Chapter 8: you can't be my boyfriend and my boss! pick a struggleNotes:oh lord, it's a flashback chapter.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text"Hey there, Boy Wonder!" Steph waved as she ran up to where Robin was sitting on a gargoyle. He was probably on a stake-out or something, or maybe it was just a lunch break (night lunch?)
Robin finished chewing his fries before responding, he had rich boy manners, "Hey Steph, what's up?" He gave her some of his fries as she sat next to him. She promptly grabbed and ate a handful.
"I've been looking for you! Where've you been?" Steph hadn't seen him in almost a month, it had sucked. She didn't exactly have many people to talk to… except for her mom, although her mom wasn't currently capable of holding a conversation- not one she'd remember. That was exactly what had prompted Steph to get out of the house, and if she was gonna be out at night she might as well punch some bad guys.
Robin frowned, "Batman and I were working a case. It took longer than expected."
"No duh!" Steph exclaimed, "Come on! You oughta give me some details, considering you didn't even tell me you were going." She already knew how this conversation was going to end, she was sure Rob did too.
He sighed, "Steph, you know I can't talk about this stuff."
"Oh, of course! I mean, I haven't exactly seen many examples of healthy relationships- but I'm sure this is how they work!?" Steph stood abruptly, throwing a few fries in the air for dramatic effect.
"Steph, it's not like-"
She cut him off, "No, no, it's fine- let's talk about something else. I'll trade you my social security number for your favorite color!" Dammit Steph, just shut up. Robin's the only decent guy she knows, maybe she should just suck it up. Who cares if she doesn't know her boyfriend's name? Or the color of his eyes, or if he's got a real girlfriend that he hangs out with during the day, or much of anything at all.
Robin gently grabbed her hands, she hoped he didn't notice how she flinched. "I'm sorry Steph, I really didn't think I'd be gone so long." He smiled, "And my favorite color is blue."
Steph let out a huff of laughter, "Blue? Really?" She'd always assumed it was red or green, maybe yellow.
Robin let go of one of her hands, gesturing as he spoke "Oh yeah! All the cool heroes wear blue. Blue Beetle, Superman, Wonder Woman's got some blue." He was grinning now.
"No Batman though."
"I said cool heroes!" That made Steph snort, which would normally embarrass her but for some reason she could never bring herself to be embarrassed around him.
"Careful, he could be lurking in the shadows." She warned, before using her free hand to flip the bird at the nearest dark corner. "Fuck off B-Man!"
Robin laughed, "I'm not part of this!" he shouted towards the offending darkness before whispering to her, "I don't want him to take away my batplane privileges."
"And you're sure he's not your dad?" Steph teased.
Robin balked, "Not in a million years. I have to make him drink water!"
*BEEP*
An alarm sounded from Robin's wrist, he jumped to his feet. "That's them," He said, probably to himself. "Stay here- I'll be back."
"Are you kidding me? Y'know, I didn't put this on for date-night." She gestured to her Spoiler costume.
"I don't have time to explain the details- but this is above your paygrade. I'll be right back and we'll go stop some robbers or something."
"And let you do all the cool stuff, no chance!" How was she ever supposed to get better at this stuff if no one let her try? And honestly, Steph was itching for a fight.
"This isn't a game Steph, people's lives are on the line." He had his serious face on, it would be cute if he wasn't lecturing her.
*BEEP*
Another alarm, Robin looked at her one last time. "Please, stay here." Then he jumped off the roof, vanishing from view.
Steph watched the building Robin had slipped into. He was just looking out for her, it was sweet. Contrary to popular belief, she was capable of being patient.
…
…
Nevermind. The Spoiler leaped off the building, following the path Robin had taken… maybe three minutes prior? It took her some more effort considering she was working with a rope tied to a hook, maybe Robin would get her one of those fancy grapple guns for valentines, or their anniversary. She'd know his name by then, if they made it that far… she really hoped they would.
---
Cobblepot sent his men to negotiate with the Maroni's about a turf dispute, it should have been a nonviolent affair, but the Maroni Crime Family had been on the verge of collapse since before Tim could count past 100. One of their lieutenants had been paid off by Two-Face to sabotage the meeting, the plan was to spark a feud that would not only cripple Penguin but finally put the nail in the coffin for the Maroni's. Then Harvey could clean up the remains of both sides and claim the land for himself.
Tim needed to be careful, if a single gangster from either side left this building without cuffs, there would be war. He felt bad about leaving Steph behind, but she just wasn't cut out for this kind of mission- she had good instincts as a fighter, but planning and precision were far from her biggest strengths. He'd have to explain after he handled this. Steph would understand, she may be hot-headed at times, but she was smart.
From where he was perched in the rafters, Tim counted fifteen men in the room. Seven Maroni's and eight of Penguin's cronies. All of them were armed. Six of them were positioned where Tim could take them down without alerting the one's negotiating, that would leave him with a one-on-nine fight, but he'd have the jump on them. Robin liked those odds.
Robin used his grapple to hoist one man into the rafter by the ankle, he was caught off guard and got clonked in the head before he could react, he went limp. The man's buddy turned to see he was missing and was promptly hit in the temple with a batarang, he fell to the floor with a soft *thunk.* That drew the attention of the next nearest gun, while he was investigating the noise, Robin dropped silently behind him knocking him out and dragging him into the shadows.
Three down. The next three targets were positioned around the corner, he'd use a similar strategy to take them down. Returning to the rafters, Robin crept over to his next position,
*BLAM!!!*
A blur of purple crashed through the door, barreling straight into Penguin's lead negotiator. Steph got to her feet before the men could react, grabbing the nearest one by the head and slamming him into the table, hard. That left seven men at the table to point their guns at Steph, and three more running towards the commotion. "Uh… I was just looking for the bathroom?" Steph raised her hands innocently, despite having just knocked out two men- one of whom may have been seriously injured.
Tim switched on his thermal view, dropping a smoke bomb at Steph's feet. Thankfully, she took the hint, diving through the smoke just as a gun was fired where she had been. New plan, keep his girlfriend bullet-free.
---
Steph's ears were filled with the sound of bullets hitting walls aimlessly. She had rolled under the table as soon as the smoke grenade had gone off, Robin was here somewhere- if she could just find him then they could take down these jerks easily. Problem was she couldn't see a damn thing through this smoke.
She heard a thud next to her and lunged, pulling the legs out from under whoever this was. Steph scrambled to pin the guy as soon as he hit the ground, and… "Oh… uh, you come here often?" Robin did not look pleased, his ears did turn blush pink though so he couldn't be that mad.
"Not the time." He rolled out from under her stood and smacked a guy with his bo staff in one motion. Cool. Steph scrambled up after him, "Watch your six!"
Steph spun around, slamming her elbow straight into the jaw of an approaching goon. "Watch where you're going creep!"
Steph stood back to back with Robin, throwing punches wherever he said there was someone to be punched. When the smoke dissipated, there was a pile of unconscious men in suits at their feet- and Steph's knuckles stung a bit, maybe she should try and punch softer? Or maybe these guys just had especially thick skulls.
"Well, I think that went well!" She chirped, but Robin was silent. Uh-oh. "Uh… Rob? Ya still wanna go find some robbers or…?"
