracle

Nope.

Spoiler

Is he not human or something?

Oracle

Not that either.

Red Hood

Wow

Again

Respect

Red Robin

So what happened?

Oracle

Well, from body cam footage, it looked like B really was snuck up on

Add that onto the fact that he was actively focusing on something else, and it’s no wonder the kid was able to do it

Spoiler

I still can’t believe a normal kid was able to sneak up on, and tranq B

Oracle

Oh this kid isn’t anywhere near normal

He’s only normal if we’re normal

And we all know we’re not

Nightwing

Fair

Oracle

Take a look at this

<Video clips of traffic cam footage edited together showing a small boy speeding by faster than the surrounding cars on what appeared to be a skateboard, ignoring all laws and weaving through traffic in a way that was almost beautiful with its skill. Ending with a clip of him using the curb as a ramp, ending up soaring far over the road>

Red Robin

Um.

Red Hood

So when’s this one getting adopted?

Robin

No one else is getting adopted!

Red Hood

Keep telling yourself that

Red Robin

An incredibly athletic detective kid

It’s only a matter of time, really

Nightwing

Is he an orphan?

Because if he is then it’s a sure thing

Oracle

Well

We don’t actually know if he has parents

Since he doesn’t legally exist under the name we know him by

Spoiler

The plot thickens!

Seriously though

What the heck

Nightwing

Is he okay??

Oracle

Ah, from B’s body cam footage of last night?

No.

Red Hood

Well crap

Batman

He is purposefully hiding his intelligence, to the point of hiding behind a fake identity.

Nightwing

So what’s going on with him?

Why is he hiding?

Red Hood

Like those skateboard stunts could be considered hiding

Spoiler

The kid is trying, give him a break!

Oracle

Yeah, for the most part it looks like he’s trying to be low key

He’s failing though since from what I’ve been able to find, trouble follows him everywhere

Red Hood

Again, when is he getting adopted

@Batman I bet you already have the papers

B we all know you’re online answer the question

Batman

To answer Nightwing’s question, we don’t know.

Red Hood

That’s not the question I meant and you know it

Nightwing

You don’t know??

Red Robin

How??

Wait, Oracle, do you know?

Oracle

I don’t, actually

Red Robin

WHAT?

Oracle???

Doesn’t know something???

Spoiler

Wow

Very disillusioned right now

Oracle

Stop that

And yeah, I don’t know what’s up with this kid

I can’t find any record of him for most of his life, until about a year ago

And we don’t know why he’s hiding, or how he got to be the way he is

All I know is that right now, B is working on it

Red Hood

Working on getting the kid to agree to adoption

Oracle

Exactly

Red Robin

I want to meet this kid

Might go to Japan

Batman

Don’t.

I need to handle this alone for now.

Red Hood

Yeah

If he sees how crazy the siblings are he won’t want to join!

Batman

Give it a rest Hood, I’m not that bad.

Red Hood

We’ll see B

We’ll see

Signal

I don’t know what’s going on and at this point I’m too afraid to ask

----------

Bruce sighed and turned off his screen with a slight, fond smile. That might become a problem, his kids weren’t ones to leave something alone once it had caught their interest. They really were going to be the death of him.

He turned his attention back to his minor stalking planning. Gaining the child’s trust was going to be difficult, but not impossible. He tapped his stylis against his lip, before adding a note about contingencies in case his (other) kids decided to pay a visit. Better safe than sorry.

Chapter Text

Ai stared down the black computer screen. She was well rested, she’d eaten, and she didn’t have any more responsibilities for the next few hours. All agreements with Hakase fulfilled, she was now completely allowed to bury herself in research without break until someone forced her to stop. Yeah.

Kudo-kun wasn’t here yet, but he would be. By the time he arrived, she would already have quite the mountain of information to give him. She would tell him all about it while he wore his thinking face, and then he’d smile and they’d continue together. A good plan.

She powered on the computer, opening an incognito browser, the one Hakase had modified to be even more secure. She would start at the beginning, get all the basic information she could about Wayne-san’s past. She opened up her word processor, ready to take as many notes as she needed.

Wayne-san had been born in Gotham to incredibly rich philanthropists, Thomas and Martha Wayne. At age nine, he’d borne witness to both of his parents’ deaths at the hand of a common criminal. All articles Ai was able to find from the time described the event as a terrible tragedy, all pictures including some form of the grieving child. There wasn’t too much public information about him from that point until he reached college, since apparently the family butler, his new guardian, had tried to keep him out of the limelight. Still, what little she did find painted a picture far more similar to the Wayne-san Kudo-kun had met than the one she had seen in the public eye more recently. Odd.

The next big event that Wayne-san was involved in wasn’t really an event as much as it was simply celebrity drama, which was his dropping out of med school, closely followed by his dropping off the face of the map. Ai’s hands had stilled over the keyboard as she’d seen the first speculation article detailing his sudden disappearance. It was something she’d never heard of before. She supposed that was because it wasn’t an official disappearance, the family butler had reassured the police and anyone else who’d asked that ‘Master Bruce’ was simply traveling on a journey of self discovery, and that he should be allowed his peace.

The self that Wayne-san had discovered on that years-long disappearance from the public eye was the persona that Ai was well acquainted with. An airheaded playboy, an idiot with a head full of cotton and a heart of gold. Endearing, entertaining, and easy to hand waive as innocently ignorant if he ever did anything wrong. Ai furrowed her brows. Now, she saw the persona in a different light. It had seemingly come out of nowhere, and the more that she thought about it, the more comparisons that she was able to draw to the Conan persona.

