Chapter Text
Tim: Tim knew he should have stayed home. He knew that he was a little too tired to be as sneaky as he would normally be, but he was sooo bored at home, and the night was perfect for a little bit of bird watching, so he did as he normally does and elected to ignore the logical part of his brain and hit the streets of Gotham with his camera. He knew where Batman and Robin would start their patrol today. He had figured out that Bruce Wayne was Batman, Richard Grayson was the first Robin, and finally that Jason Todd was the second. He had their patrol routes down to a science so he could be more effective at... stalking? Tim thinks that sounds bad so he's decided to think of a different name for what he does later when he isn't as focused on trying not to fall to his death from a random rooftop in Gotham, as expected it does not take long for Tim to spot Batman and Robin just starting their patrol he immediately begins to follow them snapping a few photos along the way and doing his best to stay in the shadows and hidden.
Until he tripped.
yup, he was already planning how to fake his death when he saw Robin's head whip around and stare at him, muttering a small " Batman ", and that was his cue to run, which he did, possibly quicker than he ever had, not even stopping when he heard Robin shout for him to come back he just ran down the fire escape as quickly as he could almost tripping as he did only to look down and see THE batman somehow below him, how did he even get there? Tim quickly tried to scramble back up the fire escape, only to really slip this time, giving Robin time to catch up and grab him by the shoulder. Robin looked at him for a moment before a look of confusion washed over his face, most likely noticing that Tim was not an adult height before beginning to question Tim, "What the hell, kid, what are you doing on a roof with a camera? You could have gotten hurt." Tim blue-screened for a moment as Batman came up next to Robin, and oh my god, he was standing next to the Batman AND the Robin. This might be the best night of his life and then his brain caught up to the situation and he immediatly realised how creepy he would sound he casually said he was following and watching them so he did the only thing he could think of which just so happened to be gaslighting or attempting to anyways he looked up and with a straight face said " I wasnt on a roof " robin immediatly turned to batman with a look that screamed What? Before turning back," yes, yes, you were. I saw you. I know you saw me; see you you are literally on the fire escape of the same building right now! "
Tim just looked up and said with his best worried face, " I think I would remember being on a rooftop. Are you feeling ok? " This time it was Batman who spoke. "He is fine, but I would like to know why a child was on a rooftop in Gotham at night taking pictures of us." and wow batman was far more intimidating up close, but Tim tried not to let it show steeling himself to look batman in the eyes with his most blank expresion " I wasnt on any rooftops and I definetly was not taking pictures are you sure you saw me I dont even have my phone to take pictures with" Robin let out a disbeleiving chuckle while batman let something akin to amusement flash across his face before he returned to his more serious expression
" I know it was you and that you were using a camera to take pictures of us and i need to know why." tim did his best to keep his face straight as he blurted out nervously " yeah and bruce wayne is batman " robin let out a chocked sound and batman just straighted up a bit letting out a hum that let tim know he might not be able to pass this one off he internaly cursed himself and his stupid mouth for talking without permission. Then he decided that he would not be able to gaslight Batman and Robin. He looked around nervously before letting out the guiltiest chuckle ever heard and just as robin began to say somthing he decided he was close enough to the ground to take a calculated risk and jumped, falling the few feet between where he was and the allyway he had just been above he heard robin cut himself off as he and batman whipped their heads toward where tim had just dropped and began to run away batman shouted for him to " stop " and "wait kid " but he had already turned the corner.
Bruce: Batman and Robin were patrolling tonight. It was a rather slow night, and there wasn't much trouble. He and Robin had just finished zip-tying a drug dealer to a street lamp when they heard it. A small yelp and then some scraping noises from a rooftop directly above them. He only had time to hear Jason mutter a small "Batman?" before he began to run towards the side of the building that he heard the noise come from, stopping when he came to a fire escape with what he recognised as the person that had made the noise, climbing down it. The person? teenager? child? looked down, noticing him before attempting to climb back up the fire escape, only to stumble and be caught by the shoulder by Robin. As he went up the fire escape and next to Jason, he heard Jason ask the kid what he was doing up on the roof. And yeah, he wanted to know as well; the kid looked like he was seven, and for him to be wandering around a random rooftop in Gotham was dangerous. Plus it had seemed like the kid had been taking a picture of them, which was its own separate issue. Then the kid opened his mouth only to deny being on the roof only moments before, and... what? Did the kid really think he could just tell them that he hadn't been on the roof even after they had seen him and they were still on the fire escape of the very same building the kid had just been on top of?
Robin turned to look at him with an expression that screemed is this kid serious? Before turning back to the kid a bit incredulously before confirming, "Yes, yes, you were. I saw you. I know you saw me; see you you are literally on the fire escape of the same building right now! " The kid just shifted his expression from neutral to worried and said " I think I would remember being on a rooftop. Are you feeling ok? " and ok this kid has to be joking jason seems to agree if the disbeleiving chuckle was anything to go by but bruce still needed answers so he schooled his expression asking the kid why he had been on the roof taking pictures of them only for the kid to deny it agin even going as far as to claim it may have been someone else that they saw.
Bruce would honestly be impressed with the kid's commitment if he wasn't getting more and more suspicious by the minute. Finally, he just came out and said that he knew that it was the kid on the roof that they saw using a camera to take pictures of them. Now the kid just looked nervous before blurting out, "Yeah, and Bruce Wayne is Batman" Bruce stiffened because what? Nobody just says that, and between that and the pictures, the kid knows something. Robin chokes next to him, and the kid looks like he wants to sink into the ground.
Just as Robin regains his composure next to him and begins to say something, the kid apparently decides to give him a heart attack and Jumps, yes, JUMPS from the fire escape towards the alley below bruce and robin immediatly whip around to watch as the kid lands with an oof and sprints out of the alley.
It takes less than three seconds before he and Robin are following, but the kid has already turned the corner and disappeared into the Gotham night.