He shook his head, aw shit, she'd really messed up hadn't she? "What were you thinking!?" He finally spoke.
"Uhm, during which part?" She replied sheepishly, the truth was she wasn't sure exactly what she'd been thinking. She was still a little pissed at him for disappearing, for not trusting her. She realized now that this probably hadn't helped her case. Robin crouched by the man Steph had hit against the table, there was a decent amount of blood but that was normal for head wounds. "Is he…?"
Robin stood, he looked upset but relieved. "Alive? Yeah. He'll be okay as long as he gets medical attention soon, we got lucky." Personally, Steph thought that this had a lot more to do with the not-dead guy's luck than hers, but she knew better than to say anything. "I told you to stay put!"
"One, you're not in charge of me. And two! Everything turned out fine, so what's the big deal?" So what if one guy got a little hurt, he was a criminal- and Robin had just said he'd be fine! In the end the good guys won and no innocent people got hurt.
"The big deal is that everything could have very easily not been fine! You showed up throwing punches without having a clue what you were walking into! What if you'd gotten hurt, or what if you'd seriously injured someone? You don't even know who that guy is, and you're ready to risk killing him cause he's probably the bad guy?" Robin explained. Okay… well when you put it like that it sounds bad.
"I wasn't trying to kill him!" Steph paused, "He is a bad guy, right?" He was wearing a fedora and a pin-stripe suit… that's like, standard bad guy fashion.
"He's a Maroni."
"See! So it's whatever, he's probably killed people."
Robin's hands were clenched into fists when he spoke, "That's not the point and you know it. We don't use lethal force, no matter what. There were a million other options and you chose head trauma." Maybe there were other options, but a million was a total exaggeration. And she didn't mean her force to be lethal, she just wanted to knock the dude out. Which is exactly what happened! No harm, no foul.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry- hey! Where are you going?" Robin was walking towards the exit.
"I have some stuff to take care of. Don't come looking for me- I'll find you later." Robin spoke somberly.
Steph's heart sank. "How long is later?"
Robin sighed, "I don't know. Just… later. Try and stay out of trouble? Just for a little while?" With that he left.
Steph stood in the room, alone with her thoughts and however many unconscious crooks. She knew Robin meant it when he said he'd find her later, but she couldn't help but feel like she'd just been dumped.
Notes:sorry this chapter took so long, i'm a busy gal! but! i really like how this one turned out, i'm planning for the next few chapters to alternate between the "present" and flashback chapters to different times.
also if you can't tell, i'm a big fan of how Tim and Steph act as foils and almost switch places in a lot of ways as they grow.
Chapter 9: why can't anything be easy?Notes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextStakeouts were so boring, Steph usually tried to avoid them. Tragically, this time, she'd been unable to justify her preferred approach to crime-fighting- break in, break stuff, celebrate with breakfast. There'd been a surge of kidnappings around Gotham Heights, Steph's old neighborhood, which Batgirl had been alerted of by an anonymous source (her Mother).
Steph had identified a suspicious vehicle that appeared on a lot of the security footage she'd gotten from Babs, and after some nifty (tedious) detective work… voila, she'd hopefully found herself right on top of the kidnappers HQ. Now, why would an operation in the Bowery be outsourcing their trafficking to the suburbs when it would be far less noticeable in the heavily-populated city? That was unclear, but Steph had her theories, and she sincerely hoped she was wrong.
So she sat, watching the "allegedly" abandoned warehouse for any activity. Every part of her wanted to run in and kick some ass, but Steph had done her due-diligence and this place had some alternative exits. If she came in tossing Batarangs, some of the crooks could slip away. They might even be able to move some of their victims out with them, and that would be a big no-no. So Steph would watch, and wait for an opportunity- if she had too she'd call Batman and Robin in to help her cover the exits.
*BANG!*
A gunshot rang out from the warehouse… that couldn't be good.
*BANG!*
Then another one, so much for subtlety. Steph swung over the warehouse, crashing through the skylight and landing in her best superhero-bat-crouch, only to find herself faced with Jason fucking Todd. Just her luck. The room was filled with panic, any goon brave enough not to run and hide from the Red Hood quickly changed their mind when Batgirl fell from the ceiling.
There were several of said brave goons knocked out, and two more who'd been shot- she wasn't sure if they'd been hit anywhere vital, and she didn't exactly have time to check. Steph flung a batarang towards Jason, knocking his pistol to the ground before he could shoot anyone else.
Hood's helmet turned to glare at her, "The fuck's that for?" He bent to pick up his gun, only for green goop to explode out of the batarang, sticking it to the ground. "OH COME ON!" He started to march towards her, but Steph cut him off.
"You can file an official complaint after we find the hostages."
The Red Hood sneered at her "Second floor, third room on the right." He vaguely pointed with his thumb. "We should divide and conquer, you wanna get the hostages or finish cleaning up the scumbags?"
Steph thought about it for a second, her gut said that she shouldn't let the crime lord handle the civilians… but that would mean he'd be handling the criminals instead, which maybe wouldn't be the end of the world…
She sighed, "You get the civilians." Whatever, she was fine with punching some jerks, and maybe she could find out who was running this ring while she did it.
She expected Jason to complain, he seemed like a fan of violence, but he seemed surprisingly happy with her choice. "I'll get them out- but then I got a few bones to pick with you Blondie." Oh joy, it really had been too long since Steph had a proper headache.
They split off, Jason running up the stairs while Steph headed after the fleeing criminals, she burst out the emergency exit to find them piling into a van. She put her head down, running as fast as she could after the escaping vehicle. While other bats might have her beat in general quickness, not many people could aimlessly sprint in a straight line like Stephanie Brown (she had been the star player of little league softball!) She veered towards a nearby shipping container, jumping as high as she could and kicking off the side, sending her sailing onto the roof of the van just before it could fully accelerate.
Steph crawled forward atop the speeding van and leaned over the side so she could knock on the driver side window- "Hey buddy! This clown car ain't got enough seat belts to go around, so why don't you just pull over and…" The driver panicked, swerving the van back and forth in an attempt to throw Steph off, "WHOA! So not cool!" She stuck a batarang through the roof of the van and held onto it for dear life.
Eventually the van stopped swerving, "Did I get her?" She heard from inside. The van may have stopped rocking back and forth, but it was still speeding, which is what made Steph's newest idea so terrible- but she really didn't feel like coming up with another one. Steph held onto her batarang-handle and lifted up into a handstand before swinging her legs down and crashing through the passenger window. "WHAT THE FUCK!" The guy riding shotgun yelled as Steph's boot connected with the driver's jaw. The men in the back yelled incoherently, but ultimately proved useless.
Steph threw an elbow to knock out the passenger and lunged to grab the wheel, unfortunately the high speed combined with the wild thrashing of the guys in the back caused the van to teeter. "STOP MOVING ASSHOLES!" Steph yelled to no avail, the van flipped over, and then it flipped a few more times before finally tumbling to a stop. Steph willed herself not to puke and punched through the drivers window, ungracefully flopping out of the van.
Getting to her feet, Steph saw a police car pull up on the van, and low and behold Detective Nicholas "St. Nick" Gage stepped out, pointing his gun at the van, "Step out of the vehicle with your hands up!" The back of the van opened, and the men tumbled out the back groaning. "Uh… You were all back there?"