Everything about Edogawa Conan was specifically constructed to dispel suspicion, to make all those who saw him only see him as a troublesome, adorable kid, and not look any deeper. To be innocent and naive, the type that even if you saw something slightly unusual from, you’d just wave it away as a fluke. That person could never do something like that on purpose, after all.

Kudo-kun had told her about it, once. How he’d built Edogawa Conan. How most of it had been thrown together in a hurry, and then streamlined later. What about it that made it work even after such a long time of the wear and tear of cases and compromising situations. Really, he’d told her, the only person who wouldn’t fall for it anymore who also didn’t know about his further situation was Takagi-keiji, and that was saying a lot. Even people who’d seen him do stuff like take down murders with sonic soccer balls and stop manmade disasters with other manmade disasters would still call him ‘just a kid who gets into too much trouble’ to those who asked.

Somehow, this version of Wayne Burce, which the tabloids called ‘Brucie’, struck her as the same thing. A constructed personality meant to divert the wrong sort of attention. The question then was, why? Why would a world famous billionaire CEO need such a facade? What exactly happened during those lost years?

Ai made a note of it, and continued. Perhaps she would find the answers she was looking for in his future.

The next thing the papers made a fuss about was Wayne-san’s connection to an eight year old named Grayson Richard, the son of some circus performers who had died in a tragic accident on the night Wayne-san had attended. Wayne-san had seen the orphaned boy, and made a split second decision to take him in as a ward. Ai actually agreed with many of the speculations that said that Wayne-san had seen himself in the boy, and had taken him in as a genuine gesture of goodwill, instead of the ones who said he was doing it as a publicity stunt. This action of his felt genuine in a way that many of the other things ‘Brucie’ did just didn’t, in the same way his many donations to charities and welfare programs felt like they came from somewhere deeper than a need for the spotlight.

Because he lived in Gotham, and was rich, there were quite a few articles on various kidnappings, attacks on events, and other such things related to Wayne-san, but most of them were all the same, so Ai simply made notes of them, and continued on.

A little while after Grayson-san went off to college, Wayne-san got another kid, officially adopted this time. The second kid was a homeless street boy named Todd Jason, a boy whose background was mostly unknown by the public, as was the reason for his adoption. Most news sources attributed it to empty nest syndrome, and Ai was inclined to agree that was at least part of the reason, but she couldn’t know for sure without more information.

Todd-san was acclaimed as a public success story, a rowdy delinquent that thrived when given the chance, due to his good grades and relationship with his adopted father. That sort of public image made it all the more tragic when the boy was murdered at sixteen. Ai had actually already known that Wayne-san had a dead kid, it was still brought up a lot, even years down the line. The knowledge didn’t prevent the twinge she felt as she read the poor kid’s story.

The details of Todd-san’s murder were extremely vague, which was odd in regards to the death of a celebrity, but if there was anything Ai had learned thus far in her research, it was that Wayne-san could be an extremely private person when he wanted to be.

There was a third kid. Ai wasn’t surprised, she knew of his reputation as a doting father. That part of his ‘Brucie’ face seemed the most genuine, now that she was looking.

Number three was a neighbor kid turned orphan named Drake Tim. Already a rich kid before his adoption, he adapted better than his older brothers to the new Wayne spotlight. Ai actually already knew quite a bit about Drake-san, given the fact that he was his own celebrity in many ways.

Number four, because there was a fourth one, was actually a girl this time. It was hard to find any information on her at all, since it appeared that Wayne-san was extremely protective of her. From the little public appearances she had, it was evident that she didn’t exactly speak very much, and was quite reserved. If the pattern from his sons held true, she also most likely held some sort of traumatic past.

Hm. The pattern through the kids, huh? Orphans with dark hair and blue eyes, often with some sort of traumatic past. A description that fit Kudo-kun a little too well, from an outside perspective. Well, not the orphan part, but Wayne-san didn’t know that. All he knew was that Kudo-kun didn’t have a valid birth certificate, and was living with people he was neither biologically nor legally related to. This offer that Wayne-san was extending, could it be…?

“Haibara! I’m here!” Ai jumped, immediately banishing the image of Edogawa-kun mentally edited into a Wayne family portrait, whirling to face the object of her imaginings. He was giving her a quizzical look, obviously confused as to her exaggerated behavior. “Are… are you alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine.” She said, composing herself. “I already started the research. I’ve been taking notes, so you can get up to speed.” He gave her a big grin, taking the offered laptop.

“Naturally!”

“Just read it.” She said, rolling her eyes, despite the small smile she gave him in return.

She watched him carefully as he read over her notes. She could tell exactly what part he was at just from his facial expressions. She particularly enjoyed his look of curious epiphany during the bit about Wayne-san’s mysterious disappearance, and his exasperated look at the end when she detailed what little she could find about his daughter.

“Does he really have four kids? The guy who stalked me for almost a week straight has four kids?” Kudo-kun asked, squinting at the screen.

“Six.” Ai corrected. “I didn’t have time to document them, but he has two more.”

“You’re kidding me.” He said, incredulous.

“I’m not. The fifth is his only biological child, a son whose mother is a highly debated secret. The sixth is another adopted kid, also a boy.” Ai shrugged. Kudo-kun sighed.

“I still can’t believe this is the guy who tailed me for-” 

“Almost a week straight, so you’ve said.”

“Excuse me for not managing to wrap my head around a world famous philanthropist billionaire CEO, who is also apparently a father of six, expertly tailing me , a random kid, for almost an entire week.” Kudo-kun rolled his eyes, throwing his hands up in emphasis. Ai could admit, when he said it like that, he had a fairly solid point.

