When you call to tell me that there is a man dressed up like a bat, beating the living crap out of people, the first thing you would do, is put the call on hold, laugh heartily for the next five minutes, then put you back on the call and reply, "I'll see what I can do."

Only when you start looking at the evidence that Gotham PD sends you, you realize that those five minutes of laughter was most unadvised.

So, what happens when you call up the century's greatest detective, tell him about a bat vigilante, running amuck and beating up criminals?

The city has a reputation of being the center of crime. I have been called a few times to help the cops out, but the last time Watari went there, he came back naked but for his brief, claiming that he was mugged by the security guard outside the police department HQ. Gotham is the symbol of corruption and disorder, so it wouldn't really bother me if there was a man in clown make up who went about blowing up hospitals and ferries and what not.

It wouldn't bother me that this bat vigilante – the people call him the Batman – is actually doing good for those in that city, because in a garbage dump, an unclean shirt is definitely the purest thing you can find.

I've collaborated with Jim Gordon before he was transferred to Gotham. Just once. This was much, much before I was proclaimed to be the century's greatest detective and before Interpol had provided me with a separate protocol for all the other agents to follow. This was much, much, much before BB even went rampant in LA.

I bet there are already people who collaborate with the Batman. From what I know of Gordon, I bet he's helping him out too. The Major Crimes Unit has been on their tail for what, 12 years? And they haven't come up with anything substantial.

But the mobs were all caught. Mob banks were closed. Just seconds after they were hit by the Batman. Gordon is a hero. But the Mayor doesn't like him, and he wants me, personally to head an investigation against the Batman, without Gordon's knowledge. When I asked him why, he just chuckled, and said, "I promised my voters that I would do so."

I hate Gotham City.

I hate the Mayor.

I think it is my job to hate the Batman as well.

Personally, there is a lot of reports about the Bat vigilante. I'll just call him the Batman for the sake of simplicity. I don't need any evidence. The media speaks plenty. The most important detail that would help me find the Batman will actually be his absence from crime for almost 8 years. 8 years since the man in the clown makeup, also referred to as the Joker, destroyed Gotham city, 8 years since the city's DA, Harvey Dent had been killed by the Batman. I'm very touchy about this piece of information – about Dent, I mean – but yet, there was another person of interest who died. Rachel Dawes, who was the Assistant to the DA, and was also the DA's girlfriend. Few days before he died, Rachel Dawes was a tied in an abandoned building, and was made to explode, by the Joker. Rachel Dawes is also known to be the childhood sweet heart of Bruce Wayne, the billionaire prince of Gotham. Bruce Wayne also went into the shadows after Dawes died.

A lot of people went into the shadows after the Joker incident.

But it seems only suspicious that the Batman and Wayne went into hiding around the same time.

That's not the only piece of information that's tying these two together.

To become a hero that doesn't have any super powers (like the other guy in Metropolis, but people don't really worry about) it requires resources. A lot of resources. One of the key ingredients required to stop all the mobs running about in Gotham was the issuance of irradiated bills. While it's possible for several agencies to cooperate with the MCU to mark such currency to track the money that flows through the mobs, it's more likely that the Batman is behind this. Gordon was the one behind the entire arrest of the mobs, and I already think that Gordon is Batman's accomplice. It cannot be a coincidence. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the Batman comes from a lot of money.

It was right around the time when I made that connection that Watari called.

"Yes, Watari."

The screen flickered with the grey background and the black W in the type face of Cloister Black.

"The Interpol is asking for our status on the Todesgott case."

"Tell them the case is currently on hold. I've been working on the case for far too long. I'm doing something else now."

"I'll see what I can do."

"To quieten them?"

"To keep them glued to their seats, arguing like old politicians."

"As usual."

After that conversation, I continued focusing on the case files. Wayne is without a doubt, the most important suspect in the Batman case.

I had a few questions that were troubling me at the time. Why did he return after a break of 8 years? And just who is his new sidekick that people refer to as, the Robin?

16 weeks later

When you enter the Gotham airspace from a plane, and especially if you have an executive class ticket, you get a clear view of the Gotham skyline. It fools all the rich yet innocent souls on the aircraft into thinking that the city is civilized. Only a select few know what truly lies beneath the skyscrapers glimmering against the morning sun.

