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It had been a mass breakout, which meant all hands on deck. Every vigilante from Gotham, Blüdhaven, and even a few from Star City had come together. From the core “Batfamily” to the Birds of Prey, everyone had gathered.
It was maybe a little selfish of her, but Stephanie was eager to prove herself again. It had been a long time since this many heroes she looked up to were in one place, especially so many heroes she’d trained with early on in her original career as Spoiler. She only had one chance to show them all how much she’d learned.
Of course she’d be the one with the worst injuries. Because why not?
Oracle had warned her not to follow Batman and Black Bat, to stay with Black Canary and Cheshire Cat. But had she listened? Of course not! So when the explosives detonated, she got hit with the worst of the rubble. She didn’t know if they’d even caught Joker!
She just knew they’d all ridicule and lecture her. Bruce would fire her, Tim would tell her to put the cowl down, Cass would just silently judge her, Damian would make snarky comments, Jason would straight-up laugh at her!
The Spoiler, she thought with a derisive snort. What a joke.
“Oh, Stephanie. You’re awake.” She turned her head, ignoring the way it throbbed at the motion, and blinked slowly at Bruce. He looked tired, and she figured he must have been out the entire rest of the night.
“Hey, boss,” she croaked. Gods, her throat was dry.
Thankfully, Bruce seemed to recognize her grimace, because he helped her sit up and held a cup to her lips. One of her arms was in a cast and sling, the other had bandages wrapped over her shoulder and upper arm. “Drink slowly,” he reminded her.
After a long moment, she sat back and tried to smile at him. “Thanks. So. Lay it on me.”
“That can wait.” At least he didn’t try to pretend he didn’t know what she meant. She hated when people did that. “Are you in any pain?”
“Headache,” she mumbled.
“Leslie and your mother have you on painkillers,” Oh, no. Mom knows too? “Tell someone if it gets worse, alright?”
“‘Kay. How bad?”
“A laceration on your head and a severe concussion. Burn and bruises on your shoulder, broken arm, broken leg. Internal bleeding.”
Oh. That was. More serious than she thought. “How long was I out?”
“You were in-and-out for several hours. We expected longer.” He took a long, deep breath. “That was foolish of you.”
Here we go. “I know.” He seemed to startle when she didn’t argue, and she snorted again. “I’m stubborn, Bruce, not an idiot. Most times. Anyway, I know I screwed up. Just tell me what happened and suspend me, let’s get on with it.”
Bruce stared at her for a long moment, disbelief written across his face. Then it suddenly melted away, leaving only… a deep sadness and exhaustion. The kind of expression that looked so foreign on the face of the stone-cold Batman. “Stephanie, do you remember what happened?”
“Well, yeah. Joker’s bombs buried me in rubble.”
“After you pushed Cass and I clear of the explosion.”
Oh. She did remember that, but she didn’t think it was important. “You probably would’ve been fine. Would’ve seen the trigger without me there distracting you–”
“It was invisible to all of our gear, neither Cass nor I saw it. We have good reaction time, but we were too close to the wall. You switched places with us.” He laid a hand on her good arm. “We both would’ve been as injured as you are now, or worse. You protected us. Which was foolish, because it was at the cost of your own safety.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” she tried to joke. Her throat was dry again, for a different reason this time.
“Maybe,” he allowed, a ghost of a smile on his face. “Regardless, we caught the Joker thanks to you.” And that was such a relief. "Cass took him down while the others got you to safety. He and all the other rogues are accounted for.” He shook his head suddenly, causing some of his hair to fall loose over his face. “I know I’ve hurt you before Stephanie. But I’m not disappointed in you or angry with you. Just… You kids shouldn’t be getting hurt to spare us grown-ups. Not to spare me.”
Stephanie swallowed the lump in her throat as she watched him. When had his face started to wrinkle, crow’s feet and frown lines all across it? When had the hairs on his head started going gray? When had the weight of all these years begun to slouch his back and shoulders? And why hadn’t she noticed before now?
She shook her head and slowly moved her arm, grasping his hand. “Ya know, boss, I’m almost as old now as you were when you started. Can’t call us kids forever. Gotta let us make jour own choices, eventually.”
Bruce chuckled at that – actually chuckled! – and squeezed her hand. “That’s a lesson I’ve struggled to learn since Dick left Gotham. Don’t know if it'll ever sink in. You’ll always be my kids, even you.”