“Give me back my laptop so we can continue.” She said, taking it from him without waiting. He just sighed and scooted over on the couch to look over her shoulder.

“What are we doing now?” He asked.

“Well, I was working on the basic timeline of major public events, but since that mostly boils down to ‘Wayne Bruce is a serial adopter’, I was thinking of moving on to strange inconsistencies and reports.” She shrugged, opening yet another tab of old American news articles.

“Like that weird radio silence period?”

“Yes, like that.”

“Yeah, that bothers me too. Seriously weird.” He took out his phone, opening up his own secure browser to help. It continued on like that for… a while. Ai wasn’t exactly paying attention to the time. She used the sharing feature on the word processor to add Kudo-kun to the notes, letting them share discoveries and thoughts while never speaking a word of it.

Ai was tapping through yet another article about a Wayne gala getting held up, when she spied a video attached. The actual video itself had nothing to do with Wayne-san, so really she shouldn’t have any reason to click on it. Yet, even so, she found her cursor drifting over to the play button.

The entire time she’d been researching, she’d been in the house alone. She’d had no reason to bother with headphones, and even when Kudo-kun had arrived, neither had retrieved any. In the time they’d both been there, they’d played all manner of videos from news sites, from interviews to clips from broadcasts. Neither minded.

As soon as she started the little video she’d found, Kudo-kun stiffened. She paused it, waiting for his verdict.

“Keep playing it.” He said, not looking at her screen. She complied, letting the tinny sounds ring out of her mediocre laptop speakers. The video itself was actually fairly interesting, if unrelated to their current topic of research. She wondered what Kudo-kun had heard from it that had put him on such high alert. “Haibara, what’s that a video of?” He asked. She paused it again, shifting so she could show him her screen.

“It’s an amateur video of The Batman taking down some thugs trying to hold up one of Wayne-san’s big parties.” She said, highlighting the title. “Interesting, but ultimately unrelated. Why? Are you interested?” She looked up at him to gauge his reaction, only to find him staring at the screen with such intensity, she could have sworn he’d never seen a computer before. “Kudo-kun?” She asked, hesitantly.

“I don’t- I don’t think it’s unrelated.” He said, voice a very controlled, even tone.

“What do you mean?” She asked, eyes narrowing.

Kudo-kun gave her a slightly self depreciative smirk. “You remember when you said the only way I could have done worse was if I’d tranquilized a member of the Justice League? Well, I think I may have actually done just that.”

Ai froze. Her eyes darted to the paused video on the screen, then back at Kudo-kun, who was shaking very slightly. She understood his strange reaction to the video, as she let the full implications of what he’d said wash over her.

“You think Wayne Bruce is The Batman?” She asked, slowly, carefully. Kudo-kun nodded. Ai felt a numbness start to creep over her at his confirmation, before, shaking her head, banishing it back. It was only a thought, just a theory. She didn’t even know what had led him to the conclusion in the first place. “How do you know?” She asked, also adopting that carefully controlled voice Kudo-kun had used before.

“His voice.” He answered, donning a look of concentration. “I know voices, Haibara, I have to.” His hand rose to his bowtie in a movement that Ai was sure was unconscious. “When he talked to me before, on the street, he used a deeper voice than he does normally, until I called him by name, at least. I recognized then that it was an attempt to keep me from his identity, which he abandoned when he realized I already knew. The voice he used then wasn't as deep as the one he uses for Batman, but if he went just a bit deeper, it’d be a perfect match.”

“So, what? You uncovered one of Earth’s best kept secrets via a single video clip, on accident?” Ai said, trying to pull up her usual shield of snark to hold the true weight of what they’d found at bay.

“I- yeah. That’s exactly what I did.” He blinked at nothing. Ai just sighed.

“Only you, Kudo-kun. Only you.”

“It does sort of put some of the things he’s done into perspective, though. If I’m right.” Kudo-kun said, putting his hand on his chin, retreating fully into his own mind. Ai rolled her eyes and pulled her laptop back into place. Yeah, if he was right. They both knew, they could both feel it, he was right. Regardless, she needed more than Kudo-kun’s word and some vague feelings.

Ignoring Kudo-kun rethinking every interaction he’d had with the man, Ai pulled up a new notes document, and started researching The Batman’s timeline.

She found exactly the sort of circumstantial evidence she’d been expecting. The first reports of The Batman started around the same time Wayne-san came back from his ‘self discovery’ trip with a personality change, which now she could see was most likely to keep people from connecting him to his crime fighting persona. The number of children Wayne-san had was nearly equal to the amount of younger hero partners held by The Batman, with the only incongruencies being the blonde Robin/Batgirl/Spoiler and the redheaded Batgirl from back during the first Robin’s run. That too was cleared up in just a few minutes, since Drake-san had a friend who matched the blonde’s description perfectly, and the Wayne’s all had a redheaded family friend who matched with the old Batgirl. Even the vagueness of Todd-san’s death would make sense, if he died during hero work.

It all made sense.

And Kudo-kun had found out about it by accident.

“Hey, Haibara, that thing he was offering me, you don’t think it could have something to do with all this? It would explain why he was so vague about it all.” Kudo-kun said, breaking her immersion in her research material.

“I suppose so.” She responded.

“That could be what he meant when he said that he knew everyone who had ‘that’ safety. If he was talking about Batman’s protection, or maybe even higher than that, he would know everyone who had that. And he’d be right about me not having those connections either.” Kudo-kun mused. Ai hummed.

“It makes more sense than my previous theory, I’ll say that much,” She said.

“Wait, what previous theory?” He asked.

“Oh, ah.” Ai paused. She hadn’t meant to tell him about that particular thought. “Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t matter.”

