Chapter Text
“The Batcave?” Stephanie read aloud, eyebrow arching as the plastic LED sign flickered weakly above a narrow storefront wedged between a laundromat and an acupuncture clinic.
“It’s not what it sounds like,” Tim said quickly, shoving his hands deeper into his hoodie pocket. “It’s a board game shop. A really good one.”
A tall man in leather jacket and biker boots, eyes scanning the storefront like he was measuring threats. “If this ends in Settlers of Catan, I’m walking.”
Stephanie crossed her arms. “You dragged your girlfriend and five other people here… for a game?”
“It’ll be fun. Weekly game night. Friends bonding,” Tim said, voice pitching up hopefully. “Come on, Steph.”
She snorted. “Are we even all friends? I mean, Cass and I, are besties, but the rest of this group?”
Her gaze slid to the biker, his expression like he’d been promised a bar and got a dentist instead. She instinctively edged Cassandra a step away from him.
“You already know Jason,” Tim said nodding at the biker.
The sceptical twist of Stephanie’s mouth said otherwise, she couldn’t imagine how he thought that she knew a man like him.
“This is Dick,” Tim went on, nodding to the broad-shouldered man standing beside Jason. “The three of us go to the same gym. And his plus one—”
“The plus one has a name,” said the redhead next to Dick. “Barbara.” Her tone was polite but gave Stephanie a teacher or librarian vibe, enough for her to immediately straighten up.
Dick squinted up at the sign. “She’s not wrong to be suspicious. The place has history, and is questionable.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed. “You knew this place existed?”
“Yeah. Heard it being brought up couple of times, during various investigations. Never went in, though.”
“Investigations?” Stephanie asked.
“I’m a cop,” Dick said simply.
Stephanie’s shoulders stiffened before she managed an awkward, “Cool. Love authority figures.”
“Remember that old guy, Wayne?” Dick said, pointing toward the door. “He owns this place.”
“The recluse?” Stephanie wrinkled her nose. “Wasn’t there a rumour that he’s a—”
“He’s not a paedophile,” Tim cut in fast. “He’s just… weird.”
Jason sighed, already over it. “Let’s get this over with.” He yanked open the glass door; a tiny bell jingled overhead.
“Mister Wayne?” Tim called into the dim interior. No answer. He stepped inside anyway. “We’re coming in.”
“Where’s Wayne?” Dick muttered. “No one’s watching the place?”
Inside, the shop smelled of old cardboard and enthusiasm. From the outside, it had looked like a cramped little hole in the wall, but once they stepped past the door, the space seemed to stretch much farther back than it should. Narrow aisles gave way to an unexpectedly deep room, the shelves packed high with boxes of board and card games, some still shrink-wrapped, others clearly well-loved. A pair of flickering arcade machines buzzed in the far corner like they’d been there since the ’80s.
Cassandra made an act to pinch her nose and scrunched her face.
“Funny, Cass, it doesn’t smell like real bats,” Tim laughed. “No real bats. No guano. I promise.”
“Ooh,” Barbara said, drifting toward the wall of neatly organised shelves. “They’ve got Gloomhaven, and the original Arkham Horror.”
“And look, arcade machines,” Dick said, eyes lighting up. “Holy nostalgia.”
“Pick something,” Tim said, heading to the board game section. “First game night deserves a classic.”
Jason nudged Cassandra lightly. “Cass, go pick something quick.”
Stephanie’s eyes narrowed as she watched Jason. The way he leaned in, casually hooking an arm over Cassandra’s shoulder, set off two equally troubling alarms in her head; that they’re either dating, or he’s a creep.
Jason caught her staring, and offered the explanation, “Relax, I’m her brother.”
Stephanie gave Cassandra a side-eye. “You never mentioned that.”
Cassandra just shrugged.
Barbara was still studying the shelves, adjusting her glasses. “You better not pick anything that takes five hours.”
Jason snorted. “Please, Cass has the attention span of a goldfish, we’ll be done in two.”
Cassandra tilted her head, a faint squint hinting she considered elbowing him, but decided a slow, deliberate step on his foot was enough for now.
In the end, it was Barbara who plucked a game box off the shelf instead, and read aloud: “Batman and Gotham. That’s... oddly appropriate.”
