In the past, Batman had saved her when she was a little girl.
Batman does not harm the innocent.
This bat-like monster with pointy ears, he strikes fear into all criminals, makes gang leaders and thugs gnash their teeth, and his codena is mockingly uttered countless tis by the people of Gotham.
But when true misfortune strikes, the vengeful shadow that appears in the night, and that lively Robin, are the only light the weak can hope for, cleaving through the clouds.
Just like the Bat-Signal shining over Gotham.
In her embrace, the young man seed to relax.
Lina glanced at the "robber" out of the corner of her eye.
He was indeed very young, with most of his face covered by a mask and hat. From her current angle, she could only see his half-hidden eyes beneath long eyelashes, as clear as ticulously cut sapphires.
Batman did not leave.
But the young boy seed to gain so courage, mimicking Lina, letting out a sowhat flippant laugh.
"Yes, just a little fun… I didn't know Batman would care about this kind of thing—you wouldn't break my arm for this, would you? It's just a joke."
It might not have been Theodore's imagination, but after he said the word "joke," the atmosphere in the alley seed to solidify like liquid nitrogen.
The woman beside him suddenly elbowed his ribs under the cover of the school uniform.
"..."
Oh, damn it, joke, joke.
He said the wrong thing.
Just as the physiological rigidity was about to spread throughout Theodore's body, the figure at the alley entrance disappeared as abruptly as he had arrived.
Theodore let out a long sigh of relief.
Lina, however, gave a soft hum, reached out from under the school uniform, and tossed a clattering soda can into the trash can at the alley entrance.
"Impressive, I thought it was a gun—an empty beer can? You used this to rob soone?"
The boy seed not to have recovered from the shock of encountering Batman.
He explained dryly, as if reciting from a book: "The human waist is sensitive to touch, but its ability to distinguish details is poor."
So, if you want to find an excuse to punish soone, you can write words on their lower back and have them guess the strokes.
For those without special training, this thod works every ti.
Guaranteed that after one "ga," you'll still owe over three hundred lashes.
Lina didn't catch Theodore's hidden aning; she raised her eyebrows, staring at his masked face.
"Alright, then you guess, will I still help you with this favor?"
The young man closed his eyes in irritation.
He looked at the alley entrance and muttered under his breath, gritting his teeth, "ddling fellow."
Lina giggled.
As if understanding the teasing in her laughter, the boy awkwardly added, "...I hate bats."
"Oh, really? That's quite surprising."
The young man stretched the corners of his eyes, pulled the school uniform off Lina's shoulder, and turned to leave.
"Wait, are you going to find others? They might not be as willing to help you with this as I am."
His footsteps hesitated and stopped.
Lina: "Just so you know, at this hour of the night, no one is on duty, the call will only be saved in the voicemail, and the people at the Children's Protection Association might not even listen, right?"
Theodore said stiffly, "At least I tried."
Finding an outsider of the opposite gender, with no prior connection, far older than a high schooler, and whose profession was completely different from a student, to make this call.
This approach was indeed safe, but also highly uncertain.
If he couldn't do a fake voice himself, Theodore wouldn't have wanted to involve an outsider at all.
—Wouldn't it be more discreet if he wore a wig, dressed in won's clothes, and made the call himself?
Lina laughed again.
"So, it's better to send a letter, at least they'll read letters during the day. I know a reliable channel that can send an anonymous letter for you."
The young man scrutinized her, as if assessing Lina's current mood and the truthfulness of her words.
After a mont, as if confirming she was "trustworthy," the boy pulled out so change from his pocket and gave it to her.
"Paynt for the middleman."
Then, the two of them stayed in the alley, waiting for Theodore to uncap his pen and finish writing an anonymous report letter.
Lina: "You're not from Gotham?"
Theodore: "Just arrived recently."
"I knew it." Lina nodded, "Your way of doing things is not Gotham at all."
She looked at Theodore's current actions: the boy was awkwardly writing a long string of illegible words with his left hand.
"However, this kind of ticulousness in small details is very Gotham."
Once the letter was written, Theodore covered the white paper and put it in his in my arms. The woman led the way in front of him, and suddenly, as if rembering sothing, she returned two-thirds of the money she had received.
"Here, the middleman doesn't need this much paynt."
"You should still take it." Theodore did not reach out to take it, "Consider it compensation for my fright, and for delaying your… business tonight."
"What kind of business, it's my first day, not only did I not make a sale, but I also ended up with a little boy."
Lina rolled her eyes dramatically: "Forget it, I'm quitting, I'll go find a job as a bartender tomorrow."
Theodore looked at her with a bit of shock.
Lina laughed light-heartedly again.
"They say this job makes quick money—my mother, an irredeemable drug addict, shared needles with others and contracted a blood disease, needing a large sum for dical expenses. Anyway, you know, similar things happen every day in Gotham."
"I had no choice but to put on the shortest clothes I had, find the dirtiest alley, and wait for soone to co find , while also hoping no one would co."
"And then, I waited for you."
Lina pretended to shake her head, but Theodore didn't miss the two glistening drops that flicked from her eyes.
Oh, it must be that the distance of not knowing each other was too safe, and the state of each hiding a full heart of worries was too peaceful, that she would pour out her accumulated emotions to a child at least ten years younger than her.
"So I thought, forget it, I'm already so unlucky, business won't be good anyway, might as well get a regular job and earn a fixed salary."
"And then, maybe one day, just like you happened to see Tim, soone will happen to see too."
Lina wiped the corner of her eye and smiled brightly at Theodore.
"Life isn't always that bad, right?"
In the Batcave, Batman took off his cowl.
Behind him, Robin was changing out of his uniform when he suddenly heard a shocking piece of news.
"I saw Theodore Green."
"Who—oh, Theodore."
Tim reacted, swiftly changed his shorts, and approached Batman.
"So, what do you think, does my judgnt make sense? Does he look more like Superman, or the other person we all know?"
Batman pondered for a mont.
"Neither looks very similar."
"How can that be?" Tim was a bit confused, "Speaking of which, why was he out so late? What was he doing when you found him?"
"..."
After a brief, abyssal silence, Batman coldly uttered a single word.
"Soliciting."
"..."
In the Batcave, the world's first and second detectives looked at each other, speechless.
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