“If you say so.” Kudo-kun said, though he looked confused.

“So, what now? Are you going to go find him, tell him you know his secret?”

“Of course not.” Kudo-kun rolled his eyes. “Right now? I’m not going to do anything about it.”

“Nothing?” She raised an eyebrow.

“We found out on accident. If I need to, I’ll use the knowledge, but right now? In regards to us? It makes no difference, so I’m not going to do anything.” He shrugged.

“That’s smart, I think. We don’t need to deal with superhero drama on top of everything else.” Ai said, nodding.

“With any luck, neither Wayne-san nor anything Batman related will ever come up again, and we can just forget this whole thing.” Kudo-kun sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“With any luck.” Ai agreed solemnly.

Unfortunately, luck was something of which they had frighteningly little.

Chapter Text

Conan was trying his absolute hardest not to think about it . The thing. The information he had. He wasn’t thinking about it, definitely not. He had managed to keep calm upon first discovering it, but he had the feeling that if he dwelt on it for even one more minute he would visibly freak out.

He could deal with the black organization. He could deal with the FBI. He could deal with any number of the important people he met on a daily basis, but the Batman?? The Justice League?? No. Nope. No. Way.

Conan was a detective. He dealt with mortal criminals who killed and cheated and stole for very normal, human reasons. Even the black organization was human, to an extent. He didn’t truly get it, but he had to understand in order to figure out the motives in the first place. Conan knew his limits.

The Justice League were heroes. They dealt with massive, global threats from incomprehensible beings, both native and alien. They were deities, godlike beings with incredible power. Conan may have a bit of an ego, but even he wasn’t dumb enough to think we could possibly measure up to that sort of level. He knew he couldn’t handle that sort of stuff in any sort of capacity, and had therefore hoped and prayed to anyone who might be listening to let him soundly Stay Out of their business.

The universe hated him, it was official.

In trying to look for a bright side (A habit he’d picked up sometime after getting shrunk, after vague ‘bright sides’ were all he had left.) he supposed that he was glad it was Batman, of all of them. Batman at least, was human. He was an insane paragon of the human condition with experiences no normal person could lay claim to, but he was human. He had also been hailed as ‘The world’s greatest detective’ and Conan had to admit that being acknowledged by someone like that felt good. Terrible too, because of the implications, but good.

The Batman- Wayne Bruce - was offering him aid. Exclusive aid. He could only be talking about the Justice League, or affiliated parties. Accepting help (which he honestly might need-) would mean accepting involvement . He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t afford to let himself get involved in problems that big when he was almost overwhelmed with the very mortal problems that he already had.

So yeah, Conan was ignoring it. Maybe ignoring the problem would make it go away. It had never happened before, but hey, there’s a first time for everything.

As it turned out, there may have been a first time for everything, but this certainly was not it.

Standing right in front of them, beaming as if nothing at all was wrong with the world they lived in, was Wayne Bruce. It had been a spur of the moment decision to go to the Arcade, and Conan was sure he hadn’t been watching them when they’d made the decision, so how…?

He probably shouldn’t be questioning The Batman’s information skills.

Aaand now he was thinking about Wayne-san’s secret Identity. The one thing he absolutely could not do. Right, time to spend several seconds utilizing every single compartmentalizing and anxiety management skill he had in his sizable arsenal to combat the wave of dull panic and shock he’d been forcing away every time it had made itself known. It hadn’t failed him yet, but he had a feeling he’d have to work harder than usual, given that Wayne-san was right there-

“Oh! You’re one of the girls from that lodge, right?” Wayne-san was saying, addressing Ran with a winning grin. Conan tried his best to keep from tensing at his voice, pushing down the thought that if that voice was just a bit lower… No. Stop.

“Ah, yes, you’re… Wayne-san, right?” Ran said, politely smiling back.

“Ran, did you meet Wayne-san?” Sonoko looked between the two vague disbelief on her face.

Right. Sonoko was rich and important. She would have met Wayne-san before. That was a legitimate connection between them, however tenuous. That wasn’t good.

“We met at that lodge a few weeks ago, you know, the one with the jealous Nice Guy.” Ran nodded.

“Oh yeah! Sera-chan told me about that one.” Sonoko said, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “I hate those kinds of people.”

“Well, it certainly wasn’t pleasant!” Wayne-san laughed.

“Sorry you had to put up with that.” Sonoko said dryly, side eyeing Conan. He resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at her, it wasn’t his fault people decided to drop dead around him. Honestly he hated it more than anyone.

“Ah, no worries! I’m from Gotham after all, I’m used to dealing with unsavory situations!” Wayne-san laughed, and the genuinely jovial sound made it easier to distance Conan from his unfortunate knowledge.

“Is it really that bad over there?” Ran asked, tilting her head.

“Unfortunately, yes.” Wayne-san’s eyes darkened for a moment, and Conan looked away.

“Enough about depressing stuff! Wayne-san, what brought you here? I wouldn’t have thought you were into this kind of thing.” Sonoko said, gesturing to the arcade.

“Oh, yes! Right! Well, you see, my sons adore this kind of thing, you know? So I was going to try some different games, and see if I couldn’t find some good ones to take back home to them.” Wayne-san placed his hand on the back of his head, as if he was embarrassed. It was a good enough excuse that Conan could almost believe it was genuine. Maybe it was, and them both being here was the universe’s idea of a funny joke.

“Well, if you need recommendations, we’d be happy to help!” Ran offered. Conana was sure she was trying to be helpful, but for once he wished she wasn’t so considerate.

“Oh, would you? I’m afraid I don’t really know where to begin!” He laughed.