Steph swung her arms, vaguely checking herself for injuries, she was probably fine. "Hey you!" She shouted, he looked up at her surprised. Ugh, he was cute, and 27 which was probably too old for her. Which was fine, dating never went well for her anyway.
"Hey Batgirl, care to fill me in on… this?" He gestured his gun at the pile of discombobulated crooks.
Steph laughed at the scene, "Well, long story short, these guys were running a trafficking ring. Taking people from Gotham Heights and bringing them to a warehouse in the Bowery. I'm not sure yet but I think they work for- for Black Mask." The name felt like venom on her tongue, she wanted to be wrong- but if it was Sionis then it could be that he was kidnapping people from the Heights to avoid Red Hood, that clearly hadn't worked but she assumed the idea was to avoid accidentally taking one of Jason's people. Mask and Hood had a pretty intense rivalry, which was one thing Steph actually liked about Jason- if he fucked up all Sionis' shit then Steph could keep her distance.
Nick had started cuffing the criminals, deciding to be helpful Steph grabbed her bat-zip-ties. "So…" she said awkwardly, "come here often?" That was a terrible line, she should really stop using it.
Nick laughed quietly, "Yeah actually, it's on my beat. You?"
Well, at least we're painfully bad at small talk together.
"Aw, come on. We could be talking about the weather." He joked.
Steph kicked herself mentally, "I wasn't supposed to say that out loud…" She kicked herself again, "Maybe I have a lot of deep insight about the weather and I've just been waiting for someone to ask."
When the last goon was cuffed, Gage radioed for backup to haul them off to jail, then he responded "Crazy weather we're having?"
Steph grinned, "No, not really." She waited for him to shake his head in response. When he looked back up she was gone- she loved doing that, it made her feel mysterious.
---
All the missing persons were accounted for and sent on their way, Jason had given a couple bucks to those who needed it for transportation- then he searched the rest of the warehouse and low and behold he found a stranded goon cowering under a desk.
"Looks like your buddies left ya, huh?" He asked spinning the chair he'd tied the goon to around.
"Please… please don't hurt me."
Jason grinned under his helmet, "Oh, you don't wanna get hurt? What about all those people you helped kidnap, huh? What did they want?" He pulled a knife out of his boot, waving it in a circle by the man's face. "So why don't we make a deal, you give me what I want- and then maybe I'll let you go."
"I- I can't he'll kill me!"
"News flash, your fucked either way, pal." Jason dragged the knife over the man's throat, just hard enough to draw blood. "What you gotta decide is whether you get a chance to run."
The warehouse doors opened behind them and Batgirl walked in. Huh, Jason had figured she wouldn't come back, of course he was planning on tracking her down after he dealt with this fucker.
The fucker saw her and yelled, "BATGIRL, thank god! You gotta help me!"
Batgirl looked between them with her hands on her hips, she made a big show of thinking. "Hmmmm… I don't know, help you how?"
Jason stifled a laugh as the man looked comically shocked. "He's… he's gonna kill me!"
Batgirl turned towards Jason, "Are you gonna kill him?"
"Depends. If he hands over the drive, then no."
Based on Batgirl's expression, he assumed she must not know about the drive.
"Well," she said, "sounds like you don't need saving then." Huh… interesting, Jason was confused but pleasantly surprised. Looks like bubble-gum batgirl had a mean streak after all… or one beyond having dropped him in a dumpster, which he was still pissed about.
"I can't give you- I don't have it, I swear!"
"Bullshit." Jason kicked him in the chest hard enough to send the chair crashing into the wall. "Last chance buddy, where is it?"
"He said he doesn't have it." Batgirl muttered so only Jason could hear her.
"He's lying, I know it." He seethed, Jason did his research. That drive has all of Black Masks' plans on it, including the log of people his crew had kidnapped- they would have to keep it here to update it. Jason was going to get those plans, then he was going to burn down what was left of Roman's backyard.
"And if you're wrong?"
"I'm not."
Jason must have done some damage with that kick- the man coughed up some blood before speaking. "I'm not telling you shit, Hood."
Jason pulled his gun and shot him in the leg in one motion. "FUCK!" This guy was gonna talk, one way or another. Jason took a step towards the chair before something whacked him in the back of the head and everything went dark.
Notes:i think this is my fav chapter i've written so far? i think that jason and steph's dynamic could be so interesting if DC weren't cowards- in a few more chapters things will get messyyyyyyyyy
Chapter 10: the audacity of this bitchNotes:short chapter! really short chapter!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter TextJason awoke to a dull ache in the back of his head, "urrgghhh" he groaned opening his eye just a crack. He was sprawled across a couch he'd never seen before. There didn't seem to be any immediate threats, so Jason sat up fully, examining the room- looked like he was in someone's apartment. On the table next to him was a bottle of water and an unopened bottle of painkillers, he ignored the water in case it was spiked, instead swallowing three pills dry.
"The label says you're only s'posed to take two of those." A voice came from behind him, Jason turned to see Stephanie Brown entering from what he assumed was her bedroom, she was wearing an oversized Foo Fighters shirt and boxers- had she been asleep? With The Red Hood in her apartment?
"You knocked me out." It wasn't a question, he just wanted some confirmation.
"...Yeah, I'm not sorry about it if that's what you're asking."
"And then you dragged my unconscious body all the way back to your apartment?" He asked, he was a bit in disbelief- Jason was twice her size, of course he now knew first hand that she was hardly weak, but still…
Steph cringed a bit, "Yeah… I might have dropped you a couple times, probably why you were out so long… aw man, I did not need to tell you that."
He chuckled, largely at the absurdity of the situation he found himself in. "Why?"
"Uh… well you're like what, 220-225?"
"No not that, I mean why'd you bring me here?" Jason had never spoken to her out of costume before, she seemed far less confident now.
Her arms were crossed no longer in stubborn defiance, but defensively. "Would ya rather me have left you in that warehouse? Sionis' cronies coulda come back while you were passed out."
"I was only passed out because you clocked me in the head!"
"Well duh, I didn't wanna feel responsible for you dying- I know some people that got that covered already." She rolled her eyes, moving her hands to her hips. And here he'd thought they were having a nice conversation.
"Wow, so you only helped me out for your own conscience? I'm offended Blondie." Jason stood, rounding the couch so he could face her properly.
Steph smiled brightly, she reminded him of a golden retriever, "Yup, sure did!" Her words did not fit her demeanor.
He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say now… aw well, might as well speak his mind. "Y'know, I'm not happy with you right now." That sounded a lot less lame in his head.
"Gasp!" She said, feigning shock. Jason couldn't decide if he thought she was funny or deeply aggravating, it was giving him whiplash. "Oh, whatever for?!"
Turns out when she wasn't fighting crime Stephanie Brown was a total dork, it reminded him of Dick when he wasn't being… well, a dick. "Fucking up my mission and knocking me out for starters, and I didn't forget about you dropping that fire escape on me either!"
"Damn… well if that upset you, then you're really gonna hate what else I did." She was smiling mischievously.
Before he could ask for elaboration, someone knocked on the door. "Oh, speak of the devil!" She skipped over to the door opening it. Jason froze, almost appalled at her audacity. Stephanie patted him on the shoulder laughing, "Well, your rides here. Bye-bye now!" She reentered her room, closing the door.