“You’re not my father,” she reminded him light-heartedly.
“No, I know you don’t want that.” She didn’t trust the smirk on his face. “Maybe daughter-in-law one day, though, hm?”
She scoffed, pointedly ignoring the flush on her face. “Tim and I haven’t been together for years.”
“Who said anything about Tim?” She frowned suspiciously at him. “You know, Cass has been down here quite a bit. She’s very worried about you.”
Her blush was not getting stronger, thank you very much. A trick of the light, nothing more. “Probably blames herself, huh?” she guessed.
He hummed. “You two are a lot alike in that regard.”
“Pot, kettle,” she repeated.
He stood with another chuckle. “Touché. I’ll go let everyone know you’re awake, but don’t be afraid to get more rest.” He smoothed her hair back with a small smile. “Good work last night.”
She watched him leave with a dropped jaw and wide eyes.
Cass wasn’t the next to check on her, but that didn’t really surprise Stephanie.
Instead, Tim and Harper came in together, each breathing a sigh of relief when they saw her awake. They just asked how she was feeling and told her more about how the rest of the night had gone. With all of them coordinating, catching most of the rogues had apparently been fairly straight-forward. Tim started to lecture her about getting herself hurt, but Harper quickly smacked him upside the head. According to her, he’d been worried enough to be shaky and jittery, no zesti required.
Next, it had been Duke and Izzy, who had broken their dayshift routine to provide backup, alongside the remaining members of We Are Robin. They’d apparently caught Riddler rather handily, and the two were off to meet up with a couple members of the Outsiders, Anissa Pierce and Grace Choi. She wished them a good double-date, much to Duke’s chagrin and Izzy’s amusement, and they wished her a speedy recovery.
Dick and Barbara popped in next, each bearing small gifts like a Nightwing blanket and Batgirl stuffed bat. They both seemed apologetic she’d gotten so hurt, but she reminded them it was her choice to follow Bruce and Cass. They’d been working on tracking other rogues, and Babs had warned her to be careful. Still, they doted on her for a long while before splitting off to go to their respective day jobs.
She was pleasantly surprised by a visit from Dinah and Helena. They commended her for the help she’d provided before getting taken down. Helena even said they’d try to get Steph included in the next mission the Birds went on. Dinah’s latent motherly instincts seemed to take over, as she stood beside Steph’s bed and carded her fingers though Steph’s hair while Helena told her all about their team-up with the Gotham Sirens. Even those three had asked the Birds to give Steph their well-wishes.
After that, the youngest made their way in. Damian, Lian, and Sin all came to check on her and show off their own battle scars, mostly scrapes and bruises. Damian made a few snide comments, but they lacked their usual bite, which was how she could tell just how worried he had been for her. Steph couldn’t help but lament for each of them, three teenagers who never really got to be kids.
Kate and Renee arrived next, hand-in-hand. They didn’t stay for long, but Stephanie was glad for their company regardless. Kate did give her a look when she told Steph that Cass kept pacing nearby, struggling to work up the courage to check on her. Renee told Steph to be patient, unshaken by Steph’s protests. Cass would come to her when she was ready, Kate told her, and Steph didn’t really think she was just talking about checking on her recovery.
Even Luke and Jean-Paul stopped in to give their regards. Luke joked about giving her a high-tech armor suit like his, and Jean-Paul smacked him on the shoulder, but Steph just laughed. Just in case, they both reassured and commended her, and she was touched by their concern.
Leslie and her mother came by to double-check everything several times. Crystal’s concern was plain to see, but Steph was grateful when neither of them scolded or lectured her. They just told her to be more careful next time – though that “next time” seemed to almost pain her mother to think about – and to remember her safety mattered too. She assured them she would be, and her mother kissed the top of her head.
Jason made an appearance, too. She was almost concerned by his lack of mirth, but he just gave her a tight but gentle hug. He didn’t exactly scold her, but he certainly didn’t hesitate to remind her that getting blown up by the Joker was his thing. She wasn’t allowed to copy him, he told her. She didn’t know him that well, but she was pretty sure that was Jason-speak for Don’t scare me like that again, dumbass. She promised it wouldn't happen again.
She’d almost given up on Cass visiting her that day when she finally came in, quiet as ever. Her footfalls were silent, but she telegraphed her movements more than ever. She looked rough, as though she hadn’t relaxed since the breakout. Her fists were clenched at her sides, her shoulders were tense and held high, and her hair was more unkempt than usual. Every step was slow and short, like she expected Steph to turn her away.