“Sure! Here, this one is my favorite- ” Sonoko beckoned him off somewhere deeper into the arcade, Ran following close behind.

Conan bit back a sigh, dragging a hand through his hair. If he ditched them now, they’d wonder where he was. She sent a quick text to Haibara informing her of the situation, before jogging off after the unlikely trio.

When he found them, Sonoko was showing Wayne-san the ropes of a rhythm game, one she’d picked up recently if he remembered correctly. She wasn’t usually that great at video games, but rhythm games were an exception, she had an ear for music, he couldn’t deny.

Wayne-san tried to play, but his scores weren’t nearly as high as Sonoko’s on the neighboring machine. Conan had to keep himself from watching to see if Wayne-san was holding back, he knew what he could really do-

“Ah, I’m no good at this, though my son Tim would probably get a kick out of it!” Wayne-san said, grinning at his abysmal score. “Do you have a favorite game?”

It took Conan a moment to realize he was talking to him, having been focused on clearing his mind.

“Oh! Um, not really.” He said. At least he didn’t have to lie about that, video games had never been his strong suit.

“Yeah, the brat’s terrible at video games,” Sonoko snickered as she reached the end of the song she was playing, before leaning down and playfully ruffling his hair. “It’s one of the few things we can use to keep his ego in check!” Conan glared at her, trying to swipe her hand away.

“Oh well, I guess everyone has their weaknesses,” Wayne-san said, and Conan felt a shiver go down his spine. “Though I do think this game is something my youngest might like, I’ll have to remember it.”

Conan allowed himself a small sigh of relief as Wayne-san shifted his attention back to the machine. The man took out his phone, and snapped a picture of the console, presumably to send to one of his sons. His sons, who were-

Stop .

“Oooh, why don’t we go over to that fighting game! Ran, you know the one?” Sonoko said, excitedly gipping Ran’s hand.

“Didn’t they remove that one? Since someone died while playing it and all…” Ran shifted on her feet looking a little uncomfortable.

“Someone died while playing a video game here?” Wayne-san furrowed his brows.

“Oh yeah, it was a whole thing.” Sonoko rolled her eyes. “They got a new copy of the game though, so no one has to play in the chair that guy was sitting in.”

“Hey, why don’t we play a racing game instead? Yeah?” Ran said, nervously glancing in the direction of the old game.

“Oh, my son Damian might like that,” Wayne-san grinned, no trace of the melancholy he’d had before.

“Alright, if you’re sure, then the best racing games are over here,” Sonoko said, leading them off again.

They were almost to the racing game section when a scream ripped through the air. Conan resisted the urge to bolt directly for the sound. He could feel Wayne-san’s gaze on him, watching to see what he’d do.

“Oh my GOSH not again!” Sonoko whined, but her pace picked up. The rest of them followed suit until they were jogging toward the source of the noise.

Sure enough, slumped against one of the consoles was a very obviously dead person.

Really, Conan should have expected this.

Chapter Text

There had been another murder. Another one completely unattached to him, and his work. Bruce furrowed his brow, examining this new corpse from a distance. This was strange, incredibly strange- even if it aligned with the patterns he’d discovered while researching the strange case of Conan Edogawa. Were they sure this was just bad luck, or did the boy have some sort of unfortunate meta ability?

The boy in question was standing not five feet from the corpse- though he seemed unwilling to get closer. Odd, for him. Bruce caught the boy’s eyes dart in his direction, then away again. Ah, so he was the reason. He didn’t want to act smarter than he had to in Bruce’s presence. He didn’t know why he bothered, he had to know that he already knew the scope of his true intellect.

His phone started blowing up with notifications. He’d suspected that his children had taken to watching the security footage of his vicinity like a TV show- as they tended to do whenever something they considered to be ‘entertaining’ was going on, but the proof was nice.

The other patrons were still screaming and running away, but Suzuki-san was groaning into her hands, and leaning against a nearby console apathetically. Mouri-san had her phone out, and seemed to be calling the police, also rather apathetically. Bruce frowned, it wasn’t healthy for them to be exposed to this much unneeded violence this young. (yes he was a hypocrite- though it wasn’t his fault his children insisted on the things they did. He did his best.)

“Yes, police? Hi Yumeko-chan how’ve you been? Yeah, we found another body. Yes, Conan-kun is at the scene. We’re at the arcade at… yes, that’s right, thanks-” Mouri-chan was saying. She appeared to know the phone operator personally, which he honestly shouldn’t have been surprised about.

During his brief moment of distraction, Conan had approached the corpse. Bruce stayed as subtle as he could about his observation, as not to startle the boy. It was fascinating to watch him work, the careful methods and the gentle, professional way he conducted himself. Bruce knew it well, but it was so incongruous on such a young form.

At one point, Conan did catch his gaze, and immediately dialed it back. Bruce felt an odd sort of disappointment. Though of course, maybe it would be better if the six year old wasn’t the driving force of the investigation, for his own mental health.

The police arrived before too long- different officers than the ones he’d spoken to about the previous case, but he knew their names and faces nonetheless from his research. His companions also knew them- unsurprising.

“What’s with running into foreigners here?” The portly inspector muttered to one of his officers.

“Not sure- but I think I might recognize this one…” The officer muttered back.

Bruce sighed internally. He didn’t really have the energy to waste on acting like Brucie Wayne right now, not when all of his attention was on the strange boy in front of him…. Though maybe that was exactly the problem…

Conan always stopped what he was doing as soon as he was observed. He hated being seen doing what he was doing, hated having his deeds acknowledged as his own. That’s exactly what Bruce was doing, watching him, knowing. The thing that he hated most.