Jason blinked, looking back towards the entrance… "Bruce."
Bruce looked just as uncomfortable as Jason felt, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he hadn't been the only intended victim here.
"Jason" Bruce responded, "Let's go."
Jason glanced at Stephanie's now closed bedroom door, contemplating breaking it down and shooting her. He decided against it, defeatedly following Bruce out to his car.
When they got to the car, Jason found Damian sitting shotgun- which meant he had to sit in the back… whatever, made it easier to ignore Bruce. Though he wished Damian would stop laughing maniacally, he'd never seen the kid so happy- of course it would be someone else's suffering that made the gremlin finally experience joy.
Jason told Bruce where to drop him off, before staring out the window and shoving his hands in his pockets. Wait… there was something in his pocket? He took it out and- no fucking way.
It was the damned hard drive.
There was a note taped to it: I went ahead and decrypted this thing. Fuck him up. -S
Jason flipped the drive over in his hands in disbelief, then he stuffed it back in his pocket before Bruce or his demon spawn could see it.
What the hell was going on?!
Notes:she's unhinged your honor.
Chapter 11: im stealing my exes little brotherNotes:the reason im writing so much is because im stalling on school work, college sucks y'all
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Textyo dames! its been a while since ive seen u on the night shift
whats up?!!?
*message deleted*
???
Apologies, I have been busy as of late.
apologies?
did someone take ur phone
No, I wouldn't be so careless as to lose track of my own belongings.
right right
were hanging tn then, i want milkshakes
I am not sure that is a good idea.
huh??!!
y not!!!??!
Surely you are not slow enough to have forgotten what happened last time?
uhhhhh, catch me up
im pretty sure i didnt do anything
You didn't, it was my own mistake.
oh wait, u talking about the thing with the building???
What else could I be referring to? I understand if you would rather not see me under any high stakes circumstances.
dude dude dude, no
im pretty sure i forgave u for that
and it was like… ages ago!
ancient history, man!
You were injured? How can you just forgive me?
you at the manor rn?
Why?
kk, im coming over, gimme 20 mins
---
Wayne Manor, the grandest mansion in all of New Jersey with enough columns and buttresses to make Jay Gatsby cry. Steph personally found it quite gaudy, especially the golden W on the gate in front of her. She punched in the code and watched the W split in two as the gate swung open.
She rounded the final bend of Bruce Wayne's yellow brick road of a driveway, parking her motorcycle at the bottom of the stairs that lead to the manor's main entrance. Steph climbed the stairs two steps at a time and knocked.
The door swung open, Steph was surprised to see it was Bruce who answered. "Since when do you answer doors?" She asked, pushing past him into the house.
"Alfred is in London for the month." Bruce eyed her suspiciously, that may have something to do with her little… practical joke with Jason the other day. She had no regrets, it had been hilarious.
"Man, I miss London. That was so cool." Steph had only been once, Bruce had taken her for some Bat shenanigans. It was the only time she'd gone on an overseas mission, and while it was cool, Steph's heart was tied to Gotham.
"Hnn…" he grunted in acknowledgement, "I don't imagine you're here to ask for a plane ticket?" Bruce raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"You imagine right, boss man. I'm lookin' for your kid." She peered around for signs of Damian, he was probably in his room or the cave.
Bruce, for his part, looked confused. "Are you and Tim back together?"
"Ugh, what?"
"...Cassandra?"
"Bruce! No! You don't need to worry, I'm not dating any of your kids." She was pretty sure he was messing with her, this must be his version of revenge. "Where's Damian, I brought him a gift." She pulled the grocery bag she'd used as an impromptu gift bag out of her satchel, showing it to Bruce as evidence.
He nodded, walking off to find Damian for her. It had been months since they'd helped Tim with his mission- or… well, they definitely participated. How could she not have noticed Damian was still thinking about that? Of course he wouldn't just move on, for all his arrogance that kid could self-depricate with the best of them.
Steph waited on a stool in the kitchen until Damian appeared in the doorway, but he didn't fully enter. "Stephanie." He nodded his greeting.
"Hey kid, where'd your Dad go?"
"Father went out to the garden, he has been trying to find a hobby since Richard and Drake have strong-armed him into retirement. Gardening has been his latest… attempt." The way he spoke heavily implied that said attempt was far from a success.
"Alright, well. Here, this is for you." Steph tossed him the bag.
Damian caught it, but didn't look inside. "I was the one who made an error, you should hardly be getting me gifts." He was staring at his shoes in shame, ugh this was terrible- Damian had apologized more times today than he probably had in his whole life combined. Steph really wished he'd go back to the childish jabs and petty insults.
"It's not really a gift, just something I wanted you to have." She'd been thinking about this for a while, even before the whole building thing. The way Damian needed so badly for Bruce to be proud of him, for everyone to be proud of him, to accept him, it reminded her of The Spoiler- and that scared the shit out of her.
Damian reached into the bag, pulling out a purple book. "A diary? You want me to keep a diary?" He sounded offended, that made Steph laugh.
"No, no, it's mine. Or it was, I haven't written in it in years. I want you to have it." She'd found it when she was moving out of her Mom's house. Part of her had wanted to throw it away, but something told her she should hold on to it.
Damian furrowed his brow in thought, "Why would you want me to have your diary?"
She gestured for him to come sit, he did. "Remember what I told you, that we're not our worst moments?" He nodded silently. "Do you think I'm a terrible person, Damian?"
Damian blinked in surprise, "No?"
"Well, sometimes I do." Oh god, this was a lot of honesty for her.
"That's ridiculous. You're Batgirl, you help people."
"You help people, and you're Robin." She pointed out.
Damian looked like this was hurting him to talk about, Steph felt the same way- but she hoped this would be good for him in the long run. "That's different."
It wasn't different, not really. "How? Honestly, you probably help more people than I do."
"That's irrelevant, I was raised to be an assassin- to hurt people. Even when I'm trying not to, I still end up hurting people." He argued.
Steph could feel her heart break for him. "That's the thing though, you're trying. Despite everything you've been taught, you still try to do the right thing. And, yeah, sometimes things don't go the way you intended- sometimes you mess up and… and there are consequences." She took a deep breath. "You're better than me, Dames. When I was Spoiler, I really did mean well, but I was still doing it for all the wrong reasons- I got so lost, and I fucked up… really, really badly. I mean, you know this- about the war?"
"I'm familiar… I read your file- a lot of it had been deleted, which was… strange. Father never deletes files." Steph hadn't known that… she wasn't sure how she felt about it, but this wasn't about her.
"Okay, well. A lot of people got hurt. That's why I can't believe that we're our worst moments. Or I guess in my case, worst years. I started writing in that diary about a month before I became Spoiler, and it goes all the way up until right before the war." She'd reread the last entry recently- it was so full of anger, at Bruce, at the world. She could barely recognize herself in the words. She used to sound a whole lot like Jason had when he was interrogating Sionis' henchman, the thought made her feel sick.
Steph didn't like her train of thought, she took a second to clear her mind and lock the door- no thinking about the past only now, that was her rule. Alright, she was talking to Damian, "I want you to have it because, if you don't think I'm a bad person- then that book is hard proof that you aren't either, because anyone can change as long as they want to. You're a hard worker, if you want to be good then you will be." She ruffled his hair and he batted her hand away muttering grumpily. "And for what it's worth, I think you're already pretty great. Even if you can be a prick."