The darkness that awaits them once the plane lands. The city, infested with criminals and mobsters, living in fear of a Bat, waiting to strike them at any moment, is still recovering from the horrors of the Joker. It's been 9 years. The improvement has been exceedingly slow.

The 8 year gap allowed legitimate capturing of criminals under the Harvey Dent act, but it also allowed darker, deeper criminals hiding away behind digital accounts and swiss banks. The kind that the Batman would have stopped in 8 years. His return after 9 years hasn't been approved by the public. They all hate him. For killing Harvey Dent. Which I think is wrong.

I checked into the hotel later that afternoon. It was right in the middle of Gotham. It was owned by Wayne Enterprises. Oh, the irony.

At this point of time in my life, my setup was a bit different. I chose the smallest of hotel rooms because back then I was claustrophilic, if I can make up such a word. I had three monitors, with the central one the biggest of them all. Single CPU and one microphone, and headphones. I didn't trust the sound proofing of the walls in hotels. Especially not here. Not in Gotham.

10 weeks after arriving at Gotham.

I had a meeting with Bruce Wayne that day. I was looking forward to it.

It was an online call. I wasn't too sure whether I wanted to show my face to man who might be bordering on mania. Watari had been talking to his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, for a very long time, trying to get an appointment. We finally got one, and today's the day I met the Batman.

"Mr Wayne. Can you hear me?"

"I think your webcam is dysfunctional," the voice from the headphone said.

The man was charming. He wore a dark suit, but had a tinge of blue. He looked like he exercised a lot. Characteristic of a madman beating people up.

"I don't have one. I don't intend to show you my face, Mr Wayne."

"You don't trust me, do you?" he smiled.

"Force of habit. I don't trust anyone."

"We have something in common, then."

"If you say so."

"What did you want to talk about?"

I knew he was trying to find out where I lived, or where I was communicating from. Fortunately, I know enough python to reroute my internet through four proxies and two virtual private networks. There's no way he can find out where I am. If he really tried, he would end up taking a vacation to Stockholm, Sweden.

Or so I thought.

I asked him a lot of questions about the Joker incident, as to what he was doing about it, etc. I asked him what he thought about Batman's disappearance, and he suggested that he disappeared after killing Dent. I slowly then brought up the topic of Dawes and he explained that she was a childhood friend, a symbol of support ever since his parents died.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's okay. I'm a lot better now. I've decided to move on, and try and explore other opportunities in life."

"Even though you head a billion dollar corporation."

"I merely own it, detective L. If you want to know about Wayne Enterprises, you must talk to Lucius Fox."

"Thank you. You were talking about opportunities in life."

"Ah, yes I was. I adopted a teenage boy from an orphanage."

"Tell me about him."

The conversation lasted another 15 minutes. He had a teenage son. His name was Dick Grayson. His parents were also murdered in front of his eyes. But by the mafia. And he was a part of a circus troupe.

I can't prove that they are indeed Batman and Robin, but every single piece of evidence points towards that conclusion. I need substantial proof, not circumstantial evidence.

2 weeks later

"Are all the agents in position?" I said over the microphone. "Status report."

"P and Q groups are in position. Sharpshooters are set. We're A-Okay, L," replied the headphone.

I bit my lip, as I knew what was going to happen. All these people were about to intercept the Batman. And possibly, Robin as well. But looking at the past events, the odds are against me. But this is my only chance. If I don't do it, then I need to fall back to another plan, a plan that I don't like at all.

This plan works solely because of my assumption that the Batman is indeed Bruce Wayne. If he isn't, then this plan wouldn't work. At all. But it also helps me a lot, because elimination of clues is as good as finding new clues. When there are too many clues, it's difficult to see which one is true and which one is not. Especially in the case of Batman. His theatricality is extremely misleading. The media has a field day every day, making most of the reports just a little biased.

But this is a case that requires a lot precision. Surgical precision.

"P24 reporting in. Movements in sector 20." Said the headphone.

"P23 here. I have vision."

"Q11 here. Can I go ahead and capture the target?"

"No, wait. Hold on," I said. I heard some mild mutters and curse words.