“Ooooh, I’ve heard of that one!” Dick said, perking up. “It’s based on an old comic book series. Crime, investigation, villains, mystery...”
Jason made a dramatic swing with an invisible bat. “Cool. I call Bat Man.”
Cassandra silently mimed little bat ears with her fingers.
“Yeah, Cass,” Steph said, grinning. “That’s definitely cat ears.”
“You can’t just call Batman!” Tim protested, taking the box from Barbara. He opened it and pulled out an inch-thick rulebook. “I remember it says the role of Batman has to be earned by the highest mental fortitude or—”
While the boys argued over the finer details, Cass tugged on Stephanie’s sleeve, pointing at a teapot and six teacups on a nearby table. Steam visibly rose from the spout.
“Since when… has that been here?” Stephanie muttered.
Cass started for the table, but Stephanie stopped her. “Hold on, you shouldn’t drink from an unknown source.”
“Your friend’s right, Cass,” Dick said apologetically, stepping between her and the teapot. "We don't know what's in that pot." Her shoulders slumped, a small pout forming on her lips as she looked longingly at the steaming teapot.
Heading back, they found Tim and the others still discussing how to determine who would be Batman.
Dick, ever cheerful, raised his hands. “Okay, okay, let’s settle this the old-fashioned way. Everyone draw a Role Card.”
He inspected the opened box on the table, which contained various cards held together by mismatched rubber bands, and colourful plastic meeples that clearly didn’t belong to the game. He then produced a deck of what he determined to be the Role Cards and began shuffling them with exaggerated flair, like a magician preparing for the world’s nerdiest trick. Tim resisted the urge to reach for the rulebook.
A moment of quiet tension passed before the table exploded into pre-game chaos. Hands darted forward, and cards were drawn with a hushed intensity. Tim squinted at the card in his hand, his brow furrowed in concentration. Stephanie snickered, a sly smirk on her face as she looked at her own card, and Jason simply smirked, a knowing gleam in his eye.
With the roles claimed; tokens and additional cards were distributed in a controlled flurry. Within minutes, each player had staked out their corner of the board.
Dick took on the role of Nightwing, and immediately began colour-coding his resource tokens like he was preparing for a long game.
Jason somehow miraculously ended up with the Batman card, just as he’d wanted.
Tim drew Robin and clutched the rulebook like a sacred text, double-checking everyone’s starting resources.
Barbara settled in as Oracle, her pieces arranged with the quiet precision of a chess grandmaster, confident she could win without even lifting a finger.
Cassandra claimed Batgirl without a word, studied her cards in silence before setting them face-down.
And Stephanie, thrilled to be Spoiler, placed her tokens across her play area with theatrical purpose like she knew what she was doing, even though they really accomplished absolutely nothing.
About twenty rounds in, Jason had transformed Crime Alley into a mini military state enforced by Bat tokens. Tim brokered alliances between various criminal factions like a diplomat. Barbara subtly manipulated the flow of Information tokens without anyone fully realising it. Stephanie waged psychological warfare, and kept swapping Dick’s Bat tokens with Crime tokens from the discard pile, sabotaging his objectives and laughing maniacally every time he realised he’d been one step behind.
“Checkmate, I’ve solved three Riddler cards,” Cassandra said, speaking up for the first time that night.
The entire table froze.
“You can’t checkmate in this game!” Tim sputtered, flipping frantically through the rulebook.
All eyes swiveled to her corner of the board as Cassandra flipped over a card she’d been holding face-down, which read: “Lady Shiva: If you solved three Riddler cards, you win the game immediately.”
Stephanie watched, aghast, as Cassandra brought a teacup to her lips and took a slow, blissful sip. Stephanie's jaw dropped. "Since when?" she sputtered. "How did I not see you get that?"
“Dang, Cass,” Jason blinked. “You’ve been... actually playing?”
Tim stared, slack-jawed. “You’ve been playing the hidden role this whole time?”
Dick burst out laughing. “I love this game.”
Jason groaned and slumped in his seat. “I knew we should’ve played Monopoly. At least there, I can buy Park Place, and crush you all the honest way.”
“Next week,” Tim announced, folding up the rulebook, “we’re doing co-op D&D. No secret roles allowed.”
END?