Damian stared at the cover of the diary. "I- thank you, Stephanie." He flipped to a random page curiously, the page was filled with little doodles of Spoiler and Robin with hearts. "Gross, is this you and Drake!?" Damian looked appalled
Steph slammed the book closed, "Okay! Do not read this in front of me. Now go grab your shit, we're going to the zoo." Fuck, she'd forgotten how much of a loser she was (is), Damian was never going to let her hear the end of some of the stuff in there- this may have been a mistake.
---
October, 2, 2018
Dear Diary,
I'm not Robin anymore- Batman fired me, and he seemed real serious this time. I didn't even do anything wrong! It was all because I didn't listen to him about staying in the plane- but he was getting his ass kicked! I saved his life!!! And yeah, the plane got a little stolen, but it's not my fault HE NEVER TAUGHT ME HOW TO FLY THE FUCKING PLANE!
Bruce is such a fucking ass, he thinks he's got it all figured out- but he doesn't! He just sits on his high horse, judging everyone else for any little thing. I betcha his stupid rules have gotten more people killed than they've saved. He was sooo mad bc I almost killed Victor Zsas, y'know the guy who's killed hundreds of people! Yeah, him not even dying is apparently the end of the fucking world! Whadda load of shit, of course I didn't say that to him, cause I didn't wanna get fired- but guess that didn't matter, huh?
I've gotta plan though, B keeps all these crazy schemes on his batcomputer- so before I left I went snooping and found something. I got a step-by-step plan to take control of and destroy all organized crime in the city. All I gotta do is set up some meetings, and find some dude named Matches Malone (which is a dumb name!) If I can pull this off it'd be huge!
IDK why Bruce has just been sitting on this, but I'm gonna do what he can't. Then he'll see, they'll all see what I'm worth. Then they'll let me in for good! And I'll get to go on all the cool missions, and B will let me stay at the manor (it's fucking huge!!!!) whenever, and use the Batcave. Then Cass and I can hang out all the time, without having to worry about her stopping talking to me, and well… after I saw him sucking face with that chick at his school, I don't think Tim and I are gonna work out, which totally blows cause I really liked him. But Cass is smart and strong and funny- and I think she likes me! So, yeah.
Anyway, I gotta run- I'll talk to you after so don't move! BRB.
-XOXO, Stephanie Brown
Notes:hehe
Chapter 12: i think my ex-not-girlfriend has a new-not-girlfriendNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextCass exited through the fake grandfather clock having just finished her training in the cave. She wandered into the kitchen to scavenge for food, Alfred had only just left but she already missed him. She grabbed things she liked at random, ending up with a meal of shredded cheese, applesauce, and a cup of raspberries. She also made sure to snap a quick picture to send to Tim, he responded by calling her a heathen.
She ate her lunch, absentmindedly scrolling through her phone- there were a few pictures of cats, a video of Batgirl doing backflips and batarang trickshots for a group of people in a subway station (Cass had no clue why Steph would be in a subway station as Batgirl), and a very long post claiming Nightwing had been killed by Kite Man, which was honestly insulting to Dick.
She heard Bruce enter the room so she turned to wave, he was covered in dirt- he must have been trying to garden again. "Cassie, that's not food."
"Better than your cooking." She tossed a raspberry at him. He shrugged, conceding her point.
"Did Damian leave?" He asked casually as he brewed himself some coffee.
"I've been in the cave all day. Where would he go?" It was too early for him to be out as Robin, and Damian Wayne was not allowed to drive.
"I don't know, Stephanie came looking for him." Bruce explained "I didn't realize they were close, Damian's never had a nice word to say about her." He was looking for her to explain, but Cass didn't really know either so she just shrugged.
"Stephanie was here?" She forced herself to say it as casually as possible.
Bruce squinted, he was a lot more interested in all their lives now- Tim had called it Detective Withdrawal, but Cass was pretty sure there was more to it. "Mhm, four-five hours ago. She'd said she had a gift for Damian."
Cass grinned mischievously, "Is Steph allowed to kidnap your children?"
Bruce sighed, "She's been kidnapping my children for years, why draw the line here?" He was joking, but he wasn't wrong. "Are you staying here for the day?" Cass nodded, "I have some errands to take care of, when she brings Damian back, figure out where they went?" He didn't need to know, he was just being nosy.
"Sure, is errands code for Selina?" She teased. Bruce glared at her but didn't deny it as he left. Cass decided to watch TV until Damian got back so he could interrogate him. Cass wondered if Steph would come inside or just drop him and flee.
Eventually she heard the door swing open, accompanied by loud bickering.
"You could hardly best a single bear in combat! Let alone twelve"
"I totally could, I'd just climb a tree."
"Bears are excellent climbers, they would catch and destroy you."
"Not if I covered the tree in olive oil beforehand!"
"Then how would you get up the tree?"
"Skill."
"Get out of my house and do not return until you've fixed the screw loose in your skull."
"Awww, you don't mean that!"
Before Damian could retort, he noticed Cass watching them from the living room. "Cain, tell her she's being idiotic." Cass suppressed a flinch at being called Cain, Steph kicked Damian in the foot.
"I could climb the tree." Cass said with a shrug.
Steph laughed, "See? It's possible."
"She didn't say you could climb the tree, Stephanie." Damian sneered. It was strange, Damian acted just as disdainful towards Steph as he did the rest of them- even as much as Tim sometimes- but when it came to her, his body language showed he enjoyed their interactions. Not only that, but he'd called her by her first name- a courtesy she'd only ever seen him extend to Dick (although he called him Richard, for obvious reasons.)
"Yeah, whatever. Go take a nap, can't patrol tonight if you're exhausted, you'll slow me down." Steph's eyes sparkled, she was well aware she was starting another argument.
"There is no universe or state of being where I would slow you down." Damian grumbled even though he did head towards his room, leaving Cass and Steph alone.
Steph was very clearly about to leave, but Cass stopped her. "Where were you two?"
"Huh? Oh! We've been having that bear conversation for two hours cause I asked him what the biggest animal he could fight was and he said a blue whale- which is a dumb answer. I said I could take a bear, he disagreed, so I said I could take twelve bears and… that's not what you asked is it?" Steph rambled nervously, it was funny.
"No"
"We went to the zoo, he likes animals." Steph explained.
Cass knew Steph liked animals too, she used to volunteer at the shelter- she'd brought Cass with her one time, it was fun- Steph had been tackled by a dog. "Bruce said you brought him a gift?"
Steph's eyes went wide, evidently she did not want to have this conversation. "Um… well no not really, it was just something I had lying around- I don't have any use for it now, and I figured that he might."
Cass hummed, she was being vague, evasive.
"Do you live here?" And now she was changing the subject.
"I don't live anywhere." She decided to be vague too, only because she knew it frustrated Steph and Cass was petty.
"...Okay, but you're staying here?"
"Sometimes." Cass had to focus on keeping herself from laughing at Steph's expression.
"Where else do you stay?"
Cass shrugged.
"Oh, come on! I know you know that's a shitty answer!" Steph complained. Messing with her was too easy.