Instead, Steph just held her good hand out toward her and smiled at her. “Hey, you.”
The effect was instead, like Steph’s words had cut a cord holding Cass near the door. She crossed the room quickly and took Steph’s hand in both of hers. She didn’t speak, just held Steph’s hand like a lifeline.
Which was when Steph saw the bandages on Cass’s hands. “What happened here?” she asked, her voice quick and quiet. Then she looked up and saw tears gathering in Cass’s eyes. “Cassie? Are you okay?”
Cass nodded but then shook her head, looking frustrated. She let go of Steph with one hand and gestured to her throat.
Steph nodded patiently. “Take your time, I’m right here. Not going anywhere.”
Cass’s body was wracked with a silent sob, and Steph pulled her in for a gentle hug. Cass hugged her firmly but carefully, certainly able to see and avoid where Steph was the most sore. She wept quietly into Steph’s shoulder while Steph used her good hand to rub her back soothingly.
They stayed like that for a long while, holding each other and basking in each other’s presence. Eventually, Cass’s tears tapered off, and Steph started running her fingers through her hair.
It was a bit of a surprise when Cass suddenly pulled away then, careful of Steph’s sling, suddenly pressed her head against Steph’s chest.
Steph wanted it on record that she absolutely did not squeak. No way. She did ask, “Hey! What’re you–?”
“Shh.” Steph fought off her blush stubbornly. After an agonizingly long moment, Cass lifted her head. “Heartbeat,” she said simply, her voice raspy but flooded with relief. “Had to remind myself. It was… so weak last night. You scared me.”
“Oh, Cass.” Guilt flooded Stephanie anew. “I’m sorry I scared you. I just couldn’t let you and Bruce get hurt.”
“You shouldn’t get hurt instead!” Cass insisted. “You don’t have to protect me.”
“This coming from Cassandra ‘Nobody Dies Tonight’ Wayne?” Steph joked, but Cass gripped her hand tightly in hers once again.
“That includes you!”
Steph defensively told her, “It includes you, too.”
“I don’t want to die anymore. Sometimes I think you still do!”
They both froze, going quiet at the same moment. The only sounds in the room were the ekg and Cass’s heavy breathing.
After a time, Cass repeated, “I think you’d be happy to die, if it meant they’d be proud of you. That I’d be proud of you.” She reached up slowly and cupped Stephanie’s face. “But I already am. We all are.” In a heartbeat, Cass had pressed her forehead against Steph’s, and Steph felt her eyes flutter closed. “Don’t go. Not again.”
“I promise.” Steph swallowed thickly, opening her eyes when Cass pulled away. “I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.”
Cass’s eyes opened too, and she held her gaze for a long moment. “Good.”
Finally, Cass pulled away and stood up straight. And… did her eyes flicker down to Steph’s lips? Steph had to have imagined that, right?
“So,” she said quickly, hoping to hide her thoughts from the ever-perceptive Cassandra, “what happened to your hands?”
To her shock, Cass flushed, looking down and away. “I… almost killed him,” she admitted, her voice almost fearful. “Joker. Only stopped when Barbara said you would be okay.”
“What?” Steph demanded. “But, but your rule!” Cass just shrugged. “Would… would you have stopped otherwise?”
Cass chewed her lip for a moment. “I hope so,” she seemed to settle on.
Steph nodded. “I know I promised, and I meant it. But if something does happen to me – which it won’t! – please don’t do that to yourself. Not for me.”
“I promise,” Cass said, a sardonic smirk on her face.
Steph snorted. “Fair enough.” Then she yawned, a wave of exhaustion overtaking her.
“You should rest. Heal.”
“Pot, meet kettle,” Steph said with her own smirk, another yawn breaking the words. “C’mere. Stay with me? I think there’s room for two up here.”
Cass hesitated, and Steph wondered if she was imagining the sudden flush on her face. “Are you sure? You aren’t too hurt?”
“Nope! If anything, Cassie-cuddles will make me heal faster.”
“I don’t think it works that way.”
“It does now, so come on!” Steph carefully moved over to make more room, and Cass slowly climbed up beside her. “There we go,” Steph said with a yawn. “Bedtime.”
Cass smiled at her. “Goodnight, Steph.”
“G’night, Cassie… Sweet dreams…”