So if he was to gain the child’s trust, all he had to do was… ignore him? It sounded counterintuitive, to help a child by ignoring them, but perhaps he needed to change his strategy here. A strange boy called for strange solutions.

Conan was hovering in the corpse’s general area, looking positively vexed. Bruce made eye contact with him, then pointedly looked in the opposite direction. A police officer came up to talk to him about witness statements or something, and he did his best to try not to listen to whatever Conan was doing behind him.

Conan had said that he didn’t have his trust- well, he sure was trying to earn it.

The case flashed by in a blur- even more so due to Bruce’s concentrated effort to not pat attention- even when miss Suzuki started a sleeping deduction show. He really, really wanted to see what Conan was doing there, but he recognized the reciprocation of ignorance for what it was, and didn’t pry.

His phone was still blowing up.

The good news was, Conan didn’t look so antsy by the time the police left. Was his strategy working? It seemed worth pursuing, at the very least. He’d have to retrieve all of his listening devices- he knew Conan had noticed them, removing them would be good for this.

Moments later, Alfred pulled up beside the curb. He waved goodbye to Mouri-san and Suzuki-san… and Conan, before stepping into the car, and letting out a long, suffering sigh.

“Long day, Master Bruce?” Alfred raised a knowing eyebrow.

“Yeah…” 

“I will say, this luck of yours is rather remarkable.” Alfred said, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“Did you know he’d be at the arcade?” Bruce groaned. “All I was doing was looking for a gift for Damian,”

“I did not, actually.” Alfred shrugged. “Perhaps it was his luck, and not yours. Still, an opportunity is an opportunity,”

“Yeah… I think I made some progress with him.” Bruce said, allowing something that wasn’t quite a smile onto his face. “I think I’ll swing by later and pick up the last few listening devices- I think he’ll trust me more the more I just… leave him alone.”

“Some people do better with solitude,” Alfred nodded.

“Or, at least think they do,” Bruce sighed. “He still needs help Alfred, I’m not giving this up.”

“Of course not, Master Bruce.”

“Maybe I’ll set something up… something subtle, to hide him better. I think he might appreciate that.” He mused.

“I thought I should tell you, the rest of the family is rather… excited, about all this.” Alfred commented, his tone of voice… worrying, to say the least.

“Hmmmm. What did they do?” Bruce sighed. It wasn’t like he wasn’t expecting something .

“Yes, well. Master Jason has arranged for travel to Japan. The others seem to be considering a similar course of action, but nominated Master Jason as the first ‘pioneer’, they called him, seeing as you will have a harder time canceling his plans than any of the rest of them.”

“ Jason-! ”

Chapter Text

Conan felt like a weight had come off his chest. Wayne-san had ignored him for the entire case. It was very much on purpose, he could tell, but it was something . He… really was actually trying, huh. He’d said he would try and earn Conan’s trust, and he was genuinely trying.

Batman was trying to earn Conan’s trust.

He sighed, leaning his head against the subway car window. His life was so strange. He might as well stop fighting it, and let it get even stranger. Sure. Batman wanted him to trust him. Why not? They could just ignore each other forever, maybe.

He returned back to the detective agency that night to discover that every single listening device in the entire building had been removed- even those that hadn’t been set by Wayne-san (He was sure Amuro-san would be livid). He was serious about this ignoring thing, wasn’t he.

He stretched, sending a coded text to Haibara informing her of the change in situation. He could picture her face as she read it, unimpressed with one eyebrow raised. He smiled to himself, shaking his head as he clicked the screen off. He was sure she’d give him a lengthy opinion tomorrow.

“Hey, Conan?” Ran pushed the door to the agency open with her hip, her hands full of two streaming mugs of hot chocolate.

“Oh, what is it Ran-neechan?” Conan turned, slipping his phone into his pocket.

“Well, I wanted to talk to you about something,” She hummed, offering him a mug. He hesitated before accepting, walking over to sit on the couch. She didn’t sound… hostile at all, so he didn’t think it was something he did. He probably didn’t need to be wary of this conversation. Probably.

“I noticed today… Do you not like Wayne-san very much?” Ran said, blowing the steam away from her drink.

“Um,” Conan blinked. It wasn’t that he didn’t like him, or well… he wasn’t sure yet. Still, he hadn’t been expecting Ran to pick up on the whole… situation. He really needed to stop underestimating her. She always surprised him.

“It’s just, you’re not that wary around new people,” Ran shrugged. “You wouldn’t even look at him the whole time we were at the arcade, and you seemed kinda tense, I guess I was a bit worried.”

“Oh,” Conan nodded, understanding what she was getting at. “I don’t… dislike him, he just… makes me nervous I guess?” He cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out if he was lying or not.

“Did something happen last time we met him?” Ran blinked at him, furrowing her brows in concern.

“No,” Conan said, then winced. He’d said that too fast. “I don’t know, I mean, he just feels a little disingenuous. At the arcade today he was totally different from at the lodge, right? It was just a little weird, it put me off…” he shrugged. Now that was a lie. He knew exactly why Wayne-san did that, and it wasn’t the behavior that had made him nervous.

That had been the stalking.

He couldn’t let Ran know about that though, since he really, really didn’t want her to get into a fight with The Batman. She would, if it was for him, he knew that. No matter what he was getting himself into, she really didn’t deserve to get into trouble with the Justice League.

“Yeah, I thought that was weird too,” She nodded. “Rich people can be weird sometimes, though,” She sighed, though the look in her eyes said she hadn’t dropped it.

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s nothing,” Conan lied, nodding.