Cass finally let herself laugh, which made Steph stop pouting- instead looking slightly pleased with herself. "I stay here sometimes, and sometimes with Barbara or Tim."
"Huh, what happened to that apartment you used to have? It was nice."
"Uhm, I guess it's still mine? I haven't been there since… when I moved to Blüdhaven a while ago." After Steph died. Everything in that apartment had reminded her of Steph, but she supposed everything, everywhere, had ended up reminding her of Steph.
It was Cass' turn for a question now, she remembered a video she'd seen a couple weeks ago of Batgirl sitting on a gargoyle, it was taken from someone's apartment across the street. Steph had been talking to Supergirl, probably telling some dramatized story, and the way Supergirl was looking at her… she can't imagine Steph didn't notice.
"Are you dating Supergirl?" Cass asked bluntly.
Steph blinked rapidly, shaking her head like a cartoon. "What? No? Why, why would you say that!?" Cass narrows her eyes. "We're friends. And it's not exactly any of your business either way."
She was getting far too defensive to just be oblivious. There had to be something going on with them, Cass was used to Steph being far better at feelings than this. "She likes you."
"I- well- when did you- you don't hang out with Kara so- wait, do you?" Steph stuttered, her ears turning pink. She didn't seem surprised about Supergirl's feelings, only that Cass knew about it.
"No, I saw a video. She was looking at you strange." Cass narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "But you've already noticed?"
"No! I haven't noticed anything, just… friendship."
"Lying."
"Yeah, I fucking know I'm lying!" Steph exploded, tossing her hands in the air in frustration. "Look, like I said- it's not your business. So just forget about any conclusions you're drawing here."
"I don't understand." Did Steph not like Supergirl? That didn't seem right, Steph liked people very easily- especially superheroes, and Supergirl could be League if she wanted.
"I don't want you to understand. My relationships, or lack thereof, are my own business, so just- I have to go, I'm gonna be late to class, and my professor already hates me enough." Steph almost tripped over herself as she exited the manor.
Obviously, Cass had done something wrong. Steph never used to get upset about any questions Cass would have, sure Cass didn't need her to explain the world anymore- but she still wanted to hear about Steph's life. Cass had to be missing something, maybe if she could find another way to catch-up on her friends life, then they could hang out like they used to. She just had to understand Stephanie again.
But if Steph wouldn't talk to her, she'd have to ask other people. Cass tried to mentally list all the people who would probably be able to help her: Barbara, Damian, Dick. Not a very long list- maybe Tim would know? Although he hadn't been around much either… but he was friends with Supergirl.
Cass added Supergirl to the top of the list.
Notes:cass does not know about social media algorithms, she just believes there are a disproportionate number of steph-batgirl posts. she has never questioned this.
Chapter 13: my love life is almost as much of a train wreck as the rest of my lifeNotes:(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter TextSteph didn't believe in astrology or soulmates, she didn't know much about it except for that she was a Leo. It's not like she was one of those people who got all pissy about other people liking astrology. It's just that Steph despised the concept of fate. She had an ongoing war with fate, one which Steph was currently winning- in her humble opinion it was one of the greatest comebacks this century.
That's all besides the point though, Steph doesn't believe in fate- which is why her current google deep dive into "twin flames" had nothing to do with talking to Cass again. It was just… morbid curiosity. She's not sure what she was looking for at this point, every result she found had a different definition, and anytime Steph found one that matched she just got angry about fate again.
Steph tossed her phone to the other side of her bed and stared at the ceiling with a sigh. Then her phone buzzed and she sighed louder- she'd probably just ignore the message unless it was from Babs.
Huh… unknown number.
Alright, message received, I'll stop bothering you.
But only because I've decided to interpret that "present" as an apology.
wrong number
I said I'd leave you alone, you don't gotta lie, Blondie.
Jason?
No, it's your conscience.
funny, my conscience is a prick
i get the "present" part, but what message?
Uhh… basically to stay the fuck away from you?
i mean, i'll take it- but i don't think i said that?
You didn't, B did.
Figured you'd issued a restraining order or some shit.
news to me, i called him to get you cause it was funny
btw you should "reinterpret" why i gave you the drive, cause i'm not at all sorry
i would totally do it again
Knocking me out or calling B?
Yeah.
Damn, fair enough ig.
So why does B specifically care about me talking to you?
Cause he's never pulled that over his other kids.
im not his kid for one
and i could probably guess why
Fill me in?
you're smart, you can figure it out
i personally do not give enough of a shit about you or B to think about it anymore
You got something against the old man?
are you fucking with me rn?
If I were you I'd hate him.
But considering you've been running around with his brand…
I figured you didn't for whatever reason.
i don't hate him
Why not?
idk he's an alright dude, and he can be kinda funny sometimes
I don't understand you.
awwww… okay :)
Steph turned her phone off, deciding she was done with the conversation. Fuck Bruce, he had no say in who she could or couldn't talk to- he just might be worse than fate. Actually she takes that back, at least Bruce doesn't keep trying to kill her.
Whatever, she didn't want to think about this. Maybe she should have just let Jason think she'd complained about him to Bruce, it's not like she exactly wanted to talk to Jason anyway. What was worse, Jason Todd or letting Bruce control her… it was too close to call.
She turned her phone back on and it immediately started ringing, she answered without looking. "Fuck off."
"Uh- are you okay?" Kara's voice came through the phone, she sounded genuinely concerned. Aw shit.
"Fuck, I thought you were someone else, sorry."
Kara laughed, "And who exactly is bothering you so much?"
"Ugh, it's nothing. Just assholes being assholes." Steph couldn't tell Kara about Jason without having to explain why he bothered her so much- and she really didn't want Kara to know all that stuff.
"Are you sure? I could throw them into the sun or something."
"I might take you up on that some other time, but forget about that- what's up?"
"Oh yeah, I was wondering if you could swing by Metropolis soon? I've got a little bit of a problem." Interesting, Steph had never been sought out for help with problems before- she assumed Kara needed some detective help, considering Steph couldn't exactly offer much else than that and entertainment.
"Yeah, I can probably be there in a couple hours! Oh, Tim's around if you'd rather ask him." Steph was pretty sure he wasn't busy at the moment.
"No? I mean, Tim's great but… y'know you're allowed to just say no." Kara sounded hurt, oops.
Steph tried to clarify, "It's not that! I'm totally down, I just thought I'd tell you in case you thought he was busy. I mean, he's really good at- solving problems. And I know you guys are friends too, so…" Tim and Kara had been Teen Titans together, before Steph ever met her, and Tim was the best of them when it came to detective work.
"Mmmm, yeah- no, you'll be fine Steph- I can swing by and pick you up if you want?"
Steph couldn't hold back her smile. Freaking Supergirl wanted her help with a case- her! Steph specifically! Yeah, her and Kara were friends, but Steph had always loved superheroes, and over the years the Bats had kind of lost their luster to Steph, so she was allowed to geek out a teeny bit over Kara… sometimes… when no one was looking.
Okay, fuck, be cool Steph- "It's cool, I've gotta take care of a few things then I'll take my bike over- should I pack a bag or…?" She was overstepping, Kara hadn't said anything about staying over. What if she got freaked out and didn't wanna be friends anymore?