I waited patiently. The monitor in front of me showed a radar map of all people who were present in the entire one acre area that was under surveillance.

"P9 here. Target is moving into my field of vis_ Never mind."

"Q22. I see him."

"P99."

"Everyone shut up and just observe. You don't have to do anything else."

Batman clearly has some kind of radiation emitter that prevents him from falling into the radar. But that's not the point of the mission. These people who are observing, they're helping me predict the path of the vigilante. It should work.

The computer has now learned the path of Batman and now is predicting a path which would be followed by Batman. But I need to make sure that this is the path that he is going to follow.

"Q23."

"P51."

Alright, the program works.

I pressed the microphone, and said, "P75, fire in three…"

I wait as the path enters P75's grid.

"…two…"

He's in.

"…one."

I hear a gunshot, and then I yell, "Status report, now! Just give me your ID that's all."

"P22!"

"Q87!"

"SS33."

The computer algorithm rewrites the path and now I know how Batman behaves in times of distress.

But now the path took a detour. The dot on the screen was heading towards the place where I was hiding myself. I had to stay close to the rendezvous site so that the cops could get the signal right. That put me at risk. It did put me at risk.

The window exploded as a dark figure rose from the shadows of my dark room. I removed my headphone that was still yelling out random commands.

"Batman," I said, standing up.

"Detective L," Batman said. "I didn't expect you to come after me."

"I don't want to arrest you. Trust me."

"I do. I know how you choose your cases. A million dollars lost, or a serial killer dead. But if you stop me, you're against Justice. This very act of trying to stop me, this very act of finding out who I am because one mayor couldn't satisfy his curiosity."

"I see."

"But you have talent. You have the intellectual capacity to do," he paused to smile, "anything, including capture me. You have shown remarkable deductive powers. I've had a couple of close shaves from your investigative officer. Watari, I think his name was. Your powers of deduction, they almost exceed mine. It's sad that you want to act against justice."

"You might be the world's greatest detective. But you're wrong. I'm not doing this for justice. Figuring out difficult cases is my hobby. If you measured good and evil deeds by current laws, I would be responsible for many crimes. That's why I only take on cases that pique my interest. It's not justice at all. And if it means being able to clear a case, I don't play fair, I'm a dishonest, cheating human being who hates losing." L took a pause. "Including using the name Rachel Dawes to root you out."

Batman stopped smiling at the point. He looked away for one minute.

The out of nowhere he jump kicked me and I flew to the end of the room and crashed. He stepped over, crushing the headphones in the process, lifted me, and yelled to my face.

"HOW DARE YOU USE RACHEL LIKE THAT?" and proceeded to punch me over and over again.

At one point of time, his arm had a small lag, and I took the opportunity to duck spin and kick him in the face. It knocked the mask off of his face, and it fell somewhere near another window.

"Bruce." I smiled. He wiped the blood of his cheek. He then smiled. He looked more serene. That only worried me more. I hoped it didn't show.

"Bruce Wayne."

"L Lawliet."

Two-sevenths of a week later

"I wanted to thank Gotham PD for helping me capture the vigilante known as the Batman. Although it wasn't entirely successful, I have learned a lot of things about myself today. I wish I knew what he hides behind that mask. If I knew, I would tell you. But I don't. Unfortunately."

There was an applause. I could only hear it over the speaker. The large projector-screen back in Gotham PD HQ, there was the usual letter L over the grey background.

In about an hour, I was leaving to the airport. My passport clears me of all security checks, but then as I approached the boarding area, a familiar face stopped.

"Wayne."

"L."

He came over and gave me a hug. I squirmed under his large embrace. I'm not a hugger. Maybe I need to become one. Maybe it doesn't matter.

He whispered into my ear. "You're the most amazing detective I have ever seen. If people call me the World's Greatest Detective, then..." He patted my back and held me at an arm's length. I noticed a paparazzi guy taking a photograph of us. "…then they're wrong. You are the world's greatest detective."

I smiled. I looked up at him from my hunched position. "I'm not. I'm the world's greatest puzzle solver. I just happened to be a detective."

A/N: I'm extremely sorry if Batman seemed slightly out of character. Please review!