“Well, if you’re sure you’re fine…. Thanks for talking to me, Conan-kun,” Ran smiled, and Conan forced a smile back. She leaned forward, lightly ruffling his hair affectionately before standing up and heading for the door. “Goodnight- don’t stay up too late, you hear me?”

“I hear you!” Conan waved as she left, only letting his fake, saccharine smile drop once the door had clicked shut. He sighed in the new shadows, running his hands through his hair to flatten it back down after she’d messed it up. Out of all the people in the world, Ran was the one who deserved a peaceful life. Yet, here he was, bringing all sorts of unrelated drama into her life. Whoops.

“You’re sure it’s nothing, huh?” A deep, rich voice echoed from the shadows behind Conan.

Adrenaline shot through his veins in a single moment, panic filling his synapses. That wasn’t Wayne-san’s voice, that wasn’t any voice he recognized, and unrecognized person had broken into the agency-

He whirled around, wrist watch at the ready. He barely had time to register the exposed skin on the person’s arm before he shot. The next moment, Conan found himself with a very large man collapsed on the agency floor.

“Uhhhh,” Conan said, blinking at the body. Whoops .

“Conan? Is everything alright?” Ran’s voice echoed from the floor above.

“Everything’s fine! I just knocked something over!” He yelled back, already hopping off the couch to observe his accidental victim.

The man was big , maybe even bigger than Wayne-san. He had a muscular build that was freely showing through his tight clothes, and yet he somehow managed to hide quite a few hidden pockets. Conan rooted through them, recognizing that maybe he shouldn’t be, but this guy broke into their house. He couldn’t find it in him to care that much.

He rolled the guy over, the action taking far more effort than he would have liked. His face was covered in faded scars, and his hair had a shock of white through the front. Odd, but slightly familiar…

He hummed, glancing at the various objects he’d removed from the pockets. It really felt like this guy had everything, but a few of the items were a little suspicious in their specificity. A grappling gun, extra wire, brass knuckles, shark repellent spray… That all combined with his face, hair, and build…

“ Frick ,” Conan hissed to himself.

This was Jason Todd, the Red Hood himself. Conan had tranquilized the Red Hood. Well, he supposed that this guy was actually a respected crime lord, so, yay?

No, not yay. There were better ways to go about this, as it was he had about no next course of action that made sense. He couldn’t exactly call the police… or, well, he could , but he had a feeling that might put a damper on his and Wayne-san’s weird thing they had going on.

Gosh. Why was his life so complicated?

He sighed, gripping the edge of his glasses as a lifeline. Calm down, assess the situation with a reasonable mind. Right. So, unconscious Gotham crime lord in their agency. He… couldn’t deal with that alone, as he was now. He pulled his phone out, and dialed Haibara.

“What did you do this time?” She sighed as soon as she picked up.

“Well…”

Chapter Text

Jason’s return to consciousness was slow, and sticky. The groggy drugged sleep seemed to cling to his mind as he struggled to pull himself back into the waking world. This experience was not new to him. Far from actually, but he never did stop being annoyed by it. He grit his teeth, finding his mouth uncomfortably dry. Great.

Alright, the first step in a situation like this was to figure out what the frick had happened. He remembered… volunteering to go to Japan to scout out B’s new mark, and being enthusiastically chosen for the task by the chaos crew he called his siblings. He’d gone, and… he’d broken into the kid’s house and waited for him there.

He’d startled the kid, and had gotten a tranquilizer dart to the arm for his troubles.

Okay, maybe he shouldn’t have snuck up on the kid who had managed to whammy B. Do Not Underestimate; noted. Not his smartest moment, he’d admit, but… The kid was six. He’d been sure that if he had his guard up, if he was in control of the situation, then it’d be fine. He’d dealt with flighty kids before, heck he’d even dealt with meta kids before. He supposed that he had not dealt with kids who had hidden tranq guns before, nor any of the same with a twitchy trigger finger.

Still, even then, he had a pretty high tolerance for most anesthetics at this point. The gun shouldn’t have even affected him. Then again… the same could be said for Bruce. Wow, that was an oversight. They’d all been so excited about the whole thing, some details had slipped through the cracks. What the heck had he laced those darts with??

He cracked his crusty eyes open, getting a subtle look around at his environment. The second step in a situation like this was to get his bearings; assess his surroundings and any possible immediate threats. His surroundings were… surprisingly mundane.

He was in a house. A normal freaking house. He was in a big room, tied to a chair with something that didn’t quite feel like rope. There were windows along the walls, but all of them had blinds drawn. Still, the space was well illuminated by room lights and lamps. It was just… a normal house.

As for threats, well. The kid was sitting on a couch in front of him, and Jason wouldn’t make the mistake of not considering him a threat again. He was staring at him with intense blue eyes that looked too world weary for his young, soft face. He had his hands pressed together in front of him, and his lips pursed. He seemed tense. Jason couldn’t imagine why.

“He’s waking up,” Conan said, and Jason paused. He’d noticed, then. He really was sharp. He was talking to someone… there were other people in the room then? Or maybe just listening in.

“Wow,” Jason said, opening his eyes fully and rolling his shoulders, easing away some tension. “You really weren’t sold short, kid.”

“What do you know about me?” The kid narrowed his eyes, his fingers twitching. Right down to business, jeez.

“Not much more than you can get from a thorough google search,” He shrugged. That wasn’t entirely true, but whatever. He couldn’t imagine that Bruce got too much that wasn’t technically public information. There was a lot that was public that people couldn’t be bothered to put together.

“Okay, sure,” Conan said, like he didn’t believe him. Fair. “Why are you here? ”

“Why do you think I’m here?” Jason shot back. He had to admit, being interrogated by a kid this young was new. Still, he didn’t really feel like answering his questions. He had some questions of his own he wanted answered first, after all, even if he wasn’t really in a position to demand that.