"Yeah, sure! Sounds great." Kara chirped. "I'll see you later then!"
"Uh, yeah bye!" Steph hung up. "Uh, yeah bye?" Steph was so terrible at friendship.
She hadn't had many close friends in her life- it was really just Tim, Cass, and Kara. Steph had a recurring issue where anytime she made a friend they ended up being terribly attractive- but damn it, her friendship with Kara was not going to end up like it had with Tim and Cass- or at least it wouldn't as long as Steph could keep Kara from learning about all the shitty things Steph had done before they met. Which might not be for much longer, but Steph could pretend.
It didn't help that Kara liked her as more than just a friend. Steph had been trying to pretend she didn't notice- but Kara was really bad at hiding her feelings. Plus Steph's own lack of filter meant she maybe, possibly, kept flirting with her- which was not helping. There was no real way this could end well, Steph knew that. It was on her long list of things she tried not to think about.
---
Kara was watching some movie Kon had been pestering her about when she heard someone scaling the side of her building. As soon as she opened the window a motorcycle helmet came flying through, followed soon after by Stephanie Brown. She dropped her mini duffel-bag on the floor of Kara's apartment.
"You could have used the door." Kara pointed out.
Steph just shrugged, "You always come through my window."
"I can fly."
Steph just shrugged again, smiling this time. "And I can climb. So what's this problem you're having?"
"I'll show you." Kara stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Steph's waist, Steph blinked before catching on and threw her own arms over Kara's shoulders. Kara shot them out the window, flying up high enough that they could see the whole city.
"Ah, fuck! Did you have to do that so fast?" Steph buried her head in Kara's shoulder.
"Oh, uh sorry. Are you alright?"
Steph slowly opened her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, have there always been three of you?"
"Quit being a baby."
"Excuse me, I am an adult woman… who is gonna be sick."
Kara rolled her eyes, "Please, don't." She pointed towards a spot in the distance, "Look over there."
Steph squinted in the direction she was pointing, "Uh-huh. There's buildings?"
"Yeah, but look at the li-"
Steph cut her off, "The lights keep flickering…" She squirmed in Kara's arms, trying to lean towards the power outages. Kara adjusted so she wouldn't fall. "It looks like something is sucking up energy from the area…" Kara could see the gears turning in her head, she looked so different in Metropolis. Usually when they hung out it was in Gotham. There Steph's eyes were the same blue as the sky, but looking at her now Kara realized they were steel gray. She'd always thought Steph stood out against the dark colors of Gotham- but here she stood out just as much for the exact opposite reason.
Kara was pulled from her thoughts by Steph tapping her on the shoulder, "Back to your apartment, I wanna look at something."
"Y-yeah, okay." Kara flew them back inside, slower this time. As soon as she set her down, Steph started searching through her bag. She pulled out a laptop and a small disk, setting them both on the dining table.
Steph did something on the laptop that made the disk start projecting a holographic map of Metropolis. "Catch me up, what's everything you know so far?"
"Well, you saw that there's been outages all over- mostly in this area." Kara pointed on the map, Steph pressed some buttons that made that part turn yellow. "It's not just the lights though, trains keep shutting down in the area and the other day I had to catch a plane that almost crashed flying over. My problem is that my powers go on the fritz whenever I get too close to whatever is causing this, so I can't investigate."
Steph's head tilted to the side in thought. "...s'probably alien tech then." She mumbled, which meant she was thinking hard enough to not notice she was talking- Steph did that a lot, it was cute. "If it's absorbing that much power… could be for a weapon, a big weapon."
Steph stood still for a moment before grabbing Kara by the arm and tugging her towards the door, Kara let herself be pulled. "Come on, we're gonna go find the boundaries of this thing."
"I take it I'm your EMF reader here?" Kara asked.
"Mhm, that and you're buying me lunch- cause I'm starving."
Notes:Steph in her own POV: I just want to be a good person, but I can't because I'm a terrible person and will never be able to make up for my mistakes, but I'll keep trying to until I die.
Steph in other Bats POVs: Oh god we fucked up and now we have no idea what she's doing or why, everything that has ever happened or will happen to her is all out fault.
Steph in Kara's POV: awww, my girlfriend's so strange :)
Chapter 14: my date with supergirlChapter TextSteph sat cross legged on top of a picnic table eating the breakfast burrito Kara had bought for her- breakfast food was the best. "How are you feeling now?" She asked Kara, who was sitting on the bench part of their table.
"It's up and down… like I feel fine, but definitely not as strong." Kara stared a hole into the table, literally.
Steph jumped to her feet. "Don't shoot lasers at the table while I'm sitting on it!"
For her part Kara laughed at Steph's panic, "You're not supposed to sit on tables! It's bad manners."
"Because destruction of property is sooo polite." Steph poked her finger through the hole to prove her point. That just made Kara laugh harder.
"Oh, will you relax?"
Steph sighed, "At least we know your powers are still working fine." She scribbled the observation down in her bat-notepad (Kara had called her a dork when she called it that.)
Kara peeked over her shoulder to see what she was writing, "But not as strong, I could have lit the whole table on fire."
Steph paused, "Tell me you weren't trying to disintegrate the… actually, don't. I'd rather not know." She flipped the bat-notepad shut, "If whatevers causing this can sap your powers at all, then it's probably pretty strong- I'm thinking the radius is at least 4 miles each direction? We're probably pretty close to the border… if we head north of here you might feel stronger effects."
Steph finished her burrito and started heading what she was pretty sure was north. Kara followed after her, "And that's what we want to happen?"
Steph grinned, "If we wanna find this thing then yeah!" Kara pouted, but she didn't really mean it. "Hey, if there's trouble and you're feeling ditzy then I'll protect you." Steph winked.
Kara rolled her eyes, even though she was blushing, "I think you're already ditzy enough for the both of us."
"You say that now, but if you lose your powers in a few minutes you'll be grateful that me and my brain are here to get us out of whatever mess we're walking into."
"You mean the mess that you're walking us into, what exactly is the plan here sherlock?"
"If you wanted a plan you shoulda called Tim- lucky for you I've walked into messes-a-plenty, and I almost always walk outta them!"
"Almost?" Kara teased.
Steph shrugged, "Sometimes I have to crawl out of them." Understatement of the century… but Kara didn't have to know that- Steph's success rate was way up from her Spoiler days. "What's the energy feel like? Could it be kryptonite? Or maybe red sun radiation?" She asked, changing the subject masterfully.
"No, it's not either of them. It's like something's draining my power in spurts- it's not painful or anything though. So are we just walking north four miles and hoping for the best?"
"I could run it in eighteen minutes- tops." Steph bragged, distracting from the fact that 'hoping for the best' very much was the plan.
"And that's good?" Kara asked genuinely. Steph shot her a glare, which was met with a smile. Kara had a beautiful smile, it lit up her whole face. She had a nice face in general, Kara looked what Steph imagined the sun would look like if the sun were a very pretty woman. Was everyone from Krypton stupidly gorgeous?
Kara's smile turned into a smirk, "You okay, Stephie?"
"Yeah." Steph looked away from Supergirl's stupid, charming, face. She suddenly felt the need to focus very intently on where she was walking.
Kara sped to Steph's side, leaning into her as they walked. "Are you sure? You seemed a bit distracted there?" Her eyes were sparkling, they were so blue… OhmygodStephpleasestopforonefuckingsecond.
"Your lack of discretion when using your powers in public is concerning." Oh god, she sounded like Damian. She's Batgirl! She's supposed to be unflappable. Imperturbable. Phlegmatic. Not a complete loser.
Kara linked their arms together, leaning towards Steph conspiratorially, "Aw, no one noticed."
"Uh-huh, this time." Steph didn't really care, that would be hypocritical- anyone with a hunch and a talent for googling could figure out Steph was Batgirl. Apparently while she was in Africa, her Dad had told the world the tale of his dear daughter's death- which was strange considering she thought he was also dead at the time… but anyway, when Steph came back Babs scrubbed the internet of any references to the incident, though nothing was ever really gone. Honestly it was kinda weird no one had put two-and-two together yet, Steph didn't even put that much effort into excusing her behavior. She was constantly injured, she was late to everything and left suddenly, she slept through the classes she did attend, and all her notes were covered in bat-doodles. Her working theory was that people assumed a vigilante would be more discreet. Shows what they know.
As they continued walking Steph kept checking how Kara was feeling, she said the effects were definitely growing. That was good because it meant they were getting closer, but also bad because Steph was definitely leading her soon-to-be defenseless friend into danger. Kara seemed okay with it, but with every step Steph was less sure about this.
"Nnngh…" Kara grunted and stopped walking.
"What's wrong?" Steph grabbed Kara's hands, pulling her closer to check if she was okay.
"M'fine, powers are definitely gone now." Kara smiled reassuringly and ran her thumbs over Steph's knuckles.
Steph was not reassured, she scanned the area- there was no power at all in this part of the city, but nothing looked too suspicious… just normal office buildings. Unless they weren't looking for a building, Steph spotted a nearby manhole. 'How familiar are you with the sewer system?"
"Ugh… too familiar." Kara groaned, but understood what Steph was saying. "I think we're over a pretty open area, someone could be hiding something down there."
Steph pulled an earpiece out of her pocket, handing it to Kara. "Here, so we can stay in contact." She looked around for a place to change into her suit, the alleys in Metropolis were a lot less dark- but there was hardly anyone around due to the outages, so it would do.
"Wait, hold on. We're splitting up?" Kara gripped Steph's hands tighter to keep her from leaving, Steph could break her grip if she wanted- her powers really were gone.
"Yeah? We don't know what's down there, and I don't want you to get hurt." Steph slipped away, headed into the nearest alley pulling her suit out of her satchel.
Kara followed her down the alley, averting her eyes awkwardly as Steph changed "I don't want you to get hurt either!"
"And I appreciate that…" Steph had had this conversation a million times, though usually she was on the other side of it- it was a lot harder than she would have thought, "But this is more a reconnaissance thing, it'll be easier for me to go solo." She buckled her utility belt, fully suited up now.
Kara frowned, "Okay, but be careful." She pulled Steph into a hug.
Steph chuckled, "If you're this worried about me going into the sewers, I don't know how you're gonna send me back to Gotham."
"Hmmm… Good point, maybe I'll just have to keep you here then." Kara smiled softly as she pulled away from Steph.
Steph rolled her eyes and pulled on her cowl. "I don't know if that'll work out, the air here is making me sick."
"What's wrong with the air?"
"It's too fresh, I don't like it." Steph had lived in Gotham her whole life, with the notable exception of the year she hadn't. It wasn't a time she liked remembering, which was why she tried not to leave Gotham for very long at a time. "Put the ear-piece in, I wanna test it before I go sewer crawling."
Kara fiddled with the ear-piece a bit before sticking it in her ear. Steph reached over to adjust it before tapping the side of her own head. "Testing, testing."
Kara smiled, "It works!"
"Good, okay so if you wanna talk just tap- then again when you're done." Kara followed her instructions, making sure everything worked. "Okay, cool- brb." Steph gave a little salute before pulling the manhole cover off and disappearing below the road.
Wow it stunk down here- air quality be damned, apparently sewers were relatively universal. Hopefully Metropolis didn't have its own version of Killer Croc or Solomon Grundy down here. She owed Waylon fifty bucks.
The sewer looked pretty normal so far. Steph toggled the lenses on her cowl, setting them to look for any unusual energy sources. She could see some yellow wisps headed down a tunnel to the north. There was a crackle in her ear followed by Kara's voice, "Find anything?"
Steph crept along the, following the wisps. "I might have something, not totally sure yet." She whispered in response, "It smells down here."
"It's a sewer." Kara sounded amused, good. "What did you expect?"
"I don't know, it's Metropolis- figured it would be a little less dank." The wisps were getting thicker and moving faster, they were coming from every direction- but being pulled the same way. "I think I'm close- going dark for a minute."
"What?"
"Going dark, it means I'm gonna stop talking." Steph explained.
"I know… is that a good idea?" Kara sounded nervous. Steph knew her friend just wasn't used to letting someone else do the heavy lifting- she tried really hard not to take it personally, it still stung… just a little bit.
Steph stopped walking so she could respond, "I can handle myself." Oof, that came out a bit harsher than she'd meant it to.
"I know that! But I don't like just sitting here doing nothing." That was understandable, Steph would be the same way- actually she'd probably be worse.
"If your powers come back then you're free to take over- I know it sucks, but right now I need you to just sit tight. I'll be quick."
"Promise?"
She shouldn't. Steph made way too many promises she couldn't keep, no matter how much she'd tried. "Promise." Fuck, well she'd just have to be quick then. She resumed following the energy wisps, maybe a little less cautiously than before.
Eventually the tunnel opened into a large, dark room- the yellow wisps were more like globs now, they were all being pulled towards the center of the pitch dark room. Steph flipped her lenses to night vision, in the center of the room stood a large metal box. It almost resembled a coffin. Whatever was inside that thing was the thing sucking up all the power.
Steph searched the rest of the room only to find absolutely nothing. She walked right up to the box and examined it closely… it was definitely a metal box, just as she'd theorized. There wasn't a whole lot else going on, honestly this was all very underwhelming.
Steph debated her options, the way she saw it- there were two paths she could take: A- go tell Kara what she found. Or B- open the box and deal with whatever consequences may arise. Steph chose option B.
---
Kara sighed, resisting the urge to try and contact Steph again. It hadn't been that long, she was probably fine… maybe she should ask, just to be sure.
She reached to press the communicator Steph had given her, but before she could say anything part of the road exploded as Batgirl was thrown out into the street- quickly followed by a very angry looking pink blur.
It was Parasite, that made sense.
Batgirl scrambled to her feet- Kara wasn't sure how she was able to stand after being thrown through the road, but evidently she could. She backed up from the Parasite, putting her one hand up while the other hovered over her utility belt. "Whoa, okay. What happened to hello?"
"Hello." Parasite snarled before launching towards Steph, throwing a punch that knocked her back to the ground. Kara's instinct was to go help- but without her powers there wasn't exactly much she could do. This sucked.
Kara grabbed for her phone, she could call for back up- although anyone else with powers could just end up making Parasite even stronger. She opened Tim's contact.
Kara Danvers sent her location
Steph's in trouble
Read 3:15 PM