Seriously, what was binding his limbs? He hadn’t yet figured out how to get out of it. That was weird. It was like it molded to his shape no matter how much he tried to move. It also wouldn’t break.

“Are you actually gonna answer me?” The kid sighed, glaring at him, notably also not answering Jason’s question.

“No, not really,” Jason shrugged. “Though, if you could answer some of my questions, that'd be great,” The kid raised an eyebrow, actually seeming to consider that.

“You can ask your questions, but I also probably won’t answer them,” He said, and Jason blinked at him. That was not the hard shut down he’d expected.

“Okay…” Jason hummed. “Why am I here? I broke into your house and you caught me. Where are the police?” It was something he’d been wondering. From what he knew, this kid was pretty buddy buddy with the cops in this town. So then why wasn’t he in a station cell right then?

…Well. He probably wouldn’t still be in a cell. But still.

“Did you want me to call the police?” Conan scoffed, some of the tension he’d been holding relaxing as he leaned back on his palms.

“Eh,” Jason shrugged. “It would have been annoying, so no, but it’s a little weird that you didn’t. Just saying.”

“Why do you think I didn’t?” The kid raised an eyebrow again, and Jason considered that, rolling the question around in his mind.

Why hadn’t he? What reason would he have to not turn him in? Because obviously there was a reason. Jason was a detective too, he could figure this out.

The obvious answer was because there was something about this situation that he didn’t want the police to know. That didn’t make sense though, since as far as he was aware, Jason was just some run-of-the-mill home invader, he had no reason to assume otherwise. Unless… Well, he had noted to himself not to underestimate this kid. So then the question became: What exactly did Conan know?

He didn’t think he’d had anything on his person that would identify him in any meaningful way, even if he wouldn’t put it past the kid to loot the body before calling the cops, so it had to be something he’d known before that. The kid was smart, and Jason wasn’t the only one with access to Google. Something that was public information then? Technically?

He probably would have been researching B, given all the recent goings on, so then was it something he found out during that? Did… did he actually know who Jason was? That didn’t make sense, he was still legally dead, and the theories about him having come back to life were still fringe.

“What do you know?” Jason said, lowering his voice to add just a bit of intimidation into it. He could be pretty intimidating if he wanted to be, even tied to a chair in some random person’s house.

“Nothing you can’t get from a google search,” The kid said, raising an eyebrow. Cheeky brat. Jason liked him.

“Cheeky brat,” He said, deciding to verbalize the thought.

“I get that a lot,” The kid had the nerve to smirk.

“Yeah, I bet,” Jason raised an eyebrow of his own.

“Still,” The kid mused, idly tapping a finger on his chin. “You’ve been awake for a while and you haven’t actually threatened me even once.”

“Um, no?” Jason blinked, then reconsidered. Okay yeah, that was a reasonable conclusion to come to. More than reasonable, actually. He had done some breaking and entering.

“So then, are you going to tell me what you’re doing here, or should I call your dad to come pick you up?” The kid raised that eyebrow again, and Jason felt a distinct chill go down his spine.

The brat knew who he was.

HOW?

“Okay…” Jason said, recalibrating. “Well played, brat. Don’t call anyone.”

“So…?” The brat prompted.

“You’ve been mentioned in the family groupchat,” Jason settled on, shifting into a more comfortable position, as much as he could anyway, in an attempt to show how totally cool he was with the kid having this information. “I wanted to check out the situation for myself.”

“That’s it?” He looked unimpressed.

“That’s it,” Jason confirmed. It really was, too, which made this entire song and dance kind of funny, really. The fact that the kid had such an intense reaction was a little worrying, but hey, they already knew he was a little messed up. B wouldn’t be focusing on him this hard if he wasn’t.

“And you had to break into my house and give me a heart attack why? ” The kid glared at him, displaying his palms innocently.

“I admit, you have a point,” Jason conceded. “But what can I say? I’m a theater kid. If I don’t do something as dramatically as possible, what’s the point?”

Someone behind Jason snorted in laughter, and he resisted the urge to turn his head. He probably wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway, with how cautious they were being. Still, he was curious as to who the kid trusted like this.

“Ha. Ha.” The kid said, leveling someone behind Jason with a flat glare. “Okay fine, I guess I can understand that. Still.”

“Really? I mean-” Jason cleared his throat. “Are we done here? I mean, I have checked out the situation,” He nodded at his surroundings, and his very immobile state.

“I guess,” The brat said, though he didn’t really sound happy about it. “I’m going to knock you out again.”

“Great,” Jason sighed, rolling his eyes. It made sense, but he didn’t have to like it.

“Oh and- would you mind doing me a favor?” The kid asked, suddenly looking a little sheepish. Jason raised an eyebrow.

“I make no promises, but I’ll hear you out.”

“Could you… not tell Wayne-san about this?” He blinked at Jason, his innocent eyes suddenly looking much more his age. “I don’t want him to know about… me knowing about you.”

Ah. So him threatening to call B was a bluff, then. Dang, this kid…

“Well he’s probably going to find out anyway,” Jason shrugged. He didn’t wear a bodycam, especially not for this, but Oracle would find a way regardless. “But I won’t be the one to tell him.”

“I’ll take what I can get,” The brat sighed. “Just so I’m prepared… How many other people know about me?” He looked nearly physically pained.

“If you could figure out who I am, you can figure that out,” Jason smirked. The kid looked up at him, glaring petulantly.

“ Fine. ”

Jason felt a prick on his forehead, and everything went black.